The New Covenant Diaspora Of The Jews

Introduction:

After seventy years were fulfilled, a small portion of the twelve tribes in diaspora did begin to trickle back into Jerusalem. Since most of the twelve tribes didn’t return to live in the land, their network of synagogues persisted throughout the Roman Empire. Naturally, after the chosen Jews were commissioned by Jesus to take the gospel outside of Jerusalem, they presented it through their network of synagogues already in place. For many years after the resurrection of Jesus, the newly scattered Jews took their good news to no one accept to other Jews. Even after Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the Jews in Antioch to offer their good news to the other nations, they still took it to the synagogues first, where they evidently read from or quoted from the ubiquitous Greek scrolls. The Jews had made a Greek version of God’s word for the Greek-speaking world, at home and at large. Even while still in Old Covenant Jerusalem, Jesus had apparently read from a Greek scroll of Isaiah, as He stood to read in one of the numerous first century synagogues. It was Jesus’ commentary on the fulfillment of Isaiah that got Him into trouble with the traditional interpretations of God’s Word. It wasn’t the Greek language that the Old Covenant Jews were objecting to. They were most concerned with the political role they wanted their Messiah to take. The Holy Spirit that arrived on the Jews (on Pentecost, in Jerusalem) obviously inspired them to understand the true role of their Messiah. That is how the Bible was completed. Completing the Bible got the newly inspired Jews into big trouble with the religious status quo of the Old Covenant Jews. These Holy Spirit filled Jews were not scattered from Jerusalem because they quoted from the Greek scrolls or because they were completing their Bible in Greek. The Bible was and still is controversial in any language. The New Covenant Jews were scattered from Jerusalem because they were completing their Bible in the Holy Spirit rather than in the eschatological expectations of the Old Covenant Jews in the flesh.

This short book is dedicated to the true faith of the Jews, without which it would not be possible and to my Sunday School teacher, who is not politically correct.

Chapter 1: The Old Covenant Diaspora Of The Jews

Chapter 2: Diaspora

Chapter 3: The Diaspora City Called Babel

Chapter 4: Jacob Addresses The 12 Tribes In Diaspora

Chapter 5: Was 1st & 2nd Peter Written To The Jews?

Chapter 6: Did The Assemblies In Galatia Have More Jews Or Gentiles?

Chapter 7: The Final Diaspora

Chapter 8: The Interruption of the Cross Brought A 33 1/2 Year Delay

Chapter 9: The Carry-Through

Chapter 10: Why Write A New Covenant Letter To The Hebrews?

Chapter 11: Jews For Jesus – Unto The End Of The Earth

Chapter 12: Concerning Jews And Gentiles

Chapter 13: The Allure Of The Flesh

Chapter 14: Jesus In The Middle Makes Amends for All 12 Tribes

Chapter 1: The Old Covenant Diaspora Of The Jews

First, let’s briefly revisit the Old Covenant diaspora of the Jews in order to set the stage for the New Covenant diaspora of the Jews. The Old Covenant diaspora of the Jews is usually taken to begin in 587/6 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar took the inhabitants of Jerusalem into captivity. Seventy years later, Cyrus the Persian king permitted the Jews to return to the land. According to Isaiah, the Persian king Cyrus was anointed as God’s shepherd to liberate the Jews who had been captured and exiled by the Babylonians (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). Many Jews however voluntarily remained in Babylonia.

Isaiah 44:28

LITV ²⁸ He says to Cyrus, You are My shepherd; and he shall fulfill all My will, even to say to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, You shall be set up.

Isaiah 45:1

Thomson ¹ Thus saith the Lord God, For mine anointed, for Cyrus, [whose right hand I have taken hold of that nations may listen before him] I will break the power of kings; I will open gates before him, and cities shall not be shut up.

Two hundred years after king Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to the land, the Greek king Alexander imposed his language, onto the kingdom he had so rapidly conquered. By the first century, the common language for both the Jews in the land and the twelve tribes in diaspora was Greek. It was after king Alexander Hellenized the kingdom that the Jewish scriptures were all written down onto scrolls, in the common Greek vernacular. So, when we find New Covenant Paul quoting scripture, he’s not quoting from the Hebrew Torah. He may not even know the Hebrew Bible directly. He quotes the Greek Bible, as written down on scrolls by the second temple Jews. I say all that to say, the English word diaspora came from the Greek word διασπορά.

