Jews by Location

What I recently read; followed by my response.

Hebrew for Christians 

The word "Hebrew" (עִבְרִי) means "boundary crosser" or one who has "passed from beyond" (from the verb avar (עָבַר), to pass or to cross over). The word "Jew" (יְהוּדִי), on the other hand, comes from the root (יָדָה) which means to "thank" or to “praise” (see Gen. 29:35). The Apostle Paul alluded to this by saying that a Jew whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit is "one who is praised by God" -- not by men (Rom. 2:29). Being a Jew therefore means that you are “chosen” to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world. The performance of various commandments are for the greater purpose of tikkun ha'olam (תיקון העולם), the “repair of the world,” in order to reveal God’s goodness and love (Eph. 2:8-10). Doing so makes someone a Jew, since his praise comes not from man, but from the LORD. God is the source and the power of what makes a true tzaddik (righteous person). After all, Israel was meant to be a “light to the nations” (Isa. 42:6; 60:3), and God had always planned for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory through Abraham (Gen. 12:3). “Jewishness” is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing to the nations... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures centers on the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the “curse” by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. The gospel is Jewish because it concerns God’s great redemptive plan for the whole world (John 4:22-23). [Hebrew for Christians]

Oh, gosh..... I have read this 'claim' more than once, after finding it on a Hebrew Roots themed Facebook page. First time I couldn't believe what I was reading. Second time it seemed insane but I tried to see the point of it. Third time it just made me want to cry that someone under the title of 'Hebrew for Christians' could spew such unrelated hogwash. Now each time I read it I realized that Judeo-Christian doctrine is just another one of Satan's devices to continue driving that wedge between mankind and his Creator.

We who have come out of the Babylonian Churchianity Religious mindset in search of the Hebrew origins of faith have had to fight against being accused of 'going Jew' to family and friends, so you can imagine how I feel insulted by this article. The modern day word Jew does not have the same meaning as back in biblical times. The word 'Jew' didn't even exist back in the time Genesis was written, neither did the territory of Judea, for that matter.

Indeed, Leah was thankful for having sons, Judah being one of them, but I think this article is really stretching it in trying to define the word 'Jew". 

Abraham was a Hebrew. He 'crossed over' from the pagan ways of Chaldea, leaving his father's house in obedience to YHWH.

The example noted above about Paul was referring to when he was making a distinction between the 'hearers of Torah' and the 'doers of Torah'. Torah is the standard for righteousness that Paul applied to himself and those who read his letters. He was pointing out that if someone was circumcised because of their culture and not taught it was a sign of the covenant Yah made with Abraham, then circumcision is irrelevant in regards to the Kingdom of Elohim. 

"Being a Jew" =Does.Not.Mean= "that you are “chosen” to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the welfare of the world." Who is Israel? It is a people, the descendants of Abraham the Hebrew, all 12 tribes and those grafted in who choose YHWH as their Elohim and abide by His Instructions. These are the sheep and those other sheep Y'shua said he would gather as One flock. These are they who are to be a light unto the nations. 

It is the leaves of the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem that are meant for the healing of nations and by that time there will be no Jew or Gentile, slave or free man because we will be One People.

John 4:22 is part of the conversation Y'shua is having with the Samaritan woman who recognizes him as a Yehudean and later as a prophet and invites him to worship with them at their mountain. He tells her they worship something they do not know... and that life is from the Yehudeans (he gives her a hint of who she is talking to). He also lets her know in time true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. ~~ Who is the Giver of Life, the Lion of Judah? Y'shua the Anointed One 

The point is that one who is called a "Jew" in Scriptures is not necessarily a chosen man of God, or a member of the tribe of Judah, an Israelite, or even a Semite, but one who is a resident of the territory of Judea. A Judean, Yehudean.

Paul describes himself in Philippeans 3:5- "Circumcised when eight days old; of the stock of Israel; of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew, descendant of Hebrews; in regards to Torah, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the assembly of Messianic believers; and as to the righteousness of the oral Torah, I was without fault." (Oral Law is rabbinic tradition). Paul's attitude about himself and all he had mastered changed after he saw the superior knowledge of Y'shua and learned that his own righteousness came from Faith in the Messiah, that is, the righteousness which is from Elohim, and not of himself. Paul was not a 'Jew' pretending to be a Greek, but was well aware of his heritage as a descendant of Abraham. His Hebrew name, Saul, was taken from the first king of Israel, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, and Paul's teacher, Gamaliel, was also from the tribe of Benjamin. They were Jews by location, not by birth or religious affiliation, although Paul was under the influence of religion before Y'shua called him out. What a wonderful example for all of us!