Radio Streams
SA Radio
24/7 Radio Stream
VCY America
24/7 Radio Stream
1096

CODE #

My Favorite Things
Home
NewsroomALL
Events | Notices | Blogs
Newest Audio | Video | Clips
Broadcasters
Church Finder
Webcast LIVE NOW!
Sermons by Bible
Sermons by Category
Sermons by Topic
Sermons by Speaker
Sermons by Language
Sermons by Date
Staff Picks
CommentsALL -7 sec
Top Sermons
Online Bible
Hymnal
Daily Reading
Our Services
Broadcaster Dashboard
Members Only - Legacy

Carl Gobelman | Sutton, Nebraska
Contact Info | Edit
•  Email  |  Web
https://emmanuelreformedrcus.org
•  Twitter
•  Facebook
PHONE
847-989-4676
ADDRESS
Emmanuel Reformed Church
110 S. Way Ave.
Sutton, NE 68979
MAILING
Emmanuel Reformed Church
P.O. Box 362
Sutton, NE 68979
Podcast + Codes
SERMONS EMBED | Info
Mobile Apps | Info
•  ROKU TV
•  Apple TV
•  Chromecast
Enjoy sermons from this broadcaster
on a variety of mobile devices.
MyChurch: emmanuelreformed | Set
MyChurch Code#: 46029
Our Blog
Older
Newer
Blog
Post+
Search
  
Filter By

A Question on the History of Modern Day Judaism
MONDAY, MAY 31, 2021
Posted by: Emmanuel Reformed Church | more..
620+ views | 160+ clicks
A question was dropped in the “Ask the Pastor” box a couple of Sunday’s ago which reads: “When did the Jewish faith become the current Jewish religion that doesn’t believe in Christ as the Savior and Son of God?”

To answer this question, we need to take a brief survey of the Jewish faith. Strictly speaking, you don’t have a Jewish faith until the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:1ff. Until that point, you have had the Hebrew people, or the people of Israel, but the official establishment of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into the nation of Israel as a political and religious entity occurs during the period of the exodus.

After that, the Law of God (or Mosaic Law) guided the people of Israel in their civic and religious duties well into the monarchic period. While the period of the judges saw cycles of sin and idolatry and the history of the divided kingdom post-Solomon saw even greater periods of idolatry and apostasy, there have always been a faithful remnant of Jewish people who held firm to the religion passed down from God to Moses upon Sinai.

That takes us from roughly 2100BC to 586BC. In 586BC, the northern kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and many Jews were taken into exile in Babylon (the southern kingdom having fallen about 136 years earlier in 722BC). For a period of 70 years, there was no proper practice of the Jewish faith. That is until approximately 516BC when the exiles began returning to Jerusalem. The period of 516BC to 70AD marks the time known as Second Temple Judaism. A new temple had been built (later expanded by Herod the Great), and many Jewish practices we see in the in the NT were established during this period.

Ezra, who was a priest and a scribe, introduced the practice of the public reading of the Scriptures and the explanation of the Torah into Jewish religious practice (a practice that is still followed today). We also see the rise of the synagogue during this period as well as the different sects of Judaism that were prevalent during the “inter-testamentary” period — namely, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. The Pharisees were theological conservatives, the Sadducees were theological liberals, the Essenes were the separatists who lived in secluded communes, and the Zealots were the radicals who took violent action on the Roman occupation.

The recognition of Jewish oral law as important led to the Pharisees becoming increasingly important to Jewish religious life as they took the oral law and created many practices that defined the boundaries of proper Jewish life. It was also during this period that the Septuagint was published. The Septuagint (or LXX for short) is a Greek translation of the OT Hebrew Scriptures. Much of what we see during Second Temple Judaism shapes Jewish life going forward. Also, Christianity began in this period as well as being an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism.

Now in 70AD something special and cataclysmic happened that affected Judaism for centuries to come — namely, the destruction of the temple and the sacking of Jerusalem by the Roman armies of Titus Vespasian. Aside from the “Nazarenes” (i.e., Christians), the only other Jewish sect to survive were the Pharisees. That means what we see as modern day Judaism evolved from sect of the Pharisees from this period of time. From 70AD to 1750AD, the rise of Rabbinic teaching grew into prominence. Great Jewish teachers developed followings that shaped faith and practice for Jews going forward. Thus the development of the Talmud, a compilation of rabbinic teachings that reached its final written form around 500AD.

