EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GROW A MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE
See Job One and go here
© COPYRIGHT 1974 Phillip Goble
The Kitvei Hakodesh are clear about Klal Yisrael. They will not
change their G-d: they will still believe in the G-d of Avraham,
Yitzchak, and Ya'akov. They will not change their religion. They
will still hold dear to Judaism as their faith. Nevertheless,
the Kitvei Hakodesh are clear: they will be changed by teshuva and hitkhadeshut, all the Jewish people people in the world. And
they will be redeemed. One day they will look up into heaven and
they will see the Kodesh HaKodashim in heaven open, and they will
see not a changing of religions but a changing of Kohanim Gedolim. And in this changing of the guard of the Kohanim Gedolim in the Kodesh HaKodeshim in heaven, they will see a new Kohen Gadol (after the order of Malki-Tzedek) replacing the old Kohen Gadol. But this spiritual revelation will not cause them to
discard their Siddurim or their copies of the Shas. They will
not cancel Bar Mitzvahs or High Holiday Services. They will not
do away with Torah Services on Shabbos. They will still be loyal
to the Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot. They will change very
little, almost nothing as far as their Orthodox Jewish manner of
life is concerned. But they will be changed. They will see him
in heaven, wearing the garments that Caiapha once wore when Caiapha unwittingly ordered the Akedah and had him bound and led
away, carrying the Scapegoat's burden of the evil Olam Hazeh.
They will see him--Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua,
standing in the Kodesh HaKodashim in Shomayim. They will see him
and they will weep. And the shul and the yeshiva will never be
the same after that. And they will have far better people to
produce materials such as the following, because there will be
thousands and thousands of rabbis and yeshiva scholars weeping as
I have wept for the Jewish people and looking up into heaven and
seeing the changing of the guard of the Kohanim Gedolim in the Kodesh HaKodashim. But, until then, this meager offering is
presented with a prayer and with faith in the Kitvei Hakodesh and
in the Geulah Redemption of Klal Yisrael.
What has been needed for a long time is a comprehensive tool
designed to further the planting and growth of messianic
synagogues. This is why this book was written in 1974. This
edition is revised, for now there are many messianic synagogues
throughout the world, and there will be many more in the future.
But this is not really new, for we see messianic synagogues in
Acts 21:20 and Jam.2:2 (see the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha downloadable at http://www.afii.org/material.htm from the
Internet).
So what has been the problem in the intervening years since the
First Century? Choosing the wrong cultural specialist as their
mentor, ministers to Jewish people have in the past typically
tried to mimic Moshiach's Shliach to the Goyim (Sha'ul or Paul)
and have largely ignored his highly successful (cf. Acts 21:20)
cultural counterpart, Moshiach's Shliach to the Jews (James or Ya'akov). Ya'akov was concerned that no "irksome restrictions"
(Acts 15:19) be imposed on Goyim. He would have also been
concerned to have no "irksome restrictions" placed on him and the
Jerusalem Messianic Synagogue of which he was the mashgiach ruchani (spiritual overseer). Can you imagine Ya'akov's reaction
if some Goyim had told his congregation they could no longer
practice the bris milah or be shomer Shabbos? You don't have to
imagine. Just read Acts 21:20-21, where we find that the early
Jewish talmidim (disciples) of Moshiach were shomer mitzvot, and
where we see Ya'akov was quick to correct the lashon hora some
were speaking against the Shaliach Sha'ul, falsely accusing Sha'ul of teaching Jewish people they had to become shmad and
abandon the bris milah and the minhagim (customs) of the Jewish
people in order to follow the Moshiach. Unfortunately, the
dismal history of ministry to Jewish people has been the largely
futile effort to impose the irksome restrictions of Goyishe culture on Jews. Instead of helping plant and lead Brit Chadasha Kehillot, authentic Messianic Synagogues with integrity and
relevance for the Jewish people like the Shliach Ya'akov (James)
did in Jerusalem, ministers to Jewish people typically function
as unwitting modern "Gentilizers," trying to persuade Jews to
assimilate into Goyishe cultural life-style - a betrayal the
Jewish community understandably resists as the self-destruction
and spiritual genocide of Jews as a people. In a Jewish
neighborhood, Messiah's people must become like Jewish people to
win Jewish people (I Cor. 9:20-21), remembering that Moshiach came to bring life to Jewish people, not cultural death. Moshiach came to give them new spiritual life, not change them
from Jews into Goyim. This is axiomatic and fundamental. When a
congregation of Messiah's people finds herself in a Jewish
community she must not shrink from wearing once again her full
Jewish dress, all her old First Century synagogue attire. For
local communities of Messiah's people in Jewish communities to
remain inflexibly groomed for Goyim and then demand that Jews
convert to Gentile ways of life and worship in order for Jewish
people to accept their own Moshiach is the horrific, condemnable,
ancient Judaizing heresy in reverse, and must not be tolerated.
(To learn about this heresy, download Galatians from the Orthodox
Jewish Brit Chadasha translation from our website at
http://www.afii.org/material.htm ).
The philosophy of this book centers on the concept of a people
movement, something the Body of Moshiach received from the Jewish
community in Acts 21:20, when the Shlichut for Yehudim was in
full operation (Gal.2:8-9). A people movement occurs when whole
family units (not just rebels and family misfits) from a
particular cultural group flow into the Body of Adoneinu Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Acts 21:20 says, "You see, brother, how many
thousands of Jewish people there are who believe (in the Messiah
and the Orthodox Judaism of the Brit Chadasha); and they are all
zealous for the Torah (i.e. the Orthodox Judaism of the time,
which predates modern post-Second Temple so called "orthodox"
Judaism)" (Acts 21:20). Luke 2:42 alludes to our Moshiach's bar mitzva equivalent (see Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol.4, page 244 for
historical background documentation). Because the Shliach Ya'akov and the first Jewish believers in our Moshiach worshipped in the shul, kept Shabbos (as well as Yom Rishon), and maintained the peoplehood-sustaining minhagim of the Jewish people, they were
able to effectively encourage a people movement from the Jewish
community. It is true that Sha'ul won a few Jewish people into
his Gentile-accommodating congregations, but as far as the Jewish
people as a people were concerned, to flow into such a cultural
environment was not an attractive option. But then Sha'ul had
the Shlichut mission to the Goyim, he did not have the Shlichut mission to the Yehudim; it was Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan (Gal.2:9) who had the Shlichut to the Yehudim and could minister
in such a way as to accommodate the special needs of the Jewish
people as a people. Only the fully operative Messianic Synagogue
community of Ya'akov the Shliach in Yerushalayim could win masses
(see Acts 21:20) from whole segments of the Jewish community.
Stated simply in modern terms, there are a few Jewish people, and
cumulatively, many Jewish people, who can be won by ordinary
local congregations. But, generally speaking, these local
congregations cannot attract whole family units that flow
in a people movement from the Jewish community. To put it
graphically, a Jewish man is not going to bring his wife and bar mitzva-aged son and bat mitva-aged daughter and orthodox mother
to the ordinary local congregation. If one insists on preaching
the G-d of Israel's Good News to this family unit in a Gentile
style rather than a Messianic style and in a Gentile setting
rather than a Biblical Acts 21:20 synagogue setting, one may very
well not win this family unit. But the Bible once again solves
the problem: the first local assembly or kehillah of Messiah's
people was a messianic synagogue community. In fact, Ya'akov the Shliach calls it such in the original language of his book in
chapter 2, verse 2, (see Greek, Jam.2:2) and a messianic
synagogue community the local kehillah must become again,
whenever it finds itself in a Jewish community. (See "Moshiach's Letter Through the Shliach Ya'akov To The Brit Chadasha Kehillah"
from the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha translation from our
website at http://www.afii.org/material.htm).
What has been needed for a long time is a comprehensive tool
designed to further the planting and growth of messianic
synagogues. This is why this book was written.
Galatians 6:15 and Colossians 3:11 clarify that for Goyim
being born from heaven is what is important, not being physically
born of Jewish stock. However, when Sha'ul speaks of the new
birth, he speaks of becoming a spiritual ben Avraham (son of
Abraham--see Gal.3:7-14; Romans 2:28,29; Philippians 3:3). This
book is a series of detachable, interlocking chapters that lead
the Jewish inquirer into progressively deeper levels of
commitment until he has become a member of a messianic synagogue. Hashem has a vested interest in keeping Jewish people Jewish
until the Bias haMoshiach (Coming of Messiah), or else Moshiach Adoneinu will be King of the Jews in name only. Furthermore, it
is not possible for Jewish people to fully obey the Brit Chadasha if they try to do so by apostatizing from the Sinai Covenant and
its mitzvot. This is why cultural specialization is so crucial
in the planting of new ministries (Galatians 2:9), for the Great
Commission of Moshiach commands that Jewish people be not
imperiled as a people, but discipled as a people. In 1974, when
this book was first published, a wonderful breeze of the Ruach Hakodesh was blowing. It had been blowing since 1967, when the
"Six Day War" made it possible for Israel to absorb East
Jerusalem. This caused a revived interest in the Moshiach among
the Jewish people world-wide, because Yerushalayim was no longer
trodden down by Goyim (see also Luke 21:24) and the stage was
being set for the Fig Tree to blossom (21:29-31) into the Bias Moshiach. A world-wide revival began among the Jewish people,
remarkably also in Los Angeles, where this book was written.
Now, even more is happening. What the Jewish community needs are
thousands of growing synagogues with home Torah studies, yahmakahs, Jewish music, Jewish food, Jewish humor, Jewish
customs, ceremonies, holidays, traditions, testimonies, special
events, and everything revolving around and pointing toward a
very Jewish Moshiach who is Adoneinu. Such synagogues can throw
their doors open wide with the confidence that G-d will fill them
with Jewish souls and also with people who are of non-Jewish
descent but are nevertheless spiritually of the seed of Abraham
(Gal.3:7-14) and of the calling of Ruth, called to Messianic
Jewish ministry. These truly heaven-born believers in Moshiach Adoneinu, unlike many anti-semitic nominal and errant followers,
will love the Jewish people in all their Jewishness. They will
understand that rabbis and synagogues have to change very little,
almost nothing, about their liturgy or their manner of worship or
Jewish lifestyle in order to follow the Moshiach. The book of
Hebrews shows that all rabbis and synagogues have to do to find
redemption in Moshiach is to look up into heaven and see a
changing of the guard of the Kohen Gadol, with Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua the Kohen l'Olam al divrati Malki-Tzedek (Ps.110:4) in the Kodesh HaKodashim in Shomayim. Once they
believe in his kapparah and come into the Brit Chadasha Yom
Kippur experience of hitkhadeshut through chesed rather than zechus, very little else has to be changed. Hashem is only
looking for a change of heart, not a change of religion or a
change of allegiance from the Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot. It
is my prayer that G-d will give you, the reader, the same
privilege he gave me, and reward your toil with good ground and
the fruit of a Brit Chadasha-patterned messianic synagogue.
Baruch Hashem!
Dr. Phillip Goble
MESSIANIC EREV SHABBAT SERVICE (GETTING
STARTED IN PLANTING A MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE: TURNING
FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SHABBOS, IN A HOME, IN A RENTED HALL,
ANYWHERE)
PRAYER ON ENTERING MOSHIACH'S SHUL (YA'AKOV 2:2 (OJBC)
[Vah-ah-nee brohv chabs-d'chah ah-voh vey-teh-chah ehsh-tah-chah-veh ehl hey-chahl kahd-sh'chah b'yeer-ah-teh-chah. Mah toh-voo oh-hah-leh-chah yah-ah-kohv meesh-k'noh-teh-chah Yis-ra-el. Vah-ah-nee b'rohv chahs-d'chah ah-voh vey-teh-chah ehsh-tah-cha-veh ehl hey-chal kad-sh'chah b'yeer-ah-teh-chah. Ah-doh-noy ah-hahv-tee m'ohm bay-tehchah oo-m'kohm meesh-kahn k'voh-deh-chah. Vah-ah-nee esh-tah-chah-veh v'ech-rah-ah ev'r'chah leef-nay Ah-doh-nye oh-see. Vah-ah-nee t'fee-la-tee l'chah Ah-doh-noy et rah-tsohn Elo-heem. B'rahv chas-deh-chah ah-ney-nee beh-eh-met yish-eh-cha.]
As for me, in the abundance of thy loving kindness will I
come into thy house: I will worship toward thy holy Temple
in the fear of thee. How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob,
thy tabernacles, 0 Israel! As for me, in the abundance of thy
loving kindness will I come into thy house: I will worship toward
thy holy Temple in the fear of thee. L-rd, I love the habitation
of thy house and the place where thy glory dwelleth. As for me,
I will worship and bow down: I will bend the knee before the
L-rd, my maker. And as for me, may my prayer unto thee, O L-rd,
be in an acceptable time: O G-d, in the
abundance of thy loving kindness, answer me in the truth of thy
salvation.
SILENT MEDITATION PSALM 122
[Sah-mach-tee bohm-reem lee Beyt Adonai neh-lech.
Ohm-doht ha-yoo rag-ley-noo be-shah-rye-yeech Y'roo-shah-lye-yeem. Y'roo-shah-lye-yeem hah-b'noo-yah k'eer sheh-choo-brah lah yach-dahv. Sheh-shahm ah-loo sh'vah-teem sheev-tay yah ay-doot l'Yees-ra-el l'hoh-doht l'shem Ah-do-noy. Kee shah-mah yahsh-voo kee-soht l'meesh-paht kee-soht l'vayt Dovid. Shah-ah-loo sha-lom Y'roo-shah-lye-yeem yeesh-lah-yoo oh-hah-vah-yeech. Y'hee sha-lom b'chay-lech shal-vah b'ahr-m'noh-tah-yeech. L'mah-ahn ah-chye v'ray-eye ah-dahb'rah nah sha-lom bach. L'mah-ahn beyt Ah-do-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo ah-vah-k'shah tohv lahch.]
I was glad when they said unto me,let us go into the house of the
L-rd. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together:
whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the L-rd, unto the
testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the L-rd.
For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house
of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper
that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within
thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now
say, peace be within thee. Because of the house of the L-rd our
G-d I will seek thy good.
BENEDICTION ON KINDLING THE SABBATH-LIGHT IN ZIKARON (REMEMBRANCE) OF MOSHIACH THE OHR HAOLAM (THE
LIGHT OF THE WORLD)
[Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy Elo-hey-noo meh-lech hah-oh-lahm ah-sher kid-shah-noo b'mitz-voh-tahv v'tsi-vah-noo l'had-leek ner shel Shah-baht.]
Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d, King of the universe,
who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast
commanded us to kindle the Sabbath-light.
BENEDICTION ON KINDLING THE FESTIVAL-LIGHT
[Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-do-noy Elo-hey-noo me-lech ha-olahm a-sher keed'-shah-noo b-meetz-voh-tahv v'tsee-vah-noo l'hahd-leek ner shel shabbaht vah) yohm-tohv.]
Blessed art thou, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe,
who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast
commanded us to kindle the Festival-light.
On the first night of the Festival, add the following:
[Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-do-noy Elo-hey-noo me-lech ha-olahm she'he-ch'yah-noo v'kee-y'mah-noo vuh-hee-gee-ah-noo lahz-mahn ha-zeh.]
Blessed art thou, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe,
who hast kept us in life, and hast preserved us, and hast
enabled us to reach this season.
SHALOM ALECHEM [Sha-lom a-lechem mal-a-chey ha-sha-ret mal-a-chey el-yohn mee-mel-ech mal-chey ham'1a-cheem ha-ka-dosh bah-rooch hoo. bo-a-chem l'sha-lom mal-a-chey ha-sha-lom mal-a-chey el-yon. Mee-meh-lech mal-chey ham'la-cheem ha-kadohsh bah-rooch hoo. Bar-choo-nee l'sha-lom mal-a-chey ha-sha-lom mal-a-chey el-yohn mee-meh-lech mal-chey ham'la.cheem ha-ka-dohsh bah-rooch hoo. tzet-chem l'sha-lom mal-a-chey ha-sha-lom mal-a-chey el-yon mee-meh-lech mal-chey ham'la-cheem ha-ka-dohsh ba-rooch hoo.]
Peace be with you, ministering angels,
Messengers of the Most High,
The King of Kings
The Holy One, blessed be He.
May your coming be in peace, etc
(repeat)
Bless me with peace, etc.
(repeat)
May your going be in peace, etc.
(repeat) LECHAH DODI (MOSHIACH'S GILLUY SHECHINAH 19:9 OJBC)
[L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah: Sh'mohr v'zah-chor b'dee-boor eh-chad. Heesh-mee-ah-noo el ham'yoo-chad Ah-do-noy echad oo'sh'moh echad l'shem oo-l'teef-eh-ret v'leet-hee-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah:
Leek-raht shab-baht l'choo v'nayl-chah kee hee m'kohr hah-brah-chah may-rohsh mee-keh-dem n'soo-chah sohf mah-ah-seh b'mah-cha-shah-vah t'chee-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah:
Meek-dahsh meh-lech eer m'loo-chah koo-mee ts'ee mee-tohch hah-hah-feh-chah rahv lach she-vet b'eh-mek hah-bah-chah v'hoo yah-chah-mohl ah-lye-yeech chem-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah: Heet-nah-ah-ree meh-ah-far koo-mee leev-shee beeg-day teef-ahr-taych ah-mee ahl-yahd ben Yee-shai Bayt Hah-lach-mee kar-vah ehl naf-shee g'ah-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah:
Hit-oh-rah-ree hit-or-rah-ree kee vah oh-rech koo-mee oh-ree oo-ree oo-ree sheer dah-ber-ee k'vohd Ah-do-noy ah-lye-yeech neeg-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah: Loh tev-shee v'loh teek-ahl-mee mah teesh-toh-chah-chee oo-mah teh-heh-mee bach yeh-che-soo ah-ne-yay ah-mee v'niv-n'tah eer ahl tee-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah: V'hah-yoo leem-she-sah sh'oh-sah-yeech v'rah-cha-koo kol m'vahl-ah-yeech yah-sees ah-lye-yeech elo-hah-yeech keem-sohs cha-tahn ahl kah-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah:
Yah-meen oo-s'mohl teef-roh-tsee v'et Ah-doh-nye tah-ah-ree-tsee ahl yahd eesh ben pahr-tsee v'nees-m'chah v'nah-gee-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah: Boh-ee v'sha-lom ah-teh-ret bah-lah gahm b'seem-chah oo-v'tsah-hah-lah toch eh-moo-nay ahm s'goo-lah boh-ee cha-lah boh-ee cha-lah. L'chah doh-dee leek-raht cah-lah p'nay shab-baht n'kah-b'lah:]
Come, my friend, to meet the bride, let us welcome the
presence of the Sabbath.
"Observe" and "Remember the Sabbath day," the only G-d caused us
to hear in a single utterance: the L-rd is One, and his name is
One to his renown and his glory and his praise. (Come, etc.)
Come, let us go to meet the Sabbath, for it is a wellspring
of blessing; from the beginning, from of old it was ordained
--last in production, first in thought. (Come, etc.)
0 sanctuary of our King, O regal city, arise, go forth from thy
overthrow; long enough hast thou dwelt in the valley of weeping;
verily he will have compassion upon thee. (Come,etc.)
Shake thyself from the dust, arise, put on the garments of
thy glory, O my people! Through the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, draw thou nigh unto my soul, redeem it. (Come,etc.)
Arouse thyself, arouse thyself, for thy light is come: arise,
shine; awake, awake; give forth a song; the glory of the L-rd
is revealed upon thee. (Come, etc.)
Be not ashamed, neither be confounded. Why art thou cast
down, and why art thou disquieted? The poor of my
people trust in thee, and the city shall be builded on her own
mound. (Come, etc.)
And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that would
swallow thee shall be far away: thy G-d shall rejoice over thee,
as a bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride. (Come, etc.)
Thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left, and
thou shalt reverence the L-rd. Through the offspring of Perez we
also shall rejoice and be glad. (Come, etc.)
Come in peace, thou crown of thy husband, with rejoicing
and with cheerfulness, in the midst of the faithful of the chosen
people: come, O bride; come, 0 bride. (Come, etc.)
PSALM 96
[Sheer-oo l'Ah-doh-noy sheer cha-dahsh sheer-oo l'Ah-doh-noy kol ha-ah-retz. Sheer-oo l'Ah-doh-noy bahr-choo sh'moh bas-roo mee-yohm l'yohm Ye-shua-toh. Sahp-roo vah-goy-eem k'voh-doh b'chol ha-ah-meem neef-l'oh-tahv. Kee gah-dohl Ah-doh-noy oo-m'hoo-lahl m'ohd noh-rah hoo ahl kol Elo-heem. Kee kol ehl-hay
ha-ah-meem eh-lee-leem v'Ah-doh-noy shah-my-eem ah-sah. Hohd v'hah--dahr l'fah-nahv ohz v'teef-eh-ret b'mik-dah-shoh. Hah-voo l'Ah-doh-noy meech-p'choht ah-meem hah-voo l'Ah-doh-noy k'vohd v'ohz. Hah-voo l'Ah-doh-noy k'vohd sh'moh s'oo meen-chah oo-voh-oo l'chats-roh-tav. Heesh-tah-cha-voo l'Ah-doh-noy b'had-raht koh-desh chee-loo me-pahn-ahv kol hah-ah-retz. Eem-roo vah-goy-eem Ah-doh-noy mah-lach ahf tee-kohn te-vel bahl tee-moht yah-deen ah-meem b'may-shah-reem. Yees-m'choo hah-shah-ma--yeem v'tah-gel hah-ah-retz yeer-ahm hah-yahm oo-m'loh-oh. Yah-ah-lohz sah-dye v'chol ah-sher boh ahz y'rah-n'noo koh ah-tsay yah-ar. Leef-nay Ah-doh-noy kee vah kee vah leesh-poht hah-ah-retz yish-poht teh-vel b'tse-dek v'ah-meem beh-eh-moo-nah-toh.]
O sing unto the L-rd a new song: sing unto the L-rd, all the
earth. Sing unto the L-rd, bless his name; show forth his
salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen,
his wonders among all people. For the L-rd is great, and greatly
to be praised: he is to be feared above all g-ds. For all the
g-ds of the nations are idols: but the L-rd made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. Give unto the L-rd, 0 ye kindreds of the people, give
unto the L-rd glory and strength. Give unto the L-rd the glory
due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
O worship the L-rd in the beauty of holiness: fear before him,
all the earth. Say among the heathen that the L-rd reigneth: the
world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he
shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and
let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness
thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then
shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the L-rd: for he
cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the
world with righteousness and the people with his truth.
PSALM 92
[Tov I'hoh-doht l'Ah-doh-noy oo-l'zah-mer l'shem-cha ahl-yohn. L'hah-geed bah-boh-ker chas-deh-cha ve-eh-moo-nah-t'chah bah-lay-loht. Ah-Iay ah-sohr vah-al-lay nah-vel ah-lay hee-gah-yohn b'chee-nohr. Kee seem-mach-tah-nee Ah-doh-noy b'fah-ah-leh-chah b'mah-ah-say yah-deh-chah ah-rah-nen. Mah gahd-loo mah-ah-seh-chah Ah-doh-noy m'ohd ahm-koo mach-sh'voh-teh-chah. Eesh bah-ahr lo yay-dah oo-che-seel loh yah-veen et zoht. Beef-roh-ach r'sha-eem k'moh ay-sev vah-yah-tsee-tsoo kol poh-ah-lay ah-ven l'he-sham-dahm ah-day ahd. V'ah-tah mah-rohm l'oh-lam Ah-doh-noy kee he-neh oh-y'veh-cha Ah-doh-nye kee-he-neh oh-y'veh-cha yoh-veh-doo yeet-pahr-doo kol poh-ah-lay ah-ven. Vah-tah-rem keer-aym kar-nee bah-loh-tee b'sheh-men rah-ah-nahn. Vah-tah-beht ay-nee b'shoo-rye bah-kah-meem ah-lye m'reh-eem teesh-mah-nah ahz-nye. Tsa-deek kah-tah-mahr yeef-rach k'eh-rez bahl-vahn-nohn yees-geh. Sh'too leem b'vayt Ah-doh-noy b'chats-roht Eh-loh-hey-noo yahf-ree-choo. Ohd y'noo-voon b'say-vah d'shay-neem v'rah-ah-nah-neem yee-yoo. L'hah-geed kee yah-shar Ah-doh-nye tsroo-ree v'loh ahv-lah-tah boh.]
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the L-rd, and to sing
praises unto thy name, O Most High: to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night
upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon
the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, L-rd, hast made
me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy
hands. O L-rd, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are
very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool
understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and
when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they
shall be destroyed forever: but thou, L-rd, art most high for
evermore. For lo, thine enemies, O L-rd, for lo, thine enemies
shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a wild ox: I shall
be anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire on
mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked
that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the
palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be
planted in the house of the L-rd shall flourish in the
courts of our G-d. They shall still bring forth fruit in old
age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to show that the L-rd is
upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
PSALM 93
[Ah-doh-noy mah-lach gay-oot lah-vesh Ah-doh-noy ohz heet-ah-zar ahf tee-kohn teh-vel bahl tee-moht. Nah-chohn kees-ah-cha meh-ahz meh-oh-lahm ah-tah. Nahs-oo n'hah-roht Ah-doh-noy nahs-oo n'hah-roht koh-lahm yees-oo n'hah-roht dach-yahm. mee-kohl-oht may-eem rah-beem ah-dee-reem meesh-b'ray-yahm ah-deer bah-ma-rohm Ah-doh-noy ay-doh-teh-cha neh-em-noo m'ohd l'vay-t'cha nah-ah-vah koh-desh Ah-doh-noy l'oh rech yah-meem.]
The L-rd reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the L-rd is
clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the
world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne
is established of old: thou art from everlasting. The floods
have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The
L-rd on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea,
than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies are very
sure: holiness becometh thine house, 0 L-rd, for ever.
THE INVOCATION TO PRAYER
THE READER:
[Bar-choo et Ah-doh.noy ha-m'voh-rahch.]
Bless ye the L-rd who is to be blessed.
THE CONGREGATION:
[Bah-rooch Ah-doh-noy hah-m'voh-rahch lee-oh-lahm vah-ed.
Bah-rooch atah Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo me-lech ha-oh-lahm ah-sher bid-vah-noh mah-ah-reev ah-rah-veem b'chach-mah poh-tey-ach sh'ahr-eem oo-veet-voo-nah m'shah-neh ee-teem oo-mach-ah-leef et haz-mah-neem oo-m'sah-dehr et ha-koh-cha-veem b'mish-m'roh-tay-hem bah-rah-kee-ah kir-tsoh-noh. Boh-rey yohm v'lye-lah goh-lehl ohr me-p'nay cho-shech v'cho-shech me-p'nay ohr. Oo-mah-ah-veer yohm oo-meh-vee lai-lah oo-mahv-deel bayn yohm oo-vayn lai-lah. Ah-doh-noy ts'vah-oht sh'moh. Ayl chai v'kah-yahm tah-mid yeem-lohch ah-ley-noo l'oh-lam vah-ed.
Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy ha-mah-ah-reev ah-rah-veem.]
Blessed is the L-rd who is to be blessed for ever and ever.
Blessed art thou, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who at
thy word bringest on the evening twilight, with wisdom openest the gates of the heavens, and with understanding changest times and variest the seasons, and arrangest the stars
in their watches in the sky, according to thy will. Thou createst day and night; thou rollest away the light from before
the darkness, and the darkness from before the light; thou makest the day to pass and the night to approach, and dividest the day
from the night, the L-rd of hosts is thy name; a G-d living
and enduring continually, mayest thou reign over us for ever
and ever. Blessed art thou, O L-rd, who bringest on the evening
twilight.
BLESSING G-D, THE TEACHER OF ISRAEL
[Ah-ha-vaht oh-lahm bayt Yees-ra-el ahm-cha ah-hahv-tah toh-rah oo-mitz-voht choo-keem oo-meesh-pah-teem oh-tah-noo lee-mahd-tah. Ahl keyn Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo b'shach-bey-noo oo-v'koo-meh-noo nahs-yach b'choo-keh-cha v'nees-mach b'deev-rey toh-rah-teh-cha oo-v'mitz-voh-teh-cha l'oh-lahm vah-ed. Kee chehm cha-yeh-noo v'oh-rech yah-mey-noo oo-va-hem neh-geh yoh-mahm v'lai-lah. V'ah-hah-vah-t'cha ahl tah-seer me-meh-noo l'oh-lah-meem. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy oh-hev ah-moh Yees-rah-el.]
With everlasting love thou hast loved the house of Israel,
thy people; a law and commandments, statutes and judgments
hast thou taught us. Therefore, O L-rd our G-d, when we lie
down and when we rise up we will meditate on thy statutes;
yea, we will rejoice in the words of thy law and in thy
commandments for ever; for they are our life and the length of
our days, and we will meditate on them day and night. And mayest thou never take away thy love from us. Blessed art
thou, O L-rd, who lovest thy people Israel.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (The Aseret ha-Dibrot was once part of
the
worship in the Beis Hamikdash--see Berakhot 12a for why the
rabbis gratuitously cancelled its daily reading.)
[Ah-noh-chee Ah-doh-nye Eh-lo-hey-chah.]
I am the L-rd thy G-d.
[Loh yee-h'yeh l'chah Eh-lo-heem ah-chay-mem al pah-nye.] Thou shalt have no other g-ds before me.
[Loh tee-sah et shem Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-heh-chah lah-shahv.] Thou shalt not take the name of the L-rd thy G-d in vain.
[Zah-chor et yom ha-shah-bat l'kah-d'shoh.]
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
[Kah-beyd et ah-vee-chah vuh-et eem-meh-cha.]
Honor thy father and thy mother.
[Lo teer-tzach.]
Thou shalt not murder.
[Lo teen-ahf.]
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
[Lo teeg-nohv.]
