Today, we continue our heavenly time-travel adventures with David, a 21st century Jewish reporter from Philadelphia who is learning “firsthand” about how the good news of Yeshua spread in the 1st century.
His angelic teacher, Ariel, brings a special guest to the classroom, plus David sits in on the pivotal Council at Jerusalem that would impact the Body of Messiah for centuries…even up to today!
(If you like this excerpt and can’t wait to read more—or you would also like to read the FIRST book in the series, Identity Theft —visit our bookstore and download the books for FREE.)
Chapter 7
Not long after Kefa raised Tabitha from the dead, he went to stay with a fellow believer named Simon the Tanner. While there, he had a dramatic experience—”
“There you go, Angel, trying to tell my stories again,” barked Simon Peter, as his face filled up the large screen. I couldn’t forget that bushy beard and hard but warm face. Peter was strong and big—not fat, but well-toned.
“Okay, Peter, feel free to take over. I need a break anyway,” Ariel said jokingly.”
“Hey there, David. Good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too, Kefa!” I replied, using his Aramaic name. How cool was this. Twice in one week, Skyping—well, sort of—with Yeshua’s disciples.
“Please, feel free to call me Peter—if that is easier for you to say.”
I nodded. “Okay then. Peter.”
“David, what I am about to share with you caused a massive turning point for the body of believers in the first century. Up until this time, while we were seeing thousands of Jews coming into the kingdom, it never occurred to us to preach to the Gentiles. In our understanding, Yeshua was the Messiah of the Jews. Every aspect of His life and ministry was foretold by the Jewish prophets. He died and rose from the dead on Jewish holidays. He poured out His Spirit on Jerusalem—not Rome—and used me and the other disciples, all Jews, to bring thousands of our Jewish brothers and sisters into the kingdom on Shavuot, a Jewish feast day. He spent His entire ministry teaching and preaching to Jewish people. He was uniquely from and for the Jews. He was indisputably Jewish property, but all that was about to change—not His Jewishness, but the way would now be opened for the nations to receive Him.
“Of course He had told us to share His message to the whole world (see Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8), but we thought that meant to Jews all over the world and converts to Judaism. It just never occurred to us that we were to preach to Gentiles.
“One day I was praying on Simon’s roof—the fellow who was hosting me in Yafo—when suddenly I fell into a trance. Watch this.” Peter’s face flipped over as though someone turned a page, and the screen showed a man lying on a mat with a pillow under his head, taking a nap on a flat rooftop under blue skies. As the man slept, the blue skies turned into a white sheet high in the heavens. As the white sheet descended, it became apparent that it was full of animals—mostly animals that were not kosher and forbidden to be eaten by Jews. You could never put so many reptiles, mammals, and fowl together on the earth without a big fight.
Peter was sleeping, eyes closed, so it was obvious that he was dreaming. The wind whipped the edges of the great white sheet and blew until it whistled around its edges. The wind began to sound like someone breathing, and finally, a deep voice spoke from within the wind. “Get up, Peter. Eat!”
Peter’s face appeared at the bottom edge of the sheet he was dreaming about. “No, Lord!” Peter cried. “I’ve lived by kosher laws all my life! I can’t!”
The wind whipped around the sheet and howled just a little bit until the deep voice answered, “Don’t call anything unclean that God has made clean.” (See Acts 10:15.)”
The movie ended and the Peter’s face returned to the screen. “As you saw, this happened three times, and then I came out of the trance. Many theologians have misinterpreted this to mean that God was canceling the laws pertaining to the eating of clean and unclean animals.1 But if you read the text you will notice that this was not the interpretation that I received…and, hey—it was my vision! It’s not like I came down from the roof and announced that we were going to have a crawfish festival or a pork ribs barbeque.
“When I came out of the trance I was wondering about…” he raised his voice here for emphasis, “the meaning of the vision.” (See Acts 10:17.) “I knew God was not contradicting His Word. I recalled Yeshua having said when He was with us that He hadn’t come to abolish the Torah.” (See Matthew 5:17.) “I understood the vision to be metaphorical—I just didn’t know what it meant. I mean, what animals did you see up there, David?”
