Revival - Life from the Dead!
The God of Israel and the Messiah’s uncompromised Word is as a “plumb line" in the hand of the Almighty. The Lord Yahveh was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand …” He said to Amos, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will not spare them any longer” (Amos 7:7-8). In essence Yahveh told Amos, “I want to show you what I am about to do, I am going to judge everything man has done in My name by putting the plumb line of My uncompromised truth by it and that which is not of Me and by Me for My glory is coming down under My judgments.” As the Almighty’s truth reveals the crooked foundations and bulging walls of man’s doctrines, we will begin to see a disparity between man’s religious agendas and Yahveh’s building program for a temple composed of Jewish and Gentile “living stones” (1Peter 2:5). Through a study of Romans 11, the flint knife of circumcision will continue to cut away the foreskin of man’s doctrines, which has covered our hearts and dulled our understanding of the Almighty’s sovereign will for a holy remnant. As it is written, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD Yahveh, and take away the foreskins of your hearts,…Or else My wrath will spread like fire … Because of the evil of your deeds” (Jeremiah 4:4). So circumcise your heart, and do not stiffen your neck any longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16, also see Colossians 2:11).
“He who is the “light of revelation to the Gentiles” is bringing this blessing of magnified truth, in order for the redeemed remnant of Gentiles to truly worship His Father, the Holy One of Israel, “in spirit and in truth” ”
The apostle Paul, a Jew of Jews, was sent to the Gentiles (non Jewish people), also called the uncircumcised, (Ephesians 2:11) to bring them the Messiah of Israel and all of His promised blessings. Paul knew well that ignorance, pride, jealousy , and hatred from the Gentiles toward the Jews were common attitudes among the non Jewish people. He perceived the potential for age-old anti-Semitic attitudes to grow back like an unholy foreskin over the newly circumcised hearts of these first Gentile converts. Paul’s powerful admonitions to the Gentiles in Ephesians 2-3 and Romans 9-11 were written to destroy these latent anti-Jewish attitudes. Grievously, these are the very Scriptures that Satan’s anti Jewish agenda has attempted to eradicate from Christian theology. The church’s ignorance of these scriptural safeguards has allowed the perpetuation of various distorted doctrines and unbiblical attitudes toward Israel and Messiah’s own brethren, the Jewish people. Over the centuries, this has insidiously led to a very Gentilized form of Christianity, permeated with many man-made and pagan rooted customs and traditions that have gone undetected by the majority of Gentile believers. He who is the “light of revelation to the Gentiles” is bringing this blessing of magnified truth, in order for the redeemed remnant of Gentiles to truly worship His Father, the Holy One of Israel, “in spirit and in truth” (Luke 2:32, John 4:24).
As mentioned earlier, Yahveh has always used remembrance as a divine method of ensuring His people’s obedience. In Ephesians 2-3 and Romans 11, He reminds the messianic Gentiles of their humble origins as aliens from His eternal promises. These fundamental truths were intended to provide a safeguard against Gentile hostility, arrogance, and indifference toward the Jews that they were blessed to become one with as a new creation called “one new man” (Ephesians 2:12,14-16).
“Paul said, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation”. He wanted the Gentiles to share with him the deep love of Messiah; he was emphasizing that through the Jews all the nations of the earth have been mightily blessed”
“Saul also called Paul” (Acts 13:9) prefaces this vital message to the Gentiles by bearing his heart regarding His Jewish brethren. He tells the Romans, “I am telling the truth in Messiah … my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises …“ (Romans 9:1-4). Paul continues, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them [the Israelites] is for their salvation” (Romans 10:1). Paul wanted the Gentiles to share with him the deep love of Messiah; he was emphasizing that through the Jews all the nations of the earth have been mightily blessed. Love and appreciation for the Jewish people were pulsating through his heart, a love so deep that if it were possible, he would have forfeited his own salvation in order to save some of his kindred of the house of Israel.
Following this passionate expression of his feelings for the beloved of Messiah, for whom “He came first and foremost”, Paul addresses a question that had arisen in the minds of the new Gentile believers. Was the Almighty finished with His chosen race, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they rejected their Messiah? “I say then, the Lord Yahveh has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! [Yahveh forbid!] For I too am an Israelite … Yahveh has not rejected His people …” (Romans 11:1-2).
“Yahveh asked: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you [Israel]. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands”
As a biblical scholar and Pharisee, Paul was extremely knowledgeable and familiar with the words of the ancient prophets, who continually emphasized the Almighty’s unchangeable love and eternal plan for His firstborn people the Jews. “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord Yahveh. (Jeremiah 31:37). In other words, the sovereign Creator and God of Israel said, “it is impossible, I will never reject my beloved chosen people Israel. Never, never, never!” Paul also knew that in the book of Isaiah, Yahveh asked: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you [Israel]. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
As the light of pure biblical truth pierces the darkness of man’s traditions, let us continue in Romans: “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them [the Jewish people] jealous” (Romans 11:11). It is interesting to note that this Scripture, if taught at all, is usually conveyed only in part. Satan’s strategies have succeeded in obscuring the most vital part of this sentence. Perhaps this phrase sounds familiar to you: “Rather, [because] of their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles.” This portion of Scripture, taken out of context, leads to a deceptive theology that fosters ignorance and Gentile pride to rise up against the Jewish people.
“Paul, the apostle to the former pagans goes on to say, “Now if their [the Jews] transgression [in rejecting their Messiah] be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”
The truth is this: many of Messiah’s Jewish brethren were blinded and rejected Him according to Yahveh’s God’s plan that the Gentiles would have the opportunity to receive salvation. Was it God’s plan that the Gentiles could replace Israel in Yahveh’s heart and eternal plan? No and never! This is a lie from Satan “the father of lies” and the author of anti Semitism (hostility to or prejudice against the Jewish people) and replacement theology (a teaching that the church has replaced Israel in God's plans, prophecies, and blessings) (John 8:44). Rather, the redeemed Gentiles received with their salvation a divine mandate to be the holy instruments by which the Jews would be lovingly and mercifully drawn to their Messiah, Yahshua (Jesus) (Romans 11:11). Paul, the apostle to the former pagans goes on to say, “Now if their [the Jews] transgression [in rejecting their Messiah] be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:12-15)
“The Jews’ acceptance of Messiah will be as the outpouring of the “latter rains” — which will be such a mighty outpouring of the riches of His glory, blessings, and salvation — REVIVAL!”
As much as the great apostle loved all people, his primary hope in ministering to the Gentiles was that the Gospel would flow through their humble hearts as a river of life, drawing his Jewish brethren to their Messiah. He understood the mystery and master plan of Yahveh God’s infinite mercy. This master plan in no way implies that the salvation of the Gentiles is any less important to Yahveh the God of Israel than the redemption of His first-born Jewish people. The Jews’ rejection of Yahshua (Jesus) was the catalyst for the prophesied “early rains,” the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of Truth, which brought the great harvest of Gentiles into His kingdom. Greater yet, the Jews’ acceptance of Messiah will be as the outpouring of the “latter rains” — (see Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23)—which will be such a mighty outpouring of the riches of His glory, blessings, and salvation that Paul called it “life from the dead” (Romans 11:15) … REVIVAL!
