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December 6, 2008
Scripture is Final Authority
One of the positions held by some in the Messianic community has its counterpart in some traditional Christian circles; that Yeshua is not Elohim. The only valid discussion of this topic is that Scripture must be the final authority in all matters.
It is good when we can agree with the fact that Scripture is the final authority. Of course the catholic faith believes the pontiff; the Catholic Church has the authority to change the Scripture. But to those who say the Scripture is the final authority in all matters, let us take the thought a little deeper. The question is; do each of us believe that, contextually throughout, it is the unchanging final authority. The problem I see that we as men have is this; we see portions of text and we can’t see how it all fits so we determine there was a change, or in some people’s minds, a contradiction. My basis for exegesis rejects both those thoughts. I believe it is the fault of our human understanding that gets in the way. This is my preface to the discussion.
The Fault is With Us
Hebrews 8 is very telling in this argument. The discussion in the Book of Hebrews has to do with the understanding of men, apart from the Scripture mixed with faith, that the Spirit might reveal Truth. The writer of Hebrews is speaking to Hebrews that profess faith in Yeshua as Messiah but were still stuck on the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood as the object of their faith. They, in their human reasoning, were not looking past the priesthood given at Sinai as a picture of the reality and seeing the Messiah in it. I believe the eternal Priesthood of Messiah Yeshua has always been the authority but men took authority for themselves. The Levitical/Aaronic priesthood was to offer sacrifices and serve in the tabernacle and so by doing those things according to the pattern they would be teaching Torah that would lead the people, and themselves, to Messiah. Faith in Messiah was available then as it is now.
So how does Hebrews 8 speak to this issue? In this; the writer, in contrasting the priesthood of Levi and Aaron with the Priesthood of Messiah says in Verse 8, “Because finding fault with them…” There was a fault at issue here, but not what is commonly taught - a fault with the Torah. Torah is perfect, holy, good, and just. Scripture tells us that and I’m sure, based on our agreement that Scripture is the final authority that we agree on that point. The fault at issue in Hebrews 8 is the priesthood of men and the people’s devotion to that priesthood as opposed to seeing and devoting one’s self to the Great High Priest of Messiah and becoming priests to HIM.
The problem always has been us! That’s why Yeshua is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world - provision made for the lawlessness of men to be reconciled to the Holy Elohim. The fault was with “them.” The fault is with us! The fault was not “it.” HE - Torah is the light that shone to expose the fault in “them.” Thy Word is a light. John 3 says that the light exposes the darkness. And we know from John that HE is that light. So the light is good - the Word, specifically the Torah - The Living Torah. The fault is with frail and lawless humanity who believes that he knows better that Torah. The Torah is the Law and it exposes the lawless. Those who, by grace through faith, become born again are re-born to no longer be lawless or in opposition to Torah - becoming bondservants to righteousness - the Torah.
Who Is Yeshua to You?
Having prefaced what I believe is contextually the basis for our discussion it important to ask yourself these questions: Who is Yeshua to you? If HE is not part of the Elohim, equally Elohim with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, then who is HE? The writer of Hebrews puts forth the case that HE is greater than the priesthood of man and that HE is greater than the angels. Other than angels (both fallen and those still in the service of Yahweh) and men, the only other entity is Elohim. What other category would Messiah fall into, if not men, angels or Elohim? The Scripture rules out men and angels so what’s left?
I’m making an effort to not write a book here - to make this really long, but a look at Hebrews is important. Chapter One says that HE, Messiah, has been appointed heir of all things. HE is the Son of Yahweh, and being the only begotten Son HE has the attributes of Yahweh. Yahweh is Elohim, therefore HIS Son, having the attributes of HIS Father, is equally Elohim, being heir of ALL things. HE “by inheritance” obtained a more excellent name than they (angels). Verse Five tells us that HE was begotten by the Father. Verse Six commands the “angels of Yahweh to worship HIM (the Son). Since worship is only to be given to Elohim - Yahweh, then Yeshua must be the fullness of Elohim. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in HIM dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in HIM, who is the head of all principality and power.” The “Godhead” is speaking of the “divinity” and the Hebraic counterpart can only be Elohim - Yahweh. And since this says “In HIM,” and we know that it is talking about Yeshua, contextually from Colossians 2:8, then the fullness of the Elohim dwells in HIM bodily, and HE, Yeshua - Elohim is the head of ALL principality and power. That would have to make HIM Elohim, and as the writer of Hebrews says, HE is not an angel nor just a man made perfect. HE, Yeshua - Elohim is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World. HE is not a created being like angels or men. When speaking of Elohim it seems we speak in circles. And in fact we do. Because the Father is Elohim along with the Son and the Holy Spirit, then when we use the Name Yahweh, and Yeshua, and Messiah and Ruach in connection with Elohim and that Adonai our Elohim is One, it can make a man’s head spin. That’s because the comprehension of this ONE being present in the three different expressions of Who HE is- is more than our human minds can fathom. It is enough to know that in HIM dwells the fullness of Elohim.
Hebrews 1:8 says “But to the Son HE says, “Your throne O God, is forever and ever.” And in Verse 10, “You, Lord (Father still speaking to Son), in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of YOUR hands. They will perish, but YOU remain; and they will grow old like a garment; like a cloak YOU will fold them up, and they will be changed, But YOU are the same, and YOUR years will not fail.”
