The New Covenant, the land inheritance, and the inheritance of “Heavenly Jerusalem”

The New Covenant must be examined in light of the succession of Covenants that set the foundation for its arrival. When the all too familiar passages of Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 11:19 and Ezekiel 36:26-27 are read in isolation from the context of their respective chapters, we feel we have a solid grasp of what it represents. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is frequently reviewed because a reference is made in the book of Hebrews. After the narrative makes its strategic inclusion of a few declarative statements found in Jeremiah, it moves on, leaving behind the context of Jeremiah 31 as a whole. When the context is restored and entire chapters are read, elements completely foreign to our paradigm begin to surface. A consistent theme can be identified, appearing throughout the text in every chapter making reference to the New Covenant. While the Book of Hebrews has done well to reveal the spiritual insights behind the changes introduced by the New Covenant, unfortunately it has set a precedent for completely neglecting the literal “down-to earth” promises made by the Prophets.

While it’s certainly appropriate that so much study has been directed towards the passages expounding on the New Covenant, we must also fight the temptation to read them at the exclusion of everything else. Jeremiah 31, verse 31, must be understood in light of the other passages in the chapter:

“For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.” – Jeremiah 31:6

“Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travail with child together: a great company shall return thither.” – Jeremiah 31:8

“Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.” – Jeremiah 31:10

And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border. – Jeremiah 31:17

Same for Ezekiel 11, verse 19:

Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. – Ezekiel 11:17,18

And Ezekiel 36, verses 26-27:

“ But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded…” – Ezekiel 36:8-10

“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” – Ezekiel 36:24

“And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” – Ezekiel 36:28

The New Covenant is inseparably tied to the event of a massive re-gathering of Israel back into the Holy land, after a long absence. The typical protestant Christian may wonder; why is the land such a prominent theme? How can a region of earth compare to the much more remarkable promise of eternal life? The New Covenant does indeed bring down “better promises” from heaven (Hebrews 8:6) but this does not mean that it’s entirely detached from earth, or from the promises that came before.

The Abrahamic Covenant

The Hebrew word for “Covenant” is “Berith” which means “to cut”. Therefore a more faithful translation of the phrase “to make a Covenant” would be: “To make a CUT” or “To CUT a Covenant”. The cut is a reference to the ancient procedure that would render an agreement between two parties absolutely binding. This involved the slaughter of an animal and the cutting of that carcass in two halves. One or both of the individuals involved (depending on the terms) would then dramatically trek through the two halves of the body. The implication behind the procedure meant bad news to the person walking through the two halves if they ever broke the agreement. It was as if to say: “May the same happen to me if I break this covenant”. This is confirmed in the book of Jeremiah:

“Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.” – Jeremiah 34:18-20

When the first explicit mention of this “Cutting” process is made, the Lord himself is the subject walking through the two halves:

“It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.” – Genesis 15:17

This was in order for the Lord to prove that he would be faithful to fulfill his promises made throughout the narrative of Genesis 12 – 15 as Abraham left his home:

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:2,3

“Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” – Genesis 13:14-17

“I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” – Genesis 15:

By walking through the two halves the Lord was coming into agreement with the implication: “May the same happen to me if I break this promise”. God was putting his life on his promise. He did so to make the “unchanging nature of his purpose very clear”:

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself… Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.” – Hebrews 6:13,17-18

His purpose is unchanging. The Covenant God made with Abraham is enduring and for every generation:

Genesis 17:7 – says this Covenant is an ENDURING Covenant.
Genesis 17:8 – says the whole land is their ENDURING possession.
Genesis 17:9 – says it’s for every generation.
Genesis 17:13 – says it’s an ENDURING Covenant.

God will remember this Covenant made forever:

“He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,” – Psalm 105:7-11

The Mosaic Covenant

While the Covenant made with Abraham guarantee’s the inheritance of the land to Abraham and his descendants, the Mosaic Covenant attaches to this promise some conditions necessary for residence on the land. This is because the land reserved for Israel under God’s “everlasting Covenant” is no ordinary land. The land is holy and set apart from all territory on earth:

The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. – Zechariah 2:12

Since the land is holy, it is subject to becoming “defiled” or “polluted” in the same manner of the Temple and its Holy objects:

“I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land; they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.” – Jeremiah 16:18

‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. – Leviticus 18:25

“I brought you into the fruitful land to eat its fruit and its good things but you came and defiled my land, and My inheritance you made an abomination. – Jeremiah 2:7

“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; where have you not been violated? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert, and you have polluted a land with your harlotry and with your wickedness. – Jeremiah 3:2

“Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. – Jeremiah 3:9

If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. – Deut 21:22,23

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. – Deut 24:1-4

Sin committed on the land is such an affront to God; he likens it to “the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity”:

“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. “Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.” – Ezekiel 36:18

Like a father who wishes to give all that he has as an inheritance to his children, God wishes to offer his precious land as a home for Israel to inhabit as their everlasting inheritance. However the land forces a standard of holiness from those who wish to reside within its borders:

“You must not defile the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.” – Deuteronomy 21:23

“…so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.” – Lev 20:22

This complicates the matter. On one hand, God has the imperative to deliver on his promise to Abraham by offering the land to Israel. On the other hand, Israel falls short of the standard of holiness required for entry and residence.

