Written by: Damien Powell
“Is Elohim (God) the Elohim of Jews only? Is he not the Elohim of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one Elohim, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.” Romans 3:29-30
This is a very important topic because throughout my walk with Yeshua I have heard many believers say “I don’t have to do any of the Commandments because that was for the Jews!” Or “I don’t have to eat clean foods because that was for the Jews!” And “I don’t have to keep the Sabbath Day Holy because that was only given to the Jews!” Well, let us examine who Paul says a Jew is in Romans 2:28-29:
“A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from Elohim.”
So now we see Paul’s definition of a Jew means that you do not have to be a native born Jew to make you Jewish, or walk around with yarmulkes on your head and the Star of David branded on your clothing, but rather a Jew is ANYONE who has circumcised their hearts and follow Elohim inwardly through the Spirit and keeps His Commandments. By being obedient and doing Elohim’s will the way He commanded us means that we too can become Jews. We all have one Elohim, one faith, and one path to salvation. Paul goes on to clarify this statement in Romans 10:12 by saying:
“For there is NO DIFFERENCE between Jew and Gentile: for the same LORD (YHWH) over all is rich unto all that call up Him.”
Then Galatians 3:28-29 says:
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all ONE in Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). And if you be Yeshua’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Paul points out to us that we all worship the same Elohim and He views us (Jew and Gentile) as one in the same. We can clearly see that a Gentile is grafted into Israel by accepting Yeshua as their Lord and Savior and does the Commandments of Elohim. Once grafted into Israel and becoming Abraham’s seed the Gentiles will then have the same promises to salvation as a native born Jew. Therefore, Elohim expects us all to serve Him in the same way as ONE in the Body of Messiah.
So now recognizing that Jews and Gentiles are the same in Elohim’s eyes and He expects us to worship Him the same way, where do the different theologies come in to the picture? Native born Jews say there is dual covenant theology where they believe that they have a separate path to salvation then the Gentiles without believing in Yeshua and the Gentiles believe in Replacement Theology where they believe in Yeshua but they feel the church has replaced the Jews as the chosen people and are freed from the laws of Elohim. See the flaw and separation here?
The Gentiles were not called to make up their own religion but to follow the Jewish faith because the Gentiles are to provoke the Jews to jealousy. Elohim prophesied this back in Deuteronomy 32:21 when He said:
They (Jews) have made Me jealous with what is not Elohim; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people (Gentiles); I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”
What Elohim said in Deuteronomy was understood by the Jews in Acts 28:28 which states:
“Therefore I want you to know that Elohim’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen.”
This is further proof that Elohim sent salvation to the Gentiles because the Gentiles would keep His Commandments, be obedient to His laws, and spread the gospel the way He intended for it to be, the way the native-born Jew was supposed to do it. This means the Gentiles need to follow their Jewish roots and graft themselves in to the faith of our forefathers.
How are the Gentiles supposed to provoke the Jews to jealousy if we don’t obey the Commandments of the Torah? And preaching lawlessness by saying we are saved through grace and all laws were abolished with Yeshua’s blood? The key is to keep the Commandments as the obedient Jews are already doing, but provoking them to jealousy by showing them the abundant life, joy, and freedom that you have with Yeshua in your life. Then we will accomplish the goal of “One New Man” Jew and Gentile worshipping together as ONE.
As we see in Ezekiel 47:21-23 it was always Elohim’s plan to include the Gentiles to be one with the Jews:
“You (Jews) are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the strangers (Gentiles) that sojourn among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the stranger (Gentiles) settles, there you are to give him his inheritance,” declares YHWH (The LORD).
So who is a Jew? A Jew is any believer who is grafted into Israel by accepting Yeshua, keeping the Commandments, the Holy Days, and being obedient to YHWH Elohim.
In conclusion I would like to make this final point that leaps out to me during the end times in Zechariah 14:16-19
“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, The LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of ALL the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.”
The point is that the Feast of Tabernacles is a Jewish Holy Day appointed by Elohim for us (Jew and Gentile) to celebrate every year as an everlasting covenant. During the end of days ALL nations and people will be forced to celebrate the Holy Day or have no rain, so why not start now? Yeshua was born a Jew and died a Jew and kept the Sabbath and all of the Jewish Holy Days and will be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles when He returns and He wants us to join in the celebration, so let us all stand together as ONE and worship in truth!