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The Great Commission Can Set Us Free From Responsibility

by Rabbi Eric Tokajer
written by Rabbi Eric Tokajer

While all of the stories we read in the Torah are meaningful, sometimes the events we read about can seem to hold more relevance, especially for those of us who are followers of Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah. One such event is the calling of Abraham that we read about in Genesis 12:1:

Genesis 12:1 Then Adonai said to Abram, “Get going out from your land, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.

Every believer in Yeshua can point to a moment in time when they heard the call of G-D’s voice speak to their heart in a very similar manner, as we read in John 6:44:

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless My Father who sent Me draws him—and I will raise him up on the last day.

Another example of an event that we read about that holds within it overwhelming meaning and significance for us as believers takes place only a few chapters later. In Genesis chapter 24, we read the narrative leading up to and including the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, which as we all know is the first time in history that a woman fell for a man.

While this story of the joining together of Isaac and Rebekah is a beautiful story in and of itself, the story also contains an underlying lesson for us today that provides an unmeasurable level of G-D given freedom to believers in Yeshua that can and should be life-changing.

Let’s review the story. Abraham knows that Isaac needs a wife. So, Abraham makes a covenant with his servant and sends the servant to go out and find a bride for Isaac. The servant goes out and invites Rebekah to become Isaac’s wife. Rebekah accepts the invitation and the servant brings Rebekah back to Abraham’s home to be joined in marriage to Isaac. On the surface, this is already an amazing story. However, let’s dig just a bit deeper into the story and see how it relates to us as Believers.

In the story, we begin with a Father who, through a miracle, brought a Son into the world. The Son needs a Bride, so the Father calls His servant and makes a Covenant with the servant. The servant’s calling is to go into the world and share a message with the one who would become the Bride of the Son. The message is an invitation to become the Bride of the Son and the servant is to share as a part of the invitation about all of the blessings that belong to those who are part of the Father’s family. The servant is not to force anyone to become the Bride, but rather to simply provide an invitation. Notice in the story the one who is invited to be the Bride has to make the decision to become the Bride of the Son on her own. The story of course ends with one who was invited accepting the invitation and returning to the Father home.

Do you see how this directly relates to us as believers in Yeshua? Just as in this story, our Father desires a Bride for His Son. Just as in the story, the Father calls His servants (you and I) to go into the world and share an invitation to become The Bride. Just as in the story, the one being invited has to choose to accept the invitation to become the Bride. Just as in the story, the one who accepts the invitation has to make the journey to the Father’s House in order to become the Bride.

This is such a powerful picture of our great commission. I believe that one of the reasons that the servant described in Genesis 24 is not named is because, figuratively, we are to insert our name into the story as the servant who is called, who enters covenant, who shares the invitation and who makes the journey back to the Father’s House with those we share the invitation with.

However, although the above story is a powerful word picture of our calling, there is an important part of the story that I have not yet mentioned. The part I left out is one of the most important parts of the story because it is this part that sets us free from condemnation and feelings of failure.

When Abraham enters the covenant with his servant, the servant asks Abraham an important question. The servant’s question is: “What if the person I invite doesn’t want to come with me?” Abraham’s response to his servant not only applies to the story we read about in Genesis, it also applies to us today. Abraham says: “If the woman is not willing to follow after you, then you will be free from this oath of mine…”

Notice when Abraham sent his servant out with an invitation to the bride, Abraham didn’t make the servant responsible for the bride’s answer. The servant was only held responsible to share the invitation. Likewise, you and I are only responsible to share an invitation to become the Bride. We are not responsible for the outcome or choice of those with whom we share the invitation.

Too often, we can feel as if we have failed The Father when we share His invitation and the one we invited rejects His invitation. The truth, however, is that as long as we share the invitation for someone to become the Bride of the Son, we have succeeded already because we have kept our covenant and fulfilled our calling and commitment. We, like the servant of Abraham, are only accountable to share the invitation, and, like the servant, we are set free from the responsibility if those with whom we share the Father’s invitation reject His invitation.

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How Did The Pharisees Become Antagonists In The New Testament?

by Christa
written by Christa

We have read about the Pharisees in the New Testament and their antagonism against Jesus and His ministry. But, who are they, and where did they originate?

The Pharisees

If we search on the Pharisee’s origin in the Bible, we can only find few details. There were no specific definitions about the notorious men who watched Jesus’ every move. But, if we look back at the history of Judaism, we will see the importance of the Pharisees and their significant contribution to the faith and culture.

