Congregation Shema Yisrael

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?

That’s exactly the problem facing the Jerusalem Council. It’s a problem that we don’t often think about in our current theologies and in our current world. The traditional Christian church believes that if a modern day Jew wants to worship Jesus (the Jewish Messiah), he or she must renounce Judaism and “convert” to Christianity, just like Paul did (right?). This wasn’t the problem of the day in 49 C.E. in Jerusalem. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and actually, still is.

All of the covenant promises of God had been made to the Jewish nation. With few exceptions, the other nations of the Earth were hardly mentioned by the Prophets of God throughout the ages. Sure, there was the “mixed multitude” that left Egypt and followed Moses, along with millions of Jews, but over the years, they assimilated into Jewish culture and Jewish faith and finally, their children and grandchildren became Jewish. We also have the specific example of Ruth the Moabitess, who “converted” from paganism by saying these few simple words to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi:

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. -Ruth 1:16

History records that Ruth went on to marry an ancestor of the Messiah and to become the grandmother of King David.

Yet, there were also counted among the Gentiles, at the time of the Jerusalem Council, a number of “God-fearers” or Gentiles who attached themselves to the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, such as Cornelius:

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. -Acts 10:1-8

The God-fearers were Gentiles who were not “absorbed” into Israel, as was the mixed multitude or as Ruth had been, yet they were devoted to God and faithful to follow the Messiah to the best of their knowledge and ability. It was to these people that Yeshua commanded his Jewish followers to make into disciples, just as the Jewish followers had been. Yet following the Messiah was a wholly Jewish practice. Faith in the Messiah was woven into the very fabric of the Torah and the Prophets. How could Gentiles become Messianic disciples without becoming Jews? How could the Jews ever be sure that the Gentiles who were coming to the synagogues in droves, had abandoned their pagan idols and practices, and turned their hearts to the One true God?

That was the debate being waged by the Council on this occasion (Acts 15), and why the report of Paul and Bar-Nabba, who had first hand experience with large numbers of Gentile worshipers in the Way, was so important. The debate among the Council, and between Paul and Bar-Nabba and some of the Pharisees, was whether or not the Gentiles had to fully convert to Judaism in order to “be saved”, or if there was another way. Yet Yeshua never said to convert the Gentiles to Judaism. If he had, the end of Matthew 28 would have been worded quite differently. There was a provision of “grafting” Gentiles into “the root of Jesse”, without conversion.

It’s interesting to note that the center of the argument wasn’t about whether or not the Gentile followers should obey the Torah and the Prophets in order to become members of the covenant promises. That much was “a given”, as you’ll soon see. The point is whether or not they had to convert to share equally in the promises.

Shimon (Peter) testified regarding his own experience with the Gentiles at Caesarea (see Acts 10) where, much to his amazement, he witnessed that the Spirit had been given to Gentiles. In Peter’s own words:

I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. -Acts 10:34-36

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” -Acts 15:7-11

Remember, this is a group of Jewish men, who worship the Jewish Messiah, and have not “converted” to a new religion. Acknowledging and honoring Yeshua as God’s Messiah was completely within the context of the faith they had practiced all of their lives. Messianic worship was never a puzzle or a problem for the Jews (though some Jews refused to believe). As you can see though, integrating the Gentiles was an enormous challenge.

Peter points out that there are not two paths to “salvation”, one for the Jews and another for the Gentiles, and that the Jews were never redeemed by or reconciled with God by rote obedience to the Torah. It was always faith that lead to salvation. If robotic, mechanical obedience to the Torah commandments was the primary requirement (rather than the response of an already saved people), no one, as Peter says, could have carried the enormous burden. Also, Peter’s use of the word “yoke” of Torah or the “whole Torah”, was idiomatic Rabbinical language, meaning not only the written Torah (Five Books of Moses), but all of the Oral Law, which included the traditions, “fences”, and halachic rulings.

