Subject: Acts 15 and Non-Jewish Torah Observance
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 00:23:01 +0000
From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Reply-To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Re: Celebrating the Festivals
From: James O Oden
>
> James, when you wrapped up with a series of five comments, number four
> caught my eye. What do you think being in mature in Yeshua is? If it is
not
> being knowledgable or wise in the Word of God, then what is it?
>
Truly it is being knowledgable and wise in the Word. I did not mean it
not to be. Sorry if I communicated poorly.
One point I would like to make, though, is that in Acts 15 the Goyim
Talmid (Gentile students/believers) were required to:
1) Abstain from blood (i.e. eating blood)
2) Things strangled (i.e. again eating blood, but some would say
eating treif).
3) Fornication (premarital or extramarital sex).
4) Food offered to idols (and all idolotry by extentsion).
They were to learn of the fullness of the Word including the feasts in
the synagogues, but they where NOT required to IMMEDIATELY keep the
feasts and many of the commandments. They were to be able to freely
takes these on and not have them forced upon them as the Circumcision
group tried to do. That is they required the gentile disciples of
Y'shua/Jesus to be circumcised and keep _ALL_ of the commandments.
This was wrong, and in fact heresy as Sha'ul teaches through out his
epistles.
Again, the intent was that these gentiles would grow to maturity and
learn the Torah in truth, not in the sense that many of the circumcision
group placed ones own ability to keep or not keep the commandments
above the bloody sacrifice and resurrection of Y'shua Adoneinu /
Jesus our Lord.
Also, concerning maturity, I often, though I did not say it, was thinking
of one walking in the LOVE of Messiah, without which we are useless
servants. It is I believe the hardest thing for us to walk in (it is a
Mitzvah / commandment by the way). The P'rushim (Pharisees) kept
many of the commandments, yet they did not keep the commandment to
love you neighbor as yourself. We have been given even a greater
one -- to love our brothers in Messiah as he loves us. What of our love
to our Wives -- it is the same commandment. Brothers and sisters,
I personally need to work on that one...and keeping one more festival
won't help that. for I have broken the commandment to keep the festival
even while I am keeping it.
To make myself totally clear, I want to say that I am not talking of the
world's love, but the Agape/Chesed love of Messiah...the kind that dies
for His bretheren.
Shalom U'verecha B'Sheim Y'shua HaMashiach...James
**********************************************************************
From: A Friendly Guy Over Here!
To: <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Acts 15 and the role of the Gentile
Just a question regarding this thread:
How were these Gentiles accepted into the 1st century Bet-haKenneset?
How did non-Messianic Jews react to their presence? Were there other
requirements for the Gentile to be admitted to full fellowship in the
assembly? I.e., Mikvahs? How did the non-Messianics react to the
idea that these Gentiles would not be required to undergo the brit
milah? Or is it more likely to suppose that the Jerusalem council was
addressing the idea of the Gentile becoming a part of one of the
kenaysia (or "gentile" assemblies) that Rav Sh'aul founded in Asia
Minor?
Any ideas?
jjp
***********************************************************************
>
>From: Gregory Richardson
>To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
>Subject: Re: How the Church lost it's Hebraic Roots
>
>> >From Eddie:
>> ***************
>>
>> ...........When God poured out His Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit, He
>> did so upon both Jew and Gentile. The BIG controversy was how to
>> disciple the Gentile into a Jewish faith. What was required of
>> them? Did they have to become Jews? Did they have to be
>> circumcised? This issue was so BIG that was the meeting of the
>> Jerusalem Council to decide this issue. What they decided was that
>> that there were MINIMUM requirements for the Gentile to come into
>> the Jewish faith and practice but the Gentile were not required to
>> keep all the commandments or have knowledge of all the commandments
>> as did the Jews. However, since they went to the Synogogue to learn
>> and study Torah every week (Acts 15:21), it was decided that the
>> Gentiles should STUDY and LEARN and that the Holy Spirit would
>> guide them in their walk in further Torah observance.