The language is clear, to me, that Yeshua, being the Son of God is God - The True Living God. The human mind in and of itself cannot understand the Elohim - Godhead. So we try to couch HIM in terms that we can understand and it never works. It is like trying to cram a100 pounds of sand in a 5 pound sack. It won’t fit. This, I admit, is an imperfect illustration. But consider the Scripture that speaks of trying to put new wine into an old wineskin or sewing a new piece on an old piece of fabric - it’s the same thing. You see my human mind cannot understand the Elohim. But the understanding of HIM that we need is through Yeshua who is the pattern. But beyond the pattern HE is the reality. This is contextually, I believe, what Scripture says.
Man’s Faulty Understanding Versus the Truth Written and Revealed by The Holy Spirit
In a recent discussion the beliefs on this subject by two “scholars” were used as evidence that Yeshua is not Elohim. According to William Barclay, (a man I don’t know and don’t know for sure what he believes) “When the world began, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God. The Word was there in the beginning with God. It (HE) was through the agency of the Word that everything else came into being. Without the Word not one single thing came into being.” I part company with calling the Word “it.” But the rest of it speaks a powerful Truth that supports the position that I believe is Scripturally accurate. The Word is Yeshua, the Voice of Yahweh, who is Yahweh, who Created everything that has been created and HE is greater than all of creation, being the Creator. Since all is framed on the Word - the Voice of Yahweh, then it is sustained by the same Word - unchanging and reliable from before the foundation of the world - HIS character and nature. Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which Yeshua Messiah.” The lack of a definite article, posited by proclaimed Greek scholars William Barclay and James Moffat, makes the Greek word “theos” of the third phrase of the passage in John 1 to be an adjective. I can’t agree with their conclusion based on the context of Scripture. Whatever man says Yahweh says HE is Elohim. I take HIS Word above the word of men. The whole of Scripture says HE is Elohim. The absence of a “definite article” in a couple of sentences in Scripture cannot abrogate the context of Scripture.
When Messiah walked with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road HE declared who HE was to them by Torah and the Prophetic writings.
Let’s examine Isaiah 8:6-7, a prophecy concerning Messiah.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon HIS shoulder. And HIS name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of HIS government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over HIS kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.” Isaiah under inspiration of the Holy Spirit said these things.
Peter, in 1st Peter 1:11 says that the prophets (Isaiah included) had the Spirit of Messiah in them. Isaiah having Messiah in HIM - being born again, as Paul said, “Messiah in us, the hope of glory,” speaks of Messiah’s first coming and saying that HE is Mighty God. Messiah didn’t refute HIS divinity and so then how can man? Remember the fault is with us who look for a loophole. And when we divorce the continuity of Scripture, the eternal nature of the unchanging Word and make it subject to our flawed, faulty human understanding, and take portions out of that context we find ourselves not understanding. It is the flesh versus the Spirit battle that is waging continually. The Spirit gives understanding where the flesh in its arrogance opposes the Spirit who wants to write Torah on our hearts, put it in our minds and cause us to walk in HIS commandments. Romans 8, once again is applicable. The flesh CANNOT be subject to Torah. Torah is not of the flesh, and is not abrogated. It is the nature of Elohim and therefore the nature of those who are born again of the Spirit. Born again ones now have a choice that they didn’t have in the pre-born again state; the ability to submit to Torah in the Spirit. The Spirit, like Yeshua, is equally Elohim. (more…)
The Flesh’s Inability to Understand and Submit to Torah
Some questions have been raised that are very timely, considering what Yahweh is revealing to us from the Holy Scripture. First of all the argument is this; If what we believe is sound and from Scripture then no one can argue against it. And if that which we believe and declare is from the Holy Spirit then the scholarship of the flesh can’t answer it, as in the flesh will submit to it. It is right on the surface that the flesh can’t answer it and can’t rightly argue against it. But there is a rub to that. Since the flesh CANNOT submit to the Torah (Romans 
then it will refuse to acquiesce to the Truth even though the Truth is Scripturally irrefutable. The flesh is unable to submit. It is only done when one is willing to admit that ALL men are liars and only the Word of Yahweh is true. And this only happens by taking HIM at HIS Word, doing it, and then recieving understanding. Submission - humbling one’s self must come first.
Test the Spirits - The Replacement Messiah
As for the Holy Spirit’s involvement - 1 John tells us to test the spirits. There is only one way to do that. Everything has to line up with Torah. John says anyone who cannot say that Yeshua came in the flesh is not of Yahweh. The qualifier is; who do you say that Yeshua is? If you say HE is not Elohim then you are not of Yahweh. It has been posited by one writer that Messiah is not the Ancient of Days. Elohim is the Ancient of Days. If HE is equally Elohim - and HE is - then HE is the Ancient of Days. HE was not created, HE is the Creator. John 1 and Colossians 1 are just a couple of places you will find this in Scripture. Furthermore, since HE is Elohim, the Son, who is a Torah keeping Son, submitted to HIS Father, HE could not have changed the Torah or broken Torah. If the messiah you profess came in the flesh broke Torah or set up a system that caused men to believe they can violate the commandments of Torah, then HE is not the Messiah and the one who says he is certainly is not of Yahweh. This is the replacement messiah - anti-messiah (christ).
Resisting the Rhema of the Holy Spirit
Stephen told those who were ready to stone him that they resisted the Holy Spirit just as their fathers did. They resisted the Spirit’s work - speaking rhema to them - revealing the Truth that was polar opposed to their tradition that they held to tighter than the Truth. Their resistance of the Holy Spirit was in their holding on to their tradition and refusing to embrace the Truth - simply taking HIM at HIS Word and doing what HE said. In doing that the resistance to the Holy Spirit ceases and HE is free to speak and enable - grace. Rejecting the pure milk of Torah was resisting the Holy Spirit and is the spirit of anti-messiah. HE is the goal and purpose of Torah and Torah is the language of the Holy Spirit.
