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"GODFEARERS" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: THE PATTERN FOR GENTILE PARTICIPATION IN THE ISRAEL OF GOD #6
In the previous articles I have gone into detail to relay to you
specific information concerning the Biblical language, religious history,
and the Biblical culture which surrounds the events concerning believing
Gentiles and their relationship to God through the New Testament. We have
seen, contrary to what we have been told by Gentile Christianity, that the
Bible has a very different picture of what a Gentile believer is to
believe and do to be considered a part of Yeshua's church. We saw that God
has given very specific commandments for your inclusion into His Son's
Church. We saw in short summary that it was required of Gentiles to:
Having reviewed all of the information presented I know some of you are prone to say or think "as a Christian I am under the "New Covenant" and that information does not apply to me. Many may feel that the information previously presented does not apply to them for some reason and claim New Testament exclusion. Let me remind you that these events chronicled and explained in the previous articles ARE New Testament events that occurred after the cross of Christ and in fulfillment of the Great Commission.
In order to deal with the "New Covenant" and "New
Testament" defense which some will appeal to, I believe it to be very
rewarding if we ruthlessly look at this New Covenant we hear so much
about. But let me warn you, what you will discover will be very
disconcerting to you because at present most of you hold a religious
belief system based upon untruths in many areas and when presented with "the
truth" you will tend to want to reject it and defend long held and
cherished beliefs held most of your life.
Answer for yourself: Do you want the
truth or a lie?
Answer for yourself: Before dealing
with the "new" or "renewed" covenant, do you remember
that all the events that transpired in the Book of Acts happened after the
cross and were "New Testament" events? Having agreed with this
statement then let us proceed.
Answer for yourself: Is it possible that you have gone to church your whole life and called yourself a "New Testament" believer and never fully understood what covenant you are under in the first place?
Answer for yourself: Is it possible
that you don't know God's intended meaning for the word "new" as
used in "New Covenant" as seen in the New Testament? Not so you
say, well hang on for the shock of you life!
Answer for yourself: Could you, as a
Gentile Godfearer, who calls yourself a "Christian," be a
literal descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob?
Perhaps the idea strikes you as too incredible to take seriously,
too far fetched to be true--much like a dream which is so good that you
are sure it could never happen in reality. The possibility of your own
physical descent from Abraham (he was a Gentile and not a Jew) is such an
overwhelming notion that it is easy for your rational mind to dismiss the
thought as literally "too good to be true."
Answer for yourself: Are you aware
that a careful reading of the Torah and the Prophets reveals that
Abraham's seed, particularly the descendants of the Northern Ten Tribes,
who were taken captive into all the Gentile nations of the world, are
still in exile among the world's nations, and will soon be brought back to
the LORD (YHVH) their God and to the Land of their ancestors?
Answer for yourself: Are you aware
that if you are experiencing an inner pull toward the God of Israel, and
to His Torah, and the Hebrew Roots of the Christian faith, then the
probability is high that in these last days preceding the coming of
Messiah, that you, as a Gentile Godfearer, could possibly be a descendant
of one of the Ten Northern Tribes which were assimilated into all the
Gentile nations of the world? How so? Read on.
While the Divine scenario of the Northern House of Israel being
taken captive by Assyria, scattered among the nations, and regathered to
the LORD (YHVH) in the latter days is most specifically laid out in the
Book of Hosea, chapters 1 and 2; one could argue that it is most
passionately enunciated in Jeremiah, chapter 31. However,
be cautious in your reading of Jeremiah 31, since this vitally important
chapter has often been misunderstood by both Christians and Jews, when
they have failed to pay close attention to Jeremiah's carefully chosen
language. It is intriguing that the prophet himself tells us, "In the
latter days (today) you will understand this" (30:24b).
In hopes that this prophecy will be fulfilled in your life I
continue with this article.
Answer for yourself: To whom is the
prophet Jeremiah giving the prophecy of this "New Covenant" in
Jeremiah 31?
Before you hastily answer "the Christian Church" as it now
stands, you better examine what I have to show you.
You will note that the prophesy
recorded in Jeremiah 31 is directed to both the House of Israel, which
consists of the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel, and the House of Judah.
This point is forcefully made in chapter 30 verse 4 where this particular
prophetic sequence of events is initiated with the statement,
"Now these are the words which the LORD (YHVH) spokeconcerning
Israel and concerning Judah...."
Answer for yourself: Was the Lord
talking through Jeremiah the Prophet to Baptists, Methodists, Catholics
today, or was God speaking through Jeremiah to the House of Judah (Jews of
the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin) and the House of Israel (consisting of
the Ten other Tribes of Jacob)?
If you answer this question incorrectly then there is no hope for
you to understand what Jeremiah is really saying in these verses, let
along Yeshua who said he came ONLY "for the lost sheep of the House
of Israel." Instead of
"reading into the passage" a meaning you desire it to say, I
challenge you to let the Bible teach you what it says!
Then follows the now familiar pattern of the need for punishment
upon both Houses of Israel by military defeat and scattering in exile, but
resulting in the complete accomplishment of the Holy One's purposes by
their eventual regathering as being seen today in both Jewish and
Christian circles. You will understand fully later about what I just said.
Please read on.
Answer for yourself: Can you see the
complete futility of trying to make this prophecy refer the Christian
Church because in no time in its history was the Christian Church punished
by scattering, exile, and captivity as was the Tribes of Israel?
Answer for yourself: Is it possible
you have your whole life misunderstood what God, Jeremiah, and Yeshua
meant when speaking of the "New" Covenant? I can assure you that
most have.
