The Grace Journal
"Taking God's Grace To the World"
A Bible study and news periodical of Grace Impact Ministries
VOLUME 17 NUMBER 3------------------October/November 2004
The Middle Wall of Partition
BY RICHARD JORDAN
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Ephesians 2:14
Disunity can occur in many ways. The "middle wall of partition" which stood around Israel's temple and to which the Apostle Paul here eludes illustrates the tremendous distinction and division that existed in "time past" between the nation Israel and the Gentile nations.
Paul identifies this division as two-fold. First there was the fleshly distinction where racial and social division was obvious:
"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands" (Ephesians 2:11).
No doubt the emphasis of Paul's pen was on "called"--"called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision." That the term "circumcision" was often used by the Jews as an
insult aimed at the despised and outcast Gentiles cannot be doubted. It was so thoroughly established in Jewish
thinking as a term of derision that even young David is heard exclaiming about Goliath: "who is this uncircumcised
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (I Samuel 17:26b).
If Israel was guilty of "name calling" surely the Gentiles were no better. Notice that Paul identified
Israel as those who are "called the circumcision." Clearly Gentiles returned the reproach with
equal disdain. Who can miss the sting of mocking accusation at "being Jews" in Acts 16:20, John
18:35 and else where?
There was, however, something far more important to Paul than this racial and social division. In "time
past" God Himself had made a far more critical distinction between the Circumcision and Uncircumcision,
between Israel and the Gentiles. Ephesians 2:12 records this:
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."
Israel had a clear advantage while the Gentiles were at an equally distinct disadvantage. The religious
and spiritual disadvantage of the Gentiles is simply unmistakable.
Place Romans 9:4,5 along side Ephesians 2:11,12 and this is set in bold relief:
|
ISRAEL'S ADVANTAGE (Romans 9:4,5) |
GENTILES' DISADVANTAGE (Ephesians 2:11,12) |
1. "Who are Israelites" (v. 4) 2. "The adoption" (v. 4) 3. To whom Christ came (v. 5) 4. "Whose are the fathers" (v. 5) 5. The Covenants and the Law (v. 4) 6. "The service of God" (v. 4) 7. "The promises" (v. 4) |
1. "Gentiles" (v. 11) 2. "Uncircumcised" (v. 11) 3. "Without Christ" (v. 12) 4. "Aliens from Commonwealth of Israel" (v. 12) 5. "Strangers from the Covenants" (v. 12) 6. "Without God" (v. 12) 7. "Having no hope" (v. 12) |
In "Time Past" God Himself had made a difference between Jews and Gentiles; "But Now!"
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace" (Ephesians 2:13-15).
The Jews had enclosed the inner portions of their temple with a "middle wall of partition" and they jealously guarded it. Paul was all too familiar with this fact for it explains the reaction he received in Acts 21:28-30. Luke records that when the Jews saw Paul in their temple, "they laid hands on him" and:
"Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where
against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted
this holy place.
"(For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought
into the temple.)
"And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple:
and forthwith the doors were shut."
According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, a century ago excavations at the temple site unearthed portions of this wall and discovered this inscription: "No man of another nation is to enter within the fence and enclosure round the Temple. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame that his death ensues."
This wall, of course, only stood as testimony to the divinely ordained barrier that separated Jew and Gentile. "In the flesh" there was bitter hatred and enmity such as could never be excused. But before God there was a distinction too, for it was God Himself who had erected the real "middle wall of partition" that separated Jew and Gentile.
Romans 1 succinctly proves that the Gentile's alienation was their own doing. There Paul presents the sad history of rebellion, evil thinking and self-will that resulted in the three-fold declaration:
"Wherefore God gave them up..." (v.24).
"For this cause God gave them up..." (v.26).
"God gave them over..." (v. 28).
As a wise old preacher once said, "Light rejected becomes lightning!" Thus God cast away the nations of the earth and turned to one solitary figure:
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be
a blessing:
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram obeyed God and when he was 99 years old, God changed his name to Abraham and erected His "middle wall of partition." Genesis 17:4-14 records the event:
"As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
"Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations
have I made thee.
"And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land
of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
"And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their
generations.
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; EVERY MAN CHILD AMONG
YOU SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED.
"AND YE SHALL CIRCUMCISE THE FLESH OF YOUR FORESKIN; AND IT SHALL BE A TOKEN OF THE COVENANT BETWIXT ME AND
YOU.
"And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that
is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
"He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant
shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
"And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off
from his people; he hath broken my covenant."
Now there were to be two peoples in the world: the Circumcision and the Uncircumcision.
Sometime later the Law was "added" (Galatians 3:19) and the distinctions were strengthened and fortified. We are plainly told that the Gentiles "have not the law" (Romans 2:14). The Covenant of the Law was made just with Israel and that covenant and those laws made Israel a distinct and different people in the earth. Moses reminded them of this as they prepared to enter the promised land:
"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded
me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which
shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
"For WHAT NATION IS THERE SO GREAT, WHO HATH GOD SO NIGH UNTOTHEM, as the LORD our God is in all things that
we r-all upon him for?
"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I
set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:5-8).
This priority given to Israel in the purposes of God explains much that otherwise is baffling about ,our Lord's earthly ministry. Many a preacher and personal worker, for example, has quoted Luke 19:10--but few there are who know or quote the whole statement made by Christ:
"And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, FORSOMUCH AS HE ALSO
IS A SON OF ABRAHAM.
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:9,10).
And how are we to explain our Lords refusal even to answer the Gentile woman of Matthew 15:22-24, while Himself pleading the case of the woman in Luke 13:16 because she was "a daughter of Abraham?" How is this to be explained except to recognize that the Gentiles were on the "wrong side" of the middle wall of partition?
