Reflections of a Former “Gentile”

By Brian Hennessy
 

            I want to share a truth that has been lying dormant in the Scriptures and hidden from our understanding for centuries. But a truth that is now being fully revealed to the body of Christ - especially the non-Jewish members - in these last days. It is a revelation so simple, so fitting, and such a perfect conclusion to the whole Biblical story, that it's almost ludicrous that we didn't see it sooner.

            To help us see and accept this truth now, the Spirit has been revealing it to us gradually - much like a man being fitted for a pair of glasses. With each lens adjustment, the truth, with all its ramifications, comes into sharper and sharper focus, until the whole revelation becomes perfectly clear. Already tens of thousands of followers of Jesus Christ have been fitted with new lenses. And they are seeing themselves in the scope of God's plan of salvation with brand new eyes.

            Here then is how my eyes were opened to understand that, although I may have been born a Gentile of Irish-American descent, in Christ Jesus I have been called out from among the "Gentiles" (or "goyiim," which also means "nations"), and been grafted into the chosen family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not in some vague spiritual way, but literally and physically. In seeing this truth I finally understood that I belonged not to a metaphysical body of believers who had no physical relationship to this earth, but to a body of believers who are truly my "brothers and sisters" in the fullest sense of the words. That is, I found I have more than just a spiritual relationship with my brethren in the Lord - both Jewish and non-Jewish - but also a real physical, family relationship as well. I found we are all, physically and spiritually, part of the ongoing story of the holy nation of Biblical Israel.

            May the story of how I slowly awakened to this amazing truth become your own personal "Jewish" alarm clock.

Our Fathers

            Studying my Bible one day, I found myself reading verses in Ezekiel that the Holy Spirit had used years earlier to explain to me my spiritual rebirth. That life-changing spiritual event had come upon me unexpectedly one night, and since I had no Bible training or spiritual person to teach me, I had no idea what had happened to me. For a year and a half, my wife and I (who experienced a similar awakening at the same time) thought we were the only ones in the world who had come to know God in this intimate way. When I finally did come in contact with the Scriptures, it was this 2600-year-old prophecy by Ezekiel that gave me the words to understand my experience.

            I read the words again: "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances" ( Ezek.36:26,27).

            How sweet those words were when the Holy Spirit applied them to me those many years ago. But as I continued reading, it was the next verse that suddenly grabbed my attention this time. "And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your forefathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God" (v. 28). Dwell in the land of my forefathers? In Israel? Me? I thought that verse applied only to the Jews? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were their forefathers, not mine. Yet that verse followed right on the heels of the one about the "new heart and spirit" that God had applied to my wife and I. Which meant, somehow, this verse too must apply to us. How could this be?

            Up to then, all the teaching I'd heard on the subject of Israel and the Jews fell into two distinctly different teachings.

            The first teaching, which has been pretty much the mindset of the organized church for centuries, is usually called "replacement theology" or "supersessionism." Basically it takes the position that God has forever rejected the Jews from being His special people, and Israel His special nation. In this theology, Christians now replace Jews as the only people in Covenant with God. The only way Jews can gain any place with God now is they have to put away their useless Jewish heritage and religious traditions and become Christians. This teaching, in effect, left the Jews as a people rejected and abandoned by God and at the mercy of the masses. It ultimately led to so much Christian anti-Semitism and the labeling of Jews as "Christ-killers." I had already moved away from this false teaching when I left Roman Catholicism, the religion of my upbringing.

            The other teaching, often referred to as "the two covenants" or “two entities” was more appealing to me. Promoted mostly by evangelical Christianity, it made room for the Jews in light of the eternal promises made to them under the Abrahamic Covenant. With this teaching God now had two peoples - Jews and Christians. But the teaching implied there was a fixed qualitative difference between the two. This was expressed in the promise of the "stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore" that God gave to Abraham as an analogy so he could visualize how numerous his descendants would be. The teaching said we Christians were the "stars," meaning we were His "heavenly people." The physical Jews, on the other hand, were the "sand on the seashore," making them His "earthly people." That difference also extended to our respective rewards. Heaven was our reward, while the Jews would get the land of Israel. Usually packaged with this theology also was the "rapture" teaching which had the church being suddenly whisked up to heaven (along with the Holy Spirit, as 2 Thess. 2:6,7 was interpreted), leaving the Jews to face the antichrist on earth alone. Since I had no desire to face the antichrist, this teaching appealed very much to me. I didn't stop to consider how the Jews might feel about being left to face such a future. Or how awful it would be for them to be on the earth at that time without us praying for them or  the Ruach Kodesh (Holy Spirit) watching over them!

            But now this verse in Ezekiel suddenly challenged all of that teaching for me, and propelled me into a totally different perspective on the subject. One which time and study and the Holy Spirit would convince me was the more biblically correct one.

