Rabbi Yeshua is a very misunderstood character; in Christian churches today, He is miss-portrayed as “Jesus Christ” the man who was very angry with the disobedient Jews and because they were hopelessly disobedient, He came in the flesh to make the offer of eternal life to the Christians.  In so doing, there is a pocket indictment that gets made against Jews.  The Biblical Scholar Professor Amy-Jill Levine, author of “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus," has commented in a recent presentation:

“New Testament sermons and lectures promote ahistorical stereotypes of Judaism as xenophobic, elitist, materialist, warlike, misogynistic and otherwise so ossified that it makes the Taliban looks progressive. Such negative presentations neatly complement anti-Jewish stereotypes worshipers and students either picked up in Sunday school or developed from biased media coverage of the Middle East.”

Let me reiterate that the average Christian does not even realize that they are being exposed to this phenomenon, and so they are completely innocent; however the problem is pervasive.  I have a study bible which is my favorite because it has large margins—and my students all know how much I love to write in the margins.  The other night I was leading a study in my home with my family and the subtitle over the section of the New Testament read “The Jews Persist in Their Unbelief!”  Now when I read this—I was incensed at this commentary that some Editor at one of the largest Christian Publishing Houses allowed to be a part of the Holy Words of Adonai Tzavaot –the Lord God Almighty.  It was as is that is what God said about the Jews—but my Bible calls all Jews the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation of the God of Abraham.  This anti-Semitic statement is alive and well in the New International Version, KJV and far too many others.  I thought to myself, “Aha!  It’s no wonder at all why Christians think that Jews are lost, and that they don’t have the Holy Spirit and that if they don’t repent and accept “Jesus” that they will not be saved.  But Jeremiah 23, 33, and Zechariah 3 all disagree with any of those thoughts.

            So Pastor—why did you bring this all up?  I say all this to make the point that there is a closet anti-Semitism in Christianity against Jews that is the result of the phenomenon that Professor Levine has identified for us.  It is no wonder why people run around associating anything Jewish with “Judaizing!”  I cannot tell you how many times we have been called “Judaizers” by well meaning Christians who did not know the Bible in their spiritual immaturity.  So there are a few things that we need to understand before we go a step farther. 

1.  God does not hate the Jews; GOD LOVES THE JEWS!!

2.  God is for the Jews and rigorously defends them; 

3.  The Jews did not kill Rabbi Yeshua—He laid down His own life;

4.  Jeremiah 23, 33, and Zechariah 3 state that ALL—and yes—I said ALL Jews are saved through the covenant that Abraham made with YHWH, the God of Israel;

5.  Rabbi Yeshua—“Jesus Christ” –is the God of Israel—and the Jewish salvation was sealed in the “days of the Righteous Branch” which is a Messianic Title for Rabbi Yeshua! If you have any question of this—read Jeremiah 23; 33; and Zechariah chapter 3 very closely and pay special attention to the section that refers to the righteous BRANCH!

6.  The Messiah did not come to destroy Jews or Judaism;

7.  Being Jewish is an HONOR and not a curse! There is no greater blessing.  YahuShua was, is now and will forever be Jewish.

8.  Yeshua, James, John, Paul, and everyone else you read about in the entire new testament converted to Judaism—as christianity did not ‘officially’ exist apart from the Pharisees until 325 CE when Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in to practice in Rome as a separate religion from Judaism;

9. The “Yeast of the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s” is not Judaism;

10.  The Torah—the 5 books of Moses—are not done away with.  “Fulfilled” never has meant “abandoned” or “destroyed”—it means fulfilled—“filled to over flowing.”

11.  Rabbi Yeshua did not come to make a new Covenant.  Rabbi Yeshua came to make a “renewed or repaired Priesthood.”  Yahushua did “change the Levite Priesthood” and that is what Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 are referring to.  It is a new Priesthood—the order of Malki-Tzaddik—the King of Righteousness and his servants—the Sons of Zadok.  The new priesthood replaced the need for daily temple sacrifices to gain, or maintain ones ritual purity through adherence to the Levitical System of Atonement and Ritual Purity.

12. No Rabbi on earth would train you to know that He did something regularly—and then tell you because He  had done it—that now you do not have too—why would He waste His time teaching you it in the first place?  This is ridiculous—and couldn’t be farther from Jewish culture.  Yeshua did the sacrifices in the natural—now you will do them in the spiritual realm.

 So with those things in mind—let’s re-examine these sections of Scripture together:

Acts 15

1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."

Acts 21:20-25

 20When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the TORAH21They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."

Galatians 3

 1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?  6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.  19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.  21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.  23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[h] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Now before we go any further—man—that Rabbi Sha’ul he really knew what He was talking about; but do you?  Without intimate knowledge of fact that Greek has one word for “LAW” and Hebrew has 14—how could the Greeks capture all 14 variations from the Hebrew with the single Greek word “NOMOS??”  They couldn’t and that is all of that.  Now let’s look at these scriptures again:

Acts 15

1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 

The Key to understanding what the “Judaizers” were doing is found in this one verse.  They were Patrician Pharisee’s from Jerusalem; and they were constantly worrying about “Ritual Purity” as defined within the Levitical System during the 2^nd Temple period.  They were saying to former Gentiles—that without the “sign of the covenant in your flesh” YOU CANNOT BE SAVED.