>>
>
>As a further clarification of what Eddie had written:
>
> Many people read Acts 15:19 & 20 and conclude that the Gentiles
>where not required to observe Torah. Most fail, however, to grasp
>the full significance of verse 21. The church, at that time, was not
> considered to be separate from the Jewish faith. It was just one of
>many sects within that faith; and all of those sects Pharisees,
>Saducees, the Way (Christians) met in the synagogues every Sabbath.
>What the Jerusalem conference had said, in essence, is that the
>Gentiles should not be banned from fellowship because they had not
>"first" met certain requirements. The "prerequisites" were to be
>kept to a minimum because the Gentiles had not learned these things
>from childhood like the rest of the "church". It was thought that
>because Moses was read aloud every Sabbath that these Gentiles would
>eventually learn to become fully "Torah observant".
>
>-Gregory R
>
>CRMI
>http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/2080/
>
>
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
From: Eric and Lori Swim
Subject: Acts 15 and the role of the Gentile
These observations are valid. I would just like to add this one
point. The goal of the Jerusalem Council was be establish guidelines
for "grafting in" the Gentile into a (at that time) predominately
Jewish faith. The Gentile God-fearer had turned away from pagan
practices -- shed their existing culture -- so they needed to be
re-rooted into their newly "adopted" culture. Such a process does not
happen overnight. For this and the above stated reasons, James saw
the need for "minimum" standards; however, what we tend to forget or
deny is the point that Gregory stated, "...Gentiles would eventually
learn to become fully 'Torah observant.'" The implication of Acts
15.21 is that "adopted" children (Gentiles) would live by and be held
accountable to the same standard of obedience that the "native"
children (Jews) were required to live by. The Gentile was not to
remain stagnant, or in a holding pattern, within the Noachide Laws.
They would be encouraged to walk deeper in Torah as they continued to
fellowship with their Jewish brothers and sisters at the synagogue.
The goal would be that a visitor to synagogue would be unable to
distinguish between Jew and Greek since they would be equally yoked
by their observance of God's Torah.
The issue of 'salvation' has nothing to do with Torah obedience (see
Psalm 119) since Gentile would not be attending Jewish synagogues
unless they had come to repentance of their sins and acceptance of
Messiah.
Also, the issue of 'conversion' has nothing to do with this passage
since it is a matter of the heart -- a matter between the Creator and His
created. As Sojouners of the Way travel down the path of Torah
observance, some of them may choose to make that step. Some people at
the Jerusalem Council wanted the Gentile to bear the whole weight of
the Law immediately upon their coming to the Truth. For those people,
the Law was merely a "social" identifier. James and his faction
prevailed, Baruch HaShem, by seeing the whole picture of our walk in
Torah. It is an organic process that takes time to for us to
understand, to nurture, and to grow "deep" in.
************************************************************************
From: Philip Nowland
To: <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Re: Acts 15 and the role of the Gentile
Shalom
Acts 15 should be appreciated in its entirety, and seen in the context
into which it fits. Before assuming by what James says in verse 21
that he, and the rest of the believers in Jerusalem, were assuming
that the Gentiles would become Torah Observant, we should realize
what the controversy is all about.
In verse 1, we can see that the controversy had been provoked by
certain people from Jerusalem, who travelled to Antioch and attempted
to force the church there to circumcise the non-Jewish believers in
Yeshua:
Acts 15:1-2 - And certain men came down from Judea and taught the
brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved." Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no
small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and
Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the
apostles and elders, about this question. (NKJ)
The account is specific as to what is meant there by circumcision. It
is as "according to the custom of Moses". They mean physical
circumcise. We would describe such people today as Judaizers.
According to the "custom of Moses", you were not allowed to observe
the Passover unless you were circumcised:
Exodus 12:43-49
43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the
Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 "But every man's servant who
is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat
it. 45 "A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 "In one
house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside
the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. 47 "All the
congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 "And when a stranger dwells
with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males
be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall
be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.
49 "One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who
dwells among you." (NKJ)
This was reinforced in the Law by:
Numbers 9:14
14 'And if a stranger dwells among you, and would keep the LORD'S
Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and
according to its ceremony; you shall have one ordinance, both for the
stranger and the native of the land.'" (NKJ)
It is fair to say that the Judaizers who arrived in Antioch from
Jerusalem, meant physical circumcise. For without it, under the Law,
you are not permitted to do certain things - such as observe the
Passover! These Judaizers went further and said that you cannot even
be saved unless you are circumcised:
Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the
brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved."
