The two loafs of bread on the table in the Tabernacle/Temple were the representation of the two House of Israel and the House of Judah, remember Ephraim since Ephraim is the symbolic and physical picture of the church therefore both houses are united under the ONE olive tree that is Israel.
There is only one “Tree” that is Israel and returning goyim (gentiles) are grafted IN to this tree then how is it that we have replacement theology but in fact it should be IN PLACE theology because we were “in placed” of the disbelieving Jews into the root. This is what Paul correctly understood and wrote about;
Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree
Please note these spiritual principles:
¨ We are wild branches grafted “in”.
¨ The word is “scion” for a young shoot for grafting “in” to the root stock. The grafting is done to a side.
¨ Jesus Yahushua was pierced in His side.
¨ Adam’s rib was also removed from the side, do you understand and see the analogy.
¨ The grafted in branch can take up to 3 days to settle.
¨ The grafted in branch takes up to 3 years to yield fruit.
Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch [Netzer] shall grow out of his roots.
This is symbolic for the Messiah Yahushua but how about that it is also symbolic and physical for the Christian nation that grew out believing in the Messiah!
The Hebrew word for “branch” in Isaiah 11:1 is NETZER and so the early Christians were called Nazarenes or Notzarim (Followers of The Branch).
Reality check
Many Christians think that they can do whatever they like and still be saved!!!!
Romans 11:21 For if Elohim did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
The Bible teaches that if Yahweh cut off the natural branches “Israel for their unbelief” then why should we be any special?
Salvation is a gift (Ephesians 2:8) but that does not mean we have a license for sin, we can read it in Matthew that when the Lord returns half of us will be asleep and not able to enter the kingdom of Yah Elohim. Have you ever wondered why that is?
Matthew 25:1-12 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (2) “Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (6) “And at midnight a cry was heard: `Behold, the bridegroom is coming; [Jesus Yahushua will return unexpectedly just like Noah’s flood] go out to meet Him!’ (10) “And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came, and those who were ready [the ones who obeyed His instructions] went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. (11) “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, `Lord, Lord, open to us!’ (12) “But He answered and said, `Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ [You can know of Jesus Yahushua but not necessarily know Him in a relationship], like I know the queen of England but necessarily in a relationship.
Five virgins were wise and five were foolish – This is 50% of the Church today. This is a Drash (Allegorical truth) this is teaching a true lesson of our day, I do not think that everybody in churches or those wearing crosses are Christians, you can wear a cross and still be unsaved and you can attend a church and still be unsaved. The bottom line is, “do not be a foolish virgin” but be saved and remain obedient.
Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
— Restoration Scriptures Sacred Names Edition (YATI Publishing)
Romans 11:25 For I would not, Yisraelite brothers, that you should be ignorant of this mysterious secret, lest you should be wise in your own pride and conceit; that partial blindness has happened to Yisrael, until the fullness of the nations–the melo hagoyim [fullness of the gentiles or Company of nations] comes in.
Messianic Rabbi Moshe Yoseph Koniuchowsky comments
If we let Scripture interpret Scripture, then Isaiah 8:14 speaks of both houses as being blind. Judah is blind as to who is their Moshiach. Efrayim is blind as to who they are as the other house of Yisrael, and to the relevancy of Torah in their lives, seeing it through a dark glass as a strange Jewish thing, rather than as their own marriage certificate and heritage. Traditionally these verses have been taught to mean that some Jews see and believe, and some just don’t. That meaning is seen as fallacious, when one understands that the olive tree is not strictly Jewish, and that both houses are said to be blind, which is why the terminology “partial blindness” is used to indicate that all twelve tribes are blind in differing areas.
The only other time this term is used in Scripture is in Genesis 48:19. Jacob laid his hands on Efrayim his grandson and said that his seed would literally become the “fullness of the nations,” or the melo-hagoyim. The mystery of the olive tree is not that some day gentiles will be part of Yisrael. That was never a mystery as all of the First Covenant spoke of the gentiles seeing the light of YHWH and Torah. The mystery of the olive tree is the identity of those who are not Jewish coming out of the nations into Moshiach. So this partial blindness on both houses according to Paul will come to an end only when the “fullness of the gentiles” comes in. The Hebraic idiom is a reference to the seed of the ten tribes collectively known as Efrayim-Yisrael. When the remnant of all ten tribes comes in, then Yisrael’s blinders will be lifted and the kingdom will begin. For more details, we strongly recommend you study: http://restorationscriptures.org/page17.htm
If a hardening in part (partial) is of Israel then what about the gentiles who are also grafted into the same tree? Both have a partial blindness because we take our nourishment from the same root thus the returning gentiles have the Messiah but hate Torah observance and the Jews hate Yahushua as the Messiah but love Rabbinic Torah (Oral Torah), in fact as Rabbi Moshe correctly states these gentiles are returning Ephramites, understand it and believe it as scripture is explicit in many places but some of us refuse to see this, the Bible is a Hebrew book period why argue and try to make it a Hellenist text. Some Christians in the churches are conceited about this issue and think they are wise. His instructions are not about do and don’ts but about our willingness and desire to serve Him, we may fail on many things but He does not mark us on a sheet of paper 24 hours a day on what we get right and what we don’t. We live under grace by being faithful to His commandments and it is those that endure to the END that will enter the kingdom of Heaven.
