Category Archives: Jewish Laws and Culture

Reviewing Jewish Laws and Culture from a Christian New Covenant perspective.

Et (Aleph Tau) in Genesis 1:1

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Some people have suggested that there are seven words in the Hebrew version of Genesis 1:1, and the word “Et” is a special word that points to Jesus. “Et” is spelled with “את” (aleph and tau), the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. They say this word is untranslated because the Jews forgot its meaning, and that it points to Jesus because it says He is the “Alpha and Omega” in Revelation 1:8, which references the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This gets connected to John 1:1, which says, “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It sounds romantic, but that’s not true and ignores the rules in the Hebrew language.

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Jewish Holidays and Jesus

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The gospels demonstrate that many of the Torah’s holidays point to Jesus. Let’s look at Sabbath, Passover (Pesach), Festival of Weeks (Shavuot), the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), and even Hanukkah which is not The gospels demonstrate that many of the Torah’s holidays point to Jesus. Let’s look at Sabbath, Passover (Pesach), Festival of Weeks (Shavuot), the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), and even Hanukkah, which is not even from the Torah. Jesus says to the Sanhedrin Council (Jewish Leaders) that they searched the Scriptures because they thought it would give them eternal life, but the Scriptures point to Jesus Himself. However, the Jewish leaders refused to receive eternal life by believing in him (John 5:39-40). Later in John 5:45-47, Jesus said that it will be Moses, through the Law, that will judge them for not believing in him because he [Jesus] is the one in whom the law is about.

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The Adulteress and Jesus

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Many have heard the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. A woman who was caught committing adultery was about to be stoned to death, as the law of Moses says, and she was brought before Jesus, so the leaders could hear his opinion on her execution. At the end of the story, Jesus lets her go without being punished. Did he violate the Law, which requires that she be punished?

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Our Bodies Are The New Temple

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It’s the Holy Spirit that was promised to circumcise hearts of the beleivers all back from the the time of Moses (Deut 30:6, Jer 4:4, Ez 36:25-27, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:16-21, Rom 2:29, and Col 2:11) and give bleeivers the power to overcome sin nature so that we can accomplish the task of keeping God’s commands.

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Kosher Food Laws Framework

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Flying creatures only have to be herbivores, and land creatures that were herbivores that chewed cud (regurgitated grass) and had split hooves were considered clean. Land and air creatures that were omnivores, carnivores, and scavengers were all classified as unclean. This may have been connected to why humans are forbidden from consuming blood as a moral sin in the Bible (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 7:25-26, Leviticus 17:10-14, Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 12:16, Deuteronomy 12:22-25, Deuteronomy 15:23, Acts 15:20 & 29). What if animals that eat meat (who consume blood) are classified as sinful in a sense because they don’t drain the blood? Land creatures are even further distinguished by their anatomy (split hooves), which may provide clues into their digestive processes. For example, rabbits are cud chewers, but they also eat their dung, which may be viewed as unclean.

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Christians and the Sabbath

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Should Christians observe the Sabbath? Some Christians adhere to first-day Sabbatarianism, viewing Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, while others maintain the traditional view that Saturday is the Sabbath, known as seventh-day Sabbatarians. Meanwhile, others view both days as equally valuable because Saturday is the true Sabbath and Sunday is Resurrection Day. This is why we have a two-day weekend. In fact, in Latin, Saturday is called “Sabat,” which is based on the Hebrew word for rest (Sabbath), and Sunday is called “Dominus,” which means “Lord,” so it represents the Lord’s Day. This even carries over to modern Latin-based languages, such as Spanish. In Spanish, Saturday is called Sabadó, and Sunday is called Él Domingo. This implies that for the early church, both days were valuable.

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Ritual Purity in the New Covenant

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Some may wonder if Christians are supposed to be eating kosher and following rules about bodily fluids and circumcision. Ritual purity laws differ from moral purity in that they don’t involve behavior; therefore, breaking them is not punishable by execution. These laws were designed to set the Israelites apart, and they were never given to Gentiles. Paul had a lot to say about not enforcing these laws in the New Testament, and even Jesus said some things to that effect. Let’s take a deeper look at why they existed in the first place and whether new covenant Gentiles are exempt from following them. What were they pointing to?

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Jesus vs the Talmud

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Jesus’s main critique of the Pharisees was that they were substituting God’s law with man-made traditions. The Pharisees were scapegoating laws in the Old Testament by reinterpreting certain verses, and these modifications are preserved in the Talmud. For example, they interpreted Deut 24:1 to allow for “any cause” divorce or adding “hate your enemies” to love your neighbor in Lev 19:18. Jesus, of course, corrected them in Matt chapter 5:31-32 & 5:43-48, as well as Matt 19 & Luke 10:25-37.

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God and Gentiles In The Old Testament

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Are all Gentiles (non-Jews) Evil in the Old Testament? Was it fair for God to judge Gentiles in the Old Testament when they didn’t have His Torah (Law)? Did they even know who he was or that he was the real God?

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Boiling Baby Goats In Their Mother’s Milk

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In Ex 23:19, Ex 34:26, and Deut 14:21-22, the Bible gives the command “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Some interpret this literally, suggesting that we can’t eat dairy and meat at the same time. But is there more to it than that?

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