This post is rather long but it is necessary to be comprehensive so that everyone who reads it will not be drawn into some form of Jewish mysticism or mindset that goes against the teaching of Christ...
After being tested by the Pharisees, Jesus warned His disciples, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6).
We know that Jesus was referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees from Matthew 16:11-12.
How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16: 11, 12)
The yeast, when mixed into the dough, is "hidden" from sight, but it will gradually work its way into the dough and cause it to puff up. This is how the 'teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees' work itself into the church and the individuals. The poison is fed to the mind bit by bit.
Understandably, these religious teachers focus mainly on the Torah; to them the Torah is everything. Other portions of the Scriptures are treated less important than the Torah.
The danger is that, if you are not careful, gradually the teaching and practices of Judaism will cause you to drift away from the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Judaism and Christianity are not compatible.
Judaism is not compatible to Christianity
Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees with very strong words: "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" (Matthew 23:33).
They put in a lot more of their own teaching beyond what God's Word has to teach. A testimony to this fact is that their Talmuds were written in many volumes. Over one verse, they can dissect and bisect, and come out with all sorts of explanation. For example, the Tanakh (Old Testament) started with the word בְרֵשִׁית. They will attempt to answer the question why the Tanakh did not start with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet א.
For this reason, Jesus was angry with them.
”Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. (Matthew 23: 16-22)
We see in the New Testament how the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees had gradually crept into the early church. The apostle Paul, himself a staunch Jew, condemned the Judaizing elements that sought to lead people astray. To the young pastor, Timothy, Paul wrote:
For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. (1 Tim 1:6, 7)
To the Colossian church, Paul warned them against the Judaizers who wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised and follow the Jewish practices.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2: 8-14)
In the same passage, Paul warned the Colossians not to be involved in the Jewish practices:
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival (Hebrew: ימים טובים)or a new moon (Hebrew: ראש חודש) or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2: 16-17)
For Judaism, their religious practices are still centered around the teaching of the Torah, along with all the different feasts, celebration of a new moon, and their strict observance of special Sabbaths; but Paul said when the "substance" or Christ Himself has come, all these are no longer relevant. Therefore, scriptures must be interpreted with scriptures.
Jewish Practices Creeping into the Church
While I promote the learning of biblical languages (both Hebrew and koine Greek), allow me to caution us on a number of observations where some of these Jewish practices are creeping into the church.
I believe in God's covenant to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and finally, now we have the New Covenant. From the moment Adam and Eve sinned against God, He already had a plan in place, that was gradually unfolded and climaxed at the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is clear that because of their rebellion, the Jews, except for a remnant, were set aside and the gospel came to us the Gentiles (read Romans 11). This can briefly explained in two parts:
Yet, our grafting is clearly into the Vine, which is Jesus Himself (refer John 15:1-5). To make a statement that Jews and Gentiles are grafted into the House of Israel clearly shows the lack of theological understanding. And to further reiterate that "the house of Israel is Jesus and Jesus is the house of Israel" is clearly a heresy. It is equating the house of Israel to God!
- Although salvation came to the Jews first, not all believed in Jesus as their Messiah; in fact, they were the ones chosen by God yet they delivered Jesus to be crucified. Till today, to these Jews, the Torah is still the most important portion of the Tanakh. Only a remnant of those who believed in Jesus as their Messiah were saved. In our modern world, these are known as the Messianic Jews. They continue to live according to their Jewish customs and traditions, but they believe in Jesus.
- Because of their rebellion, the gospel was given to the Gentiles. While we were once excluded from the covenants, now, we, who are whether Jew or Gentile, have become one new man in Christ.
It is understandable that anyone who practises Judaism would want Christians to be grafted into the house of Israel, instead of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will make every attempt to introduce the Jewish cultures, religious practices and traditions, without making a disclaimer that Gentiles are not under the Mosaic Law.
Because of the early Judaizing influence, Paul had to deal with it a lot. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) settled this issue once and for all. From Galatians 2: 4 that some of Judaizers whom Paul called "the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage." The main point of contention: Was it necessary for Gentile believers to be circumcised like the Jews?
These men also claimed to be sent by James (Galatians 2:12) and were trying to impose Jewish mindset, religious and cultural practices on the Gentiles. This is one of the reasons why after much debates and Peter's speech, James spoke up during the Jerusalem Council:
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:19-21)
The verdict for the Gentiles was simple:
“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15: 28-29)
Gentiles who have believed the gospel have been finally liberated from the burden of following the Jewish lifestyle. In Acts 15:5, we know the source of the problem: "the sect of the Pharisees". They insisted that it was necessary to "circumcise them (the Gentiles) and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
At this juncture, I must quote an old friend of mine from Melbourne, Australia, Kiat who wrote this piece:
Baruch Maoz, a Jewish Israeli pastor does not believe it is wrong for Jewish Christians (or Messianic Jews, people who are born Jewish but believed in Jesus as the Messiah) to keep the feasts mentioned in the OT as the Lord gave them to their ancestors to remind them of the goodness of God who is their protector, provider and intercessor.
He also explained that Gentile Christians (we are in this category) shouldn't observe the OT feasts or other aspects of OT rituals as they have been fulfilled in Christ. They are the shadow and Christ, the Lord, is the reality.
