Who is a Jew? I hear the answer to this question from everyone that wants to be anybody.

    Some Christians say they are the Jews, and that physical Israel are not Jews anymore. Some Christians and Jews say that being a Jew by birth does not constitute being a Jew with heart.

    Most Jews say that a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah is no longer a Jew at all. And then a few Christians say that a Messianic Jew is a Jew, and not a Christian. A Messianic Jew will tell anyone that he is completely a Jew, as well as a Christian and an Israeli.

    Among these arguments, most Christians as well as Jews seem to agree about one thing -- they both think the Apostle Paul, who was a Jew and Pharisee, no longer valued being Jewish, and that he taught that believers in Yeshua were free from any requirements to observe the Torah ordinances.

    I can understand how that opinion can evolve, but how do you test that opinion against the following words of the Apostle Paul -- whom I will now refer to as Rav Shaul -- who was a Jew among Jews, Pharisee of Pharisees, and an Emissary to the Gentiles.

    In his Epistle to the Ephesians, which was a dominantly Gentile Congregation, Rav Shaul explains the following. Please note that I have inserted some parenthetical comments to explain the Jewish context of what he is presenting.

    Here, Rav Shaul is not saying that Torah has become invalid when he says its judgments are deferred. Rather, he is saying that our uncircumcision, and our estrangement to God (which is declared and manifested by the Torah) has been removed, and we are no longer faulted by our birth origins -- because Yeshua has made peace for us with God.

    Why should we need peace with God? Because we have not lived by God’s Torah. And not living in conformance with Torah has meant that the Gentiles have not been friendly with God. And in actuality, this is not an exclusive Gentile problem. Many Jews have found themselves wanting in this same area, and that is the reason for their saying that there is a Jew -- then there is a Jew by heart -- meaning, there is a Jew that wants to be a Jew.

    But why should Rav Shaul have the right to assert an opinion that Gentiles can have equal access to God’s friendliness, along with Israel (Yisroel), simply because they want to? He asserts this opinion because he is a Jew and a Pharisee. And as such, he is deeply familiar with the Torah, and he knows its liberties and boundaries.

    His opinion is derived from two statements found in Torah where it describes the Hebrews leaving Egypt ... leaving because God has released them to worship him.

    We have to remember, as Rav Shaul said, "We were Gentiles" but are not any longer. We were uncircumcised, but now we are circumcised through Yeshua the Messiah. We had not observed the Passover, because we were barred from it by our birth -- being Gentiles.

    But now, through the Messiah, who died as our Passover Lamb for our release from our birth disposition, we have been transferred to the family of Yisroel. Therefore Rav Shaul explains, Eph 2:19, "You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints (Hebrew Patriarchs), and are now the family members of God." This is the "mixed crowd" that went out with Yisroel, and hurried to Succoth, their first encampment after leaving Egypt. And, as with them, you are set free to serve and worship God ... which means you are appointed to do Torah in Succoth.

    Was the mixed crowd that raced out of Egypt with the Hebrews circumcised? Yes, for some that might have made their decision earlier. But certainly no, for many that made their decision when they saw that Yisroel was leaving. But would they all be circumcised? Yes, but for those that were not, their efforts before being circumcised were like Avrahom’s labors before he was circumcised. His labor was to leave Haran -- and by doing so, he became a friend of God. So Rav Shaul also says in his Epistle to the Romans (2:26), "So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of Torah, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?"

    Please notice that Rav Shaul is referring to Gentiles being Torah observant. And also be aware that this is why the Gentiles of Egypt ran with Yisroel ... running to Succoth. They ran because they trusted that God would be merciful, and that he would completely accept them. And this is the major argument that Rav Shaul presents in most of his Epistles. He asserts that circumcision is the mark of a Jew, but if a Jew is not observant, his circumcision is ineffectual. And if the uncircumcised are observant, then their observance is considered circumcision -- as Avrahom had not been circumcised until late in life.

    Who then is a Jew, and who is a Hebrew? If these arguments cause you to realize that you "were a Gentile," but are now a Hebrew because you trust in God, you must also realize that you are merged with a family of Hebrews. You have not replaced anyone. Rather, you have been added by adoption and acceptance, and you run with them (the Jews) to Succoth.

