Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The congregation sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had come to faith. This news made all the brothers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the congregation and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. -Acts 15:1-4

In the year 49 C.E. in Jerusalem, the Council of the Elders of the Way (followers of Yeshua the Messiah) met to discuss a serious problem. These 70 Jewish men were comprised of some of Yeshua’s 70 disciples. A few of them, such as Yochanon ben Zavdai (John) and Mattityahu Levi (Matthew), were even numbered among the 12. The President of the Council was Yeshua’s half-brother Yaakov ben Yosef, otherwise known as Yaakov HaTzaddik (James the Righteous). On this solemn occasion, the Council had invited two other Jewish men to speak about their work among the Gentiles, Shaul (Paul) and Bar-Nabba (Barnabas). It’s this work among the Gentiles that had become the problem.

Then Yeshua (Jesus) came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

The words translated as “all nations” in this quote from Matthew, means that the Master is commanding his Jewish disciples to baptize and teach all of the non-Jewish pagans in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While the Gospels don’t record the reaction of the disciples to his command from the Messiah, they doubtless registered at least some shock, and maybe even astonishment, at being directed to include Gentiles in the covenant promises of the Messiah and Torah. How was this to be done?

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I saw the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea and set on the Old City of Jerusalem. I touched the stones of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem and drank mint lemonade under the stars in Ramallah. I got the chance to see and hear the stories of Palestinians in Deheisha refugee camp and swim in the cold, cold springs of Bet Ayn, a settlement that has been described as right wing, reactionary and “the hill of the crazy people.” I thought Bet Ayn was beautiful country and some of the places reminded me of the hippie shacks you see in the Black Hills sometimes — people living out of campers, buses, and trailers on rough roads. But that’s not a complete picture either. -Mark K. Tilsen

A few days ago, I read the full blog written by Mr. Tilsen at tankabar.com and was surprised. You might want to click on the link I posted in the last sentence before continuing to read here, so you can see what he said. However, it never, ever occurred to me before, to compare the history and circumstances of Native Americans in the U.S., to the Palestinians in Israel. The thing is though, are they even remotely the same?

The first part that struck me was the introduction to Mr. Tilsen’s blog which states:

Mark K. Tilsen, assistant director of marketing at Native American Natural Foods, went to Israel and Palestine with his 82-year-old grandfather…

Israel and Palestine?

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Thus, too, the Bible, which incorporates the Hebrew Books of Moses (known to Christians as the Old Testament). Eventually, though, certain Christians began claiming that Jesus was God as well as the son of God rather than a human emissary chosen by the one and only God. Idolatry threatened to rear its head (or heads!) yet again.

So around 610 C.E., God revisited the prophet pool and selected Muhammad, another descendant of Abraham, to tidy the mess that both the Jews and the Christians had made of His revelations. That’s why Islam returns to the original Jewish teachings for its inspiration and integrity… -from The Trouble with Islam: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith by Irshad Manji

The above quote from Manji’s book (which I’m currently reading) will doubtless upset most Christians and Jews reading it, but I include it here for a reason. When I was reading these words and the sections that follow, I started to think about how we all conceptualize God. No human being exists without biases, including spiritual and theological biases (even atheists have such biases, just in the direction of discounting such issues), so it stands to reason, that no human being has a completely unfiltered view of God. A Jew reading the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, and Writings), a Christian reading the Bible, and a Muslim reading the Koran, all perceive God as filtered through those documents, even though they rely on the same source material. But if we peel away the layers of the onion, so to speak, who is God?

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Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. -Psalm 27:9

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your maidservant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” -I Samuel 1:15-16

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God… -Romans 1:1

Whether you call yourself a Christian or a Messianic, the concept of serving God; of serving the Messiah (Christ) isn’t something that should be foreign to you. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or asking customers if they’d like to “supersize” the meal you’re about to serve them, if you are a believer, then you are a servant to the Most High. Even Mighty Kings like David considered themselves as servants of God, no more or less than the soldiers in the army, the Prophets, the Priests, and even humble merchants and beggars. The playing field is, or should be, level among the body of faith, relative to God, but is it?

