The Jewish nation had its beginning with Jacob and his twelve sons.
These sons became the heads of the twelve tribes. The tribes according to sequence
of birth and mothers are: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah of
Leah; Dan and Naphtali from Bilhah the slave-maid of Rachel; Gad and Asher
from Zilpah the slave-maid of Leah; Issachar and Zebulun of Leah; and
lastly Joseph and Benoni (Benjamin) of Rachel. These sons took for wives
women of the Canaanite Gentiles (Genesis 38:2-12; 46:10 ). Thus, the nation of Israel
after the birth of the twelve sons begins with Gentile women, who in marriage to these
twelve sons birthed the nation of Israel. The twelve sons birthed the nation Israel from
the wombs of Gentile women.
There can be no argument here against the fact that these Gentile
women, through marriage, had become one with their husbands and followed the traditions of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the worship of the one true God. There can be no
argument against the fact that these Gentile women and their children born unto them were
identified as Israelites. There can also be no argument against the fact that these
were converts or proselytes through marriage and were joined to the promises of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Were it not for the wombs of Gentile women there would be no Israel
today.
Intermarriage of the male descendants of Jacob with Gentile women is
documented clearly in the Old Testament Scriptures. According to the sacred text, seventy
(70) souls went down into Egypt with Jacob. Here are the names and the sexes of those who
went down into Egypt: (1)Reuben, the sons of Reuben; (2)Hanoch, and (3)Phallu, and
(4)Hezron, and (5)Carmi. (6)Simeon, the sons of Simeon; (7)Jemuel, and (8)Jamin, and
(9)Ohad, and (10)Jachin, and (11)Zohar, and (12)Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
(13)Levi, the sons of Levi; (14)Gershon, (15)Kohath, and (16)Merari. (17)Judah, the sons
of Judah; (18)Er, and (19)Onan, and (20)Shelah, and (21)Pharez, and (22)Zerah: but Er and
Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Pharez were (23)Hezron and (24)Hamul.
(25)Issachar, the sons of Issachar; (26)Tola, (27)Phuvah, (28)Job, and (29)Shimron.
(30)Zebulun, the sons of Zebulun; (31)Sered, and (32)Elon, and (33)Jahleel. Jacob's
daughter (34)Dinah. (35)Gad, the sons of Gad; (36)Ziphion, (37)Haggi, (38)Shuni,
(39)Ezbon, (40)Eri, and (41)Arodi, and (42)Areli. (43)Asher, the sons of Asher;
(44)Jimnah, (45)Ishuah, (46)Isui, (47)Beriah, and (48)Serah their sister. The sons of
Beriah; (49)Heber, and (50)Malchiel. (51)Benjamin, the sons of Benjamin were (52)Belah,
(53)Becher, (54)Ashbel, (55)Gera, (56)Naaman, (57)Ehi, (58)Rosh, (59)Muppim, (60)Huppim,
and (61)Ard. (62)Dan, the son of Dan; (63)Hushim. (64)Naphtali, the sons of
Naphtali; (65)Jahzeel, (66)Guni, (67)Jezer, and (68)Shillem. When we add (69)Joseph
already in Egypt and (70)Jacob then there are seventy. The two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and
Mannasah, are not counted, it appears they were born after the 70 arrived in Egypt.
Of the seventy there are only two girls, Dinah the daughter of Jacob and Serah
(Sarah) the daughter of Asher. There can be absolutely no argument here against the
fact that if Dinah did not marry one of her brother's sons, then she had to marry a
Gentile man if she married at all. If Serah did not marry one of her cousins then
she also had to marry a Gentile man. Remember, Egyptians are a black race of people
who settled in the land of Ham. Seventy souls minus Jacob leaves 69. 69 souls minus
the twelve sons who already had wives leaves 57. 57 souls minus the two girls leaves
55. There are 55 unmarried males remaining in the above list who were not married
when they came down into Egypt. This means that 55 grandsons of Jacob had to take
for wives and to raise children from Gentile women, ...the Egyptians. The nation of
Israel, or the descendants of Jacob multiplied in Egypt into a great and mighty nation
from the wombs of Gentile women. Again, these Gentile women and their children
became identified into the tribes of which their male husbands descended. These also
adopted and inherited all of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These
became joint heirs of all the blessings and the promises. You guess the skin color.
