I think when it comes to Jewish paraphernalia, many of us are too gullible.
We fail to realise that it is nothing but some marketing gimmicks by Jewish traders who are exploiting the ignorance of the Christian community at large.
People are willing to fork out hundreds of Ringgit (or even Dollars) to just buy one of the paraphernalia but they are not willing to give to the work of missions or even to feed the poor in their backyards.
Honestly, I believe even the orthodox Jews would not even dare to put a lot of these paraphernalia in their homes. They would say that these holy items belong only in the house of the LORD; if found outside the designated places, the menorah, for example, would be considered desecrated.
When I first shared my earlier blog post about the Jewish feasts, a fellow seminary friend of mine, Brian, responded:
I'm in full agreement with you, Stephen.
This prevailing theonomic teaching is a subtle (and perhaps, even slippery) distraction to divert Christians from Christ to His Jewish "origin," as a form of careless devotion or piety that they will be more like Him by observing these Jewish feasts and whatever else Jewish. In that case, perhaps Christians should also dress like them in Jewish garments, and groom themselves with beards, like we see prevalent in the other faith.
There is indeed no requirement in Jesus' and the apostles' teachings that command Christians to observe Jewish practices.
Paul clearly reiterated, "...For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring." Rom. 9:6-8
Perhaps Christians have forgotten Jesus' cry on the cross, "it is finished." The redemptive work has been accomplished and now it is for us to depend on His Spirit to lead and guide us to be living sacrifices ourselves, holy and acceptable to Him.
But then again, perhaps, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions..." 2 Tim.4:3.
The choice to make is on the table.
He has put together what I did not even see earlier. In my earlier posts, I mentioned that Jesus came not to abolish the Torah but to fulfil it, so that we are no longer under the yoke of the Torah. What my friend has done is adding a perspective from the Cross itself, when Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"
Jesus came as One who lived under the Torah, and He was found to be blameless, yet He was willing to be the sacrificial lamb of God to fulfill every aspect of the Torah. This is done so that anyone who now places faith in Jesus alone will be saved.
We, whether Jews or Gentiles, are saved by grace through faith. Together with a remnant of Israel (reading it from Romans 11), we who are Gentiles (using the KJV translation of the word גוֹיִמ or goyim or nations) are co-heirs of the promise given to Abraham because, like Abraham, we are children of faith when we are grafted through the SEED, not seeds of Abraham.
This SEED -- singular -- is none other than Jesus himself; therefore, the whole hype about aligning the church to Israel is incompatible with the Word of God. We do not only read the Old Covenant but we who have the New Covenant can and should see how the Abrahamic Covenant is rolled out, not only in recent months or years, but since 2000 years ago when Jesus came as the Messiah!
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
Trying to align ourselves with the Jewish rabbinic traditions and being hyped up with all the Jewish paraphernalia is something that, although by themselves are harmless, can become an obsession beyond what we are called to accomplish within our lifetime. How much time and money is spent on some of these new fads is anyone's guess which I would rather that they spend more time on intercession and studying the inspired Word of God!
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