Replacement and Exclusion Theologies:
What they are; and why they are wrong.
By Norman B. Willis, servant@nazareneisrael.org
[6] I marvel that you are so readily turning away from Him who called you in the favor of the Messiah, to a different Good News, [7] which is not another! Only there are some who are troubling you, and wishing to pervert the Good News of Messiah! [8] However, even if we (or a messenger out of heaven) bring a Good News to you, besides what we announced to you, let him be accursed! [9] As we have said before, if anyone brings a Good News to you besides what you have received, let him be accursed!
[Galataya (Galatians) 1:6-9]
People are people, and much like today, the assemblies in the first century were probably mixed-bag. You had the devout, the not-as-devout, the curious, and the forced-to-go-but-don’t-really-want-to-be-there types. Sefer Romaya (Romans) also reveals that there were at least four distinct ethnic groups within the Roman assembly: Genetic Jews who were devout in their ‘Orthodox’ faith; Natsarim-Messianic believers; Hellenized (‘Greek’) believers; and returning Ephraimites (‘Gentile converts.’) There were probably also ‘shades in between.’
People are people; and the people of the synagogue of Galatia were probably not much different from the people in the synagogue of Rome. Some of them were probably ‘on fire for YHWH,’ some were lukewarm, and some were perhaps cold (and all the various gradations in between.) Further, within any given family, some may have accepted Yeshua, and some had not.
But notice how all of these are still part of the same synagogue. Never in his writings does Shaul make reference to a separate assembly that is no longer part of the synagogue of the city. Rather, in all of his missionary travels, Shaul went into the synagogue of the city (and on the Sabbath) to preach the Good News of Yeshua to the set apart people of Elohim.
There is only one recorded instance where the set-apart people in the synagogue of the city would not hear the Good News (in Corinth, Acts 18:7); and so Shaul simply went next door, setting up a home-fellowship in the house of a believer named Justus; and after a time even the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth (Crispus) began to believe on Yeshua.
Notice, however, when we study the Book of the Acts we do not find Shaul wandering to and fro, intentionally ‘planting churches.’ The only time Shaul set up a separate Natsarim synagogue when he was no longer permitted to attend the regular (Jewish-led) synagogue of the City (above.)
Replacement Theology: What it is: And why it is wrong
[11] And he (Jacob) came upon a place, and stopped over for the night, for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head; and he lay down in that place to sleep. [12] And he dreamed, and saw a ladder set up on the earth! And its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it! [13] And behold! YHWH stood above it and said, “I Am YHWH Elohim of Avraham your father, and the Elohim of Yitzhak (Isaac.) The land on which you are lying, I give it to you, and your seed. [14] And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and you shall break forth to the west and to the east, to the north and the south; and all the clans of the earth shall be blessed in you, and in your Seed. [15] And behold! I Am with you wherever you go, and shall bring you back to this land; for I am not going to leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you!” [Breisheet (Genesis) 28:11-15]
The Covenants of Promise were given to Israel: To his physical descendants and to those who would later accept the faith in the Seed, Yeshua (Galatians 3:16.) This does not negate the need for acceptance of Yeshua, but if you meditate on this passage you may find it says something interesting about who is, and is not, Israeli.
Replacement and Exclusion Theologies: Pride and Vanity (respectively)
The Covenants of Promise (as separate from Salvation) pertain not only to those who graft in through belief in Yeshua, but also to Israel’s physical descendants (see above.) YHWH promised Jacob quite plainly that He will bring Israel’s descendants back to the Land of Israel; and that he will not forsake them. This promise is as much to the Jews (being physical descendants) as it is to those that have been grafted in via Yeshua.
The Jews may not presently have Salvation (Yeshua), but they are descendants of Israel, and the prophecies still apply to them, as evidenced by the creation of the Jewish State in 1948. If you will reflect on this for a moment you may find that this implies that the Jews (Orthodox and otherwise) are still His Covenant people (just as Christian Ephraim is still a Covenant people, despite her continued rejection of the Marital Covenant (Torah.)]
Contrary to wisdom, Replacement (or Exclusion) Theology is the claim by either House (Judah or Ephraim) that YHWH loves them more than He loves the other House. It is the claim that that the other House’s inheritance is no more.
