Relevant Church History

Understanding our Bible begins with understanding the early church and the events that followed the final books of the New Covenant. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Rome in 70 AD was foreseen in the Scriptures (Joel 2:1, Ezek 7:1-3, Zeph 1:14), referred to throughout the New Testament (Matt 24, Luke 19:41-44, Luke 21:34-36, 2 Peter 3:7-12), and fulfilled to the very day as prophesied by Daniel. (Dan 9:20-27) It was Gods judgment that brought an end to the Covenant of the Law while ushering in the New Covenant of Faith. This was the End time event in the bible. (See "End Times" for more details)



The nation of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, burning them to the ground as Daniel prophesied. Matthew 24 describes the events that were about to unfold. This topic is not taught in the typical western church but it is key to understanding the fulfillment of Gods promises. Do an online search on ’70 AD’. There is no shortage of information on this subject.

Dan 9:26 The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. NIV

The persecution of the church continued at the hands of Rome. Believers were given a choice to deny their faith in the God of Israel and worship the Pagan Gods of Rome or face death. That persecution continued up to the time of Constantine, Emperor of Rome.

That event was documented by Flavian Josephus, an Israeli officer in the fight against Rome until his surrender, at which time he served as an interpreter between Rome and Israel. As an eyewitness account, it is an exceptional work that describes the events in detail. His writings were published into a book “The complete works of Josephus.” This is available online as a download. [PDF] [EPUB] Complete Works of Josephus Download (oceanofpdf.com)

The Western Church was established under the guidance of Constantine. Their first meeting was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. It is believed that one of the main goals of the new Church was for the Western church to claim independence from the Jews, who they felt sent Jesus to his death.  Rules were made to govern the Church. Aside from establishing the deity of Jesus, the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week, and ‘Easter’ replaced the Biblical feast of Passover. The Roman Catholic church was born.

This was the first church split in the New Covenant Church, the Gentiles that separating themselves from the Messianic Jews. Years of Jewish insight to Scripture and Hebraic Idioms were disregarded and forgotten by the Western church. 

Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope

when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all. NIV

Jews and Gentiles are all part of the same body of Christ, or Messiah. We use the same bible yet it’s viewed from two different perspectives.

The Western church (Gentiles) sees the bible as two covenants, the old covenant of the ‘Law’, being replaced by the New Covenant of faith. Believers are led to believe that the Old Testament is history no longer relevant, it’s works oriented, often referred to as ‘legalism.’ That is a distorted understanding of scripture and is only viewed that way in the Western Church.

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,

rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness; NIV

The Messianic Jews (and much of the Eastern church) teach the bible as one complete book, from the beginning in Genesis to the fulfillment. They refer to what we call the ‘Old Testament’ as the Holy Scriptures, the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings (ex. Psalms, Proverb, Ruth, etc.) followed by the fulfillment of Gods promises of scripture in the New Covenant. ‘Scripture’ or “It is written” in the New Testament is refering to passages in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings.