In this series of blogs, I will address some of the issues that confront the American Christian concerning the Hebrew perspective of God's Word. Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, my hope is that you will glean something from the Word of God that will help you grow in your relationship with Him and to have more of an understanding of the scriptures, if not a hunger to go deeper into study and pursuit of the One who died for you!
There are many issues that arise for many believers when they begin to hear about the Hebrew perspective of God's Word or of the Messianic Jewish Movement. It is indeed a movement that was initiated by God in order to restore the Church (Body of Messiah) to her original call and destiny...to know the Messiah and to make Him known. Everything I have gleaned on this journey so far is to that end. As the Apostle Paul puts it, (paraphrasing here) right now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see Him face to face. As we near the end of the age when Jesus Christ will be revealed in Glory, it is as though He is coming closer into focus for those that are looking for Him. The "glass" the apostle Paul talks about is, of course, the scripture.
I have had people ask me things like, "Don't the Jews have a veil of unbelief over them?" and "Didn't Jesus fulfill the Law?" (By this they mean, according to their understanding, 'Didn't Jesus do away with the Law?') Many of these questions arise out of a sincere desire to understand God's perspective of Law and Grace. The errors in doctrines taught by men throughout the centuries have lent to much misunderstanding and confusion amongst believers about basic questions about salvation. I myself was confused at first. I did not have any other interpretation of the Bible other than the one given to me by the pastor or leader in the American institutionalized church. Until the lenses on my glasses changed....
God gave me a deep love for the people of Israel. This was a supernatural working in my heart. It was not something I aspired to nor mustered up. This was the start of a journey where I have come to know the depths of God's grace and His mercy. He started answering my questions and clarified things for me that were confusing or which seemed contradictory. I am not done! I am still walking on this path He set me on lo those 12 years ago. And everyday I am learning more and more of Him. May it never end!!
JEW AND GENTILE, ONE IN MESSIAH
Before Yeshua came to the earth, it is important to understand that salvation was through Israel. Theirs was the Word of God, the prophets, the knowledge of God. This is why they were the chosen people. The knowledge that there was only One true God was passed through them (Both Abraham and Noah knew this and had faith in God even before the Law). The knowledge of sin came through those who would become known as the Hebrews. Note: the first time the term Hebrew is used in regard to a person is with Abraham, Genesis chapter 14 vv. 13. The knowledge of sin has always been around from the beginning, but God's Torah made man acutely aware of sin. Not only did the Jews bring the knowledge of God and the knowledge of sin to the entire world, but they had the remedy for restoring one's relationship with God, after sin had its ugly consequence (for the wages of sin is death). That remedy was the sacrificial system, first instituted by God Himself in the Garden of Eden then with Abraham and restored to the Israelites during the Passover in Egypt, and consequently codified in the Torah.
The Jews not only brought the knowledge of God to the world, they brought God Himself to the world! Genesis 12:3 says "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (a reference to the Messiah). The Word of God became flesh and "dwelt among us". He was born of an Israelite virgin. He was the Son of God.
Jesus Himself said in John 4:22 "...we worship that which we do know, for salvation is of the Jews".
There was rare occassion when a gentile would come to faith in the Messiah. We find these examples in the gospels. However, during the time before Jesus' own sacrifice, if you were a gentile, you would either have to convert to Judaism or you could become on of the "God-fearers". Priscilla was a God-fearing gentile before she became a follower of Jesus. Such God-fearers would flock to the Temple and/or the synagogues. Although they loved God, they would be considered second-class or at best an accessory to Judaism. They were rarely used by God in order to speak about God and they were required to sit in separate sections in the Temple (the court of the gentiles) and in the synagogues, separated from the Jews by a wall or a curtain. If you were a gentile and wanted to be in covenant with God, you had to enter into the covenant of circumcision along with Israel. Otherwise, you were just considered to be learning about God second hand.
When Yeshua came, He changed all of that. He so loved the world. So that whosoever. Who so ever. Anyone. If you believed in Him (note that the concept of believing from a Greek point of view and a Hebrew point of view are two entirely different things. Because of a heresy called gnosticism which entered the early church and rears its ugly head toay, much of the Greek interpretation in the Western world of believing has to do with creed, while the Hebrew concept also includes deed, as in evidence of your faith, or repentance) If you repented and followed Him, you would not perish but have eternal life. When Jesus came, EVERY person on the face of the earth was allowed to eneter into one and only one way: through Jesus. He was the final sacrifice and the only one acceptable to God. He is the narrow gate and the only path to salvation. If you were Jewish, you must go throught the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. If you were gentile, you had to go through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Salvation became a level playing field and all were accountable to the same standard: that standard being Jesus.
