The Bible talks about a people known as “the chosen people” Who
are they? Does God choose one group of people for a certain amount of time and
when they don’t work out, switch to another group? If not what is he doing? Is
Christianity part of God’s plan? If so, how does it fit into end time prophecy
found written in the prophets? In a future chapter we will discus how these
seemingly contradictory positions are all working together. In this chapter,
however, we will focus on the question: “Who is a Jew”?
From: The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
under the word Jew it says:
1) An adherent to Judaism.
2) A descendant of the Hebrew people.
To be "a descendant of
the Hebrew people" in simple terms would mean that your mother was
"Jewish".
A Jew Without a Choice
If your mother is
Jewish, you are a Jew. There is no way to reverse your Jewishness.
You cannot "convert" to another faith and stop being Jewish. You
would simply be a Jew with different beliefs. However, regardless
of what your belief is, you are still bound by the laws that God gave
your ancestors on Mount Sinai. You would still be expected to
observe the Sabbath, eat kosher, and do many other things which are not
required of someone who is not born to a Jewish mother.
A Jew By Choice
Beyond being
born to a Jewish mother, there is another way to be Jewish.
When a non-Jew accepts upon himself all the requirements of the law
that are on the Jewish people, he can become a Jew. Today we call
this process "conversion", yet it is much more than merely accepting
certain beliefs.
This process has
existed from the beginning of the Jewish people, when they left Egypt. Those
who wanted to follow God were welcomed to do so. They were considered to
be a part of Israel because of the belief system that they adopted, even
though they were not originally part of the “family” of Israel.
Exodus 12:48
48
"An alien living among you who wants to
celebrate the Lord's Passover must have all the males in his household
circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No
uncircumcised male may eat of it.
49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among
you."
The
"alien" who wants to become a part of the Jewish people may do so, and
be "like one born in the land". This means much more than changing
your beliefs. It is as if you were actually "born again" as a Jew,
with a Jewish history and ancestery.
Once a non-Jew
decides to become part of the Jewish people and goes through the process to do
so, he can never go back to being a non-Jew. So, by design, the
"conversion" process is not a quick and easy one. There must be certainty
of the individuals commitment.
This is the only
method to become part of God's people or "kingdom". Yeshua confirms this in
John 3:3
Yeshua
answered and said to him, Surely, I say to you, Except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The
examples of the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt
with the Israelites, Rahab, and later
Ruth and many others who were not born as Israelites and yet BECAME
Israelites, shows us that from the very beginning belief is how someone
who is not a “Jew” can become a “Jew.”
Paul
refers to this in Romans 2:28.
28
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly …but he is a Jew which is
one inwardly.
Paul is pointing out that being a “Jew” is not confined to
ethnic identity, but is also tied to a belief system that (if an
individual is willing to commit) is available for
anyone to adopt no matter what your national or ethnic origins are.
Beyond the basic
understanding of what in means to be part of the "Jewish people", there
are other definitions, or actually sub-categories, of being a "Jew".
1)
Tribal
2) National
3) Regional
Without
understanding, and putting into context, all four distinctions it will be
impossible to understand; how the Jews could possibly be fighting a war
against Israel (1Kings 15:17). We could not know to whom a particular
prophecy is directed (the nation of Israel or the nation of Judah). And
parts of the New Testament would make no sense at all (like why the
disciples of Yeshua, who were all Jewish, were hiding because they feared
the Jews).
To understand
the meaning of of the word "Jew", we must understand the context in which it is
said or written.
Tribal
In
probably the truest sense of the word, a Jew is someone who is a
descendant from Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, and a grandson of
Abraham. To explain the story of Judaism or Christianity you have to go
back to Abraham. Abram (his name was changed to Abraham later) is
identified as a Hebrew,* meaning he was a descendant of Eber (his great,
great, great, great grandfather).
*Although the term
“the Hebrew people” has become synonymous at times with the term “Jew,” it
would not be accurate to say that the terms mean the same thing. All Jews
are Hebrews, but not all Hebrews are Jews.
God told Abram to move to
another place. From this time on Abraham lived in a tent, never again having a permanent home.
Because of Abraham’s obedience to God and His laws,* God blessed Abraham.
Genesis 26:5
5 Because that Abraham
obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes
and my laws.
*Many believe that
all of the laws of God were first established at the time of Moses. This
is not accurate. We know this because Abraham is blessed for keeping
God’s laws.
Before Sinai, God
established laws for all mankind to live by known as "Noahide" laws. I
will discuss this further in the next chapter.
Because
Abraham followed God, there were some important promises made. It is
through those promises that God will carry out the redemption of mankind.
Genesis 12:2
2 And I
will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great;
and you shall be a blessing.
3 And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and
in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Abraham
had a son named Isaac and Isaac’s son was named Jacob. Eventually God
changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Jacob (or Israel) had 12 sons who became
the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. One of those sons was named Judah.
All of those who are descendents of Judah are known as Jews, just as the
descendents of Levi are known as Levites. The descendents of Judah have
specific blessings, recorded in Genesis 49:8-12.