In Haggai 2:11-12, The Word of the Lord instructs the prophet to submit an inquiry to the priests in order to turn their response against them:

“If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’ The priests answered, ‘No.’”

Consecrated meat does not render holy other foods if proximity allowed for a brief contact to occur. This was a deliberate set up to illustrate a striking point: their residence on the Holy land does not make them Holy by default.

“Then Haggai said, ‘If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?’ ‘Yes,’ the priests replied, ‘it becomes defiled.’ Then Haggai said, ‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.'” – Haggai 2:13-14

The nature of impurity as taught by the Torah is insidious, transferring its impurity upon contact. Holiness as a spiritual quality behaves according to different rules. The word “Holy” in Hebrew carries the sentiment of being “set-apart” for God. That which has been made Holy or “sanctified” is set-apart from everything else for God’s possession. Therefore brief contact between a Holy item and an inconsequential object does not necessarily “sanctify” that object to God. God does however allow for exposure to Holiness as a spiritual quality to happen under certain situations:

“Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.” – Exodus 29:37

The consequence of exposure to God’s holiness by entering into the Temple while occupying a state of ceremonial impurity is death:

”You must keep the Israelite’s separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’” – Leviticus 15:31

LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. “Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the LORD. “So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; – Exodus 30:17-21

This is why God instructs the priests to take off their sacred garments while going into the outer court:

When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their garments. – Ezekiel 44:19

This was in order to avoid the potentially lethal “consecration” of a subject through accidental contact.

The scriptures reveal God’s presence as both awesome and lethal. For this reason, God chooses to isolate his presence, revealing only glimpses of his glory; too awesome, too perfect, too hostile to a fallen world under sin. All Israelite’s were allowed entry to the outer and inner courts outside of the Temple however only the Holy, the set-apart Levites, were allowed inside the Temple known as the “Holy Place.” The structures outside of the Temple were bronze based. Inside the Temple, all the furnishings were fashioned out of Gold. The Table of Shewbread was to the right, a golden “Menorah” or lamp stand to the left, and the last object was the altar of incense just in front of the “Holy of Holies” covered by a veil separating the two chambers. The Holy of Holies would remain covered by the veil at all times, lest the safety of the Priests become compromised through exposure to the heat and fury of pure holiness that vaporizes sin. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter just one day a year, on the Biblical Holy day known as Yom Kippur or “Day of Atonement”.

To walk on the Holy Land is to enter into God’s jurisdiction. When the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement he did so in reverent fear. Careful attention was placed on every step and action; to sin in that room would be unthinkable. In the same way, Israel was warned to exercise the same caution while treading on our Lords Holy ground.

The prophet Haggai rebuked the priests in terms that they would have understood. Holiness did not come automatically through contact and residence on the land. The Holiness of the land was made “defiled” by their condition. Through their conduct on the land, it was if they were defiantly marching into the Temple while deliberately occupying a state of impurity. If the land itself is not the agent through which Israel is made Holy then what is?

Israel was elevated above all nations through the Mosaic Covenant:

You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. – Leviticus 20:26

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. – Deuteronomy 7:6

This is was for the purpose of initiating a process of sanctification for the Holy land:

But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart [sanctified you] from the nations. – Lev 20:24

While Israel is made Holy by the Mosaic Covenant, God places the responsibility of maintaining an on-going process of sanctification/Holiness through obeying the Covenant terms required of them. The Covenant terms as defined in the five books of Moses are the Torah commandments. Israel is therefore made Holy through the Covenant, and this sanctification is maintained through faithful obedience to its terms (the Torah):

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy…keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:2,37

“…You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.” – Exodus 22:31

You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you area people holy to the LORD your Godz“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. – Deuteronomy 14:21

That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. – Numbers 15:40

And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. – Leviticus 20:8

Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. – Leviticus 11:41-45

You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations that you should be my own. – Leviticus 20:25,26

Scripture lays it down quite succinctly, and it is taught as one of the most important and foundational principles of Judaism. Rabbi Hayim Donin, former adjunct Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Detroit and founder of the Akiva Hebrew Day School writes in his book, intended as a friendly introduction to Judaism directed to prospective converts and/or returnees-to-Judaism:

“Before getting into the specific laws dealt with in this book, I wish to elaborate on the overall reason given by the Torah for demanding of the Jew that he follow all its laws and regulations: it is so that Israel will become holy or sanctified. “Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: you shall be holy, for I the Lord God am holy.” (Lev. 19:2). Again: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6). This call for the sanctification of Israel as the reason for the observance of the commandments is repeated over and over again throughout the Torah, sometimes in introducing, sometimes in concluding entire sections of laws, sometimes in relation to individual statutes.” – “To be a Jew” page 35

This principle is found in the description of the “Ten degrees of Holiness” as written in the Mishnah, linking the Holiness inherent in a space to the degree in which the environment is made subject to the restrictions and requirements of the Torah:

“There are ten degrees of holiness. The land of Israel is holier than any other land. Wherein lies its holiness? In that from it are brought the omer [barley offering brought on the second day of Passover], the first fruits, and the two loaves [offered on Shavuot], which may not be brought from any other land…” – Mishnah Kelim 1:6

The tenth degree is found in the Holy of Holies:

“The holy of holies has greater sanctity than these, because no one may enter their except the High Priest on the Day of Atonement at the time of the service.” – Mishnah Kelim 1:9

The Old Testament directs us to two main categories of law within the Torah:

And this is the law (TORAH) which Moses set before the children of Israel:45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes (2706), and the judgments (4941), which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt. – Deut 4:44-45

The Hebrew word translated into the English as “judgements” is Hebrew Strongs 4941 – “Mishpat”. A thorough investigation to every reference of law under the category of “Mishpat” reveals that it represents what is known in Christian theology as the “Civil laws” and the “Moral laws” found within them. These are laws that would benefit any secular society. “Mishpat” law primarily address and prohibit acts that are universally considered wrong by all people, with or without a divine law to define as evil. They are universally understood, because they constitute the portion of God’s law that he wires in every human conscience. Paul calls this the law that gentiles follow “unto themselves”:

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.” – Romans 2:14

The word in Deuteronomy 4:44 translated as “statutes” is Hebrew Strongs 2706 – “Chukkot”. “Chukkim” consist of all laws known to be “Ceremonial” and unique to Israel such as the dietary restrictions, purity laws, the sacrificial system and the priesthood. These are the laws known in Christian theology as “Ceremonial” laws. God requires both for the inheritance of the land:

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. – Deut 4:1

For more info regarding the Chukkot and Mishpat click this link: The Ceremonial and Moral aspects of the Torah

While the gentile nations are naturally led to obey the moral elements of the “Mishpat” under the guidance of their own conscience, only Israel performs “Chukkot.” In this manner, Israel is made distinct, set-apart and holy from other nations:

Pamela Eisenbaum, associate professor of biblical studies and Christian origins at Iliff School of Theology in Denver writes:

“The refrain, “you shall be holy, for I am holy” appears, with slight variations, many times throughout the legal portions of the Torah, especially those dealing with cultic observances. It is a kind of summary statement of the function of the covenant between God and Israel – to render Israel as elect [holy] among the nations…Greater proximity to God requires a greater degree of holiness, and holiness is maintained through the purity regulations specified in the Torah. Just as the priests within Israel are beholden to a higher standard of purity than are ordinary Israelites, so Israel as a nation is obligated to uphold a higher standard of purity than the other peoples.” – “Paul was not a Christian “, page 78.

Leviticus 25 is a reminder that although God designated Israel to receive the privilege of residence on the land, God is the ultimate proprietor:

“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” – Leviticus 25:23

As landlord, God granted Israel entry into his jurisdiction to care for the land as tenants. To use a human example, imagine approaching a rental agency wanting to find an affordable apartment. Before a deal is met, the rental agency takes out a contract with various terms and conditions. Once signed, the contract binds the tenant to the conditions held in the contract as well as the consequences outlined for breaking the conditions. If necessary, as a final consequence for failing to meet expectations, forced removal from the property by eviction could be enforced. In the same way, the Mosaic Covenant reserved curses for wilful rebellion against Torah while on the land, and blessings for faithful obedience:

See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse: There will be blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, but a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known… For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you possess and settle it, be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today. – Deuteronomy 11:26-28,31-32

The Blessings were wonderful. The consequences for disobedience however, were horrific. Leviticus 26 delivers a terrifying play-by-play describing in painful detail all the calamity that await them should they stand in unrepentant defiance against the Covenant while on the land, even down to the order in which it will come:

Sudden Terror

But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. – Leviticus 26:15-17

Oppression

If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit. – Leviticus 26:18-20

Disaster

If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted. – Leviticus 26:21-22

Defeat

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied. – Leviticus 26:23-26

If after all these curses Israel fails to change its ways, the ultimate and final consequence is eviction from the land. God has no choice but to send Israel into exile lest he tolerate the perpetual desecration of his Holy land.

