News: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120655
Tovia Singer is trying to make a name for himself by his attempts to
"debunk" Christian claims that Jesus is the Jewish Mesiah

Singer's website:
http://www.outreachjudaism.org/questions.html
review by Jews for Jesus:
http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/mrb/05_02/singer
 

One of Tovia's claims is that New Testament writers "made up" fictious
Old Testament prophesies in order to fool gentiles into accepting
Christianity. For example, St. Matthew says that Jesus fulfilled what
was spoken by the prophets, "he shall be called a Navarine" however,
Tovia correctly points out, this quote is not found in the Old
Testament.

However, many parts of scripture did not make it into scripture until
LATER. For example, in Numbers we are told that Balaam went home after
blessing Israel. Later scripture tells us he gave counsel on causing
Israel to stumble and that he was killed by Israel. In Exodus we are
told that the seventh day is to be honoured, but in Deut 5 we are told
why, because God rested on the seventh day after creating the world.
Moses didn't "make it up" - he just included the facts later a little
bit differently. For example, in the Psalms we learn that Joseph's feet
were put into irons, but that is not told in Genesis. It is not "made
up" - it is scripture that just made it into the Bible at a later time.
Likewise in the Psalms we learn that Jacob wept before the angel he
wrestled, but that is not told in Genesis. For example, in Jeremiah
26:10 it says, "And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of
the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied
against this city and against this land according to all the words of
Jeremiah." The prophesy of Urijah is no where to be found in the Bible
- but it is made mention of as proof that Jeremiah was right. More
examples can be given between accounts in Chronicles and Kings that
seem to differ, but in reality do not when carefully examined - the
later writter is just including more or different information: both are
correct, both are scripture.

An example from the New Testament is that we did not know that Jesus
said it is "more blessed to give than to recieve" from the Gospel
accounts, but it is a quote of his that Paul gives us later. It's still
scripture and true, but was not recorded at the time in the gospels.

Therefore, the prophesy that the messiah would be a Nazarine was
"spoken" and remembered, but the prophet who gave that prophesy did not
have his entire prophesy recorded at the time, or perhaps he did not
have any thing recorded. (As the Bible says, "holy men SPAKE" - it is
the speaking that is inspiration, NOT original autographs and all
that). But as inspired prophesy, this eventually made it into the Holy
Scriptures - in the book of Matthew, in the New Testament. Matthew did
not "make it up" as Tovia Singer claims.

Tovia Singer also claims that Isaiah 53 is the narration of gentile
kings regarding Israel who is the real suffering servant. This ignores
the fact that in the historic Talmud the ancient Jewish Rabbis
themselves read Isaiah 53 as messianic. Tovia seems to think he is
smarter than the ancient Jewish sages who wrote the talmud.

Obviously Isaiah 53 is not about Israel since Jews have never been known
to "suffer in silence"! The passage says the servant opens not his
mouth, and he intercedes for his persecutors - which, of course, cannot
be said regarding Israel. Tovia's exposition turns anti-semetism and the
holocaust into wonderful events that brought salvation to the Nazis.

I could go on, but the gist of it is that Tovia Singer is just desperate
to find a way out of the obvious - the fact that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah of Israel.

Keep him in prayer that he will see the light.

- MM