James listens to all of the arguments and, after Peter has finished speaking, quotes from one of the Prophets to show his agreement with Peter’s words:

“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things. -Amos 9:11-12

James then says words that are often misunderstood within the modern church:

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” -Acts 15:19-21

Jews today consider these to the be some of the Noahide Laws, or among the seven laws of Noah, that a “righteous Gentile” must obey to be assured a place in the world to come. Both Jews and Christians consider these directives to be the only ones that non-Jews must obey to be “saved”. Is this what James meant?

It’s curious that James mentions (in verse 21) that “Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Shabbat”. What does that have to do with the Gentiles, if their obligation to the Teachings of God (Torah) is limited to just a few requirements?

What are those requirements he mentioned again?

1. Abstain from food sacrificed to idols.
2. Abstain from sexual immorality.
3. Abstain from eating meat from an animal killed by strangulation.
4. Abstain from eating blood.

That’s it? What about stealing, coveting your neighbor’s house, and murder? You mean those things are OK for Gentiles who want to follow Jesus? That seems at least a tad bit odd, and actually makes no sense at all. Everyone in the church today believes that the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) must be obeyed, with the possible exception of the commandment to keep the Shabbat. However, James statement, which would be transmitted to the Gentile worshippers in what we now call “the Jerusalem Letter”, didn’t mention any of those commandments. What’s the deal here?

Since even modern Christian theology doesn’t believe that the Noahide laws are God’s only behavioral requirements (and the Jerusalem letter doesn’t even list all seven), there must be some other reason James crafted his statement as he did. How would the Gentiles even know to not murder, steal, and covet, if they were only required to obey the statements in the letter?

Remember, that all of the Gentiles were coming out of pagan idol worship, and the belief that there were many gods. With introducing the One and Only God of the Universe to pagan polytheists, how could the Jews be sure that the Gentiles they were sitting next to in synagogue every Shabbat, weren’t still worshipping Apollo on Monday, and Hera on Tuesday, and Ares on Wednesday, and so on and so on? One way to be sure, or at least more sure, was to give newly converted Messianic Gentiles a list of minimum requirements that, if adhered to, would verify they weren’t taking part in idol worship any longer.

Not eating meats sacrificed to idols makes sense within that context. Within the temples of idols, animals were killed and sacrificed to “the gods” by strangulation, then the worshipers would eat the meat. If you forbid Gentile worshipers from eating that meat, they sure couldn’t be worshiping idols. Drinking blood was also a common pagan practice, as well as consorting with temple prostitutes. Do you begin to see a pattern?

But what about this “burden” the Council’s letter mentions (in verse 28)? That certainly seems to imply that the four conditions mentioned in the letter were all that the Gentiles had to worry about. But then where did the prohibition against murder, stealing, coveting, and so on come from? Where are they usually found? In the Torah. So how would the Gentiles learn Torah and integrate it into their worship and faith? Why would even they bother?

James did say that “Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” While Christian theologians consider this statement a way to “buy off” the Pharisees, it seems rather strange that the head of the Council of the Way would resort to compromising God’s Word and lying to God’s people, for the sake of adding large numbers of Gentiles to the body of faith. Of course, in the modern era, how many churches have compromised Biblical principles, watering down “the Word”, in order to fill the pews of so-called “Mega-Churches”?

Let’s take a different point of view. Imagine you know some people who have just converted to Christianity, and who have started attending your church. They don’t know very much about what it is to be a Christian. They were never raised in a believing home. Where should they start? Do you just dump 2000 years of post-Biblical Christian theological opinions and commentaries along with a Bible in their lap and say “good luck”, or do you start them off slow in a “beginners” or a “new Christians” class? Hopefully, your answer is the latter.

