Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel
This is the book my wife, Karen, and I are currently working on, and it is about “Revealing the Jewish Gospel of Yeshua.” I have been researching this book on and off now for about thirty – thirty five years. My wife has been adding to it since 2016. Some revelations have only come to my wife, Karen, and me in the last few years. You can be a big help to us in giving us feedback on the book as we complete and present it here.
A Corporate Gospel?
In 1988, Dr. David H. Stern published his book, Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel (Jerusalem: Jewish New Testament Publications), and although I was quite excited when the book came out, I was later disappointed because the book does not live up to what the title promises. In spite of my disappointment, however, I do believe that Dr. Stern made some critically important points:
There are aspects of the Gospel which are corporate, not just related to individuals. Christians who understand that it is right to preach the Gospel to Jews often offer a Gospel which is inadequate because it is oriented only toward the individual and does not deal with the Jewish people as a corporate entity. In my view a gospel only for individuals is inadequate not only for Jews but for Gentiles as well. (28)
And I believe he is mostly right here; however, I would not say that “aspects of the Gospel which are corporate,” but the primary thrust of “the True gospel” that was announced and taught by Yeshua and his disciples is, in fact, primarily “corporate.” The aspects of the message that deals with “individual salvation” is actually secondary. not at all primary. But he does go on to say in this same section,
But salvation is CORPORATE, for the community, as well as for the individual….Nevertheless salvation for the individual Jew apart from concern for the deliverance of the Jewish people as a whole is simply not found in the Tanakh. On the contrary, much of its discussion of salvation is focused on the integrity and holiness of the Jewish people as a whole…an individual Gospel seems to them [the Jews] both selfish and inadequate, since it does not touch directly on national and universal aspirations. (29-30)
SALVATION – “Corporate primarily and Individual secondarily?”
I absolutely agree that salvation is primarily corporate and secondarily individual. All you have to see this is to look back to the Abram coming out of Haran in the book of Bereshith (Genesis) and in the Exodus from Egypt in the book of Exodus. When G-d called Abram and his wife Sarai out of Haran, there were Gentiles (non-Jews) who came out of Haran with him and Sarai, and they were a good portion of those who made up Abram’s camp, and in the Exodus from Egypt, there were also Gentiles (non-Jews) who came out of Egyptian slavery with the Israelites under the leadership with Mosheh (Moses) (Exodus 12:38; Numbers 11:4). In both cases, the Corporate identity of Israel were the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob PLUS the Gentiles (non-Jews) who had attached themselves to Israel. And even when they cross the Red Sea and go into the Promised Land, we see more and more Gentiles (non-Jews) being attached to Israel. For example, Rahab and her family, Ruth, Doeg the Edomite, and Uriah the Hittite. So although the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in the foreground and focus of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures are not exclusively about them, but it includes the lives of Gentiles (non-Jews) who were attached to them as well. Thus, many Christian leaders are wrong when they teach that the Hebrew Scriptures are only about the Jews. Therefore, although the Israelite deliverance was Corporate, the individuals who were part (or who had joined) themselves to this Corporate body of Israel benefitted.
These are some of the main reasons why I agree with these statements by Dr. Stern made about the need for the Corporate element to “the gospel,” that Christianity has deleted from their presentations of “the gospel,” but he did not go on to discuss what would comprise that “Corporate gospel” of Yeshua and his disciples, so in my mind, I do not feel he actually presented “the Jewish gospel,” and thus lived up to the book’s title. Therefore, I am wanting to go where he did not.
THE TRUE GOSPEL – “The Corporate Gospel Message?”
What was “the Corporate Jewish gospel message” that was taught by Yeshua and his disciples? The first thing we need to understand is that Yeshua was not the first one to announce it. The first recorded person in the “New Testament” to announce and teach it was, in fact, a Levite, who was also a Nazarite prophet, named Yochanan bar Z’kharyah (John son of Zechariah), but who is more commonly known as “John the Baptist” or “John the Baptizer.” We can first read his message in the book of Mattityahu (Matthew):
Now in those days John the Baptist [Yochanan the Immerser] came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent [Heb. Shuv], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Mattityahu (Matthew 3: 1-2, NASB)
IF we examine his message, we discover that it had two parts:
- The message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”
- The desired response: “Repent”
Repentance – “What is it?”
