So it's actually really difficult to pin down what FFOZ believes about Jewish and Gentile Believers in regarding membership in Israel. But I think I've finally figured out what they believe. Phew! Here you go:
Is there a physical realm of Israel composed exclusively of ethnic Jews bound to the Torah?
FFOZ says "yes":
"God chose Israel, the Jewish people, and entered into an everlasting covenant with them...God gave to Israel the holy Torah as a covenantal way of life, and the holy Land of Israel as an inheritance and pledge of the blessing of the World to Come," White Paper.
Is there a spiritual realm of Israel that includes Jews and Gentiles in which the Gentiles segment is not bound to the Torah?
FFOZ says "yes":
"Amos's Gentiles are to be vassals of the Jewish king. As such, they are to be part of the commonwealth of Israel, with rights as citizens of Israel. They are to be bound to the laws of the king of Israel, but they are to be regarded as Gentiles. They have a legitimate place in the kingdom and citizenship in Israel, but they still maintain their own non-Jewish, legal identity” Lancaster, White Paper, Acts 15 Re-Examined
"The apostles desired that Gentile believers would partner with the believing Jewish community, begin practicing what would have then been considered a form of Judaism in solidarity with the Jewish people, live a life of submission to the Messiah King, and work alongside Messianic Jews to spread the message of the kingdom throughout the nations. The apostle Paul called the resulting alliance between believing Jew and Gentile the 'commonwealth of Israel' (Ephesians 2:12)," Boaz Michael, Tent of David, pgs. 21-22
"To this early Jewish community [of Yeshua followers] God added partners from among the nations, who heard the news of God's work in Yeshua and responded to the good news with faith," White Paper.
"Messiah's community is [thus] a single community expressed in diverse forms within the Jewish community [i.e. Israel] and among the nations," White Paper.
"After much debate [in Acts 15], the apostles declared that the Gentile disciples do not need to convert to Judaism and thus should not be bound to the full yoke of the Torah...these four prohibitions become, in a sense, an overarching category which contains many sub-category commandments," Toby Janicki, God-Fearers.
"[Gentiles are not] legally 'under the law' in the same way that Jewish people [are]," White Paper.
CONCLUSION:
FFOZ then looks like this:
PHYSICAL REALM OF ISRAEL: Composed exclusively of ethnic Jews bound to the Torah of the Covenant
SPIRITUAL REALM OF ISRAEL: Composed inclusively of ethnic Jews and Gentiles but Gentiles are released from the Torah of the Covenant
Could you clarify what you mean by "Spiritual Realm"?
ReplyDeleteThey describe a "spiritual" Israel variously as "Kingdom Realm" and "Commonwealth of Israel." The precedent they use is the Davidic Kingdom of Israel during the period where David ruled over separate "vassal" states such as Edom and Moab, states that were excluded from the covenant People of Israel. Lancaster actually calls this Israel's "Golden Era". What he leaves out is that the Edomites and Moabites in that era worshipped other gods than the G-d of Israel. They also didn't keep Torah because, as non-covenantal peoples, they were not bound by the Torah of the Covenant with Israel.
DeleteFFOZ says that Gentiles in the New Covenant are like the Edomites in the Davidic Kingdom (which was prior to the New Covenant). They say Gentiles are included in a Kingdom Realm of Israel but, like the Edomites, remain excluded from the Torah of the Covenant with Israel.