We will answer some more questions for today’s Torah Tuesday! This is a big one and one that is asked extremely often.
Question: What is the difference between Judaism and Torah-observant Christianity? Am I converting to Judaism?
The first thing we have to realize is that Christianity didn’t start as, and was never meant to be, a new separate religion away from the roots established in the Bible. When Yeshua came to the earth, he came as a Jew for the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Who are these lost sheep?
Have you ever been super confused when reading the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles? “This person is king of Judah and that person is king of Israel.” What is going on? After Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Judah and Israel. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed the southern nation of Judah, and the other 10 tribes formed the northern nation of Israel. Because both of these kingdoms chose to disobey Torah, and fall out of alignment with the covenant promises found within, they were both exiled out of the land of Israel. Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians and Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. The people of Judah lived in exile for about 70 years until the Persian Empire conquered Babylon and allowed them to return to the land of Israel. The kingdom of Israel, however, assimilated into Assyrian culture by marrying and blending into their society. They never returned, for the most part, back to Israel and are still there today. This is where you and I come in!
Jeremiah 31:31-33 says,
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
So there’s a problem here. The renewed covenant is only with the house of Judah and the house of Israel. What about us gentiles? If Jesus came to save the whole world, but the renewed covenant doesn’t mention the whole world, how does that work?
Enter Romans 11. As Christians, we are grafted into the house of Israel because God blinded Israel from seeing Messiah Yeshua. Because of this, we have a chance. It wasn’t the fact that the Jews denied him, it’s that they were blinded by God himself to give us a chance to enter into covenant with Yehovah.
When we paint the blood of Yeshua over the doorpost of our heart, adopt his ways and follow his lead in this life, and endure til the end we are saved. We confess him with our mouth and follow that confession with our actions every day. We don’t start a new religion when we come into the belief of Yeshua: we are stepping into the very covenant plan God had all along – to join the Jew and the gentile together as one man under his one kingdom of Israel. According to Jeremiah, the law is written on our hearts with the renewed covenant found in Yeshua. How do we abolish something that is written on our hearts?
As Christians, our belief is in the God of Israel. Not the God of America or any other country. He is the God of Israel. We, as gentiles, are graciously grafted into the kingdom of Israel. We do not take the place of Jewish people, but we come alongside of them as brothers and sisters because Yahweh is our God. Our belief that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us allows us the opportunity to be with Yahweh forever.
So to answer the original question, the difference between Judaism and Torah-observant Christianity is mainly genealogy. The term “jew” means that person descends from the kingdom of Judah – the people that came back to the land. The term was coined after Israel’s exile. Before that, the people were referred to as Hebrews or Israelites. As believers in Messiah Yeshua that are not descendants of Judah, we are joined to Israel by faith – as was promised to Abraham in Genesis 12.
The key phrase here is “joined to Israel.” So when you come to the revelation that Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion but to join his people together, you realize that God’s instructions remain forever. It wasn’t that Jesus started a revolution, he continued and pursued revelation. He revealed God’s heart to the lost sheep of the kingdom of Israel that were still out amongst the nations. His mission was to reveal himself to them and bring them home.
So as Christians, our lives should look a little bit “Jewish.” Firstly, because we claim to follow and pattern our lives after a Jewish Rabbi named Yeshua, and, secondly, because the Jewish people are the ones that still continue to live out God’s kingdom instructions to this day. Because we are joined, we should be doing the same things. Now, as Torah-observant Christians there are specific Jewish traditions that are not biblically commanded by God….although many are insightful and very beautiful. Just like there are Christian traditions that are not biblical. Traditions can be beautiful or they can pull you away from the true biblical meaning. Using our discernment, listening to Holy Spirit, and knowing the Word of God are the best ways to navigate through them.
So, no, you do not convert to Judaism. You come alongside your brothers and sisters descended from Judah to show them the Messiah through the set apart life of Torah. You join your life to Yahweh’s through his Son, who is the Word made flesh. Yeshua is Torah. By patterning our lives after his, we will look very similar to the Jewish people. By showing them that we are one man under one God we can play a small part in leading them into the beautiful revelation of Yeshua as Messiah. Isn’t that amazing?!
Lavah Ministries 