Planted in the House of the Lord: God, Israel, and the Church Joseph Shulam
Planted in the House of the Lord: God, Israel, and the Church Joseph Shulam Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry 2011
Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry P.O.B. 8043 Jerusalem, 91080 Israel netivyah@netivyah.org.il www.netivyah.org ISBN (978-0-9818730-7-7) Planted in the House of the Lord: God, Israel, and the Church Joseph Shulam Edited by Elizabeth Wakefield Cover painting by Erin Zofef 2011 Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the original publisher s permission. Printed in Israel 2011
To my children Barry and Danah
Contents Introduction... 9 Chapter One: God... 15 Chapter Two: Israel... 37 Chapter Three: The Church... 58 Chapter Four: Yeshua and the Pharisees... 69 Chapter Five: Turn Your Face Toward Jerusalem... 104 Chapter Six: Grace and Truth... 116
Joseph Shulam Introduction When visiting the sites of the ancient world in the Middle East, Turkey, and Greece, one can see magnificent marble temples dedicated to pagan gods such as Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, Vulcan, and many others. In the area of ancient Persia, stands the Persepolis with many huge, fabulous buildings. Egypt also still has temples built in the Fifteenth or even the Eighteenth century BCE that make modern buildings look like shacks. They have pillars six feet in diameter made of marble and red granite in Aswan that have been standing for 3,500 years. The beauty, ceremony, and order of these temples as well as the beautiful silk clothing that the priests wore are all very impressive, yet the undeniable truth is that all these temples were made for idols. Most people in the Western world are theoretically so acclimated to the idea of monotheism that they have no idea what idolatry is or what is wrong with it. The Word of God refers to Gentile idolatry as darkness, and it truly is dark, as anyone who has ever witnessed it firsthand can attest. Those who worship idols are absolutely enslaved to darkness. They are enslaved to pleasing competing divine figures, each with their own whims and differing expectations. Today one can travel to countries like Japan and Taiwan and experience the astounding contradiction between the external modernity of people s technologically driven lives and the internal weight of fear and slavery that comes from the practice of idolatry. They spend their fortunes trying to appease their dead ancestors by burning ghost money or buying food offerings. 9
Planted in the House of the Lord 10 They struggle to appease and avoid curses laid upon them by various gods they failed to satisfy. People literally murder and commit suicide because of their enslavement to pagan gods. Satan uses idolatry to achieve these tragic results because his ultimate goal is to destroy all life due to his hatred of the Creator. Despite all our modern technology and humanitarian advancements, most of humanity is still enslaved to Satan s deception through the darkness of idolatry. Part of the mission of the Jewish people is to spread the light of the knowledge of the One God throughout the entire earth in order to overcome this darkness. This is what it means to be a light to the nations. When Yeshua came to earth as the Messiah, his disciples spread the Gospel and the light of monotheism all throughout the known world, proving that He was a light to the world and not just to the Jewish people. Unfortunately, much of the non Jewish world quickly forgot the basic principles of monotheism that the disciples taught them and syncretized their idolatrous past into their belief in Yeshua and the God of Israel. Their misunderstanding of the nature of Yeshua and the God of Israel created a Trinity rooted in paganism instead of a Trinity rooted in monotheism and the truth of the Bible. Of course, these matters are not simple to understand, but we must return to a more accurate comprehension of the nature of God if we want to serve Him better as his messengers in our dark world. Although the One God whom we know through the Scriptures is impossible to grasp and understand with mere human reasoning, He has revealed Himself to us in his creation, in humanity, and in history. The God of Israel chose to make his first earthly dwelling place in a tent in the heart of the desert in order to eventually be able to dwell in every human heart.
Joseph Shulam The God of the Bible may seem to us to be more absent than He was in the days of the Bible. We may find it hard to see his work in our everyday lives and in ordinary people. Nevertheless, He is still greatly concerned with his creation, especially with his people. After two thousand years of conflicts in Jewish Christian history, however, there are many Jews and Christians who are confused about who composes God s people and who God really is. The study of the theology of the Church is called Ecclesiology, which comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means assembly or gathering. Ecclesiology is greatly concerned with the relationship between God and his people and the identity of those people. Even a quick perusal of the Old Testament makes it very clear that God chose Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a special group of people belonging to Him. Many Christians become confused, however, when they see in the New Testament that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, was not accepted by the majority of the Jewish people. The Apostles and the Church s earliest members were all Jewish, but the Church became increasingly less Jewish as the message of Yeshua spread rapidly across the Greco Roman world. The Church forgot its roots and denied the special relationship between God and the Jewish people. Today there is a lot of confusion in the Church about her identity and the relationship between her Jewish and non Jewish members as well as confusion about the relationship she should have with the main body of the Jewish people who do not believe in Yeshua. The Apostle Paul wrote a great deal about this subject, but unfortunately historical Church leaders have largely misunderstood him and have used their misinterpretations to commit many crimes against the Jewish people. It is the goal of this book to clarify 11
Planted in the House of the Lord this important subject of the identity of and the relationship between God, Israel, and the Church. Ephesians 2:11 22 is a key passage for understanding the basics of Ecclesiology. Here Paul draws a metaphor of the Church as a structure composed of three separate but connected parts: God, Israel, and the Church. Many of the incorrect understandings of Ecclesiology come from misinterpretations of this passage, which says, Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth, who are called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision (that done in the body by the hands of men) remember that at that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in the Messiah Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of the Messiah. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments and regulations that He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace and might reconcile then both in one body to God through the cross, by having put to death the enmity. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God s household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with the Messiah Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 12
Joseph Shulam The title for this book comes from Psalm 92:12-15, which says, The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. It is God s desire for his people to be like flourishing greenery, the very picture of spiritual health in the desert wilderness of idolatry and hopelessness that fills the world. When He chose Israel, He planted them in his heavenly Temple forever as the pillar of his plan to redeem the whole world. Likewise, those from among the nations who have been grafted in to the olive tree of Israel through their belief in and following after Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, also have a firmly rooted foundation in the house of God. These branches are dependant upon their roots and their heavenly Gardener if they are to continue to be strong and healthy. Too many people today fail to understand how they are planted in the House of the Lord, who planted them there, and what kind of tree they are even supposed to be. Because of this confusion, they are cut off from their roots, and their faith withers away in the storms and droughts of life The foundation for accurate and enduring Ecclesiology and spiritual identity is a triangle composed of three interconnected parts: God, Israel, and the Church. Without any one of these three elements, the whole structure collapses. Without a proper understanding of each element, the building will be warped and twisted. Therefore, this book will examine each of these three elements individually to try to discern what their relationship is to one another. Once these elements are understood properly, the Church will be more able to stand firm as a haven of refuge 13
Planted in the House of the Lord and a beautiful temple of the Living God in this troubled world until the return of the Messiah. Let the building begin! 14