            What I caught in my spirit that day was that through my faith in Messiah Jesus I had somehow been physically grafted into biblical Israel - the marvelous family of Abraham that God had chosen and nurtured into nationhood and blessed so mightily. I became as excited as Alex Haley when he first discovered that the tale of his African lineage that had been passed along by word of mouth for generations was not a fable, but the truth. Suddenly, I too had "roots." I no longer saw myself in just spiritual terms. I was not just a member of a visible or invisible corporate body of believers begun in the first century known as "the church." Nor had I just been figuratively grafted into the nation of Israel, as it is described by Paul in Romans eleven. No, it was a lot more than that now. In Jesus I am now a true Israelite! In Messiah I had a land. And a people. And a history. Abraham was indeed my true ancestor, my Kunta Kinte, with a genealogy carefully written down in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

            I realized, also, that my true corporate identity was not found in the religion of Christianity. Nor in my ethnic heritage. Nor in the land of my national citizenship. But only in the chosen family of Abraham (the body of Messiah, to use a NT term) - soon to be manifested as the Israel of God. As a former Gentile, I'd been "separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." (Eph 2:12). But upon receiving the circumcision made without hands, I'd been brought into the very inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed. However, as Galatians 3:16 tells us, that "seed" is not plural, but singular. It refers to just one person: Messiah Jesus. So it is in Him, and only in Him, that a person is reckoned as a true descendant of Abraham and an inheritor. But the inclusion is more than spiritual. It brings us in completely - spirit, soul, and body.

            From then on I was not just a "spiritual descendant" of Abraham as I'd been taught. That term relied more on Greek philosophy than biblical truth. Yes, Abraham is "the father of us all" in the sense that he was the first to fully demonstrate the unwavering kind of faith that pleases God and results in righteousness. However, having a common spiritual relationship with Abraham wouldn't make me his "offspring," as Galatians 3:29 clearly states: "If you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." That Scripture clearly describes me as a physical descendant, a member of his family (not as part of God's spiritual family).

            Furthermore, because I was in Messiah, I was in the line of Abraham's chosen descendants. Many other descendants of Abraham, like Ishmael and Esau, were not. Like Isaac, I was an heir, a child of promise (Gal. 4:28). I thrilled to realize that all the patriarchs and prophets of Israel were my forefathers as Ezekiel had said. We were mishpochah (Hebrew for family). Grafted in, I was now a bone fide citizen of the "Israel of God." (At the time, I considered my inclusion in this Hebrew family of faith as some type of legal, heavenly adoption. Sort of the way Rahab was brought into the nation of Israel by her faith in helping the two spies Joshua had sent to Jericho. Or the way Jacob promoted his grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of a Gentile mother, to full sonship and an equal share of the inheritance. Or the way Ruth was received into Israel by her desire to identify with the people of Israel, and follow the God of Israel. But that understanding changed later when I received yet another marvelous revelation that convinced me I could be an actual physical descendant also. I'll explain shortly.)

One People

            The ramifications of this whole revelation were mind boggling. It meant, contrary to most evangelical teaching, God did not intend to have two different peoples - but only one! And if His intention was to have only one Israel of God (I'll explain how the modern state of Israel fits in shortly also), then there couldn't be two different rewards or inheritances, only one. And that reward would not just be heaven - but heaven on earth. Heaven itself was never intended to be the inheritance promised to the followers of Jesus. As Psalm 115:16 declares, heaven is God's realm: "The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men." Right now, heaven is the place His people go to temporarily until it is time for Jesus to return and establish His Kingdom on earth! Then He'll bring those who had "fallen asleep" back with Him in their new resurrected bodies, while, in the twinkling of an eye, He'll change those who are still alive at His coming - to reign with Him forever. The real promise to the church then is the same as the one promised to Abraham and his descendants - which was that we'd be "heir of the world" (Rom. 4:13). And especially, as all the prophets proclaimed, of Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

            In time I would see that it also gave me a whole new understanding about the analogy God gave Abraham about his offspring being as numerous as “the sand and the stars.”  Instead of seeing the sand as being one group of God’s people (the earthly Jews) and the stars as another group (the heaven-bound Christians), I saw that God was telling Abraham that his descendants would have two natures: an earthly nature and a heavenly nature. That the descendants God would choose to inherit all the promises would be his true flesh and blood descendants who would also have God’s life in them. They would be both sons of Abraham and sons of God.

            This meant, of course, that I could no longer accept the notion that there was a natural Israel and a "spiritual" Israel. That teaching only creates a division among the people of God. From God's perspective there is only one Israel. Those Jews who have been chosen to be included by God into Israel make up one part of His nation ("not all who are from Israel (Jacob), are Israel" - Rom. 9:6). And those Gentiles who have been shown mercy and grafted in - make up the other part. Some of Israel has already been brought in, and the rest soon will be. In this manner, all Israel will one day be redeemed, restored and revealed to the whole world as God's people. We're just waiting now for "the fullness of the Gentiles to come in" (both the fullness of numbers and the fullness of maturity) and the veil to be removed from Judah's heart towards Jesus their Messiah (already begun) as prophesied in Romans 11:25,26.

            The goal of joining Jew and Gentile into one people, I soon realized, is promoted throughout both testaments.

Here are some examples in the New Testament:

1. Speaking to his Jewish disciples, Jesus says, "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold (referring to those He would redeem from among the Gentiles); I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd."

2. Paul's description of the olive tree (see Romans 11) clearly identifies the Gentiles as wild olive branches who are now grafted into the one tree of Israel along with the believing Jewish olive branches.

3. The great prayer that Jesus prayed, as recorded by John, asked that His Jewish disciples and all those who would hear and receive the gospel through their preaching (which would include the Gentiles) would become one. "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one...that the world might believe that Thou didst send Me" (John 17:20,21).

