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A cornerstone of Messianic Jewish belief is that Jesus was G-d in human form. Flesh, blood, bone and sinew, yet still completely G-d. But, does the Bible support this? Or does the Bible argue against this? Let's look over the Bible, and see what the Bible thinks about G-d being human. The Biblical Evidence There are a number of places within the Bible in which we are taught not to worship a human. The following is such some of the verses that address this. Within the Book of Numbers, one of the five books of the Torah, we see that G-d clearly draws the line between man and G-d. In Numbers 23:19, G-d states: "G-d is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent..." G-d leaves no doubt to the reader. G-d is neither man nor the son of man, completely counter to the claims of Messianic Judaism. G-d also states that he is not human, in the prophecies of Hoshea. In Hoshea 11:9, G-d says: "I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim; for I am G-d, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in fury." Again, G-d is clear. G-d is not man, the two are completely separate. G-d is letting the Jewish people know that G-d is not human. G-d is above humanity. The two cannot possibly be considered the same. The Book of Psalms bring us an even more interesting line. We can see a general reprimand against worshipping people in the book of Pslams. Psalms 146:3-5 states: "3. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4.His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust; in that very day his thoughts perish. 5. Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his G-d," The Book of Psalms teaches us that you should not put any hope or trust in the son of man, only in G-d. By doing so, we are yet another time taught that man and G-d are different. In actuality, the Hebrew actually is broader than the English translation. The Hebrew for "son of man" in the verse is "ben adam", which more properly means "son of a human", or, as used in common Hebrew parlance "human." We learn from the Bible that if it is human, it is unworthy of trusting, as opposed to G-d, who is faithful and worthy of all of our trust. Similarly, Ezekiel Chapter 28 shows G-d reprimanding the Prince of Tyre. The Prince apparently believes that he is a god. G-d tells him that the Prince is a man, not G-d, again delineating that a man cannot be G-d. Ezekiel 28:2 reads: " 'Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord G-D: because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am a god, I sit in the seat of G-d, in the heart of the seas; yet thou art man, and not G-d, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God-- " Notice that the verse reads, "man, and not G-d." There is no "in between" or "mixing" of the two. The same idea is reflected in verse 9 of the same chapter, which reads: "9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee: I am God? But thou art man, and not God, in the hand of them that defile thee. Summary and ConclusionOverall, the Bible leaves no doubt in its teachings. G-d is not human, and humans are not G-d. One cannot call a human "G-d", without going against the very core beliefs of the Bible. We see that humans are not worthy of worship, nor even worthy of our complete trust, but G-d is worthy of both. Thus, the Bible teaches us that Jesus cannot be G-d, and that believing that Jesus is G-d is a Biblical violation. If you truly follow the Jewish Bible, there is no place for worshipping Jesus as G-d. There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them: Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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