Plan A - The Only Plan
The argument from the beginning has been whether man believes what the Creator said or what the enemy has suggested that appeals to the flesh - that wants to be large and in charge. We all suffer with the same malady. Every man, except Yeshua, who has entered into this world, including Adam and Eve, were created with a heart bent on lawlessness. That’s why Yeshua is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The plan - the only plan (no plan B - only plan A) is eternal.
Faith Accesses Grace
I can’t make anyone see this. I can’t teach it to anyone. No man can. Revelation can only come by the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1). A man, submitted to the Holy Spirit, can only present Scripture and it’s up to the individual to decide to submit to the Torah simply take HIM at HIS Word and do it. That is when the work of the Spirit’s work of grace begins. It is only by doing by faith that grace comes and revelation happens. We are saved by grace THROUGH faith - through believing. Believing in the sense it is presented in the Scripture, cannot be separated from doing. Faith without works is dead. The doer is blessed. Grace only comes through faith. Grace is the enabling to both will and do for HIS good pleasure. If you are waiting to understand the commandments before you submit to them - HIM, then you will never do them. Apart from doing them you will not understand them or HIM. HE is the Torah! Think about it! If you are born again, remember what happened. I will speak for myself. I knew I was in trouble. I was headed down a bad road and was unable to turn around. I knew I was wrong. I didn’t even know why or how, in many ways! But I heard of a Savior named Jesus. I began to look for HIM. After looking for several months HE found me. I embraced HIM, not really knowing anymore about HIM other than I had read and had been told that through HIM I could find eternal life, peace, and my life could turn around. I certainly did not understand HIM. But I took HIM at HIS Word and took the step of faith (believing and doing) and asked HIM to come in and take charge of my life. HE did and I’ve never been the same. I experienced HIM through obedience. At that moment I began to get to know HIM. The intimate relationship with HIM has continued as I continue to know HIM by the same way - I take HIM at HIS Word and do what HE said and in so doing HE reveals more of HIMSELF to me - more of HIS character and nature. And as HE reveals and as I walk the more I am walking as HE walked. Chicken or egg, egg or chicken, which came first. We can argue that forever, but the thing I see in Scripture is that doing comes first. That is faith, and through faith grace (the divine influence on the heart with the reflection in the life) is accessed and made a reality in and through us.
Torah - The Holy Scriptures and The Word of Yaweh
The Truth is this and cannot be argued contextually; Torah is the Holy Scripture - the Word of Yahweh. The Prophets and the Writings and the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude simply are showing that Messiah is the reality of the shadow - the Pattern given Moshe on the mountain - while teaching and preaching a return to Torah. This is real repentance. Paul did not deviate from that. When he is read apart from Torah his writings become subjective to man’s wisdom. When Paul is checked against Torah, as the Bereans did, by faith in Torah, then it will be seen that Paul was a Torah observant teacher of Torah as Yeshua commanded in Matthew 5, establishing all that HE said in the giving of Torah and forevermore!
Finally, and I know most will not agree with this, but a careful study of Scripture reveals it - Torah was from the beginning. In fact, it preceded the beginning because Torah, the righteous standard of the righteous ONE, is the righteous standard for all men who would be grafted into Messiah! This has been available since creation!
The Eternal Priesthood
The priesthood preceded Sinai. The priesthood preceded the Levites and Aaron and his sons. The tabernacle preceded the temple and the Tabernacle preceded the tabernacle. Yahweh does not live in a house built by the hands of any man - not even Solomon! Moshe met the Pattern on the mountain. The Pattern is Yeshua since all the Feasts - the Sabbath included - the tabernacle, the sacrifice, the priesthood are all done according to the Pattern. That’s what Moshe was told - to see that everything was done according to the Pattern he was shown on the mountain! The Pattern is eternal - the Pattern is Yeshua, the Lamb slain, the Pattern is Yahweh - the Name of Elohim! All of Torah points to HIM. All of Torah’s purpose and goal is Yeshua, Elohim the Son, who is the Passover Lamb of Yahweh. Since HE was slain from the foundation of the world, being the Passover Lamb, Passover then is according to the eternal pattern - Passover existed in the eternal prior to the shadow given in Exodus! Because of the eternal existence of the shadow, to see the eternal can only be done by practicing the shadow. It is the same for all of Torah!
The Eternal Pattern and The Shadow
The shadow does not replace the Pattern - Messiah. But, by observing the shadow we see clearly who the Messiah is and that is how we know HIM. It is who HE is. Apart from who HE is we CANNOT know HIM! The shadow of the tabernacle, the Aaronic priesthood, and the sacrifice, are now replaced by the Pattern, in that Yeshua has come as Great High Priest, in the Tabernacle not made with human hands, and is the Sacrifice once for all. HE entered into time and space and fulfilled the prophecy concerning HIM. But the shadow of the Feasts, Sabbath and HIS righteousness has not ceased. Studying the Torah, the instructions to build the tabernacle, the instructions for the priesthood, the Torah life of love for HIM and for one another is how we know HIM. We cannot say we love HIM while rejecting HIS commandments. We cannot say we know HIM in rejecting HIS commandments! To love HIM is to love who HE is. To know HIM is to know who HE is. You can’t say you love HIM and know HIM while not loving and practicing what HE does and did.
