ONE NEW MAN

In a previous post http://burningbush647.blogspot.com/2018/01/who-was-abraham-who-is-jew-what-is.html we discovered that Abraham was called out of Chaldea to follow the one true God YHVH. He was living in a pagan society and was coming to an understanding that there was only one true God. Abraham, as we know, became the Father of the Israelites and the Father of our faith. Later in Genesis 14.13 Abraham is referred to as a “Hebrew” for the first time in scripture.

As I pondered this I saw that Abraham was not called a Jew, but rather a Hebrew. The word Hebrew means one who has crossed over. Abraham crossed over from paganism to faith in the one true God. He was then called a Hebrew—one who has “passed over.”

Throughout the Torah and Tanakh we find mention of the stranger, alien, sojourner, or temporary resident (ger Toshav) who joins him or herself with Israel and becomes part of the Israel of Elohim as one people.

“One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the ger (temporary resident) that toshav (sojourns) among you” (Ex. 12:49).

Regardless as to what Christian or Rabbinical traditions say, Torah tells us that the Ger belongs to YHVH just as much as those who are as blood line Jews or Israelites. There was a mixed multitude at Mt. Sinai who fled Egypt along with Israel. These people who attached themselves to Israel were not to be considered second class citizens but as equals.

Remember, neither Caleb or Ruth, were “Jewish” by birth but both fulfilled important roles in the Kingdom of Elohim. Throughout the books of the prophets, especially in Isaiah, there are many mentions of the role the Gentiles play in the Kingdom of God.

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Goy (Gentiles) seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:8).

“I YHWH have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isaiah 42:6, 7).

YHWH showed Isaiah how the Gentiles were to be brought out of paganism and all manner of false religion, and offered a heritage along with the Jewish people:

“Neither let the son of the stranger, that has joined himself to YHWH, speak, saying, YHWH has utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For this is what YHWH says unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to YHWH, to serve him, and to love the name of YHWH, to be His servants, every one that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my altar; for mine House shall be called the House of prayer for all people. YHWH Elohim which gathers the outcasts of Israel says; Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him” (Isaiah 56:3-8).

We are living in the latter days and are entering into the time that these prophecies are being fulfilled:

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of YHWH shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations (Goy) shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, and to the house of the El of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the Torah shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of YHWH from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:1-2)

Mountains are a symbol of government authority. In these days many will seek the Kingdom of God (Elohim)  which will be established above all earthly man made governments. The lawlessness of this world will come to an end as the Torah becomes the law of all the earth.

The promises are the same to both Jew and Gentile. There is only one law for both in the Kingdom of Elohim. We are grafted into Israel—not Judaism as it is now practiced—but into the family of faith of which Abraham is our Father.

 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3.28-29

Once we receive Y’shua as our master we all become the household of Elohim.

The problem today is that we have forgotten what “grafted into Israel” means. After the Apostle’s died the “church” was taken over by Gentiles who had no interest in study of the Old Testament. Christianity became a “Gentile church” straying away from our “Hebrew” roots.

We see this already happening in the third epistle of John:

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, receives us not.  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbids them that would, and casts them out of the church.  Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. 3 John 9-11

Already those who despised their Hebrew roots are not allowing John himself to enter the assembly! By 321 A.D. anything considered “Jewish” was banned and paganism officially infiltrated the church.

Notice I did not say “Jewish” roots, but rather “Hebrew” roots. Abraham was a Hebrew—he crossed over. When we accept Y’shua as Messiah we too become Hebrews. We are “born again” as we “crossover” into a living relationship with YHVH and Messiah. YHVH’s plan was always to join the Jewish people with the Gentiles becoming one new man (Ezekiel 37.15-28). That is what the joining of the two sticks represents.

As the “Gentile church” began to grow you will find that the church fathers who came after the Apostles never sought out the Tanakh for direction on deep issues. They often embraced Greek Mythology. In fact, that is how Purgatory became a doctrine of the church. There is no Purgatory anywhere in the Tanakh (Bible).

Elohim chose Abraham the Hebrew to become the Father of Faith to all who believed in Messiah. The children of Israel through Moses became responsible for receiving and spreading Elohim’s word—the Torah. That nation became Elohim’s example to the world.

They went into dispersion because they threw off YHVH’s law—the Torah and broke Covenant with Him by following the pagan ways. When Messiah Y’shua came the Kingdom was officially opened to the Ger or strangers.

Ironically, in my mind a completed “Jew” is one who receives Y’shua as master and Messiah. A Jew would vehemently argue that point! The fact, however, is that when we receive Y’shua we ALL both Jew and Gentile become HEBREWS! That is the official crossing over for all who enter into YHVH’s Kingdom.

The sticks of Ezekiel are joined. A nation is born. A Kingdom is established in the heart (heart circumcision) and we become a light unto the world!

As the world and earthly governments begin to crumble under the weight of immorality and sin YHVH expects His nation to “arise and shine” for His glory. Will He find “faith on the earth” at this time? Let us pray that He will.