What is up with all the “Jewish” stuff?

   It is a question that many want to ask but are not quite sure if they can. To the average “Christian” on-looker, people who believe in Jesus as the Messiah are supposed to be freed from all that “old Jewish stuff”. So why would a person raised on catfish, shrimp, honey ham, and Sunday school, in the Bible belt no less, suddenly come to believe that things like a biblically kosher diet and 7th day Sabbath observance are the “current” and enduring will of God? Have they been “judaized” or what? Who and where are the “judaizers” that got to them? If I ask them questions, could I get “judaized”? It sounds like some kind of hypnosis procedure when put like this, I know. I chuckle to myself because the fact is that we as believers have been trained like Pavlovian dogs to react with superstition and fear to certain key words and phrases as if we could suddenly lose control of our mental faculties and be led away from “mainstream orthodoxy” at any moment. But think about it. Isn’t the “mainstream” also called the “broadway” in the scriptures? Doesn’t Satan want you to stay on the “broadway” with the mainstream masses? So who would it actually be that would encourage you to search for the “narrow way”? Just how blind is your belief system? We are taught to place all of our trust in things that we are not trained or encouraged to understand. At the same time, we have been trained or rather indoctrinated to distrust and devalue our own ability to think for ourselves especially when it comes to the scriptures. This has occurred through subtlety over many generations. We have been seduced into believing that the Word of God is something to be spoon fed to us with coddling reassurances of salvation by people, however well-meaning, who take our money in exchange for this service. This is why the majorities of “Christians” do not know their Bibles and cannot hold a real conversation about biblical subjects.        We are instructed by the so-called “shepherds of the flock” to depend  upon “theologically” trained or experienced others to lead us in the way everlasting. We truly have a lot of faith in the 30 minute weekend sermon     and the widely popular televangelists, Christian  radio broadcasters and book sellers to equip us to find and remain steadfast on the “straight and narrow way”.  However, these shepherds fail to inform us that what we are fed in these venues is more often “psychology” based upon “theology” than it is the “Bread of Life”, the pure Word of God. Theology is a type of Greek philosophy predating the “Christian” era and was not an influence among the Hebrews until they began assimilating into the Greek culture. It refers to man’s intellectual analysis of the Divine nature of God. In fact any word which ends in –ology is of Greek origin and refers to a field of study that is primarily based upon man’s assumptions. Religious “theology” is a completely Greek notion springing from the intellectual speculations of men. It is not the product of scriptural “doctrine” meaning that God never in His Word directed men to use this pagan intellectualism to instruct His flock. You will not find any biblical instruction directing men to employ their imagination in discernment of the divine nature of the Godhead. Our Father time and again warned us against it saying by the mouth of many witnesses that man’s imagination is wicked and the wise will not walk according to it.  In fact, “feed my sheep” was the phrase Jesus used to say “teach my word”. Our Father and His Son consistently reiterate their own ability to speak for themselves about themselves and to prove the Word of truth in covenant relationship with the believer. We are also warned about the deceivers in our midst. Theologies of men only serve to indoctrinate people with the traditionally inherited imaginative notions about God rather than training us UP in the instruction and doctrine that God has provided in His Word. His Word alone has transformation power for living unto Him. His Word is a sword which makes a clean and clear division between light and darkness so that those who trust in His Word, should not ever walk in darkness nor be  deceived by men. The reason that there is neither discipleship training in the churches nor training in the study of the scriptures themselves is because, at some point, the sound doctrine of the Word of God took a back seat to maintaining the latest theological evolution of the day. Theology is all you      get in the churches today, which is a form of brain-washing when you look objectively at it. The laity, the “sheep”, have come to truly believe that the development and practice of theology is rooted in the scriptures, when in fact, the scriptures are just the tool that is manipulated to conform to and support the many different theological assumptions that have evoloved over the course of church history. The scriptures merely serve as a veil and as the focal point for the sheep who are willing to follow religious theological developments blindly. Some of today’s most popular theological assumptions are less than 150 years old and can be traced exactly to who, where, and when they developed. The Bible has been reduced from being the Rock and foundation to little more than a reference tool to account for the theological positions laid out by the clergy of every division of Christianity. That is why there are so many different