Messiah Yeshua perfectly obeyed Torah, obeying HIS Father, and completely fulfilling the prophecy concerning HIMSELF. HE stayed true to who HE is. And John enjoins us to “walk as HE walked!” When we walk as HE walked we will know who HE is - we will know HIM and HE will know us. AND when we stand before HIM at the end we will not hear HIM say, “I never knew you, depart from ME you who practice lawlessness.”
In Galatians 6:16, Paul makes a statement, when he refers
to “the Israel of GOD,” that has caused no small amount of
confusion among believers today. Who are they? And, who
aren’t they? These two questions are what I hope to answer
in this article. In order for me to do that, we must go back
into the history of Israel and find their beginnings. Lets go
back and look at the man that the Israelites, Islamics AND
Christians can all refer to in their ancestry; Abraham.
Genesis 12:3
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Notice that he is told to leave:
Notice that he is promised:
Through Abram/Hagar (Egyptian slave) comes the son of the
flesh; Ishmael. Through Abraham/Sarah comes the son of promise; Isaac, his son; Jacob, who was eventually renamed by GOD; Israel. The natural tendency is to take the blessing given to Abram is being applicable to the nation Israel, or the descendants of Jacob/Israel. Lets read the blessing again: “I will make you a great nation (Heb:”goy” or non-Jew); I will bless you and make your name great; and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you,
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
If the application of this blessing is in accordance to
genealogy for the Israelites, why then JESUS’ words in John
chapter 8:37-45, to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees (who
were claiming that very blessing as a result of them being
born Israelites?);
I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” 39They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our
father.”(We must remember that Abram was NOT an Israelite. He
was a Gentile from Babylon!)Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
It sure sounds like YESHUA is pronouncing a curse on these
MESSIAH rejecting Israelites! (“You are of your father the
devil!?!”) And this in spite of them attempting to substantiate that Abraham, and ultimately GOD was their father! So, how can the Scriptures be interpreted as saying that EVERYONE born an Israelite is a recipient of the blessings given to Abraham? If they cannot, then WHO are those in line for the blessings promised to Abraham? What do the Scriptures say? Well, looking again at what JESUS says in John 8 above, we begin to see what the criteria is for receiving the blessing: - Verse 39; “you would do the works of Abraham”
It doesn’t sound like these scribes/Pharisees realized what it
would take for them to receive the blessing given to /
through Abraham. They also would have to:
To say that you love JESUS/YESHUA, while at the
same time being guilty of rejecting HIS Word, is NOT
consistent with doing “the works that Abraham did!”
1John 2:3-6 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep
His commandments. 4He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
So, we see that JESUS knows who aren’t children of
Abraham or children of GOD. It appears that HIS disciple,
John (by references to his epistle above) knew as well!
And Matthew records for us that JESUS confirms that same
criteria (required of Abraham) again for those who would
follow MESSIAH, then and now!
So, is it safe to assume (based on the writings of Moses,
Matthew and John) that unless a person is willing to leave
their citizenship (country), their pedigree (family), their
inheritance (father’s house), and their man-made religion,
they not only are NOT doing “the works of Abraham” but
they also are not meeting the criteria that JESUS established
for following HIM? I believe so, at least according to the
above Scriptures…
So, who is “the Israel of GOD” that Paul refers to in
Galatians 6:16? The Israel of GOD are those descendants of
Israel that receive YESHUA/JESUS as the atoning sacrifice
for their sins, who receive the HOLY SPIRIT into their lives
and reject their citizenship in the earthly Jerusalem in
exchange for a citizenship in “the NEW Jerusalem coming
down out of heaven from GOD, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.”(Revelation 21:2)
Perhaps you have heard of the term Replacement Theology. However, if you look it up in a dictionary of Church history, you will not find it listed as a systematic study. Rather, it is a doctrinal teaching that originated in the early Church. It became the fertile soil from which Christian anti-Semitism grew and has infected the Church for nearly 1,900 years.
What is Replacement Theology?
Replacement Theology was introduced to the Church shortly after Gentile leadership took over from Jewish leadership. What are its premises?
How do Replacement Theologians argue their case? They say:
(Note: I have added my rebuttal to each of their points.)
Rebuttal: Later, in this Teaching Letter, we will look at the fact that the New Testament references to Israel early pertain to Israel, not the Church. Therefore, no promise to Israel and the Jewish people in the Bible is figurative, nor can they be relegated to the Church alone. The promises and covenants are literal, many of them are everlasting, and we Christians can participate in them as part of our rebirth, but we shouldn’t consider that we have taken them over to the exclusion of Israel. The New Testament speaks of the Church’s relationship to Israel and her covenants as being “grafted in” (Rom. 11:17), “brought near” (Eph. 2:13), “heirs” (Gal. 3:29), “Abraham’s offspring (by faith)” (Rom. 4:16), and “partakers” (Rom. 15:27), NOT as usurpers of the covenant and a replacer of physical Israel. We Gentile Christians joined into what God had been doing in Israel, and God did not break His covenant promises with Israel (Rom. 11:29). From the time of Genesis, God’s goal has been the redemption of the world. God created man to be in close fellowship with Him, as seen in the Garden of Eden. However, because of our sin, we have separated ourselves from Him, and we are in need of His forgiveness to be in His Presence. God’s efforts throughout history is like a Redemption Train,” that has been traveling through time, collecting passengers who get on board by doing it God’s way. God is the engineer of this train; His Holy Spirit is the power and life moving it forward, touching hearts and calling people along the way; and we Christians believe that Yeshua, the Messiah, is the conductor who makes the way for people to get on board. Of course, God is One God, and He is doing all of this for us humans because He loves us. As fellow passengers, we have no right to judge or decide who is on the train and who is not. That is God’s decision according to His plan and promises. His instructions in the Bible are quite clear. It is up to us to understand them and be obedient to them in order to gain access to board the train. Yeshua said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). There is no other way apart from Yeshua. And, we know from Romans 11:28-29 that God loves His covenant people, Israel, and He is calling them to repentance, just as He is calling the Gentile world. Moreover, Yeshua Himself made it clear that He came for the whole House of Israel, to the Jew first, and
then the Gentile (Matt. 10:6, 15:24; Rom. 1:16). There is not a dual covenant. God’s promises in the Bible for Israel and the Church are inclusionary, not exclusionary, and open to any and all who understand God’s plan and purpose. No one is prevented from getting on God’s “Redemption Train,” if they do it His way.
