The Jewish religion missed Christ and also disregarded Christ. In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, there are many prophecies and types concerning Christ. The Jews missed all these prophecies and types because they regarded only the law and disregarded Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). Outside of Christ and without Him, we do not have the Triune God. The Jews think that they are worshipping God, Elohim, Jehovah, but they do not realize that Jehovah Elohim is embodied in Christ. The entire Triune God is in Christ, so outside of Christ we cannot find God. Christ is God’s dwelling place. Christ is God’s address. Christ is God’s home. If you want God, yet do not want Christ, you cannot have God.
The Jews also were the ones who desired to crucify Christ. They shouted again and again, “Crucify Him!” and their voice won (Mark 15:13-14). They did not realize that this Christ as the embodiment of God was ordained by God to be the centrality and universality of His economy. If you disregard Him, you disregard everything.
Christ was typified by the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the offerings in the five books of the Law. God put something very substantial in the Torah. These substantial things were the tabernacle and the corporate priesthood daily serving God in the tabernacle with all the offerings. The Jews took these things formally. They never understood what these things signified. They did not realize that the tabernacle is a type of Christ (John 1:14) to be God’s dwelling place for God’s people to contact God, to enter into God, and to enjoy God. When the Jewish people sinned, they knew that the law ordered them to offer a trespass offering, but they did not realize that this offering was a type of Christ. They had the substantial types, but they did not understand their significance, so they spontaneously disregarded Christ.
The Lord’s word in Luke 24:44 shows that He was prophesied in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. In Genesis 3:15 God promised that the seed of the woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent. That was a clear prophecy about Christ. Then God prophesied to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through his seed, and that seed is Christ (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:16). Isaiah says clearly that a virgin shall bring forth a child whose name is called Immanuel (Isa. 7:14). That child is God with man. This was a clear prophecy concerning Christ, but the Jews disregarded it. The Jews had the Old Testament, but they did not care for the prophecies concerning Christ.
Judaism became formal in letter and deadening in quenching the Spirit. The Jewish religion kills man’s communication with God in life. Judaism also contended with the gospel of Christ in God’s New Testament economy (2 Cor. 3:6; Gal. 1:6-16; Phil. 3:2-3). Under the maneuvering hand of Satan, those in Judaism opposed the Lord Jesus (Matt. 12:9-14; Luke 4:28-29; John 9:22). They also opposed the apostle Paul (Acts 13:45-46, 50; 14:1-2, 19; 17:1, 5-6). Acts 21 tells us that the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple in Jerusalem and seized him. As they were seeking to kill him, the Roman commander stopped them and took Paul into custody (vv. 27-33). Later, more than forty of the Jews formed a plot and put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul (23:12-13). Eventually, he was transferred from Palestine to Rome to be judged directly by Caesar (25:9-12). This was the way that the Jews persecuted Paul, the Lord’s servant. Thus, we can see that they disregarded Christ, annulled all the spiritual things, and contended against the gospel of Christ.
The way to overcome such a satanic religion is by holding to the teaching of the apostles (the New Testament) through the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (2 Tim. 1:14). Our “Torah” today is the New Testament, the apostles’ teaching. We have to hold to this teaching through the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
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