What many people do not understand is the formation of the Jewish Bible. Although I still have a great deal to learn and understand about the Jewish faith, as a Christian I respect them for being founded by the one true God. They were the faith which the Messiah was to come from. The Jewish Law and the Prophets (which make up our Old Testament) are to be respected and followed by those of us who profess to be Christians. (we believe, however, that most of the prophesies have now been fulfilled through Jesus Christ.)
The canon of the Jewish Bible was not formally closed until aprox 90ad. (if I have that correct?) Before this, however, there were several versions of Jewish texts. There was the Septuagint (which Catholics and all of the early Christians followed) and the Masoretic text, plus others. After Christ was crucified, died and was buried (and rose again and ascended into Heaven if you are Christian). You had the Jews that followed Jesus as the Messiah and you had the Jews that didn’t accept Him as the Messiah. There were many books in the Septuagint that indicated that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah (especially in the Prophetic books.) This created a problem for the Jewish faith. Because of this it was decided that they should take a look at the ancient Prophetic books. They choose to use only those that met certain standards (such as being originally written in Hebrew), thus throwing out most of the books that could be used to verify Jesus as the Messiah. This is where the Protestants get their Old Testament and why there remain “disputed” books between the Catholic and Protestant Old Testaments. The Catholic Church continued to use the ORIGINAL Old Testament books (from the Septuagint) and choose to reaffirm this decision again and again, finally formally closing our canon. (It has never been that books were added to the Catholic version of the Bible, but that the Catholic church only needed to keep reaffirming our faith in the original books of the Bible every time another split took place.)
If you are a Christian, than you will find in your Bible, in the New Testament, that God closed up the ears & eyes of the Jews that choose to deny Christ, and will continue to keep them closed until the “time of the Gentiles” is fulfilled. It is at this time, when the full number of Gentiles will have come into the faith, that God will open the eyes and ears of our Jewish brethren and allow them to truly see that Jesus Christ was in fact the prophesied messiah and then they will accept and come to the faith also.
Currently there is word that many many Jews are converting to Christianity. Is this an indication that the full number of the Gentiles has come to the faith? Is it an indication that we are living in the end time? Perhaps. We should stay alert and watch. For my Jewish brothers and sisters, I only pray that you will investigate the original prophesies and read about what Christ did and why He fulfilled ALL of the Jewish prophesies concerning the Messiah. The probability of this happening with one man are so low as to be virtually impossible, unless it were a miracle of God, and Jesus was, in fact, the long awaited Messiah. I find that most Jews are not even aware of everything that Jesus did. Jesus is a Historic figure and there is a huge amount of evidence indicating that He truly lived and these things truly took place. There is evidence by non-Christians of the ancient times also.
Despite there being less evidence left in the Protestant Old Testament to prove Jesus is the Messiah, it is still there.
All I can say is that I can only imagine the problem that a faithful Jew would have in this day and age. If you are faithful to your law and your prophets and the belief that Jesus was not the Messiah, then to consider the possibility could be seen as blasphemous. That being said, if Jesus is truly the Messiah and you don’t investigate the evidence then you would be guilty of denying the Holy One of Israel! Also, a terrible thing. Then there is also the issues with your families if you do convert. Not an easy choice.
That being said, here is what I would suggest. Pray to the Almighty. Ask Him for the Truth and to show you the way. We are only to search for the Truth and the Way. Read what you can and let the Almighty speak to your heart. He will know your heart and how sincerely you wish to serve and follow Him. He will never abandoned any of His children that wish to know the truth. Keep searching. Keep asking.
I will pray for you all and I ask that you pray for me also. In peace.
