Sparrows

Also a gentile who is not of Your people Israel, but will come from a distant land, for Your Name's sake - for they will hear of Your great Name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm - and will come and pray toward this Temple - may You hear from Heaven, the foundation of Your abode, and act according to all the gentile calls out to You as [does] Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name is proclaimed upon this Temple that I have built

-I Kings 8:41-43 (Stone Edition Tanakh)

There's been a fair amount of attention in the Messianic blogosphere brought to the idea that some Gentiles converted to Judaism in the days of Moses, both at the Yinon blog and at Dan Benzvi's Fellow Heirs (in response to Rabbi Joshua's missive). This is part of the larger "Ger" debate which I previously tried to (apparently unsuccessfully) enter with this blog post. The "Ger" debate centers around whether or not the "Mixed Multitude" who left Egypt with the Children of Israel converted to Judaism at the Mount Sinai event.

This issue is at the center of the strict Messianic Jewish vs. One Law discussion regarding whether or not the Torah commandments and lifestyle (and remember we are talking about a holy way of living, not just a bunch of rules about what to put on the four corners of your garment) apply to Gentiles who have "attached themselves to Israel" or only to the Jewish people, regardless of the status of the aforementioned Gentiles (converted or not converted). If the Gentiles converted, then you could more or less assume that most of the time the Hebrew word "Ger" is used relative to Gentiles living among the born Jewish people, that the Gentiles are converts and thus considered Jewish themselves. If they didn't convert, it opens the door to the idea that Gentiles could be attached to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to God's Torah, and yet retain their distinctiveness as Gentiles.

I won't attempt to enter this debate because (not that it isn't important) the Ger question isn't my point right now. As we see in the quote from King Solomon, it was God's intent that the nations of the world should all be drawn to Him, to hear of His glory, and to praise His Name. Solomon (amazingly enough) even declared before God and all the Jewish people, that if a Gentile should pray facing the Temple, where God's Name rests, that God should hear the Gentile's prayer and respond to the Gentile. In other words God isn't wholly owned and operated by the Jewish people or the nation of Israel and indeed, we can pray to God as Gentiles and expect to be heard.

We tend to forget this. We tend to forget, because the point is not really put forth by what I refer to as "strict Messianic Judaism" that one of the primary goals and reasons for the existence of the nation of Israel as a nation governed solely by God, was to be a light to the rest of the world, attracting all of the Gentiles to the God who created everything ... including us.

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

-Deuteronomy 4:5-8

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

-Isaiah 60:1-3

If Israel was fully and completely expected to draw the Gentiles of the world to God, then Messianic Judaism shouldn't be surprised (or dismayed) that Gentiles are actually coming. Keep in mind that when the words I've quoted from the Torah and Tanakh were spoken and recorded, the men who said these words did not presuppose the Christian church nor could they have imagined that drawing Gentiles to God would result in what we think of as the practices associated with Evangelical Christianity in the 21st century. They weren't thinking that there would be a Jewish/Gentile schism in which both people groups would develop contradictory and, to some degree, mutually exclusive worship styles, beliefs, and theologies.

Nor, to be fair, were they thinking that all the Gentiles, once they were attracted to the "light", would spontaneously convert to Judaism. There's nothing in the Tanakh (as far as I can see) that says once the Gentiles learned of God's great Name, that they would join Israel as Jews. The writers in the Tanakh most likely weren't imagining that Gentiles would create a separate religion, but instead, that the Gentiles would join Israel as Gentiles, worshiping God in a manner consistent with, but perhaps not completely identical to, the Jewish concept of worship. The whole world wasn't expected to convert to Judaism just to have a relationship with God. Certainly nothing Solomon said indicated that the Gentile coming from a far away land would have to convert before praying to God.

...and will come and pray toward this Temple - may You hear from Heaven, the foundation of Your abode, and act according to all the gentile calls out to You as [does] Your people Israel...

Solomon says, "...and act according to all the gentile calls out to You..." (emphasis mine).

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, Gene Shlomovich wrote a blog post called What advantage has a Gentile? Much in every way.... It was meant to be a humorous response to Gentile complaints in the Messianic world that "Jews have all the fun", so to speak, and that Gentiles in Messianic Jewish congregations are like children who are sent to the "kids table" (often a fold up card table) during Thanksgiving dinner, while the adults all sit around the formal dining area together to enjoy the feast.

When I first saw the title of Gene's article, I got my hopes up that he'd finally address this needless sore spot in the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the larger "Hebraic movement", but he didn't go there. I know his intent wasn't harmful, but it did leave the echo of an impression that the reason Gentiles exist is just to be a pain in the neck to the Jews. It's like being invited to a party only to discover that you are there just to be singled out as the bad example to avoid.

Again, I know that's not what Gene meant, but as I tell my daughter who is an artist, it's not just the intent of the painter that goes into the painting, but the interpretation of the audience that gives the final result its meaning. You don't always have control of how other people relate to your words, so please choose them carefully.

What actually inspired me to write this post was something I read yesterday in Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's book Judaism For Everyone: Renewing Your Life Through The Vibrant Lessons Of The Jewish Faith:

Nevertheless, Judaism discourages conversion, but not for reasons of its being an elite club that does not allow new members. Rather, Judaism sees all people as being inherently holy and Godly, just the way they are born. The manner in which the Almighty created us is the way in which He wants us to develop our fullest spiritual and material potential. Judaism does not advocate the idea that converts upgrade their existence by becoming Jewish, and indeed the ancient Rabbis declare that a righteous Gentile who leads a moral and ethical life has an equal share (emphasis mine) in the immortal hereafter.

Put all the pieces together and understand that everyone can be close to God and live a Godly lifestyle without having to change into something else. If you're a Jew, worship God and be Jewish. If you're a Gentile, worship God and be Gentile. Solomon entreated God to hear the prayer of a Gentile and respond to that prayer in the same way God hears and responds to Jewish prayer.

Strict Messianic Judaism is so focused on preserving their ethnicity, culture, and identity that even without meaning to, they lose sight of the fact that Gentiles can also be close to God and that closeness does not in any way shape or form take anything away from the Jewish people in the Messianic movement. Yeshua brought the Jewish and Gentile sheep from their pens into one flock and gave us himself as our one shepherd.

For the Gentiles reading this message and especially for the Gentiles in the movement who may be tempted to convert to Judaism, Messianic or otherwise, you don't have to. God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the God of the Jews. Through Yeshua, we have access to God. Through Yeshua, we are considered Children of Abraham. We are not inferior. We are not substandard. We are not just another face in the crowd of a teaming but insignificant humanity.

In traditional Christianity, each believer is taught that he or she is special to God and through the blood of Jesus (Yeshua), we all have the right to be called sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. If you, as a Gentile, feel that you have to pretend to be Jewish or that you have to try to actually be Jewish just to get God's attention, then you're wasting your time. You've already got God's attention, just as you are, just as who He designed you to be. If God is for you, don't be against yourself and don't let anyone else tell you that because you are not Jewish, you're not good enough. The Master said it this way:

So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

-Matthew 10:26-31