During the first temple period, the twelve tribes had all been instructed through the laws of Moses how to worship the one true God. Maintaining one true Bible language was never God’s requirement for His chosen people to remain in the land. The Jews weren’t exiled for the second time because they wrote the Septuagint in Greek rather than Hebrew. God’s concern was and still is His covenant relationship with His people, not their language. God spoke to His second temple people in Greek as well as He spoke to His first temple people in Hebrew. The language of God’s revelation to His people didn’t make them more or less godly. Their behavior did. We know that because the faithful New Covenant Jews were inspired to complete their Bible in Greek, not Hebrew. The pro-Messiah Jews in the land gave us the Greek Septuagint in anticipation of their Savior. The anti-Christ Jews in diaspora compiled the Hebrew Masoretic text a thousand after they were exiled by the Romans.

God communicated to His chosen people in the language they spoke at the time. The common language of the day didn’t change God or the laws of Moses. “Do not murder” in Hebrew is “Do not murder” in Greek. The second temple high priest offered animal sacrifices on behalf of the people to prepare the way to enter into God’s presence in Jerusalem, because the temple of Yahweh was there, not because the most godly Hebrew language was there. Sacrifices were continuously offered on behalf of the people who came to Jerusalem to celebrate their festivals with their nation, even after the Jews wrote the Tanakh on the synagogue scrolls, in Greek. The 3rd century BC Septuagint was used by the second temple Jews. The Masoretic text was finally compiled a thousand years later by a school of unbelievers who were still claiming to be the faithful Jews.

Concerning the first temple diaspora, the Northern tribes were actually scattered first. The twelve tribes had split into the Northern and Southern kingdoms before the first exile occurred. Exile from the homeland was of course a result of the collective sins of the nation. Their continued use of the Hebrew language didn’t reduce the reasons for their exile. They wouldn’t have acted any differently in any other language. Had they obeyed in any language they would have remained in the land. Over a hundred years after the scattering of the Northern tribes, came the scattering of the Southern tribes. Again, the Hebrew language didn’t save them, but the diaspora of the Southern tribes did come with a caveat. The Southern tribes would be allowed to return after 70 years was fulfilled. God Himself would make amends for the disobedience of the Jews by giving the land rest for the sabbatical years His people failed to keep. So why did God make amends for the unfaithfulness of the Southern tribes and not for the unfaithfulness of the Northern tribes?

The Greek term for the noun diaspora (διασπορά) only appears three times, in what we commonly refer to as the New Testament. One of those three references is actually contained in the Old Testament, since Jesus had not yet laid down His Old Covenant life in John 7:35. Jesus was born into the Old Covenant of the Jews not the New Covenant of the Jews. Jesus was not in His New Covenant until after His resurrection. The other two times the word “diaspora” is used is after the New Covenant was underway, and both times the word “diaspora” refers to all twelve tribes. James 1:1 certainly refers to the diaspora as all twelve tribes. He addressed them as the twelve tribes in diaspora. Not everyone from the tribe of Judah had returned to the land under King Cyrus. Some from the tribe of Judah chose to remain in diaspora in Babylon. Therefore: some of God’s Old Covenant people from all twelve tribes were still in the diaspora when Jesus from the tribe of Judah was born into the Old Covenant land and when His brother James wrote to the twelve tribes in diaspora. Since James wrote to the twelve tribes after Pentecost, he was no longer just a half brother of Jesus in the flesh. James became a New Covenant Holy Spirit-born brother of Jesus.

Three occurrences of the noun diaspora (διασπορά):

John 7:35 [Jesus while still in His Old Covenant]

JMNT ³⁵ Therefore, the Jews (= religious authorities) said to themselves (= toward each other), “Where is this fellow [Jesus] about to proceed journeying, that we will not be finding him? He is not about to be traveling into the Dispersion, among the Greeks (= either: the Greek-speaking Jews; or: = all those having been absorbed into the Greek culture and civilization), and to be teaching the Greeks, is he?

James 1:1 [James addresses Old Covenant and New Covenant Jews in diaspora]

JMNT ¹ Jacob (or: James) a slave belonging to God and to [the] Lord, Jesus Christ (or: a slave pertaining to God, even in fact, really, to [the] Lord and Owner [or, perhaps: = Yahweh], Jesus Christ), to the twelve tribes (or: sprouts and branches which sprang forth) who are to be constantly rejoicing within the scattering (or: which are within the midst of the dispersion [= the planting], “To constant joy and gladness!”).

1 Peter 1:1 [Peter addresses the chosen New Covenant Jews in diaspora]

JMNT ¹ Peter, one sent with a mission pertaining to Jesus Christ (or: an emissary and representative of, and from, [the] Anointed Jesus), to selected and picked out exiles (or: alien residents; sojourners; expatriates; strangers residing in a country not your own) of [the] dispersion (or: from a scattering; of [the] Diaspora), temporarily living beside residents of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia,

The Greek term for the verb diaspeirō (διασπείρω) also appears only three times in what we commonly refer to as the New Testament. The following three instances of scattering were actually caused by the descendants of the Jews, who had returned to live in the land under Cyrus. Some time after the crucifixion of Jesus and the stoning of Stephen, the Jews in the flesh started scattering their own brethren from Jerusalem. The Old Covenant Jews still in the flesh scattered the New Covenant Jews who were living in the Spirit. This could be another reason James wrote from Jerusalem to all 12 tribes in diaspora. James actually returned to the anti Christ Jerusalem some time after the Jews were scattered from their Old Covenant city.