Thou shalt not steal.
[Lo tah-ah-neh v'ray-ah-chah ed sha-ker.]
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,
[Lo toch-mode.]
Thou shalt not covet.
THE SHEMA, OUR CONFESSION
[Sh'mah Yees-rah-el Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo Ah-doh-noy eh-chahd.]
Hear, 0 Israel: the L-rd our G-d is one L-rd.
[Bah-rooch shem kah-vohd mal-choo-toh l'ohlahm vah-ed.]
Blessed be his Name whose glorious kingdom is for ever and
ever.]
THE ANI MA'AMIN OF BRIT CHADASHA ORTHODOX JUDAISM
[Yehoshua hoo Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.]
DEUTERONOMY 6:5-9
[V'ah-hav.tah et Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-heh-cha b'chol l'vahv-cha oo-v'chol nahf-sh'cha oo-v'chol m'oh-deh-cha. V'ha-yoo ha-d'vah-reem hah-eh-leh ah-sher ah-noh-chee m'tsahv-cha ha-yohm ahl l'vah-veh-cha. v'she-nahn-tahm l'vah-neh-cha v'deeb-ar-tah bahm b'sheev-t'cha b'vey-teh-cha oo'v'lech-t'cha vah-deh-rech oo-v'shach-b'cha oo-v'koo-meh-cha. Oo-k'shar-tahm l'oht ahl yah-deh-cha v'ha-yoo l'toh-tah-foht bayn ah-neh-cha. Oo-ch'tav-tahm ahl m'zoo-zoht bay-teh-cha oo-veesh-ah-reh-cha.]
And thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words,
which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
DEUTERONOMY 11:13-21
[V'ha-yah eem shah-moh-ah teesh-m'oo ehl mitz-voh-tai ah-sher ah-noh-chee m'tsah-veh et-chem ha-yom l'ah-hah-vah et
Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-chem oo-l'ahv-doh b'chol l'vahv-chem oo-v'chol nahf-sh'chem. V'nah-tah-tee m'tahr ar-ts'chem b'ee-toh yoh-reh oo-mahl-kosh v'ah-sahf-tah d'gah-neh-cha v'teer-sh'cha v'yeetz-ha-reh-cha. V'nah-tah-tee ay-sev b'sah-d'cha leev-hem-teh-cha v'ah-chal-tah v'sah-vah-tah. Heh-sham-roo lah-chem pehn yeef-teh l'vav-chem v'sahr-tehm vah-ah-vahd-tehm Eh-lo-heem ah-che-reem v'heesh-tah-cha-vee-tehm lah-hem. V'cha-rah ahf Ah-doh-noy bah-chem v'ah-tsahr et ha-shah-mayim v'loh yee-h'yeh mah-tahr v'ha-ah-dah-mah loh te-teyn et y'voo-lah va-ah-vad-tem m'hey-rah mey-ahl ha-ah-retz ha-toh-vah asher Ah-doh-noy noh-teyn lah-chem. V'sahm-tehm et d'vah-rai eh-leh ahl l'vahv-chem v'ahl naf-sh'chem oo-k'shar-tehm oh-tahm l'oht ahl yed-chem v'ha-yoo l'toh-tah-foht bayn ay-nay-chem. V'lee-mahd-teem oh-tahm et b'nay-chem l'dah-behr bahm b'sheev-t'chah. B'vay-teh-cha oov-lech-t'cha v'deh-rech oov-shach-b'cha oov-koo-mecha. Oo-ch'tahv-tahm ahl m'zoo-zoht bay-teh-cha oo-veesh-ah-recha. L'mah-ahn yeer-boo y'may-chem vee-v'may v'ney-chem ahl ha-ah-dah-mah ah-sher neesh-bah
Ah-doh-noy lah-ah-voh-tey-chem lah-tet lah-hem key-may
hah-shah-ma-yim ahl ha-ar-retz.]
And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently unto
my commandments which I command you this day, to love the L-rd
your G-d, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your
soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in its due
season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send
grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be
full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not
deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other g-ds, and worship
them; and then the L-rd's wrath be kindled against you, and he
shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land
yield not her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the good
land which the L-rd giveth you. Therefore, shall ye lay
up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them
for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontiers between
your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon thy
gates, that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your
children, in the land which the L-rd sware unto your fathers to
give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
NUMBERS 15:37-41
[Va-yoh-mer Ah-doh-noy ehl Moh-sheh leh-mohr: Dah-ber el b'nei Yees-ra-el v'ah-mar-tah ah-ley-hem v'ah-soo lah-hem tsee-tseet al-kahn-fay veeg-day-hem l'doh-roh-tahm v'naht-noo al-tsee-tseet ha-kah-nahf p'teel t'chay-let. V'ha-yah lah-chem l'tsee-tseet oo-r'ee-tem oh-toh ooz-char-tem et kol meetz-oht Ah-doh-noy vah-ah-see-tem oh-tahm v'loh tah-too-roo ah-chah-ray l'vav-chem vah-chah-ray ay-nay-chem ah-sher ah-tem zoh-neem ah-chah-ray-hem. L'mah-ahn teez-k'roo vah-ah-see-tem et kol mee-tzoh-tah vee-h'yee-tem k'doh-sheem lay-loh-hay-chem. Ah-nee Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hay-chem a-sher hoh-tzay-tee et-chem may-eh-retz metz-ray-yeem lee-h'yoht le-chem lay-loh-heem Ah-nee Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-hay-chem.]
And the L-rd spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of
Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders
of their garments, throughout their generations, and that
they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: and it
shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and
remember all the commandments of the L-rd, and do them; and that
ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which
ye use to go a whoring: that ye may remember, and do all my
commandments, and be holy unto your G-d. I am the L-rd your G-d,
which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your G-d: I am
the L-rd your G-d.
G-D OUR REDEEMER
[Eh-met veh-eh-moo-nah kol zoht v'kah-yahm ah-ley-noo kee hoo Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo v'ayn zoo-lah-toh vah-ah-nach-noo Yees-rah-el ah-moh ha-poh-dey-noo mee-yahd m'lah-cheem mahl-kay-noo hah-goh-ah-ley-noo mee-kahf kol heh-ah-ree-tseem ha-El hah-neef-rah lah-noo meetza-rey-noo v'hahm-shah-lem g'mool l'chol oi'y'vey nahf-shey-noo hah-oh-seh g'doh-lot ahd ayn chey-kehr v'neef-lah-oht ahd ayn mees-pahr. Hah-sahm nahf-shey-noo bah-cha-yeem v'loh nah-tahn lah-moht rahg-ley-noo.
Ha-mahd-ree-chey-noo ahl bah-moht oi-y'vay-noo vah-yah-rem kar-ney-noo ahl kol soney-noo. Ha-oh-seh lah-noo nee-seem oo-n'kah-mah b'far-oh oh-toht oo-mohf-teem b'ahd-maht bnei Chahm.
Hah-mah-keh b'ehv-rah-toh kol b'cho-rey Meetz-rah-yeem v'yoh-tsey et ah-moh Yees-ra-el me-toh-cham l'chey-root oh-lahm.
Hah-ma-ah-veer bah-nahv beyn geez-ray Yahm Soof et rohd-fey-hem v'et sho-ney-hem beet-hoh-moht tee-bah. V'rah-oo vah-nahv g'voo-rah-toh sheeb-choo v'hoh-doo leesh-moh. Oo-mahl-choo-toh b'rahtz-ohn keeb-loo ah-ley-hem Moh-sheh oo-v'ney Yees-rah-el l'chah ah-noo sheer-ah b'seem-chah rah-bah v'ahm-roo choo-lahm.]
True and trustworthy is all this, and it is established with us
that he is the L-rd our G-d, and there is none beside him, and
that we, Israel, are his people. It is he who redeemed us from
the hand of kings, even our King, who delivered us from the
grasp of all the terrible ones; the G-d, who on our behalf dealt
out punishment to our adversaries, and requited all the enemies
of our soul; who doeth great things past finding out, yea, and
wonders without number; who holdest our soul in life, and hath
not suffered our feet to be moved; who made us tread upon the
high places of our enemies, and exalted our horn over all them
that hated us; who wrought for us miracles and vengeance upon Pharoah, signs and wonders in the land of the children of Ham;
who in his wrath smote all the first-born of Egypt, and brought
forth his people Israel from among them to everlasting freedom;
who made his children pass between the divisions of the Red Sea,
but sank their pursuers and their enemies in the depths. Then
his children beheld his might; they praised and gave thanks unto
his name, and willingly accepted his sovereignty. Moses and the
children of Israel sang a song unto thee with great joy, saying,
all of them, MEE CHAH-MOH-CHA [Mee chah-moh-cha bah-eh-leem Ah-doh-noy. Mee chah-moh-chah neh-dahr bah-koh-desh noh-rah t'hee-loht oh-seh feh-leh. Mahl-choo-t'chah rah-oo vah-neh-chah boh-key-ah yahm leef-ney Moh-sheh zeh eh-lee ah-noo v'ahm-roo. Ah-doh.noy yeem-lach l'oh-lam vah-ed. V'neh-eh-mahr kee fah-dah Ah-doh-noy et
Yah-a-kohv oo-g'ah-loh mee-yahd chah-zak mee-meh-noo. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy ga-ahl Yees-ra-el.]
Who is like unto thee, 0 L-rd, among the mighty ones? Who is like
unto thee, glorious in holiness, revered in praises, doing
wonders? Thy children beheld thy sovereign power, as thou didst
cleave the sea before Moses: they exclaimed, this is my G-d!
and said, the L-rd shall reign for ever and ever. And it is
said, for the L-rd hath delivered Jacob, and redeemed him from
the hand of him that was stronger than he. Blessed art thou, 0
L-rd, who hast redeemed Israel. HAHSH-KEE-VEY-NOO [Hahsh-kee-vey-noo Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-hey-noo l'sha-lom v'hah-ah-mee-dey-noo mal-key-noo l'cha-yeem. Oo-f'rohs ah-ley-noo soo-kaht sh'loh-meh-chah v'tahk-ney-noo b'ay-tsah toh-vah meel'fah-neh-cha v'hoh-shee'ay-noo l'mah-ahn sh'meh-chah. V'hah-gen ba-ah-dey-noo v'hah-sehr mey-ah-ley-noo oh-yev deh-vehr v'che-rev v'rah-ahv v'yah-gohn v'hah-sehr sah-tahn meel-fah-ney-noo oo-may-ah-cha-rey-noo. Oo-v'tsayl k'nah-feh-chah tahs-tee-rey-noo kee El shohm-rey-noo oo-mah-tsee-ley-noo ah-tah kee El melech chah-noon v'rah-choom
ah-tah. Oosh'mohr tsey-tey-noo oo-voh-ey-noo l'chah-yeem oo-l'sha-lom mey-ah-tah v'ahd oh-lahm. Oo-f'rohs ah-ley-noo soo-kaht sh'loh-meh-chah. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy hah-poh-reys soo-kaht shalom ah-ley-nu v'ahl kol ah-moh Yees-rah-el v'ahl Y'roosh-ah-la-yeem.]
Cause us, 0 L-rd our G-d, to lie down in peace, and raise us up,
O our King, unto life. Spread over us the tabernacle of thy
peace; direct us aright through thine own good counsel; save
us for thy name's sake; be thou a shield about us; remove
from us every enemy, pestilence, sword, famine and sorrow;
remove also the adversary from before us and from behind us. 0
shelter us beneath the shadow of thy wings, for thou, 0
G-d, art our Guardian and our Deliverer; yea, thou, O G-d,
art a gracious and merciful King; and guard our going out and
our coming in unto life and unto peace from this time forth
and forevermore; yea, spread over us the tabernacle of thy
peace. Blessed art thou, O L-rd, who spreadest the tabernacle
of peace over us and over all thy people Israel, and over
Jerusalem.
ON SABBATHS:
[V'shahm-roo b'nay Yees-rah-el et ha-Shah-baht lah-ah-soht et
hah-Shab-baht l'doh-roh-tahm b'reet oh-lahm. Bay-nee oo-vayn b'nay Yees-rah-el oht hee l'oh-lahm kee shey-shet yah-meem ah-sah Ah-doh-noy et ha-shah-my-eem v'et hah-ah-retz oo'v-yohm hahsh-vee-ee. Shah-vaht vah-yee-nah-fahsh.]
And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe
the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting
covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for
ever, that in six days the L-rd made the heavens and the earth,
and on the seventh day he rested, and ceased from his work.
(Exodus 31:16-17)
ON PESACH, SHAVUOS, AND SUCCOT, SAY:
[Vah-ye'da-behr Moh-sheh et m'oh-day Ah-doh-noy el b'nay Yees-rah-el.]
And Moses declared the set feasts of the L-rd unto the children
of Israel.
ON ROSH HASHANAH:
[Teek-oo vah'choh-desh sho-far bah-keh-seh l'yohm hah-gay-noo. Kee chohk l'Yees-rah-el hoo meesh-paht lay-loh-hay Yah-ah-kohv.]
Blow the shofar on the new moon, at the beginning of the
month, for our day of festival: for it is a statute for Israel, a
decree of the G-d of Jacob.
ON YOM KIPPUR:
[Kee vah-yohm ha-zeh y'cha-pehr ah-lay-chem l'tah-hehr et-chem. Mee-kol cha-toh-tay-chem leef-nay Ah-doh-noy teet-ha-roo.] For
on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you;
from all your sins shall ye be clean before
the L-rd (Leviticus 16:30).
THE AMIDAH The Congregation will stand for the Amidah.
[Ah-doh-noy s'fah-taye teef-tahch oo-fee yah-geed t'hee-lah-teh-cha. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo vah-loh-hey ah-voh-tay-noo, Eh-loh-hey Ahv-rah-hahm Eh-loh-hey Yeets-chahk vay-loh-hey Yah-ah-kohv, ha-El ha-gah-dohl ha-gee-bohr v'hah-noh-rah El ehl-yohn, goh-mayl chah-sah-deem toh-veem v'koh-nay ha-kohl, v'zoh-chayr chahs-day ah-voht oo-may-vee Go'el leev-nay v'nay-hem l'mah-ahn sh'moh b'ah-ha-vah.]
L-rd, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy
praise (Psalm 51:17). Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d and G-d of
our fathers, G-d of Abraham, G-d of Isaac, and G-d of Jacob, the
great, mighty and revered G-d, the most high G-d, who bestowest lovingkindnesses, and possessest all things; who rememberest the pious deeds of the patriarchs, and in love wilt bring a
Redeemer to their children's children for thy name's sake.
[Mel-ek oh-zayr oo-Moh-shee-ah oo-mah-gayn. Ba-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy mah-gayn Ahv-rah-hahm. Ah-tah gee-bohr l'oh-lahm Ah-doh-noy m'chay-yeh may-teem ah-tah rahv l'hoh-shee-ah.]
0 King, Helper, Saviour and Shield. Blessed art thou, 0
L-rd, the Shield of Abraham. Thou, 0 L-rd, art mighty for ever,
thou quickenest the dead, thou art mighty to save.
[M'chal-kayl chaye-yeem b'cheh-sed m'chay-yay may-teem b'rah-chah-meem rah-veem, soh-maych nohf-leem v'roh-fay choh-leem oo-mah-teer ah-soo-reem oom-kah-yaym em-oo-nah-toh lee-shay-nay
ah-fahr, mee chah-moh-chah bah-ahl g'voo-roht oo-mee doh-meh lahch mel-ek may-meet oom-chah-yet oo-mats-mee-ach yeshua.]
Thou sustainest the living with lovingkindness, quickenest the dead with great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the
sick, loosest the bound, and keepest thy faith to them that
sleep in the dust. Who is like unto thee, L-rd of mighty acts,
and who resembleth thee, 0 King, who killest and quickenest,
and causest salvation to spring forth?
[V'neh-eh-mahn ah-tah l'ha-cha-yoht may-teem, bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy, m'cha-yay ha-may-teem. Ah-tah kah-dosh v'sheem-cha kah-dosh oo-ke-doh-sheem b'chahl yohm y'ha-lah-loo-chah seh-lah,
bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy, ha-El haKadosh. Yea,faithful art thou to quicken the dead. Blessed art thou,
O L-rd, who quickenest the dead. Thou art holy, and thy name is
holy, and holy beings praise thee daily. (Selah.) Blessed art
thou, 0 L-rd, the holy G-d.
GENESIS 2:1-3
Ah-tah kee-dahsh-tah et yohm hahsh-sh'vee-ee leesh-meh-cha tahch-leet mah-ah-say sha-mah-yeem vah-ah-retz. Oo-vay-rahch-toh mee-kahl hay-yah-meem v'kee-dahsh-toh mee-kahl hahz-mah-neem. V'chayn ka-toov b-toh-rah-teh-cha. Va-y'choo-loo ha-shah-may-yeem v-ha-ah-retz v'chol ts-vah-ahm. Va'ye-chahl Eh-loh-heem bayohm hahsh-sh'vee-ee m'lahch-to ah-sher ah-sah va-yish-boht bayom hahsh'sh'vee-ee mee-kahl m'lahch-to ah-sher ah-sah. Vay'vah-rech El-lo-him es yom hash-sh'vee-ee va'y'kah-desh oto kee bo sha-vaht mee-kol m'lach-to asher bah-rah
Eh-loh-heem lah-ah-sot.
Thou didst hallow the seventh day unto thy name, as the
end of the creation of heaven and earth, thou didst bless it
above all days, and didst hallow it above all seasons, and thus
it is written in thy law: And the heaven and the earth were
finished and all their host. And on the seventh day G-d had
finished his work which he had made. And G-d blessed the seventh
day, and he hallowed it, because he rested thereon from all his
work which G-d had created and made.
A PRAYER FOR THE SABBATH
Eh-loh-hay-noo vay-loh-hay ah-voh-tay-noo, r'tsay veem-noo-cha-tay-noo kahd-shay-noo b'meets-voh-tey-cha v'tayn chel-kay-noo b'toh-rah-teh-cha, sahb-ay-noo mee-too-veh-cha v'sahm-chay-noo bee-shoo-ah-teh-cha v'tah-her lee-bay-noo l'ahv-d'cha beh-eh-met, v'hahn-chee-lay-noo Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-hey-noo b'ah-ha-vah oov-rah-tsohn sha-baht kah-sheh-cha v'yah-noo-choo vah Yees-rah-el m'kahd-shay sh'meh-cha, bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy, m'kah-desh ha-Sha-baht
Our G-d and G-d of our fathers, accept our rest; sanctify us by
thy commandments, and grant our portion in thy law; satisfy us
with thy goodness, and gladden us with thy salvation; purify our
hearts to serve thee in truth; and in thy love and favor, 0 L-rd
our G-d, let us inherit thy holy Sabbath; and may Israel, who
hallow thy name, rest thereon. Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd, who hallowest the Sabbath.
THANKSGIVING FOR G-D'S MERCY
[Moh-deem ah-nahch-noo lahch sha-ah-tah hoo Ah-doh-noy Elo-hey-noo veh-loh-hay ahv-voh-tay-noo l'oh-lahm vah-ed, tsoor cha-yay-noo mah-gen yeesh-eh-noo ah-tah hoo l'dohr vah-dohr, noh-deh l'cha oon-sah-per t'hee-lah-teh-cha ahl chay-yay-noo hahm-m'soo-reem b'yah-deh-cha v'ahl neesh-moh-tay-noo hahp-p'koo-doht lach, v'ahl nees-say-cha sheh-b'chahl yohm eem-mah-noo v'ahl neef-l'oh-teh-cha v'toh-voh-teh-cha sheb-b'chohl et eh-rev vah-voh-ker v'tsah-ha-rah-yeem ha-tov kee loh chah-loo rah-cha-may-cha, v'ha-m'rah-chem kee lo tah-moo
cha-sah-deh-cha may-oh-lahm kee-vee-noo lach. V'chohl ha-chay-yeem yoh-doo-cha seh-lah, vee-hah-lah-loo et sheem-chah beh-eh-met haEl y'shoo-ah-tay-noo v'ez-rah-tay-noo seh-lah,
bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy, ha-tohv sheem-cha ool-cha nah-eh
l-hoh-doht.]
We give thanks unto thee, for thou art the L-rd our G-d and the
G-d of our fathers for ever and ever; thou art the rock of our
lives, the shield of our salvation through every generation. We
will give thanks unto thee and declare thy praise for our lives
which are committed unto thy hand, and for our souls which are in
thy charge, and for thy miracles, which are daily with us, and
for thy wonders and thy benefits which are wrought at all times,
evening, morning, and noon. O thou who art all-good, whose
mercies fail not; thou, merciful being, whose lovingkindnesses never cease, we have ever hoped in thee. And everything that liveth shall give thanks unto thee for ever, and shall praise thy
name in truth. O G-d, our salvation and our help. Blessed art
thou, O L-rd, whose name is all-good, and unto whom it is
becoming to give thanks.
PRAYER FOR PEACE
[Sha-lom rahv ahl Yees-rah-el ahm-meh-cha tah-seem l'oh-lahm, kee ah-tah hoo meh-lech Ah-dohn l'chohl ha-sha-lom, v'tohv b'ay-neh-cha l'vah-rech et ahm-meh-cha Yees-rah-el b'chohl et oov-chohl sha-ah beesh-loh-meh-cha. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy ham-varech et ah-moh Yees-rah-el bah-sha-lom.]
Grant abundant peace unto Israel thy people for ever; for
thou art the sovereign L-rd of all peace; and may it
be good in thy sight to bless thy people Israel at all times and
at every hour with thy peace. Blessed art thou, O L-rd, who blessest thy people Israel with peace.
MEDITATION
[Elohai, n'tsohr l'sho-nee meh-rah, oo-s'fah-tai mee-dah-behr meer-mah, v'leem-kah-l'lai naf-shee tee-dohm, v'naf-shee keh-ah-fahr lah-kohl tee-yeh. P'tach lee-bee b'toh-rah-teh-chah, oo'v'mee-tsvoh-teh-chah tir-dohf nahf-shee. V'chol ha-choh-shveem ahlai rah-ah, m'hey-rah ha-fer ah-tsah-tahm v'kahl-kel mah-cha-shahv'tahm. Ah-seh l'mah-ahn sh'meh-chah,
ah-seh l'mah-ahn y'mee-neh-chah ah-seh l'mah-ahn k'doo-shah-teh-chah, ah-seh l'mah-ahn toh-rah-teh-chah. L'mah-ahn yeh-chaltsoon v'dee-deh-chah hoh-she-ah y'meen-chah vah-ahneh-nee.]
0 my G-d! Guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking
guile; and to such as curse me let my soul be dumb, yea, let my
soul be unto all as the dust. Open my heart to thy law and let
my soul pursue thy commandments. If any design evil against me,
speedily make their counsel of none effect, and frustrate their
designs. Do it for the sake of thy name, do it for the sake of
thy right hand, do it for the sake of thy holiness, do it for the
sake of thy law. In order that thy beloved ones may be
delivered, 0 save with thy right hand, and answer me.
[Yee-yoo l'rah-tsohn eem-ray fee v'heg-yohn lee-bee l'fah-neh-chah, Ah-doh-noy tsoo-ree v'go'ah-lee. Oh-seh shalohm beem-roh-mahv, hoo yah-ah-seh sha-lom ah-ley-noo v'ahl kol Yees-ra-el v'eem-roo. Amen.]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in thy sight, 0 L-rd, my Rock and my Redeemer. He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for
all Israel, and say ye, Amen.
TORAH READING HAFTORAH READING
SERMON KADDISH AND THE TEFILLAH OF MOSHIACH [Yees-gah-dal v'yees-kah-dash sh'mey rab-bo, b'ol-mo deev'ro kheer-oo-seh v'yahm-leek mal-choo-seh b'chah-yay-chohn oov-yoh-may-chohn, oov-chay-yay d'chohl beys Yees-ro-el. Ba-ah-goh-loh oo'veez-mahn koh-reev v'eem-roo. O-men. Y'hay sh'may rab-bah m'voh-rahch l'oh-lahm ool-ol-may ol-mayo. Yees-boh-rahch v'yeesh-tah-bach v'yees-poh-ahr v'yees-roh-mahm. V'yees-nah-say v'yees-ha-dor v'yees-ah-leh v'yees-hal-ol sh'may d'kood'shoh b'reech hoo l'eh-loh meen kol beer-cho-soh v'sheer-oh-soh. toosh-b'cho-soh v'neh-che-moh-soh dah-ah-mee-ron b'ol-moh v'eem-roo, O-men. Y'hey sh'loh-moh rab-boh meen sh'mah-yoh v'chay-yeem oh-ley-noo v'al kol Yees-rah-el v'eem-roo.
O-men. O-seh sho-lom beem-roh-mohv hoo yah-ah-seh sho-lem oh-ley-noo v'ahl kol Yees-rah-el v'eem-roo. O-men.]
Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he
hath created according to his will. May he establish his
kingdom in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of
all the house of Israel, speedily and at a near time; and say ye, Amen.Let his great name be blessed for ever and ever.
Blessed, praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded, be the name of the Holy One, blessed be he,
beyond, yea, beyond all blessings and hymns, praises and songs,
which are uttered in the world; and say ye, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us andfor all Israel; and say ye, Amen. May he who maketh peace in
his high places, make peace for us and for all Israel; and say
ye, Amen. MOSHIACH'S TEFILLAH `Avinu sh'baShomayim` (`Our Father in heaven`), `yitkadash shmecha` (`hallowed be your Name`). `Tavo malchutechah`
(`Thy Kingdom come`) `Ye'aseh r'tzonechah` (`Thy will be done`)
`k'moh vaShomayim ken ba'aretz` (`on earth as it is in heaven`).
`Es lechem chukeinu ten lanu hayom` (`Give us today our daily
bread`), `u-s'lach lanu es chovoteinu ka'asher salachnu`
(`and forgive us our debts`) gam anachnu lachayaveinu` (`as we
also have forgiven our debtors`). `V'al t'vieinu lidey nisayon` (`And lead us not into temptation`) `ki im chaltzeinu min harah` (`but deliver us from evil [or the
evil one]`). [`Ki l'chah hamamlachah` (`for thine is the
Kingdom`) `v'hagvurah` (`and the power`) `v'hatiferet`
(`and the glory`) `l'olmey olamim`(`forever`).`Omen`]
KIDDUSH
[Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy Eh-lo-hey-noo meh-lech ha-oh-lahm boh-ray p'ree ha-gah-fen. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-hey-noo meh-lech ha-oh-lahm ah-sher keed-sha-noo b'meets-voh-tahv v'rah-tsah vah-noo v'Shab-baht kahd-shoh bah-ha-vah oov-rahts-ohn heen-chee-lah-noo zee-kah-rohn l'mah-ahn-seh v'ray-sheet, kee hoo yom t'chee-lah l'meek-rah-ay ko-desh zay-cher lee-tsee-aht meetz-rah-yeem. Kee vah-noo vah-chahr-tah v'oh-tah-noo kee-dahsh-tah me-kohl ha-ah-meem v'shab-bat kahd-sh'cha b'ah-ha-vah--oov-rah-tsohn heen-chahl-tah-noo. Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy m'kah-desh ha-shab-baht.]
Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who createst the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d,
King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments
and hast taken pleasure in us, and in love and favor hast given
us the holy Sabbath as an inheritance, a memorial of the
creation, that day also being the first of the holy convocations,
in remembrance of the departure from Egypt. For thou hast chosen
us and sanctified us bove all nations, and in love and favor hast
given us the holy Sabbath as an inheritance. Blessed art thou,
0 L-rd, who hallowest the Sabbath.
HA-MOTZI BLESSING
[Bah-rooch ah-tah Ah-doh-noy Eh-loh-hey-noo melech ha-Olam ha-motzi lechem min ha'ah-retz]
Blessed art thou, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who
brings forth bread from the earth.
AN EFFECTIVE JEWISH HOME BIBLE STUDY
Imagine, if you will, a Jewish family who believe in Moshiach Adoneinu and open their door to anyone who would like to come one
night a week to a home Torah study. As you walk into the
door of their home, you notice yahmakahs lying next to a
guest book. You put on a yahmakah, perhaps, and sign the
guest book, providing your address, postal code and phone
number. You walk past the Jewish pastries prepared and covered in
the dining room where refreshments will be served after the
Torah study. Before long someone has given you a Tanach and a
Brit Chadasha and a songsheet of Jewish music, and you soon find
yourself clapping rhythmically to the Jewish songs, some
traditional, some based on Scripture, but all led by a
musician whose testimony in word and song has "Jewish soul."
The Torah teacher puts you at ease with Jewish humor
and Yiddish bon-mots and stirs your interest with exciting
announcements of up-coming special events at this Torah
study. Next week there will be a film on Israel, the following
week there will be an Israeli singer who will share how G-d
has miraculously touched her life. The week after that a Jewish
rabbi will tell his breath-taking story of how he found the Moshiach in the Hebrew Bible. You get the impression that there
is so much going on in this Jewish home that you're going to miss
out if you're not here every week, bringing your friends and
family. Next there is an informal get-acquainted time in which
each person stands to give his name, where he's from and is
given the opportunity to share a word or two, perhaps, on
what he's especially thankful for or glad about tonight.
Answers to prayer and testimonies and smiles soon begin to
crackle all around the room. The Torah teacher then asks someone
in the audience to share her testimony, and for a few minutes
minutes you hear how it happened that another Jewish person came
to believe in Moshiach and still remained Jewish in the process!
Her humorous and yet touching story strangely stirs you, so that
afterwards when you sing the shema, you experience a strange new
warmth in the room. The Torah teacher obviously knows the Bible.
