It may seem strange to many of our readers that a dispute arose in the Nation of Israel during 1958 over the question of "Who is a Jew?" The controversy was related to identity cards for Israeli citizens. At the first, a mere declaration by the applicant that he was a Jew was sufficient for him to be listed as a Jew; but the Israeli Orthodox Rabbinate strongly objected to this method. Their objection was that it allowed children of mixed marriages to claim Jewish nationality without being converted. The argument caused a political crisis in Israel which was solved by a compromise suggested by Rabbi Jacob Moshe Toledano, the Minister of Religious Affairs.
The acceptable formula included an understanding that "The identity cards would not necessarily be the exclusive criterion when the question of the bearer's religion might be raised in the religious courts and the Chief Rabbinate would have the authority to call for additional proof in cases of doubt."
On this basis "Adults who declared in good faith that their parents were Jewish would be registered as Jews."-B'nai B'rith Messenger, Los Angeles, Jan. 30, 1959.
Another change in the rules eliminated the naming of the minor children's religion on the father's identity card; then when the children reach the age of 16, they must apply for their own cards. At that time their claim to being Jewish will be established, and will be based not on the father's, but on the mother's being Jewish. For, according to the Jewish Talmud, children of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father are considered to be Jewish, while children of parents of reverse order are considered to be non-Jews, unless they become so by conversion to Judaism.
It may astound some orthodox Jews when they study their genealogical tree to find such rules were not enforced in the days of Israel's history up to the time of David their king. The very genealogy of the Messiah was blotted in this specific way on several occasions. And while the average Jews today completely reject the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, if they are careful to study their own scriptures, they must admit that the genealogy of the Messiah as given in Matt. 1 must of necessity be the genealogy of their Messiah, whoever he is; for God decreed that the Messiah would be the direct descendant of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, and of David. And in this genealogy, there was Thamar (v. 3; Gen. 38:12-2612And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 16And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not. 21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. 22And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. 23And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. 24And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. 26And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. (Genesis 38:12‑26)), and in all likelihood she was a Canaanite, as was Judah's wife Shuah (Gen. 38:22And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. (Genesis 38:2)). Hence Phares (the son of Judah and Thamar), in the direct line of the Messiah, would not have been a Jew according to present rules.
Then Boaz, the mighty man of wealth of the book of Ruth, had a Gentile mother, and her name was Rahab, commonly referred to as "Rahab the harlot." Boaz married "Ruth the Moabitess," and thus not only brought into Israel, but into the Messianic line, a descendant of Moab, in direct opposition to the Word of God: "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever." Deut. 23:33An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: (Deuteronomy 23:3).
Nor was that all. Their son Obed, who according to Talmudic regulations would not have been considered a Jew, became the father of Jesse, and grandfather of David the king. Thus the second generation ascended the throne of Israel. How little Israel realizes that they have little or nothing to boast of after the flesh; the grace of God should alone be their boast, and it will be so in the day of their coming prosperity under great David's greater Son.
A still further blot on Israel's genealogy is that Solomon was the son of David and Bath-sheba—not a very savory episode in Israel's history. Whether Bathsheba was a Gentile is open to question, but her husband, Uriah, was a Hittite; so in all probability she was also. The Hittites were a numerous and warlike race who inhabited Palestine even after Israel possessed it; they were descendants of Canaan, and hence of Ham. At one time, many critics of the Word of God claimed there had been no historical evidence that the Hittites ever existed, but later discoveries disproved their willful error.
But to return briefly to Israel's rejection of Jesus as their Messiah, we might cite a verse from Psalm 110: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." (vs. 1). Notice the difference in the type of letters used in the two places-"LORD" and "Lord." The first is Jehovah, and the second is the coming Messiah. The Lord Himself when He was here confounded the Jews by asking a simple question: "What think ye of Christ?" (or, the coming Messiah) "whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David." This was correct according to many Old Testament scriptures. Then the Lord asked them, "How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool?" Matt. 22:42-4442Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? (Matthew 22:42‑44). How could David refer to his son as his Lord? This question stopped the Pharisees of old, for it would have been improper for David to call his son his Lord; the simple and only answer then and now is that the Messiah is not only David's Son according to the flesh, but actually the Son of God, hence David's Lord. The solution is very simple and correct according to the Old Testament, but blind unbelief will not accept it.
