(Photo credit: Denty One)
Historical parallels can be overdone and misleading, but there’s one I’m sensing that would explain a lot.
In the first century, faith in Yeshua of Nazareth was a Jewish phenomenon for several years, decades even. It doesn’t appear that the first Gentile believed in Yeshua until nearly 20 years after his death (although some say 10), namely Cornelius the Centurion stationed in Caesarea. Even then, we can tell from Paul’s letters and the accounts of Acts that faith in Messiah continued to be declared in and find adherents mainly among Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in synagogues throughout the Roman empire.
So, even though it had become apparent that the Kingdom of God had been opened up to Gentiles and was no longer an exclusively Jewish domain, it also appears from the Acts narrative that the “Jesus movement” continued to be a Jewish movement, based in synagogues. That’s where Paul primarily went to proclaim the Gospel, although it also appears from his letters that separate fellowships, if not separate congregations, had developed. However, there’s nothing to suggest that these groups didn’t continue to follow a Jewish rubric, either led by Jews or by God-fearing Gentiles.
Although we have no Scriptural record beyond approximately A.D. 60, it appears that this remained the situation until the Jewish war with Rome that ended in 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, including the Temple. Following that event, Rome instituted the “fiscus Judaicus,” a punitive tax levied against Jews throughout the Roman empire to help pay for the construction of a pagan temple in Rome. Combined with the lack of a central messianic authority in Jerusalem, that tax may have been one of the factors to begin the division of Gentiles from the Jewish people, even from the Jewish believers. It is speculated by many scholars that Gentile believers in Messiah didn’t want to have to pay the tax or face the anti-Semitic wrath of the Roman government, and so began to identify themselves separately from the Jewish people, even from the Jewish believers. Philip S. Alexander, in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135, says that another result of the war, the triumph of rabbinic Judaism over other forms, also helped to speed the division.
In any case, it’s clear that by the end of the first century and early second century, Gentiles had begun to dominate the assembly of Messiah, creating what we know as the Church. They started to change traditions, drifting from Jewish observances such as Shabbat, festivals and the dietary laws. At first, that may have just been a natural consequence of being separated from their Jewish roots; later, it became intentional as a way to distinguish themselves from Jews. New church structures began to arise, as did theologies that demeaned the place of the Jewish people in the Kingdom.
In short, what started as a Jewish movement became, less than 100 years later, a predominantly Gentile faith, one in antithesis to Judaism. Was this because Jews turned their back on Messiah en masse? That could be part of it, although the faith at first had plenty of Jewish momentum and was even well-regarded by many Jews who didn’t believe in Yeshua, especially in Jerusalem. James, the brother of Messiah, for instance, was well-regarded in Jerusalem as an exceedingly pious man, only put to death by the same Sadducean leaders that sent Messiah to the cross. By the end of his life, though, Paul appeared to be pretty disillusioned about more Jews coming to faith (Acts 18:6).
This change resulted in such developments as:
1. Jewish leadership of the Yeshua sect disappearing, being replaced by Gentile believers.
2. Observance of outward Torah covenantal signs such as Shabbat, the feasts and dietary laws by Gentile followers of Messiah being altered or abolished.
So what’s the parallel? I think the same thing is happening with the messianic movement of today.
The early days of what we now call messianic Judaism were dominated by Jews, chiefly in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many Jews had come to faith through the Jesus movement, which appealed to members of the ’60s counterculture, and they decided to embrace some traditions of their Jewish heritage in worship and lifestyle. This was reinforced by Israel’s Six-Day War triumph that saw the reclamation of Old Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, especially the Wailing Wall. Many saw that as a sign that prophecy regarding those sites was being fulfilled and that the “time of the Gentiles” had been fulfilled, that it was time for Jews to begin embracing their Messiah.
As Gentiles began to join this messianic movement in the 1980s and ’90s as a more authentic expression of a primitive Yeshua faith, though, history began to repeat itself. At first, many Gentile messianics operated within Jewish frameworks, such as the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations or the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America. They bristled, though, at not being counted as full partners in the messianic movement, saying they felt like second-class citizens. For instance, to be a full congregational member of the UMJC, a congregation has to have at least 10 Jewish members and a Jewish leader.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Gentile messianic movement began to assert itself through such organizations as the Messianic Israel Alliance and, now, Messianic Covenant Community. The One-Law movement, that Torah applies equally to both Jewish and Gentile believers, also began to grow in that time period.
One of the results of this has been an antagonism toward Jewish interpretation of Torah (even among some Messianic Jews). Messianic Gentiles frequently frown on Jewish tradition as the “traditions of men,” as if nothing they do are traditions of men.
And, as time goes on, it appears (although this is just a guess from observation of messianic interaction and discourse on the Internet) that messianic Gentiles are nearly to the point of outnumbering messianic Jews.