I shifted in my seat. It wasn’t a hard question. “Okay, I saw snakes, spiders, lizards, slugs, pigs, horses—even dogs and cats!” My reluctance to comply with his question wasn’t merely that these animals were unclean—but the thought of eating them was disgusting. It turned my stomach.”
Right. And I was still contemplating the meaning of the vision when the Spirit of God spoke, telling me that three men were coming to ask for me and that I should go with them.
“What I didn’t know at that moment was that an angel, not unlike our good messenger here,” he said, glancing in Ariel’s direction, “had appeared to a Gentile in Caesarea, a Roman army officer named Cornelius. Unlike most Romans, Cornelius feared the God of Israel and loved the Jewish people. The angel told him to send for me at Simon’s house in Yafo. Here is the account from the book of Acts.” Peter clicked the screen back on and a booming voice read the words while people in the costume of that period of time appeared on the screen.
There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man, a “God-fearer,” as was his whole household; he gave generously to help the Jewish poor and prayed regularly to God. One afternoon around three o’clock he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at the angel, terrified. “What is it, sir?” he asked. “Your prayers,” replied the angel, “and your acts of charity have gone up into God’s presence, so that he has you on his mind. Now send some men to Yafo to bring back a man named Shim’on, also called Kefa. He’s staying with Shim’on the leather-tanner, who has a house by the sea.” As the angel that had spoken to him went away, Cornelius called two of his household slaves and one of his military aides, who was a godly man; he explained everything to them and sent them to Yafo (Acts 10:1-8 CJB).
I noticed that Peter looked a little older during this period of time than he appeared right now, in heaven. Again I marveled at the youthfulness of heaven and the glorious way God chose to keep people at their finest form, face, and age in heaven. Peter interrupted my thoughts.
Cornelius was a very special man. God chose him to be the first nonJew to hear the Gospel. But Cornelius did his part. God drew him in, and Cornelius prayed and believed that God would answer him. Actually, he invited no small number of people to his home to hear me share, but he was the focal point.
“The next day his men arrived at Simon’s house, just as I was coming down from the roof, having had the strange vision. When I learned that they were Gentiles wanting to take me to the home of a Gentile, I naturally thought to refuse. At which instant the Lord revealed to me the meaning of the vision: that I should never consider any man as inferior!” (See Acts 10:28.) “You see, according to our custom—not the Torah, mind you, but the traditions of our elders—we could not fellowship with Gentiles. We did not eat with them and we certainly did not enter their homes. This had more to do with ritual purity than discrimination. However, the Lord, just as He exposed religious hypocrisy by turning over the tables in the Temple, was now overturning some of our misperceptions.
“I invited them into Simon’s to eat and stay the night. Simon was speechless when I did so. He had never invited a non-Jew into his home before—much less dined with them. But he consented. When you raise someone from the dead, it gives you a lot of street cred—people tend to assume you know what you are doing,” Peter said teasingly.
“The next morning we set off to Caesarea. As was my custom, I commandeered several young men who were part of my group of disciples to come with me. In addition to the fact that this would be a valuable mentoring time with them, I wanted there to be witnesses to what the Lord was about to do. I sensed that He was opening up a new frontier of ministry for us and it was important that others could testify in the future regarding its authenticity.”
“The map appeared on the screen again.”
“The journey from Yafo to Caesarea today is only a forty-five minute trip, but my car was in the shop that day,” Peter winked broadly. “It took us about a day and half, and when we arrived, Cornelius’ house was filled with all his relatives and close friends in an atmosphere charged with anticipation. I guess I had imagined a small, private conversation. I didn’t really want the news that Simon Peter was hanging out with Gentiles to travel too far. At least, not before I had a chance to present the whole story to Jacob and the other brothers in Jerusalem. But the Lord had bigger plans.”
Peter’s “talking head” faded from the screen and this time the screen flashed still pictures of the house, Cornelius, the Gentile travelers who came with Peter, and Peter’s shining face. It was truly shining, and I tried to imagine myself being put in such a position.