Three occurrences for the verb diaspeirō (διασπείρω):

Acts 8:1

YLT ¹ And Saul [while he was still an Old Covenant Jew] was assenting to his [Stephen’s] death, and there came in that day a great persecution upon the assembly in Jerusalem, all also were scattered abroad in the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles;

Acts 8:4

YLT ⁴ they [New Covenant Jews] then indeed, having been scattered, went abroad proclaiming good news—the word.

Acts 11:19

YLT ¹⁹ Those [New Covenant Jews], indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only;

Over a hundred years after the Old Covenant diaspora of the Northern tribes, came the limited 70-year diaspora of the Southern tribes. The Babylonian diaspora put the land to rest for 70 years. The three Southern tribes would not be allowed to re-enter the land again until God made up for their 70 years of missed sabbaticals. One of the reasons God scattered the Jews from their land was for not keeping His sabbath laws. God gave the sabbaths so His people could renew and find rest in Him. It took faith in God’s providence to stop working the land for a year and let the servants rest. Sabbaths were made for rest and renewal, not for continuous work. It insulted God when His people didn’t trust Him to make them into a great nation and then trust Him to sustain them after doing so. Sabbath keeping was a faith building exercise that promoted reliance on Yahweh’s providence while living in the land.

The Jews had made a Greek version of God’s word for the Greek-speaking world, at home and at large. Even while still in Old Covenant Jerusalem, Jesus had apparently read from a Greek scroll of Isaiah, as He stood to read in one of the numerous first century synagogues. It was Jesus’ commentary on the fulfillment of Isaiah that got Him into trouble with the traditional interpretations of God’s Word. It wasn’t the Greek language that the Old Covenant Jews were objecting to. They were most concerned with the political role they wanted their Messiah to take. The Holy Spirit that arrived on the Jews (on Pentecost, in Jerusalem) obviously inspired them to understand the true role of their Messiah. That is how the Bible was completed. Completing the Bible got the newly inspired Jews into big trouble with the religious status quo of the Old Covenant Jews. These Holy Spirit filled Jews were not scattered from Jerusalem because they quoted from the Greek scrolls or because they were completing their Bible in Greek. The Bible was and still is controversial in any language. The New Covenant Jews were scattered from Jerusalem because they were completing their Bible in the Holy Spirit rather than in the eschatological expectations of the Old Covenant Jews in the flesh.

KJV Usage: to scatter abroad.

Acts 5:41-42

LITV ⁴¹ Then they indeed departed from the presence of the sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were deemed worthy to be dishonored on behalf of His name. ⁴² And every day they did not cease teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus the Christ in the temple, and house to house.

In the first century, the Jews took the good news to their diaspora-generated meeting places first. Smaller house to house assemblies formed when there were no synagogues available, due to the changing synagogue politics concerning the acceptance of the New Covenant Jews or due to the location. The good news is that the Jews no longer have to be enslaved to continual and insufficient animal sacrifices in Jerusalem. They were set free to boldly enter into God’s presence through the sacrifice of their new and permanent high priest, anywhere they traveled. A Jew named Jesus ransomed His brethren from the penalties of breaking their Old Covenant, by laying down His Old Covenant life, so they could follow Him into His New Covenant resurrection. The New Covenant is unbreakable because the only begotten Son became the first born Son of God in the New Covenant.

Galatians 4:4-5

CLV ⁴ Now when the full time came, God delegates His Son, come of a woman, come under law, ” ⁵ that He should be reclaiming those under law, that we may be getting the place of a son.”

Paul was obviously part of the “we” when he wrote Galatians 4:5. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to Jerusalem to live within His chosen people. The New Covenant Jews became the grown up sons who were set free to worship the one true God wherever they went or were driven. The Jews themselves became the new temple of God. The New Covenant diaspora of the Jews from Jerusalem wasn’t an Old Covenant diaspora. The Old Covenant people actually remained in the land and claimed the spiritually dead temple in Jerusalem, while the New Covenant Jews took the presence of God with them. When the New Covenant Jews were driven out of Jerusalem, so was the presence of God. The Holy Spirit took up residence in the New Covenant temple of God on Pentecost, while the Old Covenant Jews were celebrating the flesh and blood birth of their nation.

