This is disconcerting to me. Many, in their effort to do such a masterful job of keeping focusing in developing the accurate typologies in and through the lives of the patriarchs. However, most seem to usually leave the context and get carried away with a romantic look instead of a biblical one.

One author in particular wrote a book in a genuine effort to dispel what Paul refers to as “the mystery of the gospel.” In it the author states masterfully that we gentile believers have covenant rights by adoption as seed in the type found in Genesis 48. Here he interprets the text as prophetically describing the type; (the adopted sons of Jacob/Israel through Ephraim and Manasseh) as representing gentiles ultimately being adopted through Messiah (the adopted son of Joseph, Mary’s husband), into Israel. This, in my opinion, is where the type is being seen as the reality.

Normally these teachers and authors acknowledge the typology seen in Jacob/Israel, Joseph, Ephraim/Manasseh accurately but instead of translating the message into what the typology represents they continue in the typology! I’m not emphatically saying that we believing gentiles are NOT descendants of Ephraim. That may be the case! However, even if that is the case, according to the Scriptures, it is NOT the point!

Since the phrase “mystery of the gospel” is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, lets take a few minutes and consider some of the text surrounding that phrase. Specifically, lets see how many times the phrase “in Israel”, “into Israel”, “by Israel” and/or “through Israel” are mentioned in this letter. After doing repeated word searches of the above, I found exactly NONE! Not once does Paul make a reference to the Ephesian believers being found “in, into, by, or through” Israel. He does reference gentile believers as being once separated from “the commonwealth of Israel.” You might want to read my article on commonwealth but even that is in reference to the civil polity of citizenship that would depict their community as what it was supposed to be; a called out people unto Messiah, who serve HIM and not an entity unto itself. So, when Paul suggests in Ephesians that there is a mystery regarding the gospel, he does not disclose that mystery as being found IN any one people group.

However, when doing a similar search in Ephesians using the terms “in, into, by, through” as referenced to YESHUA, MESSIAH, GOD, LORD, etc, we find this;

“IN YESHUA”; 6 reference verses

“IN MESSIAH”; 4 reference verses

“IN YESHUA Messiah” 5 reference verses

“IN HIM” 6 reference verses

“THROUGH WHOM” 1 Reference (speaking of YESHUA)

“BY HIM” 2 reference verses

“IN The LORD” 6 reference verses

Lets also do a similar search for the terms “in, into, by, and through” in reference to THE HOLY SPIRIT!

“IN the SPIRIT” 4 reference verses

“THROUGH HIS SPIRIT” 1 Reference

“BY WHOM” 1 Reference (speaking of HIS SPIRIT)

Okay. Now lets add it all up and see what we have;

“IN, INTO, BY, Through” Israel= 0

“IN, INTO, BY, Through” YESHUA (in one form or another) = 30

“IN, THROUGH, BY” The SPIRIT = 6

So Paul, in his effort to inform and encourage the Ephesian believers concerning the mystery of the gospel makes 36 references of who it is that they are in, into, by, through. Thirty six references in six chapters is an average of six times per chapter! Six times per chapter Paul reminds them, in one form or another that their identity is IN the Person the types in Torah spoke prophetically of. Paul does not mention the types used to establish the true (maybe say “even once”) one time in his disclosure of the mystery of the gospel to the believers in Ephesus.

Now, here is the kicker! The one reference “of Israel” mentioned regarding the “commonwealth” is offset by:

“OF Messiah” 12 reference verses

“OF GOD” 17 reference verses

“OF The LORD” 3 reference verses

“OF The SPIRIT” 3 reference verses

That’s another 35 reference verses to THE ONE WHO the type depicted! All total, that is 71 references verses of the total 153 verses in Ephesians! That comes to nearly 12 references per chapter, or almost one reference in every other verse to THE ONE WHO we find our identity in!!!

