51 per cent believe in the coming of the Messiah. Only 46 per cent consider them selves as “secular”.
The latest findings from the AVI CHAI Foundation in Israel is astonishing. The study was done in 2009. The findings are only being published now due to the passing of the head of the research team, Prof. Asher Arian.
Although 46 per cent of respondents defined themselves as secular, it turns out that this self-definition is not directly linked to a belief in extraordinary forces and in the veracity of the Jewish religion.
Apart from the fact that four of five Israeli Jews believe in God, the study’s findings revealed that 77 per cent are convinced that the world is guided by an “extraordinary force”, 72 per cent believe that praying can improve a person’s situation, 67 per cent are convinced that the Jews are the chosen people, and 65 per cent think Torah and mitzvot are a divine order.
According to 34 per cent of the respondents, a Jew who fails to observe mitzvot puts his fellow people in danger.
As for the ramifications of the human conduct, 80 per cent believe there is a reward for good deeds, and 74 per cent say bad deeds are punished. Fifty-six believe in an “afterlife” and 51 percent believe in the coming of the Messiah.
Source: Ynetnews.com
My comment:
Working with ex-Israeli soldiers for four winters in India, I discovered that the longing for the Messiah was high even among “secular Jews’.
The last decade we have been told that 70 per cent of the Jews are secular. But his number has been to high. The latest survey expose this number to have fallen to 46 per cent.
All who have shared their faith with secular Jews, have discover that few Jews are atheists. They have “faith in God”, but is not willing to accept Orthodox Judaism. Frankly: They are right. No Messianic Jew can accept Orthodox Judaism.
When I have shared the good news about the incoming Messiah with secular Jews, almost two dozen of them have accepted a New Testament in Hebrew. The longing for knowledge about the Messiah is rising.
For the Evangelical Christian World, the alarm bells must sound in every congregation. Because the Bible explains that when the full number of gentiles have come into the Kingdom, Israel shall be saved.
The last days shall not be recognized by a massive revival in the paganized World, but rather the great apostasy and the falling away. In their tens of million, Christians who do not obey the Word of God will worship the last as false Messiah as “god”. Many Jews will join the last fatal deception.
Romans 11:25-26
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
Now, all of this is taking place right in front of our eyes. To be acknowledged by all who are willing to listen and obey.
Written by Ivar
ivarfjeld.com 
Ivar,
Please answer a question that my husband and I were just discussing last night. How do current day Jews believe they recieve forgiveness and are made rightous since there are no longer any blood sacrifices? Thanks!
Dear cmnr0912
Shalom.
The mainstream religious Jew, believe God will forgive all who ask for forgiveness. A man must be honest, willing to repent, and do good to others.
An Orthodox Jew, will normally claim that God demands observance of the Law. In particular respect for the Sabbath, and Jewish feasts.
None of them has a valid answer for why God changed the written Law of blood sacrifices, that must take place in the Temple in Jerusalem if He shall forgive sins. The Jewish oral law found in the Talmud is used to explain why God changed His mind. Like in Catholicism, the Orthodox Jews listen to the tradition of men.
Yeshua is the answer.
Answer: For the most part, the Jewish practice of animal sacrifice to receive forgiveness stopped in the year 70 A.D. when the Roman army destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the place where sacrifices were offered. The practice was briefly resumed during the Jewish War of 132-135 A.D., but was ended permanently after that war was lost. There were also a few communities that continued sacrifices for a while after that time.
Essentially, Jews stopped offering sacrifices because they didn’t have a proper place to offer them. The Torah (The Law of Moses) specifically commanded Israel not to offer sacrifices wherever they felt like it. They were only permitted to offer sacrifices in the one place that God has chosen for that purpose (see Deuteronomy 12:13-14).
Today, modern Jews believe that forgiveness for sins is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds. They use verses like the one found in Hosea 6:6 which says, “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
But both the Old and New Testaments are very clear: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Leviticus 17:11) And also, “…all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, was offered up as the once-for-all sacrifice for sin. Less than a generation later the Jewish Temple was destroyed because the need for animal sacrifices no longer exists. Animal sacrifices were merely a “type” of the perfect Sacrifice—the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world—which paid the debt for the sins of mankind, both Jew and Gentile.
Excelent posts Ivar and Larry.
Well stated..
I also do NOT want to rain on anyone’s parade and that is a good sign,,, But… What “Messiah” are the Jews looking for? We must be careful NOT to be deceived. When the Messiah (of the Holy Scriptures) first came (Psalm 110:1, Isa. 9:6-7, 40:3-5, 53, Dan. 9:26, Micah 5:2, Mal. 3:1), He did not fit their bill (Isa. 53:3, Zech 11:12-13) and when He will be preached again by Almighty God’s Two Witnesses coming up shortly (Rev. 11:3-7) – after the Rapture of the Church (the called out Messianic assembly) – He will NOT be received again by the majority of the nation but only by a remnant (Ezek 39:26, Rev. 7:1-8, 11:8, 12:17,14:1-4) of believing Jews.
Tragically it will take a global climatic blood bath called Armageddon and a GREAT Tribulation (Matt. 24:15-22, Rev. 6-16) to get Israel finally to receive their Messiah (Jer. 30: 6-7, Zech. 12-14).
The peace of Jerusalem will FINALLY come about at the end of these horrific events.
David