Yes, the Jews Need Yeshua

The first time I heard someone state, “The Jews don’t need Yeshua, they have Torah,” a dagger stabbed my heart.  For it is only through the blood of the greatest Jew who ever lived that has redeemed me from a life of sin, given me abundant life now and the hope of an eternity in God’s coming Kingdom.  A statement like this is anti-semitic at its core and a doctrine of demons.  It is a heresy that eventually leads to a denial of Yeshua as the promised Seed to redeem this dying world.  This is what the Adversary desires; the removal of Yeshua from the good news of victory over sin and death!

“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the Torah” (Romans 3:28).

No one is justified before God by keeping Torah.  It doesn’t matter if the Jewish people guard it, read it, obey it, preach it, put it in an Ark in their synagogue or hide it in a closet,  they will never be set free from the ‘law of sin and death’ without the blood atonement of Yeshua.  It doesn’t matter if a non-Jew suddenly sees the value in obeying God’s instructions, they will also never be redeemed without the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua.

“Even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous by God on the ground of his observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our observance of Torah  commands. For on the ground of observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous” (Galatians 2:16).

The man who made this heretical statement explained his reasoning as follows: “Torah is Yeshua; Yeshua is the living Torah, therefore, the Jews already have Yeshua.”  My response: If Torah were enough to deliver Isra’el and the world from eternal spiritual death, there would have been no need for the Living Torah, Yeshua, to come into the world!

“Moreover, we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as Deliverer of the world” (1 John 4:14).

The Jewish people do have Torah.  It doesn’t matter if they are Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed or Secular.  Torah is rooted in their identity as one of the tribes of Isra’el, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, just as sure as each of them stood at the bottom of Mt. Sinai.   They understand what is required by Adonai regarding worship and Temple practices.   They know that without a Temple they cannot offer the daily sacrifices.  They are quite aware that if there were a high priest, there is nowhere for him to offer blood for himself and Isra’el on the Day of Atonement.  They know they have no way to atone for their sins, release their guilt, have fellowship with Elohim and live at peace with Him.  Their very knowledge of Torah shows them everyday they need salvation (yeshua). 

“However, to those of you who are Gentiles I say this: since I myself am an emissary sent to the Gentiles, I make known the importance of my work in the hope that somehow I may provoke some of my own people to jealousy and save some of them!  For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting him mean? It will be life from the dead!” (Romans 11:13-15).

Years ago I had an encounter with Orthodox Jewish woman.  As we began talking about about her faith in HaShem, she began to cry.  Through her tears she told me she had nowhere to go to atone for her sin.  Year after year, they kept piling up until they were a burden she could no longer carry. “There is no Temple and I have no atonement for my sins.  What do I do? Where do I go?  Can you tell me?”  I don’t think she expected to hear the good news that I had to share with her!

I told her about Yeshua.  I told her how he is the one HaShem sent into the world to take away her sins.  She took my hands in hers, looked deeply into my eyes and asked for more.  I explained that Yeshua, as G-d’s Lamb, became the bridge for her to know HaShem.  I asked her if she knew the song “Lamb of God” and I began to sing:

Lamb of God Your mercy I have seen
Lamb of God Your blood has washed me clean
And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

Lamb of God in silence You were led
Lamb of God in innocence You bled
And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

Lamb of God You were laid then in a grave
Lamb of God by those You came to save
And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

Lamb of God it happened as You said
Lamb of God You rose up from the dead
And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

Lamb of God Your mercy I have seen
Lamb of God your blood has washed me clean
And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

And now I can praise You all my days
For through You I am of God, Lamb of God

As I sang, she cried even more.   She completely understood that she had atonement for her sins and forgiveness through the blood of Yeshua.  She was set free from her sins and I believe at that moment she accepted him as her Savior.  Her tears kept flowing as she hugged and thanked me.

She went home and shared her new understanding of Yeshua with her husband, an Orthodox Rabbi.   He became so angry that he told her she could no longer meet with the person who had introduced us nor return to that church.  She was deeply grieved because of his reaction, but obeyed her husband.  In spite of him, she lives free from sin because Yeshua became her substitute lamb sacrifice for all her sins forever.

Some years later, on the Day of Atonement, I received a phone call from a Jewish woman in the town where I lived.   She was part of a Reformed Jewish synagogue.  She called me because she he did not have atonement for her sins and didn’t know what to do.  She thought because I had faith in God and loved the Jewish people, I could pray for her sins to be forgiven so she would be set free from her guilt.  I shared Yeshua with her and explained that he is the mediator she is looking for to restore her relationship with HaShem.  As I prayed for her to see him as her Messiah, she became very quiet. Though I know she heard and understood the truth, the veil still remains over her eyes.  Recently, I heard that one of her grown daughters accepted Yeshua as Messiah.

