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Unknown to most Christians is the crucial and critical importance of Acts 15 in their Bibles. In it, hidden behind 2,000 years of history and lost interpretation of a major "theological event" between the Jewish people and the "non-Jews" of the world is the very "Pattern" given by God in the beginning of time for the unification of all mankind in the true worship of the Divine. This event which is so often passed over in reading of the New Testament is the turning point in relations between the Jewish people and the "non-Jews" concerning not only how they were to "fellowship" together without required conversion of the "non-Jew" but the promotion of the Divine Pattern of worship given by God in the beginning of time. Over time as your studies into these areas increase on this website and others by Bet Emet Ministries this fact will become glaringly apparent to you the reader. Understand for now that this unify of all mankind, both Jew and "non-Jew" as the one people of God makes significant strides in Acts 15 when James and other Jews in Israel come to realize that Israel must drop the "man-made" requirement for Gentiles (non-Jews, i.e. pagan) to be circumcised before they can be recognized as part of the Israel of God.
Let us begin by noting that Luke is the author of the Book of Acts, or at least that is the accepted church tradition while others scholars today question this and ascribe the writing of the this New Testament book to the second century. Being as that may we need to look at the writer's account of the discussion regarding the relation of the Gentiles to the Law of Moses which in reality forms the centre of Acts both structurally and theologically. This is necessitated by not only Paul's preaching to the non-Jews in Antioch as well as the Antioch problem that developed over table fellowship between the Jews and "non-Jews" and the degree of observance expected of the non-Jew to Jewish Laws (the Covenant of Moses).
Answer for yourself: Are you familiar with this very big, big problem that surfaced with Paul in Antioch and which threatened the whole of Judaism as it existed historically in the first century? Are you aware that this Antioch Problem will split Judaism right down the middle? Are you aware that it will open the door to "non-Jews" to become the people of God without "circumcision" being imposed as well as "forced conversion" of "non-Jews" in the first century among the followers of the Jewish Christ? Are you aware that this polarizes even more the Schools of Hillel and Shammai? Well if you are not then stop right here and read the articles before you continue in order to understand the dynamics of what is occurring with James and the Jerusalem Council regarding Paul and his ministry among the "non-Jews". That being done then we can continue.
Within this matter of contention in Antioch between the men from James who came down from Jerusalem and the Pauline emphasis we see the degree of obligation then existing in the first century required of the "non-Jews" which they had to obey concerning various "kosher laws" if they were ever to eat together and fellowship together with other Jews. The Jews, knowing already that the "non-Jews" have their own unique Covenant with God, the Covenant of Noah that brings them Eternal Life, are here concerned with the acceptance of the "non-Jew" with other Jews without prior conversion which had been the current way of dealing with the "non-Jew" up to that point. The School of Shammai required full conversion of the "non-Jew" before any acceptance of the "non-Jew" by Israel. The School of Hillel said otherwise. Now something new was happening through the preaching of Paul in Asia, Minor, where the "non-Jew" was being accepted by the Jews without prior conversion. Having said that let us also reflect that in the Covenant of Noah and the Laws of Noah there is also obligations given the "non-Jew" regarding eating of meat and this comes to a head in Antioch when the men from James arrived and discerned the compromises being made both by Jews as well as the "non-Jews" in regards to these important points of Law. Violations of both the Laws of Moses by the Jews and the Laws of Noah by the "non-Jews" were occurring in these Pauline churches and Paul allowed this to occur in the name of "expediency" to "win the Souls" of the "non-Jews" and make both "peoples" one. This became a critical issue for the Jerusalem Church as we shall see.
Gal 2:12 12 For before that certain came from James (Jews), he (Peter) did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision (Jews from James). (KJV)
Basically everyone got into trouble for these compromises and something had to be done and the Jerusalem Church Council of Acts 15 was soon to follow to decide this matter.
Once the Pauline mission had begun to evangelize Gentiles who had not previously been circumcised and converted to Judaism, the problems of the conditions of their membership and inclusion into the Israel of God began to arise. It had evidently been the policy of the church at Antioch and its missionaries that such Gentiles should not be required to keep "ALL" the Jewish law which up to that time was tantamount to the "non-Jew" making full-conversion to Judaism. This was the policy taught by the School of Shammai and required of all "non-Jews" in order to be accepted in Israel. This point is passed over in silence in chapters 11-14 but is is clear from 15:1.