The word ‘Pharisee’ most likely comes from the Hebrew word, ‘prushim,’ which means ‘separated ones.’ It was unclear what the label truly signified. But, according to the ancient Jewish texts, no group identified themselves as Pharisees. Therefore, the name originated with the people outside the group.

Primary Sources

Three primary sources depicted the Pharisees: Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian, the New Testament, and the rabbinic literature. Josephus viewed the Pharisees from a Greek point of view and thus described them as a school of thought.

Meanwhile, the New Testament portrays them as a powerful religious sect and a political group. Their attempts to influence the government were only to preserve Judaism and not for political power.

Lastly, the rabbinic literature shows the Pharisees as a social movement, changing how the Jews lived. They teach the principle of worship beyond the temple. They believed that Jews were supposed to practice purity rituals not just inside the temple but also outside it.

Separated Ones

Ultimately, Pharisaical practices were adopted when the temple was destroyed in the first century. If there were no Pharisees, Judaism would less likely survive because Jews believed the temple was the center of their faith. When the temple got destroyed, the Pharisees gathered the people in the synagogues to pray and teach Torah. Later on, this group of Jews became the foundation for mainstream Rabbinic Judaism.

Moreover, the Pharisees believed that the Oral Torah was equally authoritative with the written Law. Way back on Mount Sinai, when God gave Moses the Torah, Jews thought that oral instructions were used to interpret the Torah. These were then passed down to sages and experts of the Law, including the Pharisees.

But, modern Christians view them in a negative light. Although, this is not surprising because of their overly legalistic following of the Law. And even in some cases, thwarting the original intention of the commands.

Learning from their history, we can understand why the Pharisees were vigilant and aggressive against Jesus. They were only trying to preserve Judaism as they did years past. Ryan Nelson put it this way, “So perhaps it’s better to think of the Pharisees this way: when Jesus came onto the scene, Israel needed a heart transplant, and these groups were like an overactive immune system, rejecting the very thing they needed to survive.”

Reference: Overview Bible

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How Did The Pharisees Become Antagonists In The New Testament?

by Christa
written by Christa

We have read about the Pharisees in the New Testament and their antagonism against Jesus and His ministry. But, who are they, and where did they originate?

The Pharisees

If we search on the Pharisee’s origin in the Bible, we can only find few details. There were no specific definitions about the notorious men who watched Jesus’ every move. But, if we look back at the history of Judaism, we will see the importance of the Pharisees and their significant contribution to the faith and culture.

The word ‘Pharisee’ most likely comes from the Hebrew word, ‘prushim,’ which means ‘separated ones.’ It was unclear what the label truly signified. But, according to the ancient Jewish texts, no group identified themselves as Pharisees. Therefore, the name originated with the people outside the group.

Primary Sources

Three primary sources depicted the Pharisees: Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian, the New Testament, and the rabbinic literature. Josephus viewed the Pharisees from a Greek point of view and thus described them as a school of thought.

Meanwhile, the New Testament portrays them as a powerful religious sect and a political group. Their attempts to influence the government were only to preserve Judaism and not for political power.

Lastly, the rabbinic literature shows the Pharisees as a social movement, changing how the Jews lived. They teach the principle of worship beyond the temple. They believed that Jews were supposed to practice purity rituals not just inside the temple but also outside it.

Separated Ones

Ultimately, Pharisaical practices were adopted when the temple was destroyed in the first century. If there were no Pharisees, Judaism would less likely survive because Jews believed the temple was the center of their faith. When the temple got destroyed, the Pharisees gathered the people in the synagogues to pray and teach Torah. Later on, this group of Jews became the foundation for mainstream Rabbinic Judaism.

Moreover, the Pharisees believed that the Oral Torah was equally authoritative with the written Law. Way back on Mount Sinai, when God gave Moses the Torah, Jews thought that oral instructions were used to interpret the Torah. These were then passed down to sages and experts of the Law, including the Pharisees.

But, modern Christians view them in a negative light. Although, this is not surprising because of their overly legalistic following of the Law. And even in some cases, thwarting the original intention of the commands.

Learning from their history, we can understand why the Pharisees were vigilant and aggressive against Jesus. They were only trying to preserve Judaism as they did years past. Ryan Nelson put it this way, “So perhaps it’s better to think of the Pharisees this way: when Jesus came onto the scene, Israel needed a heart transplant, and these groups were like an overactive immune system, rejecting the very thing they needed to survive.”

