The Two-Hundred-Sixty-First (Israel: A Continuation)

You know, these studies started five years ago, almost to the day (September 4th, 2020), with the intention of taking you through the same journey of scriptural study and gaining of knowledge and understanding of YHWH’s word that I am going through.  For the most part, other than when we got into studying some specific books of scripture, the topics for each week were largely unknown to me until the week the study was sent out and posted.  Sometimes there were topics that, out of necessity, spanned multiple weeks, but in general the studies have been written without the intention of creating a bunch of multi-week studies of themes and aspects of scripture.

Still, as the topics come up, somehow these themes appear, and this week is no different, as you could probably tell based on the title.  In general, if it’s clear the particular topic is going to span multiple weeks, I usually add a “Part X” to not only indicate it will take multiple weeks to cover but also to keep track of the order, or progression, of the topic’s study, since reading them out of order is likely to confuse more than help to come to an understanding.  This week though, it didn’t quite feel right to add a part number.  

We covered the topic of All Israel a few weeks ago, and for the past couple of weeks you could also see an underlying theme of the idea of Israel which helped to give a better understanding of what that name means.  While it is important to read the past six weeks of studies in order, to see the theme and help to fully understand it, this week is not really a “Part 2” to any of them.  It’s also not really a part one to next week’s topic, which I already know is going to build on this week (like I said, sometimes I feel led to topics for multiple weeks, but in general, I don’t).

We’re going to add a little bit of context to the name Israel and what it means scripturally, because fully understanding it is vital to truly understanding our identity in Yeshua and His Kingdom.  Part of this context is historical, related to the people of Israel, part of it is traditional, related to the traditions of conversion to Judaism, and part of it is scriptural, covering some key verses that we can better, and more fully, understand now that we know what Israel really means.  All this is important to delve into because there is a lack of understanding among Christians today for multiple reasons.

This lack of understanding is partially due to a desire, based on whatever motivation, to divide Christianity from its roots in Israel.  Personally, I believe this division originates from the spiritual realm, but whether it started from the influence of evil or was purely man’s invention, it is not only unwarranted, it is unscriptural.  The lack of understanding is also partially due to the fact that historical and traditional aspects of Israel, whose religion has become what is now called Judaism, are not widely discussed outside of that community.  Unless you dig into it, and seek that historical and traditional history out, you will continue to believe that Judaism and Christianity have nothing to do with each other, other than the fact that they both worship YHWH and Yeshua is a Jew.  

That’s how we get to the point where believers that know they must follow YHWH’s Law are called Jewish, or at least considered as trying to be Jewish, by mainstream Christianity.  The mainstream Christians identify today’s Jews as being descendants of Israel, and separate themselves as Christians based on the doctrines they were told to believe and the difference of believing in Yeshua as the Messiah versus the Jews not believing that.  This is an entirely wrong view, based on ignorance, that prevents Christians from coming into their true identity in Yeshua.  

That’s not to say the ignorance is on purpose.  That’s to say the ignorance is largely from unknowingly being deceived, and I can say that with confidence because when you look at the facts and truth not only historically but also scripturally, you cannot come to the same misunderstanding in mainstream Christianity without knowingly making a choice to believe something else.  And I don’t think true believers would choose to do that given all the facts.  Also, just to be clear, this is not replacement theology, as in the belief that the church replaced Israel.  True, faithful, obedient believers today are not a replacement of Israel, they are a continuation.  You will notice that we consciously avoid the term “church” to prevent the misunderstanding that this is replacement theology, or supersessionism.

So, let’s get into some of that historical context so we can better understand what we’re talking about here.  First, to make sure we’re on the same page regarding the terminology we’re going to use, let’s talk about what words we’re going to use for certain things.  Last week, we decided to use the term “sojourner” to represent those that are not physical descendants from Jacob (Israel) but became a part of Israel and were even called Israel.  In other words, they were Gentiles, but based on their conversion were now called Israel.

We’re going to call physical descendants from Jacob ethnic Israel, just to make sure we have a way to talk about them versus the Israel that includes them and the sojourners.  At some point in history, after the northern kingdom of Israel was judged and dispersed by YHWH, all of the people of Israel that remained started to be called Jews.  For ease of understanding, we’re going to use that term to mean the people of Israel (both ethnic Israel and former Gentiles) who rejected Yeshua as the Messiah, and we’re going to call their religion Judaism.  This is definitely a simplification, because there were some Jews, as we know based on scripture, that accepted Yeshua, but there’s not really a widely known name for them.  And really when it comes down to it, they would be known by YHWH as true Israel because they repented, became obedient to Him and had faith in Him.

Ok, so historically, after the first destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, we see scripturally that based on the edict of the Persian king at the time of Esther, many Gentiles became Jews (Esther 8:17).  The edict stated that Jews in every city could assemble and defend, destroy and annihilate anyone that was hostile to them, as well as plunder their possessions (Esther 8:11).  In other words, the Gentiles were so afraid to be harmed, killed, and plundered that they converted to Judaism to prevent that.

