Description
Judaism’s claim to scriptural authenticity rests on a unique foundation: national revelation. Unlike private visions claimed in many other faiths, the Tanakh records God speaking to the entire nation at Sinai. Critics sometimes cite the Aztec legend of Huitzilopochtli as a parallel, but this is simply a common misunderstanding; Huitzilopochtli’s revelation came to the nation through a priest, it was not direct. The Sinai event really seems to be history’s only claim to a national encounter with the Divine. This is significant; a shared national memory seems impossible to fabricate. Let’s say that, on this basis, we accept that the Tanakh (Jewish scripture) is authoritative; the question, then, is whether Judaism or Christianity, which both share a root in the Tanakh, is true (I have already ruled out Islam here). In order to answer this question, we’ll examine prophecies, scriptural themes, and covenantal continuity.
Note that this article assumes some basic awareness of Biblical history. If you need that, I have a summary here. All Tanakh references use the Rabbi Rosenberg Translation, except one from the Septuagint in the last section.
YouTube video presentation of this argument here.
Prophecies
The Tanakh establishes a prophetic paradox. God promises a glorious new and “Everlasting Covenant” through which He will restore amity between Himself and mankind (Jer. 31:31-33, 32:40), but also promises wrathful judgment to Israel for violating the extant Covenant (Deut. 32:23-29, Zech. 11:1-6) – sometimes even concurrently (Ez. 16:59-63, Mal. 3:1-5). In Deuteronomy, God says that because Israel made Him jealous with false gods, He would “hide [His] face from them” and make them jealous with a “foolish nation” (Deut. 32:20-21). Many prophecies reiterate this plan to cut off the Jews and blind them as a punishment for disobedience (Deut. 28:28-29, Ps. 69:23-24, 118:19-23–Is. 8:14-16–28:16, 29:9-14, Zech. 12) while sparing a “remnant,” a purified core (Is. 11:11-16, Jer. 23:1-6, Mic. 5:3-8, 7:15-18, Zeph. 3:11-13, Zech. 13:8-9, Joel 3:5; note: this theme primarily developed in relation to the Babylonian exile, but the cited prophecies refer to a post-exilic period).
First century rabbis recognized that this great judgment was coming imminently. The Talmud says that in 30 AD, God ceased giving miraculous signs that He had accepted the Yom Kippur atonement, such as miraculously turning the scarlet thread tied to the Temple door white. Josephus and the Talmud report that they instead received signs of impending destruction, most notably the massive Temple gates opening by themselves, which the rabbis connected to Zechariah’s prophecy: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars” (Zech. 11:1). After 40 years of these signs, the Romans destroyed the Temple, razed Jerusalem, dissolved the Sanhedrin, and began the diaspora. Every essential element of the Old Covenant was destroyed. Josephus and the Talmud noted that the Second Temple’s destruction occurred on the anniversary of the First Temple’s destruction, a sign of providence.
But how could God render His everlasting Covenant with the Jews impossible to keep? And why did He cease to cooperate with it in 30 AD? Daniel 9 provides one answer.
Daniel gives a prophecy of 70 “weeks of years” – so, 490 years. The Messiah would come 69 “weeks” (483 years) after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian Exile. In the middle of the 70th “week,” He would confirm a covenant, be killed, and end Temple sacrifice (Dan 9). Ezra recounts the decree to restore Jerusalem coming from God through Artaxerxes in his seventh year of kingship. 457 BC. 69 “weeks” brings us to 27 AD, the 15th year of Tiberius over Judea beginning from his co-regency. The year Jesus of Nazareth began preaching. One half-week later, 30 AD, Jesus established a “New Covenant in [His] blood” (Luke 22:20), suffered crucifixion, and God refused Temple sacrifices thereafter. Though modern Rabbis argue Daniel 9 is not Messianic, Josephus referenced it as the primary reason first century Jews were confident the Messiah was coming imminently, and DSS 11Q13/11QMelch corroborates this.