Now the problem that is vexing not only the Jews in Israel, but the Jews throughout the world, especially in the United States, is closely akin to the one, "Who is a Jew?" or probably more correctly now, What is a Jew? Time magazine put it succinctly: "Is Jewishness a religion, a nationality or a peoplehood? In sum: What is a Jew?"-May 19, 1961. The present agitation with all its attendant complications promises to be around for a long time. Premier David Ben-Gurion brought it to the fore by an attack on Zionism, especially Zionists who are willing to help finance the State of Israel, but who have not immigrated to it. Just what his motive and purpose was is hard to discern; but he has always been a rather enigmatic individual who generally thinks ahead of his contemporaries, be they enemies or friends.
Mr. Ben-Gurion chose the 25th World Zionist Congress meeting in Jerusalem last December to attack the position of the Jews living outside of Palestine for their failure to immigrate to Israel. He quoted a passage from their Talmud: "Whoever dwells outside the land of Israel is considered to have no God." His theology was promptly denounced by some prominent rabbis living in the United States. The prime minister's contention amounts to saying that Jews cannot be practicing Jews and live away from their native land. One thing that he fails to consider is that the Jews living in their God-given homeland are not practicing Jews in the sense as found in the Torah-the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses. For instance: Where is their temple and all the ordinances of divine services as laid down therein? Where is the place in their land where the Lord has chosen to place His name, and to which they were to bring their offerings and sacrifices? Where is the Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat? And where is the yearly shedding of the blood for their atonement? Truly Judaism has continued as a religion two millenniums after their final dispersion by the Romans, but it remains an empty shell with all the vitals removed.
For a Jew like Saul of Tarsus who is brought low before the Lord Jesus and acknowledges Him as his Savior and Messiah, he will find that what were vital parts of Judaism of old were really only types and shadows of the blessed reality found in Jesus of Nazareth, the virgin's Son, the Seed of the woman, the Son of God and Son of Man. Who would occupy himself with shadows when the reality is so easily possessed?
Furthermore, if a Jew today would have a proper Jewish attitude, he would according to the Book of Deuteronomy bow before God and acknowledge that his dispersion and subsequent suffering are the direct result of the government of God upon that favored people for having turned away from Him. Such a repentant Jew would also, according to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, "make supplication unto" God and say, "We have sinned, and done perversely, we have committed wickedness." He would also, like Daniel of old, pray unto God "toward their land." (1 Kings 8:44-5344If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; 47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: 51For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. 53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. (1 Kings 8:44‑53).)
However, there is a greater sin at their door than the idolatry for which God gave them into the hands of the Chaldeans. The present guilt is that of rejecting their Messiah when He came to shepherd His sheep. There are two sections of Isaiah which close with the pronouncement of "no peace." The one ends with the last verse of chapter 48. Leading up to that, God by the prophet detailed their sin of idolatry, and closed with "There is no peace, saith the LORD [or Jehovah], unto the wicked." Israel was to have been God's witness on earth to the one true God, in contrast to the multitude of heathen deities; but when Israel followed these deities, judgment was pronounced against them by Jehovah -it was Jehovah the God of Israel in contrast with idols. The other section details Israel's rejection of their Messiah-the 53rd chapter is in this section-and closes with "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Chap. 57:21. It is God whose Son was rejected and cast out, so God deals with them on that account.
During the present Jewish controversy, Dr. Horace M. Kallen, writing in the Jewish Digest, said that his people had a wonderful library in the Bible which belonged to all the Jews, not to a class only. He called this a "Portable Fatherland" which could be practiced anywhere, as "rules of righteousness and justice in human relations." Perhaps as far as "human relations" is concerned, this is true; but the basic ingredients concerning man's relations with his God are not sufficient. God said plainly to them, "without shedding of blood is no remission." Now where in Judaism today, either in the fatherland of Israel or Israel's portable fatherland, is that obtainable for a Jew? If he would only get his eyes opened he would see that Jesus Christ came, and His blood was shed-"the precious blood of Christ"-thereby giving God a righteous basis to forgive their sins on their confession and repentance.
We read in their "Portable Fatherland," "I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek My face." Hos. 5:1515I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. (Hosea 5:15). Here One is speaking who has been here, but has gone to His place awaiting Israel's repentance. Their own sacred book, of which they boast, also says that a time is coming when that One who was rejected and has gone back to His place "will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon ME whom they have pierced, and they... shall be in bitterness for Him." Zech. 12:1010And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10).
