Jewish White Supremacy??

This blog will briefly review a book that someone in the Christian community recently gave me to read. I’m posting it so everybody can see what this book is really about. It’s a DECEPTION, so BEWARE if you read it. The book is entitled, WHO IS ISRAEL? by Batya Ruth Wooten. I consider this a either a SERIOUSLY MISGUIDED EFFORT or just another CHRISTIAN CON-JOB.

Although I found great difficulty identifying the THESIS STATEMENT, I did manage to cobble together some statements that approximate what seem to be it. Here they are:

Jacob/Israel prophesied that Ephraim’s heirs would one day become a “fullness of Gentiles.” (page iii)

We use this name [Ephraim] to describe those known as the ‘ten lost tribes,’ and to broadly speak of non-Jewish Believers in the Messiah of Israel … (pp. 55-56)

Based on those 2 statements, and her other points throughout the book, I interpret her to be saying this:

EPHRAIM IS A MIX OF THE 10 TRIBES + ALL GENTILES WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS.

If I understand her correctly, this is what I identified to be her ‘proof texts’:

Genesis 48:19 + Psalm 24:1 + Romans 11:25 = Ephraim is (partly) Western Christianity.

She said a LOT of things throughout the book that I can’t agree with, because she takes the Bible’s words out of context, and otherwise misinterprets the texts. I talk about this in my hermeneutics blog. It’s called ISAGESIS. She also commits the hermeneutical fallacy of EISAGESIS (reading into the text ideas that do not occur in the ORIGINAL CONTEXT).

One example is the bold text on page 6:

Long ago the Father divided Israel into two houses …

The fact is, it was not GOD who divided Israel, it was ISRAEL who divided Israel, through their IDOLATROUS EVIL COMMERCE POLITICS (e.g., Jeroboam was an Egyptian puppet). The prophets provide ample evidence of the fact of Israel’s IDOLATRY and NATIONAL CORRUPTION.

There is absolutely no connection between Psalm 24:1 and the other 2 verses. It’s a fantasy in her own mind.

I never before connected the OT & NT verses that say “fullness of gentiles” (Genesis 48:19 & Romans 11:25). My main objection to that is, at best, that’s BAD INTERPRETATION METHOD. Why? Because it’s bad practice to build an entire ‘theology’ on 2 isolated phrases (albeit semantically similar), esp. when they’re not even in the same language. So unless you have piles of historical evidence to prove your assertion, most likely, YOU’RE WRONG.

However, when I read that idea I thought to myself, “There may be something to this”, b/c I never made that connection before. IT SOUNDED GOOD ‘AT FIRST SIGHT’. So I did a little research in the Bible on that phrase (Hebrew & Greek), and here’s what I found:

1. Genesis 48:19 – The phrase “fullness of gentiles” occurs only 3x in the entire OT (Genesis 48:19, Isaiah 17:12, Ezekiel 31:6). Another BAD INTERPRETATION METHOD. So WHAT can it mean?

2. Romans 11:25 – The phrase “the fullness of the gentiles” occurs only 1x in the entire NT (in that verse). Another BAD INTERPRETATION METHOD. So WHAT can it mean?

All the non-liberal scholars interpret the Genesis 48:19 phrase to mean EPHRAIM WILL BECOME A GREAT PEOPLE AS A TRIBE OF ISRAEL. They base that interpretation on the fact that the LEXICOGRAPHY of the Hebrew word ‘GOYIM’ is also FAMILIES and TRIBES in Israel, when seen in other places in the OT.

The LXX phrase is “πλῆθος ἐθνῶν (Gen 48:19 BGT)”. I listed above all the times that phrase occurs in the OT, if you care to look them up and properly interpret them to see if they have any bearing on Genesis 48:19.

Now compare that Greek phrase with the Romans 11 phrase, “τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν (Rom 11:25 BGT)”. Let’s put them close together for easier comparison:

πλῆθος ἐθνῶν (LXX)
τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν (NT)

Fact: Totally different phrases.
Conclusion: Not a match.
Result: Wooten’s WRONG.