This event is similar to the Christian crusades, in which Christians assembled to root out and destroy people and religions that were not in alignment with them.  One difference being in Esther’s time the Jews self-assembled and, other than the edict, were not aided by the presiding government, but in the crusades it was the government which organized and perpetrated the events.  In terms of Judaism, this was not unique to Esther’s time period.

Historically, we can also see that Alexander’s conquests spread Hellenistic culture around the Mediterranean, exposing pagans to Judaism and converting many thousands of Gentiles.  In fact, it was this Hellenization that gave rise to the Septuagint translation of the originally Hebrew scripture.  Because there were so many converts to Judaism who did not read or speak Hebrew, they translated the scripture to Greek to enable people to read it.  We don’t have time to get into it this week, but these Hellenists are actually referenced in scripture regarding some discrimination that was occurring amongst the disciples (Acts 6:1).

While there were clearly some personal feelings amongst Jews between those who perceived themselves ethnic descendants versus those who were converts, according to Jewish religious law once someone converted they were considered a full Jew, with no distinction to an ethnic Jew.  This is actually scripturally based, as we saw last week, since sojourners were commanded to be loved by ethnic Israel as ethnic Israel loved themselves (Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Leviticus 19:34).  In other words, just as Paul stated that in Yeshua there is no Jew or Greek (Galatians 3:26-29), back in ancient Israel, the Israel ancient even to Paul, YHWH stated that in Israel there is no ethnic Israel versus Gentile.  You see how no one can ever hope to fully understand scripture without studying both the “Old” Testament with the “New” Testament?

According to a Jewish website focused on teaching Judaism, the Jewish “sages” professed that a Jewish convert is someone who always had a “Jewish soul.”  The Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism which includes Jewish teachings and opinions written by Rabbis, refers to Jewish converts as “a convert who comes to convert” rather than “a Gentile who comes to convert.”  In fact, when you read that webpage, for one of the verses we looked at last week where we translated ger to sojourner, they translate it to proselyte, or convert!

Moving forward in time, beginning with just after Yeshua’s resurrection, we have seen from scripture in our “What Path?” studies that believers in Yeshua went to synagogue on Shabbat along with Jews.  This continued for decades until those believers, who were called Nazarenes at the time, were expelled and banned from the synagogues by the Jews.  Interestingly, this expulsion occurred around 40 years prior to the failed Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire, similar to how the Jew’s rejection of Yeshua occurred around 40 years prior to the Jewish revolt of 66-70AD.  The Nazarenes were called heretics by the Jews.  In fact, it got so bad that cursing Nazarenes became an integral part of both synagogue worship and the Jewish prayer life.

Even more interestingly, around the time of Yeshua, in the first century, it’s estimated that there were around six million Jews.  By the fourth and fifth centuries, this number had dropped to about a million.  Where do you think they went?  The most likely answer is that they converted to believing in Yeshua and were thus expelled from Judaism the same as the rest of the Nazarenes.

So, why is all this important to understand?  Well, other than recognizing the vile attitude by the Jews against believers in Yeshua, and seeing that it probably had a lot to do with a desire for early believers to distance themselves from Judaism, it also helps us understand that the people who call themselves Jews today, and have taken over the land historically called Israel, are no more ethnically Israel than you or me.  In fact, historians and even founders of the modern state of Israel agree with that fact.

Those experts acknowledge that the dark-skinned, dark-eyed Palestinians in the territory surrounding Israel are more likely to be physical descendants of Jacob than the lighter-skinned, northern European Ashkenazim that currently inhabit the state of Israel.  This is due to the fact that the main body of ethnic Jews, and therefore ethnic Israel, historically consisted of farmers, people that worked the land.  And getting them to give up the land they worked hard on to make a living was nearly impossible.

Not only that, conquering nations had no desire to uproot those people.  They were actively involved in sustaining the people of that region, with an already established infrastructure to provide things like the food necessary to keep the region alive.  Why take them all and move them out just to bring some different people in to start all over again?  So, throughout wars, revolts and conquering, those people of the land remained.    

The point is, the people who call themselves Jews today are largely, if not all, descendants of converts to Judaism rather than being of ethnic Israel.  This historical context is important because once you understand this, you understand that the state of Israel today and the people in it are not the people called Israel in scripture.  They are converts to Judaism, a religion that is anti-Christ, not converts to Israel, and they should be prayed for by believers just the same as we would pray for Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.  

That understanding also enables us to realize that those who are obedient and faithful to YHWH, and therefore His Son, Yeshua, are actual Israel.  It’s not that the “church” replaced Israel, it’s that Israel is consistently referred to as the people who are obedient and faithful to YHWH.  Yes, those people turned from YHWH at times, but when YHWH restored those who repented what did He call them?  A remnant of Israel.  As in, they were what was left of Israel because everyone else refused to repent.