Leviticus 26 concludes with: “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.” – Leviticus 26:33

The arrival of Israel capturing the land for the Lord was an act of Judgement to the people occupying the land for their sin. All the tribes/cities Israel crushed in order to take the land was an effective reminder of what would be done to them if their sin became great enough.

The Jews have been targeted, oppressed and attacked for all of history and there is reason for this. Holiness comes with a price: holiness, anything short warrants the curse; death and destruction.

Exile

After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. – Deuteronomy 4:25-27

The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. – Deuteronomy 28:61-64

“But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.” – Deut 30:17,18

But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. – 2 Chronicles 7:19-20

“But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.” – Jeremiah 16:12-13

To the Jew First

In Romans 1:16 Paul advances a point that many pay lip service to, yet fail to fully consider:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

If the gospel indeed belongs to the Jew first, one would expect a perfected approach towards accommodating the Jew upon embracing the faith, refined by the Church over the millennia. Unfortunately, the reality is quite the opposite. According to the dismay of many Messianic Jews, our gentile Christian institutions are dismally ill-prepared; often fumbling over the issue of appropriately handling and ministering to the Jew. This is the result of the sad fact that our oldest and most authoritative sources have nothing to contribute but anti-Semitic prejudice.

Paul was called the ring leader of the “Nazarenes”:

“We have found this man to be a nuisance, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” – Acts 24:5

What do our “Founding Church Fathers” have to say regarding this movement consisting of the first Jewish converts of the faith, known as the “Nazarenes”?:

“Nazarenes…They not only [read] the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do. For unlike the previous sectarians, they do not repudiate the legislation, the prophets, and the books Jews call “Writings”. They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion—except for their belief in Christ, if you please!” – Epiphanius 29:7,1-5; Williams 1987: 117-118

In a letter to Augistine, Jerome writes:

“The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy… [of those who] though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. …” – (Jerome, letter 75)

Jerome makes the inescapable concession that the “Nazarenes” (the Jewish Christians) did not regard faith in the Messiah as negating the responsibility of the Jew to keep the Torah, but instead they continued to keep it in conjunction with a faith in Jesus –just as Paul did! Despite these admissions, Augustine and Jerome fail to recognize the irony of declaring the beliefs and practices of Paul and the first Jewish Christians under the guidance of the Apostles as “heresy.” Jerome remarks that the Jews who remained in this shrinking sect were “Anathematized” by the Church Fathers.

Finally, a sentiment is made making rather clear the motivation behind all this:

“But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither one nor the other…If, in short, it shall be declared lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have been accustomed to practice in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians but they will make us Jews.” – Jerome, letter 75.

In 1546, Martin Luther wrote an anti-Jewish treatise titled “On the Jews and their Lies” in it he discussed the “Jewish problem”:

“What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews?…First their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians…Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetuate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or stable, like gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives…Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught…Fourthly their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more…To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden – the Jews…Next to the devil, a Christian has no more bitter and galling foe than a Jew.”

As this subject is explored, it’s painfully clear that much of what the Church has inherited regarding the Jewish People stands on the archaic foundation of a shameful past and the immense hatred for God’s people. The “Profession of Faith” from the Church of Constantinople epitomizes the dread that the Church had for all things “Jewish” across the board, leading to a fervent effort to purge the Jew before allowing a conversion to take place:

“I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads and sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all the other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspirations, purifications, sanctifications, and propitiations, and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants, observances and synagogues, and the food and drink of the Hebrews; in one word, I renounce absolutely everything Jewish, every Law, rite and custom. … and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Cain and the leprosy of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils.” – Profession of Faith from the Church of Constantinople: From Assemani, Cod. Lit., I, p. 105, as cited in James Parkes, The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue (New York: Atheneum, 1974), pp. 397-398

Consider what Paul writes in Romans Chapter 9:

“For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race…” – Romans 9:3

Paul expressed a desperate wish for his people to receive what is first reserved for them. Again, we fail to fully consider this, while also turning a blind eye to the many passages in scripture that make this clear.

