Sid Roth – When The Jew and Gentile Meet
by phone – 416-674-8463 x210 or mail at;
TACF Resource Centre, 272 Attwell Dr. Toronto, ON M9W 6M3 CANADA]
It’s a scripture that we’re all familiar with – a Jewish man by the name of Peter, the fisherman, quoted it in Acts 2. Let’s turn to what he quoted from – Joel 2:28: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” I love the spiritual interpretation of scripture; but you’re not entitled to look at a spiritual application until you look at the literal meaning of the pure word of God, and He says, “Your sons, and your daughters.” Who is he talking to? The Jewish people. He then goes on to talk about one of the greatest revivals in history that is going to hit the Jewish people. He’s looking through the corridors of time. He tells us exactly how to know when this time will be. The set time to favor Zion is explained here in Joel 3:1: “For behold in those days and at that time when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem I will gather all nations and bring them down into the Valley of Jehosophat.” Jehosophat means the Valley of Judgment. God is so good. His love is so much greater than any of us could even fathom or imagine or dream, but there comes a point when there will be a judgment. He waits much longer than I would or you would, fortunately; But there comes a point; there is a set time for judgment. This is when that set time will be. “And I will enter into judgment with them there.” Who is He going to enter into judgment with? In the second verse, “I will gather all nations…” He’s going to enter into judgment with who? All nations. Let’s keep reading. Over what single issue? Abortion? Homosexuality? Lying? Stealing? Murdering? New Age? What is He going to enter into judgment over? “On account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations…” And here is what I was going for. What will be the sign? When you will see this judgment on the nations; “…because they divided (and in some translation it says ‘they partitioned’) My land Jerusalem.” When you see the nations assembled together to partition Jerusalem, God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on the sons and on the daughters of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
In Matthew 25, our Messiah says the same thing but in different words. He’s saying it to a country that understands farming and shepherding. He says there will be a division of nations in the last days and the division of the nations will be as a shepherd would divide goat from sheep. Now I’m not a farmer, but I know the difference between a goat and a sheep. A goat has mind of its own. A sheep follows the shepherd. What will be the single issue that will be a division of nations in the later days? Yeshua (that’s Hebrew for Jesus), looking down the corridors of time, saw it as a single issue. The single issue is how nations will be divided in the last days. Will they be a goat nation, a mind of their own, or a sheep nation?
It says in The Living Bible in Zechariah, “He that touches Israel is the same as someone that pokes their finger in God’s eye.” In Matthew 25, the single issue of separating goat nations from sheep nations – this is what Yeshua says, “As you have done unto the least of these my brethren…” What does the word, brethren, mean? I challenge you to look it up in the Greek sometime. It means “those from the womb” – His physical brethren from the womb. “As you have done unto the least of these My brethren, you have done unto me.”
I used to think that Jewish people must come to know the Messiah because our Messiah said, “I will not return until the Jewish people says, ‘Baruch haba b’shem Adonai’ – ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” And that’s true, but that is not the center of God’s will at this precise moment. You see, when that occurs, it’s over. But there is something that must happen between now and that point when they say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” as a nation. There’s something so important that the Devil has blinded the eyes of the Church. There is a set time, blindness, it says in Romans 11. Blindness has happened to Israel. What kind of blindness? Spiritual blindness has happened to Israel, “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” I used to think, logically minded as I am, Cornelius, the first non-Jew grafted into the Jewish olive tree; the last Gentile comes in — that’s the fullness of the Gentile age. Makes sense to me; until I was told there’s another understanding of the word, fullness. There’s a partial blindness on the eyes of Jewish people, Romans 11 says, until – not the fullness – but that Greek word should say ‘maturity. “There is a partial blindness on the eyes of the Jewish people until the maturity of the non-Jews comes in.”
