Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Blessing comes from God. He is the blessed one. Yeshua said if you seek first the kingdom of God, everything else will be added unto you.

I want to say at the onset beloved, that there should be no separation in our thinking between the writings of the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament and the writings of the New Testament which we call in Hebrew the Brit Chadashah, which means the New Covenant scriptures.

You see beloved, the Lord never intended us to have two different Bibles. The Old Testament and the New Testament are part of the same revelation from the same God. It just that it progresses. As time has gone on, the Father has made His will more and more clear to us until it finally culminates in the person of Yeshua.

This is why the scriptures tell us in Hebrews chapter one that in times past, God spoke to us in many portions and in many ways through the fathers of the Hebrew Bible and through the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. But in these last days, He has spoken to us through His Son, who is the exact representation of His nature.

In times past the Lord was speaking, but He spoke to us in full measure in the person of His Son. It was all moving towards the same end. It is called progressive revelation, and I need you to hear that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament fit together like a hand in a glove.

What I am trying to do is to convey to you that as we go to the book of Ephesians, it is not that we are no longer in the Hebrew Bible. We are still in the Hebrew Bible, because the New Testament was also written by Israelites with the possible exception of Luke.

The point is that the New Testament as well was written by Jewish people. I want to consider the Apostle Paul for a moment, the writer of the book of Ephesians, which we are going to study now. I want to make the point of how Hebrew, how Jewish, how much of an Israelite he was so that when we read the book of Ephesians, we do not so Christianize it that we lose the Hebraic context of it.

In the book of Philippians chapter three, verse five, Paul tells us a little bit about who he was. Let me read now from the book of Philippians chapter three, verse five and six. Catch the Hebrew feel of this. He says he was circumcised in verse number five, the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he calls himself a Hebrew of Hebrews.

Did you know beloved, that at the end of Paul's life, when he was on trial for his life after he had witnessed for Jesus all these years, after he had been thrown in prison for the Lord, you know what Paul said? He said to them in the book of Acts chapter 23, verse six, "I am a Pharisee."

At the end of Paul's life, he was still identifying himself as a Pharisee. He never saw himself as someone that stopped being Jewish. He saw himself as a follower of the promised Messiah of Israel. So Paul describes himself in the book of Philippians chapter three, verse five: from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Then he says as to the law, he calls himself in verse number five, a Pharisee.

Notice that Paul is still very much identifying himself as a Jew, as an Israelite, and as a Pharisee. I am going to read that whole verse in its context now. "Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee." Are you starting to see how Jewish this is?

A lot of times Christian people disconnect Jesus and the New Testament from its Hebraic foundation. But we cannot do that. That is why the Apostle Paul said in the book of Romans chapters nine through 11 that we need to be very careful about disconnecting ourselves from the root, from the olive tree, which is the God of Israel, the covenants of Israel, the scriptures of Israel, and the Messiah of Israel.

I am trying to help you to understand that when you read the New Testament, you are still reading a very Hebrew portion of God's word. That is why in the book of Revelation, we read about going to heaven, and this heavenly city is called New Jerusalem. Its gates are inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. Are you starting to see this in a new light? It has a very Jewish, a very Israeli feeling to it.

We continue in the sixth verse, where Paul continued to describe himself. He says as to his zeal, he was a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, he was found blameless. So he was saying, "I am a Hebrew of Hebrews." He begins to say, "I was really against this Jesus person. I was persecuting the church until Yeshua revealed himself to me and showed me that he is indeed the Messiah of Israel."

I am going to go now to the book of Acts, and I am going to go to the 23rd chapter and read the sixth verse there. Paul was on trial here and it says: "But perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees," because the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead, but the Pharisees did believe in the resurrection from the dead.

Once again Paul is saying in Acts 23:6, as he was on trial, perceiving that one part were Sadducees that did not believe in the resurrection and the other part Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the council, "Brethren!" Listen to this. This is the end of Paul's life. Listen to what he cries out. "I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees, and I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead." Are you seeing how Hebrew and how Jewish this is?

I want you to also know that we sometimes hear the erroneous teaching that when Yeshua met Paul, he changed his name from Saul to Paul. I want you to hear that Yeshua never changed Saul's name to Paul. Rather, Paul was a Roman citizen with a Roman name, Paul, and he was also an Israelite and a Jewish person with a Hebrew name, Sha'ul, or Saul.