Peter’s voice-over explained the pictures.
“As soon as I entered I felt the power of God descend upon me to preach. Any doubts I had about being there melted away as the boldness of the Holy Spirit filled me from the inside. Thoughts of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on Shavuot nearly a decade earlier filled my mind. It was the same anointing. Something special was about to happen.
“I began to share the story of Yeshua—about His death and resurrection—when all of a sudden the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his guests. They started speaking in tongues and praising God! We were all amazed. We had never seen a non-Jew receive the Holy Spirit and hadn’t thought it possible. We all rejoiced, as we knew this was no small occurrence. In fact, it was the most significant event we’d experienced since the Holy Spirit fell upon us on that aforementioned Shavuot about a decade earlier.
“Recovering somewhat from the shock of it, I asked if anyone had any objections to their being immersed in water—and since no one had any—I and some of the young men traveling with me immersed them. We then stayed on for several days instructing them on their new life in the Messiah. In your day, David, it is taboo for a Jewish person to be immersed in water as a believer in Yeshua, but in my day it was unthinkable to baptize a Gentile as a believer in the Jewish Messiah. Quite the opposite! But oh, what a glorious time it was…”
“Peter’s voice and the story pictures faded and I turned to Ariel. “The woman with the flow of blood whom Yeshua healed spoke about this when she shared her story. She related how all the believers were incredulous that Gentiles were being baptized in water.”
“By the time we are through, you will understand why that was. But as you can see, in the beginning, only Jews went into the waters of immersion and it was not controversial at all. As you learned during your last visit, immersion in water was an inextricable part of daily Temple life.”
“I can’t tell you how strange it is to conceive that it was once off-limits for a Jewish believer to share Yeshua with Gentiles. I don’t think one Jewish person I know has ever really considered this. I mean, in today’s world one of our greatest fears is of Gentile Christians targeting Jews, whereas no such thing existed in the days of the apostles; because, until Cornelius, there were no Gentile believers in Yeshua—just Jews. Now, one virtually assumes that every Christian is a Gentile.”
“Right, David, but that is about to change dramatically…”
Chapter 8
Ariel enthusiastically rehearsed in elaborate detail the argument that Yeshua is the way of salvation for the Jew first and then the Gentile. I tried to listen, but I was still worried about Dad. I wondered if I wasn’t allowed to know about his fate because it would upset me too much and I wouldn’t be able to learn all of these deep truths that I was to adopt as my own. I raked my hand through my hair and tried to think. All of this learning intrigued me, and it obviously interested my dad as well. But Dad never really came out and said he believed for sure. And what if I had to return to “life as usual” with all this information under my belt? What if Dad never woke up from his comatose state and no one in the family believed that we really talked to one another here in heaven? Or what if we get back to earth and he is not willing to count the cost of being a Jewish follower of Jesus? Was I willing?
My shoulders slumped as I thought about Ariel’s last words—at least the last ones that I heard. I knew everything was about to change. Everything. What would Lisa think about all these changes? While I believed in Yeshua now, something inside me was unsettled. I tried not to think about all this because I knew Ariel would hear my thoughts. It occurred to me that maybe I didn’t like being forced into being a modern-day Kefa, the Rock. Maybe I didn’t want to be God’s new voice to convince Jews that Jesus was not the leader of the Gentile Christian movement. I couldn’t think of one Jewish friend who would want to be in my position right now. I could barely breathe.
“David?”
I looked up. Ariel looked about as exasperated as a perfect angel was allowed to be.
“Sorry. You were saying something?”
“We have a lot to cover,” said Ariel. “But I think you need some time.”
