Ministry focused on Kingdom of God by bringing Jewish and Gentile Christians together as one new man in Christ Yeshua (Ephesians 2:14-16).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Yeshua,
The year was 2002 and I was a new believer in Jesus, yet I still had many questions about Christianity. I knew that Jesus (in Hebrew Yeshua or Yehoshua) was a Jewish man, but for some unknown reason none of the churches we had attended resembled the Jewish culture and religion I had grown up with. Was Christianity a completely new religion, or was it an offshoot from biblical Judaism? If so, then how did the church become so disconnected from its spiritual foundation? I understood Israel to be the nation and people of God, but the church was comprised of many nationalities, most of whom were not Jewish. How could we as Hebrews, the natural descendants of Abraham fit into this large mass of gentile Christians?
I spent the next several years intensely studying the bible. Equipped with a new-found understanding of Old and New Testament scripture, it was evident that God held an unfathomable love for the Jewish people. However, all these questions about the church and Israel remained unanswered. So the Lord took me on a journey of reading historical books that brought into perspective the transition of the early church. From my study it seemed as though pride and religiosity had taken the Church away from its Jewish foundation. Christianity was all about having a life-long personal relationship with the God of Israel. This relationship was enabled through the sacrifice of Yeshua, the King and Savior of Israel—a relationship that was rooted in God's love for all people, and very significantly the Jewish people.
However, from my perspective the church had evolved into a man-made institution of religious denominations segregated over contradicting theologies that for the most part diminished if not outright rejected the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.[i] I was now living in a no-man's land, caught between two worlds—one Jewish that continued to reject its Jewish Messiah, and the other gentile that continued to reject the Jewishness of its Messiah. How would the two be reconciled into one?
The Lord already held the answers. His plan was simple and yet marvelously hidden. This mystery would unfold over generations, starting with Abraham, one person from whom the entire foundation of humanity would unfold.[ii] Through Isaac and Jacob the great nation of Israel would emerge, a people whom the Lord had chosen out of every tongue and tribe to be His special treasure and heritage. Israel would be a gift to all nations, as from them would come the blessed Messiah, Yeshua.[iii] Israel was to become a light to the gentiles and a blessing to every nation, bringing God's message of salvation to every person and filling the whole earth with His blessings.[iv] The nations would be grafted into Israel, the natural branches of Abraham, to become "one" people of God comprised of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.[v]
God's simple plan was unfolding with yet another dimension. Israel failed in her calling and by-in-large rejected her Messiah. For this reason, the Lord is fulfilling His prophesy and has turned to the gentiles (the nations) to provoke Israel to jealousy.[vi] The gentiles who are now grafted into Israel join their Messianic-Jewish brethren as "one new man" in Christ to complete the great commission.[vii] In provoking Israel to jealousy, the gentiles were to arouse the unsaved Jewish people to accept their Messiah and fulfill Israel's calling to become a light to the nations. The message of salvation would then go forth from Jerusalem to the farthest ends of the earth.[viii] Yeshua would return with His congregation of saints, the church, to Jerusalem to establish His earthly kingdom over the remnant of now saved Israel and the remnant of all the nations.[ix]
The Apostle Paul wrote this about the Jews: "my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all…" (Romans 9:3-5, NKJV).[x] "What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1-2).
And, Paul wrote this about the gentiles: "you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:15). "And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree…" (Romans 11:17).
In other words, Paul is saying that to the Jews belonged all the promises of the covenants (which are fulfilled in Christ), and to the gentiles belong nothing of the covenants unless they are adopted in the Kingdom of God by the blood of Yeshua, and grafted into Israel to become "one new man" with them in Christ,[xi] as it is written, "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers [i.e. sharers] of His promise in Christ through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). God has dealt severely with the natural branches that rejected their Messiah, even cutting them away to give place for the gentiles to be grafted in.[xii] But Paul also warned the gentiles not to boast or become proud against the Jews, saying, "for if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either" (Romans 11:21).[xiii]
Brethren, if you desire to know where God's heart is, look for His people, Israel?[xiv] In these last days, the church must grow strong in faith and prayer, grow deep in knowledge of scripture, grow powerful in the presence of the Holy Spirit and grow in love for all people, especially the Jewish people. The church must fulfill her purpose and calling with respect to Israel, provoking the Jewish people to jealousy, praying for and standing with Israel and joining with Israel to complete the great commission. Israel and Jerusalem will be at the very center of Yeshua's earthly kingdom.[xv] Those who bless Israel will be blessed and partake in her blessings.[xvi] God deeply loves Israel, and any spiritually mature Christian should also love Israel.[xvii]
The Lord has answered my questions about Israel and the church straight from His written word. Israel was to become the church by inheriting all of the promises from Abraham through Yeshua. The church is God's assembly of all His creation—a great nation and a company of nations that would join together under the God of Israel. It is in spite of our natural differences that God's power of "oneness" is demonstrated, for we are "one" people of God through Yeshua and the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Our nationalities and cultures are not homogenized in Christ, but through Him and His kindred Spirit we can embrace our differences, for we are all uniquely created in His image. We are therefore "one" in Christ and "one new man" comprised of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.[xviii] God has not replaced Israel with the church. We collectively are the church.
Amen!
[i] U.S. Membership Denominational Ranking: Largest 25 Denominations/Communions –2004 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches show that 14 out of the 25 denominations, representing 79.5% of membership hold a supersessionism or replacement theological viewpoint.
[ii] Ephesians 3:1-7.
[iii] Genesis 12:2, 22:18, Exodus 19:5, John 4:22, Galatians 3:16.
[iv] Isaiah 27:6, Acts 13:47.
[v] Genesis 35:11, Romans 11:17, Revelation 7:9.
[vi] Deuteronomy 32:21, Romans 11:11.
[vii] Ephesians 2:15.
[viii] Acts 1:8.
[ix] Zechariah 14:4-5.
[x] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[xi] Ephesians 2:12-16.
[xii] Romans 11:17-24.
[xiii] Ibid.
[xiv] Zechariah 2:8.
[xv] Isaiah 60:12.
[xvi] Ibid.
[xvii] Romans 11:28, Romans 15:27.
[xviii] Ibid.