What seems to be troubling the famous Premier of Israel is that while millions of dollars have been contributed by American Jews to the founding of a stable government and economy in Israel, less than 250 American Jews move to Israel each year. Israel has a population of only slightly over 2,000,000 persons, while there is a Jewish community in the United States of approximately 5,500,000. The Jews of this country are affluent and are to be found in every walk of life. They are in the President's cabinet, in Congress, are governors of some states, are outstandingly important in the scientific, financial and commercial world. These have no desire to return to Israel and face the hardships of pioneering. Those Jews who returned to Israel were mostly those from countries where their life was hard, and they do not represent the highly educated and greatly wealthy to the degree which is found in this hemisphere. But Mr. Ben-Gurion sees the Arabs growing steadily in military might and with no diminution of purpose to eventually exterminate Israel. Russia and her satellites have been supplying large stores of arms with men to train the Arab hordes in the use of those arms. It is evident that all this is unnecessary for any simple defense; it must be for offense, and Israel is the only potential enemy, as they see. So, the Premier would like to get some millions of highly trained and very wealthy Jews to move to Israel to bolster his position in the Middle East. As we see it, this is probably the basic underlying cause of the present turmoil about "What is a Jew?"
On this subject, it would be well to keep in mind the distinctions between three terms that many seem to think are synonymous; namely, "Hebrew," "Israelite," and "Jew." The first time we find the word Hebrew in the Bible is in Gen. 14 "And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew." v. 13. One Jewish writer-writing in the B'nai B'rith of September 26, 1958-says that the name comes from Eber, the grandson of Shem. This conclusion is doubtful, although Abraham is the first Hebrew mentioned. We prefer the position taken by a Bible Dictionary published in London by G. Morrish. This book says: "There were five generations between Eber and Abraham, so by this derivation many others might have been called Hebrews." Between Eber and Abraham were Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah (see Gen. 11:17-2717And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. (Genesis 11:17‑27)). Besides these five there were all their brothers and sisters, which in those days of great longevity would produce numerous families and tribes- all Hebrews-so the designation to Abraham would not mean much.
The root word from which Hebrew comes is "to pass over." Now Abraham was called by God out from his father's house and country and to pass over to the land to which God called him. He would therefore have been a stranger living among the Canaanites, and the designation of a stranger who has passed over the land and the rivers to reach there might well be characteristic of him and his posterity. But neither Ishmael nor Esau were so called. They could scarcely have been called wanderers or sojourners in Palestine, for they took up residence wherever they chose.
Then the name Israelite came only after Jacob, for God changed his name-meaning "supplanter," his name in nature-to Israel, or "prince with God." This is definitely God's designation of that people who were chosen by Him. "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises." Rom. 9:44Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (Romans 9:4). This name belongs to all of the twelve tribes. It is remarkable that when the present Jewish state was formed, it was called Israel.
The term "Jew" is never mentioned in the Old Testament until after the division of the kingdom into two parts-Judah and Benjamin of the first part are often spoken of only as Judah, while Ephraim and the other nine tribes are often spoken of jointly as Ephraim. The ten tribes were taken captive by the king of Assyria about 115 years before the two tribes were taken captive to Babylon. The first was by Shalmaneser in about 721 B.C., and the other by Nebuchadnezzar about 606 B.C. After this the name Jew comes more prominently into the divine record, especially in Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Jeremiah. Hence, we may justly conclude that it was originally meant to designate those of the tribe of Judah (Benjamin was allied to Judah but was a very unequal partner, being a very small tribe at that time); although one must allow for the world outside to use such distinct designations with a lack of discrimination. Even some Israelites who should have known better used "Hebrews" for God's official term, "Israelites." See King Saul's carelessness about this (1 Sam. 13). Sad to say, "Jew" today often has a disrespectful connotation about it, but "they are beloved for the fathers' sakes." Rom. 11:2828As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. (Romans 11:28).
In checking the names of those who returned from Babylonian captivity, we find that they were chiefly of Judah and Benjamin, plus the Levites who were not given a possession in the land. Very little is known of the ten tribes which were taken to Assyria. Suffice it to say that God has His eye upon them, but the Israelites we see today are generally of that part of the tribes which were probably correctly referred to as Jews. We do know that there were a few of the ten tribes scattered among the "Jews" when the Lord Jesus came; for Anna, a prophetess, was of the tribe of Asher (see Luke 2:3636And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; (Luke 2:36)).
Generally speaking, all the Jews we know today are from Judah, Benjamin, or Levi. We understand that one of the most often-found names in the New York City telephone directory is Cohen, and it comes from a word meaning "priest." We might suppose that this is carried down from the tribe of Levi.