This jealous, spiteful, hateful claim is made by both Houses of Jacob: By Ephraim (thru Christendom) against Judah, and by Judah (meaning Orthodox, Messianic, Nazarene and otherwise) against Ephraim. These doctrines are clearly in error, because they go contrary to YHWH’s Word.
Christian Replacement Theology: What it is
The children of the Northern House of Ephraim (the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel) were taken out of the Land of Israel in the Assyrian Dispersion (circa 722 BCE) and were scattered to the four winds. This was a necessary precursor to the First Coming. It was done on the surface level to punish Ephraim for their Torah breaking; but also to fulfill the prophecies given at the Dream of Jacob’s Ladder, that all the clans of the earth would become literal children of Israel (See above.)
Due to intentional impurities placed in their bloodlines the children of the House of Yosef (Ephraim) were unable to keep the Mosaic Covenant as well as their more genetically pure Jewish brethren, and needed the Renewed Covenant placed in their hearts, in order to reverse their backsliding, as it is written:
[33] “For this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel (Ephraim) after those days,” declares YHWH: “I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts; and I shall be their Elohim; and they shall be My people.”
[For a more detailed explanation of this subject matter please refer to our free studies page, www.nazareneisrael.org/freestudies.htm, or to the paperback study, “Nazarene Israel.”)
That Ephraim needed to be given the Renewed Covenant to bring them back to the Torah is actually cause for shame: but Replacement Theology tells Ephraim that they are somehow ‘better’ than the Jews are because the Ephraimites were given the Renewed Covenant (and the Jews were not.) This distortion gives rise to the prideful feeling in Ephraimite Christians that they are somehow “better” than the Jews; and that the Jews are no longer His people (or equal, etceteras.)
Christian Replacement Theology: What it was (historically)
Because Christendom believes it is the only heir to the Covenant, and/or is some how ‘better’ than Judah is, Ephraim has waged Pogroms and Inquisitions and Holy Crusades against their brother Judah, all in the Name of ‘The Love of God.’ It was little more than fifty years ago when both Protestant-and-Catholic Nazi Germany succeeded in exterminating fully one-third of the recognizable world Jewry. All this is the natural result of prideful Replacement Theology.
Christian Replacement Theology: What it should never be
Christian replacement theologists tend to espouse the false dogma that the Christians (or believers) are ‘His People,’ while the Jews are ‘Not His People.’ Because of this, Christians tend to do things that are contrary to Scripture, and that are hurtful and debilitating to their brothers in Judah.
Because the Christian replacement theologist tends to see the Jews as being ‘Not His People,’ the Christian replacement theologist typically fails to give his brothers in Judah due consideration (or fair treatment.) For example, a person following Replacement Theology will do things like buying groceries and goods from the Muslim sector (if he can get a better price), not realizing (or caring) that he is fueling the economy of those who would send human homicide bombers to blow up not just Israelis, but also American soldiers in Iraq. When confronted with the irresponsibility of their actions they will characteristically reply that they are simply ‘being good stewards’ of the money that YHWH has given them, when in reality they are being exceptionally bad stewards, and foolish shepherds.
Because the Christian replacement theologist tends to see the Jews as being ‘Not His People’ (or ‘Not that important’) they tend to support UN resolutions that give aid and physical assistance to the traditional enemies of the Israeli people. They don’t usually think about it too much, because “After all, it is only the Jews that are dying.” They will even go so far as to support political measures that give away a portion of the Promised Land, to the traditional enemies of Israel.
Exclusion Theology: Messianic and Nazarene Judah’s One-House Heresy
So much time, effort, money and human life could be saved, if people would just put away their fleshly, genetic and corporate pride, and be intellectually honest when reading the Word. Sad to say, this lament does not apply only to Ephraim, but also applies to our brothers and sisters in Judah (Messianic and otherwise.)
Except for the contributions of staunch Jewish Two-House advocates like Moshe Koniuchowsky, Ed Nydle, Brian Samtur (et al), Messianic Judaism is doing its best to vex Ephraim (in fulfillment of Isaiah 11:13), and to frustrate any genuine reconciliation between the Two Houses. This is fueled by vanity.