“He [Yeshua] said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el” (Matthew 15:24).

Yeshua wept over Jerusalem and his Jewish brothers and sisters who couldn’t see him as their personal deliverer.  He longed to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks, but just like they rejected the prophets, they rejected him. Their Temple would soon be destroyed and remain desolate and forsaken.   Yeshua mentioned nothing about Torah or obeying Torah as he looked over Jerusalem and longed for his people to know him.

“For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39).

If the Jewish people have Torah and do not need him, he will never return.  It is his brothers and sisters who will be desperate for deliverance that they, not the gentiles, welcome him back. On that day, looking out over Jerusalem, Yeshua said that he would not return until the Jewish nation welcomed him back “Baruch haba b’Shem Adonai.”

Yeshua said that whenever someone gives a cup of water to one of  the least of his brothers and sisters, we have given it to him (Matthew 10:42, 25:40).   Who was he talking about?  The church didn’t exist at this time.  Who would be his brothers and sisters if not those from the tribe of Judah?

The Jewish people have protected the Torah for millennia; many times at the cost of their homes, families and lives.  It is because of their faithfulness that all the world has the Holy Scriptures.  Now, certain non-Jews who ‘walk in Torah’  believe all the prophecies about Messiah’s descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Judah and King David are not for his brothers and sisters because they have Torah?  Isn’t this what the church did by separating itself from its Jewish roots? Refraining from and even refusing to give Yeshua’s family living water from the well of salvation is allowing them to die from spiritual thirst and contrary to Yeshua’s command.

“There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!” (Acts 4:12).

The good news for the Jewish people is the Messiah has come.  They do have a High Priest.  His name is Yeshua (Hebrews 4:14-16).  They have a Temple. His name is Yeshua (Mark 14:58, John 2:19).  They have an offering for sin, guilt, purification and shalom with God.  His name is Yeshua, the Lamb of God (John 1:29).  He did not put the blood of animals on the mercy seat between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, but His own.  He did not have to enter the Holy of Holies every year on the Day of Atonement because he ascended to his Father and entered the eternal Tabernacle once and for all time (Hebrews 9:11-14).

Just as gentiles are freed  from the ‘law of sin and death’ through faith in Yeshua’s death and resurrection, so are the Jewish people who call on his name.  Abraham understood about the ‘Seed’ and waited for the promise (Romans 4:13).  King David knew about the ‘Seed’ and waited in faith for the coming – 43 times he writes in the Psalms about his coming salvation (yeshua).    The prophets of Israel knew about the ‘Seed’ and proclaimed him to Isra’el (Isaiah 53).  The woman at the well in Samaria met Yeshua and told her whole village the Messiah had come (John 4).   Many believed her testimony and put their faith in Yeshua because ‘salvation comes from the Jews.’  The disciples knew the truth about Yeshua and preached a the message of salvation to their Jewish brothers and sisters before going to the non-Jewish nations.

“For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation [Yeshua] to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).

Not every Jewish person will receive the good news that they have atonement through the Lamb of God.   Not every Jewish person will see the substitute sacrifice of the ram in the binding of Isaac as being Yeshua.  Not every Jewish person will see Yeshua as the living, walking, breathing Torah and receive his offer of salvation.  Their minds are veiled when they read Torah and can only be removed by Messiah Yeshua (2 Corinthians 3:14).  They may have Torah, but they need Yeshua.

Sadly, however, many Jews will reject Yeshua and embrace the anti-messiah because of the great deception coming on this world. This man will bring peace to Isra’el.   He will allow the Temple to be restored.  He will allow the sacrifices command in Torah.  He will set himself up in the Temple and proclaim himself to be Elohim.  The brothers and sisters of Yeshua will worship a false messiah until they realize their grievous error.  They will cry out for Yeshua and then he will return to Jerusalem.  They will look on the one they pierced and mourn (Zechariah 12:10).  Corporately, the House of Judah along with the House of Israel will unite and receive Yeshua as their salvation and ‘all Isra’el will be saved.’

Before that day comes, there are millions of Jewish individuals who desire to be set free from the ‘law of sin and death.’   They want and need atonement.  Their sins accumulate day after day with no sacrifice, no redemption.   They long for peace with their Creator.

Sha’ul  was willing to give up his own salvation for the sake of his Jewish brothers and sisters.  He never asked anyone else to do that;  however, he called the nations to make the Jew envious for their own Jewish Messiah.  We are to tell them they do have a High Priest.  They do have a sacrifice and they do have a coming King.   If we neglect our responsibility to the Jewish people, we sin and live in direct disobedience to God and His Torah.   We forsake the very lost sheep that need their Shepherd. As long as we fall into the heresy and doctrine of demons that the Jews don’t need Yeshua because they have Torah, we curse Judah and  Yeshua’s brothers and sisters to eternal separation from God.

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