Most people today hear the word “repent,” and they believe it just means telling God that they are sorry for their sins they committed and ask Him to forgive them for those sins, but repentance involved much more than this. It did involve “confessing their sin,” but it also involved offering the appropriate sacrifice, and as a sign that people were leaving their old life of sin behind, they would ritually immerse in water. So in contradiction to many denominations of Christianity, “baptism” or “water immersion” is required in salvation, because it is a part of repentance, it is not, as they teach, merely a step of obedience that has nothing to do with salvation. Finally, another part of repentance is that they would change their life by obeying God and His commandments that He had given to Mosheh (Moses) in the first five books of the Bible.
SIN – “What is it?”
Along with this concept of “repentance,” another thing that most people do not understand is the concept of sin. Most people think that “sin” is doing something either the church says is wrong, or you believe to be wrong; therefore, it is subjective and left up to the church or the individual to decide if something is a sin or not. But this is not true. This is because most people believe SIN is a “religious thing,” and so it is whatever they believe it to be.
SIN – “A Crime”?
However, that is the incorrect way of understanding SIN. In the United States, if you break a law, it is called “a crime,” and people who commit crimes are called “criminals.” But in God’s Kingdom, if you break one of His laws, it is called “a sin,” and a person who commits SIN is called “a sinner.” So if we are comparing the basic definitions here, the words “sin” and “crime” mean basically the same thing: “a law was broken,” just as the words “sinner” and “criminal” mean basically the same thing: “a person who breaks the law.” A “sin,” then, is a “crime” in God’s Kingdom, just as “a sinner” is “a criminal” in His Kingdom. So when God punishes people for their sins, it is comparable to to a U.S. court punishing “a criminal” for their “crimes.”
Definition of Sin – NOT Determined by Religion or Us?
Consequently, then, we need to understand that something is NOT a sin simply because our religion, denomination, congregation, pastor or rabbi says so, nor is it a sin because an individual believes it to be. This is because not one of these have the right or authority to determine what is or what is not a sin. Instead, the only One who has the right to decide what is or is not sin is God, and He has revealed His commandments to us when He gave them to Israel through Mosheh (Moses) beginning at Mt. Sinai and then throughout the Exodus. God has NOT changed His mind or His standard of correct behavior or living because of the cross, in contradiction this the erroneous teaching of Christianity. Am I saying that Paul was wrong? No, I am saying that Christian interpretation of Paul is wrong.
How the Bible Defines “Sin”
For example, what constitutes SIN is actually defined for us in the book of Leviticus. For example, in Leviticus, we read,
If a soul [person] shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them (Leviticus 4:2)
Here we can see God’s definition for sin given in the Bible, and He is consistent in how He defines it. He has not changed His definition, even after the death and resurrection of Yeshua. This did not change God’s standard or commandments at all! Not even by one little bit!
“But I didn’t know?”
I have heard Christian ministers say that if you do not know that it is sin, then it is not sin, but this in direct contradiction to what the Bible actually teaches. I am sure that on the day of judgment, there are multitudes of people who are going to try this as their defense by arguing, “But I didn’t know it was a sin, that it was wrong.” If you do not know something is a sin – a breaking of one of God’s commandments – and you have done it in ignorance not knowing it is a sin, no matter what these Christian ministers are saying, they are wrong – it is still a sin.