Later on, at the subsequent Council of Jerusalem, this was seen to
include being Torah Observant:
Acts 15:5 - But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose
up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them
to keep the law of Moses." (NKJ)
These believing Pharisees wished to see two things done to the
non-Jewish believers:
(a) Circumcise them
(b) Command them to keep the law of Moses
The church's decision was to respond by doing neither!
Indeed Peter pointed among the reasons why this should be the case, by
highlighting their own (Jewish) experience regarding this:
Acts 15:10 - "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on
the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear? (NKJ)
So according the Peter, those who were promoting that the church
should take the action being suggested, namely:
(a) To circumcise the gentiles, and
(b) To command them to keep the law of Moses
Would be guilty of testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples
which neither the Jewish ancestors, nor those present were able to
bear.
Now if you are Torah Observant and you do not share Peter's (and his
ancestors) negative experience on that point - well that is all well
and good!
James drew everyone's attention to a prophecy in the Tanach, from Amos
(9:11-12), which had predicted that non-Jews would come to faith in
God as a result of the re-building of the Tabernacle of David. Note
that he does not say the Tabernacle of Moses, nor does he say the
Temple of Solomon - but the Tabernacle of David.
Acts 15:16-17
16 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David,
which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the
Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these
things.' (NKJ)
Before jumping into a conclusion that James (and thus Amos) are
referring to the rebuilding of either:
(a) The Temple of Solomon or
(b) The Millennial Temple
We should realise that in James time (when he quotes from Amos), the
physical temple was still standing and it is unlikely that he
perceives that the Tabernacle of David is a reference to that. But he
does see that the Gentiles, who had come to faith in God, were seen as
part of the fulfilment of that prophecy from Amos. So he has drawn
attention to Amos' words because it is evident that the Gentiles who
were coming to believe and call upon the name of the Lord were doing
so in fulfilment of Scripture from the Tanach. That is obviously James
opinion - see Acts 15:15.
His next words are very important in this context:
Acts 15:18-20
18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the
Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 "but that we write to them to
abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from
things strangled, and from blood. (NKJ)
What does James mean by, not troubling those from among the Gentiles
who are turning to God? Well obviously that is his response to the
proposition from the Judaizers, who had reinforced their requirements
by expecting that the church would:
(a) Circumcise them, and
(b) Command them to keep the law of Moses
Peter had said that such a thing would be to test God, and for James
it would be to trouble the Gentile believers. However, James suggests
that the church write to the Gentile believers and lay down a basic
list of four requirements:
(i) to abstain from things polluted by idols
(ii) to abstain from sexual immorality
(iii) to abstain from things strangled, and
(iv) to abstain from blood
Now YOU may add the words MINIMUM to that if you want, and make it
sound as if it were a starting point, hoping that these non-Jewish
believers would become Torah Observant in due time, but that is not
what was said, and we actually know that was not what happened!
James then adds these significant words:
Acts 15:21 - "For Moses has had throughout many generations those who
preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
(NKJ)
It is obvious, from observations of history, both within and without
the Scriptures, that non-Jewish people did attend synagogue and hear
Moses (the Law) being preached on every Sabbath day. This is
frequently observed in the book of Acts. James makes this comment
obviously aware that this practice would continue, which it did for
some years.
BUT to make a gigantic leap and conclude, contrary to whatever had
been said previously, by Peter and James, at the council of Jerusalem,
that by this James is meaning that these non-Jews would become Torah
Observant eventually, is to both re-interpret the facts of the matter,
and to overlook the events which subsequently did take place.
If James meant that these non-Jews would become Torah Observant, as
believers in Yeshua, by attendance at the local synagogue, then he
appears to have been sadly wrong in his assumption, because that is
not what happened. I do not think that James is not means that.