He comments on the Hebrew and relates the Torah to the prophets
and the Brit Chadasha, pointing to the Messianic prophecies that
predict the coming of Moshiach. The Torah teacher is obviously a
likeable man with easy-going humor, yet you can also see that he
is a man with great love for and dedicationto the Jewish people. For example, you know that he
has gone to great trouble to drive many people to this home in
his own vehicle, he has called and invited many people on the
phone, and he spends a great deal of his time helping the people
he ministers to. His whole attitude is that of a servant. You
notice that he is a humble man and seems to derive great peace
from the Word of G-d, and his teaching has practical application
for day-to-day living. At the close of his teaching from the
Torah and the prophets, he asks everyone to pray in unison with
him a prayer in which you promise the G-d of
Israel that if he will reveal from the Scriptures who the Moshiach is, you will follow Moshiach no matter what the cost.
The Torah teacher asks all those who would appreciate prayer
concerning this matter or any other to raise their hands. The
Torah teacher then asks for a show of hands for anyone
needing healing for any kind of problem. There is a general
prayer time for a few minutes. A prayer request sheet passed
around earlier is prayed over. As you prepare to leave, you are
invited to the Friday night erev Shabbat service. In a very warm
and joyful way, you are being drawn into a life of
commitment and learning and service in a growing Messianic
Synagogue that is so wonderfully Jewish you're not
ashamed to tell anyone in your family that you go there.
A FINAL NOTE ON YOUR MESSIANIC FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICE
Since the saving confession is not the Shema (James2:19), but
that Moshiach Adoneinu is Yehoshua (Romans 10:9), it is important
to sing the total confession of Moshiach's Judaism. Therefore,
when you come to the Shema be sure to sing "Ah-don-noy,
Ah-don-noy, Yehoshua haMoshiach Adonoy. Ba-rooch Ah-tah, Ah-
don-noy, Eh-lo-hey-noo, Yehoshua the Moshiach Adonoy" (sung to
the tune of "He Is L-rd").
WHAT IS MOSHIACH'S JUDAISM?
WHAT IS MOSHIACH'S JUDAISM?
The name of the Moshiach in the Tanach is Yehoshua (see How To
Point To Moshiach in Your Rabbi's Bible downloadable at
http://www.afii.org/material.htm on the Internet). The personal
name Yehoshua was later shortened to be spelled YUD, TSAYREH,
SHIN, SHURUK, AYIN, PATACH, though it is important to remember
that the Greek word for IESOU, is also the word for Joshua
[Yehoshua is Hebrew for Joshua] in Acts 7:45).
Many people like to see a sharp distinction between "Judaism" and
the faith of the Brit Chadasha in Moshiach Yehoshua.
However, the distinction is not so clear. In fact, if by
"Judaism" we mean the true Messianic, Biblical religion of
Israel, then the faith of the Brit Chadasha should be labeled or
inscribed as "Judaism." In reality, the faith of the Brit Chadasha is true, culturally all-inclusive, Messianic Judaism, in
fact "orthodox" (the straight or correct [ortho] belief [doxa])
Judaism.
JUDAISM FOR THE NATIONS
For the past two millenia Messianic Judaism has largely set aside
its overt Jewishness in order to penetrate the vast and varied
cultures of the Goyim in the task of taking its message to the
ends of the earth and bringing the nations to faith in the Moshiach. This is as it should be. Many people do not know that
Judaism used to be a "proselytizing" religion, and that leaders
of Judaism were both zealous and highly successful at making
proselytes. In fact, so numerous were the proselytes in Biblical
times that there is even a term in Scripture for conversion to
Judaism - mityahadim (see Esther 8:17). The rabbis knew that
Judaism was not merely a narrow, national religion. The Talmud
says that the teachings of Judaism were freely meant for all
mankind (see Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 146a, where Devarim 29:13-14 [14-15] is quoted as referring to proselytes). And just
as Gentiles were saved in Noah's ark, so Ruth was also brought
under Hashem's wings (Ruth 2:12). In the High HolyDay Prayerbook, we read on Rosh Hashanah "Also Noah Thou didst
remember in love, and didst remember him with a promise of
salvation and mercy, when Thou didst send the flood to destroy
all creatures because of their evil deeds. So his remembrance
came before Thee, O L-rd our G-d, to increase his seed like the
dust of the earth and his offspring like the sand of the sea."
So hope is held out that the Righteous Gentiles of the world will
have a share in the World to Come. In fact, according to ancient
tradition, the first proselytes to the Jewish faith were Abraham
and Sarah, and through their descendants G-d intended to
proselytize the nations (see also Matthew 28:19). We know from
the book of Jonah that the prophets were called to preach to the
Gentiles as well as the Jews. For a few other texts of many in
the Hebrew Scriptures on the universal scope of the Jewish faith,
see Gen. 22:18; Ps. 22:27; 85:9; Isaiah 45:22; 49:6; 60:3; 66:23
Dan.7:14; Hos.2:23; Zechariah 14:16, to speak of a few.
However, this focus on Gentiles does not disqualify Messianic
Judaism as Judaism. Make no mistake about it, it is not a Gentile
religion. Even its enemies called it a sect of Judaism (Act
24:14), not a Gentile religion, and its followers called it
"HaDerech" (the Way"), the Derech Hashem (Isaiah 40:3), the Derech Tzaddikim (Ps.1:6), true Judaism. Its followers were Jews.
It was from the Jews that the world received Messianic Judaism
and the Jewish Moshiach Adoneinu. Even the Brit Chadasha, which
is the Jewish New Covenant Holy Scriptures, was written by Jews.
It was also from the Jews that we received the world-wide
Messianic Synagogue kehillah, at first composed exclusively of
physical Jews and proselytes and now comprising spiritual bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) from every race on earth. Unfortunately,
many people are ignorant of the fact that the universal Community
of Messiah's people is nothing other than a culturally
all-adaptable Messianic Synagogue. This Messianic Synagogue,
though it is capable of changing into every manner of ethnic
attire, from a teepee Bible study to an igloo prayer meeting,
nevertheless always wears its basic synagogue apparel, the Jewish
Scriptures and the Jewish rituals. Its Jewish rituals are the mikveh tevilah immersion of Moshiach, which is standard
Jewish activity when making proselytes to Judaism, and the Seudah of Moshiach, which is the Brit Chadasha Pesach covenant meal of
the bnei Avraham who are adherents to Messianic Judaism. It is
little wonder the One G-d of Israel has been able to use a
Messianic Synagogue of such cultural elasticity to make
spiritual Bnei Avraham in every people and to spread Messianic
Judaism through-out all the nations. The faith of the Brit Chadasha is not only Judaism, it is the oldest form of Judaism in
the world extant and unchanged from Second Temple days, as we
shall see.
JUDAISM WITH BIBLICAL MONOTHEISM
The English translation of the Zohar by Soncino Press (2nd
Edition, 1984) conveniently leaves out a controversial passage
about the "threeness" of Hashem. When we look at the original
language in Zohar Vol.3 Ha'azinu page 288b, we see the omitted
text, which, comments on Daniel 7:13, where the Son of Man Moshiach comes to the Ancient of Days. The Zohar says, "The
Ancient One is described as being two (TAV-RESH-YUD-FINAL NOON,
Aramaic for "two")." G-d and the Moshiach, called by Daniel "the
Ancient of Days" and "the Son of Man" are obviously a picture of
G-d as "two" in the Bible, and the Zohar owns up to this fact,
calling G-d "two." Two sentences prior to that on the same page,
the original language of the text of the Zohar says, "The Ancient
Holy One [i.e. G-d, Daniel 7:13] is found with three
(TAV-LAMMED-TAV, Aramaic for "three") heads or chiefs
(RESH-YUD-SHIN-YUD-FINAL NOON Aramaic for "heads"), which are
united in One (CHET-DALET Aramaic for "one")." Here we have a
picture in the Zohar of the raz (mystery) of G-d's unity, the
distinct havayot (subsistences, modes of being) in Adonoy Echad.
It says somewhere that Moshiach, even though his was the form of
the mode of being of Elohim, nevertheless, he humbled himself and
took the form of the mode of being of a servant, the "Tzaddik Avdi" of YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:11.
Here the Zohar helps us understand the Tanakh, because the Ruach Hakodesh is with Hashem at creation, says BERESHIS (GENESIS)
1:1-2, but so is the Dvar Hashem, according to Tehillim (Psalm) 33:6. Now the Dvar Hashem (Word of G-d) is worshiped,
according to Tehillim 56:11 (10), which would be idolatry if the Dvar Hashem did not partake of Hashem's quality of "G-dness,"
which can also be said of the Moshiach, who, unlike the idols in
Daniel 3:18, is worshiped by all peoples in Daniel 7:14 (cf. the
Aramaic word PAY-LAMMED-CHET is in both passages, which means "to
pay reverence to deity, worship"). The fact that Tehillim 56:11(10) and Daniel 7:14 speak of both the Dvar Hashem and the Moshiach as worthy of reverence as deity is more understandable
if it is remembered that G-d's Chochmah (Wisdom) is his
instrument in creation, according to Tehillim (Psalm) 104:24 and Mishle (Proverbs) 3:19. But G-d's Chochmah, like the Moshiach,
is referred to as the Ben haElohim (Mishle 30:4; cf. Tehillim 2:7), leading us to conclude that they are one and the same. In Moshiach, Hashem's eternal Chochmah comes down from heaven and
walks on this earth and confronts mankind in person. In the
beginning the Dvar Hashem, the Moshiach, was with Hashem, and the Dvar Hashem, the Moshiach, had the form of the mode of being of
G-d! And the Dvar hashem came on the scene of the Olam Hazeh as
a man!
So Hashem is Echad, but in his unity there are distinct havayot (subsistences, modes of being) so that Elohim Avinu distinquished from Moshiach and is not Moshiach, and Moshiach is not the Ruach Hakodesh. Yet, at the same time, there is an interpersonal
fellowship in G-d's personhood, such that, when He creates Man in
his image, G-d does not create a solitary monad alone on an
island, because G-d is not a monad alone in the cosmos. On the
contrary, G-d creates male-and-female capable of conceiving
offspring, and thus the threeness of this interpersonal fellowhip of male-and-female-capable-of-conceiving-offspring on earth (see BERESHIS or GENESIS 2:24; 4:1) reflects a threeness in the
interpersonal fellowship of the One G-d of Israel.
This is not Tritheism. Messianic Jews who believe the Biblical
data in the Tanakh are sometimes accused by their detractors of tritheism. People who are making up religions have a simple
doctrine and are proud of its simplicity. But G-d is not simple,
and this is His Biblical revelation of Himself, from literally
the first three verses of the Bible, as Gen.1:1-3 are explained
by Tehillim (Psalm) 33:6. G-d from the beginning explains
himself as the Creator who is G-d and Dvar Hashem and Ruach Hakodesh, and we are left to either take it or leave it. Since
an infinite G-d cannot be fully comprehended by finite human
beings, we are advised to take it by faith.
In G-d's revelation of Himself to Abraham Avinu, it says in Bereshis 18:1 that Hashem "appeared" to Abraham at Mamre. Then Bereshis 18:2 says that Abraham lifted his eyes to see this
appearance of Hashem, and "Hinei! sh'lo-SHAH ah-nah-SHEM (three
men)!" is what Abraham saw! But three? Who can love without a
beloved? And the love that proceeds from the One who loves to
the One who is loved is One that is not strictly identical with
either the One who loves or the One who is loved. But can One
plus One plus One equal not three but One?
But does Messianic Judaism actually teach monotheism, that the
L-rd our G-d is one L-rd? Of course! How could it be Judaism if
it didn't? However, the Jewish Scriptures themselves teach that
G-d has a complexity in His unity. The Hebrew word signifying
G-d's complex unity is "echad," not the word "yachid." The Torah
does not say, "Shema, Yisroel, Adonoi Eloheinu, Adonoi, Yachid."
The Shema, which utters G-d's name three different times in the Shema, says that the L-rd is "echad." In Bereshis (Genesis) 2:24,
G-d says that when a man marries a woman the two become "echad,"
one. It says, V'HAYU L'VASAR ECHAD ("And they will be as echad flesh, one flesh." Two can be as one! It does not say that a man
by himself, a man "yachid," is one flesh. It does not say that a
woman by herself, a woman "yachid," is one flesh. No, it says
that a man and woman in marriage is echad, one flesh. Two can be
one! Does this defy arithmetic? One plus one equals not two,
but one? The point is that this is a complex one, not a simple
one. Yechezkel (Ezekiel) says that two sticks can become ets echad (one stick)--see Yechezkel 37:17 In the case of a male and
a female, a simple one would mean something else other than a
complex unity. But a marriage is echad, because it is a complex
unity of not one but two human beings joined into a complex unity
of one. This is a complex and not a simple unity, for if it were
simple, the two would become absolutely only one, one human
being! On the other hand, in Shofetim (Judges) 11:34, Jephthah's only daughter is simply, absolutely one, the only child, the sum
of his children totaling one human being, so the Bible refers to
her with the Hebrew word "yachid." The truth is, G-d has always
had a complexity in his unity, because G-d has always had his Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) and his powerful, creative, personal Dvar Hashem, His Word, his Chochmah, his Wisdom, his agent in
creation and redemption (Tehillim 104:24; 8:32-36), the Oman
(Craftsman), the Ben haElohim at his side (Mishle 30:4; 8:30)
appointed from eternity (Mishle 8:23). The figure of a son
toiling by the side of his father was a familiar one (Mishle 8:30; 30:4), and is an arresting metaphor for G-d's primordial
Wisdom toiling creatively in the beginning with G-d (Mishle 8:30;
30:4). Likewise, Tehillim 2:7, 89:27-28, Yeshayah 9:(5)6 are
passages where the Moshiach is pictured as G-d's Son, his Bekhor,
his Heir. And in Daniel 7:13-14 the Moshiach is seen coming in
the clouds of Divine Glory. The other term is zero'a (arm),
shown to be used in creation in Yirmeyah 32:17 and identified
with Moshiach in Isaiah 53:1. On page 577 in Ha'azinu of the Zohar, the text speaks about the Ruach of Hashem. The Ruach Hakodesh, whom G-d's people grieved (Yeshayah 63:10), is the same Ruach Hakodesh resting upon Moshiach (Yeshayah 11:2). In the same
way that the lowest of the three types of Battei Din must have
three judges and yet a Bet Din with three judges is only one Bet
Din, not three Battei Din, so also G-d, though complex in His
personhood, is one G-d, not three G-ds. And we must all stand
before the Bet Din of Elohim Avinu and Moshiach Ben HaElohim and
the Ruach Hakodesh, who are pictured together in Yeshayah 63:10-16. In this passage we hear about Elohim Avinu (Yeshayah 63:16), and Hashem's zero'a (Arm, identified with Moshiach ten
chapters previously in Yeshayah 53:1), and the Ruach Hakodesh (Yeshayah 63:10-11). For in the same way that a triangle can have
three angles and still be only one triangle, not three triangles,
so Hashem Elohim Avinu can have his Dvar Hashem Moshiach and his Ruach Hakodesh and still be only one G-d, not three G-ds. One
plus one plus one equals not three, but one, a complex unity of
one--not a simple one but a complex one. In the Kedusha (Yeshayah 6:3) we acknowledge this complexity in unity everytime we read "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh" in the Prayerbook. The One G-d
of Israel sent his one and only Personal Dvar Hashem among us as
the Moshiach, in order to make an eternal kapparah (blood
covering) for our sin so that from G-d's Ruach Hakodesh we might
receive Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) from Elohim Avinu and become
adopted as a Bri'a Chadasha, a New Creation in Moshiach. This
was G-d's gift of ahavah (love) to us, so that he could with
mercy and justice forgive us and bring us into a new order of
life. However, G-d's gracious provision through his Dvar Hashem the Moshiach Adoneinu has forced the whole world into a
crisis of decision. When we look into the Jewish face of Moshiach Adoneinu, we are confronted eye to eye by the Dvar Hashem himself. We cannot obey the G-d of Israel nor can we receive his Ruach Hakodesh unless we obey G-d's Word-become-Man, Moshiach Adoneinu. Therefore, the task of Moshiach's Judaism is to lead
people to follow the Jewish Messiah in order that they may
receive the Ruach Hakodesh and Chayyei Olam.
The sacriligious Arians did not follow the Moshiach Adoneinu.
They taught the anti-Biblical notion that Moshiach is a created
being. However, our Redeemer cannot be a mere creature. J.W.'s and other modern Arians refuse to confess and believe Yeshayah (Isaiah) 48:16, which says, "The Sovereign L-rd has sent me with
his Spirit." The "me" here is the Avdi Tzaddik, the Servant of
the L-rd (Isaiah 53:11), the Moshiach; see Isaiah 42:1-7, 49:1-7;
50:4-9; and 52:13-53:12. Here you have G-d, Moshiach, and the Ruach Hakodesh. This is not a trivial doctrine. Isaiah 50:10
says that whoever "does not obey the word of His servant" will
"lie down in torment" (Isaiah 50:11), which is a phrase shown
clearly to refer to Gehinnom in Isaiah 66:24 and Daniel 12:2. So
all modern Arians, regardless of what proud names they give to
their religious creeds, need to realize that their rebellion
against the Word of G-d will be punished by the torments of Gehinnom.
Those who really do follow Moshiach Adoneinu, and are not errant
or ignorant hypocrites (as some of his so-called followers have
been), confess this doctrine in the Brit Chadasha found in
Mt.28:19-20; Joh.14:26; 15:26; II Cor.13:13; I Pet.1:2 and
elsewhere. The Name of Elohim Avinu (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8) is
conjoined with that of the Ben haElohim Moshiach and the Ruach Hakodesh in Holy Scripture.
For references to the Moshiach, whose supernatural entrance and
exit from the Olam Hazeh points to his nature, see the following:
Gen.3:15; 12:2-3; 28:14; 49:10; Ex.12:46; Num 21:8-9; 24:17-19;
Deut.18:15-19; 21:23; II Sam.7:12-28; I Chr.17:23-27; Job 19:25;
Psa.2:1-12; 16:8-10; 22:1,7-8,18; 27:12; 31:5; 34:20; 35:11;
38:11; 40:6-8; 41:9; 45:2,6-7; 49:15; 68:18; 69:4,9; 72:1-19;
78:2; 89:3-4,18-37; 102:24-27; 110:1-7; 118:22,23,26; 132:11;
Prov.30:4; Isa.6:9-10; 7:14; 8:14-15; 8:18; 9:1-9; 11:1-10;
16:4-5; 22:21-24; 25:8; 28:16; 29:18; 35:4-10; 40:3-11; 49:1-6;
50:6; 60:1-3; 61:1-3; 63:1-6; 65:17-25; Jer.23:5-6; 30:9; 31:15;
31:31-34; 33:15-17; Ezek 17:22-24; 34:23-24: Dan.2:44-45;
7:13-14; 9:24-27; Hos.11:1; Jonah 1:17; Mic.4:1-8; 5:1-5;
Zec.9:9-10; 11:12-13; 12:10; 13:6-7; Mal.3:1; 4:1-6.
For references to the Ruach Hakodesh, see the following:
Gen. 1:1-2; Iyov 33:1-4; Isa. 11:1-2; 32; 14-18; 42:1-2; 44:1-4;
59:21; 61:1-3; Ezek.37:12-14; 39:29; Joel 2:28-32 (Heb.Bible Joel
3:1-5); Num.11:25-29; I Sam. 10:5-13; II Sam.23:1-4; I Chr.12:18;
II Chr.15:1-2; 24:20; Neh.9:20;,30; Ezek 8:3; Dan.4:9; Micah 3:8;
Zech 7:12; Hag.2:4-5; Zech 4:6; Gen.41:38-39; Num 11:16-17; 24:2;
27:15-21; Deut. 34:9; Jdg.3:9-10; 6:34-35; 11:29; 13:24-25;
14:6,19; 15:14; I Sam.11:6-7; II Ki.2:1-18; I Chr.28:11-19;
Ezek 2:1-2; Ps.51:10-12; Ezek.36:24-30; I Sam.19:18-24;
Exo.31:1-11; I Sam.16:13-14; Ps.106:32-33; Isa.63:10-14;
Psa.139:7
Those who take G-d at his Word become true spiritual Bnei Avraham and love our Jewish people just as they love our Jewish
Messiah. They also confess the Shema, that Adonoi,Eloheynoo, Adonoi Echad. Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh is He (Isaiah 6:3).
JUDAISM TRUE TO THE TANACH The theology of Moshiach's Judaism preserves the essentials of
the faith of Israel that other expressions of Judaism have
largely lost. For example, Moshiach's Judaism maintains in the
death of Moshiach Adoneinu the Torah's demand for blood
sacrifice: "It is the blood that makes an atonement for the
soul" (Vayikra or Leviticus 17:11). Moshiach's Judaism
also preserves the true significance of such Jewish institutions
as that of the Kohen Gadol (the High Priest), the Chakham (Wise
Man), and the Navi (Prophet), and such Jewish doctrines as those
concerning the Messianic King, the Ruach Hakodesh, and Yeshu'at Eloheinu (salvation). Through the Techiyas Hamesim (Resurrection
from the Dead) of the great Kohen (Ps.110:4) l'Olam al divrati Malchi-Tzedek, Chakham, Navi, and Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu,
and, through the coming of the Ruach Hakodesh at Shavuos (Pentecost) 30 C.E., all these Jewish essentials are imperishably
maintained. Moshiach's Judaism wishes to proclaim "nothing other
than what was foretold by the nevi'im (prophets) and by Moshe
(Rabbeinu): that the Moshiach must suffer, and that as the first
to rise from the dead, he would announce the Dawn to Israel and
to the Goyim" (Acts 26:22-23). Where does it say in the Tanach (the Jewish Scriptures) that the Moshiach must suffer? Read
Isaiah chapter 53 where the Word of G-d says that "All
we like sheep have gone astray ... and the L-rd hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). Read also Daniel 9.26
where the Jewish Scriptures teach "Moshiach yikareit" - "The Moshiach shall be cut off" - and the Word of G-d continues, "But
not for himself, and the people of the prince that shall come
shall destroy the city (Yerushalayim) and the sanctuary (Beis Hamikdash)." This prophecy was actually fulfilled, just as Moshiach Adoneinu himself predicted (Luke 21:20-24), when the
Roman general Titus destroyed the Beis Hamikdash and with it the kehuna (priesthood) and the city of Jerusalem in C.E. 70, 40
years after the death and resurrection of the Jewish Moshiach Adoneinu. Where does it say in the Tanach that the dead would
resurrect unto new life or that the Moshiach would escape the
worms of the grave? Read Job 19:25-26 which expresses the hope
of Israel, "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand upon the earth at last, and after my skin has been
destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see my G-d." King David
also expressed the hope of Israel, "Therefore my heart is glad
and my spirit rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For
thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; neither will thou permit
thy Holy One (Moshiach) to see corruption" (Psalms
16:9-10). Our form of Judaism (Messianic Judaism) precedes the
post-Second Temple Judaism that posits in the place of revealed
Scripture arbitrary rabbinic rulings, like the doctrine that
prayer and study of Torah adequately substitutes for blood
sacrifice. This is an alien doctrine, and anyone who adopts such
an alien doctrine is converting to an alien post-Biblical
religion that is losing its mooring in the pristine Second Temple
Judaism of the time of Moshiach Yehoshua.
THE GOOD NEWS OF MOSHIACH'S JUDAISM
The Good News of Moshiach's Judaism is that the hope of Israel
has been fulfilled! The Techiyas haMesim (Resurrection) has
already begun! The first man has already come out of the tomb!
And the G-d of Israel, praised be he, has accomplished it! We
needed a kaporrah to heal our sin guilt before G-d. G-d
accomplished it! He sent his Moshiach to suffer, and "by his
stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). G-d accomplished more. We
are powerless in ourselves to live as we should. "The human will
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can
know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). We need to turn from trusting in
ourselves and receive the Ruach Hakodesh in order to have the
power to live as we should, both now and hereafter. G-d
accomplished what he promised in the Jewish Scriptures: "I will
put my Spirit into you and make you conform to my commandments,
and keep my laws and live by them" (Ezekiel 36:27). However, our
sins have separated us and our Holy G-d (Isaiah 59:2), and our
lives are not acceptable to the L-rd, unless we undergo a teshuvah death to our old humanity and experience a hitkhadeshut (regeneration) of new birth in our new humanity in the Moshiach,
becoming indwelt by the Ruach Hakodesh. Therefore, the Jewish
prophet Daniel wrote in the Tanach that "Many of them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to Chayei Olam (Eternal Life), and some to shame and everlasting contempt"
(Daniel 12:1). This refer to Shomayim and Onesh Gehinnom. King
David, realizing the need for his own spiritual inner
transformation, said, "Create in me a clean heart, 0
G-d; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from
thy presence; and take not thy Ruach Hakodesh from me. Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free
Spirit" (Psalms 51:10-12). The Ruach Hakodesh is given only in
obedience to the Moshiach Adoneinu, who will judge all those who
reject him. Read Isaiah 42:1: "Behold my Servant, whom I
uphold; my chosen one, in whom my soul delights; I have
put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth Mishpat (Judgment)
to the nations." Isaiah saw that G-d would one day make an
eternal covenant through the Moshiach with Israel (Isaiah 55:3),
and Jeremiah foresaw that in that day G-d would make a Brit Chadasha (New Covenant) with his people. This covenant would
involve an inner transformation of humanity, for Jeremiah
foresaw that the Dvar Hashem would internalize human hearts with
the will of G-d. Then men would know G-d so intimately they would
actually share and know his will (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Of this
New Covenant, Ezekiel predicted that the Ruach Hakodesh in men
would make them want to obey G-d's Word (Ezekiel 36:27). And the
Jewish prophet Yoel (Joel) saw that in that day the transforming
power of the Ruach Hakodesh would be poured out as never before
down (Joel 2:28-29), so great would be the number who would be
spiritually transformed or born anew. However, most people
expected the resurrection to begin and the Ruach Hakodesh to be
poured out at the end of the world. Few believed that these
mighty acts could occur until the close of human history. What a
surprise it was, then, when 120 orthodox Jews stood up in
Jerusalem on Shavuos (Pentecost) 30 C.E., and declared that they
personally had already seen the first man alive from the grave,
that he was the Moshiach, the one called "El gibbor" (mighty G-d)
in Isaiah 9:6, and that he had poured out the Ruach Hakodesh on
them already, even though human history was still in progress.
These Jewish shluchim declared that the Moshiach was coming again
at the end of history to rule the world, but that he had to come
the first time to suffer for sins. The Moshiach's death was in
order that Elohim Avinu could righteously forgive all sins, since
through the death of Ben haElohim, no sins had gone unpunished.
The G-d of Israel loved men so much he sent his Dvar Hashem among
us as a man to make kapparah for our sins and to rise from the
dead in order that he might live in us. Only in this way could Moshiach Adoneinu, the living Torah of G-d, write himself into
our wills forever with a new obedient neshamah, through the
eternal Spirit of G-d who gives us Chayei Olam. Only in this way
could the Brit Chadasha of Judaism be fulfilled, as Jeremiah
foretold: "Behold, the days are coming, says the L-rd, when I
will make a Brit Chadasha (New Covenant) with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with
their Avot (Fathers) when I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I
was patient with them, says the L-rd. But this is the covenant
which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says
the L-rd: I will put my torah (law) within them, and I will write
it upon their hearts; and I will be their G-d and they shall be
my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and
each his brother, saying, `Know the L-rd,` for they shall all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the L-rd;
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Therefore, the Good News of Moshiach's Judaism is that the resurrection has already begun
through Moshiach Adoneinu, who has already begun to pour out the Ruach Hakodesh on his followers. Consequently, every person may
receive the Ruach Hakodesh and be assured of his own personal
coming resurrection by obeying Moshiach as Adoneinu. What better
news could there be?
THE ONLY ISSUE IN JUDAISM
Were these 120 orthodox Jews lying? Had they really seen Moshiach Adoneinu alive or were they making it up? What about
the 500 orthodox Jews who claimed to have seen Moshiach Adoneinu at one time (I Corinthians 15:6) - were they lying? Were Rabbi Sha'ul, Kefa, Ya'akov, Yochanan and the rest all lying? Most of
these Jewish men died violent deaths, either at the hands of
their own people or in the Roman coliseum. When so many eye
witnesses were willing to die to verify their testimony
regarding the resurrection of Moshiach Adoneinu, who would
presume to call them all liars? Moreover, their testimony was
not about a revived corpse. They testified that they had seen the Chayei Olam of G-d himself, bodily visible to them as eye
witnesses (see I John 1: 1-4). Moshiach the Chayei Olam of Hashem appeared to them in a tangible yet supernatural,
spiritual body capable of appearing anywhere, even through locked
doors (John 20:26). They were assured that Elohim Avinu would
one day give them an eternal body like that of Ben haElohim and
that they had already received the Ruach Hakodesh as an actual
down-payment on their eternal inheritance. Although they had
been frightened and greatly disillusioned when the Moshiach was
killed, their hope was revived when Moshiach Adoneinu appeared to them not merely once, but ten times during a
period of 40 days. With such magnificent assurance undergirding their witness, it is no wonder that 3,000 Jews responded to their
message the very first day they preached it (Acts 2:41). On
that day, Yom Rishon morning, Shavuos, 30 C.E., the proclamation
went forth that if Jews were to remain committed to Judaism, they
must personally commit themselves to the Moshiach of Judaism.
Since the key ritual for making proselytes to Judaism had been a tevilah immersion in a mikveh mayim, the risen Moshiach Adoneinu commanded his followers to go into all the world making
proselytes to Moshiach's Judaism by means of a tevilah immersion
in the Name of the G-d of Israel: the Name of Elohim HaAv (Isaiah
63:16), and the Name of the Ben haElohim (Moshiach the Chokhmah Hashem, Mishle 30:4) and the Name of the Ruach Hakodesh (Genesis
1:1-2). [For much more on this download HOW TO POINT TO MOSHIACH IN YOUR RABBI'S BIBLE from our website at
http://www.afii.org/material.htm on the Internet). Everyone who
responded in faith to the Jewish Moshiach would receive the Ruach Hakodesh and become a spiritual ben Avraham and a true adherent
of orthodox Biblical Judaism. Everyone who refused to believe
would be lost, for where there is sin without teshuva (repentance) there is punishment without forgiveness, and where
there is no true teaching of Moshiach's shluchim, there is no
true Judaism. Therefore, the crucial issue between Moshiach's Judaism and any other sort of Judaism centers on the tikvah of
the resurrection from the dead. The only question is whether
there is such a hope and whether that hope has been realized in
the historical resurrection of Moshiach Adoneinu. There is no
other issue.
