This is the only
method to become part of God's people or "kingdom". Yeshua
confirms this in
John 3:3
Yeshua
answered and said to him, Surely, I say to you, Except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The
examples of the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt
with the Israelites, Rahab, and later
Ruth and many others who were not born as Israelites and yet BECAME
Israelites, shows us that from the very beginning belief is how someone
who is not a “Jew” can become a “Jew.”
Paul
refers to this in Romans 2:28.
28
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly …but he is a Jew which is
one inwardly.
Paul is pointing out that being a “Jew” is not confined to
ethnic identity, but is also tied to a belief system that (if an
individual is willing to commit) is available for
anyone to adopt no matter what your national or ethnic origins are.
Beyond the basic
understanding of what in means to be part of the "Jewish people", there
are other definitions, or actually sub-categories, of being a "Jew".
1)
Tribal
2) National
3) Regional
Without
understanding, and putting into context, these distinctions it will be
impossible to understand; how the Jews could possibly be fighting a war
against Israel (1Kings 15:17). We could not know to whom a particular
prophecy is directed (the nation of Israel or the nation of Judah). And
parts of the New Testament would make no sense at all (like why the