I want to define the word JUDAIZE in this blog. I know about this word because the King James version of the Bible transliterates the Greek into English. The Greek word is spelled essentially the same way. The NAS version and others do not transliterate this word, but instead interpret it. There seems to be a lot of confusion on the meaning of this word in Christianity. So let’s read the only verse in the Bible that uses this word:
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? (Galatians 2:14)
The Greek word JUDAIZE is translated into the bold words above. It’s not easy to know what that word means because it occurs only once in the entire Bible. The more times a word occurs in a piece of literature, the easier it is to be certain of its meaning. Naturally the meaning of this word is derived from its literary context. Like one of the Biblical scholars says, ‘a word is known by the company it keeps’.
Those who read the Bible as a book of RELIGION ascribe to the word the meaning shown in the above verse. But if you interpret the Bible as a book of LAW and POLITICS, the meaning of the word changes. That’s how I interpret it. Here’s what I believe is the meaning of JUDAIZE based on my viewpoint:
JUDAIZING HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE FORCES OTHERS TO OBEY LAWS THAT THEY ARE NOT UNDER ANY OBLIGATION TO OBEY.
We see that a LOT today in the USA. It has to do mostly with TAXATION and MIND CONTROL (if you control the mind, you control the behavior, of both individuals and groups of people). I wonder if that was the same for the people back during the Apostle Paul’s time? The main reason I wanted to write this blog was to show you what George Foot Moore says about it. He is one of the pioneers of proper historical context for NT studies. He used primarily the ‘Jewish literature’. Here’s how he defines JUDAIZE in Volume 1, page 330, paragraph 1, footnote 1 (N98):
The first thing I want you to note is, “This change in meaning of ger from an advena [newcomer] in Jewish territory to an advena [newcomer] in the Jewish religion is significant at once in the change of the situation of the Jews in the world after the fall of the kingdom and of the changed conception of the character and mission of their religion – the metic [resident alien, non-citizen, etc.] has given place to the proselyte [religious novitiate].” He is telling us that the Israelites ADAPTED the word for ‘proselyte’ (ger) to their new Diaspora living conditions. You will notice that the Mosaic laws were written to apply to Israelites who are living IN THE PROMISED LAND. So how can they obey them OUTISDE the land? That is the subject of a very long series of blogs based on the post-Yavneh genius of the rabbis (Johanan ben Zacchai and co.). So I’ll leave it at that for now. It has to do with the ‘identity’ methodology used to ensure the survival of their RACE. It also has to do with the perversion of the Mosaic law which was utilized against the Gentile nations where ‘Jews’ lived during the last 2 millennia, so they could remain relatively unmolested as a people.
So, before 70AD (when Rome destroyed the nation Israel), ger meant become a POLITICAL citizen. But after 70AD ger meant become a RELIGIOUS proselyte. The key here is how the law was applied while Israelites lived IN THE LAND under their own government vs. while they lived OUTSIDE THE LAND under Gentile governments. This change in viewpoint also changed the meaning of the term, which also changed the application of the idea of POLITICAL citizenship to RELIGIOUS membership. That’s the key to the meaning of JUDAIZE during 2nd Temple times, like Paul used it in the above verses. It was a POLITICAL issue, not a RELIGIOUS one.
The next significant statement is seen in the last sentence on page 330. Here Moore says adopt the religion and CUSTOMS of the Jews. What are CUSTOMS? They are the social norms of a people which are enforced BY LAW. I wonder WHY anyone would want to adopt the social norms of foreigners while living among their own people? Wouldn’t that create CONFLICTS with their fellow countrymen? I think it would. For example, consider eating with your neighbors on holidays. Back when I was a kid, for July 4th celebration we used to go to the nearby park and have a cookout with all the other families who were there. We were friends with only a couple of the families there. All the rest were ‘strangers’. But since we all shared common values and social customs, we all just had a good time together, enjoying the holiday fun. At night the fun was concluded with a wonderful fireworks display, after which our parents explained the meaning of July 4th ‘Independence Day’ celebration. Not that it made much sense to us kids back then. But looking back on it, there was meaning that we carried with us the rest of our lives. I doubt any foreigner would appreciate that holiday, or understand it the way we do.
Now consider this: If we ATE like Jews back then, we wouldn’t have been able to eat with our neighbors, because they don’t eat KOSHER (I’m using that Jewish term as an example, even though it’s a modern idea and practice compared to Paul’s time). Also, we would not really care about the July 4th holiday, because we would observe all our own ISRAEL holidays, such as Purim (Jews saved from extermination by political influence) and Hanukkah (a quasi-independence day under the Maccabees). So based on just those two social norms alone (food and holidays) we’d be ‘on the outs’ with our neighbors, friends and fellow countrymen whom we met in the park. There are other social norms that would set us apart too, such as marriage and making a living. Then there are business practices and education of children. You get the idea, so I won’t go into it any further. But if you know about this already, then you can see what I’m talking about even more completely. The point here is, ADOPTING FOREIGN CUSTOMS MAKES YOU A FOREIGNER IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY. And back during NT times, all those social customs were DRIVEN BY LAWS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. Note also the MOTIVE in N98 above for the Judaizing. FEAR! (of ‘the law’)
In that light it should be obvious that Paul wasn’t talking about some petty RELIGIOUS beliefs and personal RELIGIOUS practices when he used the word JUDAIZE. Instead, he was talking about ADOPTING THE LAWS OF 2nd TEMPLE ISRAEL WHILE LIVING IN A FOREIGN LAND. And far as I know the ONLY way you can do that properly is TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF 2nd TEMPLE ISRAEL. And once you become a citizen, then ALL the laws that apply to you get ENFORCED by ‘the cops’. Essentially, JUDAIZE MEANS TO VOLUNTARILY BECOME A CITIZEN OF ISRAEL, WHICH PUTS YOU UNDER THE OBLIGATIONS OF THAT NATION’S LAWS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. That’s what Paul was ranting against. He definitely was NOT ranting against obeying the Mosaic law! That’s the stupid idea that nearly all Christians believe today. Nothing like RELIGION perpetuating a lie for 2000 years!
