Messianic symbol

[Marc P]

THE MESSIANIC STORY BEHIND THE MAGEN-DAVID,

THE STAR OF DAVID


INTRODUCTION

For several years now there has been a lot of discussion about the Star of David. Sometimes it has been seen as a positive sign, a sign of the Creator Adonai and His people; and sometimes as an occult sign. I read an article recently , where the sign was even described as extremely occult. But I also read an article which said that no-one knows exactly what the origins of the sign are, and that in the past it has been used as both positive and occult. One statement of Rabbi Erweteman spoke to me strongly and stayed on my mind, ‘A symbol is never occult in itself, but can become occult because of the way in which it is used.’ This isn’t a literal translation but that is basically what it meant. From this statement some thoughts came to my mind that were worked out further one night ( I believe this was a revelation from the Creator Adonai). In this thought or revelation it appeared that the Star of David tells the story of the Messiah and the story of those who follow Him, the Messianic Jew and none Jew (like me, for instance).

If you look at the Star of David you see two triangles pushed or woven together, which together form a star.

In both the meaning that points to Yeshua and that that points to those saved by Him the triangle that points from above to below stands for the Creator Adonai, Father, Son and Spirit.

The triangle that points from below to above stands for man; spirit, soul and body.


In Yeshua the Creator Adonai became man for us. See John 1:14: ‘ The word became flesh and dwelt among us.’

Creator Adonai became in Yeshua, the God/Man; it is unbelievable that He did this for us. In Him, in Yeshua, the two triangles were woven into each other as a clear light for His people Israel and the nations. A message of hope, salvation and mercy. A message that can still speak through the Star of David. Maybe we could very cautiously see the Star of David as the star in Revelation 22:16: ‘I (Jesus) am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.’


THE STAR OF DAVID PROCLAIMS RESTORATION

When we look at the two triangles of the Star of David, pushed or woven together, the one that speaks, as I said, of the Creator Adonai and the other that speaks of man, then this sign shines out with the hope of a restored relationship between man and the God who loves him; so much that He gave His only Son up to death on a cross.

In one of the first chapters of Genesis we see that the Creator Adonai walks in the garden in the evening. In the context you can assume that He was in the habit of doing this with the man and woman he had made, the crowning glory of His creation. He had a relationship with man. We could say that the star of that relationship between God and man still shone then, the triangles were still woven together.

But because of the cunning and temptation of satan, the old serpent, the relationship was broken; he ruined that which God had declared good. (Doesn’t he still do that by, for instance, making it appear that the Star of David is an occult symbol???) .

And when the Creator Adonai came one evening to walk with man they hid from Him (Genesis 3:8); the relationship was broken.


But Abba had a plan, a plan for restoration. For this restoration He chose out a people, the people we now know as Israel. He trusted His law to them, His feasts, His promise of restoration, in order that they should show this to the world. Out of Israel, despite all their failings and stumbling, He would bring Yeshua the Messiah. The Messiah would come not just for these chosen people but through them for the whole world, so that everyone could become co-heirs of the Promise and could be grafted into the precious olive tree, Israel.

He did this through being obedient to the Father, even to the point of being nailed to a cross. And through love for man the Father allowed Him to bring this ultimate sacrifice for all our sins and unrighteousness. A gift of mercy and a way of restoration came about through the death of Yeshua on the cross and His resurrection.

By accepting Him man can again have a relationship with Creator Adonai and be saved for all eternity.

In Yeshua the triangles that speak of man and God are woven back together to be a bright and shining light for Jerusalem, Israel, the Palestinians and all other nations. So that we, as Messianic followers of Yeshua, Jew and non-Jew united in Him, will be a bright and shining light, a witness of our salvation.

If I see the Star of David like this, and then realise that it stands on the flag of Israel between the two blue bands of the prayer cloth of the feast then I rejoice.



And so, it is a symbol that doesn’t tell the story of satan but carries in it the sign of Yeshua and the promise of a restored relationship between man and the Creator Adonai. Then it isn’t a curse but a blessing, a blessing to be shared.

I hope that you now see that the Star of David has a wonderful, joyful message to tell.

If you agree send this message to others on your mailing list.
Shalom,
Marc P

[stillsmallvoice]

Hi Marc P!

Your post was very interesting both in & of itself and as an effort to project Christian meaning onto what has become an essentially Jewish symbol. I submit the following:

Magen David

The Magen David (shield of David, or as it is more
commonly known, the Star of David) is the symbol most
commonly associated with Judaism today, but it is
actually a relatively new Jewish symbol. It is supposed to
represent the shape of King David's shield (or perhaps
the emblem on it), but there is really no support for that
claim in any early rabbinic literature. In fact, the symbol
is so rare in early Jewish literature and artwork that art
dealers suspect forgery if they find the symbol in early
works.

Scholars such as Franz Rosenzweig have attributed deep theological significance to
the symbol. For example, some note that the top triangle strives upward, toward G-d,
while the lower triangle strives downward, toward the real world. Some note that the
intertwining makes the triangles inseparable, like the Jewish people. Some say that
the three sides represent the three types of Jews: Kohanim, Levites and Israel. Some
note that there are actually 12 sides (3 exterior and 3 interior on each triangle),
representing the 12 tribes. While these theories are theologically interesting, they have
little basis in historical fact.

The symbol of intertwined equilateral triangles is a common one in the Middle East
and North Africa, and is thought to bring good luck. It appears occasionally in early
Jewish artwork, but never as an exclusively Jewish symbol. The nearest thing to an
"official" Jewish symbol at the time was the menorah.

In the middle ages, Jews often were required to wear badges to identify themselves
as Jews, much as they were in Nazi Germany, but these Jewish badges were not
always the familiar Magen David. For example, a fifteenth century painting by Nuno
Goncalves features a rabbi wearing a six-pointed badge that looks more or less like
an asterisk.

