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  • Writer's picturePhillip Raimo

The Law Brings A Curse



There is always going to be a Messianic side to me. My walk started in West Covina in 79 and I lived at the Olive Tree with Rabi Tom Blackburn. It reminded me of last night's study with the High school ministry. We read Galatians 3:10-14 verse 10 says,

Gal 3:10

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”


In sec. b, it says Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” For the Gentile when we sin we have an advocate with the Father the Lord Jesus Christ But for the Jew there is no remission of sins.

Why In 70 A.D. Titus the Roman destroyed the temple so there is no more animal sacrifice.


Jews because of this lean on good works for repentance but according to the Tora there had to be a sacrifice.


On Yom Kippur, this day of atonement was an appointed fast that occurred on the tenth day of the seventh month. Of all the days marked out in Leviticus 23, this was the high point. On the Day of Atonement, the entire sacrificial system was rebooted. After a year of accumulating sin and impurity, symbolically polluting the system and its ministers, the Day of Atonement cleanses and reestablishes the whole system.


The Day of Atonement was the only day when a priest could enter the Most Holy Place (or the Holy of Holies), the inner room of the tabernacle or temple that contained the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. On that day, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with incense and sprinkled the mercy seat with the blood of both purification offerings—a bull for the high priest and the goat on which the lot had fallen for the people.


Remember when Jesus was crucified we may now enter boldly before the throne because the veil of the temple was torn in two.

Matthew 27:51 and Hebrews 4:16


the Day of Atonement is both symbolic and anticipatory of the work of Christ, upon whom forgiveness ultimately rests. The efficacy of the Old Testament sacrificial system rested on the promise of Christ’s future act.


When God’s dwelling with his people in the new Eden of the tabernacle was threatened by human trespass and corruption, he provided a Day of Atonement when communion might be graciously preserved through sacrifice.


Yet, as Hebrews makes clear, the blood of bulls and goats does not take away sins. Christ is the One whose sacrifice truly cleanses the heavenly holy places, and he’s the One who, like the scapegoat, utterly removes and bears away our sins.


As the Law condemns you, salvation through Christ saves you.


A common Jewish objection that I continue to hear is that Jewish people don’t believe that a human can be sacrificed for sins. In other words, a human can’t atone for the sins of the Jewish people.


in 70 A.D., religious and social life changed forever for the Jewish people. The Jewish people no longer had a sacrificial system in the Temple. Therefore, the atonement structure was changed to repentance which entails prayer, fasting, and doing a mitzvah (good deeds). Remember that there were other times when the Jewish people had no functioning Temple (read Daniel). They would pray directly to God and he would hear their prayers. But the reality is that even if God did hear their prayers and accept them, the real issue today is whether Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. Dr. Michael Brown says:


one of the titles for the Messiah is “The Servant of the Lord.” Within the book of Isaiah, there are several Servant of the Lord passages. Some of the passages about the Servant of the Lord are about the nation of Israel (Is.41:8-9; 42:19; 43:10; 44:21; 45:4; 48:20), while there are other passages where the Servant of the Lord is seen as a righteous individual (Is.42:1-4;50:10; 52:13-53:12).


In relation to the Servant of the Lord being a Servant-King, we see one of the clearest representations of this in Isaiah 53:1-12.


Many Christians can’t understand why Jewish people can’t see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 53.


It would be nice if it was that simple.


One of the most common questions is whether the New Testament authors were familiar with Isaiah 53 or any other texts in the Tanakh (the Old Testament) that pointed to a suffering messianic figure. After all, they were Jewish and had read the Scriptures all their lives. But there is no doubt that the early followers of Jesus had a hard time accepting the fact that Jesus was going to suffer and die: A couple of passages prove my point: Matt 16:21, Mark 9:31,


Also, with the exception of 1 Peter 2: 24-25, the New Testament passages that quote Isa. 53 don’t address the atoning significance of the Servant’s suffering.


There is no doubt that the authors of the Gospel stress the death of Jesus. Paul’s citation of Isaiah 53:1 (Rom 10:16) with John’s (John 12:38) makes the same point: the Jewish people have rejected the Gospel.


We do see Jesus is a Passover sacrifice (e.g, Jn. 19:14;1 Cor. 5:7-8); an unblemished sacrifice (1 Pet.1:19; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 7: 26-28; 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:21-25); a sin offering (Rom 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21) and a covenant sacrifice (e.g., Mk. 14:24; 1 Cor. 11:25).


Peter uses Old Testament prophecy in Acts 3:18, where he declares: “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.” Where in the prophets are we told that God’s “Christ (or Messiah) should suffer”? Isaiah 53 is possibly what Peter is alluding to. Or, he may be referring to the overall redemptive plan of the Jewish Scriptures. Probably the most explicit case for Isaiah 53 being used is in Acts 8: 32-34 in the exchange between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.


We know the Jew is blinded and can not see Isaiah 44:18


More Jewish people have come to faith in Yeshua in the last generation than at any time since the first century. Through the ministry of Jewish Voice alone, we have seen some thousands of Jewish People respond to the Gospel in the last decade of outreaches alone!


God is opening long-blinded eyes and softening thousands of Jewish hearts just as the Scriptures promised. The time during which the good news finds hearing only among Gentiles is coming to an end. We recognize this as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and a clear indication that the Last Days are upon us.


Lets us close with our passage: Galatians 3:10-14

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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