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Continuing our discussion from part eight, while I have gone into considerable detail regarding the possible location of the ancient Jewish temple, the Mount Moriah controversy and the spiritual nature of God's true temple, all of this has been for a very specific reason. That reason is to show you the contrast between what the Scriptures actually say and teach, and what the deceived Orthodox Jews believe will occur if and when their false messiah, Moshiach ben David, appears on the world stage. To state it more clearly, while I am personally inclined to believe at this current time that a third temple will never be built, if I am in error, and it should actually come to pass at some point in the future, it will be a total Jewish deception because God does not desire it, or require it.

As we previously discussed, God already destroyed the Jews' temple twice. Hasn't He already made His point rather clear? To reiterate the point I made in part six, if the Jews do build a third temple on Mount Moriah, and reinstitute animal sacrifices, it will be a total abomination to God, because Jesus already offered up Himself as the Final Sacrifice for sin, and has thus become our only Mediator, Intercessor, and High Priest in God's spiritual temple.

To continue, by examining one Bible verse after another, I have very meticulously exposed and torn down the lies and deceptions of Jewish orthodoxy, as they have been expounded upon by their respected rabbis for literally centuries. It is precisely because these antichrist teachings have been so engrained in the Jewish mindset, that the Orthodox Jews now eagerly anticipate the soon appearance of their messiah in Israel. Let us stop now and consider some of the key points I have shared with you in this series which expose some of the serious flaws which are found in Jewish orthodoxy. They include the following important points:

1. No man is justified by keeping the Laws of Moses, a.k.a. the Torah

2. True repentance depends on God's Mercy and Grace alone

3. Jesus came to free us from the legalistic yoke of the Law

4. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin

5. Jesus was the final Sacrifice for our sins

6. Jesus died once for the sins of all men

7. Jesus is our only High Priest, Mediator and Intercessor

8. Jesus fully paid the ransom price for our Salvation

9. We are washed and cleansed in the Blood of the Lamb of God

10. Sin offerings/animal sacrifices are no longer necessary

11. Jesus is the Cornerstone/Foundation Stone of God's temple

12. A physical temple is no longer necessary because we are God's spiritual temple built upon Jesus Christ.

I've fully supported every single one of the previous points with multiple Scriptures. God's Word is very plain regarding all of these issues. As such, you should not have any doubts about them, no matter what the legalists try to tell you. By sharing all of this information with you, we can only arrive at one conclusion; and that is that if the Orthodox Jews of Israel somehow manage to achieve all of their goals at some point in the near future, under the guidance of their false messiah, Moshiach ben David, as I have already made clear to you, it will all be a lie and a deception. It will NOT be what God desires, but only what THEY desire; and it will be because they have rejected the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Despite everything I have now shared with you regarding the flaws and deceptions which are found in Judaism -- which is really a modernized form of ancient Pharisaism -- and their misinterpretation of who Moshiach ben David is, the Orthodox Jews remain convinced that a spirit of Teshuvah is now present in Israel, as well as in other countries around the world to varying degrees. As you may recall from part five, in Judaism, Teshuvah refers to a process of repentance and atonement. It's a form of ethical self transformation. To religious Jews, it means to turn away from one's sins and to not return to them. You can learn more about this belief at the following URL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance_in_Judaism

At any rate, religious Jews are convinced that the generation of Teshuvah is alive today, and that because of this "fact", their messiah, Moshiach ben David -- or King Messiah -- will soon arrive on the world stage. Sadly, while this is what the Orthodox Jews believe, personally, I see no evidence of this whatsoever. After all, as far as I am aware, very few Jews in Israel are turning to Jesus Christ and recognizing Him as the Son of God, and their Lord and Savior. As I amply explain in my series "What It Means to Repent", according to what Jesus, John the Baptist and others taught in the New Testament, the act of repentance doesn't simply mean to turn away from one's personal sins in order to improve oneself. It is so much more than that.

In the context of the New Testament, repentance means to turn away from a state of unbelief in Jesus, to a state of belief in Christ, thus resulting in one's Salvation. In other words, contrary to the Jews' definition of Teshuvah, repentance is more than ethical self transformation, which is really just a work of the flesh and trying to establish one's own semblance of righteousness without Christ. Let me again share with you what the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans. We covered these same verses in part five of this series:

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and GOING ABOUT TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."


As you can plainly see, Paul makes it very clear that belief in Christ, true righteousness and Salvation are all part of the same package deal. They are integrally tied together. It is impossible to have one without the others, and it begins with repenting of one's stubborn rejection of Jesus Christ.

In reality then, while modern Orthodox Jews promote their own unique brand of Teshuvah without Christ, almost two thousand years ago, John the Baptist, Jesus and the Twelve Apostles were ALREADY calling people to repentance, or Teshuvah. Not only did Teshuvah begin back then, but the true Moshiach ben David arrived on the world stage back then as well, in the form of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, according to the Bible, Teshuvah has been an ongoing process since that time, because God has been calling people to repent of their ignorance and unbelief ever since then. As we learned in part five, in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Acts, the Apostle Paul stated the following to his audience on Mars' Hill in Athens:

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:"


The fact of the matter is that the Orthodox Jews' brand of Teshuvah leads to death, because it is merely a work of the flesh, while New Testament Teshuvah leads to Eternal Life through faith in Jesus Christ, because it is a work of God's Spirit. This is the very same message that Jesus gave to the unbelieving Jews of His own day, as we can easily determine by the following two verses:

"Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come . . . I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."


Tragic, isn't it? Some two thousand years have passed since those words were first spoken by Jesus, and yet so many Jews today still just don't get it. They are still in bondage to the very same delusion. They are still trying to establish their righteousness without Christ, but it just won't work. In fact, some of them are not even trying to understand. To the contrary, while Orthodox Jews deceive themselves into believing that a spirit of Teshuvah/repentance is present in modern-day Israel, I have to wonder how they reconcile their misguided belief with the disturbing fact that Tel Aviv is not only one of the most liberal cities in the world, but to their own shame, it also happens to be the most gay-friendly city in the world as well. So if Teshuvah is truly occurring in that antichrist nation, I for one would like to know where it is happening.

While I've pointed the finger directly at Israel, and exposed their hypocrisy, please understand that I am fully aware of the fact that Israel is not alone in her sins against God. My own country -- the United States of America -- is equally as wicked, and maybe even more so. From same-sex "marriage", to abortion on demand, to extreme violence at home and abroad, to rampant drug and alcohol abuse, to government corruption, to pedophilia, child trafficking, adultery and other sexual sins, to oppression of the poor and more, the USA has surely filled her cup of iniquity before God. I am sure that other countries are just as guilty. We live in a world which is in outright rebellion against God's holy Laws.

But let us return now to the idea of Teshuvah being linked to the arrival of Moshiach ben David, according to Jewish belief. While Orthodox Jews believe that their King Messiah may soon arrive on the world stage, they do not mean that he will arrive blowing his own trumpet, and announcing himself as the long-awaited prophet of God. To the contrary, based upon Jewish rabbinical tradition, Moshiach ben David shall arrive quietly without any fanfare whatsoever. It will be through his very actions of fulfilling the aforementioned requirements -- please refer to part four -- that Jews -- and supposedly the whole world -- will eventually come to recognize him for who he really is. At least that is what the Orthodox Jews believe. As I have already made clear, as far as Christians should be concerned, if this person ever truly does make an appearance, he will most certainly be a deceptive false messiah, and there will be nothing divine about him.

Exactly when are these events due to occur? According to the Jewish perspective, it can happen at any time. The belief is that there is always a potential "Moshiach" living somewhere in Israel. Whether or not he is the complete fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the "Messiah", rests upon how many of the qualifications he meets. In other words, if this man succeeds in bringing peace to Israel and her surrounding Arab neighbors; if he succeeds in rebuilding the Jewish temple; if he succeeds in re-implementing the daily sacrifice; and if he succeeds in renewing study of, and adherence to, the Torah, then there will be little doubt in the minds of Orthodox Jews that he is indeed the one they have long been waiting for.

For example, over seventy years ago, many Jews considered the possibility that David Ben-Gurion might be their long-awaited messiah. Known as Israel's founding father, Ben-Gurion was the leader of the Jewish community during the British Mandate in Palestine. He for the most part led the Jewish struggle for independence, and on May 14, 1948, he formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. He was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which he helped to write. Ben-Gurion led Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and he was responsible for uniting the various Jewish militias into the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF. At the war's conclusion, he also simultaneously served as Israel's first Prime Minister and Minster of Defense from 1955 to 1963.