A SYNAGOGUE FREE TO BE A SYNAGOGUE
Since the question of the resurrection of Moshiach Adoneinu is
the only real issue in Judaism, then a Messianic Synagogue, Moshiach's Synagogue, is free to be in all ways a Jewish
Synagogue (see James 2:2-4). The Jewish families of such a
synagogue would of course be able to have a bris milah for their
eight-day old sons (Leviticus 12:3; Acts 21:21). When their
children become believers in Moshiach Adoneinu, the Jewish young
men and women can witness to their faith in Yehoshua Ben Dovid through the bar or bat mitzva service. When their children
become believers they can witness to Moshiach in the Moshiach's tevilah and the Pesach Seudah of Moshiach. Anyone who quotes
Scripture such as Galatians 4:8-10, Colossians 2:16-17, or
Romans 14:5-6 to prove that the Jewish festivals or holy days are
forbidden to Jewish believers in Moshiach Adoneinu is reading the
Bible entirely out of context. Sha'ul is dealing with situations
where these Jewish minhagim are being imposed on Goyim by false
teachers teaching defective soteriology. Sha'ul is not
addressing Jewish believers who are celebrating these days in the
name of Moshiach Adoneinu; therefore, his words cannot be taken
as criticism of believers who are celebrating these days in the
name of Moshiach Adoneinu. The Jewish festivals foreshadow the Moshiach and are fulfilled in him. However, a shadow cannot
highlight anyone, even the Moshiach, if it is totally removed
from the picture. The Jewish festivals are not obsolete but are
good contemporary teachers that point us toward the Jewish Brit Chadasha of Moshiach Adoneinu. Every Biblical Jewish ceremony
will be acknowledged and pleasing in G-d's sight if done in the
Name of the One in whom all Jewish ceremonies are fulfilled. The
Scripture teaches that these are matters on which everyone should
be allowed to come to understand in his own mind (Romans 14:5).
Jewish believers in Moshiach Adoneinu can also be shomer mitzvot, shomer Shabbos, keep a kosher Jewish home, and maintain an
orthodox Jewish lifestyle, frum in every way. Where in any part
of the Holy Scriptures could a Gentile find a proof text to deny
Jewish freedom in these areas? A thorough study of the book of
Galatians is necessary here. If Galatian Goyim are instructed
not to trust the Bris Milah or the Jewish calendar as a means of
salvation, this does not mean that the Bris Milah and the Jewish
calendar are forbidden to Jewish believers in Moshiach Adoneinu who are trusting the Moshiach's saving death and resurrection as
their means of salvation! If the Bris Milah and the Jewish
Calendar were not forbidden to Jewish believers in Moshiach in
the First Century (see Acts 21:20), then how can anyone forbid
them today? The Scriptural principles here are "whatever you are
doing, whether you speak or act, do everything in the name of Moshiach Adoneinu, giving thanks to Elohim Avinu through him"(Colossians 3:17), and "to the Jew I became like a Jew to win
Jews" (I Corinthians 9:20).
26 C.E. was the time when some of the rabbis forfeited what could
have been (Luke 7:30), and, what will yet be (Rom.chp.11) their
true leadership. But, in the meantime, as Dr. Marvin Wilson has
said, Rabbinic Judaism is a post-Biblical religion "not bound to
one authority" (like the Holy Tanach); "it embraces many
authorities in a long line of living [rabbinic] tradition"
(Evangelicals and Jews in an Age of Pluralism, p.22). However, a
Messianic Synagogue is bound to one authority, the Holy
Scriptures. However, since Rav Sha'ul in II Tim.3:8 quotes from
Jewish tradition to make a point to his talmid, it is obvious
that if he were living today, the Shas would be in his library.
And it should be in ours, even though our watchword is still Sola Scriptura. (For more on this, download EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO
GROW A MESSIANIC YESHIVA from our website at
http://www.afii.org/material.htm on the Internet).
When the Kehillah finds herself in a Jewish community she must
not shrink from wearing once again her full Jewish dress, all her
old synagogue attire. Then, as Arthur Katz has said, both Jews
and Goyim "will be able to glimpse the original living and
eternal alternative." Synagogues such as these will give the
world-wide Body of Moshiach Adoneinu an enriching, fresh
look at her origins. For the leaders of these Messianic
Synagogues will not be able to content themselves with blindly
imitating reformed, orthodox, and conservative congregations down
the street, but will have to continually re-examine the
Scriptures to steer Messianic Judaism on its own distinctive
course in the world-wide Body of the Moshiach's people.
THE TEVILAH IN MOSHIACH'S MIKVEH MAYIM:
YOUR GLAD RESPONSE TO THE GOOD NEWS OF ORTHODOX
MESSIANIC JUDAISM
Many people do not know that Judaism used to be a "proselytizing"
religion, and that leaders of Judaism were both zealous and
highly successful at making proselytes. In fact, so numerous
were the proselytes in Biblical times that there is even a term
in Scripture for conversion to Judaism - mityahadim (see Esther
8:17).
THE OUTGOING NATURE OF TRUE JUDAISM
The rabbis knew that Judaism was not merely a narrow, national
religion. The Talmud says that the teachings of Judaism were
freely meant for all mankind (see Babylonian Talmud, Shabbath 146a, where Devarim 29:13-14 [14-15] is quoted as referring to
proselytes). And just as Gentiles were saved in Noah's ark, so
Ruth was also brought under Hashem's wings (Ruth 2:12). In the
High HolyDay Prayerbook, we read on Rosh Hashanah "Also Noah Thou
didst remember in love, and didst remember him with a promise of
salvation and mercy, when Thou didst send the flood to destroy
all creatures because of their evil deeds. So his remembrance
came before Thee, O L-rd our G-d to increase his seed like the
dust of the earth and his offspring like the sand of the sea."
So hope is held out that the Righteous Gentiles of the world will
have a share in the World to Come. In fact, according to
ancient tradition, the first proselytes to the Jewish faith were
Abraham and Sarah, and through their descendants G-d
intended to proselytize the nations (see also Matthew 28:19). For
a few other texts of many in the Scriptures on the universal
scope of the Jewish faith, see Ps 22:27; Isaiah 45:22; 66:23;
Zechariah 14:16.
Of course, Judaism, with the exception of Messianic Judaism,
changed when the rabbis took over under Yochanan ben Zakkai in Yavneh near Jaffa in Israel and created after 70 C.E. a
post-Temple, non-priestly form of Judaism lacking blood sacrifice
and a Temple. It should be remembered here that it is the blood
that makes atonement for the soul (Lev.17:11) and that Abel's
offering from the firstborn of his flock was looked on with favor
by the L-rd, but a bloodless religion and worship without blood
atonement was not looked on with favor (see Gen.4:4-5). G-d
says, "When I see the blood, I will passover you" (Exod.12:13).
To lack faith in Gen.22:8; Exo.12:5-13; Isaiah 53:7 and in Moshiach's necessary sacrifice, and then to create a religion
where, gratuitously, blood sacrifice is not necessary, is to
change the religion of Judaism, the religion of Moses. Messianic
Judaism has not changed Judaism, the religion of Moses. Rabbinic
Judaism has changed Judaism. Messianic Judaism is true Judaism.
This occurred after 70 C.E., making it a form of Judaism that
post-dates Messianic Judaism. Not only does it lack Biblical
warrant for many of its tenets of faith, the fact is that the
rabbis have cooled off in their zeal to win converts. However, Moshiach's Judaism has always been a proselytizing faith, eager
to share the blessings of Judaism with the whole world. In our
own era, millions of adherents to Moshiach's Judaism, including
both Jews and non-Jews from every culture and country, have
become born again spiritual children of Abraham and genuine
proselytes to Biblical Judaism. For true commitment to Judaism
can only be through true commitment to the Moshiach of Judaism, Moshiach Adoneinu.
Unfortunately, not all Jews nor all Goyim have been willing to
become proselytes to Moshiach because not everyone is willing to
commit himself to Moshiach. And many who have committed
themselves to Moshiach Adoneinu are even ignorant of the fact
that what they call "the Religion of Messiah" is really Moshiach's Judaism that Goyim have adapted to their own culture.
Nevertheless, the faith of the Brit Chadasha is still the true,
Biblical, Judaism of Moshiach, whether every believer in Moshiach Adoneinu realizes it or not.
JUDAISM'S INDISPENSIBLE MIKVEH Scripturally, a Jew is anyone like Ruth the Moabitess who has
renounced idolatry and thrown in his or her lot with the people
of the one true G-d. Therefore, when a Gentile lady named Ruth
clung to Naomi and her G-d, Ruth became a Jewess, even qualifying
to become the great-grandmother of King David. However,
historically, there have been three rites involved in the
reception of proselytes to Judaism: 1) circumcision (the bris milah), 2) complete immersion (the tevilah) in a mikveh ritual
bath, and 3) a sacrifice (see Numbers 15:14 and Babylonian
Talmud, Kerithoth 9a.) This blood sacrifice (an offering by fire)
burned on the altar and was indispensible, at the time the Beis Hamikdash stood, and points prophetically along with all
sacrifice to the repentant proselyte's need for a blood atonement kapparah. Rabbi Judah the Patriarch ("Rabbenu haKadosh") compared
this three-fold admission into Judaism as reminiscent of the
Biblical history of Israel, a nation circumcised before leaving
Egypt (Joshua 5:2), immersed in the desert in a holy washing
ritual (Exodus 19:10), and sprinkled with the blood of a covenant
sacrifice (Exodus 24:3-8) [see Sifra, Ahare Perek 12].
Nevertheless, the central ritual of admittance into Judaism has
always been a tevilah of water immersion. The sacrifice offered
by the proselyte was never as important as circumcision or
immersion, especially after the Temple was destroyed, making
sacrifice impossible. Furthermore, since women converts to
Judaism far outnumbered men, circumcision could hardly become the
chief rite of entry into Judaism. Therefore, the one
indispensable thing that any convert, whether male or female, had
to do to become a Jew was to get immersed in water. Of course, a
male had to be circumcised as well, but if we look for the one
thing that every non-Jew, regardless of sex, had to do in order
to become a Jew, the answer is: he or she had to submit to a tevilah. Proselytes crossed the threshold into Israel through an
immersion bath, because Israel had entered the promised land
through water (the Red Sea) and therefore so must all who would
become Jews. There was a definite concept of cleansing built into
this decisive tevilah. A heathen who left behind the idolatry of
the Gentile world to become a Jew had passed from sin to a whole
new life. When he came up out of the water, he was considered
ritually undefiled, beginning life all over with a clean bill of
goods, like a child newly born (Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth,
48b). He had begun a new life as a ben berit, a son of the
covenant, a Jew. Towards the end of the first century, C.E., the
leading rabbis of the school of Hillel claimed that a man was
Jewish as soon as he was immersed, the tevilah being as decisive
a rite in the case of determining whether a man had become a Jew
as it was for making the same determination for a woman (Mishnah Aboth 1.12). Later, in Moshiach's Judaism, circumcision was not
imposed on Goyim (I Corinthians 7:18; Acts 15:5-11), since there
is no salvation in becoming a physical Jew but only in becoming a ben Avraham by emunah, that is, a spiritual child of Abraham
through the circumcision of the Ruach Hakodesh (Gal.3:7-14;
Col.2:11-17). Therefore, Moshiach's tevilah became the
indispensable ritual for all who would become adherents of Moshiach's Judaism.
THE IMMERSION PRACTICED BY THE JEWISH PROPHET YOCHANAN HA MAHTBEEL Rabbi Akiba said: "Blessed are you, 0 Israel. Before whom are
you made clean and who makes you clean? Your Father in heaven.
As it is written, 'And I will dash clean water upon you and you
shall be clean' (Ezekiel 36:25). And again it says, 'O L-rd, the mikveh (meaning either the word 'hope' or the word 'font') of
Israel (Jeremiah 17:13); as the mikveh cleanses the unclean, so
does the Holy One cleanse Israel"' (Mishnah Yoma 8.9).
The Jewish prophet Ezekiel speaks of G-d's cleansing his people
in the last days: "For I will take you from the nations, and
gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own
land, I will dash clean water upon you, and you shall be clean
from all your uncleannesses, and from your idols I will cleanse
you . . . and you . . .shall be my people and I will be your
G-d. And I will save you from all your uncleannesses" (Ezekiel
36:24-28).
Zechariah too saw this final time of national repentance: There
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness" (Zechariah
13:1).
Proselyte tevilah immersion symbolically washed the uncleanness
from the heathen on entering Judaism. Thus non-Jews were grafted
on to the people of G-d by a water immersion which gave them
ceremonial purity. The Jewish prophet Yochanan (John) HaMahtbeel (the Tevilah Immersionist) called on all Israel to likewise
confess sinful uncleanness and take a mikveh ritual bath "as a
token of their teshuva" (Mark 1:4) and resolve to keep themselves
holy as they awaited the coming Moshiach. Then as the last days
began to approach, the Jewish prophet Yochanan announced that the Moshiach was on his way to pour out the Ruach Hakodesh on some
and the fire of Gehinnom on others. Therefore, all must heed the
Word of G-d, turn from their own ways, look to G-d and his Moshiach for mercy and deliverance from judgment, be cleansed
with clean water, and be saved from G-d's burning wrath (see Mark
1:4, Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:9). Sensing by the Ruach Hakodesh that
the Moshiach's presence on the earth was very near and that the
need for preparing the Jewish people to meet their G-d had
reached the crisis point, Yochanan HaMahtbeel called upon
all G-d's people to seek the forgiveness of Hashem by submitting
to a purifying tevilah. For this great Jewish prophet saw that
the coming Moshiach would judge the wicked who had not turned
from the "Egyptian" evils of this world by taking a "Red Sea"
immersion of separation and repentance in the Jordan River. G-d
gave Yochanan the foresight to see that those who did turn to G-d
would be given the Ruach Hakodesh by the Coming One, the Moshiach. Later Yochanan must have had inspired intimations of
how G-d would save his people and the kapparah Moshiach would
bring. Yochanan pointed to Moshiach Adoneinu and said, "Look,
there is the Lamb of G-d; it is he who takes away the sin of the
world. This is he of whom I spoke when I said, `After me a man
is coming whose status is higher than mine; for before I was
born, he already existed. I myself did not know who he was; but
the very reason why I came, immersing in water, was that he might
be revealed to Israel" (Yochanan 1:29-31). However, the tevilah immersion of Yochanan went beyond proselyte immersion in
several ways. It was directed toward his fellow-Jews. It was a
collective act of repentance and included the whole nation. It
had a "last-chance" ethical and spiritual significance that went
far beyond the mere ceremonial cleansing of proselyte tevilah immersion. Yochanan asserted that through his water ordeal the
remnant of the true Israel of G-d was being called out from all
the spiritually dead who refused to prepare themselves by tevilah immersion for the coming of the Moshiach. Therefore, all strata
of Israel's society responded to the immersion of Yochanan. What
was unique about Yochanan was that he saw by inspiration from the
G-d of Israel that, in view of the coming of the Holy One, the Moshiach, Jews were just as unprepared and sinfully unclean and
in need of ultimate kapparah (Yochanan 1:29) as were heathen
proselytes, and must therefore prepare themselves by the same act
of repentance - submitting, to a tevilah immersion for the
uncleanness of sins. Yochanan preached, "Do not presume to say
to yourselves, 'We have the yichus (proud lineage), we have the zechut Avot (merit of the Fathers) of Avraham Avinu (our father
Abraham).' For I say to you that Hashem is able to raise up from
these avanim (stones) banim (sons) of Avraham" (OJBC version,
Matthew 3:9). Yochanan knew that the essential thing for his
fellow Jews was that they humble themselves, turn from prideful
wickedness and prepare to adhere to the Moshiach, through whom
they would escape judgment and receive the all-important gift of Hashem, the Ruach Hakodesh. Therefore, he saw that the whole
nation of Israel must turn to G-d with the humility of a sinful
non-Jew submitting to a mikveh of repentance for the sins of his
unholy former life. In pointing toward the Seh haElohim (the Lamb
of G-d, Isaiah 53:7, Genesis 22:8), Yochanan pointed toward
a new meaning for the tevilah immersion as the standard means of
making proselytes to Judaism. This new meaning would include a
perfect blood sacrifice for sin, an eternal kapparah for all who
would receive the Ruach Hakodesh and thus be circumcised as
spiritual bnei Avraham through immersion in the name of
the G-d of Israel. The tevilah immersion toward which Yochanan was pointing was the immersion of Moshiach Adoneinu, experienced
by Moshiach himself and then by him commanded for all peoples of
the world.
THE TEVILAH OF THE JEWISH MOSHIACH ADONEINU The tevilah of Moshiach Adoneinu was his first public act of
identification with the sins of men, showing that although he was
himself sinless, he was willing to identify with sinners and bear
their sins as the Lamb of G-d, even if to do so would cost him
great suffering and anguish, even death. When Moshiach Adoneinu went under the water in his own tevilah, he knew he was
anticipating his own death (see Luke 12:50). At his tevilah, the
heavenly voice of Elohim haAv (Mark 1:11, Matthew 3:17, Luke3:22)
affirmed Moshiach Adoneinu's Sonship but in words that alluded to
his Messianic role (Psalm 2:7) in terms of suffering servanthood (Isaiah 42:1; 44:2) and death (Isaiah 53). Therefore, in his
single action of being buried in water and rising again, Moshiach Adoneinu summed up and signified prophetically what he would do
to save the world: he would bring in the Brit Chadasha (New
Covenant) of the Malchut Hashem (Kingdom of G-d) by his death,
burial, and resurrection; and he would lead all who would follow
him to a similar experience of death and new life - death to the
old life of sin, and rebirth to a new life of eternal sonship through the gift of the Ruach Hakodesh.
In Moshiach Adoneinu's immersion, he was submitting his own
willing obedience to the will of his Father. When we likewise
follow Moshiach Adoneinu into the water and have a similar
spiritual experience of submitting our will to the Father, we are
circumcised - that is, cleansed and consecrated - in our will by
the Ruach Hakodesh and thus become spiritual bnei Avraham,
spiritual Jews. Whereas before, our life was under the control
of the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2), now our life comes
under the Moshiach. Therefore, it is not a rule that constrains
us but a Person, who loved sinners enough to die for us in order
to forgive our past and bring us the hope of an eternal future
with Hashem (see II Corinthians 5:14). This Person is the Torah
who writes himself upon our wills (Jeremiah 31:33). This
inward life-giving law is none other than Moshiach Adoneinu (I
Corinthians 9:21). Through the Ruach Hakodesh, Moshiach Adoneinu lives in the lives of all believers and produces righteousness
and love in devekut (communion) with them. The Ben haElohim's selfless ahavah for Elohim Avinu, this kind of love, is what the
Torah was aiming for (Deuteronomy 6:5), and when we receive the
Word become Man, Moshiach Adoneinu, the Torah hits its mark in us
and we become true Torah-keeping bnei Avraham, whose wills are
circumcised and set in step with the Ruach Hakodesh. To be a true ben Avraham is first and foremost a spiritual matter of the will
and having the right heart toward G-d, and that can only be a
heart of hopeful and loving faith (Galatians 5:6) in what G-d has
done for men in Moshiach Adoneinu. Only the Dvar Hashem who
became Moshiach and who through the Ruach Hakodesh becomes the
indwelling word (Yirmeyah 31:33) could endow men with a new
principle of life. This principle of life is sufficient to
create a new humanity (I Corinthians 15:20, 45; Yochanan 20:22),
a new family of whom Moshiach Adoneinu is the head. To understand
this "bris milah of Moshiach" (Colossians 2:11), one must
recall that the covenant of circumcision operated on the
principle of the spiritual union of the household in its head.
The covenant is "between me and thee and thy offspring after
thee" (Genesis 17:7). From Galatians 3:16,26-29, it
becomes apparent that both the offspring and head of the
new humanity is Moshiach, into whose Body believers are
incorporated at their tevilah. The Bris Milah is the token or
sign by which G-d acknowledges his people. It is the
stamp of the covenant. The circumcision of the heart is the
inward sign wherein G-d's Spirit witnesses to a human spirit that
it belongs to G-d. This inward mark of possession is the Ruach Hakodesh who cuts himself into our will, molding us into the
image of G-d's Son and marking us out as the spiritually cleansed
property of G-d, just as the external mark of circumcision in the
flesh had marked out a Jewish baby boy as the property of
G-d. But, as both the Torah and Tanach show, G-d intended to
"mark off" as his own not merely people who were circumcised
physically but "in their hearts" (Deuteronomy 10:16). So strong
is this teaching, that G-d threatens to destroy any Jew who is
not spiritually circumcised (Jeremiah 4:4). Such a one will be
shut out of Jerusalem (Isaiah 52:1), as well as the L-rd's
sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:7, 9) and salvation (Deuteronomy 30:6).
For not all G-d's physical people are his spiritual children
(Romans 9:6). In Genesis chapter 17, circumcision is the
covenant sign of G-d's choosing out and marking off men for his
own. So in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures, the gift of the Ruach Hakodesh, without which a man does not belong to the Moshiach (Romans 8:9), is offered in connection with Moshiach's tevilah (Acts 2:38), which is identified with Moshiach's way
of circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12).
Jeremiah, the Jewish prophet, foresaw the age of the Ruach Hakodesh when the creation of a new heart and spirit in humanity
would be the essence of a Brit Chadasha (New Covenant) that G-d
would make with Israel. Therefore, Jeremiah cried out to his
people, "O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness that thou
may be saved" (Jeremiah 4:14). Moshiach's Bris Milah (Circumcision) in Colossians 2:11-12 is a
periphrasis for the hitkhadeshut (regeneration) of which Moshiach's tevilah is meant to bear testimony and whereby
both Jews and non-Jews become in Moshiach spiritual Bnei Avraham initiated into covenant membership in the cultivated Olive Tree
of Elect Israel (Rom.11:24; 9:6; Jeremiah 11:16), the Israel of
G-d and the Jerusalem above. According to the Torah, circumcision
is more than a minor surgical operation -- it is also a major
spiritual operation. The Torah commands, "Circumcise the
foreskin of your will and be no longer stubborn . . . and the
L-rd your G-d will circumcise your will (that is, cleanse and
consecrate your will) ... so that you will love the L-rd your G-d
with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live"
(Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6). In the Jewish Brit Chadasha New
Covenant, G-d declares that you are not a true Ben Avraham in the Ruach Hakodesh unless you have this inward circumcision of
your will (Romans 2:28, 29) and you worship G-d in spirit
with your confidence in Moshiach Adoneinu and not in anything
external (Philippians 3:3). Consequently, G-d has provided his
people with a hitkhadeshut (regeneration), to which the tevilah immersion of purification bears testimony, whereby the impure
foreskin of our evil urgings in our old humanity in Adam can be
buried and drowned, even washed away by G-d's Ruach Hakodesh (see
Ezekiel 36:25-27). This bath symbolizes both a spiritual mikveh (Jewish purification bath) and a spiritual bris milah (circumcision into Avraham). It is Moshiach's tevilah, and is a
token of turning to G-d through emunah (faith) in Moshiach Yehoshua (His Hebrew name). There is a controlling sinful nature
that lives in every man. The circumcision of the Moshiach is the
spiritual cutting away of this rebellious sinful nature, a
miracle witnessed to by our public burial in the mikveh mayim with a tevilah immersion. We witness to our submitting our will
to die to our former sin-prone way of life. Only by a submission
of our will in repentance may we be made alive by the
resurrected, living Dvar Hashem, the Dvar Hashem who came among
us as a Man and wants to write himself upon our wills, as
Jeremiah foresaw: "Then I will make a Brit Chadasha with the
house of Israel ... I will put my Torah in their inward parts and
I will write it in their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Therefore, Moshiach's Tevialah means many things. It witnesses to the
cutting free of the downward pull of our lower natures in the
miracle of the new birth. It is our Red Sea exodus from the
bondage of sin and death to the inheritance of an eternal
Promised Land. It symbolizes the "circumcision made without
hands" whereby we become sons of the Brit Chadasha as we enter
into faith-union with the Jewish Moshiach as members of his
bride, the world-wide Chavurah fellowship of the Jewish
Brit Chadasha. Just as a Jewish girl takes the ritual bath in the mikveh in preparation for her wedding, so we who are wedded to Moshiach Adoneinu by faith take a mikveh to bring ourselves into teshuvah and devekut with Moshiach. "In him also you were
circumcised, not in a physical sense, but by the surgical removal
of of the lower nature; this is Moshiach's way of circumcision.
For in Moshiach's tevilah you were buried with him, in Moshiach's tevilah you were raised to life with him through your
faith in the power of G-d who raised him from the dead.
And although you were dead because of your sins and because of
the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, he has made you alive
with Moshiach" (Colossians 2:11-13) MOSHIACH'S TEVILAH: YOUR ADMITTANCE TO MOSHIACH'S SEDER
So long as a Gentile has not had his tevilah, he is still a
Gentile" (Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 47b). Likewise, if a Jewish
person has not had hitkhadeshut regeneration, a spiritual miracle
witnessed to by Moshiach's tevilah, he is also ceremonially and
spiritually in the uncircumcision of his sinful nature, because
he has not submitted to the circumcision done by Moshiach (Colossians 2:11). For, in the same way that a non-Jew coming up
out of the water of his tevilah was considered at that moment to
be a Jew, when a person comes up from the mikveh of Moshiach Adoneinu, he crosses a ceremonial threshold and becomes a ben Avraham by faith. The rabbis said that a proselyte was like one
who had touched a corpse. Touching a corpse meant contracting
seven days of uncleanness (Numbers 19:16). Therefore a
proselyte, like a ritually unclean Israelite, needed to take a tevilah immersion in water as he approached G-d, particularly if
he were to share in the Passover (see Mishnah Pesachim 8.8).
Likewise Rabbi Saul warned that those who eat and drink the Seudah of Moshiach unworthily, without obeying the L-rd (in this
case by taking the mikveh), eat and drink judgment on themselves
(I Corinthians 11:27-30). Therefore, no one may partake of the Seudah of Moshiach until he has obeyed the L-rd by submitting in teshuvah (repentance) to the Moshiach's tevilah. Jewish
proselyte tevilah immersion has its roots in the levitical immersions of the Torah (see Numbers 19). These purification
baths were for ritually unclean Israelites who had defiled
themselves by touching a corpse or other taboo object. Both
pagans and ritually unclean Israelites were excluded from the
Passover, because both were ritually unclean, one because he
was not circumcised and immersed in the mikveh, the other because
he had not taken a tevilah immersion to remove his ceremonial
uncleanness, and neither, of course, had the sacrifice commanded
by the Torah (see Leviticus 15:13-25). A sacrifice was required
of both pagans becoming Jews and unclean Israelites, and was
offered by both after they took their tevilah immersions.
Therefore, in order to gain entrance to the covenant meal
of the Passover Seder, the same three conditions were required
of proselytes as natural born, yet ceremonially unclean Jews.
These three conditions were circumcision (required on the
eighth day of the life of a natural born Jew), water immersion,
and sacrifice. (See the reference to ritual immersions the
prototype of Moshiach's tevilah in the Torah: Leviticus 15:13;
Numbers 8:7-8; Leviticus 14:1-32.) In the Jewish Brit Chadasha Scriptures, as we have seen, none of these three aspects of
incorporation into the people of G-d is omitted. For where there
is faith, water immersion into Moshiach's Judaism in the name of
the G-d of Israel includes an eternal (spiritual) circumcision
(Colossians2:11-13), an eternal (spiritual) purification bath
(Titus 3:5), and a perfect, eternal blood sacrifice for sin
(Hebrews 9:12). Only those Bnei Avraham who have covenanted
themselves to the Moshiach Adoneinu in the mikveh may sit at the
table of Moshiach's Brit Chadasha Pesach and partake of its
blessing.
