MessianicMusings.com

So, you may ask, what is replacement theology, anyway?

It’s the kind of question that’s important to ask because it’s not as easy to recognize as the difference between a Sleep Number bed and a TV lift cabinet. It’s more subtle than that.

At its core, replacement theology is the notion much of Christianity is afflicted with that says, “God rejected the Jews. All their promises transfer to us now, but the curses are theirs alone. We (usually “we” is considered to be either the Christian church or, in the USA, this nation) are the “new Jerusalem” and “the shining city on a hill” spoken of in Scripture.”

It’s a mindset that says the “law” (e.g., Torah) is done away with and now we only have grace, only have forgiveness, and since we’re forgiven, anything goes, really… since it’s all a matter of repenting and claiming the forgiveness found in Jesus.

And it’s also the mindset that assumes the rules are different for “Christian” believers than it was for Jews who followed Adonai and His Torah. In doing this, the replacement theology mindset robs the Jewish people of all that Adonai promised them, and transfers it to Christianity. The danger in this, seldom recognized by those who hold such beliefs, is that makes Adonai a promise-breaker, not a promise-keeper. It makes haShem someone who changes, rather than someone who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It ultimately robs haShem of his character, so in essence, replacement theology constitutes lashan hurrah against the L-RD Himself, and if that isn’t blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, it’s getting pretty darn close at least.

Not everyone who holds a replacement theology mindset, however, realizes they hold it, or that it’s wrong. It’s simply a false teaching that’s been around since the time of Constantine, and arguably before him since he merely codified it into “the Church.” And since it’s been passed down from generation to generation for nearly 1900 years or thereabouts, it’s the only thing many in Christianity know as a way to think about these things.

How do you recognize it? It can be as simple as recognizing what the implications are when someone utters a few off-the-cuff words like, “That’s an Old Testament thing.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong, my friend. The things done in the flesh still matter. Believing otherwise cheapens grace and diminishes the work of Yeshua at Calvary.

It is clear from the Torah text that Jesse was not proud of his son, David. The prophet Samuel had to ask Jesse if all his sons were present before he called David to meet with Samuel. I’ve heard several Christian pastors preach sermons on the topic of David being an illegitimate son of Jesse, but they are missing out on an important truth, since they ignore the teachings of rabbinic sages.

According to Jewish tradition, although Jesse was a largely righteous man, he was not immune to temptation and at one point a slave-girl of his caught his eye and he began to be tempted to sleep with her. What he was not told was that his wife caught wind of his intentions and, secretly, dressed up as the slave girl and took her place on the night Jesse finally consumated the affair.

The affair resulted in a pregnancy, and Jesse’s wife had the baby in secret and gave it to the slave-girl to raise, because she didn’t want her husband to know she’d deceived him and again go lusting after the slave-girl.

So, if the sages are to be believed, and in this case I think they can, David was not really an illegitimate child after all; he was only believed to be illigitimate and Jesse’s wife revealed his legitimacy after David’s anointing to be king.

As a messianic, this holds special significance. David is often thought of to be a picture of what the messiah would ultimately be like, as was Joseph. Here, in this teaching on David’s apparent illegitimacy as well as his actual legitimacy, we have the first way in which his life reflects that of messiah Yeshua.

Like David, Miryam, the mother of Yeshua, had the appearane of an illegitmate pregnancy when the Ruach haKodesh made her pregnant as a young virgin. The single pregnancy gave her the appearance of an illegitimate birth, but anyone who has read the Gospel accounts knows, as Yosef, the husband of Miryam was told by an angel of the L-RD, that Yeshua’s birth was not a result of infidelity, but a legitimate birth after all.

Legitmate or not, of course, they all require baby furniture, so it’s a good thing Yosef was a carpenter.

We know that Yeshua’s earthly father, Yosef, was a carptenter according the the gospel accounts. Or was he? Recent linguistic and cultural studies indicate that the vocation of Yeshua’s earthly father may not be as clear-cut as once thought.

According to those who promote this new theory, the word translated carpenter might not indicate the same sort of image that word brings up today of a semi-prosperous but humble man building various items and facilities, just as chairs, tables, and - at least according to one Kurt Vonnegut novel - execution stakes for the Roman army.

Instead, the word used can be interpreted to mean one who does a wide variety of menial manual labor, with duties ranging to such things as re-pitching house roofs, cleaning out stables and other, even less glamorous work. The according to the same researchers, people who did such work often lived on the edge of poverty.

Such an interpretation is not the traditional way we think of Yeshua’s family; rather than fitting into our definition culturally of a working middle class, Yeshua’s upbringing may have been far more humble than traditional thought and interpretation would lead us to believe. If - and this is a big if - these new researchers are correct. So, even though there were no class A motorhomes back in the first century, even if there had been, it’s likely such an extravagance would have been well out of Yosef and Miryam’s reach.

I’m learning that studying the Torah is only one small aspect of being a congregational leader in a messianic community. While it is a rabbi’s first and most important duty, it is rarely one that can take place uninterrupted.

I’ve been working in the office of my messianic rabbi of late, and I’m deeply impressed by the business aspects of running a modern ministry. The CD ministry requires proficiency in editing audio files, burning and packaging audio CDs, Web expertise, some financial knowledge and good customer service kills. This is not like selling personalized pens. One is handling recordings of messages that some people rely on to take the place of church attendance for the purpose of recharging their spiritual batteries, and so the task requires dedication, passion and professionalism.