They were teaching a traditional Jewish thought that unless you have both B’rit Millah (Circumcision in the foreskin) then your conversion is not complete.  And undoubtedly, Rabbi Sha’uls converts were getting very upset about this.  But why would it matter?  Because without this sign in your flesh—you could not ENTER THE H-LY TEMPLE and SACRIFICE TO OBTAIN RITUAL PURITY.  They were telling them that they would not be allowed into the Temple and thus they were not “fully converted to Judaism!”  Rabbi Sha’ul knows that ritual purity is not found in the blood of bulls and Sheep—but in the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Rabbi Yeshua.  Ritual Purity is only found in Messiah!  So in review—a Judaizer is someone who tells you that the sign of the Mosaic covenant MUST BE in your FLESH for you to be considered “pure” before God.

Now let’s look at the next section of Scripture again:

Acts 21:20-25

 20When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the TORAH21They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."

Rabbi Sha’ul arrives in Jerusalem and Ya’akov, the leader of the Bet Din (the Jewish law court) in the Rabbi Yeshua school of Torah Studies—meets Paul and says “look how many Jews now believe that Rabbi Yeshua IS the Messiah!!  But they are told that you teach Jews who live among the Gentiles to (1) turn away from Moses, (2) telling them not to circumcise their children or (3) live according to our customs.  This was a problem—and not one Ya’akov wanted to give one more second too—so He assigns Rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) to not only go to the Temple the next day—but to take these others men with him—and that He and they were to undergo a ritual called the “Nazerite Vow” and that Rabbi Sha’ul was to pay the Priests for all four of their rituals.  This ritual involved a sacrifice and a public declaration of the time of your dedication to a very stringent act of ritual purity. 

Ask yourself—if Ya’akov—the Apostle James—did not follow Judaism—then why would He instruct Rabbi Sha’ul to do this rite?  IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIGN STATING THE OPPOSITE—then Rabbi Sha’ul would never abandon the Jewish lifestyle and was living in adherence to the Torah and all its righteous commands. 

 You see—these three charges against Paul—are still the charges that are leveled against him to this very day.  Remember what Ya’akov (James) said the outcome would be “Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law”  If Rabbi Sha’ul didn’t live this way any longer because of Messiah—then—why did He obey Rabbi Ya’akov??  He wouldn’t—but HE DID!!!!  It is because this is NOT what He taught—and the same false accusation against Rabbi Sha’ul remains to this very day.

Now let’s read Galatians 3 again as it is written in the NIV and then I will let you read it in the Hebrew Heritage Bible I have been translating for the last several years—then you decide what He was really saying.  Here is the current NIV:

Galatians 3

 1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

 6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.  19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.  21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.  23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[h] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Verse 19 is the key to the whole passage when it states “ (1) What then, was the purpose of the law? (2) It was added because of transgressions (3) until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.

The point I mark as number (1) asks the question—what was the purpose of the Law?  Then number (2) gives us the answer “it was added because of transgressions.”  Now ask yourself was the Mosaic covenant given “BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS?” NO!  The Mosaic Covenant was given as a wedding Kettubah [A Marriage Rights Document] with the Jewish people and was the sign of their marriage and was sealed with blood in Exodus 24:7 and 8.  THEN HE WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN.  After the TORAH WAS SEALED then MOSES WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN and received the TWO TABLETS OF THE TESTIMONY—or the INSTRUCTIONS FOR ATONING FOR SIN AND THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MISHKHAN –the mobile moving Tabernacle that was operated by the Priests.  The Golden Calf incident doesn’t take place until EXODUS 32—and this is where Moses breaks the Tablets.  Remember the “Book of the Covenant was read, agreed to and sealed in Exodus 24.  The Tablets busting in Exodus 32 and the new Priesthood of the Levites established AFTER THAT. 

Number (3) says “until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.”  What Seed?  That SEED was Messiah Yahushua—and that is why the Temple has fallen—because we are under the Priesthood of Yahushua who is the Kohen Gadol of the Jews everywhere.  So as you can see—even Rabbi Sha’ul gives us the answer—right there in verse 19 of chapter 3.  Remember the Judaizers we teaching that without physical circumcision—you were not “saved”—in Jewish thought—this means that you did not fully convert to Judaism.