Galatians 4:1

KJV ¹ Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

The faithful first century Jews were scattered from Old Covenant Jerusalem, so they naturally (supernaturally) reached out to and through the Old Covenant diaspora already in progress. After the illegal public execution of a Jew named Stephen, tribulation came to all the Holy Spirit indwelt Jews in Jerusalem. Paul, who was present during the execution of Stephen, initially concurred with the false accusers (Acts 6:8-15; 7:58). Paul was in Jerusalem consenting to the death of Stephen, due to Stephen’s unredacted Jewish history lesson. Like Jesus, Stephen was taken just outside the city of Jerusalem to be killed. The Old Covenant hold-outs continued to reject the fulfillment of their promises, as described by the Holy-Spirit-filled Stephen. Freedom of speeches, as presented by the Holy Spirit, were being censored in first century Jerusalem, because you can’t win a debate with the Holy Spirit. Paul, who was initially among the Jewish stoners, became a free speech advocate after he met the Messiah he was actively persecuting.

Acts 8:3-4

LITV ³ But Saul ravaged the church, entering house by house, dragging both men and women, he delivered them to prison. ⁴ Then, indeed, the ones who had been scattered passed through, preaching the gospel, the Word.

In Acts 13:2 Paul and Barnabas are chosen from among the Jews, by the one true Holy Spirit, to go speak to the Gentiles too. In Antioch, Paul and Barnabas are ordained by the scattered Jews, for the furtherance of their great commission, as originally given to God’s chosen Jews while still in Jerusalem. The last instruction from the Jewish Messiah to His chosen Jews was to remain in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit of God’s presence. The Spirit had already left the typical building by then. A changed-by-Jesus Jew named Paul is commissioned by the Holy Spirit filled Jews in Antioch, to take their good news of salvation to the nations. Meanwhile, John bravely returns to his home church in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit of Yahweh lives in Jewish John rather then the typical Jewish temple in Jerusalem. John returned to Jerusalem for the sake of God’s people, not to get closer to God by way of the Old Covenant temple.

Acts 6:8-15

YLT ⁸ And Stephen, full of faith and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the [Jewish] people, ⁹ and there arose certain of those of the synagogue, called of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia, and Asia, disputing with Stephen, ¹⁰ and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking; ¹¹ then they suborned men, saying—`We have heard him speaking evil sayings in regard to Moses and God.’ ¹² They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon him, they caught him, and brought him to the sanhedrin; ¹³ they set up also false witnesses, saying, `This one doth not cease to speak evil sayings against this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him saying, That this Jesus the Nazarean shall overthrow this place, and shall change the customs that Moses delivered to us;’ ¹⁵ and gazing at him, all those sitting in the sanhedrim saw his face as it were the face of a messenger.

Acts 7:58

YLT ⁵⁸ and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him —and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul— [a.k.a. Paul]

Acts 13:2

YLT ² and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul [a.k.a. Paul] to the work to which I have called them,’

When Paul and Barnabas entered a new city, they found God’s chosen people by teaching God’s Word in the synagogues of the Jews (Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:1; 10; 18:7). In the synagogues, they find both Jews and Gentiles, who have been taught the true historical context of the Messiah. Like Stephen’s last sermon in Jerusalem (Acts 7:2-50) and Peter’s first sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2), Paul also explains the fulfillment of promises made (Acts 13:16-41). The chosen Jews fully explain to each other and to the Gentiles how Jesus fits into the promises made to Abraham, Moses and David (Galatians 2:1-5; 3:14-18). Some interested Gentiles who had not made the move to fully convert to Judaism are known in character as “devout” or “God-fearing”, by the Jews. Informed Gentiles begin to hear and welcome the message of Jewish salvation through Jesus (Acts 13:48). It astonished these Jews that these foreigners could be saved without first becoming fully Jewish. Salvation was indeed from the Jews, but one need not join their Old Covenant in order to be saved. The Old Covenant Jews weren’t the only people in the world who would perish if they weren’t born again (John 3:16). Even the Samaritans and the full blooded foreigners would perish unless they too were born from above. The only way to be saved from perishing was to join the Jews in their New Covenant, not their Old Covenant. The law can’t save anybody from breaking the law. Before breaking the law they didn’t need saved. The best the law could do was postpone judgement through the temporary animal sacrifices until salvation arrived. If the law could save lawbreakers then there would’ve been be no need for a better covenant.

Acts 10:45 – to the Jew first

YLT ⁴⁵ and those of the circumcision believing were astonished—as many as came with Peter—because also upon the nations the gift of the Holy Spirit hath been poured out,

Galatians 2:1-5

YLT ¹ Then, after fourteen years again I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, having taken with me also Titus; ² and I went up by revelation, and did submit to them the good news that I preach among the nations, and privately to those esteemed, lest in vain I might run or did run; ³ but not even Titus, who is with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised— ⁴ and that because of the false brethren brought in unawares, who did come in privily to spy out our liberty that we have in Christ Jesus, that us they might bring under bondage, ⁵ to whom not even for an hour we gave place by subjection, that the truth of the good news might remain to you.

Galatians 3:14-18

YLT ¹⁴ that to the nations the blessing of Abraham may come in Christ Jesus, that the promise of the Spirit we may receive through the faith. ¹⁵ Brethren, as a man I say it, even of man a confirmed covenant no one doth make void or doth add to, ¹⁶ and to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed; He doth not say, `And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, `And to thy seed,’ which is Christ; ¹⁷ and this I say, A covenant confirmed before by God to Christ, the law, that came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not set aside, to make void the promise, ¹⁸ for if by law be the inheritance, it is no more by promise, but to Abraham through promise did God grant it .

John 3:10-16

YLT ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, `Thou art the teacher of Israel—and these things thou dost not know! ¹¹ `Verily, verily, I say to thee—What we have known we speak, and what we have seen we testify, and our testimony ye do not receive; ¹² if the earthly things I said to you, and ye do not believe, how, if I shall say to you the heavenly things, will ye believe? ¹³ and no one hath gone up to the heaven, except he who out of the heaven came down—the Son of Man who is in the heaven. ¹⁴ `And as Moses did lift up the serpent in the wilderness, so it behoveth the Son of Man to be lifted up, ¹⁵ that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during, ¹⁶ for God did so love the world, that His Son—the only begotten—He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during.

Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32 in his first New Covenant sermon on Pentecost. Joel foretold that God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh in the last days. In the last days everyone who called on the name of the Lord would be saved from perishing. Even if Joel was prophesying that the Holy Spirit would come upon Jewish flesh only, the Holy Spirit that first came to the flesh and blood Jews who gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate their flesh and blood formation of their flesh and blood old covenant nation, did finally include all God’s chosen people, from the Gentiles too. Before the Old Covenant of the Jews ended, everybody was being invited to join the New Covenant body of Christ. Nevertheless, deliverance from certain death under law came to the Jews in Jerusalem first.

On crucifixion day, darkness miraculously covered the land of the Jews for three hours, as described in the gospels. The sky became dark at high noon during their unlawful crucifixion of Jesus. Tertullian in his Apologeticus considered this an omen, as recorded in Roman archives. When the final darkness descended upon the stubborn ones who remained in the land of Jerusalem, it was justified by the Old Covenant laws they had broken and continued to break. Corporate accountability drastically increased until the end. In the meantime, God saved all His chosen people. The Holy Spirit filled Jews saw to it.

Joel 2:28-32

CLV ²⁸ And it comes afterward, I shall pour out My spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your elders shall dream dreams, your chosen ones shall see visions.” ²⁹ And, moreover, on the servants and on the maids in those days shall I pour out My spirit.” ³⁰ And I will give miracles in the heavens above, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.” ³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the day of Yahweh, the great and fearful day.” ³² And it comes that everyone who shall call on the name of Yahweh shall escape, for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, deliverance shall come to be, just as Yahweh says; and among the survivors [remnants] are those whom Yahweh is calling.”

Joel 2:32

Thomson ³² But whoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for on mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall be the Savior, as the Lord hath said, and the publishers of glad tidings, whom the Lord hath called.

Acts 2:14-39

YLT ¹⁴ and Peter having stood up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and declared to them, `Men, Jews! and all those dwelling in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and harken to my sayings, ¹⁵ for these are not drunken, as ye take it up, for it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ `But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ and also upon My men-servants, and upon My maid-servants, in those days, I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy; ¹⁹ and I will give wonders in the heaven above, and signs upon the earth beneath—blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke, ²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the day of the Lord—the great and illustrious; ²¹ and it shall be, every one—whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, he shall be saved. ²² `Men, Israelites! hear these words, Jesus the Nazarene, a man approved of God among you by mighty works, and wonders, and signs, that God did through him in the midst of you, according as also ye yourselves have known; ²³ this one, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, being given out, having taken by lawless hands, having crucified—ye did slay; ²⁴ whom God did raise up, having loosed the pains of the death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it, ²⁵ for David saith in regard to him: I foresaw the Lord always before me—because He is on my right hand—that I may not be moved; ²⁶ because of this was my heart cheered, and my tongue was glad, and yet—my flesh also shall rest on hope, ²⁷ because Thou wilt not leave my soul to hades, nor wilt Thou give Thy Kind One to see corruption; ²⁸ Thou didst make known to me ways of life, Thou shalt fill me with joy with Thy countenance. ²⁹ `Men, brethren! it is permitted to speak with freedom unto you concerning the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is among us unto this day; ³⁰ a prophet, therefore, being, and knowing that with an oath God did swear to him, out of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, to raise up the Christ, to sit upon his throne, ³¹ having foreseen, he did speak concerning the rising again of the Christ, that his soul was not left to hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³² `This Jesus did God raise up, of which we are all witnesses; ³³ at the right hand then of God having been exalted—also the promise of the Holy Spirit having received from the Father—he was shedding forth this, which now ye see and hear; ³⁴ for David did not go up to the heavens, and he saith himself: The Lord saith to my lord, Sit thou at my right hand, ³⁵ till I make thy foes thy footstool; ³⁶ assuredly, therefore, let all the house of Israel know, that both Lord and Christ did God make him—this Jesus whom ye did crucify.’ ³⁷ And having heard, they were pricked to the heart; they say also to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, `What shall we do, men, brethren?’ ³⁸ and Peter said unto them, `Reform, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, ³⁹ for to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.’

As James (a.k.a. Jacob) and Peter point out that the Gentiles are being influenced through you Jews (1 Peter 2:12; Acts 15:16-17; Amos 9:11-12). You Jews shouldn’t be surprised when the Gentile sitting next to you in the synagogues reacts the same way as you did to the gospel. It wasn’t only the Old Covenant Jews who were prophesied to be saved by the Jewish Messiah. It was all twelve tribes and the Gentiles too. Paul and Barnabas went to the church in Jerusalem to discuss this new development in the fulfillment of their great commission. Did Gentiles have to follow the Old Covenant rules or not?

Acts 15:1-11

YLT ¹ And certain having come down from Judea, were teaching the brethren—`If ye be not circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye are not able to be saved;’ ² there having been, therefore, not a little dissension and disputation to Paul and Barnabas with them, they arranged for Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, to go up unto the apostles and elders to Jerusalem about this question, ³ they indeed, then, having been sent forward by the assembly, were passing through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the nations, and they were causing great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And having come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly, and the apostles, and the elders, they declared also as many things as God did with them; ⁵ and there rose up certain of those of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying—`It behoveth to circumcise them, to command them also to keep the law of Moses.’ ⁶ And there were gathered together the apostles and the elders, to see about this matter, ⁷ and there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, `Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe; ⁸ and the heart-knowing God did bare them testimony, having given to them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us, ⁹ and did put no difference also between us and them, by the faith having purified their hearts; ¹⁰ now, therefore, why do ye tempt God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ but, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe to be saved, even as also they.’

Acts 15:13-21

YLT ¹³ and after they are silent, James answered, saying, `Men, brethren, hearken to me; ¹⁴ Simeon did declare how at first God did look after to take out of the nations a people for His name, ¹⁵ and to this agree the words of the prophets, as it hath been written: ¹⁶ After these things I will turn back, and I will build again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen down, and its ruins I will build again, and will set it upright— ¹⁷ that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all the nations, upon whom My name hath been called, saith the Lord, who is doing all these things. ¹⁸ `Known from the ages to God are all His works; ¹⁹ wherefore I judge: not to trouble those who from the nations do turn back to God, ²⁰ but to write to them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols, and the whoredom, and the strangled thing; and the blood; ²¹ for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him—in the synagogues every sabbath being read.’

1 Peter 2:12 – to the 12 tribes in diaspora

YLT ¹² having your behavior among the nations right, that in that which they speak against you as evil-doers, of the good works having beheld, they may glorify God in a day of inspection.

Nobody could pass the day of inspection under law. If the law could have saved the Jews then there would be no need for another covenant. If the law could save Jews, then Jesus would have told His chosen people to remain in Jerusalem under the law of the land, even after they received the Holy Spirit. Instead He told His chosen Jews to be out of the land of Jerusalem before judgement came upon the Old Covenant hold-outs, who tried to keep the law but couldn’t.

Hebrews 8:7-13 – to the 12 tribes in diaspora

YLT ⁷ for if that first were faultless, a place would not have been sought for a second. ⁸ For finding fault, He saith to them, `Lo, days come, saith the Lord, and I will complete with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, a new covenant, ⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day of My taking them by their hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt—because they did not remain in My covenant, and I did not regard them, saith the Lord, — ¹⁰ because this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, giving My laws into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write them, and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to Me for a people; ¹¹ and they shall not teach each his neighbor, and each his brother, saying, Know thou the Lord, because they shall all know Me from the small one of them unto the great one of them, ¹² because I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will remember no more;’ — ¹³ in the saying `new,’ He hath made the first old, and what doth become obsolete and is old is nigh disappearing.

Context Summary
Hebrews chapter 8 uses a quotation from Jeremiah to support the unknown author’s claims. It wasn’t a new plan to replace the Old Covenant of Levitical priests with a better priesthood. The better priesthood, as previously portended to Abraham in Melchizedek, is centered on the work of Jesus Christ. After His Old Covenant death and His New Covenant resurrection, He became the new firstborn without genealogy. Jeremiah describes the New Covenant of Israel that has more power than the Old Covenant of Israel. Israel in the flesh had agreed to keep the Old Covenant, at Mount Sinai, after their Exodus from Egypt. Jeremiah describes the personal and internal nature of their new Holy-Spirit-endowed covenant. God had promised to the Jews through Jeremiah, ”I will do it”. Yahweh and Yeshua Hamashiach are the only covenant keepers.

The church in the land of Old Covenant Jerusalem was of course the original New Covenant church. Pastor (shepherd) James was known by the Jewish church in Jerusalem as Yacobus. Jesus, the Chief Shepherd and high priest of the church, was better known to the Jews as Yeshua. The Greek speaking world of the first century didn’t have a J sound in their alphabet yet. For simplicity I will refer to Jesus as He is commonly known today. Use of the right language or even proper pronunciation is not required.

Acts 13

YLT ¹ And there were certain in Antioch, in the assembly there, prophets and teachers; both Barnabas, and Simeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen also—Herod the tetrarch’s foster-brother—and Saul; ² and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,’ ³ then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent them away. ⁴ These, indeed, then, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, thence also they sailed to Cyprus, ⁵ and having come unto Salamis, they declared the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John as a ministrant; ⁶ and having gone through the island unto Paphos, they found a certain magian, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name is Bar-Jesus; ⁷ who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man; this one having called for Barnabas and Saul, did desire to hear the word of God, ⁸ and there withstood them Elymas the magian—for so is his name interpreted—seeking to pervert the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ And Saul—who also is Paul—having been filled with the Holy Spirit, and having looked steadfastly on him, ¹⁰ said, `O full of all guile, and all profligacy, son of a devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ and now, lo, a hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season;’ and presently there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he, going about, was seeking some to lead him by the hand; ¹² then the proconsul having seen what hath come to pass, did believe, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. ¹³ And those about Paul having set sail from Paphos, came to Perga of Pamphylia, and John having departed from them, did turn back to Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and they having gone through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and having gone into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, they sat down, ¹⁵ and after the reading of the law and of the prophets, the chief men of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, `Men, brethren, if there be a word in you of exhortation unto the people—say on.’ ¹⁶ And Paul having risen, and having beckoned with the hand, said, `Men, Israelites, and those fearing God, hearken: ¹⁷ the God of this people Israel did choose our fathers, and the people He did exalt in their sojourning in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm did He bring them out of it; ¹⁸ and about a period of forty years He did suffer their manners in the wilderness, ¹⁹ and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He did divide by lot to them their land. ²⁰ `And after these things, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave judges—till Samuel the prophet; ²¹ and thereafter they asked for a king, and God did give to them Saul, son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years; ²² and having removed him, He did raise up to them David for king, to whom also having testified, he said, I found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who shall do all My will. ²³ `Of this one’s seed God, according to promise, did raise to Israel a Savior—Jesus, ²⁴ John having first preached, before his coming, a baptism of reformation to all the people of Israel; ²⁵ and as John was fulfilling the course, he said, Whom me do ye suppose to be? I am not he, but, lo, he doth come after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the sandal of his feet. ²⁶ `Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you fearing God, to you was the word of this salvation sent, ²⁷ for those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read—having judged him —did fulfill, ²⁸ and no cause of death having found, they did ask of Pilate that he should be slain, ²⁹ and when they did complete all the things written about him, having taken him down from the tree, they laid him in a tomb; ³⁰ and God did raise him out of the dead, ³¹ and he was seen for many days of those who did come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. ³² `And we to you do proclaim good news—that the promise made unto the fathers, ³³ God hath in full completed this to us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it hath been written, My Son thou art—I to-day have begotten thee. ³⁴ `And that He did raise him up out of the dead, no more to return to corruption, he hath said thus—I will give to you the faithful kindnesses of David; ³⁵ wherefore also in another place he saith, Thou shalt not give Thy kind One to see corruption, ³⁶ for David, indeed, his own generation having served by the will of God, did fall asleep, and was added unto his fathers, and saw corruption, ³⁷ but he whom God did raise up, did not see corruption. ³⁸ `Let it therefore be known to you, men, brethren, that through this one to you is the forgiveness of sins declared, ³⁹ and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous; ⁴⁰ see, therefore, it may not come upon you that hath been spoken in the prophets: ⁴¹ See, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish, because a work I—I do work in your days, a work in which ye may not believe, though any one may declare it to you.’ ⁴² And having gone forth out of the synagogue of the Jews, the nations were calling upon them that on the next sabbath these sayings may be spoken to them, ⁴³ and the synagogue having been dismissed, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes did follow Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were persuading them to remain in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ And on the coming sabbath, almost all the city was gathered together to hear the word of God, ⁴⁵ and the Jews having seen the multitudes, were filled with zeal, and did contradict the things spoken by Paul—contradicting and speaking evil. ⁴⁶ And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, `To you it was necessary that first the word of God be spoken, and seeing ye do thrust it away, and do not judge yourselves worthy of the life age-during, lo, we do turn to the nations; ⁴⁷ for so hath the Lord commanded us: I have set thee for a light of nations—for thy being for salvation unto the end of the earth.’ ⁴⁸ And the nations hearing were glad, and were glorifying the word of the Lord, and did believe—as many as were appointed to life age-during; ⁴⁹ and the word of the Lord was spread abroad through all the region. ⁵⁰ And the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the first men of the city, and did raise persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and did put them out from their borders; ⁵¹ and they having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium, ⁵² and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