Jews may protest the Messiah atoning for sins through death and resurrection. But Isaiah 53, which the Talmud, Midrash, and Maimonides call Messianic, says: “Despised and rejected by men… He was pained because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; [our chastisement] was upon him, and by his wound we were healed… With the strong [are his spoils], because he poured out his soul to death… and bore the sin of many.” Jews may protest that the Messiah is not a victim, but a king. And indeed, the Talmud recognizes a tension here. The Talmudic rabbis concluded there must be two Messiahs – one, Messiah ben Joseph, would die in battle; the other, Messiah ben David, would raise him from the dead and complete the prophecies. But is it so far-fetched to believe the prophets were describing one Messiah at two different times, rather than two Messiahs?
Jews may protest that God is unipersonal, so a Divine Son is impossible. But many Second Temple Jews believed that the “Angel of the Lord” described in scripture was God’s distinct, visible form. In Genesis, Jacob meets this Angel, who calls Himself “the God of Beth El” (31:11-13). Later, God commands Jacob to make an altar, not “to Me,” but to “the God who appeared to [him in Beth El]” (Gen. 35:1). The same chapter refers to Beth El as “the place God revealed themselves” (35:7). In Exodus 33, God sends the Jews a guardian Angel He calls “[His] Presence” (33:2–33:14-15); Isaiah calls this “Angel of His Presence” their “Savior” after saying God is Israel’s only Savior (Is. 43:11, 63:7-8). In the same chapter, Moses both “[cannot] see [God’s] face” (33:20) and speaks to God “face to face” (33:11). “Two Powers” monotheism was not declared heretical until after Christianity began.
Finally, Jews may protest that scripture never calls the Messiah divine. But Isaiah 9:5, which the Talmud and Maimonides call Messianic, calls the Messiah – an infant – “Mighty God” – a phrase repeated in Isaiah 10 referring to God. Daniel 7 describes the Messiah as a cloud-rider (a term reserved for God) who receives an eternal kingdom over all people; in the Talmud, one rabbi suggests it prophesies the Messiah enthroned beside God. Jeremiah 23:3-6, again called Messianic by the Talmud, says His name is “God Is Our Righteousness.” In Zechariah 2, God says, “I will dwell among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you” – suggesting that God will send Himself to live among men. God says He will visit the Second Temple and initiate the New Covenant (Mal. 3:1) making that Temple more glorious than the first (Hag. 2:7-9).
The prophets foretold Israel’s judgment. Jesus judged. The prophets foretold a divine Messiah. Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah and the Son of God (Matt. 16:16-17); sent by God (John 20:21), yet also God Himself (John 20:28-29). The prophets foretold a New Covenant. Jesus, the suffering servant established it in blood (Luke 22:20). They foretold a chosen remnant being spared. Ezekiel 9 says the remnant would be marked by the TAV – a Paleo-Hebrew cross-shaped letter. The New Covenant incorporated gentiles, fulfilling God’s promise to bless and gather the nations through Israel (Gen. 22:18, 49:10, Psalm 22:28, Isaiah 2:2, 54:3, 56:6-7, 66:19, Jer. 3:17, 16:19-20, Mic. 4:1-4, Jonah 3) and His promise to make Israel jealous with a “foolish nation” – starting with Rome, which the Jews coveted, but which was given to Jesus.
The General Narrative
But we can go much further than this. The Tankah is a story without an ending; struggle, bloodshed, promise, hope, but never a conclusion. What it’s all about and how it all comes together is inscrutable. But the Gospel solves this problem. Jesus is the conclusion to the story; and not only this, Jesus also serves as the key which unlocks the meaning of all the scriptures which preceded Him:
Adam is made from the dust of the earth. Jesus is born of a virgin. Adam and Eve desire to be gods, so they disobey. Jesus is God, yet chooses to obey. Adam and Eve take fruit from the tree of life, and through their disobedience, sin and death enter the world. Jesus, the “fruit of [Mary’s] womb” (Luke 1:42) is attached to a tree of death, and through He and Mary’s obedience, sin and death are destroyed. God tells the snake who tempted Eve that he would strike at the heel of her offspring, but would be crushed. Jesus is that offspring – suffering and dying at the hands of the snake, but defeating him in the same stroke.