8
"Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of
your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a
lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness--who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from
between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of
the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.
From this prophecy we see that
the kings of Israel were to come from the descendents of Judah, and the Messiah
would also come from this line.
National
All of the 12 tribes of Israel
in time became slaves in Egypt.
Exodus 1:11
11
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their
burdens.
Then God used Moses to lead the
children of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:7
7 And
the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in
Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know
their sorrows;
8 And I am come out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out
of that land to a good land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
Upon leading them out of
slavery in Egypt, God gave the Israelites the Torah, or His written and oral
instructions on how they should live their lives. (Exodus 20)
In time they settled in the
land that God had promised them, and they became a kingdom.
King Solomon was the last king
to reign over the entire Israelite people. Because King Solomon did not follow
God in his old age, and built holy places for the foreign gods of his many
wives, God told Solomon that he would lose the kingdom.
1 Kings 11:11
11 Wherefore the LORD
said to Solomon, For as much as this is done of you, and you have not kept my
covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the
kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
Upon Solomon’s death the
kingdom split in two.
1 Kings 12:19
19 So Israel
rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
The
northern kingdom was called Israel (it comprised 10 of the tribes), and
the southern kingdom was called Judah (it was comprised of Judah, Levi,
and Benjamin). The Northern kingdom (from the start) was not faithful to
God’s instructions.
1 Kings 12:31
31 And
he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the
people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast
in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he
offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves
that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places
which he had made.
They soon
began to adopt the customs of the nations around them; something God had
specifically told them not to do.
Deuteronomy 12:28
29 When
the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, whither you
go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwelt in their land;
30 Take heed to yourself that you
be not snared by following them,
after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not
after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so
will I do likewise.
31 You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the
LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons
and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing so ever I command you, observe to do it:
you shall not
add thereto, nor diminish from it.
In time
the conditions had become so bad that the prophet Elijah believed that he
was the only one in all of Israel that was not worshiping other gods.
1 Kings
19:13
14 And
he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the
children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars,
and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and
they seek my life, to take it away.
Finally
God made the decision to send the northern kingdom (Israel) into exile.
Because their idolatry was so great, their punishment was to be dispersed
throughout the entire earth and to lose their identity.
2 Kings
17:15
15 And
they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with
their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and
they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen
that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them,
that they should not do like them.
16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and
made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped
all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the
fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil
in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and
removed them out
of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
The northern
kingdom, sometimes called "the House of Israel" or "the Lost Ten Tribes",
disappeared. It is one of the great mysteries of history. To
this day there is no definitive answer to the question of their location.
It appears that they have assimilated into the societies around them; never
to return.
A
central event, however, in prophecy IS the redemption of the northern
kingdom (at the end of the age) and its reunification with the southern kingdom.
In the
meantime, Judah (the southern kingdom) would, also go into captivity.
2 Kings
24:10
10 At
that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against
Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
14 And
he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men
of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths:
none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
The nation
of Judah, however, retained its identity and returned back to the land
after being exiled for a period of time in Babylon.
Ezra
1:2-3
2 Thus
says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven has given me all the
kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him a house at
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD
God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
By the
first century (at the time of Yeshua) the southern kingdom had
populated both the territory of the nation of Judah, and part of the
territory formerly belonging to Israel (the northern kingdom). Also they
were dispersed to other regions that were outside of this area, known as
the diaspora.
Regional
One of the
most misunderstood definitions of the word “Jew” is that of region. To
understand this, look at a map of Israel. The region around and below
Jerusalem was the general area of the southern kingdom, Judah. This was
known (in the first century) as the region of Judea. People who lived in
this region were called Judeans. Above the region of Judea was the region
known as Samaria, and above the region of Samaria was the region of
Galilee. The people in Samaria were knows as Samaritans, and the people in
Galilee were known as Galileans.
John
7:1
1 After
these things, Yeshua walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry,
because the Jews sought to kill him.
It is
important to note the distinction mentioned here is NOT between Christian
and Jew, but between Galilean and Judean. So, the “Jews” that are
mentioned here are people from the region of Judea, and not those who
simply had “Jewish beliefs.”
2 Now
the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Again this
is a regional distinction. The area of Samaria lies between Galilee and
Judea. The Samaritans also kept the Feast of Tabernacles. However, having adopted the practices of the northern kingdom of Israel, their
feast was often a month later (as it is to this day).
11 Then
the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he’?
12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some
said, He is a good man: others said, No; but he deceives the people.
13 Howbeit no man spoke openly of him
for fear of the Jews.
Again, it
is important to realize that these visitors to Jerusalem were religiously
Jewish. They had traveled to Jerusalem in accordance to the command in
Deuteronomy 16.
Deuteronomy 16:16
16
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God
in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and
in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
They were
also nationally Jewish. They were descendents from those who returned from
the exile in Babylon. In addition, many of them were from the tribe of
Judah. The “fear,” however, was of certain people who lived in the region
of Judea.
