Who is Israel? (And What are the Implications for Gentiles?)

Who is Israel?

(And What are the Implications for Gentiles?)

By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

I. Torah and its Application

In this study I would like to examine the Jew, the Gentile, and the ger and how they relate to each other.

Are all Jews descendents of Judah? Yes, they are but that is not a Biblical perspective. The Biblical perspective is that anyone who enters the covenant is a Jew. Thus we understand that a descendent of any of the twelve tribes is a Jew. This can clearly be seen in the lineage of Mordechai in the book of Esther.

Esther 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

In the verse above we see that that this noble man is a Jew. Next we see that he is of the tribe of Benyamin. This teaches us that even the members of the last tribe are still Jews! Thus we understand that any member of any of the twelve tribes, is a Jew. This teaches us that Jewishness is not a matter of tribal affiliation, but rather an indication of your covenant affiliation. If you have joined the covenant, then you are a Jew. It is also understood, therefore, that any Ger (alien) who joins the covenant is also a Jew.

The Torah speaks of several different classes of people:

The Jew - those who are the sons of Israel. These are the ones who entered the covenant with HaShem at Mt. Sinai with circumcision, immersion, and oath.

Rashi on Shemot (Exodus) 24:6: in the basins Two basins, one for half the blood of the burnt offering and one for half the blood of the peace offering, [in order] to sprinkle them on the people. From here our Sages learned that our ancestors entered the covenant with circumcision, immersion [in a mikvah], and the sprinkling of the blood [of the sacrifice on the altar], for there is no sprinkling [of blood on a person] without immersion [preceding it].^[1]

The stranger – Gentiles, non-Jews. These are the people who have not entered into a covenantal relationship with HaShem, yet they live among the Jews.
The Ger Toshav – The stranger or alien living among you. A stranger who is in the process of converting and has accepted the seven laws of Noah. These people have entered a covenantal relationship with HaShem, on a beginning level, by agreeing to obey the Hakhamim ^[2] and by oath.
The Ger Tzaddik – A convert who has joined himself to the children of Israel. He is treated as a Jew in every way. These people have entered a covenatal relationship with HaShem on an advanced level with circumcision, immersion, and oath.

As we proceed through this study, please keep these classifications firmly in mind. Failure to do so will result in much error and confusion.

The law was applied equally to Israelites and aliens living among them (Ger Toshav):

Shemot (Exodus) 12:47-49 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate HaShem’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you.”

The ‘uncircumcised male’ is also called a ‘stranger’ because he is a stranger to the covenant. He is not allowed to partake of the Pascal sacrifice nor is he allowed to partake of its relacement, which is called ‘afikomen’, at the seder. Never the less, while he is among the Jews, they are to apply their law uniformly to all, citizen and non-citizen alike.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 31:10-13 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, When all Israel comes to appear before HaShem your G-d at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear HaShem your G-d and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear HaShem your G-d as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Whether you have entered the covenant or not, all those who reside in Israel are commanded to hear the Torah during Succoth. Since the aliens were required to obey the same Torah law as the Jew, it makes sense that they would have to learn the law of the land in which they were dwelling.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:23-31 “Then Aaron is to go into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. He shall bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and offal are to be burned up. The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native-born or an alien living among you-- Because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before HaShem, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.

Both the alien (Gentile) and the Jew were required to fast (no food, water, bathing, anointing, or sex) on Yom HaKippurim. This suggests that if the alien has properly prepared, then he, too, would also receive atonement on Yom HaKippurim.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 17:10-14 “‘Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood--I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.” “‘Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, Because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”

We have already learned that the aliens were to have the same law as the Jew, while living among them, this command to abstain from blood receives special emphasis. We also know that the Ger Toshav was forbidden to eat blood from the Noachide laws.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:14 “‘An alien living among you who wants to celebrate HaShem’s Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.’”

Earlier we learned that the alien living among the Jews could not eat the Pascal sacrifice, or the afikomen, yet here we see that they are allowed (encouraged!) to participate in all the other aspects of the Passover feast, as long as he does so according to what the Torah has commanded. As an aside, the Torah commands are contained in the Oral Torah as well as the Written Torah. The Written Torah tells us to do something, while the Oral Torah tells us how to do what is written. Therefore, we expect that the proper way to celebrate Passover will only be found in the Oral Torah.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 15:13 “‘Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to HaShem. For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to HaShem, he must do exactly as you do. The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before HaShem: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.’”

