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The Birth of Biblical Judaism
By: Evangelos Dim. Kepenes (01/24/2018)
Biblical Judaism was the traditional monotheistic religion of the Hebrews, born after its constitution as a nation. It was the Religion of promises and expectations with a strong element of types, which were images of the heavenly expected spiritual goods fulfilled through Jesus Christ, and it had an age-like character with birth, peak, and old age.
“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” [Heb. 8:13]
Its main prophet and founder was God's servant Moses, who did everything he was shown. The historical circumstances of the formation of the Hebrew nation and religion are known through the written Torah and the books of the prophets of Israel, the Hebrew Bible.
From the beginning, the birth, guidance, and communication of the true God with the carnal Israel made it a heteronomous nation, socially and religiously, a nation dependent on divine commandments, with the only proof of its nationality being its biological descent from Abraham. The other autonomous peoples chose their land, their interaction and intermingling with others, philosophized, legislated, invented their gods and their respective religions, according to their applied politics and their social, spiritual, and cultural needs, unless they were under foreign dominion.
Israel [=Strength of God] neither chose, nor was it imposed by other states to be this way. It was God Himself who spoke to Abram the Chaldean, son of the idolater Terah, then seventy-five years old, and said to him:
“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” [Gen. 12:1-2, 7, Acts ch. 7]
So Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and went to the land of Canaan. There again the Lord appeared to him and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” So God Himself decided to create the nation of Israel, designated its land of dwelling and the place where they would worship Him, and established Abram as its biological father, promising to bless him.
And while Abram had already received the promise that he would be the biological father of the carnal Israel, at the age of eighty-six he fathered Ishmael from Hagar, Sarai's Egyptian handmaid, which allegorically interpreted, is the Old Covenant, (“which gendereth to bondage”) [Gal. 4:24], or otherwise, the Mosaic Law, which after four hundred and thirty years Moses received on Mount Sinai, through angels, and which would constitute the inviolable rule of the religious and political organization of the Jewish nation, with heavenly promises that received spiritual completion in the person of Christ. [Deut. 4:2, Heb. 8:5, Gal. 4:24]
Thus, the national and religious identity of the earthly Israel and the boundaries of its dwelling, in the land where the Amorites dwelt before, were defined by God Himself with the sovereign command:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” [Judg. 6:10?, Acts 7:53, Deut. 6:4, Gen. 16:16, Gal. 4:22-24]
The Promise of Life to Abram
At ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared again to Abram, and after introducing Himself as his God, said:
“As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. […] And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.” [Gen. 17:4, 11]
Circumcision as a Sign of the Covenant
Circumcision was a sign of the covenant, a seal, confirming what was promised, i.e., justification and quickening by faith for all nations. And Abraham, according to the promise, would be the father of faith for all believers, whether circumcised or not. The circumcision of the foreskin was not an innovation for the Hebrews that would make them special or superior to other nations, but it was a sign to remind them of God's promise to Abraham concerning the quickening of the dead through faith, (“a father of many nations have I made thee”). Moreover, circumcision was already in use before Abraham by Egyptians, Ethiopians, Syrians, and others. [Herod. Hist. II, 104:2]
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” [Rom. 3:1-3]
The fulfillment of the promise, through Jesus, abolished circumcision. Paul wrote to the Jews who had believed from the beginning:
“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” [Gal. 5:2]
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” [Phil. 3:2-3]
Continuing, God, speaking to Abraham, tells him to call his wife Sarai by the name Sarah [=Princess] henceforth, and although Sarah did not bear children when young, He promises that in her old age she would give him a son through her, Isaac. Isaac, as a child of promise, became the most important allegory in the history of Judaism and is the New Covenant of grace, which freed from the bondage and guilt of the law, and which is the fulfillment/completion of Biblical Judaism. [Gen. ch. 17, Gal. 4:22-24, 5:1, Rom. 10:4, Heb. 2:15]
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2)
The Teaching of Christianity on the Promise of Life to Abraham
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” [2 Tim. 1:1]
“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” [Gal. 4:28]
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.” [Rom. 4:13]
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. […] Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (the Life).” [Gal. 3:6-8, 16, John 11:25]
Abraham, Father of Faith
“Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” [Rom. 3:29]
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. […] How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.” [Rom. 4:3-11]
“As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” [Rom. 4:17]
So, the promise of the one God to Abraham, that He would become the father of a multitude of nations, spoke of the quickening of the dead, both Jews and Gentiles.
