"Judaism does not consider Jesus to be God. Are they a cult?"No they are not a cult, but they are in error. They are not considered a cult, because they were the true religion until they failed to recognize their Messiah and thus broke the original covenant by failing to heed the words of their prophets which identified Jesus and the coming of the new covenant.
It doesn't look good for the Jews given the following:
- Jhn 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (That would seem to preclude Jews from being saved.)
- Jhn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jhn 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Jhn 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
- Lev 26 tells Israel that if they follow God's commandments, they would live in the land in peace. But if they didn't, they would be exiled. And if they repented he would bring them back. And if they didn't repent, he would multiply their punishment but eventually would bring them back anyway because of the covenant He has with their fathers. Israel repented during the Babylonian exile and were restored. When they were exiled again after Jesus's death, they never repented. And their exile lasted nearly 2000 years until they were brought back and reestablished as a nation in 1949. They still haven't repented, and they don't exactly live in peace either. But eventually a remnant will repent.
- Zecharaiah in chapter 12 writing after Israel had already been restored from the Babylonian exile wrote of a time when Israel would once again be gathered from the far nations after being exiled and speaks of a day when God would defend Israel against the nations that come against her and that she would suddenly recognize "Me whom they have pierced". So God will save a remnant of Israel.
- Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and stated that the reason for it would be..."Luk 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."
God was displeased with the Jews enough to exile them for almost 2000 years and to allow evil such as the Holocaust to happen to them, and they still haven't repented. Those initial verses tell me that the Jews have to come to Jesus to be saved. Prior to Jesus, Jews were saved by trusting in God and believing that he would provide their salvation. I wish for the Jews sake that there is some way that God can stretch salvation through Jesus to the Jews who trust Him even though they didn't recognize Jesus. But the way I read scripture, I don't think that's going to be the case.
“Judaism does not consider Jesus to be God. Are they a cult?”
No they are not a cult, but they are in error. They are not considered a cult, because they were the true religion until they failed to recognize their Messiah and thus broke the original covenant by failing to heed the words of their prophets which identified Jesus and the coming of the new covenant.
It doesn’t look good for the Jews given the following:
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I need to leave soon but...
This gets a little complicated but the first conversion was from Judah there were also different sects which had corrupted doctrine, some believed in angles, resurrection, and some did not believe that. And the Sanhedrin was the group that had the Lord Crucified.
It is not all so simple or black and white and I need to go.