In my last blog, I spoke on the meaning of the Hebrew word “echad”, when speaking of people as the act of becoming “one”, but when referring to the character of YHVH, one part with many aspects. For this blog, we are not dealing with echad in the sense of the character of YHVH, but rather how it relates to people. I recently had a discussion with a gentleman who has countless degrees, authored countless books, to include a revision of a Bible, had been tutored by some of the best scholars out there, and I mean the list goes on and on. I do want to reiterate first, that, I have no degrees, no books in my name, nor any reputable mentors to guide me in this quest for truth. I say this because I do NOT want to lead anyone astray, and it’s for this cause that I always tell people to study for themselves to see if what you have been taught or told agrees with what you see. Anyway, after hearing his answers to a few questions I had, I found myself left with even more questions because what he said did not line up with what I read. So before we get into this, I want to lay down a foundation to paint a picture for you, seeing as how I have a few people that tend to always miss what I am pointing out.
I have custody of my two babies, my son is 11 and my daughter is 9. Now, as a parent, my goal is to treat both of kids equal, or should I say “as echad”. Seeing that my son is 2 years older, and I had a couple of years with him before my daughter came along, I had a few ground rules set up for him, and by age two, he is slowly falling in line with them. Now, as a child, I really don't feel that juice is good for him, so he is only allowed to have milk or water. I am also teaching him that he can only play with his toys in his room and not my living room. I am not a big advocate on things like cake and cookies for dessert so other than fruit, he is not allowed any kind of dessert. By the time he is 4, he has become fully accustomed to how we do things in the house, but by this point, my daughter is now 2, and it is time to start teaching her the house rules. Keeping in mind, my desire is to treat my kids “as echad”, because I want them to feel equal. But now I have myself a bouncing baby girl, and as such, she is very precious in my eye. Suddenly I find myself allowing her to play with her toys in my living room as well as her room. My son notices this, and decides he wants to do the same, but I remind him of the house rules, that there is no playing in my living room with his toys. Reluctantly, he sadly submits to my authority as his father. During lunch time, they both sit at the table to eat. Drinks are not allowed until after they finish eating, but my daughter says she is thirsty, so I allow her to have a drink of my soda. Up until this point, my son has never had soda, let alone juice. But, he says nothing. After they finish eating, he gets water, but she doesn't want water so she ends up getting a glass of grape juice. Again, my son sees this, but doesn't say a word. Time passes on, and now it’s dinner time. At the end of dinner, I pass out dessert. He gets an orange, but she gets a piece of chocolate cake. Years pass on, and it’s always the same. I still profess myself to be a parent that treats my kids equal, but is that what I am doing? And in their eyes, do they see it as being treated equal? Not only that, but couldn’t that begin to sow seeds of resentment between the two because of these differences? I also want to point out, in both cases, I never explained to either of them why I did what I did, I just simply did it because I am their dad.
I’m sure at this point there is probably mixed feelings on this analogy. Some will look into more deeply than others, yet some will even over analyze the story. Keep in mind, this is a fictitious story, and I do not do my babies like this at all. In fact, what goes for one goes for the other. In any case, lets get into it. In the book of Exodus, just before they left Egypt, YHVH told Moses that it was “one Torah” or (Torah echad), which means “one teaching” for the Jew and for the Gentile. In other words, what goes for one, goes for all as it relates to those who desire to become a part of Israel. However, it would be necessary for the outward sign of salvation, which at that time was circumcision, to be performed. Now in todays time, there is no outward sign, because salvation is done in the heart at the moment of salvation. We as non Jews have been grafted in to become a part of Israel, and as such, if it is One Torah, for the born Jew and for the non Jew, then wouldn’t the same teachings given to them apply to us as well? For those who say no, let us look at my initial example where the one child gets certain things that the other doesn’t. Even though as a parent I can do my kids however I choose, can I realistically claim that I am treating them “as echad”? Scripture teaches that YHVH is not a respecter of persons and does not treat one great than the other, for it rains on the just and unjust alike, BUT, if He has a set of rules for one people and another for the other, is this “echad”? When speaking to that gentleman the other day, his explanation was that certain things, and I will just lay it out there for you. The conversation was about eating clean verses unclean. In his response, he said that the aspect of eating kosher was only for the Jews, but for the non Jews it was a matter of conscience. I then thought about Yeshua, and the fact that He ate only the clean things, as did His disciples, and even after His ascension, they continued to eat only the clean. Peter had the vision about the beast on the sheet, the story that moist Christians totally misinterpret, and as YHVH told him to kill and eat, 3 times is it recorded that he would NOT eat the unclean. It can be argued that this only applies to the Jews, but then the fact that the apostles never outrightly confirmed this by saying non Jews were exempt from this ban on unclean animals leaves one to wonder. If indeed this is true, then YHVH can no longer claim to be indifferent to His people. The concept of echad is gone out the window. He is now guilty of treating one people one way and the other another way. Even though He is God and He can do what He wants, the point is as I said, that He is now showing respect of persons in that one people is not given choice of foods but the other is. To the one there are limitations, but to the other there are no limitations. All in all, if this is a case, we have found our first character flaw with YHVH because He claimed one thing but displays another.
My thoughts on it is this, just as in my example, my son could end up having resentment towards his sister because of how she seemed more favored than him, couldn’t that be the same case with Israel towards the non Jews? How could we ever establish echad between the two if one is given more privileges than the other? The final point is this, it is safe to say that in the millennial reign that Yeshua will continue to eat that which is clean and not the unclean, and that the Jews will do likewise, so when we are partaking in one of the Feasts of YHVH, will there be two menus where Yeshua and the Jews eat kosher and us non-Jews at the same table will be served shellfish, and pig? The way I see it, if Yeshua observed the dietary laws, and I am striving to be lijke Him, shouldn’t I observe them as well? If the unclean animals were not fit for Him then they must not be fit for me. Although YHVH never gave a reason for this ban, the fact that He put it on one people tells me it would be in my best interest to follow suit. I believe that most people that disagree with this thinking are that are strong advocates for the unclean and because it is something they really enjoy, the thought of giving it up just isn’t happening. Once again, my question resonates throughout this random thought, Echad Or Not Echad, That Is The Question
