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We need first to get acquainted with the term used in the Jewish Scriptures for the non-Jew: "stranger."
Strong's Concordance defines "stranger" :1616 ger (gare); or (fully) geyr (gare); from 1481; properly, a guest; by implication, a foreigner: KJV-- alien, sojourner, stranger.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Lexicon defines "stranger": 1616 ger or (fully) geyr- sojourner
Answer for yourself: Do you remember that we just read about the "ger" and the "ger toshav" in the prior articles? Do you remember that the Ger Toshav goes beyond the Laws of Noah (66 Commandments) and choose other mitzvoth to include into his life according to Isaiah chapter 56? I would hope so and by now you should be familiar with this term and the responsibilities that it entails.
In order to understand what comes next it would be important to begin to look for a "pattern" in the verses that follow not only in this article but the rest in this series as you will come to see that God included the "non-Jews" in the giving of the Torah as He did the Jew. The reason for this is simple; before Moses gave the Jewish people the Torah God had given by revelation the Torah to the "non-Jew" in the form of the Covenant and Laws of Noah and we find that Joshua and others presented this same "Torah" and opportunity to enter the Covenant with God to the "non-Jew". Israel will do this throughout the history of Israel as a nation up to the destruction of the Temple and afterwards as well.
This "Pattern" can be found not only in the Jewish Old Testament Scriptures but the New Testament as well. Having seen this then one has to wonder how we lost and deviated from such a pattern which was established in antiquity by God to the point where we have lost such obedience and observance today. One would have to ask Rome that question.
Leviticus 24
You need to re-read that verse above and let the implications of it sink in into your mind and spirit..this "one" and "same" law applied to the "non-Jew" and "Jew" alike!!!
Joshua 8
32 And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. (KJV) Josh 8:32-35 32 And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: Did you notice that these "strangers" and "non-Jews" are grouped in the term "Israel" along with the Jews? You need to take a second and let that sink in (Selah). Did you notice that non-Jews were a part of not only the reading of the Laws of God but also this Covenant renewal? By now you should understand that this "one manner of Law for all" from Leviticus 24 is to be understood in that the non-Jews who heard Joshua read the Laws understood that within the reading of these Laws that certain Laws pertained to them and certain others did not. Regardless the non-Jew is seen re-affirming his Covenant and commitment to God and His Commandments as part of his Covenant. These Laws are called "Torah" or the instruction of God.
2 Samuel 22
Psalms 18
Psalms 119
Answer for yourself: Did you notice the yearning of the non-Jew to learn the Commandments of God? By now you should be understanding that one's Covenant with God is framed by Laws and Commandments that when kept bring not only one's right-standing with God but acceptance by Him as well.
1 Peter 2
Acts 28
Answer for yourself: What was the source material for "Paul's message" to these "non-Jew"? It was the Hebrew Scriptures and not his own "epistles".
It sure looks to me that not only in the Old Testament but the New Testament as well, and even long after Jesus' death, that non-Jews were still taught the Laws and Commandments of God. Why? Because these frame his Covenant with God and assure when obeyed his acceptance with God.
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven"--Matthew 5:19
The passage above has always bothered me. As Christians and followers of "the Christ" we are almost universally taught that the Law of Moses was nailed to the Cross with Christ, and that it was never meant to play a part in the lives of those who follow "the Christ". Yet, knowing that the Law is just weeks away from being fulfilled and ending, Jesus takes the time to stress that one who teaches others to obey it will be exalted by God. Also, prophets like Ezekiel and passages like Zechariah 14 clearly suggest that in the Millennial Kingdom there will be a temple with animal sacrifice, and that there will be yearly celebration of the Jewish festivals.
Answer for yourself: How, I have always wondered, is it possible on one hand for the Law to have been fulfilled and passed away, and yet have it return in the future? And if it will return in some form, why did it vanish in the first place?