Over the centuries, there have been other Israelis who have either claimed to be Moshiach ben David, or who were assumed to be the messiah by their followers, such as the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. For a complete list, check out the following URL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_messiah_claimants

If we look at this issue from a purely Jewish perspective, as we discussed previously, another indication we can draw from the Old Testament Scriptures is that King Messiah will appear at a time when the "Diaspora" -- that is, the Dispersion -- has been fulfilled, and Jews from around the world have begun returning to Israel. It will be a time when "Jacob's Trouble" -- or Israel's Trouble" -- has ended. There are those Jews -- and even many deceived Christians -- who view the creation of the state of Israel in May of 1948 as the beginning of this period. I discuss this subject in more detail in some of my other articles, such as in "Sorry ... Jesus Is Not Coming At Any Moment!". There's actually one verse which is found in the Book of Isaiah which certain people have interpreted as being a prophecy regarding the creation of the Jewish state in one day, as occurred in 1948. That verse is the following:

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."


Personally, I do not agree with their interpretation of the previous verse. I am convinced that the verse is referring to something entirely different which occurred long ago during the First Century. Again, you can read more about it in the series called "Sorry ... Jesus Is Not Coming At Any Moment!". Concerning the modern-day return of many thousands of Jews to the nation of Israel, following are some Scriptures which are believed by these very same people to prophesy and describe the Diaspora and the Jews' return to their nation:

"For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment."


In my view, a close reading of this chapter indicates that, in addition to the Jews' return to Jerusalem following the completion of the "Seventy Years Of Captivity" in Babylon, this prophecy may also be a reference to the arrival of the Messiah, the son of David -- meaning Jesus Christ -- during the First Century. Despite Roman occupation, nevertheless it was indeed a time of relative rest for the land of Palestine, when compared to the long history of wars which were fought by the Israelites against many foreign enemies during the Old Testament period. While the Jews were being oppressed by the Romans, "Pax Romana" still ruled the land; at least until the First Jewish-Roman War of 66 AD to 73 AD. In the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we also find the following verse which some people have attributed to the Diaspora, and to the return to Israel in our modern times:

"For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it."


While this verse can be made to apply to our modern day, the fact of the matter is that just as I indicated with the last group of verses, following the invasion by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and the fulfillment of the "Seventy Years of Captivity", the Jews were indeed allowed to return to Israel by Cyrus the Great, who is considered by many people to be the greatest king of the Medo-Persian Empire. This topic is discussed in detail in other articles. A few verses later, we find these additional verses which speak of the "time of Jacob's trouble" and the eventual return to Israel. As with the previous verses, while we can forcefully apply them to our current times, in my opinion, they again seem to refer to the exodus out of Babylon in the days of Cyrus the Great. I believe that the reference to David may possibly be a look into the future, when Jesus had His Ministry in Israel:

"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished."


Please notice in particular that the Lord says "I will break his yoke from off thy neck". Who is the Lord referring to in that verse? Whose yoke is it? If you're at all familiar with the Book of Jeremiah, then you will know that the Lord is in fact referring to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. If you even go back one chapter to chapter twenty-nine, you'll see that this is true. To reiterate, none of the previous verses have anything to do with a modern-day diaspora, or a modern return to Israel. It's all nonsense, and in my view, it's an intentional deception to deceive the world, and to deceive gullible Christians in particular.

As we have already seen, Moshiach ben David must be a direct descendant of the bloodline of King David. It is because of the fact that the above verses mention a future David, that the Orthodox Jews have erroneously applied them to a modern "Moshiach ben David". However, while these Scriptures aren't referring to the King David of old who lived three thousand years ago, neither are they referring to a King David of our present day, or of the near future. These verses, and those which will likewise follow, were all received starting at the beginning of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar and thereafter. In other words, they were given literally hundreds of years after the original King David had died. Consider what the Prophet Jeremiah wrote regarding his own ministry to Israel:

"The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened."


Thus, we can be certain that these verses do NOT apply to the King David of old. While these prophecies are referring to a future shepherd, prince and king of Israel who would be like the original King David, as I have already made clear, the mistake that Orthodox Jews make is that they totally and intentionally bypass the One to Whom these Scriptures really are directed -- meaning Jesus Christ -- and blindly continue to look for and promote the belief in a future fulfillment of all of these verses regarding the return, a nation being made in one day, and the arrival of the Messiah. They are forced to push these prophecies and events into the future, because they refuse to accept that they all ALREADY occurred in the past. Worse yet, as I already said, they've convinced a lot of gullible Christians to believe their lies.

