The Bible recognizes two distinct people: the Jew and, the Gentile. Says Paul: "...I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the JEW, then for the GENTILE." (Romans 1:16, NIV, full caps mine). In the broadest sense of the word, a Jew is a descendant of Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. Similarly, the Gentile, for our purposes here, is any person whose genealogical descent is not connected in any way to the twelve tribes of Israel. In this article, we will look at these two categories of people from the divine perspective in so far as the subject of SALVATION and access into the Kingdom of God is concerned.
Let us start with the Gentile. In Acts 26:17-18, the Apostle Paul is told: "...I will rescue you from your own people and from the GENTILES. I am sending you to them to OPEN THEIR EYES, and turn them from DARKNESS to light, and from the POWER of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a PLACE among those who are sanctified by faith in me..." (Acts 26:17-18, NIV, capitals added). Whew! In the eyes of God, therefore, we can deduce that the Gentiles are BLIND, live in DARKNESS, and ARE UNDER SATAN's POWER and CONTROL!
In Ephesians 2:11-12, Paul continues: "... remember that you who are GENTILES by birth... you were SEPARATE from Messiah, EXCLUDED from CITIZENSHIP in Israel, and FOREIGNERS to the COVENANTS of the PROMISE, WITHOUT HOPE and WITHOUT GOD in the world."
In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, the Gentiles shall come to God from the ends of the earth and say: "Surely our fathers have INHERITED LIES, WORTHLESSNESS and UNPROFITABLE THINGS." (Jeremiah 16:19,NKJV, emphasis mine). A very sorry state of affairs indeed!
In other words, in the eyes of Heaven, despite the fact that religion is culturally universal, the Gentile world remains far removed from the Maker! Despite their many elaborate religious systems, sacerdotal castes, stringent religious scholarship and training, massive investments in the building of temples, pyramids, mosques, cathedrals, monasteries, convents and other religious institutions, Gentile efforts have not brought him any nearer to the God of heaven at all! The One True God, Creator of heaven and earth has remained alien - unknown to them (cf Acts 17:23). However, in his infinite love and mercy, God left a few concessions - he provides the Gentiles with rain at its due season (cf Acts 14:17). The Gentile must, therefore, of necessity, be guided out of the spiritual morass he finds himself in. The question is how, and by whom?
This is where the Jew comes in. The scriptures bid the wandering, searching spiritual pilgrim: "...stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ANCIENT PATHS, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls..." (Jeremiah 6:16, NIV, full caps mine). These "ancient paths" are those trodden by the Hebrew patriarchs, the prophets and the apostles. God had this to say of Abraham: "... because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." (Genesis 26:5). He went on to say:
"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
(Genesis 18:19). God deliberately passed on his ways to Abraham's progeny and through them on to the world. That is part of the reason why Abraham is called the "father of many nations" (cf Genesis 17:3-5).
Later, it is said of Israel: "...I will also make you a LIGHT for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth..." (Isaiah 49:6). Writing in another passage, Isaiah says: "...arise, shine, for your light has come. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples (Gentiles)..." (Isaiah 60:1-2, NIV, brackets mine).
Writing on the same subject, the Psalmist says: "...He has REVEALED his WORD to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for NO OTHER nation; they do not know his laws..." (Psalm 147:19-20). These positive statements are in the so called Old Testament. The Jew, with a good knowledge of God and how he wants human beings to relate with him, is actually expected to share this knowledge with the Gentile.
Is this position maintained with the coming of the Gospel Age?! Let us hear from Paul, the apostle severally described as the Minister to the Gentiles (cf Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:9. etc). "What advantage then, is there in being a Jew..? Much in every way. First of all, they have been ENTRUSTED with the VERY WORDS of God" (Romans 3:1-2). He goes on to describe the Jew in the following glowing terms: "... Now you, if you call yourself a JEW...if you KNOW HIS WILL and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a GUIDE for the BLIND, a LIGHT for those in the DARK, an INSTRUCTOR of the FOOLISH, a TEACHER of INFANTS..." (Romans 2:17-20, emphasis added throughout). Wah! Do you realize the full import of what the apostle just said?!
In Matthew 7:21, Yahshua makes it clear that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord", will enter the Kingdom of God but only he who "DOES HIS WILL". Now, if the Jew is described as knowing God's will, does it not follow then, that the Gentile should make every effort to learn from him?
We have also learned from Isaiah 60:2 that the world is full of darkness and that "gross darkness is over the peoples." According to both Isaiah and Paul, the remedy for dispelling the darkness is the Jew. That is why Paul was commissioned - to get the Gentile out of Darkness and into Light (Acts 26:17-18). The Jew is also a GUIDE for the BLIND, who, once again, are plainly shown to be Gentiles (cf Acts 26:17). The Jew is in addition, said to be an INSTRUCTOR of the FOOLISH. But pray, who is the FOOL?! The scriptures are plain: "...the fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1, 53:1). It is largely the Gentile world that has legislated God out of the affairs of humankind today. This is amply demonstrated by the philosophy of humanism, communism, the theory of evolution, and atheism. Says Paul, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their FOOLISH hearts were DARKENED. Although they claimed to be wise, they became FOOLS." (Romans 1:21-22, NIV, emphasis mine). It is this wilful ignorance of God that stokes divine wrath on the world. If the Gentiles are to succeed in eradicating this "foolishness", then they have to seek the Jew's assistance in guiding them out of it.