In Acts 21 (which we know takes place at least 20 years after the Crucifixion) we see James, the head of the Jerusalem church/synagogue, boasting of the thousands of Christian believers in Jerusalem who are following the Torah-- which, according to the usual Christian teaching, has supposedly been fulfilled and passed away. James then goes on in verse 21 to point out a report about Paul (the same report Catholic councils and much of Christianity since has actually held) has circulated, stating that he has been teaching Christians (specifically Jewish Christians) to abandon the Law. This is a critical verse! Because James specifically qualifies it by saying Paul was teaching “the Jews among the Gentiles” to halt circumcision and abandon the oral traditions of classic Judaism, one almost gets the impression that if Paul had been telling Gentiles to do this there would have been no great problem.
Having been accused of teaching that Christians should not keep the Law, we should expect Paul, if what these councils and Christianity usually teaches is true, to now withstand James to face and rebuke him (as he did Peter) for being under the bondage of the Law. Instead, he undertakes a Nazirite vow to show he does not repudiate the Torah. Christianity presumes he was doing this to placate James and the Jewish believers in the Jerusalem church while Judaism at this point simply accuses Paul of hypocrisy.
We need to get familiar with a man named Hegesippus. Born Jewish, Hegesippus was an adult convert to Christianity. He lived twenty years in Rome where he researched the early church; in later years he retired to Jerusalem. He is considered the father of ecclesiastical history. Scant little of his writings have survived, but he was highly recommended by other early writers including Eusebius and Saint Jerome. Unknown to most Christians is the fact that Hegesippus, verified by Eusebius, relates that the first 15 bishops of Jerusalem, starting with James, were fully Torah-observant Jews until the bar Kochba revolt of 135 AD, and that the Jerusalem church started by the Apostles themselves was a Torah-observant church. If the widespread doctrine is true that the Apostles taught that Christianity is not under the Torah, and that the Law was to pass out of the faith, then we have a major problem with what we see in the Jerusalem church. Yet at the same time it must be admitted that Paul’s writings consistently seem to de-emphasize keeping the Torah but yet this same New Testament is full of examples of Paul teaching the "non-Jews" to keep the Torah, the Biblical Festivals, and the Sabbath which are "Laws" in themselves.
After Peter’s revelation with Cornelius, however, James and the church concluded in Acts 15 that the Gentiles were indeed going to be allowed into the faith. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine that the Shammai-taught Pharisees even on their best day would have been less than enthusiastic over this ruling,* but even assuming that they accepted it, undoubtedly they would have held that nothing short of a full conversion to Judaism, including undergoing circumcision and keeping the full Torah, would suffice for the Gentiles to be joined to the church. In fact, these Shammai-taught Pharisees never did approve of the idea, eventually becoming a heretical branch of Christian Jews known as the Ebionites, which affirmed Christ as Messiah yet repudiated all the writings of Paul. They were overruled on both accounts by James and the Jerusalem council exempted the Gentile believers from the stringent requirements of Judaism.
It will be seen that the commandments issued by Jerusalem bear a marked degree of similarity to the Noachide commandments, which should come as no surprise since Judaism held that the Seven Laws of Noah were the Laws and Commandments of God to non-Jews who chose to worship him.
The following are summary statements from the Laws of Noah. Each one of these Laws and Commandments are found in the Laws of Moses as well.
The last three, it will be noted are missing from James' degree, but unquestionably they were and are consistent with Christian living even if not specifically stated. Even the law of establishing a just court system may actually have been put into practice by the early church--Paul’s words in 1st Cor. 6, in which he rebukes the Corinthians for using pagan courts instead of being judged by “the saints”, may refer to such a court system within the church.
I submit that since we see an apparent tie-in to the Noachide Laws and Commandments on the part of the early New Testament church, that if we go one final step into the beliefs of Judaism of the time, the true view of the Law on the part of Paul and the other New Testament writers will emerge and give us an insight we have never had before.
In Judaism of the 1st century, both Jews and Gentile converts existed within Judaism. As mentioned in an earlier article, the Pharisee school of Shammai, the dominant force within 1st century Judaism, forbade Gentile converts while the more liberal school of Hillel did accept them. This knowledge in and of itself takes Christianity miles ahead in its understanding of the events and milieu of the 1st century church. However, what is even less well known is that there were three types of Jewish worshippers, one being Jewish by both birth and religion, the other two including the Gentile Jews. They included:
Let us continue our study into these areas in order to fully understand the "Pattern" given to both Jew and "non-Jew" by God.