Both the alien and the Jew were allowed to bring sacrifices to the Temple. This suggests that those who bring a sacrifice will be drawn near^[3] to HaShem, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to HaShem your G-d by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings HaShem your G-d has given you. And rejoice before HaShem your G-d at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.

The feast of Weeks (Hebrew: Shavuot) was to be celebrated by Jew and Gentile. This celebration involved bring a gift to HaShem. This emphasises this aspect over and above have the same law for the Jews and the aliens living among them.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 56:1-8 This is what HaShem says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” Let no foreigner who has bound himself to HaShem say, “HaShem will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what HaShem says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- To them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to HaShem to serve him, to love the name of HaShem, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign HaShem declares--he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”

Foreigners (Gentiles) who enter the covenant by binding themselves to the covenant are also given the opportunity to draw near to HaShem as Jews.

Notice that the community of Israel included aliens (Ger Toshav):

Shemot (Exodus) 12:17-19 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.

The issue of chametz during Pesach is singled out for additional mention as being binding on both Jews and Gentiles.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 13:19 - 14:2 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by G-d like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there. But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. HaShem will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in HaShem’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.

In the above pasuk we see that those Gentiles who do not enter the covenant as Jews, or do not enter a covenant as Noachide, these Gentiles will become the servants of the Jews. Elsewhere ^[4] the Torah teaches us that the Gentiles will become the inheritance of the Jews.

In this next passage we see that aliens are NOT citizens.

Yahoshua (Joshua) 8:30-35 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to HaShem, the G-d of Israel, As Moses the servant of HaShem had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses--an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to HaShem burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses, which he had written. All Israel, aliens and citizens alike, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of HaShem, facing those who carried it--the priests, who were Levites. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of HaShem had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. Afterward, Yahoshua (Joshua) read all the words of the law--the blessings and the curses-- just as it is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the aliens who lived among them.

Again we see that the aliens who are living among the Jews must participate in hearing the Torah because they, also, are subject while living among the Jews.

II. To Whom Was The Law Given?

In this next passage we see that the Torah was given to the Jews and to all of the aliens who came out of Egypt with the Jews. In addition it was binding on all of the Jewish souls who would ever live.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 29:1-15 These are the terms of the covenant HaShem commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that HaShem did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. But to this day HaShem has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am HaShem your G-d. When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. All of you are standing today in the presence of HaShem your G-d--your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, Together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with HaShem your G-d, a covenant HaShem is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, To confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your G-d as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of HaShem our G-d but also with those who are not here today.

Other people (Ger Toshav) are implied to have received the Law because they left Egypt with the Israelites:

Shemot (Exodus) 12:33-38 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. HaShem had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

Circumcision was a sign of the covenant with Abraham, and his descendants, and is connected to the Ger Tzaddik:

Colossians 2:9-14 For in Mashiach all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, And you have been given fullness in Mashiach, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Mashiach, Having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of G-d, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, G-d made you alive with Mashiach. He forgave us all our sins, Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

The Ger Tzaddik was not born into the Community of Israel, but rather joined that community by three things:

Circumcision
Immersion in the mikveh
Agreeing to keep the mitzvot, the commandments.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 10:12-19 And now, O Israel, what does HaShem your G-d ask of you but to fear HaShem your G-d, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve HaShem your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul, And to observe HaShem’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? To HaShem your G-d belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet HaShem set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For HaShem your G-d is G-d of gods and Lord of lords, the great G-d, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

The covenantal people (Jews) are to love those who are not a part of the covenant (aliens – Gentiles).