In the 17th century, it became a popular practice to put Magen Davids on the outside
of synagogues, to identify them as Jewish houses of worship in much the same way
that a cross identified a Christian house of worship; however, I have never seen any
explanation of why this symbol was chosen, rather than some other symbol.

The Magen David gained popularity as a symbol of
Judaism when it was adopted as the emblem of the Zionist
movement in 1897, but the symbol continued to be
controversial for many years afterward. When the modern
state of Israel was founded, there was much debate over
whether this symbol should be used on the flag.

Today, the Magen David is a universally recognized symbol of Jewry. It appears on
the flag of the state of Israel, and the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross is known as
the Red Magen David.

Link: http://www.jewfaq.org/signs.htm#MagenDavid

Be well!

ssv :hi:

[Ani Uriyah]

Star of David: http://pub63.ezboard.com/fbecomingtruetzaddikimfrm1.showMessage?topicID=44.topic

[Marc P]

Hi thanks for the replies. Do you know more symbols that seem different :hrm: than so called "Christian" (what a word... al left that years ago) but can be a indacation for the Good Message. come on share your thoughts!

[Cherith]

I have a book called Symbols of Judaism by Mark-Alain Ouaknin (ISBN 2-84323-198-1). Chapter 30 has this to say regarding the "Magen" or Star of David:

This symbol, often inscribed in a circle, was common to many peoples several centuries before the Common Era. It was not until the fourteenth century that this geometic motif was definitively associated with the expression "Magen David" in a kabbalistic work. Generally, its purpose was to provide protection from demons and evil spirits and it has only very recently become the symbol of the Jewish people.

Regarding the reference to the fourteenth century I had read in Alfred Lilienthal's book, The Thirteenth Tribe:

In the twelfth century there arose in Khazaria a Messianic movement, a rudimentary attempt at a Jewish crusade, aimed at the conquest of Palestine by force of arms. The initiator of the movement was a Khazar Jew, one Solomon ben Duji (or Ruhi or Roy), aided by his son Menahem and a Palestinian scribe. 'They wrote letters to all the Jews, near and far, in all the lands around them... They said that the time had come in which God would gather Israel, His people from all lands to Jerusalem, the holy city, and that Solomon Ben Duji was Elijah, and his son the Messiah.'The main sources for this movement are a report by the Jewish traveller Bejamin of Tudela; a hostile account by the Arab writer Yahya al-Maghribi, and two Hebrew manuscripts found in the Cairo Geniza. They add up to a confusing mosaic; I have followed Baron's careful interpretation (Vol. III, p. 204; Vol. IV, pp. 202-4, and notes).

These appeals were apparently addressed to the Jewish communities in the Middle East, and seemed to have had little effect, for the next episode takes place only about twenty year later, when young Menahem assumed the name David al-Roy, and the title of Messiah. Though the movement originated in Khazaria, its centre soon shifted to Kurdistan. Here David assembled a substantial armed force - possibly of local Jews, reinforced by Khazars - and succeeded in taking possession of the strategic fortress of Amadie, north-east of Mosul. From here he may have hoped to lead his army to Edessa, and fight his way through Syria to the Holy Land.

The whole enterprise may have been a little less quixotic than it seems now, in view of the constant feuds between various Muslim armies, and the gradual disintegration of the Crusader strongholds. Besides, some local Muslim commanders might have welcomed the prospect of a Jewish crusade against the Christian Crusaders.

Among the Middle East, David certainly aroused fervent Messianic hopes. One of his messengers came to Baghdad and - probably with excessive zeal - instructed its Jewish citizens to assemble on a certain night on their flat roofs, whence they would be flown on clouds to the Messiah's camp. A goodle number of Jews spent the night on their roofs awaiting the miraculous flight.

But the rabbinical hierarchy in Baghdad, fearing reprisals by the authorities, took a hostile attitude to the pseudo-Messiah and threatened him with a ban. Not suprisingly, David al-Roy was assassinated - apparently in his sleep, allegedly by his own father-in-law, whom some interested party had bribed to do the deed.

Hi memory was venerated, and when Benjamin of Tudela travelled through Persia twenty years after the event, 'they still spoke lovingly of their leader.' But the cult did not stop there. According to one theory, the six-pointed 'shield of David' which adorns the modern Israeli flag, started to become a nation symbol with David al-Roy's crusade. 'Ever since,' writes Baron, 'it has been suggested, the six-cornered "shield of David," theretofore mainly a decorative motif or a magical emblem, began its career toward becoming the chief national-religious symbol of Judaism. Long used interchangeably with the pentagram or the "Seal of Solomon," it was attributed to David in mystic and ethical German writings from the thirteenth century on, and appeared on the Jewish flag in Prague in 1527.

Therefore, when the term "Magen David"/"Star of David" is used it is a reference NØT to King David, who was an Israelite, but to David al-Roy, who was a Khazar of questionable origins!

[Marc P]

This is an example of only looking to the background of a symbol without understanding that satan always tries to steel a good message by focusing on the background of a symbol. What I try to tell is that a symbol has no power in it self but that the meaning is in the way you use it!

[shunyadragon]

The symbolism in the first post is a stretch and not real.

I had never previously associated the symbol with the Kabbalah or any other mystical symbolism.

I see nothing wrong with the symbol, but I prefer the menorah for a traditional symbol. In the fifties it was commonly associated with the Zionist movement and the symbol the Jews had to wear under Nazi persecution.

[Timothy Leary]

Actually Cherith, the first reference in a book of the Maggen David is in a Karaite work in the 1300s, and as you know we are not Kabbalists.