This fact deserves no less attention than the previous fact dealing with G-d’s prophecies to us never to replace us. G-d himself commanded us to listen to the judges of every generation and not to stray from their instruction. Let’s remind ourselves that the first people Moses spoke to after seeing G-d at the burning bush were the elders who guide the nation. G-d never intended that people should interpret prophecies on their own and then the multitudes can all individually pick and choose his faith and mitzvoth as he sees fit. In order to explain the Torah G-d appointed the sages of each generation to guide the nation on how to do the mitzvoth and have the correct faith.
These things were explicitly given over and written in our Torah scrolls. (Numbers 10, 15): “And G-d Said to Moses gather for me 70 elders from whom you know to be the elders of the nation and those who police them, and you should take them to the ‘tent of the meeting’ (The Mishkan/Tabernacle)… and I will take from the spirit that rests on you and I will place it on them.” There’s also the commandment in Deutronomy (1, 1-13) “These are the words the Moses spoke to the children of Israel, all that G-d commanded him to tell them…bring for yourselves wise understanding men well known to your tribes, and I will place them as your heads.” The chapter of Jethro in Exodus deals with appointing judges.
Our sages didn’t just show up on the scene in the time of the second temple. They were ordained from generation to generation going back to Moses. The Torah tells us that the first Sanhedrin (Highest Court of Jewish Law and Policy) was established by Moses by the word of G-d and they continued guiding the nation straight through to the destruction of the second temple. In Deutronomy (17, 9) the children of Israel were commanded to follow the instructions of the sages of each generation as it says: “And you will come to the Priests and the Levites and the judge that will be at that time… and you shall watch to keep all that they tell you, according to the Torah that they instruct you and the law that they tell you, you shall do. Do not stray from the words they tell you right or left.”
If this is not sufficient, the Torah explicitly says that after it was given it is forbidden to change it according to a prophet as it says: (Deutronomy 30, 11) “For the commandment which I command you today…is not in the heavens that someone should say, ‘who will go up to the heavens take it for us and make us hear it that we should do it”. From the moment it was given, the Torah was given to the ones who received it and gave it over to decide laws and faith according to it for all generations.
The Sages of Israel were the ones who told our nation in Egypt that Moses was indeed a true prophet and they were the ones who guided us to believe in all of the prophets of the scriptures. Without our sages we would not know who is a true prophet and who is a false one for we ourselves cannot read all of the scriptures and decide on our own who spoke from the words of G-d. Our sages were the ones who informed us who were the true prophets of the scriptures and they gave over to us their books and explanations from generation to generation. Without our sages to instruct us in Torah we would not have all of our Torah today.
It is well known that the Sanhedrin was functioning at the time Jesus lived. The Sanhedrin saw and heard his claims and rejected his prophecies (or his “Gods”). The New Testament itself claims that Jesus recognized the authority of the Sanhedrin, but the Sanhedrin commanded to reject him as a false prophet.
Now we can ask: After G-d explicitly commanded in the Torah to the people in all generations to rely on the sages of that generation, how is it possible to believe in a “prophet” that all the sages rejected as a false prophet? G-d himself after all commanded us to listen to the sages and G-d sees all the future generations from the beginning. What should a righteous Jew do if he doesn’t rely on his sages as the Torah itself command him to do? It’s not possible that G-d would have anything against someone who listens to his sages as G-d Himself commanded to do but it is perfectly understandable that G-d would have much against a ‘Messianic Jew’ who did not follow the sages of Israel and interpreted verses as he saw fit. More than one ‘Messianic Jew’ left Christianity just by hearing this question. ‘How can you permit yourself to explain and understand prophecies after the Torah already commanded, “you shall watch to do all they instructed you, according to the Torah they instruct you”?
There is no ‘wiggle room’ to philosophize and delve into it after this clear commandment. I told this ‘Messianic Jew’ that recanted and came back to Judaism; “behave like a straight simple Jew not like a philosopher that tries to investigate ancient verses and understand prophecies. If you want the truth you’ll find it. G-d told the straight simple Jews to listen to the Sages therefore these straight Jews rejected Jesus with no further questions after the sages instructed to do so. The only ones to accept him were those who rejected the Sages and thought they are wiser than the Creator who gave us the Torah and told us to listen to the Sages.”
After the Sages of Israel rejected Jesus and his prophecies with the authority invested in them by Moses as commanded by G-d, we have a biblical obligation from the words of G-d who told us to listen to the Sages’ instructions to reject Christianity unequivocally.
