The 2013 Pew Research Center report is on Jewish Americans offers a fascinating and comprehensive portrait of the status and mind of Jewish America. Download the full report for further reading.
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Major Messianic Prophecies
Download this TopicDownload the BookKnowing the Messiah
Often I’ve asked Jewish people this question, “When the Jewish Messiah comes, how you will know? How will you be able to identify the true Jewish Messiah from many over the centuries who have claimed to be Messiah, but weren’t?”
Most Jewish people today don’t know how they will identify the Messiah of Israel. They typically respond, “Well, when He comes, we will just know it.” Others say, “Our Rabbi will be sure to tell us when the Jewish Messiah is here, but we know He hasn’t come yet.”
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The Gospel in the Old Testament
Download this TopicDownload the BookSeeing the Gospel in the Old Testament
In witnessing to someone who is not Jewish you can easily present the Gospel from the New Testament, laying out the claims of Jesus as Messiah, showing how man is sinful and separated from God, and discussing reconciliation and redemption. But you should not do this when talking to Jewish people about Jesus. The New Testament is not acknowledged or recognized as authoritative in their life today. So the Gospel is best presented from the Old Testament.
Listed below is a chain of Old Testament passages, which, when linked together, help to clearly present the Gospel. You may wish to write these down in your Bible. Write the first verse in this Bible chain in the front of your Bible. When you have turned to the first verse, write down the second Bible verse at the bottom of that page. When you turn to the second Bible reference, write the third Biblical reference at the bottom of that page, etc. Your Bible will contain intact an entire chain of thought, without needing to memorize all the verses.
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Common Objections to Jesus
Download this Topic
Download the BookAnswering 13 Common Objections of Jewish People to Jesus as Messiah
In my personal experience as a missionary to Jewish people, I want to share with you some common objections I’ve heard throughout the years. I call it “A Baker’s Dozen” or, “Thirteen objections – with holes in them – that can be filled with the Gospel.” These are:
- Loss of Jewishness
- The Rabbi Doesn’t Teach it
- Where is the Evidence?
- No Intermediary Required
- The Lord Our God is One
- The Trinity
- No Original Sin
- The Virgin Birth
- The Deity of Jesus
- Not from the Line of David
- Heaven and Hell
- The Holocaust
- Christian Persecution
When it comes to telling Jewish people about Jesus, we find that many objections raised are not necessarily new objections. A whole history of apologetics is today being reviewed and republished, all speaking against the claims of Jesus’ Messiahship.
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Basic Jewish Beliefs
Download this TopicDownload the BookA Summary of Core Jewish Beliefs Today
It is important to understand the foundation of what Jewish people believe today. There is no single answer. The term dogma, which is much better applied to Christianity, has little place within Judaism. In Judaism, the need for a profession of belief did not arise, and rabbis saw no necessity for drawing up concise formulas stressing Jewish beliefs and faith.
Theologically speaking, it is understood that Jewish people are born into God’s covenant with the people of Israel in Genesis 12:1-3:
The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’
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Barriers to Christian Witness
Download this TopicDownload the BookHurdling Barriers that Prevent Christian Witness
Hurdling Barriers that Prevent Christians from Witnessing to Jewish People One key to effective personal evangelism is setting aside stereotypes. Stereotyping any people hinders, rather than helps, our Gospel proclamation to them. When non-Jewish people meet Jewish people personally, they will think about and speak to the stereotypes rather than truly getting to know the person.
Jewish people are involved in all levels of society. Yet, people stereotype them by appearance, cultural or religious differences. Some say that Jewish people are moneyed or that they control financial institutions or the entertainment industry. Others say that Jewish people are close-knit and exclusive of non-Jewish people.
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Jewish Treatment Under Early Christianity
Download this TopicDownload the BookFrom the 4th Century to the Reformation
Hugh Schonfeld’s A History of Jewish Christianity records that in the fourth century such fear of the Jews existed that the church thought it necessary to outline the boundaries of inter-relationships between Jewish people and church members.
The sixty-fourth Canon stated:
If any clergyman entered a synagogue of the Jewish people, or the heritage (the Nazarenes) to pray, let the clergyman be deposed. If a layman, let him be excommunicated. If any bishop, Presbytery, or Deacon, or any of the list of the clergy, keeps the fast or festivals with Jewish people, or receives from them any of the gifts of their feasts (unleavened bread, etc.), let him be deposed, or if a layperson, excommunicated. And if any person, whether clerical or faithful, shall take food with a Jewish person, he is to abstain from our communion that he may learn to amend his ways.
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Jewish Mission History
Download this TopicDownload the BookA Brief History of Jewish Missions
Jewish evangelism, the work of bringing the good news that Jesus is the Messiah to Jewish people, is not just a 20th Century phenomenon. In fact, it goes back through recorded human history. Galatians 3:6 reads, “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ “
People of faith are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are men of faith are blessed through Abraham, who had faith.
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Jewish Concerns
Download this TopicDownload the BookCurrent Concerns of Jewish People
If you speak with two or three of your Jewish friends, you will find that they hold many similar concerns:
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The survival of their people in light of the growing roots of anti-Semitism
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Issues surrounding the state of Israel in the heat of political turmoil and battles that rage in the Middle East
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Declining numbers of Jewish people, in light of intermarriage and children moving away from religious lifestyles
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Social concerns, including disease and oppression throughout the world
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Modern Traditions and Customs
Download this TopicDownload the BookModern Jewish Traditions and Customs
Synagogue
Synagogue, community, home and family have brought about many traditions and customs, which play important roles in Jewish people’s lives today. Everything in the synagogue, the center of worship, focuses on the place of the Torah and of the scriptures, which are front and center in worship, literally and figuratively. The scrolls that contain the words of the Torah are kept in an ark, a closet, behind closed doors and are surrounded by symbols that cause man to reflect on the place of the Scriptures in the life of men.