AN ETHICAL IMPERATIVE FROM THE G-D OF ISRAEL
Taking or not taking the Moshiach's tevilah is really not an
option, for the decision means obedience or disobedience to
a divine command from the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And
who would argue with the risen Moshiach Adoneinu, G-d's mighty
Word come among us as an indestructible man? Certainly not the
first adherents of Moshiach's Judaism, for, upon his authority,
several thousand Messianic Jews were submitted to Moshiach's tevilah within the first few weeks after the resurrection of Moshiach. Just as Goyim had to get into the water to commit
themselves to Judaism, so now that the Moshiach has come and
is coming again, everyone must get into the water and
personally commit himself to Moshiach Adoneinu in order to remain
in the mainstream of true Biblical Judaism. Where there is no
true adherence to the Moshiach of Judaism, there is no true
adherence to Judaism. Anyone who refuses to take the Moshiach's tevilah automatically removes himself from true Biblical
Judaism, for as the Talmud does not fail to notice, "The world
was only created for the Moshiach" (Sanhedrin 98b) and "All the
prophets prophesied of nothing but the days of the Moshiach"
(Sanhedrin 99a). Some believers have had their spiritual life
seriously stunted because they were hesitant to obey Moshiach Adoneinu by taking the Moshiach's tevilah, others have
suddenly become sick and had much satanic attack, all because
they refused to obey Moshiach and submit to his tevilah. If you
have prayed to receive Moshiach Adoneinu, but have not yet taken
the Moshiach's tevilah, and are consequently sick or feel no
sense of blessing or nearness to G-d, now you know why. If you
want blessed, read what Moshiach Adoneinu says to do: "Anyone who
loves me will obey what I say; then my Father will love him, and
we will come to him and live within him" (Yochanan 14:23). Taking
the Moshiach's tevilah is no magic insurance policy freeing
people to live as they please without thought of the
consequences. Taking the Moshiach's tevilah is a moral matter,
and it means coming under the ethical direction and control of
the Jewish Moshiach Adoneinu. To live otherwise is to make a
mockery of one's tevilah. To refuse to take the Moshiach's tevila is in fact unethical behavior, since it is disobedience of
a mitzvoh of the G-d of Israel and his Moshiach (see Matthew
28:19). The spiritual Jew spends the rest of his life working
out the implications of his Moshiach's tevilah and what it means
spiritually and ethically to be living a Jewish life under the
leading of Moshiach. Without the intention of such a vital
faith, the ceremony of the Moshiach's tevilah is empty
and meaningless. Moshiach Adoneinu saves us through the tebilah (immersion) "of rebirth and renewing of the Ruach Hakodesh" (Tt 3:5), as we "are born from water and the Spirit"
(Yochanan 3:5). This does not mean that there is a quid quo pro
between not submitting to Moshiach's tevilah and going to Gehinnom, but it does mean that anyone who says that he believes
in Moshiach and yet refuses to submit to the Moshiach's tevilah is in danger of coming under the judgment of the word of G-d:
"The man who says 'I know him,' while he disobeys his mitzvot,
is a liar and a stranger to the truth" (I Yochanan 2:4). Moshiach Adoneinu commanded, "Make talmidim for Moshiach of all
the nations, giving them a tivilah in a mikveh mayim in Hashem,
the Name of HaAv, HaBen, and HaRuach HaKodesh, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you, And--hinei!--I (Moshiach)
am with you always, even unto the Kets haOlam hazeh (Mt.28:19-20 OJBC). The question is, do you want G-d to wash away your sins?
G-d knows that if you do, you'll get into the water. If you
refuse to get into the water, how do you plan on convincing G-d
that you're serious about wanting him to forgive you and wash
away your sins? Your token of repentance to convince both you and
G-d that you are serious about wanting your sins forgiven and
washed away is Moshiach's tevilah and your submitting to it.
Love is not mere lipservice. Love is something you do.
Your first expression of love for the Moshiach Adoneinu when you
become a disciple of Moshiach is to take the Moshiach's tevilah.
But first you must ask yourself how much you love G-d. Some
people love G-d so little that they don't even think G-d is worth
getting wet over. Moshiach Adoneinu says, "If you
love me you will obey my mitzvot" (Yochanan 14:15). From the
beginning days of the Kahal of Moshiach Adoneinu, there
was no time separation between believing and submitting to Moshiach's tevilah. Those who believed immediately sought the
Jewish tevilah of Moshiach Adoneinu. There was no mystery as to
what one could do if he sincerely desired to be saved from his
sins: believe on Moshiach Adoneinu and obey him through Moshiach's tevilahh, which is a token of your faith and
repentance. "And now why delay? Submit to Moshiach's tevilah immediately, with invocation of his name, and wash away your
sins" (Acts 22:16). There is no probation period of waiting
between the inward moment of faith and the outward moment of
obedience through submission to Moshiach's tevilah. Let
your old sinful life die today in a sea of death (Micah 7:19) so
that through the name of His Ben Elohim Moshiach, Elohim Avinu can give you his Ruach HaKodesh to make you a new creation. This
is Moshiach's tashlich (Micah 7:19).
THE JEWISH MANNER OF BMRSION In Judaism, complete immersion for proselytes was absolutely
necessary, so that every part of the body was touched by water.
So too in Moshiach's Judaism, complete immersion is the
Scriptural mode. We are to be buried in water (see Romans 6:4
and Colossians 2:12) with the Moshiach so that we can be
resurrected, as it were, out of the watery grave (see Acts 8:39
and Matthew 3:16) with him to walk in a new derekh haChayim as
spiritual bnei Avraham. Secret or private, unwitnessed immersions
were not acknowledged in Judaism, nor are they in Moshiach's Judaism. Both the tevilah immersion and the Seudah of Moshiach are public and not private ceremonies. However, it is important
to remember that unwanted persecutors were screened and Sha'ul could not get in to see the Moshiach's Shluchim until he became a
true believer and had Barnabus to vouch for him. Therefore, a
wise spiritual leader would be careful about who is in attendance
when a tevilah or a Seder is in progress.
"In the name of the L-rd Moshiach Adoneinu "is a Biblical
abbreviation for the full name of the one G-d of Israel. His
complete Name emerges in the fullness of revelation from the
Jewish Scriptures as the one Name of Elohim Avinu and Ben haElohim and Ruach Hakodesh, into whose one Name we are immersed
in the Moshiach's tevilah. At your Moshiach's tevilah, you will
have sealed on you, by faith, the majestic and mighty Name of the
G-d of Israel, which will make you his covenant property and
throw his protection over you to cover you with the Pesach
protection of His lamb (Exodus 12:13) and to seal you against the
assaults of the Enemy. For at your Moshiach's tevilah you will
enter into covenant with the G-d of Israel, and when you come up
out of the water the Jewish New Covenant will begin for you
(Jeremiah 31:31-34). Therefore, men are not born spiritual Jews,
even if their parents are Jewish. To become a spiritual Jew, one
must be born again (Yochanan 3:3) "through the water of rebirth
and the renewing power of the Ruach Hakodesh" (Titus 3:5). Moshiach Yehoshua said, "No one can enter the Kingdom of G-d with
out being born from water and Spirit (Ruach haKodesh" (Yochanan 3:5). Thus the ceremony is not for infants for there is a
spiritual aspect to this circumcision and it requires saving
faith. Therefore, immature children who do not comprehend
who Moshiach Adoneinu is nor depend on him as their L-rd
should not take the Moshiach's tevilahh until later when
they come to faith. Only believers are to be undergo Moshiach's tevilah: "He that believeth and undergoes Moshiach tevilah shall
be saved" (Mark 16:16).
UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE MUST DO
We who are the maggidim (preachers) of Messianic Judaism
teach the Messiah's people what Rabbi Sha'ul told Governor
Felix in Acts 24:25. We speak of 1) morals, 2)self-control,
3) the coming judgment, and also we speak of 4)teshuvah
(repentance), 5) selichah (forgiveness), and 6) mish'ma'at (obedience).
1) We know we all sin and are powerless to live as we
should without G-d's help (Romans 7:21-26).
2) We need to turn from trusting in ourselves and receive the Ruach Hakodesh in order to have the power to live as we should,
both now and hereafter.
3) The Ruach Hakodesh is given only in obedience to Moshiach Adoneinu, who will judge all those who reject him, and
who commands that our first act of obedience be to take a mikveh tevilah in the name of the G-d of Israel.
4) Teshuvah (repentance) means deciding to live as G-d pleases
rather than ourselves and according to his Word.
5) Selichah (forgiveness) doesn't mean letting sinners off
scot-free. G-d would be unrighteous if he did not decree just
punishment for sin. Therefore, G-d could forgive us only if he
took our punishment out on himself, on his Dvar Hashem, his Moshiach sent among us as a man named Yehoshua. To be
forgiven we must believe that G-d took our punishment in this
way, because G-d cannot extend mercy at the expense of his
justice. The Moshiach's death was in order that Elohim Avinu could righteously forgive all sin, since through the death of the
Ben haElohim, no sins had gone unpunished. DO YOU BELIEVE
THAT G-d CAN JUSTLY FORGIVE YOUR SINS ONLY THROUGH
THE PUNISHMENT OF Yehoshua?
6) Obeying a traffic cop means obeying his hands. In the same
way that one traffic cop can still have two hands, Elohim Avinu can have his Ruach Hakodesh and his Living Dvar Hashem (Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua) and still be one G-d. Yehoshua has
proven that he is both G-d and Moshiach by overcoming death. Now
he demands that we obey him as the L-rd and Master of our lives,
doing whatever he commands in the Tanach or Brit Chadasha Scriptures. ARE YOU WILLING TO OBEY Yehoshua AS Adoneinu and Moreinu v'Rabbeinu (our L-rd, teacher, and Master) OF YOUR LIFE?
Here is a Tefillah which you can daven:
G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am a Jew and I'm going to die
a Jew. But I've decided to stop living as I please. I promise to
live by your Word in both the Tanach and the Brit Chadasha. Elohim Avinu, I know that you can forgive my sins only through
the kapparah of the Seh haElohim Moshiach Yehoshua. Yehoshua, I believe that you overcame death to prove that you
are Ben haElohim, my Moshiach and my L-rd. Come into my life.
Forgive my sins. Take control of my life. And I'll obey you
forever, to the glory of Elohim Avinu and in the power of the Ruach Hakodesh..
In Yehoshua's name, amen.
Are you willing to pray that Tefillah and mean it? Come to our
Messianic Synagogue on the last Yom Rishon of the month Then join
other Jewish believers in Yeshna who are obeying him as L-rd by
submitting humbly to a Moshiach's Tevilah of teshuvah in the name
of the G-d of Israel. On that day you should arrive early in
order to receive instructions on the significance of this most
meaningful Jewish ceremony. You should wear clothes you don't
mind getting wet and you should bring a towel and a change of
clothes. After you have obeyed Moshiach Yehoshua in this simple
and yet most beautiful and blessed of ceremonies you will be able
to go with the other Jewish believers to celebrate the Pesach
covenant meal of the Moshiach's Seder which will occur in the Yom Rishon morning service or on Shabbos..
Acts 2:41-42 explains what Moshiach Yehoshua requires of his talmidim: "And those who accepted the Besuras Hageulah took the Moshiach's Tevilah-bris of water Moshiach's Tevilah, and they met
persistently to hear the teaching of Moshiach's Shluchim, to
experience Moshiach's Chavurah, to celebrate the Moshiach's Seder, and to daven." The Moshiach Yehoshua commands that we take
the Moshiach's Tevilah, that we partake of the Moshiach's Seder
regularly and that we attend believers' meetings
faithfully.
We can still observe our Jewish customs after accepting Yehoshua in Moshiach's Tevilah. The Moshiach's Tevilah is not the
end of our Jewishness. It is the true spiritual beginning of our Jewishness, the moment when the Jewish Brit Chadasha becomes a
reality in our life (see Jeremiah 31:31-34). In fact, we discover
that after we obey Yehoshua and become enlightened by the Ruach Hakodesh, we are able to see more to appreciate in our Jewish
customs and ceremonies that we ever believed possible.
SUMMARY
No respected modern scholar doubts the Jewish origin of the rite
of water immersion. Historically, water immersion has been the indispensible ritual for all who would become adherents of
Messianic Judaism.
The mission of Yehoshua did not arise in a vacuum. It received
the legacy of the zealous Jewish proselyting movement, to which
it added the world-shaking power of the Ruach Hakodesh in order
to make more proselytes to Messianic Judaism than anyone ever
dreamed possible. Judaism was carried to all peoples, Jews and
Non-Jews alike, by the followers of Yehoshua. For Yehoshua immersed Judaism with the Ruach Hakodesh and brought G-d's people
the Good News of the Kingdom which Judaism had for so long been
waiting to take to the world.
Messianic Judaism has been given a world-wide commission by Yehoshua, the risen Moshiach of Israel, to make all peoples
proselytes to him and Messianic Judaism through the Moshiach's Tevilah. In this way G-d is calling out a people from all nations
who, regardless of their culture, can become reborn and adopted Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) and eternal citizens of the Kingdom of
G-d.
The door to Messianic Judaism is teshuvah and emunah in the risen Moshiach Yehoshua, expressed outwardly through Moshiach's Tevilah of water immersion. In the same way that a non-Jew could
be cleansed from sin and made a partaker of all the blessings of
the covenant with Israel through proselyte Moshiach's Tevilah,
now all peoples must become adherents to the Moshiach of
Messianic Judaism in order to enter into the new life of the
Messianic age. Therefore, everyone - regardless of race or
culture - must become a Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) through the
inward reception of the Moshiach Yehoshua outwardly expressed by
submission to the Moshiach's Tevilah. The Moshiach's Tevilah is
the rite of entry into the community of the Jewish Moshiach, and
this Messianic community is concretely symbolized by the Passover
covenant meal of the Moshiach's Seder. Only those who have
covenanted themselves to the Moshiach Yehoshua by obeying him in
the Moshiach's Tevilah may partake of his Passover covenant meal,
the Moshiach's Seder.
Once Yehoshua appeared and Messianic Judaism focused on him as
its continuing center, ail Jews, in order to remain in the
mainstream of Messianic Judaism, had to stop relying on their own
merit and had to submit to a Moshiach's Tevilah themselves in
order to adhere to the true Messianic faith of their fathers.
When Elohim Avinu pinpointed his identity through the particular
Jew Yehoshua, his Son, anyone refusing to pay homage to Yehoshua did not know nor worship the true G-d of Israel (John
5:23, Luke 10:22). Moreover, to refuse to take the Moshiach's Tevilah is in fact unethical since it is disobedience to a
command of the G-d of Israel and his Moshiach.
The Moshiach's Tevilah is our glad response to the Good News of
Messianic Judaism. It is our obedient dying to our old life of
sin, so that we can arise with the Moshiach to a new abundant
life as Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14). KEVURAH (BURIAL) IN A MIKVEH MAYIM WITH MOSHIACH:
THE TEVILAH OF THE BRIT CHADASHA AND THE MAVET-TO-THE-OLD-HUMANITY-OF-ADAM TESHUVAH AND TECHIYAS HAMESIM HITKHADESHUT (REGENERATION) TO THE BRI'AH CHADASHA HUMANITY OF MOSHIACH, WHICH TOGETHER CONSTITUTE A CREATIONARY MIRACLE HASHEM PERFORMS AND MOSHIACH'S TEVILAH OF EMUNAH WITNESSES TO IN THE
LIFE OF THE MA'AMIN B'MOSHIACH |1| What then shall we say? Are we to persist in Chet (sin) al menat (in order that) unmerited Chen v'Chesed Hashem might
increase? |2| Chas v'shalom! Since we have died to Chet, how
can we still live in it? |3| Or are you unaware that all we who
were immersed in a mikveh mayim (pool for ritual bath and
initiatory tevilah immersion) into haMelech haMoshiach Yehoshua were immersed into His mavet (death)? |4| So then we were buried
with Him through a tevilah unto Mavet, in order that as haMelech haMoshiach was raised from hamesim (the dead ones) through the kavod haAv (the glory of the Father), so we also should walk in hitkhadeshut chayim (newness of life). |5| For if we have become
grown together in a devekut with the very likeness of His mavet (death), we shall certainly also be grown together in a devekut with the very likeness of His Techiyas haMesim (Resurrection).
NOTE: We'd like you to return this valuable second document
However, when you take the Moshiach's Tevilah, we have a
third document for you. You'll receive it on Acts 2:42 Yom Rishon, the last Yom Rishon of the month, if you are willing to
take the Moshiach's Tevilah at that time.
COUNTING THE COST BEFORE THE MOSHIACH'S TEVILAH
You are getting ready to seal the contract between yourself and
the G-d of your fathers, who on this day of your immersion is
making you a party eligible for the privileges and
responsibilities of the
Jewish Brit Chadasha.
THE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING G-d'S COVENANT
PROPERTY
When you are submerged into the water in the name of the G-d of
Israel - the name of Elohim Avinu and the Ben haElohim and the Ruach Hakodesh - this means that you are being dedicated in this
one name fo the one G-d of Israel whose property you now
become. You are now no longer your own, you have been
purchased at great price, at the cost of the blood of the Lamb of
G-d, Yehoshua the Moshiach Adoneinu.
By your act of submitting to Yehoshua's will in the Moshiach's Tevilah, you are confessing your faith that Yehoshua is Moshieinu and Adoneinu for your personally.
The Moshiach's Tevilah is a time when the Spirit of the G-d of
Israel creates a new vitality in the believer's life. For in Moshiach's Tevilah the believer gratefully submits his will to
the Spirit of G-d, realizing that G-d loves us so much that he
has appeased his holy wrath at our sin by taking his anger out on
himself, on part of his own being, on his Ben haElohim - rather
than on us who deserve it. The death of G-d the Ben haElohim in
your place and the revelation of G-d's Chayyei Olam through Yehoshua's resurrection from the dead is G-d's gift of infinite
love to you in order that he might give you life.
If you accept his Ben haElohim as L-rd and confess Yehoshua as
both G-d and Master of your life, you thereby renounce your own
sin-prone will and resolve to live by his holy will as it is
recorded for you in the Tanach and Brit Chadasha Jewish
Scriptures.
Therefore, the reason you get into the water is quite simple: the Moshiach Yehoshua commands you to submit to the Moshiach's Tevilah and you dare not disobey him. In fact, it is as you do
obey him that you know that Yehoshua is your L-rd. This
knowledge is joy unspeakable, the joy of your new birth and the
salvation of your soul.
Stepping into the water in obedient faith to Moshiach Yehoshua,
by faith you are cut free from the downward pull of your old
nature and spiritually circumcised by the Ruach Hakodesh as your
sins are drowned and buried in a tashlikh (Michoh 7:19). When you
are raised out of the water you joyfully believe G-d's promise
that your life is now privileged to be under the control of the
Ben haElohim of G-d through the Spirit of G-d, and you can now
begin to live in the newness of life as a Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) and an eternal Ben haElohim of G-d.
A SERIOUS DECISION
However, there is something for you to stop and consider first.
The Scriptures teach that although many of the Jewish people
believed in Yehoshua, some refused to become his talmidim (students), because they feared their own people and because they
valued their reputation with men more than they valued the honor
that comes from G-d. You should count the cost of becoming a
disciple before you publicly accept Yehoshua as your L-rd in the Moshiach's Tevilah.
WHAT YOUR MOSHIACH WILL COMMAND
The Scriptures plainly teach what Yehoshua commands of you as his talmid (disciple):
1) that you decide to obey G-d's Word and to be immersed in the
name of Elohim Avinu, Ben haElohim, and Ruach Hakodesh (Acts
2:38; Matthew 28:19);
2) that you not stay away from believers' meetings but remain a
faithful and regular student of apostolic teaching (Acts 2:42);
3) that you stay in regular Moshiach's Chavurah with other
believers (Hebrews 10:25);
4) that you be a regular partaker of the Moshiach's Seder (Acts
2:42);
5) that you remain faithful in corporate and private davening (Acts 2:42);
6) that you submit to the spiritual counsel of a body of
believers (Hebrews 13:17), where the Bible is believed and
faithfully preached and taught;
7) that you faithfully focus your financial giving, talents, and
spiritual gifts in one body of believers (Malachi 3:10; Acts
4:35; I Corinthians 14:26);
8) that you as a disciple make talmidim (John 15:8).
HOW MUCH IS MOSHIACH WORTH TO YOU?
Furthermore, the Moshiach Yehoshua commands that his talmidim put
him above everyone and everything else in the world, including
your family, your possessions, and even your own life (Luke
14:25-33). When you step into the immersion waters you are
walking into potential martyrdom. Your family may disown you and
you may suffer great loss and persecution. You must count the
cost. Rabbi Saul, who was persecuted greatly and died a martyr,
wrote: "But all is far-outweighed by the gain of knowing Moshiach Yehoshua my L-rd, for whose sake I did in fact lose everything .
. . All I care about is to know Moshiach, to experience the power
of his resurrection, and to share his sufferings, in growing
conformity with his death if only I nay finally arrive at the
resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 8:8,11).
WOULD-BE FOLLOWERS Moshiach Yehoshua warned that some would-be talmidim, not
counting the cost, would seemingly receive the Word with joy, but
it would strike no root in them; they'd have no staying power;
then, when there is trouble or persecution on account of the
Word, they'd fall away at once. Others also would hear the Word,
but worldly concerns and the false glamor of wealth and all kinds
of evil desire would come m and choke the Word and it would prove
barren (Mark 4). Take Yochanan the Immersionist's warning:
"There is no use being immersed in the tevilah in the mikveh without a true and lasting decision that shows itself in
actions" (Luke 3:8).
NO LOOKING BACK
The Scriptures also warn, "When men have once been enlightened,
when they have had a taste of the heavenly gift and a share in
the Ruach Hakodesh, when they have experienced the good Word of
G-d and the spiritual energies of the age to come, and after this
have fallen away, it is impossible to bring them again to teshuvah; for with their own hands they are killing the
Ben haElohim of G-d again and making mockery of his death"
(Hebrews 6:4-6). This passage means that we must approach our
immersion with the utmost seriousness and never look back on it
lightly as though the commitment it symbolizes is something to
trifle with! Count the cost! Yehoshua warns, "No one who sets
his hand to the plow and then keeps looking back is fit for the
kingdom of G-d. If you love me you will obey my commandments"
(Luke 9:62; John l4:15).
WHAT NEXT?
Now, since immersion is the door to the chavaroot (Moshiach's Chavurah) of believers in Yehoshua and since you obviously
believe that G-d has sent you to our Messianic Synagogue to be
immersed, then you should assume that the L-rd wishes you to
commit yourself to the Body of believers at our Messianic
Synagogue, unless you are Scripturally, prayerfully prompted
otherwise. In order that you may be able to be received into
membership by next "Acts 2:42 Yom Rishon." the last week-end of
the month, we are making available for your prayerful
consideration the following: 1) the membership application, 2)
the information sheet, and 8) an envelope for your forwarding
this material to us as promptly as possible. When we receive
these materials from you, if you are to be received as a member,
it will be on the last week-end of that same month. At that time
new members will receive their membership manuals. In connection
with your decision, take with you and read this week the document
entitled "The Jewish Life of A Talmid of Moshiach" which we have
included with your application for membership.
We of our Messianic Synagogue urge you to approach your Moshiach's Tevilah with seriousness but also with real expectancy
and excitement. Your tevilah should be a time of blessing for you
as well as a time when you can look to Moshiach Adoneinu for
direction in how he would have you serve him. Therefore, approach
your tevilah with the same joyful hope that you should always
have when you step out in emunah to obey the Word of G-d.
Just as Yehoshua experienced a disclosure from Elohim Avinu at
his own tevilah, so too you should see this as the time when G-d
formally enlists and authorizes you to be a servant of his Ben haElohim Moshiach, and obligates himself to be your protector and
loving benefactor in ministry.
When you come up out of the water you are at that moment by faith
a covenant-sealed and adopted ben haElohim (Romans 8:14-17;
Jn.1:13-14), a recipient of the blessings of the Brit Chadasha (Jeremiah 31:31-84), a spiritual child of Abraham by faith
(Galatians 3:7). If there ever were a time when you should raise
your hands and praise the G-d of Israel, it is when you come up
out of the water! Baruch ha shem! May G-d's richest blessing rest
on you all the days of your life!
Scriptures for study: Colossians 2:11-13; Romans 2:28-29; Acts
2:38;Romans 6:1-11;Romans 8:14-17.
MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
We believe:
In the Kitvei HaKodesh (Holy Scriptures) as the inspired and
infallibly accurate and inerrant Word of G-d (Psa.19:7[8]; John
17:17; Ps.119:151; II Tim.3:15-16).
In the one true G-d, the G-d of Israel, revealed in the Kitvei HaKodesh as Elohim Avinu, Ben HaElohim Moshiach, and the Ruach HaKodesh (Deut.6:4; Gen.2:24; Isa.64:8 [7]; Mal.3:1; Zech.6:5;
Isa.63:11; Mat.28:19; Mark 12:29;II Cor.13:13)
In the virgin birth (Ha-Almah, Isaiah 7:14; cf. Song.of Sol. 6:8)
of HaMelekh haMoshiach, and the substitutionary and propitiatory
aspect of his death, and his resurection and ascension (Isa.7:14;
Song of Sol.6:8; Est. 2:13-14, 17; Rom.8:34; Act 1:9-11; I Cor.
15:3-8).
In salvation through the blood of our Korban Pesach Seh haElohim Moshiach who alone ransoms or redeems us from sin, death, and
eternal spiritual ruin in Gehinnom (Gen. 22:8-13; Isa.53; 66:24;
Dan.12:2; I Jn.2:2; Rom.10:13-15; I Tim.2:5-6; I Pet.1:18-19).
In Moshiach's tevilah in water according to Matthew 28:19
(Gen.1:9; Rom.6:4; Ex.29:4; I Pet.2:5; 3:20-21)
In divine healing through the Pesach redemption of King Moshiach on the Aitz Hakelalat Hashem (Gal.3:10-14; Deut.21:23) which
becomes for us through faith the Aitz HaChayyim (the tree of
Life, the tree of Redemption) [Isaiah 53:4; Mat.8:16-17;
Jam.5:13-14]
In the tevilah b'Ruach HaKodesh (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 15:8-9; Joel
2:28f)
In the power of the Ruach HaKodesh to sanctify and to help the
believer to live a life of kedusha (Heb.12:14; I Pet. 1:15-16)
In the Bias haMoshiach (Acts. 11:11; 24:15; Hebrews 9:28; Rev.
19::7-9)
In G-d's gift of the Admat haKodesh (Holy Land, Zecharyah 2:16
[12] to the people of Israel (Amos 9:15), and in G-d making
non-Jews bnei Avraham by emunah in Moshiach Yehoshua (Gal.3:7-14;
Acts 7:45, Greek New Testament).
I__________________, trusting Yehoshua of Nazareth as my kaparrah and personal Moshiach and the Ben haElohim, wish to become a
member of this Messianic Synagogue. As a Jewish talmid of Moshiach Yehoshua, I promise to faithfully continue in the
teaching of Moshiach's Shluchim, the chavaroot (Moshiach's Chavurah), the Moshiach's Seder, and Tefillos (Acts 2:42) of this
synagogue. I also promise to humbly submit to the spiritual
leadership of this synagogue as long as the Word of G-d is
honored, accepting correction in the same spirit of love in which
it is given (Hebrews 13:17), since I realize these leaders "must
render an account for me." I furthermore agree to obey Malachi
3:8-10 and I pledge to support this synagogue not only with my
financial giving, but my talents, my time, and my spiritual gifts
in order to do all that I can to win talmidim to this Body of Yehoshua in our local Jewish community.
In Yehoshua's name And for his
glory,
Date________________________
NOTE: If you complete this application for membership, turn or
mail it in with the information sheet (on the reverse) filled
out, so that it can be processed in time for you to receive
membership and your manual by next Acts 2:42 Yom Rishon, the last
week-end of next month.
MEMBERSHIP IN OUR MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE
Family Name ____________ Date
Husband__________________ Wife ______________________
Birthday Birthday
Child ____________________ Child _____________________ Birthdate Birthdate Child ____________________ Child _____________________ Birthdate Birthdate Address
City Zip
Phone____________________
In case of emergency, please list your business address and
number:
Husband's Business Wife's Business Religious Background
Do you have relatives in our Messianic Synagogue? If so, please
list their names:
YOU WANT To USE YOUR "GIFTS" FOR MOSHIACH'S AVODAS KODESH MINISTRY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
Phone Ministry Bus Ministry
Teaching What age group? Experience?
Faith sharing Membership visitation work
Stewardship committee Nursery
Music Singing? What instruments?
Office work Hours weekly? Special abilities
Youth ministry Of what sort?
Other
NOTE: COMPLETE THIS FORM AND TURN OR MAIL IT IN WITH
YOUR APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP.
THE JEWISH LIFE OF A TALMID OF MOSHIACH
The Hebrew word cha-VER means "friend." Chavaroot for us means
"Moshiach's Chavurah." That a disciple could be his master's
cha-VER or friend was unheard of at the time of Yehoshua, for
then a disciple was to keep a respectful distance from his
master, adhering to him with only the abashed formality of a
slave.
SLAVES BECOME G-D'S FRIENDS
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi asserted that a disciple could do anything
for his master that a slave could do, except take off his shoes
(Babylonian Talmud, Kethuboth, 96a). Yochanan haMatbil said he
was not worthy even to do that for Yehoshua (see Matthew 3:11). A
Jewish disciple at that time was expected to have a devotion to
his master comparable to that of a slave, freely yoking himself
to his master's service.
However, Yehoshua elevated the disciple's devotion to a new
level. He says, "You are my chavarim, my friends, if you do what
I command you. I call you slaves no longer; a slave does not know
what his master is about. I have called you friends, because I
have disclosed to you everything that I heard from my Father"
(John 15:14-15).
The best Hebrew word to describe these intimate meetings that Yehoshua had with his immediate talmidim is Moshiach's Chavurah.
There is a long standing Jewish custom for friends to meet for
the purpose of table fellowship and social-religious discussion
and davening, not only on erev Shabbat (Sabbath eve), but at
other occasions as well. Any group of friends that met
consistently on a weekly basis for such intimate sharing was
called a chavurah.
What was unique about the Chavurah of Moshiach was that
through such fellowship the talmidim were raised to a
new intimacy with G-d, becoming (like Abraham) G-d's friends, and
experiencing through the Ruach Hakodesh, G-d's eternal
resurrection life revealed through his Ben haElohim. It was in
just such a setting of table fellowship that the Risen Moshiach appeared to his frightened talmidim and they
had fellowship with G-d himself!
And here the proof that the Ben haElohim is G-d was given in his
resurrection, which was much more than a dead man seen alive. Moshiach's resurrection was the eternal life of G-d bodily
visible to G-d's friends. With the resurrection of Yehoshua, who
was both G-d and man, the promised Resurrection unto Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) has already begun, for the first man has already
stepped out of the grave and all that is left is for the redeemed
to follow. Moreover, now that he has resurrected and ascended,
the Ben haElohim has been exalted to become Adoneinu. Yehoshua is
L-rd. This is the confession without which there is no salvation
(Romans 10:9). Yehoshua is L-rd in the sense that he is both G-d
and Master of our lives, bringing us to Elohim Avinu through the Ruach Hakodesh. As L-rd, Yehoshua has poured out the Ruach Hakodesh (Acts 2:33), Yehoshua has become the object of faith
(Acts 2:21, 8:16), Yehoshua is the Holy One (Acts 3:14), Yehoshua is the author of life (Acts 3:15), and Yehoshua will be the Shofet kol haAretz, the judge of the world (Acts 10:42).
