If a Jewish person saw the way you live your Christian beliefs would he or she be envious?

“Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles
to make Israel envious.”

(Romans 11:11b)

02 / 24 / 07
(NIV used)

NOTE:

This devotion is NOT for everyone. If you are feeling that there is more to God and the Christian life than what you are being taught; If you feel that you want to give God ALL of yourself (no matter what); If you want to get into the meat and potatoes of God’s will … well, then this is for you. There IS more to life, there IS more to the story than most are teaching, and there IS a piece of the puzzle that has been missing.

FIRST THOUGHT

What makes us envious or jealous? It is usually caused when someone else has something that we want. It might be a barren woman being jealous of a mother of three. It might be one employee being jealous of a fellow employee who just received a substantial raise or even a promotion. The fact is, jealousy is wanting something that someone else has (attention, a material object … you name it).

On the other hand, if someone receives (or even believes) something that we do NOT desire, it would not even phase us. We would not be jealous of something that we do NOT want or desire. In fact, we may even be sad for them. One such example for a Christian is that of someone being a Buddhist. We are not envious of his or her god, for we do not desire his or her god. Understand? And this is vice-versa … they do not desire our God.

Are you following? Remember, salvation has come to the Gentiles; NOT because we deserve it, but to make Israel envious. So, do they desire the Savior that you are worshipping? Or is your Savior just another god to them?

Let me ask you, have you ever been used or taken advantage of? Let’s say that someone became your friend, but all the while, they were using you to get next to someone else. How about this … as a rebellious and stingy child, you are playing with your favorite toy that you will not share with your siblings. Your Mom or Dad come and take your toy, only to give it to your brother or sister. This does not make you happy, but jealous and even mad. Can you see, based upon the passage and others that I will present, God is using us Gentiles. Hey … God is God … and He can do what He wants (but that should humble us). Just like the Jews were nothing when God chose them, even so with us Gentiles! We, the Gentiles, are the siblings that God told Israel He was going to go to if they continued to rebel against Him (Hey, I don’t know about you, but I am okay with it! He can use this piece of pottery (my life) as He pleases!) I am going to give you a quick history lesson before trying to show you how we, the Gentiles, are in great error.

What we will learn: The Jews are NOT envious of the life of faith that most Christians are living – so was God wrong in prophesying that we would provoke them to jealousy, or are we wrong in how we live out our faith?

THEIR FIRST HINT / WARNING: Was waaaaaaaay back in time … After God gave Israel, through Moses, His Laws which He desires His children to live by … warned them that IF they did NOT put these laws in their hearts (obey them out of love for God), He would scatter them among the Gentiles (Leviticus 26:33 … “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.”) (NOTE: This is still seen today … the Jews are throughout the world … and the land had been laid waste (Until 1948 … again, this is part of God’s plan … AND was prophesied!)

THEIR SECOND (of many) WARNINGS: They did not heed the original warning. They did not realize their rebelliousness and that God is compassionate and merciful. God continues to warn them to return to Him. Many think that it was their failure to obey the Law perfectly for which they were punished. IT WAS NOT. They were NEVER told to obey them perfectly, but to protect them and guard them as they practice them (We will find that the same is true today). It was ALWAYS a heart condition that their hearts were far from Him. Here it comes, we must remember that God already warned them to turn back to Him and He would forgive them. If not, then He would scatter them! Remember the example of the rebellious and stingy child? Read God’s next warning, this time in Deuteronomy 32:21b … “I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.” Ah, excuse me. But if I read this correctly, did God just call us a bunch of nobodies? Did He just call us ignorant? Yes, I am afraid so people! The time of history we are in has been prophesied about and talked about …. waaaaaaay back then. Those outside the family of Israel are not considered, by God, to be “a people” or even to have understanding. Did you know that part of God’s plan was to make His children forget the Sabbaths and Feasts (and ALL His Laws). Read carefully, for this is the blindness the Jews have … for OUR sake!! “He has laid waste His dwelling like a garden; He has destroyed His place of meeting. YHVH has made Zion FORGET her appointed feasts and her Sabbaths;” (Lamentations 2:6a). Did you catch that? He laid waste the land (check … done), destroyed His place of meeting (check … done) and caused His children (Zion … you and I and the believing Jew) to forget the Laws of God (check … done). It is all true. He caused the very Laws that were intended to giver live, to be forgotten, for HIS sake. (“I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” Romans 7:10) He did not want to be associated with rebellious children.

