"I am the Lord your God who have set you apart from the nations. You shall therefore separate between the clean beast and the unclean and between the unclean fowl and the clean..." Lev. 20:24-25.
When you eat kosher--not kosher-style but actual kosher--then you are dependent on a traditional Jewish community to some extent. It draws you in. It also separates you from the Gentile communities to some extent.
They say you are what you eat. There's even the term adam kasher (kosher person). If you eat only holy things, you become holy. And what is holiness? It's being set apart. And if you have no set apart community because you are a Pro-Torah Gentile Believer living amongst Anti-Torah Gentile Believers then eating holy foods will make you holy unto yourself, isolated.
In other words, kashrut doesn't function the way it should in this era when not all of Israel believes in the Messiah Yeshua (or in the Torah). This unbelief is hurting all of us.
One day, the Law with go forth from Zion and all peoples will come to learn the Torah from the Messiah in Jerusalem. We will eat together and dwell together.
One is forced to wonder, in such an era when everyone keeps kosher, what will there be to separate Israel from the nations?
"I am the Lord your God who have set you apart from the nations. You shall therefore separate between the clean beast and the unclean and between the unclean fowl and the clean..." Lev. 20:24-25.
Perhaps G-d longed for a day when all the peoples would be joined to the L-rd so that His people could be One even as He is One?
"Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you," Zechariah 2:11.
Ephesians 4:7
ReplyDeleteSo this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
Paul was telling his gentile audience who now believed in Yeshua, to no longer live like the nations, causing them to be separate as well. I think it is clear that Paul was saying that through Messiah, we have gained a new identity, not that we stop being gentiles, but that we have been attached to him and his kingdom, thus we must separate ourselves just as Israel is separated, and we do this by joining into the commonwealth of Israel, through the Messiah. We now take part in Israel.
I think Israel's true distinction lies within its tribes. All the tribes were to keep Kosher for example, this is not what made them distinct from each other, in fact they were the same in the general commandments, you might not ever know the difference, just as it is today, Jews are just Jews, Israel's tribal distinctions have since been lost, and just as the Torah will go to the nations, this would not eliminate Israel's distinction, if gentiles are keeping the commands such as Kosher. Israel's distinction is maintained in their, inheritance, for example: tribal identities and their promised allotments, inside of a particular country, this can break down even more, to the authority and responsibility of the tribes, such as the Levites maintaining the priestly order. These are more definite distinctions, both legally and physically. Something that can be obviously seen.
I think those who try to argue that the Sabbath is only for Israel and for gentiles to keep the Sabbath it is stealing Jewish identity, are doing a disservice to God. Because they are keeping the nations from enjoying God's commands. However if we say that the land is given to Israel and their tribal allotments and their authority and responsibility is solely theirs, then that is simply true...