In the Light of Jewish Customs
By F. C. Gilbert
[By F. C. Gilbert, a Hebrew Christian, author of “From Judaism to Christianity,” from which this article is taken] It is very clear, from the Scripture, that the apostle Paul, to illustrate certain truths of the Gospel of Christ, introduced among the Gentile Christians a number of customs which had been in vogue among the Jews. Some of these customs were introduced for the carrying forward of the work of God, as they were strongly established among the Jewish people, and there was much in them which the Spirit of God saw could be utilized for the advancement of the work of God. Custom of Helping Poor in Jerusalem
Several centuries before the advent of Christ, there had arisen a custom among the Jews providing for the needy poor at Jerusalem. It came about something as follows: It is well known that when the Jews entered the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon, many of them were scattered in different parts of that great empire. When the time came that the Lord desired the children of Jacob to return to their own land, Palestine, He had the kings of Media and Persia issue a decree to that effect. Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes accordingly did declare that the people of God could return to their own land, and the kings did all they could to assist the Jews in restoring their worship at Jerusalem. But we know, from the records of the Bible, that not all the Jews who went into captivity did go home to their own land. We find thousands returning to Palestine at the time of the command of Cyrus, king of Persia; and this was equally true when the other kings, previously mentioned, issued their decrees. But there were many tens of thousands of Jews who still remained in the countries whither they had been scattered. This is evident from reading the books of Esther, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Haggai. It is made clearer still that this is so, by reading Acts 2, the first eleven verses. During the several centuries before the advent of Christ, hundreds of thousands of Jews flocked to Jerusalem, and the holy city contained more Jews than it could support properly. Frequently there were insurrections, pillages, and other causes of devastation, until thousands of Jews of the land became poor, and were greatly in need of assistance. Then, again, many thousands of Jews would make pilgrimages to the city, and not infrequently large numbers of these would remain in Jerusalem. This, too, naturally added to the poverty of the people, until there were very many of the children of Abraham who were destitute. Several times a year thousands of Jews from these other lands would come to Jerusalem to worship before the Lord. At the festivals and at other holidays, a great number of these loyal children of Abraham would still come to the temple and to the holy city to worship before the Lord their God. Many of these tourists were wealthy, having established large business interests in these eastern lands. When they came to the Holy Land, and saw the poverty of many of their brethren in the flesh, they realized that something had to be done in order to assist them in their need. Money Set Aside Each Week
These Jewish brethren in the foreign lands decided that they would set aside a certain amount of money each week for these poor Jewish brethren, and then when some of the merchants would go to Jerusalem on business, or when some of the people would go to the city to worship, or when some of the proper persons would come from Jerusalem to visit their brethren in these different lands, this money could be sent back to the poor Jewish brethren in Jerusalem. About the time of the advent of Christ, this had become an established custom, and in this way thousands of the poor Jews were greatly helped during their poverty and their distress. The rabbis had taken the matter up, and had systematized it in such a way that the Jews in all the lands well understood the method which had been adopted to assist the poor Jewish brethren. During the year, the rabbis would send duly constituted authorities to collect this money, and these funds were known as the money for the poor Jews at Jerusalem. After Christ had come and had declared His Gospel to men, a bitter prejudice had arisen amongst many of the Jews in Jerusalem as well as out of it, against all those who should accept the teachings of the Nazarene. In fact, the time had come, when any person who would accept the Saviour was anathematized, and cast out of the synagogue. To the Jew who was wealthy, this meant social ostracism; but having means of his own, such a person did not mind the effect it had upon him from a monetary point of view. But to the Jew who was poor, especially to the one who was dependent upon the gifts of his brethren, this worked a great hardship, for we know that the Saviour preached the Gospel to the poor, and there were many of His followers from among this class of people. But the Lord Jesus never left those who trusted in Him. Rise of First Day of the Week Appropriations
He had made provision for the poor, and told His followers that they had the poor with them always and they could help as they desired. But we read that there came a famine in Jerusalem, and this famine was predicted by the prophet Agabus. The apostle Paul, knowing the custom that was in vogue among the Jews to help their poor Jewish brethren, suggested, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, that this plan be carried out to help the poor brethren in Christ at Jerusalem, as it had been so well established among the Jews. Being impressed with the utility of this plan, everywhere he went he taught the Gentile Christians that they should adopt this plan as a method to raise funds to help the poor brethren. Thus it became a part of the Gospel plan, that every person should lay by himself at home, every first-day morning, a certain amount of money, according to the degree to which God had prospered him during the previous week. If he had been blessed of God abundantly, then when he considered his financial standing on the first-day morning, prior to the beginning of his labors for that week, he should deal with the poor Jewish brethren as God had dealt with him. The writer well remembers how, when he was a boy at home, his father followed this custom regularly and methodically; for the same plan is still followed by the orthodox Jews the world over, to support the poor Jews at Jerusalem. Many a time have I seen my father early Sunday morning take account of the amount of business he had done during the previous week; and then he would take some of his money and deposit it in a tin box, which had an opening in the top of it, and around the face of it was placed a label bearing this inscription, written in Hebrew letters: “Alms to the Poor Jews at Jerusalem.” When friends call at the house who do not live in thickly settled Jewish communities, they are invited to share the blessings of giving to their poor brethren. But the regular, pious, orthodox Jews attend to this matter most generally as the first item of business after they have conducted their worship on the morning of the first day of the week. Thus we can see how the apostle Paul introduced this custom in the early Christian church to support the poor brethren in Christ, and at the same time he taught the early Christian church what should be their first item of business on the first day of the week. It also illustrates how methodical the work should be for the carrying forward of the Lord’s cause, and how every person may have a part in assisting the poor.