Shavuot 2012 … Giving Back at Least the Corners of the Field

Since moving to my new home, I have been given the privilege of enjoying the country!  There are horses roaming around in a beautiful pasture.  There are fields of wheat and wildflowers as far as the eye can see.  It is beautiful.  It is relaxing.  It is home and it reminds me of one of my favorite Bible stories which just happens to coincide with the Jewish feast of Shavuot which begins at sundown on Saturday, May 26th.

Shavuot is known in Christian circles as Pentecost.  Shavuot is centered around the gleaning of the barley harvest.  Shavuot in English is translated as “weeks.”  From the Feast of First Fruits to Shavuot, one counts 7 weeks (49 days) plus one more day which is why it is translated in Greek as “Pentecost.”  By the way, the reason why the counting begins on the Feast of First Fruits will be explained … later!

Some of the Jewish traditions for Shavuot is that the Torah was given at Mount Sinai on this date.  Other traditions involve that perhaps David was born and died on Shavuot.  A wonderfully delicious tradition is that we should eat foods made with cheese and milk.  This tradition is commonly digested in the form of CHEESECAKE!

Two other important traditions (b. Megillah 31a) is that all Jewish males should go to Jerusalem for the celebration of Shavuot as well as the book of Ruth and Ezekiel 1 should be read in anticipation and in celebration of Shavuot.  In fact, many Orthodox Jewish people will stay up all night studying these passages … Ruth especially today.  The reason why the reading of Ezekiel 1 is significant will be explained later.

The story of Ruth is a great love story in more ways than one might expect.  We have Ruth leaving the idolatry and curse of the Moabite people to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem (“house of bread”) to become one with the Jewish people.  We have Naomi who so cared and was so touched by Ruth’s devotion that she went immediately into “Yenta” mode and began to seek a match for Ruth and her relative Boaz.  We have Boaz who is so flattered and honored by Ruth’s attention that after a brief “entanglement” with a closer kinsman that they marry and she gives birth to Obed who is a grandfather of King David.  A great love story but to borrow from Paul Harvey … “not the rest of the story.”

For ultimately Obed is to serve as Naomi’s kinsmen redeemer (Ruth 4:17) and Boaz through the act of a levirate marriage serves as Ruth’s kinsmen redeemer which in the Hebrew is known as the Ga’ol.  The concept of redemption is prevalent throughout Ruth and the book along with the Leviticus instructions for Shavuot (chapter 23) serves as a foreshadowing of a future redemption and a future harvest.  HINT…!

Leviticus 23 provides the instructions for the celebration of Shavuot according to Scripture…

• Two loaves of leaven bread are to be made in the home and brought for a Wave Offering before the Lord
• Seven lambs, one bull, and two rams are to be offered as a Burnt Offering
• One male goat for a Sin Offering and two male lambs for a Peace Offering are to be sacrificed
• It is to be a Day of Holy Convocation (Sabbath Rest) AND
• The Israelites are to leave the corners of the field unharvested for personal use so that the poor and the foreigners (aliens) can be fed and blessed.  This will be explained later as well.

Obviously, today it is impossible (dare I say unnecessary?!) for all of these requirements to be followed as there is no Temple for the sacrifices.  However, the other aspects, especially the last requirement, can and must be remembered by all believers in Jesus today.

For, I believe that Acts 2 shows us the ultimate realized fulfillment of Shavuot.  For do you remember that I asked you to remember two important concepts from above — why the counting of the 50 days (Omer) began on the Feast of First Fruits and why Ezekiel 1 was commanded to be read on Shavuot?  I believe that the counting of the 50 days begans on the First Fruits festival because Messiah Jesus is our “first fruits” of all who will be raised from the dead.  He finished teaching the disciples after 40 days, ascended into heaven, and the 120 then went to pray for 10 days in the Upper Room.  At the end of the 10 days (now 50 days from the Feast of First Fruits), the Holy Spirit arrives perhaps just as all the Jewish males around the world were hearing these verses from Ezekiel 1:4-14 …

Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.

Perhaps it is now clearer as to why 3,000 Jewish souls were added to the Kingdom of Heaven that day.  These Jewish men saw the reality of Shavuot come to life before their very eyes!  They were able to see how Messiah Jesus was the ultimate Kinsman Redeemer from the Book of Ruth.  They were able to see God working miraculously and personally in the lives of the followers of Jesus!

There is one final remember from above that I hope you are considering.  Why in Leviticus 23 did God command the harvesters to leave the corners of the field for the poor and the foreigners?  Because … this is one of the festivals that non-Jewish people (during the time of the Tanakh/OldTestament) could participate.  They were able to eat and be fed from the harvest.  They were able to go (if they were proselytes and/or God-fearers) Jerusalem to worship God.  They were included!

Therefore, I close this post with a simple question — Is it not time for the Jewish people to be given back Shavuot? 

Yes, Jewish people around the world will celebrate a semblance of Shavuot this weekend.  They will read from the Book of Ruth.  They will eat cheesecake and celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.  However … they do not know that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Torah and the Holy Spirit has already arrived.  They do not know that the harvest truly is plentiful and they can be a part of not only the Corners of the Field but the entire field.  They do not know because no one or very few have told them (Romans 10),

Is it now time to give back at least the corners of the field?

Answering the Unanswerable…?

In doing research for a hopefully soon to be written book — Answering the Unanswerable — on developing a Jewish apologetic witness in light of the Holocaust, I ran across one of the most disturbing anti-Semitic statements ever written.

They will slaughter all of you there, women and children alike, at once — it is the punishment you deserve for the death of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ — you have only one solution.  Come over to our religion and I will work to annul this decree. — Karol Kmetko

Who was this Karol Kmetko that I encountered in the web pages of the US Holocaust Museum?  Kmetko was named by Pope Pius XII to be the Archbishop of Slovakia (1944).

Yes … he was a priest.  Yes … he was supposed to be a man of God.  Yes … he brought shame and reproach upon his office and his Jewish Messiah.

Kmetko wrote his shameful epitaph in 1942 to a Jewish rabbi — Michael Dov-Ber Weissmandel — when the rabbi appealed to this Catholic priest for help in stopping the near destruction of the Slovakian Jewish population in 1942.  However, and instead of assistance, all the rabbi and the Slovakian Jewish community received was a revival of the false charge of deicide and the near destruction of Slovakian Jewry.  In addition, in 1944, Weissmandel was able to escape from the train car headed towards Auschwitz.  His wife and children were not as fortunate.

What is deicide?  Deicide is the false belief that the Jews are guilty for the murder of God via the death of Jesus on the cross.  Deicide, until 1965, was the official statement of the Roman Catholic Church as it relates to the Jewish people (for more information on deicide and a brief overview of the tragedy of Christian history and the Jewish people, one can go to the author’s ISCA presentation on the subject).

So … why did I share this shameful episode of Christian history with you?  I related this story hopefully to explain to you why the work of Jewish evangelism is so difficult.  Those who believe in Romans 1:16 do so in light of the atrocious atrocities that occurred in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.  We are forced to confront and face what those who claimed to love Jesus did.  We are given no other choice but to continue the work of Jewish missions even when it would be so much easier to stop and give into the heresy of dual covenantalism.

We are required to answer the unanswerable.  For if we fail to do so, we are abandoning the Jewish people to another (spiritual) Holocaust from which there will be no liberation. 

Karol Kmetko was a liar.  True believers in Jesus have the truth of the exclusive but loving nature of Jesus’ Messiahship.  We must answer the unanswerable so that His Chosen Ones can know that He loves them and that Kmetko was wrong.

I am a Paul … I Hope

My dad’s Bible hero was Noah.  A man who persevered for a 100+ years.  A man who built a boat because God promised that it would rain — even though Noah had no clue what rain looked like or meant.  I think for my dad that ultimately Noah was his hero because even when no one believed and he could only get his own family on the boat, Noah was faithful.

One of my mom’s Bible heroes is Esther.  A young woman placed into an impossible situation whoheeded Mordecai’s warning — “for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)” — and saved the Jewish people.  She was faithful even when afraid and was able to protect her people from the first of many “Hitler’s” who sought the destruction of the Jewish people — Haman the Agagite.

My own personal Bible hero is the Apostle John.  He is assumed to be the youngest of the disciples but yet he is one of the three disciples who were members of the inner circle.  He was the one who was given charge over Mary as Jesus was dying on the cross.  He was also the last disciple living at the end of the first century and was found on the “Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:9-10)” worshipping God even though he was all alone on the Isle of Patmos.  In many ways, John was the perfect and “beloved” disciple.