We must remember the holiness of Yehoshua. The Moshiach of Israel
is Ben haElohim (see Isaiah 9:6). Yehoshua has the very form of
the mode of being of G-d. Not G-d Elohim Avinu but G-d Ben haElohim. We are all sons of G-d by adoption through faith but
only Yehoshua is G-d's own Ben haElohim, who has always had the
form of the mode of being of G-d, even before Yehoshua came among
us as a man (Phil.2:6). We must remember that it was through the
Ben haElohim that Elohim Avinu created the world. None of us is
the Ben haElohim in that sense. The Ben haElohim is G-d, we are
the Ben haElohim's creation.
But we depend on G-d's Ben haElohim not only for having created
us, but also for revealing Elohim Avinu to us. We know Elohim Avinu only because we know the Ben haElohim (Luke 10:22).
Therefore, the Moshiach's Chavurah of the first Jewish believers
in Yehoshua was unparalleled in human history. It was Moshiach's Chavurah in which Elohim Avinu was intimately and personally
known in devekut (attachment, communion) as never before. It was Moshiach's Chavurah in which Elohim Avinu was present through his
risen divine Ben haElohim (at first visibly, later invisibly). It
was Moshiach's Chavurah in which the miraculous healing powers of
the Olam Haba were present by means of the Ruach Hakodesh. In
brief, it was Moshiach's Chavurah in Yehoshua's resurection life, experienced in all but its future perfection right now in
the Olam Hazeh (the present age, see I John 1:1-4). Therefore, to
be a talmid of Moshiach is to experience the new life of the Olam Habah even now in our joyful Devekut with G-d and in our Chavurah in Moshiach with one another.
WHY MEET ON SHABBOS AND YOM RISHON?
Because the Moshiach first resurrected and appeared to his talmidim on Yom Rishon (John 20:1), and appeared to them again
the following week on Yom Rishon (John 20:26), finally pouring
out the Ruach Hakodesh on them (Acts 2:1) on Yom Rishon (Shavuos A.D. 30), Yom Rishon became known as Yom haAdon (Rev.1:10). Thus
it became an established Jewish tradition to meet on Yom Rishon as well as Shabbos.
It was not enough for Jewish people to witness to the fact that
G-d rested on the seventh day after the creation. It was now
necessary also to witness to the fact that G-d worked a new
eternal creation on the eighth day, the first day of the new
creation, when his Ben haElohim resurrected to become the Rosh,
the Head of a new eternal humanity who are experiencing their new
life of Moshiach's Chavurah in him already, even in this dying Olam Hazeh world in advance of the Olam Habah, the age to come.
Therefore, the first Jewish believers did not fail to acknowledge
both Shabbos and Yom haAdon. This is why it is so important for
Messianic Judaism that Jewish talmidim meet for services on both,
pointing to the continuity of their Jewish faith,
preserving both its past and its future as they witness to the
fullness of their Judaism for the benefit of the salvation of
their local Jewish community.
NO MATURITY WITHOUT COMMITMENT
The Biblical pattern for a body of believers such as our
Messianic Synagogue is that we be an expression of Moshiach Yehoshua, representing him locally among our people in the Jewish
community. G-d has designed that each believer in Yehoshua be personally committed to a particular assembly or
synagogue (which is the Greek word for "assembly" - see
Jam. 2:2). This is because we have a team responsibility to help
one another grow in spiritual maturity and in usefulness for the Avodas Kodesh service of G-d, without which we cannot render
adequate worship.
PUNCH ONLY ONE CLOCK
In the first place, commitment to one local assembly is the Brit Chadasha pattern. As we open the Bible and read Acts and the
epistles it is evident that believers are in submission to one
specific local body. The Jewish believers who set the world on
fire for G-d 2000 years ago were not running around from meeting
hall to meeting hall. They were committed to one meeting hall and
were putting their full strength in one synagogue, rather than
scattering and diluting their energies in several directions.
Because they obeyed G-d and combined their talents and skills and
financial and spiritual resources in localized team efforts,
these Jewish believers had an impact in every community where
they lived. (Study the Book of Ruth. Ruth remained faithfully
where G-d placed her. She remained in Boaz's field. Boaz said,
"Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain."
Or look at the commitment of Sha'ul and Barnabas to a local body
and its impact on the whole world in Acts 13:1-3).
Have you ever tried to work in two or three places of employment
at one time? If you have, you know that by spreading yourself
thin you don't do your best at any job. If you want to succeed in
the business world you have to have one place where you focus all
your concentration with one team of people. Moonlighting here and
there is just going to wear you out and you're not really going
to do anybody any good. It's the same working for the Kingdom of
G-d. You can't punch the clock in three different congregations
and get anything done for Moshiach. And if you spread your tithe
around instead of focusing it in one assembly as the L-rd
commands (Malachi 3:8-10), your disobedience dissipates the
purchasing strength of your own financial resources. The Biblical
mandate is that we submit ourselves, our tithes, and our time to
one body.
LISTEN INTENTLY TO HASHEM IN ONE SHUL Secondly, the Bible teaches that some day the Mashgiach Ruchani (Spiritual Overseer) of each flock is going to have to give an
accounting for each believer for whom he has been responsible. As undershepherds of the Great Shepherd Yehoshua, these ministers
will stand before our Moshiach and render an account (Hebrews
13:17). Now this should make us realize that every believer must
have a shepherd. Even the most mature man of G-d or woman of
G-d will sooner or later need pastoral counselling or help. No
matter how strong you are in the L-rd, who will you turn to when
you are in the hospital, or when you need to be married, or when
your family has a death and a funeral is needed? Or what if one
of your family members becomes mentally ill? Or becomes shut-in
and needs a pastoral visit? If you don't know a minister or
don't have a commitment to a ministering body of believers, what
will you do when you are caught in a crisis? Won't it be a
little late then to call up some strangers and ask them to come
to your house? No, you need to come in out of the cold of this
world and find a warm, loving body of Moshiach's people, and you
need to think about this now.
The Jewish Scriptures teach, "I will give you shepherds according
to my will, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding" (Jeremiah 3:15). If you do not have a shepherd or mashgiach ruchani (spiritural overseer) who is responsible to Moshiach Yehoshua for you, then how are you yourself going to
stand before G-d guiltless? There are those that run from meeting
hall to meeting hall on the supposition that they are in
submission as talmidim. However, in reality these people are in
submission to nobody but themselves and are willfully disobedient
to G-d's Word, which commands them to meet regularly together in
one body (Hebrews 10:25) and to celebrate the Moshiach's Seder regularly (I Corinthians 11:24; Acts 2:42) together.
Therefore, as a believer you have the responsibility to adhere to
a chavurah and to throw your strength into that flock. Then,
when you need help, the flock will be strong and will be able to
come to your aid in the L-rd.
Did you ever hear of a sheep belonging to three or four different
flocks? What a traumatic and confusing experience for any lamb!
How could such a freakish sheep be sure of his steps or avoid
getting lost? Such wandering sheep would be smart to stop
listening to themselves and start listening to what the Great
Shepherd has to say in his Word.
DEVELOP YOUR GIFTS IN ONE BODY
Thirdly, we need to realize that G-d has given to each believer
certain spiritual gifts. However, in many cases these gifts are
latent in an individual without his being aware of them, because
he has never been committed to any one body long enough to
exercise them. But the L-rd expects each one of us to use the
gifts that he has invested in us. We have the responsibility to
locate in an atmosphere where we can systematically grow and
mature and our gifts can come to their full expression.
Do you know what your gifts are and are you using them in one
body now where they will serve the Kingdom of G-d and reach our
Jewish people? One of the reasons G-d has formed the body of our
Messianic Synagogue is that many of our people could not properly
exercise their gifts because they were uncommitted and
uninvolved. But now every believer, including you, has the
opportunity and the responsibility to use his gifts for the glory
of G-d. And if you are Jewish, we offer you the unique challenge
of using your gifts in a body that is an expression of Moshiach Yehoshua in our local Jewish community for the benefit of the
lost sheep of the House of Israel.
GET RESPONSIBLE
Fourthly, the Bible teaches that just as a body cannot accomplish
anything without its various members functioning in coordination,
so too is the Body of Yehoshua. Without hands, fingers can't feed
a mouth. Both our Messianic Synagogue and the lost sheep of the
House of Israel at large are suffering the loss of your hands. We
need, and the L-rd commands, that we have the undiluted spiritual
and financial strength of all those who would join with us. Are
you dead-serious about reaching our Jewish people for Yehoshua?
Ask yourself the question: "Am I giving my maximum time and
finances and talents for reaching our people? Or do I run around
a lot and give only a little bit here and a little bit there?"
Also, the Bible says, "A little child shall lead them." Most
healthy growing congregations have plenty of children and young
people. But who will be their chaperons, teachers, counsellors,
and friends? And what about your own children? "Bad company
destroys good morals." Their peer group may be leading them down
the wrong path, but how will their have a peer group in the House
of the L-rd unless you make it your business to get them to Moshiach's shul and to get involved yourself? Are you
dead-serious about this statement, "As for me and my house, I
will serve the L-rd!"
This is a matter that will be a very relevant one when we all
stand before the judgment seat of Moshiach and give an accounting
of our time and money and obedience to Hebrews 13:17 and Malachi
3:8-10.
There is a price to pay for disobedience, even for believers. We
either obey the L-rd and do our best to serve him, giving him
quality time and service as we build for him with the highest
standards of which we are capable, or we pay later. "If anyone
builds on the foundation (of Moshiach Yehoshua) with gold,
silver, and fine stone, or with wood, hay and straw, the
work that each man does will at last he brought to light; the day
of judgment will expose it. For that day dawns in fire, and the
fire will test the worth of each man's work. If a man's building
stands, he will be re warded; if it burns he will have to bear
the loss; and yet he will escape with his life as one might run
from a fire" (I Corinthians 3:12-15).
Therefore, the question is not if you will tie into a body but
where you will tie in, because there really is no option in this
matter. We defy G-d at our own risk. Judaism has never been a
philosophy, though some have tried to see it in the pagan light
of Greece. Judaism is a revealed religion which does not ask
for philosophic opinion, but rather demands obedience from all
men to G-d and to his Moshiach. The L-rd says, "Obey your
leaders" (Hebrews 13:17) and this doesn't mean tipping your hat
respectfully from shepherd to shepherd as you wander from flock
to flock. This means joining one flock and listening to the
voice of Hashem through the body life of one community as you
remain in good standing under the discipline of one body of
believers where the Bible is believed and faithfully taught. We
of our Messianic Synagogue are one of the expressions of Moshiach Yehoshua in the Jewish community. We are davening Tefillos and
asking G-d to give us the disciples who are called to minister
with us. If you are called by Hashem to come onboard with us, you
will not be joining a choir of angels; we are just redeemed
sinners trying but not always succeeding to grow up to the full
stature of Yehoshua. However, the longer we put up with one
another and try to love one another in spite of our faults, the
more we grow to love with the agape love with which Moshiach Yehoshua loves and the more we become like him. Therefore, don't
expect too much from us and don't run out the door the first time
our behavior disappoints you. Instead, stay and ask Yehoshua to
help you love our unloveliness and you'll grow in your ability to
be compassionate and tolerant.
It is our Tefillah that you will make the commitment of
membership and fill out the information sheet and send them to
our shul at once. Then, on the next Acts 2:42 week-end, we will
have the joy of offering you both the right hand of fellowship
and our membership manual as you become an integral part of our
congregation.
Thus, locking arms together with you in the marvelous love of Yehoshua and the supernatural life of the Ruach Hakodesh, our
synagogue will be able to reach out to the lost sheep of the
House of Israel before it's too late. For this is the Biblical
pattern, that you be committed to one Body and with your full
resources focused in one place for the maximum glory of G-d to
shine in a lost world.
NOTE: Now that you"e read this entire document we'd like you
to return it. The next document you receive from us you will
not return. It is our synagogue member's manual. You will
receive it next Acts 2:42 week-end, the last week-end of the
month, if you have taken the Moshiach's Tevilah and if your
membership application has by then been turned in and processed.
?I?E GOOD NEWS AND THE MOSHIACH'S SEDER
The word "Passover" comes from the Hebrew word "pesach," which
means "to pass over" in the sense of "to spare the life"
(Exodus12:13-17). G-d passed over the blood-sprinkled Israelite
houses and spared their lives from the wrath he inflicted on the
heathen Egyptians, who had neither blood sacrifice nor faith. It
was the blood of the sacrificial victim, the lamb, placed on the
lintels of the Israelite homes that effected their release from
G-d's wrath. And thus the Passover Seder came to commemorate
that blood-sprinkled exodus to freedom and new life which is the
essence of the covenant faith of Israel.
WHY WE NEED TO BE "PASSED OVER"
It's important to keep in mind that believers in Yehoshua are
also "passed over" - spared the wrath of G-d - in the Jewish Brit Chadasha, just as they were in the days of Moshe Rabbeinu.
Unfortunately, many people do not know that the Last Supper took
place in the context of a Passover feast. This Brit Chadasha Passover commemorated a new exodus of salvation effected by Moshiach's own death as he offered himself as the Lamb of G-d who
takes away the sin of the world (Gen.22:8; Exod.12:5-13;
Isa.53:7).
And believers at this Brit Chadasha Seder table are in fact
"passed over," saved to a new life of freedom. For the G-d of
Israel is the Great Kinsman of his people who "bails them out" of
captivity at great cost to himself because he loves them (Ruth
2:20; Isaiah 59:20). Our wills were held captive by the sinful
ways of this "Egyptian" Olam Hazeh world rather than the will of
him who created us. In his mercy the G-d of Israel came to post
the "bailbond" of the Moshiach's kapparah in exchange for our
freedom and peace (Isaiah 53:5).
We stood legally condemned under a death-curse. Without obedient
Biblical faith we had arrogantly presumed that our good deeds
merited G-d's favor. But all our presumptuous efforts to impress
G-d by our own goodness stand condemned because the Torah teaches
that all who proudly rely on their ability to render G-d perfect
obedience are under a death curse: "A curse upon any man who
does not uphold everything that is written in the Book of the Law
(Deuteronomy 27:26). Truly righteous people rely on faith, not
on their own merit (see Habakkuk 2:4). Because of our faithless
disobedience, our arrogant independence from G-d, and our
tendency to think of ourselves as better than we are, and to go
our own way (Isa.53:6), we were under a death curse. Yet in his
mercy the G-d of Israel sent Moshiach Adoneinu, his own sinless
Ben haElohim Yehoshua to take that death-curse upon himself in
exchange for our freedom from the death-curse. And because Moshiach Yehoshua paid the death penalty of divine judgment on
our sins, his death purchased an actual, Torah-based freedom from
the bondage of sin and its death-curse. Therefore, we who believe
have been bought into the liberty of freedmen, no longer slaves
of sin and guilt, but transformed by the Ruach Hakodesh and
adopted as bnei haElohim.
Now, having been bailed out of the "Egyptian" captivity of our
own sinful wills, we obediently live by the will of G-d's own Ben haElohim, who died for us in order that we might live for him.
Therefore, we know to whom we belong and the great price it cost
him to redeem us. This is why the Brit Chadasha Passover -
sometimes called the Moshiach's Seder - means so much to us.
THE MEANING OF THE MATZOH AND FRUIT OF THE VINE
In the Moshiach's Seder, under Yehoshua's sovereign Word, the matzoh becomes his body, the body of the Seh haElohim (Gen.8:22;
Exod.12:5-13; Isaiah 53:7) yielded up in G-d's redeeming plan
(see Hebrews 10:5-10). And his blood outpoured in death is the
blood that effects our release, our redemption, for "when I see
the blood I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). And just as in
the sacrificial rites of the Egyptian Pesach, the redemptive
blood of the Korban Pesach lamb is represented in the cup of
blessing on the table. That Kiddush cup is invested henceforward
with a fresh redemptive significance as the memorial of the New
Exodus accomplished at Jerusalem (see Luke 9:81) through the
death of Moshiach our Korban Pesach lamb. The "bread of
affliction" of the Passover table of the Jewish Brit Chadasha,
then, becomes Moshiach's body, the body of the Lamb of G-d
(Gen.22:8; Exod.12:5-13; Isaiah 53:7).
Just as matzoh and the fruit of the vine were symbols of the
divine peace that the kohen Melchizedek mediated to Abraham
(Genesis 14:18), so the Great Moshiach Kohen Yehoshua (Psalm
110:4) offers himself through the matzoh and fruit of the vine as
G-d's peace offering to men. His broken body and outpoured blood
are the only acceptable peace terms to bring ritztzuy (reconciliation) between a just, holy G-d and sinful men. For
without the infinite injury which Elohim Avinu inflicted on the
Ben haElohim, G-d in all justice would have had to declare an
eternal war in Gehinnom on all the sins of men. G-d's peace
offering, the blood of the Lamb of G-d, is his only acceptable
restitution for the sins of guilty, G-d-alienated men, and the Moshiach's Seder is the only real Peace Table in this world. The
task of Messianic Judaism is to persuade men everywhere to submit
to Moshiach's Tevilah of teshuvah so that they may gather around
the Prince of Peace and be assured at his Moshiach's Seder table
that they have been "passed over" and given the eternal peace of
G-d. This means that all men must be persuaded to accept the Moshiach of Israel as their King.
At the Moshiach's tish (table), Moshiach's Chavurah of all Bnei Avraham in the Ruach Hakodesh (Gal.3:7-14) are gathered as the
people of the Brit Chadasha (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and is
confronted afresh with the tokens of Moshiach's once-for-all
offered sacrifice in the form of a covenant meal. At this table
the talmidim of Moshiach relive that experience by which they
came out of the Egypt of sin and were ransomed to G-d by the
precious death of the Lamb of G-d, Yehoshua the Moshiach. The
inner meaning of the Moshiach's Seder is sharing in devekut (attachment, devotion, communion) with the Moshiach Adoneinu himself in his death and risen life, signified by the matzoh and
the fruit of the vine. In this devekut, the talmidim of Moshiach experience unity, partaking of the one matzoh as the one body of
the Jewish Moshiach. In the unseen presence of Moshiach Adoneinu at his tish (table), Moshiach's people have a foretaste of the
glorious Messianic banquet in the New Jerusalem where we will sit
with Moses and millions of other Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) in the Olam Habah (the age to come).
WHO MAY PARTAKE
Exodus 12:48-49 excludes Non-Jews from participation in the
Passover Seder. Likewise, the Moshiach's Seder, the Passover meal
of the Jewish Brit Chadasha, excludes those who have not yet
become bnei Avraham adopted and regenerated in the Ruach Hakodesh (Gal.3:7-14). To sit at the Moshiach's Seder table, one must be a
Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14), circumcised of the will and the spirit,
having submitted to Moshiach's circumcision and Moshiach's tevilah of repentance (Col.2:11-12; Mat.3:11; Act 2:38), or one
will be eating and drinking judgment on oneself (I Corinthians
11:29). Regardless of one's culture or race, one cannot partake
of the Pesach covenant meal of Moshiach until one has personally
covenanted himself to Moshiach by submitting to the Moshiach's Tevilah.
The Moshiach's Tevilah is the sign of spiritual death and
spiritual resurrection. For Moshiach's Tevilah symbolizes the
believer's union with Moshiach through faith in which the
believer dies to his sin-prone life and is raised to walk in the
newness of life as a Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14). No one should
celebrate the New Exodus from sin and death commemorated by the Moshiach's Seder unless that exodus has become a reaiity for him
through his own spiritual circumcision, which faith confers and
which the Moshiach's Tevilah confirms (see Colossians 2:11-18; I
Pet.3:21).
EATING AND DRINKING BECOME PREACHING
The Moshiach's Seder Jewishly observed has power to make talmidim for Moshiach. For, when both Moshiach's Tevilah and the Moshiach's Seder are publicly and properly administered, with
only believers who have taken Moshiach's Tevilah allowed to
receive the Moshiach's Seder, the Moshiach's Seder becomes a
corporate sermon (I Corinthians 11:26) calling men to make the
faith response of Moshiach's Tevilah in order that they too may
be no more excluded from the Moshiach's Seder. For as I
Corinthians 11:26 says, every time we eat this bread and drink
this cup we are, by that very eating and drinking, preaching. We
are preaching the saving significance of the Moshiach's death,
which is the chief task of Messianic Judaism until Moshiach Adoneinu comes again. The Moshiach's Seder is a corporate sermon
because when people, especially Jewish people, see that
responding to the Besuras Hageulah is a very Jewish thing to do
because Moshiach's immersion is a Tevilah burial and Moshiach's Seudah is a Seder, then the tension is on them to confess Yehoshua as Moshiach Adoneinu by getting into the water in order
to be no more excluded from the Moshiach's Seder. For making talmidim is drawing lines and persuading men to cross them. The Moshiach's Seder, properly administered, persuades men to cross
the Moshiach's Tevilah line into discipleship as Moshiach's talmidim.
In effect, then, when we partake of the Moshiach's Seder, we are
celebrating our spiritual circumcision, our spiritual exodus and
our Moshiach's Tevilah that incorporated us in to the chavurah of
the spiritual Bnei Avraham. For in eating and drinking, we are
celebrating our new life as Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14). And as we
participate in the Moshiach's Seder, by that very participation
and devekut in the Ruach Hakodesh, we are defining who we are: Bnei Avraham in the Ruach Hakodesh. As a matter of fact, the Moshiach's Seder is itself visual proclamation in that it calls
men to realize that they are either inside or outside the circle
of the redeemed people of the Moshiach's Exodus (and therefore
salvation) and must make a decision to either remain outside this
circle or (via emunah, teshuvah, and Moshiach's Tevilah) enter
that circle and begin that Exodus trek of discipleship and eat at Moshiach's tish (table). When men see the Moshiach's Seder
celebrated, they must understand that a line is being drawn which
they either cross or do not cross, depending on whether or not
they will receive the Word of G-d. In the Moshiach's Seder,
people are confronted with a choice: they can either remain
"Egyptian", spiritually unregenerated and uncircumcised heathen
and be left behind in the Egypt of this dying Olam Hazeh world,
or they can respond to the Moshiach's Seder proclamation and (via emunah and teshuvah and Moshiach's Tevilah) can sit with at Moshiach's tish and enter that pilgrimage and exodus upon which
we as Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) have already embarked.
Therefore, preaching shares with Moshiach's tevilah and Moshiach's Seder for in all three ways the Word of G-d draws a
line, confronting men with the decision to either cross that line
or not cross it, get in the water or not get in the water, eat
and drink or not eat and drink, become a Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14)
or remain a spiritual heathen. The Moshiach's Seder, then, is the
special time when we can draw near to Hashem for devekut (attachment to G-d). The heart of our life is in Moshiach's Chavurah with Moshiach, but it is in the Moshiach's Chavurah centered around preaching, Moshiach's Tevilah, and Moshiach's Seder. In Moshiach's Seder we have a foretaste of the lechem from Shomayim from Beth Lechem (Michah 5:1-2) here on earth as we
also have that same foretaste in the Word of G-d as it is
verbally proclaimed in preaching. Preachers need to understand
the Jewishness of their role, functioning as they do as
Moses-figures who call people out of Egypt into a new exodus of
salvation and offer them the opportunity to exit death and sin
via emunah (faith) and a red sea of water immersion and Moshiach's Seder table of salvation. Non-Jewish preachers who
are ignorant of the Jewishness of their task blur the definition
of what the Moshiach's Kehillah is in relation to Israel, what
the Jewish Brit Chadasha Scriptures are in relation to the Tanach,and they blur this not only for Jews who often have
traditionally been unresponsive to the proclamation of the Good
News and have not seen the relevance of it, but they also miss
the significance for Non-Jews. For a Bible Believer can only
know who he is himself when he understands who he is in relation
to the Jews at whose table he is eating. This is why a degree of
humility and repentance is in order as we begin our walk as Moshiach's talmidim. Greater men than we have tried to serve the
L-rd and have failed miserably. May G-d have mercy on us all.
THE MESSAGE WE PREACH
According to the Hebrew prophets, the Ruach Hakodesh would be
given to men to write the will of G-d - the "Torah" - on their hearts(Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26-27). Thus the law in the
Brit Chadasha is not merely a written external code but an inward
life-giving power that produces righteousness and is received by emunah and teshuvah and mishpa'at in the Moshiach's Tevilah.
This inward life-giving law is none other than the Dvar Hashem, Moshiach, the Chochmah of G-d. Through the Ruach Hakodesh, Moshiach lives in the lives of ail believers and produces
righteousness and love in communion with them. This is the true devekut the Chassidim are seeking. Moshiach Yehoshua is the mediator of the promised Brit Chadasha of Jeremiah 31:31-34. Yehoshua brings cleansing of sin and
consecration to a new people of Moshiach whose endowment of the Ruach Hakodesh gives them power over sin to obey G-d. Yehoshua's blood is his sacrificial death which was made to pay for our
transgressions (Isaiah 53:5-8) so that we could have the shalom
of selicha (forgiveness). Thereby also the wrath of G-d against
our averos was appeased and its penalty averted. The Ben haElohim is Elohim Avinu's gift of love to us that he might
deliver us from death and give us life. For Moshiach, by his
atoning death, has done away with the enmity between a Holy G-d
and sinful death-deserving men, bringing about a comprehensive
shalom which includes complete wholeness spiritually and a right
relationship with G-d issuing in right relations with our fellow
men. We can make peace with others only because G-d has made
peace with us (Psalm 51:11-13): he has sent Moshiach Adoneinu,
his Dvar Hashem, to take on flesh in the womb of an unmarried
woman or virgin (Isaiah 7:14) in order to die for us that he
might share with us his inexhaustible life of peace. His
supernatural entrance and exit (virgin birth and empty tomb)
attest that his is the form of the mode of being of G-d!
G-d declares anyone to be just who will justly trust him and take
him at his Word in faith rather than endeavor to justify himself
by trusting in his own merits (Psalm 143:2). As we trust and
obey G-d through his Dvar Hashem Moshiach, Elohim Avinu confers
on us a new, forgiven, accepted, righteous status before him as
his bnei haElohim, his sons. G-d in Yehoshua has offered us
acquittal, and if we obediently cling to Yehoshua we are
acquitted. Our transformation occurs as we grow to have the same
mind towards sin as Yehoshua does. Yehoshua comes to us and we are united to him not only in the Moshiach's Tevilah, not only in the Moshiach's Seder, but even in
death when he will receive us as he did Stephanos, the first
Jewish Kidddush Hashem martyr of the world-wide Moshiach's Chavurah of the Jewish Brit Chadasha (Acts 7:55, 59). We know
that Yehoshua will receive us then because we have received him
now, and enjoy the Ruach Hakodesh's inner witness (Rom.8:16)
already as an actual down-payment on our guaranteed eternal
inheritance (Ephesians 1:14).
The Pesach Seder looked backward to G-d's blood-sprinkled
deliverance of his people from enslavement. This same festival
also looked forward to the coming of Moshiach. The Moshiach's Seder of the Brit Chadasha also looks backward to a
blood-sprinkled deliverance effected by the Lamb of G-d. This
Brit Chadasha Seder, however, looks forward to the Bias haMoshiach, the Parousia.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MOSHIACH'S SEDER
Just as the Moshiach's Tevilah is an acted confession of our emunah-devekut with Moshiach, so is the Moshiach's Seder. On the
last (Acts 2:42) week-end of the month, when we stand from our
seats to partake of the Moshiach's Seder, those who have not yet
submitted to the Moshiach's Tevilah, are instructed to remain
seated in order that they may witness the Moshiach's Seder. When
the server steps in front of each one of us with the broken matzoh of the Seh haElohim and the fruit of the vine in the
Kiddush cup, we are confronted with the very One who alone
provides the blood-plattered threshold of our escape, our
Passover, for an exodus of new life. Only Moshiach can free us
and give us a new life of peace. As the server says to us, "For
every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim
the death of the L-rd until he comes," we realize that as we
concretely receive the saving Word of G-d, who is the Lamb of G-d
who takes away the sin of the world, our very eating and drinking
becomes preaching as we witness to the wonderful fact that we
have been "passed over" and our sins have been forgiven so that
we can have new life. As servers move around the room, the
words, "For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup
reverberate over and over again, even as the Besuras Hageulah is
echoing endlessly right now all over the world. This is a
corporate sermon, preached by both the servers and the served,
and does not end until the Mashgiach Ruchani is himself served.
When the last server has come forward and has served the him,
what amoment of intense worship ensues! For now we have just
received the most precious Person in the world afresh and by the
power of the Ruach Hakodesh he indwells us all in emunah-devekut,
with his presence most acutely experienced at this very moment.
With our hands in the air we worship and praise the G-d of Israel
and his Moshiach. Praise G-d! Baruch Ha Shem! With overflowing
love our hands reach out to one another as we experience our
unity in him and affirm our love for one another.
The eternal Torah of G-d, the Chochmah that was with G-d and was
G-d (Prov.8:30; 30:4) from the beginning, has written himself
afresh on our hearts! The perfect Kohen Gadol without beginning
or end is in our midst! Hallelujah! He has made us One people!
Now, we see how important it is for us to obey the L-rd's command
that we celebrate the Moshiach's Seder, which is not an option
but a divinely-imposed duty (see I Corinthians 11:24-25). The Moshiach Yehoshua commands that we "do this," and that when we
do, we are preaching the saving significance of Moshiach Adoneinu's death, which is the Good News of Messianic Judaism (I
Corinthians 11:26). Therefore, as Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14), it
is our sacred duty to make every effort to attend Acts 2:42
service so that we may "persistently" (Acts 2:42) witness in this
divinely ordained manner and thus have the joy of sharing with
others our salvation in the L-rd.
As we conclude the Moshiach's Seder service each believer should
be in offer tefillos for the inquirers who sat observing the
corporate sermon Moshiach has just preached through us. We should
offer tefillos that each one here today will stop excluding
himself from Moshiach's Seder, and will instead obey Moshiah and
submit to the Moshiach's Tevilah so that, as a Ben Avraham (Gal.3:7-14), he will be no more excluded from this Seder table.