So he had two names. It is like my sister. My sister's English name is Suzie, but all her Jewish friends call her Simcha, which means joy. So Paul never had his name changed from Saul to Paul. It is just that he had a Hebrew name, Saul, and he had a Greek name, Paul.

We hear him being referred to more by his Greek name Paul because he was the ambassador, the apostle to the Gentiles, as the book of Galatians tells us. But you know when Yeshua appeared to Paul and brought him into the faith, Yeshua called him by his Hebrew name.

Once again looking at Paul's life in the book of Acts chapter 22:6, Paul is describing his conversion experience. It came about that as I was on my way approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me.

Paul says in verse seven: "And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'" I answered, "Who art thou, Lord?" And he said to me, "I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting." He speaks about this same event in the 26th chapter of the book of Acts. Listen to what he says in the 14th verse as he was giving his testimony before the king.

In Acts 26:14 he says, "And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect: 'Sha'ul, Sha'ul, why are you persecuting me?'" Do you see this is very Jewish? Paul is a Jew, he is a Pharisee, and he never saw himself as becoming un-Jewish. He never felt like he had converted from Judaism to some other religion.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: We read that Paul continued to celebrate the feast. He never lost his Jewish identity. He never stopped living like a Jewish person. He was not under the law, even as we are not under the law, but he still saw the beauty of God revealed in the law.

That is why Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew chapter five, verses 17 through 19, "Do not think I have come to abolish the law and the prophets, for I have not come to abolish but to fulfill." Everybody that teaches others how to live out of the concepts in the law and the prophets will be called greatest in the kingdom of God.

We are not connected first to the law, we are connected to Jesus. But the glory of God, the beauty of God, the wisdom of God, and the ethical nature of God is revealed in the law, and it is prophetic. Paul, for example, we read in the book of Acts chapter 20, verse six, was still celebrating the feast.

Paul is speaking and he says, "And we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread." He was celebrating the feast of unleavened bread. We get down to the 16th verse in that same chapter: "For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus in order that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem if possible on the day of Pentecost," which is called in Hebrew Shavuot.

It also appears as we look in the book of Acts to try to understand the life of Paul and to bring out the Hebraic emphasis of the books that he wrote and their connection to the Hebrew scriptures, that Paul was born in Tarsus but he was brought up in Jerusalem.

In Acts chapter 22, verse three, Paul says, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city and educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today."

I want you to understand how Jewish and how Hebrew the New Testament is. As we are studying the book of Ephesians, it is not like Rabbi Schneider has suddenly gone from teaching out of the Hebrew scriptures to teaching the New Testament, which isn't Hebraic.

The New Testament is also Hebraic, and we need to understand it from a Hebraic context if we are going to understand it properly. Unfortunately today, because of the division that the devil has brought to the church by blinding the church to her Judaic roots, many have read the New Testament through the filter of their own eyes without understanding the heart of the one that wrote it.

The heart of the one that wrote most of the New Testament was the Apostle Paul, a Jewish person that wrote with a Hebraic mindset. To give you an example of this, many of us have heard of the Romans Road. It was a way that people used to witness, and that is awesome.

But we need to understand the book of Romans not just from the eyes of our contemporary theology, not just to lead people to salvation, but through the heart and the mind of Paul who wrote it. When Paul wrote the book of Romans, one of the things that was forefront on his mind was the role of Israel and the salvation of Israel.

That is why Paul in chapters nine, 10, and 11 of the book of Romans is focusing on Israel constantly. But many today when they read the book of Romans, they do not understand the heart of Paul that wrote it. Listen, for example, to the book of Romans nine, verse number one.

Paul says, "I am telling the truth in Messiah, I am not lying, my conscience bearing witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites."

Paul begins Romans chapter nine by talking about how he has a great burden in his heart for the salvation of Israel. All of Romans nine deals with the salvation of Israel. I flip the page and go to Romans chapter 10, verse number one.

Paul says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation." He is still lamenting for the salvation of Israel. All of Romans nine and 10 is about the salvation of Israel. Now we come to Romans 11:1. Paul says, "I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be, for I too am an Israelite." So you see Romans nine, 10, and 11 is all about the salvation of Israel.