4. And of course the clearest statement you could possibly want on unity between believing Jews and Gentiles was written by Paul to the Ephesian believers: "But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off (i.e. - we Gentiles) have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For He is our peace, WHO MADE BOTH GROUPS INTO ONE, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make THE TWO INTO ONE NEW MAN, thus establishing peace..." (Eph. 2: 13-15).

But this was also a central theme that ran through all the sacred writings of ancient Israel also. For example:

1. God changed Abram's name, meaning "exalted Father," to Abraham - meaning "Father of many Nations." The Hebrew word for "nations" is also translated "Gentiles."

2. Numerous verses abound throughout the Psalms and prophets referring to the uniting of both peoples. For example, "Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, 'The lord will surely separate me from His people'....for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples" (Isa. 56:3,7). Paul quotes several more Scriptures to support his case in Romans 15: 8-12.

3. The great "two stick" prophecy of Ezekiel 37:15:28. Although speaking of the reunion of Judah and Ephraim, it is also prophesying of the future union of Jews and Gentiles in Messiah (Ephraim, or the Northern Kingdom of Israel, had been cut off by God from the rest of Israel and had melted into the Gentile world). Compare Ezekiel 37:17 with Ephesians 2:14,15.

Enemies For Our Sake

            Understanding that it was God's ultimate intention to bring forth a "new Israel" made up of both Jews and Gentiles who had been cleansed and sanctified by the blood of Messiah Jesus - still left unanswered a major question for me. What about the main body of Jewish people down through the centuries who didn't believe Jesus was their Messiah? Were they still God's people?

            Studying the Scriptures from every angle, I decided there could be no question that they were. For in Romans 11 we read, "Did God reject His people? By no means!" And, "I say then, they did not stumble as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression (i.e. rejecting Jesus), salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous." I began to see God's marvelous plan of salvation. He had used their rejection of Him to actually further His plan for saving us and them as well. For Paul goes on to tell us that, "From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable." These Scriptures, which affirm their Godly position, explain why they've so strongly resisted and even actively fought against the gospel all these centuries. It was the mechanism God used to force the gospel to come to us! Their continued negativeness towards the gospel should have been a constant reminder of His mercy towards us. Instead, it made us angry - even arrogant towards them. The very thing Paul warned us about. This led us to think God had written them out of the script, but He never did. He never left them for an instant, or forgot them. He honored His commitment to their forefathers - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

            The very fact the Jews are still among us 2000 years later powerfully supports the reality of this Scriptural truth. For if God had indeed rejected them from being His people in favor of a new people called "Christians," then why haven't they disappeared? God had the perfect opportunity to let them fade into history in 70 AD when Rome burned their city and temple, and scattered them among the nations. But they not only remained a very viable community all through the centuries, but they have now even returned to their homeland and reestablished their nation, their language, and their culture. Something that has never been done before by any nation so despoiled after so long a time. And they have done it against absolutely overwhelming odds. So much so, that even if you had only one spiritual eye open, you'd have to admit they had more than their share of divine assistance. In fact, this restoration of the Jews to Israel has been the cause of a major identity crisis among Christians (whether we realize it or not). For it has challenged the long held misconception that we Christians are the only ones God has invested His name in. (A misconception that the Jews labor under as well.

            "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew" (Rom. 11:2). Nothing could be clearer. The Jews, who are called "Jews" because they are mostly the descendants of the tribe of Judah, may have rejected their Messiah, but they were never in turn rejected by God. They have continued like a people frozen in time, preserved by God for a great salvation and deliverance in the last days. And while they wait for Messiah (still a living hope among many of them), they've become a walking worldwide testimony to the historical truth and promises of the Bible. Their very presence declares that there once was a place called "Israel" through which the God of the universe was uniquely revealed. Which goes a long way towards explaining why they're so persecuted.

            However, although God has watched over them and sustained them, they have not enjoyed the intimacy with God, and the deep blessings of God, that were available to them through the shed blood of the New Covenant. A covenant that was promised to them (Jer. 31:31; Rom. 9:4). That covenant level of intimacy and blessing, as we know, is entered into only through the righteousness of faith in Messiah Jesus. Ironically, as Paul pointed out, "the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness...but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were of works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone" (Rom. 9:30-32). Many Jews did enter in, particularly in the first century, but most did not. But just because some refused the blessing doesn't mean they were disenfranchised. The remnant who believed established continuity. And "if the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also."

            Furthermore, I saw that God had tied the final redemption of the whole world to the time when they would at last believe and receive the gospel as truth. "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead?" (Rom. 11:15) Their rejection of the gospel had brought the message of salvation to the rest of the world. And their acceptance of it will finally bring about the full manifestation of that salvation - "life from the dead." Without them, God’s purposes cannot be completed. And the Kingdom of God cannot come! But only God can bring this about.

My Brother's Keeper

            An immediate consequence of this unfolding revelation was that I developed a completely different attitude towards the Jewish people. They were no longer a mysterious people whose place in the big picture was shrouded with questions. They were lost family members who had now been found. A great love and compassion arose within me for their chronic plight. They had been exiled from their homeland for centuries, persecuted in every nation where they took refuge, and continually forced to move on. There were ghettos, the Inquisition, pogroms, and the horrors of the Holocaust. How did they endure? God had to have been with them. I desired to see them finally come into their long-awaited inheritance. Especially since I realized I could now join with them in their celebration.

