In the Book of Romans, we see
Sha’ul speak about “Jew and Gentile”.
You will read in this book that I put in (the
Lost Sheep of the House of Israel) in parenthesis or indicate I
added it using italics before the word “Greeks” or “Gentile”. For
example:
Romans 2
14
Indeed, when the Lost Sheep of The House of Israel dispersed
among the Gentiles who do not have the Law, do by nature things
required by the Law (because Yahuah has
written the Law on their hearts
Ezekiel 36: 26, 27, Jeremiah 31), they are a law for
themselves, even though they do not have the Law; 15
Since they show that the requirements of the Law are written in
their hearts, their conscience also bears witness, and their
thoughts now accuse or else try to defend them—
Am I “adding words” in error or am I properly
interpreting the Scriptures and Sha’ul’s intent? The letter of Sha’ul to
the Nazarene assembly in Rome was written specifically to what he calls
Gentiles. But were these pagan Gentiles or were they truly Israelites
scattered among them? Sha’ul was obeying Yahusha’s command below:
Matthew 10
5 These twelve Yahusha sent out
after instructing them: “Do not go in
the way of the (pagan)
Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
6 but rather
go to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. 7 And
as you go, preach, saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
From the way the Great Commission is translated
it looks as though Sha’ul was violating this command of the King! He was
doing just that and “going the way of the Gentiles” and preaching the
Gospel. But is that true? No. Yahusha did not, as Christianity teaches,
come for pagan gentiles such as Canaanites, but to reclaim only
the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel
from AMONG the pagan gentiles.
Matthew 15
21
Leaving that place, Yahusha withdrew to the region of Tyre and
Sidon. 22
A Canaanite woman
(pagan gentile not from either the House
of Judah or the House of Israel) from that vicinity came to
him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter
is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23
Yahusha did not answer a
word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her
away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered,
“I
was sent only to the lost sheep of (the
House of)
Israel.”
25 The woman came and
knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied,
“It is not right to take the children (of
Abraham)’s bread and toss it to the dogs (those
not chosen or pagan gentiles).”
The “way of the Gentiles” is not a
path or direction where Gentiles can be found, but rather a “way of
life” the pagans live. It is referring the pagan religious ways.
What Yahusha was saying is “do not go to Gentiles who outwardly display
pagan ways”.
Rather, he commanded his disciples to take the Gospel to those
who by their very nature keep THE LAW. This was in fulfillment of
Yahuah’s promised to would “write the Law on the hearts” of
The House of Israel whom
He scattered among the Greeks, and they would respond to the message
“the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.
Sha’ul understood this an even quoted Jeremiah 31 as
justification for his ministry:
Hebrews 8:11
…10 This is the covenant I will make with
the House of Israel after those days, says Yahuah. I will put My
Laws in their minds, and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will
be their Elohim, and they will be My people. 11 No longer will each
one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahuah, because
they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12
For I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sins no more.”
How are we to understand Yahusha’s statement “Do
not go in the way of the Gentiles” in context of commanding us to
“go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” who were scattered among
the Gentile nations?
“The way
of the gentiles” is a term used often in the Bible. It is speaking
of the religious practices of the
pagan Gentiles. Below
are several different translations of Jeremiah and we see the same
phrase “the way of the Gentiles” referring to
those who display the
religious practices of pagans:
Jeremiah 10:2
New International Version
This is what the
LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of
the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the
nations are terrified by them.
NET Bible
The LORD says, "Do not start
following pagan religious practices.
Do not be in awe of signs that occur in the sky even though the
nations hold them in awe.
GOD'S WORD® Translation
This
is what the LORD says: Don't learn the
practices of the nations. Don't be frightened by the signs in
the sky because the nations are frightened by them.
Jubilee Bible 2000
Thus hath
the LORD said, Do not learn the way of
the Gentiles, and do not fear the signs of heaven, even
though the Gentiles fear them.