2. To be a son of Abraham is to have faith in Jesus Christ. For them, Galatians 3:29 shows that sonship to Abraham is seen only in spiritual, not national terms: “And if you be Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Rebuttal: While this is a wonderful inclusionary promise for Gentiles, this verse does not exclude the Jewish people from their original covenant, promise and blessing as the natural seed of Abraham. This verse simply joins us Gentile Christians to what
God had already started with Israel.
3. The promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham was only a “starter.” The real promised Land is the whole world. They use Romans 4:13 to claim it will be the Church that inherits the
world, not Israel. “For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Rebuttal: Where does this verse exclude Abraham and His natural prodigy, the Jews? It simply says that through the law alone, they would not inherit the world, but they would acquire it through faith. This is also true of the Church. This can be confirmed by Romans 4:16, which says, “Therefore, the promises come by faith, so that it may be by grace, and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”
4. The nation of Israel was only the seed of the future Church, which would arise and incorporate people of all nations (Mal. 1:11): “For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, My Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place, incense shall be offered to My Name, and a pure
offering for My Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts.” Rebuttal: This is great, and shows that the Jewish people and Israel fulfilled one of their callings to be “a light to the nations,” so that God’s Word has gone around the world. It does not suggest God’s dealing with Israel was negated because His Name spread around the world.
5. Jesus taught that the Jews would lose their spiritual privileges, and be replaced by another people (Matt. 21:43): “Therefore I am saying to you, ‘The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.’” Rebuttal: In this passage, Jesus was talking about the priests and Pharisees, who failed as leaders of the people. This passage is not talking about the Jewish people or nation of Israel.
6. A true Jew is anyone born of the Spirit, whether he is racially Gentile or Jewish (Rom. 2:28-29): “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rebuttal: This argument does not support the notion that the Church replaced Israel. Rather, it simply reinforces what had been said throughout the Hebrew Scriptures [the Old Testament], and it certainly qualifies the spiritual qualifications for Jews or anyone who professes to be a
follower of the God of Israel.
7. Paul shows that the Church is really the same “olive tree” as was Israel, and the Church is now the tree. Therefore, to distinguish between Israel and the Church is, strictly speaking, false. Indeed, people of Jewish origin need to be grafted back into the Church (Rom 11:17-23). Rebuttal: This claim is the most outrageous because this passage clearly shows that we Gentiles are the “wil d olive branches,” who get our life from being grafted into the olive tree. The tree represents the covenants, promises and hopes of Israel (Eph. 2:12), rooted in the Messiah and fed by the sap, which represents the Holy Spirit, giving life to the Jews (the “natural branches”) and Gentile alike. We Gentiles are told to remember that the olive tree holds us up and NOT to be arrogant or boast against the “natural branches” because they can be grafted in again. The olive tree is NOT the Church. We are simply grafted into God’s plan that preceded us for over 2,000 years.
How did the position of the early Church Fathers affect the Church?
Let us look at a brief history of the first four centuries of Christianity, which established a “legacy of hatred” towards the Jewish people, which was against the clear teaching of the New Testament.
(For a complete history of Christian anti-Semitism, send the equivalent of US$1 to your nearest BFP National Office and ask for a copy of the Israel Teaching Letter (#779806), “Where Was Love and Mercy,” or download a copy from our Bridges for Peace website, found under the Israel Teaching Letters button at www.bridgesforpeace.com This teaching is also a chapter of my book, Lessons From the Land of the Bible with 13 other great teachings including “Lessons from the Olive Tree,” which can be ordered from your nearest BFP national office.)
In the first century AD, the church was well connected to its Jewish roots, and Jesus did not intend for it to be any other way. After all, Jesus is Jewish and the basis of His teaching is consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures. In Matthew 5:17-18 He states: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Before the First Jewish Revolt in AD 66, Christianity was basically a sect of Judaism, as were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.
