I keep hearing people say the references in the Prophets to the "nations" means that these goyim are distinct from Israel. People who make this assertion fail to understand that citizenship defines nationality. Here's a comment I wrote earlier today to someone in an attempt to explain this concept:
"Nationality is a political concept referring to citizenry. You would say a man carrying Irish citizenship is of the Irish nation, yes? Likewise, you’d agree that a man carrying American citizenship is of the American nation, yes? So if you agree that citizenship determines nationality then you’d have to agree that there’s no such thing as plural “nations” in the eschatological sense. There is but one citizenship (Eph 2)—and only one level of citizenship–and therefore only one nation."
Agreed, this is why anyone can be an American, one does not have to be born an American and one does not have to be a certain race. If a Chinese man acquired an American citizenship, he would not turn into a white man, or lose his Chinese heritage, but he would be equally American, minus a few laws like being President, etc.
ReplyDeleteIsrael, nationally is only slightly different. An american does not represent a race thus has no native lineage, but being born as native born of Israel does represent a lineage of people tracing to Abraham. Regardless, gentiles could become citizens of Israel, and they did not become Jews. And just like American citizenship do have a few minus laws that do not apply, such as owning land, or certain offices, etc.
Now as you might have seen, some like to argue that the ancestors of the sojourner lose their identity, whether or not that is true, we have no way to determine and the point is moot, because the argument is based on assumption both for the losing of identity, and the assumption that a sojourner will have ancestors. What we do know, is that a sojourner himself/herself, never becomes a Jew, regardless of the arguments made by certain individuals, although I have only heard one individual try to make this argument, and still blind to this obvious conclusion.