Let’s acknowledge another important fact: ‘The 70’ (the guys who compiled and translated the LXX Bible from the original Hebrew scrolls) are the NEAREST HISTORICAL TESTIMONY (that I know of) to the MEANING of that Hebrew phrase. In other words, the LXX is the BEST TESTIMONY for the meaning of the Genesis 48 phrase. And the GREEK words they use are NOT the same as the Apostle Paul’s phrase. In fact, the Apostle Paul quotes the LXX over 1/2 of the times he quotes the OT. That means IF he was going to quote the OT to make a very specific point (like Wooten’s alleging), then it’s likely he would quote the LXX. BUT HE DIDN’T. And his Greek isn’t even close the LXX, or to the Hebrew phrase for that matter. The LXX Greek is nearly a ‘wooden translation’ of the Hebrew.

TDNT is silent on the use of πλῆθος in Genesis 48:9 for the Hebrew מְלֹֽא. But the tenor of meaning is NUMEROUS. So I would interpret the phrase πλῆθος ἐθνῶν to mean A VERY POPULOUS TRIBE OR NATION, instead of FULLNESS OF GENTILES (as Wooten alleges).

So what possible meaning did ‘the 70’ have in mind by their translation in the LXX? Here’s what I think: EPHRAIM WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME A POPULOUS NATION, EVEN LARGER THAN HIS OLDER BROTHER MANASSEH’S DESCENDANTS WOULD BECOME.

I don’t have the literary resources to research any deeper into the extra-Biblical literature to see if the phrase has any different extra-Biblical use, esp. in Jewish literature. There’s no telling at this point for me. But the above evidence is more than enough for me to be satisfied with the probable meaning.

Romans 11:25, contextually shows Paul’s phrase to obviously mean, GOD IS DELAYING REGATHERING ISRAEL AS A NATION UNTIL HE COLLECTS UP THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF GENTILE BELIEVERS TO FILL ALL THE PLACES IN HIS KINGDOM THAT HE HAS FOR THEM. Romans 11:25 has nothing to do with EPHRAIM in particular. It has to do with GOD’S KINGDOM (and Jesus’ return to the planet to rule the world). It’s an indirect Messianic statement.

Moreover, the book of Acts clearly shows the 2 big issues that the 2nd Temple Jews had with post resurrection Jesus people: THEY REPULSED AND ABHORRED THE IDEA THAT GENTILES HAD EQUAL STANDING WITH ‘JEWS’ IN GOD’S MIND/KINGDOM (read the latter half of Acts). That’s what Paul was addressing in Romans 11:25. It’s a well-known, common theme in the NT, so much so, that Paul labels it A MYSTERY (look up the verses for yourself). In other words, GENTILES ARE INCLUDED IN THE PROMISES (Galatians 3:14 & Ephesians 3:6) AND ISRAEL HAS NOTHING TO SAY IN THE MATTER.

Therefore, “the fullness of the gentiles” means A CERTAIN NUMBER OF GENTILES WILL BE PART OF GOD’S KINGDOM ALONG WITH THE REST OF THOSE IN ISRAEL-PAST WHO WERE ALREADY ACCEPTED BY GOD (not just ‘Jews’ from Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, but ALL Israel).

After I did this brief study, I went on the internet and typed into the search engine “Genesis 48:19 & Romans 11:25”. A list of results immediately appeared that were all statements of what’s called THE TWO HOUSE THEORY. I never heard of that before, b/c it’s relatively new in the American propaganda mill. But after 5 minutes of reading, it became obvious to me that THE TWO HOUSE THEORY IS A MILD FORM OF WHITE SUPREMACY, like Herbert Armstrong’s ‘British Israel’ ideology. In other words, the book is promoting what appears to be AMERICAN WHITE SUPREMACY PROPAGANDA, albeit in a mild format. Let me say it like this: Whether or not Wooten realizes it, her ideology can lead to WESTERN NOMINAL-CHRISTIAN WHITE SUPREMACY “ANTISEMITISM”, because anti-Semitism is part of the White Supremacy ideology.

I REJECT WHITE SUPREMACY.

