Church and Israel?

Introduction

The concept of CHURCH AND ISRAEL has now become established. Many Christians have 'a love for' or 'stand with' Israel.

Is this a correct attitude? Should we be ready for Israel?

Who are we ourselves? Are we part of Israel, or are we believing Gentiles?

Join us on a journey of discovery into the history of your denomination.

Years ago

The year is 325 AD - During the Council of Nicaea, measures are taken to separate Easter from (the Biblical) Pesach in time. The motives were impure, I quote: “for it would be inappropriate beyond all standards if we should follow the customs of the Jews on the holiest of feasts. Let us therefore have nothing in common with that abominable people.” (See source: here)

Forty years later - 364 AD: The Council of Laodicea curses Christians who keep the Sabbath (See source: here).

What happened here? What did these church authorities decide and what were their motives?

The beginning

Let's first look at what the Bible teaches us. What was the practice of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and His Jewish apostles? Can the Old Testament be contradicted in the New Testament?

Our faith is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (we call Him by His Hebrew name: Yeshua the Messiah). In the Bible we read that He kept the Sabbath (Mark 1:21), not Sunday. We also see this with Paul (Acts 18:4).

Yeshua and Paul both teach us to keep God's commandments:

Mat. 5:17-18: “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy it, but to fulfill it. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

Acts 24:14 "But I will declare here that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I serve the God of our ancestors, and that I believe in all that is in the Law and the Prophets is written''.

Paul says here in Acts. 24 that he believe all that is written in the Law. So, in other words, he also believes what is written in Deuteronomy 12: 32: “But you must strictly observe everything that I command you; add nothing to it and take nothing away from it.”

Nothing should be taken away from God's law. That matches with the statement of Yeshua that we just read, namely that not one iota or one tittle of the law shall pass away.

Keeping the Sabbath is commanded

So it is simple: God's Law, His commandments, still apply to us. They have not been abolished and should not be, as we read in Deuteronomy 12. And so the Sabbath commandment still exists today. It is mentioned in the 10 commandments (see Exodus 20:8-10) and has not been abolished anywhere in the New Testament. It applies even to non-Israelites, according to Isaiah 56: 2-3, 6.

Objections

All sorts of objections are raised against this by some Christians. They then come up with arguments such as “to God every day is equal”, based on Romans 14:5-6. Or: the first believers gathered on Sunday, based on Acts. 20:7-8 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.

All these arguments are based on misreading the Bible, for example by not taking into account what is written in the Old Testament. Each of these texts is covered on our website, where it is explained how we can correctly understand these texts. Yeshua (Jesus) is not Lord of Sunday. Sunday is not the Lord's day.
The term "day of the Lord" is not about Sunday. It refers to the imminent return of the Lord, when He will establish His kingdom on earth. See Isaiah. 2:12, Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 1:15, 2 Thess. 2:2.
Mark 2:28 teaches us that the Messiah is Lord, also of the Sabbath.

It is notable that the Roman Catholic Church itself included in its catechism the following phrase: "We keep Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea changed the sanctity from Saturday to Sunday."

Love

When Yeshua is being asked what the greatest commandment is, He replies in Mark 12:29-31, “Hear, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than this."

This is indicative of the attitude to life of His followers. They must be driven by the love of God and neighbour.

How then can we love God? Can we figure that out by ourselves? Is it based on a feeling? No, John gives us clarity on this. He explains to us how to love God, 1 John 5:3: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments."

To love God is to keep His commandments. If we do that, then we love our neighbor at the same time. For then we will not commit murder, we will not commit adultery, we will not steal, we will not oppress the widow and do not be orphans, we will feed the hungry, we will love our enemies, we will consider the elderly, etc. But then we will also take care of God's precepts. Then we keep the Sabbath, then we celebrate Passover, Trumpets Day and Tabernacles etc. The feasts are a shadow of what is to come (Colossians 2: 16-17).

The Church of all times

If these things are so, why do the majority of churches not observe the Sabbath day or God's feast days?

That's, many say, because some early New Testament congregations were already observing Sunday instead of the Sabbath. We already find indications for this from 180 and 300 AD. Chr. (see source: here). It should be mentioned here that there were also groups of believers who actually did observe the Sabbath. One of these groups is called the Sect of the Nazarenes. We can read about them in a letter from 'church father' Epiphanius: letter Panarion 29. The word sect may sound a bit scary or negative, but we already see in Acts 24:5 that Paul is seen as the ringleader of this sect: "For we have found that this man (Paul) is a pestilence and a stirrer among all the Jews in all the world, and a prominent person in the sect of the Nazarenes."