One other significant change for Judaism was the transition from physical animal sacrifice in the temple to other rituals and symbolic reminders, liturgical references, and spiritual exercises such as prayer, repentance, and good deeds. With no temple, and Jerusalem crawling with Roman soldiers, the Jews had to forego temple worship for these substitutionary measures.

As it stands today, there are three major strands of Jewish practice (these are broad groupings):

  1. Orthodox Judaism — Very conservative, believes in the Torah as divinely revealed, and strictly observes Jewish laws and customs
  2. Reformed Judaism — Unlike reformed Christianity, very liberal beliefs. Does not believe in the divine inspiration of the Torah, and takes a very humanist approach to religious traditions.
  3. Conservative Judaism — Somewhat of a “half-way house” between the Orthodox and the Reformed. Follows the Torah, but does not believe that the Torah is “frozen in time,” but to be re-interpreted for modern times. Revelation is/can be an ongoing process.

One can probably add to these three broad groups two more: (1) Hasidic Jews, and (2) Messianic Jews. The Hasidic Jews are considered to be somewhat “mystical” in their approach to religious practice. While the Messianic Jews are those who recognize Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, but still retain their Jewish identity.

So to answer the question as to when did the Jewish faith become the modern Jewish religion, it would be in that time period between the destruction of the temple in 70AD and today. That’s when the foundation for modern Judaism was formed. But in regards to the part of the question that says “the Jewish religion that doesn’t believe in Christ as the Savior or Son of God,” there has always been those in Judaism from any period who have rejected God’s revelation.

The OT sacrificial system was always typical and symbolic pointing to the true substance that can be found in Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of the Jewish ceremonial law. That’s why the temple was destroyed in 70AD — it was a judgment on the Jewish people for rejecting their Messiah. While the Romans were the proximate cause, it was God as the ultimate cause of the destruction. It was His way of saying OT religious worship is a relic of the old age. Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, made the old covenant obsolete. It was replaced by the new covenant and a better Mediator, Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

~Pastor Carl

Category:  Theology

post new | clone this | rss feed | blog top »
Text feature this blog entry
Our Blog
Older
Newer
Top



Dan Botterbrodt
Frogs and Armageddon - KJO T..

Divers and Strange Doctrines
Sunday Service
Foundation Baptist Church
Play! | MP3 | RSS


The Day the Sun Stood Still

Rev. Joshua Engelsma
Pride Before a Fall

Crete Protestant Reformed
Sunday Service
Video!Play! | MP4

Sponsor:
John MacArthur's "The War on Children"

A new book about prov­id­ing refuge for your children in a host­ile world
https://www.amazon.com/war-..

Sponsor:
New Commentary by John MacArthur

An exp­os­it­ory, word-by-w­ord exeg­et­ical comm­ent­ary on Jonah & Nahum
https://www.amazon.com/jona..

Sponsor:
Start to Finish: Tony Evans Podcast

Feat­ured guests incl­ude Kirk Frankl­in, Tony Dungy, Prisc­illa Shir­er, & more.
https://www.namb.net/podcas..

SPONSOR | 100+

SPONSOR | 100+


SA UPDATES NEWSLETTER Sign up for a weekly dose of personal thoughts along with interesting content updates. Sign Up
FOLLOW US


Gospel of John
Cities | Local | Personal

MOBILE
iPhone + iPad
ChurchOne App
Watch
Android
ChurchOne App
Fire Tablet
Wear
Chromecast TV
Apple TV
Android TV
ROKU TV
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Echo
Kindle Reader


HELP
Knowledgebase
Broadcasters
Listeners
Q&A
Uploading Sermons
Uploading Videos
Webcasting
TECH TALKS

NEWS
Weekly Newsletter
Unsubscribe
Staff Picks | RSS
SA Newsroom
SERVICES
Dashboard | Info
Cross Publish
Audio | Video | Stats
Sermon Player | Video
Church Finder | Info
Mobile & Apps
Webcast | Multicast
Solo Sites
Internationalization
Podcasting
Listen Line
Events | Notices
Transcription
Business Cards
QR Codes
Online Donations
24x7 Radio Stream
INTEGRATION
Embed Codes
Twitter
Facebook
Logos | e-Sword | BLB
API v2.0 New!

BATCH
Upload via RSS
Upload via FTP
Upload via Dropbox

SUPPORT
Advertising | Local Ads
Support Us
Stories
ABOUT US
The largest and most trusted library of audio sermons from conservative churches and ministries worldwide.

Our Services | Articles of Faith
Broadcast With Us
Earn SA COINS!
Privacy Policy

THE VAULT VLOG
The Day the Sun Stood Still
Copyright © 2024 SermonAudio.