So, what is my point here? Is it to once again denigrate Israel and exalt a gentile replacement? GOD FORBID! My point is simply that YHWH had given HIS plan through HIS chosen people. HE typified that plan for those who would be able to see beyond themselves and find their identity IN HIM! Because man has not done very well at remaining focused on the differences between the type and the Point of the type, we find ourselves constantly wrangling about how this or that fits into our theology…

In conclusion, let me summarize;

• We have been adopted by THE FATHER into THE Family of YHWH by believing what HE said and did through HIS SON; YESHUA.
• We prove our adoption by doing the FATHER’S will and are recognized as the brothers and sisters of YESHUA, along with all from every nationality who believe and obey what GOD has said.
• We have been given citizenship in the city which comes down from heaven and should not be preoccupied with any earthly city in the meantime… May you prosper, even as your soul prospers!

Upon speaking with professing believers, and discussing the necessity of Biblical obedience, all too often we hear, “Jesus said (in Matthew 22:37) that we are just to love God and our neighbor. That has nothing to do with us having to keep HIS Commandments.”

However, upon further investigation, we find that the Bible does not support this premise. In fact, the Bible says quite the opposite! Lets look at the Scriptures that were in existence when JESUS gave HIS answer to the question asked by “a lawyer” and see what those Scriptures actually have to say;

Lets begin with what was given to Moses and written by “the finger of GOD”, known as “The Ten Commandments”;

Exodus 20:4-6
You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:10 At the second giving of The Commandments, says the same thing.
“…but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Deuteronomy 7:9
“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

Deuteronomy 11:1
“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.

Deuteronomy 11:13
‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul… (Notice; very similar wording used in Mat 22:37)

Deuteronomy 11:22-23
“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—23then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.

Deuteronomy 19:9
and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways,

Deuteronomy 30:16
See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments…

Joshua 22:5
But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Notice: similar wording to Mat 22:37)

Nehemiah 1:5
And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love YOU and observe YOUR Commandments…”

Daniel 9:4
And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments…”

So, when JESUS stated in Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Is HE changing the Law that GOD had set previously? Or is HE simply re-emphasizing it, knowing what “the lawyer” who asked the question, would be well aware of? That loving GOD is always spoken of in The Scriptures, as synonymous with keeping HIS Commandments?

We must also keep in mind who JESUS is according to what John the apostle says, in John 1:
Verse 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
If JESUS is The Word, and The Word IS GOD, then JESUS is GOD!
Verse 14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John is obviously stating that this YESHUA IS THE Word of GOD, who has come in human form. Now, ask yourself; “What Word is John referring to, as coming in human form?” The answer: The only Word of GOD written and recognized as The Word of God at the time of John’s writing; The Hebrew Scriptures which included The Torah(5 books of Moses), The Writings and the Prophets, or what is referred to today as The Old Testament.
So, JESUS in coming as The Word(GOD), Who does NOT change, (Malachi 3:6) cannot negate, do away with, set aside or break ANY of The Word that HE epitomizes, or else HE would prove HIMSELF a false teacher/prophet, according to that very word in:
Deut 13:1-5 (and elsewhere in The Scriptures)
“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.”

So, when JESUS states in John’s gospel:
John 14:15
““If you love Me, keep My commandments”

John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
We know that HE is not introducing a new set of commandments or negating those given in Old Testament. But in fact, HE is confirming them!

John also confirms The Commandments in his epistles.

1 John 5:2-3
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

2 John 6
This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

So, I hope by now that you are beginning to realize that what is being taught by so many today, regarding The Commandments of GOD not being relevant to today’s followers of MESSIAH, is simply NOT in accordance with The Word of GOD! I hope that you are beginning to realize that to love GOD “with all of your heart, soul and mind” IS to walk according to The Commandments of GOD!

Because many have mistakenly thought that John 1:17 says that “grace began with JESUS” or “at the cross”, I offer the following list of verses from the Old Testament Scriptures, using the word “grace” (as found in the NKJV). May we be challenged in our thinking regarding HIS “grace” throughout the ages…

Genesis 6:8 – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

H2580 ïç• cheòn khane

From H2603; graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or
objectively (beauty):—favour, grace (-ious), pleasant, precious, [well-] favoured.

Same word used in:

Exodus 33:12-17 – “Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ ¹³Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” ¹⁷So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Exodus 34:9 – “Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Proverbs 3:34 – “Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.

Jeremiah 31:2 – “Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when I went to give him rest.”