Turn to John 17:20. This is Yeshua praying. “I do not pray for these alone.” Who was he talking about? The Jewish people. This is what He’s saying now. He’s surrounded by Jewish people, but He’s saying, “I do not pray for these alone.” What other group of people might He be talking about? The Gentiles. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who would believe in Me through the word of these Jewish people.” Verse 21: “That they all may be one as…” Let me ask you something. Have you ever heard people say, “Oh, that they all may be one – Baptists and Pentecostals, and Methodists, and Charismatics, word of Faith – that they all might be one.” But that’s not what He’s saying here. You know why? None of those groups existed when He said that. There were only two groups that existed when He made that statement. So let’s look. You can spiritualize it, but that’s not what I’m talking about right now. I’m talking about the literal Word of God. “I pray that they might be one.” Who? Jew and Gentile. Mystery. “I pray that they, Jew and Gentile, might be one so the world…” See why the Devil is so nervous about Jew and Gentile becoming this “One New Man in Messiah”? “I pray that they might be one so the world will believe.” When they become one, John 17:22 kicks in. “The same glory that is on Me will be on them.” So the Devil’s worst nightmare is the same glory being on the Church that is on Yeshua. I have a question for you. What was the last word in the Bible, in the Old Covenant? Why would that be so important? Because the only Bible the first Church had was the Old Covenant. You follow what I’m saying? When the New Covenant refers to the Scriptures, it’s not even referring to the New Covenant because it hadn’t been assembled in a book at that time. It was just circular letters floating around to house congregations. So, when it talks about how valuable the Scriptures are in the New Covenant, it’s talking about the Old Covenant. Why don’t you turn to the last sentence of the Old Covenant, and let’s find out the last word that the first Church had.
Turn to that famous Jewish opera singer, Ma-la-chi, chapter four. Malachi, the last verse, “…and He will…” Remember. It’s the last word, last sentence in the only Bible the first congregation had. “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” Well, who are the fathers? Romans 9 tells us we owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people, because from them are the fathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let’s keep reading now with that understanding. “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers (the Jewish people) to the children.” Well, if the Jewish people are the fathers, who are those others? The Christians, the children are the Christians. “He will turn the hearts of the Jewish people to the Christians, and the hearts of the Christians to the Jewish people, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
It’s pretty serious stuff. Reminds me of the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother so your life will be long.” Guess what? If you don’t honor your father and your mother, the reverse is true. Your life will be short. Who are the fathers? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Has the Church honored the fathers of the faith? I read the people that are called the Church Fathers. I read what they had to say about the Jewish people. You know what? The Encyclopedia Judaica says, short of the gas ovens, the whole holocaust plan was spoken by those called Church Fathers. They had such a hatred for the Jew.
Martin Luther, you may not know this, but if you read his statements, probably the most anti-Jewish statements you’ll ever read in your life. I wondered how a man that could do so much good in the kingdom of God could also do so much evil. Then I got my answer reading a book on the Father’s Love. I found a quote from Martin Luther. I’m quoting Martin Luther, he said, “I have difficulty praying the Lord’s Prayer, because whenever I say, ‘Our Father,’ I think of my own father who was hard, unyielding and relentless. I cannot help but think of God that way.” He had a problem with his own father – hard, relentless – and it blinded him.
God’s Word says, “In the last days I’m going to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children.” I’m going to turn the hearts of the Jews to the Christians. And we’ve had lots of attempts at this. We’ve had reconciliation meetings. We’ve had Messianic Jewish synagogues, which is of God to get the Church to see the Jewish roots. In fact, would anyone like a prophetic word? Do you want a word from God for you? Romans 11:11,”Salvation has come to the Gentile.” Anyone from a non-Jewish background, wave at me. So this is a word for everyone waving at me. “Salvation has come to the Gentile to provoke the Jew to jealousy.”
What is my call? “Salvation has come to the Gentiles.” Listen. “If it was a blessing,” Romans 11 goes on to say; “If it was a blessing that the Jewish people rejected their Messiah…” Was it a blessing to a certain people group you know? You got grafted in. “If it was a blessing that the Jewish people rejected their Messiah (so you could get grafted in), how much greater (read the prophets, read what Paul speaks in Romans 11), how much greater blessing when the Jewish people receive the Messiah? It’s going to cause life from the dead.”
