Bible Study: "Judaism", the Jews' religion
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Bible Study / Article
“JUDAISM,” THE JEWS' RELIGION
This combination Article / Bible Study will help us see what Judaism, the Jews' religion was like when Jesus Christ started His ministry with the original twelve disciples, and we will also learn how the Jews' traditional calendar has been preserved until this very day.
The best way to understand Judaism, the Jews' religion is to view it from the experience of a person that was born near the beginning of the first century in the Roman city of Tarsus, located at the NE corner of the Mediterranean Sea, is Saul also called Paul in (Acts 13:9). He was the son of a Pharisee, whose father probably had a business and was a Roman citizen. Paul had the privilege of being born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28 ). Paul states his genealogy in Philippians 3:5. Reading from the NKJV. “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee.”
At the proper age, Saul was sent to Jerusalem and completed his studies under the famous Gamaliel, a Pharisee and eminent doctor of the law (Acts 5:34). Paul speaks of this in Acts, “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus a (province) of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, (Jewish traditions) and was zealous toward God, as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:3-4).
Gamaliel taught Paul not only the laws of the Old Testament, but the Jewish oral traditions of the fathers. Gamaliel did not teach Paul the gospel and commandments of Jesus Christ because the Jews' did not believe Jesus Christ was the Messiah. And because they did not believe Jesus Christ was the Messiah, they did not receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
Notice what Paul taught after his conversion. “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my former conduct in Judaism (in the Jews' religion, KJV), how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism (Jews' religion, KJV) beyond many of my contemporaries in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:11-14).
Both words, Jews' religion, in verses 13 & 14 in KJV are Strong's #2454, Ioudaismos; from 2450; “Judaism”, i.e. the Jewish faith and usages:--- Jews' religion.
The word traditions in verse 14 is Strong's #3862, for the Greek word paradosis,from 3860; transmission, i.e. (concretely)a precept, specifically the Jewish traditionary law:--- ordinance, tradition.
Seeing these definitions in “Webster's New World Dictionary” give us a better understanding in English:
1. Transmission, noun, 1. a transmitting;2.Something transmitted.
2. Precept, noun, a rule of moral conduct; maxim.
3. Jewish, noun, of or having to do with Jews or Judaism.
4. Ordinance, noun, a statute or regulation, esp. a municipal one.
5. Tradition, noun, 1. the handing down orally of customs, beliefs, etc. from generation to generation. 2. a story, belief, etc. handed down in this way.
Paul being taught by Gamaliel the traditions of the fathers and before his conversion persecuted the church of God because they were not following the oral traditions of the fathers but were following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The persecutions to the followers of Jesus indicate Paul's fanatical zeal to Judaism, the Jews' religion. At his first appearance as a young man, Saul was already an acknowledged leader in the Jews' religion (Acts 7:58). This was when Stephen was stoned to death. “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1 ).
Also in verse three it states: “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.”
Reading further in Acts reveals more of Saul's attitude. “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my voice against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26: 9-11).
Jesus and His disciples were not following the traditions of the elders, this is why Saul was so enraged against them and persecuted the saints. “Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, “Why do Your disciples transgress the traditions of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” He answered and said to them. Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? “For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother; and, He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. “But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matt.15: 1-6).
They had already transgressed the Lords instructions which they were told. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deu. 4:2). Also“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32).
Jesus also told the scribes and Pharisees how they were wrong and transgressed the commandment of God because of their tradition.
“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me.” And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. When He had called the multitude to Himself, he said to them, Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone, They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch. Then answered Peter and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.” Continuing, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man” (Matt. 15:7-20).
Marks account reveals other traditions not mentioned in Matthew's account. “When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups: and many other such things you do. He said to them, All to well you reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:4, 8, 9).
