The discussion on session one can be found here.
Session 2 – Gentiles Embracing Jewish Identity Markers
In my session one notes & thoughts entry we discussed just what was the offense of the cross and the simple fact that the covenants and the Torah were given to Israel, not the nations. Israel is the people chosen by HaShem as His treasured possession. His am segulah. This is romance language, reminds me of Shavuot. In session two we began by touching on the Deuteronomy 4:5-8 passage where we see that HaShem intended that Israel be a light to the nations. Israel is the steward of the Torah, the very Word of HaShem, and they are to shine His light out to a dark world so the nations can see His greatness and, if they choose, worship Him too.
It’s easy to feel on the ‘outs’ when a Gentile comes to faith in Yeshua. It’s so easy to feel as if we have no identity at all. We are not Jewish, yet somehow we’re accepted into the family through our faith in Messiah. But what is our role? If a marriage is made of one man and one woman and each have their defined roles, what is the role of the Gentile in the Bride of the Messiah? How does this work, what does it look like?
Now is where you have to understand that Boaz did not have his notes with him. It had been a terribly rough day for them and they had arrived at the church only minutes before we did. So my notes are based on a lecture that he did without notes. There are very likely parts that were intended to be addressed but weren’t as much as there are very likely parts that were addressed and didn’t make it onto my paper or fully soaked into my mind. My notes are sparse in parts and as with the rest of these notes, my own thoughts based on the whole message are thrown into the mix. I’m trying to represent this lecture as accurately as possible.
Boaz introduced the word Devkut which means attachment, or clinging. What does it look like for a Gentile to attach himself/herself to HaShem? 5 points were outlined:
- Love for HaShem. In order to imitate Him, to be like Him, we must study the Torah because this is the only place where He tells us just how to be holy. Everything else in Scripture expands on what was given in the Torah and without a foundation of understanding we are left to interpret a thing any way that we choose. We must be grounded in our foundation.
- Discipleship to Yeshua. We must understand that we are dead to ourselves, dead to sin, dead to the old nature. We once were nothing but now we have been brought near through Yeshua. We must walk as He walked, do as He did and represent Him rightly. He is our Master, we are His students. When fully trained a student will be like his Teacher.
- Kingdom Expression. What does it look like to live in the Kingdom of HaShem? What do we learn from the Scriptures, what did HaShem tell us through the Prophets about the last days and the Kingdom of Heaven? What does that really look like? Our lives need to reflect that as accurately as possible.
- Return to Apostolic-era Practice. (I have nothing written for this and for #5 so these comments are only my own) Why a return to the Aposotlic-era practices? At some point the church was full of baby believers who felt they were more mature than they really were. Shaul addresses this in his writings. These new believers who were not grounded in the Scriptures that Yeshua read and taught from went on to misinterpret them and to develop an anti-semetic and anti-Torah discriminative/exclusive church. Before this major course change, the believers in the days of the Apostles were all part of greater Judaism, Acts 24:5 and 28:22, a recognized sect of Judaism referred to as the Nazaraeans (or Natzratim). It behooves us to go back to where we came from.
- Solidarity With Greater Israel. We need to demonstrate our solidarity with Israel at large. So much damage has been done “in the name of Christ” and such exclusive/superior attitudes have been fostered that we need to not only put a stop to that in our own lives but we need to step up and demonstrate our support for Israel and her people – whether in the land or not.
It’s easy for a Gentile to feel as if he has no identity once he comes to faith in Yeshua and it seems that because of this there are several theologies that have developed. Boaz listed 5 of them and I didn’t write them down, I can only remember 4. The first made-up theology is that of Supersessionism or Replacement Theology. This teaches that the Gentiles have replaced the Jewish people as HaShem’s chosen people. It teaches that “They rejected Jesus so now they’re out and since we accepted Him, we’re in and all the promises go to us instead.” Then we have the “Two House” or the “10 Lost Tribes” theologies saying that if you hear the voice of HaShem whispering to your spirit so that you put your trust in Yeshua that this is evidence that you are indeed part of the lost tribes of Israel and that you are really Jewish, you just don’t know it. This totally negates the promises that the Gentiles would come to worship HaShem. Or that you’ve been grafted into the heritage but that you can somehow know which tribe HaShem has grafted you into so you now claim to be Jewish when you really are not. There is the “Sabbath Goy” who is content to be the gopher for any Jewish individual or community, but not truly a part of the community. There are Gentiles who are content to live as second class citizens in a Jewish community. These Gentiles respect the distinction between the Jewish people and the Gentiles but the equality concept has been lost, they become “the dog”. Finally we move all the way to a full modern Jewish conversion complete with the renunciation of Yeshua as the Messiah.
