According to Yahweh, Who are Jews?

Before I deal with the question of Jewishness, please read this article: “Genetic research: almost 25% of Latinos, Hispanics have Jewish DNA”.

For several reasons, the article above is very misleading. This is why:

When you see the word “Jewish” in print in the Israeli media, it almost certainly refers to Judaism, not the lineage of Judah.
“Jewish” people in Israel don’t normally distinguish between the Children of Israel and Jewish people. Israelis almost never distinguish between Gentiles who convert to Judaism and call themselves “Jews”and descendants of Judah, either.
According to Yahweh, the Children of Israel are the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob/Israel.
Jacob/Israel had 12 sons. Judah was one of them. Only Judah’s direct descendants are Jewish.

It sounds so simple, but it’s very confusing. This is why:

Joseph is one of Jacob’s/Israel’s sons. His brothers sold him into slavery, and he went to Egypt before the rest of his family.
Joseph was not Jewish, but he is a direct descendant of Jacob/Israel. He is 1 of Jacob’s/Israel’s 12 sons.
In Egypt, Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Before Jacob/Israel died in Egypt, he claimed both of those sons as his own children and gave each of them a portion in the Promised Land (Israel). That’s why you hear people say that Joseph got a double-portion.
If you look at the map of the Promised Land (Israel) at the top of this SnyderTalk editorial, you will see that it breaks up the Promised Land (Israel) into portions by tribes of Israel. Examine it closely, and you will notice that there is no portion allotted to Joseph, but in fact, Joseph got a double-portion: One for Ephraim and one for Manasseh.
On the map, you will also notice that Levi did not receive a portion in the Promised Land, but he was 1 of Jacob’s/Israel’s 12 sons. According to Yahweh, He is Levi’s portion. That’s why Levi didn’t receive a land inheritance.
So, the title on the map is incorrect and misleading. It shows 12 pieces of land allocated to 11 tribes of Israel. As I said, Levi doesn’t have a land inheritance.
Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt and took them to the Promised Land. Moses was a descendant of Levi. He was not Jewish.
If you ask an Israeli Jew to tell you who Moses led out of Egypt, he/she will almost always say, “Jews.” That is only partially correct. Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. They were the men and women and boys and girls who were direct descendants of Jacob’s/Israel’s 12 sons. Again, Judah was one of those sons, not all of them.
Saul was Israel’s first king. He was not Jewish. He was a Benjaminite.
David was Israel’s second king. He was Jewish.
Solomon was Israel’s third king. He was Jewish.
In 932 BC, Solomon died, and his son Rehoboam became King of Israel. Rehoboam infuriated the tribes in the north. They rebelled against him and set up their own kingdom. In the Bible, the new kingdom they set up is called Israel and Ephraim. Today, it’s commonly referred to as the Northern Kingdom or Samaria.
Rehoboam was left with the southern portion. It was called Judea, but it included Benjamin. Today, the Southern Kingdom is still called “Judea”.
Benjamin was a small tribe. It was absorbed by Judah, but the descendants of Benjamin are not Jewish. So, Judea included Jews and Benjaminites.
In the mid-700s BC, Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom (Israel), took the people captive, and scattered them throughout the known world. Collectively, they are referred to as the “10 Lost Tribes of Israel”, but they were never lost. They were dispersed, and they lost touch with their identities as Children of Israel. They never returned to the Promised Land (Israel), but they remain Children of Israel nonetheless. They still have an inheritance in the Promised Land (Israel).
In 586 BC, the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom (Judea), took them captive, and moved most of them to Babylon. Seventy years later, they were allowed to return.
While Judah was in Babylon, Jewish religious leaders established a new religion and called it “Judaism”. I won’t get into all the specifics, but their new religion did not involve Levites to officiate in the Temple as Yahweh required, because the Babylonians destroyed the Temple. Instead, Judaism has rabbis who officiate in synagogues. The rabbis are “Jewish”, but that is very confusing, too, since many of them are not descendants of Judah.
According to the rabbis, anyone can become “Jewish” by converting to Judaism. That did not come from Yahweh. It is not in the Bible (the Tanach or the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings). It is man-made religion, pure and simple. No one can become Jewish by converting to Judaism. Only direct descendants of Judah are Jewish.
Since Judaism is more than 2,500-years-old, today it’s impossible to know for sure which “Jews” are Judah’s direct descendants (real Jews) and which “Jews” descend from people who converted to Judaism (not real Jews).
DNA tests are helping to solve the problem, but we still don’t have all the information we need to identify Judah’s direct descendants. We can identify Aaron’s direct descendants with DNA analysis, but they are not Jewish. At this point, identifying Jacob’s/Israel’s other descendants is virtually impossible. Keep reading, and you will see why Aaron is important.