Both the scattering and the regathering of Judah and Ephraim
(Ephraim is a synonym for the Ten Northern Tribes) are in the Wisdom and
Providence of God. Jeremiah's language is chilling in 30:24: "The
fierce anger of the LORD (YHVH) will not turn back, until He has
performed, and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; in
the latter days you will understand this."
Answer for yourself: Are we living in
the latter days, and if so, is it time to fully understand this passage?
These words bring to mind a parallel passage in the Book of Isaiah,
chapter 27 verses 8 and 9, "By measure, by exile, thou didst contend
with them; He removed her by His rough blast in the day of the east wind
(both exiles and captivity were by foreign invaders from the East).
By this (exile and captivity)
therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be atoned; and this is
all the fruit to take away his sin...." It is worth noting that
Isaiah here indicates that the exile would serve as an atonement for the
sins of the people. Such an idea of atonement for sins might come as a
surprise to those used to thinking in Christian terms, but is only because
we have failed to understand Yom Kippur and all the facets of Biblical
Atonement (if interested please request our articles on Yom Kippur).
Fortunately, the Almighty's plan does not end with punishment and
abandonment of His people, Israel. Jeremiah 31 starts out with the hopeful
declaration of the LORD (YHVH), Himself, "At that time (that is, "in
the latter days," see previous verse)...I will be the God of all the
families of Israel, and they shall be My people." God
promises the descendants of Israel (who, through captivity, exile, and
intermarriage with Gentiles became assimilated and inculturated Gentiles
today) that they will find "grace in the wilderness"
(verse 2), followed by the most moving promise of all, "I have loved
you with an everlasting love" (verse 3). It would be a grave mistake,
at this point, to assume that these incredible promises are made only to
the House of Judah, the Jewish people; on the contrary, read closely
verses 5, 6, and 9b:
Again you shall plant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
For there shall be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim shall call out,
"Arise and let us go up to Zion,
To the LORD (YHVH) our God."
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is my firstborn.
These clear statements, made by the LORD (YHVH), identify the
primary audience. It was
the Northern Ten Tribes who occupied Samaria/the hill country of Ephraim
anciently, and who are prophesied to do so again.
These Ten Northern
Tribes, who are frequently referred to in Scripture collectively as
Ephraim, are called the LORD'S (YHVH's) "first-born"
(possibly an allusion to Genesis 48:14-20 and I Chronicles 5:1).
The sure word of God to the descendants of Ephraim, the Northern Ten
Tribes, is, "Behold, I am bringing them from the north country
(Assyria), and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth...."
(verse 8a). And again, stated even more emphatically in verse 10, "Hear
the word of the LORD (YHVH) O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar
off, and say, `He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a
shepherd keeps his flock.'" Notice the interesting wording here. This
declaration is to be made in the "coastlands
afar off," and the descendants of Israel are to be gathered from "the
remote parts of the earth." These locations
certainly lend evidence to current efforts to identify the descendants of
the Ten Tribes with the Northwest European peoples and their colonies
(America).
Proceeding to the next major section of Jeremiah 31, we encounter
the heart-rending passage, "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation
and bitter weeping. Rachel
is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted
for her children, because
they are no more" (verse 15). This passage was
applied in the New Testament to Matthew's report that Herod slaughtered
infant Jewish children at the birth of Yeshua. Most
historians would agree that this cannot be its intended original meaning.
Jewish interpreters have most often understood it as a reference to the
Holocaust, or to Jewish suffering throughout the ages. Yet even this
reading, which is certainly more to the mark, because it is too general
and does not do justice to the highly specific language of Jeremiah.
Remember, according to the historical books of the Bible, the Jewish
people are primarily composed of descendants of the Tribes of Judah and
Levi, and to a lesser extent Benjamin. Judah and Levi are the children of
Leah, not of Rachel (Gen. 29:32-35). And while Benjamin was Rachel's son,
she never got the chance to know him, as she died during his birth (Gen.
35:16-19).
But Rachel did give Jacob a son, whom Jacob loved very dearly,
Joseph
(Gen. 37:3).
Answer for yourself: Is it not this
son Joseph and his children [Joseph
remember had two sons….Manessah and Ephraim] whose
descendants were taken in the Assyrian captivity and never returned to
their land or their faith that Rachel is weeping over in Jeremiah 31:15?
Indeed, it must be!
The Holy One instructs Rachel to stop weeping, promising her that
her children will "return from the land of the enemy."
Answer for yourself: And, what
children are these?
Look closely at verses 18 and 20, where the LORD (YHVH) says, "I
have surely heard Ephraim grieving, `Thou hast chastised me, and I was
chastised like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored,
for Thou art the LORD (YHVH) my God.'" The LORD'S (YHVH's) reply is
passionate:
"Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I remember him;
Therefore My heart years for him;
I will surely have mercy on him," declares the LORD
(YHVH).
Again, it is clear that it is The
House of Israel/Ephraim/the Northern Ten Tribes which through
intermarriage is melted into the Gentile gene pool of the world which is
being referred to here, not the House of Judah/the Jews.
If anyone is tempted to think that the term Ephraim is being employed here
in a generic way to address all Israel, just glance down to verses 23, 24,
and 27, where Judah is treated as distinct from Ephraim/the House of
Israel.
Next follows the passage
that is at once the most awesome and the most misinterpreted of all the
promises recorded in the prophets--the one concerning the "new
covenant."
Answer for yourself: Understanding
that although most Christians have applied this amazing prophecy of
Jeremiah, which is often quoted in the New Testament to the Gentile new
covenant Church and its mission to the Gentile nations; is it possible
that this understanding could be in error? It sure is!