Numbers aside, though, what counts is the attitude. And the attitude that I see from the Two-House, One-Law movements is another shoving aside of Jews in the messianic movement. This is mainly being done through efforts to erase the distinction between Jews and Gentiles by misappropriation of verses such as Ephesians 2:14 and Galatians 3:28.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to discourage Gentile involvement in the messianic movement. It’s a glorious fulfillment of prophecy about Gentiles coming to the Jewish Messiah and His people. What I’m concerned about is that the messianic movement in the 20th and 21st centuries is making the same mistake as the messianic movement in the 1st and 2nd centuries.
The Corner Tassel 
Mark Twain famously said that history does not repeat itself
but it rhymes.
Your observation that Messianic Judaism is about to be over
whelmed by Gentiles clamoring to get in and be counted as equal and comparing
that to the events of first and second century certainly rhymes. The question
is why does it rhyme?
I would propose that the reason it rhymes is because it
happened one additional time, before first century, and the events are recorded
in the authorized history of Israel.
When the Northern tribes joined David in building the United
Kingdom they had a number of traits which should ring of rhyme and rhythm to
our current situation.
The North had large numbers much larger than the house of
Judah which David reigned over in Hebron
The Northerner’s land had potential for great wealth; they
owned the best trade route east to west across Israel, the road from Megiddo to
Hazor, through the most fertile land in Israel, the Jezreel valley. That is why
Solomon fortified Megiddo and Hazor, these towns where toll booths on the
ancient trade route and produced large financial gain for their owners.
When the Northerners decided they no longer wished to follow
the house of Judah, lead by David’s offspring, they simply leveraged their
large numbers and their wealth and from that point on they made up the rules as
they saw fit, without regard to the descendents of David, the house of Judah,
Torah or God for that matter.
Of course this ended in disaster, Isaiah fore saw the
disaster and predicted “Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no
longer a people” (Isa. 7:8) Hosea saw them as “persona non grata”
quoting God as saying to the Northerners “You are not my people and I am not
your God” (Hosea 1:9) In other words they became Pagan, Gentiles.
So the pattern is set, unless we break it.
It always goes like this;
Judah, the tribe blessed with the leadership role in Genesis
49 begins a new and very positive movement.
The other tribes soon join and follow Judah, for a while,
but before long the wealth and numbers of Joseph’s tribes leads them to believe
that even though they have no call to leadership, surely their wealth and
numbers makes them qualified to lead.
It always ends in disaster.
Judah has to lead
Levi needs to minister to God for all of us.
And the rest of us need to go back and look at the rest of
Jacob’s blessings in Genesis 49 and figure out what our blessing is and bring
our gift out of our blessing, not trying to do something to which we are not
called.
The Good news is that someday each Brother will walk in his
gifting.
“In
that day I will restore
David’s fallen tent.
I will repair its broken places,
restore its ruins,
and build it as it used to be, (Amos 9:11)
The Jew is outnumbered and has been for some time. We are excluded from the gentile-led groups like MIA because of our traditions. It’s not that we are anti-gentile, it’s that the stance these group use to justify their existence does not mesh with the traditions handed down by our fathers. Within the MJAA and UMJC, there are congregations that mock the traditions and this creates an unwelcoming flavor that tells the Jew he must reject his tradition, face frequent “deprogramming” sessions from concerned gentiles, or move on. The Messianic movement was designed to be a place where the Jew could feel save in his Yeshua belief. Instead, it is fragmenting into splinter groups that do not resemble the original intent but still call themselves “messianic.” This makes it very hard for a Jew to be messianic and still be considered a Jew by the greater Jewish community. To blame this phenomenon (a Jew who believes in Yeshua is no longer a Jew) on the “non-believing” Jew is a mistake. To do so is equivalent to concentrating on the cough when the body is dying from tuberculosis.
Very well written and I agree with you totally. We need to let Jews be Jews and quit telling them that they are in and of themselves defective even when they do embrace their Messiah.
Oh, Miek. That is so far disconnected from reality, so slanderous of those who have labored for decades in this movement, it’s difficult to respond in gentleness.
The Two House movement does not shove aside Jews. It believes gentiles are part of Israel.
The One Law movement does not shove aside Jews. It believes gentiles should keep the Torah, including the so-called identity marker commandments.
The Two Church/Bilateral Ecclesiology movement, however, calls for a segregation of Jews and gentiles into different assemblies, a practice without a New Testament precedence. It shoves aside Jews into a corner separate from the rest of the body under a false belief that segregation from gentiles is the only way to preserve Jewish identity. It is a theology pushed most vocally not by Jews, but by gentile converts to Messianic Judaism.