            At the same time I experienced a deep sorrow and repentance as I learned of the sad part Christianity had played in bringing so much of the persecution they suffered upon their heads. Well known Christian leaders like John Chrysostom and Martin Luther, to say nothing of 800 years of papal inquisitions, had savaged them in word and deed. If they needed any more reasons to oppose the gospel, we amply supplied them.
Today, I believe, we are seeing that "the set time to favor Zion," as promised in the Scriptures (Ps. 102:13) has no doubt arrived. God is again blessing the Jewish people as He said He would. The re-establishment of the nation of Israel is perhaps the biggest sign. It is the embryo, I believe, of the coming Kingdom of God. The nation of God that is yet to be born (Isa. 66:8). But equally as dramatic is the fact that more Jews have come to believe in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah today then in all the generations since the first century. It won't be long now before the final ingathering.

Homecoming

            As I became more and more convinced that I was as much a part of Israel as Isaac, Joshua, Elijah, David, and the apostle Paul, I began to notice something else. There were an enormous number of Scriptures concerning the return of Israel to her land - like the one that first caught my attention in Ezekiel. These Scriptures have been virtually ignored in Christian teaching. I'm told there are over 700 of them, almost all in the Old Testament. There are very few subjects in the Bible that are spoken of more often than the re-gathering and restoration of Israel to the land of promise. Yet it is the rare Christian teacher who applies those Scriptures that speak of this future, earth-shaking event to the church. If considered at all, they're either spiritualized or applied strictly to the Jewish people (an understanding most Messianic Jews support as well).

            Yet, when it comes to virtually every other word of promise to Israel in the Old Testament, the church quickly appropriates it. And rightfully so! "For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen" (2 Cor. 1:20). For example, when God promises Israel that none of the diseases of Egypt will be put upon her, we also receive that as our rightful inheritance. When the psalmist tell us "the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," we say Amen! When we read in the prophets that, "they that wait upon the Lord, shall mount up with eagle's wings," or "not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit," or "there is no weapon formed against us that shall prosper," - we say Amen! and Amen! and Amen! But what do we say when we read Scriptures that speak of Israel's restoration? Like... "'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, ' when they will no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them. Then they will live on their own soil.'"
We say, "That's not for us! That's for the Jews!"

            But the truth is, this Scripture, as well as all the other 700, are very definitely for us! As well as for the Jews! Some might argue that the ingathering of Jews to Israel since the late 1800's has already fulfilled those verses. I would answer, only partially. For if you look closely at the verse I just quoted you see that the exodus described will be a lot more dramatic than what we've seen so far. It will be an even bigger 'show stopper' than the parting of the Red Sea under Moses (see also Isa. 11:11)! And that was probably the most dramatic miracle in the Bible! The ingathering to date is certainly a miracle - but as the carnival barker says, "you ain't seen nuthin yet!" When it finally happens, it's going to include all of Israel, both Jew and Gentile believer, from every corner of the earth. It's going to cause the entire world to sit up and realize that our God is indeed an awesome God!

 The Last Puzzle Piece

            There's one more important insight on this subject I'd like to share with you. I first encountered it years later in a book by Batya Wooten, called, The Olive Tree of Israel. It is such an obvious conclusion to all I've shared, I still can't believe I never saw it. It was like having 2+2 in front of you and never saying, "four!" Let me share it with you now for your prayerful consideration, as briefly as I can. (I should mention also that Wooten’s teaching included an adherence to the Mosaic Law, which I could not accept.)

            This understanding is what I alluded to earlier when I said my best explanation of how we former Gentiles got into Abraham's family was through some form of adoption. Now I'd already begun to feel a tad uncomfortable with this "adopted" status when I began meeting other believers who were natural family members. These Jewish believers, known as Messianic Jews, had been coming to the Lord in droves ever since the Six-Day War.

            Most people are aware of that miraculous Israeli military victory that took place on June 7, 1967, and how it dramatically changed the fortunes of the tiny Jewish nation. But no less dramatic was the spiritual impact it had on Jews everywhere. While I was on a tour of Israel, I was told by a retired Israeli sergeant, an admitted atheist, that when word of the capture of the Western Wall of the temple in Jerusalem reached his platoon down by the Jordan River, a divine hush fell upon them all. It caused that veteran soldier, along with many others, to weep openly and unashamedly!

            This event not only marked the start of the Messianic Movement, it also ignited a powerful Zionist movement in the USSR. Millions of assimilated Russian Jews suddenly awakened to their Jewish roots and desired to emigrate to Israel. It was as if on that day the veil into the Holy of Holies itself had been penetrated and God was loosed to bless His covenant people once again. The very veil that Paul referred to symbolically, when he said, "to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord the veil is taken away" (2 Cor. 3:15,16). When God manifested His Presence that day, I believe the veil which had kept them from seeing Jesus as their Messiah for centuries, began to be withdrawn.

            But just because some Jews were awakening to their Messiah didn't mean they were ready to accept me as a true family member yet. I learned, that for the most part, Messianic Jews did not consider born-again Gentiles to be part of Israel. They had basically appropriated the evangelical teaching of "the two peoples of God" for their own purposes and were fast distancing themselves from "Gentile Christianity." I could appreciate that to a point. I knew how the church, dominated as it was by Gentiles for centuries, had treated the few Jewish converts it had made. It had required them to blend in by surrendering their traditions and shedding even their Jewish identity. Today's Jewish believers wanted no part of that kind of Christianity. Especially when they also saw how corrupt it had become with pagan influences. But separating from traditional institutional Christianity was one thing. Separating from a complete unity with "Gentile" believers in all aspects of our salvation - including our relationship to Israel - was to divide the body of Messiah once again.

