Author: Jim

a member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham.

The word JEW(S) appears in the New Testament 28 times, and each time it refers to an individual or group of people. It appears in the Gospels only 3 times. Each time referring to the Lord Jesus.

John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
 John 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?

And in the book of Acts 9 times. Each time referring to an individual or group of people. ACTS:

10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
18:2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
18:24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
19:14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
19:34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
21:39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.              

The last 16 times the term is used is found in the epistles written by the apostle Paul, the Jew.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 2:9-10 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Romans 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Romans 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

1 Corinthians 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Be sure to read the verses sited in context.

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When Jesus sent forth His 12 apostles he gave them instructions NOT to deal with Gentiles:
Matthew 10:5-6   These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And during his ministry he spoke with a woman of Canaan (gentile) seeking healing for her daughter telling her he was here for the house of Israel (Jews only).

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
After the resurrection, His apostles continued only to going to the house of Israel (Jews) only:
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
After Saul’s conversion (and he became Paul) he would go to Jewish synagogues to present Jesus as the messiah, but as they would not receive him he turned to the Gentiles and started the Church.
Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

From then on, both Jew and Gentile, to be saved, had to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

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My daughter-in-law wrote this to a Jewish friend. I thought it good to share it:   

A Letter to a Jewish Friend:                                      

Suzanne, just to clarify, everything I’m sharing is all Scripture-based.  I’m happy you’ll be able to look things up for yourself.  I’ve attached two documents along with this and hope you find them helpful.  One is a chart my father-in-law put together of a bird’s eye view of the Bible.  The second is Law and Grace by Scofield, a great Bible scholar and teacher.  He says what I was trying to in a much more eloquent way, but I encourage you not to take his word for it (which I kind of doubt you will….SMILE), but look up everything he references. 

What I hope God reveals to you is that the layer is LAW and NOT Jesus.  The law condemns us, but Jesus sets us free.  Without looking at the entire Bible, it’s difficult to understand God’s overall plan and hard to address your comment “if the Messiah has already come then what are we still doing here?”  I can’t prove to you the Bible is true any more than you can prove to an atheist that God is real.  My prayer is that you will read the entire Bible and seek God’s truth.

Additionally, there is a passage in Exodus when God is about to give Moses the Ten Commandments.  The Israelites actually hear God’s voice.  They were so terrified that they said to Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”  The Israelites didn’t want direct access to God.  God used prophets, priests, judges, and even allowed them kings at their request.  They wanted layers between them and God and wanted to avoid dealing with God directly.

I would encourage you to read through Genesis chapter 3 regarding the “her seed” comment made by God to the serpent.  You mentioned that a Jewish woman gets her identity from her mother, but Adam and Eve were not Jewish.  Race did not happen until the Tower of Babel, and God had not set aside Israel as His chosen people at that time.  Also, Adam and Eve were the only two humans, so it wouldn’t have been necessary for God to make such a distinction as Eve had no options BUT Adam as the father of her offspring.  The comment references “her seed” because Jesus would be virgin born and not have a biological human father.  Otherwise, God created Adam first and should have said, “I’ll put enmity between thy seed and Adam’s seed.”  I think there’s only one other time in the Bible that “her seed” is used when God is speaking directly to Rebekah.  Therefore, this is a very specific and unique reference by God.

Regarding the Messiah, I reviewed the website your rabbi recommended.  For convenience, it says: “The moshiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5).  The moshiach is often referred to as “moshiach ben David” (moshiach, son of David).  He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5).  He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example.  He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel.  He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15).  But above all, he will be a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.  It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the moshiach.  If the time is right for the messianic age within that person’s lifetime, then that person will be the moshiach.  But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the moshiach, then that person is not the moshiach.”  However, if you look up all three passages, you will see that “Branch” and “King” are capitalized.  Capitalization in the Bible is denoting God or Deity, not man.

⇛ continue reading Letter to a Jewish Friend Part 2
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a member of an ancient people living in what is now Israel and Palestine and, according to biblical tradition, descended from the patriarch Jacob, grandson of Abraham. After the Exodus ( c. 1300 BC) they established the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and their scriptures and traditions form the basis of the Jewish religion.

First mention of a Hebrew is found in Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

All the other references in the Old Testament (14) refer to either men or women as Hebrews:  

GENESIS 39:14, 39:17, 41:12
EXODUS 1:15-16,19 2:7,11, 21:2
DEUTERONOMY 15:12
JEREMIAH 34:9,14    
JONAH 1:9

And in the New Testament, Hebrew refers to the language spoken or written:

LUKE 23:38
JOHN 5:2, 19:13,17,20
ACTS 21:40, 22:2, 26:14
REVELATION 9:11, 16:16

Only when Paul is testifying about his heritage is Hebrew referred to a people:
PHILIPPIANS 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

TO CONCLUDE, Abram was from a tribe know as Hebrews. Abram became Abraham, the father of Isaac, the father of Jacob who became Israel.

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