What a dilemma we
have as we look at the origins of Christianity, and compare it to the modern
church. The original goals and intentions of Christianity were never
realized and yet, as a religion, it has grown into something that has definitely
changed the world.
What has caused this
to happen? If God has planned
everything from the beginning, what is the reason for Christianity? Was God
creating a new religion? If so, why? If not, what is He doing?
It is evident, from
reading the Bible, that the plan of God involves his chosen people, Israel. And
yet, if the end time prophecies of the Bible focus on the Jewish population, how
do Christians fit in?
Just by looking at
the world around us, you would have to conclude that Christianity is ALSO part
of God’s plan. In fact, it seems to be an essential part; without it the world
would be a much different place.
How has Christianity
affected the world? Let’s stop for a moment and consider the impact that the
Christian faith has had. It has been the Christian religion that has brought the
Holy Scriptures (the Tanakh or Old Testament) to the world. If it were not for
Christianity, the knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be
limited to whatever Jewish communities there happened to be; and western
civilization, which is for the most part a Bible based society, would only exist
within those Jewish communities.
In addition, most of the
humanitarian efforts in the world today are sponsored by Christian
organizations. There is no similar outreach effort to the rest of the world
among Hindus and Muslims. Even the Jewish outreach or humanitarian programs are
dwarfed when compared to what Christian organizations have accomplished. Why is it that the world seems to have been so
blessed through Christianity and yet the prophets don’t seem to even acknowledge
its existence?
There have been several attempts to solve the apparent gap in the Bible
when it comes to recognizing the Christian faith outside of the New Testament.
Three Christian Theologies
Three prominent theological perspectives that attempt to bridge that gap are:
Replacement Theology, Dispensational Theology, and Covenant Theology.
Replacement
Theology is basically where the word “Christianity” simply replaces the word
“Israel” wherever it is mentioned (in a positive way) in end-time Bible
prophecy.
Dispensationalists believe that God works with different people at different
times in different ways. God’s laws, therefore, are not universal but, rather,
are the somewhat arbitrary guidelines he uses at different times throughout
history.
Covenant Theology
is where God’s relationship with people is dependent upon the covenant or
agreements between them.
All of these views
have the same basic premise. The Jews WERE God’s chosen people who were given
certain laws UNTIL he sent their messiah to them. Since they rejected their
messiah, God rejected them and chose a NEW people and new set of laws.
The problem is that
the Bible simply does not support this premise.
What then is going
on? Does God still consider the Jews his chosen people? If so, are Christians
NOT chosen of God? How does this strange relationship between Jew and Christian
fit into God’s plan? Do Jews need to convert to Christianity in order to be
saved or must all Christians become Jewish?
Again, what is
Christianity all about? Was Christianity all just a big mistake? Why was so much
misunderstood? Why didn't it's founders seem to accomplish their mission?
...Why Christianity?
Maimonides, a rabbi
from the 13th century hinted at Christianity being a transitional religion.
Transitioning from what, or to what?
The New Covenant
God has a chosen people. He has NOT chosen ANOTHER people. EVEN when He makes a
new covenant, He does so with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. He
does not makes a covenant with Gentiles.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
& Hebrews 8:8-12
31 Look! The days
are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and with the
House of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my
covenant even though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the
House of Israel at
that time, says the LORD, I will put my Torah into their very being, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they will be my people.
Again, NOTICE the
NEW covenant is NOT made with Gentiles. It is made with the WHOLE nation of
Israel (both houses), where God will write His laws on the hearts of the House
of ISRAEL. Why doesn’t he write His laws on the hearts of the House of Judah?
Hosea 1:6b-7
I will no more
have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I
will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD
their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen.
Saving the Jews
In November of 2001
the Vatican issued a 210 page report entitled The Jewish People and the Holy
Scriptures in the Christian Bible. In this document, the top theologians of
the Roman Catholic Church have made some significant paradigm shifts.
According to
Eugene
Fisher of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops:
"We don't
need to work or pray for the conversion of Jews to Christianity. God already
has the salvation of the Jews figured out, and they accepted it on
Sinai, so they are OK. Jews are already with the Father. We do not have a
mission to the Jews, but only a mission with the Jews to the world. The
Catholic Church will never again sanction an organization devoted to the
conversion of Jews. That is over, on doctrinal, biblical and pastoral
grounds.”
The Catholic Church
is citing "biblical" grounds for this new teaching which has become
official church doctrine. So, what do the Scriptures say about the Jews and
salvation?
In John 4:22
Yeshua says:
22 You worship what you do
not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
Many people make
the mistake of believing that Yeshua thought his mission was to save the
Jews. Clearly this is not the case. Neither did he believe
his mission was to "graft in" Gentiles.