In Matthew 15, Jesus withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon to get away from the conflict he had with the Pharisee’s and the elders. Finally, Jesus encounters someone with faith, a woman who fervently wants his attention. Unfortunately she isn’t Israelite, and therefore Jesus and his Jewish companions attempt to avoid her. Jesus in all sincerity tells her the truth; he came only for the lost sheep of Israel. The Apostles urge him to send her away but he allows her to kneel before him. Jesus then addresses her with the analogy of bread and the dogs, possibly to invite her to respond in faith. In his mercy he rewards the woman for her faith and her daughter was healed. In addition, the first big issue of the 1st Century Christian Church was not whether a Jew could remain a Jew while Christian (although much deliberation is made in this area today) but was in fact the opposite: the Christian establishment was in uproar regarding whether a gentile could remain a gentile while Christian (imagine that).

We as gentiles are truly the outsiders of the faith, not the Jews. It is through the law and the prophets, that God has provided knowledge, blessing and salvation to the Jew first, and then through the Jew, to us (John 4:32).  Because God wishes that on one should perish, God in his mercy responds to the faith of the Gentile.

Paul writes that their national rejection of the gospel should not justify a Christian disposition of arrogance against them (Romans 11:18). In fact, God himself has secured this outcome to fulfill a great purpose. Through the work of a “mystery”, blindness has temporarily set on the Jewish people for the sake of offering salvation to the gentile world (Romans 11:25).

Yet contrary to Paul’s warning, gentile Christianity has reserved, and continues to reserve a contempt against God’s people. We have taught the abolition of God’s everlasting and holy Torah. We have regarded the “Law of Liberty” as a law of oppression. Many pastors today would even teach their Jewish congregation members to forsake the sign of the “Enduring Covenant” by refraining from circumcision, and from circumcising their children. By doing so, they teach in accord with Christianity’s long history of forbidding the practice:

“The rite of circumcision, however, which began with Abraham, and was discontinued by Jesus, who desired that His disciples should not practise it…” – Origen, “Contra Celsum” book I, Chapter 22

“…through Christ Circumcision ceased…” – Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea: St. Luke. “Commentary on the Four Gospels” vol 3, part 1, Oxford, John Henry Parker.

“…All, therefore, who after that time observe circumcision and the Sabbath and the other requirements of the law, it declares alien to the Christian faith and not in the least fit to participate in eternal salvation, unless some day they recover from these errors.” – “Cantate Domino” (1441) signed by Pope Eugene IV.

“And that, by the coming of Christ, external circumcision ceased, is plain from the words of Paul; who not only teaches that we are circumcised by the death of Christ, spiritually, and not through the carnal sign: but who expressly substitutes baptism for circumcision; (Col. 2:11;) and truly baptism could, not succeed circumcision, without taking it away.” – John Calvin and John King, Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, vol. 1, 453–457.

All this does seem true in light of a surface read of Galatians 5:

“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” – Galatians 5:2

In context, Paul was not condemning the practice of circumcising newborn Jewish boys on the eighth day. Therefore the Abrahamic Covenant, and it’s sign of circumcision was not the subject under attack. Rather, the situation involved gentiles that were led into seeking conversion for salvation. According to Protestant Scholar Mark D. Nanos – most scholarship stands in agreement that the word “Circumcised” is a reference to a conversion:

“It cannot be proven, but it is generally agreed among interpreters who may disagree about virtually everything else regarding what this letter meant or means, that the context of this language regarding circumcision is that which arises in terms of Jewish proselyte conversion” – Mark D. Nanos, “The irony of Galatians” pg. 88.

Therefore, a proper reading of the text should look like this:

“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be proselytized (Converted into Judaism as a Jew for salvation), Christ shall profit you nothing.” Galatians 5:2

The question to ask in this situation is: what differentiates the Jew from the Gentile? The inheritance of the Holy land belongs to the Jew– and circumcision is the sign of that promise. The Jewish believers, conditioned by the process of entry into the Mosaic Covenant assumed that membership into the New Covenant held the same requirements of conversion (becoming a Jew and receiving the inheritance of the land) through circumcision. Circumcision represented the rite of passage before becoming subject to the requirements of the Torah in order to preserve the order to which God delivered the Covenants:

1. The Abrahamic Covenant (Circumcision)
2. The Mosaic Covenant (Torah)

Since the Torah defines God’s standard of Holiness required to live on the Holy land, it doesn’t make sense to consider the gentile (no matter how sincere or devoted) in true covenant obligation to the Torah unless they too have received the inheritance of the land. In this way, the Covenants should be understood like this:

1. Abraham and his descendants receive the inheritance of the land
2. The land is Holy and therefore God’s people are required to make themselves Holy through obedience to the Torah in order to live on the land.
3. Blessings for obedience to the Torah on the land.
4. Curses for disobedience to the Torah on the land.