See Galatians 3:10-14; Romans 8:15-16; I Corinthians 6:19-20;
Isaiah 53:10-12; I Peter 1:18.19; Hebrews 9:2-11; Ephesians
1:7;Romans 3:23-24; Mark 10:45.
?II?E MOSHIACH'S SEDER
The Reader, standing:
In the same way that the story of the Exodus from Egypt is retold
and relived perpetually among the Jewish people on Passover, we
who are Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) are commanded to retell and
relive what happened for us on Passover in the death of our Moshiach Yehoshua, who commands us, in our own Haggadah or
"declaration," "Do this in remembrance of me."
[The Servers will come take their positions at the Moshiach's Tish (Table) beside the Reader.
The Reader: Maranatha.
The Servers: Adoneinu, coome.
The Reader:
Even so, come, Moshiach Yehoshua.
The Servers:
Come.
One of the Servers: Rav Saul, one of Moshiach's Shluchim, standing at the foot of a
New Sinai, received this Haggadah for a new pilgrim people of Moshiach from Israel and all the nations. The Moshiach's Seder is
the Passover Seder of the Jewish Brit Chadasha. This Seder
celebrates the New Exodus from the bondage of averos and mavet which the Moshiach effected by his atoning death. Moshiach Yehoshua becomes the Korban Pesach lamb, the Passover lamb
sacrificed in the festival of deliverance, and his blood ratified
the Brit Chadasha between G-d and Israel. The Jewish Brit Chadasha (Jeremiah 31:31-34) promised selicha (forgiveness) of
sins and personal knowledge of and devekut with G-d. By having
followed the L-rd through the Red Sea of Moshiach tevilah we have
entered into personal communion with G-d and, having become bnei Avraham by faith, may now come to the Moshiach's Seder, even as
we will someday feast at the glorious Messianic banquet in the
New Jerusalem. This broken matzoh and this out-poured fruit of
the vine proclaim to all the Moshiach's death, as well as the
present time of salvation and the coming judgment of the One who
commanded that we witness to him in this way: the King of Israel,
praised be he, Yehoshua the Moshiach.
The Readers: V'lo ah-cha-ched mee-kem eh-chay ah-sher Ah-vo-tey-noo ha-yoo choo-lahm tah-chat heh-ah-nahn v'choo-lahm ahv-roo b'toch ha-yahm. V'choo-lahm neet-b'loo l'Mo-sheh be-ah-nahn oo-va-yahm.
"You should understand, my brothers, that our ancestors were all
under the pillar of cloud, and all of them passed through the Red
Sea; and so they all received immersion into the Chavurah of
Moses in cloud and sea." (I Cor. 10:1-2) V'zeh hoo oht ha-t'vee-lah ah-sher cah-et to-shee-ah gam oh-tah-noo lo v'hah-seer tee-noof ha-bah-sahr kee eem beesh-ahl lah-noo may-et Eh-lo-heem ru-ach sh'lay-mah ahl y'day ha-kah-maht Yehoshua haMoshiach.
"This water prefigured the water of Moshiach's Tevilah through
which you are now delivered to safety. Moshiach's Tevilah is not
the washing away of bodily uncleanness, but the appeal made to
G-d by a clear conscience; and it brings salvation through the
resurrection of Yehoshua Ha Mashiach." I Pet. 3:21
The Readers: V'choo-lahm ahch-loo mah-ah-khol eh-chad roo-cha-nee. V'choo-lahm shah-too mahsh-keh eh-chad roo-chah-nee kee shah-too meen ha-tsoor ha-roo-chah-nee ha-ho-lech eem-mah-hem v'ha-tsoor hah-hoo hah-yah ha-Moh-shee-ach. Ah-vahl b'roo-bahm lo rah-tsah hah-Eh-loh-heem oo-feeg-ray-hem nahf-loo vah-meed-bar. V'chol zoht hah-y'tah lah-noo l'moh-fet l'veel-tee heet-ah-voht l'rah-ah kah-ah-sher heet-ah-voo gahm hey-mah.
"They all ate the same supernatural food, and all drank the same
supernatural drink; I mean, they all drank from the supernaturai rock that accompanied their travels -- and that rock was Moshiach. And yet, most of them were not accepted by G-d, for
the desert was strewn with their corpses. These events happened
as symbols to warn us not to set our desires on evil things, as
they did." (I Cor. 10:3-6)
Therefore, we are to take no part in the Moshiach's Seder without
applying moral scrutiny to our lives and behavior.
The Reader: Lah-cheyn mee sheh-yoh-chahl meen hah-leh-chem hah-zeh oh yeesh-teh mee-kohs ha-Ah-dohn sheh-loh chah-rah-oo-ee yeh-shahm l'goof Ah-doh-ney-noo oo-l'dah-moh. Yeev-chahn ha-eesh et nahf-shoh v'ahz yoh-chal meen hah-leh-chem v'yeesh-teh meen hah-kohs. Kee hah-oh-chel v'hah-shoh-teh sheh-loh chah-rah-oo-ee oh-chel v'shoh-teh deen l'naf-shoh yah-ahn ah-sher lo heef-lah et-goof ha-Ah-dohn.
"It follows that anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of
the L-rd unworthily will be guilty of desecrating the body and
blood of the L-rd. A man must examine himself before eating his
share of the bread and drinking from the cup. For he who eats
and drinks eats and drinks judgment on himself if he does not
discern the Body." (I Cor. 11:27-29)
[Those who have not yet turned in teshuvah (repentance--Mat.3:11;
Act 2:38) and obeyed Moshiach Adoneynu (Mt.28:19-20) by taking
the Moshiach's Tevilah, please remain seated. This is to protect
anyone from partaking without teshuvah and bringing judgment upon
himself. Those who have followed in the Moshiach's Tevilah and
are also turning in teshuvah today, please stand.]
The Reader:
Hah-lo yeh-dah-tem kee m'aht s'ohr m'chah-metz et kol hah-ees-sah. Bah-ah-roo et hah-s'ohr hah-yah-shahn l'mah-ahn tee-h'yoo ees-sah chah-dah-shah hah-lo leh-chem matzot ah-tem kee gahm lah-noo fees-chey-noo hah-neez-bach bah-ah-dey-noo hoo ha-Moh-shee-ach. Seh ha-Eh-lo-heem ha-noh-seh cha-taht ha-oh-lam.
"Have you never heard the saying, 'A little chometz leavens all
the mixture'? The old chometz of corruption is working among
you. Purge it out, and then you will be issa chadasha (new
dough). As believers you are Pesach matzot; for indeed our Korban Pesach was sacrificed - Moshiach himself, the Lamb of G-d who
takes away the sin of the world." (I Cor. 5:6-7; Jn.1:29)
(During the next few moments there will be silence as each
believer shall conduct a mental search through every corner of
his life to purge out in confession all the chometz of averos in
order that he may be pronounced 'tahor' ('clean') by our G-d.)
The People,
standing:
Ah-doh-noy neet-vah-deh et chah-toh-tey-noo L-rd, we confess our sins.
The Reader: V'eem neet-vah-deh et cha-toh-tay-noo neh-eh-mahn hoo v'tsah-deek lees-loh-ach lah-noo et cha-toh-tay-noo ool-tah-ha-ray-noo mee-kol ah-vohn. Nees-l'choo lah-chem chah-toh-tay-chem l'mah-ahn sh'moh.
"If we confess our sins, he is just, and may be trusted to
forgive our sins and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. Your
sins are forgiven you for his Name's sake." (I Jn.1:9; I Jn.2:12)
The People:
Just as the Covenant of Sinai was inaugurated by blood sacrifice,
so too is the Brit Chadasha. We who enter into covenant with the
L-rd through his blood enter also into covenant with our fellow
believers. Hereby united in love concretely in this covenant
meal, we are confirmed and built up in the community of Moshiach.
We are Bnei Avraham. We belong to one another forever and to the
L-rd.
The Reader: V'sheef-too ah-tehm et ah-sher oh-mahr. Kohs ha-b'rah-chah ah-sher ah-nach-noo m'vah-rah-kheem ha-loh hee heet-cha-b'root dahm ha-Moh-shee-ach v'ha-leh-chem ah-sher ah-nach-noo voh-ts'eem ha-loh hoo heet-cha-b'root goof ha-Moh-shee-ach. Kee leh-chem eh-chad hoo lah-chen gahm goof eh-chad ah-nach-noo ha-rah-beem bah-ah-sher l'choo-lah-noo che-lek bah-leh-chem ha-eh-chad.
"Form your own judgment on what I say. When we bless the Kiddush
cup of blessing, is it not a means of devekut sharing in the
blood kapparah of Moshiach? When we break the bread, is it not a
means of devekut sharing in the body of Moshiach? Because there
is one loaf, we, many as we are, are one body, for it is one loaf
of which we all partake." (I Cor.10:15-17)
The Reader:
(holding up the matzoh) Ba-ruch atah Adonoy Eh-lo-hey-noo meh-lech haolam, ha-moh-tzee lechem min ha-AH-retz.
Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who
brings forth bread from the earth.
The Reader: Kee choh kee-bahl-tee ah-noh-chee meen ha-Ah-dohn et ah-sher gahm mah-sahr-tee lah-chem kee ha-Adohn Yehoshua bah-Lai-lah hah-hoo ah-sher neem-sar boh lah-kach et ha-la-chem. Vah-y'vah-rech vah-yeev-tsah vah-yoh-mer k'choo eech-loo zeh goo-fee
hah-neev-tsah bah-ahd-chem ah-soo zoht l'zeech-roh-nee.
"For the tradition which I handed on to you came to me from Moshiach Adoneinu himself: that the Moshiach Yehoshua, on the
night of his arrest, took bread and, after giving thanks to G-d,
broke it and said: 'This is my body, which is for you; do this as
a memorial of me." (I Cor.11:23-24)
(Reader breaks matzoh)
The Reader:
(now holding up
the Kiddush cup) Ba-ruch atah Adonoy Eh-loh-hey-noo meh-lech ha'olam bo-reh p'ree hagafen.
Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who
creates the fruit of the vine. V'chen gahm et ha-kohs ah-char hah-s'oo-dah vah-yoh-mahr hah-kohs hah-zoht hee hah-B'reet ha-Chah-dah-shah b'dah-mee ah-soo zoht l'zeech-roh-nee b'chol et sheh-teesh-too.
"In the same way, he took the cup after seudah (supper) and said:
'This is the Brit Chadasha sealed by my blood. Whenever you drink
it, do this as a memorial of me." (I Cor.11:25)
(Reader pours wine) Kee b'chol et sheh-tohch-loo et ha-leh-chem ha-zeh v'teesh-too et
hah-Kohs ha-zoht ha-z'ker tahz-kee-roo et moht Ah-doh-ney-noo ahd kee yah-voh.
"For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you
proclaim the death of the L-rd, until he comes." (I Cor.11:26)
[After the servers are served by the reader they use the same
formula (II Cortnthians 11:26) to serve all who are standing
until they return to the Moshiach's tish (table), where one of
them serves the reader.]
The Reader: Let us raise our hands and worship the L-rd Maranatha.
THE BEN AVRAHAM AND HIS LIFE OF TEFILLOS
Here is the most important Tefillah you'll ever have the
opportunity to daven. Take a moment to meditate on the thoughts
it conveys. Then make these words your own as you speak them
to G-d with emunah (faith).
"G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: I am a Jew and I'm going to die
a Jew. But I've decided to stop living as I please. I promise to
live by your Word as it's recorded in the entire Bible, including
the Brit Chadasha. Elohim Avinu, I know that you can justly
forgive my sins only through the kapparah of Moshiach. Moshiach Yehoshua, I believe that you overcame death to prove that you are Moshiach Adoneynu. Come into my life. Forgive my sins. Take
control of my life through the Ruach Hakodesh. And I'll obey you
forever to the glory of Elohim Avinu. In Yehoshua's Name. Amen."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DAVEN TEFILLOS?
Many of us daven only about once a year, saying "G-d helps those
that help themselves." "Besides, what good does it do?" We can
all remember at least one thing we whispered into the ear of Hashem that we didn't get. Having said that, we rationalize
ourselves back into our father Adam's mistake: like him we try to
make it through life on our own. Our lack of davening Tefillos shows the degree of our sinful independence from G-d and scant
trust in him.
Our Moshiach Yehoshua taught that we should not take his Father
for granted, as though he were a mere suggestion box to put our
requests and suggestions in and then forget about. Rather, when
we daven, we should daven with great depth of fervor and
persistence, basing all our hope in the generousity and loving
kindness of Elohim Avinu (Matthew 7:7-11), yet davening with
great intensity and kavanah (Mark 13:13, 14:38; Matthew 26:41)
and burden of heart. Davening tefillos is no mere grocery listing of every man's
personal wishes. Davening tefillos is our most intimate and
beautiful experience with G-d, ranging through the ultimate
capacities of human feelings, from ecstatic thanksgiving to
serene communion. But more than that, believers in Moshiach daven in the Ruach Hakodesh (Jude 1:20).
Many of us say we're too busy with charity and other endeavors to daven. We forget that good works are no substitute for davening tefillos, even though loving acts should be the outgrowth of
loving thoughts. But davening tefillos is more than thinking! Davening tefillos is working, too. Davening tefillos changes
things! That is, if tefillos are addressed to the One who is
responsive to all davening uttered in the name of his Ben haElohim, then davening tefillos does indeed change things. For
then we are praying to the true G-d of Israel, not the G-d of
human tradition and the teachings of men, but the G-d revealed in
the Kitvei haKodesh.
And the amazing fact about this wonderful G-d of ours is that he
has the generosity to share with us his love and his strength! He
does this by allowing us to be co-workers with him not only in
what we do, but also in what we daven. Yehoshua's davening changed the world! He was not merely retreating for a rest when
he davened alone in the wilderness. By releasing the power of
his Father through davening tefillos said secretly in the night,
he would be able to demonstrate that same power openly in the
miracles he performed in the day. Our davening can have a great
impact, as well. Davening tefillos is not an experiment. Davening tefillos is
seizing from the Word of G-d by the hand of faith the will of G-d
for this moment: confessing the sins enumerating by G-d's Word,
praising the G-d revealed by his Word, claiming the promises of
G-d's Word. Davening tefillos is engaging in spiritual warfare, coming
against cosmic powers of darkness to banish them by the mighty
name of Yehoshua. Davening tefillos is binding the evil one and
releasing what belongs to G-d and G-d's people, whether it be
finances or food or property or whatever. Our weapon is divinely
potent to demolish demonic strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4). Our
weapon is the armor of davening Tefillos (Ephesians 6:18-20). Yehoshua the Moshiach has bound the devil, and as members of his
Body, we can share in his victory. By exerting Yehoshua's authority we can bind Satan and "spoil his house." All we need
is enough faith to throw ourselves into davening tefillos with a
victory shout for Yehoshua on our lips as we claim all he has
made possible for us to claim in his Name: sustenance, healings,
deliverance, miracles, everything. The only thing that can stop
us is our lack of emunah (faith) [Matthew 17:20,21]. The only
things that can hinder us are weak, tentative, rambling Tefillos,
where we allow Satan to convince us we're not being heard or our davening don't really affect the heart of G-d or retard the power
of the devil.
Our davening must be in faith, believing all things are possible.
When we daven, our Moshiach asks us the same question he asked
the blind men in Matthew 9:28: "Do you believe that I am able to
do this?" If we ask Elohim Avinu anything in the Name of the Ben haElohim, then we imply that we do believe Yehoshua is able, not
only to hear our davening but to make known Elohim Avinu to us
and keep us in His will. Moshiach Yehoshua asks us to heal the sick, to bind the demonic,
to proclaim Besuras haGeulah to every creature. How can we rise
to such heights unless we are, like him, men who daven? We too
must be swept along by the power of his resurrection, which is
the power of the Ruach Hakodesh who inspires us in our tefillos.
TO WHOM DO WE DAVEN?
"Avinu sh'baShomayim" "("Our Father which is in Heaven") is not
meant to conjure up an old man with a white beard, but a loving,
life-giving personal Creator. Therefore we daven to the "Father
of mercy" - a term still found in the Prayer Book.
We know G-d hears our tefillos because we know we are his adopted
sons and He is Avinu, our Father. How do we know he is our
Father? We know he is our Father because we accepted him as our
Father when we accepted his Ben haElohim as our Moshiach Adoneynu.
Everyone who believes that Yehoshua is the Moshiach is a child of
G-d (I John 5:1).
To prove that we are adopted sons, G-d has sent into our hearts
the Ruach Hakodesh, crying "Abba! Father!" We are therefore no
longer slaves but sons, and if sons, then also, by G-d s own act,
heirs (Galatians 4:6-7).
"Abba" is the most affectionate and intimate term of endearment
that a Jewish child has in his vocabulary for his father. There
is no example of G-d ever being referred to as Abba in Judaism
before Yehoshua appeared in Israel. No one had ever known the
G-d of Israel that intimately before Yehoshua. But Yehoshua had
always been with his Father, even before he came among us as a
man. In fact, Moshiach had the form of the mode of being of Elohim (Phil.2:6). He was the glorious life-creating Word whom Elohim Avinu loved as his only Ben haElohim. This One came from Elohim Avinu to reveal Elohim Avinu so that men might know Elohim Avinu as Abba. Elohim Avinu gives to men on the basis of his love for his Ben haElohim and because of his Moshiach's righteous sacrifice
(Isaiah 53). Yehoshua instructed the first Jewish believers to
begin making their requests to Elohim Avinu in the name of his
Ben haElohim, for whose sake only Elohim Avinu can rightly bless
sinners such as themselves.
But to whom do we daven, Elohim Avinu or the Ben haElohim? There
is davening tefillos to the Moshiach Yehoshua in the Jewish Brit Chadasha Scriptures (see Revelation 22:20), so it cannot be
considered unjewish to address tefillos to him. Two of the
greatest Jews who ever lived did precisely that. (See Acts 7:59
and II Corinthians 12:8 where Stephanos and Rabbi Sha'ul daven to Yehoshua.) From the very first, Jewish believers hailed Yehoshua as One worthy of worship and adoration and davening. Davening tefillos of adoration and praise are very properly
addressed to our Moshiach Yehoshua, who loved us enough to die
for us in order that his Father could forgive us.
"To deny honor to the Ben haElohim is to deny honor to Elohim Avinu who sent him" (John 5:23). However, our Moshiach Yehoshua himself taught us to direct our petitions toward his Father in Yehoshua's name. For it is in Yehoshua's Name that Elohim Avinu is revealed and is actively present to men. Yehoshua taught, "No one knows Elohim Avinu except the Ben haElohim and any one to whom the Ben haElohim chooses to reveal
him" (Matthew 11:27). "In very truth I tell you, if you ask Elohim Avinu for anything in my Name, he will give it to you. So
far, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive,
that your joy may be complete" (John 16:23-24).
A distinctively Jewish conception of G-d is that he is Avinu ("our Father") a merciful Father to those who are his obedient
sons. However, this great G-d had always seemed so awesome that
the Jewish people had not been comfortable referring to G-d as
"our Father" before the Ben haElohim came to reveal Elohim Avinu.
But Elohim Avinu was brought near to men through the Ben haElohim, and because of our da'as of the Ben haElohim, we can daven to Elohim Avinu in the Name of Ben haElohim name with a new
intimacy toward G-d based on a new and personal knowledge of him. Yehoshua gave Judaism a new tefillah. Whereas before his coming,
Judaism could address G-d with only the ceremonial formality
appropriate to a monarch, with the appearance of G-d's Ben haElohim who invites all men to experience adopted divine sonship, a new style and spirit of davening is possible. Thus Yehoshua could daven not only the set tefillos in Hebrew, he davened in his mother-tongue (Aramaic) and taught his talmidim to daven like him, even giving them a set prayer in their
mother-tongue Aramaic, which came to be called the Moshiach's Tefillah.
"Our Father who is in heaven" (see Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke
11:2-4), is a Jewish prayer that teaches the proper sense of
dependence on G-d for all human needs, from the loftiest
aspiration (a world where G-d's Name is revered) to the most
ordinary request(food). This sense of dependence is cultivated by
table grace such as practiced by our Moshiach Yehoshua, who not
only blessed his Father before a meal but also offered thanks
afterward. Frequent davening instills a truly realistic attitude
to life, since G-d is the universal giver of life and breath, and
it is only in him that we live and move and have our being. To
habitually fail to acknowledge our dependence and gratitude to
G-d is to lose touch with reality and with the source of life
itself. Davening tefillos is as vital as breathing to our
spiritual well-being. Just as the devout Jew davens for G-d's protection and blessing at afternoon and before retiring, so also
he davens as soon as he opens his eyes in the morning, so
immediate is his awareness of his need for G-d.
"Abba" is a holy word for "Avinu" in heaven. We are not to use
this title when we address any man (Matthew 23:9). We can refer
to the G-d of the universe in this intimately familiar way
because we are members of his family. Children can call their
father "Abba" (see Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6).
WHAT ARE WE TO DAVEN FOR?
Our Father Abba,
revered be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Tomorrow's bread, give us today,
And forgive us, as we have forgiven others.
Do not let us be carried away by temptation.
Keep us from joining the Evil One,
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever, Amen.
In the Moshiach's Tefillah, our Moshiach Yehoshua davened for his
Father - for his name, his kingdom, and his will - and he davened for himself and his fellow men - for bread, forgiveness, and
victory over evil. This is a model tefillah for any believer. Yehoshua commands us to daven for our enemies: "Bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and daven for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be
children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and unjust (see Matthew 5:44-45 and Leviticus 19:17-18). Moshiach Yehoshua teaches us to daven for our daily bread
(Matthew 6:11), for forgiveness of those we wrong just as we
forgive those who wrong us (Matthew 6:13), for laborers in the
harvest field of Messianic Judaism's Besuras Hageulah ministry
(Matthew 9:38), for the sick (James 5:13-18), for wisdom (James
1:5), and for the Ruach Hakodesh (Luke 11:13).
Rabbi Sha'ul desired that Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) daven for da'as (Philippians 1:9) and power issuing in the love of the Moshiach Yehoshua, through whom both as individuals and as
brothers they should grow to maturity. He knew that it was only
as Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14) that they could daven effectively,
for davening is a gift of the Ruach Hakodesh (see I Corinthians
14:14-16). In fact, the believer davens "in the Ruach Hakodesh"
(Jude 1:20).
We should daven for our government, because it is by means of
human government that G-d holds the devil's children in check. In
fact, davening for human government should be the first order of
business for believers, but it is only as human government acts
on G-d's behalf to punish evil that the people of G-d can live in
peace. (See II Thessalonians 2:5-8, where Rabbi Sha'ul sees that
it is only the restraining hand of government that keeps the
Anti-Moshiach from being revealed.) When human government
crumbles, Anti-Moshiach will take advantage of the situation by
amassing the world's population into a demonic anti-G-d
super-society where no believer living at that time will be free
of danger. This will be on a larger scale but along the same
lines as what Hitler did when Paul von Hindenburg appointed
Hitler Chancellor and died four years later, turning the world
over to the Beast. Therefore, it is obvious why we should daven for our government.
Why is davening Tefillos so important? Because temptation is
always terribly dangerous and near at hand. Selling out is the
easiest thing in the world to do, and can be so cleverly
rationalized that the deed is done before we feel the guilt
pangs. Therefore, we must daven - whether we feel like it or
not, for when we least feel like davening, temptation is
beckoning all the more seductively (Matthew 26:40).
G-d gives us people to daven for and he gives us the privilege of
influencing his dealings with those people. When an old friend
comes to mind repeatedly or some person's face persists in our
mind, this may be an invitation by G-d to hold that person up in
prayer, for G-d is concerned that we be concerned for our
fellowmen.
If we wonder why our synagogue is not growing, if we wonder why
our people are not confessing Yehoshua as Moshiach in the Moshiach's Tevilah, then we should examine the prayer life of our
synagogue. Are we burdened to see people take the Moshiach's Tevilah? Does it matter enough to us to agree on it in prayer?
Are we davening daily for our Torah studies and teachers? Are we davening for the lost? Are we claiming victories in prayer? If
our people have no on-going prayer burden for the Jewish
community near our shul, our shul will make no impact on our
community. Since G-d takes us seriously as his co-workers, he
takes our initiative seriously as well. If our prayer initiative
is at a low ebb so will be the success of our davening labor with
the L-rd. Our success hinges upon our expectant davening Tefillos and G-d's Spirit (see Philippians 1:19 and Ephesians 6:18-20).
When unbelievers refuse to come to believers' meetings, one of
the most effective means of soul-winning is to establish a davening bond with them, informing them of our corporate prayers
on behalf of their needs. The miraculous answers to prayer and
the love displayed in efforts to pray will be a sign to the
unbeliever. He won't be able to help feeling somewhat touched by
the sincerity of the body of believers in praying for him. This
inexplicable love, the love shed abroad in our hearts (Rom.5:5)
will draw him closer to attending believers' meetings, where the
environment of faith will be a fertile seed bed for the
unbeliever's faith to bud.
Finally, we should petition G-d for all our needs--physical,
mental, spiritual, financial, whatever they are, whether
for ourselves or for others - and praise him for being the
generous and loving Father he is, to hear and answer our Tefillos. Praise him for every cheerful and good moment you
enjoyed today and yesterday, for he prepared them all. Praise
him, too, for the difficult times, for these will help us toughen
toward endurance and maturity.
The shortened form of the Amidah from the Prayer Book is an
excellent example of what to daven for:
"Give us wisdom, 0 L-rd our G-d, to know thy ways: turn our will
so that we will fear thee, and forgive us so that we may be
saved. Keep us far from sadness; satisfy our needs from the food
of thy land, and gather our scattered ones from the four corners
of the earth. Let them that go astray be judged according to thy
will, and bring thy hand upon the evil ones. Let the righteous
rejoice in the rebuilding of thy city (Jerusalem), and in the
establishment of thy Temple, and in the flourishing of the power
of David thy servant, and in the clear shining light of the son
of Jesse, thy Moshiach. Even before we call, do thou answer.
Blessed art thou, 0 L-rd, who hears prayer."
A list of the petitions in this prayer are:
1) for divine wisdom, 2) divine help in the business of being
obedient, 3)forgiveness, 4) freedom from sorrow, 5) physical
sustenance, 6) unity for the people of G-d, 7) G-d's righteous
punishment of the unrepentant wicked of the world, 8) the
building up of Jerusalem, 9)the establishment of G-d's Temple,
and 10) the coming of the Davidic Moshiach to bring order and
holy light to a sin-darkened world.
However, we should remember that the Talmud advises us
that davening must come from the heart, and not be the
mere lip service paid to a fixed written prayer. See Babylonian
Talmud, Aboth, chapter 2, 13, "When thou prayest, make not thy
prayer a set task." No prayer should be read from a piece of
paper unless it has been made one's own prayer in the heart by
faith.
WHY TEFILLOS MISS THEIR MARK Davening is power. Whatever power we have, however, is not from
ourselves but from the Ruach Hakodesh. "Not by might, not
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the L-rd." Therefore we must
not presume to think that we can manipulate G-d into providing
for our every whim. It is only as we have the mind of the Moshiach that our will becomes G-d's will and we receive whatever
we ask for.
The L-rd does not "hear" every prayer (see Isaiah 1:15; 29:13),
but only the prayers of those who are coming into a covenantal
relationship with him. To daven and be heard one must know the
Name of the L-rd, the full name of Hashem: the Name of Elohim HaAv and of the Ben haElohim and the Name of the Ruach Hakodesh (Mat.28:19; I Cor.12:4-6; II Cor.13:14; Eph.4:4-6; II Thes.
2:13-14; I Pet.1:2; Rev.1:4-6). Only then can one call on the
Name of the L-rd and be certain he is heard.
Therefore, one precondition of successful davening is knowing who Elohim Avinu is through a knowledge of his Ben haElohim, for
whose sake alone Elohim Avinu is free to be gracious
to sinners. For Elohim Avinu can justly forgive sinners only
because of the kapparah of his Ben haElohim, through whose death
no sins went unpunished.
But knowing who G-d is isn't enough. One must also have
faith (Mark 11:24). That is, one must believe that G-d is
actually there and that he is free to act for the benefit of
those who ask him (Hebrews 11:6). Other preconditions are:
willingness to forgive others before presuming to ask for
forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15); making peace first (Matthew
5:23-24); humility (II Chronicles 7:14); whole-hearted intensity
(Jeremiah 29:13); unwavering deliberation (James 1:6); righteous
confession (I John 1:1-10; James 5:16); proper motives (James
4:3); the guidance of the Ruach Hakodesh without whom no one
would even know what to daven for (Romans 8:26-27); and
especially a willingness to obey G-d's Word: "We can approach G-d
with confidence and obtain from him whatever we ask, because we
are keeping his mitzvot and doing whatever he approves" (I John
3:21-22). "If you dwell in me and my words dwell in you, you
shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you" (John
15:7).
If there is any area of your life where you are disobeying G-d,
correct yourself immediately and ask G-d's forgiveness or your
disobedience will undermine your davening (see I Pet.3:7). Have
you taken the Moshiach's Tevilah? You'd better do it, if you
expect your davening to be fruitful.
The Word of G-d lists other causes of failure in davening:
1) self-indulgence (James 4:3), 2) stubbornness
(Zechariah 7:13), 8) evil (Isaiah 59:2; Micah 3:4),
4) blood-guiltiness (Isaiah 1:15), 5) despising the law (Proverbs
28:9), 6) neglect of mercy (Proverbs 21:13), 7) indifference
(Proverbs 1:28), 8) secret sin (Psalm 66:18),9) disobedience
(Deuteronomy 1:45; I Samuel 14:37; 28:6), and 10) sometimes
prayer is refused because it is not in accord with the
divine will (see II Corinthians 12:8-9).
