Rav Sha’ul (The Apostle Paul) Jewish Friend or Fiend?

Peter was the apostle to the Jews and Paul the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:8)

When we hear the word Gentile, meaning, nations, we think of everyone who is not a Jew, which is true. However, in the Hebraic way of thinking and in the Greek manuscripts of Paul’s letters, we see two different words and context emerge for the use of the term, Gentile. Gentile not only meant a person from the nations, a non-Jew/Hebrew/Israelite, but it also referred to Jews/Hebrews/Israelites who had lived in exile so long and had assimilated (Hellenized) into the Gentile culture in which they found themselves, becoming virtually indistinguishable from them. In other words, they were ethnic Jews/Hebrews/Israelites who no longer lived like Jews according to Torah and tradition, but the pagan gentile culture in which they lived. For all intents and purposes they were the same as Gentiles in the eyes of the faithful, practicing Jews. These were the people Paul was called to, these Hellenized Jews, Hebrews and Israelites, the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel, along with the non-Jewish Gentile peoples.

As a result of Paul’s mission trips and ministry, many Hellenized Jews, Hebrews and Israelites were returning to their Faith and heritage along with people from other nations that these assimilated Jews, Hebrews and Israelites lived among.

Many Christians have portrayed Rav Sha’ul (Paul) as defecting from Pharisaical Judaism and converting to the supposed new religion called Christianity. They also portray him as rejecting Torah, assimilating into Gentile culture and even taking on a Gentile name! Rav Sha’ul, is what he was called by his Hebrew brethren, and Paul by his Gentile brethren. The name Paul was the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew name Saul. So really he didn’t change his name. No different from a guy called Mike, would be called Michael in Hebrew, Michel in Russian and Michele in French. Or a guy named Richard and called so by his family, but is then called Rick or Dick by his buddies.

Too many Non-Believing Jews, because of the way Christians portray Rav Sha’ul (Apostle Paul) they think he was even worse than Yeshua in their eyes! Most Jews will admit that Yeshua was Torah Observant, but because of the way Rav Saul’s writings have been so distorted by Christians, so much so that Christians claim Rav Sha’ul taught people not to keep it, Jews as a result think of Rav Sha’ul along the same lines as traitor, seeing him almost as bad as Hitler!

Do Christians have it right, or is Rav Sha’ul doing 360’s in his grave screaming, “NO! That’s NOT what I said! NO, that is NOT what I meant! You got it ALL wrong!”

There is no doubt that Rav Sha’ul is a misunderstood man, even in his day. Here is what Kefa (the Apostle Peter) a contemporary of Rav Sha’ul had to say about his writings.

II Peter 3: 15-16

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Hence, it continues today, even as in Kefas’s (Peter’s) day.

Let us look into the Brit Chadashah and see what others and Rav Sha’ul had to say about himself.

BACKGROUND:

ROMAN CITIZEN:

ACTS 22:22-29 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

Here Rav Sha’ul states that he was born a Roman Citizen, and this fact indeed allowed him to escape a few Roman versions of “Police Brutality”.

CITIZEN OF TARSUS

ACTS 21:39; 22:3

But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

So to summarize, Rav Sha’ul was a Roman citizen from the city of Tarsus. It would be like me saying, I was born in the United States and am a U.S. citizen, I was born in the city of Mansfield in the state of Ohio.

A TRUE JEW!

PHIL. 3:5

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

ROMANS 11:1

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

ACTS 23:6

But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

WOAH! Did you catch all of this!? He said, “I AM” NOT “I WAS a Pharisee.” Not only that, but he is from the tribe of Benjamin and is proud to be a full-fledged, “card carrying” Jew!

ACTS 24:5

For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

Paul was accused of being a leader in the Jewish sect called the Nazarenes which accepted Pharisees as long as they professed faith and belief that Yeshua was the Divine Messiah as many of them did according to Acts 15:5 because they were present and gave voice at the Jerusalem council.

So the fact that Paul being considered a Pharisee and a Nazarene were not in conflict.

And we know as we have established earlier that the Catholic Church Father Epiphanius said of the Nazarenes in his work (Epiphanius, “Against Heresies,” Panarion 29, 7 pp 41, 402):

“The Nazarenes do not differ in any essential thing from the Jew (meaning the Orthodox Jews) since they practice the customs and doctrines prescribed by Jewish Law; except that they believe in Christ. They believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the universe was created by God. They preach that God is One, and that Jesus Christ is His Son. They are very learned in the Hebrew language. They read the Law (meaning the Law of Moses)… Therefore they differ…from the true Christians because they fulfill until now such Jewish rites as the circumcision, Sabbath and others.”

