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The Apostle Paul was a Jew, he, his family, his race, his entire nation had for a more than a 1000 years rehearsed and prepared themselves to receive their Messiah, their Anointed One, their King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Those who looked forward to His coming in faith and with a heart after God, recognized Him when He arrived, and watched Him do what He was supposed to do, to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Those who trusted in the Law and their Traditions rather than God, missed Him and did not recognize, nor understand who He said He was, The Messiah, whom Moses spoke and wrote about. Paul persecuted this remnant of Jews who loved God and by faith accepted their Messiah. On the road to Damascus, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, appeared to him and opened Paul’s eyes to see who He was and who these people were, His body, His church, the called out ones. It was very natural and very easy for Paul to see Yeshua and to understand who He was and is. Paul understood the Old Testament, he knew all the facts about the Messiah, about God, about his people and that they would received salvation from their Messiah, and he received Yeshua, the Messiah as his own salvation. The mystery of the Gospel, the astounding, revolutionary concept that exploded Paul’s mind and heart was that his Messiah, his King, his Lord, was also the salvation of the Gentiles, the nations, the heathen, the pagan, the perverse, the damned. The fact that Almighty God wanted to step down below his holy Jewish people and give salvation to the Gentiles was the mystery that had been hidden in ages past. This was why Paul was compelled to leave the unbelieving Jews to Peter and himself go to the nations, those outside the land, culture, and religious system of Israel. Paul received the revelation that Jeremiah’s articulation of the New Covenant went beyond just the blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but to any and all who accepted Jesus, the Messiah by faith. He admonished us to beware of the religious Jews and their understanding of the Law and their Traditions, but instead to embrace by faith the grace of God toward us, that of Yeshua, the Son of God fulfilling every part of the Law and by our acceptance and devotion to Him, receiving not only pardon from the result of our sin, from death, but also receiving from Him, abundant life, relationship with the Almighty God, without any veil or curtain, direct access into the most Holy of Holies, the very throne room of the King of the Universe. Paul also admonished this remnant of Gentiles not to become conceited and prideful that they had received the Messiah because of the hardness of the Jewish heart, but to humbly accept the grace of God, knowing that one day the Time of the Gentiles would be fulfilled and God would turn His attention back to the blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, fulfill His promises to them, bring them back to their land, and reveal to them their Messiah. This, God is doing today! He is looking with favor upon His people and it is the duty and honor of those who have received the Messiah, to follow His heart and encourage our elder brother, who is also a prodigal son, to return home to Our Father. The inclusion of our Jewish believing brother is the catalyst to worldwide revival and the greatest harvest of souls. As a mainly Gentile remnant, the Body of Christ will never fulfill the Great Commission until we live the Great Commandment in regards to our Jewish brothers. Yeshua prayed, “Father make them one, as we are one, so that the world will know that you sent me.” Generation after generation of believers have failed to witness to the world, because we have cursed or forgotten our brothers, and this is not the Father’s heart! It is the elder (to the Jew first) and the younger (and then to the Greek), together (as one) that will cause the world to know and understand that the Father has sent the Son to save them! Received October 12, 1997
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