A Jewish Kingdom

The Bible gives a central place to the identity and relationship which God has established with the Jewish people. These are the basis of the Bible itself. What follows is a compact list of some of the relationships which God has established with the Jewish people. Inasmuch as everything that God is building on the earth is being built on the foundation He has laid in Zion, these are the core of real biblical faith.

1. In the Bible, God identifies Himself specifically as the God of Israel, connecting His own identity to the people He brought out of Egypt.

God said to Moses, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: Israel is My son, My firstborn.’” (Ex. 4:22) There are many gods which people in the world follow and worship, expecting that to be redeemed. Only one God will redeem His followers.

The God who gave the Bible, the Creator and Lord of all, presents Himself as "the God of Israel" more than two hundred times in the Bible, He also calls Himself, “Shepherd of Israel,” “Rock of Israel,” “Father to Israel,” “Stone of Israel,” “King of Israel,” “Mighty One of Israel,” “Holy One of Israel,” “God in Israel,” “God over Israel,” “God to Israel,” “God for Israel,” etc. He also tells the world that He is the “God of Jacob,” “Holy One of Jacob,” “Mighty One of Jacob,” “Portion of Jacob,” et alia.

This is the way that God wants to be known, the way in which He distinguishes Himself from all the other gods that people worship and follow. He identifies Himself with a particular people and their land. He has promised that He will live in that land, in the midst of that people, and rule over all the earth.

Ruth was a Gentile who clung to Naomi, a woman of Israel. Ruth said, "Do not entreat me to leave you or to keep from following you; for wherever you go I will go; and where you lodge I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16) In response to Ruth's commitment, Boaz said to her, “The Lord will recompense your work, and a full reward shall be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (Ruth 2:12)

God assures those who take refuge in Him: "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth." (Is. 54:5)

2. God laid in Zion the foundation for what He is building.

"Zion" is Jerusalem, "the City of David". (cf. 2Sam.5:7) It is therefore sometimes used to represent all the land of Israel, even as "Washington" sometimes represents all of the `United States. "Therefore thus said the Lord God, 'Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he who believes shall not make haste.’” (Isa. 28:16) “Even as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. and the one who believes in him will not be disappointed.’” (Rom. 9:33)

Jesus is that foundation, located in Zion.(cf. 1Co. 3:11) That foundation cannot be relocated out of Zion; i.e. a non-Jewish Jesus, one not located in Zion, is not the same as the one in the Bible.

3. The Bible identifies Messiah primarily as the King of the Jews, the Redeemer of Israel and the world. He is prophetically identified this way from birth, in life, through death, and in his return.

God begins "The Messianic Writings," i.e. Matthew through Revelation, by telling us that Messiah is ”the son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Mt. 1:1). God sent the angel Gabriel to announce who Jesus would be. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33)

This is who he is; it is the way he was prophesied (e.g. Is. 9:5-6H, Jer. 23:5-6, Mic. 5:2) and the way he was announced (e.g. Lk.1:27,30-33, 67-75). This is who the wise men of the Gentiles came to find and bow down to. (cf. Mt. 2:2) It is the way in which Messiah was identified in his death (cf. Mt. 27:37; Mk.15:26; Lk.23:38; Jn.19:19). And it is the way in which he identified himself to his followers after his resurrection (cf. Lk. 24:27).

It is the way he wants his followers to know him and prepare for his return (e.g. Rev. 22:16). The God of Israel is sending the King of the Jews to rule over all the earth. This is Who is coming back, and why.

4. “Salvation is of the Jews.” It is not generic or from any other people.

The Samaritans believed that they had a way of salvation without Jerusalem and without the Jews. Jesus thought it necessary to rebuke this arrogant error because the Samaritans were lost in their own conceits: “You do not know what you worship. We know what we worship, because salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22) Jesus proclaimed a matter of divine historical truth: i.e. God has revealed the way of salvation for all peoples to and through the Jewish people, not through the Samaritans or any other people group, and not through some generic, unidentified way.

The King of the Jews will be ruling in Jerusalem from the throne of David King of Israel. Jesus maintained that "Salvation is of the Jews." That is the "salvation" which should be proclaimed.

5. In the Bible, Israel is the kahal/ekklesia of the Lord, the assembly/congregation/community which God has established for citizenship in His coming Kingdom.

As in Deuteronomy 23:2-4, Israel is the kahal/ekklesia/community of the Lord. Forms of the Greek word ἐκκλησίᾳ appear 114 times from the beginning of Matthew to the end of Revelation, having appeared 113 times in the Septuagint/LXX — the Greek text of the Torah, Prophets, Writings, and Apocrypha. The word is biblically defined long before the first century A.D..

