BE'CHOL LASHON

(In Every Tongue)

  Newsletter Article No.1, Vol. 1               Date:   July 15, 2008 

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Written by: Dr. Shannon Hatcher, PhD.

Did Messiah Yeshua start a New Religion?

Quite recently, I read a June 2008 article, written by a certain author who for the purposes of this newsletter will remain nameless. He stated that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to the Jewish Christians. Also, this author stated, "This letter (Epistle to the Hebrews) was clearly aimed at the people who were now Christians but had come out of Judaism". Could this be true? Did the talmidim (disciples) of Messiah Yeshua come out of Judaism? Did these same talmidim become Christians? Did Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) and the talmidim start a new religion? Does the Bible support the author's above statement? 

Somehow, the author's statement did not ring true upon closer examination of the scriptures and early church history. Not one time did the original Apostles (talmidim of Messiah Yeshua) ever refer to themselves as Christians.  In fact, these Jewish believers were born as children of the House of Israel. They were referred to as Jews. They referred to themselves as Jews. They lived and died as Jews who believed in the Jewish Messiah (the Messiah of Israel). The Bible and Bible history supported the understanding that these Jewish believers of Messiah Yeshua were members of the Jewish sect referred to as The Way. 

According to Tim Hegg, author of the books: It Is Often Said, finds the following:

And throughout the Apostolic era, the ekklesia (a Greek word translated as church) is considered a grouping within Israel, both by those who were followers of Yeshua and by those who were not. Even the Roman government considered the people of "The Way" to be one of the sects of Judaism, part of the congregation (ekklesia) of Israel. The split that occurred in the second and third centuries between the emerging Christian church and the extant Judaism finds no basis in Apostolic Scriptures (vol. 4, p. 35).  

Not until later years of the original Apostles did we find those Gentile believers at the Church at Antioch being referred to as "Christians". This was supported in Acts 12:26. In fact, history bore out that this term "Christian" was not used as a term of endearment. The term "Christian" held a derogatory (i.e. negative) connotation.  Also, during the time of the original Apostles, both natural born Jews and God-fearing Gentiles were both found hearing the Torah (the Law) read on each Shabbat (the 7^th day Sabbath) in the synagogue (Acts 13:14-16 and Acts 14:1-2). This meant that Jews and (God-fearing) Gentiles (to some degree) both attended synagogue at the same time, under the same roof. Both Jews and (God-fearing) Gentiles both heard the Torah readings (including the Writings and the Prophets) read at the same time in the same place.  This practice continued until believers of Messiah Yeshua were put out of the synagogue. In addition, it must be noted that as time progressed, early believers in Messiah Yeshua also gathered in homes of other believers and other places to fellowship, to pray, and to hear the Holy Scriptures (Torah and Tanakh) read.   

Why were both natural born Jewish believers of the Way and God-fearing Gentiles allowed to assemble within the same structure and hear the same teachings? Could it hearken back to the Torah as found in Exodus 12 and Numbers 15:15-16? In Exodus 12, we found that the LORD brought the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt. However, the Hebrews did not come out of Egypt alone. The Torah scriptures read that a "mixed multitude" came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38). This meant that both natural born descendants of Abraham and Gentiles came out during the exodus from Egypt. Also, the Torah demonstrated that the same "mixed multitude" gathered together at Mount Sinai to hear the first Ten Words (The first Ten Commandments) spoken by God (Deuteronomy 4:13-14). This same "mixed multitude" accepted these "Commandments of God". The LORD also referred to the both the natural born Hebrew descendant of Abraham (House or children of Israel) and the Gentile/Goyim/the Nations as "the Whole Community of Israel" (Exodus 35:1-2). "What God has put together, let no man put asunder!" Additionally, further reading of the Torah scripture found in Number 15:15-16 demonstrated that both the natural born Hebrew and the Gentile were considered equal before God and both were expected to follow and obey the same Law (teachings and instructions - Torah). "Native born Israelite, and foreigner are equal before the LORD and are subject to the same decrees. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation. The same instructions and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you" (Numbers 15:15-16). 

One of the key aspects of the Torah scripture indicates in Numbers 15:16 that the same instructions and regulations applies to both the natural born (Israelite) and the foreigner (Gentile) who is living among the natural born (Israelite). To live among someone or group also refers to the Gentile who is attached to the natural born Israelite, the Gentile who is counted among the natural born Israelite, and the Gentile who is grafted in among the natural born Israelite. Since the Gentile in the Torah is considered to be included among the natural born Israelite, with the same instructions and regulations applying to both, then how do the Prophets view both the natural born Israelite and the Gentile who are counted among them? 

