This playlist has nine videos covering the subject of the Body of
Christ. We talk about Israel, the church, Jews, Gentiles, Judaism,
Christianity, the remnant, the olive tree, and much more.
The New Covenant and the Two Sticks of Ezekiel
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28, 29
NASB)
Two houses
This article concerns a doctrine called 'Two House.'
Most of the article is opinion, so take it for what it's worth. This
teaching has a great deal of possible truth to it, and by and large I do
not reject it out of hand. I think there is way too much 'rejecting out
of hand' going on in the Messianic Movement as it is. However, I have a
large concern for the effects of the teaching, and that is what is
addressed here. I am not trying to give a complete, scholarly treatment
of the doctrine itself; that is done in other articles and books much
more ably than I could attempt. Here I will give a short background or
history, then give a summary of the doctrine, and finally make some of
my own observations at the end. Bear with me here, because the
background and summary are important to understanding what I think is
the cause of the two house teachings, and what is the fruit of the
teaching.
History of the Movement
Some decades ago, a movement gained momentum within Judaism oriented
towards accepting Jesus as the Messiah. In the early '70's there were
few adherents or Messianic Synagogues in the United States. About thirty
years later there are an estimated several hundred thousand people who
have made the plunge into Jesus, and dozens of synagogues. New ones are
starting or changing over almost every month.
Throughout history there has always been a remnant, even among the
Jews, who followed Jesus. One organization (the IMJA) can trace its
existence back to 1866. But after Israel became a nation again He became
much more widely accepted among them than anytime before, except for
perhaps the first or second century A.D.. There are probably dozens of
reasons why this movement is developing, including such things as
schools that started in the newly revived nation of Isra'el, or the
influence of Christians and Jews who spent time learning from each
other. But one of the biggest factors driving this movement in my
opinion is, perhaps for many the surprising, realization that accepting
Jesus as the Messiah does not mean having to give up Torah or the Jewish
cultural heritage.
For many centuries it was assumed that
'conversion' required the giving up of all semblance of Jewishness,
embracing a so-called "freedom in Christ" which generally meant giving
up the "legalism" of Torah observance. Historically, after about the
first century following the resurrection, the Gentile component of
believers increased and the Jewish component decreased. As the Gentile
component increased, Gentiles began moving away from anything Jewish due
mainly to the (mostly self-inflicted) persecution of the Jews. But the
Gentile Christians really didn't know how to deal with the 'Jewishness'
of the Bible, and invented many extra-biblical doctrines that 'replaced'
the Jews with the Church to justify the elimination of Jewish behavior
and culture. The newer Biblical writings became the 'New' testament,
while the existing Scriptures became 'Old.' The god of the Old Testament
wanted blood sacrifice, while the god of the New was all about really
good feelings. 'Israel' gave way in their theology to the 'Church,' all
the Biblical blessings were appropriated by this Church, and all the
curses were dumped on Israel. These types of doctrines seemed to work
fine until the state of Israel sprang into existence again, overnight as
it were, when the doctrines blew up in the Church's face.
Replacement theory: kaboom
Suddenly, all of the anti-Jewish replacement schemes looked extremely
foolish. Here was an event that did not fit any of the extra-biblical
doctrines, but instead was an exact fulfillment of Biblical prophecy
previously thought to apply to the replacement Church. The Church began
to deal frantically with the confusion by re-vamping their carefully
constructed house of cards so rudely blown down by the winds of reality.
Into the 'Babel' stepped a number of learned men, some of whom studied
at schools started in the new state of Israel and some of whom arrived at similar
conclusions independently, who realized that God's plan had remained the
same since the beginning. It was understood by these gifted teachers
that any apparent change to His plan had more to do with removing the
human works plaster, that hid the beauty of His plan, rather than any
change in God's Word. They took a hard look at all of the extra-biblical
doctrines, and began to reject those that did not measure up to Divine
Truth. It was 'discovered' that what was previously rejected as 'Jewish'
Law, with the death penalty already paid, was in fact a beautiful
discipleship program. And it was available to all people everywhere.
At first the realization that Jesus and Torah went together like a
hand in a glove mostly affected Jewish believers. When they began to
understand that Jesus had not actually come to destroy Torah but to show
His followers how to live it properly, they embraced Him at an ever
increasing rate. But also over the last couple of decades a new problem
(that is really not new at all) confronted searching Gentile believers,
which is best phrased as a question. "If Torah is a legitimate, God
honoring lifestyle for the Jew, why isn't it also legitimate for the
Gentile?" Since it is okay for the Jews to follow all the words of
the Bible, live a lifestyle pleasing to God, AND receive the blessings
of that lifestyle, then to me it would follow that everyone should
pursue it. If Torah is the legitimate Word of God, and we are all "one
new man," doesn't it make sense that the entire household is subject to
the same set of instructions for holy living?
Jesus-filled Torah
Many Gentiles have
faced these questions and decided that, yes, we are all of one household
and we are all subject to the same rules of behavior. Consequently,
these Gentiles (my humble self included) have embraced a Torah that is
filled with Jesus and begun to apply it to every area of their walk with
God. However, most Gentile 'Christians' still believe in the cardinal
doctrines of replacement theology, regardless of actual events or
teaching from the Word of God to the contrary. They insist on believing
that the Jews must become Christian in order to walk with God, and that
Torah is the 'old' system while theirs is the 'new.' Many Jews, on
the other hand, contrive to exclude the Gentiles from the blessings of
Torah observance. They are busy with manufacturing their own
extra-biblical reasons for why the Torah does not apply to everyone.
This back and forth problem has gone on for a long time. Abraham was
a Gentile, a fact that Jews tend to overlook. The Jews were given a
mandate after release from Egypt to be a 'light' to the Gentiles, but
reacted by developing the belief that one had to become a 'Jew' to walk
with God. After Jesus came and corrected that belief (among many other
beliefs), what was intended as a 'new man' made up of Jew and Gentile
was corrupted by the Gentiles into the belief that one had to become
'Gentile' in order to walk with God. Almost everybody seems to overlook
the fact that there are no Jews in the first five books of the Bible.
Only Isra'el. And with the blossoming in the desert of the 'apple of
God's eye,' we are now seeing a return to an awareness of the original
plan of God, that of one man.
Many of the people in the Messianic
Movement, as it is called sometimes, believe that the Torah is a
covenant only with Isra'el, and therefore the Gentiles should not follow
it. There is in fact much ridicule and mocking being hurled at those
Gentiles who've seen the Torah as God's Universal Word, and have begun
to incorporate those instructions into their own lives. But there are
also Jews who realize that the Torah was intended as 'inclusive' rather
than 'exclusive,' and who have been trying to share with willing
Gentiles their understanding of God's instructions. These people have
found themselves caught between two worlds - rejected equally by the
Church and the Jews over the issue of attempting to incorporate ALL of
God's Word into daily living.