Is there any reason at all to continue in that tradition of Sunday rest over and above the Sabbath rest commanded by God?

No. We shouldn't just look at what people did. Yeshua is very clear about this in Mark 7:9: “You beautifully set aside God’s commandment to keep your tradition!”

Lawlessness was already at work in Paul's day (see 2 Thes. 2: 5-7). Then it shouldn't surprise us that this could also happen in the early 'church'?

Even in 'Old Testament times' the Sabbath was not always kept holy. This was a problem, for we read in Ezekiel 22:2, 4, 8, 12-13, 20-21 that God considered that an abomination. James teaches us in the New Testament that God does not change (see James 1:17b). How then can we say that it no longer matters to God that we do not keep the Sabbath holy, but Sunday? How can God so change in His will? He punished Israel, but would now approve?

No, Amos 3:7 teaches that if God is going to do something in the future, He foretells it through His prophets. Nowhere was it foretold that God would change the Sabbath to Sunday, or, say, Passover to Easter.

Israel and the Church

The Church has separated itself from Israel. She wanted to have nothing in common with that ''horrible people'' of God, see the quote from Council of Nicaea before. The promises made to Israel have been spiritualized by many.

How can the church be said to be a partaker of the New Covenant in Christ's blood if it is not part of Israel? We read in the announcement of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33 that this covenant would be made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. See also Ezekiel 36:27.

Notice what Jeremiah describes what will happen with the New Covenant, among other things: God's Law will be written on the heart. It is really the Torah that is mentioned there by Jeremiah in the original text. The Torah is the name for the first five books of the Bible, with associated laws, including the Sabbath and Pesach. Sunday and Easter are not mentioned there.

There are extremely clear indications that 'the church' came forth from the whore on the beast (see Revelation 17): 'the church' has Christianized pagan traditions, has changed times and law (see Daniel 7:25) and has broken away from Israel. And that while we can read in Ephesians 2: 11-12, 19 and 3:6 read that we as believers from the nations become part of Israel through our faith in the Messiah.

In case you would like to study more on this subject, I advise to compare 1 Peter 2:9-10 and Romans 9:25-26 with Hoseah 1:9-11, 2:22. And see further Romans 11. Compare also John 10:16 with Ezekiel 37:16-24. See also Acts 15:14-17 in comparison to Amos 9:11-12.

The contemporary Reformed, Reformed, Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical, Reformed churches, etc., also in fact stem from the 'mother church'. While they broke away from Rome during the Reformation, and have indeed revised certain doctrines in the light of Scripture, we finally see that the Reformation has died out. The "high places of sacrifice" were not taken away. Continued reform is needed. Or better: restoration.

According to Acts15:19-21 we see that it's expected from new believers that they hear the Law of Moses every week in the synagogue. There they also hear about Sabbath-laws and holidays.

Repentance

It's not too late. The church can still repent. You can still repent of this. That is the main point why the Messiah had to suffer, die and rise again. He bore the sins. We are called to repent and be born again (Mark 1:15, Luke 24:47, John 3:3-6). Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Hebrews 3:7-8).

I see it as my duty to point these things out to you. For we find an example in the teaching of God to Ezekiel, that he should warn the people if they walk in a wrong way. If he has warned them, he has done his duty (see Ezekiel 3: 18-19; 18:21).

In Luke. 24:47 we read that repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached. We must then first know what sin is. Romans 7:7 and 1 John 3:4 teach us that sin is breaking God's commandments. If we need to repent of sin, it logically means that we stop breaking God's commandments and thus start keeping God's Law. When you are born again, God will work in your heart to keep God's commandments out of love. This is also taught by John in 1 John 3:4,6,8. You will then be moved by that love that you experience in the fact that God has given His only begotten Son as a complete atonement for our sins. God is a just Judge. Justice had to take its course. Everyone has sinned. Everyone is guilty before God. But then there comes that High Priest who Himself paid for our sins, so that we may live forever. Will you still sin, when you know how much it has cost Him? Would you not, then, out of love for God, keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances?

God wants to be served in Spirit and truth (see John 4:24). Yeshua tells us that the Word is the truth (see John 17:17). The Word of God was just only the “Old Testament” in His days, the 'New Testament' haven't been written by then. That 'Old Testament' must therefore be regarded as truth, with the 'New Testament', and God wants to be served by it. The Spirit teaches us to observe God's statutes and judgments (see Ezekiel 36:27).

Time is running out. Let this message sink in. Be renewed in your mind that you may discern what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). Remember the LORD from afar, let the thought of Jerusalem come into your hearts and minds (Jeremiah 51:50).