Ariel glowed with perfection of light and life. His face was flawless, his form tall and masculine, not a wrinkle or fat roll anywhere. Ariel’s life here was so perfect, so easy. He had all the answers and no opposition. He just repeated God’s words and everyone nodded their heads. But I was intensely aware that this whole thing was set up so that I would embrace Yeshua as the true way and then be thrown to the wolves. There were plenty of people on earth who would disagree with this new revelation. I wasn’t exactly doing jumping jacks at the thought of enduring all that, especially if I had no one else beside me. What if my family rejected me like Jackie’s family rejected him? Could I handle it? I mean, what were my options at this point? I’d either handle it or maybe—maybe I would I cave in to the pressure and just live as a good Conservative Jew like I’d been doing before all this started.
I stretched my legs out in front of me and sighed. Ariel said nothing. He set a plate in front of me that held a golden and cherry colored fruit about the size of a baseball. “Eat this,” he said gently. “Your mind will clear.”
I looked up in his face. Ariel wasn’t pushing; he was offering.
“Thanks,” I answered.
I rolled the fruit around in my hand and then bit into it. I never tasted anything better! It sparkled like an iridescent plum, but it was larger and juicier than any fruit I’d ever eaten. The sweet juice ran down my chin and I wiped it off with my other hand. Ariel was right. My head cleared and I could breathe again.
I looked up at my angel friend. “Sorry. I guess I got a little overwhelmed. I’m not sure what to say. What does God expect?” I asked sincerely.
“He wants one thing,” he answered. Ariel pointed up at the ceiling. “Surrender.”
“I smiled. “Yep, that would be it. Surrender.”
I sighed, then bowed my head over the shiny gold plate. “Father in heaven, I come in Yeshua’s name.” I paused there. The last time I prayed in Yeshua’s name, I was in the hospital room and the room shook like an earthquake. I waited a bit. Nothing happened this time, so I moved on.
“I can see what You want me to do back on earth. It’s not real easy down there, You know? But Ariel’s right. I’m struggling with surrender.” I put my hands in the air, like one of the bandits on those old western movies who was caught by the sheriff. “I surrender. Do with me what You want. I’m Yours.”
I looked around. Ariel was at the long table up front reading the scroll. He was true to his word—he left me alone to give me time to think.
“Amen,” I said, finishing my prayer.
Ariel stayed at the table for some time and it slowly dawned on me that it was my place to call him back. “Ariel? Are you ready to continue?”
He rolled up the scroll in his hands, then tied it with a scarlet cord.
“I’m ready. You?”
“I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Ariel sat easily on Dad’s desktop and held up the scroll in the air. “Simon Peter was right to be concerned that people would not understand all this. Despite the fact that God had promised Abraham three times that through his descendants—and more particularly his seed, meaning Yeshua—all the nations of the earth would be blessed.” (See Genesis 18:18, 22:18, 26:4.) “And even though Israel’s prophets clearly foretold that many in the nations would ultimately come to faith, these first Jewish believers were initially blinded to this reality.”
The clouds formed passages before my eyes. The words themselves seemed to clear my mind, and my first instinct as a journalist was take a photo of this phenomenon, only quickly realizing that my smartphone did not make the journey.
“The prophet Isaiah, for example, had written, ‘In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious’ (Isa. 11:10), while the psalmist spoke about Israel reflecting God’s light to the nations. Look at this whiteboard, David, and notice how many times the words peoples and nations are mentioned.”
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear Him (Psalm 67).
“And also—”
Praise the Lord, all you nations; extoll Him all you peoples” (Psalm 117:1).
“And again—”
May his name endure forever; may it continues as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed (Psalm 72:17).
The words went up in smoke—a pretty cool trick if you asked me. I wonder if this is how Moses received the Ten Commandments?
Ariel, ever the teacher, cleared his throat and tapped his scroll for emphasis on the point he was about to make. “Could it be any clearer that it was the Lord’s intention from the very beginning to reach the nations through Israel?” Ariel asked rhetorically. “That God should have told Abraham in their very first encounter that all the nations on earth would be blessed through him? It was always God’s plan to use Israel, Abraham’s physical descendants, to reach the nations with the message of redemption through the Messiah. Sadly, however, Peter’s encounter with Cornelius was not viewed in the light of those passages—but rather through the lens of tradition, the idea that Gentiles must be avoided to prevent becoming ritually unclean.”
