For He Himself is our peace, who has made both
one,
and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is,
the law of commandments contained in ordinances,
so as to create in Himself one new man from the
two,
thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them
both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity.
Ephesians 2:14-16
When Jesus sent His twelve disciples out to do
ministry, He commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the
Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you
go, preach, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the
sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give."" (Matthew 10:5-8).
This mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel still goes on
today. In the last parable of Jesus concerning the endtimes (Matthew
25:31-46), Jesus specifically shows us how He divides His
sheep from the goats when He comes to judge the nations:
"When the Son of Man comes
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit
on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered
before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the
sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to
those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and
you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was
naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was
in prison and you came to Me."
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when
did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You
drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked
and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and
come to You?" And the King will answer and say to them,
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren,
you did it to Me. "
Then He will also say to
those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I
was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave
Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked
and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit Me."
"Then they also will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when
did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick
or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer
them, saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not
do it to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
The New Testament clearly
taught us to love and honor even the least of the brothers of the
Lord. Who were the brothers of Jesus? Jesus Himself was a Jew. All
of His disciples were Jews. All the writers of the Old and New
Testaments were Jews. His brothers were clearly the Jewish people.
In Ephesians 2:11-18, the Jews
and the Gentiles were united by Christ in one body to become one new
man in Christ. We should never forget that we are Gentiles. In fact,
we were formerly called the uncircumcised by those who took pride in
being circumcised. At that time we did not know about Christ. We
were foreigners to the people of Israel. We had no part in the
promises that God had made to them. We were living in this world
without hope and without God. We were far away from God. But Christ
offered His life's blood as a sacrifice and brought us near God.
Christ had made peace between
Jews and Gentiles. He had united us by breaking down the wall of
hatred that separated us. Christ gave His own body to fulfill all
the laws of Moses with all its rules and commands. He even brought
the Jews and the Gentiles together creating one new man in Christ.
He united us in peace. On the cross Christ took away our hatred for
each other. He also made peace between us and God by uniting Jews
and Gentiles in one body. Christ came and preached peace to the
Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to the Jews, who were
near God. And because of Christ, all of us could come to the Father
by the same Spirit.
In Romans 11:11-36, Paul wrote
that all Israel shall be saved! Would the people of Israel fall and
never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible
for us, the Gentiles, to be saved. This would make the people of
Israel jealous. If the Gentiles were blessed so much by Israel's
rejection of their Messiah, they would be blessed even more by
Israel's full return to their God. Someone noted that the number of
people coming to receive Christ corresponded proportionately to the
number of Jews returning to Israel.
When Israel rejected God, the
Gentiles were able to turn to Him. And God had not forgotten about
Israel! He would make friends with Israel again. He would resurrect
Israel from death back to life! In May 1948, the modern State of
Israel was founded. It was undoubtedly one of the most important
events in history. For the first time in world history, a people
that had been uprooted and dispersed for more than 2000 years
returned as a sovereign nation back to their historic beloved
homeland. This incredible wonder occurred after the Holocaust, an
unforgettable event that shocked the whole world!
The most amazing miracle was
the people who rebuilt the modern nation of Israel. These builders
were not strong, healthy and muscular men. They were neither rich
with abundant supplies. Israel was built by Jewish men and women who
had just escaped the hells of Nazi concentration camps.
These courageous survivors
were staggered ashore, barely alive. Their bodies were famished,
skinny and thin, but their determination were strong and their
hearts courageous. Against insurmountable odds, facing European
opposition, American apathy and British blockades, they were decided
and determined to make their homes in the Holy Land.
As Gentiles, we are not to be
proud and arrogant! Paul told us the mystery of what had happened to
the people of Israel (Romans 11:25-28). Some of them had become
stubborn, and they would remain so until the complete number of the
Gentiles has come in. After which, all of Israel will be saved, as
the Scriptures say, "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He
will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with
them, when I take away their sins."
God is faithful to all His
covenants and promises. Whenever He had promised, He would fulfill.
If God is not faithful to the Old Covenant, how can He be faithful
to the New Covenant? He is the Faithful One!
One wrong teaching about the
New Testament is this: "God makes the Old Covenant with Israel, and
the New Covenant with the Church."
In Jeremiah 31:31-34 and
Hebrews 8:7-13, the New Covenant was clearly made with Israel and
not with the Church:
"Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the LORD.
But this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and
write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD,' for they all
shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin
I will remember no more."
What is the New Covenant? It
is God putting His law in their minds, and writing it on their
hearts so that He will be their God, and they shall be His people.