Life. You know anything that’s dead? How about the 21st C American Church, or the Canadian Church? Do you think we need a little life? I don’t understand everything I’m saying to you. I just know the word of God. And I’m saying the Devil has gone to a lot of trouble… Why did the Messiah come? You read it in Ephesians. He came down to break the dividing wall, the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. Isn’t this why He came? And you know what we’ve done? We’ve resurrected a bigger wall than the one He broke down.
We Jewish people look at the Christian church and we say, “There is nothing familiar to me. There is nothing provoking me to jealousy. There’s nothing I see that I want. I like what I have.” Christians look at Orthodox Judaism and they say, “Oh, there is nothing there that I want.” We have put back a wall of partition between Jews and Gentile. We’ve played right into the hands of the Devil.
So, how are we going to reach Jewish people with the Gospel? I used to think if I see dead people come to life; if I see blind people eyes and they can see; if I see the deaf and they can hear; if I see the dead raised, then every Jewish person in the world would become a believer in the Messiah. I found that there is something higher. You see, we Jewish people have been separated from intimacy with God for 2000 years. We don’t even understand the word, intimacy with God. It’s not something that computes in our brain. We don’t want Jesus. But if it were possible? We don’t want religion. We don’t even go to our own synagogues, let alone your churches. Religion doesn’t turn us on; and again, if we wanted to choose religion, ours is older. We like our tradition. But we don’t even like our tradition, but we like our tradition better than your tradition. Remember “Fiddler on the Roof”? We’ve just been around longer, so we have more ‘? Tradition ?’. Salvation has come to the Gentile to provoke the Jew to jealousy. When we can walk in the same intimacy with God that Yeshua walked in – I only do what I see my Heavenly Father doing; I only say what my Heavenly Father is saying; anything I stop on earth has already been stopped in heaven; everything I allow on earth, it’s already been allowed; I just hear from my Father – then, I have such intimacy. His love is so wonderful, it’s better than anything this world has to offer. I want to be so filled with His love that it’s going to spill out of me on to a love starved world.
It says in Romans 9 that we owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people because from them are the fathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We owe this debt of gratitude to the Jewish people because Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob maintained the Scriptures. . We were faithful with Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob for hundreds of years, thousands of years; holding on to the Scriptures – precious. We got so tired. We were like in a relay race where we’re running our laps, and after a thousand years, we got pretty tired of running our laps. We had the baton; we had the Torah. We’re holding on to the Scriptures. We will not let go of the Scriptures because it’s God. We’ve got to hold the Scriptures. But, we’re so tired, so we’re going to pass it on to our Gentile brothers. And we passed the Scriptures on and then they held the baton of the Scriptures. And then the Gentiles ran for 2000 years, and oh, did they get tired with “? Tradition ?”, “? Religion ?”. Same old, same old. They got so tired; the Church got so tired. Then, they had an idea. Hmm. If it was a blessing that the Jewish people rejected their Messiah so I could be grafted in, what if instead of passing the torch to the Jewish people to run that last lap of victory before the Messiah returns, what would happen if Jew and Gentile locked arms together to become “One New Man” in Yeshua?
Then the same glory, John 17:22, the same anointing that was on Yeshua will be on them.
You see, I believe the next move of God’s Spirit will be the last great move of God’s Spirit. It’s going to be the birth of the “One New Man” Glorious Congregation. I’ll tell you what it’s not going to look like. It’s not going to look like an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, and it’s not going to look like the typical Gentile Church. We have never seen this new man before, this “One New Man.” But, we’re going to sing about it in Heaven. Did you know that? In Revelation the 15:2, all the martyrs are standing there. All the people that had overcome, in Revelation 15:2. “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass having harps of God. They sang the Song of Moses, the servant of God (that’s the Jewish side), and the Song of the Lamb.”
What are we going to be singing in heaven? The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb, Yeshua.
Now I told you to look at the last verse of the only Bible that the first Church had; but I have to tell you that’s in your Bible, not the Jewish Bible. You see, the last book in the Jewish Scriptures is Second Chronicles. Let’s really find out the last word that the first Church had from God.
Second Chronicles, the very last chapter, I mean this has got to be important. This was the last word that God spoke to His first Church in the only Bible that they had. Second Chronicles 36:23:
“Thus says Cyrus King of Persia, ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of Heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house (in the Hebrew it says a tabernacle; He has commanded me to build Him a tabernacle, a body) at Jerusalem which is in Judah.”
The word Judah means praise, a tabernacle of praise, a tabernacle of David. This was the last word that the first Church had in the only Bible they had in writing that was assembled. “I want you to build Me a temple in praise.”
I’ve got to go to one last Scripture – Amos. I’ll end with this. Amos 9:11, “On that day I will raise up the Tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair it’s damages.” What are its damages? It can’t be the One New Man unless it’s Jew and Gentile, one new species in Messiah. “I will repair its damages, I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.” And what will happen when that happens? The 12th verse: “That they may possess the remnant of Edom.” The Septuagint translates that, “The remnant of mankind and all the Gentiles who are called by My Name.”
So, why is it the Devil’s worst nightmare when Jew and Gentile become “One New Man’, the Body of Messiah, the olive tree? The Jew…so much easier to be grafted back into, Romans 11 says, “their own olive tree.” But, we Jewish people can’t see that Christianity is our own olive tree because it looks too Greek, it looks too Roman to us. It doesn’t look like our own olive tree. But, that’s what Romans says. It says the Gentiles were grafted into the Jewish olive tree. How can we see our own olive tree if it doesn’t look Biblical Jewish? Biblical Jewish is different than Orthodox Judaism. It’s even different than the forerunner of what God is doing in Messianic Judaism. It’s not an end in itself. It’s a forerunner of the glorious end-time one new man congregation. It’s not even going to look like Messianic Judaism. It’s not going to look like Gentile Christianity. It’s something that the world has never seen before! The Devil’s worst nightmare – holding the Torah together, Jew and Gentile, arm and arm, running the last lap, singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb, and the same glory, the glory that is on Yeshua is going to be on them!!
Esther and Ruth had it right. Esther married a Gentile. Ruth married a Jew. “One New Man.” Look what the birth was. Look what the fruit was of that “One New Man.”
This is something that’s supernatural. It’s not natural. I want to pray for a supernatural heart transplant. I want to pray that you have a Jewish heart, a heart like Ruth who says, “Your people are my people. Your God is my God. My olive tree is your olive tree.”
If you want to pray to have a supernatural Jewish heart, stand up right now. It’s not by man’s might, nor by man’s power, but “It’s by My Spirit, ” sayeth the Lord. It’s got to be by God. It’s not by man’s might and it’s not by man’s power, but “It’s only by My Spirit,” sayeth the Lord God. If you only understood what is about ready to happen on this earth. If you only understood that Jeremiah says that there will be persecution of the land of the north of Israel. And as soon as you see that in the former Soviet Union, it’s going to spread to all nations, and the fishermen will come; but so will the hunters come. It’s going to be the greatest time the Church has ever had in its history. We’re walking in… Some people say, “Take me out of this earth God. I want to be in heaven.” I’ll tell you. I don’t want to miss the greatest revival the world as ever seen. I want to go Heaven, but I want to be here for the greatest revival the world as ever seen! I’m going to tell you something else. Times are not going to be getting good. They’re going to be getting bad for this earth. We are not going to just take things over and then hand it to Jesus and say “Whoa!” It’s going to get darker and darker, but the glory that is on the Church is going to get brighter and brighter and brighter, and the world will know. But you’ve got to walk in holiness; and you’ve got to press into intimacy; and you’ve got to grab hold of the Jew so you and he can be one new man in the Messiah!!
You’re not going to win us with your fancy arguments. You’re going to win us with something that never fails – the love of God!
Books by Sid Roth
| The Last Lap: The Emergence of the One New Man | |
| There Must Be Something More!– Autobiographical | |
| They Thought for Themselves: Daring to Confront the Forbidden | – Jewish people finding Messiah Yeshua |
| Time is Running Short – Prophecy and the Book of Esther |