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Author: Hope Egan
Format: Paperback, 161 pages
Publisher: First Fruits of Zion (March 2005)
ISBN-10: 189212419X
ISBN-13: 978-1892124197

Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the animals that are upon the earth. Everything among the animals that has a split hoof, which is completely separated into double hooves, and that brings up its cud – that you may eat. But this is what you shall not eat from among those that bring up their cud or that have split hooves: the camel, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split – it is unclean for you… -Leviticus 11:2-4

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. -Acts 10:17-23 (NIV)

Most Christians believe that the passage quoted from Leviticus 11 established the dietary laws for the ancient Jewish people and that Peter’s vision in Acts 10 (among other scriptures) reversed God’s original decision. Hope Egan, in her 2005 book, examined these assumptions by taking a fresh look at the Bible. Her conclusions weren’t particularly surprising to me, but then I’m not the primary audience for her book; Evangelical Christianity is.

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Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the animals that are upon the earth. Everything among the animals that has a split hoof, which is completely separated into double hooves, and that brings up its cud – that you may eat. But this is what you shall not eat from among those that bring up their cud or that have split hooves: the camel, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is not split – it is unclean for you… -Leviticus 11:2-4

I started reading Hope Egan’s Holy Cow: Does God Care About What We Eat? (I’ll write a review when I’m finished), but the book isn’t the only reason the concept and practice of Kashrut has been on my mind lately. Many of us who consider ourselves Messianic or Hebrew Roots have started “keeping Kosher”, but that is largely based on abstaining from animals considered “unclean” as defined in Leviticus 11. My wife, who is Jewish, has been exploring her cultural and faith heritage for a number of years now (she wasn’t raised in a Jewish home as a child). Recently, she has asked to kasher our kitchen. While I adhere to God’s word on what he does and doesn’t desire I eat, I’ve generally considered the Rabbinical applications to kosher to be unnecessary…but are they?

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“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” -John 14:15

Jesus replied, ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. All the Torah (Law) and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” -Matthew 22:37-40

Anyone who calls themselves a Christian or a believer in Yeshua (Jesus), assuming they’re sincere, will say wholeheartedly, that they love Yeshua and so of course, they’ll keep (obey) his commandments. We all have some sort of idea of what those commandments are, but are we basing our thoughts on what the Bible actually says, or on our church or congregational theology? What commandments was Yeshua referring to in John?

I’ve already provided something of an answer in the quote from Matthew, in which Yeshua is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Let’s take a look at Yeshua’s source material:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the way, when you retire down and when you arise. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and upon your gates. -Deuteronomy 6:4-9

To most Jews and Messianics, the quote from Deuteronomy is abundantly recognizable as the Shema; the most holy prayer in Judaism. Quoting The Mitzvah Project, the Talmud directs an observant Jew to recite the Shema twice a day while wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) with tzitzit (fringes) tied at the four corners. The portion of Deuteronomy 6 that states “…when you retire and when you arise”, also specifically indicates the frequency of saying the Shema. This is what Yeshua taught was the greatest commandment.

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Author: Rachmiel Frydland
Format: Paperback, 146 pages
Publisher: Messianic Pub. Co; 3rd edition (July 7, 2002)
ISBN-10: 0917842030
ISBN-13: 978-0917842030

“Rachmiel Frydland was raised in an orthodox Jewish home in a village in Poland. At age nine he began the study of the Talmud. Later he enrolled in a Rabbinical Yeshiva in Warsaw with the goal of becoming a Rabbi. Puzzled by the identity of the Messiah in Daniel 9:24-26, he accepted Yeshua as Messiah. By God’s grace he survived the great persecution of World War II, living on the edge of death under Nazi rule. Mr. Frydland was truly a humble scholar and teacher who lived to proclaim the Messiahship of Yeshua in many countries and languages. He shared his knowledge of rabbinics and Yeshua in books, articles and messages.”

Based on the portion of the author’s biography quoted above, I find it difficult to decide what is more interesting; the book or the author. In my experiences with what some call the “Messianic Judaism” (or “Hebrew Roots” or “One Law”) movement over the past decade, most of the Jews I’ve met who have been involved, haven’t been raised in a ethnic or religious Jewish home. Most have only one Jewish parent and most only “connected” with their Judaism later in life. Most came to the Messianic movement by way of the Evangelical Church. It’s something of a rarity (at least from my perspective) for a Messianic Jew to come from a completely Jewish context and lived Jewish experience. Also, while the Messianic movement has picked up quite a bit of steam in the past ten to twenty years or so, Mr. Frydland discovered Yeshua as the Messiah long, long before it was “popular”.

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