The traditional aspect of Israel is important to understand as well because it gives us context to some of the things Yeshua did that seemed to be new and different than before.  We already mentioned the lack of distinction between converts and ethnic Israel, but do you know what the conversion process consistently included for those becoming a part of Israel?  There are aspects of this process that show us why there were certain disagreements among early believers and why there are certain aspects included in the process of joining the body of Yeshua.  It also gives us context to what early believers might have expected from a convert.

Consistent aspects of conversion to Judaism, and therefore, historically, Israel, have been 1) circumcision, 2) a temple sacrifice, 3) agreement to follow all of YHWH’s commandments, and 4) immersion in mikvah, a pool of natural water.  Do any of those sound familiar?  I’m sure they do!  

First, and most obviously, the temple sacrifice is not currently in practice due to lack of a temple.  However, even on the Jewish teaching website referenced earlier, the Jews still pray and hope for a rebuilt temple even today.  Additionally, a requirement for circumcision obviously remains today, but from this we can recognize how this topic came up among early believers.

It’s no wonder that some Jewish believers in Yeshua thought Gentile converts should be circumcised as a part of the conversion process (Acts 15:1).  Yes, there were laws regarding circumcision, but even in the Torah, the heart of this matter was referencing…the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16).  Paul reaffirms this in his letter to the church in Rome (Romans 2:28).  So, the argument among these early believers wasn’t necessarily based solely on the Law, it was also based on the fact that historically, all converts who came to believe and follow YHWH, were required to be circumcised according to the religious leaders.

The last two aspects of conversion to Judaism are the most interesting because they give insight not only to Yeshua’s instruction but also to the expectations of the apostles for converts.  I’m hoping, at this point, the immersion in the mikvah sounds extremely familiar to the process of baptism we see in Christianity today.  This part of the Jewish conversion process is based on instructions given to Moses prior to YHWH giving the Law and the people accepting it (Exodus 19:10).

It was meant to symbolize a cleansing of the people, prior to entering the covenant of the Law, and that’s no different than how John the baptizer used it (Luke 3:3) or how Yeshua and His followers use it.  It’s representative of someone’s repentance of sins and subsequent cleansing of them based on their forgiveness.  A physical representation of a spiritual event.  In other words, baptism is not unique to believers in comparison to conversion to Israel.  The same process was used in Moses’ time that John used and Yeshua used in His ministry, and it was familiar to the Jews at the time of Yeshua’s ministry.

The last aspect of Jewish conversion, agreeing to follow all YHWH’s commandments, seems foreign to mainstream Christianity today.  However, arguably, this is no different than how catechisms are used today.  Many Protestant denominations, and especially the Catholic Church, use the summary of doctrines called a catechism as a sort of “gate” to conversion.  They are used in some form or another to ensure a convert knows and understands the beliefs of the church they are joining, and many times, if not all, the commandments chosen by that church to follow are included in their catechism.  So, while this aspect of Jewish conversion seems different to Christianity, really it’s not.  

So, as you can see, not only do the historical “roots” of being a true follower of Yeshua come from Israel, so do the traditional “roots.”  Since we recognize now that the name Israel scripturally, historically, and traditionally, has consistently meant those obedient and faithful to YHWH, and therefore the same is true today, what does that mean for how we see it used in the New Testament?  Clearly, Yeshua used this name to refer to His seeking out the remnant of Israel that would repent and turn to Him (Matthew 8:10, 10:6, 15:24), but how was the name used scripturally in reference to YHWH and Yeshua?  

Let me ask you this: who is YHWH the God of?  According to scripture, He is the God of Israel (Matthew 15:31).  And you may say, sure, that was a Jewish crowd so they called Him the God of Israel, but is it not curious that this verse specifies “God of Israel?”  Earlier in the chapter and elsewhere in Matthew, the name Israel is not included when the term God is used.  

What about Yeshua?  First, let me ask you this: is a king a king of multiple kingdoms or just one kingdom?  By definition, a king is the singular, solitary leader of one singular, solitary kingdom.  So, what does it mean when it states that Yeshua is the King of Israel? (John 1:49-50)  Christianity likes to call Yeshua their King, but how can He be if they state they are separate and independent entity from Israel?  By nature, in order for Yeshua to be our King, we have to be a part of Israel.  Otherwise, we’re in some other kingdom, and calling Him King is just recognition of the fact that He’s a King of some kingdom we are not a part of.  And just to prevent confusion, yes, He was called King of the Jews, but the context of that title was one of mocking, not of a true recognition of His status like Nathanael used it.  And you’ll notice Yeshua did not correct him, by the way.

As you can see, as we get deeper and deeper into scripture with the true understanding of the name Israel and what it means, we are able to better understand our identity in Yeshua.  If He is truly our King, then we are of Israel, and we can see historically, traditionally, and scripturally that this is the case if we are obedient and faithful to Him and YHWH.  This greater understanding also helps us to make sense of our future and of prophecies that many Christians like to speculate about.  And we’ll get into those next week!

Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!

-Rob and Sara Gene