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"GODFEARERS" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: THE PATTERN FOR GENTILE PARTICIPATION IN THE ISRAEL OF GOD #7
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 throughout the New Testament. We
have seen, contrary to what we have been told by Gentile Christianity,
that the Bible, when properly understood linguistically, historically, and
culturally, has a very different picture of what a Gentile believer is to
"believe" and "do" to be considered a part of the
Israel of God let alone "fruit" of the Jerusalem Church that
what we have been taught by our inherited Western Gentile Christianity of
today. We saw that God has given very specific Laws and Commandments for
the "non-Jew" to be included into the Israel of God. We saw in
short summary that it was required of Gentiles, according to the Jerusalem
Council, 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 long after the time given for the death of this Jesus which we have been taught as Christians "sealed" and "fulfilled" everything. We have been taught by Gentile Christianity and their texts that this Jesus instituted a "New" Covenant that replaced the "Old" Covenant.
Answer for yourself: But is that true? Have we possibly misunderstood what we are reading and not know it? Have our Pastors and teachers missed something?
But if we read and "think" as we go through the New Testament readers with a "sharp eye" can see that nothing really ever changed. Every thing continued the same as I showed you in earlier articles; the Jerusalem Church continued at the direction of James and Paul to continue to bring blood sacrifices 30 years after the supposed death of Jesus which we are told today is the "final sacrifice for sin". Acts 21 sure shows us that James and Paul and the Jerusalem Church sure did not believe this. The the outreach to the "non-Jews" and the message contained with such outreach by the witness of the Jew (responsible for the 66 Laws in the Covenant of Noah) was the same both before and after the time of the New Testament Jesus. Nothing changed again. If you recall in the Covenant of Noah the "non-Jews" response to faith toward the God of Israel was validated by their observance of the Laws of Noah and this was called "necessary" for their being "acceptable before God" by James and the Jerusalem Church in Acts 15 and Acts 16. This again shows that that message, or the "real Gospel" to the "non-Jewish" world had not changed. I could go on. Nothing changed and that should make us wonder what event, if any, could have occurred after this "Jesus" which could have changed everything as we see today for surely you have to admit the "Jews" and the "non-Jews" have long ago separated and went their different "theological ways". If "salvation is of the Jews" this should give you pause to think and hopefully the desire to find out what happened to separate the "non-Jews" from this Jewish witness. Oh, forgot one small thing, Constantine came along in the 3rd century and hated Jews so bad that the full power of Rome was used to change everything of which I refer and once Roman power rewrote history then all was forgotten except to the scholars and historians with the desire and skills to uncover what Rome destroyed and tried to bury and hoped their efforts in this regard would in time be forgotten and in a generation or two no one would ever remember "what used to be".
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 that you, like myself, inherited as children reared in a Christian home and when presented with "the real truth" you will tend to want to reject it and defend long held and cherished beliefs that you have held most of your life; religious beliefs I will remind you that few if any of the readers will have personally investigated themselves for truth at to their reliability and origin.
Answer for yourself: Do you want the truth or a lie? That is a hard one when it becomes uncomfortable to study and the study of Christianity and its true origins and deceptions is anything but "comforting"; that is why so many stop when they begin to really get into this type of study.
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 time for given by these New Testament writers for the death of this Jesus and were examples and pictures of what this emerging Gentile Church truly was before the rise of the Mighty Empire of Rome? 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 the New Testament or this "New Covenant" as seen in this Christian "New" Testament? Seems impossible does it not? But yet we never looked behind this big word "new" and traced down this quote found in the New Testament to see if the writer was faithful to the meaning of the word "new" as used by the Prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures who first "spoke" and "penned" this world. Got you seat belt on? You will need it for here comes the shock of you life (or one of them for our articles have shock after shock in them but that is what happens as you come to see what the truth will do to you when it hits you between the eyes).
Answer for yourself: Could you, as a Gentile Godfearer, who calls yourself a "Christian," be a literal descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and not know now it?
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 if you recall and not a Jew by the way) 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 their God and to the Land of their ancestors? Are you aware that the Old Testament prophet Hosea states that these captives will "intermarry" with the Gentile world, be assimilated into Gentile religions, and lose the truth of the religion of their fathers? Are you aware that these who are "blinded to their paths" are promised that in 2000 years that God will have mercy on them and "open their eyes" and that they will "recover" their paths and return to the Jewish faith? Now that sounds great for the Jews but we are not speaking about "Jews"; we are speaking about "non-Jews" who were taken all throughout Europe over 2000 years ago and had their "seed" spread far and wide for 2000 years and this "blood line" was diluted but yet scattered throughout the known world and one day the Mayflower came to America and with it Hosea's promise for truly today the "awakening" in Gentile Christianity to is "Jewish Roots" is the fulfillment of this promise. The rest of this story is found in the evolution of Gentile Christianity since the colonies to today as found in the corner Church houses of our land; many of which contain "thinking" Christians who are blessed to live in the "Information Age" where this knowledge of our "Jewish Roots" can awaken us to our past and our intended futures.
Answer for yourself: It is possible that centuries of intermarriage of these captive Jews from these ten Northern Tribes with all the other nations to which they were sent spread the chromosomes and "blood line" of the family of Abraham and today that these "seeds" cover the world as Genesis records and as Abraham was told (number as the sands of the sea)? Are God's promises made to these seeds today? Could that be you? If so, could you be a fruit of this "seed" and not know it?
