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Ask The Pastor
December 26, 2000
Hi Ben,
Good to hear from you.
> The reason why I am contacting you is I was
wondering if you could help
> me answer a question somebody on my club asked. It is about Hebrew
> roots and how Christians differ from them. I admit without any problem
> to my ego that I don't know much about the split between Jews and
> Christians besides of course Jesus being our Lord and Savior.
> Anyway I will print below the question she asked
and if you could
> help me that would be great.
The lady has good questions. I'll keep my answers fairly simple.
> *1. If the Gentile church (wild olive BRANCH) has
been grafted
> into the Hebrew olive tree. Why then is the wild olive branch so
> far from the tree?. [Romans 11:11-28]
The wild olive branch can't be far from the tree if it has been
engrafted into the tree.
It is important to understand what the olive tree represents. The
olive tree isn't merely a 'Hebrew olive tree.' In the context of
Romans, the olive tree is Abrahamic faith and covenant
relationship with the God of Israel. As long as Israel maintained
the faith of Abraham, she was true to God. Abraham believed in
the Lord. This includes that believed in God's Redemption
promise. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. He said, "Abraham
rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad." (John 8:56)
Those of Israel who rejected Jesus were cut off from the olive
tree. They had rejected Israel's Messiah. Gentiles who accepted
Jesus as Lord and Messiah were engrafted as partakers of the
faith of Abraham.
It is also important to understand that the branches represent
individual believers. Each 'wild' branch would represent an
individual Gentile believer who received Jesus. Natural
branches did not have to be engrafted. They were already in
covenant relationship with the God of Abraham. But when they
rejected Jesus, they cut themselves off and were rejected by
God.
> *2. Why has the Hebrew Holidays been replaced with
Holidays that origin
> comes from pagan worship?
This requires a two-fold answer.
First, Paul is very careful to explain that the Hebrew holidays are
give or take. They are not an issue of the new covenant. If someone
wished to keep them, that can be done. But Paul cautions
believers not to feel that Jewish ordinances, such as Sabbaths,
new moon festivals, etc., belong to the covenant of Christ. (Cf.
Romans 14; Col2:16,17.)
As for the pagan holidays, you can largely thank the Catholic
system for this. Holidays such as Christmas and Easter are
deeply rooted in pagan festivals. There is considerable history
behind this but I won't cover it here.
> *3. If a Jew "gets saved" believes Jesus
is his Messiah. Does
> this mean he/she gives up there Hebrew roots?
This is a difficult question because of the variables. It depends
on what is meant by Hebrew roots.
As an example, 30% of Jews in Israel claim to be atheist or at
best secular. If these people get saved, what would they give
up? They weren't observant Jews to begin with. But if she is
speaking of cultural heritage and/or racial lineage, the picture
changes. Christianity was never intended to be a single culture
religion. People from all walks can serve the Lord, and they can
do it in their own culture.
It would help if she can define her question a little better.
> *4. What has the Church [believers] done to make
the Jew envy
> the church ?. [Rom 11:13-14]
The church doesn't have to do anything extraordinary to make
Israel jealous. What Paul said was, "Salvation has come to the
Gentiles, to make them jealous." The fact that Gentiles are
enjoying a covenant relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, is the point that creates jealousy. (If I were in
conversation with the lady I could explain this better. This kind
of question calls for dialogue.)
> *5 Has G-d made a COVENANT with Israel to save all
Israel. [Rom
> 11:25-27] & [Isaiah 59:20-21].
Paul is speaking of the mystery of the 2nd coming of Jesus. But
to answer the question, no, there is no particular covenant with
Israel to save all Israel. What Paul is explaining is how that at
the 2nd coming, Israel will have her eyes opened to Jesus
Christ. It is then that her eyes will be opened. No one can be
saved outside of faith in Jesus Christ.
> *6. In Rom 11:28 .Could someone please explain.
What does it mean in
> this verse [gospel, they, your account].
Paul is expressing the outcome of Israel's rejection of Christ.
They made themselves enemies of Christ, and thereby enemies
of Christians. This issue runs much deeper that most Christians
realize. Paul is explaining a divine mystery. From the beginning,
Israel's rejection of Jesus was part of God's plan to save the
world.
Ben, what I have shared is a scratch on the surface. I hope the
lady is under some good teaching. And there are no simple
answers but her questions are part of a beautiful area of study. It
would help me a bit if I knew more about her background and/or
where she is coming from.
If you wish you can share our ministry web site address with her.
She can direct any questions to me personally. The site is:
http://www.christianchallenge.org/
(Questions can be posed on the 'Ask the Pastor' portion.)
Shalom,
Buddy
Bro. Buddy Martin - Ask
the Pastor
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
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