John McKee delivers the January 2025 Outreach Israel News update.
One of the main, contributing reasons, for the growth of today’s Messianic movement—is seen in how many sincere Believers want to have a fully Biblical worldview. They instinctively do not like the division of the Bible, into the Old and New Testaments, and instead want to look at Holy Scripture as a continually revealing story of God’s plans for humanity. Many, from evangelical Protestant backgrounds, have genuinely benefitted from disciplines such as Torah study, and seeing the salvation historical plan of God depicted in matters such as the appointed times or moedim. Many recognize how in some previous religious settings, they failed to have a sufficient theological foundation in the Tanach or Old Testament, and how it truly was the Bible of Yeshua and His first followers. They recognize how if one truly wants to understand the value system of Yeshua, and the first Jewish Believers, one must turn to the Tanach.
A huge controversy arose in the Second Century C.E., with the teachings of the heretic Marcion. He considered the god of the Jewish Old Testament to be evil, vindictive, and violent. He considered the god of the Christian New Testament, to be loving and accepting—although much of his presumed “New Testament” was redacted of anything favorable to Judaism. His teachings were thoroughly repudiated by the emerging Church, with the Tanach or Old Testament properly retained as Christian Holy Scripture. Yet, throughout a great deal of Christian history—and even up until our modern times—there have been many Christian people, who have dabbled in various forms of Marcionism. For some reason or another, they consider the portrayal of God in the Tanach, as being one of fierce judgment. But, the portrayal of God in the Apostolic Scriptures, is one of love and tolerance. You probably know of someone who has thought that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament.
While one of the joys, of being part of the Messianic movement, is being able to have a much more wholistic view of Holy Scripture—there is certainly a great deal of improvement to be made. Throughout a great deal of my time, of being involved in things Messianic, far too many teachers and leaders have gone out of their way, with not engaging with the thoughts and views of liberal scholarship. This is sad, because a huge amount of contemporary Judaism has been affected by the critical tradition. How do we deal with various Tanach difficulties? Yet today, especially in light of growing anti-Semitism in our world, a number of those on the alt-Right, who identify as conservatives, have been steadily embracing ideas of the God of Israel, from the Tanach or Old Testament, which are just as problematic as the JEDP Documentary Hypothesis. A neo-Marcionism has arisen, which sees the God of Israel (YHWH), and the God of Jesus, as being two separate deities.
Better Approaching the Tanach
For those who claim to have a theological foundation, in the Torah and Tanach, how might we go about reviewing some of the concerns? Many of us, in today’s Messianic community, are aware of how many evangelical Protestants have an utterly anemic view of the Old Testament. They might be aware of some historical high points—such as Creation, the Flood, the Exodus, and the Conquest—but far too much remains a blur. Many, who subconsciously hold to a Marcionism, can be easily manipulated when being shot at with Bible verses, detailing some kind of sacrifice to be offered—and especially some kind of violent action being performed by an Old Testament great. Today’s Messianic community, which adheres to a Biblical holism, should be in a much better position, than it commonly is, to help engage with people who really do not know their Bibles. Part of confronting anti-Semitism, actually begins with reading the Scriptures of Israel in a better context.
Genesis 22:2
“Then He said, ‘Take your son, your only son whom you love —Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains about which I will tell you’” (TLV).
Human sacrifice is absolutely abhorrent, and so it is no surprise why critics of the Bible—including anti-Semites—will charge the God of the Jewish Scriptures, with homicide. Did not God command Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac? Intelligent Bible readers, while perhaps puzzled at God’s command to sacrifice Isaac, know that they cannot simply look at Genesis 22:2 isolated. Isaac was the child uniquely promised to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-8), who had a special destiny. Isaac was “your favored one” (NJPS). In the wider scene, Abraham complied with God’s command to go to the appointed place, and offer up his son (Genesis 22:1-9). At the moment he was ready to actually slay Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham, and a ram caught in the thicket was substituted (Genesis 22:10-14). The Lord’s promise to Abraham was reaffirmed, because of his obedience (Genesis 22:15-18). Later, Abraham’s action in almost slaying Isaac, is regarded as an act of great faith, as he would have had to have the confidence that as the son of promise, God would have had to raise him from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19). God’s command to Abraham, to slay his son Isaac, was a great test which he passed!
Exodus 12:29-30
“So it came about at midnight that ADONAI struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn cattle” (TLV).
