Conversion… that’s the ticket!
So the logical solution seems to be conversion. There is a general tolerance for a “gentile” or a “stranger” to interact with the Temple or even the Jewish community. But this is a whole different deal. A non-jew wanting to integrate themselves with the synagogue, participate with the community, claim to worship the God of Israel etc… this is all far more complex and intense. The solution is clearly conversion of ethnic identity. You can have all sorts of differing opinions and even theology, but if you are a Jew, you’re a Jew.
The single defining characteristic of being Jewish? Physical circumcision of the male would be primary. Being born from a Jewish mother is obviously a proof, but these are “gentiles”. There is even some reason to believe the mix of people coming in droves COULD be both Jews who have lost Jewish identity from previous rounds of dispersion from Israel under the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, as well as literal “gentiles”.
So you go to the local gatherings, you explain you had a “religious experience” with Yeshua the Nazarene, and you want to worship the God of Israel.
The “Able” and the “Unable”
Those who are “unable” to see Yeshua as Messiah look at you weird. I can only imagine the thought process. My guess is generally the response is “No”. However if you are “hell bent” on it, there is a formal conversion process potentially. There seem to be researchers and scholars who mention it.
Those who are “able”, the ethnic Jews who do receive Yeshua as the Messiah, are also in a weird spot. In the Gospel accounts the first people to “follow” Yeshua are Jewish. However some of the first res-ponders outside of the people who eventually become “apostles” are NOT Jewish as an ethnic identity. Samaritans, Romans etc… are also responding. Hoiwever the main group seem to be Jewish people, Israelites within Israel itself.
What’s a Yeshua following Jew to do with you?
The real confusion might be inside this community. You come to faith in Yeshua, identifying him as THE Messiah. And there is lots of debate as to whether all these Jews conceived of Yeshua the same. But they all have a common thread of conviction, but come from a dynamic and myriad set of “Judaisms”. But the conflict with the “unable” is significant enough to begin a subset, or a “sect” of the Jews in Israel. They have enough trouble with the rest of the population, but now within the community they get plenty of greif.
And now there is a bunch of “goyim” coming and joining. Strangers, foreigners, others. I imagine the first response ranges from “No” to “Maybe” to “I dont have a clue”. But a set of weird events begins to unfold. Not in any order but:
- Shaul, the Pharisee is converted and changes from hunting down Yeshua followers to proclaiming Yeshua was “The Messiah”. Part of his message os that the “end of the age” really is here.
- “Peter”, o of the original disciples of Yeshua, goes through a bizzare experience where Yah explains to him that the “others” are not inherently “unclean”. They might do things inconsistent with Torah, but they are not intrinsically “unclean”, and it is not inappropriate to associate with them.
- In Antioch, there is a massive explosion of gentile believers in Yeshua, and they are not only dedicating themselves to the Kingdom of Yehovah, they are changing their life and practice.
And the common thing that makes all this even more bizarre. . . they are experiencing a “Baptism of the Spirit”, i.e. a visitation of the Spirit of Yah that results in external, perceptible phenomenon. Things that are clearly miraculous, supernatural, and things only previously seen happening to Jews who came to faith in Yeshua.
This is a real problem. Clearly, these people are receiving the promise of the end of the age, just like other Jewish beleivers. Peter mentioned this one Shavuot where THOUSANDS of Jews come to faith at the Temple, having come there from all over the known world. Paul is going around and explaining that it is the end of the age, and have they heard of this Baptism of the Spirit, not just the baptism of repentance? Apparently in Antioch, “Gentile” communities are springing up without significant Jewish involvement, and the same stuff is happening. It is so weird that the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem send Paul and others to verify things are real.
So clearly, Paul is on to something. The “end of the age” is here, and Peter is also right. The Spirit is being poured out… on ALL flesh. Not just Jews. And massive waves of people are coming into local synagogues, and gathering together on their own.
The mixed bag of Jeiwsh believers in Yeshua make the next jump in logic. Since the 1 God if Israel seems to be executing the “end of the age” plan of action, we need a way to integrate non Jews and Jews into a working group. The debate begins. One group sees it as obvious, if you are coming to worship Yehovah, you have to become one of Yahs people.
This is an ethno-centric concept. It isn’t just a thinking thing, or a behavior thing, it is an ethnic thing.
Who you worship defines your ethnic identity
This is where I think the real debate is. Some people I mentioned earlier make a claim that the debate of circumcision is the real issue, not obeying Torah. Does a believer in Yeshua have to be physically circumcised (what about women believers btw?)? Clearly, God is choosing to give them all the same blessings (and hardships eventually) regardless.
Paul says “Abraham didn’t have Torah, and he believed God, and that was what was righteous”. He did circumcise himself and his household, but AFTER belief. Paul begins to explain that clearly circumcision itself isn’t the issue. If you think it is, you are missing the whole story. Physical, external proof wasn’t enough for the prophets either. It is the heart, the belief that God was looking for. And clearly, the visitation of the Spirit of God is giving proof that physical cutting isn’t a requirement.
One conclusion is that circumcision is purely an ethnic identifier. Since God is now bring in ALL peoples, the function of circumcision is purely ethnic. And to many, it is vital there is both a Jewish identity, and a non Jewish identity at the same time.
I have reached out to one author and asked if the command to circumcise is in the Torah, and there is only ONE Torah for all who follow Yah, why is it decided that this is only ethnic. His answer was “It just is”.