However, I am nothing like John.  I am outspoken … often to the point of irritation.  I sometimes forget to employ my edit button and say what I mean, even if I could have found a better way to say it.  People either seem to love me or … not.  I am blunt.  I am impatient.  I do not suffer fools well.   Bottom line … I am a Paul.

Not that there is anything wrong with being compared to the Apostle Paul.  He was a believer who had one of the most unique encounters with Jesus that could ever be written.  He was called to be the missionary to the Gentiless.  He truly was the theologian of the first century.

Now … I cannot claim any linkage to Paul’s accomplishment mentioned above.  I was eight years old in a small Baptist church in Lubbock, Texas, when I came to Messiah.  I strive to be an exegete of Scripture that would bring honor to my Messiah and King but I cannot even approach Paul’s wisdom and knowledge.  And I also have been called to be a missionary to the Jewish people.

So … apparently I have all of Paul’s bad traits and very little of his good ones.  However, the one thing that I hope can be said about me is that I fight a good fight, I keep running the race, and I keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).  For I will continue the work of Tzedakah Ministries which is focused on equipping His church to reach His people until, I believe, God calls me home.  I have no choice.  I have no other option.  I have no other life but to share Messiah Jesus with His chosen people.

Happy 64th … Israel! But …

Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s famous song, “When I’m 64!” from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band are fairly appropriate today.  Happy 64th … Israel!

(FIRST STANZA ONLY) When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine? If I’d been out ’til quarter to three, would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I’m sixty-four?

However, this is not necessarily a happy birthday for Israel.  Never have they been more alone in the world as apparent allies are abandoning them and/or pressuring them to cave into the “Death Wish” demands of the “Palestinians”.  Never have they faced such a vocal threat as Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s desire to send a nuclear weapon into the Holy Land.  Never have they stood all by themselves and wondered if anyone cared.  Makes one believe that we might need Harry Truman again.

Israel also needs REAL friends who will not only support them when their existence is being threatened by the latest madman but also when they need to hear some words they don’t want to hear — “Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.”

There are too many Christians out there who will support Israel via the label Christian Zionism but will not support Israel in their eternal need to find and discover the Jewish Messiah … Jesus!  There are too many Christian leaders (Yes, John Hagee for one) who will raise millions of dollars in the name of supporting Israel but will not share John 14:6 with them.  So are they really loving Israel when they are 64?

Happy Birthday, Israel.  May God protect you as He has promised.  May you come to know Jesus as Messiah as you so desperately need to do.  I for one want to give you a present of support and the Gospel…!

What Would It Mean If Jesus Was Not the Messiah?

To paraphrase one of the greatest Christian writers since the Apostles, C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (because this is not an exact quote despite rumors to the contrary),

“Jesus is either a lunatic, liar, or the Lord.”

For it is true, either Jesus is who He says was (John 8:58; 10:30; 14:6) or those of us who believe in Him are destined for an eternity apart from God.  I have shared this exact truth in churches (which surprisingly does surprise people), in Bensonhurst Park in Brooklyn, and a few months ago at the Jewish Learning Fest (Dallas JCC).

I was at the Dallas JCC to hear Bentzion Kravitz of Jews for Judaism deliver a presentation on why Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah.  I attended along with one of my students from Arlington Baptist College (KaLynn Coffman) to hear what Rabbi Kravitz had to say along with the response with the audience.

Rabbi Kravitz gave a very engaging presentation about his identity as a Jewish man and his responses to those who tried to witness to him while he was in college (BTW — I do hope that no one ever tries that tactic in today’s world!).  He is a very engaging speaker and tells a really good story or two.  However, and what he lacked, was a clear theological presentation on why Jesus is not the Messiah.  He threw out a few catch phrases and buzz words that would appeal to his primarily non-believing audience; however, overall the presentation lacked theological or apologetic depth.  By the way, I am not criticizing but just giving you my observations because we can all engage in those type of presentations … even though I always pray that I will not do it.

The excitement began when the floor opened up for questions.  I had about five I wanted to ask but I waited to see what others would ask or say.  I decided to respond after he caustically attacked a personal friend and Jewish believer in Jesus.  I was able to ask two of my questions before I asked him point blank about the eternal destiny of non-Jewish people who do not follow the Noahide Covenant and/or who believe Jesus is not only Messiah but also God.

He hedged and tried to get out of the question.  I, in my nicest of Southern ways, refused to let him off the hook.  I ended up answering my own question with this simple answer — “If Jesus is not the Messiah, I am going to hell.”  The answer shocked a lot of the people in the audience but it also grabbed their attention.  In fact, I had about three or four Jewish people after the seminar broke up who came up to me and asked me questions and continued the discussion, including one who told me that I had given him a great deal to think about on a personal level.