I thought about that. “It is ironic that Jews were forbidden to eat with Gentiles, when one considers how, in the coming centuries, the Roman Church would forbid Christians to have table fellowship with Jews!”
“Right.”
“Maybe that’s where we get the expression, the tables turned,” I added.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Ariel smiled, “but I can tell you that, in short order, word began to spread that Peter had entered the home of a Gentile.” Once again, Ariel’s account of events was confirmed by the simultaneous appearance of the biblical text:”
“The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them” (Acts 11:1-3).”
Ariel stood to his feet. “This provided Peter with an opportunity to explain. Starting with his vision about the unclean animals, he told them the whole story—how God had directed him, how the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the Gentiles in Cornelius’ home, and of the believers’ baptism that followed. They received Peter’s report with great joy.” Scripture again accompanied Ariel’s commentary:”
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).”
“Over the next decade tens of thousands of Gentiles came into the kingdom. The disciples began to preach the Good News of Yeshua in the surrounding countries. However, with this inclusion of Gentiles there began to emerge two rival camps of thought within the Messianic movement.
“First, there were those, like Peter, who simply invited Gentiles to repent and receive eternal life through Yeshua.
“Second, there were others who insisted that non-Jewish believers had to be circumcised and keep all of the Law of Moses; that they would first have to convert to Judaism in order to believe in Yeshua.”
“Hang on, Ariel. Jewish preachers were telling Gentiles that in order to believe in Yeshua, they had to become Jewish?!” I asked in amazement.
“Precisely! Many of them came from strict orthodox backgrounds and could not conceive any other way,” he answered. (See Acts 15:5.) My skin tingled with the realization of how backward everything had become over the centuries. “Ariel—you are blowing my Jewish mind! The majority of Jews today are opposed to the message of Jesus on the grounds that He is the God of the Gentiles. ‘It’s for the Goyim’ they say, ‘we have Judaism; we have the Torah.’ And yet, you’re saying that at one time, Orthodox Jews were running around the world telling Gentiles that in order to believe in Jesus they needed to convert to Judaism. Today, Jews who become believers are accused of converting to a foreign religion, but originally, it was the Gentiles who were being told to convert. This is like a religious bizarro world!”
“Bizarro?”
“Never mind, a Superman reference.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Ariel. It was just so foreign to modernday Judaism that it seemed bogus. I wonder if Rabbi Goodman knows about any of this?
“David, this issue of whether or not the Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Torah to become a follower of Yeshua was the biggest theological controversy among the first Jewish believers. Many taught that you could not be saved unless you were circumcised. And to be honest, for many of the new Jewish believers this made complete sense. Outside of a divine revelation to the contrary, this was a very simple issue for the majority of them—Yeshua was sent to Jacob; to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. The first leaders clearly saw this as something exclusively for Jews. It took a prophetic vision, remember, to get Simon Peter to consider even speaking to a Gentile, and even then he did not expect the outcome. When the Spirit of God fell upon the Gentiles—to confirm to Peter and the others that ‘God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right’ (Acts 10:3435)—none was more surprised than Peter.”
I was actually relieved to hear that God did not show favoritism. Although we never discussed it, it sometimes bothered me that our best friends, Michael and Mindy, were cut off from all the wonderful tenets of faith that Lisa and I treasured so deeply. Even though before recently—before this search—I never really gave that much thought to the afterlife, my defense mechanism as a Jew made me think of us and them. Thinking about Michael and Mindy made me consider the word “Gentile” or “Goy” a little differently. “Gentile” wasn’t exactly a complimentary word to Jewish people. But I was seeing that from the very beginning God not only cared for the Jews, but through Abraham’s seed, like Peter and Paul, He reached the Gentiles. I could not wait to share this with Michael and Mindy. I really wanted to share this new faith with them as well as with the people in my local Jewish community.
Ariel smiled. “Actually, we are counting on you sharing your faith with more than just the locals.”
I shot him a mock disapproving look. “It’s starting to feel creepy, the way you hear my thoughts.”
