Messianic Jews have, of late, been targeted by a multitude of Jewish "anti-missionary" organizations and websites whose sole goal is to debunk any religion that believes Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah. These "anti-missionaries" are apparently so afraid of us, that they have stooped to name-calling, sarcasm, and outright lying in order to paint Messianic Jews as devils in disguise who use cult-like tactics to win Jewish souls. It is apparent from the many existing anti-missionary websites, that they will do almost anything to try to stop believers in Yeshua from spreading the gospel. In their own words, they are obsessed with the idea of "bringing Jews in the church back to the truth and beauty of the Jewish faith."

Please don't misunderstand; Messianic Jews have a great love for the Jewish people and for Israel. Jews are, after all, God's Chosen People. The entire Bible is about Israel and the Jews, and Gentiles are blessed to be "grafted in" to the Olive Tree. It's because of the God of the Jews - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - that the Gentiles will get a chance at eternal life, through His Son, the Messiah Yeshua!

But an attack is still an attack, especially when it's directed against God!

While it is completely understandable that some Jewish rabbis would fight like cats and dogs to keep their people on the "straight and narrow," the bottom line is, they are deceiving not only themselves, but God's Chosen, as well. Much of this is because, while rabbis certainly know the Torah, they constantly argue over every bit of Scripture, with none of them ever agreeing on anything. And when it comes to Messiah, there's a lot of arguing, but no single, clear understanding of Him; they can't even agree among themselves how long Messiah will reign! How many Jewish rabbis had their congregations convinced that Rabbi Schneerson was the Messiah, only to witness their disappointment when he wasn't resurrected? Jews know they are God's Chosen People. But, but how many of them really know their Jewish heritage? How many really know what the Torah says? How many of them really know what the Old Covenant says? How many have ever questioned why Isaiah 53 is completely ignored? How can Jewish rabbis possibly lead their congregations with so many differing opinions?

The bottom line is: Many Jews don't know their own heritage very well, and they don't know what the Bible really says. Consequently, they basically know only what their rabbis teach.

Face it, Yeshua IS the Messiah they have been waiting for, and one day they will realize it. God says in Philippians 2:11 "...and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (See also John 13:13; Rom 10:9; 14:9) Yeshua is evident throughout the Old Testament, and in all the Biblical feasts; and, in John 4:25-26 He even said He was Messiah: "...he replied, 'I who speak to you am he'." How much clearer can it get?

Jeremiah 31:31-36 states the following:

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD Almighty is his name: "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."

Anti-missionary websites are riddled with hateful verbiage. Case in point:

• Messianic Jews are "cults" and "subversive organizations" who use "underhanded tactics to trick unsuspecting Jews into joining a Christian movement."

Underhanded? Scripture speaks for itself! Cults? Well, I suppose we ALL could fall under that category, according to the dictionary definition: (1) a system of religious beliefs and ritual; (2) a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents. What's so "unorthodox" about belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in God's Son Whom God clearly stated was sent to redeem the world? The Jews already believe in JHVH, God the Father; their eyes have simply not been opened to the REST of the story....

• "The missionaries' approach to ensnare unsuspecting people includes quoting Torah verses out of context and gross mistranslations."

Gross mistranslations? A rabbi on one anti-missionary website stated the following: "... Jesus never professed to be the messiah, although others would make this claim for him. It may be for this reason that Jesus almost never claims to be the messiah throughout the New Testament." Almost never? Hmmm. So, the times Jesus said he was God didn't count? Mat 16:15-17, John 4:26 and 17:3 certainly tell us that He said it.....

• "These deceptions are most successful with Jews who have no knowledge of their own Jewish heritage."

Agreed. Like many Gentiles, there are Jews who don't know their own heritage, either, and they don't know the Bible - partially because much of what Jews know is not based on the Bible, but rather on what the rabbis have told them. It is a well-known fact that Jews have hundreds of traditions, most of which are not in the Bible, and many which are disputed amongst themselves (especially the learned rabbis). Many of these traditions come from the Talmud (customs and traditions originally handed down by word of mouth, which includes kabbalistic mysticism, a form of astrology, which God, throughout the entire WRITTEN Bible, speaks against....) I know of a Jewish family right now who obviously doesn't have a clue about the Bible. They don't attend synagogue; they've never taught their son his Jewish heritage; yet they have been adamantly trying to pressure him into forcing his Gentile wife have an abortion because they've never approved of his having married a woman who believes in Jesus. Righteous though this family might be in their desire to remain spotlessly Jewish, if they knew their Bible, they would realize that they're asking their son to break the Sixth Commandment: Thou shalt not murder.

• The sad thing is that tens of thousands of Jews (including an estimated 50,000 in Israel today) have fallen for this falsehood.

Thank God! At least the veil has been lifted from the eyes of some of God's Chosen People.....

• The anti-missionaries are relentless in their effort to make believers sound like devils in disguise: "As assimilation and Jewish apathy continue to rise at an alarming rate, the Jewish community is confronted by the increasing efforts of fundamentalist Christian missionaries.....Each year, over eight hundred different missionary groups spend in excess of $250 million towards converting Jews. They utilize new, sophisticated and deceptive techniques, such as making Christianity appear Jewish in order to attract converts..... These missionary groups are active worldwide. It is estimated that in 1998 there were over 250,000 Jews who considered themselves 'Hebrew-Christians' - substantially more than the estimated 10,000 "Hebrew-Christians" in 1978...."

Why shouldn't we make "Christianity appear Jewish in order to attract converts"? After all, Christianity does have its roots in Judaism....

Honestly, the bottom line is, Messianic Jews are not deceiving anyone, and no one is trying to "convert" the Jews because a Jew is a Jew; he cannot be "converted." Yeshua commands us to spread the gospel (Mark 13:10; Mark 16:15), but you can't force our Jewish friends to believe. That is, after all, between them and God.