            For someone like myself who had also moved away from the worldly mixture that had become traditional Christianity, and who had awakened to a love for Israel and my new Jewish brethren, this rejection was especially hard. I would attend their meetings occasionally, and although they'd be pleasant and outwardly inclusive, I couldn't escape the feeling of being a second-class citizen. They clearly had both the physical and spiritual credentials to be Israel, whereas I was considered just "spiritual" Israel. From a feeling standpoint, which they did little to discourage, I was back where I started. Explaining to myself that I had been "adopted" into Israel didn't relieve those second-class feelings very much either. Someone who is adopted, no matter how legally included into the family, never quite has the same standing as the flesh-and blood members. It takes a lot of unconditional love from the adopting parents to overcome the difference. So I'd tell myself, at least I'm in the family! I loved to quote Isaiah 56: "Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord, say: 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people...for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations."

            That's where I was when I read the book by Batya Wooten. Like me, she too had experienced this "second-class thing" being around Messianic Jews. And they felt it even tough she and her husband, Angus, had poured large amounts of time and money into helping get Messianic Movement on its feet. Their reaction was to earnestly seek God's answer to exactly, "Who is Israel?" And the answer they got back was a real eye-opener.

            The first thing I learned from reading her book was that the word "adoption" is used only five times in the New Testament. And not once is it applied to Gentile believers as regarding our inclusion into Abraham's family. It is only used in reference to how we got into God's family to become "son's of God." (Rom. 8:15,16; 23, 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5) So how does Scripture say we were included into Abraham's family then if we weren't “adopted?” For it clearly says, "If you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham's offspring..." Saying we've been spiritually "grafted in" through faith in Jesus is fine when you're using a tree analogy as Paul did, but for a full answer, we have to go back 2700 years.

The Civil War

            Similar to what happened in the United States, the nation of Israel experienced a massive civil rupture in the curse of its history. It took place after the reign of Solomon, about 900 years before Messiah. But unlike in America where the union was ultimately preserved, Israel split apart into two separate kingdoms and was never reunited. As a result, ten of the twelve tribes went north and formed what came to be called the Kingdom of Israel (also called "Ephraim"). The remaining two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, became the southern Kingdom of Judah. The story is told in 1 Kings, chapters 11-13. Now the northern kingdom quickly entered into religious apostasy (which was a prophetic parallel of what would happen to the gentilized Christian church) and never recovered. After 200 more years, God had had enough. Through the prophet Hosea he pronounced judgment on them. Not only would they be exiled from the land of Israel (with the help of the Assyrian army), but they would no longer be called "My people." They had wanted so much to live like the Gentiles, now they would live among them. Except for some fragment representatives, all ten tribes disappeared into the Gentile milieu, never to be seen or heard from again.

            From an historical point of view they were now ex nihilo. But from a prophetic point of view, their descendants would never be out of God's sight for a moment. The prophets of God had left a light at the end of their long, dark tunnel - a divine promise of future restoration to their God, to their homeland, and to their brother Judah. Right after Hosea pronounced judgment upon Ephraim he said: "And it will come about, that in the place where it is said to them, 'You are not My people, it will be said to them, 'You are the sons of the living God.' And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together" (Hos. 1:10). (See also Hos. 3:4,5; Jer. 30:3; Ezek. 37:19,20; Isa. 11:12.)

            Now, did this promised physical restoration and reunion ever take place? No, it did not. Not to the degree that the Scriptures declare it. The Scriptures themselves tell us that the banished descendants of Ephraim were still dwelling among the Gentiles as late as 440 BC (see 1 Chron. 5:26). And Josephus, writing in the first century and quoted in the Encyclopedia Judaica, also declared them to be still out there beyond the River.

            Is it possible then that those who have been called out from among the Gentiles are the actual physical flesh-and-blood descendants of those scattered ten tribes that God promised to restore one day? The Wootens think so. And I agree. It's the only explanation that makes sense. As Isaiah spoke, "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he WAS ONE I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him..." (Isa. 51:1,2). And the writer of Hebrews declares that "He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified (which would include all those redeemed by Jesus, both Jew and non-Jew) are all FROM ONE, for which reason He (Jesus) is not ashamed to call them BRETHREN. ....For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the SEED OF ABRAHAM" (Heb. 2:11,16).

The Seed Of Abraham

             The question that is most pertinent to this whole discussion then is, "what does it mean to be the seed/offspring/descendant of Abraham?" For example, how should we understand Galatians 3:29 where it says, "If you belong to Messiah you are Abraham's seed...?" Does it mean we are a literal physical descendant as I have suggested, or could it be understood in a figurative sense? That is, have Gentiles merely been declared to be Abraham's seed by reason of being in the Body of Messiah - like it was an honorary title that came with believing in Jesus. After all, Jesus is the holy Seed promised to Abraham. And since He is an actual descendant, why couldn't we simply be included in His family by reason of the fact that we are in Him. If He wants to bring all His rowdy Gentile friends into the family and call us "descendants of Abraham" - who can argue?

