I'm gonna regret this, but I'm feeling kinda salty this evening.
What is a Jew?
What is a Semite?
What is an Israelite?
Was Jesus a Jew?
Was He an ethnic Jew?
Was He a full practicing Torah Jew?
I say yes to all three, and yet, He didn't have anything kind to say to the Jews, correcting nearly every one of their doctrines while damning their traditions.
Who are the lost sheep of the house of Israel?
Who are the Israel of God?
Those now calling themselves Jews and The Nation of Israel,
Are they ethnic Jews?
Are they religious Jews?
Are they the descendants of Abraham?
Can they prove it?
Are they Talmudic?
Are they Orthodox?
Are they atheistic?
Do you have any idea how disgusting the Talmud is?
Was Christ rejected by the Jews?
Do they reject Him now?
Might any verifiable descendants of Abraham really exist?
Could these descendants be someone other than those presently claiming to be Jews?
Diaspora?
Are the Jews waiting for Christ or the Antichrist?
Are you waiting for Christ or the antichrist?
Dispensationalists would build him a temple.
Very strange times we are living in when the people of God want to build a temple for animal sacrifice because the cross wasn't good enough for the Jews, whoever they may actually be.
Build a temple for the devil so that Christ may come. Does this sound like wisdom to anyone, really?
God's chosen people.
What a powerfully divisive and deceptive term.
26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29And if ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
I think you're raising several important questions, but I'd probably separate them so we don't end up mixing distinct issues together.
First, yes, Jesus was a Jew.
He was descended from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David according to the flesh.
He lived under the Law and fulfilled it perfectly.
Second, Jesus certainly rebuked many of the religious leaders of His day.
But it's worth remembering that He wasn't condemning all Jews as an ethnic group.
His apostles were Jews.
The early church was overwhelmingly Jewish.
The first believers were Jews.
Third, I completely agree that being physically descended from Abraham was never enough.
John the Baptist said: "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt. 3:9).
Paul makes the same point in Galatians 3.
Those who belong to Christ are Abraham's seed by faith and heirs according to the promise.
Where I become cautious is when discussions about modern Judaism move from theological disagreement to broad conclusions about an entire people group.
There are religious Jews, secular Jews, Orthodox Jews, Reform Jews, believing Jews, unbelieving Jews, and countless variations in between.
As for the phrase "God's chosen people," Scripture itself uses that language for Israel.
The debate is not whether God chose Israel, but how the promises to Israel relate to Christ, the church, and the new covenant.
On the temple issue, I understand your concern.
If Christ's sacrifice was once for all, then any future sacrificial system cannot add to or complete what He accomplished at the cross. Hebrews is very clear on that point.
Ultimately, I think Galatians 3:28-29 brings us back to the center: "There is neither Jew nor Greek... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Whatever conclusions we draw about Israel, the church, prophecy, or the end times, Christ remains the dividing line.
The fundamental question isn't, "Who can prove their ancestry?" It's: "What will you do with Jesus Christ?"
That's the question every Jew, Gentile, religious person, atheist, and Christian professor must ultimately answer.