Anyone who will
carefully read what Jeremiah says, and whom he addresses in this prophecy,
if kept in context, will quickly see that such an application does serious
injustice to the text. Unfortunately, the unconscious
motivation Christians have in trying to claim this passage as to their own
is the advancement of a "replacement" religion which began long
ago, in which the Jews were no longer the heirs to the promises of God,
but rather the Gentile Christian Church. One can only say, in the face of
such claims--read the text!
Answer for yourself: What does
Jeremiah actually say?
It
can be clearly seen from the context (verses 27-28) that
at a time when the House of Israel (the
Northern Ten Tribes) and the House of Judah (Judah, Levi, and Benjamin)
have been restored to the Land promised to their
ancestors, and are multiplying and prospering, the LORD (YHVH) will
THEN AND ONLY THEN
"make a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of
Judah...." (verse 31).
Answer for yourself: Is this "New
Covenant" made with the Christian Gentile Church or with descendants
of the Tribes of Jacob of the House of Judah and Ephraim (comprising the
Ten Northern Tribes of Jacob)?
Answer for yourself: Is it proper for
Christians setting in the churches of this country, or any country for
that matter, to call themselves the Tribe of Ephraim or its descendants?
How can we be certain?
Answer for yourself: Just because
we say that this "new covenant" spoken of by Jeremiah the
Prophet refers to us and our church, does that make it so?
Answer for yourself: Let say that you,
as the Christian, are Ephraim and this prophecy applies to the Christian
Church, then according to the timing of when God will make this "new
covenant", can you say that this New Covenant is already made and
existing because the Christians have been restored to the land of Israel
and their ancestor's faith, or do most of Christianity today lay outside
the land of Israel and have a belief system quite opposite to the Jewish
Church of Jerusalem?
Answer for yourself: Can you see that
this is another example where the Gentile Christian Church has stolen the
"blessings intended for the Jews" and erroneously applied them
to itself while leaving all the curses for the Jews? Church history is
replete with such examples of Replacement Theology, and I bet you didn't
think you had or accepted any anti-Semitic doctrines in your belief
system! This is just one of many.
Please note that this new covenant is not made with the Gentiles; neither is it made solely with the house of Judah, the Jews. Rather, it is an incredible future promise that is guaranteed to the Jews and to their brothers, the descendants of Joseph/Ephraim (Yeshua called these the "lost sheep of the Hours of Israel [Ephraim]), after they have been reunited and are prospering in the Land of Israel.
You well know the magnitude of the promise:
I will put My law within them (this should sound strange to Gentile Christians today who reject the Law),
and on their hearts I will write it;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor
and each man his brother, saying,
"Know the LORD (YHVH),"
For they shall all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,"
declares the LORD (YHVH),
"for I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more." (verses 33-34).
Answer for yourself: Now, how sure are
these promises? Can God lie?
Answer for yourself: Could these
promises be taken away from the physical descendants of Jacob/Israel and
given instead to a group of Gentiles calling themselves "Christians"
who reject the Laws of God let alone His appointed times such as Biblical
Festivals and Sabbaths? I
would not count on it if I were you!
The scriptural text addresses that possibility most plainly, when it
says, "Thus says the LORD (YHVH), who gives the sun for light by day,
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night..., `If
this fixed order departs from before me, ...then the offspring of Israel
also shall cease from being a nation before me forever'" (verses
35-36). And, as if that wording were not strong enough, the passage
continues, "Thus says the LORD (YHVH), `If the heavens above can be
measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will
also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done'"
(verse 7).
Answer for yourself: What further
comment is needed?
Now, dear Christian, let me ask you a very important question:
Answer for yourself: Are you grafted
into Israel as Paul stated in Romans, or are you grated into a Gentile
organization built upon Replacement Theology given to you by the early
Gentile Catholic Church?"
Answer for yourself: Do you observe
the Festivals and Sabbaths of the Lord and of Israel, or do you observe
pagan holidays that have had "Yeshua's" name affixed to them and
have taken the place of what is commanded in Scripture?
Answer for yourself: Have you
substituted the "day of the sun" (Sunday) for the Sabbath?
Answer for yourself: Have you replaced
one of the most fundamental tenants of the Jewish faith...giving of
tzedakah (charity) which comes from your tithe with the financing of
buildings, mortar, brick, utilities, fancy lunches, Pastor car rentals,
etc., with the tithe instead of what Yahweh commands it be used for?
Answer for yourself: Are you, as
Gentile Godfearers grafted into Israel, in fact part of Israel and the
people of God or have you apostatized from truth and practice a mixture of
truth and error in Christianity as it stands today?
Answer for yourself: Are you the "remnant"
among the Gentile nations who will be gathered as the "elect"
and be presented at the Marriage Supper along with Judah-Benjamin, thus
making up the Bride of Messiah, or will you be delegated to be the "servant-foolish
bride" and be cast out of the Wedding Supper because Yeshua, a Jew,
in his own Torah, is commanded by his Father to not marry Gentiles! The
only Gentile who will become a bride to Messiah is one, like Ruth, who
said "your people will be my people and your God my God."
Answer for yourself: How can you dear
Christian continue to believe, practice, observe, and finance neo-paganism
masquerading as righteousness after having come to truths as shown in
these articles?
Since you have been deprived by so many essential truths God desired
you have, much of what you believe and consequently do is out of ignorance
and lack of knowledge.
I suppose that there is no greater spiritual darkness that than what
surround the false teachings today concerning the "New Covenant."
It is to this we turn now our attention.
Answer for yourself: Is the "New
Covenant" really NEW at all?
