The Book of Acts written by Luke, the secretary of Paul, alleges that the Council of Jerusalem authorized the Gentiles to join the Church without the requirement of circumcision. I want to consider whether this alleged act of the Council is in fact the Will of G-d.
Abram was a Gentile. When he was 99 years old, El the Almighty appeared to him and made a covenant with him promising to make him the Father of Nations and to give him the Land of Canaan. In return, El required that all the males of Abram's house must be circumcised, including the slaves of the house. So, G-d El specifically required that those who would attach themselves to Abraham must be circumcised whether they be Jews or Gentiles. Genesis 17:9-14. Now the Jews understood that this covenant required them to circumcise their sons and the Arabs likewise understood that they must circumcise their sons. So, how do we reconcile the claim that the Holy Spirit, the representative of El, would allow for Gentiles to follow El or Yeshua without being circumcised.
The Prophecies of Isaiah as included in the book by his name are heavily quoted as proof-texts to prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah. One passage in the Prophet Isaiah is Chapter 56:1-8 in which the Prophet prophesies that the Gentiles would become believers. A reflection on that Chapter would be useful in this current discussion.
One possible translation of the Isaiah 56:1-7 is: "Thus says YHVH: Observe what is right, do what is just; for My Jesus is about to come, my Justice, about to be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the Son of Man who holds to it; who keeps the Sabbath free from profanation, and his hand from any evildoing. Let not the foreigner say, when he would join himself to YHVH, 'YHVH will surely exclude me from his people'; nor let the eunuch say, 'See I am a dry tree.' For thus says YHVH: To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast to MY Covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a Name better than Sons and Daughters; an eternal, imperishable Name will I give them. And the foreigners who join themselves to YHVH ministering to him, loving the Name of YHVH, and becoming his servants -- all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to My Covenant, them I will bring to MY HOLY MOUNTAIN and make joyful in MY HOUSE OF PRAYER; their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for MY HOUSE shall be called A HOUSE OF PRAYER for all peoples."
The Prophet specifically says that during the time of the coming of His Jesus a pouring out of the Spirit will allow the Gentiles to be joined to YHVH provided they do certain things: First, keep the Sabbath free from profanation; second, hold fast to His Covenant; third, love the Name of YHVH and become YHVH's servants; fourth, offer sacrifices. Now, we know that one must keep a Sabbath rest on the Sabbath day, Saturday. We know that we are to love YHVH with all our heart, mind and soul. But what does YHVH mean when he says "hold fast to MY COVENANT". The Gentiles did not have a covenant with YHVH to keep the Torah. But they did have a covenant to be circumcised, see Genesis above. Thus, the Covenant which the foreigner, the eunuch and all the Gentiles must keep is circumcision.
Some will try to argue that Jesus never required that Gentiles keep the covenant of circumcision and I would agree that he never directly said that. But, he did allude to the requirement to be circumcised. At Mark 11:15-17, Mark records the cleansing in the Temple. This alleged cleansing was not in the Temple proper, but was rather in the Court of Gentiles. Jesus says: " Is it not written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Jesus is therefore quoting from Isaiah 56:1-7 where it is promised that the Court of Gentiles would be called a HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLES. Isaiah specifically mentions that all of this will occur on Mt. Zion, the Holy Mountain, and that it will occur in the Court of Gentiles and it promises that the sacrifices of the Gentiles will be more acceptable than those of the Jews because of their Love of the Name of YHVH. Now the Name of YHVH is the Archangel of the Presence. See Exodus 23:21. And the Archangel of the Presence is Jesus. So we see that Jesus is the one upon who the Name of YHVH rests and that he is therefore the personification of the Name. Jesus had all of this in mind when he was cleansing the Temple.
This is one more proof that the lies of Paul and his cohorts must be denied. We know as a fact that James taught that all must be circumcised in order to become members of the House of Jesus and Abraham. Paul lies when he says that circumcision of Gentiles is not required.
In order for Gentiles to be accepted into the Nasorean faith, they must be mikvahed (baptised) in the name of Abraham and Yeshua (Jesus), they must be circumcised, they must keep the Sabbath, and they must offer the sacrifices of the Church.
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