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To: Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper; HarleyD; qua; AlbionGirl; blue-duncan; 1000 silverlings; Frumanchu
The New Testament explains that the Old Testament saints were saved by faith in the coming of Jesus Christ

Thank you Dr E. Maybe you can show me a verse that shows that Abraham or Moses believed in the coming of Jesus Christ instead of +Paul's ex post facto one?

The Jewish idea of a messiah is completely different from ours.

The "anointed" one (moshiach)applied to kings, earthly kings, not God Himself. The Jews do not believe that man needs to be redeemed, reminding us that the OT clearly states that only those who sin are responsible and not their fathers or sons, and that no other man can atone for our sins.

Moshiach does not mean "Savior" and the Christian idea of a Savior (Christos) has no bases in Judaism or Jewish thought.

"The moshiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5). The moshiach is often referred to as "moshiach ben David" (moshiach, son of David). He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments. (Isaiah 11:2-5) He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15). But above all, he will be a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.

It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the moshiach. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person's lifetime, then that person will be the moshiach. But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the moshiach, then that person is not the moshiach."

And what will Moshiach do?

"Before the time of the moshiach, there shall be war and suffering (Ezekiel 38:16) The moshiach will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing us back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the land (Jeremiah 33:15)."

The Moshiach will establish the "World to Come." That phrase (Olam-ha-Bah) is not the Christian "World to Come" but: "Olam Ha-Ba will be characterized by the peaceful co-existence of all people. (Isaiah 2:4) Hatred, intolerance and war will cease to exist. Some authorities suggest that the laws of nature will change, so that predatory beasts will no longer seek prey and agriculture will bring forth supernatural abundance (Isaiah 11:6-11:9). Others, however, say that these statements are merely an allegory for peace and prosperity. All of the Jewish people will return from their exile among the nations to their home in Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). The law of the Jubilee will be reinstated. In the Olam Ha-Ba, the whole world will recognize the Jewish G-d as the only true G-d, and the Jewish religion as the only true religion (Isaiah 2:3; 11:10; Micah 4:2-3; Zechariah 14:9). There will be no murder, robbery, competition or jealousy. There will be no sin (Zephaniah 3:13). Sacrifices will continue to be brought in the Temple, but these will be limited to thanksgiving offerings, because there will be no further need for expiatory offerings."

Jews do not believe in and the vast majority never believed or expected Christ, God, the Savior:

"Assuming that [Jesus] existed, and assuming that the Christian scriptures are accurate in describing him (both matters that are debatable), he simply did not fulfill the mission of the moshiach as it is described in the biblical passages cited above. Jesus did not do any of the things that the scriptures said the messiah would do.

On the contrary, another Jew born about a century later came far closer to fulfilling the messianic ideal than Jesus did. His name was Shimeon ben Kosiba, known as Bar Kochba (son of a star), and he was a charismatic, brilliant, but brutal warlord. Rabbi Akiba, one of the greatest scholars in Jewish history, believed that Bar Kochba was the moshiach. Bar Kochba fought a war against the Roman Empire, catching the Tenth Legion by surprise and retaking Jerusalem. He resumed sacrifices at the site of the Temple and made plans to rebuild the Temple. He established a provisional government and began to issue coins in its name. This is what the Jewish people were looking for in a moshiach; Jesus clearly does not fit into this mold. Ultimately, however, the Roman Empire crushed his revolt and killed Bar Kochba. After his death, all acknowledged that he was not the moshiach.

Throughout Jewish history, there have been many people who have claimed to be the moshiach, or whose followers have claimed that they were the moshiach: Shimeon Bar Kochba, Shabbatai Tzvi, Jesus, and many others too numerous to name. Leo Rosten reports some very entertaining accounts under the heading False Messiahs in his book, The Joys of Yiddish. But all of these people died without fulfilling the mission of the moshiach; therefore, none of them were the moshiach. The moshiach and the Olam Ha-Ba lie in the future, not in the past."

Messianic scriptural references

"The following passages in the Jewish scriptures are the ones that Jews consider to be messianic in nature or relating to the end of days. These are the ones that we rely upon in developing our messianic concept: Isaiah 2, 11, 42; 59:20; Jeremiah 23, 30, 33; 48:47; 49:39; Ezekiel 38:16; Hosea 3:4-3:5; Micah 4; Zephaniah 3:9; Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 10:14. If you want to know how Jews interpret the passages that Christians consider to be messianic, see the Jews for Judaism website, especially the Knowledge Base under Resources. The Knowledge Base addresses more than 130 of the most common arguments that evangelists make to Jews." (excerpts from Judaism 101)

+Paul was preaching to the Gentiles -- for obvious reasons. They knew nothing of what the Jews believed.

5,210 posted on 04/27/2006 6:54:40 PM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50; HarleyD; Forest Keeper; blue-duncan; qua; AlbionGirl; Frumanchu; 1000 silverlings
"All Old Testament believers (e.g. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc.) who died before Christ were saved in Christ by faith (e.g. John 5:46; 1 Pet. 1:10-12), just as believers are saved today. The sacrifices in the tabernacle were not themselves an effective means of atonement (Heb. 10:1-4; cf. Rom. 8:1-4; Heb. 9:13-14), and by the same reasoning neither were prior sacrifices (e.g. Abraham was counted righteous by God because of his faith, not because he offered sacrifices [Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6]). Rather, they pointed to Christ, who was the sufficiency behind those sacrifices (Heb. 9:1-15).

Old Testament believers had far less knowledge of Christ than we do (they did not know he was Jesus of Nazareth, for example), but they trusted God and him alone for their salvation (Heb. 11). As Hebrews 11:39-40 teaches, God did not fulfill the ultimate promises to the Old Testament saints before Christ because he wanted to make them perfect with us, the New Testament saints -- and we all still await Christ's return for our final blessings so that all believer (even those yet to come to faith) will be perfected together. In the meantime, Old Testament saints are in heaven (e.g. 2 Kgs. 2:11; Heb. 11:5), as are New Testament saints (Christians) who have died, awaiting the resurrection of their bodies (Matt. 22:31-32 [// Mark 12:26-27; Luke 20:37-38]; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4:13-17). While they are in heaven, they are conscious and active (Matt. 17:3 // Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30; compare Rev. 6:9).

Unbelieving Jews and Gentile who lived during the Old Testament era perish for eternity in hell (Matt. 10:15; 11:22,24; John 5:24-29; 2 Pet. 2:4-9)." -- R. McLaughlin

And from the following excellent essay...

JESUS CHRIST THE MEDIATOR

"...The Bible affirms directly that the elect were known by God before the foundation of the world and chosen by him in Christ before any one of them was born (Ephesians 1:4). Therefore God bases his blessing on Christ's merits prior to the events taking place in history. Therefore, since sin is only removed by Christ's work, and not by the symbolic representations of the sacrifices (Hebrews 10), we deduce that all believers, Old and New Testament saints, were saved by God's work of grace alone, based upon the completed work of the Messiah, applied to undeserving hearts by the Holy Spirit producing in the person faith, repentance and obedience."

5,216 posted on 04/27/2006 8:31:37 PM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg ("I don't think they want my respect; I think they want my submission." - Flemming Rose)
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