Before we go in depth in this matter a little background information is necessary. Shavuot (Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks) is the festival of the giving of the Torah. The Torah, which is commonly known an the Pentateuch, consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This may surprise you, but the Torah is an integral part of the "New" (RENEWED) Covenant found in the New Testament. You may find this likewise shocking, but the "New Covenant" you heard spoken of continually will NOT become effective until a Shavuot Festival, some time in the future. Many Christians talk about the "New" Covenant, or Testament constantly without knowing of what they really speak. You may find it surprising, but the Greek word for "testament" is "diatheke" meaning "mutual undertaking between two parties or more, each binding himself to fulfill obligations." In the New Testament, the use of "diatheke" means:
Answer for yourself: Does the actual
words in the Greek Scriptures teach us that a "testament" is
made between God and Israel and not the Church? It sure does.
Hebrews 8:10 says: "For THIS the covenant," quoting from Jer. 31:31, renders "this" in the Greek language as "SAME." In other words, "this---same" covenant, as was spoken by Jeremiah (that was originally instituted with an earthly Priesthood) has now been RENEWED .... NOT REPLACED!
Answer for yourself: In referencing "New
Covenant" in the Greek New Testament, is the reference
ALWAYS to
the covenant spoken of by Jeremiah the Prophet which was made with Judah
and Ephraim? It sure is.
Answer for yourself: How do Gentiles, who once were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, who had no hope, and were without God in the world according to Eph. 2:12 become part of this "New Covenant" of Jeremiah spoken about in the New Testament….by being grafted into Israel and the faith of Israel which practices Sabbaths and Festivals, or by becoming members of various denominations and non-denominations which reject God's Biblical Feasts, Festivals, and Sabbaths?
Hopefully this makes you think if you be in "the faith" or just have "a" faith about something which God never gave mankind.
In otherwords, the "New" covenant of the "New Testament" is the "same covenant" (WHICH IS NOW RENEWED...NOT REPLACED....THE SAME COVENANT WITH ITS LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS WHICH ARE ITS COVENANT STIPULATIONS... WHICH PAUL TAUGHT THE WHOLE OF THE GENTILE WORLD DOES NOT ANY LONGER APPLY TO THEM!...THINK!
Now pay attention.
Answer for yourself: Jeremiah 31 states that the day will come when this "RENEWED" covenant will be made with "whom"…..Israel and Judah or with Judah and the church which rejects the faith of Judah?
The answer to that question is "Israel and Judah", Israel
being understood as Ephraim who today are dispersed Gentiles worldwide who
take the form of Christians to whom can be traced Jewish Roots all the way
back to the Assyrian Captivity and whom reject paganism and paganized
religious practices (the very reason Ephraim was taken captive in the
first place).
Answer for yourself: Where is Israel
to be found today?
Answer for yourself:
The Tribe and descendants of Judah is in the land of Israel since 1948,
but where are the ten tribes of Israel today? More on that later!
Secondarily this "New" testament is often used to refer to
a collection of books written by the Apostles. While we all talk "about"
this new covenant, most folks do not know the terms that make up this "New"
covenant. Since most folks consider the "New" covenant as an
important part of their religion and relationship with God , it becomes
clear that we "ought" to know the terms of this "New"
(renewed) covenant. Since this is a legal document and has an impact on
our lives, we certainly should be intimately familiar what the terms of
this covenant. First let me tell you what the "New" covenant is
not. It is not the
collection of books commonly known as the New Testament which has
unfortunately replaced the Bible Yeshua used and which the early church
took to the Gentiles for almost 400 years before the Catholic Church
created a document to establish their validity for doctrines which they
taught that were often contradicted by the Torah and Tanach (the Bible
Yeshua used and which was taken to Gentiles in the Great Commission).
Answer for yourself: How do we know
this?
We know this because a covenant, or testament, is a contract between
two parties. Webster's unabridged dictionary defines "testament"
this way: "In law, a writing, under seal, containing the terms of
agreement or contract between parties..." Since the collection of
books merely quotes the terms, and since most of the writings of the New
Testament do not contain the terms of this covenant, it would be poor
scholarship to refer to this collection of Apostolic Writings as the "New
Testament."
The ceremony commonly known as "communion," which is
mistakenly practiced by most Christian churches as a substitute for the
Festival of Passover, is not the new covenant because this ceremony does
not mention the words that make up this agreement. While this ceremony
mentions the seal of the new covenant (the cup of wine which represents
Messiah's blood), it does not mention the actual words that make up this
agreement.
Answer for yourself: What exactly are
the words, or terms, of this "New" covenant?
The words, curiously, are found in the collection of books sometimes
referred to as the "Old" covenant. The prophet Jeremiah wrote
down the words of this agreement in Jeremiah 31:31-34: "The
time is coming," declares the LORD (Yahweh), "when
I will make a new (renewed)
covenant with the house of Israel (we must never forget that Israel had
been dispersed, assimilated, and intermarried into Gentile nations for
over 200 years when Jeremiah spoke this prophecy) and with the house of
Judah.
In other words, you cannot
find the Tribes or descendants of Israel when Jeremiah spoke this
prophecy, as these ten tribes were literally becoming "Gentiles-heathen"
since their captivity and were no longer "God's people."
Israel as a Torah practicing people was no more! Rather, the descendants
of Abraham, once monotheists, were now polytheists like their captives,
and began to adopt a new religious belief system of man's invention
instead of God's revelation. They
were losing their Biblical Roots, they were losing their Hebrew Roots.
Answer for yourself: Has this same
sickness infected the Body of Christ in the Gentile Churches of today? You
better believe it has (just request our articles on Sabbath and Festivals
to understand the depth of darkness that exists today in Gentile
Christianity).