Two Church/Bilateral Ecclesiology is far more an egregious conscience than any identity movement (Two House) or covenantal responsibility question (One Law); it’s a real, tangible segregation of Messiah’s body based on race.
As someone who has labored in both Messianic Jewish and Hebrew Roots communities, Jewish people are loved and embraced in One Law and Two House congregations. Gentiles are frowned upon, unwelcomed, and often treated as second class citizens, in Bilateral Ecclesiology congregations.
It should strike your audience odd that voices for this Bilateral Ecclesiology — which claims to the most pro-Jewish idea in the Messianic world — comes most loudly not from Jewish people, but from gentiles and particularly gentile proselytes to Messianic Judaism.
It occurred to me there’s another departure — even reversal — when considering the 1st century gentile take-over to today’s Messianic movement:
In the first century, gentiles were abandoning the idea that Israel was core to the faith — gentiles were more important than Jews. It resulted in the creation of Rome-based Christianity void of its Israel roots.
Today, we have the inverse: an embracing of and returning to Israel’s centrality. Joining to Israel (Two House and Commonwealth of Israel theology). Adopting Israel’s commandments (One Law). Recognizing Jewish leadership (see Barry’s comment).
In a sentence: the first century saw gentiles moving away from Israel, the Jewish people, and Torah, but today, we have the opposite; we are seeing Zech 8 come about: righteous gentiles latching onto Israel, joining her covenants, loving Israel and desiring to see her prosper, even aligning with Israel politically.
Judah, thanks for your thoughts.
I think most of our disagreements are differences in perception and experience.
My own experience in two-house and one-law circles and what I see on the Internet is just the opposite of yours: Jewish practice and traditions are to be derided, or, at best, diluted, and Jewish identity is to be cast off. (One exception is Torah Resource, Tim Hegg’s ministry.)
I disagree with your final statement. I believe you’ll find many among the UMJC and MJRC who would be the loudest voices for what you call “bilateral ecclesiology” (but which I believe is simply Biblical teaching and description). Among them would be Rabbis Russ Resnik and Michael Schiffman. You’re probably giving Rabbi Derek Leman, a convert to messianic Judaism, too much weight in your argument.
As a friend of mine recently observed, neither Christianity nor Modern Judaism bears any resemblance to the Judaism of ancient Judea nor do their congregations bear any resemblance to the synagogues of the Apostolic era. A true adherent of Messianic Judaism cannot align themselves to either of these religions. They will be rejected by both. In my understanding, both of these modern religions are departures from the true worship and observance taught by Y’shua of His talmidim.
Bilateral Ecclesiology or Divine Invitation Theology does not bear any resemblance to the Torah observance of 1st century congregations aligned with Messiah Y’shua or to the pronouncements of Saul concerning Jews and Gentiles. I personally do not see this ‘Gentile vs Jew’ tempest in a teapot, as anything short of fiction. As a believer in Y’shua, Judaism will never accept me. As a observer of Torah, Christianity will reject me too.
Messianic Judaism is supposed to be a rejection of false doctrines and institutional biases. Jew or Gentile no longer matters in true worship and obedience, except possibly as what might be perceived as a claim to an allotment of land under the Covenant. I’m pretty sure that those claims will be arbitrated by the King and He is notoriously hard to deceive.
The main problem I see in Messianic Judaism today is it’s seemingly overwhelming inclination to institute congregations based on a business model instead of establishing communities that emphasizes worship, instruction and accountability across multiple generations. It seems we are rewarding hirelings to shepherd the flock and these ‘leaders’ have a propensity to elevate themselves above the needs of the community and focus on non-existent issues such as the differences between Jews and Gentiles to their own personal glory. I’m sure these vain and divisive debates, settled some 2,000 years ago, are not profitable.
Heshem knows what is promised to whom and when. Job one is getting along with each other and observing all of His instructions as it applies to us as individuals, as families and as communities. Where in scripture does it say, “I have given these commandments, statutes and precepts to you, that you may claim them as cultural markers and exclude those that would worship me in obedience!” It seems I missed that verse.
And what is this trend toward worship services patterned after political conventions and Broadway productions? Really?
Mike, you are my brother in Y’shua, co-heir with Him in His Kingdom. I think I’ll let Him explain the legalities of adoption to those that don’t understand.
“Bilateral Ecclesiology or Divine Invitation Theology does not bear any
resemblance to the Torah observance of 1st century congregations aligned
with Messiah Y’shua or to the pronouncements of Saul concerning Jews
and Gentiles.”
Philip… until you have somehow transported yourself back to the first century and brought us back a first hand report, I think it is quite presumptuous of you to make the claims that you’ve made in your comment above. But your sentiments are not unique in the least!