            I suspect most Christians, if pushed to explain what it means for a non-Jewish person to be called the "seed of Abraham," would explain it along those lines. But consider how much trouble God went to in order to make certain there was an unbroken line of descendants from Abraham to Jesus. Even when Abraham tried to palm off his servant Eliezer of Damascus as his heir, God stopped him and said, "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." (Gen 15:2-4) Obviously this physical lineage thing from Abraham was very important to God.

            One could argue, perhaps, that maybe the reason God went to all that trouble to maintain a physical lineage was simply because he had to fulfill prophecy. Like He had locked Himself into this promise to Abraham and now He just had to see it through to a literal conclusion. But it could also be argued, that once the prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus, why wasn't God free to make anyone or anything He liked after that to be "the descendants of Abraham." As John the Baptist had declared, "God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." So then turning Gentiles into descendants shouldn't be too hard a trick for God, either. But is that what He did? Or did He do what he said He was going to do through His prophets - that is locate and bring back all those lost sheep who had long ago been cut off from the family tree? Those who were at that time "excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world," as Paul described the "Gentile" believer in Ephesians 2:12.

            Consider Paul's telling argument in the ninth chapter of Romans where he goes to great length to explain that "they are not all Israel (i.e. not all chosen seed) who are descended from Israel." That is, just because you came from the loins of Abraham, as Ishmael did, or the loins of Isaac, as Esau did, that didn't automatically make you a part of God's chosen family. The point he was making was that God has reserved to Himself the right to choose who is, and who is not, a descendant "...in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand."

            But notice Paul is not saying that the definition of Israel has been expanded to include any from outside the physical family of Abraham. He is simply saying that not all the physical descendants are to be considered chosen descendants. In other words, the expression "they are not all Israel who are from Israel," is an exclusive phrase that simply excludes certain physical descendants from being counted among the chosen descendants of Abraham. It is not an inclusive phrase intended to suggest that Gentiles can or will be included. It suggests that only from among the pool of Abraham's physical descendants that God will choose those who are to be the true seed of Abraham. It is this chosen remnant who will ultimately be sanctified and manifested as the sons of the living God, as Hosea prophesied (1:10). And we know that the "mark" that distinguishes this chosen seed from the rest of Abraham's offspring (as well as the rest of humanity) is the circumcision made without hands - i.e. the circumcised heart, or born-again spirit. It is this qualifying mark of righteousness that signifies one has come into the covenant of promise that God initiated with Abraham. Now this covenant has been made available to all the descendants, those under the Law and those without the Law, through the atoning sacrifice of Messiah Jesus. This new covenant Paul explains was obtainable only through faith "...in order that the promise may be certain to all the (chosen physical ) descendants, not only to those who are of the Law (the Jews), but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham (non-Jews), WHO IS THE (REAL PHYSICAL) FATHER OF US ALL. As it is written, 'A father of many nations (Gentiles) have I made you'" (Rom. 4:16,17).

            If there are any real Gentiles in the Church, those who are not direct physical descendants of Abraham, then they are the exception rather than the rule. That, of course, is the opposite of what we have all thought. But my own sense is that every believer is physically the seed of Abraham. If I’m wrong, sue me! But I love the idea! And I am convinced it is the gospel.

            Consider this fact also. Isaac was not the only son of Abraham that God promised to multiply greatly. He made the same promise to Ishmael (Gen. 16:10) who was to become the father of the Arabs. Today there are over one hundred million Arabs in the world - but only 15 million Jews! Where in the world are the rest of the descendants of Isaac? Shouldn't the chosen line of Abraham have at least as many as descendants as the line not chosen? (No doubt many of his chosen seed are hidden among the Arab world as well, just waiting to be found by the Holy Spirit.)

            I believe the following verses by Isaiah were speaking of the time when God would find and miraculously restore the missing descendants - much to the shock of the Jewish nation who would be alive in that day (which I believe is this day). He writes: "The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, the place is too cramped for me; make room for me that I may live here. Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has begotten these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am barren, an exile, and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold I was left alone; from where did these come?'" (Isa. 49:20, 21).

            The words are reminiscent of Jacob's amazed reaction when he learned that the Gentile leader in Egypt was none other than his son Joseph, who he had long ago given up for dead. In the same way modern Jacob (the Jewish people) will be amazed when they discover that their long lost relatives have been hiding in the Gentile Christian church all these centuries. It will be like we came back from the dead. Which of course we did - having been resurrected with Christ!

A Few More Considerations

            Without going into any lengthier discussion about this highly rewarding and thought-provoking revelation, let me give you just six Scriptural considerations to chew on. Like everything else in our walk with God, this whole revelation must be received by faith. I know of no way it can be scientifically proven, unless possibly through DNA testing.

            Also, this should not be considered part of British Israelism (made unpopular by Herbert Armstrong of the Wide World Church of God), which traces the ten lost tribes to the white Anglo-Saxon nations of Europe. Hosea declares that the people were swallowed up among the nations." (8:8) Like food swallowed and absorbed and transformed into skin, hair and bone, the descendants melted into the Gentile world and became "bone of their bone." The only way they can be recognized or "found" again is through the "born-again" experience. As Hosea says in 1;10: "they will be called the sons of the living God."