Acts 15:1 1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (KJV)
Notice if you will "saved" meant contextually not only "eternally" but included "acceptance into the Israel of God" as well as fellowship with the Jewish people.
But even though this, required conversion of the "non-Jews", was the "status quo" in Israel at that time this policy was unacceptable to some Jewish believers for two reasons:
But notice something if you will. Notice the audience to whom Paul spoke. We find in this audience the presence of “God-fearers” (13:16b, 26) who were not only present but were already in some ways connected to Judaism,
Acts 13:16 16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. (KJV)
We find that in this audience in Jerusalem at the Council the presence of those who "fear God" which is the term used for "non-Jews" who worship the God of Israel and abide by the Laws of the Covenant given by God to the "non-Jews". We have a mixed audience! These Godfearers had, at least in religious ways, a level of commitment to the Laws of Moses and the Laws of Noah well beyond the average Gentile (Gentiles who practiced Isa. 56). The narrative in Acts 15 leaves it ambiguous as to whether these Gentiles were "accepted" as Gentiles as just "Godfearers" or whether they had to become previously proselytes to Judaism (made full conversion), or had to some degree submitted to Jewish religious practices (Acts 15:1) in order to be "saved".
Answer for yourself: That brings up a big question. What, is the extent of the free offer of the gospel to Gentiles in Acts 13?
Acts 13:47-48 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: Were these "ordained to eternal life" to remain as Gentiles or do they still need, and were expected by Paul and others to in some way adhere to Judaism (i.e., kosher laws, circumcision, immersion, etc.)?
This issue, of course, becomes the reason for the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 and is resolved there by the Jewish leaders connected with the Messianic Movement within the Judaism of its day.
We now turn specifically to the problem as outlined in Acts 15. In Acts 15:5 certain Christian Pharisees (those who supported the Judaizing wing of the church) argued that it was necessary for Gentiles to be circumcised and “ordered to obey” the law of Moses (fully) in order to be saved. This means that they accepted the "non-Jews" only if they became "full converts" and "proselytes". Luke says in 15:2 that this caused “no little dispute between Paul and Barnabas and the Judaizers”. Israel was divided on this issue after so many "non-Jews" were turning to God from idols.
Answer for yourself: Why was this division in the first place? Simply because there were Jews, like James and others, who knew that circumcision was never required by God of the "non-Jew" in the Covenant of Noah and to require that of these "non-Jews" turning to God simply was not right and many refused to undergo such a dangerous procedure when adults. Thus many mean and their whole families turned away from God and His salvation because of this required circumcision enforced by the School of Shammai and possibly died away from God and this is not the fruit that God expected of His "Royal Nation and Holy Priesthood" (Israel).
The term (“sharp dispute”) in 15:2, the stronger of the two words Luke uses to describe the debate, occurs nine times in the New Testament, seven of which are in Luke-Acts (Luke 23:19, 25; Acts 15:2; 19:40; 23:7, 10; 24:5). In each case in Luke-Acts the term carries not the meaning of “existence” or “continuance” but the force of either “riot,” “discord,” or “strife.” One only needs to see how John Mark left Paul and Barnabas because of his uneasiness with a mission to the Gentiles. With that in mind, it may well be that his return to Jerusalem (13:13) sparked the issue with the Jewish "Christians" there, with the result that they sent men to Antioch to command the Gentiles to be circumcised and obey the law of Moses (supposedly these are the so called "men from James" which he will later deny ever sending). This required circumcision and full conversion had been standard practice for "non-Jews" to be accepted by the Jews up to now. The point is that the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Israel of God without prior "full conversion (circumcision, kosher, etc.) severely threatened to divide Judaism along ethnic lines and put an end to the Jewish mission in the Diaspora (i.e., the witness to Jews living outside Palestine around the Mediterranean in cities such as Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome...this remember is the purpose of the Priesthood of Israel). Concerning the issue of Jew/Gentile relations in the church and Luke’s portrayal of the Jerusalem council, Witherington remarks:
Here the matter must be resolved as to what constitutes the people of God, and how the major ethnic division in the church (Jew/Gentile) shall be dealt with so that both groups may be included in God’s people on equal footing, fellowship may continue, and the church remain one. Luke is eager to demonstrate that ethnic divisions could be and were overcome, despite the objection of very conservative Pharisees (adherents of the School of Shammai and not the School of Hillel) [Witherington, Acts, p. 459).