Jesus did not come to bring us the New Covenant, He came to fulfill
it. In Matthew 26:2, Jesus said, "For this is My blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." He
didn't say that this is the New Testament or Covenant. He said,
"This is My blood of the New Covenant." He did not give us a New
Covenant. The New Covenant was already given long ago in the Old
Testament. He came to seal the New Covenant with His blood. In fact,
the New Covenant was more correctly known as the Renewed Covenant.
It was God renewing His Covenant and His love with His beloved
people, Israel. Because they were blessed, we became blessed.
The good news came from the
Jews. Jesus was a Jew! And the good news had come to us Gentiles
through the Jews. Now we are enjoying the love of God while the
people of Israel are still far away from God. But they are still the
chosen ones. God loves them because of their faithful forefathers.
These gifts of God are irrevocable! God doesn't take back the gifts
He has given! He has not forgotten about the people He has chosen.
We must always remember that
we, Gentiles, had once rejected God. God showed His mercy to the
Jews. But when Israel rejected God, God bestowed His mercy upon us.
Because of the mercy God has bestowed unto us, God will show His
mercy to Israel again! This is the endless and eternal love of God.
All people have disobeyed God, both Jews and Gentiles alike! God
will have mercy on all of us!
Who can measure the wealth and
wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand His decisions or
explain what He does? Has anyone known the thoughts of the Lord or
given him advice? Has anyone loaned something to the Lord that must
be repaid? Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made
because of Him and will return to Him (Romans 11:28-36).
God's relationship with Israel
is everlasting. God called and chose her to fulfill His purposes and
plans to redeem the whole earth! They were obedient to God's Word,
and they recorded it down. That's how we have our Bible today! They
brought forth the Light of the world when one of their descendants
was born as the Messiah and the Saviour.
The Jewish people have
partially fulfilled their roles so far. This fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant that
"in you will all the nations on the earth be blessed" (Genesis
12:3). As humans, they erred. But who did not commit mistakes or
sins? God had already forgiven them when He sent His Son to live
among them. His name is Jesus, which means "He shall save His people
from their sins." His people was and still is the Jews!
God made an everlasting
covenant with Israel. He will never forget or annul His ancient
people. If God will not fulfill His promises to Israel, what
guarantee do we have that He will fulfill His promises to the
Church?
What is the role of the
Church? Basically, two-fold. To make disciple of all nations
(Matthew 28:18-20) and to show mercy to the people of Israel (Romans
11:30-31). How can we show mercy to Israel? We are:
- To give our material gifts to help them
(Romans 15:27).
- To pray for them especially peace in
Israel (Psalm 122)
- To be a watchman on the walls to protect
them (Isaiah 62:6-7).
- To help bringing the Jews back to Israel
so that they can rebuild the Holy City of God (Isaiah 49:22-23;
Isaiah 60:9-11).
What happens to the Church
when she refuses to help Israel?
- She will embrace the Replacement
Theology.
- She will become Anti-Semitic.
- She will replace Israel.
- She will not understand who she really
was.
- She will become arrogant and
self-centred.
- She will boast with the nations against
the Jews and Israel.
- She will miss the blessings of God
by not blessing Israel.
- She will have no role in God's redemption
for Israel.
- She will miss some of the greatest
prophecies in both the Old and the New Testaments that are yet
to be fulfilled with regards to God's prophetic calendar for
Israel.
- She will lose her opportunity to
participate in God's plan and prophecy for the Church, Israel
and the world today.
What happens to the Church
when she helps Israel?
- She will have the full gospel that
includes both the Old and New Testament, and not just half the
gospel in the New Testament.
- She will fulfill her role in God's
redemptive plan for the world, including Israel.
- She will understand the faithfulness of
God, never changing from Genesis to Revelation.
- She will love and honor God by loving and
honoring His covenant people.
- She will have prophetic insights and
foresights for the endtimes.
- She will become better disciples of
Christ as she embrace the Hebraic roots of her faith.
With the divine providence of
God, I know all the promises in the Old and New Testaments will come
true:
- Because it is written in His Word
- Because God will divinely provide to
ensure its fulfillment
- Because all things are possible with God
- Because the works of God will never lack
the resources of God.
- Because the Word of God has the power to
fulfill every promise it makes!
I
wrote a song in 2002 during the Feast of Pentecost, entitled
"One New Man":
The Bride is
neither Jew nor Gentile
But the One New Man in Christ
Messiah, the Bridegroom is Yeshua
The Bride is neither Jew nor Gentile
But the One New Man in Christ
Both Israel
and the Church together
In one union with Christ
The Lord is coming, the Lord is come
Both Israel and the Church together
In one union with Christ
Written on:
14 April 2004