Likewise, those people groups around the world who have been found with names and practices that seem to connect them to several of the lost tribes, don’t negate what I’m saying either. First, they may well be actual descendants. But that doesn’t disqualify us from being descendants, also. And if they are actually descendants, they still lack two important qualifications. First, they are not now Israelites or “Jews.” If they are part of the ten tribes then they are “not my people” as declared by God. They are officially Gentiles, just like we were. Second, they have to believe in Jesus to get back into the game. A true descendant of Abraham must not only be a descendant but also be born again to come into the inheritance.

Here is some Biblical food for thought:

1. Jeremiah prophesied that God would make a new covenant "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31). (Notice there is no mention of Gentiles.) This is the covenant Jesus inaugurated at the Last Supper. Now we know the Jews are the physical descendants of the house of Judah - the ones with whom Jesus came and cut the promised new covenant. So what about the descendants of the House of Israel? When will they be included into the promise?  And how do we explain the inclusion of the Gentiles into this covenant in their place - unless they ARE those descendants? How then can we spiritualize the descendants of the other house - the house of Israel - and say they are born-again peoples who came from some other families?

2. Replacement Theology says the church has spiritually replaced the Jews, the physical descendants of the house of Judah, as Israel. Paul clearly refuted that notion when he told the Roman church, “From the standpoint of the gospel they (the unbelieving Jews) are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Rom. 11:28). So if it is wrong to disenfranchise the physical descendants of one house (the House of Judah) by saying the church has replaced them spiritually, why is it okay to disenfranchise the physical descendants of the other house (the House of Israel)?  If we affirm that the Jews today are the biological descendants of the House of Judah and no one can take their place, why do we switch gears and say God has replaced the descendants of the House of Israel with Gentiles who are NOT actually physical descendants but “spiritual” descendants? Would God literally keep His promise to one house and not the other? That's not being consistent. In fact, it is just another form of Replacement Theology. 

3. In Paul's continuing argument to include Gentiles into the blessing of salvation that Israel was experiencing through faith in Jesus, he writes to the Romans and quotes Hosea 2:23: "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'Beloved.'"(Rom. 9:25). This prophetic word, which Paul applies to the born-again Gentiles, was originally and specifically directed to the members of the banished northern kingdom.    

 4. In Ephesians, Paul talks about God joining Jews and Gentiles in Messiah and making them "one new man." In the passage he quotes Isaiah, saying "And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17). He clearly identifies the born-again Gentiles as those "who formerly were far off..."(v.13.) Although this "near and far" terminology certainly has reference to our spiritual closeness to God, in Jewish circles it was always understood geographically as referring to the Ephraimites who were "far" from Jerusalem, and the Jews who were "near.

5. Paul's olive tree analogy in Romans 11 is very revealing. He defines the Jews as "natural" (or cultivated) olive branches. And we former Gentiles as "wild olive branches." What we have overlooked is that the Bible is also identifying us both as olive branches. That means we former Gentiles aren't branches from a palm tree, or a horse chestnut tree. We're of like stock. And the fact that we're called wild (uncultivated) fits the Ephraimite scenario precisely, implying that long ago we too were once cultivated and cared for, but were simply "let go."

6. When Jacob crossed over his blessing hand upon Ephraim, the youngest son of Joseph, he prophesied that "his descendants shall become a fullness of Gentiles" (Gen. 48:19). The only other place in the Bible you find that expression - "melo goyiim" - is in Romans 11:25, 26 where Paul prophesies of the mystery hidden from all the ages but now revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Spirit. He writes to us: "Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles (melo goyiim) has come in, and so all Israel will be saved..." I believe the prophecy Ephraim received so long ago will be completed when his chosen descendants, the lost sheep of the household of Israel to whom Jesus was sent, have been found and spiritually retrieved from our wanderings among the Gentiles.

7. The parable of the Prodigal Son takes on new meaning. The Prodigal, the youngest of two brothers, could easily represent Ephraim who went off to a far country (as Israel was taken away by Assyria). The jealousy that his joyful homecoming aroused in his older brother (representing the House of Judah), who had faithfully adhered to his father's commandments (keeping the Law), fits perfectly with Romans 11:11. There we are told that the Law-abiding Jews would react in the very same way as the older brother when they saw the sinful Gentiles being declared righteous by faith. But the point is - the parable reveals they were blood brothers!

            This revelation of the physical connection that "Gentile" believers have to Israel, although present in the writings of the New Testament, has been hidden from the church's understanding for 2000 years. It was our peculiar blindness, just as Judah endured her blindness through the centuries concerning her Messiah. But now the son of David is opening the eyes of all Israel to bring us forth as one nation under one King!

            "Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite and have one leader; they will return from exile together; what a day that will be - the day when God will sow His people in the fertile field of their own land again" (Hosea 1:11 LB).

A Family Album

            If what I have outlined here is indeed true, as I believe it is, then the whole Bible is a continuous story about the development of one man's faith. And how God used that faith to bring forth a family that would redeem all mankind - indeed all creation (Rom. 8:19-23). That man, Abraham, was promised a son (read also "Son") and "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Rom. 4:3). After the first promised son, Isaac, was born, there came forth from him a multitude of descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and sands on the seashore - just as God had promised. However, it wasn't long before this family hardened their hearts towards obeying God's commands. That brought them under the justice of God's Law, which resulted in them being scattered all over the world. In time, every race and nationality were represented in this unique family, so that the prophecy of Abraham's name came to pass. He had become "the father of many nations."