This is why Paul said in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." And also in Ephesians 2:14, "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...". What was the dividing wall Paul was talking about? The wall that separated the gentiles from the Jews keeping them from the fullness, the richness of God which comes from being a child of God. This was symbolized by that wall of separation in the Temple. Paul wanted the Galatians and the Ephesians to know that they now too had complete access to the Kingdom of God through Jesus the Messiah. They no longer had to be separated. When it comes to having right standing before God, it no longer mattered if you were a Jew or a gentile. That was no longer a determining factor for salvation.
Modern theologians have twisted these verses to mean that now neither Jew nor gentile even exist! This is preposterous. That is not what the verses state at all. Moreover, why would the nation of Israel continue to exist and that fulfillig prophecy by its very existence if Jews were to be no longer? Why would there be scriptures like Revelation chapter 7 which talks of 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel- if God wanted there to not be any Jewish identity for the people of Israel after Jesus?
Paul also, even after following the Messiah, continued to live and serve God as a Jew. And not just to win Jews. For if that were the case, he would forego making deliberate journeys (sometimes such a journey would take a month or longer) to Jerusalem for the Feasts of the Lord as celebrated by the Israelites. He would not be circumcising Timothy, who was a Jew, if he had abandoned the Abrahamic covenant or if he thought it was null and void. He would not continue to "....keep the Feast" as he exhorted the Corinthians to do with him in 1 Corinthians 5:8. (speaking of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover).
Yes, Paul had a specific calling to the gentiles to tell those who had not heard about the Messiah. He also had a pain in his heart for his own people (Romans 9: 3,4), as he says, "
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel". If Paul thought being Jewish was suddenly obsolete once the Messiah had come, he would not have referred to them in such a way.
Moreover, the Jewish believers of the first century continued to live and serve God as Jews. The continued to meet in the Temple and in homes, they celebrated the Feasts of the Lord as outlined in Leviticus 23, and many of them were the ones who knew Jesus and walked with Him. They were the ones who saw Him glorified after HIs resurrection. Remember the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus? The "stranger" was Jesus and He caused their hearts to burn within them when He opened their eyes concerning the scriptures and the Messiah. Which scriptures? The Torah and the prophets which spoke of and foretold about Him! The very scriptures which gave them their national identity! Not once did Jesus tell them that they were no longer Jews.
The being "one in Messiah" (Gal 3:28) refers to our standing before God. Yes, we are One Body, with many parts, united in Spirit with the Lord and with eachother. But our unity does not come out of our uniformity. We are not to be cookie cutters. We are to be who we were created to be. Unity does not happen beacause of our sameness. It happens in spite of our differences!! For as Yeshua Himself prayed in the garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion "...that they may be one as we are one:
I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:22). He is not advocating uniformity or absence of identity or heritage here, but He is advocating for unity, the type of unity that Jesus has with the Father. They are uniquely distinct, yet in perfect unity. THIS is what will bring glory to the Body of Messiah and the knowledge of Jesus to the entire world. THIS is what Jesus desires us to have! And we have not tasted it yet. But oh boy when we do....!
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?
From a practical standpoint, this is very comforting to know for both Jews and gentiles. God does not put a yoke on us which we cannot bear. You can be who you were created to be! If you are Jewish, you don't have to forsake your identity or even the promises God has made to you concerning the Land of Israel and the ensuing physical and spiritual blessings therein!! I would think my husband, son and my Jewish extended family would find that a relief and a blessing. And if you are a gentile, you do not have to become circumcised and do as many people think you have to do which is follow the traditions of the Orthodox rabbis (Their man-made traditions have skewed much truth from the Word of God, by the way). Rather, we can look together into God's magnificent Word and see for ourselves how to align our lives with His will and His teaching.
When I was going through this transformation in my single years, my roommate and best friend was so understanding and patient with me. The issues of our faith never became divisive. She opened up our home with me to allow us to celebrate and learn about the feasts of the Lord and a love for Israel with our friends. We both loved Jesus and He was the topic of our conversation every day. By doing so, she exhibited to me love and understanding and the "preferring" of your neighbor which the sciptures teach, even though she did not understand it all or maybe even agree with everything. And I will always love her for that. That to me was a beautiful picture of how we are to co-exist, both Jewish and gentile followers of the Messiah, in love and unity, not in strife, not in pridefulness of attitude, but in untity based upon the truth, despite our different gifts and backgrounds. Despite the various callings God has placed on our lives. Just as the apostle Paul explains the Body of Messiah is supposed to function. Through this, we exemplify God's complete love for us. And thus we show the world that we truly belong to Him.
More on the Hebrew roots of our faith later. Keep checking in. There is more to come!
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