Was it really white?
Out of Egypt came a great multitude. Of this multitude it is
written that there was also a *mixed* multitude (Exodus 12:38). What are we to make
of the word *mixed* except *mingled seed* of the sons, grandsons, and great grandsons unto
the fourth generation of Jacob with the Egyptian bloodline. This mixed bloodline
multitude stood at Mount Sinai with all the others and swore into the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob that they would do all that was commanded of them that day (Exodus 19:8).
After this conversion agreement, the mixed and mingled multitude come under the
Covenant of Sinai and they are then after numbered with the nation of Israel and there
existed no distinction between them and the others. God made of the Gentiles no
difference than those he considered Israelites at Mount Sinai. Conversion then to
God and the willingness to place one's self under the Almighty God as his worshiper, was
considered adoption into the Israel of God. Among males, the final act of conversion
was circumcision. Circumcision was considered coming under the binding promises and
covenant of Abraham as the people of God. Children born of this circumcision were
thence considered Israelites and members of their respective tribe.
A note here of importance, is that Abraham was uncircumcised all of
his life of faith in God (100 years), up until just after the birth of Isaac (Genesis
17:23; Romans 4:11). Sarah had for a husband an uncircumcised man. Sarah conceived by a
man who was uncircumcised. Isaac was begotten by an uncircumcised father, who was of
the Gentile Syrian race stock (Deut 26:5). Abraham was circumcised when Isaac was
born. Ishmael was circumcised. If circumcision is a locked deal of being under
the binding covenant to Abraham, then do not remove Ishmael and his seed from it. Do a
check of the promises and covenant to Abraham that were given and received prior to
circumcision. Then you will see why the Apostle Paul could say that circumcision came
after the promises and covenant to Abraham. Therefore, circumcision of itself was
only a token or sign of the promises and covenant and not the covenant itself. Those
who believe in Jesus as the Messiah believe that Jesus promised a new sign of the Covenant
and this would be the baptism of the Holy Ghost. So, the Holy Ghost would be the
sign or token from God himself of a person receiving the inheritance covenant promises of
Abraham. This would fall first upon the real Jews who themselves must come into the
Kingdom of God and then later upon Gentile converts as well. The Apostle Peter then
could refer to the *promise of the Holy Ghost* in Acts 2:38 as both the Spirit baptism and
also the covenant promises of Abraham that Spirit baptism sealed. Circumcision as a seal
was replaced by Spirit baptism as the seal of receiving the inherited covenant promises.
It is apparent that Abraham had some form of Spirit baptism prior to his
circumcision. We teach that the Patriarchs had the Spirit baptism upon them and not
in them. Paul said that in the New Covenant, circumcision availeth nothing but faith
that worketh through love did (Gal 5:6). The error of the Jews came to be that they
put more value on the act of circumcision than they did in having and living the religious
faith of Abraham. Circumcision was practiced as a ritual without this religious
faith and this is the same as if there was no circumcision at all. Circumcised Jews
think they have unconditional eternal security and the covenant of circumcision of Abraham
secures them. This is false! Gentiles converted to Judaism had to make
confessions of faith to live by certain beliefs, practices, and customs, that were in
themselves considered holy worship of the one true God. Could these requirements be
any less for Jews already claiming salvation as the people of God? Was not the
purpose of Jesus in his teachings and doctrines to bring back the faith of the fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Prophets (Mal 4:6); that was absent and missing which would
validate circumcision? And when they refused this faith, this religious life of the
Patriarchs, did it not amount to their circumcision being counted as uncircumcision (Rom
2:25-26).
The issue of conversion of the Gentiles is one of great debate.
