“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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Israel and Judah are Not the Same Thing
Yesterday, I was listening to “Messianic Perspectives with Dr. Gary Hedrick” on Faith Talk 970 in Atlanta. Hedrick was talking about the apostle Paul, and he quoted Philippians 3: 4-5 where Paul gave a short biographical sketch:
“If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee.” (Philippians 3: 4-5)
Immediately after reading that short quote, Hedrick said, “Paul was a Jew.”
No! Paul was not a Jew. He was a Benjaminite. That’s what Paul said, and I have no reason to doubt his understanding about his own ancestry.
Paul was very actively involved in Pharisaic Judaism, and as he said, he was a Pharisee. That’s about religion, not lineage.
Confusion Abounds
Direct descendants of Judah are the only real Jews. Since Paul was a direct descendant of Benjamin, he was not Jewish. Again, associating with Judaism has nothing to do with Jewishness.
Understanding the difference between Israel and Judah is critically important. In Ezekiel 37, Yahweh explains that He will reunite Israel and Judah and bring them home to their own country. That’s beginning to happen now as Jews return to Israel.
Yahweh changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Israel had 12 sons. Judah was one of them.
When Yahweh led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to the Promised Land, and they settled the land by tribes. There was no King of Israel. Yahweh was their King.
In the 11th century BC, Saul became the first King of the United Kingdom of Israel. David followed Saul as King of the United Kingdom of Israel. David’s son Solomon was also King of the United Kingdom of Israel, but when Solomon died in 931 BC, his son Rehoboam became king.
Rehoboam so offended the northern tribes that they rebelled against him, and Israel and Judah became separate nations: Israel in the north and Judah in the South. Israel is also called the Northern Kingdom, Ephraim, and Samaria. Judah is called the Southern Kingdom and Judea.
Israel and Judah have remained divided since Solomon’s death. In Ezekiel 37, that’s the problem Yahweh told Ezekiel He would solve.
In the 700s BC, the Assyrians took Israel captive, and they were scattered around the world. They are known today as “the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”. Most of their descendants remain scattered around the world to this day.
In the 500s BC, the Babylonians took Judah captive. Most Jewish people were taken to Babylon for 70 years, but they were allowed to return to Judea when King Cyrus, a Persian, defeated the Babylonians.
During the 70-year Babylonian Captivity, Judaism was invented. It’s a man-made religion. When the Jews returned to Judea, they brought Judaism with them. That’s the religion Paul practiced.
Consider this: Yahweh made His promises to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob/Israel. If Yahweh had endorsed a religion, do you think He would have called it “Judaism”?
Absolutely not. Judah was 1 of Jacob’s 12 sons.
Contrary to popular belief, Yahweh is not a fan of religion. He talks about faith and obedience to His word and the leading of His Spirit. Judaism revolves around strict obedience to Halacha, a.k.a. the Oral Law and the traditions of the Jews.
Many of the edicts in Halacha contradict Yahweh’s explicit commands. The best example of this is Yahweh’s command to declare His Name to the world. Halacha forbids saying Yahweh’s Name. According to Halacha, the penalty for violating that law is death:
A blasphemer is not culpable until he pronounces God’s Name. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha says that during a blasphemer’s trial, they use a euphemism in place of God’s Name, i.e., they say “May Yosi smite Yosi.” Once the trial has concluded, they do not execute the defendant based upon a euphemism. Rather, they send everyone out and ask the most senior of the witnesses to repeat verbatim what they heard the defendant say, which he does. The judges stand up, they tear their garments upon hearing the blasphemy and they never mend them. The second witness says, “I heard what he heard” and each additional witness does likewise. (Sanhedrin 7: 5)
Obviously, Judaism and Halacha are not endorsed by Yahweh. How could they be?
Christianity is a man-made religion, too. Yahweh doesn’t call people to join a religion. He calls people to faith in Him as the Sovereign Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Judge. That faith is manifested by a desire to obey Yahweh’s Laws and by a willingness to be led by His Spirit.
Please don’t equate religion and faith. They are not the same thing.
Today, we have too much religion and not enough faith. Faith leads to salvation. Religion does not.
“And he [Abraham] believed [had faith in] Yahweh, and He [Yahweh] credited it [Abraham’s faith] to him [Abraham] as righteousness.” (Genesis 15: 6)
Religion may make people feel good about themselves, but there are a lot of religious people who are heading in the wrong direction. They won’t feel good about themselves when they arrive at their destination unless they change course.
I urge you to read His Name is Yahweh and The Trilogy. You’ll be glad you did.
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