In defining our identity sometimes it seems easier to define what we are not, what we have no right to do, rather than define what we are. We read in Romans 11 that we are the ones grafted into the tree, we are the wild olive branch grafted into the cultivated tree of Israel. Shaul tells us not to become arrogant toward the rest of the tree. Gentiles have no room for a spirit of arrogance, pride, or self-sufficiency. We are grafted into a people who have been chosen to faithfully guard the Torah, a people from whom the Messiah of the world came, a people who have thousands of years of study and developed traditions that are all based on the words of HaShem. We Gentiles, and within the Messianic movement in particular, have no right or privilege to reinvent the ways of HaShem or the ways of Yeshua according to our own standards. We are grafted in to them. The covenants were not given to us, the heritage is ours by invitation only if we accept it. Romans 11 is a clear picture of the unity between Jew and Gentile, what it should look like. But history has proven that this is not what has taken place. It is about time that we pick ourselves up and do what we have been taught by the Apostle to the Gentiles to do. ”We were never given the right to redefine things. We were given free access but we cannot redefine what the Torah is, what it means and how to live it out. We need to humbly come and accept the family rules.”
We are to preserve the uniqueness of Israel
- Ethnically
- Congregationally
- Nationally
- Theologically
We cannot do like the people did in Acts 13 when the Gentiles flooded the synagogue and brought the world into the safe haven of Judaism. Look at what took place with the early church when they ignored the clear teachings of Shaul and became arrogant and ignorant of the Torah. If we are adopted, we need to respect the family rules. If we are truly grafted in, we will then draw our sustenance from the same root as the natural branches and become part of that tree. There is a distinction in that we do not need to convert to Judaism, Kefa and Shaul make that very clear – we are accepted based on our faith in Yeshua. But there is equality in the Kingdom of Heaven in that Gentiles are not second class citizens. Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. We need to accept our place within the family, as fellow heirs and get rid of our arrogance. We need to walk the way the Master walked and with His people. We need to quit doing what we see fit to do and being rebellious siblings. In order to get back to the Apostolic-era practices of the first believers, we need to accept and submit to Judaism because that is where we come from.
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Apparently I took really good notes in the first session but not so much in the second session. I am not as certain that I have accurately represented Boaz’s lecture or his ‘heart’ in this session as I am for session one but I have done my best, asking the rest of the family if this is what they heard and understood too. Some things are still forming in my mind and as I write them out they are becoming more clear but I want to verify with Boaz later on, if I can, that I understand correctly. There still is something that isn’t nailed down and I can’t really put my finger on it.
Also there is more to session two that I didn’t include in this set of notes because I’m going to include them in another post that I hope to have put together tomorrow if I can. I wanted this set of notes to reflect the focus of Gentiles Embracing Jewish Identity Markers and what it looks like, practically, to be grafted in. The other points are important too but they fit together with a whole other subject that has been very heavy on my heart for some time now.
I want to ask if he was recommending we adopt the entire Rabbincal law as well, since it is part of the history of how the Torah was lived out, or if he simply means not to re-invent what is already practiced if it is not contrary to scripture? Because even Yeshua himself condemned the legalistic ‘cushion law’ right?
There are some things that Yeshua spoke against, yes. But there are other traditions that He used to speak of the heart of the individual, not against the tradition itself. Ritual hand washing wasn’t something Yeshua spoke against but he used that opportunity to teach the basic principle that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” and THAT is what makes the heart pure or impure. There are very few traditions that Yeshua spoke against, I can only think of one legal loophole that He spoke against actually. It wasn’t even a tradition. There are things that were going on and accepted among those in leadership positions that He came against, yes. But those weren’t traditional things that apply to us (like selling animals for sacrifice at inflated prices, etc).