The night before Jesus Christ was crucified, Jesus and the disciples observed the Passover on the date the Passover lamb was to be killed, [at the beginning of the 14th day of the first month]. Mark's account of the Passover is found in Mark 14:12-26. After the Passover, (v-43-46) Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and (v-53) Jesus was taken to the high priest and those assembled with him, the chief priests, elders and scribes. (V-64) They accused Jesus of blasphemy and they all condemned him to be guilty of death. “...They bound Jesus and delivered him to Pilate” (Mark 15:1). “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas (the high priest) to the Praetorium and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, [#3392, to contaminate (ceremonially), defile] but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this Man?” (John 18:28-29).
The reason the Jews' would not go into the Praetorium was because of the tradition of the Jew's religion. Pilate was a Gentile, and the Jews' were taught by tradition that they would be unclean if they went into the dwelling of one of another nation and would not be allowed to eat the Jew's Passover on the fifteenth day of the first month. So Pilate went out to them.
Remember when the Lord showed Peter that this Jewish tradition was wrong in Acts, chapter 10. The Lord through the Gentile Cornelius and the vision of all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air were let down to the earth in what appeared to be a great sheet bound at four corners. A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again the second time, What God has cleansed (#2511, to cleanse, make clean.) you must not call common. This was done three times (Acts 10:1, 11-16).
When Peter entered Caesarea and came into Cornelius's house, Peter stated the Jews' tradition. “Then he said to them, You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with, or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28).
The Lord stated to Moses two things that would cause a man to not be able to keep the Lord's Passover: “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord's Passover. On the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Numbers 9:10-11). This is another example illustrating how the Jews added to the Lord's instructions with the tradition of the Jew's religion.
Also note, at the time of Jesus, the Jew's were observing their Passover meal on the fifteenth day of the first month, not on the fourteenth day, that the Lord instructed in Exodus concerning keeping up the Passover animal. “Now you shall keep it until [#5704, as far (or long or much) as; until] the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it” (Exo. 12:6,8). Also in Leviticus 23:5, “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover.”
After Paul's conversion, he did receive persecution from the Jews. The Jews were trying to kill him because he was doing the same thing that those he persecuted did. He now believed in Jesus Christ and was teaching the people about Christ and was not following the traditions of the Jews' religion. The Jews thought they had killed him. “Then Jews from Antioch and Iconum came there; having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city, And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Der'be” (Acts 14:19-20).
The Lord told Ananias , “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake” (Acts 9:15-16). Paul told King Agrippa the order in which he preached to the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:19-20). Paul also states some of the things he suffered. “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches” (2 Cor 11:24-28).
Of the prominent religious sects who existed among the Jews in the days of Christ and the early church were the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees were by far the most influential religious sect. The scribes were a class of learned men who made the systematic study of the law and its exposition their professional occupation. They devoted themselves to the preservation, transcription, and exposition of the law. In some scriptures they were called lawyers, (Luke 11:44-46,52). In the days of Christ, the majority of the scribes belonged to the Pharisee sect which recognized the legal interpretations of the scribes. The powerful position of the scribes in the New Testament was the result of a long development. The scribes at the beginning were public writers, secretaries and copiers of the law and other documents. Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, is a good example. “Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch to read the roll, the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people in the Lord's house on the day of fasting” (Jer 36:4-8 ).
By New Testament times, the scribes held undisputed sway as the recognized teachers of the law and revered representatives of the Jews' religion. The scribes and the Pharisees were the ones that usually asked Jesus trick questions and often questioned His teachings and why He and His disciples did not follow the traditions of the elders.
One of the major differences in beliefs between the Sadducees and the Pharisees was, the Sadducees held only to the written Law, and rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees.
Josephus, a contemporary Jewish historian and Pharisee that lived during that time recorded the following: “The Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the law of Moses: and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances to be obligatory which are in the written Word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers. And concerning these things it is that great disputes and differences have risen among them” (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 10, #6).
The Sadducees believed that the written Word of God alone was the seat of religious authority. The Pharisees, on the contrary, believed that just as binding as the Law itself were the oral traditions of the claimed oral teaching given to Moses at Mount Sinai when he was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights, along with the rulings and interpretations on the Law made by the scribes over the years. Notice what the scriptures actually says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:12, 18).