In English, Christians often render the Greek ekklesia as "church," but this is not a translation; it is instead a religious, non-biblical, theological imposition. An accurate translation is either assembly, congregation, or community. This is what is used from Genesis through Malachi, and is usually used by all English translators in Acts 19:32-41, where the word describes what took place in Ephesus: "...the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.... 'But if you inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.'" (vv. 32,39)

“Therefore remember that once you, physically the Gentiles, were at that time far from Messiah, estranged from citizenship in the commonwealth of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. You are said to be 'uncircumcision' by those said to be physically “circumcision” in the flesh, made by hands. But now in Messiah Jesus, you who once were far off have become near in the blood of the Messiah. For he is our peace, who made both one, and took down the middle wall of the fence.” (Eph. 2:11-14)

6. The Bible lists some of the things which God has entrusted to Israel to fulfill its calling as His ekklesia for all people: “the legal right as sons is theirs, and the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the service, and the promises. The fathers are theirs, and the Messiah is physically from them...” (Rom. 9:4-5)

Each of these is essential; each imposes responsibilities. For example, "the legal right as sons" is necessary to truly be a child of God. The "covenants" establish a relationship with God in a real context. "the service" of God is a necessary response to His grace. Etc..

All Israel receive these things, but only those who are faithful benefit from them. Gentiles who are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel because of their faith share in these things. (Eph.2:10-12)

7. God gave the covenant of His Law to Israel. It defines sin, and stipulates sacrificial atonement on the altar for sin. It is the core of the New Covenant.

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they will be My people. And they will no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will no longer remember their sin.” (Jer. 31:31-34, cf. Heb. 8:10-12)

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) “Because no flesh will be declared righteous in His sight from the workings of the Law, because through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.“ (Romans 3:20) A sacrifice could atone for a sin, but it did not make the sinner righteous. It was the New Covenant which established the relationship.

Even Job's friends knew the questions: “What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?" (Job 15:14) "How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?" (Job 25:4)

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all as a means to put to death the nature we received from Adam and Eve, a nature which causes us to sin. He was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit to make a new nature available to humanity.

“Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin also acts contrary to the Law. Sin is action contrary to the Law. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and there is no sin in him.” (1John. 3:3-5)

8. God gave the holy Scriptures to the Jewish people; Jewish people wrote the text and proclaimed it to the world.

“Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the utterances of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2) The written word dispels the darkness, showing us the way to go."Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105)

The Bible, presented by God through the Jewish people, describes God as He is, humanity as we are, and the world as it is. "For the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) Where would you be without the Scriptures which the Jewish people brought to the world?

9. There are no "Christians" in the Bible. Some unbelievers called the disciples of Jesus "Chrestianos," i.e. followers of Chrestus.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, a standard reference work for the last century, points out that, "In all three NT passages the uncorrected Codex Aleph reads ‘Chrestian.’ We know from many sources that this variant was widely current in the 2d century.... On the whole it seems probable that this designation, though bestowed in error, was the original one....” ("Christian," ISBE, Vol.1, The Howard-Severance Company, 1915, P.622)

The ISBE article makes four points: 1) Unchanged manuscripts have Chrestian, not Christian. 2) This word was widely used during the 2d century. 3) Chrestian, though it was an erroneous designation, was probably the original designation. 4) The followers of Jesus did not call themselves “Christians,” they called themselves “Disciples”.

Codex א [Alef] contains all three passages, and has Chrestian in each one. In addition, the Codex Bezae, one of the most important sources of the Western text, also has Chrestian. The fragment called Text 81 contains Acts 11:26, and has Chrestian.

The fifth point is that later "Christians" intentionally changed the text of the Bible in these passages. The Roman historian Suetonius wrote Chrestus, and the Christian historian Orosius changed it to Christus. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote Chrestianos, and later Christian scribes changed it to Christianos. “A Byzantine forger even fabricated the Apostolic decree ordering the name of the followers of Christ to be changed from ‘Galileans’ to ‘Christians’." (Elias Bickermann, “The Name of Christians,” Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 42, Jan. 1949, p. 114)

10. There are covenants in the Bible, but no "testaments".

A covenant is an agreement made between the living as to how they, and sometimes future generations, will treat each other. A covenant with God is the only guarantee of an ongoing relationship with Him. On the other hand, in Latin as in English, a testament is a last will, a solitary declaration of how to dispose of one’s property after one’s death. Hebrews 9:15-18 is about covenants, not testaments.

The biblical Hebrew word brit is generally translated into English as “covenant,” and into the Jewish Greek of the Septuagint as diatheke. The Latin Vulgate, commissioned in 382 C.E., though it has many documented errors, became "the Bible" of the Western world for many centuries. Its main translators did not read or know Hebrew. Hebrew is the original language of about 75% of the Bible and the foundation of all of it. Someone who doesn't know Hebrew cannot translate it.