The P’shat (the plain and simple meaning) of the Text indicates that all Twelve Tribes of Israel were promised the Land, and came out of Egypt, and were given the Covenants of Promise. Despite this, time and again, various Nazarene and Messianic ‘brethren’ will tell you how it is only the Jews who are heirs to the Covenants of Promise; and how it is the only the Jews who were given the Torah; and how it is only the Jews who are heir to the Land; and how we must be ever-so-sure to bless the Jews; as if Christian Ephraim, who is risking their own lives to kick Saddam Hussein out of Iraq, and who support the Jewish state with literally billions of dollars each year, have absolutely no role to play in prophecy at all, except insofar as they exist to bless the Jews.
One can understand how the Orthodox Jews get this false ideation, believing as they do that Ephraim’s role as a Covenant people ended when the Assyrians led them away behind camels, hooks fastened through their jaws. One feels pity for the Orthodox, whose eyes have been darkened to Yeshua (as Shaul also tells us) and cannot see things clearly for what they are:
[25] For I do not wish you to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, lest you should become wise in your own estimation: that hardness in part has come over Israel (meaning both houses, Judah and Ephraim) until the “completeness of the gentiles” (Ephraim) has come in; [26] and so all (twelve tribes of) Israel shall be saved, as it has been written: “The Deliverer (Yeshua) shall come out of Zion; and He shall turn away wickedness from (the sons of) Ya’akov; [27] and this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
[Romaya (Romans) 11:25-27]
Given the Ephraimite history of persecuting and exterminating Judah (and given our traditional disdain for the Law, the Language and the Land) it is not too hard to understand why the Orthodoxy wishes to exclude us, with their theology: But why do the One-House Nazarene and Messianic Jewish leaders do so?
It is so ironic: Messianic and Natsarim Yahudim of the One-House conviction, who even claim physical descent from the Yahudim who begged for Messiah’s execution [see Matti (Matthew) 27:25] can’t seem to find room in their hearts to permit Ephraim to resume their status as children of their same father (Israel), and inheritors of the Promise. This despite the fact that it is the House of Yosef who kept the belief in Yeshua alive, to preserve Life by means of a Great Escape (in fulfillment of the prophetic type found at Genesis 45:5-7)!
Messianic and Nazarene Jews of the One-House Exclusionist Belief claim that Ephraim is rightfully excluded from the Covenant of Promise (as a people) because Ephraim is unable to prove physical descent from Israel (Jacob.) This is ironic when you consider that no Jew alive today can prove this physical descent either, because many of them were ‘grafted-in’ by ritual conversion when the Khazar Republic (in the Ukraine) joined itself to the House of Judah in the first Millennium. No one in Ephraim denies them their heritage.
According to the Dream of Jacob’s Ladder there are supposed to be Israeli genes found in every family, and every clan throughout all the earth: So how can there be such snobbishness expressed on the part of the ‘One-House” crowd?
The commandment in Torah is to use equal weights and measures (Leviticus 19:36, Deuteronomy 25:13, etceteras.) Also, the Command is that there is to be one Torah for the native born, and for the stranger that joins himself to the Nation (Exodus 12:49, and etceteras.)
Why then is there such a disparity in the weights and measures used from one house to the next? And why are there ‘Two Torahs’ applied to those of another house? The answer can only be simple human pride, and human vanity.
Sin, by any other name, is just as wicked; and we who value His Torah should put those with false weights and measures out of our midst, until they repent.
Acts Chapter Fifteen and Four Rules for Worship and Fellowship
Matters of fellowship and disfellowship are among the most important issues that can be discussed, and must not be handled lightly under any circumstances. However, standards do need to be set, or confusion reigns supreme. That is not YH’s Way.
Human beings being what they are, it is unlikely that any two believers will agree on all points of doctrine until the Messiah returns, and establishes His reign here on earth. For this reason, it is not wise to discuss ‘fine points’ as qualifiers, but to focus instead on basics and fundamental issues, as the apostles themselves did.
The Natsarim apostles bound for us four ground-rules for Sabbath fellowship, which are recorded at Acts Chapter Fifteen. They are:
No adultery;
No idolatry (spiritual adultery);
Don’t eat blood;
No unclean foods (keep a Levitical table.)