Let me explain. Since Ephraim's captivity, the people of Israel
were becoming inter-married with pagans, being influenced and yielding to
paganism, accepting and replacing, or at least mixing pagan religious
beliefs with those given to them by God at Sinai, thus no longer following
the "faith once given to the saints".
Please read slowly and carefully:
This "same covenant," seen in Hebrew 8, "will not be
like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I
was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant
I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD.
I will put my law (Torah) in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a
man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will
forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Answer for yourself: As stated before,
how does God intend His laws to be
written on our hearts (let alone a Christian's heart when he denies the
Law and believes it has passed away?
Let us never forget that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God. When those former Israelites (now inter-married and
assimilated into Gentile nations where they were forgetting the faith of
their fathers…Sabbaths and Festivals like Christianity today)
would once again be instructed
concerning the covenants and laws of God, then the product of their
hearing the Laws of God would indelibilize the words in their "minds"
which would then become engrafted into their hearts. See
Nehemiah, chapter 8, for a perfect example of former Jews, who when
returned from captivity where they did not hear the Word of God and were
influenced by pagan cultures, and had forgotten the Word of God; yet when
taught by Ezra for the first time, cried, repented, and returned to God
with broken hearts as this "renewed" Word was "written on
their hearts" as they heard with their ears and understood with their
minds.
Answer for yourself: Is it any wonder
why you do not at this time have the same belief system as taught by the
Old and New Testament (same covenant remember?), but instead have a belief
system which, when exposed to the truths I have shown you, seem foreign to
you?
It is so simple. You have not had good teachers to teach you the truths which have for so long remained hidden until these last days. And those you have are blinded by prejudices and anti-Semitic doctrines inherited from both the Catholic and Reformation churches.
I would again like to call your attention to the
names of the parties that "WILL" made this covenant in the
future. The first party is called "the house of
Israel" (currently the House
of Israel are dispersed and assimilated Gentiles when this prophecy was
spoken by Jeremiah) and "Judah" (Judah was still in
the land of Israel when Jeremiah prophesied, but would shortly be taken
into Babylonian captivity). The other party to this "RENEWED"
covenant is God. God is referring to Himself as Yahweh.
So,
if you (believing Christians) are not of the house of Israel or Judah,
then this "new" or RENEWED covenant has no effect on you!
In
other words, the Christian Church finds her validity as she is grafted
into Israel, not the converse, where Israel is being grafted into the
Gentile church.
Answer for yourself: Take a minute and
ponder which I just said, then ask yourself this question:
am I grafted into Israel
through faith in Yeshua, or is Israel grafted in my corner church?
On the other hand, if you
are convinced that the "New" covenant applies to you, then
somehow you must be a part of the House of Israel in order for its
benefits to be applied to you. This covenant, between the house
of Israel and God, is quoted, verbatim, in Hebrews 8:8-12. This is the
only other place where the words, or terms, of the new covenant are
spelled out so expressly in the New Testament. If you carefully read this
contract, or if you were to take this contract to your lawyer, you will
learn that this contract
of the New Covenant has not yet taken effect!
This contract cannot
take effect until the Gentile Christian understands, believes, and
practices the faith of Yeshua. This contract cannot take effect until the
Gentile Christian comes to the understanding of the truths presented in
these articles and truly believes that he is grafted into Israel, thereby
rightfully entering into the "renewed covenant" of Jer. 31.
Ye who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the church!
Also, this contract-covenant can only become effective when everyone knows
the Lord (that's what it said). "Until everyone knows the Lord"
means knowing and understanding His ways which are revealed in the
covenant contract, the Torah (the first five books of the Bible which have
not passed away in lieu of grace). The tragedy is that most Christian
churches teach that the LAW (our covenant contract) has passed away.
Not only do we have to be content with looking forward to the time when
this contract is put into effect, but we must unlearn lies taught as truth
by well intentioned spiritual leaders who are sincere, but sincerely
wrong.
We must understand that the
Law is still in effect, only the Priesthood and the sacrifices which
accompany the Priesthood have changed. We must understand and cherish
our "marriage certificate with God," His Torah, His Law, and
take our rightful place as Gentile believers as "part" of
Israel, and no longer allow ourselves to be tossed by every wind of
doctrine by ascribing to replacement theology whereby we falsely believe
the Christian Church has a covenant of its own to the exclusion of the
covenants of Israel.
The actual terms of this
renewed covenant, to which the Christian Church finds its identity, appear
to be the same terms of the covenant that God made with the house of
Israel at Sinai! We can deduce this by noticing that the "Torah"
will be written on our hearts instead of stone. This refers to God's
command when He gave the Torah. Deuteronomy 32:46 records for us:
Take to heart all the words I have
solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children
to obey carefully all the words of this law (Torah).We should also
notice what is being written on the hearts. It is God's Law, His
Torah. It is God's instructions or laws.
The implications of this are staggering!
This means, that when
this is done, we will no longer disobey God. We will desire to obey the
Law that most Christians are taught today to hate because they have been
told that it brings bondage.
This erroneous
teaching is due to errors in manuscript transmissions as well as cleverly
placed words and additions to your Bibles (Greek New Testament) that are
meant to lead you to the pre-formed theological opinions of those who
printed your Bible (these redactors are influence by anti-Semitic and
anti-Judaic sentiments inherited from prior erroneous education). It just
so happens that this "anti-Law" belief, which has been cleverly
written into the pages of our Bibles and the corners of copies of Greek
manuscripts which were later incorporated into the very text itself which
were not there in the earlier Greek manuscripts from which the English
translation is derived, is in total conflict with the words of Yeshua as
well as Paul in the Bible (see articles on misunderstanding Paul and the
Law and misunderstanding Galatians).