The religious history of Christianity (and don’t delude yourself that you don’t practice a form of Christianity!) is littered with “we are the only one who are just like the first church in Jerusalem, only WE get it!” groups, individuals, and ideas. There’s even a theological term for this frequently occurring Christian phenomena: Restorationism (look it up).
However, my question for you is the same I’d pose to all the
Restorationism-driven groups – can whatever faith that YOU
practice today pass the same test of continuity that you thrust upon
Judaism and Christianity as you question their legitimacy?
Hi Gene,
You should practice some (hygiene). It’s unsanitary to put word in other peoples mouths.
“Philip… until you have somehow transported yourself back to the first century and brought us back a first hand report, I think it is quite presumptuous of you to make the claims that you’ve made in your comment above”
I’m not sure I understand your position though. You mean to tell me that we cannot rely on the first hand reports of scripture? Really? You seem to be telling me that there is no way to ascertain the nature of 1st century synagogues or the teachings of Y’shua without being a time-traveler. So I guess we shouldn’t even try, right? Lol! Sorry Paul, Luke, Peter, all you guys; this brother thinks you don’t count. ROFLOL!
Gene, there are a wealth of scriptural authors, historians, archaeologists, cultural anthropologist and yes, even rabbis, that would disagree with you. But you are free to discount or ignore any amount of scholarship or scripture you choose.
If you are asking if Messianic Judaism follows the pattern of ancient synagogues; ones that were governed by multiple elders instead of a single, play for pay ‘leader’, then I would answer no. Both modern Judaism and Christianity follow the Roman model, not the scriptural one. That is the point I was making. But I understand if you don’t see it, being in the middle of it and all…
From what I have read of you writings, I would have guessed that you ‘get it’ though. That is what you would have us believe.
You ask me about continuity? Really?
I gather from you that Paul was a liar; that Goyim are not adopted or grafted in; that there are still Goyim and Jews within the body of Messiah and in the commonwealth of Israel; that the instruction of Y’shua to mikvah all in His name was an act of vanity; that we are to have many ‘paid’ rabbis; that division in the body is natural and it should be recognized along racial and cultural lines; that there are two rules of law and they too are divided along the same lines; that Torah is no longer divine instruction, but a cultural marker and it doesn’t belong to those that aren’t certified by those that claim it (Mine! Mine!). Wow! It’s a good thing for me that I can read scripture. Otherwise I might be tempted to give you a scull-cap or a gilded hat shaped like a fish. No, nevermind. I can’t find them in scripture either.
So, the local Reform shul or Charismatic Baptist congregation accurately reflects 1st century worship? No? How do you know? Are you a time-traveler too? Hmmm… Perhaps not everything requires a brother-in-law invitation by Jules Verne to understand a little history after all.
Good! Then we can eliminate those two models within Messianic Judaism. How about ABC congregations? Oh, that’s right! They are more of a synthesis of the two, but divided along racial and cultural lines. Are we really back to ‘separate but equal’? Where is that in scripture?
Interesting approach, Gene–slap an uncomplimentary label on something, pretend there is no scholarship that supports it, and you’re done. Not exactly good methodology for public discourse… unless your goal is to demean, rather than to encourage understanding.
Gene>> The religious history of Christianity (and don’t delude yourself that you don’t practice a form of Christianity!) <<
What are you addressing here? Are you trying to slur Phillip as being outside your community? Or are you declaring Messianic Judaism, itself, a form of Christianity?
David… I reserve the practice of Messianic Judaism (and ANY Judaism) for Jews and converts to Judaism. Practice and attendance are not one and the same, as I am sure you’d agree.
Hebrew Roots congregations fall squarely in the Protestant Evangelical Christian Restorationist mold + Torah.
Gene – There you go with the labels again.
Sorry, but you don’t get to reserve anything of God for anyone. I believe the Messiah was quite clear on that point. Nor do the rabbis that rejected Him.
In your paradigm, the rabbis that usurped the authority of the Levites and the Messiah are now the determiners of what is Messianic Judaism? Oh, sorry. I see from your response that you have taken on that mantle for yourself.
So please show me, where in scripture did Messiah Y’shua EVER teach against keeping Torah? Because I can show you where He said Torah would be in full force until the heavens and the earth passed away.
Gene, I just looked out the window. Guess what… 😉
Philip, I am honored to be lumped with the sages and rabbis of my people, the “usurpers” as you call them, even though I am “unworthy to tie their sandals”.
Sorry, I thought you were a believer in Messiah Y’shua. Whew, you had me worried. In any case you have not answered any of my comments, save to make a few unflattering characterizations and some irrelevant side-stepping.
I too am honored to be included in the commonwealth of Israel. Please note, I did not call the sages usurpers. As for the rest, I can only agree with you.
Excellent article Mike and very timely. Much need to done to expose this falls idea and movement. There is so much damage don and I pray that Hashem will not aloud this to continue.