The issue was not easily resolved, however, for Luke says that it was only after “much debate” that any defining progress was made (cf. 15:7ff.). The fact that Peter stood up and brought to their remembrance what had happened in his case and how God had “chosen”the Gentiles to hear the gospel through his mouth and believe (cf. also Acts 13:48) indicates that the mission to the Gentiles was God’s decision and that Peter was involved in it. Although most Christians think Paul was the instigator of the mission to the Gentiles and "non-Jews" that is not the case. Thus the gospel to the Gentiles had occurred about ten years earlier, with the then leader (Peter) of the Jerusalem church when sent to the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. This is where Peter took the "keys to the kingdom" to the "non-Jew" Cornelius first. The outreach to the "non-Jews" without required circumcision began within Israel with Peter and Cornelius. Peter's big revelation was the fatal blow to the School of Shammai and his bigotry toward the "non-Jews":
Acts 10:34-35 34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (KJV)
Those at the council knew that to be true, though given the point of the debate, they may not have recognized the precedent God had set in doing it. Thus Paul’s "law-free" approach (the "non-Jews" were freed from 613 laws that involved full conversion but were not freed from the 66 laws in their Covenant of Noah) could not be scorned as a movement apart from God’s desire and against Moses (remember the Laws of Noah are in the Laws of Moses). Peter’s conclusion is that the God who knows the hearts of all men gave the Spirit to the Gentiles in the same way as he had done with the Jews (see the Cornelius event in Acts 10... his ears and understanding of Peter speaking Hebrew was given to him as we find in Acts 2 at Pentecost when the ears and understanding of Peter speaking Hebrew was made know to these 70 different converts from all over the world who did not know Hebrew..we have here the reverse of the Babel curse). Thus, the conclusion we see in Acts 15:11 is made clear to Peter and blown away he says that Jews are saved by the grace of God in the same way as Gentiles. The repeated mention of the identical manner of reception of the Spirit by Cornelius, a "non-Jew" who is not converted as were the "non-Jews" who were converts in Acts 2 indicates Luke's focus on unity among the Jews and Gentiles in the church. This is crucial that you understand this! This event with Cornelius will turn the School of Shammai and Judaism upside down. In fact, Peter says that God “made no distinction between them and us, cleansing their hearts by faith” as well (15:8-9). To turn around, says Peter, and force Gentiles to keep the Law (all the Law including forced circumcision) is to put God to the test (v. 10).
After Peter stopped speaking, Paul and Barnabas, in v. 12, told all that God had done among the Gentiles through them (opened their understanding to Hebrew being spoken by Peter as seen in Cornelius, a "non-Jew", as was done 17 years earlier to the "non-Jewish" coverts (considered Jews now) from all over the world". This miraculous event with Cornelius supported Peter’s testimony. But when they finished speaking James did not refer to their stories, but to that which Peter had done. He uses the word “first” to indicate that what God had begun through Peter, he was now carrying on through Paul and Barnabas (15:14). This indicates the continuity and unity between the Petrine offer of the gospel to Gentiles and Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. Both were initiated by God. This is clearly the case in the unfolding of the narrative of Acts. Peter was given a vision which led to the meeting with Cornelius where the same miracle occurred in Peter's presence again as had happened at Pentecost 17 years earlier when the curse of Babel was reversed and Cornelius, by the Spirit of God, understood Peter speaking Hebrew although Cornelius had no knowledge of Hebrew prior to that time. The texts calls this "salvation" (10:9-16).
Answer for yourself: But was not Cornelius already a "Godfearer"? Yes. Had not Cornelius already believed in the God of Israel and prayed and even given alms? Yes. Then was not Cornelius already "saved" in the traditional Christian sense? Yes. Then does this word "salvation" not mean "Heaven" or "Hell" but rather refers to the non-covert "no-Jew" being included along side the Jew in the Israel of God? It sure does. We have to be careful reading the words "salvation, save, saved, etc.) in the texts because out of 17 words for "save, saved, salvation, saving, etc. in the Bible only one word out of 17 words refers to things occurring after we die and it is used only 3 times in the whole Bible. One has to be a keen reader in understanding that Cornelius was already a believer in God since his prayers and alms had previously come up to God. Thus this salvation spoken of in the texts refers not to believing the theology about some Jesus but being included alongside the Jews in the Israel of God.