So, “the way of the Gentiles” means those who
display the pagan practices of the Gentiles.
Below is how Matthew 10;
The Great Commission
should read:
Matthew 10
5 These
twelve Yahusha sent out after instructing them:
“Do not go to those who practice pagan religions,
and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
6 but rather go to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel scattered among the Gentiles.
These lost sheep are those who display the Way of Yahuah by
keeping His Law instinctively; because Yahuah has written the Law on
their hearts. 7 And as you go,
preach, saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ And those whom
Yahuah has chosen will respond.
We know
the House of Israel was
scattered among the pagan Gentile nations and Yahusha was well aware of
that fact. So, we can
immediately dismiss the idea that Yahusha was saying “don’t
go to the Gentile nations” and preach the Gospel as that is where
the House of Israel was dispersed. This was common knowledge in the
first century:
John 7:35
The Jews said to
one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find
him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks
and teach the (our people scattered among
the) Greeks?
The major prophecy concerning this truth; that
the two houses had been divided and would be re-united in the end is
found in Ezekiel Chapter 37.
The Nation of Israel was divided into the Northern Kingdom of
Israel (the
House of Israel) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (the
House of Judah). We
see Yahuah’s plan all along was to reclaim
the Lost Sheep of the House of
Israel and re-unite them with
the House of Judah (the
Jews).
Ezekiel 37 -
Reunion of Judah and Israel
15 The word of Yahuah came
again to me saying, 16
“And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on
it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’ (known
as the House of Judah); then take another stick and write on
it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all
the House of Israel,
his companions.’ 17
Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they
may become one in your hand.
18 When the sons of your people (descendants
of Israel) speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us
what you mean by these?’ 19
say to them, ‘Thus says Yahuah your
Elohim, “Behold, I will
take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the
tribes of Israel, his companions (the
House of Israel); and I will put them with it, with the stick
of Judah (the House of Judah), and
make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’
20 The sticks on which you
write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 Say to them, ‘Thus says
Yahuah your
Elohim,
“Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the (pagan
Gentile) nations where they have gone, and I will gather them
from every side and bring them into their own land;
22 and I will make them
one nation in the
land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all
of them; and they will no
longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
23 They will no longer
defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things,
or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from
all their dwelling places (among the
Gentiles) in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them.
And they will be My people, and I will be their Elohim.
This is what Sha’ul uniquely understood and set
out to accomplish in obedience to The Great Commission. Sha’ul was not
the “Apostle to the Gentiles” but rather the “Apostle to the House of
Israel” scattered among them.
When Sha’ul is describing the hardening of
the House of Judah (Jews)
“until such time as the number of Gentiles come in (Romans
11:25)”, Sha’ul is speaking of
the House of Israel.
Wisdom (and context) is required in Yahuah’s plan to understand Sha’ul’s
commission. The word
“Gentiles” simply means “not Jewish”.
So, by definition
the House of Israel could
be and was called Gentiles by the Jews who rejected them as they were
not “Jewish”:
Merriam Webster Dictionary
1gen·tile
noun
\ˈjen-ˌtī(-ə)l\
: a person who is not Jewish
Pagan
Gentiles are not of
the bloodline of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob.
Then there are those living among the Gentile Nations who are “called
Gentiles” but really aren’t they are actually from
the House of Israel who
lost their identity. They
had no idea of their lineage to the forefathers of Israel and thought
themselves to be “Gentiles” in fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy below:
Hosea 1
10 Yet the
number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which
cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place (pagan
Gentile lands) where it is said to them (not
that it is true it is only
said of them), “You are not My people,” It will be
said to them (after I reclaim them to
their rightful inheritance), “You are the sons of the
living Elohim.” 11
And the sons of Judah (House
of Judah) and the sons of Israel (House
of Israel) will be gathered together,
Those lost sheep of the House of Israel among the
Greeks did not have the Torah/Prophets and had no idea they were truly
descendants of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob. In Romans 9 Sha’ul quotes Hosea 1 to
justify his commission.