In the following passage, HaShem promises that Jews would be returned to their covenantal land, after the diaspora, when they return their hearts to HaShem.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:1-6 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever HaShem your G-d disperses you among the nations, And when you and your children return to HaShem your G-d and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, Then HaShem your G-d will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there HaShem your G-d will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. HaShem your G-d will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

This next passage is speaking to Jews because they are the ones who are circumcized and they are the ones who covenanted to obey the Torah. Never the less, the Jews will be the first to suffer for their sins, then the Gentiles will also be in trouble. Clearly, both Jews and Gentiles have a responsibility to obey their parts of the Torah. If we fail to study Torah we will not be absolved of responsibility, but rather we will be judged by our failure to live up to the parts we did know. Finally, for those who obey Torah there will be glory, honor, and peace – to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. Notice that the Jew is ALWAYS judged first because He is HaShem’s firstborn (only begotten) son.^[5]

Romans 2:9-29 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; But glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For G-d does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in G-d’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, Since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when G-d will judge men’s secrets through Yeshua Mashiach, as my gospel declares. Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to G-d; If you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; If you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor G-d by breaking the law? As it is written: “G-d’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from G-d.

Aliens (Ger Toshav) will inherit a portion of the land.

Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 47:21-23 “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance,” declares the Sovereign HaShem.

Israel was “called by His Name“ and are “HaShem’s people”:

Shemot (Exodus) 22:28-31 “Do not blaspheme G-d or curse the ruler of your people. “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. “You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day. “You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:23-27 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘“HaShem bless you and keep you; HaShem make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; HaShem turn his face toward you and give you peace.”‘ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

II Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 7:11-14 When Solomon had finished the temple of HaShem and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of HaShem and in his own palace, HaShem appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I Shmuel (Samuel) 2:22-25 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among HaShem’s people. If a man sins against another man, G-d may mediate for him; but if a man sins against HaShem, who will intercede for him?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was HaShem’s will to put them to death.

II Shmuel (Samuel) 5:1-4 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And HaShem said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before HaShem, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 10:24-26 Therefore, this is what the Lord, HaShem Almighty, says: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.” HaShem Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 43:1-13 But now, this is what HaShem says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am HaShem, your G-d, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-- Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” “You are my witnesses,” declares HaShem, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am HaShem, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed--I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares HaShem, “that I am G-d. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Egyptians (Ger Toshav) too will bear “His name”:

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 19:19-25 In that day there will be an altar to HaShem in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to HaShem at its border. It will be a sign and witness to HaShem Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to HaShem because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So HaShem will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge HaShem. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to HaShem and keep them. HaShem will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to HaShem, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. HaShem Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Yirimiyah (Jeremiah) 12:14-17 This is what HaShem says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country. And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as HaShem lives’--even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal--then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares HaShem.

In this next passage we have a hint that after the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, the Jews will be dispersed among the Gentiles and lose their identity. At the end, HaShem will regather these sparks, these so called Gentiles, and He will reveal their Jewish soul by causing them to desire conversion and attachment to the Jewish people.

Romans 9:21-26 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if G-d, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- Even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hoshea (Hosea): “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” And, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living G-d.’”

II Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Mashiach and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of G-d and idols? For we are the temple of the living G-d. As G-d has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their G-d, and they will be my people.” “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

We see, in the above passage, that those who are in a covenantal relationship with HaShem, will be separate from the Gentile and will know the clean from the unclean.

Who is the “new covenant“ for?

Yirimiyah (Jeremiah) 31:31-34 “The time is coming,” declares HaShem, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares HaShem. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares HaShem. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their G-d, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know HaShem,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares HaShem. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

In the above passage, we see that the covenant that HaShem made with the Jews and converts was a covenat of marriage! Marital intimacy with HaShem is only available to those who ‘sign’ the covenant by conversion or circumcision.

Bereans (Hebrews) 8:1-12 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, And who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But the ministry Yeshua has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But G-d found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their G-d, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The Ger Tzaddik is included in this passage, as we will also see in the next passage:

Hoshea (Hosea) 1:6-11 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then HaShem said to Hoshea (Hosea), “Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them--not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by HaShem their G-d.” After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then HaShem said, “Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your G-d. “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living G-d.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

The writer of Romans explains the above passage as refering to the Ger Tzaddik:

Romans 9:1-33 I speak the truth in Mashiach--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Mashiach for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, The people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Mashiach, who is G-d over all, forever praised! Amen. It is not as though G-d’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are G-d’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that G-d’s purpose in election might stand: Not by works but by him who calls--she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is G-d unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on G-d’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore G-d has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does G-d still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to G-d? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if G-d, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- Even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” And, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living G-d.’” Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Amos 9:8-12 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign HaShem are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth--yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” declares HaShem. “For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ “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, So that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares HaShem, who will do these things.