HISTORY CONTINUES TO REPEAT ITSELF (Use this example for what the church is doing today, as well!!):

“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time. (You can see us doing the same thing today!!) You warned them to return to your Law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.” (Nehemiah 9:28-30) (Wow … I am having a hard time deciding if this is about the Jews or the Gentile teachings today.)

THE TIME WE ARE NOW LEAVING BEHIND:

When is the last time that you read a Buddhist book on spirituality? No? Why is that? It is because we know that they speak of a false god! Take that SAME thought and ask yourself, why would a Jew desire to read the New Testament? We, over the last 2,000 years, have been showing the Jews that the New Testament speaks of a false prophet. They have NO desire to read it … because of us! Romans 11:25 is being fulfilled … “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.” God “hardened” them for OUR SAKES! That hardening was accomplished by what we displayed as a false messiah. We have been in error! We too have been disobedient to God because we became conceited and refused to realize the truth. Therefore, “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 Gods gifts and His call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29) God will always love and reach out to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s natural children! They may not all be saved, but His call to them is irrevocable.

This time of the Gentiles is coming to an end and God is now opening His children’s eyes to the truth! (Believe me, I am not the only “nut” standing up and obeying God out of faith.) Let me be perfectly clear, the teaching that says that God’s Son did away with the Laws is the reason the Jews believe He is NOT the Messiah. This false teaching that we no longer have to obey the Law (mostly due to misinterpreted passages) have kept the blinders on the natural children – the Jews. Since this is what the Jews have heard all these centuries, they do not desire this “Jesus” we preach. In other words, they are NOT jealous of this savior that is worshipped by the Gentiles (Actually, the “Jesus” that the Gentiles show is a false prophet according to the Law itself). They are not envious of us!! For example:

- We have been showing the Jews that the Messiah they missed has changed the Sabbath Day to another day (This is a false teaching that Yeshua (Jesus) NEVER instituted and would have been a sin if He did. That’s odd, but we are told that the seventh day Sabbath will be celebrated in the end times of which we are in … Isaiah 56:1-2 and others.)

- We have been showing the Jews that the Messiah changed God’s appointed Feasts to Easter and Christmas (This is a false teaching that Yeshua (Jesus) NEVER instituted and would have been a sin if He did. We cannot find these man-made holidays anywhere in Scripture. Matter of fact, God even tells us that we are NOT to take another god’s celebration and make it His (“You must not worship YHVH your God in their way.” … Deuteronomy 12:4). We are even told that the feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated in the end times … Zechariah 14:16 and others.)

- We have been showing the Jews that the Messiah changed God’s diet for His children (If we would only search on our own, we will see God describing what the wicked will be doing in the end times … “who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;” … Isaiah 65:4b and others)

- In fact, us Gentiles have been showing that this “Jesus” that we worship has done away with ALL the Laws of His Father! This is false and a gross misunderstand of the work of the Messiah. To the Jews, this must NOT be the Messiah (Number one: If “Jesus” said this … He sinned. Number two: If “Jesus” said this, God tells us to kill such a prophet and have nothing to do with him … “That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against YHVH your God, … he has tried to turn you from the way YHVH your God commanded you to follow…” Deuteronomy 13:5. Because of all the added man-made laws … they thought that they were doing so to Yeshua (Jesus). They did not know the Laws of God anymore (sound familiar?).

Can you now see why a Jew, who is still waiting for the Messiah, today, would NOT desire the “Jesus” many preach? Why would they EVER believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the promised Messiah, if we teach this error? Paul addresses our acceptance of man’s error / teachings over time in 2 Corinthians 11:3 … “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For IF someone comes to you and preaches a Yeshua (Jesus) other than the Yeshua (Jesus) we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Of course we see that Paul did NOT preach the “Jesus” that we preach today (So, we must have accepted a different Yeshua (Jesus) easily enough, as he told us not to). Paul even writes what HE believers:

- “… though I am NOT free from God’s Law but am under Christ’s law)” (1 Corinthians 9:21b) (Christ’s Law is that the Jews and Gentiles are brothers in the family of Israel.)