The inheritance of the land is the foundation of all of God’s promises. Without the inheritance of the land, Judaism cannot stand. It all unravels – the people of Israel cease to be “Holy” nation and are doomed to wander the earth without a home, the Torah is rendered a yoke with no reward, and worse of all, God is proven a liar. Scripture assures us this cannot be:

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” – Numbers 23:19

Since the Holy land is the heart and center of all of God’s promises, the early Jewish Christians had every reason to expect conversion as a requirement for joining the New Covenant. Michael Morrison of “Grace Communion international” gives an excellent description of the many musings the Jewish Christians may have had, while contemplating a resolution to the problem:

“God has called these people, and that is good. But just as our ancestor Israelites could not inherit the promises until they were circumcised, so also these Gentiles cannot inherit the spiritual promises (salvation) unless they are circumcised. Until they are circumcised, they are strangers to the covenant of promise. We should not allow them to participate in our worship until they are circumcised; even though they have believed in Jesus our Passover, they should not partake of the meal or receive the benefit of his sacrifice unless they are circumcised. There is solid scriptural precedent and support for this. The example of the ancient Israelites was written for our admonition. Circumcision is not only a physical command from God; it also has important spiritual symbolism. It pictures repentance, but this symbolism doesn’t eliminate the need to obey God physically, too. In fact, if these people really were obedient to God, they would not want to spiritualize away God’s command to be circumcised. Isaiah clearly said that when the good news of salvation is preached, only circumcised people will be able to enter the daughter of Zion, which is the church today. These Gentiles are being grafted into Israel, and they therefore need to keep Israelite laws.” – “Old Testament Laws: Circumcision: A new way to keep an Old Law”, https://www.gci.org/articles/circumcision-a-new-way-to-keep-an-old-law/?fbclid=IwAR0XNHalGbeMs3yD0MP1Ycag_bie6hrekKUTOdVVghujlAzN5pQa3KifOjg

Dual inheritance: the Holy land and “Jerusalem above”

According to the Acts narrative, Paul and Barnabas were two key players in this dispute. Paul claimed he held special revelation granted from heaven:

“I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” – Galatians 1:11

Paul’s solution to this argument constitutes one of the many occasions where he proves his message as groundbreaking and truly inspired. There are three elements to the Abrahamic Covenant:

• The Inheritance: The Holy land.
• The Promise: The inheritance of the Holy land would go to Abraham and his descendants.
• The Sign: Circumcision.

Paul begins by referencing the scripture that the Jews would have known by heart; yet as he does so, he brings the pieces together in a way never done before, illuminating the passages in a completely novel way. According to Jewish tradition there are four ways of reading and interpreting scripture:

• The literal (In Hebrew: Peshat)
• The implied
• The allegorical
• The Secret/Esoteric (In Hebrew: Sod)

Paul soars high altitude above the literal meaning of the text (or Peshat level) in order to reveal the higher spiritual (Sod) level principles behind it all. He ultimately reveals three Higher “Sod” level elements to the Abrahamic Covenant:

• The Inheritance: “Heavenly Jerusalem” or “Jerusalem above” representing rest from works and justification through Faith.
• The Promise: The inheritance of Heavenly Jerusalem through a Faith like Abraham in Jesus.
• The Sign: Circumcision of the heart.

Paul makes two brief allusions to his vision of a spiritual holy land residing in the heaven above:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”– Hebrews 12:22

“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother [heavenly Jerusalem].” – Galatians 4:26

He then makes an appeal to the account of Abraham to consolidate his point of a spiritual process triggered through faith:

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ ” – Romans 4:1-3

As Abraham was declared righteous through faith, anyone who likewise decides to rely on trust and faith in God is also declared righteous:

“However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works” – Romans 4:5-6

Paul makes the inquiry, is this only for the Circumcised? Or does it also apply to the Uncircumcised?

“Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” – Romans 4:9-11

Since Abraham received the affirmation while still uncircumcised, he therefore stands for the process of justification through faith becoming the Father of the Circumcised as well as the Uncircumcised:

“So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.” – Romans 4:11-13

Paul then brings attention to the distinction he has been implying throughout all his teaching:

“Therefore, the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not…” – Romans 4:16-17

What promise is Paul referring to? The promise of the Holy land? No, the promise of “Jerusalem above” – justification, not by works, but through faith:

“The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” – Romans 4:23-25

Paul re-iterates this in his Epistle to the Galatians:

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”[i] meaning one person, who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16

Again, what “promises” are he referring to? The land based promises? No, the security of justification through faith:

“But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” – Galatians 3:22

Paul calls this “promise”of justification and salvation by faith, the “Promise of the Spirit”:

“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” – Galatians 3:14

The “promise of the Spirit” therefore has been made available to the gentile through this order:

• Abraham received the “promise” of justification through faith (symbolized by the inheritance of heavenly Jerusalem)
• It was promised to his “seed” meaning the ultimate seed/descendant, the Messiah.
• Through faith in the Messiah we become adopted as sons, and therefore we inherit the “promise” as well.