Zechariah 4:6 – 7 –“So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. ⁷ ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!

And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

Ezra 9:8 – “And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

Here, a different word is used:

H8467 äpˆç”z t^echinnaòh tekh-in-naw’

From H2603; graciousness; causatively entreaty:—favour, grace,
supplication.

Then in the New Testament, the 119 uses of the word “grace” is from the Greek word “charis.”

G5485 ÷Üñéò charis khar’-ece

From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or
concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the
heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):—acceptable, benefit,
favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

Now, asking ourselves; What is this “divine influence upon the heart”? We would have to realize that it is the work of The Spirit of GOD as promised in

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

and Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

This was officially realized as recorded in Acts 2, in reference to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks!

Contrary to popular belief today, which asserts that grace is in opposition to the Law, the ministry of the Spirit is in direct application of The Law of YHWH! But not according to man and being written on stone, but according to GOD and being written on the heart, confirming the work of the Spirit, as seen reflected through the life!

This helps us understand the verse that we began with;

John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Is this verse saying what today’s Christianity says? That grace began with the New Testament and cancels out the Law of Moses? Or is it saying that the ministry of the Spirit, accomplishing what Moses could not accomplish, is actually that “divine influence upon the heart” by the Spirit in conjunction with the Word of God, that existed at that time; which would be The Law of God, epitomized by JESUS as “the Word of God?” I believe that it is the latter!

How about Ephesians 2:8-10? For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. the gift of God,

Is Paul saying that “grace” is in opposition to the Law of God that existed at the time of his writing? How can he be?

What is Paul’s basis for “faith” here? It has to be the same basis as established from Genesis. That is “believing what GOD has said” as in opposition to what man has said. We see that clearly in Genesis 26:5 “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

That’s another one of those verses that today’s Christianity does not understand because of being told that the Law was given at Sinai…rather than it finally being written down at Sinai…

Back to Eph 2:8-10… Isn’t Paul saying that the work of grace, as being applied by the Spirit, is a gift and not something that can be attained by works of the flesh? And that the work of grace is in conjunction with the Word of God, which when believed is called biblical faith?

Isn’t Paul saying that GOD’S goal from the foundation of the world, is that HIS people would believe what HE has said?, that HIS people would believe and obey HIS Word? And that HIS people would be empowered by HIS Spirit to obey HIM, to keep HIS charge, HIS Commandments, HIS Statutes, and HIS Laws? (i.e. producing “good works”)

So, if we consider the concepts of “grace” and “faith” according to their definitions and usage in the Scriptures, and not according to the traditional applications of popular thought today, we must come to the conclusion that grace is NOT in opposition to GOD’S Law and neither is biblical faith! As a matter of fact, the folks that stir the ire of the Dragon in the Revelation (below) are folks that have harmonized those two concepts beautifully!

Revelation 6:10 says “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

What was their “testimony?”

Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Again, today’s Christianity tries to establish that having faith in Jesus means to have nothing to do with the Commandments of God! They say that for you and I to “walk as JESUS walked” (as stated in 1John 2:5), because they have decided that “grace” has nothing to do with HIS Law, would be us walking in legalism! The truth is; Walking in opposition to HIS Law is walking in IL-Legalism, or what the Bible calls “lawlessness.”

Obviously, one of us wrong. After you have studied the above Scriptures, it is up to you which perspective to believe… God and HIS Word? Or man and his…?

May YHWH guide you by HIS Spirit to walk according to HIS Word…

Verse 17a “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets”

“destroy”: Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries

G2647

êáôáëýù kataluoô kat-al-oo’-o

From G2596 and G3089; to loosen down (disintegrate), that is, (by
implication) to demolish (literally or figuratively); specifically (compare G2646)
to halt for the night:—destroy, dissolve, be guest, lodge, come to nought,
overthrow, throw down.

Notice the context: It appears that HE is referring to BOTH the Law AND the Prophets. The context seems to suggest that whatever HIS intention is for EITHER, is HIS intention for BOTH. Has HE done away with the Prophets?