Even simple tasks require expertise in advanced computer skills, such as putting together the church bulletins or children’s ministry support materials. Preparing to transform old ministry messages into tightly edited radio programs is also a daunting challenge. One must also be good at keeping a paper trail of what’s been done, what still needs to be done and what’s been left in the middle of the task and still needs finishing up.

It’s a lot of work, and that’s why the rabbi of any decent-sized ministry needs help, because all of that is enough to take up an entire week, and the list above hasn’t even begun to touch on the actual, felt ministry needs of attendees. It’s a broader endeavor than I knew before working at my messianic synagogue’s business office, but doing so has left me feeling more invested and energized in the ministry than ever before. Unlike some of my temp assignments, at this job I finally feel I’m doing work that matters and makes a difference.

Three lessons.

That’s all that remains for the current cycle of lessons - a cycle that is one year (47 lessons, with space for some special weeks of instruction) in length - before we reach the end and start over again. I have been teaching the bar and bat mitzvah class much of that time. For the first few months, I was part of a two-person team that rotated in once a month. For the past seven months, I’ve been part of a two-person team that handles the teaching pretty much every week.

The book our study revolves around is the gospel of Matthew, with plenty of rabbinic and Torah teachings brought in along the way. It’s a challenging curriculum that even adults could gain knowledge studying. But now we’re reaching the end of Matthew. In the next three lessons, we will cover the death and resurrection of Yeshua, then move into the great commission and then it’s done.

And then, we start over, of course.

We don’t use a lot of multimedia to keep these young minds engaged. We don’t need DVDs or TVs or TV lift cabinets. All we do is expect them all to take part reading through the lesson, answering questions, paying attention, reviewing the material and figuring out (with help) how this all applies to their every day lives.

Because, as we often remind the kids, we could have them attend every single week for two years, push them through a bar or bat mitzvah ceremony and welcome them into the age of accountability with fanfare galore; and if, in that time, it never made a difference in how they lived and whether they thought about how each choice they make either honors or dishonors G-d, then it is all wasted time.

A popular Twin Cities jewelry store, Kay Jewelers, uses the following motto: “Every kiss begins with Kay.”

Pardon me, but if it required diamond pendants for my wife to give me a kiss, we might hit our 50th wedding anniversary still childless, because our affection would never get off the ground.

Advertisers drive us to be materialistic and it slips into our prayer lives. Getting my bar and bat mitzvah kids to say one thing they’re grateful for each week is harder than performing a root canal. And even when they think of something - and this is true of most believers, not just kids - too often our gratitude is centered around something materialistic.

So, to lead by example, here’s the thing I am most grateful for today, and it doesn’t come easy saying this.

I am grateful that, even though sick and hospitalized, my mother is still alive. Even though my wife and I have been careful to try and treasure every new day she’s given with us since her stroke last August, I must admit it’s been easy to slowly slip into routine again and take it for granted that she’s still with us.

Thank you, Adonai, that my mother is still alive, for all the days you’ve given her, and however many more remain. Thank you, Yeshua, our messiah.

Yom Kippur translates from the Hebrew as “the day of atonement.” It is a festival, established by Adonai with Moshe, as “an everlasting covenant,” a festival that all who fear the G-d of Abraham, Issac and Jacob are expected to observe.

There are no special accoutrements (like special prayer shawls or religious ornamentation, or even the carrying of a Swiss Army knife) that help celebrate this holiday. Instead, it is generally celebrated by wearing as much white clothing as possible to represent the washing away of sins, and is often accompanied by the observance of a fast.

One note I want to make about the celebration of Yom Kippur. While generally, the fast on Yom Kippur is observed with a complete fast from all foods, please note that one can fully and faithfully celebrate the Yom Kippur fast without going to unhealthy extremes.

For example, if you are on medication, it is not a breaking of your fast to take your medication on Yom Kippur. Remember the principle that must guide all Judeo-Christian observance: the preservation of life comes before all else.

Likewise, those who require special dietary considerations, such as diabetics, would be well advised to not observe a total fast, but a partial one. (For example, fast from sweets or something, but eat what you must to keep your blood sugar levels at a healthy balance.)

Finally, remember that among most messianic congregations, we are interested in following the pure, written Torah, but not necessarily the centuries of hallekah that have descended from Rabbinic oral Torah traditions. (Not that they are without value in some instances, but as a rule, the written Torah takes precedence over the oral Torah among the messianic community.)

Here’s an example of what concerns me. At our congregation this weekend, I overheard another member of our kehilat explaining how to observe the Yom Kippur fast to another member. She was insistent that the fast include all liquids, even water, from sundown to sundown. She then went on to repeat strict regulations on exceptions to the water portion of the total fast, insisting that the new member “try not to even drink water, but if you do, only take one ounce and, even then, you must not take water more than once every 15 minutes.”

This level of legalistic observance is overkill and is what Messiah Yeshua was referring to when he talked about the Pharisees of his day perverting the Torah into “a burden no one can bear.” In other words, be graceful in your observance of the Yom Kippur fast; it should be an observance of joy, not one of burden!

One thing that is as trustworthy as Samsonite is that time marches on, at least in this life. That’s why the celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, is so important to messianic life. Rosh HaShana literally means “head of the year” and, in essence, is a remembrance of things that have not yet happened.

For the messianic believer, one of the key things that Rosh HaShana is a remembrance of is the future return of Y’shua the Messiah and all that will follow with that event. That include the resurrection of the dead, some to glory and others to judgment, as well as the reconciliation of the Jewish people to Messiah.

Yet this is not an occasion where I want to venture too far into eschatology. Just keep in mind that the trumpets that blow on Rosh HaShana are a shadow of the trumpets that will sound to mark the return of Yeshua.