In this enlightening episode, Rabbi Schneider delves into how the sovereignty of God is portrayed in Judaism, contrasting it with common Christian misconceptions. We explore the impact of understanding the Hebrew Bible in shaping a more complete view of God’s nature. Rabbi Schneider shares personal anecdotes and biblical examples illustrating God’s sovereign power and His intimate involvement in both good and challenging circumstances of life.
In Judaism, God is sovereign. He’s God in heaven above and he’s God on the earth beneath. And so he’s not a frustrated God up in the sky that can’t accomplish what he wants to. We’re continuing a series today that I’m calling, How Jesus Completes Biblical Judaism. I began to show us that when we don’t have a proper view of the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish people call the Tanakh, and Christians call the Old Testament. When we don’t have a proper view of the Tanakh or Old Testament, beloved, we end up with a very distorted view of who God is and a very shallow understanding of our Christian faith. You see, the foundation of our faith in Scripture is the Old Testament. That’s why the first book in the New Testament, Matthew 1, verse 1, begins by saying, this is the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Immediately, the New Testament brings us back to the first pages of the Old Testament. So we need to understand our foundation. We need to have the right orientation of the Scriptures. And when we don’t have a right orientation of the scriptures, because we’ve spent all our time only studying the New Testament, we end up once again, beloved, with wrong theology. I remember as a brand new believer, many of you know my testimony. I was supernaturally saved in 1978 as a Jewish person when Yeshua, when Jesus appeared to me in my bedroom. I started telling everybody about my experience. Eventually, somebody said to me, you need to go to church. And they invited me to a service with them. The service that I’m speaking of now was on a Wednesday night. And the evangelists started teaching and preaching. There was hundreds of young people there. And the picture he started painting, it seemed like to me, was that God was up in heaven somewhere and he wanted to do all these things, but he couldn’t because man wouldn’t let him. And it almost was as if God was frustrated. He was this frustrated God in the heavens that was, you know, wringing his hands because his purposes were being frustrated by man. And something in me just really repudiated that. I understand that man, beloved, has a will, but it was like he was painting God as almost being impotent, that he couldn’t accomplish what he wanted to do because man down here was stopping him. And again, something in my spirit just said, this is not God. This is not the God that I know is God. And the story escalated, and after the message was over and the service was concluding, I mentioned to my friend that, you know, what the preacher was saying didn’t really line up with the scriptures, because I had studied the Bible a lot by then. And my friend didn’t really trust me. So they went up to the evangelist and they started talking to the evangelist. And I noticed they were up there for quite a while. So slowly I kind of meandered up there and walked up to where my friend was talking to the evangelist. And the evangelist said to my friend pointing at me, is he the one that told you that? He refuses to read his Bible. And it was just a situation where the truth was is that God is not a frustrated being up in the sky that can’t do what He wants to do because man won’t let Him. The truth we find out when we study the Hebrew Bible is that God is sovereign. We read in the book of Daniel, for example, that after God humbled Nebuchadnezzar and caused Nebuchadnezzar to go mad because Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t humble himself, after Nebuchadnezzar had learned his lesson that he shouldn’t walk pridefully, that he shouldn’t be arrogant, after God brought judgment on him and Nebuchadnezzar learned how powerful and sovereign God is, Nebuchadnezzar made a declaration in the book of Daniel and he said, I have come to understand. that God is God above and on the earth beneath and He does whatever He wants and nobody can stop Him or hold back His hand. In other words, in Judaism, God is sovereign. He’s God in heaven above and He’s God on the earth beneath. And so He’s not a frustrated God up in the sky that can’t accomplish what He wants to. But the problem is that many Christians, since they don’t have a theology that has been developed through the study of the Hebrew Scriptures, they wind up with a faulty understanding of God, even as this evangelist did. I could go into many other examples of this, including healing. For example, it’s unfortunate today that many of the people that are really making impact on the earth by teaching healing and being used of the Lord to bring healing to God’s people, they have a theology that limits God’s activity and they say that God could never and would never bring illness into somebody’s life or bring judgment into somebody’s life. That everything bad that happens is from the devil. But the truth is, beloved, when we read the Old Testament scriptures, when we read the Hebrew Bible, we see that God does use everything for His own purpose. He can use good things and bad things. The Lord said, for example, in the book of Isaiah, I am God and there is no other. I cause well-being and I create calamity. I form light and I create darkness. I am God that does all these things. We see this even in the life of Paul in the New Testament, where Paul said that because of the abundance of the revelation that was given him, there was a messenger of Satan that was sent to him to torment him in the flesh. Now, where’s the messenger of Satan come from? The messenger of Satan, beloved, was an instrument of God because Paul said that because of the abundance of revelation that was given to him, a messenger of Satan was assigned to him to torment him. Paul said to keep him. from exalting himself.” So in other words, this instrument, this messenger of Satan was actually a tool of the Lord to keep Paul humble and to keep him from exalting himself. Paul said he prayed to the Lord three times to take it away. And after the third time, the Lord answered Paul, And he said, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. In other words, I’m not going to take this thing away. I’m not going to take this messenger of Satan that’s causing you pain in your life away. God said, because Paul, my power is going to be perfected in your weakness. In other words, as Paul was forced to stay on his knees because of this battle against the enemy that he was going through in his life, God was perfecting the power of the Holy Spirit in him and keeping him