Judeo-Christian

 Judeo-Christian

By Richard P. Joseph

Genesis 22:18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

The term Judeo-Christian has been used, especially since the 20th century, to describe the connection between Judaism and Christianity.  While there certainly is a connection, I believe it is actually inappropriate in today's world to use that term as it could be, and is, misleading.  

As is obvious, Jesus was a Jew who was born during the last days of the Mosaic economy.  Judaism is the cradle of Christianity.  Therefore many people believe that Christianity is a sect of Judaism while others believe that there are two active covenants operating at the time; the covenant between God and Abraham and a covenant between God and Jesus.  That is a blatant mistake.  

The first thing we need to remember is that God created a covenant with Abraham while he was still uncircumcised which means it had nothing to do with him being of the tribe of the Hebrews.  It was because Abraham had faith in the Eternal God, not because he was Jewish.  Besides that, the apostle Paul goes into great detail about who the seed of Abraham really is that would bless the nations.  The seed of Abraham is Jesus and therefore it is through Christ that the nations are blessed.  Therefore it is the faithful believers in God in both the old and the new covenants that are the real Israel.  As far as the unbelieving Jews are concerned, Moses told us in Deuteronomy 28:37 that they will actually be a curse to the nations.

  And you shall become an[j] astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.

The zionist crowd seems to have forgotten this verse, let alone the entire chapter or book of Deuteronomy when they talk about the modern day rabbinical Jews.  The blessing is in Jesus Christ, not in a group of people.  Those who hold to the idea that the modern day Jews are still the chosen people are attempting to put New Wine into Old Wineskins.  

Matthew 9:17

 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins [a]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

In Matthew chapter 9, Jesus gave a parable of the wineskins.  This parable was yet another attempt to convey the message that the old covenant would not be able to contain the new covenant.  The old was a precursor to the new but the old was about to fade away to make room for the new.  The new covenant would burst the old wineskin if it were attempted to be poured into it.  Jesus therefore established the New Covenant at the last supper and it was consummated at his second coming in AD 66-70.  Therefore the phrase “Judeo-Christian” could become misleading.  I propose the use of just “Christian”.  Jesus was the complete fulfillment of the law of Moses and therefore all is contained safely in the New Wineskin of Jesus Christ. 

Where's the proof?

 Where’s the proof?

By Richard P. Joseph

When I was first introduced to fulfilled theology, the first question I asked was “where’s the proof?”.  In other words, if there were miraculous sightings, a rapture, a civil war and a war with Rome, why didn’t anyone except Josephus write anything about it and how come I never heard a sermon about it?  This showed that I was actually quite illiterate and ignorant of the historical background of ancient Near East history and customs.  In fact, most Americans really don’t know much about the historical setting of the bible that they read (that is, if they even read it).  In today’s fast-paced world of electronic communication and limitless paper and ink, it is very difficult to imagine a world without any of that; no paper, no ink, no typewriter, no cell phones, no email, no texting, no telephones and no television. Remember that only the very rich had access to papyrus (or animal skin) and ink.  Let’s use the rapture scenario as an example of what could have really happened and why there is no first hand record of such an event.  

I realize that a rapture event is highly debatable but I happen to believe that there was an event that happened in AD66.  My first question was, how come you don’t read about it anywhere?  Ed Stevens wrote much about this event but I am simply showing my audience how to delve into the reality of an historical event.  As I have written about many times before, you must insert yourself into the time frame and culture of that particular event in order to fully understand it.  So let us examine what was happening and what communication options those people had at that time. 

Stevens divides the last 7 years of Israel’s existence into two sections; the first 3 ½ years was the tribulation that the Christians had to endure and the second 3 ½ years was the wrath that the unbelievers had to endure.  These events were later documented by an unbelieving Jew named Josephus at a later date, but the question is; how come none of the people recorded this first hand?  Of course, Josephus is a first hand witness but he was not really interested in the Christian movement necessarily, except to say at one point that “the tribe of Christians is still with us even today”.  That was written near AD100.  One big reason is because many were raptured in between those two events.  The other reason is because of those items mentioned above.  Remember that during this time Christians were living in fear and hiding.  The Jews were severely persecuting the Christians and then Nero got in on the act.  He sent forth an edict to kill all Christians.  He sent many to the circus and burned many at the stake as part of his enjoyment.  The Christians were living in complete fear and hiding out the best they could.  So picture this, your Christian neighbors one day disappear.  Did they flee?  Did they go to visit a friend? Were they hauled off in the middle of the night by the soldiers?  Were they raptured?  How would you know?  They probably didn’t have paper to write you a note, they didn’t have telephones so they couldn’t call you.  They probably wouldn’t call you anyhow because you were probably a heathen and you would have turned them in to the authorities.  You also wouldn’t see it on the evening news because there was no TV.  So most of these events simply could not be recorded with any accuracy.  All you knew is that your neighbors disappeared over night.  Besides all of that, the state of Israel was entering into a massive civil war.  Not only was a civil war starting that would completely destroy Jerusalem, a war with Rome was approaching.  People didn’t even have food to eat, let alone papyrus and ink.  And once they were raptured, they were gone!  Also, many fled to Pella at that time also but the above deficiencies of paper and ink were still a factor.  

I am only writing these types of thoughts so that as you study your bible, remember to place yourself into that time period and culture.  We cannot solve those mysteries or interpret scripture properly unless we do that.  This type of event reminds me of a Forensic Files show I watched.  It was about some teenagers back in the early 1960s in Montana I believe.  Some young boys stopped and invited two girls to a party.  The girls agreed and jumped in their 1950 something Studabaker and attempted to keep up with the boys on a backwoods gravel road through the hills.  When the boys got to the party they began waiting for the girls to show up but they never did.  In fact they were never seen again.  However, about 30 years later a fisherman was fishing in a river and thought he saw a car under the water.  When the car was pulled out, the mystery was solved.  The young girls slid off the gravel road and plunged into the river.  It happened fast and unnoticed.  No letters, no phone calls, no smoke signals, nothing; just gone.  As sad as that story is, it shows us that people can vanish without a trace.  Since the first century Jews were either killed in the war or dragged off to the circus and fed to the lions or sold as slaves, they never really got the opportunity to convey their experiences with anyone.  Right after that war there is a strange absence of Christian written material.  It really did seem like they

vanished into thin air.  Let’s just call that air heaven for now!