When I responded to a commentary on Haaretz which sought to demean the significance of Judaism, I asserted that True Judaism provides the only way to salvation. That begs the question, “What is True Judaism?”

The Problem

All of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags; we wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:5, CJB

The Solution

How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! How blessed those to whom יהוה imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit! Psalm 32:1-2, CJB

The Way To The Solution: יהוה Is The (Only) Savior

At that time, whoever calls on the name of יהוה will be saved. For in Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim there will be those who escape, as יהוה has promised; among the survivors will be those whom יהוה has called.Joel 3:5, CJB

Seek יהוה, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of יהוה‘s anger. Zephaniah 2:3, WEB

I will stretch out my hand over Y’hudah and all those living in Yerushalayim. I will wipe every remnant of Ba’al from this place, the idol-serving priests and even their names, those worshipping heaven’s army on the roofs, also those who worship and swear by יהוה but swear by Malkam as well, those who turned away from following יהוה, and those who haven’t sought יהוה or consulted him at all. Zephaniah 1:4-6, CJB

יהוה is my light and salvation; whom do I need to fear? יהוה is the stronghold of my life; of whom should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1, CJB

See! God is my salvation. I am confident and unafraid; for Yah יהוה is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation! Isaiah 12:2, CJB

But now this is what יהוה says, he who created you, Ya’akov, he who formed you, Isra’el: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I am calling you by your name; you are mine… For I am יהוה, your God, the Holy One of Isra’el, your Savior – I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and S’va for you… You are my witnesses,” says יהוה, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you can know and trust me and understand that I am he – no god was produced before me, nor will any be after me. I, yes I, am יהוה; besides me there is no deliverer. I have declared, saved and proclaimed – not some alien god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses,” says יהוה. “I am God. Since days began, I have been he. No one can deliver from my hand. When I act, who can reverse it? …you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your crimes. I, yes I, am the one who blots out your offenses for my own sake; I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:1,3,10-13,24-25

Thus says יהוה, Isra’el’s King and Redeemer, יהוה-Tzva’ot: “I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him speak out! Let him show me clearly what has been happening since I set up the eternal people; let him foretell future signs and events. Don’t be frightened, don’t be afraid – didn’t I tell you this long ago? I foretold it, and you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock – I know of none… Like a thick cloud, I wipe away your offenses; like a cloud, your sins. Come back to me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:6-8,22, CJB

The Means Of The Solution: The Atonement For Our Sins

יהוה, God, said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust as long as you live. I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15, CJB

Yitz’chak spoke to Avraham his father: “My father?” He answered, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Avraham replied, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son”; and they both went on together. Genesis 22:7-8, CJB

Exodus 12-13

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo’etz El Gibbor Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace] Isaiah 9:6

Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times. Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing… Daniel 9:25-26

…יהוה-Tzva’ot – consecrate him! Let him be the object of your fear and awe! He is there to be a sanctuary. But for both the houses of Isra’el he will be a stone to stumble over, a rock obstructing their way; a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. Many of them will stumble and fall, be broken and trapped and captured. Isaiah 8:13-15, CJB

…here is what Adonai יהוה says: “Look, I am laying in Tziyon a tested stone, a costly cornerstone, a firm foundation-stone; he who trusts will not rush here and there…” Isaiah 28:16, CJB

Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has cupped the wind in the palms of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! Proverbs 30:4

Serve יהוה with fear; rejoice, but with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish along the way, when suddenly his anger blazes. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2:12, CJB

See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn’t even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man, so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard…

In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet יהוה laid on him the guilt of all of us…

After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. “By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders.” Isaiah 52:13-15;53:4-6,11-12, CJB

“When that day comes, I will seek to destroy all nations attacking Yerushalayim; and I will pour out on the house of David and on those living in Yerushalayim a spirit of grace and prayer; and they will look to me, whom they pierced.”

They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son; they will be in bitterness on his behalf like the bitterness for a firstborn son. When that day comes, there will be great mourning in Yerushalayim, mourning like that for Hadad-Rimmon in the Megiddo Valley. Zechariah 12:9-11, CJB

I Met Messiah