Verse 17b “I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

“fulfill”: Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries

G4137

ðëçñüù pleôrooô play-ro’-o

From G4134; to make replete, that is, (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a
hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute
(an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:—
accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full
(come), fully preach, perfect, supply.

Same Greek word translated “fulfill” in;

Matthew 3:15 – Is JESUS saying here “to do away with all righteousness?”

Philippians 2:2 – Is Paul saying here “to do away with his joy?”

Colossians 1:25 – Is he saying here “to do away with the Word of GOD?”

2Thess 1:11 – Is he saying here “to do away with HIS good pleasure?”

Proponents of the belief that JESUS “fulfilled” the law from this point on in this chapter, thus “destroying” or “doing away with law altogether”, also say that HE intends to now introduce a “new standard” or set of laws state that HE now proceeds to negate the “Old Testament Law” throughout the remainder of this chapter. These people became known as “Antinomianists” during the 2^nd / 3^rd centuries. This word came from the Greek word for “lawlessness” found throughout the New Testament. (See References on page 2)

Here is what the Holman’s Bible Dictionary says about this early movement:

ANTINOMIANISM (an tih noh’ mih an ihsm) The false teaching that since faith alone is necessary for salvation, one is free from the moral obligations of the law. The word antinomianism is not used in the Bible, but the idea is spoken of. Paul appears to have been accused of being an antinomian (see Rom. 3:8; 6:1, 15). While it is true that obedience to the law will never earn salvation for anyone (Eph. 2:8-9), it is equally true that those who are saved are expected to live a life full of good works (see, for example, Matt. 7:16-20; Eph. 2:10; Col. 1:10; Jas. 2:14-26). Since we have been freed from the dominion of sin through faith in Jesus, we have also been freed to practice the righteousness demanded by God (Rom. 6:12-22).

In Legge’s “Forerunner’s and Rivals of Christianity” a work on the history of the Early Church, he states”

(in the late 2^nd to early 3^rd centuries) “Some well-known Church Fathers who came from Gnosticism were Epiphanius, who had been a Nicolaitan, Ambrose of Milan, who had been a Valentinian, and Augustine, who had been a Manichean for 9 years before joining the Catholic Church. All these Gnostic sects were distinguished by their rejection of the Old Testament Law, some of them even rejecting the Mighty One of the Old Testament, and some of them even equated the Mighty One of the Old Testament with the Evil One! In their rejection of the Old Testament Law, the Valentinian Gnostics even rejected all moral laws, leading to scandalous living.

The Marcionites were later on refuted, but they also contributed toward the aversion to, and even rejection of, the Old Testament. Manes and his followers, the Manicheans, from among whom Augustine came, “looked on Judaism with horror, rejected the Old Testament entirely…”

“LAWLESSNESS”

G458

Píïìßá anomia an-om-ee’-ah

From G459; illegality, that is, violation of law or (generally) wickedness:—
iniquity, X transgress (-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.

References to “lawlessness” in the New Testament:

Matthew 7:23 – And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 13:41-42 – The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.

Matthew 23:38 – Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 24:12 – And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

Romans 6:19 – I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members asof righteousness for holiness. slaves

2Corinthians 6:14 – Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

2Thessalonians 2:7 – For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;

Hebrews 1:9 – (quoting from numerous Psalms & Prophets)You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness

1John 3:4 – Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

Please notice that the consistent use of this word “lawlessness” in these verses, contextually is describing some very serious consequences!

- In light of these verses is it safe for anyone to say that JESUS is saying in Matthew 5, that HE has “done away with ALL Old Testament Law?”

- When does JESUS say that this will be accomplished?

Matthew 5:18 – “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

When is that going to happen? Sometime in the future according to these verses:

2Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Rev 20:11 – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

Rev 21:1 – Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Again, in light of what the Scriptures say, is it wise to say that JESUS in Matthew 5:17 is suggesting that The LAW of GOD is NOT relevant any longer?

You decide. I pray that you make your decision based on what the Scriptures are saying instead of what man is saying…

In Galatians 6:16, Paul makes a statement, when he refers
to “the Israel of GOD,” that has caused no small amount of
confusion among believers today. Who are they? And, who
aren’t they? These two questions are what I hope to answer
in this article. In order for me to do that, we must go back
into the history of Israel and find their beginnings. Lets go
back and look at the man that the Israelites, Islamics AND
Christians can all refer to in their ancestry; Abraham.

