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In the Bible, G-d directly addresses this question. He is not surprised that people will doubt Him and His Word, and offers us a logical way out of uncertainty. Through the Hebrew prophet Isaiah [Yeshayahu] G-d says [42.8-9], “I am ADONAI; that is my name. I yield my glory to no one else, nor my praise to any idol. See how the former predictions come true; and now new things do I declare - before they sprout I tell you about them." In other words, the Bible has multitudes of predictive statements about men and nations that could not have been known when they were written. Only G-d, Who knows the future, could make such predictive statements. G-d Himself offers this as incontrovertible evidence of the Bible’s underlying divine authorship.

There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible. Of those, an astonishing 668 of them have been fulfilled and none have ever proven false (three seem to be unconfirmed). The others focus on events that are supposed to take place in the future. http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/bible-prophecy.htm

The most obvious prophecy, that convinced me personally of the Bible’s truth, is the fact that you [if you are Jewish] have your identity preserved as a Jew, and are making this inquiry from outside of Israel, most likely. Our people have been scattered for almost 2000 years. No land, no universal language, no unified leadership, no currency, many vicious enemies. No other ethnic group has similarly been scattered, yet kept their identity, and then RETURNED to their own land. Moshe predicted this in the Torah Deut.[D’varim] 4.27-32, and the prophets confirmed it. Jer. [Yermiyahu] chapter 31. This is the most personally impacting of all the predictive prophetic statements in the Bible, because it foretells my personal life situation.

However, ALL the prophecies are worth studying. For more research, see the website above, or read Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict series.
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Or contact me at Rabbi@OrHaOam.com

For the first 10 or 15 years or so, there were ONLY Jews who believed in Jesus, but they referred to the Messiah by His Hebrew name of Yeshua. There were no Gentiles. The total Jewish population in that day was about 11 million, and probably about one million of them were believers in the Messiah. They never stopped attending the Temple or synagogues or practicing Torah. Messianic Jews today are simply the continuation of that original stream.

For more information, email me at Rabbi@OrHaOlam.com

In fact, it is nothing new or surprising to Jewish history for our leaders [kings, prophets, priest, rabbis] to choose to disbelieve and disobey the words of G-d and His prophets.

When our leaders and our people were walking in the way G-d wanted, we were safe and prosperous in our Land of Israel. G-d promised that in His covenant with Moshe. However, all through Biblical Jewish history, there were times when our leaders and our people failed to obey Adoni and His Torah. They had other ideas of how to live and worship. For this reason, our first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and we were exiled to Babylon. However, G-d promised a restoration in 70 years in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah [chapter 25]. The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians, who had a policy of national restoration. How did the prophet know that in advance?

Similarly, the majority of our people and our leaders had other ideas of how to live and worship than what the prophets had predicted that the Messiah would teach, which concepts were presented by Yeshua as Messiah and Redeemer of Israel. So, our Rabbi’s and people argued with Moshe and the prophets, and they argued with the Messiah Himself. Not just argued, but went their own way, in both cases. G-d never gave up on our people, although disobeying G-d always has sad consequences.

The ultimate evidence that our leaders, and the majority of our people were NOT correct in their interpretation of G-d’s truth is that, as mentioned above, most of the readers of these lines are OUTSIDE the Land of Israel, or returned for only a few generations. If our rabbis had it right in the first century, and now, we would be blessed, safe, and settled in Israel all these centuries.

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The central instrument of forgiveness on Yom Kippur is centered on the fact of the Temple sacrifice. Leviticus [Viyikra] 16

“Aharon is to lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the transgressions, crimes and sins of the people of Isra'el; he is to put them on the head of the goat and then send it away into the desert with a man appointed for the purpose. The goat will bear all their transgressions away to some isolated place, and he is to let the goat go in the desert.

Without the sacrifice, there was no forgiveness. This is in fact the ONLY activity that was unique to the Temple of Jerusalem. Prayer, study, praise, worship, etc., could all happen anywhere. G-d only allowed ONE unique place of sacrifice. There is a profound passion for Jerusalem in the heart of many Jewish people. Sacrifice is the only reason why Jerusalem is unique. It is why we long for our Temple, even if it is not explicitly understood.

Moreover, there was recognition in our Hebrew scriptures that the sacrifice of animals was only a starting point. That is, transfer of sins to an innocent atonement bearer is very widespread in Judaism, and the prophet Isaiah [Yeshayahu] wrote of the Messiah, “We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us.” So, it’s by the goat in Temple times, and ultimately, the Messiah’s bearing our sins, that atonement really functions to righteously and experientially take away our guilt.

I know of no Jewish people who walk out of synagogue on the Day of Atonement with blissful relief from all guilt. There is usually a sense of satisfaction that we did what we were supposed to do. However, Messiah’s atonement in fact imparts realized, joyfully experienced forgiveness. Moreover, this atonement is not now restricted to a certain day, but is continually available.

Aren't messianic synagogues just churches dressed up in Jewish window dressings?

Messianic synagogues are the continuation of the first followers of Yeshua. See question #2 above. We live as Jews. We love Torah and study it, and learn Hebrew for understanding and expression of worship. We keep the Jewish holidays, and the Biblical food laws. We love Israel and many of us have made aliyah and served in the Israeli Defense Forces. We do everything Biblically Jewish, and serve the King and Messiah of the Jews. We don’t do this just to impress other Jews and deceive them. We live Jewishly out of a passion for covenantal identity. What could be more Jewish than that?