positions, yet only one book. This prevents the common church-goer from ever trusting themselves to understand and apply biblical doctrine because according to the theologians, it cannot be applied at face value. There must always be this dependence upon private denominational interpretation. How often does the “laity” respond to a face value presentation of the biblical text by saying, “I’ll have to ask my pastor about that”. The concept that the scriptures are only clearly understood when filtered through the application of Greek theology is just not true. The Bible is your Father’s Word. Your Father wants you to fully understand the road that will bring you unto Him. It is sad that believers often feel so empty after the Sunday go-to-meeting ritual is over because they leave the “service” with no more biblical instruction than they came with. Their particular box of theology has, however, been confirmed and  reinforced yet again as the “right box” to be in. And so they will return for another round of the same reinforcement the next time.               If everyone could learn from the Teacher directly, the clergy/laity system would fall apart and the people would be set free to minister to one another as fellow citizens of the commonwealth of Israel. The function of the      body of Messiah would be restored with Him alone as the Head. The body would then understand why it is written, “Lean not on your own under-standing, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path”. Often the pastors of religious groups are little more than strangers to most of the people, maintaining a comfortable distance from the unlearned masses of the “laity”. Often, the relationships are kept impersonal between the assembled attendants as well. The Hebraic familial kinship that should be present in an assembly calling itself the “Israel of God ” is rarely seen. The true Head, Christ, is very personally connected to His body and desires His body to be intimately interactive with each other. This connection and  interaction directed by Him, submitting yourself under His yoke, allowing Him to change your heart and complete His work in your inner most being can have but one result. You will walk as He walked and love like He loved. You as His body should not then do anything contrary to the will of Him as the Head. Using this analogy, if your physical body began to behave differently than your brain told it to, you would instantly know there was something awfully wrong and desire to correct it. What has happened over the centuries and through the dark ages is that the rightful Head of the body, the Messiah of Israel, has been cunningly replaced by a Greco-Roman catholic “Church system” and its esteemed gentile “clergy”. Christ’s body, once referred to as the “church” or the “called out ones”, has fallen into the trap of the Pharisees that Yahshua and  Paul so adamantly warned us against. The average believer no longer defines himself as “the church” in which  Yahshua dwells. Rather he believes he must “go to” the “house of the Lord” when he IS the “the house of the Lord”. He no longer feels the importance of living to do the will of Him who called him out of bondage to stand before His presence and to hear His voice. Some do not even realize that they are supposed to be “the called out ones”. We have been so deprived of scriptural  equipment that many do not know what we are called out for. We are called out or set apart as His bride, to enter into the covenant agreement of mutual faithfulness in marriage to Him alone as was the instruction of the Good      Shepherd. Due to this ignorance concerning the covenant relationship, many are instead adulterously trying to maintain appearances of religion before men. This is what the Pharisees were about, establishing their own righteousness in total ignorance of the righteousness of God. (Rom.10:3)           The energizing Spirit and Life of the body is in His Word.(Ps.119:172) Jesus said “My words are Spirit and they are Life”.(John 6:63) It is not surprising that a body that is deprived of the personal nourishment of the bread of Life and the water of the Word, has no gumption, no fire, no zeal for His instruction in truth and has turned its attention towards men pleasing. It is no different than the Pharisaic religious system of Judaism which has always told its converts that “if you will submit to our religious protocol and do what we say, then you will receive our approval and thereby you may consider yourself okay with the Big Guy upstairs. Never mind about what He has said about doctrines and commandments of men. Whatever you read about that, you must filter through theological interpretations.” Men will always be glad to tell you what to think about YHWH’s written Word. It doesn’t matter whether you follow the Pharisees or Pastor Bob or Father Antonio, the end result is the same, you are not following scripture, the Word made flesh in Messiah. Anything that men teach must, if you are wise  like a Berean, be put to the test of lining up with the whole counsel of God, as Paul taught us to “Prove (test) all things”.         