Separation between Judaism and Christianity began as a result of religious and social differences. According to David Rausch in his book, A Legacy of Hatred, there were several contributing factors:
Once Christianity and Judaism began to take separate paths, the chasm became wider and wider. Judaism was considered a legal religion under Roman law, while Christianity, a new religion, was illegal. As Christianity grew, the Romans tried to suppress it. In an attempt to alleviate this persecution, Christian apologists tried in vain to convince Rome that Christianity was an extension of Judaism. However, Rome was not convinced. The resulting persecutions and frustration of the Christians bred an animosity towards the Jewish community, which was free to worship without persecution. Later, when the Church became the religion of the state, it would pass laws against the Jews in retribution. The antagonism of the early Christians towards the Jews was reflected in the writings of the early Church Fathers. For example, Justin Martyr (c. AD 160) in speaking to a Jew said: “The Scriptures are not yours, but ours.” Irenaeus, Bishop
of Lyon (c. AD 177) declared: “Jews are disinherited from the
grace of God.” Tertullian (AD 160-230), in his treatise, “Against
the Jews,” announced that God had rejected the Jews in favour of the Christians. In the early 4th century, Eusebius wrote that the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures were for Christians and not the Jews, and the curses were for the Jews. He argued that the Church was the continuation of the Old Testament and thus superseded Judaism. The young Church declared itself to be the true Israel, or “Israel according to the Spirit,” heir to the divine promises. They ound it essential to discredit the “Israel according to the flesh” to prove that God had cast away His people and transferred His love to the Christians. At the beginning of the 4th century, a monumental event occurred for the Church, which placed “the Church Triumphant” over “Vanquished Israel.” In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor. At first, he had a rather pluralistic view and accorded Jews the same religious rights as Christians. However, in AD 321, he made Christianity the official religion of the Empire to the exclusion of all other religions. This signaled the end of the persecution of Christians, but the beginning of discrimination and persecution of the Jewish people.
Already at the Church Council in Elvira (Spain) in AD 305, declarations were made to keep Jews and Christians apart, including ordering Christians not to share meals with Jews, not to marry Jews, not to use Jews to bless their fields, and not to observe the Jewish Sabbath. Imperial Rome, in AD 313, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted favour to Christianity, while outlawing synagogues. Then, in AD 315, another edict allowed the burning of Jews if they were convicted of breaking the laws. As Christianity was becoming the religion of the state, further laws were passed against the Jews:
These and other restrictions were confirmed over and over again by various Church Councils for the next1,000 years.In AD 321, Constantine decreed all business should cease on “the honoured day of the sun.” By substituting Sunday for Saturday as the day for Christian worship, he further advanced the split. This Jewish Shabbat/Christian Sunday controversy also came up at the first real ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), which concluded Sunday to be the Christian day of rest, although it was debated for long after that. Overnight, Christianity was given the power of the Imperial State, and the emperors began to translate the concepts and claims of the Christian theologians against the Jews and Judaism into practice. Instead of the
Church taking this opportunity to spread its Gospel message in love, it truly became the Church Triumphant, ready to vanquish its foes. After 321, the writings of the Church Fathers changed in character. No longer was it on the defensive and apologetic, but aggressive, directing its venom at everyone “outside of the flock,” in particular the Jewish people who could be found in almost every community and nation. During this period,
we find more examples of anti-Jewish bias in Church literature written by church leaders:
At the end of the 4th century, the Bishop of Antioch, John Chrysostom (Golden Tongued), the great orator, wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews. He had seen Christians talking with Jewish people, taking oaths in front of the Ark, and some were keeping the Jewish feasts. He wanted this to stop. In an effort to bring his people back to what he called, “the true faith,” the Jews became the whipping boy for his sermon
series. To quote him, “the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theatre; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. No Jew adores God… Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil, their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig. They kill and maim one another…”
One can easily see that a Judeo-Christian who wanted to hold on to his heritage, or a Gentile Christian who wanted to learn more about the parent faith of Christianity, would have found it extremely difficult under this pressure. Chrysostom further sought to separate Christianity totally from Judaism. He wrote in his 4th Discourse, “I have said enough against those who say they are on our side, but are eager to follow the Jewish
rites… it is against the Jews that I wish to draw up my battle… Jews are abandoned by God and for the crime of deicide, there is no expiation possible.” Chrysostom was known for his fiery preaching against what he saw as threats to his flock, including wealth, entertainment, privilege and outward adornment. However, his preaching against the Jewish community, which he believed had a negative influence on Christians, is inexcusable and blatantly anti-Semitic in its content. Another unfortunate contribution Chrysostom made to Christian anti-Semitism was to hold the whole Jewish people culpable for the killing of Christ. In the fifth century, the burning question was: If the Jews and Judaism were cursed by God, then how can you explain their existence? Augustine tackled this issue in his “Sermon Against the Jews.” He asserted that even though the Jews deserved the most severe punishment for having put Jesus to death, they have been kept alive by Divine Providence to serve, together with their Scriptures, as witnesses to the truth of Christianity. Their existence was further justified by the service they rendered to the Christian truth, in attesting through their humiliation, the triumph of the Church over the Synagogue. They were to be a “Witness people” - slaves and servants who should be humbled.
The monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire thus regarded the Jews as serfs of the chamber (servi camerae), and utilized them as slave librarians to maintain Hebrew writings. They also utilized the services of Jews in another enterprise - usury, or money lending. The loaning of money was necessary to a growing economy. However, usury was considered to endanger the eternal salvation of the Christian, and was thus forbidden.
So, the church endorsed the practice of lending by Jews, for according to their reasoning, their Jewish souls were lost in any case. Much later, the Jewish people were utilized by the Western countries as trade agents in commerce, and thus we see how the Jewish people found their way into the fields of banking and commerce.
So, by the Middle Ages, the ideological arsenal of Christian anti-Semitism was completely established. This was further manifested in a variety of precedent-setting events within the Church, such as Patriarch Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, expelling the Jews and giving their property to a Christian mob. From a social standpoint, the deterioration of the Jewish position in society was only beginning its decline. During this early
period, the virulent judeophobia was primarily limited to the clergy who were always trying to keep their flocks away from the Jews. However, later, the rank and file, growing middle class would be the main source of anti-Semitic activity.