When Avraham was praying for the people of Sodom, who were facing destruction of fire and sulfur, he rested in the thought, “הֲשֹׁפֵט כָּל-הָאָרֶץ, לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” We are all judged righteously, according to what we understand of Truth. G-d will be faithful to communicate truth to every individual. So the psalmist writes in Ps 16, "Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth.” That is, G-d has communicated at least some points of His just but redemptive truth through nature, conscience, and ultimately through scripture. Everyone has some degree of exposure to Truth. What determines our eternal loss, in hell, is how we respond to truth. G-d has been and will be faithful to every individual to give more truth to those who walk in the truth that they have. So, it is not for us to be concerned about how we conform to someone else’s belief, but rather, how we conform to the revelation of G-d to our own hearts. He will ultimate guide all true seekers to the Messiah.

Judaism has had the revelation of one G-d, but the word for one is אֶחָד Eh-khad, a word that teaches oneness of unity of elements. Husband and wife are בָשָׂר אֶחָד Basar Ehkhad, certainly united, but nevertheless distinct. Similarly, the nature of G-d has complexity beyond human analysis. The Messiah says, in the words of the prophet Isaiah [48.16], “Since the time things began to be, I have been there; and now Adonai ELOHIM has sent me and his Spirit." מֵעֵת הֱיוֹתָהּ, שָׁם אָנִי; וְעַתָּה, אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה שְׁלָחַנִי--וְרוּחוֹ. That is, the Messiah, and Elohim Who sent Him and the Spirit, have worked redemption from the beginning of time. A very clear description of the three-ness of G-d, yet they are working as One.

There is even a hint of the complexity of G-d in the Shma; יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד שמַע D’varim [Deut] 6.4. Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one Consider that the Sacred Name is twice repeated, with the term “Elohim” in the middle. Threefold declaration of G-d’s Name, followed by the word אֶחָד Eh-khad, compound unity. Some see this as a midrashic implication of the uni-plurality of G-d.

This question is troubling, since Moshe’s covenant promises us that if we walked in G-d’s ways, we would be both holy people and also safe, prosperous, and peaceful people. We would be both good and great. Similarly, when Messiah Yeshua came he offered Israel holiness and peace. He said in Matityahyu 23.37 "Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!”

Since our leaders and majority rejected His leadership, we were outside His circle of care. He couldn’t protect us. Nevertheless, He provided the atonement that the human race needed, according to the New Covenant described by our prophet Jeremiah, and that became available to Jews and a decade later, to Gentile. The New Covenant was particularly to make us good.

Yermiyahu [Jer.] chapter 31 "Here, the days are coming," says ADONAI, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra'el and with the house of Y'hudah..."I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people...all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest; because I will forgive their wickednesses and remember their sins no more."

So, Messiah worked His salvation to make us good, in a whole new way. He’ll make Israel and the world safe and great when He is accepted by our people at His return. Zekhariah 12 "When that day comes, I will seek to destroy all nations attacking Yerushalayim; and I will pour out on the house of David and on those living in Yerushalayim a spirit of grace and prayer; and they will look to me, whom they pierced." They will mourn for him.”

Good now, safe and great when He is accepted by our leaders at His return.

Israel, as the bearer of G-d’s light, has experienced the fury of the enemies of Light, both human and spiritual, from our beginning. Psalm 83 “God…your enemies…those who hate you are … conspiring against your people. They say, ‘Come, let's wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Isra'el be remembered no more!’" The Holocaust was the culmination of millennia of such hatred. Now in the covenant G-d made with our people under Moshe, protection is promised. But, many times, Israel got away from the will to G-d and His protection. Hence the Babylonian captivity, the Roman destruction of our Temple. The Holocaust was the epitome, following the Inquisition, Progroms, Crusades. Most sadly, our genocidal enemies haven’t ceased. The Persians of Haman’s day have a new Haman. We are trusting G-d that Israel will be preserved.

I am looking for a Rabbi that will perform a wedding for my spouse and I. One of us is Jewish and one of us is not. Do you do this?

We can do beautiful Jewish weddings. But, frankly, much more significant than the wedding is the marriage, and the life issues that may endanger the marriage relationship. In our Messianic faith, we have the life understanding and lifestyle that is richly Jewish, and richly Messiah-ish. Of course, I am assuming that the non-Jewish spouse is Christian. But, in any case, we can still be of service in wedding ceremony and in marriage prep.

We are an interfaith Jewish/Gentile couple with children and have many issues because we are interfaith. Would you be willing to meet with us and/or do you have any good resource material suggestions?

We have many such couples in our midst. We teach Jewish life in the Messiah of Israel. So, we are a great fit, when one member of the couple is Jewish and loves it, and the other serves Jesus and loves Him. There is a wonderful synthesis of these two passions. That is, it is a sweet transition for the one who loves Jesus, to learn to love and serve the Messiah in His Hebrew identity, and name. He was actually called Yeshua. It is also a sweet and joyful transition for a Jewish partner to learn that the Messiah has come, and we can experience and enjoy forgiveness and shalom by entering into “life” in Messiah. We can have, radiantly, everything we ever prayed and fasted for on Yom Kippur. And we can have it and still be Jewish. More Jewish, passionately Jewish, in fact.