So was Boaz recommending that we adopt the whole kit and caboodle? I think the issue was more that we shouldn’t throw it all out without investigating it first and learning why and where the traditions came from. After all, Yeshua likely kept nearly all of the same traditions. As did the Apostolic-era believers, and Shaul wrote that those he discipled were to do what he did. Each and every tradition, and it’s associated fences, were born out of a love for the Torah and a desire not to destroy the Torah. If we can look into the reasons for why these traditions exist then we will find a deeper appreciation for them instead of finding them offensive or somehow silly.
And yes, if something goes against the commandments then we shouldn’t participate in it. But again, we need to be careful in determining on our own the basis for a tradition when we don’t have all the facts. I’m not sure that there are many traditions or fences that actually directly violate the commands. I don’t know for sure but I have a hard time believing that the great Sages would simply agree to accept a thing that violates the commandments when there is so much effort put into the fences to protect the commands themselves.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Lisa,
reading your first post and now the second i see a contrast, of Gentiles fully practicing Torah as prescribed by the Torah and the Sages or “just” the whole of Torah as found in the scriptures, versus accepting it all (Torah, Sages, Fences), and even submitting to it.
This is rather hard, and it’s so very difficult to deal with on both ends Gentile and Jew alike.
Not just from a cultural aspect, but as a fact of life was well.
Any new Believer like me who comes to the Faith and finally discovers Torah is bound to run headlong into this wall of a problem.
To make it short and simple, i believe this whole issue is a matter of Growth within each Believer’s heart.
As for reinventing things… well who knows where the Jews might have stepped overboard, and as for a Gentile reinventing something “new”, i doubt it….. “there’s nothing new under the sun.” I think the fences themselves are something each of us has to determine themselves according to our own weaknesses just like Eve did when she added: “we must not touch it, lest we die”
I’m currently experiencing a trip back to basics with God, as i feel i’m missing something foundational, and not ready for the whole keeping this and that thing. I’m ready to embrace the advice the apostles taught, to keep from:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.
Everything else feels so very restrictive at this point, and when i first came to Torah i was so zealous to jump in and do things without real understanding. All i knew is that God had a Law, and i wanted to follow. So i jumped in with both feet into deep waters.
But to follow without real understanding is not easy and i don’t think is quite as liberating. Kinda like telling a kid not to touch a hot oven, and perhaps even smacking it’s fingers. The child will resent that, until it understands the severity of breaking the “Law” and appreciates that it is for our own safety. Only then will it gladly and perhaps even eagerly follow the rules.
Some things can be learned without having to experience the horrible details, but i venture to say that everyone of us is different. Suddenly the scripture comes to mind:
5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Not sure that fits in here, but it just came together that way.
Something else, letting Gentile Believers learn at their own pace does not mean they are rebellious. (Though i think this is not the sort of rebellion you envisioned)
However, there’s also this side of the coin:
Jews may need to learn that we have the same rights and rules as they do! If we are grafted into the cultivated Olive tree as wild olive branches, we can hardly digest different nourishment just because we are Gentile. We can hardly produce different Fruit, can we? In this matter i believe Jews need to open their eyes and practice acceptance of us Gents practicing the same traditions when we are ready.
AKA: “Who is a Jew? A Jew is one who is one inwardly…..”
However it is also coming to mind to observe the Law of the Land, and that the “Pharisees sit in Moses seat, and to do as they tell us to do”
So perhaps we should submit, even if we “know” better, as while each of us are held accountable individually, i am positive God will also take into account the circumstances and judge accordingly.
Sigh, anyway, this is a rough topic.
On another note, i was going to tell you this also, in connection with the e-mail i sent you last night to do with the crisis amongst messianics. And it really applies to any group of people: Just because one teaching is good and truthful, does not mean that all of the group’s teaching may be correct or based on truth.
As in all things, when two (human) sides differ, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Hope this was helpful.
Shalom,
Tanja
I think that one purpose in session one was to point out the relationship Gentiles have to Israel and that being said, the relationship that we can have to the Torah through our faith in Messiah Yeshua. Without Yeshua we have no right or position. And if we are grafted into the family then we need to follow the family rules. Of course we don’t change over night, but we at least begin to move in that direction. None of us, Jew or Gentile, will be perfect but we are to be actively working out our salvation with fear and trembling. So as we work out our walk, we will grow and change. It would be silly, and incredibly difficult, for anyone to expect this growth or change to occur overnight. I think that we often times put way too much pressure on ourselves and in doing so we focus on small matters and end up neglecting the larger matters. Peace. Rest. Patience. One step at a time. “Your Word is a light to my path…” Only one step at a time is lighted along the way, so find peace and rest in the journey.