“But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” [Matt. 8:22]
“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” [Eph. 5:14]
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” [Eph. 2:5-6]
This same promise invalidates every nationalist and biological interpretation of Pharisaic Judaism concerning the revival and prevalence, on a global scale, of the earthly kingdom of Israel. It was a promise of God that transcended the narrow limits of the carnal, genealogically Jewish nation and embraced all children of faith, regardless of earthly nationality. Any biological or national-religious understanding of the promise is devoid of truth. God did not tell Abraham that he would be the biological father of all nations, but made him the father of faith, of the children of promise who are without father, without mother, without descent in relation to the worldly creation, because the household, the Living children of God, are a spiritual Living Nation.
“But as many as received him, to them gave Ηe power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [John 1:12-13]
And to thy seed, which is Christ [the Life]
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” [1 Peter 1:23]
Nor when He said “and to thy seed” did He mean the corruptible biological seed, because the biological man is sown, born, with corruption, with dishonour, and with weakness, but by establishing Abraham as the father of faith, He told him about the heavenly man Jesus Christ, who as a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), raises within the psychic, corruptible, and mortal body of earthly men, the inner, new man, the spiritual man.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption [biological seed]; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body [psychic]; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body [psychic], and there is a spiritual body.” [1 Cor. 15:42-44]
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” [John 3:6]
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man [the psychic] perish, yet the inward man [the spiritual man] is renewed day by day.” [2 Cor. 4:16]
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” [Col. 3:9-10]
The old / the outward man is the mortal, carnal, corruptible man, who is “sown,” born from an earthly father and an earthly mother, while the new / the inward man is the spiritual, incorruptible one, who is born inside the earthly / mortal one, from the heavenly Jesus, who is a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18) This birth concerns the spiritual man and not the carnal one.
The Earthly Man was a Type of the Spiritual Man of the Promise
“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” (Rom. 5:14)
God is Spirit, He is eternal/immortal, and cannot be considered as clay from the earth. Therefore, the execution of His purpose, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” required a heavenly, eternal/immortal, spiritual man and not an earthly one from the ground, dependent on food and drink (John 4:24, Gen. 1:26).
The earthly Adam (= man) was formed according to the image of God, “in the image of God” and “the figure of him that was to come” (Rom. 5:14). And his categorization as “the first man” indicates the expectation of a second (1 Cor. 15:47-49), who would be according to the requirements of God's original purpose, i.e., spiritual, eternal/immortal, and heavenly. Consequently, from the beginning of the creation of man from the earth, the spiritual man, the new creation, was the expected one. This expectation was fulfilled through Jesus, “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” (Col. 1:15)
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” [Gen. 49:10]
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
The Flesh/Body of Jesus Christ is the Temple of the Invisible God (John 2:21)
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:9)
In the Old Testament, God, the Spirit, appeared through the earthly Sanctuary (=Holy Place, Temple), in a cloud. In the New Testament, “God was manifest in the flesh.” He appeared through the heavenly Temple. Through the body from heaven, of the holy child Jesus. (Lev. 16:2, 1 Tim. 3:16)
“To wit, that God was in Christ (God was dwelling in Christ bodily), reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19)
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle of witness, otherwise the sanctuary, “a worldly sanctuary” [Heb. 9:1], was the portable, earthly, and handmade tabernacle of the Hebrews, the strongest institution of Hebrew society and Judaism, which was constructed by God's command to Moses. And it was a type of the true, heavenly, not made with hands, dwelling place of God. It was constructed with earthly materials, with the most important vessel being the ark of the testimony, inside the holy of holies, where the presence of God was.