If the Gentiles are converted to the ancient laws and customs as given to Moses then
we would consider them legitimate Israelites. But what if a Gentile was converted to
a practice of Judaism that worshipped Baal, Ashtoreth, and Tammuz? Would this be a
valid conversion? What if a Gentile was converted to some perversion of Judaism that
believed in and practiced witchcraft, sorcery, mysticism, or some form of idolatry?
Would this conversion be valid? Would not conversion be valid only if it was
into the original faith, religion, and Messianic hope of the nation? And, Jew or a
converted Gentile, if they departed from the Covenant of Sinai would their original faith,
religion, and circumcision continue to count for them? Did not Moses stand on Mt
Ebal (Deut 11:29) and tell the multitude, including the mixed-mingled converts, that if
they did not continue as they had sworn unto God, that they would be cursed and not
counted as the people of God (Deut 28:63)? How then can any Jew or converted Gentile
who has apostated from that obligation claim they are still the people of God?
Israelites? Perhaps according to the flesh, but a cursed Israelite is of no
more regard to God than a cursed Gentile.
Conversion to Judaism is then a factual historical record. The
conversion problem arises among New Testament believers from the very beginning. The
Pharisees and the Saducees were in control of the religions conscience of the nation of
Israel at the time of the birth of Jesus and the Apostles. Read the Old Testament
through and through and you do not find the Pharisee and the Saducees denominations at
all. Turn to the book of Matthew and they are on nearly every page. From
whence did they come if they were not in the Old Testament? The truth is they are
religious sects that came to Israel from Babylon, bringing their own version of Judaism
back with them. These new versions had incorporated the Law and ordinances into
their man-made traditions. Their man-made traditions and opinions were made equal to
and in some cases superior to the Law itself. God had said not to add to the Law, and they
did anyway (Deut 4:2). They have created a false oral Law they claim was secret and
known only by a select secret society. Well, the Prophets before Babylon certainly
did not know of such alleged secret mystic interpretations to the public Law. To
violate one of the man-made traditions of the Pharisees and the Saducees (including
the secret oral law), was the same as if a person had violated the Ten Commandments.
In some cases the death penalty was enforced. In some of the Laws of Moses they took
away the death penalty (adultery, homosexuality, fornication, witchcraft, breaking the
Sabbath etc., or used it to their advantage). Into this highly controversial
religious war between different interpretations of the Pharisees, the Saducees, and other
Jewish sects, came the struggle concerning Gentile conversions to the Messianic Judaism of
Jesus. The Pharisees believed that if a Gentile was not converted according to their
traditions and practiced their religion, that these were not valid converts. The
Saducees held the same: if a Gentile was not converted to their religious
philosophy, then the conversion was considered invalid. The religious conflict
between the Pharisees and the Saducees concerning Biblical interpretation and conversion
of Gentiles was like a Mexican standoff. At some point there appears to have been
some mediation between these two extremist Babylonian groups. Finally everything was
reduced to circumcision and Phariseeism when the Saducees became extinct after 70AD.
These sects apparently accepted each other's Gentile conversions if circumcision was
practiced. They tried to bring the Messianic followers of Jesus back to the temple
by first using this ruse, then later tackle other aspects of the faith they would plot to
destroy. Part of the conversion ritual included the convert entering into a pool or
stream of water up to the neck. While in this baptismal posture, the Rabbi would
lead the candidate through a series of questions all of which had to be answered in the
affirmative: 1.) Do you hereby renounce all other religions and all other gods?
2.) Do you hereby agree to be subject to the Laws, Ordinances, and Customs of
the Jewish people? 3.) Do you hereby confess as Ruth: "your God
shall become my God, and your people my people." If these are answered in the
affirmative, witnessed by others, the conversion is considered valid, complete, and a
celebration is then afterward held. Number one above is considered equivalent to
repentance, a turing around and departure from a previous life. Repentance among
Christians includes the confessions of sins. Thus, converts to the two branches of
Judaism, the Pharisees and the Saducees, were said to be converts to the people of Israel
and thence afterward to be considered joint heirs of the same promises and covenants.
