Rabbinical Writings

The Rabbinical writings have the benefit of having come from some descendants of the Israelite Nation. They do not have many of the barriers to understanding and interpreting Scripture that most peoples in the world must deal with. They are familiar with the culture of their people, they know the geology and geography of the land of Israel, they are very familiar with the history of their people, and understand the original Hebrew language well. Their experiences of the last few thousand years act as an example to us who are relative newcomers in a relationship with the Almighty.

The single greatest benefit to be found within Rabbinical commentary is the amount of study into the Messiah. They search for not only the prophecies that directly point to Messiah, but also seek out the nuances and minor details in Scripture that show us an aspect of Him or His life. Over and over, it is incredible how well they describe the life of Yahshuah even if they deny He is the Messiah. An example of this is the discussions on the two Messiahs. One is known as Messiah son of Joseph who is described as a suffering servant and the other is Messiah son of David who is described as a conquering king. What they interpret as two Messiahs is, in actuality, a very good description of the first and second coming of the same Messiah.

There are many cautions to be taken when using Rabbinical writings and commentary. Primarily, we must keep in mind that they have rejected the Messiah who has come. Without this fulfillment and meaning to apply to Scripture they, of necessity, must find a different interpretation to those passages that foreshadow Messiah's first coming. Second, the modern Judaism that we know today, is very different than what the Nation of Israel would have been in the first or second temple periods. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the power and authority of the Rabbis has taken over. Through the centuries, they have created a lot of theology that is based more on man's reasoning than it is on Scripture.

We must also be cautious of other forms of study that are used by Jewish scholars. One of these forms is called gematria. This is calculating the numerical value of words and letters because each number is thought to have a specific hidden meaning attached to it. Another form is the use of midrash. A midrash is a story that attempts to fill in missing parts of a Scriptural story. We must be especially wary of kaballism which is the Jewish equivelant to the christian gnosticism or secret knowledge.