My heart is stirred by a noble theme

The matter of us (non-Jews) being included in the Abrahamic Covenant is uppermost in my mind and heart right now.

It resurfaced recently as I was going through my FFOZ studies on the Narrow Path, in last week's study "The Deeds of Abraham".

There, it affirmed what I already know: That through the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth, we are grafted into the House of Israel and become inheritors with the natural-born Jews.

Then last night I did a short course on ChabadU by a lovely lady whose surname I cannot pronounce. It's wonderful to learn about all the Jewish texts, which have only in recent years become available to those of us who were not born into a Jewish context - for whose availability I am very grateful.

The lady was saying, though, that Abraham is the father of the Jewish people. My reading of the Scriptures, however, tells me otherwise.

A friend just happened to send me a  verse from the Brit Chadashah this morning:

    "I assume that you have heard of the work God in His grace has given me to do for your benefit, and that it was by a revelation that this secret plan was made known to me. I have already written about it briefly, and if you read what I have written, you will grasp how I understand this secret plan concerning the Messiah.

In past generations it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to His emissaries and prophets, that in union with the Messiah and through the Good News, the Gentiles were to be joint heirs, a joint body and joint sharers with the Jews in what God has promised. I became a servant of this Good News by God's gracious gift, which He gave me through the operation of His power.

To me, the least important of all God's holy people, was given this privilege of announcing to the Gentiles the Good News of the Messiah's unfathomable riches, and of letting everyone see how this secret plan is going to work out. This plan, kept hidden for ages by God, the Creator of everything, is for the rulers and authorities in heaven to learn, through the existence of the Messianic Community, how many-sided God's wisdom is. This accords with God's age-old purpose, accomplished in the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. In union with Him, through His faithfulness, we have boldness and confidence when we approach God."

Ephesians 3:2-12

Not wanting to stop there, I thought to myself that if Paul was saying these things, they must be grounded in the Tanakh, seeing that he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, (Acts 23:6) and also had his brit-milah on the 8th day, belonged to the people of Israel by birth, was from the tribe of Benjamin, was a Hebrew speaker with Hebrew speaking parents, a Parush (Pharisee) in regards to the Torah, was blameless regarding righteousness demanded by the Torah; He also mentions how he persecuted the Messianic Community before he encountered Yeshua on the road to Damascus.

(Philippians 3:5-6).

Here is a link to a very interesting article about the Hidden Messiah:

https://israelbiblicalstudies.com/blog/category/jewish-studies/hidden-messiah-1-retelling-the-story/

Back to the Tanakh's references to our subject:

Genesis 12:3

"I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed." God speaking to Abraham.

Genesis 18:18

"Inasmuch as Abraham is sure to become a great and strong nation, and all the families of the earth will be blessed by him?" God asking Himself whether He should tell Abraham what He plans to do to Sodom.

Genesis 22:18

"And by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed - because you obeyed my order."

Genesis 26:4

"And I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give all these lands to your descendants, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless themselves." God speaking to Isaac.

Genesis 28:14

"Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed." God speaking to Jacob.

So, it's clear that we, the non-Jews, will be blessed through Abraham. But was does "blessed" actually mean? For instance, when we bless God, can we, mere mortals, bestow beneficiencies on the Almighty Creator? 

The root of the Hebrew word for bless/ed ב ר ך. It has its origins in agriculture:

להבריך (Lehavrich): An agricultural term meaning to bend a vine branch into the ground to help it take root.

So, when we bless God, we are asking for His Kingdom to come to the earth! To bend down to us!

Likewise, when God tells Abraham, Isaac & Jacob that through them all of us, the nations, will be blessed, He seems to mean that we will bend down and be planted and established in the House of Israel!

The Prophet Isaiah also mentions us:

Isaiah 49:6: "He has said, 'It is not enough that you are merely My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the offspring of Israel. I will also make You a Light to the nations, so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth'."

Isaiah 49:6

Isaiah 56:3-8

"A foreigner joining ADONAI should not say,

'ADONAI will separate me from His people';

Likewise the eunuch should not say,

'I am only a dried-up tree'.

For here is what ADONAI says:

'As for the eunuchs who keep My Shabbats,

who chooses what pleases Me

and hold fast to My covenant:

In My house, within My walls,

I will give them power and a name

greater than sons and daughters;

I will give him an everlasting name

that will not be cut off.

'And the foreigners who join themselves to ADONAI

to serve Him, to love the Name of ADONAI,

and to be His workers,

all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it,

and hold fast to my covenant,

I will bring them to My Holy Mountain

and make them joyful in My house of prayer;

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices 

will be accepted on My altar;

for My house will be called

A house of prayer for all peoples'.

Adonai ELOHIM says,

He who gathers Israel's exiles:

'There are yet others I will gather,

besides those gathered already.'

What an amazingly comforting Scripture! Yeshua Himself repeats the closing words of the verse! 

John 10:16

"Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd."

So this is the blessing for us, the nations, then, that God promised to Abraham. He is not only the father of the Jewish people, but also the father of all who join themselves to Israel through Yeshua the Jewish Messiah! Hallelujah!