from exalting himself. And so… People that don’t understand the Hebrew scriptures don’t have a framework to even understand the New Testament scriptures. In the Hebrew Bible, God sent the serpents to bite thousands of the children of Israel in the desert because of their disobedience. God caused Miriam to get leprosy because she was coming against Moses. God caused the earth to open up and swallow up Korah and his company because they were in rebellion against God’s leadership. In other words, God used bad things as well as good things. He is Adon Olam, beloved. He’s the master of the universe. And to understand his glory and to understand his purposes and to accurately understand the New Testament scriptures, we have to understand, listen now, the Hebrew Bible as well. So simply getting back to where I began by saying that sometimes people that believe in healing, they have no room in their theology that God ever could be using an illness for his own purpose. But the truth is, beloved, this does not line up with the totality of God’s word. God is a healing God, but God has a timing and God has a purpose in everything. I want to encourage you, just as a side note, if you need healing, continue to believe God for your healing. He’s a healer. And He’s going to bring every one of His sons and daughters to completeness, to complete perfection. But if you’re struggling right now, you should also be looking to the Lord as to what He may be wanting to teach you or what He wants you to gain from going through the process. Because after all, He can heal you just like that, right? I want to encourage you to have faith, but I want to encourage you to also take into account the counsel of the entire Word of God. And in order to do that, we need to know both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. And so I say all that today, that it’s so important for those of us that have spent almost all of our times in our study of Scripture in the New Testament, you need and we need to understand that it’s important, beloved, to understand the Hebrew Scriptures as well. Jesus himself used the Hebrew Bible to defeat the devil. Paul used the Hebrew Bible to witness. Jesus used the Hebrew Bible to witness. It was the only Bible they had. So my thought is if it was good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. It has application for your life and my life today. If we only study the New Testament, once again, beloved, we’re going to come up with a very shallow understanding of the Christian faith and our theology is going to be distorted.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. He’s going to be right back. But first, I want to let you know that you can watch full episodes of Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku Television. We have episodes that are filmed in the Holy Land and outreach events from Nigeria and Gulu, Uganda, all sorts of places. Every episode is available to help deepen your understanding of Scripture and the Jewish roots of your faith. So search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku today. Your support is fueling a powerful move of God through the Discovering the Jewish Jesus Israel Awakening Initiative. Right now, we’re equipping and strengthening congregations throughout Israel. We’re launching evangelistic outreach campaigns in the land. Lives are being changed as Israelis encounter the love of Jesus. Stand with us today and boldly proclaim the gospel in Israel, clearly and without compromise. If God is moving you to join us, go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Now, back to Rabbi.
SPEAKER 03 :
I want to move forward and I want to talk about another misconception that many people have. And that is that they view the God of the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament as kind of a God of law, that He was a lawgiver and that He punished people when they disobeyed Him. And they see Him in the Hebrew Scriptures as a God of justice that punished people when they didn’t obey Him. And they view the God of the New Testament as a God of grace. And it seems to many of God’s people that He’s a different God in the Hebrew Bible than He is in the New Testament. Again, they view the God of the Hebrew Bible as this harsh lawgiver that almost mercilessly punished people when they disobeyed. And then they turn to the New Testament And it’s suddenly they feel like God just, you know, changed faces. Now he’s a God of grace. Now he’s a God of love. And people are left scratching their heads saying, but it seems like these are two different gods. Is this the same God? The God of the Old Testament seems like a different God to me than the God of the New Testament. So what I want to do is speak to that now and help you to understand that. that the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is the author of the Hebrew Bible, and He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. In other words, church, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, the God of the Tanakh, is the same God that is revealed in the New Testament. So let’s begin by examining this in the most fundamental and elementary form, and that is let’s look at God’s nature. The nature of God. Is the nature of God that we see revealed in the Hebrew Bible consistent with the nature of God that we see revealed in the New Testament? So let’s ask ourselves this question. What is the attribute of God that is most exalted in the Hebrew Bible? And is that same attribute the attribute of God that we see most exalted in the New Testament? To answer that question, we’re going to go now to the book of Isaiah. I want to take you to the book of Isaiah today, chapter 6. Now, Isaiah was a real unique prophet because many of the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were not highly educated or didn’t hold high positions in society. But Isaiah was unique in the sense that he came from a much more sophisticated background. And he was actually a prophet that served under many kings. But his call began under the king of Uzziah. Let’s take a look now at Isaiah 6, looking at Isaiah’s call and the encounter he had with the living God, the God of Israel and your father today. I’m beginning there in verse number one, Isaiah’s writing. He says, in the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another. Here’s where I want you to really key in now. Isaiah’s looking at these divine beings around the throne of God and they were calling out to one another. Listen to what they were saying. Remember, Isaiah is seeing directly into the heavens. He’s seeing God on the throne. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne. Seraphim were all around him. And listen what the Seraphim were saying. And one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, is Yahweh, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundation of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, woe is me, for I am ruined, because I’m a man of unclean lips. And I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes Eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. So first of all, I want you to understand that we need to take Isaiah at his word, that he saw the Lord high and lifted up. God allowed him to see in the spirit world. Isaiah saw the Lord on his throne. And the thing that he heard happening in heaven was these angels were calling out to one another. Listen, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, is Yahweh, God Almighty, the Lord of hosts. So what is unique here is Above all else that I want to point out is that this threefold repetition of any of God’s attributes is only seen one time in the entire Old Testament, one time in the entire Tanakh. In other words, Isaiah exalts the attribute of God’s holiness above everything else. In other words, Isaiah doesn’t say, Almighty, Almighty, Almighty is the Lord of hosts. And he doesn’t say, all righteous, all righteous, all righteous, or all loving. He uses the word holy. Holy, holy, holy. And it’s the only time, once again, beloved one, in the entire Tanakh, the entire Old Testament, where any of God’s attributes, listen now, are repeated three times in a row. Holy, holy, holy. Now, Because this attribute is the only time where we see any of his attributes repeated three times in a row, this tells us that this is God’s most exalted attribute, and Isaiah literally sees it being exalted as his most exalted attribute in heaven. The question we want to ask ourselves now is, is this consistent with the attribute of God’s nature that is most highly exalted in the b’rechah hadashah, which is the Hebrew word for the New Testament? Well, I’m going to show you something fascinating now. We’re going to go to the book of Revelation, chapter four, because in Revelation, chapter four, the apostle John is on the island of Patmos and he has an encounter much like Isaiah did. The apostle John is called up to see in the spirit world and he sees God on the throne. Let’s see what John saw. I’m going to begin reading now from the book of Revelation, chapter four. I’m going to begin reading at verse number one. Hear the word of God. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but hallelujah, the word of God abides forever. John is speaking here. He said, after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately, John says, I was in the spirit. And behold, a throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne. Doesn’t this sound like what Isaiah saw? Isaiah also was called to see into the heavens and he saw God on the throne. Let’s continue on. John writes, And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardis in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. And by the way, beloved, let’s not allow different perceptions of the rainbow to take away the fact that in Scripture we see that around the throne of God was a rainbow. It’s an exclamation of God’s beauty. Let’s continue on. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, listen now, listen. were four living creatures. I wanna go down now to the eighth verse. And the four living creatures, where were the four living creatures? They were around the throne of God in heaven. In verse eight, and the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within, and day after night they do not cease to say, Holy, listen, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. In other words, John saw the same thing that Isaiah saw. It’s the only place in the entire New Testament where any of God’s attributes are repeated three times in a row. His holiness. Holy, holy, holy, John said he saw, is the Lord God Almighty. The angels screaming it in their heart full of love and passion for the Lord from heaven. The other day I was walking through the streets of Jerusalem and I saw on my right a beggar. And there’s so many people begging for money. I just kept going on this particular occasion. But after I passed him, I felt bad. I felt like I should have blessed that person with a financial gift. And it grieved my heart that I didn’t. And I covenanted in my heart with the Lord, Lord, let me not miss an opportunity like that again. Well, praise God, on my way back, he was still there and I was able to bless him with the gift from the Lord, you know, just with the financial blessing. The reason I tell the story is that oftentimes we mean to do well, we mean to make an offering to the Lord and give, but we sometimes are so busy, we’re moving so quick, we don’t do it. Well, I say that to say, this is our last chance. We’ve come to the very end of the year. If the Lord has put it on your heart to present an offering to Him through discovering the Jewish Jesus, I want to encourage you, this truly is our last chance. I want to thank you for your love and financial support. Because of you, beloved, we’re able to do what we’re doing and reach the world with the gospel.
SPEAKER 01 :
You can give a special end of year financial gift of any amount to Discovering the Jewish Jesus when you visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. If it’s easier for you, just give us a call. Our number is 800-777-7835. And today is the deadline for giving a donation for the 2025 tax year. So if you’d like to give this year, then please make sure to do it before midnight tonight. And for those of you who’ve supported Discovering the Jewish Jesus this year, I want to say something to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. We’re really deeply and eternally grateful because when you choose to honor the Father through your faithful giving, you’re investing in something that goes so far beyond this current season. You’re sowing into this ministry, and that enables us to ensure that Rabbi’s teaching reaches more people all over the world as we wait for Jesus’ return. It helps us do prison ministry. It helps us do crusades overseas. It helps us send the gospel to Israel through billboards and digital ads. It helps us talk about Jesus, the Jewish Jesus, to the whole world. So once again, give generously. Visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi with the last Aaronic blessing for this year.
SPEAKER 03 :
The Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers, chapter 6, is not a blessing that comes from an impersonal being out there somewhere in the heavens. This special blessing comes from a person, Yahweh, God Almighty, our Creator and Maker. So receive God’s blessing into your life right now.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Join us tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider explains how the nature of Jesus aligns with God and the Hebrew Bible. We’ll see you in 2026 on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