It can be very easy for someone, with little or no understanding of the Tanach or Old Testament, to be convinced of the cruelty of Israel’s God, when encountering the plague of the firstborn. Astute Bible readers, however, reading the conflicts which transpired between Moses and the Egyptian Pharaoh, are abundantly aware of how the plague upon the firstborn in Egypt, was the final plague. The Egyptian leader refused to release the Israelites from their slavery. Increasingly more powerful plagues were issued against Egypt, with the plague of the firstborn being the one, which finally got the Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. The plague of the firstborn was not a universal judgment, as though all Egyptians died—but it was severe enough to free Israel. And the lesson of the Passover lamb, is that homes which had the blood on the doorpost and the lintel, would not have to experience the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12:22-23). The God of Israel could have just wiped out all of Egypt, in order to free His people. Instead, His judgment, upon the Egyptian oppressors, was actually restricted.
Exodus 13:15
“and when Pharaoh refused to let us go, ADONAI slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals. So I sacrifice to ADONAI all firstborn males, but I redeem the firstborn of my sons” (TLV).
When a passage like Exodus 13:15, is quoted on an Internet meme, someone could encounter “I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb” (NASU), and conclude that this statement actually condoned human sacrifices to YHWH. This is not at all, in fact, what was specified by the Lord. When the Israelites entered into the Promised Land (Exodus 13:11), they were to set apart to the Lord the firstborn of their animals (Exodus 13:12), for sacrifice (Exodus 13:15a). An unclean animal such as a donkey, was to be redeemed with a sheep, or its neck was to be broken (Exodus 13:13). The offering of the firstborn of one’s livestock for sacrifice, was to serve as a reminder to the Exodus (Exodus 13:15a). The firstborn of one’s human sons, though, were to be redeemed (Exodus 13:15b; cf. Numbers 3:13) and not sacrificed. Numbers 18:15a-16 further specifies,
“the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs” (Numbers 18:15b-16, NASU).
Exodus 22:24a
“My wrath will burn hot, and I will kill you with the sword” (TLV).
That the God of Israel had threatened His people with the possibility of death, in Exodus 22:24a, is clear enough. Yet, there was a specific context in which this was given, which an Internet meme is not too likely to specify:
“You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you mistreat them in any way, and they cry out to Me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will burn hot, and I will kill you with the sword. So your wives will become widows and your children will become orphans” (Exodus 22:22-24, TLV).
Here, the Lord was clear to tell the Ancient Israelites, that if they did not treat widows and orphans properly—then He would be angry, they would encounter violence, and there would be Israelite widows and orphans. If the Israelites were seen to take advantage or wrong widows and orphans, via a lack of what many might label as “social justice,” there would be consequences. This is how serious care for the distressed in society was to the God of Israel. Far be it from this being just random violence, if widows and orphans in the community were not cared for properly, their mistreatment would be turned on the perpetrators.
Deuteronomy 20:16-18
“However, only from the cities of these peoples, which ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes live. You must utterly destroy them—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as ADONAI your God has commanded you. You are to do this so they will not teach you to do all the abominations as they have done for their gods, and so you would sin against ADONAI your God” (TLV).
Many conservative evangelicals have difficulty with a passage like Deuteronomy 20:16-18, so it should be no surprise why various anti-Semites could embellish this, and make unfounded claims about the Jewish people and State of Israel. Why did the God of Israel command His people to effectively wipe out every living thing, from the land He had promised them? Readers of the Book of Deuteronomy, have been previously told the main reason why the Israelites were told to wipe out the people in the Land of Canaan:
“After ADONAI your God has driven them out from before you, do not say in your heart, ‘It is because of my righteousness that ADONAI has brought me in to possess this land.’ It is because of the wickedness of these nations that ADONAI is driving them out from before you. It is not by your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to possess their land. Rather, because of the wickedness of these nations, ADONAI your God is driving them out from before you, and in order to keep the word ADONAI swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:4-5, TLV).
Deuteronomy 12:29-31, gave explicit reason regarding how the Israelites were not to learn the ways of those they were dispossessing. Specific attention is to how the Canaanites would burn their children before their gods:
“When ADONAI your God cuts off before you the nations that you are going in to dispossess, when you have dispossessed them and settled in their land, be careful not to be trapped into imitating them after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.’ You are not to act like this toward ADONAI your God! For every abomination of ADONAI, which He hates, they have done to their gods—they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:29-31, TLV).
It is not difficult to see a God of holiness command His chosen people, to eliminate those practicing such an abomination. God’s intention was, only by vanquishing those who observed such mortal crimes, that would Israel not be negatively influenced by them. The record of the Historical Books of the Tanach (OT), sadly, is because of failing to fully implement the Lord’s decree, such a sin of child sacrifice was actually practiced in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29
“Suppose a man finds a young virgin who is not engaged, grabs her and lies with her, and they are discovered. Then the man who lay with her is to give to the young woman’s father 50 pieces of silver, and she is to be his wife, since he has humiliated her—he may not send her away all his days” (TLV).
