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Originally Posted by Splendour
I have to go back and read this more carefully.
But Paul said the law was impossible to keep. So it makes me wonder if following Jesus isn't substitutionary for keeping the law. Jesus himself is the Law personified and he is the highest standard and its easier to say "what would Jesus do?" then it is to know 613 mitzvot by heart. Besides Gentiles don't know kosher rules or have rabbis to perform them.
I do think following the Levitical law is a more important question for Messianics to consider because of their Jewish lineage.
There is always an overlap between the physical and the spiritual in Chrisitianity/Judaism but the physical can prefigure the spiritual and the spiritual can prefigure the literal until both come together in a focused unity.
There is a very good diet in the OT I have heard. I haven't done it yet but I believe it is most likely highly beneficial. God took care of the ancient Hebrews with his dietary rules. He knew they had to make it all the way to the Millenial Kingdom and beyond.
The Law was impossible to keep at that time: the full understanding and disclosure was not brought to light until Yeshua's teaching and the Ruach HaKodesh had not yet been given to world. A common idea is "WWJD?", and there is something Gentiles will have to consider: "Jesus" was a Jew; therefore, what would he do in this situation given his understanding of the Torah. If Yeshua's audience were all Jewish, they would likely know some ( if not all ) of the 613 mitzvot. A Gentile is not responsible for what he does not know and as you had mentioned, the "Spirit" is crucial in that case. Also, according to the "book of Acts", the "Jerusalem Council" had a famous letter composed concerning Gentiles in the congregations.
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I'll share with you something hinted at from my readings about the two feedings ( of the five thousand and the four thousand ) in the "gospel of Mark". Somehow, Yeshua seems to place some importance in the answers of numbers his talmidim give in 8:17-21 and I can understand why some would be puzzled/baffled ( yours truly included! ). I'm still somewhat puzzled, but less so now. In the feeding of the five thousand, there are five loaves resulting in twelve basketfulls and in the feeding of four thousand, there are seven loaves resulting in seven basketfulls. The numbers apparently have some meaning and to make a "long story short", twelve baskets represents the "tribes of Israel" or the Jewish people, and seven baskets represents the rest of humanity ( this is less clear, but there are seven Noahide laws and for the analogy to make some sense, this would need to refer to a group of people ). The five loaves represent the five books of the Torah, or the Law; however, the seven loaves represent the "sevenfold Spirit", i.e., the Ruach HaKodesh.
Thus, if we are truly to spiritually feed or "witness" to Jews, it must be from the standpoint of the Torah; on the other hand, Gentiles do not have the background of the Torah and are taught and "witnessed" to through the Ruach HaKodesh. Yeshua warns of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod, but this could mean that some teaching to Jews will be corrupted by Pharisaical ideas and that some teaching to Gentiles will be corrupted by ideas that originate from religious authorities ( the Temple was built by Herod ). Doesn't that seem to be the case today? Rabbinic Judaism ( the legacy of the Pharisees ) and Roman Catholicism ( where "religious authority" in the form of the Pope, etc. ) seem to exemplify these "yeasts" quite well!