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 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? Well it begins with Acts 15 and Acts 16 again for we see historically that within a "Gentile despising" Judaism of its day a group of repentant Jews rose up to take the Covenant of Noah to the "non-Jewish" world and no longer enforce circumcision upon the "non-Jew" for his inclusion into the Israel of God.This was long after this "Jesus" and was the actual fulfillment of the Great Commission as we know it historically and this was again both the "pattern" and the "message" taken to the world whereby the Gentile could be "saved". If you arelooking for the true Gospel you found it; the true Gospel is the knowledge given to mankind that in faith and repentance and obedience to God and Creator to the Laws and Commandments given him in his Covenant with God that mankind can make himself acceptable to God and be assured of his Eternity with God at his death.
While the Divine scenario of the Northern House of Israel being taken captive by Assyria, scattered among the nations, and regathered to the LORD 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. Nowhere is
the Gentile Christian Church of Rome or her Protestant daughter mentioned.
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 spokeconcerning Israel and
concerning Judah...."
Answer for yourself: Was the Lord talking through Jeremiah the Prophet at that time to the Baptists, Methodists, or 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); those who observed the Jewish faith and follow the Hebrew Scriptures and the Covenant of Moses (Laws and Commandments)?
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 the Jewish Christ who said things like:
Matt 5:17 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (KJV)
or
Matt 15:24 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (KJV)
Instead of "reading into the passage" a meaning you desire it to say, or a meaning that your Pastor has taught you in your traditional "anti-Jewish" theology, I challenge you to let the Bible teach you what it says!
Then follows the now familiar pattern we often find in the Old Testament of Israel being punished for her disobedience. We see the need for punishment upon both Houses of Israel by military defeat and scattering in exile, but ironically in such punishment we find the mercy of God resulting in the complete accomplishment of the Holy One's purposes by Israel's eventual regathering as being seen today in both Jewish and Christian circles as they recover their "Jewish Roots". I hope and pray that over time this will become real to you and that you will full understand later about what I just said. Please read on.
Answer for yourself: Can you see the complete futility of trying to make this prophecy of Jer. 31 refer to 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? Ironically it was the Christian Church who did the punishing of millions down through the Dark Ages. If you want to see the truth then I suggest you read The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbe.
Answer for yourself: Is it possible you have your whole life misunderstood what God, Jeremiah, and the Jewish Christ 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 correctly? What have we missed up to now?
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) and learn the truth about true Biblical Atonement and if this Biblical atonement, in spite of what you have been taught by Gentle Christianity and its Bible, could ever be applied to the death of one for another according to the Hebrew Scriptures!!!
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 enculturated 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 our God." For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is my firstborn.
These clear statements, made by the LORD, 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 "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 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). Take pause to think of what I just said!
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 the Christ child. But we know from study that this event by Herod is pure fiction created to make the "Jesus Story" follow the Ancient pattern of the sungods (darkness tries to overtake the light...this is pure astronomy at its best). 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 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.
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 for their own only promotes 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 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: With the vast majority of Jews living outside the Laws of Israel today, by some estimates 95%, then is is proper to say that "this time" has arrived and that this "New Covenant" is in place at the time of the writing of this article? Could again this "New Covenant" be in existence and the foundation for the Christian Church as they propose? No way.
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 ironically you are if you are awakening to the Jewish Roots of Christianity) 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 (surely Christianity does not follow Judaism)? Again this is not happening today.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; a religious belief system that denigrates these Laws and Commandments of God and "kills" according to the New Testament? I think you get my point.
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! Well, you have. This is just one of many and most go undetected because they are called "orthodoxy" today.
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 (this Jewish Christ called these the "lost sheep of the Hours of Israel [Ephraim]), after they have been reunited and are prospering in the Land of Israel...as well as the "non-Jews" being restored to the Hebrew Roots of their faith through the Covenant of Noah and the Laws of Noah (part of the Covenant of Moses)
You well know the magnitude of the promise and if not let us review it:
I will put My Law within them and on their hearts I will write it (God's Laws); 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," For they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (verses 33-34).
Answer for yourself: Does not this passage sound strange to a Christian that prides himself as not being under the Law but grace? 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, 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, `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 the name of "Jesus" affixed to them and have taken the place of what is commanded in Scripture and can be shown to be observed by both Jew and "non-Jew" both in time of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament and historically up until the 5th century?
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 and which is commanded to be given only to "certain areas" in the Hebrew Scriptures with the financing of buildings, mortar, brick, utilities, fancy lunches, Pastors cars, recreation, vacations, Hotel rentals, symposiums, gatherings, home payments, etc., with your tithe instead of what Yahweh commands and the particular ways delineated in the Hebrew Scriptures that in "only be used"?
Answer for yourself: Are you, as Gentile Godfearers grafted into Israel, in fact part of Israel and the people of God along with the Jews or have you apostatized from this "Jewish truth" and does your life reflect a practice exhibiting a mixture of truth and error as taught you by the Gentile Christianity of 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, the ten 'foolish virgins'" and be cast out of the Wedding Supper because the Jewish Christ, 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." You better think on this one!
Answer for yourself: How can you dear Christian continue to believe, practice, observe, and finance "neo-paganism" and the fruit of Constantine's antisemitism masquerading and defined 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. You are forgiven by repentance which is just one decision away.
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 in our next article.