Through faith the gentile is made a spiritual son of Abraham, as Paul puts it, a “Jew inwardly” which results in the circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, as a sign of having received their spiritual inheritance of heavenly Jerusalem:

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” – Romans 2:28-29

The Book of Hebrews is a call for all of Israel to enter into this final rest, which is not the land, but residence in “Heavenly Jerusalem” – a rest from works:

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it…Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.” Hebrews 4:1, 6-8

The last part delivers a great blow and is absolutely crucial to understand. By implying that Joshua had not given them the true rest, the author is attempting to direct their sights to something greater than the land. And now for the concluding revelation behind it all:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[e] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” – Hebrews 4:9-10

There is indeed a Spiritual inheritance we all receive through faith. But this does not negate the physical promises of God any more than the promise of eternal life negates the responsibilities of the life we have now. God intends for the spiritual to complete the physical. As shown in the Lord’s Prayer, the ideal world is a world where heaven comes down to meet earth – the two superimposed:

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:9-10.

The Jew, having the inheritance of the land – and through faith in Jesus, having entered into the true rest of heavenly Jerusalem is the realization of what Paul so desperately wanted and wrote about in his Epistles. Messianic Jews have coined the term, “completed Jew” – a Jew is made complete through faith, just as Judaism is made complete through the revelation of Jesus as Messiah who has already come, and will return to fulfill all prophecy.

The inheritance of the land above, the “heavenly Jerusalem” does not negate the inheritance of the Holy land. The circumcision of the heart does not negate the circumcision of the flesh. The two have their place and purpose, just as the universe is comprised of BOTH heaven and earth, the macroscopic and the micro, the spiritual and the physical.

The depiction of a spiritual circumcision is not a New Testament innovation. There are many references to this concept in the Torah and the Prophets, and in context, clearly represents a heart in submission to God:

“…which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies–then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin…” – Leviticus 26:41

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?… Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. – Deuteronomy 10:12-13,,16

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done– burn with no one to quench it.” – Jeremiah 4:4

“Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” – Jeremiah 9:26

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelite’s.” – Ezekiel 44:9

The Circumcision of the heart represents a heart yielding in submission to God and his requirements. Therefore this process, as it applies to Israel, would inevitably lead to an outward observance of the commandments (the Torah) which does include physical circumcision. Many will still ask this question: “If the Completed Jew, the Jew with a faith in Jesus has received salvation and if salvation comes through faith alone – why then is Torah obedience still relevant?

The New Covenant regathering

Recall one more time, the event of God moving through the darkness appearing as a smoking oven and a flaming torch passing through the two halves of torn animals in order to place his immortal life as a deity on the promise made with Abraham. God still has yet to deliver everything he has promised. God so desires to open the land for the descendants of Abraham to enter, to enjoy, and to live in forever. However the land is Holy and a lasting residence on the land requires a determined resolve to remain Holy by faithfully keeping his terms for living on the land. If rebellion is long enough, and if Israel refuses to repent even after receiving the curses for disobedience, God has no choice but to send them into exile until they learn to regret what they have done and humble their “uncircumcised hearts”:

“But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” – Leviticus 26:40-42

Notice that God allows them back, however their hearts are still “uncircumcised” and although they have been humbled, their spiritual condition has not yet changed. Israel is undeserving; but God will remember Abraham and respond by bringing them back:

“They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 26:43-45

God does not wish to engage in a perpetual struggle with a defiant Israel that never truly changes, never truly learns. Neither is it God’s intention to allow an endless cycle of exiles as a consequence for sin, and many re-gatherings as a result of national repentance after a period of tribulation outside of the land.

Notice, that in the Old Testament the responsibility of having a circumcised heart is placed on the individual:

“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” – Deuteronomy 10:16

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done– burn with no one to quench it.” – Jeremiah 4:4

Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. – Proverbs 7:2-3 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck. – Proverbs 6:20,21

However, as the entire narrative of the Old Testament shows, God assures Israel many times of their hopeless disposition and the inescapable reality of their sin. Prophecy also guarantees that they will not seek to change their “Uncircumcised hearts” even after God makes his many pleas for the alternative. It’s clear that Israel needed to be changed from the inside out. Israel needed an act of God.

Daniel 9 reveals that the Messiah will come to bring an end to rebellion:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. – Daniel 9:24

According to the prophecy delivered to Daniel by the Angel Gabriel, the anointing of the most Holy (arrival of the Messiah) would “finish transgression” leading to an “end of sins”, “reconciliation for iniquity” and an “everlasting righteousness.”

