Repairers of the Breach*

 

 This year, Passover falls on what we now call Good Friday, and the Passover week will include Resurrection Sunday. A breach occurred centuries ago between the Gentiles of the Christian faith, and its Jewish roots. These Jewish roots are a foundation to our relationship with the Messiah, Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone. The Feasts of Israel, both those commanded by the LORD, and the Rabbinical feasts, are observed and taught in the New Testament, as well as the Torah.

This breach between Gentile Christians and Jews is documented back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The Emperor Constantine, a convert to the Christian faith, urged a complete separation from the Jews and our connection in faith to them. After the reading of a letter from the Emperor, the Council established the separation of "Easter" from Passover. This declaration of separation was a blatant anti-Semitic rant. These words are disturbing to read, but necessary in order to expose the ethnic hatred and scriptural ignorance that were the causes of the breach:

". . .relative to the sacred festival of Easter. . . it was declared to be particularly unworthy for this holiest of all festivals to follow the custom of the Jews. We ought not therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews. We desire to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews..."

 

With the adaptation of the Nicene Creed, the ekklesia, the called out assembly of God's people, which is translated as "church", was rent in two. The ekklesia is composed of people from every nation, tongue and tribe. It is composed of both Jew and Gentile (Greek). In fact, the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is for the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). The Jews are the natural branches of the tree that grows from the root of our faith. The Gentile believers are unnatural, wild branches that have been grafted into that holy root:

"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles...For if the casting away of them (the Jewish branches) be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches...For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved..."   Rom. 11:13-26 (excerpt)

Paul described the Gentiles' feeling of spiritual superiority over the Jew as being "ignorant" regarding God's plan from the beginning. That very willful ignorance can result in those grafted in Gentile branches being cut off from the root! (v. 21-22). When those Jewish natural branches are grafted back into the root of faith which is Christ, as is the stated will of God when He says "All Israel shall be saved", it will mean life from the dead. This is the very miracle of "Easter", the resurrection of Christ, Who is the First Fruits of the resurrection of the dead. The Church chose the unfortunate label of "Easter" to specify the day of Christ's great resurrection victory over death. "Easter" is a form of the name of a vile pagan goddess known as Ashtoreth, or Ishtar, but the obvious misnaming of this holy day is yet another effort to separate from the Jewish and Biblical foundation.

The verses above mention the timing of the grafting back in of Israel  as being connected to when "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in". We are seeing that in the events of this generation. Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, which was trodden of the Gentiles (Lk. 21:24), has once again come into the possession of Israel. This is a sign to us that the fullness of the Gentiles has been accomplished.

The Apostle Paul urges the church of Corinth to observe Passover in its truest meaning:

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  1 Cor. 5:7-8

Christ is the personification and the prophetic fulfillment of Passover. He is represented in the elements of the Seder meal of Passover. There is no separation between the crucifixion of Christ Who is the Lamb of God, and the Passover.

The Church has also separated itself from the other feasts proclaimed by the LORD, and from the true understanding of the sabbath, when these very things from our Jewish roots of faith testify of Christ.

Our role in this time, as the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, is to mend the breach between the natural Jewish branches and the wild Gentile branches of the tree of faith in Christ- to play our part in the grafting back in of those Jewish branches. Isaiah prophesies this word of the LORD:
"And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in...and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD...Then thou shalt delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth..."  Isa. 58:12-14
One way that we have begun this repairing of the breach is through the new book, "NAZAH". This book details the scientific, medical, cultural, and Biblical facts that support the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, and the physical evidence of His resurrection, and according to the mentions in scripture (1 Cor. 13:12, Gal. 3:1, Isa. 52:13-15). See in "NAZAH" how these scriptures point us to the truth of the Shroud.
 "NAZAH" plays a vital role in repairing the breach, and restoring the natural branches into the tree of faith, and the root of Christ. 

*The above is based upon the 4/7/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

https://everlastingcovenant.sermon.net/main/main/21320220
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/  

 



Restoring the Apostolic Foundation

 

Although there are those in the Body of Christ who do not accept the office of the apostle, Christ indeed gave apostles, and other offices, to the Body "for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."  Eph. 4:11-13

Since the Body of Christ has not yet achieved this fullness and perfection, the office and purpose of the apostle has not passed away.

The apostles and prophets are the foundation of a great, living, holy, spiritual temple with Christ as the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). This living temple is commonly called "the Church", but a more accurate term is the New Testament Greek word ekklesia meaning "the called out assembly of God's people". The Ekklesia is not defined by a physical building, or denomination. It is a temple created out of living souls: "Ye are God's building...Ye are the temple of God." (1 Cor. 3:9-16). The people that are this temple are not restricted to a certain race, heritage, or culture. This Ekklesia, this living temple, is made from "all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues" (Rev. 5:9, 7:9). If any group of people, who have been called by the election of God, are excluded from this living temple, then, by definition, this temple is not the temple of God.  It is not the Ekklesia because the foundation upon which the spiritual building is being constructed is not the correct foundation.

We face just this sort of situation. The early fathers of the Church (see the Councils of Laodicea, and Nicaea), decided to exclude all observance of Jewish Sabbaths and Feast Days although Jesus, Himself, adhered to and embodied these very things, not in a religious manner, but in the spiritual truths that these appointed days represented. To deny these appointed days would be to deny Himself. Accordingly, He was circumcised on the eighth day (Lk. 2:21). At the age of twelve, He listened to and questioned the doctors of the temple, fulfilling what was required of Him at that age (Lk. 2:46, 49). Every year from His childhood onward, He attended the appointed feasts (Lk. 2:4). He participated in the Mikveh, the baptism of repentance of John saying, "...it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." (Mt. 3:13-15.

The incorrect foundation established upon the exclusion of Torah truth from the Church, was further built upon by the leader of the Reformation, Martin Luther. The same Luther who brought forth the scriptural truth of salvation through grace, by faith, also in later years, wrote shameful lies* about the Jewish people, and the Torah doctrines to which they adhered. These comments were so vile, it is not seemly to give them the light of day here. He even went so far as to advocate violence against synagogues, and the Jewish people themselves. He documented these things in his work, "Volume 47: The Christian in Society", in 1543. Though Luther started in truth with his revelation on salvation, the false teaching of enmity with the Jewish people, and with the Jewish faith, built a crooked house that had terrible repercussions in later history. It is time to restore the apostolic foundation of truth to the Ekklesia.

The following is the true apostolic foundation of the Ekklesia concerning the Jewish people from the Apostle Paul, who insisted that there is no complete Body of Christ without the Jewish believer, without Israel:

• Gentiles, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, have now through Christ, been brought near. (Eph. 2:12-13
• Christ abolished in His flesh the enmity that existed between the two groups, and made both one, breaking down the wall of partition between the two. (Eph. 2:15).
• Now Gentiles are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. (Eph. 2:19).
• This (the joining together mentioned above) is the building fitly framed together, built together, that grows into a holy temple of God. (Eph. 2:21-22).
• Paul asks, "Hath God cast away His people (meaning the Jews)?" He answers, "God forbid. God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew." He states that "even at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Rom. 11:1-2, 5).
• The stumbling of the Jews was so salvation could also come to the Gentiles (v.11). The world was reconciled to God, because the Jew was cast away, and the receiving again of the Jews shall be life from the dead. (v. 15).
• "How much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? And so all Israel shall be saved." (v. 26).

In Luke 6:46-49, Jesus taught about a house, properly built, dug deep, with its foundation set upon the rock (Jesus, the Truth, the Word). This house will stand against the flood. However, the house without a foundation, built instead upon the earth (worldly understanding and ways), will fall before the flood, and great will be the ruin of that house.

The Gospel is to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, or Gentile (see Rom. 1:16). It is necessary to restore this apostolic foundation, with Jesus Christ as its cornerstone, or the house will not stand. 

 

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*Reference: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot