How Can We Prepare for the Messiah’s Coming?
Part 2
What should Christians be doing to prepare for the Messiah’s soon return?
In considering all that we have learned from our translation of the inscriptions from the Early Church and in interpreting prophecy I see three main areas we can contribute to God’s work.
I. Christians should support the land of Israel
II. Christians should unite with Jewish believers
We need to pray for those who are of Jewish descent and have chosen to also follow Jesus as the Messiah. These believers are not afraid to live outside of the box. They adopt beliefs that may be contrary to our modern theology but their beliefs and practices are certainly closer to those of the Early Church than most. These believers are often referred to as Messianic Jews, i.e. Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Messianic Jews are not isolated to Israel. There are groups of believers in Africa who claim to be direct descendants of Solomon and hold to Jewish practices but who also accept Jesus as the Messiah. These groups have held these same beliefs and practices for centuries.
There is also a quickly expanding community of Messianic groups in America. Many of these groups meet on Shabbat. They practice many Old Testament commands. It would do Christians well to communicate and even worship with these believers. Christians tend to shy away from these groups because they fear the Messianic beliefs may taint their beliefs. It might just be that we can learn more about God and His Word from the Messianic believers.
Christians need to unite with the Messianic Jews. They are fellow believers in Jesus as the Messiah. Toady there is a groundswell of Messianic Jews in Israel. Victor Smadja laid the foundation of the modern Messianic movement in Israel. Today his son Samuel Smadja carries out his father’s work. The number of Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah is growing by leaps and bounds. They need the support of the Church and Christians!
I will write about the third area of practical steps we can take in the next article.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2017
In considering all that we have learned from our translation of the inscriptions from the Early Church and in interpreting prophecy I see three main areas we can contribute to God’s work.
I. Christians should support the land of Israel
II. Christians should unite with Jewish believers
We need to pray for those who are of Jewish descent and have chosen to also follow Jesus as the Messiah. These believers are not afraid to live outside of the box. They adopt beliefs that may be contrary to our modern theology but their beliefs and practices are certainly closer to those of the Early Church than most. These believers are often referred to as Messianic Jews, i.e. Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Messianic Jews are not isolated to Israel. There are groups of believers in Africa who claim to be direct descendants of Solomon and hold to Jewish practices but who also accept Jesus as the Messiah. These groups have held these same beliefs and practices for centuries.
There is also a quickly expanding community of Messianic groups in America. Many of these groups meet on Shabbat. They practice many Old Testament commands. It would do Christians well to communicate and even worship with these believers. Christians tend to shy away from these groups because they fear the Messianic beliefs may taint their beliefs. It might just be that we can learn more about God and His Word from the Messianic believers.
Christians need to unite with the Messianic Jews. They are fellow believers in Jesus as the Messiah. Toady there is a groundswell of Messianic Jews in Israel. Victor Smadja laid the foundation of the modern Messianic movement in Israel. Today his son Samuel Smadja carries out his father’s work. The number of Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah is growing by leaps and bounds. They need the support of the Church and Christians!
I will write about the third area of practical steps we can take in the next article.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2017