These are properly understood as the four prerequisites that any person must observe, before they can be permitted to come fellowship in a synagogue or home-fellowship on Sabbath. These rules are non-negotiable, but were bound in heaven before the apostles bound them on earth [Matti (Matthew) 16:19.]
These four prerequisites were not laid out as a ‘replacement’ of the Torah for the Gentiles, but were intended only to set a minimum (prerequisite) standard for returning Ephraimites, before they could attend synagogue with the rest. If the returning Ephraimites (and Greeks) were serious enough about becoming set-apart to observe these four necessary pre-requisites, then they could be permitted to come into the synagogues on Sabbath, and learn more. If the returning Ephraimites would abstain from adultery, idolatry, blood and unclean meats, then they would not be defiling the Sabbath table while they learned.
However, these four prerequisite rules (which are still binding today) were never meant to ‘replace’ the Torah in any way, or to do away with the Covenant of the Circumcision, as some are teaching today. Some teach that the Covenant of Circumcision has been replaced, and now all that is required is the ‘Covenant of Immersion.’ This is clearly heretical, and goes entirely against Yeshua’s own Words at Matthew 5:17-19. (For more information see either the study “Why Circumcision is Still for Today” at www.nazareneisrael.org/freestudies.htm, or else you can refer to the Nazarene Israel handbook.)
Four useful principles
We in these latter days face challenges the apostles may not have had. By the Grace and the Spirit of YHWH, Ephraim and Judah are coming together after two thousand years of separation (and walking different walks.) Ephraim is learning the Letter of Torah from Judah, and YHWH is pouring out the Spirit of Favor and prayers upon Judah, who is coming to believe in Yeshua. Blessed be His Name.
Those of us who are working to support the restoration between the Two Houses are faced with certain challenges: No two people on earth agree on all points of doctrine; and yet one has to establish some kind of criterion, or else chaos and uncertainty reign supreme. The latter is not YH’s Way.
Simply speaking as an individual, after much searching I have I found it possible to come together with others in the Messianic and Nazarene movements (for learning and fellowship) based upon the following four principles:
1. Torah;
2. Yeshua;
3. The Two Houses (with equal weight given to both houses);
4. The Clean Names [and I don’t get too particular about the transliterations in English (or the pronunciations, as long as people are trying their best.)]
If I am able to agree with someone that the Torah is eternal, that Yeshua is the Messiah, that full respect should be given to both the Houses of Israel (in equal measure), and that the Clean Names should be used whenever possible, I have found that, at least in my own walk, the confusion disappears.
While we can witness to anyone, at any time, and while we can sing and dance with the Orthodox Jews at the Wall (when He causes it to happen), and while we can talk Torah and Midrash with those who do not have Yeshua, it is not really beneficial to Feast or fellowship with those who do not have Yeshua. We can worship with them, and do business with them; but it becomes rather difficult to truly let one’s guard down around them, as happens in fellowship. Further, the Clean Names are an integral part of the Torah (and cannot be divorced from it), so to be calling on the Names of false mighty ones interferes with true worship.
Violations of the Two House principle are perhaps the most insidious of all these violations, because Replacement and Exclusion Theologies are based not on the principle of equal weights and measures, but on the self-pride, jealousy, and hatred of one’s brother. Difficult to spot and define, they are contrary to the Second Great Commandment (Leviticus 19:18), as Yochanan (John) also says:
[9] The one who says he is in the light (but hates his brother) is in the darkness until now. [10] The one who loves his brother stays in the light, and there is no stumbling-block in him; [11] but the one who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes [Yochanan Aleph (First John) 2:9-11.]
Some times people ask why I decided to ally myself with the Union of Two House Messianic Congregations. It was not because I agree with them on every little point of doctrine, because I don’t (and they don’t agree with me on every point of doctrine, either.) The point is that while we do have some differences, these differences are not insurmountable. Further, none of them are financially aiding and abetting those who are engaged in a 55-year-old attempt to kill me, as the Muslims are engaged in a 55-year-old attempt to obliterate the Jewish nation. The differences between us are small, and non-threatening; and I have every confidence that the Spirit will work the differences between brothers, in time.
In contrast to this, replacement theology that pretends to be Two House Kosher is exceedingly dangerous, because it is deceptive. , and unclean. It presents itself as a thing it is not, which is the same circumstance we were faced with in the Garden of Eden. It is satanic poison, disguised as food.
Deception is the tactic of Satan
Replacement theology that masquerades as Two House Teaching is exceedingly dangerous, because it is deceptive. It presents itself as a thing it is not, which is the same circumstance we were faced with in the Garden of Eden.
Spiritual matters can be difficult to determine, because they are spiritually discerned, and are not always apparent at first look: But if we look below the surface we will surely find that the apostle Yochanan’s words (above) are true. He who hates his brother walks in the darkness until now, and is in need of our most heartfelt prayers. However, until he is clean, he must not be allowed to teach, or to pass on the leaven of replacement theology.
Remember the Hebraic Context
At least judging from their writings, the apostles knew that our unsaved brothers in (Orthodox) Judah would one day accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Shaul even tells us that one reason he esteemed his ministry to the so-called ‘Gentiles’ (Ephraim) was that it would be Ephraim’s Torah-keeping would ultimately save some in Judah, by moving them to jealousy:
[11] I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Let it not be! But by their fall, Deliverance (Yeshua) has come to the gentiles (Ephraim), to provoke (Judah) to jealousy (Reference Deuteronomy 32.) [12] And if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the gentiles (Ephraim), then how much more their completeness? [13] For I speak to you, the gentiles (Ephraim). Inasmuch as I am an emissary to the gentiles, I esteem my service, [14] if somehow I might provoke to jealousy those of my flesh, and save some of them: [15] For if their casting away is the restoration of Grace to the world, then what is their acceptance, but life from the dead? [Romaya (Romans) 11:1-2, 11-15]
Replacement theology in any form does not provoke the Jews to jealousy: It only scares them to death. Judging from the letters I receive on a regular basis, a great many from Judah live in fear that the Messianic and Nazarene movements are just one more effort to deny them the heritage they have suffered for so long to preserve, sending them back to the ghettos of the Second World War.
The memories of the horrors committed by Ephraimite replacement theologists are only two generations old, and are still passed along in Jewish households, about how the Christians attempted to destroy all the Jews. We ought not to give the Enemy excuses to work his way in like that, persuading our brothers and sisters in Judah to reject Yeshua out of fear. And in order to deny the Enemy the excuse to operate we need to agree on certain principles that those working for a fuller Two House Restoration can all agree on. I would suggest that the Torah, Yeshua, the Two Houses and the Clean Names would constitute a clean start. If we can all agree on those as the basis for fellowship in the modern day, then it will clarify the mission ahead of us.
Prepare a Highway for our Elohim
One wonders; If King David were alive today, and were ruling over the combined Twelve Tribes of Ephraim and Judah once more, how swiftly would he put an end to any and all trading and commerce with the Palestinians? And what would be the punishment decreed upon that man who did business with the Philistines, giving his gold and silver to those who murder Israelites in cold blood, simply because they can ‘get a better price’?
I submit to you that if King David were alive today, his judgment upon that man (or woman) would be swift; and that the bones of such a man would be burned in the Valley of Yehosephat (Judged of Yahuwah.)
And if we are genuinely living in fear of the Living Elohim (and not just playing a game) then we ought to consider what will happen when the Greater David returns, and sets up his throne, and enters into judgment with all the nations in the Valley of Yehosephat (Joel 3:2-12.)
We live in a society in which each and every household is able to have its own copy of the Torah, and the Prophets, and the Writings; and so if we genuinely fear our Creator then we ought not to make mistakes like that.
Prepare the Way for Our Redeemer
[1] Behold! How good and how pleasant it is, for brothers to dwell together in unity: Like precious oil on the head, running down the beard, the beard of Aharon. [Tehillim (Psalms) 133:1]
Accept no substitutes for genuine unity. It is not possible to unite on a basis of error.
Blessed be the Name of YHWH.
Norman B. Willis
A servant of our Master
The Israelite sect of the Nazarenes
Re-establishing the original faith of the apostles
When Yahuwah our Elohim is with you,
Then do all that is in your heart.
To understand why Christianity was NOT the original faith of the apostles,
visit www.fossilizedcustoms.com, and purchase the book:
Nazarene Israel: The original faith of the apostles.