FAMILY BACKGROUND:

ACTS 22:22-29

And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
As we already established he was a Roman citizen by birth which leads us to our next point.

FAMILY FORTUNE:

ACTS 22:28

And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

For Rav Sha’ul to be born a Roman citizen and his Father and Mother being faithful Jews, they had to have had some wealth because as the man who was about to flog Rav Sha’ul said, that he had to buy his citizenship and it was expensive!

Myself having a Canadian wife and us living in the U.S. and now Canada, I can attest first hand that purchasing a citizenship of a country is STILL pricy!

OCCUPATIONAL TRADE:

ACTS 18:3

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

Not only was Rav Sha’ul a Rabbi, but he made “tents” on the side to supplement his income. This is thought by some to mean he did not make tents to live in, but “tents” to pray in. A “tent” is a Hebraic slang term for a Tallit, a Prayer Shawl. So some say he made prayer shawls and being a well-trained, educated Rabbi, he would know all the Halachah (rules) that goes into making a Tallit.

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION:

ACTS 22:3

Even today Rabbi Gamaliel is one of the most revered and well-read of the entire ancient Rabbis of Paul’s time, right up there with Rashi, the Rambam, and Rabbi Akiva. He is also quoted in a prominent Jewish section of the Talmud called, the Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) Chapter 1 verse 16.

Rabbi Gamaliel was also said concerning the Nazarene Jewish movement in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament):

ACTS 5:34-40 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, [even] as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten [them], they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

ZEALOUS FOR JUDAISM:

GALATIANS 1:13-14

For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

BECAME A BELIVEING JEWISH PHARISEE:

ACTS 23:6

ZEAL FOR HIS JEWISH BROTHERS:

ROMANS 10:1

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

WAS TORAH OBSERVANT AFTER BEING CHANGED BY YESHUA:

ACTS 28:17

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Here Rav Sha’ul proudly proclaims that not only has he kept the Torah, but also the traditions and customs of the Fathers relating to the performance of the Commandments!

ACTS 21:17-26

And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Here Rav Sha’ul was accused of teaching Gentiles and Jews that they did not have to keep the Torah, which was a total lie. So to solve the problem the Elders suggested an act on Rav Saul’s part that would prove to the people his allegiance to the Torah, which was to take on a Nazarite vow (which is a part of the “Old Testament” Law) along with other believers in Yeshua, and to have Rav Sha’ul fit the bill for the other believers in regards to the sacrifices.

This meant he took on a Nazarite vow, and when the vow was completed, he went to the Temple to offer the prescribed sacrifice! Why would Rav Sha’ul do this if he thought the Torah, the Temple and the Sacrifices were done away with, or if he actually was teaching others to forsake the Torah!?

Either Rav Sha’ul was a Torah Observant Jew till the end or right here is proving himself to be a two faced liar, playing whatever crowd he was with at the moment.

I say that the Scriptures are evident and clear that Rav Sha’ul never abandoned Judaism, the Torah, nor did he assimilate into the Roman culture at that time, nor did he convert to “Christianity” besides, it didn’t exist yet.

Unfortunately, as Kefa (Peter) said in II Peter 3:15-16, Rav Saul’s (Paul’s) texts have been and it is evident even now have been taken out of context to suit a bias Anti-Jewish and Anti-Torah doctrine in the majority of Christianity.

So what shall we make of his letters? This isn’t the place for exhaustive commentaries of the Letters of the Apostle Paul but what I will do is attempt to briefly tackle some confusing phraseology of his and address some prominent themes found in his writings.

UNDER THE LAW

What does Rav Sha’ul (Paul) mean when he says we are no longer, “Under the Law”? This means because of salvation through and that our sins are now under the blood of Messiah (Christ) we are no longer under the PENATLTY of the Law. And what is the penalty of the Law? Death!

CURSE OF THE LAW

What is meant by, “Curse of the Law”? Well, what is the curse of the Law? It is clearly spelled out in Deuteronomy chapter 28 what the curses for disobeying the Law are. The Law itself is not a curse, Paul himself called it good (Rom. 3:31, 7:12, 16, I Tim. 1:8).