So I have decided to ask you the same question as well …

What would it mean if Jesus was not the Messiah?

I believe this is a question that all of us who claim faith in Messiah Jesus need to ask ourselves every so often.  Do we really believe in the exclusive salvation claim of Messiah Jesus?  Do we believe that those who do not believe in Jesus are headed for an eternity separated from God?  Do we really believe in an eternal hell for the unredeemed?

If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, and especially as it relates to the eternal destiny of the Jewish people, then NOW is the time to do something about it.  NOW is the time to share our faith in Jesus with our Jewish friends and neighbors, along with all the lost that God brings into our path.  NOW is the time to proclaim that I Live a Romans 1:16 Life! and join with Tzedakah Ministries (info@tzedakahministries.org) to do something, anything, everything to live out the truth of Romans 1:16!

The Greatest Act of Anti-Semitism Ever Committed

Today is Yom HaShoah 2012.  Today is the day the world is supposed to stop and remember the six million Jewish souls, including one and a half million children, who were slaughtered by the evil mechanizations of the Nazi regime for the sole crime of being born Jewish.  Today the world is asked to stop and re-commit themselves to the promise of “Never Again.”

The actions of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich were truly from the pits of hell.  They were deplorable.  They were unconscionable.  They were the actions of evil personified.  However, the horrors of the Holocaust is not the greatest act of anti-Semitism ever committed.

No, and unfortunately, the greatest act of anti-Semitism ever committed occurs every day of the week around the world.  The greatest act of anti-Semitism has been implied in two previous postings (here and here) on this blog.  However, today is the day to state it publicly.

The greatest act of anti-Semitism ever committed is when Christians and churches fail to share the truth of Jesus the Jewish Messiah with the people for whom He first came.  Many choose not to share out of an embarrassment of the apathetic attitude displayed by the churches and Christians of Europe and the world in the 1930s and 1940s.  Many choose not to share out of fear that they will say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing.  Many choose not to share because they have never considered the spiritual eternity of the Jewish people in their midst.  However, and regardless of the choice, choosing not to share the Gospel story of Jesus is the greatest act of anti-Semitism ever committed.

Some who read this post will disagree with me.  Some will suggest that I should have saved it for another day as Yom HaShoah is not the day to talk about Jesus (If not today … when?).  Some will just turn away like the world did when the greatest human anti-Semite railed and ranted in Europe.

However, it is today that we must be the most vocal about Jesus’s love for His own people.  It is today that Romans 1:16 and Romans 9-11 must be remembered.  It is today that we who believe in Jewish evangelism and missions must re-commit ourselves to the truth of John 14:6 and Acts 4:12.  For if we do not, we are guilty of the greatest act of anti-Semitism ever committed.

Pet Peeve … New Testament Bibles

Perhaps you are reading this blog because the post’s title caught your attention.  Perhaps you are reading this post out of sheer curiosity.  Or perhaps you are worried about the direction this blog and ministry is taking.

Let me assure the first group that I titled the post in this way solely to grab your attention.  The second group … I hope you enjoy your reading.  The third group … remain calm as your worst fears are not going to be realized.  This blog, this ministry, this individual still loves Jesus, still loves the inerrant Word of God, and still lives with the purpose of sharing Jesus with the Jewish people.

But … one of my pet peeves are still New Testament Bibles!

Do you know what Bibles I am writing about in this post?  The kind of Bible we give to infants on ”Baby Dedication Sunday” so that we who are Baptists will not be accused of “confirming” anyone.  The kind of Bible that is blue or pink depending on the gender of the baby … I still have my pink New Testament Bible that was given to me in 1969!

The kind of Bible given to students on the Sunday before the first day of school.  The kind of Bible given to men and women who are incarcerated in prisons and jails.  The kind of Bible given out as an evangelistic witness.  The kind of Bible that ultimately is less than half of the Word of God!

Consider for a moment any New Testament Bible, you have all 27 books of the New Testament and more than likely Psalms and Proverbs of the Old Testament.  Therefore, and logically, this type of Bible is still leaving out 37 books of God’s inerrant, infallible Word!

So … why do we print such Bibles and what are some possible consequences of such a half-done print job?