Rather, that Torah Observant Jews, of which there were many thousands
(probably about 50,000) in the Jerusalem church - see Acts 21: 20,
should take heart, that the decision not to lay that requirement upon
the non-Jewish believers, will not hinder Torah Observance, for Moses
is preached every Sabbath in the synagogues throughout the world.
Philip Nowland - Huntingdon, England
>From Eddie:
**************
In examining the scriptures, several things are evident. BOTH
Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus WILL be keeping
the sabbath, New moon and Biblical Festivals FOREVER.
KEEPING THE SABBATH AND THE NEW MOON
In Revelation 21:1, it tells us about the time when God will create a
new heaven and a new earth. This is AFTER the 1,000 year Messianic
Age. In Revelation 21:1, it is written:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the
first earth was passed away: and there was no more sea"
Isaiah 66:22-23 tells us about the time when God will create a new
heaven and a new earth. It is written:
"For as the NEW HEAVENS and the NEW EARTH (Rev 21:1), which I will
make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and
your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one NEW MOON
to another, and from ONE SABBATH to another, shall ALL FLESH come to
worship before me, saith the Lord"
So, God will REQUIRE ALL FLESH (both Jew and non-Jew) to worship Him
by keeping the sabbath and the new moon during the time of the new
heaven and the new earth.
KEEPING THE BIBLICAL FESTIVALS
In Zechariah 14:16-17, God will REQUIRE ALL FAMILIES on the earth to
KEEP the FEAST OF TABERNACLES (symbolic of all the Festivals) during
the Messianic Age. In Zechariah 14:16-17, it is written:
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to
year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of
tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the
families of the earht unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of
hosts, even upon them shall be no rain"
In Ezekiel 40-48, it describes the Temple which will exist during the
Messianic Age. In Ezekiel 45:21, it tells us about keeping Passover
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as it is written:
"In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall
have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be
eaten"
In Ezekiel 45:25, it tells us about keeping the Feast of Tabernacles
as it is written:
"In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day (the feast of tabernacles
- Lev 23:34) shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days ..."
In Ezekiel 46:1, it tells us about the keeping of the sabbath and the
new moon as it is written:
"Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh
toward the east shall be shut the six working days: but on the
sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall
be opened"
Therefore, BOTH Jewish and non-Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus as
Messiah will keep the new moon, sabbath and Biblical Festivals for
ALL ETERNITY. So, the non-Jewish believers in Acts 15 would also
begin observing these things as an expression of their faith in
Messiah BUT NOT for salvation and NOT as a requirement to be
accepted into the family of God.
Furthermore ....
THE TORAH WILL BE TAUGHT TO ALL NATIONS DURING THE
MESSIANIC AGE BY THE MESSIAH AND THOSE WHO
ARE RULING AND REIGNING WITH HIM
In Revelation 5:10, it is written:
"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign
on the earth"
In Revelation 20:6, it is written:
"Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection ...
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign
with him for a thousand years"
During the 1,000 years, Yeshua/Jesus will be teaching the TORAH to
ALL NATIONS. In Isaiah 2:2-3, it is written:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills and ALL NATIONS shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will
teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths: for out of ZION
shall go forth the TORAH and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"
In Revelation 20:6, those who are ruling and reigning with Messiah
for 1,000 years are called PRIESTS unto God.
It was the duty of the PRIESTS to teach the TORAH to God's people. In
Malachi 2:7, it is written:
"For the priest's lips should keep KNOWLEDGE and they should seek the
TORAH at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts"
ZION is a term for God's people. In Isaiah 51:16, it is written:
" ... say unto ZION, thou art MY PEOPLE"
ZION is a term for God's Bride. In Hebrews 12:22 it is written:
"But you are come unto MOUNT ZION, and unto the city of the living
God, the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ..."
In Revelation 21:2, 9-10, the BRIDE is called the NEW JERUSALEM as it
is written:
"And I John saw the holy city, NEW JERUSALEM, coming down from God
prepared as a BRIDE adorned for her husband ... and there came unto
me one of the seven angels ... saying, Come hither, I will show you
the BRIDE, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a
great and high mountain, and showed me, that great city, the HOLY
JERUSALEM, descending out of heaven from God"
So ...