One of the letters to the twelve tribes in diaspora is known as The Letter To The Hebrews. The typical city of Jerusalem was not what these first century Hebrews in diaspora were seeking. The Hebrews were joining Jesus outside the typical land, which is where they and He already were. Jesus wasn’t coming back to meet the chosen Jews in typical Jerusalem. The chosen Jews were told by their Messiah to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. After receiving the Holy Spirit they immediately started evangelizing their brethren. 3000 Jews were saved from Peter’s first New Covenant sermon in Jerusalem, but the status quo of the earthbound city of Jerusalem wouldn’t have them for long. Even after the chosen people of God were scattered by way of illegal persecution, they continued evangelizing Jews only.

Hebrews 13:12-14

YLT ¹² Wherefore, also Jesus—that he might sanctify through his own blood the people—without the gate did suffer; ¹³ now, then, may we [the Hebrews] go forth unto him without the camp, his reproach bearing; ¹⁴ for we [the Hebrews] have not here an abiding city, but the coming one we seek;

After the scattering of Jews from Jerusalem, the Hebrews continued having their come to Jesus (Yeshua) meetings in their diaspora. What started on Pentecost in their typical promised land was spreading, just as described in their great messianic commission. They were being called by God (Yahweh) to lay down their Old Covenant life for their New Covenant life, just as Jesus did. God’s chosen people joined Him in His mission to save His people. That is why it is called a co-mission. The number of faithful Jewish martyrs increased until the Old Covenant ended.

Jesus returned to heaven before Stephen was killed, to open the way for Stephen and his faithful Jewish brethren. Jesus ascended to heaven as the New Covenant firstborn, in order to secure the eternal inheritance for His people. Jesus died mid-week in the last week of years just prior to the 20th Jubilee. His death and resurrection put their last 3 1/2 Old Covenant years on hold, while His Jewish disciples gathered His chosen people from the nations. Jesus commissioned His chosen Jews before ascending back to heaven. The great commission was of course given to the chosen Jews before their Old Covenant ended in destruction.

Some Old Covenant hold outs tried to make an opportune deal with the devil in order to keep their typical creation in the Old Covenant firstborn Adam. The devil was not in Pilate. Pilate tried to free Jesus from being falsely condemned by the Sanhedrin. The devil was in a Jew named Judas, who handed Jesus to the Sanhedrin. The deal the unfaithful Jews made with unfaithful Judas was for thirty shekels of silver. The deal was obviously made in order to try to keep the Old Covenant.

Luke 22:3

KJV ³ Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

In Matthew 26:31 Jesus tells His Jewish followers that they will initially be scattered by His Old Covenant trial that illegally resulted in His death. Peter’s infamous denial of his Messiah occurred before Jesus was put to death. Peter even acted like the unfaithful Jews by calling down curses upon himself (Matthew 26:70-75; Matthew 27:24-25). It was the murdering of the New Covenant Jews that scattered the gospel proclaimers from Old Covenant Jerusalem into the nations. Jesus was put on trial at the insistence of the Old Covenant leadership, while He was still in His Old Covenant. The Jews who laid down their Old Covenant life after receiving the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to them in Jerusalem, were also being put to death. Just speaking of their New Covenant often cost them their lives. It was the speech of the New Covenant Jews that the Old Covenant Jews objected to. The body of Christ was being resurrected into the New Covenant. The Old Covenant body of Christ had to die in order to renew the Jewish covenant that they could not keep under law (John 11:48-53).

John 11:48-53

YLT ⁴⁸ if we may let him alone thus, all will believe in him; and the Romans will come, and will take away both our place and nation.’ ⁴⁹ and a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being chief priest of that year, said to them, `Ye have not known anything, ⁵⁰ nor reason that it is good for us that one man may die for the people, and not the whole nation perish.’ ⁵¹ And this he said not of himself, but being chief priest of that year, he did prophesy that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but that also the children of God, who have been scattered abroad, he may gather together into one. ⁵³ From that day, therefore, they took counsel together that they may kill him;

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