Your ignorance of what the Bible teaches is NOT an adequate defense. Your ignorance of the commandments is not an excuse. In fact, we are even told in the Bible that this is the case:
And if a soul [person] sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he know it not, YET HE IS GUILTY, and shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 5:17, NASB)
So “ignorance of the law is no excuse;” in other words, your knowledge or lack of knowledge does not determine if something is the law or not. This is even true of laws here in the United States. For example, if you were going 45 mph, and you came into an area where the speed limit dropped to 25 mph but you did not know it, and you kept driving at 45 mph, and then a police officer pulls you over, and as he is ready to write you a speeding ticket you, you try to tell him that you were not aware of the change in speed limit law, but regardless of what you argue, you are still guilty of speeding. Your knowledge or lack of knowledge about the speed laws in the area does not changed them in any way simply because you did not know about it. And likewise, your knowledge or lack of knowledge does not determine whether something is a sin or not. It is determined by God and by God alone. Your opinion about it does not change or altar it at all. Now in the rest of Leviticus 4, God applies this same definition of sin to different parts of the nation of Israel, beginning with the whole nation, and then to one of the rulers, and finally then to the common individual:
And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; when the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin… (Leviticus 4: 13-14, NASB)
When a ruler has sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty; or if his sin, wherein he has sinned, come to his knowledge, he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:… (Leviticus 4: 22-23, NASB)
Any if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he does somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; or if his sin, which he has sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering,… (Leviticus 4:27-28, NASB)
So has God’s view of sin changed since Yeshua’s death and resurrection, as Christians argue? No, it has not changed, not in the slightest. Sin is still doing whatever God said not to do, or not doing whatever God said to do. In I John 3, he paraphrases this biblical definition of “sin.” He writes,
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. (I John 3:4, NASB)
The word “lawlessness” is the English translation of the Greek word, Anomia (G458). This Greek word is comprised of a prefix “a,” which means “without” or “no,” and the word nomia (or nomos) means “law,” so anomia means “without law” or “no law,” or a better explanation is to live your life as if God’s law does not exist or apply to you. This is anomia or “lawlessness.”
Christian Error #1: “We have to Obey God Perfectly”
Many Christians will argue “God requires use to PERFECTLY obey His law, and it is because we cannot PERFECTLY obey it that Yeshua had to die for our inabilities to PERFECTLY keep God’s law. However, there is not one single verse or passage anywhere in the Scriptures where God ever says that we have to obey His commandments “PERFECTLY.” He only asks the same of us as a loving parent would ask of their own children, and that is that we obey them because we love them. This is why God says repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, “if you love Me, keep My commandments.”
This teaching is based on James 2:10 that they have taken out of context and misunderstood. The verse states, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). However, if you look at the overall context of the verse, James was not saying this to demonstrate that we can never keep the law, as Christians use this verse, but rather, he said this to urge them on to more obedience to the commandments, which is the direct opposite of how Christianity use this same verse. Therefore, this verse cannot be legitimately used to prove the Christian argument that “we cannot keep the law PERFECTLY.” Therefore, the Christian argument for why Yeshua had to die – our inability to keep the commandments PERFECTLY – is invalid and is not true.
Christian Error #2: “The Law came to an End at the Cross”
The second error that Christianity teaches is that at the moment Yeshua died, the Law was brought to an end. This is another teaching that Christians have traditionally misinterpreted and misunderstood. This teaching comes from several passages of Paul’s writings that they have misinterpreted and misunderstood, such as Colossians 2:14-17. This passage of Scripture says,
And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out THE CERTIFICATION OF DEBT CONSISTING OF DECRESS AGAINST US AND WHICH WAS HOSTILE TO US; and HE HAS TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY, HAVING NAILED IT TO THE CROSS…Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day – things which are a [mere] shadow of what is to come but the substance [belongs to] Christ. (Colossians 2:14, 16-17, NASB)
The majority of Christians who misinterpret and misunderstand this verse do so because they have never witnessed a Roman crucifixion, except only those scenes of Yeshua’s death in Christian films of his life. But it was common practice that when Rome condemned someone to death by crucifixion, they would also nail a sign above their head identifying the crime(s) that led to this punishment, so people who saw them dying would know that if they committed the same crime, they would receive the same punishment. Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul) is saying that when Yeshua died on the cross, God took the signs that would have been nailed on our own crosses of the crimes we committed, and He nailed those crimes to His cross. So it was not God’s law that He gave to Israel via Mosheh (Moses), i.e., the first five books of the Bible, that was nailed to the cross but our crimes against God – our violations of His law and commandments – that was nailed to the cross. Obviously, when we punish someone for committing a crime by sending them to prison, we do not then also get rid of the law that he or she broke when that person broke the law, but this is how messed up Christian interpretation of this passage is.