Ezekiel 36 states that the purpose of the New Covenant is to give Israel a “new heart and a new spirit”:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

By doing so, the heart of stone representing a hardened heart against God is removed in exchange for a heart of flesh (an obedient heart, soft to Gods touch). This is for the sake of removing from Israel their rebellion against God’s Torah to bring about the internal change necessary to lead them to obey it:

As found in the original Hebrew of Ezekiel, the purpose of the New Covenant is to lead Israel to obey the Mishpat (the Civil/Moral laws) and the Chukkot (Ceremonial laws):

“And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees [Chukkot] and be careful to keep my laws [Mishpat].” – Ezekiel 36:27

This is reinforced in Ezekiel 11:20

“Then they will follow my decrees [Chukkot] and be careful to keep my laws [Mishpat].” – Ezekiel 11:20

The Hebrew makes it crystal clear that the “law” that is placed in the hearts and minds of Israel is the Torah – the combined Civil/Moral [Mishpat] and the ceremonial [Chukkot] laws, and not a new law in opposition to it:

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law [Torah] in their minds and write it on their hearts…” – Jeremiah 31:33

When Israel is changed, their hearts soft and obedient, they will be led to a lasting obedience to the Torah so that they may reside on the Holy land and enjoy its bounty and blessings forever – this lasting obedience therefore brings about the final end to the needless cycle of sin and exile. When Israel resides in peace on the land without interruption, then and only then will God finally bring about the fulfillment of his Covenant promises made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

“Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever.” – Isaiah 60:21

In all of scripture, God mentions only one act of such great importance that he announces will be accomplished with all his “heart and soul”:

“Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.” – Jeremiah 32:41

Lest the Christian respond, “Yes, this already happened during the regathering to Israel from Babylon!”the passages prior to verse 41 make clear mention of conditions that were never met in Israel’s history, and according to prophecy will only ever occur during the idyllic setting of the Messianic age:

“I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.” – Jeremiah 32:37-40

The “everlasting covenant” is certainly the New Covenant.

This answers the million dollar question: “Why does the gospel belong to the Jew first?”

To re-iterate, the gospel belongs to the Jew first in order to bring them into the New Covenant, so that they may receive a transformed heart/spirit that would lead them to obey the Torah. As a result, they will be regathered and allowed to reside in the Holy land forever in peace and security.

Now, it makes perfect sense why the Apostles and the Jewish Christians were so confused regarding the inclusion of the gentiles into the New Covenant. If we don’t have the land, what do we have? As Paul reveals, we have the inheritance of heavenly Jerusalem. Entry into this heavenly kingdom is the same for the Jew as well as the gentile, through faith in Jesus.

By joining New Testament with the Old, we have access to the full and complete picture. The Old Testament ushered in God’s revelation through the illustration of physical events, actions and requirements. It provided a narrative describing the story of a physical nation, a physical inheritance and legislation that would govern the people of that nation. In contrast, the New Covenant reveals the dawn of a spiritual kingdom over the earth, and the generation of a spiritual people with a spiritual inheritance. The two combined form one unified word and message, covering revelatory insight into a world that is both physical and spiritual:

Although the work of a mystery has set a spiritual “hardening” on Israel temporarily for the sake of saving the gentile world, Israel in the end will come to the truth:

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. 27And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27

The event of Israel finally embracing the gospel, and thus bringing their “fullness” into the faith will catalyze an explosion of “riches” in the Church:

“But if their trespass means riches for the world [Israel rejecting the gospel], and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!” – Romans 11:12

Author and pastor at “Assembly of the Wellspring” located in Samaria, Israel writes:

“The Bible declares that Jewish people entering into the salvation of the Gospel will bring a new dimension to God’s Church. The difference that Jewish believers will make, will have such an impact on the character of the Church that the results will spill over into all areas of society. The contrast will be similar to the difference between two dimensional and three dimensional objects or to the contrast between watching color TV rather than black-and-white TV. The spiritual awakening of the Jews will affect all aspects of life, and it will definitely bring a great change to the true Church of God. When hundreds of thousands of Jewish people flock to meeting places, many church leaders will have to adjust their theologies and their way of “doing church”. The situation will be similar to that of a single person who has lived alone for many years and then gets married. The person will need to adjust to living with another person, with another personality. So also will the Church have to adjust to the Jews if it is to be complete and fulfil God’s purpose for his “Ekklesia”. It will be the greatest revival ever experienced.” – The Mystery of Israel and the Church, Tony Sperandeo, page 76.