The mission of Meshiah ben Joseph (who Yeshua believed he was)
is to
save the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. It is ISRAEL who needs to return to
God, not Judah.
Messiah ben Joseph is to redeem and to die for ISRAEL’s sins; NOT the Jews and NOT the Gentiles.
In Acts 5:31
is reads:
God exalted with
his right hand [to be] a prince and a saviour, for to give repentance to ISRAEL
and forgivness of sins.
Rabbi Moses
Alshech, from the 1700’s in the town of Safad writes:
They shall look
unto me, for they shall lift up their eyes unto me in perfect repentance,
when they see him whom they have pierced, that is Messiah, the son of Joseph;
for our Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said that he will take upon himself
all the guilt of Israel, and shall then be slain in the war to make
atonement in such manner that it shall be accounted as if Israel had pierced
him, for on account of their sin he has died; and therefore, in order that it
may be reckoned to them as perfect atonement, they will repent and look to
the blessed One, saying that there is none beside Him to forgive those that
mourn on account of him who died for their sins; this is the meaning of “They
shall look upon me”
So Christianity is
not a replacement of Judaism. Rather, Christianity
could be viewed as a VEHICLE by which God
will bring back the LOST House of Israel from exile, reuniting them with the House of
Judah.
Hosea 1:11
11 Then shall the
children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint
themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be
the day of Jezreel.
All end time
prophecy is fixed around one major event; the return of the Lost Ten Tribes of
Israel. Even though God had
exiled Israel, and removed its identity, God promised to gather
them again.
Jeremiah 29:14
You will find me,
says the LORD, and I will reverse your exile. I will gather you from all the
nations, and from all the places to which I have banished you, says the LORD. I
will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.
The prophet Hosea
tells what the history of the house of Israel (the Ten Tribes) will be in the
first chapter of his book.
Hosea 1:2
2 …And the LORD
said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms:
for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare
him a son.
4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while,
and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to
cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in
the valley of Jezreel.
6 And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said to him, Call her
name Loru-ha-mah: for I will have no mercy anymore upon the house of
Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD
their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen.
8 Now when she had weaned Loru-ha-mah, she conceived, and bore a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for you are
not my people, and I
will not be your God.
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the
place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there it shall be said
to them, You are the sons of the living God.
“Son of the living
God” is a Messianic title that refers back to this passage in Hosea, because it
is through the efforts of Messiah ben Joseph that the House of Israel will
return. Remember how the apostle Peter refers back to this passage. When Yeshua asks
his disciples who the believed he was, Peter answered:
Matthew 16:16
16 And Simon
Peter answered and said, You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.
Again, Peter was not
saying that Yeshua was God, rather he was saying that Yeshua was the Messiah who
brings about the return of the tribes.
Later Peter in his
own writings would allude to Hosea to indicate that the purpose of Christianity
was to reach the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Hosea 1:6-10):
1 Peter 2:10
10 Which in time
past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Fishers of Men
At the beginning of his ministry Yeshua tells his talmidim that they will be
“fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19
19 And he said to
them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
The reference to
“fishers” is also found in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. This again is
in reference to the House of Israel returning to both the land and to God.
Jeremiah 1:11
16 Behold, I will
send for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I
send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from
every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
This passage puts
the redemption of Israel in two time periods, using first fishers, and then
hunters.
According to the
prophets, the redemption of the House of Israel (the Lost Ten Tribes) does not
happen till the end of the age. How then does God accomplish this task?
God is not
arbitrary. His laws are consistent, and He doesn’t make mistakes. God has
not changed or done away with his laws. The word of God and His commandments are
the same as they have always been.
1John 2:7
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
The End From the
Beginning
God also has had His
plan for mankind from the beginning. God knows
exactly where He is going.
Isaiah 46:9
9 Remember the
former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
As the Israelites
were in the desert in the wilderness, God told them about their return from
exile.
Deuteronomy 30:1
2 and when you
and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your
heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you
and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,
from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.
John 10:16
16 And other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and
they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, [and] one shepherd.
So if the plan of
God was to redeem Israel, why didn’t he do it in the first century? Because he
would NOT redeem Israel until the END of the age.
This may explain
Yeshuah's strange explanation as to why he spoke in parables.
Matthew 13:10
10 And the
disciples came, and asked him, Why do you speak to them in parables?
11 He answered and said, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
...14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, "By
hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see,
and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should
see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand
with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
Who is God talking
to Isaiah about? And why wouldn't God want to heal these people?
This is the nation of Israel that God would punish by taking away the knowledge
of who they were till the end of the age. The first century simply was NOT THE
TIME for the Lost Tribes to remember and return.
So, who are the Lost
Ten Tribes of Israel and when will they return?
