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Acts 15:10 Gabriel Commentary
Acts 15:10 Now why are you testing Yehovah by putting a yoke [2] around the necks of the disciples that neither our ancestors or we could carry ♦?—The Gabriel Bible
[2] The Council met to see if men of other nationalities needed to be circumcised as soon as they learned of this Way to eternal life thru Yeshua. The decision at the Jerusalem council was to only put four conditions on these “seekers.” This allowed them to begin learning in the synagogues (v.20-21). (Also see What is the yoke?) The Jews had been deceived into believing that Yehovah would give them eternal life solely by obeying the Torah. This is the yoke that no one could bear (Romans 3:20, 28, Galatians 2:16-17). This is exactly what Yeshua brought out when He told the Jewish authorities (John 5:10) and the Jewish people who were expecting eternal life strictly thru Torah observance without faith. Yeshua said in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you are of the opinion that there is eternal life in them for you, yet those same Scriptures testify about Me!”
The Council of elders met in Jerusalem to see if circumcision was necessary for men of other nationalities, when they learned the Way to eternal life thru Yeshua (Jesus). The determination made at the Jerusalem council was to have new “seekers” comply with four oral traditions. This was the absolute minimum requirement for them to be accepted into Jewish synagogues and begin learning about the Scriptures (v.20-21). (What came to be called Christianity was originally a sect of the Jews.) Essentially, the oral law, later called the Talmud, was the yoke that no one could bear. See What is the Yoke? It is an incredibly insightful article on the topic. The Jews had been deceived into believing that Yehovah would give “gentiles” (an ethnic slur) eternal life if they “became Jews” and accepting the oral traditions. This is exactly what Yeshua was explaining when He spoke to the Jewish authorities and the Jewish people, because they were expecting eternal life strictly because they were Jews!
It’s the “We are the only true church” approach that Yeshua had to deal with. Yeshua said:
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you are of the opinion that there is eternal life in them for you, yet those same Scriptures testify about Me!
People are under great delusion if they assume that the Jerusalem conference was about doing away with “the Law” (the Torah)! By becoming familiar with some of Paul’s more overlooked commentary on the topic, we see that he held no such beliefs! Paul also had to deal with the same sectarian bias.
Galatians 2:14-16 When I saw that they weren’t acting consistently with the truly “Good News”, I asked Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, being a Jew, live like Arameans, and not like the Jews do, why do you insist that the converts of other ethnicities live like the Jews do?” 15 We are Jewish by birth, not sinners from other ethnic backgrounds, 16 yet we know that people aren’t declared to be righteous by sectarian law but by faith in Yeshua Messiah. We have also believed in Yeshua Messiah in order to be declared righteous by faith in the Messiah, and not by sectarian law [3]. No human being will be declared righteous by obeying sectarian law.
[3] Nomos, the generic Greek word for “law”, can refer to “The Law” (the Torah) or any other “law.” The sense is determined by the context, but secular law is not preceded by the Greek equivalent of “THE.” The KJV inserts an unitalicized “the” here, but it isn’t in the Greek.
Paul went on to say:
Romans 3:20,28-31 So no one is justified by practicing the Torah in His sight—yet the Torah reveals what sin is!... 28 So we conclude that people can be made righteous without being “in the realm (sphere) of” the Torah. 29 Is He the Aloha of the Jews only, and not of every other ethnicity? Most certainly every ethnicity, 30 since there is one Aloha who justifies the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised by the same faith. 31 Then do we abolish the Torah by faith? Absolutely not. On the contrary, we uphold or sustain the authority of the Torah.[3].
[3] Commentaries about the benefit of being “in the realm of” the Torah.Online mainstream commentaries are linked on the Forerunner site.
Another Gabriel Bible commentary is John 3:13