To be clear, I DONT believe someone must be physically circumcised to be “saved”. But i was curious why this one directive is pulled out by some groups. Other groups say “Torah observance” is ONLY for Jewish people. Other groups say “Torah is done away with”.
I see that most proponents of continuing distinction of Jewish vs non Jewish Yeshua followers tend to be “Messianic Jews”. It seems very important to them to keep all this going. They mgiht be right. I dont knwo, but there always seems ot be a bit of bias.
I think the problem in this is more clear from an Ancient Near East perspective. It was understood that if you were a Moabite, you worshiped Molech. If you were a Philistine, you worshipped Dagon, and on and on.
I think the opposite was somewhat true. If you worshipped x god, you were part of x group. Obviously, people integrated multiple gods, but the main one you identified with WAS your people group.
If Im right, it was a logical thing to expect you were changing your ethic identity when you changed Gods. You were turning away from whatever you were born into, so oviously what you were turning to meant you changed your group.
We see that Ruth, the Moabite did this. “Your God will be my God, your people will be my people”. In fact I have heard modern Jews debate that this is the ONLY requirement for Israelite citizenry! She was forsaking all other Gods (in this case probably ugly evil Molech) and embracing Yehovah. But she was a woman. She didnt carry the physical mark. But clearly a righteous, God fearing (potentially one of the most righteous examples in all of scripture) Hebrew/Israelite men felt appropriate in marrying her. All her children were considered Hebrew/Israelites.
Is this idea at the base of the circumcision conflict? Is it the simple assumption that in the period of time the confusion was being sorted out that it isnt an issue of whether or not someone was accepted by Yehovah, or whether they should obey Torah. Maybe it was the simple probglem that if someone was “converting” from one God to another, were they actually changing their ethnic association/identity? IF they WERE, and that was the mindset of the time, they had to BECOME the new ethnic group. And all males had this requirement. It WAS the thing that made it different.
Unless it was no longer the 1 God if Israel. Maybe the Israelites never actually had any claim to Yehovah uniquely, or at least permanently? Maybe there is all sorts of information that at some point, the 1 God of Israel is the 1 God of creation, and regardless of what or who someone worshipped, when they forsake and turn away from these things and “shema” (hear and obey) Yah, they become part of Yehovah’s Kingdom regardless of their ethnic identity.
This is what Mark Nanos gets to in one of his books. If the 1 God of Israel is the 1 God of creation, then by forcing people to become ethnic Israel (through male circumcision), Yehivah is no longer the God of all. He is only the God of ISrael! What a fascinating point to make. This fits with what I gathered earlier, that there seems to be a need, expressed often in my limited exposure, by Messianic Jews, that there must be a Jewish and Non-Jewish identity in the functioning Kingdom of Yehovah.
But these 1st century Jews coming to faith in Yeshua as Messiah arent able to see it. They are working with what they know. They dont have massive volumes of research, scripture manuscripts (searchable, indexed and online!). They have what they have been told, and how they were raised. Yehovah is the God of Israel. If you worship Yah, you become Israel. Israel is separate from the others because of covenant, and that covenant begins with Abraham, and physical circumcision. Common cultural expectation is that when you changes Gods, you change ethnic identification.
Perhaps this is the basis for the confusion. Paul, never leaving his Jewish ethnic identity, practice or worldview, explains that this was the plan, all along. It was hidden and obscured a bit. But now, the end of the age, the Messianic Reign is at hand. All the peoples are able to come back from the dispersion of Babel (check out the Deut 32 worldview so elegantly expressed by Michael Heiser). All of creation is now able to “Repent”, turn away and come under obedience to YHVH. When they do, they come into covenant like Israel. They are “grafted in” to the same rootstock.
I personally beleive, since there is 1 Torah, 1 set of covenant instructions, that the behavior and practice needs to conform to the instructions. I dont think it is out of politeness. I think it is simple. But as a “Gentile” I have to learn it, adapt my life to it,a nd practice it.
I leave it up to individuals whether they want to be circumcised or not. The beauty is, that isnt the way to be “saved”. Salvation of Israel ALWAYS comes before requirements and is always “BY FAITH”. It always was. For Israelites, they heard God say “When x happens, do y”, so they did. The doing was evidence that they believed God meant what God said. Sacrifices atoned because God said it did, and offering them up was based on faith. There is plenty of evidence that willful, non repentant actions were NOT accepted by God. You cannot just disobey and bring an offering tomorrow.
How these 2 groups get along is important. Again, Mr Nanos has gobs of detail about the practical idea here. As a Gentile, I would have to get around Jewish people, hear the Torah, and try to understand what Im supposed to do next. But if I were to continue on in my “Pagan” lifestyle, and commit several common types of idolatry and immorality while Im learning, it would make it almost impossible for a well meaning Jewish community to let me come and go as I pleased. I make them engage a state of ritual “uncleaness” constantly. I need to make an immediate change to a few sets of behaviors, and then repent from things as I go. This is the Acts 15 “Apostolic Decree”.
What a beautiful mess this is. And unfortunately, what eventually happens is the “Nations” come streaming in, and begin to push out the Israelite/Hebrew/Jewish ethnic people. We see if in the letter to the Romans, where a replacement theology is already starting. It gels into both a sect, and a political movement. It finally coalesces with an emperor taking advantage of this and turns into a worldwide religion, developing a whole set of theologies, practices, and cultures. It goes through spasms and “protesting” groups create even more havoc, developing a final Anti-Semitic construct that is only now really beginning to be addressed.
There Aint No Box 