Has not God's blessing been passed on to the Gentiles?

In the previous post, a dear brother who I love in the Lord asked the question that is the topic of this posting: Has not God's blessing been passed on to the Gentiles? Although it would be quite impossible to provide in this brief posting a complete answer to this question, I will attempt to point readers to where to find the answer. The essential difficulty is that the church since the time of Constantine in the 4Th Century has experienced much anti-Semitism. Constantine was able to separate the Christian church from its Jewish roots. The early church was a Messianic congregation with both Jews and Gentiles worshipping side by side. Do you think that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth? The word Paul used was ekklesia, which in classical Greek referred to a town council or called out ones to govern. The word had absolutely no religious connotation. However, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament recognized as a legitimate version during the time of Jesus and Paul), ekklesia was the word used to translate the word synagogue in the Old Testament. When Paul, who also was a Jewish rabbi, used ekklesia, he would certainly have used the word with its religious overtones as opposed to the secular usage of the word. What is the point? The point is that Paul was writing to the synagogue at Corinth, not the church. It is the bias of Gentile translators that has corrupted the true meaning. If you question this, look at Acts 7:38: "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us...." KJV The word "church" is ekklesia. In an effort to show that the church replaced Israel, the King James translators put the church in the wilderness instead of the nation of Israel.

It must be remembered that God's covenant was with Abraham to create a great nation to bless the world with salvation. The covenant with Israel is with the nation of Israel, not individuals. Individuals are personally born from above when they become a disciple of Jesus Christ through faith in His sacrifice. One is not saved because they are born Jewish. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone. That is a distinct issue from the covenant with a nation. Where do you find the first reference to the New Covenant? If you guessed anywhere from Matthew to Revelation, you don't know where it is. The "New Covenant" is found in Jeremiah 31:31: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah...." Who is the new covenant with? It is with the house of Israel and the House of Judah, not with the Gentiles. That is why, when a Gentile becomes a member of the body of Christ, he or she becomes a part of the covenant with Israel. The covenant that leads to salvation is the covenant God made with Israel and Judah. As a side note and far beyond what can be addressed in this brief post, the word translated "new" is the Hebrew word hadash and it means to renew or repair. A derivative of the word means a new moon. Every 30 days or so when we get a new moon, is it new or is it the same moon being renewed by making a reappearance?

Right before he died, Martin Luther made horrific statements concerning the Jewish people. He died shortly thereafter. You can draw your own theological conclusions. However, the point is, that God has not abandoned Israel. We, as Gentile believers, have been grafted into the olive tree. That olive tree represents Israel. Are we spiritual Israel? No, we are righteous Gentiles who have found salvation in Yeshua (He was never called Jesus while He walked the earth; His name is Yeshua). God has not passed over the nation of Israel; He has made an everlasting covenant with them and God never breaks His covenants.

There is so much that could be said on this subject. I want to point you in the right direction. Gentile believers would be well served by learning about their Jewish roots. Yeshua was a Jewish rabbi, most all the Bible was written by Jews to Jews, and we must fight our indoctrination to think that somehow the plan of God is centered around the Gentiles. That is simply put, the result of 1700 years of bad teaching.

Check out these sources:

www.skipmoen.com Skip is a PhD. from Oxford and has put together much information on his web site about developing a Hebraic worldview to better follow the Messiah. Skip is my mentor and I have learned much from him over the years.
www.eshavbooks.org This site promotes the teachings of Messianic Rabbi Bob Gorelik. It is excellent. I have several of his teachings.
www.jerusalemperspective.com This is a very good site that explores the Jewish background of the life and teachings of Jesus. I am a paid member on this site. It is well worth the money.

There are many others, but these will provide a good foundation to see the truth about our faith that has been hidden from the Gentile church. Walk in the dust of these teachings (old rabbinic saying) and you will be amazed at what you didn't know that you thought you did.