WORKS OF THE LAW

This phrase is referring to “Halacha,” that is a Jewish word, meaning how a Jewish sect and or group interprets and keeps, or carries out, observes a particular commandments of Torah (the Law).

LAW AND WORKS

A major theme in many of Paul’s letters was a situation where his readers were putting the cart before the horse. They were putting Works before Faith. They were putting the Sinai Covenant (Works Righteousness) before the Abrahamic Covenant (Faith Righteousness). They were trying to be saved or justified by their Works (Torah Obedience) when Works is actually the bi-product of true Faith. As James said, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2).

“When the Apostles put together their original canon, they placed the writings of Ya’akov, Kefa, Yochannon, and Yehudah (James, Peter, John and Jude) in front of the epistles of Shaul. This was done precisely so the reader would first read the warnings contained in these so-called “Jewish” Apostles’ letters and not think that Shaul was suggesting that the Commandments were done away with.” – Norman B. Willis, Nazarene Israel: The Original Faith of the Apostles pg.63

Obviously the order of the Apostles works has been changed since then by the “Church Fathers.” The bottom line is, if your interpretation of Rav Saul’s writings is anything but pro-Torah, you have sorely misinterpreted, misrepresented, and misunderstood this great Nazarene Jew.

What About the Other Apostles?

Acts 21:20

And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

Jim Myers has this to say concerning the early Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua, from his article, “Would Your Church Really Allow You To Be Like Jesus?” Found at: http://www.biblicalheritage.org/Jesus/would.htm

“The book of Acts provides us with some very valuable information. Acts 21:17-25 records Paul's return to Jerusalem and his meeting with the leaders of the "church." Keep in mind that these were the men who had been personally taught by and lived with Jesus. Their words provide us with some very enlightening information. The translation given below is based on a cultural and historical methodology. Your translation most probably reflects the doctrines of the Roman church and therefore may differ.

"You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have become faithful (observant). All of them are zealous for the Torah (Law). They have been informed that you have taught the Jews of the Diaspora to not keep the Torah, that they should not circumcise their children or live according to the Jewish religion.... Take these men and do the following... so that everybody will know that there is no truth in these reports about your teachings, but that you yourself are living an observant lifestyle and keeping the Torah."

A quick summary provides us with some very significant information. Is your church producing the same results?

(1) Jews became more faithful (observant) Jews because of the message.

(2) They became zealous for the Torah (Law).

(3) They kept the Laws of Moses (the Torah).

(4) They circumcised their children.

(5) They lived according to the traditions (Jewish religion).

Notice that Paul did as he was requested - he wasn't teaching the Jews to abandon their religion. Paul was "under the law" and lived an observant lifestyle. How then could he have been the author of a doctrine that advocated rejecting the law?

I don't mean to linger on this point forever, but are you really getting the importance of this message?

(1) The message of the apostles caused Jews to repent and become observant Jews who practiced Judaism faithfully.

(2) The apostles were causing Jews to become eager for the Torah and to pursue it with fervor. It is clear that they were not teaching them that "they were under grace and no longer under the law." This one point is in complete opposition to most fundamental teaching of every modern Christian doctrine.

(3) The Jewish members of the early church continued to circumcise their children. In other words, they continued to see themselves as participants in the Abrahamic Covenant, just as every practicing Jew does today. Their children were Jews, not members of some new mystical religion that replaced Judaism.

(4) The Jewish members of the early church continued to practice Judaism. They did not switch to a new religion.”

Further examples of the Torah observant lifestyle of the Apostles:

Kefa (Peter) – prayed Mincha (afternoon) prayers and he kept kosher. (Acts 10)

Again, remember, Rav Sha’ul (Paul) – said “I am (not was) a Pharisee…” He kept the traditions and customs of the Jewish people. (Acts 23:5-6, 28:17)

He made an offering after Yeshua’s death and resurrection. (Acts 21:17-26)

The letter of James is all about keeping the Law as proof of, and as an expression of one’s Faith.

One day the Temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices will resume. During the millennial reign of Messiah, everyone will keep the Feasts of the LORD as in Leviticus 23 (Isa.66:22-24). Yeshua said he didn’t come for the ones who were already keeping Torah. He came for the ones who did not keep Torah. (Mt. 9:9-13, Mk. 2:13-17, Lk. 5:27-32)

RaYBaSH's Ramblings

Monday, January 14, 2019

Get Back to the First Century: The Apostle Paul

Acts 21:20