The instruction of Deuteronomy 22:13-30, in total, details a number of potential, sexual offenses in Ancient Israel. It is indicated how the elders of the city had to play a role, in issuing a judgment to a possible offense. While there could be capital penalties involved, for either men (Deuteronomy 22:22, 24, 25) or women (Deuteronomy 22:21, 22, 24), this was not universal. The sanctity of marriage, especially in view of the surrounding Canaanite sexual cults, was very serious to the God of Israel. Given the probability of capital punishment for many sexual crimes, Deuteronomy 22:28-29 was actually quite lenient for the law code of Israel. An unengaged couple having premarital sex would be forced to marry, and never be divorced.
1 Samuel 15:2-3
“Thus says ADONAI-Tzva’ot: ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike down Amalek and put all he has under the ban of destruction—so have no pity on him; but kill both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys’” (TLV).
The text of 1 Samuel 15:2-3 provides a reason, why the God of Israel commanded His people to root out the Amalekites. As the Israelites had just left Egypt, and had yet to even arrive at Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Amalekites fought Israel (Exodus 17:8-16; Deuteronomy 25:17). Right as the people were preparing to receive God’s Instruction, and His commission to them, an enemy stepped in to try to stop them and eliminate them. Because of this, God’s decree was, “By the hand upon the throne of ADONAI, ADONAI will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:16, TLV). 1 Samuel 15:1-9 includes not only the account of the Amakelites trying to defeat Israel, just after God delivered the people from Egypt, but how King Saul failed to follow His command, to utterly wipe them out. The king of Amalekites, Agag, was spared alive. Because of this, Saul lost his kingship (1 Samuel 15:23). And, it is later witnessed how Haman, who sought to destroy the Jews from the Persian court, was regarded as a descendant of Agag (Esther 3:3).
1 Samuel 18:27
“David had risen, gone with his men and killed 200 Philistine men. Then David brought their foreskins and gave them in full number to the king—to become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife” (TLV).
The Philistines were one of the significant enemies of Ancient Israel, often engaged in warfare. Readers of 1 Samuel have seen David taunt Goliath, as uncircumcised (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Theologically in the Torah, being uncircumcised was representative of a heart resistant to God and His ways (Leviticus 26:41). The Philistines being castigated as uncircumcised, did have a literal meaning to the men being foreskinned—but more so, for them not being recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:11; Leviticus 12:3), and being pagan idolaters. King Saul’s terms, for offering his daughter Michal to David, was for him to offer 100 Philistine foreskins, taking vengeance on Israel’s enemy (1 Samuel 18:25). So, instead of taking down 100 Philistines, David took down 200 Philistines.
2 Kings 2:23-24
“From there he went up to Bethel. As he was going up along the road, some young boys came out of the city. They mocked him saying to him, ‘Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!’ So he turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the Name of ADONAI. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys” (TLV).
Bible readers can easily deduce that the preceding scene, was how the Prophet Elisha had succeeded the Prophet Elijah, with Elisha being granted some unique abilities from the Lord (2 Kings 2:15-22). As he was on the road to Bethel, he was mocked by a crowd of young boys. Elisha rebuked them, and as a consequence two female bears came out and mauled 42 of them. That some severe penalties would ensue, for mocking a designated prophet of the Lord, should not be too surprising. Even pagan religions have accounts of how when various designated servants would be opposed by people, that severe violence can be dispensed.
2 Kings 8:12
“When Hazael asked, ‘Why is my lord weeping?’ he answered, ‘Because I know the evil that you will inflict on the men of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, their young men you will slay with the sword, their little ones you will dash into pieces, and their pregnant ones you will rip open’” (TLV).
2 Kings 8:12, and its reference to children and pregnant women, meeting a violent death, is something which can be easily taken out of context on an Internet meme. Readers of the wider cotext witness how the Prophet Elisha had gone to Damascus, because the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad, was sick (2 Kings 8:7). Hazael was directed by this king to go to Elisha with gifts (2 Kings 8:8-9). The Prophet Elisha told Hazael how the king would recover from his illness, but ultimately die (2 Kings 8:10). Elisha wept (2 Kings 8:11).
Hazael asked him why he would weep, and it was specifically because he knew how Aram would attack Israel with great violence: “I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women” (2 Kings 8:12, ESV). Hazael questioned Elisha, and was told how he would actually become king of Aram (2 Kings 8:13). He returned to Ben-Hadad, falsely telling him he would recover (2 Kings 8:14). Hazael suffocated the king of Aram, only to succeed him (2 Kings 8:15). The statement of 2 Kings 8:12, specifically involved the violence to be enacted against Israel, by a foreign power.