Let us take a minutes and look at Ephesians chapter 2. We must
understand that as Gentiles, Eph. 2:11-12 applies to us: "Wherefore
REMEMBER,
that you in times past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision
(symbol for Gentiles) by that which is called the Circumcision (Jews) in
the flesh made by hands; that at that time you
were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and WITHOUT GOD
in the world." Sounds pretty bleak...we were
destined to Gehenna (KJV calls it Hell). It goes on to tell us in vv.
13-16 that "now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Messiah (technically his soul as an offering for
sin-see Isaiah). For he (Messiah) is our peace (for
both Jew and Gentile), who hath made both one (Jew and Gentile), and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition (separation)."
Let me interject that "between
us" is added
(italicized) in the
KJV for better understanding, and these words never appear in the Greek
manuscripts from which your Bible was translated. Normally, these "minor"
additions are quite harmless because they help the text to flow better for
purposes or reading and understanding, BUT
SOMETIMES THESE WORDS WERE ADDED TO CREATE THEOLOGIES THAT TAKE US AWAY
FROM THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE, LET ALONE THE RELIGION OF JESUS. Let
us keep examining the text.
Ephesians 2:15 is possibly one
of the worst translations in the whole Bible, and is
primarily responsible for teaching you the
lies and heresies you have been taught in traditional Christian churches
that teach that the "LAW" has passed away. Let
me quote this verse correctly from the KJV, omitting the words added that
have brain-washed the majority of Christians I know: "Having
abolished in his flesh
(Yeshua and the cross) the
ENMITY." Stop!
If you look this word up in any Greek dictionary, Vines wordbook,
etc., you will find the word means "hatred
toward, opposition toward...something." So, first of all, the death
of Yeshua abolished hatred by "SOMEONE OR SOME GROUP" TOWARD
SOMETHING!
Now, notice carefully, "EVEN"
is in italics (added and not in the Greek manuscripts)
in your Bibles if you have a KJV. My whole life I read my Bible as if
these "italicized" words were given by God in my Bible. If we
were to read Eph. 2:15 and include
"even" in the verse, then we find (incorrectly
I might add) that the sacrifice of Yeshua on the cross abolished through
his flesh, "even" the commandments and ordinances. If "even"
is added and read with the verse, it is easy to see that Yeshua destroyed
the hatred for the Law by destroying the Law. By doing away with the Law
(which violated his saying that we were never to think that he had come to
destroy the Law..Matt. 5:17), he destroys the Law. THERE
IS ONLY ONE MAJOR PROBLEM: "EVEN" IS NOT
IN THE GREEK MANUSCRIPT!
Correctly understanding the GREEK from which our English is derived,
the verse states emphatically that Yeshua's death DESTROYED
THE HATRED AND OPPOSITION TOWARD (SOMETHING), EVEN THE COMMANDMENTS.
Notice also, that the next word is in italics as well, being added and not
in the Greek manuscripts from which we translated our Bibles. It would
seem if we read these italicized words in the text, that Yeshua abolished
on the cross not only mankind's "hatred and opposition" to the
Law, but THE ACTUAL LAW AND ORDINANCES THEMSELVES! But, these words do not
exist as given by the Holy Spirit, only as given by man!
But "even" and "contained" are added, and the Holy Spirit never put these words in the inspired revelation. Now, let us read this beautiful verse as God intended you read it: "having abolished in the flesh (through sacrifice of Yeshua on the cross) the ENMITY (hostility toward, opposition toward).....what? THE LAW! Please notice that Yeshua abolished the hatred and opposition toward the Law of God.
Answer for yourself: Having better
understood the original language of the passage, can you see that Yeshua
abolished only the hatred and opposition toward the Law of Moses and not
the Law itself?
Answer for yourself: Has your church
taught you that the Law was done away with by Yeshua or did you know
before today that the Law has never passed away?
Answer for yourself: Dear Christian,
have you been told to hate the Law?
Answer for yourself: Do you hate the
Law?
You see, the Law kills only when you violate it, not when you obey
it. When you obey, God
rewards you and blesses you, as your obedience to the Law of God is your
expression of the will of God for your life.
Now you have to ask yourself a big question and think for yourself.
Answer for yourself: Who
was opposed to the Law of God...the Jew or the Gentile?
Acts 21:20 informs us that James, the head of the church of Yeshua
(Jesus) in the first century, would state (approximately
60 A.D.-notice it was about thirty years since his brother's death on the
cross): "Thou seest, brother (Paul), how many
thousands and thousands of Jews there are which believe (in Yeshua the
Messiah of Israel); AND THEY ARE ALL
ZEALOUS FOR THE LAW."
That's right, the
LAW HAD NOT PASSED AWAY FOR THE CHURCH BEARING JESUS' NAME IN THE FIRST
CENTURY as it sadly has for most Christians today which are part of
Pauline Christianity instead of Jewish Christianity.
Answer for yourself: DID YOU HEAR
THAT?
Ephesians, chapter 2, informs us that it was not the Jew who had
opposition and hatred for the Law, for Paul would state that the Law was "holy,
just, and good," and David states repeatedly in the Old Testament
that he "delights in the Law and meditates in it day and night."
Answer for yourself: So, who were
those who were opposed and had a hatred for the Law in this verse?