“Ariel laughed outright. “Okay, I’ll behave. But bear in mind that all of this was still several years before the New Covenant books were written. Shaul—the apostle Paul—addresses this issue head on in his letters to the Galatians and to the Romans, but both had yet to be written. And since it was to the Jews that God had entrusted the Scriptures and through Israel that God had brought the Messiah, it seemed only natural that in order to have a relationship with Him, one would need to convert to Judaism. All this came to a climax in the year 49 CE. Want to take a peek?”
I grinned. “Sure.”
Ariel grabbed me by the shoulder, and within seconds we were airborne. This, I would never tire of. Every kid’s dream is to fly, and despite being well into adulthood, this manner of time travel, I decided, would never get old. As we drew closer to our destination I realized we were returning to Jerusalem—where my first journey began. This time we hovered over a large meeting room. In it were dozens of men gathered in small groups, mingling as though they were waiting for a meeting to take place. Fresh fruit, such as grapes and dried dates, as well as flat round bread lay on low tables and a boy in the corner was ladling out water from a wooden barrel.
Ariel, ever the tutor, launched into an explanation.
“First, let me give you some background to what is happening down there. There are now hundreds of congregations outside of Israel with many Gentile members. Paul and Barnabas were responsible for the many Gentile believers in Antioch. However, inside Israel, the congregations remained almost exclusively Jewish. They would attend the synagogue in the morning to hear the Parshat Hashavuah—”
“The weekly Torah reading,” I contributed.”
“Yes, that was the only place the Scriptures were read. Then, in the evening, at the closing of Shabbat and the beginning of the new week, they would meet in home fellowships. However, elsewhere, outside of Israel, the Gentile believers were quickly starting to outnumber the Jewish believers.”
I felt the alarm in my soul. My father and mother taught me to guard the truths entrusted to us and hold fast to the traditions of faith that were passed down to us through the centuries. Despite not being a very religious home, having seen firsthand how Hitler nearly wiped out the Jews of Europe in just a few years, living as Jews and keeping the traditions alive was everything to my father.
Dad would often warn us, “If just one generation stops keeping the traditions, it’s likely that future generations will as well.” And it wasn’t going to start with his family.
Ariel continued. “In the beginning, these congregations honored the Jewish roots of their faith; Passover was the accepted time for Jewish and non-Jewish believers to celebrate the resurrection. The Jews were the only ones possessing the scrolls that contained the Holy Scriptures and almost all of the leaders of these congregations were Jews—at least up to this point in time. They were the evangelists who introduced the Gentiles to salvation through Yeshua.
“However, some Jewish believers were part of what was called ‘The Circumcision Faction.’ They came to Antioch from Jerusalem and began to teach the Gentiles that they could only be saved if they were circumcised. As I said before, outside of a divine revelation, such as Simon Peter had, this was not an unreasonable assumption. But God was not seeking to turn Gentiles into Jews. On the contrary, He was doing the previously unthinkable—He was creating, as Paul describes it in Ephesians, ‘one new man’ out of the two!
Quite a number among these Jewish believers were Pharisees—the forerunners to modern-day Orthodox Judaism. Many Jews and Christians would be surprised to learn that these Orthodox Jews, after becoming believers, continued to live as Pharisees. People today routinely equate the word Pharisee with the word hypocrite, as if that is the meaning of the word. In fact, your English dictionary defines a Pharisee as someone selfrighteous or a hypocrite. And it’s true that many of the Pharisees whom Yeshua encountered were indeed hypocrites, preaching one thing and living another. However, there were many Pharisees who genuinely loved God and came to faith in the years following the resurrection. For example, Nicodemus, who visited Yeshua secretly by night, became an ardent believer.” (See John 3:1–21.)
“Gamaliel, one of the most respected rabbis of his day, was another who displayed great wisdom and restraint when he warned the Sanhedrin, the highest court of justice and the supreme council in ancient Jerusalem, against persecuting the Messianic Jews.
“‘If their message is from God,’ he said, ‘you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’” (See Acts 5:39.) “Remember, David? We spoke about him.”
