How do we understand who the Messiah is or who he is not?
Over the past 2000 years we have been bombarded with ideas of all sorts concerning his identity. We must always be faithful to the Word of God. 2 Peter 1: 19-21 clearly states that "…we must recognize that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual, for no prophecy ever came from human initiative." In other words, scripture interprets itself. When we ourselves try to do so from our limited understanding, we always fall short.

For example, let me ask you this question…Does God show favoritism in His choice of certain people over others? We would naturally want to say no. In this week's Haftarah readings, we see that the Angel of the Lord first showed himself to Samson's mother twice before he revealed himself to his father. His father might have been upset thinking that this was unfair but the fact remains that God is the one who chooses whatever He wants to do. If we look around the world we can see countries like Burma, Bangladesh, African nations who seemed to have been dealt a very rough hand when it comes to suffering while others are blessed and prosper. We can ask why God allows this. It's just not fair!

How we interpret the Scriptures is related to our cultures. If we were born into a pagan culture where a plethora of gods mated with humans and whose children became semi-gods, it is easy to fall into the trap of building a religion where syncretism is the norm. When we are accustomed to touch our gods, gods of all types it is natural that we would want to continue to do so. As Christianity developed as a national religion, it brought with it excellent values, morals and teachings, and thus was easily accepted. The concept of the Trinity was not hard for people of this background to grasp. However for Jews whose background began with only One God, it was impossible to see that God multiplied into three gods. The tragedy in all this is that the Hebraic understanding of God and the essence of what He came to do was totally changed in the process. The development of Systematic Theology furthered this idea.

In the Christian world, there are two methods of Biblical interpretation …exegesis and eisegesis. The Trinity comes out of the latter for it demands that the Scriptures explain the concept of three gods in one resulting in a god other than the Hebrew God who immeasurable, cannot be explained, touched, seen or put in a box.

On the other hand, our own Hebrew sages fell into the same trap when they created the idea of the Torah Sheveh al Peh, the Oral Torah. According to them, God's spoken Word passed down from Moses throughout the generations, are looked upon as having even more authority than the written Word, the Torah. However when you read the Oral Torah carefully, you find that it includes much more than Moses' words, you find the commentaries of many Rabbis who have taken it upon themselves to change God's Word and replace it in many cases with their own understanding.

God does not need defending and He will show His truth to those whom He has called to believe in Him. Throughout the Scriptures, God has been choosing and changing His people. In Naso, we might wonder why did God mention K'hat before Gershom, who is older? Gershom may have cried out "that's not fair". But once again, it is always His choice. Merari could have complained that he was given the lowest of positions again crying out "it's not fair". In chapter 7, we read about the 12 tribes all bringing the exact same offerings which might demonstrate that all were equal in the eyes of God but notice that the first tribe mentioned is Judah. Wasn't Reuven the first born? Did he say that's not fair? God always has a reason for choosing whom He wants and we don't always know why.

Christianity in many ways is shouting out to God, "that's not fair" by believing that the church has replaced Israel, taking all the blessings and leaving Israel with all the curses. Christians will say that the Jews do not have a personal relationship with God and that we are not worshipping the true God; that only they are doing that. In their desire to convert us to their idea of the true God, they have believed that we need to leave being Jews and become Christians. Where in the Word of God does it say that? Does it not say that those from the wild olive tree are grafted into the true olive tree and not vice versa? It is clear from studying the Word that the olive tree is Israel. If only Christianity remains, Satan will have won in his plan for Israel to disappear.

The Scriptures which say, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female in Messiah are grossly misinterpreted to suit the views of their leaders. If we look around, it is obvious that there are still male and female…this subject is dealing with spiritual issues on how the Messiah views us as belonging to Him. Once again God has made the choice of a distinctive nation, Israel who would be blessing to the world. Within that nation are natural born Jews and grafted in gerim, the foreigner dwelling among us. In this portion we see all the nations represented in those 12 tribes who are also bringing their offerings to the God of Israel. The only way to be a part of the body of Messiah is by being inside Israel under the covering of the God of Shem, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Messiah is the earthly representative of God who became the perfect sacrifice, for only God can forgive sin. The true message is lost when we try to introduce our own new concepts and change what God has revealed to us. The story of Samson like Gideon deals with the Malach Elohim, the Angel of the Lord. Exodus 23:20-21 stated "Behold, I am sending an angel to precede you, to guard you as you go….do not defy him, he will not forgive any wrong doing on your part, for my name is in him." He is the Sar Panim, the face of the prince which is a cryptic way of saying God's manifestation or according to Christianity - the pre-incarnate Jesus. Rashi was confused by this but suggested that this meant that the angel had the same qualities and characteristics as God Himself.

In Exodus 33, Moses said to God "Please show me your glory." God replied "…you will see my back but my face will not be seen." Here the invisible God would show Moses something visible that would reflect His glory. The book of Hebrews begins with the description of Messiah as "the reflection of God's glory and bears the impress of God's own being." Yeshua himself said "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father" He was saying that he was God's own envoy, God's incarnation. The problem is when people try to make this incarnation as eternal. He came to dwell temporarily with us in that form. Was the Angel of the Lord who appeared to Manoach, Gideon, and Abraham forever the same? Messiah came in a special role at the time. Even His Name, Yeshua meaning God who saves was no accident.

Man's language is so limited when trying to explain the unexplainable.

Finally how do we apply this understanding to our daily walk with God?
We have continued in this portion on the theme of being counted in Israel and in the body of Messiah. Our being counted by God and our walk with Him does not depend on our own faith. It is a faith given to us by God Himself. Sometimes it is difficult for us when trying to explain what God has done in our lives to unbelievers because it looks like we are boasting that we are chosen and they are not. They look at us as if saying "What do you think you are?" Yet if we stop and look at our lives before and after we knew that we were "saved" or chosen, all we can truly say is "I once was blind but now I see." We have a powerful message to bring to the world. It is not one of conversion because we cannot convert anyone. We do not convert to a new religion; we simply turn around, do t'shuva and follow the God of Israel, whether we are born a Jew or a Gentile. If God has called you, He wants you to respond to His calling. This is true faith and true joy.

   May God add blessings to His Word.

     Rabbi Percy Johnson
     Netanel ben Yochanan
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