Isaiah 13:16
“Their babes will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered, and their wives ravished” (TLV).
The statement about the death of children, houses being plundered, and wives ravished (Isaiah 13:16), is actually given within a wider series of expectations about the future Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:6-15). While some specifics regarding the Yom YHWH will have to wait for the future, it is unambiguously stated how this will be a time “cruel, full of wrath and fierce fury, to make the earth a desolation, and destroy its sinners from it” (Isaiah 13:9, TLV). It is decreed, “I will make people scarcer than gold, even than the pure gold of Ophir” (Isaiah 13:12, TLV). The God of Israel is going to judge the world for its sin: “I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the insolence of tyrants” (Isaiah 13:11, TLV).
It cannot go unnoticed, how the Messiah referred to Isaiah 13:10, speaking of His Second Coming (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25): “For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light” (TLV). Even though some may try to use the Day of the Lord prophecy of Isaiah 13:6-16, to pit YHWH the God of Israel, against the graceful God of Jesus—the statements of YHWH the God of Israel were actually referenced by Yeshua in His teachings on the end-times!
Jeremiah 11:22
“Therefore thus says ADONAI-Tzva’ot: ‘I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine’” (TLV).
The God of Israel is not seen to be unrestrained, when violence is issued against men and women. It might be easy to quote Jeremiah 11:22 on an Internet meme, but when read within the scope of its original context, the Lord of Hosts had something very specific in mind. The Prophet Jeremiah reflected on some of his service to Him (Jeremiah 11:18-20). It is recognized how the men of Anathoth sought Jeremiah’s life, saying, “You must not prophesy in the Name of ADONAI, so you would not die by our hand” (Jeremiah 11:20, TLV). In response, this God decreed how they would be met with significant violence (Jeremiah 11:22). And not only that, “No remnant will be left to them, for I will bring calamity on the men of Anathoth—the year of their visitation” (Jeremiah 11:23, TLV).
A supernatural entity, decreeing that an anointed prophet or servant, would see his or her opponents experience some significant degree of violence or punishment—was hardly unique to ancient religion. That the God of Israel would see that those who opposed His servants were punished, is no different than how various sectors of Ancient Near Eastern religion, would also see various gods and goddesses defend their human servants.
Hosea 9:15-16
“All their wickedness is at Gilgal, for there I despised them. Because of their wicked practices, I will drive them out of My House. I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted; their root is withered; they bear no fruit. Even if they bring forth children, I will slay the cherished ones in their wombs” (TLV).
Bible readers, looking at the wider scope of matters addressed in Hosea ch. 9, can see how the Northern Kingdom of Israel/Ephraim, was admonished by the Lord for their sins against Him. They are described as committing sexual infidelity (Hosea 9:1-2), destined not to return to Egypt but go to Assyria (Hosea 9:3). Their religious activities would come to naught (Hosea 9:4-5), with punishment assured (Hosea 9:6-9). God is seen to lament over their past activity (Hosea 9:10-14). What would befall them was not only a death to their young (Hosea 9:15-16), but anticipated exile among the nations (Hosea 9:17). While the God of Israel is seen to enact some degree of violence against His people, it is due to their disloyalty and unfaithfulness toward Him.
Better Understanding the Tanach
For many of us in today’s Messianic community, the need to review a number of Tanach or Old Testament passages, is rather nominal. We have a fairly descent handling of understanding the whole counsel of God’s Word. Many people would not even be in the Messianic movement, if they had not learned how to better read Holy Scripture in some wider context. Thus, when the accusation is made, that the YHWH God of the Old Testament is a different deity than the Father of Jesus—we know how important it is to go back, re-read a verse, and evaluate some wider series of statements or issues taking place.
Unfortunately, we do not live in a world which often takes the time to do this. We actually live in a world today, where we are seeing the greater fulfillment of the Messiah’s word, “and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah” (Matthew 24:12, CJSB). While people on the far Left have been widely severed from a theological foundation in the Torah and Tanach—it is also starting to be witnessed from those on the far Right, as well.
What are today’s Messianic people to do about this? Have you encountered—yet—a once conservative Bible Believer, who is now believing some unsubstantiated claims about the Hebrew Scriptures, Judaism, and the like? The answer cannot be for us to avoid controversial matters, but rather enter into a number of, what some would consider to be uncomfortable and inconvenient discussions. Could there be opposition, from within, to not have some of these issues discussed? Yes. But can we really wait any longer?
With calendar year 2025 beginning, the first quarter of the Twenty-First Century is now behind us. There are many different studies and investigations ahead, for those of us in Messianic theology. Most of them concern the right place of the Tanach Scriptures. Let us truly be up to the challenge, so that we can highly value the whole of Holy Scripture!
