81.  ISN'T YESHUA A FALSE PROPHET LIKE THOSE WARNED AGAINST IN DEUT. 13:1-3?

    'If a prophet, or one who fortells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known), 'and let us worship them', you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The L-rd your G-d is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.' (Deut. 13:1-3)

     But, Yeshua did not say that the people should go after other gods. His miracles caused the people to praise the G-d of Israel

     'The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the G-d of Israel.' (Matt. 15:31)

     'He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised G-d, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this.' (Mark 2:12)

    'One of them, seeing he was healed, came back, praising G-d in a loud voice.' (Luke 17:15)

     Yeshua did not say the people should go after other gods. When asked, he replied that the greatest commandment was 'Thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matt. 22:37,38)  Thus he passes the 'test' cited in Deut., above (''The L-rd your G-d is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.')

     After she was cured (Matt. 13:10-13) , she immediately began to praise G-d. Is it wrong to do something on the Sabbath which will cause praise to come to G-d?

     If anything, most messianic Jews tend to be MORE obersvant of Jewish religious holidays and festivals than most secular Jews. On the other hand, they do not necessarily feel obliged to observe things which are only tradition.
        For example, is there anything particularly useful or gainful from a religious standpoint in adapting the attire of a medieval gentile Polish nobleman--or continuing to wear that dress even into our modern day?
Too often tradition can be an excuse for an escape from reality. The real world has been harsh to the Jewish people; and in times past, especially in Eastern Europe, they turned inward to escape. Afterward it became almost a sign that one was 'leaving the group' if one departed from following the observed customs. But too often these customs had nothing to do  with religion, and in fact they have a tendency to become restrictive rather than liberating.

     Tanach is full of references to HaShem which are anthropomorphic. (ie, referring to his 'hand', 'arm', 'eye', etc.) Some of these are doubtless attempts to reach down to our own level, or merely figures of speach (as the saying has it,  the Torah speaks man's language, in order to better communicate with him). But these 'anthropomorphisms' also reveal a truth: that HaShem suffers, feels, grieves with, and understands his creation; he is in every real sense a 'Person', as we are (who are in his image).
    Sometimes Judaism has tried to erase these anthropomorphisms. In the Septuagint translation, these may have been altered in order to prevent the Greek-speaking world from thinking of HaShem as a physical G-d, similar to their own idols. (For example, Exodus 24:11 says, 'And on the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand.' In the Septuagint this reads, 'And of the elect of Israel not one uttered a dissenting voice.'  Exodus 25:22 says, 'And there I (HaShem) will meet with you.' In the Septuagint it reads, 'And there I will be known to you.' 'And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel' (Ex. 29:45) becomes instead, 'And I will be invoked by the children of Israel.')
      However, with the passage of time,  the Hellenistic influence may have also spread in  the other direction. In the works of  Philo, efforts to adapt Jewish religious thought to Greek ways of thinking produced much more of a 'philosphical' rather than a 'personal' concept of G-d.
     Later, after the rise of the Nazarene sect, Judaism felt an even stronger need to repudiate any concept of anthropomorphism.  This is reflected (among other places) in the Targum Onkelos, which dates from around the second century C.E.  For example, Gen. 18:33 says, 'And the (Divine Name) went his way, as soon as he had finished speaking to Abraham.'  Onkelos says, 'And the Glory of (Divine Name) departed when he had finished speaking with Abraham.'  Exodus 3:7 reads, 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people, that are in Egypt. . . for I know their sorrows.' Onkelos reads, 'The bondage of my people which is in Egypt is truly shown before me. . . for their afflictions are made known before me.'  There is a vast difference between merely 'knowing' about something and 'knowing' it in the sense of experiencing it or understanding it. Obviously, HaShem would 'know' about the suffering of his people in Egypt, since he knows all things at all times. This concept, however, is lost in the Onkelos translation. Elsewhere, though, the scripture affirms: 'And His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.' (Judges 10:16). 'In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.' (Is. 63:9)  The G-d revealed in Onkelos is therefore different from and less than the G-d revealed in Tanach.

     But Judaism has always prayed for the restoration of the Temple. What is the purpose of this, if not so that the sacrifices can be restored? All of the other 'substitutes' for sacrificial offerings have always been just that: substitutes. Repentence, good deeds, prayers, a chicken slain just before Yom Kippur--have been used as 'stopgap' measures, because it has been impossible to offer the sacrifices at the Temple site. If the Temple and its sacrifices were really of no importance, the people would not have prayed for their 'speedy' restoration, but would have relegated them to the realm of history, along with the palaces of King David and King Solomon. But no sage has ever suggested anything like this.

     Are there differences between synagogues? Aren't Reform practices much different from Orthodox practices? Or Conservative practices? If there are any synagogues in  which  the service resembles protestant churches, it is most likely to be the Reform synagogues. Messianic synagogues usually retain much  more of the traditional service and practice than do many of these.
       So what is the difference? Only the person of Yeshua. One congregation  (if it believes that a messiah exists at all) proclaims that he has yet to arrive. Another asserts that he has already come. Neither the followers of Bar Kochba, or Shabbatai Zevi, or some among the followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe have ever been told that, because they assert their Jewish belief that the Jewish messiah has come, they can no longer be considered Jewish or attend the synagogue.

    The dispute about whether or not messianic Jews can wear skullcaps or stars of David and use other Jewish symbols is not really about the issue of deception. Many Jewish people use these who believe in nothing. Are they being 'fraudulent' or deliberately 'deceptive' by doing so?  Some symbols, such as the hanukiah, may even be turned into symbols of liberty and freedom, entirely devoid of their religious meaning.
      The real root of the issue is simply that some people do not want messianic Jews to be associated with Judaism in any way.  But that is not their decision to make.
     Messianic Jews generally use Jewish symbols, not because they wish to deceive (in fact, most are very open about their beliefs in Yeshua; 'Jews for Jesus' states what they are in their very name, it is NOT hidden), but because  they still think highly of  their Jewish heritage. And what  Jewish person has the right to demand that another Jewish person renounce his personal heritage?
     (And often the same people who decry this use of Jewish symbols by messianics can be  found later denouncing messianics for 'abandoning their heritage'.)

     The next time someone mentions some huge sum, ask them to provide specific figures and details which support their claim. Usually they will refuse or be unable to do so.

     The veil has been placed over the face of Yeshua, just like Moshe was forced to put on a veil, so that the people might not see his glory. The time will come when the veil will be removed and the people will be able to see Yeshua as he is.
       At that time a blindfold ('strong delusion') will be placed over the eyes of the unbelieving gentiles--then only Israel will 'see'.

    It's usually the mark of a cult to try and scare people away from objectively considering their own beliefs and the basis of these beliefs; and to insist that they isolate themselves from any contact with outsiders.  If their beliefs are indeed solid and have a basis in fact then they can stand up to open scrutiny and questioning.
      Most messianic Jews are more than willing to come and discuss the notion that Yeshua is the messiah at any synagogue or within the confines of any traditional Jewish institution. Anyone can come then and not feel that they are going to be surrounded or pressured into believing anything, or that there will not be scholars available to handle the debate from their own side.