Acts 10:2 2 (Cornelius) A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. (KJV)
Strong's Concordance tell us that the root word for "devout" in the Greek is:
4576 sebomai (seb'-om-ahee); middle voice of an apparently primary verb; to revere, i.e. adore: KJV-- devout, religious, worship. So by definition Cornelius was ALREADY a worshipper of God and can be considered a Godfearer and saved "eternally". That being the case he was already "saved" as such but here the event recorded in Acts 10 is a major teaching tool by God to alert Peter that there is no difference with God between the "non-Jew" and the Jew regardless if Judaism and the School of Shammai made it so or not. Peter, who brought interpreters with him since Cornelius would not have understood Hebrew/Aramaic, began preaching and the Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his understanding of Hebrew was miraculously given him and he understood what Peter was saying. This is exactly what happened when Peter got up to preach at Pentecost to pilgrims from 70 different nations and dialects from all over the world which had traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Pentecost and the Spirit again opened their minds and hearts and they were given the spirit of understanding of Hebrew. This is the miracle given only to Jews (converts are considered full Jews) in Acts 2 which is repeated before Peter in Acts 10 to not a convert; rather only to a Gentile "non-Jew" who was not converted but only adhered to faith in God and the few Laws given him in the Covenant of Noah (66 to be exact).
Answer for yourself: But is Acts 10 and Acts 2 not about "speaking in tongues" as we hear in our Christian Pentecostal and Chiasmatic churches? Sorry, Acts 2 is not about blabbering tongues the way the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches teach so we need to grow up and interpret these texts correctly and stop acting improperly since being improperly instructed people before the Presence of God in our worship and allowing ourselves to be led astray my emotional hucksters who call themselves preachers of the Word of God. We need to repent of such sins now for unrestrained emotionalism is a poor substitute for worship in Truth and in Spirit. Acts 2 is not what Paul later speaks of when mentioning glossolilia. In the first Centuries C.E., glossolilia meant the ability of a person to communicate in a foreign language that they had never learned. e.g. a person raised speaking Greek and unable to speak any other language would suddenly be conversing in Aramaic or Hebrew. This the context of Acts 2 and Acts 10. Sadly, at the present time, it refers to a person who suddenly, in a state of religious ecstasy, starts speaking sounds that sound like language but do not represent any known tongue. This is not the same and travesty when contrasted with the true events which reveal the grace and power of God. Anybody can utter unintelligible sounds when prompted by pastors or others but this again is now what occurred in Acts 2 and Acts 10. God, please give us better teachers to the Body of Christ.
We see rather that Peter quickly comes to understand as recorded in Acts 10:34-35:
Acts 10:34-35 34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him (in nations outside Israel all "non-Jews" who are not converts), and worketh righteousness (obey the Laws of God which define which works are accepted and not accepted by God), is accepted with him. (KJV)
What a verse. What a verse. The whole of Salvation rapped up in one verse. The testimony of 10,000 years of Egyptian religion passed on to their "Jewish children" in one verse (35). This is it bothers and sisters. So simple, yet so elusive since we never hear this in our Churches today which denigrate the Laws of God which define what God considers "true righteousness and what is not true righteousness". We instead hear:
Rom 10:4 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (KJV)
Rom 6:14 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (KJV)
Rom 6:15 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (KJV)
Unbelieveable statements in view of countless contradictory evidence in the New Testament which is anything but a theological unity.
The council had listened to the testimony of Peter, and Paul and Barnabas. They heard the reoccurrence of the "Jewish Pentecost" among the "non-Jew" Cornelius (the Gentile Pentecost). The conclusion was obvious. It only remained for James to give the scriptural precedent according Amos 9:11-12 (Acts 15:16-17).
Amos 9:11-12 11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. (KJV)
It was happening before their eyes; not ours today. Prophecy was truly being fulfilled before their eyes. God was working out the words of Amos now before them. Man's theologies spouted by Shammai and his bigotry was falling apart. The two peoples of God, Jew and "non-Jew" were being united without required circumcision and conversion to Judaism as the School of Shammai maintained.