Genesis 12:3
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Notice that he is told to leave:

• His country: His homeland, Mesopotamia or Babylon.
• His family: His posterity/pedigree and/or blood relatives.
• His father’s house: His birthright or inheritance.

Notice that he is promised:

• A land that GOD will lead him to and give to him.
• To be a great nation: A posterity surpassing the onethat he is leaving.
• To have a great name: A birthright (name) greater than his own.

Through Abram/Hagar (Egyptian slave) comes the son of the
flesh; Ishmael. Through Abraham/Sarah comes the son of promise; Isaac, his son; Jacob, who was eventually renamed by GOD; Israel. The natural tendency is to take the blessing given to Abram is being applicable to the nation Israel, or the descendants of Jacob/Israel. Lets read the blessing again: “I will make you a great nation (Heb:”goy” or non-Jew); I will bless you and make your name great; and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you,
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

If the application of this blessing is in accordance to
genealogy for the Israelites, why then JESUS’ words in John
chapter 8:37-45, to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees (who
were claiming that very blessing as a result of them being
born Israelites?);

I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” 39They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our
father.”(We must remember that Abram was NOT an Israelite. He
was a Gentile from Babylon!)Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

It sure sounds like YESHUA is pronouncing a curse on these
MESSIAH rejecting Israelites! (“You are of your father the
devil!?!”) And this in spite of them attempting to substantiate that Abraham, and ultimately GOD was their father! So, how can the Scriptures be interpreted as saying that EVERYONE born an Israelite is a recipient of the blessings given to Abraham? If they cannot, then WHO are those in line for the blessings promised to Abraham? What do the Scriptures say? Well, looking again at what JESUS says in John 8 above, we begin to see what the criteria is for receiving the blessing: – Verse 39; “you would do the works of Abraham”

• He left his country.
• He left his family.
• He left his father’s inheritance.
• He “obeyed My (YEHOVAH’S) voice, kept My charge, My Commandments, My statutes, My Laws” (Genesis 26:4).

It doesn’t sound like these scribes/Pharisees realized what it
would take for them to receive the blessing given to /
through Abraham. They also would have to:

• Leave their country. Meaning that they could not be as devoted to Land/Nation of Israel, as they were supposed to be devoted to YHWH…
• Leave their family. (or literally; “to leave one’s pedigree”) No longer could they trust in ancestral lineage for identification, but now would have to leave their family behind and follow YHWH!
• Leave their father’s house. Meaning that they would have to detach themselves from their inheritance, their birthright, and start all over!
• Obey HIS voice, charge, commandments, statutes and Laws. Meaning that they too would have to reject ANY/ALL “additions to and/or subtractions from” HIS WORD! (i.e. no more Oral Torah and/or Mishnah)
• verse 42; “you would love me” (YESHUA) By implication; “as your brother” or (fellow Israelite) Leviticus 19:17-18 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” / 1John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.To say that you love GOD while at the same time being guilty of hating HIS MESSIAH, is NOT consistent with doing “the works that Abraham did!”
• verse 43; “you would understand…and listen to My(YESHUA) Word.”

To say that you love JESUS/YESHUA, while at the
same time being guilty of rejecting HIS Word, is NOT
consistent with doing “the works that Abraham did!”

1John 2:3-6 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep
His commandments. 4He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

So, we see that JESUS knows who aren’t children of
Abraham or children of GOD. It appears that HIS disciple,
John (by references to his epistle above) knew as well!
And Matthew records for us that JESUS confirms that same
criteria (required of Abraham) again for those who would
follow MESSIAH, then and now!

