Christians and Jews: A Common Foundation in the Word of God

First, let me say that I don’t claim to be an expert on Judaism.
Still, as I’ve immersed myself in research for The Well, The Thief, and now The Tomb, I’ve come to a greater understanding of both the Jewish culture of the first century and the amazing faithfulness and devotion of the Hebrew people as they awaited the Messiah. As a result, I think all Christians should know more about the roots of their faith.
As Christians, we share a common history and foundation with the Jewish people:

There one holy and almighty God

God has communicated his will and his commandments to the people that he has created and calls his own.

For Christians, that will has been given to us from God in what we call the Holy Bible. The form of the sacred Jewish scriptures is both familiar and more complicated:

The Hebrew Bible is known as the Mikra (what is read) or more commonly the TaNaKh, an acronym that refers to the Torah (teachings), Nevi’im (prophets), and Ketuvim (writings). It consists of:
The Written Torah (Torah SheBiktav): inspired by God and written down by Moses during the 41 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. These are the five books of the Pentatuech

1. Bereshit which translates to”In [the] beginning” and what we call the book of Genesis

2. Shemot  which translates to “Names” and is what we call the book of Exodus

3. Vayikra which translates to “He called” and we call Leviticus

4. Bamidbar  which translates to”In the desert” and we call the book of Numbers

5. Devarim  which translates to “Words” and we call Deuteronomy

 
The Oral Torah (Sefer Torah): God’s will as told to Moses. Moses then taught these truths to the religious heads of Israel and they have been passed down through the ages. The Oral Torah clarifies and explains many of the commandments contained in the Written Torah. For example, the Written Torah forbids ‘work’ on the Sabbath. The Oral Torah defines what, exactly, was considered ‘work’.

The Mishna: During the second century A.D., the Oral Torah was written down. This written record of the oral tradition became the Mishna.
The Gemara: Generations of rabbis in both Babylonia and Israel studied and debated the Mishna. Records of these discussions are called the Gemara.
The Mishna and the Gemara together make up the Talmud.

 
In addition, the TaNaKh also contains:

The writings of the Prophets (Neviim)
The Sacred Writings (Ketuvim) that tell of Israel’s history over hundreds of years, their visions of God and the struggles of the Jewish people to remain faithful to their God and to the teachings of the Torah. This includes the Psalms and the Proverbs.

 
While some of the names within the TaNaKh are foreign to us, much of the writings are not. As we read The Old Testament, we can appreciate the ancient writings of the Jewish people and be thankful to our spiritual ancestors for their faithfulness in transmitting and keeping the word of God for thousands of years.
What else would you like to know about Judaism as it relates to our Christian faith?
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Next time: The significance of ritual purity in first century Judaism.