I nodded.
“Paul, himself a disciple of the same Gamaliel, makes the declaration many years after coming to faith, ‘I am’—not was—’a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees’ (Acts 23:6), and no, he was not confessing to being a hypocrite,” the angel smiled wryly.”
“There is a debate going on down there; one question is stirring the hearts of everyone—but I’ll tell you that in a minute. First, understand that there were many who saw no contradiction in loving Yeshua, their Messiah, and continuing to be Orthodox Jews. While it is true that during the centuries in Babylon the Pharisees had substituted many scriptural injunctions with man-made rules, something the Messiah called ‘the traditions of men,’ they too were seeking to be faithful Jews, waiting for the Messiah. Sadly, a good number of them were blinded to the coming of the Messiah by jealousy, their love of position, and their fear of political reprisals. And it is for this reason that Yeshua leveled His harshest criticism at them. But people fail to realize that many Pharisees responded to His message and did follow Him.
“In Antioch, Paul and Barnabas came into sharp dispute with some of these Jews who were pressuring the Gentiles to be circumcised.”
A passage formed before me, even as we floated over the gathering.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question (Acts 15:1-2).
“The matter became so hotly contested that they decided they would take this disagreement to the apostles in Jerusalem and let them settle the issue. This proved to be the first binding theological council, and it was called and convened to answer a question that would seem silly to Jewish people today—Do Gentiles have to become Jewish to believe in Jesus? And that’s the debate. Let’s watch.”
I looked down, expecting to see the entire scene move up onto a movie screen that I could watch. Instead, I suddenly found myself sitting at a low table in the very midst of this group of men! Ariel was nowhere to be found. I looked around the room and spotted Simon Peter among the men. He looked right at me but clearly did not recognize me as the American Jew he had been speaking to just a few minutes before. This was hardly surprising—gone were my jeans and dress shirt that I had been wearing; instead, I was once again dressed in first-century garb much like I’d worn while witnessing the crucifixion. My beard was grown out. I am one of them. When this happened before, I nearly panicked, but this time I calmed myself. Ariel’s done this before. I won’t be stuck here forever.
In fact, I decided to enjoy it this time. I stroked my long beard, rather enamored with its feel on my face. But the robe was itchy and I pulled my sleeves up to my elbows. Someone gave me a sideways glance of disapproval. I looked around. No one else had their sleeves pulled up. Talk about peer pressure! No need to ruin my reputation before it started. I rolled down my sleeves as a man stood up to speak. His beard was graying and he carried himself as an elder or teacher who owned much wisdom. The room quieted.
“If we are to receive Gentiles as true brothers, then the men must be circumcised and be required to keep the Law of Moses,” he said. Several men nodded their agreement. “How can they expect to worship our Messiah without first becoming one of us and keeping our traditions and customs?”
Our Messiah. Amazing. These were clearly the believing Pharisees of whom Ariel had spoken—men who put forth the argument that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah, so the Gentiles who want to enjoy the salvation He offers must become Jewish to do so.
Jacob (James) and the other apostles and elders took up this man’s concern. There was no contention, but great discussion as, one by one, each man presented his thoughts on the matter, some with conviction and others with questions. I found myself included in their number. I just listened and hoped no one would ask me anything. After much dialogue, Peter took the floor. With confidence he recounted for them his vision and experience with Cornelius.
Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Yeshua that we are saved, just as they are (Acts 15:7-11).
He was very persuasive. Even many of the circumcision faction seemed convinced. Next Paul and Barnabas related how God had used them with signs and wonders in preaching to the Gentiles. Everyone was silent as they shared story after story. Finally Jacob, the brother of Yeshua, spoke up. It was clear that he was the senior voice in the room.
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath (Acts 15:19-21).
Then suddenly Jacob turned to me. He looked at me as if he knew me. I was terrified. “Levi, I want you to write this down. We will send it with Paul and Barnabas to the congregations. He added, looking at two other men, “Silas and Yehuda, you can accompany them so they will know that it is coming from the apostolic leadership here in Jerusalem.”