The above passage is elaborated on in:

II Luqas (Acts) 15:12-21 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders G-d had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how G-d at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, That the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ That have been known for ages. “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to G-d. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

In the above passage, Yaaqov (James) is rendering an halachic decision which agrees with Chazal. It is a pars-pro-tot for the Noachide commands.

Revelation 3:11-13 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my G-d. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my G-d and the name of the city of my G-d, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my G-d; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Aliens (Ger Toshav) will unite with the house of Jacob:

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 14:1-2 HaShem will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in HaShem’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 56:3-8 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to HaShem say, “HaShem will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what HaShem says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- To them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to HaShem to serve him, to love the name of HaShem, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign HaShem declares--he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”

In the above passage we see foreigners who keep Shabbat. From this we learn that these foreigners are converts because Shabbat was given as a covenantal sign to the Jews. Any Gentile who celebrates Shabbat will incur the death penalty. Remember that the covenant that HaShem made with the Jews and converts at Mt. Sinai, was a marriage covenant. Marital intimacy (Shabbat observance) is only available to those who have entered the covenant via conversion.

Many nations (Ger Tzaddik) will convert and become “My people”:

Zechariah 2:7-13 “Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!” For this is what HaShem Almighty says: “After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you- -for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye-- I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that HaShem Almighty has sent me. “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares HaShem. “Many nations will be joined with HaShem in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that HaShem Almighty has sent me to you. HaShem will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before HaShem, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

Zechariah 8:18-23 Again the word of HaShem Almighty came to me. This is what HaShem Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.” This is what HaShem Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, And the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat HaShem and seek HaShem Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek HaShem Almighty and to entreat him.” This is what HaShem Almighty says: “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that G-d is with you.’”

Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 34:17-24 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign HaShem says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign HaShem says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I HaShem will be their G-d, and my servant David will be prince among them. I HaShem have spoken.

Aliens (Ger Tzaddik) will have an inheritance in the land:

There is no distinction between the Jew and the Ger Tzaddik who believe:

II Luqas (Acts) 15:7-18 After much discussion, Tzefet (Peter) got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago G-d made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. G-d, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test G-d by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Yeshua that we are saved, just as they are.” The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders G-d had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how G-d at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, That the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ That have been known for ages.

Amos 9:7-15 “Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares HaShem. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign HaShem are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth--yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” declares HaShem. “For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ “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, So that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares HaShem, who will do these things. “The days are coming,” declares HaShem, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says HaShem your G-d.

Yochanan (John) 10:14-18 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Yochanan (John) 11:47-53 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the Jewish nation, And not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of G-d, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

Romans 4:8-17 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, Because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of G-d, in whom he believed--the G-d who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

In this next passage we see that HaShem will treat those who enter the covenant, in the same manner, whether they are Jew or Gentile.

Romans 10:8-17 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Yeshua is Lord,” and believe in your heart that G-d raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Mashiach.

Romans 11:13-36 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry In the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, Do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if G-d did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of G-d: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for G-d is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, For G-d’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to G-d have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, So they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of G-d’s mercy to you. For G-d has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of G-d! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to G-d, that G-d should repay him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Galatians 3:6-9 Consider Abraham: “He believed G-d, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that G-d would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

In this next passage we see that after Avraham became a convert, through circumcision, after he was credited with righteousness because of his faithful obedience to HaShem’s Torah (see B4SINAI). This should be the correct path for all believers:

Start showing your love for HaShem by obeying his Hakhamim and His Torah.
Learn Torah left, right, and center while obeying the Noachide laws.
Undergo conversion to join the Sinai covenant.

Romans 4:7-12 “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Ephesians 2:11-20 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- Remember that at that time you were separate from Mashiach, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without G-d in the world. But now in Mashiach Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Mashiach. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, By abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, And in this one body to reconcile both of them to G-d through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with G-d’s people and members of G-d’s household, Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Mashiach Yeshua himself as the chief cornerstone.

