Identity Theft (18 page)

I looked at the scene as one after another entered into the mikvot—the immersion pools.

“Rising up out of the water is a picture of the resurrection life—the new life in the Spirit that Yeshua gives to all who ask. And three thousand is a very significant number.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, Shavuot, traditionally, is the holiday on which Israel celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses at Mount Sinai. On the day Moses brought the tablets of the Law into the camp, the people’s sin was so flagrant, Moses threw down the tablets, breaking them—and three thousand men were put to death” (see Exod. 32:19-28).

“So, three thousand people died when the law came, but with the coming of the Holy Spirit three thousand people received new life!” I added.

“Precisely! Shaul wrote to the believers in Corinth, ‘He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life’ (2 Cor. 3:6). The letter kills because it only reveals the problem. However, when one receives Yeshua, he now has power to live out God’s plan. It was the beginning of a whole new way of relating to God—now the Torah would be written on their hearts.

“And this number quickly grew,” the angel continued. “In Acts 4:4 it states that the number of
men
grew to about five thousand—and when you count the rest of the family members that number was closer to twenty thousand,
and
, need I say it…?”

“…
All of them were Jewish!
” I finished his sentence.

“Indeed they were, David, and it wasn’t merely the uneducated or the unwanted, though the Lord loves them greatly, who were placing their trust in Yeshua. Acts 6:7 says, ‘So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of
priests
became obedient to the faith.’”

“What kind of priests? Catholics?” I asked.

Ariel laughed out loud. “No, there weren’t any Catholics yet, David. These were Jewish priests!”

“We have rabbis,” I said, “but I have never met a Jewish priest.”

“It’s true, David. If your typical Jewish person were to read that second part, they would probably all think that these priests were Catholic. Why? Because there is no such thing in modern Judaism as a
priest
. The spiritual leaders in post-temple Judaism are called
rabbis
, which means
teachers
. Without a Temple, last destroyed in 70
CE
, there was no need for priests anymore, as the job of the priests was to offer sacrifices to God in the Temple on behalf of the people. Even when there were Jewish priests, they would not have used the word
priest
but
cohen
, which is a common family name even today among Jewish people. The fact that a large number of these men, the
cohanim
, who worked in the Temple had come to faith, shows that the good news of Yeshua was reaching
every sector
of Jewish society.”

Ariel snapped his fingers and a rather serious-looking man addressed me from the tablet screen.

“And that included Jewish society outside of Israel as well. Shaul, who once imprisoned Jewish believers, made it a point of principle everywhere he traveled to seek to reach the Jewish people first.”

“David, meet Lukas. Everyone up here calls him Dr. Luke.”

“Hello, David. What a pleasure to meet you.”

Despite his stern demeanor, his voice was warm and his manner friendly.

“Hi…eh…Dr. Luke.”

“Dr. Luke was the first historian among the early believers. He traveled with Shaul for some time, always taking notes. Eventually, when Shaul was imprisoned in Caesarea for two years, he began to put together an account of their travels. And he collected information from others,
firsthand accounts
, so he could write a history of the Kehilah, going as far back as the birth of the prophet John. There is no one up here, other than God and Shaul himself, who knows more about Shaul than Dr. Luke.

“I think Shaul would agree that I know more about him than he knows about himself. He was brilliant, but he really could have used a smartphone,” laughed Luke. “He was so focused on his task that he would often wear two different types of sandals, forget to eat, or even have his tunic on backward for half a day until someone finally had the courage to tell him. Of course he would always laugh at his absentmindedness. The first thing he would ask me every morning was, ‘What city are we in?’ It became a running joke between us, even when he was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea, waking up in the same place each morning. The authorities allowed me almost constant access to Shaul during that time.

“But let’s talk about Shaul’s commitment to reach the Jewish people even while he was called to the Gentiles,” said the doctor. Before me lay two passages:

I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope
that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them
(Romans 11:13-14).

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew
, then to the Gentile
(Romans 1:16).

“This next passage may shock you as it did me when I heard Shaul dictate these heartrending words to Tertius, his scribe. We were in Corinth at the time and Shaul was greatly concerned for the believers in Rome. Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews, both Messianic and non-Messianic, from the city in 49 ce. Midway through the next decade they were allowed to return, however the non-Jewish leaders of the Roman
kehilot
had falsely believed that the exile of the Jews had been a sign that God had rejected them permanently. Upon their return they were treated poorly—as second-class citizens. Much of the book of Romans was written to counter this false theology, with chapters nine through eleven, in particular, being devoted to the topic of God’s irrevocable covenant relationship with His people, Israel. And I recall Shaul, weeping unashamedly, sharing God’s heart for his brothers after the flesh—Israel.”

I speak the truth in
[the Messiah]
—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through 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
[Messiah]
for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; 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 the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen
(Romans 9:1-5).