An often overlooked verse in the Book of John is nonetheless clear:
"...we know what we worship: FOR SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS" (John 4:22).
And what were Gentiles to do? God had covenanted with Abraham: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). Gentile blessing, then, could only be had through their submission to Israel and her privileged position. Go back and read Matthew 15:22-28 again and see that this is exactly the order ultimately followed by this Gentile lady--and which Christ sovereignty honored.
That this order was no less true after the cross is clear from the record of the Book of Acts. At Pentecost, three times Peter identified his intended audience:
"...Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and
hearken to my words:"
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words..."
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly…" (Acts 2:14, 22, 36).
Standing on Solomon's porch, Peter cries to his nation:
"Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham,
And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
"Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you
from his iniquities" (Acts 3:25,26).
In fact, as late as Acts 11:19 we are told:
"Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word TO NONE BUT UNTO THE JEWS ONLY."
Some thoughtful reader will ask, "But didn't we just read where Paul said the middle wall has been broken down? Didn't he declare that the law has been 'abolished' and that Christ had made 'peace'?" Ah, yes indeed, Paul does say this and much more. But remember: It is not until we come to Paul and his message that we learn all this.
The "But Now" of Ephesians 2:13 is the same as the "But Now" in passages like:
"Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to
me for you, to fulfill the word of God;
"Even THE MYSTERY WHICH HATH BEEN HID FROM AGES AND FROM GENERATIONS, BUT NOW IS MADE MANIFEST TO HIS SAINTS"
(Colossians 1:25,26).
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of THE MYSTERY, WHICH WAS KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN,
"BUT NOW IS MADE MANIFEST, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith" (Romans 16:25,26).
It is Paul who declares: "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested" (Romans
3:21); that there is "no difference between the Jew and the Greek" (Romans 10:12; 3:22); that
in Christ Jesus "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). It is Paul who gives us this message,
declaring that in the Body of Christ "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11). It is to Paul that
this blessed message of "the mystery" war, revealed-and through him to us!
Thus it is Paul who writes:
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us;
"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make
in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
"And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
"And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
"For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:14-18).
This is the heart of his special message and why it is so dear to us today. No longer must we belong to a special family, follow a certain religion, perform proscribed exercises in ceremonial correctness. No longer must we fear being "too far gone," too far off, too deeply sin stained. Now, even the simplest believers who know that Christ, died for them and that He is their peace and life, can know for sure they are saved and have personal access to God and are fellowcitizens of His household.
All we need today to go to God is simple faith in Christ:
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
"By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God" (Romans 5:1,2).
Forgotten Truths
our weekly TV broadcast is still on DirectTV channel 321 each Saturdy at 11:00 p.m. (CT). For further information or if you would like to help keep us on the air, contact Forgotten Truths at (877)GRACE4U.
Are We Really Extremists?
The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. If you want a copy of the Bible in English, I'll hand you a King James Bible.
Critics of the KJV claim to also believe that the Bible is the inerrant Wrd of God. But ask them to hand you a copy of that inerrant Bible they "believe in" and you will find that it does not exist anywhere on this earth.
So we ask: Are King James Bible believers really extremists--or do we simply believe what our critics claim to believe?
How Would You Feel?
The name "Titus" occurs 13 times in four different books of the Bible--twice in Galatians, nine times in II Corinthians, once in II Timothy and once in Titus. Yet, Dr. Luke does not mention Titus in the Book of Acts, although it is obvious that he took part in many of the activities recorded there.
Do you think Titus was miffed because of this? Why, just think of who he was and what he had accomplished! How many Gentiles had actually met the Twelve Apostles and the original Jerusalem elders, as he had? Had he not been personally trained by Paul and was he not highly regarded by the brethren, having traveled widely in ministry duties? Had he not often functioned as Paul's special representative, being especially helpful to the Corinthians and entrusted to transport large sums of ministry funds? Why even the great apostle himself called him "my partner and fellowhelper." Titus surely was not one to be lightly dismissed!
If Paul thought of him as "mine own son," how could he just be overlooked? This would doubtless hurt the feelings of many people in our day, but not Titus!
If we neglect to give some people what they deem to be proper recognition for what they do in the ministry, they feel rejected, neglected and insulted. Mature believers, however, can transcend hurt feelings. They do not allow their feelings to get in the way of ministry. The issues are too great and the need too massive to blunt the ministry of Christ with hurt feelings.
Grace Giving Matters
BY RICHARD JORDAN
In straight forward style, these studies cut through the fog of tradition and legalism to reveal clear and practical insights from God's Word for today.
TITLES:
Grace Age Giving
A Sermon on the Amount
The Rewards of Grace Giving
Where Grace Giving Should Go
Abounding in this Grace Also
The Original Grace Giver
Six Audio tapes album: $16
Six messages on SLP video: $24
ORDER FROM:
Grace Impact Ministries
P. O. Box 97
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
(888)535-2300 for credit card orders
Angels:
AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY
BY RICHARD JORDAN
There are indeed intelligent beings in outer space! The angelic creation is both real and powerful. These studies will help you understand these fascinating creatures better. Can we see angels today? Do we have "guardian angels" to protect and deliver us from harm? Why do angels watch us? Do angels have long hair and wings? These and many other questions are answered in this 6 message series.
TITLES:
What Do Angels Do All Day?
What Do Angels Look Like?
The Saga of the Curious Angels
When Believers Judge Angels
The Angelic Conflict
How To Fight An Angel
Six audio tape album: $16
Six messages on SLP video: $24
ORDER FROM:
Grace Impact Ministries
P. O. Box 97
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
(888)535-2300 for credit card orders