As for Gentiles inventing something new, that happens all the time. We Gentiles have been known to look at Jewish tradition and say, “That was stupid. I don’t like that. I’m going to keep the command but I’m going to do it my way instead.” This is rather arrogant. The Jewish people have thousands of years of establishing a lifestyle based on honoring and keeping the commands of HaShem. We have what, a few years? How is it that we can so arrogantly think that we have the monopoly on some truth or understanding? We reinvent things all the time. We did in the early centuries of the Messianic/Christian faith and it got us into such a big mess. But more than that, we often times don’t have respect for things that are considered holy, like when a teacher finds a group of boys using a tallit as third base. We need to learn from our mistakes and go back to where we started, we need to humbly learn rather than arrogantly teach.
Tanja, keep seeking Him and keep walking toward Him. The four obligations are all that we are obligated to. But do you realize just how much of the Torah you already keep anyway? Do you murder? Do you steal? Are you involved in incestuous relationships? It’s not hard to observe the commands. As we grow in our faith, our understanding and our walk things become easier if we just focus on Him and not let all the other garbage get in the way. It sure helps if we can look to and learn from someone who has been keeping these commands for thousands of years. So rather than looking at the traditions in a negative way, we need to consider them as helpful and a benefit. Before we throw out the traditions, we need to learn about them and evaluate them. I think this is another key point that was made in this seminar.
You are correct, letting believers learn at their own pace is certainly not rebellion. It is imperative that we be patient with one another and spur one another on to love and good works, to encourage one another and bear one another’s burdens. But we will not “teach” the Jewish people that we have a place in Israel. That will have to be the job of the Messiah when He returns. Until then we will have to live lives that bring honor to HaShem and to Yeshua. In doing so we will also be living lives that honor and respect Israel and the Jewish people, rather than making them afraid that we are only going to pollute or discredit the Torah and the Name of HaShem. We need to live at peace with all men, so much as it depends on us. We will just have to live within the tension and love the people of HaShem, regardless. Remember the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.
You are doing great, Tanja. I know that you have struggled a lot at times and have felt very frustrated and down. Keep walking, keep your focus on HaShem and Yeshua, and be at peace – you’re doing fine.
We all need to struggle with the truth a little, it’s how we grow and develop strong deep roots. A tree that is always shielded from the wind and watered with a hose never develops strong or deep roots, so when the wind comes and the tree is left to be dependent on the rains, it struggles. You are growing deeper roots and becoming stronger, even if you don’t feel like that’s what is happening.
Hi Lisa,
What a great summary! It sounds like you took some really good notes! We heard a little intro to this new (but not really new, as it comes from the Apostolic scriptures) direction FFOZ is heading in at Shavuot in Wisconsin. At first, it sounded like the Gentiles have a choice as to whether to follow all of the Torah, and the Jews are “obligated”. Well, really anyone does (have a choice), but once one knows what a commandment is, one is accountable to God for following it. My husband and I understand Boaz to be saying we need to learn from the Jews, the family we are adopted into, instead of making up our own halachah. We believe this is the way to go. We have been to several “messianic” groups in Michigan. We have seen all sorts of practices on Shabbat, nothing consistent. Some look like church services, sacred name, two-house, people fresh out of the United Church of God, some Torah discussion groups, one doesn’t even address the Torah portion at all. Then there are all the different calendars. I think what FFOZ is trying to promote is consistency with what the rest of “our family” (the Jews) is doing. We wonder how can we make them jealous if we don’t (are afraid to?) look like them?
Now, I must admit, we have been on this path for 10 years. It took us a loooong time to admit that we are not Torah scholars, never will be, and that the Jews have been entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). So, I started reading more Jewish materials and found several items that are in the Talmud that are also in the New Testament. Well, that certainly was interesting!
Then, I recently read Meet the Rabbis by Brad Young. Wow! What an eye opener! This book, while deep reading, should be perhaps the third or fourth book one reads when they start this walk. It really demonstrates just how much of a rabbi Yeshua really was, and His Jewishness. People who say, “I don’t want to do anything ‘rabbinic’ “, may want to read this. Also, those who say they want to be “Christ-like”.