Now that you know these things—read Galatians 3 again—but this time from a Hebrew Heritage Translation© 2007:

Galatians 3

1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Yahushua King Moschiach was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Chai Nephesh by observing the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Ruach HaKodesh, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does YHVH give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity, or because you trustingly obey what you heard?  Consider Abraham: "He trustingly obeyed YHVH, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Bereshit 15:6 Understand, then, that those who trustingly obey YHVH are children of Abraham. The Tenach foresaw that YHVH would make clean the former Goyim by their trusting obedience, and announced this good news in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18 So those who have trusting obedience are blessed along with Abraham, the man of trusting obedience. All who rely on observing the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity for their “ritual cleanliness” are under a curse, for it is written in Torah: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the books of the Torah." Devarim 27:26. Clearly no one is “made ritually clean ” before YHVH by the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity through sacrifice, because, "the Tzaddikim will live by trusting obedience" as it is written in Habakkuk 2:4.  The Levitical system of regaining ritual purity is not based on trusting obedience; on the contrary, as Rabbeinu Moshe has stated "the man who does these things will live by them." Leviticus 18:5. YHVH redeemed us from the curse associated with the Levitical system of ritual purity by becoming a curse for us, for it is written in the Torah: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Devarim 21:23 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the nations through the Moshiach, so that by trusting obedience we might receive the promise of the Ruach HaKodesh.   Dear Friends, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to “his seed.”  The Tenach does not say "and to his seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7 meaning one person, who is the Mashiach. What I mean is this: The Levitical System of restoring ritual purity, introduced 430 years later at Mt. Sinai, does not set aside the covenant previously established by YHVH to Abraham and thus do away with the covenant promise. For if the inheritance of the Abrahamic promises depends on our faithful adherence to the Levitical System of ritual purity-- then it no longer depends on a covenant promise; but YHVH in His Chesed gave the inheritance to Abraham through a covenant promise.  What, then, was the purpose of the Levitical System of restoring ritual purity?  It was added to the Torah because of mans transgressions of Torah until “the Seed” to whom the promises referred had come. The Levitical System of regaining ritual purity was put into effect through angels by a priestly mediator. A priestly mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Devarim 6:4 is the Levitical System of regaining ritual purity opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a means of regaining ritual purity had been given that could impart life, then a ritually pure status would certainly have come by the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity. But the Tenach declares that the whole world is a prisoner of lawlessness, so that what was promised, being given through trusting obedience to YHVH, might be given to those who through their trust in YHVH obey. Before this obedience came, we were held prisoners by the Levitical system of regaining ritual purity, locked up in ritual sacrifice and offering until trusting obedience should be revealed. So the Levitical System of regaining ritual purity was put in charge to lead us to Mashiach, that we might be made “ritually pure and clean” as is evidence by our obedience. Now that this trusting obedience resulting in our ritual purity has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Levitical system of regaining and maintaining ritual purity. You are all sons of YHVH through trusting obedience to YHVH, for all of you who were T’ Villah into YHVH have clothed yourselves with YHVH. There is no special credit given because one is a biological Jew or a biological Greek, one is a slave or a free man, male or female, for you are all the same pure status in YHVH. If you belong to YHVH, then you are Abraham's Seed, and heirs according to the covenantal promise!

Well beloved, Rabbi Sha’ul knew that the thing that was being replaced was the Levitical System of regaining ritual purity; and it was being replaced by trusting obedience in YHWH and His sacrifice.

            We teach contemporary Judaism—not that you need to be circumcised  in your foreskin to be saved; In fact according to our great Teacher Moses—circumcision is not of the foreskin—but of the heart!  It is the hearts condition that is at issue.  ALL Jews are delivered only one way—just like Noach in Genesis 6:8—when we find favor—or as Rabbi Sha’ul states so eloquently, “we are saved by GRACE through steadfast trusting”--trust in the promises that YHWH made to our forefather Abraham that demonstrates our faithfulness in obedience to His commands.”  And most certainly not in a system that has been set aside since 70CE.

            Judaism does not put barriers on salvation—but Judaizers do.  A Judaizer is anyone who thinks that their righteousness amounts to anything beyond filthy rags to the God of Abraham.  Abraham, according to Genesis 26:5 “obeyed ALL Gods commands, decrees; laws and instructions; and this is what was credited as righteousness.  He was told “Lech Lecha” get yourself out to the place where I will show you—and He left.  Along the way, he was told to be circumcised—but ONLY AFTER he had gone through the Jordan River and crossed into the Promised Land.  Going through the Jordan was Abrahams “T’Villah” or ritual bath that resulted in a “change of status” [being born again] and is all that was required for conversion to Judaism in the earliest days of modern Judaism and is agree to by Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Eliezer, and Rabbi Yochanan of the great counsel that codified much of modern Judaism.

The sign is there and we encourage all who have sons to have them circumcised on the 8^th day, but to those who are not physically circumcised the Rabbi Sha’ul ties it up for us very nicely by stating that whether or not we are born Jewish, or male or slaves or freemen, that we are all equal in Messiah when he says “There is no special credit given because one is a biological Jew or a biological Greek, one is a slave or a free man, male or female, for you are all the same pure status in YHVH. If you belong to YHVH, then you are Abraham's Seed, and heirs according to the covenantal promise!’

Just because one shares the incredible depth of Judaism—does not make one a “Judaizer’ and we should take good care to not label people when we do not understand. 

Judaism is the faith of the Bride of Messiah; there is nothing wrong with Christianity—or Christians—it just is a starting point for the expression of your faith.  Grow up in Messiah and press into the faith the was shared by Paul, Peter, James, John and most importantly by Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef himself—you will be surprised how much it will feel like your favorite leather jacket—warm—and supple, like your dearest old friend!!