    What is this place that is called Succoth? Succoth means "the place of tents." Simply put, it is the Tent Town in the desert. It is also the name of the Harvest Festival for Yisroel -- the Feast of Tabernacles. Upon Tabernacles (also called the Feast of Booths), everyone built booths and tents around the Temple in Jerusalem. The festival would begin on the 5th day after Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur being the "Day of Atonement," when any of Yisroel that came to camp at the Temple in Jerusalem would be completely cleansed from their sins. The Festival of Succoth is a celebration that reflects the joy of redemption and release.

    Yet these two major festival times, Passover and Tabernacles (representing Repentance and Atonement), occur at opposite seasons in the year. Passover is in the Spring, and Tabernacles (Succoth) is in the Fall, and there are six months between them. So your running to Succoth is not a quick sprint. Your running is long paced, and only the clearly faithful will arrive. So the Hebrews and "mixed crowd," that were Gentiles, were laboring with a lot of expectation. Expectation that can be compared to the labor of a farmer watching the sprouting of the early spring growth, and then waiting for it to season until it is mature. Succoth is that awaited maturity and its harvest time.

    And this "long run" is the Great Feast of Tabernacles (Booths/Succoth) that is prophesied by Zechariah.

    Peoples from every nation (Jews and Gentiles) shall come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles/Succoth), and if those from Egypt (Gentiles) will not come, they will not have rain in the land during the next seasons.

    Then you get lost in the words of the feast ... the pots of all Jerusalem and Judah will be full with festival meats, and they will all be Holy as they are presented to the Lord. But the following is what Rav Shaul had focused on ... Gentiles are presenting the sacrifices along with Yisroel, and these offerings are the foods for everyone’s celebration -- but there are no longer any Canaanites (Gentiles) in the House of God.

    The Gentiles are called Egypt as they come to Succoth, but when they are called Canaanites there is a different inference. Canaanites are the peoples that Yisroel displaced in the Land of Yisroel. Being displaced, they resettled with the other nations. Those nations are Egypt and the Gentile assemblies. This statement is saying that God will not regard the Gentiles in reference to their sins when they come to Succoth -- he will not displace them or reject them. They are all as Egypt, and they will all be Hebrews ... there are no Canaanites anymore ... Which is to say no one (who is approaching with humility to join the Housholds of God in worship) is being rejected.

    To further illustrate that Succoth/Tabernacles is about salvation for the Gentiles, and their subsequent merger with Yisroel, Adonoi commanded Yisroel to make seven burnt offerings across the first seven days of Succoth. It is found in Num 29:12-34, and they were told to offer 13 bulls on the first day, 12 on the second, 11 on the third, and decreasing down to 7 on the seventh day. That is 70 bulls in seven days, and the Rabbis have always contended that they were for the atonement of the 70 Gentile nations that are named in the Torah -- who also represented the entire world. Then on the eighth day they offered one more bull for Yisroel. Therefore Yisroel labored for the atonement of every Gentile, as well as their own nation, during the days of the Succoth Festival. They did this without any nation asking for their service. They did this because Adonoi asked for it, and He asked for it before the 70 nations (Gentiles) had repented.

    So Rav Shaul said in Romans 4:6-8,  ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: (Psalm 32:1),  ⁷ "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven (Egyptians), and whose sins have been covered (atoned). ⁸ "Blessed is the man whose sin the lord will not take into account (they are not Canaanites anymore)."

    Indeed, salvation is about Succoth, and all of us (Hebrew and Gentile) have to run to that place -- to meet the Lord, and to pitch our tents with him. And when we are gathered there, it is the Messiah Yeshua who will be our King, and the Glory of Adonoi will fill the Temple where he will be enthroned.

    This is who a Jew is ... a Jew is anyone that is found there in that day. And to get there, you begin by observing the Passover -- to do Passover, you accept Yeshua who has called you out from Egypt, and who predestines you to not be a Canaanite anymore. From Passover to Succoth, and year by year thereafter, you are a Hebrew -- and the blood-letting for your circumcision is the same blood-letting in Yeshua's death.