Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel

Mysteries of the Messiah
by Rabbi Jason Sobel

ISBN-13: 9780785240051
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: W Publishing
Released: March 23rd 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In Mysteries of the Messiah, Rabbi Jason Sobel reveals the many connections in Scripture hidden in plain sight. He uncovers connections between the Old and New Testaments, connects the dots for readers with details about Jesus, the Torah, and biblical characters, and is written with the unique perspective of a rabbi with an evangelical theological degree.


My Review:
Mysteries of the Messiah looked at how different words add up to certain numbers and how words with the same number point to Jesus as Messiah. The idea is that each letter in Hebrew and Greek has a corresponding number and you can add up the letters in a word or phrase to get the corresponding number. The author feels that it's perfectly valid to connect words and phrases with the same number and these will point to theological truths. He didn't convince me of this as the connection is never derived simply from the words.

He also taught some rather odd ideas from various Jewish traditions. For example, he believes that the Fall happened on day 6 (apparently, of creation week, even though God says that everything was very good on that day). Also, he teaches about a donkey that would have been hundreds of years old, a ram over a thousand years old, the tradition that Isaac was actually killed and was dead for a while before being resurrected, and the belief that Israel shared the same land boundaries as the Garden of Eden (though that old ram was apparently living in the Garden of Eden until needed as a sacrifice instead of Isaac).

However, he did cover some information that is more widely taught. I've read similar information in other (much better) books talking about finding symbolism pointing to the Messiah in the feasts or providing cultural background to various verses in Genesis. The author talked about a couple prophecies that were fulfilled by Yeshua and how his life was reflected in the Passover, First Fruits, and Pentecost. He talked about how there were similar events in the life of Yeshua and in the lives of Joseph, Moses, and David and events symbolic of Yeshua's mission in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Ruth. He also talked about creation (where he rather freely changed the common translations of various words to translations that better fit his ideas).


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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