The point that I am making to you is that much of the Gentile church does not see the Hebraic nature of the New Testament. But when Paul wrote it, he very much saw it as a Jewish writing. He very much had a Jewish heart. God is wanting to restore to the church his love for Israel and the church's understanding of the New Testament from a Hebraic perspective.

I am speaking all these words to you now to set the stage for our study in the book of Ephesians. When we go to the book of Ephesians, I want you to understand it from a Hebraic perspective. I want to remind you once again that God did not change Paul's name from Saul to Paul.

Paul had two names. He was Sha'ul or Saul to the Hebrew people and he was Paul to the Greeks. Because he was the apostle to the Gentiles, he became more known as Paul, but he still retained his Jewish heart. That is why he got to the end of his life and said, "I am a Pharisee."

He also said that he was worshipping God in the same way. I am reading now from the book of second Timothy chapter one, verse three. Listen to what Paul says about himself: "I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my fathers did." He still saw himself as very much part of the Jewish community.

As you study the New Testament now, I hope you will understand that this is a Jewish thing. God is not done with the Jews. Rather, you as a Gentile have been grafted in to the covenants that God made with Israel, as Paul talks about in Ephesians chapter two.

The scriptures begin in Ephesians one with these words: "Paul, an apostle of Yeshua HaMashiach by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, who are faithful in Messiah Yeshua: Grace and peace to you from God our Father." Every time God shows up in the New Testament in the writings of the letters of Paul, the first thing that Paul says after he introduces himself is, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from Yeshua HaMashiach."

Do you know beloved, that is what God's heart is towards us. Grace and peace to you. God is not mad at you. God does not have a stick hanging over you to clobber you. Rather, every one of Paul's epistles begins the same way. Grace and peace to you.

Father, I pray that you will release right now, through your spirit, a manifestation of your spirit of grace and shalom and peace to your people. Father, call them in, draw them in now to experience your heart of love, of grace, and peace to them.

Grace to you and peace, shalom, wholeness, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach. Then it says, "Blessed be the God and Father of Yeshua HaMashiach." Why do we always begin by saying, "Blessed be the God and Father"? Because God is the blessed one.

We begin all the prayers in the Jewish tradition by saying, "Baruch Atah Adonai." What that means is, "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God." This is the way Paul starts out his letter here. Really, it is a Hebrew blessing. Blessing comes from God. He is the blessed one.

Yeshua said if you seek first the kingdom of God, everything else will be added unto you. He is a rewarder of those that seek him. If you want to be blessed in your life, seek the blessed one. There is only one blessed one. Baruch Atah Adonai. Blessed art thou, O Lord our God. Paul said, "Blessed be the God and Father of Yeshua the Messiah." We find our identity and destiny in him.

Shalom and God bless you beloved ones. In 1978 when the Lord supernaturally revealed himself to me as Jesus, I was instantly so excited. I started telling everybody about Jesus. I went out and bought a New Testament and started devouring the word of God.

I was going to churches all over the city, and the only thing that cost me was gas money and the price of buying a Bible. But now that the Lord has raised me up to preach the gospel all over the world through television and on-the-ground crusades, this costs money. I cannot do it without you.

The Lord has ordained that the gospel is financed through the finances of his people. I want to ask you today, if you believe in me, if you believe in this ministry, if you believe the kingdom is being built through this ministry, sow a financial seed immediately and become a partner with us. You will be blessed because you are going to have a reward for the souls that are being changed in this ministry. Thank you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: Thank you Rabbi Schneider. Friends, if the Lord is stirring your heart to financially support Discovering the Jewish Jesus, would you please reach out today? Visit us online at DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com or call us at 800-777-7835.

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Thanks so much for listening today and being a part of this ministry. You help share God's word by your prayers and your financial support. If you have never given, I just want to encourage you one more time. Pray about it, ask God, and if God leads you, visit DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com. Now here is Rabbi to speak God's sacred blessing over your life.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: What I love about the Aaronic blessing is that it did not originate with man. The words actually proceed from the very essence of God himself. The blessing comes from the book of Numbers chapter six. Listen to these words and receive the blessing of the Lord into your life today.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance and the Lord give you his peace. And now in Hebrew.

[Chanting in Hebrew]

God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: I am your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider reveals the spiritual blessings that come with being adopted into God's family. That is Tuesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.