When our Moshiach Yehoshua made a request he always remained
ready to bow to the will of his Father. Like him we must never
let favorable answers to our davening be a condition for our love
toward G-d. However, many people use this principle as an excuse
to daven in unbelief. "L-rd, if it be thy will, heal this child,"
we hear believers pray. Often believers really don't have enough
faith to claim a healing, so they use their uncertainty regarding
the will of G-d to mask their uncertainty regarding G-d's power
to heal. But the fact is that G-d has already revealed his will
to us in his Word. Read what G-d says is his will regarding
healing: "The prayer offered in faith will save the sick man, the
L-rd will raise him from his bed, and any sins he has committed
will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another,
and daven for one another, and then you will be healed. A good
man's davening is powerful and effective" (James 5:15-16). We
need to realize that our davening is powerful if we have faith
enough to claim all the promises of G-d's Word when we daven. For
G-d keeps his Word and he sends his Spirit to honor his Word and
to do all that his Word promises to do, including healing the
sick. The Scripture says that G-d "sent his word and healed them
and delivered them from their corruptions" (Psalm 107:20). Then
in the fullness of time G-d sent his Word among us as a man who
came to heal a lost and very sick world. This one who came was Elohim Avinu's life-giving Word, his Moshiach, through whom he
created everything. Thus Yehoshua "went about doing good and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). Then
the Ben haElohim of G-d, who is the Word of G-d in
person, promised his followers that he would send them the Ruach Hakodesh from Elohim Avinu (John 15:26) and that the Ruach Hakodesh would be their Helper in bearing witness to the Ben haElohim through the miraculous acts they would perform in his
name.
Referring to his acts (John 10:25), which elsewhere (John
9:3-4) include acts of healing, Yehoshua declares, "In truth, in
very truth I tell you, he who has faith in me will do what I am
doing; and he will do greater things still because I am going to Elohim HaAv. Indeed anything you ask in my name I will do, so
that Elohim HaAv may be glorified in the Ben haElohim. If you ask
anything in my name I will do it" (John 14:12-14). Yehoshua said, "The Ruach Hakodesh alone gives life; the flesh is
of no avail; the words which I have spoken to you are both spirit
and life. And yet there are some of you who have no faith" (John
6:63-64).
Ephesians 3:20 says that Yehoshua is able to do far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think and he does it "by the
power at work within us." There are indeed vast resources of
his power open to us who believe (Ephesians 1:19), and we have
been given authority to loose and bind on earth with
the confidence that we will be backed up in heaven (Matthew 18:
18). Therefore, we need only agree on a thing that the Word of
G-d promises, and by the gift of mountain-moving faith (I
Cor.12:9) release the power of G-d in Yehoshua's Name, letting
our hands become his hands and our lips his lips, confident that
G-d will accomplish whatever we will as like-minded ambassadors
of his Ben haElohim. Therefore, when we daven for the sick, we
can daven, "Father, I claim the authority you have given
me to do what our Moshiach Yehoshua did. In his name, Father, I
release the power to heal this person and thank you in faith for
performing this miracle in order that Elohim Avinu may be
glorified in the Ben haElohim. Amen."
But we should be careful not to put a time limit on G-d's answers to our tefillos. We can claim victories in Yehoshua's name, but we cannot claim that G-d's time-table will always be
our own. However, this does not mean we should hope our
prayers will be answered. Faith is not hope. Faith is a
present claim on G-d's promises here and now, trusting right now
that he is hearing and is acting to make good his word, though
the manifest, final results may come only in the process of time.
Also, when you daven, don't depend entirely on other people's
faith. Trust G-d yourself. Remember that you are an adopted
child of G-d. You have been renewed in the image of his Ben haElohim. You don't have to beg. As an adopted son, you can
gratefully trust your heavenly Father to give you all that he has
promised in his Word. For G-d promises, "I watch over my word to
perform it" (Jeremiah 1:12). And don't just admire the Word of
G-d, act on it! Don't just daven for faith, do what the word of
G-d says in faith: confess your sins, believe, receive, release
power to bless, take authority to bind, speak peace, speak
healing, and do all in Yehoshua's name, standing in his place.
Remember: you are captured by what you confess (Proverbs 6:2).
"Whoever has no inward doubts but believes that what he says is
happening, it will be done for him" (Mark 11:23). "You do not get
what you want because you do not daven for it" (James 4:2).
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DAVEN Davening tefillos is talking with G-d. Therefore, Yehoshua taught
that our davening ought to be privately sincere
rather than publicly showy and hypocritical, and reverently brief
rather than heathenishly verbose. Non-Jews thought G-d was
impressed by endless addresses to Him. He says, "When you daven,
go into a room by yourself, shut the door, and daven to your
Father who is there in the secret place; and your Father who sees
what is secret will reward you openly" (Matthew 6:6).
There is no place for self-conscious artifice or long-winded
pomposity. Some people say, "I don't know how to daven," as
though davening were an unapproachably virtuous act. But Yehoshua taught that speaking to one's Heavenly Father is as uncomplicated
as communicating with one's earthly father, and infinitely more
profitable (see Matthew 7:7-11) if persistent (see Luke 11:5-8
and 18:1-5).
Many people find that they can concentrate better on what
they are saying to G-d if they daven aloud. Often silent
prayers get distracted by other silent thoughts, and what began
as a prayer time lapses into a ten minute daydream. For most
people, then, audible davening even if it's only a whisper is
preferable to purely silent davening, especially in one's daily
devotions.
Almost any posture is Biblically permissible: 1) bowing
(Exodus 4:31), 2) kneeling (Daniel 6:10), 3) on the face before
G-d (Numbers 20:6),4) standing (I Kings 8:22), 5) while dancing
(Psalm 149:3) like David (II Samuel 6:14) and the modern
Chassidic Jews, 6) or shucklin (swaying forward and backward),
7) or lifting up the hands (Psalm 141:2). Davening should begin with the joyful acknowledgment that the
most wonderful Person alive lives! We know he lives by
the ordered creation he has given to us, by his Word, by the
loving warmth of his Ruach Hakodesh and by the invisible presence
of his Risen Ben haElohim, our Moshiach Yehoshua. This knowledge
is indeed joy unspeakable, to experience the presence of the very
life of G-d, whose Chayyei Olam has been offered to us by his Ben haElohim. No wonder we praise and worship the G-d of Israel!
No wonder we must have time to worship and inhale his fragrant
beauty before we intercede for others or make known our
petitions.
The Scripture tells us that by Yehoshua we are to "offer the
sacrifice of praise to G-d continually, that is, the fruit of our
lips giving thanks to his Name" (Hebrews 13:15). This thought
has been echoed in the Midrashim of Rabbinic literature: "In the
world to come, all sacrifice will cease, but the sacrifice of
thanksgiving will remain forever; equally, all confessions will
cease, but the confession of thanksgiving will remain forever"
(Pesikta of Rabbi Kahana 79a l7f).
The Scripture says, "Rejoice in the L-rd always: and again I say
rejoice (Philippians 4:4). Give thanks always for all things
unto G-d and Elohim Avinu in the name of our Moshiach Yehoshua (Ephesians 5:20). "Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the
name of the Moshiach Yehoshua, giving thanks to G-d and Elohim Avinu by him" (Colossians 3:17) "The L-rd is near. Have no
anxiety, but in everything by davening and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto G-d. Then the
Shalom of G-d, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will
keep guard over your hearts and your thoughts in Moshiach Yehoshua" (Philippians 4:6-7).
We should confess our sins to G-d daily and ask forgiveness in
the name of Moshiach Yehoshua, for it is through his kapparah that G-d can righteously overlook our wrongs. We should admit
that we need G-d's help to overcome temptation. We should claim
the aid of the Ben haElohim in helping us obey his Father. Moshiach's control of our life through the Ruach Hakodesh will
give us victory over all temptations and deliver us from the evil
one. As we daven for mercy and grace, we have a great Kohen Gadol, both human and divine, interceding for us in heaven
(Hebrews 4:14-16).
True prayer is responsiveness to the divine will so that each
detail of our lives is open to molding and strengthening and help
by G-d. This is so that our lives will accomplish just precisely
what G-d intended for them to accomplish. G-d wants us to daven about our personal problems (see Psalm 142). "Cast all your cares
upon him because he cares about you" (I Peter 5:7). "In thy
righteousness bring me out of trouble" (Psalm 143:11). How
do I know that G-d will help me now? Because he has acted in my
behalf before. He acted for my people in three great events: at
the exodus of Egypt, on the execution tree, and at the empty
tomb.
One of the most effective ways to daven is to "put G-d
in remembrance" (Isaiah 43:26) for some promise he has made in
his Word, and claim that promise in davening, trusting
G-d to keep his Word. The person who prays while He devours the
words of Scripture in a Psalm 1 mode, writing down his requests
in the margin of his Bible, will soon see them answered. Speak
out audibly like you mean what you say (Psalm 145:18-19) and
afterwards patiently wait on the L-rd (Psalm 27:14).
We know that Yehoshua was brought up by devout Jewish parents and
grew up learning the fixed prayers of his people in both his
Nazareth home and synagogue. Few people notice his confession of
the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) in the Besuras Hageulah of Mark (Mark
12:29), yet it is certain that Yehoshua did not fail to observe
the traditional three hours of davening [shacharit (morning), minchah (afternoon), and ma'ariv (evening)], and did not take a
meal without first offering a berachah. When our Moshiach Yehoshua davened, he sought guidance (Luke 6:12), he interceded
for others (John 17:6-26), and he communed with his Father (Luke
9:28). Yehoshua interceded for a tempted disciple (Luke 22:31),
for children (Mark 10:16), and for his people, the Jewish people
(Matthew 23:37-89). Davening is not a merely private matter. It is also a privilege
to be shared. When friends and neighbors intercede for one
another with their Father, they build a love bond of strength
between themselves and G-d. Their united davening has power,too. Yehoshua said, "If two of you agree on earth about any
request you have to make, that request will be granted by my
heavenly Father. For where two or three have met together in my
name, I am there among them" (Matthew 18:19-20). Since our davening has such power, we should plead for big as well as small
causes, and not forget to daven for G-d's work and workers in the
world, including ourselves. We should not only daven for the
health of believers, but that G-d would use them according to his
great purposes.
Corporate prayer is the Moshiach Yehoshua's Body (two or more
believers in him) agreeing together and seeking the guidance and
confirming strength of its Head. (On the importance of corporate davening, read Hebrews 10:19-25.)
FASTING AS AN AID TO PRAYER
Our Moshiach Yehoshua recommended fasting as an aid to davening (Mark 9:29). Also see Matthew 9:15: "The day will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them...then they will fast." Our
prayer life is often aided by fasting (that is, going without
food for a time). Biblically considered, fasting may be
abstaining from all foods (Acts 9:9) or from only certain foods
(Daniel 10:3). Fasting may be a public endeavor, as on a fast
day (Leviticus 23:27), or it maybe private, unto the L-rd
(Zechariah 7:5) as an act of humility and teshuvah (Psalm 69:10)
or positive dedication (Acts 13:3). Moreover, fasting is a means
of seeking the L-rd with all one's heart (Jeremiah 29:13-14; Ezra
8:28) or of changing G-d's mind (Jonah 3:5, 10). Fasting is also
a means of sensitizing oneself to G-d for the purpose of
spiritual warfare against Satanic oppression (Isaiah 58:6) or
demonic possession (Matthew 17:21) or as a means of seeking G-d's face more sensitively for spiritual guidance or revelation
(Daniel 9:2,3,21,22).
DAILY CHAVURAH IN MOSHIACH WITH ELOHEINU Can you imagine working with the most wonderful Father in
the world...Working intimately with him on the biggest and
greatest projects possible in life? (I was given a big project to
pray for, the salvation of Israel, and G-d has done some great
things through my pitiful little efforts and our big prayer life
together, with prayers inspired by Him.) He is there through his Ruach Hakodesh and his Word to direct your work as your davening co-laborer (I Corinthians 3:9) as you step out with him in faith
to execute every one of your prayer projects together. What
victory celebrations you can have together! What love can pass
between you! Your prayer closet is the most exciting room in
your house!
Spend time with your Father in the morning. Take a message out of
your Bible from him and savor the deep goodness of what he says.
Let the possibilities of his promises loom up before you like the
gates of heaven. Then thank your Father for everything you're
going to need that day, taking deep satisfaction from the fact
that he hears you. Davening is communication to Elohim Avinu, in
the name of the Ben haElohim Moshiach, through the inspiration of
the indwelling Ruach Hakodesh and according to G-d's will as
expressed in his Kitvei Hakodesh. What better way to start the
day?
The power of prayer is seen in the fact that when we began
planting Messianic Synagogues in 1972, there were not many of
them in the world. Now there are many. Why don't you pray that
G-d will give you one, and then, when He does, and He has you
turn it over to others, ask G-d to give you three more! Your
prayers have power, too!
[Model tefillos and key verses for study: I Thessalonians
3:11-13; Colossians 1:9, 10; Psalm 6,51,103; I John 5:14, 15;
Matthew 26:41-42; Hebrews 4:16; Jeremiah 33:3.]
MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE STEWARDSHIP
Before you read this chapter, keep in mind that the Brit Chadasha says that we are not to abuse our freedom in Moshiach.
Therefore, although we are under the epoch of Moshiach and have
our freedom in Him, neverthess, we are not to use our freedom as
a cover-up for covetousness or evil. Therefore, the point of
this teaching about tithing is still well taken by Brit Chadasha believers in Moshiach, who, because of their faith and love in Hashem for what he has done for them in Moshiach, will often give
even more than the tithe for the work of G-d. With that as a
premise, let us ask a question.
Would you hide stolen money in your house? If someone had some
"hot" money he'd like you to harbor, to hide under your bed or
whatever, would you do it? No, you wouldn't. Well, suppose it was
G-d's money? Would you try to harbor G-d's money? Of course you
wouldn't, because you'd know that G-d is not fooled. You'd
realize that you'd have to face him and explain to him why you'd
held out on him and kept him from using his own money. If you
cancel the use of G-d's money for his own plans, you're going to
hear from G-d! You'd certainly know that you wouldn't like it if
you had money and you had plans for it and people's lives were
eternally at stake in the matter, and someone came along and
denied you the use of your own money. G-d doesn't like it either.
Read what he says: "Will a man rob G-d? Yet you have robbed
me. But you say, how have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings. You are cursed with acurse, the whole nation of you.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be
food in my house, and prove me now herewith, says the L-rd of
Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,and pour you
out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
it" (Malachi 3:8-10).
THE OBVIOUS GANEF There are essentially three ways to rob G-d. The first way is the
most obvious: simply steal G-d's ma'aser (tithe) outright. This
is the Obvious Ganef. The Obvious Ganef doesn't care about G-d's generosity, or about the fact that everything we receive is a
gift from G-d, or that G-d loans us $10 but only asks that we
return $1. The Obvious Ganef doesn't care.
The Obvious Ganef is like the man G-d loaned $2,000. Then one
day, G-d came to the man and said, "Listen, you can keep
$1,800."
"Really?" the man exclaimed.
"Praise the L-rd, I don't have to give back the $1,800!"
"I just came by to pick up my $200," said G-d.
"GET OFF MY BACK!" the man said.
Many people are like this man. They don't want to hear
anything about giving G-d money, when in effect he has really
given them the money, and they are stealing his money if they
refuse to return one-tenth of it to him. "The silver is mine and
the gold is mine, says the L-rd of Hosts" (Haggai 2:8). "Every
good present and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from Elohim HaAv of lights with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change" (James 1:17). The Obvious Ganef is
guilty of the sin of covetousness which is idolatry and is,
according to the Scriptures, the sure sign of a pagan (see
Colossians 3:5). Moshiach Yehoshua taught us not to have
heathenish anxieties about money but to set our enterprise on
storing up rewards for ourselves in heaven rather than here on
earth.
"Do not ask anxiously, 'What are we to eat? What are we to drink?
What shall we wear?' All these are things for the heathen to run
after, not for you, because your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all. Concentrate on G-d's kingdom and his justice
before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as
well. So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own" (Matthew
6:31-34).
Rabbi Sha'ul echoes Yehoshua's promise when he writes, "And my
G-d will supply all your needs out of the magnificence of his
riches in Moshiach Yehoshua" (Philippians 4:19). "Instruct those
who are rich in the goods of Olam Hazeh not to be uppish, and not
to fix their hopes on so uncertain a thing as money, but upon
G-d, who provides us richly with all things to enjoy. Tell them
to do good and to grow rich in ma'asim tovim, to be ready to give
away and to share, and so acquire a treasure which will form a
good foundation for the future. Thus they will grasp the life
which is life indeed" (I Timothy 6:17-19).
As far as each local body of believers is concerned, here is what
Rabbi Sha'ul wrote about weekly giving: "And now about the
collection in aid of G-d's people: you should follow my
instructions to our congregations in Galatia. Every Yom Rishon each of you is to put aside and keep by him a sum in proportion
to his gains" (I Corinthians 16:2).
But what proportion? The tithe has always been one tenth. In
fact, that's what the word "tithe" means, one tenth. G-d requests
from us only $1 back from every $10 he increases us, letting us
keep $9. Just as in the synagogue every adult male was under
obligation to contribute to the expenses of the Jerusalem Temple,
in the same way Bnei Avraham (Gal.3:7-14), whether they be
physically male or female, Jew or non-Jew, adult or child, are
under obligation to set aside a proportion of that which G-d
prospers them for the uphuilding of the Body of Moshiach in their
local kehillah. Also, each local kehillah is to give a
proportion of its total tithes to world outreach so that the Body
of Moshiach around the world may advance.
There are those who say, "I can't live on $9 out of every $10 I
receive. I've got to have all $10 to live, especially in times
like these." But those who are materially selfish with G-d will
discover a certain spiritual and/or financial poverty in their
own life. "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he
who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (II Corinthians
9:6). We should give "neither reluctantly nor under compulsion,
for G-d loves a cheerful giver. And thus you may always have
enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good
work" (II Corinthians 9:7-8). Therefore, like the Macedonian
believers in II Corinthians 8:2, we can afford to give in faith
even when we are suffering financial depression.
Moreover, when we become talmidim of Moshiach we must count the
cost. If we're not willing to sacrifice our lives, Yehoshua tells us that we cannot be his talmidim. And if we're not
willing to make any kind of financial sacrifice, we're only
kidding ourselves saying we want to be talmidim of Moshiach. If
we can't face the offering plate, we can hardly face the lions.
However, here we're really not even talking about sacrifice.
We're talking about theft. We're talking about robbing G-d. THE
TITHE DOES NOT BELONG TO US - IT BELONGS TO G-D
The only reason a person might believe he couldn't live on $9 out
of $10 is because he doesn't have a dollar's worth of faith that
G-d can help him. Would you sincerely like to know how to stop
stealing from G-d? First, keep account of every dollar G-d gives
you. Second, keep account of his money. Third, give it to him
before you steal it. It's that simple.
THE SUBTLE GANEF The second kind of Ganef is somewhat more subtle. The Subtle Ganef does not steal G-d's purse - he steals G-d's purse strings,
which amounts to about the same thing, but it's a more subtle
form of robbery. The Subtle Ganef says he's willing to pay his
full tithe, but only if he has the prerogative to dictate exactly
how the money should be spent. So really, although he says he's
giving to the L-rd, he demands the L-rd allow him to spend the
L-rd's money. Now if someone gives you money, but won't let you
spend it, are you really being given money? No, you aren't, are
you? It's a subtle form of robbery, because we're talking about
G-d's money, not your money.
The tithe does not belong to us. We have no inherent right to say
how it should be spent. The tithe belongs to G-d, and he through
his Ruach Hakodesh will guide how it is to be used. We must take
our hands off of it. So how do we stop stealing G-d's purse
strings? First, remember that you tithe as a duty and not as a mitzvoh. We don't have any choice - we either obey and tithe, or
we disobey and face G-d our Judge. Therefore, we cannot expect to
be listened to like the chairman of the board just because we
tithe. Remember that your tithe belongs to G-d, not to you, so
it's not the domain where you have the "big say." Remember also
that the body of believers can determine how the tithe should be
used as the Ruach Hakodesh corporately directs them. In fact,
this is precisely the Biblical pattern and G-d's plan, so we had
better not be guilty of interfering with G-d by withholding
tithes that are his money (not ours) as a weapon to try to
dictate how his Body must operate.
THE UNWITTING GANEF In order to perceive the third type of ganef, we must study
Malachi 3:10 which says: "Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse that there may be food in my house, and prove me now
herewith, said the L-rd of hosts, if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will
not be room enough to receive it." The passage specifically
states that we are to bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be "meat" in G-d's house. We have a specific local
responsibility to keep G-d's house running, and we must therefore
give G-d's tithe to one body of believers. The tithe should not
be confused with the offering. The offering can be put anywhere
at any time, as the Ruach Hakodesh leads. But the offering does
not include the tithe - the offering is money over and above the
tithe. The tithe is the basic financial support for the local
body of believers to keep G-d's house running in that
particular location. Without the tithe, all of the local
congregations in the world would suffer financial
catastrophe. The tithe is what keeps the lights on, what keeps
the electric bill paid, the running expenses covered. Offerings
are for extra expenses, but the tithe keeps the doors open, and
we have a specific local responsibility to keep G-d's house
running. If you are dividing your tithe in three or four or five
various locations, you are flagrantly disobedient to G-d. And if
you disagree with this exegesis, you have obviously never pastored a congregation nor have you been forced to preach on
tithing to get the electric bill paid.
The Unwitting Ganef thinks that if he spends $1 out of $10
anywhere he wants, as long as he spends that percentage, he's
being obedient to G-d. But the fact is that if he is not putting
it all into one storehouse as G-d requires in Malachi 3:10, then
he is actually misplacing G-d's money, which amounts to a kind of
robbery, and, to say the least, irresponsible stewardship. G-d's house is not just anywhere any more than our leaders are just
anybody. Our leaders are only the ones to whom we are assigned in
the L-rd. Hebrews 13:17 says "Obey your leaders." The tithe is
stolen unless it is put where G-d demands, at the feet of the
leaders of the flock (see Acts 4:35).
In the Torah we read, "You shall not muzzle a threshing ox"
(Deuteronomy 25:4). Rabbi Sha'ul picks this up in the Jewish Brit Chadasha and applies it to the right of ministers to have a
salary. He writes, "If we have sown a spiritual crop for you, is
it too much to expect from you a material harvest?"
(I Corinthians 9:11). "You know (do you not?) that those who
perform the temple service eat the temple offerings, and those
who wait upon the altar claim their share of the sacrifice. In
the same way Moshiach Adoneinu gave instructions that those who
preach the Besuras Hageulah should earn their living by the Besuras Hageulah" (I Corinthians 9:13-14). "For the laborer is
worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7).
Therefore, each believer has a responsibility to put
all of his tithe into the local storehouse of the Body where he
is a member in order that each believer will be contributing to
the salary of his own minister. For this is Moshiach's way of
supporting the full-time ministry of his servants all over the
world.
In Acts 5:1-12 we read of a couple who resented Moshiach's way of doing things. They didn't like putting very much money at
their leader's feet, and they decided to lie about what they were
doing. Ananias had come into a large amount of money from the
sale of some property, so he told his wife "Look, honey, this is
a lot of money, and we'd better not be foolish or anything. So
look, the Shliach Kefa will never know and neither will the Ruach Hakodesh; let's just go make a token offering and we'll say it's
the full amount and we'll be okay." So Ananias went in before Kefa and he laid down a few bills, and the next thing he knew he
was killed dead on the spot by the Ruach Hakodesh. Lying or
trying to fool the Ruach Hakodesh is a very serious matter.
Now some people might have the impression that the Ruach Hakodesh won't really know, that they don't really have to spend $1 out of
$10, they don't really have to lay that kind of money at the feet
of their pastors, that they can just make a token little payment
here and there and yet claim to be tithing and it will be all
right. But the fact of the matter is that the Ruach Hakodesh is
not fooled, and it's very dangerous to think that he is. Moshiach is not fooled, either. He looks at the books of our
Messianic synagogue and he can see that many of the people are
not tithing to our synagogue. They are robbing G-d. He sees these
people running around to meetings everywhere, but where are they discipled and accountable,and where is their tithe going? Where
are they putting G-d's money? Or is G-d's tithe being broken up
and scattered all around, until it's so small and so diffused and
diluted that it is insufficient to keep "food" in the L-rd's
house? Is G-d's tithe being treated like a pie that has been
sliced so many ways it won't feed anybody? Moshiach looks around and he sees Sister A and he says, "I gave
Sister A $400 this month - - - where is my $40?" He looks around
and he sees Brother B and he says to himself, "I gave Brother B
$6,000 this month - - - where is my $600? Why isn't it being laid
at the feet of the leaders to whom this man is accountable so I
can use my money in a great and powerful way in the Jewish
community?" Moshiach is not very impressed with thieves. Nor
are the new believers who are asking themselves whether they will
obey the L-rd and are looking to our example.
Here are five ways to stop stealing G-d's money from the local
storehouse. First, stop being a floater and find a leader. Ask
God to show you where he has assigned you and who is to disciple
you. Second, when you know who your leader is, then you'll know
where your tithe is to be laid. Third, give the purse
strings of G-d's tithes to G-d's sovereignly led Messianic Body.
Fourth, you handle only the purse strings of your offering.
Fifth, don't steal from your tithes to pay any offerings.
SUMMARY
In conclusion, we must remember that tithing is not optional. We
disobey G-d's command to tithe at our own peril. Our
rationalizations may sound all right to us, but how will
they sound to Moshiach? And how would they sound to all the
Jewish and other believers who have paid with their lives in the
Roman coliseum and invarious other places down through the ages?
When you die, you will see these people. If you're not paying
your tithes, what will you say to them? How will you explain your
theft of G-d's money? And what would have happened to the
world-embracing power of the first Moshiach's Chavurah of Jewish
believers in Yehoshua if these people had said, "Look, Peter, I
want to be like Ananias and just make a token payment because I'm
too tight to pay my tithes!" Would the world have still been
turned upside-down?
Tithing is the believer's way of giving proof of his love
(II Corinthians 8:24). Anyone can say he loves the L-rd, but to
offer his money for the L-rd's service is his concrete way of
offering love and worship to the L-rd. His reluctance to give is
an indicator of the degree of his love (see James 2:15-17).
Because he has given everything to us, even his life's blood, we
owe everything to him. Therefore, he gives us the privilege of
proving our love for him by freely, generously, but without
ostentation (Matthew 6:1-4; Mark 12:41-44), giving of our very
substance to him as a token of our whole beings which we gladly
own are his alone.
Each Yom Rishon we concretely dedicate ourselves to the L-rd by
giving back to him in the ma'aser (tithe) a portion of all that
he has given to us. In this way we give him ourselves (II
Corinthians 8:5). Our money is a token of our self-giving to him,
even as the broken matzoh and the wine are tokens of his
infinitely greater self-giving for us and our eternal well-being.
Money is part of our substance, the very fruit of our toil and
the residue of our spent life's time. When we worship G-d with
our finances, we are confirming the sincerity of our love for
him; we are, so to speak, putting our money where our mouth is,
and showing him real sacrificial love, not mere lip service.
Therefore, when we bring the tithe set aside in our budget and
lay it at Moshiach Adoneinu's feet on the Yom haAdon, it is an
act of worship, not a grudging duty, and we rejoice that G-d has
prospered us so that we have the privilege of contributing to our
synagogue pushke.
Whenever we give money in our synagogues, it is worship. It is
worship when we put our tithe in an envelope, holding it in our
hand and davening over it before we pass the envelope to the shamash in the aisle. It is worship when we take our offering to
the foot of the bimah (pulpit) to dedicate ourselves and our
substance to Moshiach Adoneinu. When offered in love, our money
is a pleasing sacrifice to the L-rd, a test of faith, yet a
joyful praise offering to G-d. Tithing is worship.
"My children, love must not be a matter of words or talk; it must
be genuine, and show itself in action" (I John 3:18). "Do not
neglect to do good and share what you have, for such sacrifices
are pleasing to G-d" (Hebrews 13:16).
The first Jewish believers in Moshiach Yehoshua saw their unique
role in Jewish history and seized the opportunity to win the
world for their Messiah. And they threw their whole weight,
financially and even with their blood, into the task.
The question is, will we also throw our weight into the task?
Will we systematically pay our tithes in faith that G-d will meet
our own financial needs because we are being obedient to him?
Will we rejoice as we see G-d make his promise in Malachi 3:10 a
reality in our lives: "Prove me now therewith, saith the L-rd of
Host, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you
out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it?"
Therefore, let this teaching on tithing be a stumbling block to
none." For if there is an eager willingness to give, G-d accepts
what a man has; he does not ask for what a man does not have (II
Corinthians 8:12). So then, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household
of faith" (Galatians 6:10).
Since only believers in Moshiach should tithe and it is not a
good idea for believers to take offerings from unbelievers (III
Jn.1:17), this prayer should be prayed only by believers....
G-d of Israel,
Thank you for calling me to a unique destiny in Jewish history.
Thank you for the hundreds of Jewish souls you will bring into
your Kingdom through the finances you have entrusted to
me.
L-rd, forgive me if I have ever stolen your tithe.
L-rd, forgive me if I have ever arrogantly tried to dictate how
you should spend your money instead of trusting your wisdom and
the wisdom of the G-d-appointed leadership of the Body to whom I
belong.
L-rd, forgive me if I have not brought all my tithe into your
local storehouse, committing its use to the Body of believers to
whom I am accountable and with whom I am a co-worker and fellow
disciple.
L-rd, I promise not only to tithe, but to tithe as YOU COMMAND in
your Word, without dictating how you are to spend your money, and
without scattering your tithe in as many storehouses as I please
but only after the Brit Chadasha pattern, that is, into the local
storehouse of the Body in which I feel G-d has placed me.
In Moshiach's Name,
Amen.