The result of these anti-Jewish teachings continued onwards throughout Church history, manifesting itself in such events and actions as the Crusades, the accusation of communion host desecration and blood libel by the Jews, the forced wearing of distinguishing marks to ostracize them, the Inquisition, the displacement of whole Jewish communities by exile or separate ghettoes, the destruction of synagogues and Jewish books, physical persecution and execution, the Pogroms. Ultimately, the seeds of destruction grew to epic proportions, culminating in the Holocaust, which occurred in “Christian” Europe. Had the Church understood the clear message of being grafted into the Olive Tree from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred from the Church may have been avoided. The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God’s Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God’s Name.
Is the New Testament anti-Semitic?
Was it Intended That the Church Treat the Jewish People with
Contempt?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
While the New Testament has been used by Gentile anti-Semites, even within the Church, the writers of the
New Testament were Jewish, and therefore their arguments, even critical ones, were from the vantage point of being an intra-communal debate, not inter-communal accusation. Even where the criticism is harsh, it is directed towards a particular group or sect of Jews because of their practices, which needed correcting. For example, even though Yeshua spoke harshly to the Pharisees, He nevertheless said of them, “The teachers of
the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matt: 23:2-3). He was distressed that they were “missing the mark” in their self-righteousness, which is something all of us need to be careful of doing.
The clear teaching of the New Testament is that the Church was and is to love and honour the Jewish people. In Ephesians 2:11-18, we are told that “by the blood of Messiah,” we Gentiles are “made near” to the commonwealth of Israel, the covenants, promises and hopes given to Israel. In Romans 11:11-12, 25, we are told that “blindness in part” has come to the Jews so that the message would be forced out into the nations. Nevertheless, we are told that a time would come when “all Israel would be saved” (v. 26), because the gifts and callings of God towards Israel and the Jewish people were given without repentance (v. 29). God’s relationship with Israel and the Jewish people is everlasting.
We Gentile Christians are told that the Jews are “beloved for the sake of the Patriarchs” (Rom. 11:28). They are a chosen people who fulfilled their calling and brought the Gospel to the world. They were chosen to:
The Jewish people have fulfilled their role. The promise to the world through Abraham was that, “in you will all the nations on the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). They were to be a light unto the nations and, while they made mistakes as we all do, they did demonstrate the power of God on earth, they did hear God’s Word and record it so that we have the Bible, and they were the human channel for the Messiah, who was born, ministered, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and will return to Jerusalem, Israel, in a day yet to come.
God made an everlasting covenant between the land of Israel and the Jewish people that must be fulfilled and completed or His Word, the Bible, will be proven a lie, which it is not. God will never forget or annul His ancient people. If God will not fulfil His promises to Israel, what guarantee do we have that He will fulfil His promises to the Church? (See Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Are Jews, Jews, and is Israel, Israel in the New Testament?
Do They Still Have a Covenant with God?
ABSOLUTELY. THE BIBLE IS CLEAR ON THIS.
What is the Role of the Church?
What Happens When the Church Replaces Israel?
When the Church chooses to replace Israel and the Jewish people in God’s eternal plans, the result is negative:
What Happens When the Church Relates to Israel?
When the Church chooses to relate to Israel and the Jewish people in God’s eternal plans, the result is positive:
Had the Church understood this very clear message from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred from the Church may have been avoided. The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God’s Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God’s Name. Yet, it is not too late to change our ways and rightly relate to the Jewish people and Israel today. Through Bridges for Peace you can read, study and learn more, and also give to demonstrate God’s exhortation to us to bless His Covenant People, whom He still loves. Not only do we need to learn and do for ourselves, but we need to teach others so as to counteract the historical
error that has been fostered in the Church for nearly 2,000 years. Thank God, He is a God of mercy, redemption and second chances.
Shalom from Jerusalem,
Where Was Love & Mercy?
Last month, we explored the first 1,000 years of Christian history in relation to the Jewish people and
This month, let’s consider these questions:
The Crusades
The First Crusade began in the year 1096. This was a period of strife for the
As the Crusaders marched through
For example, at
Is it any wonder that, for the Jewish people, the cross is a symbol of hatred and death, not love, reconciliation and salvation? The cross has literally been taken and used as a sword against the Jewish people. In all, there were nine Crusades. The last was in 1291, when the Moslems once again took possession of the
The Fourth Lateran Council
In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council of the Church was held. During this council, the doctrine of Transubstantiation was crystallized. Transubstantiation is the doctrine that the flesh and blood of Christ becomes present in the consecrated host (bread) and wine. This doctrine is still believed in the Catholic Church today. This doctrine, together with other statements of the Fourth Lateran Council, became a new source of Christian anti-Semitism.