Reference: Overview Bible

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Discover more about the Messianic Torah here on GOD TV.
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Messianic Judaism (part 2): The Messianic Torah and the Bible

by GOD TV
written by GOD TV

We learned in part one of this series on Messianic Judaism that the Messianic Bible is relatively the same as today’s Christian Bible. Its structure is a little different, namely in its outline. Some structure it as 24 books, not sections like the Minor Prophets, and the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. The Messianic Torah always remains in its original form: five books that convey Creation, the establishment of man, and his relationship with Christ. These are strict tenants of Judaism. Even Messianic Jews hold fast to some of them. Keep reading to find a more in-depth break down of the Messianic Torah.

Messianic Torah: Commandments

The Messianic Torah holds the commandments with which we are all familiar. We all have read the story of Moses on Mount Sinai – G-d spoke to him, giving him the laws Christians were to follow: the Ten Commandments.  While we know and reflect just ten, many rules enveloped the basic ten. Just as Yeshua (Jesus) said when He was asked which was the greatest commandment he summed all ten with just two, “You shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Law of the Messianic Torah

This is where it gets a little confusing. The laws on which the Messianic Torah bases itself is a sacrificial system. Meaning that the laws of atonement for sins included a blood sacrifice. The sacrifice offered could be a dove, goat, or as large as a bull. The one that offered the most significant was the lamb. The animal sacrifice took place on an altar, and sometimes required burning. One major prerequisite was that the animal had to be spotless. Meaning no defect whatsoever. Someone bringing an offering could not just pick the worst of their herd and use it for sacrifice; it had to be the best of the best.

Judaism and Sacrifices

      • Sacrificial System – The blood sacrifice was made for all types of sins. Deliberate and unintentional sin. If you stubbed your toe and said, “Filth, flarn, filth,” the unintentional sin of swearing would need atonement. If you mistakenly underpaid an employee, that sin needs atonement. All sin, every sin, needs to be covered by the blood of something or someone that was innocent.
      • This system went on for centuries. Another critical issue of the sacrifice was that it was only temporary. In other words, it was not one and done. A blood sacrifice only would cover sins one would commit. After one sins again, even unintentionally, the offender must repeat the sacrifice. The cycle was unending and continued until 70 AD. However, it was not set aside for the reasons one may think.
      • Yeshua’s Sacrifice – Yeshua died and rose again somewhere around 35 AD. The New Testament teaches that Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross put an end to the OT sacrificial system. In the book of Hebrews, the author explains the significance of Christ’s sacrifice.
      •  Like we spoke of earlier, the demand of sin was a blood sacrifice. The sacrificial animal must not have a blemish; this signified being sinless. But there was no way for any man to be sinless, so even the spilling of his blood would not atone for sin. So, the sacrifice had to be twofold. It had to be human blood, and it had to be spotless. The answer to this was Yeshua. Yeshua was the only human ever to live a sinless life. He was also G-d in human form. He was the perfect sacrifice.
      • Judaism Sacrificial System – Even though those who followed Christ were mainly Gentiles, and therefore not bound to a sacrificial system, there were Jews who accepted Christ as the Messiah. Some accepted His death as the ultimate sacrifice; most did not. They continued even though they witnessed for themselves the evidence.

The Shift

After the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, those that practiced Judaism were left with no decision but to stop the sacrificial system. This battle occurred after a Jewish revolt that resulted in the Romans overpowering the Jews and laying waste to the temple built in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah.

After the temple was gone, the high priests could not continue the sacrificial practice. The Sinai Covenant was now a broken covenant. As a result, they agreed to replace the temple and the priest sacrificial system with a synagogue, rabbis, and prayer.

Messianic Torah: Today

So, Messianic Jews still follow the Messianic Torah. They hold fast to many of the laws written during the times of Moses and the Old Testament. However, unlike Orthodox Jews, they do recognize Yeshua as the Messiah.

They also observe many festivals such as Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Chanukah, and Purim. More on these in parts four and five of this series. The observance was due to the fact that the observance of these festivals was “forever” by the Messianic Torah. It is also important to know that these observances are celebrations. Thus, the command to observe them is not a hindrance, but a reminder of what G-d has accomplished in and through the Jewish nation.

Read part 1 of the Messianic Judaism series here.

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