Are today's Jews really the Jews, or a different people?
A viewer forwards an analysis claiming the Jews are not really the Jews, using John 7:1, where Jesus would not walk in Jewry, and Esau being Edom, and asks Robert to comment.
Answer
This poor fellow is very confused. John 7:1 says Jesus would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill Him, but that does not make the Jews not Jews. Most Jews were in Judea, with Jerusalem the capital and the leadership, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, all there, and they wanted to kill Him, so of course He stayed up in Galilee, which was more mixed with Gentiles; Matthew even calls it Galilee of the nations to fulfill Isaiah. As for Esau, Genesis 25 and Obadiah identify Esau as Edom, and the promise went through Jacob, not Esau, which is why the New Testament separates them in Romans 9. The Jews had to be Jews because the bloodline from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob down to Joseph had to be pure, which is why Matthew opens his gospel with Abraham, David, Jesus. So if anyone tells you the Jews are not the Jews, walk away, and maybe run.