The Jewish Fallacy
Are you Jewish?
That question is one I often get asked upon someone learning that I don't eat pork, that I celebrate the Biblical Festivals instead of the pagan ones, or that I keep a Saturday Sabbath.
It seems common knowledge that all the things the Bible commands in the Old Testament, were for the Jews, and that we modern people (after 30 AD.) are not required to observe such rites, and especially if we are not Jewish.
Before we delve into that though, we need to define some terms: A “Jew” is someone that is ancestrally descended from the tribe of Judah.
Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (later named “Israel”) The line-up went like this: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. Joseph's two sons; Manaseh and Ephraim each became a tribe and replaced the tribe of Joseph.
Thus there were thirteen “tribes of Israel” that were enslaved in Egypt, and released at Passover. There were thirteen tribes that crossed the Red Sea and journeyed to Mt. Sinnai.
It was at Mt. Sinnai that “the law” was given to all twelve tribes on the day of Pentecost. It was to all thirteen tribes that the Creator of the universe (Yahweh) gave the “Ten Commandments, (including the fourth one, the Sabbath command).
He also commanded them to celebrate the annual feasts.
Levitucus 23: 1-2 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “The feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.’”
Respectively: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.
He also gave the laws regarding what meats were allowed to be eaten and which ones were not, and an additional plethora of other moral and ceremonial commands.
Our God did not single out the tribe of Judah and say “These laws are no longer My laws, but I have given them to you, the tribe of Judah. Only you are required to do what pleases Me.”
Not only were these moral laws in existence from at least the beginning of the physical world, but they belong to our God, not to any one of the tribes of Israel.
The sixth commandment “you shall not murder” was in existence when Cain killed his brother Abel. This was over two thousand years before any of the sons of Jacob were born. Two thousand years before the first “Jew.”
The laws regulating clean and unclean meats were in effect when the animals boarded Noah's Ark.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Job were known to be righteous men, before the law was introduced to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai.
Contrary to popular belief, the Old Testament laws were not invented by Moses and given solely to the tribe of Judah. They were Invented long before the first Jew, by Yahweh and introduced to the thirteen tribes of Israel as He promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:7).
What changed then? How did the law end up being Jewish?
Well, when the thirteen tribes finally ended up in the land of Canaan that they had been promised, they rebelled against our God and fell into paganism.
They worshipped idols, killed their own children, had christmas trees, and did everything they could to anger the God who had saved them from Egypt and given them the blessing that is His law.
During this time was the life of King David. He was from the tribe of Judah, and our God made a covenant with him to carry on the promises that He had made to Abraham through his (David's) descendants.
In the years following the death of David's son (King Solomon) the tribes became enemies and fought each other numerous times. The tribe of Levi which included the priesthood, to a large extent assimilated into the tribe of Judah. The other eleven tribes were expelled from the promised land and carried away into captivity by the Assyrians and settled in modern day Iraq/Iran in circa 715 BC.
The tribe of Judah remained in the land for a while longer but they too embraced paganism. Finally in 587 BC the temple that Solomon had built for Yahweh was destroyed, Jerusalem was sacked and all but a handful of Judaites/Jews were carried away captive to Babylon.
Some 70 years later During the reign of Cyrus King of Persia, 42,360 Jews were given permission to return to the promised land and rebuild the Temple. This project was completed in circa 516 BC.
It was after the other eleven tribes were taken into captivity that the law began to be associated with the tribe of Judah. Thus in the eyes of the other nations the law of Yahweh became Jewish.
The tribe of Judah retained their identity and the “book of the law” up through the time that Jesus (Yeshua) died in the first century AD.
During this 512 years the religion of Judaism was born. It was based on the law that Yahweh gave all the tribes at Mt. Sinnai, but also included an unhealthy dosage of paganism that was learned both before the captivity and during their time in Babylon. It came to include many man-made traditions that were held in higher regard than the laws of Yahweh.
The important thing though, is that the Old Testament books were preserved by the Jews, our God used them to preserve His law and all that He wanted us to have today.
Romans 3:1-2. “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.”
What about the other tribes?
After being in captivity for a while the other tribes migrated North out of modern-day Iraq. Some remained in the Caucasus mountains and became known as Caucasians, others went around the Black Sea and settled throughout Western Europe and the British Isles.
This is a whole subject by itself, if you are interested in more information there are links to several other posts on this topic at the bottom of this one.
Congratulations!
If you are of Western European stock then you are almost certainly descended from one of the tribes of Israel!
You have just as much inheritance in the “Old Testament” laws as the Jews do. Those laws were given to your ancestors as well as to the tribe of Judah!
If you are not of Western European/Israelitish stock then congratulations!
You also have just as much inheritance in the law of Yahweh as the tribe of Judah or any of the other tribes do.
Your ancestry does not matter!
During much of the period of history that the Bible covers, the Israelites were our God's chosen people. He required that they serve Him alone and be different from the other nations. This was not because they were superior to other peoples, but because of His promises to Abraham. “In your seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed.” That blessing for all the nations was the Messiah who would come from the tribe of Judah.
Due to the adoption of paganism, the tribes were punished by being dispersed from the promised land and subsequently by the loss of their Israelitish identity.
The tribe of Judah that was back in the land when the Messiah came, to a large extent rejected the Messiah, and so Salvation was opened up to the willing gentiles.
This was the Master's plan all along. He did not create the world and all of humanity to in turn grant eternal life to only one ethnicity of people. The plan was for ALL people to come to repentance and to serve the Living God.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also” (Romans 3:29).
“Gentile” is just a word used to describe someone that is not a physical descendant of Jacob/Israel. The Hebrew word for gentiles is “goyim” which is the plural of “goy” meaning a nation. Goyim simply means “nations.” By biblical context usually any nation other than the ancient nation of Israel, in modern times this term is used to refer to anyone who is not “Jewish,” and is often used to include the other tribes which have to a large extent lost their Israelitish identity.
In Acts 13:46-48 Paul and Barnabas were speaking to the believing Jews.
“Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
“Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’
Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’
So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Galatians 3:6-9).
To Recap:
1. “The law” belongs to Yahweh. It is His law and He gives it to whomever He chooses.
2. “The law” is NOT Jewish, nor was it given to only the Jews. It was given to all 13 tribes.
3. All 13 tribes, whether they realize their identity or not, have the same inheritance in the law as the tribe of Judah does.
4. Some consider the law to be Jewish only because the Jews preserved the Torah to modern times.
5. We who are descended from Western Europeans are almost certainly Israelitish by blood and therefore have just as much inheritance in the law as the Jews do.
6. Our Ancestry does not matter. If you are a gentile by birth you still have just as much inheritance in the law as the Israelitish peoples.
7. Salvation has been granted to the Gentiles.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3: 26-29).
And now to answer the original question: “are you Jewish?”
By modern Jewish matriarchal reckoning; No, I am not.
But I am Baptized into Christ Yeshua and therefore I am counted as a spiritual Israelite, and heir of the promise of eternal life. As such I am grateful to have the blessing of Yahweh's law, and will continue to keep His commandments.
I hope you will as well.
You do not need to be Jewish to keep the laws of Yahweh!
In John 15:10 Jesus/Yeshua said: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
More reading: Why all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews
How did Israel's Ten Lost Tribes Become Lost?
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