You see, if, like the deceived Orthodox Jews, we reject the simple truth that all of these Scriptures should be applied to Jesus Christ, who was in fact a descendant of David, then in our own confusion, it is very easy to come to the false conclusion that they are speaking of someone who is yet to come, and who will supposedly be the true Jewish "Messiah". Even if we do not have an understanding of Jewish teachings and doctrine, just by taking an English Bible such as the Authorized King James Version, we can find these verses and then convince ourselves that they are speaking of a future shepherd, prince and king named David. We could easily find ourselves deceived, just like the Orthodox Jews.

In fact, to be quite honest, I have witnessed so many of my Christian brethren who have already fallen under the spell of the Jews, and under the spell of Jewish legalism, in our modern day, that I would not be the least surprised if some of them were to become deceived by such a false messiah. Of course, that is if he were to actually make his appearance at some point in the future. According to everything I have read concerning Jewish beliefs regarding "Moshiach", he will be very similar to Moses of old. In fact, to support their wayward belief, Jewish scholars point to the following verse which is found in the Book of Deuteronomy, where Moses makes the following statement:

"The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;"


While Jewish rabbis claim that this verse is a reference to "Moshiach ben David", and while the Muslims erroneously claim that the verse is a reference to the coming of their prophet Mohammad, the fact of the matter is that Jesus made it rather clear that Moses was actually prophesying our Savior's very own coming during the First Century, as becomes quite evident by the following verses that are found in the Gospel of John:

"Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"


To reiterate what I said a moment ago, it should be clear to you that if an individual has rejected the plain truth of the Scriptures, meaning that they have rejected the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, they could rather easily become deceived into accepting all of the previous verses as a solid scriptural basis for believing in a future messiah known as Moshiach ben David. Doctrinally speaking, that is precisely where the Jews are at today. Sadly, the vast majority of them remain blind to the truth. They still slumber, despite the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached for 2,000 years. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans:

‭"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day."


Personally, I firmly believe that Jesus Christ is God's one and only chosen Messiah and Savior of the world for all of humanity. As many of you will already know, my articles and series concerning the topics of Salvation and Eternal Life plainly attest to this fact. There should be no doubt as to what my personal beliefs are regarding this matter. Sadly, in contrast, as we have now seen, the religious Jews still wait for their savior and messiah, Moshiach ben David. It's for that reason that they have set themselves up for some very strong delusion -- possibly in the very near future -- should this man ever arrive on the world stage. But make no mistake. There can only be one Messiah for everyone, and as we Christians know, that is the man Christ Jesus. The Bible makes this very clear in verses such as the following:

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"


"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."


"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."


As we learned in part four, because Jesus didn't fulfill all of their qualifications to be the Jewish messiah -- at least not according to their understanding -- the Jewish religious leadership, the Sanhedrin, rejected Him two thousand years ago. In their eyes, the Lord was an imposter, a liar and a deceiver; this despite the fact that He was of the lineage of David, and extremely knowledgeable of the Torah, exactly as they had expected. As you may recall, even as a young boy of twelve years old teaching in the synagogue, the Jewish elders marvelled at Jesus' wisdom and familiarity with the Laws of Moses.

But then the crunch came. When Jesus became older and began His ministry in earnest, when He endeavored to open their darkened minds to the true meanings of the Scriptures, and how He had come to fulfill them, the Lord was met with very stiff resistance and all kinds of false accusations, which eventually led to His death on the Cross. In Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount, the Lord said the following:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."


That is exactly what Jesus did. Not only did He fulfill the ancient prophecies which had been written regarding Him, but He also fulfilled, or brought an end, to our dependence upon the Mosaic Law by His final Blood Sacrifice on the Cross. In short, through the act of fulfilling, or meeting, all of the requirements of the Law, He has taken the place of the Law for us, and that is why we are now under Grace and not under the Law. We are under Christ, and not under the Law. As we learned in part six, Jesus' shed blood removes the stain of sin from our lives when we humbly come to Him in a state of repentance, and simply believe in what He did for us. Let me share that verse with you again:

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION.‭"


Please go to the part ten for the continuation of this series.

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