Cain makes an imperfect sacrifice and kills his brother, the shepherd, who made a good one. The Jewish priests, who sacrifice animals, kill their brother, Jesus, the good shepherd and the perfect sacrifice. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, but stops him, differentiating Himself from the pagan gods. In Jesus, God fully reverses the pagan sacrifices by sacrificing His son, for us. Judah sells Joseph, the beloved son of Israel, into slavery for a few silver coins. He rises from that state and eventually rescues his 12 brothers and their tribe from famine. Judas sells Jesus, the beloved son of God, unto death for a few silver coins. He rises from that state and rescues His 12 Apostles and the whole world from death. As Jacob clothed himself with wool to receive the firstborn’s blessing from Isaac, Jesus clothes the gentiles with justice to receive grace from the Father.
Moses ventures into the desert for forty years before starting his ministry. Jesus fasts in the desert for forty days before starting His. Moses protects his people from death through the blood of the lamb, and then the manna in the desert. Jesus is the perfect Passover lamb who protects men from spiritual death, and makes His body the eternal Manna at the Last Supper, when He transforms the bread into His body and the wine into His blood and commands the Apostles to do likewise. This also fulfills the bread and wine offerings of Melchizedek. Moses led his people out of Egypt through the Red Sea; Jesus washes away man’s sin through Baptism. Moses healed his people from poison by placing the icon of the snake on the pole. Christ heals His people from death through His placement on the cross.
The Old Covenant was made at one time with all the people present and all those to come (Deut 29:9-15). God ratifies it by sharing a meal with the elders (Ex. 24:8-11). Jesus makes His future sacrifice present to the Apostles at the Last Supper and ushers in the New Covenant before the crucifixion. Both covenants operate outside of linear time, both involve the Covenant leaders sharing a feast with God. God provided the law written on stone tablets to Moses amidst the fires of Mt. Sinai. The Holy Spirit wrote the law on the Apostles’ hearts – as prophesied by Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Ez. 36:26, Jer. 31) – amidst tongues of fire in the upper room.
Under King Hezekiah, God replaced the wicked vicar Shebna with Eliakim, saying of Eliakim “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place” (Is. 22:21-23). King Jesus replaced the wicked religious leaders with the Apostles, saying to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19). Joshua, heir to Moses’ authority, subdues the pagan nations by the sword and wins the Promised Land. Peter, heir to Christ’s authority, subdues Rome by martyrdom and wins the Eternal City.
Jesus and Elijah both demonstrated power over the elements, denounced sin among the ruling class, prophesied, multiplied bread, raised the dead, fasted forty days and nights, and ascended. Jesus reveals that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel’s “glorious dwelling place” is Heaven, and their “place of judgment” is Hell. He is the “Suffering Servant” in Isaiah. He establishes the New and Everlasting Covenant promised to all three. His resurrection fulfills Ezekiel’s vision of bodily resurrection and everlasting life. Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah – all the chosen ones sinned and fell short. Jesus did not, fulfilling the Old Covenant and ushering in the new epoch.
Covenantal Continuity
To that point, let us discuss fulfillment and the new epoch.
The key features of the religion of Moses were right sacrifice, God’s localized presence, and authoritative guidance from God. These objective distinctions separated the Jews from the pagans. Judaism has none of these features. Proper sacrifices depend on a Temple which no longer exists. The Temple and the Ark, which localized God’s presence, are lost. The Jews have not recognized a Prophet in 2,500 years, which has led to a functional disintegration of dogma and divine purpose. Judaism is a religion of footnotes, its meaning varying from rabbi to rabbi, and a religion of legalisms, such as surrounding a neighborhood with thin wire so it’s “legally one private space” thereby permitting observant Jews to carry things like keys or push strollers in public, which would otherwise be prohibited on the Sabbath. “They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (Is. 29:13).