Also, they use this passage to say that none of those laws and commandments apply to us anymore – the laws regarding food or drink, the biblical festivals, the new moon, or even the Sabbath – but they again have taken this out of context and misinterpreted it. They automatically assume that it is the Jews who are criticizing them for not doing these things, just as Christians do not do them today, but these believers were bring criticized by the nonbelieving countrymen, those who lived all around them, for doing these Jewish practices. So again, they misuse this passage to justify their own continued disobedience to God’s law.
The Kingdom of Heaven is Near!
Now that we understand the whole idea of “repentance” and “sin,” and have even discussed a couple of misinterpretations that Christians have about Yeshua’s death and the Written Torah, which they translate as “law,” let’s discuss what Yochanan meant by the clause, “the kingdom of heaven is near!” In Hebrew this phrase would be malkhut hashamayim. In the translation, the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB), it has the following note about this verse:
3:2 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” The word heaven is used as a pious avoidance of the Divine Name (YHVH). Here “Heaven” is capitalized when referring to God, while “heaven” refers to the sky or paradise. (CBJ; 1385)
Almost eight months later, after Yochanan (John) the Immerser is captured by king Herod’s soldiers and thrown into prison, Yeshua begins to proclaim the same message:
Now when he had heard that John [Heb. Yochanan] had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali…From that time on, Jesus [Heb. Y’hoshua/Yeshua] began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:12-13, 17, NASB)
About Yeshua’s Name
Here we can see that Jesus – or in Hebrew before the Babylonian Exile, Y’shoshua [Joshua] and in the Hebrew after the Babylonian Exile, we see two forms of the word – Y’hoshua (Joshua) and the Aramaic/ Hebrew version, Yeshua – used after Yochanan [John] has been cast into prison, He begins to proclaim the same exact message. The name “Jesus” is the English derived form of his name from the later Latin form, Iesus, and the Greek form, Iesous, of His Hebrew and Aramaic/Hebrew name.
Both forms – Y’hoshua (Joshua) and Yeshua- are used in the Hebrew Scriptures. Y’hoshua (Joshua) is used in the Written Torah, Joshua, Zechariah and in Haggai; whereas, Yeshua is used by those who were born and raised in Babylon, Ezra and Nehemiah. Both forms of the name are used for the same men. For example, the same high priest is called Y’hoshua (Joshua) by Zechariah and Yeshua by Ezra, and “the son of Nun” was called Y’hoshua (Joshua) in the Written Torah, Joshua, and Yeshua by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8:17). Thus, the Tanakh presents both forms as interchangeable with one another.
Comparing Matthew’s and Mark’s Versions
Now if we go to the book of Mark, we can see Mark’s parallel version of this same time period and message:
And after John [Heb. Yochanan] had been taken into custody, Jesus [Heb. Y’hoshua/Yeshua] came into Galilee, preaching THE GOSPEL OF GOD, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and THE KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, NASB)
Now if we compare the Matthew version with Mark’s, we discover that in both presentations:
- Yochanan [John] has been arrested and thrown into prison;
- Yeshua has gone into Galilee where he begins proclaiming the same message.
But then here’s something interesting:
In Matthew, the message is “Repent, for THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is at hand;” whereas, in Mark, it is “the KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand.” there is more given about the message. It has two parts and two desired responses: Why the differences in wording?
Christian Confusion
Christians are completely split on this. Some Christians believe that the phrase “Kingdom of God” deals with God’s universal rule and reign over the Spiritual realm, which includes the spiritual lives of people, and that the phrase, “the Kingdom of heaven” refers to the future Messianic Kingdom. But the time and context here is exactly the same, the only difference here is the wording. Now there are other Christians who believe that these two phrases are synonyms for one another, and that they are interchangeable. In fact, according to Rob Robinson, in his online article, “8 Very Different Ways to View the Kingdom of God,” he quotes from Howard Snyder’s book, Models of the Kingdom (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991), who lays out the eight different models of the kingdom of God that Christians view and understand:
1. The kingdom as future hope: the future kingdom.
2. The kingdom as inner spiritual experience: the interior kingdom.
3. The kingdom as mystical communion: the heavenly kingdom.
4. The kingdom as institutional church: the ecclesiastical kingdom.
5. The kingdom as countersystem: the subversive kingdom.
6. The kingdom as political state: the theocratic kingdom.
7. The kingdom as Christianized state: the transforming kingdom.
8. The kingdom as earthly utopia: the utopian kingdom.
These are all very different views. I am saying this to insult or “talk bad” about anyone, I am merely pointing these out to note that Christians have a diverse understanding of what this one phrase, “the kingdom of God,” means and how to understand it. If they have such diverse views of how to understand this one phrase, then how can there be any uniformity of thought in understanding the good news message of Yeshua since “the good news of the kingdom” was the heartbeat and pulse of everything that Yeshua did and taught?
How Messianics Interpret and Understand These Phrases
Most Messianic believers – whether they are Jews or non-Jews – believe that these phrases are only euphemisms for God as explained in the note in the CJB, which is why all newer translations we find the phrase, “the gospel of the kingdom of God” in the King James Version translated as “the gospel of God” in all the newer versions, including all the Messianic Jewish versions, such as the CJB and the Tree of Life Version (TLV).
The Mainstream Jewish Understanding
But is this really the way Yeshua meant this message to be understood? I have found the best explanation of this phrase “the kingdom of God” was given by a Jewish rabbi, Solomon Schechter. So what is the “good news”? According to Rabbi Schechter, in his book, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology (Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1993; orig. pub. 1909), he writes, the phrase “kingdom of God” has two aspects: “the invisible kingdom of God,” which he explains is God’s rule and reign over the spiritual realm, and “the visible kingdom of God,” which he describes as both “universal” (over the physical universe and the nations) and “national” (over the people and kingdom of Israel). In fact, Rabbi Schechter writes,
The idea of the kingdom is accordingly often so closely connected with the redemption of Israel from the exile, the advent of the Messiah, and the restoration of the Temple, as to be inseparable from it. This is its national aspect. (98)
And this message about “the national aspect” of “the kingdom of God” is the focus of the message that Yeshua called “the gospel” (or the “good news”). The “good news” of his “gospel” was that G-d was beginning the PROCESS of bringing about the Ge’ulah (Redemption) and the Restoration of Israel, which is that God was calling back to Him both the descendants of the Northern kingdom of Israel, which included those Gentiles (non-Jews) from the nations, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, who are called “Jews,” back to Him to begin the PROCESS of “the Restoration of Israel.”
So to better understand this from his message, let’s analyze his message, like we did the word “gospel” in part 1, and when we do, you’ll discover that there is a whole lot more here than what is reflected in every English translation on the market.
The Message:
- “The time is fulfilled:” There are two different Greek words for “time.” The word chronos, for which we get the English words, “chronology” or “chronological.” This is the usual word we think about when we use the word “time.” However, this is not the Greek word that is used here. Instead, the Greek word that is used here is kairos (G2540), which according to the Strong’s Concordance means, “Appointed time, set time, certain season, equivalent to a fixed and definite time or season.”
The Hebrew word which would also mean “Appointed time or “set time” would be the word mo’ed (H4150), and since we are in the fall in the year, it is more than likely referencing the Fall feasts, or the High Holy Days, which is from Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), also called “The Ten Days of Awe.” And the theme for these High Holy Days (Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur) is “the kingdom of God.”
The word “fulfilled” is the English translation of the Greek word plēroō (G4137; pron. “play-ro-o”), and it means “to make full” or “fill up.” So this line could be translated as
“The Appointed Time has come and its meaning is being made ever fuller.” - “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” The phrase “is at hand” is just a Hebrew expression which means “has arrived” or “is here.” The other phrase “the Kingdom of God” or “the Kingdom of heaven” in Matthew are Second Temple equivalents of the phrase that King David used in the inauguration of his son, Solomon, “the kingdom of the LORD” (Heb. malkhut Y-H-V-H; see I Chronicles 28:5).
Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me the king over all Israel. And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of THE KINGDOM OF THE LORD over Israel. (I Chronicles 28:5, NASB)
The phrase “the kingdom of the LORD” in Hebrew is malkhut Y-H-V-H, the sacred name of G-d. During the Babylonian exile, the Jews stopped using the sacred name of G-d, except for the High Priest once a year during Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement). Instead, the Jews started using evasive synonyms for His sacred name. For example, “heaven,” “power,” “Almighty” (Shaddai), and even “G-d.” Therefore, it is not at all difficult to go from malkhut Y-H-V-H to malkhut Shamayim (“kingdom of heaven”), or malkhut Y-H-V-H to malkhut Shaddai (“kingdom of the Almighty”), as used in the Alenu prayer as seen in most Jewish prayer books, or malkhut Y-H-V-H to malkhut Elohim (“kingdom of God”). So it is easy to see how the phrases “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” could have been made from the phrase that King David used in his inauguration of his son, Solomon.
So Why is this Inaugural Phrase Significant?
This phrase given in the inauguration address was significant because –
This phrase “the kingdom of the LORD” given in King David’s inauguration of his son Solomon, or its Second-Temple equivalents – “the kingdom of heaven” or “the kingdom of God” – is significant for the following reasons:
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- It used in the inauguration of the son of David;
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- It is used in David’s speech to address the whole House of Israel, i.e., all of the tribes of Jacob;
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- It is used in David’s inauguration of Solomon, which is clearly a political context – not a religious one.
Now although there are times when it is used as a euphemism for God, such as in Matthew 6:33, but when used in reference to “the gospel/good news message of Yeshua and his disciples,” then it should be seen as referencing this past time period of the United Kingdom, and encouraging to move forward to reclaiming it once more. As prophesied by the priest and prophet, Ezekiel:
The word of the LORD came to me: And you, O mortal (son of man), take a stick and write on it, “Of Judah and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Joseph – the stick of Ephraim – and all the House of Israel associated with him.” Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick, joined together in your hand. And when any of your people ask you, “Won’t you tell us what these actions of yours mean?” answer them, “Thus said the Lord GOD; I am going to take the stick of Joseph – which is in the hand of Ephraim – and of the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place the stick of Judah “upon it” (together) and make them one stick; they shall be joined in My hand.” You shall hold up before their eyes the sticks which you have inscribed, and you shall declare to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them a single nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and ONE KING shall be King of them all. NEVER AGAIN shall they be two nations, and NEVER AGAIN shall they be divided up into two kingdoms. Nor shall they ever again defile themselves by their fetishes and their abhorrent things, and by their other transgressions. I WILL SAVE THEM in all their settlements where they sinned, and I WILL CLEANSE THEM. Then THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD. (Ezekiel 37:15-23, JPS; emphasis added)
This is one of the prophecies that Yochanan [John] the Immerser and Yeshua and his disciples were announcing in the four Gospels of the “New Testament.” Another prophecy which could be seen as the Mission Statement for Yeshua would be Isaiah 49:
And He said to me, “You are My servant, Israel in whom I glory.” I thought, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for empty breath.” But my case rested with the LORD, my recompense was in the hands of my God. And now the LORD has resolved – He who formed me in the womb to be His servant – To bring back Jacob to Himself, that Israel may be restored to Him. And I have been honored in the sight of the LORD, and God has been my strength. For He has said: It is too little that you should be My servant in that I RAISE UP THE TRIBES OF JACOB and RESTORE THE SURVIVORS OF ISRAEL; I will also make you a LIGHT OF THE NATIONS, that MY SALVATION MAY REACH THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. (Isaiah 49:3-6, JPS; emphasis added)
Mainstream Rabbinic Jews and Christians have argued over this passage. Rabbinic Jews will argue that 49:3 identifies the “servant” as “Israel;” whereas, Christians argue that it is “Jesus” and Messianics will use the name “Yeshua.” However, I don’t know why they are arguing. As the Anointed-Messiah of Israel, Yeshua represents the nation of Israel, just as any other king represents their nation, so both of these interpretations could be equally valid. But I also want you to see that part of the mission of this “servant” is not only to restore the tribes of Jacob back to God but to one another back into one kingdom, one people, as well as be “a light to the nations,” and bring God’s “salvation” to “the ends of the earth.” And this is what God has been doing in and through the Anointed-Messiah Yeshua, whom the disciples of Yeshua identified TWICE in their prayer to God the Father as “Your holy servant Yeshua” (Acts 4:27; 4:30).