It seems this is about submitting to authority and trust. We are beginning to realize the Jewish sages are called that because of their wisdom. I have taken classes at our local JCC, and many concepts I have been taught are consistent with what Yeshua teaches.
So, we think this change is necessary to help with unity in our movement, and for the Jewish people to see that we are serious about following Torah.
Well, I still have questions, like where was the mixed multitude when Hashem was speaking to the Children of Israel. And does “children of Israel” truly only mean the Hebrews and not the mixed multitude? What about all the times God says there is “one law”? And what is that law? Does it include oral torah? Hopefully, the white paper that will be published in the next Messiah Magazine will make this clearer.
We agree with your response to Mother of Many, above. We are finding out that the Jewish people (esp. the Orthodox) do truly love the Torah (and God). As you said, many of their fences are because they want to be Torah observant. The Hebrew word for “observe” is shamar which means to hedge about as with thorns, guard, protect. This is serious to them.
Here’s a story my husband tells people:
You’re my friend. I’m leaving you with a treasure. I’m giving it to you to protect because I trust you. What would you do with it? They might say, “I’ll put in down the basement, in a box, and in a room, so it won’t get damaged”. My response is, “Guess what, you just put three fences around it.”
I’m looking forward to your next post.
Shavua Tov,
Leslie
Thank you, Leslie. I did try to take good notes. Today we will hear the HaYesod and the Messianic Luminaries lectures. I’m thinking I might post more notes tomorrow.
We experienced the same thing, at first it did seem like we were hearing that the Gentiles were either not able to keep Torah or that we had a choice to do whatever we wanted. We’ve been discussing this as a family for some time now, “Is that really what they are saying? That’s not consistent with the rest of their material, so are we hearing wrong or are they changing?” There hasn’t been, until now, a satisfying response. Sometimes it’s been hard to put off drawing conclusions and jumping to assumptions. We’re really glad to be able to hear this lecture and to be able to speak with Boaz face to face and hear what the message FFOZ is trying to bring. I’m relieved to understand that our earlier concerns are not at all what is taking place and I’m glad to think that now I might understand what their message actually is. I hope that these discussions are going to be helpful for my friends as well as I know that our family isn’t the only one that was confused and concerned.
We have experienced a lot of “messy” stuff too. In fact we are in a Bible study with a gentleman who was a leader of a Messianic congregation years ago. He is a son of a cantor, a very good man and excellent teacher. But about 10 years ago or so he decided to throw in the towel, he ‘went into hiding’ because all of the garbage in the Messianic movement was too painful, to upsetting. Such foolishness! He told last week us that for the first time in years he is wanting to teach again.
Baruch HaShem! We are a fractured, arrogant, injured and often times angry bunch. These aren’t the fruits that we are supposed to be cultivating, we have a lot of growth that needs to take place yet.
Thank you so much for the book recommendation! I do enjoy Brad Young and will try to get this book at my next opportunity. We have been on this path about 8 years and we have been through the same process you mentioned – at one point we figured we were experts and needing to set everyone straight. I think that’s unfortunately typical in our Western Christian society. The humility can be hard to swallow, but very freeing and peaceful.
We agree with you, that this change is necessary and will be good for us as a whole. I just hope that ears and hearts will be receptive and that more unity among our groups will be the lasting result. Only HaShem can do that, and He does have mouth pieces that He uses at times. Maybe FFOZ will be used to bring this message, time will tell.
I love your husband’s story.
Thank you for sharing that. It’s perfect! We have a lot of fences because we have a farm with livestock. Fences protect what is inside and keep the bad stuff out. Fences are good. We have perimeter fences but we also have interior fences in some areas because what is inside is that important. I think that unless you live on a farm, that explanation doesn’t make sense to people. Your husband’s story is much easier for the average person to understand.
Hey again. I know I just posted on part one but something came to mind about the following of the Torah by the Gentiles. It is about what was said about people learning at their own pace. Shaul tells us about the obligations (as mentioned) but then says we will learn the rest as we attend “meetings” at the synagogue & learn from the Torah as it is read. Here again we are told in Scripture to read our Torah. But we as modern day believers are so used to people telling us things that we aren’t reading for ourselves or even checking to make sure we are taught properly.