The Catholic Church, which claims to be the fulfillment of the religion of Moses, appears to have all three of these distinguishing features:
(1) At every Mass, the sacrifice of Christ is present. That is, there was only the one true sacrifice, but to be at Mass is to be there, the same way entering into the Mosaic covenant was to be there at Mount Sinai. The Mass fulfills all three of the ritual requirements for a Todah, a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The Priest offers bread, which sacramentally becomes the true and real body of Christ, fulfilling the need for a flesh-offering, and a bread-offering. Then the Priest offers wine – another part of the Todah – which becomes Christ’s blood, sacramentally splitting His body and blood – the sacrifice. Then all parties consume the victim, completing the Todah. The Midrash, interpreting Jeremiah, says all forms of offering except Todah will be abolished. With the Temple gone and Mass said every day across the world, it appears the Midrash was right.
(2) The Tabernacle contains the Eucharist, the bread transformed into Christ’s body; it is the new Ark of the Covenant. The Ark contained three things: manna, the bread which kept the Jews alive when wandering the desert. Aaron’s staff, symbolizing the High Priest’s authority. The Ten Commandments, symbolizing the Covenant. In the Eucharist, the body of Christ, these three symbols are replaced by the true realities. Manna gave life; this Bread is life. Aaron’s budded staff symbolized the High Priest’s authority and life coming from death; Christ is the resurrected High Priest. The stone tablets stated the Law; Christ is the very Word of God, He is the Law.
(3) All Catholics unite under the authority of the Bishops and Pope, fulfilling the role of the Levites, Sanhedrin, and Prophets. The ordinary Jewish authorities constituted an unquestionable judicial body of biological and merit-based succession. In instances where the ordinary authorities strayed significantly, God would send a prophet with the charism of infallibility through the Holy Spirit (proven by infallible prophecy and their ability to write infallible scripture, Deut. 18:20-22) to bring the people back to Him. The Apostles fulfill both roles. They express their ordinary judicial authority with the power to excommunicate, and their succession is spiritual, following a chain of ordinations going back to Jesus. At the Last Supper, Christ gave the Apostles “the Spirit of truth” to “abide forever” and “teach [them] all things” (John 14:16-18); the very same Spirit which animated the prophets animates the Apostles today, protecting the Church from error.
To understand why the “Firstborn” (Israel) was moved aside for the “Younger” (the Church), we must look at the scriptural motif of unmerited election: God favoring certain people or communities without their doing anything to deserve it and blessing them such that they rise above natural limitations. Isaac, called the “child of promise” before his birth, receives God’s inheritance over Ishmael, the firstborn. When Jacob (Israel) and Esau were still in the womb, God told Rebekah that “the older would serve the younger.” God gives and fulfills a prophecy to Joseph of him ruling over his elder brothers. This motif repeats with Ephraim, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon. The New Testament is the “final election,” through which God blesses men of all nations with the fullness of revelation, not according to natural lineage, but according to His call. There is neither Jew nor Gentile; all are one in Christ Jesus.
Summary
In closing: suppose I’m wrong about all of this. Where does this leave Judaism? It leaves it with an unfinished holy book, no Covenant authorities (Levites, Sanhedrin), no sacrifice, and no prophets. It leaves it with numerous unfulfillable prophecies, such as God initiating the New Covenant during the Second Temple period and coming to the Temple (Mal. 3:1-5, Hag. 2:7-9), or the Messiah taking the scepter from Judah (Gen. 49:10). Finally, it leaves religious Jews with an exile 28 times longer than the Babylonian exile and no particular explanation for it. Does this sound reasonable? Or could it be that the Messiah came and, like the prophets, was rejected?
The New Testament is the only way to make sense of Jewish scripture. It explains numerous prophecies which have already come true and concludes and explains the Tanakh. Modern Judaism has no key to unlock the narrative, and cannot derive any clear, unified, authoritative instruction from it. It totally lacks the substance of Mosaic religion, which includes worthy sacrifice, the localized presence of God, and authoritative promulgation of dogma. Judaism only maintains the externals of Mosaic religion, not the substance. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has the three key components: worthy sacrifice, God’s real presence, and definitive, divinely revealed dogmas through the magisterium in communion with the Pope. The Church fulfills the prophecies related to the New and Everlasting Covenant and the motif of unmerited election by extending to all the nations, enabling people across the world to worship the God of Israel day and night.