What we have already stated perhaps answers the first question raised in the Israeli dispute; namely, "Who is a Jew?"-both in its lax usage and in its more exact meaning.
But this leaves the question still unanswered, "What is a Jew?" "Is it a religion, a nationality or a people hood?" One noted anthropologist, Dr. Harry L. Shapiro, himself a Jew, says that "The Jewish people do not constitute a race." Perhaps this is so in a strict sense, for they are but one branch of the Semitic people. This makes the term anti-Semitism, as applied to prejudice against the Jewish people, a misnomer. The descendants of Ishmael and of Esau, although so closely akin that one might expect friendship and not antagonism, are avowed and bitter enemies of the Jew today, although they are also of the Semitic family. But to say that the Jews are not a distinct people in the main is a mistake. This anthropologist contends that the Jewish people "absorbed elements of every tribal and ethnic strain that had entered the country."-B'nai B'rith Messenger, July 8, 1961. He does not seem very well acquainted with their history as a whole; for it was said at the beginning, Israel "shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Numb. 23:99For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9). Jehovah chastised them time and again for being guilty of intermarriage with the Gentiles. Their separation is deeply ingrained into them; and in spite of grace that brought Gentiles even into the royal line, there has never been any other people who so disdained intermarriage, and who have in the face of the severest hardships kept from being assimilated by their captors or friends. And despite all arguments to the contrary, the characteristics of the Jews are the marks of a people-a distinct people.
Witness any other people who immigrated to the United States; in a few years they became indistinguishable from others. Their identity was soon lost in the general blending of various strains. (Only those who lived to themselves like a colony of, say, French, retain their distinctive marks for a generation or two.) But the Jews have not been absorbed here in the great melting pot.
Mr. Ben-Gurion warns that the favorable conditions of the American Jews might be a "kiss of death," for it might lead to assimilation. The three million Jews in Russia are deprived of all means of keeping their distinct Jewishness alive, either in language, religion, or marriage. They have been plainly told by Russian authorities to assimilate. It is the only place where forcible assimilation is being attempted.
The noted English historian, Arnold Toynbee, has had much to say about the Jews. For one thing he praised their "original" monotheism and calls Christianity and Mohammedanism only derivative forms of it. He suggested that the Jews intermarry and thus spread their religion. But "Orthodox Jews exploded. To them, intermarriage is anathema."-Time, May 19, 1961. Thus in spite of most cruel persecutions, which assimilation would have forestalled, and many other advantages of sinking their identity, they have an ingrained determination to retain their Jewishness as a people. A people they definitely are.
And has the Word of God given any hint about this great phenomenon-a people put through every form and process of intermingling over 2000 years, and yet being as distinct now as before? Yes, it has. We all know the account of Cain's murdering his brother Abel, as given in Gen. 4 Cain and Abel were brothers, the sons of the same father and the same mother; but one day Cain killed his brother. God entered the scene and asked Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?" God held him accountable for his brother. Later God sent His Son into this world with this thought: "I will send My beloved Son: it may be they will reverence Him when they see Him." Luke 20:1313Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. (Luke 20:13). But the husbandman (a plain type of the keepers of God's vineyard of Israel) "cast Him out of the vineyard, and killed Him." Now God inquires of man generally, and of the Jew particularly, Where is My Son?
To go back to Gen. 4, we find that Cain complained that his punishment was too great, and that people would kill him.
So "the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." (vs. 15). And have we not here an indication in type that that people to whom the Son of God came according to the flesh should have a mark upon them and not be suffered to be exterminated? God will have His own special way of dealing with them in the soon-coming day. And down through the ages, God has dealt very severely with those who have attempted to liquidate the Jew. All their evil machinations will fail, for God has decreed what He will pass them through before a remnant of all twelve tribes will be restored.
Their survival in their present form as a distinct people is a monument to God's overruling hand. It is a greater mystery among men than any other sign. We have often heard of the European monarch who years ago asked his Prime Minister to give him a very brief reason for believing that the Bible is true. His reply was, "The Jew."
At the present time there is a very real attempt being made to revive Nazism. There is a growing organization called "Anti-Semitic International." They claim to have been well financed, and Mr. Oswald Mosley of England has been giving lectures in various parts of Europe promoting this anti-Jewish campaign. Perhaps the Lord may allow more persecution to shake them out of their nests in foreign lands before they will be willing to return to Israel. We merely say, perhaps. But woe be to those who take up the cudgels against them.
All around, there are evidences that we are at the time of the end. "Even so, Come, Lord Jesus."
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