- “Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? Not at all!! Rather, (Through this faith) we uphold the Law.” (Romans 3:31)

- Yes, this truth is verified by our Savior in Matthew 5:17-19, as well as John in 1 John 2:6-7!

- (Note: before you throw in verses like the law being nailed to the cross, etc … study the meanings. Why? Because you care if you are sinning against God.)

LET US LOOK AT THE TIME WE ARE NOW ENTERING:

It was prophesied that one day we will accept the name Israel (our inherited name) … “One will say, ‘I belong to YHVH’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘YHVH’s.’ and will take the name Israel.” (Isaiah 44:5) Read the next prophesy in … Zechariah 8:23 … “This is what YHVH Almighty says: “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem (meaning his tassels) of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.” The time of the Gentile is coming to an end. I cannot convey enough how obeying the Sabbath, the Feasts, the New Moon, praying during the times given and even eating the way God commanded us … by faith in His Salvation (Yeshua) shows the Jews that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah they are waiting for. Many are embracing God’s Laws again (BY FAITH), as if we are taking hold of the Jew and saying, “You had it all … but missed the Messiah!!” Or … “Take us with you, because God is about to reveal the truth to you!” Amen. Oh, here is another one passage that speaks about the same thing: “This is what the Sovereign YHVH says: “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.” (Isaiah 49:22) Can you picture this? We are realizing that all the Laws that were given to our forefathers … are OURS to protect, as well. By obeying the commands / Laws of God out of faith is showing that we have the Spirit of God in us. This was given to them and they will AND ARE becoming jealous. They, through the recent obedience of the Gentiles, are now seeing that Yeshua (Jesus) WAS the Messiah!

Listen carefully, for I have been asked, “Kyle, why do you celebrate Jesus’ birthday on a different day than the rest of the “Christians”? Why do you care what you eat, since the New Testament says that all food is clean (NOTE: it does not)? Why do you look different from the rest of us?” To them, I respond:

- First, it is not to gain salvation! Salvation alone is Yeshua (Jesus) … YHVH’s Salvation.

- Second, how else can I show God that I love Him?

- “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are NOT burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

- “IF you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

- “Yeshua (Jesus) replied, “IF anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” (John 14:23)

Third, how else is the Jewish nation going to become envious and jealous? I am not envious of the Buddhists or their god (For they have something I do not want!). Now that I am walking in the light (obedience) like HE is in the light (For He obeyed God first), then the Jews will look and see that Yeshua (Jesus) was (and IS) the Savior they are, and have been, waiting for! A Messiah like Moses!! “YHVH your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to Him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15) Can you see it?! I now have what they want and desire … THE MESSIAH!

What about you? Are you causing the Jews to be jealous? Or is the Savior you are showing them a savior that they do not desire? By faith we are to uphold the Law and by faith we are to do our job: To bring about a jealousy among the Jews just as Paul did: “I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.” (Romans 11:13b-14)

Do not be disheartened, my friends, we simply lost the purpose of our mission. “… salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” (Romans 11:11b)

I am here to testify that there is no greater joy than to be questioned by a Hebrew. It goes something like this:

- “Hey, why are you celebrating our Passover? Why are you wearing Tzitzit (tassels)? Why do you celebrate the Sabbath on the seventh day?”

- To their questions, I humbly respond, “Doesn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob us command us to?”

- The Hebrew then says, “Well, Yes He does, but I thought that you were a Christian.”

- I, then, in all humility and respect, respond, “I am, but I am not worshipping the god that is based upon traditions. I worship YHVH and His Salvation.”

- He enviously responds, “I don’t understand. If you are a Christian, then why are you doing the stuff our God gave to us?” .

- “Because Yeshua (I do not say Jesus because that was not His name. They DO know the name of Yeshua.), YHVH’s Salvation that we have been waiting for, commands us to obey His Father.” (To that, there is no response.)

- He ponders … Was He, indeed, the Messiah?