Today the Orthodox Jew's claim they are the descendents of the Pharisee's of Jesus Christ's time. On a web site, (http://www.beingjewish.com/yomtov/chodesh/newmoon.html) was found some very interesting information about the Jewish new moon dates that they use to calculate their feast dates today. It revealed when and why the Jews stopped observing the crescent new moon image that occurs after the dark new moon phase and changed to a calculated new moon to determine their feast dates. Quoting from the article, “The New Moon and the Power of Judaism:” “In order for the new month to begin, the Sanhedrin (highest Jewish Court) must declare “Rosh Chodesh”. Rosh Chodesh literally means “Head of the Month.” Rosh Chodesh was declared only after two witnesses came to the Sanhedrin and testified that they had seen the new moon (a little piece of the moon beginning to show) during the previous night. If no witnesses showed up by the thirtieth day of the month, Rosh Chodesh was declared on the thirty-first day (the previous month will therefore have thirty days), and all the dates of the coming month were thus set.”
“When the Sanhedrin realized that Constantinius, the Christian Caesar, was going to disband the Sanhedrin, one of the most important things they did was to calculate all the New Moons until the year 6,000 of Creation (which corresponds to 2240 C.E.), and made the proper declarations for all of them. Thus today we have holiness on each Rosh Chodesh, and on each Holiday, just as has always been since Hashem [the Lord] gave us those Commandments.”
The phrase made proper declarations for all of them meaning that the Jew's traditional postponement rules are already figured and declared in the date for the first day of the seventh month (the beginning of the Jew's civil year.) for each of the 6000 years, 3761 BC to the year 2240 C.E.
What actually happened is, about 358/359 AD Hillel II formally sanctified each new moon dates in advance, and intercalated all future leap years until such time as a new recognized Sanhedrin would be established in Israel. These calculated new moon dates is literally a World Calendar that makes it possible for Jews all over the world to calculate their feast calendar dates. This also means that anyone who observes a feast calendar determined from these dates is observing the Jew's traditional feast dates, not the Lord's.
The reason why the Jew's stopped observing the crescent new moon is because by their tradition, there must be a Sanhedrin for two witnesses to testify that they had seen a little piece of the new crescent moon beginning to show during the previous night, which would begin their new moon or month. The Sanhedrin had to declare the new month and it was going to be disbanded by Constantinius, the Christian Caesar.
The reason the article caught my attention was because the feast dates were calculated from 3761 BC through 2034 AD by Ambassador College for the former Worldwide Church of God. They state the year 3761 BC is the base year for the Hebrew Calendar, because by Jewish tradition, the Jew's believe that was when creation week occurred.
Ambassador College also printed a copy of the Jewish traditional postponement rules; and which years are in a leap year cycle. A month was intercalated to determine the dates for the beginning of each seventh month. They calculate the first new moon date for March or April for Worldwide's sacred feast calendar, all they had to do was count back 177 days from the Jew's calculated new moon date in the seventh month. Three 30 day months and three 29 day months equals 177 days.
You can easily check this yourself by using the dates for the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish Years found in some dictionaries. I found them while looking up the word “Jewish” in a Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Deluxe Edition published by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Copyright date 1998.
Following the word “Jewish” in the dictionary was “Jewish calendar”. The following definition was given for: Jewish calendar, noun (circa 1888): a calendar in use among Jewish peoples that is reckoned from the year 3761 B.C, and dates in its present form from about A.D. 360. The dates were listed for the JEWISH YEARS 5754 through 5773 which correspond to the Gregorian years 1993 through 2012. This Gregorian year, 2007, is the JEWISH YEAR 5768.
When counting back 177 days from the Jewish seventh month date to find the date for the first month for the years 1993 through 2012, they are the same dates that Ambassador College calculated for the former Worldwide Church of God feast calendars.
