Christians and Jewish Traditions

VIDEO: Christians and Jewish Traditions

When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of these nations… For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and it is because of these abominable practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. (Deuteronomy 18:9 & 12 ESV)

God’s people were able to conquer the land which we know as Israel because of the traditions and practices of those nations. In Hebrew, the term “abomination” is to’evah and refers to actions or things that are considered detestable and offensive to God. If something is an abomination to God in the Old Testament, then it is a sin. As children of God we should avoid it. Our Father doesn’t change; if it was offensive to Him thousands of years ago, well, He still hates it today. If God conquered a land in the past because of certain practices and traditions, and if our nation embraces these same practices, our country will suffer similar consequences today.

God’s people were instructed not to follow any of the ways of the people they conquered because many of their practices were centered around the worship of other gods, idols, or village totems. Those practices became traditions that are abominations because they were created to worship other gods, totems, or village spirits. Some nations are still suffering because Christianity failed to follow this principle. When churches were established, they incorporated local traditions into the church. You will need to research your area to see what traditions are linked to idol worship.

Contemporary culture encourages us to honor the traditions of other nations and indigenous peoples. However, when churches adopt such practices, they risk defiling what is Holy and bringing us into agreement with what God considers abominable. Does your church or family still follow traditions handed down from your ancestors? Do you know where they came from? Even seemingly harmless traditions may be linked to the worship of deities and spirits, like:

• Pouring a portion of drinks on the ground

• Preparing food in a particular way

• Dancing or chanting in a particular way at church or at celebrations

• Wearing clothing with a particular animal pattern

• Praying and thanking the “land” for animals or crops

These are only a few items. There are too many traditions linked to other gods to list. If you are or have observed traditions, it can lead you into great bondage! See the free class at the Online Christian Church for more details about traditions.

God has a people whom He taught His ways. Those ways are good to know, and some are even good to follow:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV)

Scripture refers to what we know as the Old Testament. Seeing what God did in the past and how He created His country will help us understand how to walk with Him today. God gave Israel a list of do’s and don’ts in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Israel has created traditions out of these ways, with over 600 rules that the most devout Israelites live by. Here is what Jesus said about those rules, which are recorded in the Talmud.

For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. (Matthew 15:4-6 ESV)

The religious leaders overrode one of the Ten Commandments about honoring your father and mother so they could receive more money in the Temple. This was one of the traditions started at that time. Their “traditions” canceled out the Word of God. We must be careful not to follow traditions of Israel that come against God’s ways.

An example of this can be found in 2 Kings 5, where the Prophet Elisha heals the man of leprosy. Elisha declined the gift offered in gratitude for the healing, as anything touched by a leper was considered unclean according to God's law. When Elisha’s servant Gehazi pursued the man to accept the gifts contrary to the prophet's refusal, he was struck with leprosy. This is a perfect example of God’s ways being God’s ways, which He expects us to follow, not disregard them, because we desire money.

Also consider, a prophet is a mouthpiece of God. When a prophet says, “This is not God’s way, don’t do it,” if you persist, then God may send swift consequences. There will be two witnesses who are prophets called by God. They will be giving testimony against the nations, and God will then pour out His wrath shortly thereafter.

Churches have developed traditions of their own: ways that are against what God tells us to do. Will you hold to traditions in church and in your life? Or will you receive correction from God? There are some Jewish traditions based on God’s ways we have been set free from through Jesus. How do we know which to follow?

Putting God’s ways into two categories, unclean and abominations, will help us understand which ones we should follow and which ones the Lord has freed us from. As discussed, abominations are a “no-go,” for us. They are considered sins, and we should steer clear of them.

Leviticus 18 gives a list of sexual sins that are abominations, including but not limited to incest, adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality, as well as child sacrifice. Deuteronomy 22 lists women pretending to be men as an abomination. Any interaction with the spiritual realm through anything but God is also an abomination. Let’s look at the concise list God gives His people.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12 ESV)

This list was created thousands of years ago, so we need to include any occupation that is similar, but with a slightly different name, like witch doctor, physic, clairvoyant, palm reader, using “angel cards,” and such. All of these will open a spiritual door through which demonic spirits can enter your life. The word translated as necromancer is actually three Hebrew words:

Dāraš (daw-rash'): to seek, to ask

'Ēl (ale or el): of

Mûṯ (mooth): to die, or have died

This means speaking to or asking those who have perished from this Earth. Anyone who is no longer living on Earth. The Bible has lots of examples of people asking for the living “saints” to pray for them, but never asking for help from someone who has died. There are no scriptures that I am aware of that show someone asking for help from a person who has died, except for Jesus, because He is God, according to John chapter 1.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6 AKJV)

But this Man, because He continues ever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Why He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25 AKJV)

The Greek word mesitēs (me-see-tace) is translated as mediator, meaning a medium of communication. In the Book of Hebrews, it is clear that Jesus alone can intercede between God and man because He gave His life for us on the cross. How insulting is it to the Man who gave His life and suffered for us to pray or ask someone else to help, when the whole point of His death was to intercede for us! If your church is urging you to ask for help from someone who has died, consider if that tradition is according to God’s ways.

This chapter also tells us how God will guide us, in addition to the Holy Spirit:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’

And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:18-22 ESV)

There are prophets of God and prophets of other gods. We should not listen to anyone who is speaking for another god or goddess. We know if a prophet is really hearing from God if what they speak comes true.

God is still using prophets today. The New Testament mentions Agabus as a prophet who prophesied a drought that came true, and Paul wrote about the need for them:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11-13 AKJV)

Today, there are still apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers… right in the middle of this list are prophets. These jobs are in effect “till we all come in the unity of faith.” The world is not yet walking in that unity of faith in Jesus, so we still need all of these types of people operating in the world.