These Gentiles were no longer considered Gentiles and all off-spring (children) born
to these converts were considered full Jews and Israelites of the nation.
The difficulty comes when Jesus arrives, when he gathers his twelve
Apostles, and when he begins to teach and bring from the other side of the Babylonian dark
ages the true interpretations of the Scriptures and the Prophets. The Pharisees and
the Saducees had been started by men in Babylon and their interpretations brought to
Israel. Jesus was now on the scene claiming to have the correct truth and
interpretations. His teachings clashed with the Pharisees and the Saducees. He
exposed their teachings and doctrines as leaven. He identified their teachings as the
poison of asps, vipers, and serpents. He exposed their man-made traditions of the
Babylonian Elders as heresy and making the Laws of Moses of none effect (Mark 7:13).
In short, he denounced their religions as apostasy and not at all a representation
of that which Moses had given.
When multitudes of the common people flocked out to hear John the
Baptist preach that the Messiah was coming, the nation buzzed with excitement. For
the Messianic Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would teach the correct
interpretations of the Laws of Moses and the prophecies of the Prophets. He would
usher in the New Covenant. And the Rabbis were to sit with their mouths shut and
learn. All man-made laws and traditions would cease and the Word of God would go
forth from Jerusalem. The Gentiles would hear this Word of God and come to Jerusalem
and fall at the feet of the Messiah and be converted. The Apostle Peter in Acts 3:23
quoted Moses, that if anyone refused to hear the words of the Prophet that the Lord God
would raise up, he would be destroyed from among the people. Thus, the Jews looked
for the Messiah to rid the nation of its religious enemies. Some think this meant he would
rid the nation of Gentile powers over them while allowing apostates who did not believe in
him to remain. This is contradictory.
The battle over truth and interpretation increased as the Pharisee
and the Saducee Rabbis rejected Jesus as the Messiah. This rejection gave them
the freedom and the liberty not to have to shut their mouths and learn from the Messiah.
They became enemies of Jesus and from that moment plotted his death. They
searched for any blasphemous statement Jesus would have made against the Law. They
searched to discover if they could prove he had broken the Law. They ask questions
of him to get him to make some blasphemous statement against Moses and the Law. All
of these methods were concocted to invalidate Jesus as the Messiah. What was the
purpose of this hate, rant, and bigotry? It was to keep their religion and false
interpretations through their traditions as the state religion over all Israel, and over
any and all conversion rituals of Gentiles. But when John started baptising, Jesus
started baptising, and the Apostles started baptising, this signaled a brand new religious
group apart from the Pharisees and the Saducees. The new group called themselves
Messiahians of the Kingdom of God (the word Messiahians when translated into Greek became
the word *Christian*). It meant that Jesus and his followers were trying to create
in Israel a new religious group over which the Pharisees and the Saducees would hold no
authority and their man-made Babylonian traditions would have no religious power. It
meant that even Jews had to go through conversion from their paganism and abominable
religious beliefs and traditions. Such a new group had to be crushed either by
religious power or the political power of Rome manipulated behind the scenes by these two
temple cults. History and the New Testament shows us they were not successful although the
war was intense, some were put to death, some were tortured and abused, and some were put
out of the Temple or Synagogue if they confessed Jesus.
These anti-missionary practices failed to crush and kill out the
followers of Jesus after the Crucifixion. The new Jewish religious group,
established upon the Messianic foundation of the prophecies of the Prophets, could not be
destroyed. True to the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:18, he would build or establish
his Church (Israel), and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The
assembly of the converts from the twelve tribes of Israel was called the Church, since the
word *church* is the Greek word for an assembly of people. But the term *Church* in
the Greek version of the Old Testament, called the *ecclesia,* identified not a new
strange religious group, but the true Israel of God in an assembly before the Lord.