The answer is simple. The
Gentiles, as stated before, were "without Messiah
(until evangelized and taken the mandate to 'observe those things that I
(Yeshua) have commanded..." These Gentiles were aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise (notice
not covenants of bondage), had no hope, and were without God in the world.
Romans 9:2 strengthens the
point as it states it was to Israel, and not the Gentiles, to whom God
gave the adoption, the giving of the Law, the service (worship) of God,
and the promises (covenants). It was the Gentile who had
lived his whole life in debauchery, idolatry, sexual immorality, thievery,
murder, fornication, etc. When presented with the Torah (Law); and
understanding that before Yeshua's sacrifice, the Gentile had few options
but to submit to "circumcision" if he wished to convert to the
religion of Israel, many obstacles stood in the way of Gentiles accepting
God's Law.
Thus, for an adult Gentile, the prospect of circumcision was
definitely a commandment of the Law that a (Gentile) would have "hatred
toward, opposition toward." Besides circumcision, the Gentile was
confronted, for the first time in his life with a Living Authority (a
living God) that required of him "do's" and "don'ts."
You can easily see the scope of taking upon oneself the whole of the Law
was less than agreeable, thus we have a hindrance in taking faith in the
One God of the world to the Gentile nations.
But, now in Messiah, the hatred and opposition toward the Law was
removed for the Gentile, because no longer (following the cross) are
Gentiles required to convert to Judaism to become children of God.
Circumcision is no longer required of Gentiles to be in covenant with God.
With the lessening of requirements, the Gentiles found a more attractive
Judaism (Monotheism) as he was not to be held responsible for 613
mitzvoth, but only the Laws (Mitzvoth) Of Noah. Thus,
the Jew and Gentile could become one through Messiah, thus making peace
between Jew and Gentiles who had not previously accepted the Torah-Law.
The failure of the Gentile to adopt and accept the Torah's commandments,
had previously separated the Jew and Gentile. Now, as a modified
life-style that came because of the sacrifice of Yeshua, the Gentiles
began to accept and follow a life-style from which they were previously
alien toward.
If you want more confirmation, Eph. 2:16 re-states for the second time that God "might reconcile both (Jew and Gentile) unto God in one body (Body of Messiah) by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (notice it does NOT SAY the cross slew the Law). Notice, that again reference is made to the ENMITY, the hatred and opposition toward something. This verse is not as specific as before, but nowhere does it refer to a Jew's hatred toward the Law, rather, the hatred that Jew and Gentile had toward each other, mainly because of the erroneous perceptions that the Gentile had toward the Law which caused him to refuse accepting the Law as his absolute authority for life, thus separating the Gentile from the Jew, even in the face of Gentile revelation and faith. This separation of the Gentile from the Jew and Israel was usually manifested in anti-Semitism! God desired that the Gentile become "one" with the Jew, "one" with Israel.
For our final proof text, we turn to Colossians, chapter 2, verse
14: "Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
Answer for yourself: Forgetting for a
moment what I just showed you, let me ask you again…did Yeshua nail
the Law to the cross or just those parts of the Law that are against us
(the death penalty for sin) and is the Law passed away for Christians
today?
For years I heard preachers tell me repeatedly that Yeshua took the
Law which was contrary to me and nailed the Law to the cross, thus the Law
is passed-away, we are under grace! We
are under both!
Let us remember what we have learned up to now, that Paul said in
Romans 7:12: "Wherefore, the Law is holy, and the commandment holy,
just, and good." Paul would also say in Rom. 2:13: "For not the
hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be
justified." With this understanding we will examine Colossians 2:14.
As stated before, Yeshua abolished in his body the Gentile's hostility
toward the Law of God, by allowing Gentiles entrance into the Kingdom Of
God without becoming circumcised and adopting all the Laws of Israel. Our
Bibles state that he also "blotted out the handwriting of ordinances
which were against us in the Law, and nailed those ordinances "which
were against us" to the cross as he had previously done with the "hatred
toward the Law." Let us ask ourselves some revealing questions.
Answer for yourself: Which, if any,
commandments given by God are contrary to us?
To answer this question in a manner whereby all can understand, let
us continue.
If you are parents, your loving intention for your children should
be for them to not to be harmed by the hurts so prevalent in this
dangerous world. In order to safeguard them, you give them instructions
and teachings (called Torah, law) that you set down to guide their
conduct, whereby, if they obey, they will be assured of safety and they
will prosper. However, you also find it necessary to limit their conduct
at times by training their minds through restrictive teachings, designed
to limit the expression of their behavior. Thus,
as parents, we give our children both positive and negative instruction,
commandments, mitzvoth, and laws. One thing is in common
with all which we tell our children, that it is in their best interest
that they obey their parental authorities as they lovingly set down for
them the "law", as it will be best for them if they do.
Likewise, when God commanded us not to commit adultery, I can hear
Him say: "Oh, please don't do that, you might get a terrible disease
and die for just a moment of fun." Likewise, when God commanded us
not to kill, I can hear Him say: "please don't kill another who is
created in My likeness, for if you do, then you will have to die also for
your transgression." Easily, we can see that God, as did the parents
in the example above, desire our best, and gave us commandments, both
positive and negative commandments, both "thou shalt do" as well
as "thou shalt not do". The goal of such loving protection and
caring instruction in the giving of mankind His law was to assure for us
standards, which if followed, would not only bless us, but others as well.
Understanding these examples, you can easily see that the
commandments of God for His people were not, according to Colossians 2:14,
"handwriting of ordinances that was against or contrary to us."
Answer for yourself: Then, what was
contrary to us in this handwriting of ordinances (Law) that was taken out
of the way, and "nailed to the cross?"