II Luqas (Acts) 10:25-48 As Tzefet (Peter) entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Tzefet (Peter) made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But G-d has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me And said, ‘Cornelius, G-d has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of G-d to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that G-d does not show favoritism But accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message G-d sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Yeshua Mashiach, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- How G-d anointed Yeshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because G-d was with him. “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, But G-d raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom G-d had already chosen--by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom G-d appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising G-d. Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Yeshua Mashiach. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Yet, in some way the Ger Tzaddik are also different from the Children of Abraham:

II Luqas (Acts) 13:16-26 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship G-d, listen to me! The G-d of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, He endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, He overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years. “After this, G-d gave them judges until the time of Shmuel (Samuel) the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ “From this man’s descendants G-d has brought to Israel the Savior Yeshua, as he promised. Before the coming of Yeshua, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you G-d-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

Not all Jews are Abraham’s children:

Yochanan (John) 8:37-59 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.” “Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Yeshua, “then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from G-d. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is G-d himself.” Yeshua said to them, “If G-d were your Father, you would love me, for I came from G-d and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to G-d hears what G-d says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to G-d.” The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Yeshua, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Yeshua replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your G-d, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Yeshua answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Yeshua hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

In the last days we will also see G-d reuniting Israel:

Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 37:16-28 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. “When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign HaShem says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph--which is in Ephraim’s hand--and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on And say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign HaShem says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their G-d. “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their G-d, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I HaShem make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”

and:

Yirimiyah (Jeremiah) 3:14-18 “Return, faithless people,” declares HaShem, “for I am your husband. I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan--and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares HaShem, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of HaShem.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of HaShem, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of HaShem. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.

The promises made to Israel are quoted as applying to the Ger Tzaddik:

Shemot (Exodus) 19:1-6 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to G-d, and HaShem called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

I Tzefet (Peter) 2:1-10 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by G-d and precious to him-- You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to G-d through Yeshua Mashiach. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” And, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to G-d, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of G-d; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 52:9-15 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for HaShem has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. HaShem will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our G-d. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of HaShem. But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for HaShem will go before you, the G-d of Israel will be your rear guard. See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- So will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Galatians 3:21 - 4:7 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of G-d? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Yeshua Mashiach, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Mashiach that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of G-d through faith in Mashiach Yeshua, For all of you who were baptized into Mashiach have clothed yourselves with Mashiach. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Mashiach Yeshua. If you belong to Mashiach, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, G-d sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, To redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, G-d sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <“Abba>, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, G-d has made you also an heir.

Ephesians 2:11-22 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised“ by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- Remember that at that time you were separate from Mashiach, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without G-d in the world. But now in Mashiach Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Mashiach. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, By abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, And in this one body to reconcile both of them to G-d through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with G-d’s people and members of G-d’s household, Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Mashiach Yeshua himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which G-d lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 3:4-6 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Mashiach, Which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to G-d’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Mashiach Yeshua.

I Tzefet (Peter) 2:6-12 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” And, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to G-d, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of G-d; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify G-d on the day he visits us.

Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for G-d from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our G-d, and they will reign on the earth.”

It seems that the Ger Tzaddik as many things in common with the Israelites. But, the very fact that the Ger Tzaddik are named separately seems to imply a difference.

Romans 2:25-29 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from G-d.

Light...

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 42:5-7 This is what G-d HaShem says--he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, HaShem, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 49:3-6 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in HaShem’s hand, and my reward is with my G-d.” And now HaShem says--he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of HaShem and my G-d has been my strength-- He says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Matityahu (Matthew) 5:11-16 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Some things that are specific to Israelites:

Romans 3:1-2 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of G-d.

II Corinthians 3:7-15 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, Will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Mashiach is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Romans 9:30 - 10:4 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; But Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to G-d for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for G-d, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from G-d and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to G-d’s righteousness. Mashiach is the goal of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

* * *

This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

(Greg Killian).

Comments may be submitted to:

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

12210 Luckey Summit

San Antonio, TX 78252

Internet address: gkilli@aol.com

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[1] From Yevamot 46b, K'rithoth 9b

[2] Hakham, literally “wise Ones”, another name for Rabbi.

[3] In Hebrew, a sacrifice is called a ‘korban’. The word ‘korban’ means to ‘draw near’.

[4] Tehillim (Psalms) 2:8, 78:55.

[5] Shemot (Exodus) 4:22. And yes, Yeshua is also called His firstborn son, His only begotten son in Yochanan (John) 1:14, and Collosians 1:15.