According to Isaiah 56:3, foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD are to be considered and counted among the natural born Israelite as well. "Don't let foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD say, The LORD will never let me be part of his people" (Isaiah 56:3). Isaiah 56 also indicates that the foreigner and eunuchs are free to keep and follow the same instructions and regulations that the natural born Israelite keeps and follows (i.e. Sabbath days of rest and covenant). Evidently, both the Torah as indicated in Numbers 15:15-16 and Isaiah 56 demonstrate that the Gentile in the Torah is considered to be included among the natural born Israelite, with the same instructions and regulations applying to both. Then the next question is how does the Apostles of Messiah and the Apostolic writings consider the natural born Israelite (the Jews) and the Gentiles? 

Paul states that he is an Israelite (a Jew): "I ask, then has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning...It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God's grace  - his underserved kindness in choosing them" Romans 11: 1-5. Also, Paul states that the children of Israel have not stumbled and fallen beyond recovery (Romans 11:11). Those not counted among the children of Israel who did not stumble beyond recovery (specifically the believing Jews/the faithful remnant) remain as the natural born sheep of Messiah Yeshua's sheepfold. The believing Gentiles are then grafted in among/counted among/live among the faithful natural born Jewish remnant of the believing House of Israel as stated in Romans 11:17. Believing Gentiles (Gentile believers of Messiah Yeshua) are now family members of the children of Israel through the adoption made possible in Messiah Yeshua. Gentile believers of Messiah are not separate from the children of Israel, but are the other sheepfold Messiah Yeshua spoke about in John 10:16. And it is because the believing Gentiles are grafted in to the family of Israel, Gentiles should not brag or boast over the severed branches. Paul states, "But some of these branches from Abraham's tree - some of the people of Israel - have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God's special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root" (Romans 11:17-18).

The believing Gentiles did not replace Israel. Believing Gentiles are the adoptive sons and daughters of Israel. Believing Gentiles are the wild branches that have been grafted in to the natural olive tree.  This means that the original believing native-born remnant (original Jewish believers of the Messiah of Israel - Messiah Yeshua) remains intact as the original/natural olive tree. The original/natural olive tree is the foundational root and nothing replaces it. Gentile believers of Messiah Yeshua can only be counted among the original stock. Tim Hegg says it well in the following statement: "Yeshua's vision of the ingathering of the Gentiles was not to their own table or their own separate identity, but as those who were gathered to Israel, to become part of God's covenant people" (vol. 4, p. 34). Tim Hegg also finds that the word "church" is often "used to denote a religion entirely separate from the religion of the synagogue and, by extension, separate from Israel...Rather than viewing the ingathering of the Gentiles as a separate and new work of God, the Apostles understood the salvation of the nations as the ongoing fulfillment of God's covenant promises to Israel. The Gentiles were being gathered into Israel, not forming a separate entity" (vol. 4, p. 36).

So what remains to be said? Did Messiah or the Apostles form a new religion? Well, this writer and other writers as well say - resoundingly No! We believers of Messiah, both natural born Jew/Hebrew/Israelite and the believing Gentile are one family and one faith. We are the original faith as practiced by Messiah Yeshua, the Apostles, and the believing remnant. Some may call it The Way, Messianic Hebraism, Messianic Judaism, Messianic Israelism, a sect of Judaism, etc. We are not some new religion. And we are not separated from the original root who is a Jew called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah - the Messiah of Israel - the one and only Messiah Yeshua! We have not severed our ties with the believing remnant of the children of Israel (the House of Israel/Jews). Therefore the question remains before us: Is the letter of the Epistle to the Hebrews written to a people who are now Christians but has come out of Judaism? God's provision of salvation through the faith in the Messiah of Israel (Messiah Yeshua), evidence presented in the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets, as well as the Acts of the Apostles do not support the assertion that the letter of the Epistle to the Hebrews is written to a people who are now Christians but has come out of Judaism (specifically the sect of Judaism expressed by Messiah Yeshua and his talmidim (disciples)). Ultimately, I hope that this synopsis, as well as a careful examination of the Bible, will aid believers of Messiah in coming to a more informed understanding of God's and Messiah's intended purpose for His children. God and Messiah's children are the Whole Community of Israel -  just like those called by God at Mount Sinai who are shadows of both natural born Israelites/Hebrews/Jews and grafted-in (Gentile) family members of the original faith. The Holy Scriptures (Tanakh and Apostolic Writings) clearly identifies the salvation of God's children (the natural born and the nations) through faith in the Messiah of Israel, which is the fulfillment of God's covenant promises to Israel.