From the first century on the enemy has sent his wolves to devise religious forms that devour the sheep. Satan doesn’t care which lies you believe as long as you’re kept far from the truth. Truth is by definition fixed and immovable. Religious forms appear to put forth different “versions” of  so-called truth. This ought to be a clue to us that something is amiss. The first century model was seen at Pentecost when the disciples were “all in one accord”. When all are in submission to the Father and His Spirit revealed in His Word, no one thinks himself to be greater than another, but sees the      potential for each individual to be empowered by the same manifested Spirit of YHWH in truth. Men, who seek spiritual allegiance for themselves or for their particular theology, corrupt the ability for the common person to access the freedom that the Father has revealed by His Word in His Son.        When you look closely at history, anyone can see plainly that today’s Protestantism is just a lighter outgrowth of Catholicism. Systematized religion has always been one of the three-fold tools of government power. There have always been the political, economic and religious aspects which work together to control the populous of any nation, mind, body, and spirit. The religious institutions insist upon submission to the political power no matter how vile and the political arm in turn rewards the religious leadership for this function. Today we see this in the tax exempt 501C3 corporate filing rules that dictate to religious “shepherds” and organizations what they can and cannot do and say. Likewise, the economic power and stability of world empires have, throughout history, been inextricably determined by the religious systems in place, through the practice of the religious customs, festivals and financial support structuring. Rome devised Catholicism as a means to reign in the people’s singular devotion to the God of Israel and to stealthily reestablish the customs, festivals and priesthood of the more  merchandising and pantheistic pagan system that had worked so well prior to the influence of the teachings of the Hebrew Messiah or “King of the Jews”. The God of Abraham teaches an economic and political system that, if left unchallenged, would have eventually lead to the demise of the empire under Roman control. In order to reintroduce the more favorable pagan and  “universal” religious practices among the gentiles after two centuries of unsuccessful attempts to destroy this Hebraic authority through persecutions, Roman Catholicism was devised. It successfully reinvented the figure of the Hebrew Messiah to mix nicely with the pagan world practices and festivals. It simultaneously and through the usage of Greek theology, familiar to the the dominant gentile culture, managed by the fourth century to easily divorce      Jesus/Yahshua from Israelite history and His Hebrew identity. Many today have a western caricature image of Jesus made more like a gentile Greek than the One who was prophesied from Genesis to Malachi to be King of Israel. Rather than being “Judaized” by the Pharisaic religion, the believing world was inevitably “Catholicized” by the Greco-Roman gentile religion, which is the same animal with a different skin. Again, Satan doesn’t care which lies you believe as long a you’re kept far from the truth. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you FREE. Judaism was about bondage and oppression and murderous retribution to those who would not submit. Catholicism bore the same fruit. They grew from the same seed and have the same root. Neither are founded upon the Rock of scripture.         The truth that Messiah revealed and magnified is that you have no need that any man teach you, if the Spirit of truth abides in you, as that same Spirit teaches you, you will abide in Him according to 1Jn. 2:27. YHWH has given abundant warning over and over about grievous wolves among the sheep that intentionally turn the truth of God into a lie. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t well-meaning preachers on some of those elevated platforms, but even well-meaning people are capable of being deceived by the traditions  they inherited. One of those inherited lies is that the greatest among you should stand on the elevated platform used by Greek philosophers in first century paganism and administer traditional spiritual programming at a safe distance from the “unlearned” masses. Jesus taught the very opposite saying  the greatest among you will be everyone’s humble servant. He also said not to lord ourselves over one another like the “gentiles”do, which means “heathens”, by the way. See Mark 10:42-45.           We are to test all things according to His Word. Did Jesus teach Catholicism? Protestantism? Denominationalism? Did He practice Judaism? No! He taught the Truth and walked in it! He magnified the truth for the world to see so that they too could be FREE to serve the Father as He served      the Father. At no time do we see Messiah submitting Himself to the authority of men until the time came to be offered up. Even then His submission was to the Father’s will and not to the will of man. Truth is only what the Father says it is and therefore cannot become an “ISM” of man.         Jesus did not teach American Christianity. He did not speak King James English. He never presented salvation as being an instantaneous moment of decision and prayer. He would blister the walls with His words in this  Laodicean generation. See Rev. 3:14-22. We need to know our Savior by listening to Him instruct us. He was a Hebrew of the tribe of Judah, descended from David who was the King over all Israel before the nation was divided and scattered because of idolatry. His mission was to regather the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to make one new fold out of all who would hear His doctrine. Jesus had a history rooted in the Word of YHWH, His Father, whose doctrine He preached. The religion that he rebuked was not pagan heathenism, but Judaism for the expressed reason that Judaism was associating itself with the Mighty One of Israel. The Bible says that the name of YHWH was blasphemed among the gentile “heathens” because of the Pharisees false representation of the one true Father and what He requires  of His people. Israel was called out to be a light to the gentiles. Instead they (the religious Jews occupying Judea in the first century) made gentile  converts twice the sons of hell (the destroyer) as themselves in order to hold onto their Roman appointed religious offices maintained through the compromised symbiotic relationship between the state and the administration of the man-made religious “system” of Judaism. For the last two thousand years, Roman paganism has been guilty of the same sin as the Pharisees in associating itself with the character and authority of the God of Israel while climbing into bed with governments and holding man-made religious forms higher than the Word of Elohim. Judgment will always begin with the people of God. He is beginning the work of calling out those who have an ear to hear His voice and believe it. See Rev.18:2-4.              We all know that Catholicism did not and does not represent the character of the Most High, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob any better than Judaism has done, yet we have somehow come to accept her mixed and mingled offshoots as true to the faith once delivered to the saints. History would beg to differ. The Scriptures emphatically testify to the contrary. Protestantism says God only wants you to go to church for an hour on Sunday at the least, pay tithes of money to the preacher and the building fund, obey all the laws of man, but certainly not all the laws of God, be a generally good person by the general standards of those around you, and all will go well with you, you’re saved after all, AMEN. Does this sound like a summary of the Bible to you? Does this sound like the dynamic life-giving faith of Him who parted the Red Sea and judged the earth all at once when the fountains of the deep burst open? I shudder to think that I once sat there believing that there was nothing more to life in Messiah than going to church and putting on airs with people who had never darkened my doorstep and probably would never know my full name. This never looked like the close brotherly love that seemed to knit believers together under persecution in the  Bible. It seems to me that being joint-heirs with Christ is supposed to involve suffering with Him against the enmity that is in the world. See Rom.8:17 and 2Tim.3:12. I can’t see how anyone could ever be persecuted for what little is required by the shepherds of today’s religious system. There appears to be little significant enmity between this religious structure and the world. Christians are no longer easily distinguished from the unbelievers. The cultures have blended until it seems everything is a peculiar shade of grey. This is obviously not the fruit of the good tree.         I don’t know about you, but I consider myself a Hebrew because I have “crossed over” to the faith of Abraham, the first Hebrew. I am grafted into the commonwealth of Israel by adoption. I am one with the olive tree that was planted by YHWH’s mighty hand and nourished by its root, the word of the covenant of salvation which has always been available to the gentile      world through the YHWH’s proposal to the “overcomer” called Israel. See the stories of Rahab and Ruth, Esther 8:17 and Rom.2:29. My Messiah was born a Jew and He and His Father spoke Hebrew and understood the meaning of words as defined within the concrete, agriculturally rooted Hebrew language structure. The only Words of God that anyone knew in the first century were those of the Hebrew scrolls which had three categories, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Law is also called the Pentateuch, for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Prophets are obviously comprised of the books that bear the prophets’ names. The Writings are all the wisdom writings along with the books which record Israel’s history and interactions with the gentile nations. I say all that to say, that there is no way to come to an accurate comprehension of  the “new covenant”, Jesus’ words or anyone’s words in the N.T. if you don’t first read and understand the beginning of the book as it is written for our understanding.(Rom. 15:4, Prov.16:23) Believing otherwise is like believing you can solve a puzzle knowing full well you’re missing 100 pieces or watching the last quarter of a movie and saying you can comprehend the  whole plot or saying you can give a correct answer to a math equation with only numbers and no symbols. You get the idea. Yet, the conquering theologians beginning at Rome have been doing this for two thousand years. The incredible thing we must admit is that the masses of religious people have literally approved of this illogical nonsense for as long as its been sold to them.          