I was stunned by what I’d just read. “Yes, David, he was willing to give up his place in Heaven, in the Messianic Kingdom, if by doing so more of his people could know the Messiah and receive eternal life. He carried this burden with him until the end. While false historians have portrayed Shaul as an enemy of Israel, I never met anyone who loved the Jewish people more. Despite his calling to the Gentiles,” continued Dr. Luke, “the principle,
to the Jew first
, was always foremost in his mind. Take a look at these passages.” Scriptures appeared again as clouds in the air; only this time they were scrolling as I read them. Certain words were in boldface. This was to highlight the fact that Shaul’s priority, in every city he visited, was always to seek out the Jewish people and tell them the good news of their risen Messiah:

When they arrived at Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues
. John was with them as their helper
(Acts 13:5).

From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch.
On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue
and sat down
(Acts 13:14).

At Iconium
Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue
. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed
(Acts 14:1).

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place
[where Jewish people met for] prayer.
We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there
(Acts 16:13).

As was his custom,
Paul went into the synagogue
, and on three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them from the Scriptures
(Acts 17:2).

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there,
they went to the Jewish synagogue
(Acts 17:10).

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue
, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks
(Acts 18:4).

They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila.
He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews
(Acts 18:19).

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there
for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God
(Acts 19:8).

“We see from Acts 14:1, where it says, ‘as usual,’ and Acts 17:2, which states, ‘as was his custom,’ that this was something Shaul always did. I was with him during much of this time, and the moment we arrived in a new city, his first question was always, ‘Where’s the synagogue?’ If we’d had a GPS back then, he would have had it programmed to locate every synagogue!

“In many of these places, numerous Jewish people came to faith; in others, there would be persecution. More often than not, it was a mixture of both.

“Everything originates with the Jewish people in God’s scheme of things. The Jewish people gave the world the revelation of the one true God, His Word—the Bible—and ultimately the Messiah, Yeshua Himself. In addition to
instant messaging
and
Starbucks
,” Luke said with a smile.

Then becoming serious again, he added, “And the children of Abraham have paid a heavy price for being God’s chosen vessel—persecution, hatred, even attempted genocide, have pursued them to this day. Without Israel, there is no Messiah, and no salvation. And since the New Covenant was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and salvation is of the Jews, it should come as no surprise that Heaven decreed the good news would be preached to the Jewish people first, and then to the nations. And this proclamation was not without effect! Far more Jewish people than is realized received Yeshua in those first two centuries! And today, again, more and more Jewish people in Israel and all around the world are embracing Him.

“I remember when Shaul returned to Jerusalem,” Luke continued. “I believe the year was 58
CE
, almost three decades after the birth of the first community of believers. The Gospel by that time had gone all around the known world.

“And surely, you would have thought, by now the Jewish revival in Jerusalem would have died down. But it was not so, David. The movement had continued unabated. When we arrived in Jerusalem, Shaul met with Jacob, the brother of Yeshua and senior leader of the Jerusalem community.”

Luke turned to Ariel, “I’m assuming you have explained the Jacob/James name debacle. Such nonsense!”

“Nope, I let Jacob do that himself,” Ariel responded with a wink.

“Good. Jacob and the elders,” Dr. Luke continued, “gave a great report concerning the work of the Gospel in Jerusalem.”

Another verse formed before me.

…Then they said to
[Shaul]:
“You see, brother, how many
thousands of Jews
have believed, and all of them are
zealous for the law
”
(Acts 21:20).

“There are two eye-openers here and a mistranslation.” I could see that Dr. Luke loved to teach. “First, they report to Shaul that the revival is continuing in power and bearing much fruit. However, it is even better than what you read David, because the Greek word translated “thousands” is
muriades
. Do you know what that word means in English?”

“
Muriades
,” I thought aloud. “Clearly, by context, it is an amount. It sounds like
myriads
.”

“Right, David. Do you know the meaning of
myriad?”
asked Dr. Luke.

“I don’t know. I guess it means
a lot
.”

“One myriad is ten thousand. Myriads, plural, are
tens of thousands!
”

A verse formed in front of me as Ariel jumped in, “Dr. Stern’s translation of this verse is more accurate.”

I read, “…They also said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealots for the Torah’” (Acts 21:20 CBJ).

“Not only does Dr. Stern’s translation bring out the fact that tens of thousands of Jews or Judeans—Jews who lived in the areas surrounding Jerusalem—had embraced Yeshua, but it suggests something that would have sent shockwaves throughout the Middle Ages during the Crusades and Inquisitions—that these tens of thousands of Jewish believers were ‘zealots for the Torah!’ Oh, that those so-called Christians who outlawed the Sabbath, forced Jews to deny Judaism and be baptized, among other atrocities, could have simply read this book instead of listening to the lies and half-truths that abounded!

“It destroys the myth that Yeshua came to start a new religion apart from Judaism. Jacob, here, is clearly not reporting this to Shaul as a problem, but as something good. In Yeshua, the Law had meaning. Ezekiel and Jeremiah both prophesied that one day God, who had written His Law on tablets of stone, would one day write it on their hearts!”

…I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts…
(Jeremiah 31:33).

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws
(Ezekiel 36:26-27).

“Somehow many Christians today have come to look at the Torah, the Law of God given to the Jews, as a bad thing. It was bad only in that it could not produce life—but it was never intended to. The Law itself was given as a revelation of God’s righteousness, and thus it exposed man’s sinfulness. The Law of Moses not only showed us how to live, it served another role in that it revealed our inability to actually keep the Law—it revealed our need for a Redeemer.