The Bible talks about a people known as “the chosen people” Who
are they? Does God choose one group of people for a certain amount of time and
when they don’t work out, switch to another group? If not what is he doing? Is
Christianity part of God’s plan? If so, how does it fit into end time prophecy
found written in the prophets? In a future chapter we will discus how these
seemingly contradictory positions are all working together. In this chapter,
however, we will focus on the question: “Who is a Jew”?
From: The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
under the word Jew it says:
1) An adherent to Judaism.
2) A descendant of the Hebrew people.
To be "a descendant of
the Hebrew people" in simple terms would mean that your mother was
"Jewish".
A Jew Without a Choice
If your mother is
Jewish, you are a Jew. There is no way to reverse your Jewishness.
You cannot "convert" to another faith and stop being Jewish. You
would simply be a Jew with different beliefs. However, regardless
of what your belief is, you are still bound by the laws that God gave
your ancestors on Mount Sinai. You would still be expected to
observe the Sabbath, eat kosher, and do many other things which are not
required of someone who is not born to a Jewish mother.