            But because this family had become alienated from God as a result of their sins, this allowed God to now show forth His mercy to "those who were far, and to those who were near" (Eph. 2:17; Rom. 11:32). That is, to the seed who had gone among the nations and become Gentiles, and to those who had stayed home - namely the House of Judah. To us all then, Jew and non-Jew, He sent His only Son so that we might be reconciled to God and prove to be the chosen descendants of Abraham. As the Good Shepherd "sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel "(Matt. 15:24), Jesus redeemed us all - at the cost of His own life.

            For the past 2000 years the good news of this redemption has gone out to all nations, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, so that all the sheep may be found and gathered together. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me," Jesus declared (John 10:27) And as each of us awaken in our own time and century, slowly but surely the family is being restored. And when all the Gentiles have come in, and the hardening on Judah's heart is softened, then all Israel will be saved (Rom 11:25,26). And the Kingdom will come.

            "'Therefore behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when they will no longer say, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil" (Jer. 23:7,8).

Thy Kingdom Come

         Many Christians think the kingdom of God is a New Testament Christian idea, not realizing the Jewish nation had long been waiting for such a kingdom. They may not have understood all the ramifications such as the degree of holiness required, or that it would include those from among the Gentiles, but the prophet Daniel had clearly caused them to look for this final kingdom on earth (see Dan. 7:14,22,27).

           In the first chapter of Acts we read how Jesus, following His resurrection, was speaking continually to His Jewish disciples about "the kingdom of God." But three verses later, we hear the disciples suddenly asking, "Is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" They had transitioned from His discussions about "the kingdom of God" to restoring the kingdom "to Israel." And Jesus did nothing to discourage them from making that mental transition. He merely said it wasn't for them to know the timing of that event. Only the Father knew that.

            In other words, the disciples realized that the "kingdom of God" of which Jesus was speaking, and the "kingdom of Israel" which they longed to see restored, were one in the same kingdom. To them the "kingdom of God" simply meant that the dismantled and scattered kingdom of Israel would again be raised up and reunited. It would become again the powerful nation they had once known under King David. Only much more so. Because this time the King of Israel would be Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the Son of God. It was He who would restore Israel to its promised glory and greatness as the prophets had spoken. It was He who would defeat all the enemies of Israel - who were also the enemies of God. It was He who would usher in world peace, righteousness, and everlasting joy in which the nations would beat their swords into plowshares, and the wolf would lie down with the lamb.

            Knowing that Jesus was their promised King, the disciples just wanted to know when He would assume His earthly throne. "Is it now?" they asked hopefully.

            The more I studied this subject of the kingdom in the New Testament, the more I realized that the term "kingdom of God," "kingdom of heaven," "kingdom of Israel," and "Israel of God" were all referring to the same entity. Just as the "children of God" and the "descendants (or seed) of Abraham" are the same people. Those of us who are non-Jewish believers haven't been able to clearly see this connection because we have been taught we had no part in the nation of Israel. As a result, we had no deep, personal interest in seeing the restoration of this ancient kingdom of God's people, or identifying it with the promised kingdom of God. Any interest we might have in the restoration of Biblical Israel was in seeing prophecy fulfilled and being reassured that if God kept His word to the Jews, he would do so also for the church. As a result, we separated the kingdom of God from its connection to the earthly kingdom of Israel and treated it only as a spiritual kingdom. This was the fruit of Plato's Greek philosophy rearing its evil head again in which the physical is seen as corrupt and undesirable, while the spiritual is ideal and pure and off-planet.

            Consequently, our sole focus on the kingdom of God for centuries has been on the spiritual rule of Jesus in our individual lives. This heavenly rulership, which is exercised by the Holy Spirit operating within each of us, is certainly the major part of what "the kingdom" means - for as Jesus declared, "the kingdom is within you." That is, the more our lives are subjected to the interior, holy authority of King Jesus, the more His kingdom reign is established in and through us. But that is only the "inside" view of the kingdom. The character side. The part which is presently being perfected so that we are brought into Christ-likeness. But there is also an "outside" that is still coming; the outward physical, corporate manifestation of the Kingdom. Unless the spiritual kingdom is also seen as united to the historic, physical kingdom promised to Israel here on planet earth - and that we are part of it - then any desire we might have of seeing its final glorious manifestation will be robbed of real passion and substance. As a result we won't be properly prepared for the next step of receiving it. Which is why I believe the Spirit is revealing all this to us at this time in history.

            I have found that the moment a believer identifies personally with Israel, the kingdom suddenly becomes very REAL! It ceases being an abstract, spiritual concept. It goes from being an invisible Kingdom to one that is very visible. Very tangible. Jesus becomes a real king with a real earthly "spiritual" kingdom that we can now relate to. Suddenly the words the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary about Jesus take on greater meaning: "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32, 33). All believers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, are included in that kingdom reign. Peter makes that clear when he applies to the Church the words Moses addressed to Israel: ""You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..."(1 Pet. 2:9; Ex. 19:6).

            The apostle John also informs us of our future dominion on earth with these words in the Book of Revelation: "...with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:9,10).

            Jesus told us that the "gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations, then will the end come" (Matt. 25:14). We have preached about the King and about the holy nature of His kingdom, defining it as being "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). But we haven't begun to preach yet about the identity of the kingdom so that we can truly grasp what we are apart of. Maybe when we start preaching in all the world a gospel of the kingdom of God that includes the understanding it is the purified, re-united kingdom of Israel - then the Lord's prayer will be answered, and the kingdom will come.

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