What Paul saw was clearly what was prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.
His grace is enough for us as long as we are willingly able to show a serious response to His call. Torah obedience is not about what I get right and what I get wrong, this idea is not what Yahweh intended, if this was so then Israel in the Diaspora would never ever be able to get back to the “land” because they would never be able to keep the Torah fully because of there was no Temple and no priesthood so how could they ever obey the Torah fully without these elements?
Deuteronomy30:1-4 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your Elohim drives you, (2) “and you return to the Lord your Elohim and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, (3) “that the Lord your Elohim will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your Elohim has scattered you. (4) “If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your Elohim will gather you, and from there He will bring you.
Yahweh’s commandment in Deuteronomy 30:1-4 would be meaningless if Israel was able to keep a perfect Torah without a Tabernacle and priesthood, the idea is not about a perfect Torah but obedient heart and soul and the Lord’s compassion is upon His people because of the promises He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel was never been able to keep a perfect Torah and those that think Israel did would have to just look at the sacrificial system in the Tenach to know that this was never the case. Salvation to Israel always came through GRACE by FAITH not rigid do and don’ts good deeds. Why would Yahweh give a sacrificial system when men can obey every detail of His word, it simply does not make sense?
We know Yahweh seeks after an obedient heart, a heart of flesh and Israel is back in the Land because many Jews though fail on many things but try their best while gentiles shun the Jews and even persecute anyone who even advocates that Yahweh’s Torah is eternal yet we know salvation has already come through Yahushua our Messiah and His blood sacrifice so if you failed on Torah you are not condemned but do you show a willing heart or do you just shun it because this is what has been taught to you by the Church?
Remember the dragon (Satan) persecutes those who keep His commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Yahushua the Messiah; you are not a threat to Satan if you do neither. You can read more about how Satan will attack in my other book “Islam, Peace or Beast” from www.abrahamic-faith.com.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The salvation of the gentiles was revealed to Abraham many millennia ago when he was told:
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Let’s look at what this really means, that the Lord is teaching us here that through Abraham ALL the families of the earth will be blessed.
In English it may not be so obvious but in Hebrew the verse for “In you ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed” reads “Ve Nivrechu Bekah Kol Mishpachot HA-Adamah.”
There is a deep profound truth here that is again hidden in the English translation and is nowhere near translated as the Biblical Hebrew declares. The Hebrew word used here “Nivrechu” is translated as “be blessed”, however the actual Hebrew word used for “be blessed” is not “Nivrechu” but “Yivrechu”. In the Jewish Rabbinic opinion this word is more correctly translated “intermingled” or to be “grafted in”.
In the Jewish ArtScroll Bible Series, Volume 1, page 432, it is written:
There is … an opinion shared by Rashbam [to Genesis 28:14], Chizkuni, Da’as Zekeinum, and quoted by Tur that the verb (ve nivrecu) in Genesis 12:3 is related to the root barak as in the Mishnaic term mavreek meaning to “intermingle or graft.” [cf Kelaim 7:1, Sotah 43a.] As Heidenheim explains it, this interpretation is inspired by the fact that nowhere else besides here do we find barak in the sense of blessing in the niphal conjugation, while in the sense of “grafting” it is common in that form. [Bold emphasis mine]
When we look at the underlining language and what the Jewish Rabbis have agreed we come to a very rich understanding of what Yahweh Elohim was trying to do here, now let’s read the text with this proper understanding.
Genesis 12:3b And in you [Abraham] ALL the families of the earth Nivrecu [will be grafted IN]
Now when you go and read Paul in his epistles you get a better understanding of what he really meant when he wrote in Romans 11:17 and about a great mystery.
Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree.
It is quite obvious Paul was doing a Midrash (commentary) on Genesis 12:3 and understood what this really meant, important point to note about our friend Paul here is that we must always interpret Paul in context with the Torah, whenever we dissect Paul’s teaching outside the Torah and first century Judaism (s) the interpretation would be incorrect like many who misinterpret his Galatians passages to annul the Torah.
Elohim revealed the Torah more fully at Mount Sinai to Israel that is the only difference so they could communicate it to the world and by their own personal way of life show these things to gentile nations around them. Sure not ALL the commandments are for us such as the Levitical priestly laws but what is not for us we do not have to keep but what is for us we should obey.
Genesis 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
How did Noah know about clean and unclean animals? Let those who want to separate Torah and grace prove that Noah and Abraham did not have the Torah since Both these are called faithful and obeyed HIS TORAH that He had revealed to them so GRACE and TORAH (commandments of Yahweh) flow hand in hand, they cannot be separated. Elohim has been graceful throughout time.
Genesis 26:4-5 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: Because Abraham obeyed My Voice and kept My Charge, My Commandments, My Statutes, and My Torah!
This proves the eternality of the Torah whether we care to believe it or not.
Notsrim Rabbi Simon Altaf
Rabbi Simon Altaf’s challenge is open to replacement theology Christians to prove that there is no such entity called “A Church” and no such covenants of the Elohim of Israel in force with such entity, he has an open challenge to any Muslim Sunni/Shi’ite scholar to prove that Jesus Yahushua is not the Elohim of Israel, he has an open challenge to any orthodox Jewish Rabbi to prove Yahushua is not the Messiah.