If a Christian congregation occasionally re-enacts aspects of the OT feasts day for the sake of better understanding their OT heritage, it would be within the bounds of Christian liberty. However, such enactments should be done with a clear, conscious awareness that they are not required of Christians, convey no special spiritual benefits and are strictly of educational value.
Let me repeat it again. If we, as Gentile believers, occasionally feel that we want to organise a Jewish feast, by all means, do it; but we are under no obligation to subject ourselves to the Jewish cultural or religious practices as taught by Moses. The commandments were specific for the Jews.
This is the danger that I have warned people against in a recent debate with a man from a Jewish school in India. Himself not a Jew, he was living like a Jew. In Pune, India as I understand from a friend, there is even a congregation of non-Jewish men and women who follow the Jewish practices.
The men and their children wear the kippah and they prostrate in the same way the Jews would prostrate in the synagogue. These converts to Judaism may have been Christians in the past, but they have taken on the "additional burden" that the Jerusalem Council mandate had liberated us from. Sadly, the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees is sadly still very much alive today!
It is nothing wrong to put on a kippah or even prostrate before ADONAI. However, it is the attempt of the Gentile believers to adopt the cultural and religious mindset of a Jew, following the teachings of Moses that were given specifically to the Jews, that is the crux of the issue.
Warnings against the Leaven of the Pharisees
Often these proponents like to quote Leviticus 16:29-34 to argue their case of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) as the basis that ADONAI Himself instituted the permanent statute to observe it on "the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month." Gentiles, they say, must now be aligned with the Israel and join the Yom Kippur. And they like to say that even the aliens (non-Jews) who were in the midst of Israel were told to observe the Yom Kippur once a year.
This is true in the context of the Old Testament because Christ, who is the Passover Lamb had not been sacrificed. But, as pointed out earlier, the substance belongs to Christ, not in the feasts, the new moon or the different Sabbath days.
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival (Hebrew: ימים טובים)or a new moon (Hebrew: ראש חודש) or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2: 16-17)
Jesus, just before He went to the Cross, instituted the Lord's Supper. It is to serve as a reminder of what Christ did on the Cross as the Passover Lamb. Because of what He did, our sins are therefore atoned for. For over 2000 years, the Church has been observing the Lord's Supper with solemness. Isn't this the perpetuation of the Yom Kippur spoken of by ADONAI? The beauty is the Lord's Supper is now celebrated by both the Messianic Jews and Christians around the world.
The rabbinic Jews celebrate Yom Kippur only once a year, but we who are grafted into Jesus together with the Messianic Jews, celebrate the Lord's Supper even more often than them; and now, they want to impose the burden of the Mosaic Law on the Gentiles.
Therefore, it is important that, while we may want to observe how the Jews celebrate Yom Kippur for our educational benefits; we now have the real substance, which is Christ Himself. Therefore, we should not be so gullible as to follow the Jewish tradition or religious practices and make it a church event every year! If Christ had wanted us to follow Yom Kippur once a year, He would not have instituted the Lord's Supper. It would have been easier for Him to tell His disciples to just follow all the religious feasts of the Jews.
What Am I Saying?
While we want to learn Hebrew and Greek, and understand the cultures and practices of the Old Testament and the New Testament better in order that we can exegete the Bible more accurately, the danger of allowing the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees to affect the church of Jesus Christ is very real, not only in Malaysia, India, Indonesia but also in other Western countries.
"We, whether Jews or Gentiles, must be grafted into the house of Israel. And the house of Israel is Jesus and Jesus is the house of Israel."
This statement is heretical. Whatever it is, believers in Christ must be cautious not to allow the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees to creep into the church.
Strangely, I have been even labelled as anti-Jew for speaking against the false teaching that has crept into the churches. To these people, I say, "May the Lord bless Jerusalem with שָׁלוֹם as I continue to uphold the city in my prayer!" If I were anti-Jew, why am I, a Gentile, promoting the learning of the Hebrew language and praying for the peace of Jerusalem?
It is either that I am crazy or I am just as much a brother to the Messianic Jews, so long as they do not hold on solely to the Torah but truly and humbly believe in Jesus of the New Covenant. Together with my Jewish brothers and sister, we believe that Jesus alone is the Messiah through whom alone are we redeemed and to Whom we are grafted into, not by the works of law but by grace through faith.
Some of the other concerns that I have dealt with:
- Incarnation vs Filling When an explanation was given to one of these teachers about the Incarnate Christ, his suggestion was totally in the opposite. He suggested that Jesus could be a 'vessel' (using the Hebrew word כלי) that was filled by God. I disputed this in my blog post explaining that in the original Greek text, the word which explains the incarnation of Christ is a different word from the word used for filling.
- Should Christians be circumcised? This question should never even arise anymore in the churches.
- Does God have a name? There have been debates on what name we should call our God. The Tetragrammaton has also been used wrongly for practices similar to transcendental meditation or even reduced to just some numbers, with meanings attached to it that are found nowhere in the Bible.
- Read this post to see how I can also mesmerize you and plant some extra[-biblical teaching in you which can be dangerous if not said with a qualified statement tht this is just a devotional thought. Read this blogpost.
- My response to a number of things that people are now asking, read this blogpost.
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