“And let them make me a sanctuary [= sanctuary, temple]; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” [Ex. 25:8-9]
The worldly, handmade temple consisted of the first tabernacle, where the priests performing the service entered, and the second tabernacle (the Holy of Holies), where the Ark of the Covenant was and into which only the high priest entered, offering the blood of animals, “for himself, and for the errors of the people.” Between the two tabernacles there was a partition, the veil.
As long as the first tabernacle was standing, the Holy Spirit indicated that the way into the Holiest had not yet been made manifest, as its service functioned with animal sacrifices, offerings, food, and drink, which were carnal ordinances. All these were a parable until the time when Christ Jesus would come, the true heavenly Tabernacle, inside which true spiritual worshippers “in Spirit and in truth,” “those in Christ,” would worship. [Heb. 9:6-10]
The heavenly body/flesh of Jesus is the True, not made with hands, Temple, it is the heavenly true tabernacle that came, it is the way that leads into the holy places, it is the way by which we draw near and worship God, who dwells inside it bodily, “in spirit and in truth.” (Heb. 8:1-2, 10:19)
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building [the worldly, the earthly]”. [Heb. 9:11]
So God annulled, canceled, the old, the carnal, and established, introduced, the new, the spiritual. In this new heavenly Temple of the body of Jesus (John 2:21), those quickened through Jesus Christ, “those in Christ,” true, spiritual worshippers, the “new creation,” have worshipped since then.
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” [John 4:23-24]
The institution of the earthly tabernacle of Jewish society was replaced by the heavenly tabernacle with the New and living way, which was consecrated through the veil, that is, through the flesh of Jesus, which came down from heaven.
The Origin of Jesus
“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt. 1:20)
The Father of the heavenly man Jesus was the Spirit, and Jesus was born a life-giving spirit. If Jesus were a biological, earthly man, he could not bring about the regeneration (=to be born again, to return from death or non-existence to life). (Matt. 19:28)
According to biblical testimony, Jesus was the seed of the promise to Abraham, and His Father was the Spirit. His characterization as “the second man from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:48) disqualifies him as an earthly, biological man. Given also that God does not dwell in handmade temples, it was impossible for all the fullness of the Godhead to dwell bodily inside the blameless and spotless Jesus (1 Pet. 1:19), if His flesh, His body, were biological. The biological man is corruptible and cannot inherit incorruption, nor can flesh and blood inherit the kingdom of God. The heirs are the spiritual children of promise, the new creation, the regeneration.
Jesus was not a type of the first man, but the first man from the earth was a type of the future man, “the true one,” the second man, from heaven, Jesus, whose flesh/body was “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” (Rom. 8:3, 1 John 5:20)
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural [psychic]; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor. 15:45-50)
Jesus said about himself the following:
“And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath [earthly]; I am from above [heavenly]: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” (John 6:32-33)
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” [John 6:51]
The authors of the epistles said about Jesus:
“He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31)
“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man.” (John 3:13)
“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.” (1 Cor. 15:47)
“He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:10)
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn from the dead.” (Col. 1:19? The reference seems off; Col. 1:15 is "firstborn of every creature")
“And the Word was made flesh,” “God was manifest in the flesh,” “the life was manifested.” [John 1:14, 1 Tim. 3:16, 1 John 1:2]
The Fulfillment of the Promise
The promise, therefore, to the fathers of the Hebrews and founders of Jewish monotheism, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was fulfilled.
“And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” [Acts 13:33]
Early Christianity is the fulfillment of the written expectations of Biblical Judaism, which was completed. “Christ is the end of the law.” Biblical Judaism was characterized as a religion of expectations and a religion of types. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost confirmed the completion of the era of Biblical Judaism and its typology. The baton for the salvation of man and the true knowledge and worship of the one God was taken up by the first apostolic Church, the sect of Judaism (Acts 28:22), with the command not to be imposed or nationalized, but:
“That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” [Luke 24:47]
Just as God's promises to Abraham legitimized the carnal Israel and Biblical Judaism, so too the fulfillment of these promises by God legitimizes and establishes the new spiritual Israel which is the Church of the living God. This pure, non-religionized Christianity certainly needs no worldly legitimization, nor any kind of worldly imposition, because it is based on the will of God and the unforced will of man “If any man will come after me …”. [Matt. 16:24]
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