Many Jews continue to view Christianity as a hostile faith that was launched 2,000 years ago by a man they consider a rebel and a traitor to their religion.
That would be Jesus Christ who was rejected by the rabbis as a fraud and a usurper of Judaism. They have historically claimed that when the real messiah appears, he will be a religious scholar who will conquer Israel's enemies and establish his kingdom on earth in Jerusalem.
The rabbis claim that Christ couldn't have been the messiah because he not only failed to establish God's kingdom on earth, he got himself crucified in the process.
Though the rabbis have taught that for 2,000 years, their teaching doesn't line up with scripture. Nor has it ever. Unfortunately, the rabbis don't consider the Bible to be the sole authority concerning the word of God. Rather, they believe that they possess the divine authority to fashion their own messiah in their imaginations.
If that sounds like idolatry, it is. The fallen human imagination is where all religious idols have been incubated throughout history before they were created into clay, wood, metal and stone images. Though the rabbis haven't created a physical image of their mythical messiah--in deference to the Second Commandment--they hold that image firmly in their minds and brand it in the minds of their followers.
Certainly, Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies that are recorded in the Bible's Old Testament. Some of those prophecies include His virgin birth, (Isaiah 7:14) his life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection, (Isaiah 52-53) His birthplace of Bethlehem, (Micah 5:2) and His triumphant ride through the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey just days before He was arrested by the rabbis and handed over to the Romans to be crucified. (Zechariah 9:9)
With all that evidence, you'd think that the Jews would embrace Christ as their Messiah. Tragically, the majority of them continue to deny Christ, mainly out of fear and ignorance. Many Jews secretly believe that Christ is indeed the Messiah, but they dare not confess Him publicly because they fear that they'll be humiliated by the rabbis and ostracized by the Jewish community.
Nevertheless, many Jews are now coming to Christ and publicly confessing Him as Lord. And that's prophetic.
The ancient Hebrew prophet Hosea, who lived during the 8th Century B.C., wrote this concerning the distant spiritual future of his people: "For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward, the Israelites will return to their Lord and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days." (Hosea 3:4-5)
Hosea couldn't have been referring to King David in that prophecy, because David had been dead for two centuries. Rather, the prophet used David as an allegory for the Jewish Messiah.
And the apostle Paul revealed this in his epistle to the early Roman church: "I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved..." (Romans 11:25-26)
Paul clearly revealed that as the Church age drew near to an end, the Jews would begin a spiritual revival that would lead them to Christ.
Are we seeing these prophecies being fulfilled? Indeed, we are. Estimated Jewish believers in Christ now range from 350,000 to one million worldwide, which is up from about 200,000 in the 1990s. Though that number seems small, keep in mind that there are only 12 million Jews in the world.
And so, we are definitely seeing God's prophetic word concerning the Jews being fulfilled in our time.
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