Gentiles have lost so much by not embracing the G-D of the Hebrews. I am including Christian Gentiles. When we Christians threw out the Jews and their traditions from the Early Church, we also discarded their Yehovah-given wisdom and insights.
The Church of Yeshua began with 12 Jews, then 70, then 120 and many more. Jesus came to the lost sheep of Israel and he came to fulfil — not to replace — the Law. Generously, the GOD of the Hebrews invited Gentiles into the Fold after the resurrection. The Gentiles, such as the woman who was willing to settle for Jesus’ crumbs, and later those who were welcomed by Peter (through Simon the Tanner at Joppa), embraced Jewish people and culture. In fact, Paul had to instruct Galatians not to go beyond what was necessary to follow Jesus: faith and holy conduct.
But foolishly, the Gentiles eventually took over the Church of Jesus; the pendulum swung to over-rule Jewish input completely. Consequently, we lost truths, the alignment with GOD’s time table, and ultimately, the Jews themselves. The Gentiles — in their anti-semitic bias, lost wisdom. Not only through Catholicism was this lost, for if only through that we’d have regained it at the Reformation (1500’s). But we have not regained it, not at all, not even after all these centuries.
Rousseau grappled with this in 1762 in Emile:
“Oh Man! Seek no further for the author of evil; thou art he. There is no evil but the evil you do or the evil you suffer, and both come from yourself. Evil in general can only spring from disorder, and in the order of the world, I find a never-failing system. Evil in particular exists only in the end of those who experience it; and this feeling is not the gift of nature, but the work of man himself….”
How alike is this to Paul in Romans 7:18:
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find.”
Praise GOD that through faith and with the help of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. Evil can be overcome. Paul encourages in Ephesians 3:17-19,
“… that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of GOD.”
All the fullness of GOD, I purport, rests in the knowledge given to the Jewish people from the times of Abraham and Moses. All the fullness of GOD comes through the worship of Him at His feasts times and in His holy ways.
Oh, but how much have we Gentiles lost? The Jews still have that which we lost when we separated from the Jewish Believers. We can’t pinch it from them now; but we can reclaim a great deal if we recognise their traditions hold many keys for us, just as we hold keys for them as they await their Messiah.
We are not called to revert or convert to Judaism, but we are called to,“Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…”
When, in obedience and love, we remember that Jesus was crucified, not at Easter but during the holy festival of Passover, which GOD designed from centuries before to mark what would be the death and resurrection of His son, Saviour and Messiah, when we acknowledge and celebrate the truth of who the Creator of the Universe is, then we gain an insight and wisdom that He gave to the Jewish people, His chosen ones, all that time ago.
It’s all good for our learning
Irrespective of what we’ve lost we can regain. Nevertheless, we “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God….” (Philippians 4:4)
GOD loves us, comforts us, heals and delivers us.
My prayer today is, “May the Gentile Believers begin to embrace the truths of our Jewish roots, and may the Jewish people forgive our ignorance and trust those who follow Yeshua to love them and regard them as our big brothers. And one day, may all those who seek — both Jew and Gentile — find the Messiah promised by Jehovah G-D so long ago, Amen.”