Acts 15:16-17 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: What is this all about and is Acts 15 the defining moment for Judaism as God's Holy Nation and Royal Priesthood? Yes it is as I will explain.
Zechariah 4:2-4 And he said to me,"What do you see?" So I said, "I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. The two Olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at it's left." So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked to me, saying, "What are these, my Lord?"
Zechariah 4: 11-14 Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two Olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?" Then he answered me and said," Do you not know what these are?" And I said,"No my Lord." So he said,"These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.
Jeremiah 11:16 The Lord called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form.
In Genesis 48 we read of Joseph's Sons being blessed by Israel as two branches or tribes of the people of God, the younger becoming a multitude of Nations (Gentiles).
Genesis 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough A fruitful bough by a well His branches run over the wall.
These prophetic utterances towards the end of the Old Covenant era are of great interest in these new days of the 2000 millennium. We know that the Israelite Nation was divided into two Kingdoms for much of the Old Covenant period, the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. We know also that the Israelites (Jews) are God's chosen nation of people who have never been able to be erased from human history. Other nations have been completely destroyed by various means and no longer walk the earth, but the Israelites are still with us and still exerting great influence on world events. His branches run over the wall. Is an interesting reference and could be easily interpreted to mean that through Joseph the people of God will extend beyond the boundaries of being born into the Jewish nation.
Romans 11: 17 And some of the branches were broken off, and you ("non-Jews", being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree.
Here is clear reference to both the Jews and the Gentiles being grafted together into ONE tree in the ONE ROOT.
Consider Ephesians 2:11-12. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh - who were called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel...
Ephesians 2:15-16 ...so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace and that He might reconcile both to God, in one body...
There is and has been for most of the New Covenant era, enmity between the Christians and the Jews. Labelled wrongly as Christ killers, Jews have been slaughtered and persecuted by the world and Christians alike. Christians have believed that they have replaced the Jews as God's chosen people. But the Word is very clear, there are two Olive trees which will become one in God and their enmity will be put aside. We work and look forward to the time when Christians and Israelites will rise from the death of division and distrust and stand as the witnesses of the One God on the earth teaching the one true message of God given Israel in the beginning. Then and only then can these two Olive trees become one people of God in His Christ but this will never happen until Christianity faces the truth about its antisemitic theology.
What you just read is most likely a composite citation and that Luke understood the mission to the Gentiles not as a purely "Christian" thing, but according to a cumulative prophetic witness associated with Davidic hope. Thus the boundaries of the “people of God” are widened to include the Gentiles on equal footing with the Jews on the basis of Davidic hope. The speakers are making the important affirmation that Gentiles can be God’s people in the full sense that Israel is without full conversion. This is a major ruling based upon summary re-evaluation of what God has been doing among the "non-Jews" in front of the witness of the Jews. Davidic hope in Luke-Acts is for all, regardless of ethnicity, and places all in the same position in terms of the reception of covenant blessing, including the reception of the Spirit.
Thus through the combined witness of the missionaries and James’ citation from the Jewish Scriptures and the reference to Amos, the "law free" (free from 613 laws and full conversion but not free from the 66 laws of the Covenant of Noah) mission to the Gentiles was officially sanctioned and acknowledged by the Jerusalem church. The ambiguity surrounding Gentile inclusion in Davidic promise in chapter 13 is settled in chapter 15.
James makes his remarks in response to the summary testimonies of the missionaries. Some requirements were stressed so as to make table fellowship between Gentiles and their more scrupulous Jewish brothers possible and that the mission to the Jews in the Diaspora not be hindered. The point is to maintain a practical unity in the church. James considers these "requirements" as not optional and the text makes this very clear:
Acts 15:28 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; (KJV)
The only thing they asked was that the Gentiles maintain love for their Jewish brothers and sensitivity toward Jewish ritual purity for the sake of the Jewish-Christian witness in the Diaspora (15:20-21). Thus Luke accomplished his purpose of demonstrating how the Gentiles came to be accepted as Gentiles into what had hitherto been a predominantly Jewish church.
James first begins by mentioning Moses being "read" to these "non-Jews" in the Synagogues every Sabbath. From this we see the picture of the "non-Jew" observing the Sabbath in the first century.