It’s Really Confusing

As I said at the beginning of this editorial, this is confusing. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Example 1

I know a man in Israel whose last name is Cohen. He knows that he is a descendant of Levi, but he’s not just a Levite. He is part of the Kohanim Gadol, or the high priestly class of Levites. In the Bible, they are referred to as high priests. Aaron was the first high priest. Only Aaron’s direct descendants can officiate in Yahweh’s Temple and serve as high priest. In Israel today, that doesn’t mean much, but to Yahweh it means a lot.

In Judaism, rabbis self-select. From Yahweh’s perspective, there is no self-selection. Either you are a direct descendant of Levi, or you are not. Either you are a direct descendant of Aaron, or you are not. Either you are part of the Kohanim, or you are not. Either you are a direct descendant of Judah, or you are not.

The Cohen that I know thinks he’s Jewish because he practices Judaism. If you ask him if he is Jewish, he will say, “Yes,” but he is not Jewish. As I said, he’s a Levite, and he’s a direct descendant of Aaron. He belongs to the high priestly class. He is part of the Kohanim.

Example 2

I know a “Jewish” man who fancies himself a scholar because he studies the Talmud and because his son is a rabbi. One day we were talking, and I mentioned that Moses was a Levite, not a Jew.

That really bothered him. All of his study of the Talmud had not revealed to him the distinction between Judah and Levi. Even worse, his studies had not clarified the distinction between the Children of Israel and the descendants of Judah. He thought that the Children of Israel (all of them) were Jews and that Moses was a Jew, too.

As an aside, “Moses led the Jews out of Egypt” is a common phrase that you hear a lot in Israel. It’s only partially correct.

The man I’m talking about is very intelligent. Saying that he was bewildered by our conversation is an understatement.

Then, I really blew his mind. I told him that Abraham was not Jewish. He was Hebrew. Abraham could not have been Jewish, because Judah was his great-grandson. Judah wasn’t born until after Abraham died.

I wasn’t finished. I told him that Ruth was a Moabite. Ruth married Boaz. Boaz was Jewish. David is Ruth’s grandson. David is Jewish.

My friend is never at a loss for words. He said, “Yes, but Ruth converted to Judaism.” A rabbi had told him that.

“How can that be?” I asked. “Judaism was created in the mid-500s BC, but Ruth died before 1000 BC, more than 500 years earlier.”

I stopped short of telling him that Adam wasn’t Jewish, either. I figured that I had done enough damage already.

My friend ended our conversation by saying, “I’m going to talk with my rabbi about this.”

“You should do that,” I said.

I’ve learned that people who call themselves “Jewish” tend to want to check everything out with their rabbis. That’s fine with me.

I’ve talked with rabbis, too, lots of them. Most of them give me a blank expression when I start talking about the Tanach. They really don’t know much about it. All they know is what sages have said about it.

The sages were very intelligent men, but they are not Yahweh. If the sages contradict Yahweh, who should we believe?

The answer: Go with Yahweh every time. Any other course is dangerous.

I Feel Another Book Coming On

I’m lining up books that I have to write. This is one of them. The true location of Yahweh’s Temple is another one. I won’t write them until I begin to live in Jerusalem. That may be very soon. I hope it is.

I am in the early stages of writing the book on Yahweh’s Temple already. See “Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount (Part 1)”.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)