“Israel” Ain’t Just a Land Near Egypt…

Posted on January 14, 2010 by KG in Jewish Identity.

Black hats davening at the western wall. Jerusalem’s skyline, marred by the Dome of the Rock. Falafel and couscous from Ben Yehuda Street. Suicide bombings… the sea of Gallilee… the birthplace of Jesus.

The very thought of “Israel” can transport us to a foreign and mystical land. We are enamored with its beauty and power; captivated by its historical and spiritual meaning; fixated upon our minds’ fantastic images of an exotic and distant world. We send it money and humanitarian aid, we lobby for its support by our policymakers, and we pray for its peace, petition for its prosperity, and intercede for its salvation. And yet…

… there is no such place as a land called “Israel.” It is a figment of our imagination. (more…)

Birthright, Calling & Responsibility

Posted on March 19, 2009 by KG in Jewish Identity.
Updated on September 20, 2009

When a Jewish person “confess[es]… Yeshua as Lord, and believe[s] in [his] heart that God raised Him from the dead,” (Ro.10:9) he immediately becomes caught between two worlds.  To his Jewish family, he is either meshuginah (Yiddish for “crazy”) or he has abandoned and forsaken his people.  To most Christians, his Jewish ethnicity is either just an interesting novelty, or has now become irrelevant, because he is “a new creature; the old things [have] passed away… new things have come.” (2Co.5:17)   These opposing forces are an ever-present source of pressure for the Messianic Jew.  Does he disown the Messiah Yeshua and return to the unbelieving Jewish fold?  Or should he turn his back on his family, his people and himself by assimilating into the foreign religion of Christianity?  It is a heart-wrenching, lonely existence that Messianic Jews often face, but all believers in Yeshua can—and should—take an active role in encouraging Jewish believers to be restored to the distinctive identity that is their God-given birthright. (more…)

Jew Food

Posted on February 10, 2009 by KG in Jewish Identity.
Updated on September 20, 2009

Q: After my husband and I came to the Lord, we continued to abstain from eating the foods forbidden in the Law of Moshe. We found no scriptural reference releasing us, although we found that gentiles do not need to follow the Law of Moshe. While we understand that the Kingdom of our God is not about eating or drinking, we do want to know what to answer those who ask.

A: It was not until after The Flood, when Adonai made the covenant with Noah, that animals were even considered by God to be “food.”  This was a universal provision for all humankind, “Every creeping thing that is alive, to you it is for food… only flesh with its life — its blood — you are not [to] eat.” (Genesis 9:3-4, YLT) (more…)