When my husband & I recently began following the Torah there were some anger issues. Not at the Torah, but the fact that we had been led astray for so many years by so called experts of the Bible. I reminded my husband that it’s also our fault for not checking the Word ourselves & taking the responsibility that is ours.
while recently talking to my dad I told him that one of the problems with the modern day “church” is that the Tanakh is taught at all. People just sit there on Sunday mornings & listen mindlessly. My dad still attends these services & isn’t happy with our life change. I call it a life change because once the Ruach HaKodesh gets hold of you your life is changed. I know some people ignore Him (I did for quite some time), but once you submit you are happier. Maybe this is kind of what Shaul was talking about when he said we are free from the Torah. Free from it’s curse, but also free to follow it & enjoy it.
On a side note. We were wondering how your family and others celebrate the L-rd’s supper. I know it was done at the Passover meal & I believe that it is talked about in Acts as well when the brethen got together it seems they too did the supper. I just wanted more insight if anyone cares to share what their family does. Thanks.
april
April, if you do a search on my blog you’ll find posts about our Passover meals over the years. And in those threads very likely contain comments from others who have done likewise.
You are right, we are to give each other the room to learn and grow at their pace instead of expecting that everyone immediately be at the same level we are or to be perfect over night. We need to allow others to be “wrong” and to make their own course corrections along the way, just the same as each of us.
I am very late coming to this conversation so I will post very briefly… a couple texts have come to mind:
- submit to governing authorities (as long as submitting doesn’t conflict with Torah)
- a slave submitting to his master, is in a position to lead his master to respect the Messianic promise.
If “Christian’s” had submitted to the chosen group as “masters” (in the scriptural sense) all along, it may have, in time, quelled the riot reaction and much of what happened in the ensuing centuries wouldn’t at need “undoing”.
I have always been fascinated by the many “hues” that Torah observance has taken in different cultures. Spanish, European, Eastern European, African…. Just think of head coverings or tallits…. Is there a way we can respectfully be another hue? A way we can stand out as “different” or “unique” within the big picture of the Torah observant without being offensive? Attitude comes to mind. Our North American culture tends to be deep down arrogant – the kind of arrogance that gets angry when someone suggests we stop doing something because it bothers a brother…. Without that arrogance, might we be one of the many hues within the spectrum outlined by Yahweh? Is it wrong to be a different hue? Or is the wrongness in flaunting our hue as better, a replacement… yada, yada, yada? Sinking below the behaviour and the visual representation, there is always the heart issue.
“I have a hard time believing that the great Sages would simply agree to accept a thing that violates the commandments” They may have accepted things as they understood them within their particular time and culture but that doesn’t explain the many times that the sages not only disagree with one another but hold to opposing views on a topic. Take for instance divorce – when and when it is not permissible and on what grounds.
We do our best but ultimately Torah must be the measuring rod. We use the measuring rod to our best ability and trust Yahweh for the rest. As long as we are susceptible to sin, both sides will be susceptible to misunderstanding. Satan will see that we misunderstand and let our personal and corporate agendas get in the way as often as possible.
Pulling my fragments together, I am wondering if we can submit to the authorities (which ones when we get down to the fine point?) and still be the unique hue of a grafted in branch? A wild olive will never look like a domestic olive, no matter how well the graft takes.
Renee ~
I don’t see a reason why we cannot, or should not, be one of the hues. It will take a very long time before we would be accepted among mainstream Judaism. We have a lot of relationships to repair, a reputation to restore, respect and trust to earn. We need to humbly take the position of the Samaritan woman who considered herself as a dog benefiting from the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.
One of the primary differences, and maybe the only difference really, between Messianic believers and Judaism is that we follow our Master who we believe to be the Son of HaShem. There are sects who believe that another is the Messiah, and they have found a particular level of acceptance. We will not be so easily accepted, nor should we expect it.
Yes the Sages of blessed memory did often disagree on particulars. However they maintained a respect for one another. In their discussions, however heated they may become, they have been able to maintain a humility and respect for one another. We haven’t been quite so humble. As they have worked through and worked out particulars, like divorce as you mentioned, there have been differences in opinion. Yeshua, our Rabbi, made His position clear and we as His followers have a halachah established on the matter. Aren’t we blessed that our Master’s opinion on so many issues was recorded?
No, a wild olive will never be just like a cultivated olive. But the wild olive will become much more like the cultivated olive in size, color and taste the longer it stays attached to the tree. We will always have Jews and Gentiles in this body. Distinct, but equal.