That did not deter the Vulgate translators. Though they did not know what the actual biblical text said, they found some portions which had been translated into languages they could mostly understand. Among their many errors, they translated diatheke into Latin as “testamentum”. For centuries, the "Church" learned, taught, and perpetuated these errors.

In Jeremiah 31:31-32/38:31-32LXX, God promised to “cut a new covenant/brit/diatheke with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant/brit/diatheke which I cut with their fathers...” In translating these verses — most likely done by Jerome, who knew some Hebrew — the Latin Vulgate is faithful to the text. In Hebrews 8:8-9, these verses are quoted verbatim from the LXX, but the Vulgate translators abandoned the correct Latin words used in Jer. 31:31-32, and switched to the incorrect word, testamentum, significantly distorting the text.

Testamentum is not a biblical word, but almost every current translation in every language adopts the Vulgate distortion of the text, the title, or both. They all reproduce the incorrect Latin translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew original. In the more than 300 times that diatheke appears in the Septuagint, it never means “testament”. Never. But because of bad translation, many people think that "testament" is correct.

In Hebrews 9:16-17, the NKJV has "For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives." Whose so-called "testament" is it? God, who established these covenants with Israel, did not die. Nor did Israel. Who died? English translators bring in concepts that are completely unrelated to the context, unrelated to anything in the Bible anywhere.

Here is a literal translation of the same verses: "For where there is a covenant, the death of what confirms the covenant must be presented, because a covenant is confirmed over dead bodies. For it is never in force while what confirms the covenant lives." (The Messianic Writings) In his literal translation of the text, Robert Young, compiler of the comprehensive Concordance that bears his name, uses the term "covenant-victim" for "what confirms the covenant".

As for "Testament," this mistranslation is the false foundation for most systems of interpretation in Christian theology. It creates the false image that books of the Bible pass away. To the contrary, however, the Scriptures do not get old. The use of “testament” also hides the fact that God, as He explicitly says, is making a new covenant/agreement with Israel. And no one died to leave a testament.

“New Testament” and “Old Testament” are theological terms, not Biblical ones. There is no “new testament” mentioned in the Bible. Nor is there any “old testament” mentioned in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t have anything at all to say about testaments.

11. God made the New Covenant with Israel, enabling people — Jews and those Gentiles grafted in — to have a relationship with God through Jesus, Israel's King. (cf. Mt. 26:28, Mk. 14:24) Those who have entered into the New Covenant have God's Law written in their hearts.

We need to know "How His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the acknowledgement of the One who called us by His own glory and virtue! Through these, He has granted to us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the decay that is in the world through desire." (2Peter 1:3-4)

"In this way the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt. 20:16, cf. Mt. 22:14) “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for I tell you+ that many will seek to enter in and will not be able." (Lk. 23:14)

“He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” (Mt. 26:27-28) “When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he also took the cup after eating, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.’” (1Cor. 11:24-25)

12. Jesus, the Son of David, will return to redeem Israel and judge the nations. (e.g. Revelation 22:12-16) The redeemed will enter the New Jerusalem through gates identified by the names of the tribes of Israel.

"...Behold, the Lion which is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Rev 5:5)

"Then the LORD will go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And his feet will stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east..." (Zech. 14:3-4)

“I, Jesus, have sent my messenger to bear witness to you concerning these things for the communities. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Rev. 22:16) “...For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Rev. 19:10)

“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her radiance was like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone, clear as crystal. It had a great and high wall, twelve gates and inscribed names, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. And there were twelve angels at the gates.” (Rev. 21:10-12,24-26) Those gates are the only way for people to enter the city.

The Church Creeds and statements of faith are judenrein, crafted without any connection to the Jewish people. The major historical creeds of the Church — e.g. the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedonian Definition — are presented as being authoritative and complete. Whoever accepts them is said to be within the Church and saved; whoever rejects them is said to be outside and lost. Though Jesus declared that "Salvation is of the Jews," (Jn. 4:22) the Creeds leave out Israel, its history, its relationship with God, and the Holy Days and the Law which God gave.

"The Gold Standard" of the National Association of Evangelicals does the same in its “Statement of Faith". (https://www.nae.org/the-gold-standard/) This statement is presented as though it contains everything that one must know and believe, but it has no foundation in Zion, no biblical covenant with God, no King of the Jews, and no Salvation which is of the Jews. Like the Creeds, it is also judenrein, completely separate from the Jews.

That stands in opposition to the Bible, which gives a central place to the identity and relationship which God has established with the Jewish people. Human tradition is not built on the identified foundation which God laid in Zion, but human tradition cannot save.

"Now it will be in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’S house will be established on the top of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills; and peoples will flow to it. Many nations will come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law will go forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:1-2)