• Matthew 19:28-30 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

So, is it safe to assume (based on the writings of Moses,
Matthew and John) that unless a person is willing to leave
their citizenship (country), their pedigree (family), their
inheritance (father’s house), and their man-made religion,
they not only are NOT doing “the works of Abraham” but
they also are not meeting the criteria that JESUS established
for following HIM? I believe so, at least according to the
above Scriptures…

So, who is “the Israel of GOD” that Paul refers to in
Galatians 6:16? The Israel of GOD are those descendants of
Israel that receive YESHUA/JESUS as the atoning sacrifice
for their sins, who receive the HOLY SPIRIT into their lives
and reject their citizenship in the earthly Jerusalem in
exchange for a citizenship in “the NEW Jerusalem coming
down out of heaven from GOD, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.”(Revelation 21:2)

The Commandments and Doctrines of Men

• The commandments and doctrines of men are of no effect against the indulgence of the flesh.
• Practicing God’s commandments, by faith, results in life.
• The commandments of God are positively effectual when practiced by faith.

Colossians 2:20-23 says that the commandments and doctrines of men are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

We see story after story in the mainstream press of the painful results of men overtaken by the indulgence of the flesh. The flesh has an insatiable appetite for all things sensual. The word sensual simply means those things that titillate the senses. Face it. Our bodies are nothing but sensually focused. But the body is simply the means to gratify the sensual appetite. The sensuality that must be satiated is in the inner man. It is the center of man –the inner man – that our English Bibles translate into the
“heart” of man.

Yeshua – Jesus said what comes out of a man defiles that man; it is what proceeds from the heart of man. So the important factor is the consistency of the heart of a man. What is the consistency of the inner man? That is determined by a man or woman’s choice.

To make that choice, in the positive, one must be a believer in the God of the Bible. HE is the ONE who has shown us the wickedness of heart by revealing to us HIS standard of
righteousness through HIS Word. Every man or woman will come to the understanding that their practices are lawless – transgressing the Law of God. Even if they never see a
Bible or one is read to them, the Almighty Creator will reveal each person’s sin, and need for HIS salvation to them, just as HE did to Abraham.

The Book of Galatians tells us that the Scripture preached the gospel to Abraham. At the time of Abraham there was no written Word. They had no Bible. We place God in a box when we limit HIS ability to our sensual capabilities of sight and sound. The Scripture –Yeshua, the LIVING WORD preached the gospel to Abraham. Abraham believed HIM, obeyed, and it was accounted to HIM as righteousness. We are made righteous by
believing what God has said. True belief, however, results in doing what we believe. One can say they believe that eating a balanced diet will make their life better, but if they do
not eat balanced their belief is merely intellectual assent. It is not true belief. True belief acts on belief.

Please understand. I am not singling out any one man, who has fallen, as a subject of ridicule, as if he is the only man that has ever fallen through unbelief. As well, I am not pontificating from a position of sinless perfection myself. I simply want to put the
emphasis where it belongs: The commandments and doctrines of men have no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

The professing church has, for all her existence, fallen back on her own power to maintain herself. She professes to be following Messiah, while looking to HIM as the Author and Finisher of her faith, but all the while relying on the “fences” she erects, and in her own determination of what is acceptable to God.

A Biblical understanding of the concept of church, being the body of Messiah, will show it to be in existence since the Beginning. The concept of church is the same as synagogue. Each word embodies the concept of a gathering of people, especially those who profess faith in the God of the Bible. Since the Garden there has been a church and man has known what is acceptable to God. HE has never left man to “figure it out” for himself.
HE has told us. But, beginning in the Garden, man improvised, attempting to put his own stamp on God’s instructions and that resulted in a fall from grace that has passed sin and death down throughout the generations of mankind.

Falling from grace is absolutely not what man, who understands the fearful aspects of falling into the hands of the Living God, desires. But an accurate Biblical understanding of grace is vital to the follower of the Biblical Messiah. Grace, according to the Strong’s Greek Lexicon, is the Greek word “charis” which means “the divine influence on the heart, with the reflection in the life.” Grace is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is God (divine) to change our hearts and continually working to transform us into the very image of God’s own Son. We know that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Living Word (from Genesis to Revelation) and we know that HE said the Spirit would not speak on HIS own but only
remind the converted believer of what Yeshua said. We also know that Yeshua only spoke the Words of HIS Father. The Spirit “writing God’s Law on our hearts and putting HIS Law in our mind is the realization of the New Covenant, promised in Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31. The Spirit speaking the Words of Yeshua, who spoke the Words of the Father, and causing us to walk in HIS statutes and commandments, is grace at work, implementing the New Covenant in the life of a true convert to Messiah Yeshua. So, falling from grace, is not submitting to the work of the Spirit of the Living Word, writing God’s Law on the heart and putting it in the mind, and instead following after the
commandments and doctrines of men that are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. By implication the commandments and doctrines of the Father are of great value
against the same indulgences.

