The Apostles overturned the rabbinic procedure with regard to Gentile conversion, based on the fact that the allegedly inspired rabbinic rulings did not address the reality which Elohim had brought to pass. Having overturned the rabbinic procedure, the Apostles then had to establish a new one, so that all things could continue to be done decently, and in order.

The reason the Apostles’ decision is recorded in Scripture is that since the majority of Judah was under the impression these rabbinical rulings are inspired (as most Orthodox and many Messianic Jews still believe) the Apostles had to give a written legal accounting of their departure from the rabbinic tradition. It was only because the Jews are so very sparing with their words and the Christians are so ignorant of Judaic precepts that the passage has been misunderstood for so long.

The Apostles’ deliberations may have taken into account the way Abraham had become circumcised:

 

Abraham had been called into Covenant before he had been told to circumcise himself and his house; which was the opposite of the rabbinic tradition:

Since Abraham had already been called into the Covenant, physical circumcision had only been given to him as a ‘sign’ of that Covenant. However, it was a sign that had to be obeyed in all generations. Whosoever from among Israel’s descendants would not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin was to be cut off:

 

 

Abraham had been brought into the Covenant in an uncircumcised state. It was only after he had already been brought into the Covenant that he had been given the Commandment to physically circumcise himself and his household. Based upon that fact, the believing Pharisees’ assertion that one had to become physically circumcised before one could be ‘saved’ made no sense, not only because it did not align with the reality that Elohim had brought to pass, but also because this was not the pattern given in the Torah. In other words, the ruling of the rabbis was un-Scriptural.

The Apostles overturned the un-Scriptural rabbinic procedure; but this was not enough. Jews are a very Law-oriented people, and they understand that it is necessary to have some kind of a procedure, if all things are to be done decently, and in order:

 

 

 

The old procedure had to be abolished, and a new procedure had to be founded, in its place. But what procedure should that be?

 

Physical circumcision is a painful procedure; and the Apostles were probably glad that they had been circumcised while they were still infants. They must certainly have known that physical circumcision is not anything that any convert would look forward to, because of the extreme pain involved.

The Gentiles and Hellenized Jews who had received the gift of the Spirit probably knew that they wanted to become Israeli, no matter what it cost. However, for others who had not yet received this free gift, the need to become physically circumcised before they could even go into a synagogue and check out the fellowship probably seemed like too much or too huge of a hurdle to clear all at once; and it may have scared people away.

Since the Gentiles and Hellenized Jews had received the gift of the Spirit without first becoming circumcised, the Apostles saw no reason why new believers had to become circumcised the moment they became saved. While they certainly had no power to do away with any of the Commandments in the Torah (Matthew 5:17-19), they could at least do something to give the people more time to make the transition.

The Torah tells us that there are three eternal signs of the Covenant: The Sabbath, Circumcision, and the Passover. There were more signs than these, but these three were considered to be ‘eternal’ in that they had to be obeyed in all of Israel’s generations.

Notice, then, that while the Apostles had not ruled that the returning converts had to be circumcised in order to go into the synagogues on the Sabbath (to hear the Torah of Moshe read) they did have to be circumcised before they could partake of the Passover, because the Torah of Moshe required it:

 

If the returning Ephraimites would begin by abstaining from the four most serious defilements (of idolatry, adultery, unclean meats and eating blood), then they could be permitted to go into the synagogues on the Sabbath, because they would not be defiling the Sabbath fellowship table. Once in the synagogues, they would be able to hear the Torah read aloud over the course of the next year, as most synagogues are in the habit of reading the Torah aloud on a one-year cycle. This would mean that the returning Gentiles would be able to transition into Torah obedience slowly, over the course of the next year:

 

 

 

In the West, the verb ‘hear’ does not necessarily imply any kind of obedience, and so Westerners might take the mistaken impression that the only requirement was to ‘hear’ the Torah being read.

In Hebrew, however, the verb ‘to hear’ is the verb ‘Shema’; and this word does imply obedience. To Shema is to hear-and-obey, as one might hear one’s King utter a commandment.

Scripture does not record for us if the Apostles considered the potential linguistic difficulties between Hebrew and the world’s other languages. However, from an analysis of the Text, we can see that while the Apostles wanted to give the Gentile Ephraimites time to become physically circumcised, they in no wise ever intended for their writings to be used as an excuse to do away with physical circumcision.

Exodus Twelve requires that in order to be considered a part of the Nation of Israel, one must partake of the Passover (verse 47); and before one can partake of the Passover, one must become physically circumcised (verse 48). Therefore, if the returning Gentiles would just start with the four necessities of verse 28, they would eventually be brought into full Torah compliance.

 

It is also interesting to note that the Torah itself seems to give clues that the Lost Ten Tribes would be brought back to the Nation by a procedure such as this:

 

 

 

In Scripture, the terms ‘stranger’ and ‘foreigner’ refer to those who are strangers to the Covenant. This was perfectly the case with the Ephraimites.

To wit, Kefa addressed his epistle exactly to these Ephraimite ‘strangers’ in the Dispersion:

 

However, although Ephraim had become a stranger to the eternal Covenant, in his epistle to the Ephesians, Shaul tells these Gentiles that even though they were once strangers, they are stranger no longer; but have become returning Israelites:

 

 

YHWH knew what He would do for Ephraim right from the very start. At the moment He gave His Instructions on how to perform the Passover, he was simultaneously providing a Way for those Ephraimites who would later become estranged from His Covenant, to return to it.

Acts Chapter Fifteen, then, is where Yeshua’s Apostles considered all the evidence, rejected the existing rabbinical Gentile return procedure and, drawing from the rabbinical return procedure for the so-called ‘Sons of Noah’, bound on earth the legal return procedure that had already been bound in heaven (Matthew 16:19).  And, we should note, since the Apostles merely bound for us on earth what had already been bound in the heaven, this legal precedent decision is still binding on the Body today.