postroad wrote:
How perfect will the Jews have to be in order for God to remove the covenant curses and fulfill the promise to Abraham.
Or do you no longer believe in a literal restoration?
I never did -- but then, since Israel is once again a Jewish state after 2,000 years, it is arguable that a "literal restoration" has already happened -- or at least begun.
As for being "perfect" -- see below.
For perspective, Josiah is recorded as the most righteous king in the Jewish monarchy and he was killed in battle and the scepter was removed not long after.
2 Kings 23:25
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
Is a supernatural intervention from God really expected to restore Jews to obedience of the Law?
Ezekiel 36:25-27
New International Version (NIV)
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
This entire post betrays a certain level of ignorance about Jewish teaching and tradition. Jews have never taught, Paul notwithstanding, that we have to fulfill every detail of the law perfectly. We believe that since God made us, He knows our limitations. We are expected to do the best we can, and when we do not, to seek forgiveness through repentance, prayer, and deeds of lovingkindness.
It is also astonishingly arrogant to assert that Jews NEED to be "restored" to obedience to the Law. Who appointed YOU Judge? The Jewish religion has CHANGED since the first century CE. In Jewish belief and teaching, it is SUPPOSED to change. If you don't approve -- well, that doesn't matter much, now does it? These matters are between us, and God. And you don't get to speak for Him any more than does bornofgod, thanks very much.
Don't bother to post a bunch of "proof texts" from the Bible -- not even the "Old Testament." The teachings and tenets of Judaism cannot be determined from an unaided surface reading of the Hebrew Bible. Some others, e.g. conservative Christians, may be horrified at that assertion. Sorry, but those objections do not matter to us, either. JEWS get to determine the teachings and practices of Jews. Like it or not, others just don't get a vote.
(And note the guidelines for this subforum: "This sub-forum assumes the ongoing validity of Judaism; anyone can post here, but it's not the place to discuss, for example, whether Christianity has supplanted Judaism or ought to.")