The reason is simple: NOT merely because it’s ‘anti-Semitic’, but because Christ died for ALL HUMANITY, not just WHITE PEOPLE. All humanity means ALL RACES and NATIONS. Let’s take a quick look at the plain statements of the Bible:

And they *sang a new song, saying, … “You [Jesus] … purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb [Jesus], clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands (Revelation 7:9)

Those two verses occur in THE apocalyptic literature of the NT. It doesn’t get any better than that! In case you’re not getting it, let me say it like this: AT THE END OF TIME, when God has finally collected up all the humans over the course of history who will be part of His earthly Kingdom under Jesus’ rule, ALL HUMAN ETHNIC GROUPS WILL BE REPRESENTED in the ‘ruling class’ of God’s Kingdom.

Now here’s the kicker: One of the key features of ‘seedline’, ‘identity’, ‘white supremacy’, etc. ideologies is, BLACKS AND JEWS CAN NEVER BE GOD’S PEOPLE. Same with PEOPLE OF COLOR. They consider ALL Jews to be “serpent seed” (from Satan) and the ‘sons of Ham’ (and all people of color) to be HUMANOIDS (meaning, NOT of pure ‘human blood’, but partly ‘mixed blood’ with the fallen angels of Genesis 6). They also consider ALL the descendants of Ham (one of Noah’s sons) CURSED PERPETUALLY (so they get what they deserve). I’m not going to debunk that in detail here. But if you know the Bible, you’ll know how false and absurd those ideas are.

One of the main reasons these white supremacists believe that ideology is because they want to villainize the destructive TALMUDIC BANKING and ADMINISTRATIVE GOVERNMENT that has wreaked havoc on America over the course of many generations. Jesus said it best: You cannot serve both God and MAMMON” (Matthew 6:34). He’s talking about COMMERCE and the violations of God’s Law that COMMERCE sows into the fabric of a nation. I write about COMMERCE and God’s Law in previous blogs.

Based on COMMON SENSE combined with FACTS, I can’t agree with the book’s thesis statement, nor ANY ideology that proceeds from it. I do not see ANY ‘direct evidence’ in the Bible supporting the ideology that Ephraim’s descendants are or will be (white) Gentiles. Incidentally, it IS factually TRUE that diaspora Jews intermarried w/gentiles over the course of many generations ‘out of the land’. BUT, when they DID, they were considered MINIM (Hebrew for ‘heretics’). So they were ousted from the community. Also, they didn’t believe in Y’shuah (at least like we’re supposed to be). They just merged into gentile society doing whatever it is that they do.

So from a pragmatic perspective, although it’s true that Jews/diaspora-Israel intermarried w/gentiles, it is equally true that they are not believers in Y’shuah (at least the way we’re supposed to be). And even the ‘pure blood’, ‘non-practicing’ Jews are not believers in Y’shuah. That is a total violation of the major premise of the book’s thesis, b/c these diaspora Jews are NOT ‘believers” the way the book expects. Consequently, the book’s premise is unfounded.

So that’s my take on this book. I would be wary of this kind of ideology b/c it is a mild form of WHITE SUPREMACY cloaked in the garb of ‘JEWISHNESS’, with the potential of ‘anti-Semitism’ HIDDEN at the heart of it. Based on the above facts and reality, which show this woman’s ideas to be errant in many ways, I can’t accept ANYTHING this woman says in her book.

Although dissecting a book consumes a lot of time and effort, most people are able to do it if they approach it from a logical, fact-based perspective. Just copy the method I used above, and try it yourself next time you read a book about someone’s personal theological opinion. Remember: ANYBODY can publish a book today, so BEING PUBLISHED doesn’t lend any credibility to your ideas! Anyways, here’s some basic steps to follow to dissect a theological writing:

First find the THESIS STATEMENT.
Then find all their SUPPORTING FACTS.
Then COMPARE those facts with the facts you find in the Bible.
If the book’s facts MATCH the Bible’s facts, then see if the MEANINGS and CONCLUSIONS in the book match the PROPER INTERPRETATION of the corresponding Biblical texts.
Any facts and interpretations that do not match the Bible will be evidence of the ERRORS in the writer’s opinions and conclusions.
It’s really that simple!
But be WARNED: Analyzing someone’s opinions takes LOTS OF WORK.
So have at it!

See you in the next blog …