To answer the first part of the question written above, I will have to return to my days as a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I was sitting in class waiting for Biblical Backgrounds to begin.  A student who was sitting a couple of rows ahead was talking about how copies of simply the book of John were great at sharing the Gospel and then proceeded to say, “We don’t really need the Old Testament to share the Gospel.”  I was stunned but not into silence and asked him if he knew how often Jesus quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures?  He didn’t (of course!) but did agree with me when I stated that the New Testament would be impossible to understand without the Old Testament.  He seemed to have forgotten that Jesus was and is Jewish and the words of the Tanakh are Jewish indeed (but more on that issue later).

Regarding the consequences of New Testament Bibles … consider with me the following arguments:

1. Eliminating the 39 books of the Tanakh enables those who wish to separate Jesus from His Jewishness to be successful; however, Jesus and his life/ministry/death/resurrection is impossible to understand without the words of the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. Forgetting the words of the Prophets and the Torah and the Writings takes away the reminder that the Gospel (i.e., New Covenant) was first and still is for the Jewish people (Jeremiah 31).  If we abandon the Old Testament, we ultimately will abandon the call for Jewish missions and evangelism.
3. Abandoning the story of the Hebrew Scriptures invalidates the Word of God because all 66 books of the Canon are just as inerrant and just as inspired as any other book.  Martin Luther might consider James to be a “right strawy epistle” but God gave those words to James just as much as the words of Amos and Hosea were inspired by God himself.  All the words are worthy of the 2 Timothy 3:16 mandate.  By the way, when Paul wrote those words to Timothy … only the Hebrew Scriptures were canonized and those books were specifically to what Paul was referring.

So the next time someone offers you or your baby a New Testament Bible … hold out for the entire Word of God!

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Tomorrow (January 27th) is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Please take a moment to think about the 6 million souls lost for no other reason except that they were Jewish.  Remember the 1.5 million children under the age of 15.  Remember Ania Horowicz of Poland who died in Treblinka at the age of 15.  I know I will never forget her.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 18,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

We Need Harry Truman Again!

Like many of you, I am watching the debates, considering the issues, and praying for God’s guidance as to whom I should vote for on Election Day 2012.  I am considering the work of President Obama.  I am looking at the Republican candidates.  I am also considering who best represents the three major issues that I consider before voting — education, appointment of judges on the Supreme Court and federal level, and, naturally, who would best defend Israel and the command of Genesis 12:1-3.  With this last issue, I  have come to one irrevocable conclusion … WE NEED HARRY TRUMAN AGAIN!

This week I was reminded of this truth when I opened my latest copy of Christianity Today and saw the interview of Gary Scott Smith in the article ”Commander and Chaplain” about the faith of our presidents.  When asked the question about which president’s faith most impacted his policy.  Harry Truman was near the head of the list and for one specific decision — the choice for America to be the first nation to recognize Israel in May 1948.

As I began a quick internet search, I found a 2008 article from Christian History in which we find that Truman’s Baptist faith and teaching led him to see himself as a modern-day realization of the Persian king Cyrus who allowed the Jewish people from the Babylon exile period to return home in 539 BCE.  He was instrumental in validating the existence of Israel in 1948 and the chief rabbi of Israel, Halevi Herzog, said these words to him when they met in 1949 …

When the President was still in his mother’s womb, the Lord had bestowed upon him the mission of helping his Chosen People at a time of despair and aiding in the fulfillment of His promise of Return to the Holy Land. (http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-truman-no-show)

We definitely need a men and women like Harry Truman again on the political stage.  We also need men and woman who will take on the responsibility of becoming spiritual Harry Truman’s and bring the truth of Messiah Jesus to the Jewish souls around the world.  Too often, and simply because I think it is easy, we as evangelical Christians have become “friends of Israel” merely in the political realm.  We will back Israel on an international level.  We will sign petitions.  We will wear pins with an American and Israeli flag intertwined.  We will send donations to a certain “pastor” in San Antonio to defend Israel.  We will even embrace the term “Christian Zionism”; however, we fail in the most basic and important concept of what it means to be the next Harry Truman — we fail to share the truth of Messiah Jesus with the Chosen Ones of God and the people from whom our Jesus came.

I will vote politically for the candidate, whomever that might be, who will do what is Biblically commanded concerning Israel.  However, I wonder who will join me in seeking to be the next Harry Truman on the spiritual level.  Who will join with Tzedakah Ministries and seek to live out 2012 with the mantra of