Lastly, Paul talks about the Jew as being the TEACHER of INFANTS. In 1Peter 2:2, we read: "...as new born babes, desire the sincere MILK of the WORD..." At birth, the human infant ought to subsist solely on mother's milk at least for the first six months. Why? Because the milk is a balanced diet rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats, minerals and water! It has optimal quantities of all the nutrients necessary for the baby's first few months of growth. Peter shows us that, that is exactly what the pure unadulterated word of God is for the newly born-again Messianic. Now, of all the spiritual capitals on earth today, only Jerusalem is described as a lactating mother nursing spiritual children (Isaiah 66:10)! The Jews are divinely charged with the responsibility of teaching, sharing the milk of God's word with spiritual infants!
Let us now look at a few examples. Cornelius, the Roman Centurion was indeed a devout man. However, God still had to send him an angel to instruct him to send for Peter (a Jew), to come and show him the way to Salvation (Acts 10:1-5). In Acts 8:26-38, we see another very religious Gentile, the finance minister to Queen Candace of the Ethiopians. The man was travelling home after a religious pilgrimage in the Holy Land. Again, the Spirit of God moves Philip to strike up a conversation with the African. The man freely admits that he needed help into understanding the scriptures he was reading! Thereafter, Philip shows him the way to salvation and baptises him. In 1Thessalonians 2:14, the churches of God in Judea are held up to be a good example for emulation by the churches in the Gentile world.
When Yahshua himself broached the subject, he openly told the Samaritan woman (a Gentile): "...you worship what you do not know, WE worship what we do KNOW for SALVATION is of the JEWS." (John 4:22). And because of Yahshua's mission among the Samaritans, the words of the prophet came to pass: "...Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea along the Jordan, Galilee of the GENTILES - the people living in DARKNESS have seen a great light..." (Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew 4:15-16).
But pray, who were the Samaritans? According to 2Kings 17, the Samaritans were a mixed group of Gentile peoples brought into Israel by the king of Assyria during the time of Israel's exile. Though the Assyrian king brought back a Jewish priest to teach them how to worship the God of Israel, yet they were so set in their pagan ways that they settled for a kind of syncretism. They worshipped the God of Israel but alsocontinued to worship their own gods...Annamelech, Ashima, Adrammelech, Nergal, Tartak etc (cf 2Kings 17:30-31). So, as far as the God of Israel was concerned, they were still in DARKNESS. The jealous God of Israel hates syncretism just as much as he hates polytheism! Paul leaves no room for doubt that indeed the sacrifices/worship of Gentiles is the worship of demons (cf 1Corinthians 10:19-20,KJV). That is why Yahshua told the Samaritan woman: "you worship what you do not know."
Yahshua further told his disciples: "...I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen (ie not Jews by birth). They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be ONE FLOCK and one Shepherd (cf John 10:16, NIV, emphasis added). In other words, the collective testimony of scripture shows the bringing together of Jews and Gentiles into ONE PLAN OF SALVATION. Nowhere does the Bible envision two or multiple paths in God's dealings with mankind. The pathway shown to the Jews, equally must be followed by the Gentiles (cf Numbers 15:15-16, 26, Isaiah 56:6-7 etc). The "Replacement Gospel" that is so popular in today's Christianity is simply not biblical.
According to Jeremiah, Israel is a "thriving olive tree with fruits beautiful in form" (Jeremiah 11:16). Tragically however, some of its branches (some Jews) were to be broken off (same verse). True to prophecy, many Jews did not accept the Messianic claims of Yahshua and did not accept Him as their promised Saviour. The apostle Paul goes on to show that the blindness and hardness of heart of the Jews was by divine design to enable Gentiles gain access into the family of God (cf Romans 11:11-16). And so, the Gentiles (WILD OLIVES) must, of necessity, be GRAFTED into the TAME OLIVE TREE (Israel) according to Romans 11:17. Says Paul: "...if some of the branches (some Jews) have been broken off, and you, though a WILD OLIVE SHOOT, have been GRAFTED in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you..." (Romans 11:17-18, NIV, emphasis mine). In other words, the Jews are the tame olive tree some of whose branches were broken off due to unbelief (verses 19 and 20). The gaps were then grafted in with WILD OLIVE SHOOTS (Gentile peoples from every nation, tribe, language and race on earth). So, the Gentiles have not replaced Israel in God's plan for the salvation of mankind. Far from it. The Jews still remain an integral part to God's plans as they are expected to teach the whole world the ways of God. As the prophet Isaiah predicted: "...in the last days, the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Isaiah 2:2-3,NIV). Other scriptures corroborate this position (Zechariah 8:23, Micah 4:1-2 etc).
The Gentiles are thus obligated to learn the ways of God diligently (cf Jeremiah 12:16) since God expects them to bear exactly the same spiritual fruit as does Israel. Paul says that the Gentiles are grafted "CONTRARY TO NATURE" (Romans 11:24). This means that, unlike in normal grafting, the fruit they bear must be the same as the fruit from the parent tree. That is why "there is neither Jew nor Gentile..." (as they both become Jews). They become children of the same Father and are "consequently no longer foreigners but citizens together with God's people, built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, with Yahshua Messiah as the chief corner stone..." (Ephesians 2:19-20). The two built up into a spiritual house in which God dwells. The house of God thereby becomes a "house of prayer for all nations" just as Isaiah had prophesied (cf Isaiah 56:7). Blessings.
Pst JK Changandu
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