Some think that God no longer uses apostles because they have to “see Jesus” to be commissioned by Him as an apostle. The twelve disciples were unique in that they were not only apostles, but they were eyewitnesses to the crucifixion and resurrection. Because of the betrayal of Judas, Matthias was chosen to fulfill the specific ministry of the twelve as an eyewitness. There were apostles outside of the twelve witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul saw Jesus in a vision and became one of the most renowned apostles. This means God is still using apostles today.

Others reject prophets because they have been told the Bible says the scriptures are complete. Let’s look at those scriptures:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3 ESV)

The topic here is not “once and for all” revelation or scriptures from God. It is the faith in Jesus that is delivered once and for all to each saint or person. Once you receive that faith, you must hold onto it or contend for it. There is nothing else we may put our faith in. We cannot go back to sacrificing animals for our sins. Jesus died once for all sins:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit… (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)

Jesus provided the only sacrifice that is suitable for all sin from that point forward. Anyone who rejects Jesus rejects the price paid for their sins. Jesus only had to die once for all sins. This doesn’t mean people won’t still need help understanding God’s ways. That is the job of a prophet: to bring correction when God’s people are in error.

Back to the topic at hand. This is not the complete list of abominations in the Old and New Testaments, but it is safe to assume that if it is listed as an abomination, it is a sin, and we should turn from that sin, and hold to the ways of God’s people.

Unclean

Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 list animals that are an abomination. Being in contact with these makes a person “unclean.” The Hebrew word ṭāmē' (taw-may') is translated “unclean” and means polluted. Many actions and animals were considered “unclean,” and even their dead bodies would cause a person to be unclean for the day, until they bathed (Leviticus 11).

Science has proven that animals labeled as abominations are dangerous to humans. Unclean pigs carry diseases that can be transmitted and are harmful to people. Unclean fish have heavy metals that poison our bodies. God knows what was best for His creation even before science catches up.

Should Christians Observe Restrictions on Food?

Jesus declared that all foods are now “clean” and unable to defile us:

And He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19 ESV)

Jesus released us from the restrictions on food, so Christians can eat all foods. However, we should be aware of the dangers in the foods God calls unclean and be cautious when eating them. How about food that is sacrificed to idols?

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in Heaven or on Earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 ESV)

Paul begins by pointing out that idols have no power since they involve gods, and our God is the only true God. This means that food sacrificed to idols has no power over us. Let’s continue reading:

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. (1 Corinthians 8:7-8 ESV)

If someone has formally sacrificed a specific food to idols, then they can be defiled by eating that food because they lack the confidence in the blood to overcome all things. Their fear of eating it makes it a sin.

Only be careful that this power of choice (this permission and liberty to do as you please) which is yours, does not [somehow] become a hindrance (cause of stumbling) to the weak or overscrupulous [giving them an impulse to sin]. For suppose someone sees you, a man having knowledge [of God, with an intelligent view of this subject and] reclining at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged and emboldened [to violate his own conscientious scruples] if he is weak and uncertain, and eat what [to him] is for the purpose of idol worship? (1 Corinthians 8:9-10 AMPC)

We can eat all things, but we must be careful that this doesn’t lead others into sin. If someone has worshipped a god through eating sacrificial food, they may follow your example, but lack the faith to know their old gods are nothing, only demons.

And when you sin against your brethren in this way, wounding and damaging their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if [my eating a] food is a cause of my brother’s falling or of hindering [his spiritual advancement], I will not eat [such] flesh forever, lest I cause my brother to be tripped up and fall and to be offended. (1 Corinthians 8:12-13 AMPC)

Eating food sacrificed to idols is a sin when it leads others of weaker faith into sin. Only God knows the hearts of others and what will become a temptation to them. This is why we must be led by the Holy Spirit, especially concerning the practices and traditions that may be unclean. Paul gave some additional help to the Corinthians. We may want to consider:

All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbor]. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24 AMPC)

We must always consider others in what we do. Having a glass of wine is not a sin. Paul told Timothy to drink wine with His meal to avoid stomach trouble. However, if someone is visiting who is an alcoholic, listen to God because perhaps serving wine is not a good idea. Paul brings clarity to this point as his letter continues:

[As to meat offered to idols] eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question or investigating on the grounds of conscientious scruples, For the [whole] earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it.

In case one of the unbelievers invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is served to you without examining into its source because of conscientious scruples. But if someone tells you, “This has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the person who informed you, and for conscience’s sake— I mean for the sake of his conscience, not yours, [do not eat it]. (1 Corinthians 10:25-29 AMPC)

The point of limiting what we eat or what we do is to keep others from sinning who do not have the same level of faith. We should also avoid offending those who have yet to realize that idols and gods are evil spirits. Paul summarizes this as he closes this chapter:

Do not let yourselves be [hindrances by giving] an offense to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God [do not lead others into sin by your mode of life]; Just as I myself strive to please [to accommodate myself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others, adapting myself to] all men in everything I do, not aiming at or considering my own profit and advantage, but that of the many in order that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:32-33 AMPC)

Because we belong to Jesus, we may do many things; however, it doesn’t mean that we should do them. Israel has many traditions concerning the worship of God, just as most nations have traditions linked to other gods. We should turn from the traditions of other gods and make sure other traditions do not violate God’s ways.

Doing something that God calls an abomination is still a sin for us today and may have consequences in this life, but if something is unclean, we can listen to the Holy Spirit about what is right for us at that time.