Romans 9
25 As He
says also in Hosea (Prophet to the House
of Israel): I will call those Lost Sheep among the gentiles
“My people”, who were not (known to be)
My people (because Yahuah dispersed them
and erased their memory from among men, so they had no knowledge
they were truly His People Deuteronomy 32:26); and her
beloved, who was not beloved. 26 And it will be that in
the place (among the Gentiles)
where it was said to them (The House of
Israel): “You are not My people (Hosea
1:9) ”; there (when I reclaim The
House of Israel among the nations Ezekiel 39:24-26,
Jeremiah 30:3,
Hosea 1) they will be called sons of the living
Father.
Sha’ul “called” the lost sheep
Gentiles just as Yahuah
foretold. Sha’ul couldn’t
identify them on the surface, but Yahuah did give him a way to do so.
Neither those scattered among the nations nor any “Jew” could identify
them as Yahuah caused their remembrance to cease:
Deuteronomy 32:26
26
I said, I would scatter them into (all)
corners (of Earth), I would make
the remembrance of them to cease from among men (no
one would know they are truly Israelites):
Sha’ul knew Yahuah had also promised to reverse
this situation and then cause them to remember His Name and write His
Law on their hearts:
Jeremiah 16:21
And, behold, I will make them know; this
time I will cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall
know that My name is Yahuah.
Sha’ul knew he could take The Gospel to the
nations and the lost Sheep of The House of Israel would identify
themselves by responding to the message. The other disciples failed to
understand this as only Sha’ul was an expert in the Torah and Prophets.
Taking the Gospel to the “Gentiles” became a major point of
contention as the other disciples did not understand that
the House of Israel was
lost and “called” Gentiles.
Yahuah made it clear that
the House of Israel would
be lost and without their identity among the Gentile nations.
Hosea 1
6 Then she
conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And Yahuah said to
him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for
I will no longer have
compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive
them. 7
But I will have compassion on
the house of Judah and deliver them by Yahuah their Elohim,
and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or
horsemen.”
Hosea 9
17 My
Elohim will reject them (speaking of the
House of Israel) because they have not obeyed him (broke
His Laws); they will be wanderers among the (pagan)
nations (Gentiles).
Below, Yahuah speaks through the prophet Isaiah
of how His Plan was to re-marry
the House of Israel and
bring His estranged wife back and restore her completely.
Isaiah 54
5 For
your Maker is your husband— Yahuah Almighty is His Name— the Holy
One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the Elohim of all the
earth. 6 Yahuah will
call you (the
House of Israel) back as if you were a wife deserted
and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be
rejected,” says your Elohim.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep
compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger I hid
my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I
will have compassion on you,” says Yahuah your Redeemer.
Yahusha knew this was his mission as Messiah when
he came the first time and so did the Apostle Sha’ul.
Since the House of Israel did not realize who they were and
considered themselves “Gentiles” Sha’ul had to speak to them on terms
they would and could accept.
So he referred to them as “Gentiles” in his writings to them.
Sha’ul is speaking of how he would have to meet both houses where they
were to reach them individually becoming all things to all men.
1
Corinthians 9:19-23
19
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a
slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 To the Jews (House
of Judah) I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. …
To those not having the law (the
House of Israel) I became like one not having the law though
I am not free from
the Law of Yahuah but
am under
the Yahushaic Covenant;
so as to win those (the House of Israel)
not having the law (being lost among the
Gentiles).
So, to clarify Sha’ul’s writings in Romans and
every other letter, I will always properly interpret “Gentile” to be
“the Lost Sheep scattered among the Gentiles” to honor Yahuah’s Plan,
the words of the Prophets, and the Great Commission.
John 7:35
The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that
we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered
among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
Matthew 15:24
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.”
To learn more about this topic, please read my
book The Kingdom.
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