Therefore, this phrase “the gospel/good news of the kingdom” is actually “announcing the beginning of the process in which God is going to begin the Ge’ulah (redemption) and the Restoration of Israel.” This is “the gospel/good news of the kingdom” that God gave to Yeshua, and Yeshua taught and trained his disciples to announced and teach all over Israel, as well as the message he commissioned them to take into the nations. And what, according to Yeshua, were the people’s response to be to this message?
The Response:
- “Repent: Stop breaking God’s commandments, change your life, give the appropriate sacrifice, ritually immerse in water to purify yourself, and obey God and His commandments from the heart, and then,
- “Believe in the gospel (“good news”).” “Believe” does not mean “mentally accept to be true.” Instead, “believe” is the English translation of the Greek word, pisteuo (pron. “pist-yoo-o”), and it means “to be firmly persuaded as to something to trust.” Wherever the word “believe” is used, I have found that the phrase “confidently trust” works much better to clarify the meaning of the word.
So if we put all of this together, a much clearer translation would be the following:
The Appointed Time has come, and now its meaning is being made even more full of meaning, for the time has arrived for God to begin the process of bringing about the ge’ulah (redemption) and the restoration of Israel. He will begin the process of bring together the descendants of the two kingdoms – the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah – back together to formulate One Kingdom, One Community, and One people. So repent, turn from your sins and immerse yourself, and obey God and His commandments, and believe the good news!
This is a much more comprehensive presentation of “the gospel of the kingdom” that Yeshua and his disciples were announcing and teaching all over Israel. However, something happened that the disciples were not expecting, even though Yeshua warned them that it would happen a few weeks before the actual event: his death and resurrection.
The Two Prongs of the Message
But after his resurrection from the dead by God, and God took him into the heavenlies, just as God did Enoch and Elijah the prophet, we see a new element added to “the gospel/good news of the kingdom”: the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Yeshua. This is probably a shock to most Christians and Messianic believers, but Yeshua was not “the gospel/good news,” but he was added to it, but the two messages were still kept distinct.
The first time we see this is in Acts 8. Philip has gone down to Samaria to announce “the gospel,” and we read,
But when they [Samaritans] came to believe Philip, as he announced THE GOOD NEWS concerning THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE NAME OF YESHUA THE MESSIAH, they were immersed [in water], both men and women. (Acts 8:12, CJB; emphasis added)
We can see here the two elements of the message: (1) the original gospel message of “the kingdom of God,” and the other added element: (2) “the name of Yeshua the Messiah.” The word “name” here is a Hebraic expression that actually refers to the person of Yeshua the Messiah, his life, ministry, death, and resurrection would have been included within this.
Another occurrence can be found in the last two verses in the book of Acts:
Sha’ul [Paul] remained two whole years in a place he rented for himself [while he was under house arrest]; and he continued receiving all who came to see him, openly and without hindrance proclaiming THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND teaching about THE LORD YESHUA THE MESSIAH. (Acts 28: 30-31, CJB; emphasis added)
Again, we can see the two prongs of their message: (1) the original gospel message of “the kingdom of God,” and the other added element: (2) “the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” These were the two parts of the message that was proclaimed and taught by the disciples after the ascension of Yeshua by God.
Obviously, there was something that happened that changed this dual message to the message that has been proclaimed and taught for over the past nineteen centuries. In part 3, I want to examine what the character, nature, and lifestyles were like of Yeshua and his disciples, and then in part 4, I want to examine what happened and why the change happened, and then in part 5, I want to look at the evidence from the Scriptures of what I am presenting as “the Jewish gospel of Yeshua” and that it is, in fact, the truth, and finally, I want to look at why Yeshua had to die in such a physically painful death on Passover. I am not sure if I can do this in one part or if it will take two parts.
followingmessiah.org 