Answer for yourself: If these "holy,
just, and good" laws, properly understood, were for our good and not
for our harm, then what part of the Law was contrary toward us that was
taken out of the way and nailed to the cross? That's easy.
The only part of the
Law that was contrary to us is the "DEATH PENALTY"
which came to us when we broke the Law for the first time, and
subsequently reinforced by our further rebellion to God's Law. Yeshua,
became our sacrifice, but much more, he paid my debt. Our "death
penalties" were carried by him, taken out of the way, and was nailed
with him onto that cross. Yeshua took the judgment of the Heavenly Court
upon himself for our sin. Yeshua took our penalty (the soul that sinneth,
it shall die); nailed the death sentence found within the Law to the
cross, and left the blessing (the Laws such as "thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, etc.). Yeshua, by
taking those things contrary to us out of our way in that we shall never
have to face spiritual death and eternal alienation from God, nailed the
death penalty upon himself for our violations of the Law.
It is easy to see then,
that all that remained within the Law was for our blessing then, and not
for our cursing ("blessed are you if you"....).
We must again stop
and think...what part of the Law is contrary to us?
Today, nothing remains that is contrary to us!
Back to the covenant of Jeremiah, chapter 31. Jeremiah teaches us
that in the economy of this RENEWED
COVENANT mankind will no longer sin! There is one
further implication that can not be ignored.
Answer for yourself: Since this is what God created in Eden, and this is what God will do in the kingdom of Heaven, what ought we to be doing now?
Obviously,
we ought to be obeying God by writing His Torah on our hearts and thereby
obey it!
God's obvious desire is for us to be obedient to His instructions now! Many folks believe that God's Torah was abolished. They believe that it was replaced with something better. The writer to the Hebrews anticipated this when he commented on this new (renewed) covenant. If we look carefully, we will find out that the problem with the old covenant was with the people, not with God's law.
Hebrews 8:1-13 makes the point quite clear: We do have such a high
priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the
Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and
sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to
offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are
already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. These men serve at
a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why
Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to
it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the
mountain." "For
if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would
have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people (NOTICE
HE DID NOT FIND FAULT WITH THE COVENANT OR LAW, BUT WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE
COVENANT) and said: "The time is coming, declares
the Lord, when I will make a new (RENEWED) covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I
made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out
of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I
turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel after that time (remember they are dispersed,
literally now Gentiles due to inter-marriage; many today setting in
Christian Churches unaware of their heritage), declares the Lord. I will
put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their
God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know
me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
By calling this covenant "New," he
has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon
disappear. The Greek of this verse, states that the
first covenant, containing a Levitical Priesthood, was "slowing
passing away," and it was in the days when Hebrews was written, that
the Levitical Priesthood was slowly passing away, because the Temple would
be destroyed in only a short time. The only Priesthood remaining would be
the Priesthood of the order of Melchizedek, filled by Yeshua.
So, if there is
nothing wrong with God's Torah, or law, then there is nothing to fix in
His Torah. Therefore, God will fix that which is broken:
His people. After He fixes us, He
will again give us His Torah (Law, teaching, instruction) on a new heart.
Shavuot, therefore, is the festival of the giving of the
Torah. Thirty-three hundred years ago, God gave us His Torah written on
stone, on the Festival of Shavuot. Two thousand years ago, God gave us the
Living Torah, Yeshua, who taught us great insights into the written Torah.
On a future Shavuot, God will write His Torah on our hearts in a new an
dynamic way which will prepare us for eternity. We have the down payment
of the Holy Spirit that guarantees it. Lets celebrate this Shavuot
(Festival of Pentecost) by renewing our commitment to obey God and His
Torah.
We at Bet Emet would have you understand, for starters, that since
the Law has not passed away, and we have demonstrated that repeatedly as
seen here as well as before, then as Christians we are under Law, under
Grace, under the responsibilities to obey God's Commandments such as:
keeping the Sabbath on Saturday, keeping and observing the Festivals of
the Lord and not the pagan holiday which have been substituted for the
truth, and practicing the Tithe correctly whereby we no longer rob God as
you unknowingly do everything you give you 10% to traditional Christian
churches. I know of no Christian Church in America that obeys the Tithe
correctly as stated in Scripture. If you know of one, please inform us.
Answer for yourself: Where is the
place that obedience should play in response to faith?
If we are to obey, as a greater measure of love for God than
anything else, then understand the Law (teachings, instructions) is the
picture God gave us to know of His will for us and is intended by Him for
us to obey.
If you would like to learn more about the Jewish Yeshua, and the
Jewish Messianic Church, which was the pattern God gave for Gentiles to
follow, contact Bet Emet Ministries and we will be glad to help you be
conformed into the image of Yeshua, and not a reflection of him that has
been blurred by traditions of men, deception, and selfishness for more
than 1700 years. Shalom
It is our prayer for you at Bet Emet Ministries that Yahweh Bless
your UNDERSTANDING of the Apostle Paul's teachings, which are sometimes
'hard to be understood'- but which do NOT 'do away with' any of The
Perfect Laws of Yahweh, in any way.
Bet Emet Ministries exists to blow a trumpet and sound an alarm,
for the sure judgment of God will fall on the "condemned city"
where both the guilty and innocent in thought are both judged and found
guilty.
Many of you have already written us here at Bet Emet, so we know that this message of returning to Torah-faith being put out to the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel (scattered Gentiles) and to descendants of assimilated portions of the Tribe of Judah is stirring your hearts. Those of you who have not yet shared your feelings with us, please do. We derive great strength and encouragement for the work we are doing through your communication, prayers, and support. Please stay in contact. Shalom.
bennoah1@airmail.net