The commandments and doctrines of no value against the indulgences of the flesh are the established non-biblical traditions and understandings of the Word of God. Eve began it
(maybe Adam did but we only read Eve’s words) when she added, “…nor shall you touch it” to the commandment of the LORD. That set her up, and us, to fall from grace. God,
throughout the annals of time, has warned HIS people against this “replacement” theology. By adding a little of man’s wisdom here and there, including the replacement of the commandments of God with improved upon commandments of men, we are
practicing syncretism that God has explicitly forbidden. Aaron did it when the golden calf was fashioned to worship a god that was no god at all, and then declaring the practice a feast unto the LORD. The professing body of the LORD God has continued to do that for all time, in spite of the fact that the LORD sent many prophets (man killed them) and HIS Son to warn men to return to the Truth. Consider the practices of the professing church
that have their roots and rituals established in paganism. Consider how the professing church calls these pagan practices a “feast unto the LORD.”

We, just as Adam and Eve, have made ourselves easy prey to the enemy, Satan, by our continued practice of syncretism. Syncretism in the modern professing church is no different than it was at any other time in history. We erect our own fences, initially out of good intentions, and those fences take away from actual faith in the LORD and a submission to the Lord and HIS work of grace. Once that has been done it is easy to begin to look at other things that are in opposition to righteousness of God as established in Scripture. We begin to consider these traditions of men as foundational. However the problem is that the foundation is built upon shifting sand instead of the Rock of the Truth of God’s Word. Everything becomes subjective to man instead of being subjective to God’s Word. The result is a mindset that makes it impossible to “hear” the voice of the
Spirit, who only speaks Words that are purely the commandments of God. We are so steeped in our traditions that we can’t, or don’t want to hear the Truth. The lie has become comfortable. But when the trial comes the lie is of no value against the temptation. Yeshua said we shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set us free, when believed and acted upon. Yeshua – Jesus said “Sanctify them by Your Truth, Your Word
is Truth,” in HIS prayer for us to our Father.

The result of non-biblical traditions, practiced by professing believers, is that the commandments of God become of no effect in our lives. Yeshua was very pointed in HIS warning to the Scribes and Pharisees. HE said, “You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your traditions.” Of no effect, means that the intended affect of practicing the commandments of God, by faith, is nullified by non-biblical traditions. This leaves a man or woman easy prey with no defense against the wiles of the devil. Yeshua, in dealing with Satan’s temptation, used Deuteronomy to do combat with the
enemy. The Word, believed and acted upon, had an effect on the enemy. The Word of God left HIM powerless. Yeshua not only believed the Word, HE was the Word, and HE practiced the Word. It is the same for us. If we practice the commandments and doctrines of the Almighty and eschew the commandments and doctrines of men we will leave the enemy powerless in his schemes to derail us. To use the Word of God effectively against
the schemes of the devil we must study the Word of God, in its entirety, in context, and allow the Spirit of God to write it on our hearts and cause us to walk in HIS precepts. Victory is only accomplished through faith in Messiah, the LIVING WORD.

The fall of other men, who have been looked upon as pillars of the faith, is a warning to all who profess to be followers of the Messiah. We must examine ourselves to see if we are of the faith, as Scripture commands us to do. The faith must be in the Biblical Messiah who is the Scripture. There will be no contradiction or shadow of turning. We examine ourselves in light of HIS Word and by this we know that we are being led by the Spirit, who is God, or by our flesh – the ways of man. We are warned by the Scripture: The ways of man seem right to him but they end in death. Sin brings death. Sin is rejecting the commandments of God – Lawlessness, according to the Word. The professing body, all over the world, is awaking to this Truth. HE is calling us all to come out of our Egypt. Will we respond?