So, in all my blogs when I use the term JUDAIZE, that’s what I mean. Consequently, when Paul says JUDAIZE in Galatians 2:14 above, he’s talking about BECOMING A CITIZEN OF ISRAEL WHILE LIVING IN A GENTILE NATION WITH GENTILE NATURAL BORN CITIZENSHIP.
That’s what the CIRCUMCISION DEBATE was all about with Paul. He was CONDEMNING the 2nd Temple political insurgents for trying to coerce the Gentiles in his ‘churches’ to become 2nd Temple Citizens (citizens of Israel), by taking on themselves the MARK OF CITIZENSHIP (circumcision). These political insurgents were infiltrating Paul’s covenant communities and spreading political ideologies that required ISRAELITE CITIZENSHIP as THE condition for ‘being saved’ (inheriting God’s promises to Abraham). Paul was adamantly opposed to that legal theory because Jesus’ redemptive work applied to the whole human race, past, present and future, WITHOUT the need for national Israel’s intervention. GOD WAS FINISHED WITH ISRAEL for the time being, so there was no need to involve that nation any longer. Jesus was sufficient for gaining entrance into God’s Kingdom. Peter agrees with Paul:
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven [Moses!] that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) [‘under heaven’ – authorized by God]
And that included the Patriarchs, Moses & Elijah, and obviously Israel. Remember, that when you take on Israelite citizenship, you also become obligated to obey the entire Mosaic law of that time. In other words, the Mosaic law of 2nd Temple times was all the man-made laws, court rulings and bureaucratic regulations of 2nd Temple Israel. Whichever of them applied to you, you were bound to obey from that point forward, including PAYING TAXES and obeying all the other FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS related to Israelite citizenship. Look into this further to see what I mean. It was no ‘cake walk’. It was a huge burden, just like living in one of today’s bureaucratically controlled nations. Outside of 2nd Temple Israel, Paul was finished with that kind of living. There was no need for Israel to be involved in Paul’s Jesus missions, for reasons I explained in previous blogs. Israel will come back into importance at some time in the FUTURE when God is good and ready (not when Israel deems it so!). It will be when Jesus returns to setup God’s Kingdom on earth to rule the nations with military force.
In today’s world, the PRINCIPLE of JUDAIZING applies as well. The principle is APPLYING THE LAWS TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE ANY OBLIGATION TO OBEY THEM. We see this all too often in America today. Some examples of this include LICENSING of every kind of activity, and EXCESSIVE/ILLEGAL TAXATION. All of this occurs by LEGISLATION that VIOLATES the fundamental laws, which the public officials, bureaucrats and judges all SWORE TO OBEY. So how do they ‘get away with it’? Simple: They have all the guns! And, they can justify their use of violence in a way that no one can argue with.
For example, since the founding of this Republic, working class Americans haven’t owed the federal income tax. They don’t owe county ad valorem taxes on their ‘land’. They don’t owe ANY of the licensing taxes (driver license, marriage license occupational licenses, etc.). But they pay them regardless. I doubt any of them even realizes that they don’t owe these taxes, since they were raised from generation to generation to BELIEVE that they owe them. And the reason they were raised in those beliefs is because they were BRAINWASHED BY THE JUDAIZERS OF OUR MODERN TIMES. They were FEARED into it by law enforcement, essentially. I learned when getting my certification for secondary education that FEAR is the biggest MIND BLOCK of all. So if you want someone to NOT learn, instill FEAR into them while you’re trying to teach them! Oh, fear will create automatons, but it won’t create active thinkers. In fact, it will cause most people to block out any uncomfortable thoughts that may arise in their minds. That’s where the saying ‘bury your head in the sand’ (like an Ostrich) originated.
The key element in all of this is ALLEGIANCE and SERVITUDE. Once you understand the meaning and purpose of the first 2 Commandments of the Decalogue, you can clearly see this. As Christians, Americans have sold their souls to COMMERCE instead of to Almighty God. They give their allegiance to the Satan state, and throw their children at their commerce wars. They raise them in commercial skills, and totally neglect God’s law and American government. In fact, the church leaders brainwash their people into believing that they have no obligation to obey God’s laws. They actually repudiate them! As a result, the masses are suffering under burdens that would otherwise not be upon them, because they would have seen these evil government schemes developing from the beginning, and would have thus rejected them and the people who peddled them. Knowing God’s law and obeying it is the antidote to the kind of naivete and stupidity that we see in America today. That’s just how it always goes with a nation that jettisons God and His laws. Like the great prophet Isaiah says, ‘Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge’ (Isaiah 5:13).
So, what is a JUDAIZER? It is someone or some group who uses coercion tactics to get people to ‘sign-up’ for obedience to laws and fees that they otherwise don’t have any obligation to obey and pay. It is no different from MAFIA. Examples of this could fill many blogs. But I’ll leave it to you to do more digging and thinking to see how you’ve been JUDAIZED by modern governments and businesses into service to the devil and disobedience towards God without even realizing it.
Thanks for stopping by and reading our thoughts on this important topic.
See you in the next blog!
Reality Bible 