The Inquisition
The next historical event to blemish world history is the infamous Inquisition promoted by the Church in
In the mid-1400s, the Spanish Inquisition began to identify and prosecute backsliders in the Church. It then spread to the Jewish community. Its first focus was the tens of thousands of Jews who had been forced to be baptized. These baptized Jews were known as Conversos or New Christians. Because of this, they were considered Christians and expected to behave as Christians, even though conversion was not their choice. If a mouse is caught in a cookie jar, this does not make him a cookie. So too, force-baptizing anyone does not make him a Christian. Many of these New Christians took upon themselves a Christian facade in order to live and work in the Christian society of
Others did not, and were persecuted for their faith. Many were still practicing Jewish customs, such as lighting candles on Friday evening, changing the linen on the Sabbath, abstaining from pork and scaleless fish, observing the Feast Days, etc. According to the Inquisition Laws, to be caught practicing any one of 37 Jewish customs was grounds to be brought before the
The Church was not allowed to execute the victim, so they passed them to a secular arm of the Inquisition Court. Blood was not allowed to be shed, thus burning was the execution of choice. This they justified by a text from John 15:6, “If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Incidentally, all their property was confiscated, enriching the
The Reformation
Finally, we hope for a breath of fresh air. Reformers recognized many errors inherent in the Church and challenged the leadership, the Pope, the bishops, the priests — the whole ecclesiastical body. The Reformation brought about complex and even contradictory repercussions to the evolution of anti-Semitism. One branch of Protestantism, namely the Calvinists and their offshoots, proved less judeophobic than Catholicism until the 20th century.
The other branch, Lutheranism, developed a continuing strain of anti-Semitism due to Luther’s later anti-Jewish views. An immediate consequence of the Reformation was to aggravate the position of the Jews in regions that remained Roman Catholic. The popes were determined to restore order by the strict application of Canon Law. This naturally affected the Jewish people negatively. One result was that from the second half of the 16th century, ghettos were introduced, at first in
Martin Luther: Martin Luther is the father of Lutheranism. During the first period of his ministry, 1513-1523, Luther often condemned the persecution of the Jews and recommended a more tolerant policy toward them, based on the spirit of true brotherhood. In 1523, he wrote a pamphlet, “That Christ Was Born A Jew,” in which he argued that the Jews, who were from the same stock as the founder of Christianity, had been right in refusing to accept the “papal paganism” presented to them as Christianity. He added, “If I had been a Jew and had seen such fools and blockheads teach the Christian faith, I should rather have turned into a pig than become a Christian.”
However, when they did not accept his version of Christianity and convert, Luther turned increasingly hostile to the Jewish people. By the 1530s in his Table Talk Series, he referred to them as “the stiffed-necked Jews, ironhearted and stubborn as the devil.”
Finally, it happened. He printed two pamphlets, in 1542, “On the Jews and Their Lies,” and in 1543, “On The Shem Hamephoras” (The Ineffable Name). These two pamphlets contain some of the most abhorrent and vile language ever written against the Jewish people. Five hundred years later, Hitler found many of his ideas and justifications for his treatment of the Jewish people and the Holocaust in these writings. After all, if the father of the
The Enlightenment And Emancipation
As we move into the era of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, we find the Jewish people still suffering from a legacy of prejudice. As long as Christianity held unchallenged sway in
Not being able to buy property, they often put their wealth into jewelry or other easily transportable commodities. This and their vocation in banking and money lending, forced upon them by Church authorities since the 12th Century, gave them an undeserved reputation of being obsessed with money.
They became the scapegoat for the ills of the world. When the people of
As we move into the era of Emancipation, the newer 19th century version of anti-Semitism arose on soil, which had been well watered for many centuries in
The Pogroms Of
From 1881 to 1902, there was a series of pogroms against the Jews of Russia. The Pogroms were a series of attacks, accompanied by destruction, the looting of property, murder, and rape, perpetrated by the Christian population of
It is difficult to assess the full scope of the pogroms and the number of victims they claimed because of a civil war affecting
The Holocaust
This brings us to the Holocaust, the culmination of 1900 years of bad teaching in Christian society. The Holocaust was Hitler’s Final Solution of the Jewish people.
Six million Jews including 2,000,000 children were violently murdered by Hitler and the Nazis. His Final Solution was to rid the world of the “Jewish vermin,” as he portrayed them in literature, speeches, and films. Hitler concluded that there was an evil in society and the common denominator was Jews who could be found in every city and in every country of
Hitler and his agents were certainly not true Christians. Nazi philosophy was influenced more by pagan mythology. But most Nazis were members in good standing in either Lutheran or Catholic churches. They perpetrated these acts in a historically Christian nation…and there was a deafening silence from the Christian world. Even during the decade before the Final Solution exterminations began, the “Christian West” rejected Jewish emigrants fleeing from the growing Nazi menace, and even prevented them from going to Eretz
Father Neimoeller, writing of this sad chapter of history, said: “First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out - because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out -because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
The Holocaust in all of its severity is unique to the Jewish people. While non-Jews were killed in Hitler’s killing machine, they were killed for political or social reasons, such as being mentally ill, prostitutes or homosexuals. The Jewish people as a whole were targets: mothers, children, peasants, doctors, musicians, rabbis, professors, etc. None were exempt, and they were all exterminated JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE JEWS. Fortunately, there were some Christians who acted with compassion to hide or help Jews to escape, e.g. Corrie Ten Boom and the Christians of Le Chambon in
Hitler is gone. Nazi Germany has ceased to exist. However, the “apple of God’s eye” (Zech.
Anti-Semitism In The Last 50 Years
From this historical account, it can be seen that the concept of Christian-Jewish relations is a very recent phenomenon. The effort to build genuine Christian-Jewish relationships has only begun in a serious fashion during the last 40 years. Forty years out of nearly 2,000 is not a long time. Much of this effort is in response to the Holocaust; nevertheless, it is happening. Will it last? Only if you are a part of making it last. There is still a battle to be fought. Anti-Semitism isn’t gone, and can be seen or heard in every community. While some would have you believe the world is becoming a better place and anti-Semitism is on the wane, this is not true. Since 1990, anti-Semitic acts around the world have increased, even showing up in places where hardly any Jews live, such as
We also see how