So that to call the followers of Jesus when they assembled together *the Church*,
was to identify them as the Israel of God. This frustrated the Pharisees and the
Saducees, in that they did not want the followers of Jesus to be able to claim they were
the Israel of God. They wanted to identify the followers of Jesus as those who had
departed from the Judaism of the Pharisees and the Saducees, and demanded that they could
not call themselves real Jews any longer unless they renounced Jesus of Nazareth and
returned to the two temple cults. Jews then and today will tell us that if a Jew
converts to the Messianic Judaism of Jesus, that he is no longer a Jew! Is that
valid? We could say in return that if anyone converts to the Pharisees and the
Saducees he is no longer a Jew, since their man-made traditions, mysticism, and other
erroneous doctrines and teachings are completely foreign to the Laws of Moses and the
original faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No, we would not do this. These
are still Jews, and Jesus considered them Jews, but he considered them apostate Jews.
To say then that if someone converts to the Messianic Judaism of Jesus, that he or
she ceases to be a Jew, is to make a false statement and bear false witness.
For Gentiles, this battle between the Pharisees and the Saducees
against the Messianic Judaism of Jesus and the Apostles takes on a life or death reality.
If as Gentiles we are converted to the Messianic Judaism of Jesus and the Apostles,
does this mean we are for ever damned? The Talmudic Pharisees and the Saducees
believed so. Modern Jews who are not Messianic believe so. Does this mean we
do not share the same dreams and hopes that Gentiles were once told they could enjoy if
they became converts to Pharisee and Saducee Judaism? Talmudic Pharisees today say
that Gentiles who are not actual converts may still enjoy a future blessing if they admit
the Talmudist are the exclusive people of God. Three catches: 1.) A
person must deny Jesus was the Messiah come in the flesh (antichrist see 1John 4:3);
2.) Gentiles who still want to become Jews officially must be converted through the
channels of Talmudic Judaism and a Synagogue or Temple holding the ancient Pharisee
traditions; 3.) Gentiles who do not want full conversion must keep and observe the
seven Noahide laws based upon the Law to enjoy any future destiny of Israel (the Noahide
laws were inventions centuries after the New Testament times to make Gentiles
quais-converts without the need of actual conversions). Alleged Gentiles who were
Noahides were said to be called *God Fearers* or those who feared God. This is a
twisted and perverted attempt to take Gentiles who feared God and who became converts to
the Messianic Judaism of Jesus, as having some previous salvation through the temple
cults, in particular the Talmudic Pharisees. This is false! It is used in an attempt
to persuade gullible Christians to renounce Jesus, recant the New Covenant, and go back
under the Law as interpreted by the Pharisees and their descendants.
The purpose of the following article is to refute the errors and
lies of the Jews, that Gentiles who convert to the Messianic Judaism of Jesus are not
converts to the real Israel of God. It is to refute the many falsehoods that are
being taught today to make the Church a Gentile Bride, when anyone with a basic foundation
of Scripture knows that the Gentiles were grafted into an already existing Jewish Church,
made up of believers from the twelve tribes, who are the true Israel of God who came into
the Kingdom of God. Gentile converts to this Judaism are of the same body, in the same
Kingdom, fellowheirs of the remnant of Israel, and equal on the same merits of grace and
faith as the Jews into which they were grafted. The middle wall between Jew and
Gentile was forever torn down. For anyone to say that the Jews and the Gentiles must
still be of different religions and faiths, is to build back up that wall and destroy the
work of Calvary. Converted Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellowcitizens of
the Commonwealth (Kingdom) of Israel. They are no longer just Gentiles, but
fellowheirs of the same promises and covenants (Eph 3:6). There is among these Jews
who followed Jesus and among the Gentile converts to the one sheepfold of Jesus, the one
Kingdom of God: One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism (Eph 4:5).
If you care to read the rest of Pastor Reckart's rebuttal to the
centuries of falsehoods then click below. If you are afraid to learn and to read
language with the bark still in it, then stop here. Do not proceed. What you
may learn may change your way of thinking for the rest of your life.
The Kingdom of God is of such a glorious Israel, that all Jews
themselves had to be converted into it from all other Judaisms. Anyone who refused
to do so would be damned (John 3:3-5; Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38).
Cohen G. Reckart, Pastor
Dual
Identity, Born Again 