Acts 15:21 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (KJV)
Next we find the decree of James as look at the very important mention by James of various "Necessary Things" which seemed good to the Holy Spirit that the "non-Jew" "must do":
Acts 15:29 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (KJV)
Acts 15:29
29 That ye abstain from:
from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Answer for yourself: Some believe that the above admonitions refers to 4 of the 7 precepts of the Laws of Noah at that they do when examined in a particular way. This is true but however is there a deeper meaning here that most miss that fits the context of Acts 15 better?
Answer for yourself: In addressing the Gentile question as so many "non-Jews" were coming to faith in God through the outreach of the Jesus Movement in first century Judaism (Second Temple), what are the implications in the above verse that today's Christian needs to be made aware?
In order to find the meaning, both historically and culturally, we need to look at the original words as taken from the Thayer's Greek Lexicon:
The Greek word for "meat":
1494 eidolothuton-
The Greek word for "blood":
129 haima-
The Greek word for "strangled":
4156 pniktos- suffocated, strangled
The Greek word for "fornication":
4202 porneia-
Answer for yourself: Now for a very important question. Is there a common theme among these four “admonitions”? Yes there is and can you see it?
These admonitions which James called "necessary" and "which seemed good to the Holy Spirit" all involved "eating" and "table fellowship" in some way where the Jew and "non-Jew" were to be "one" as God's people. By being one not only in dietary concerns the Gentile could come and learn from the Jew and thereby both would have the same witness of the same truth through a unified message where both Gentile and Jew come together as the two sticks in Joseph's hand with a united message for the world (Judah and Ephraim).
Answer for yourself: What are we missing here?
Simply that the Jews are given many "kosher" commands which are not voluntary and although the "non-Jews" are not given many of these "required Laws" concerning "kosher" for unity and table fellowship to occur between the "Jew" and the "non-Jew" then the "non-Jew" will have to understand Isa. 56 and the principles laid out there and "voluntarily" acquire other mitzvoth not given to him by God in order for such communion between "Jew" and "non-Jew" to occur. Sure, as a "non-Jew" are you not required to eat only "clean food" as this is not required in the Covenant of Noah but we must choose "those things that please God" as Isaiah 56 commands of the "non-Jew". We don't have to eat "kosher"; but we "get to" and in so doing when we choose to not eat shrimp before a Jew we literally tear down that middle wall between the Jew and "non-Jew". This and other such issues were the problem at Antioch. That is our task as "non-Jews" and our role in fulfilling the words of Amos 9 and Genesis 49 through our lives. We, as "non-Jews" have a huge responsibility and obligation toward our Jewish bothers and sisters and in so doing maybe we can undo somewhat the horrors done to the Jewish peoples by the Christian Church during the Dark Ages that sadly have not yet abated due to the gross ignorance of Christians about the true nature of their birth faith.
Simply said these 4 items referred to the prior problem concerning Paul and his teachings that led up to the Antioch Incident and the problem of table-fellowship; Jews with "non-Jews". This was not meant to be a treatise upon the 7 Noahide Laws or the Noahide Covenant although these items are contained within them. This was concerned only about the “Paul problem” at Antioch and the violation of the Covenant of Noah and Moses to whom both Jews and "non-Jew" had fallen victim because of Paul's laxity and teachings which were opposed to the Torah in places. This might be hard for you to hear but Paul was teaching a form of "idolatry" as defined by the Covenant of Noah and Moses and this will be proved in the following articles which follow. Paul was not perfect and neither are we and this is why Paul was always a problem for James and the Jerusalem Church.
In other words one can see that the Acts 15 Council was to deal with the violation of Covenant Stipulations for both Jew and "non-Jew" [Moses and Noah] due to incorrect teaching and laxity in keeping the Commandments of God as taught by Paul; both for the Jew and the "non-Jew" concerning not only "table fellowship" but it runs deeper; deep as idolatry as defined by these Laws!!! READ THEM AGAIN ABOVE. Let us not forget that these "believers" were the first followers in "the Jewish Christ" and the accurate understanding of the dynamics of Acts 15 has a message to you if you consider yourself a follower of the Jewish Christ (called Jesus)!
It is to the Antioch Problem to which we must now turn to understand thoroughly the reason for the Acts 15 Council and the implications for all "non-Jews" who desire to be followers of Jesus and "the Christ"