Most of the Church of God organizations and scattered groups today continue to use the feast calendars of the former Worldwide Church of God which is determine by the Jewish calculated new moons and postponement rules. On rare occasions (in spring of 2009 and 2018) their new moons dates will occur at the beginning of the dark new moon phase of the lunar cycle that the Lord created in the heavens. We can see that their calculations are not correct because they were trying to calculate the dates for the time of the crescent new moon which occurs several days after the beginning of the dark new moon phase. The result is they usually do not observe the Lord's feast dates found in Leviticus, chapter 23. They observe the feast dates of Judaism, the Jew's religion.
Today the term Judaism or Jew's religion is usually used to identify the Jews who observe the Jewish oral laws, traditions, interpretations and expansions of the Jewish written Law. When those oral traditions were first written down they formed the Mishnah and became the first part of the Talmud, the Jew's Bible. Today, the Karaite Jews, like the Sadducees in Christ's time, do not accept the oral laws and postponement rules of the Jewish calendar and they teach in their “Karaite Fact Sheet.” “The words of the Mishnah and Talmud are clearly the words of men living in the 2nd-5th centuries CE and absent are the familiar Bible formula “And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying,” and “Thus saith the Lord.” In addition to the Ten Commandments that the Lord wrote on tablets of stone and gave to Moses to teach Israel, Judaism has added 603 traditions (commandments of men) which are recorded in the Talmud, the Jew's Bible. In Christ's day, these oral traditions were not written down but were taught orally by the elders. Jesus Christ told the scribes and Pharisees again they were wrong. Notice what Jesus tells them in Marks account. “...All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition “making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do” (Mark 7:9,13). Judaism, the Jew's religion, is the religion of the Talmud, not the religion of Jesus Christ and the Father.
The ministers of the large and small Churches of God organizations who are using the feast dates of the Jew's to determine their feast calendars- teach the crescent new moon is the new moon to observe the Lord's feasts, are giving heed to Jewish fables (#3454, a tale, fiction, myth) and commandments of men.
In God's word, no scriptures is found that tell us the new moon starts when the first crescent of sunlight is seen several days after the true dark new moon begins. The only “crescents” mentioned in scripture is in reference to pagan ornaments (#7720). If you have not already proved this, you can read in Judges 8:21, 26 and Isaiah 3:18. Then check it out in Strong' Concordance of the Bible and Hebrew Dictionary.
If a crescent moon image (which appears on the right side of the moon after the dark new moon phase ends) had to be observed after sunset to determine the time of the crescent new moon, how could Jonathan and David have known in the daytime that “tomorrow is the new moon?” (1 Samuel 20:5, 18). They probably saw a very thin waning crescent on the left side of the moon in the morning before sunrise and knew the moon would be fully covered, hidden in darkness, concealed, and invisible after sunset thus marking the date of the beginning of the dark new moon phase of the moon. By teaching the church members to observe the Lord's feasts on the dates of the Jew's calendar, the ministers of the former Worldwide Church of God today are teaching Jewish fables and the commandments of men. Remember what Jesus Christ told the disciples in Matt.15:9, that the Pharisees were offended when Jesus said: “And in vain (#3155, folly, to no purpose, in vain) they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” “But He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone, They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matt. 15: 13-14).
There are several warnings in the scriptures to all of us about following the traditions of the Jews' and commandments of men. Notice what Paul wrote to Titus before ordaining elders, “This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth” (Titus 1:13-14).
Paul also stated to the Colossians, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”(Colossians 2:8).
Most Jews' today will tell you very quickly that Jesus Christ was not the Messiah to come. The apostle John tell us what these people are in 1 John 2:22-23, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
Through the example of Saul, also called Paul, we can understand the hatred of the Jewish religion toward those who believed the teachings of Jesus Christ and did not follow the traditions of Judaism, the Jew's religion. Today, we cannot claim to be ignorant of Judaism, the Jews' religion.
Art Ryan
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