I once heard a Jewish man in a synagogue on Shabbat, talk about his “coming to faith”. He had lived most of his life as a secular Jew, giving hardly a thought to Torah and religious practice. While visiting Israel, he encountered a Rabbi and, long story short, came to faith in the God of his forefathers. Almost in desperation, he asked the Rabbi where he should start and what he should do. Judaism has a plethora of practices, traditions, and beliefs. How could he absorb all of them all at once? The Rabbi was a practical man who worshipped a practical God. “Just choose one practice, such as lighting the Shabbat candles”, he said. “Start off with one, simple thing. Practice it until you are comfortable with it. Then choose another practice and work on that”.

If James wanted to speak to the same questions that new Gentile believers were asking, rather than dump all the scrolls of the Torah and the Prophets into the laps of the Gentiles and say “good luck”, he could start them off easy. He could write a letter including just a minimum set of requirements, designed to verify that the new Gentile believers had indeed ceased to worship the other “gods”, and were now truly dedicated to the One God and His Messiah.

The inclusion of the quote from the Prophet Amos confirms this. David’s fallen tent or sukkah refers to the Davidic monarchy and a reign of peace and prosperity, when the twelve tribes were all united under one rule and one king. The “sukkah” fell as Judah and Israel separated due to the sins of subsequent kings, but Amos spoke of a day when the fallen sukkah would be rebuilt by David’s heir, and a new King, the King of the Jews, would rule and reign, and unite all the peoples, “so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name.”

All the nations. That’s what the Council of the Elders of the Messianic Way were facing. How to actively participate in making the prophesy of Amos come alive. The word translated as “Edom” in the ancient Jewish texts is translated “Adam” in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings (Hebrew Bible), written between the 3rd and 1st Centuries B.C.E. “Adam” in this case, refers to all nations or all mankind and, assuming this was James’s intent, re-enforces his statement (and Yeshua’s statement) that the Gentiles should be equal members of the covenant, and equal possessors and followers of Torah. This makes sense if we can agree that all the nations bear God’s Name.

Yeshua is the restored sukkah of David. He rebuilds what has fallen and he calls his sheep, both those from the “flock” of Israel, and from the “flock” of the nations. Paul said that we Gentiles were “grafted in”, not as second-class citizens who have only a fraction of the responsibilities carried by our Jewish brothers, but as full members of the promise, having the Word written on our hearts, too. That Word isn’t watered down for our benefit, because it’s too heavy for us otherwise. Yeshua said “My burden is easy and my yoke is light”. Peter calls Torah a “yoke” and Yeshua’s “yoke” of Torah doesn’t include all of the man-made traditions, because they aren’t part of the lifestyle of the redeemed community. That’s what Torah is; God’s preferred lifestyle for His already redeemed community, not a list of burdensome “dos” and “don’ts”

The letter is just to get us started. Exodus 20 says to “have no other gods before Me”. This is the God of Israel speaking. In 49 C.E., He was saying this to the non-Jewish people of the Earth; to everyone hearing the Good News of the Messiah, and salvation being preached to the Gentiles. The Jerusalem Letter didn’t specifically mention not being an idol worshiper, but the Ten Commandments and other portions of the Torah do. The letter doesn’t say “do not murder”, or “do not steal” or “do not give false testimony” (lie under oath), but the Torah does.

If Christianity continues to define its own commandments as based on the Exodus 20, it can no longer believe that the letter we read in Acts 15:19-20 is the only basis for obedience to the Word of God. If it isn’t, then the church and all of us who call ourselves believers, must conclude that it is something else. Within the letter’s context in Acts, and connecting the letter to the other relevant parts of the Bible, and the Bible as a whole, the only thing I can see, is that the letter is a primer of sorts. It’s a lesson in baby steps and a meal of baby food. Paul later criticizes a congregation on continuing to drink milk (baby food) when it should be eating solid food. As believers, we start at a very simple place in our walk, and then, if we develop properly (just like a small child who is starting to grow up), our relationship with God; with Yeshua matures. The Jerusalem letter is just the beginning, not a place to get stuck at for the rest of our lives. If we want to start eating solid foods, we need to outgrow the letter, and start consuming the entire book of Torah.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness… -2 Timothy 3:16