#1) Those during the Messianic Age who are ruling and reigning with
Yeshua/Jesus during the Messianic Age are called PRIESTS unto
God.
#2) It was the duty of the PRIESTS to teach the Torah of God to His
people
#3) The TORAH will go forth from ZION during the Messianic Age
#4) ZION is a term for God's Bride
#5) God's Bride will be a PRIEST unto God during the Messianic Age
In Matthew 5:19, Yeshua/Jesus told us that those who are GREAT
in the kingdom of God KEEP the TORAH of God and TEACH others to do
so. Those who are LEAST in the Kingdom of God will BREAK the TORAH of
God and teach others to do so as it is written:
"Whosoever therefore shall BREAK one of these least commandments
and shall TEACH men to do so shall be called the LEAST in the
Kingdom of heaven: but whosover shall DO and TEACH them, the
same shall be called GREAT in the Kingdom of heaven"
The Bride of Messiah will be called GREAT in the Kingdom of heaven.
The NEW TESTAMENT is the TORAH written upon the HEARTS of believers
in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah. In Jeremiah 31:33-34 it is written:
"But this shall be the (new) covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my TORAH in
their INWARD parts and WRITE it in their HEARTS: and will be their
God, and they shall be MY PEOPLE ... for they shall ALL know me from
the LEAST of them unto the GREATEST of them, saith the Lord ..."
In Hosea 4:6, those who REJECT the TORAH of God will NOT be PRIESTS
unto God as it is written:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be NO
PRIEST to me: seeing thou has FORGOTTEN the TORAH of thy God, I will
also reject thy children"
The GREAT COMMISSION is the TORAH being preached to ALL NATIONS so
that ALL NATIONS will be DISCIPLES./STUDENTS of the TORAH and the
WAYS of the God and His Kingdom. In Mathew 28:18-20 it is written:
"And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and TEACH all nations
.... TEACHING them to OBSERVE ALL THINGS (the commandments in the
Torah) whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always
even unto the ends of the earth"
This will be fulfillend in its FULLNESS during the Messianic Age when
Yeshua/Jesus will rule and reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years and
those who will be ruling and reigning with Him will be called PRIESTS
who teach the Torah to ALL NATIONS TEACHING them to observe
the TORAH of God.
Ultimately, this is the role and the destiny of the Bride of Messiah.
Her role and destiny is RELATED to TORAH while AT THE SAME time
will have the FRUIT of the SPIRIT as a characteristic residing in her
life. These are the WEIGHTIER things of the Torah like love,
compassion, holy living, giving, patient, kind etc. (Galations
5:22-25). I explain both of these things in my book, "Who is the
Bride of Christ?".
So, should the non-Jewish believer in Messiah have an identity toward
the Torah? The answer from scripture is most definately YES. However,
we must remember that it is the RUACH HAKODESH / HOLY SPIRIT who has
awaked God's people in most recent years to examine, study, learn and
embrace their Hebraic Roots and the role that the Torah should play
in our lives.
We must also remember that as a corporate body,
Christianity has rejected the Torah of God and her Hebraic roots for
the past 2,000 years. Now, God is drawing His people back to our
roots. We cannot go back to our foundation overnite. We must learn to
crawl before we can walk and walk before we can run. For this reason,
I would encourage all non-Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah
to BEGIN in this day and age to begin FIRST to STUDY and LEARN about
the sabbath and Biblical Festivals and begin to observe and implement
these things in your life AS THE SPIRIT LEADS.
For me, God has been doing this in my life for about 8 years. I had
to first learn how to crawl and then to walk and someday to run. I
still have further to go in these areas in my life but I am working
at them by the grace of God and encouraging others to do so.
God is preparing a people for the soon return of the the Messiah back
to the earth at His second coming. The Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit
was given by God to prepare a Bride for the Bridegroom, Yeshua/Jesus
the Messiah. Let us yield to what the Spirit of God is doing ALL OVER
THE WORLD and begin to embrace our Hebraic roots so that we can be
a Bride who is ready and prepared for the soon coming of
Yeshua/Jesus our heavenly Bridegroom.
************************************************************************