Apparently I was Levi! I sat down and picked up the quill that served as a pen. There was an inkpot and a piece of papyrus on the table. So far so good, I thought, until I realized that they had been speaking in Hebrew. Just as I’d previously experienced, I had the supernatural ability to understand the languages that were being spoken, but I couldn’t write in them! Or could I?
My hand trembling, I dipped the quill in the ink and simply wrote in English, as Jacob dictated. Amazingly, the letters appeared on the paper in shapes I could not understand. The papyrus was thick compared to modern-day paper, and the texture was rough and difficult to write on. I ran my fingers across it, just underneath the letters that I “painted” with the quill. Instantly I thought of the newspapers in Philadelphia and how I was paid to write something in those columns that would capture Philly’s community and culture! I was thrilled to write such ancient script. What would the editor say about this? I smiled. Imagine that!
While Jacob dictated the letter in Hebrew, the letters that formed were definitely Greek! I quickly realized that while we were in Jerusalem, he was writing to believers in many other countries, so Greek would be the lingua franca—the common language of them all. As a writer, it was incredible to be given this opportunity. I managed to control my excitement so as not to arouse suspicion and continued to write:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So, we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [Yeshua the Messiah]. Therefore we are sending Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell (Acts 15:23-29).
I laid down the quill and looked at the beautiful Greek writing. I understood it! I was quite pleased with myself. The leaders interrupted my thoughts just then. As the ink dried, they called everyone to gather together in a circle around the four men who were designated to carry the letter around the world, as God led them. We all laid our hands on the four men and prayed for them. This was not the short Jewish blessing pronounced by Rabbi Goodman at the end of our Shabbat meeting in the synagogue. These men prayed with fervor and intensity, sometimes one at a time and other times all at once in many languages. By the time the prayer was finished, I had a quivery feeling inside, like someone turned on an electric heater inside a previously cold room in my heart. These men were my brothers—my ancestors.
“Shey Elohim yivarech otchem,” I said softly as I watched them roll up the letter that had been dictated to me, and somehow I knew that I said, “May the Lord bless you.” They walked out together. The meeting was adjourned and bam. I was back in the heavenly classroom. Ariel had his back turned to me. He was at the whiteboard writing something—I think in English. I wasn’t really sure anymore what language I was hearing or writing up here. I just knew that I understood it all.
“He didn’t seem to know I was there, so I decided to tease him a bit.”
“Hey! Big guy!”
Ariel whirled around, pen in hand, quite startled. It was nice to get one over on the angel for a change.
“Maybe you could warn me the next time, before you just drop me into a meeting that took place two thousand years ago and is being conducted in a foreign language!” I feigned annoyance.
Ariel recovered quickly, of course. “Oh, come on David—what fun would that be? Besides, we’re just getting started. Before the day is out, you’re going to witness far more dramatic situations than that. But in all seriousness, the Master has arranged all of this so that you can experience these truths firsthand. He wants you to remember your experiences, and this is the best way. He could just give you facts and dates, but when you experience something it sears the memory. Sometimes in traumatic ways, but also for good. It will help you later. While all of this really happened, you are simply reliving a scene at a time as a means of study. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
I’d always been a “hands on” kinesthetic kind of learner. God knew me well enough to present history to me in a way that was even better than a visual movie. The fact that God went to all this trouble so that I would “get it” truly touched my heart. I understood. He really cares. God cares. God knows me. He even tapped into that fascination I’ve always had to record events, inform people of important things. He let me step into the shoes of a writer, a scribe from the first century.
Ariel interrupted my thoughts. “Just remember, the scene is being replayed purely for your benefit, for your instruction.”
I grinned at Ariel. “Got it.” And I did get it—more than he knew. This wasn’t about God just using me as a means to an end He desired. He really “got me.” He understood what made me tick, and He knew better than anyone how to deliver His intentions to me in a way that I could comprehend it—even permanently imbed it—into my heart. He chose me to write or speak and deliver His message to the twenty-first century Jews.
“I looked up. Got it. And thanks.”