There is a prophecy in Jeremiah 16:19 which says,” O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.” I know that the prophets say that knowledge will increase in the last days, that there will be a global famine of hearing YHWH’s Word, that people will not endure sound doctrine, that scoffers will abound, and that the Spirit of Elijah will return before the great and terrible day of YHWH, etc, etc. These all seem to be      happening simultaneously today, in our day. The Spirit of Elijah is the Spirit which says, “Repent, return to your first love, be wise, don’t say He will delay in coming, get your lamp AND your oil.” Now the has come when the true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in Truth and by this they will be separated from the chaff. The lamp is His Word of Instruction. The oil is the Spirit which breathes life into the Word. The two must be together in order to give Light to your path. It is so important to know the scriptures, to learn of who the Bridegroom is according to His Word. Knowledge is increasing today because we need to know many things. Our Father desires to equip His children to stand in the evil day. (Eph. 6:13)        So what does any of this long diatribe have to do with all that “Jewish stuff”? To give an answer, it is important that you test your Greek  “theology” in the lamplight of YHWH’s Word. You will find that what gentile “theologians” have abolished as Jewish “stuff”, is really the instruction of “our Father”. It is His “stuff”. Judaism is a man-made religion that violates the law of YHWH. That is why Paul called it “bondage” and “disobedience to the truth”. Jesus prayed for the truth to sanctify His disciples saying to the Father, “Thy Word is truth”. The Jews nor Judaism have ever had exclusive rights to God’s marriage covenant. This is another Catholic fallacy.        Without going too deeply into a history lesson, just understand this and check out Israelite history. YHWH’s word is synonymous with a perpetual decree, law, His righteousness, His commandments. Psalm 119 demonstrates that these words are definitely interchangeable in terms of meaning. God’s Word, decree, or Law is what keeps the sea from going past its borders. It is what causes the sun to rise and set. He is the author of the Laws of Physics. If you can change or annul the law of gravity, then it isn’t an actual LAW. His word had gone forth from the very beginning by His “spoken” voice, though not written down until Israel tempted Him in the wilderness at Mt. Sinai. Adam knew it, Cain and Abel knew it, so did Noah and Abraham. It      was offered to a “mixed multitude” after the Exodus, not just biological Israelites, but all 12 tribes and the strangers or “gentiles” that were among them. The Law only took on written form because the people refused to HEAR the voice of their Redeemer. They asked to be allowed to listen to natural men instead and YHWH gave them what they asked for to teach them many lessons about oppression and freedom and disobedience and faithfulness. After Solomon corrupted himself, the nation of Israel was divided, ten tribes to the north and Judah (Jews) and Benjamin to the south. By the time Yahshua/Jesus arrived, the tribe of Judah had developed a man-made religion through the Babylonian exile and now perpetuated it throughout Judea and the Roman world. Many of the scattered Israelites still lived around Judea, in Samaria, Galatia, and parts of Asia. The woman at the  well, for example knew that Jacob was her ancestor too. The Jews looked upon these divorced Israelite “gentiles” as dogs. Messiah even made this  apparent in a statement He made to one of them. The point is that all Jews are Israelites by birth, but all Israelites are NOT JEWS. That is one of those missing puzzle pieces. Spiritual Israel is another subject altogether. And the covenant at Mt. Sinai was offered to multitudes of people who were not Israelites at all, whether of Judah or otherwise.        It is my very biblical position and faith that YHWH is smarter than I am and smarter than the most learned seminary student. His Spirit quickens anyone’s understanding that He chooses. Humility on the part of the recipient helps. His sheep hear His voice and a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him. His sheep cleave to Him for their LIFE. So to sum it all up, the commandments aren’t “Jewish stuff”. They’re “Maker of heaven and earth stuff” and “every Word of God stuff”. Don’t trust in the theology of men! God’s ways are NEVER bondage. They are freedom to walk in the light and not be overcome by darkness. If you obey the law to not run a red light, does that make for liberty or oppression? You wouldn’t call this restriction bondage? All of YHWH’s ways are to preserve and protect LIFE.      They are higher than our ways because He can see from the highest vantage point what calamity would occur if His decrees were not established forever. You don’t have to know initially why the law is there, you just have to have faith enough in His Word to walk in it. He will not lie to you. As you walk, He reveals His love for you and teaches you how His word allows you to remain free of the snares of idolatry that are in the world. That’s all. It really is that simple. He will teach you line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, if you come to Him as a little child, humble and ready to listen. His grace is sufficient for you as you learn to walk in His righteousness according as it is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of YHWH.” See Deut. 8:3 and Matt. 4:4.