As I walked through ancient ruins in both Asia Minor (Turkey) and Greece a couple of years ago, I experienced an epiphany that confirmed what happened to me in 2007. I remember quite succinctly how years of church teaching were erased from my mind. What was swirling around in my head was not what sermon, after sermon, about Jesus and salvation taught to me.

I did not comprehend most of what was now percolating in my head. I started looking for people who could help me decipher why, when reading the scriptures different questions were being formed that I had never even thought about. I remember specifically, “Five loaves of bread, two fish and twelve baskets full” What did the numbers mean (Matthew 14:13-21) I wondered why we were not being taught about the Festivals of the Lord (Leviticus 23). Moreover, I knew that the story of Israel was far bigger than being aligned with church denominational theology.

I had always as a believer wondered why the churches never taught us about the Jews beyond, “They killed Jesus, or they called for his death” For years I was plagued with a single question: If the Jewish people, “Did not get it” how can you teach their material (The Scriptures) disconnected from what they did get?

After seeking out what replacement theology is or supersessionism, and learning about the horrific treatment of Jewish people across Europe by Catholic and Christian religions I started answering a lot of my own questions

I remember talking with a Jewish person who said to me, “We have always believed in the death and resurrection story. We just do not believe your Jesus. Another person who is Jewish and who I call a very close friend today said, “Once I read the New Testament, I realized it was Jewish!”  This person was able to connect much of what is written to Jewish culture but, also able to see how contextual changes were made to vilify the Jews. I learned that denominations changed context to better fit their narrative. Hence, hundreds of translations are now part of western theological exegesis. None of these denominational translations focus on the Torah or Pentateuch commonly glossed over in most seminary teachings.

When exposed to the Hebrew alphabet especially the Paleo Hebrew I realized how much of what I had learned in the churches barely scratched the surface of what was now coming out of every book of the Bible. Giving Jesus back to the Jewish culture was the beginning of an entirely different understanding of his life and purpose.

The epiphany experienced in Asia Minor and Greece was I saw the kingdom of GOD as a non-religious absolute governing all of what is under construction. It was almost as if I could see the legal structure, the educational system and the political dynamic of what GOD is doing despite the governments of mankind. I saw all the kingdoms of the earth as a sort of facsimile of the original template or blueprint resisting the rightful heir to the throne or leadership. I equated what was in my head, walking through the ruins to the story of Ulysses by James Joyce. I read his book years ago as a kid due to a high school assignment.

I saw government officials trying to gain control of the kingdom of Greece when our tour guide shared with us various battles that took place. I saw political tyranny as the backdrop for much of the horror that the ancient world proliferated using man-made gods to justify control over neighboring communities. I saw all of this done through governments whether monarchal, nepotism, or shear savagery. Once conquered these communities were forced to accept the culture now imposed upon them to include their man-made gods. The alternative was death.

The Catholic, the Christian, and the Islamic faiths did much the same, to name three of the most prominent religions. All three of the most prominent religion has persecuted anything Jewish.

My journey through Asia Minor and Greece forever removed me from meandering through various doctrines that support beliefs that exclude Israel as the chief subject of the biblical text. The very existence of Israel scattered or otherwise is still vehemently despised by world governments. The churches, synagogues, mosques around the globe are irrelevant unless dictating terms through governmental institutions

The World Health Organizations, the United Nations or World Trade Organizations don’t give a damn about your faith. Neither did Assyria, Babylon, Greece, or Rome when conquering kingdoms. Not much has changed in the ways of Government, Politics, and Tyranny.

Is it any wonder that what the biblical GOD offered through Israel is freedom, righteousness, and a legal system that supports justice. It is not possible for me to see this as a religious, faith-based relationship to GOD. I now understand that I agreed to learn the rules, understand my obligation to serve others, and to be in covenant with the one who makes his presence known through Israel.

It’s no longer feesable for me to see a Christian heritage as a result of the Biblical text. Rather, I see a kingdom heritage because of what GOD asked Israel to show to the world. The governments of the world have always tried to kill his presence!