Who lived
in the region of Judea? Judea was where the spiritual center of Jewish
people was located. The Temple in Jerusalem was the focal point of
worship. The sect that had control of Temple worship was the Sadducees.
Vince
Garcia writes in “What you never knew about the Pharisees”
The
Sadducees
The
Sadducees were priests who had control of the Temple in Jerusalem, the
heart of Jewish worship. They rejected the books of the Old Testament not
written by Moses, rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees , and had
a number of odd religious beliefs, including a denial of Spirits, the
Resurrection, the existence of Satan, the supernatural, miracles, and a
coming Messiah.
The
Sadducees also had a group within them known as the Herodians, who had
ties to King Herod. While the Sadducees were few in number, their control
of the Temple, and their wealth, gave them an important position of
authority within.
The
Pharisees
The
Pharisees were made up of both rabbis and influential lay people. In the
time of Jesus there were several thousand Pharisees in Israel led by two
main schools of philosophy...
The
School of Shammai.
The
school of Shammai believed, among other things, that the Hebrew seed of
Abraham were the only people beloved of God and few would even consider
allowing a Gentile to convert to Judaism. Around 8 AD Shammai passed 18
edicts specifically meant to force separation between Jews and Gentiles.
The
specifics of these edicts have been lost, but among them was a prohibition
of entering the house of a Gentile lest a Jew thereby become defiled, and
even eating with or purchasing food from a Gentile was forbidden. Because
of Shammai’s influence, these edicts became laws of Israel.
Of
lesser influence in Israel was the School of Hillel
The
school of Hillel accepted Gentile converts to Judaism in the belief that
the God of Abraham allowed all to worship Him who would turn from
idolatry.
Modern-day Judaism traces its roots to the teachings promoted by the
followers of Hillel who survived the destruction of Jerusalem and began
codifying their teachings around 200 AD. So wise was Hillel that even two
sayings we commonly attribute to Jesus were coined by Hillel before his
death and were being quoted by Jesus in the Gospels. These were the Golden
Rule (“Do unto others...”) and the summary of the Law and the Prophets
(“Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself”).
Whenever you see Jesus interacting positively with the Pharisees (for
instance with Nicodemus or the Rich Young Ruler), he is probably
interacting with Pharisees from the school of Hillel.
The
Sanhedrin
The
(Great) Sanhedrin was comprised of 70 elders with a president, who in the
Time of Jesus was Gamaliel. The Sanhedrin functioned much like a
combination of the Senate and Supreme Court. You will note in the Book of
Acts that Gamaliel, the president of the Sanhedrin, encouraged tolerance
of the Christians.
The
Trial of Yeshua (Jesus)
At the
trial of Jesus the quorum was hurriedly assembled and included almost
across the board members of the Sanhedrin who were either Sadducees or
Pharisees from the school of Shammai, while possibly only Nicodemus and
Joseph of Arimithea represented the school of Hillel. The outcome was
inevitable, especially because of the threat Jesus posed to the Sadducees.
In their view this man was an unparalleled danger, standing in direct
contra-diction to their theology across the board. For one, he is casting
out devils the Sadducees deny exist.
He
miraculously resurrects Lazarus just three miles from Jerusalem in the
presence of numerous witnesses including hostile Pharisees--and, worst of
all--he presents himself at the Temple during Passover when the city
swelled to over a million Jews and declares he is a Messiah the Sadducees
deny is coming. Thus, in their own self-interest, the Sadducees, not the
Pharisees, forced the issue of trying and slaying Jesus.
Evidence of this can be seen in the fact that the Sadducees, and not the
Pharisees... Arranged with Judas to betray Jesus (Matt. 26); Seem to be
the ones who held the illegal night trial of Jesus (John 18: 13 and 24);
Brought Jesus to the Romans (John 18:28); Set a guard at the tomb (Matt.
27); Arrested the apostles (Acts 5)
The
Conclusion
The
School of Shammai, meanwhile, took a major hit when the revolt of AD 66-70
failed, and when a "Heavenly voice" in AD 70 was heard in Yavneh
instructing the Jews to follow the rulings of Hillel over Shammai.
Ironically, the Gentiles who would assume leadership of the church would
themselves fall into the same patterns followed by their Pharisee
predecessors--creating hosts of manmade doctrines meant to force believers
into compliance. The greatest tragedy has been in Christianity’s failure
to realize who the true enemies of the Gospel really were, and thus Jews throughout the ages
have suffered persecution by
“Christians” who did not realize the real enemy actually died out in
the 1st century.
As you can
see, the tendency for us to generalize about people and circumstances has
caused us to misunderstand much of the history and conditions that led to
our modern perspective and belief system. After the destruction of the
Temple you have only one accepted school of thought; the school of Hillel.
Both modern Judaism and
early Christianity emerged independently from this same school.
There is much more that we could
discuss on the issue of "who is a Jew", but for now, we must ask an
equally important question: “Who is a Gentile?”
