Shalom, everyone. I would like you please to open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 11 to 22, "God's provision of peace for each and every one that have trusted in Him." We are going through it, verse by verse, and I'm reading from verse 11. "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, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. 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 has made both one, and has 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 far off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens, with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit.

And this is the end of the second chapter of the book of Ephesians, an extremely important passage for us to study together as both Jewish and non-Jewish believers together, an amazing passage that teaches us the position of Gentile believers with the Jewish believers in Christ in the Messiah. I do not know if you have noticed when we have read this passage that three times the apostle Paul, Shaul, used the word peace. In Hebrew of course it is the word shalom. This word shalom here in this passage comes from the Greek word irini. That's where we get the name Irene. You would notice in verse 13 he says, Yeshua is our shalom, our peace.

Also in verse 15 he said that he made peace. He made irini. And also in verse 17 he came and preached peace. Three times the apostle Shaul Paul writing to the Ephesian brothers and sisters in the local assembly, reminding them that the peace that they have is because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah. This is so important, beloved brothers and sisters. For all of us need to realize as we study this that it is important to get a hold of it. There is a song, a hymn that is sung among the believers in many places in the world called "A Mind in Perfect Peace with God".

Oh what a word is this? A sinner reconciled through blood, this, this indeed is peace. By nature and by practice far, how very far from God, yet now by grace brought nigh to Him through faith in Jesus' blood. So near, so very near to God, I cannot neither be, yet in the person of His Son I am as near as He. So dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be, the love wherewith He loves the Son, such is His love to me. Why should I ever be? Why should I ever careful be? Since such as God is mine, He watches over me night and day, and tells me, "Thou art mine".

The writer of this hymn that wrote this song must have studied Ephesians chapter 2, specifically verses 11 to 22. "A mind at perfect peace with God". Because of the fact that we know our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and we know that He accomplished for us. We can have, now, all this redemption when He died for us on the tree. So the apostle Paul, now wanting them to remember that throughout the history they were far from the Lord, but now they have been brought nigh. Now remember that the vast majority of the brothers and sisters in the local assembly at Ephesus were non-Jewish individuals. They were saints who were saved from among paganism.

They believed in this great Diana of the Ephesians. They came from paganism. They came from idolatry. They came from that which was contrary to the God of Israel. But now, beloved brothers and sisters, God brought them into this body of Messiah, the body of Christ, and Paul reminded them where they came from and what they possess as believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah now. Well, in the previous ten verses of this second chapter, we have been emphasizing the grace of God. That it is presented to the Ephesians through our Lord Jesus the Messiah. This grace, he says to them in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 to 10: "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ, in Messiah, Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." So in the first ten verses, the apostle Paul emphasizes God's grace towards these Gentiles who came to faith in our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. But now, he is moving forward, and he is not so much dealing with the grace of God, though it is included here, but he is dealing with the place of blessing, to which those brethren came when they have trusted in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. Now, he is reminding them how far they had been in the past, and how near they came when they have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

So notice what he is saying in verses 11 and 12. First of all, he reminds those brothers and sisters at the local assembly of Ephesus. And he is saying to them, "Wherefore, remember that ye being in time pass Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hand." And you notice the word "wherefore." The apostle Paul is saying to them, "in light of all what I have already told you in the first ten verses, therefore remember, brethren, before you became believers in Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, you were Gentiles in the flesh," meaning Goyim, meaning Goyim, or "of the nations of the world in the flesh." "Babbasar" in Hebrew, "who are called uncircumcised by those which were called the circumcision." This is the Jewish people.

In other words, if you remember from chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, God gave our forefather Abraham the sign of the covenant that he made, the covenant that he made with him. And the promise that he had given to Abraham, he gave him a sign of this covenant, and that was the circumcision. Genesis chapter 17, verse 9 to 14. "I'm reading." "And God said unto Abraham, "Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their generation. 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 generation, 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 need 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 has broken my covenant." You see, beloved friend, every man child, every Hebrew boy had to be circumcised at the age of eight days old.

And that was the sign, the mark in the body, in the flesh of the covenant that God made with our father Abraham. It was the sign. In other words, every Hebrew Jewish Israeli boy must be circumcised. Every one of us who were born to a Jewish family have been circumcised when we became eight days of age. Our parents have done so. My father, my grandfather, all my family had to be circumcised when they were eight days of age. It was the responsibility of our parents and grandparents and great-great-parents. This command was also given to our people Israel by the law. In Leviticus chapter 12, verses 1, 2, and 3, there we read those words.

"And the Lord spake unto Moshe," Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, "If a woman have conceived seed and born a man child, then she shall be unclean seven days according to the days of the separation for her infirmity. shall she be unclean? And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." That was incorporated to the law. And all our Hebrew people had to be circumcised at the age of eight days old. The parents' responsibility was to circumcise their sons. A boy, a male child, has to be circumcised. So, in a sense, it is a mark of the Hebrew as a distinct nation, separated from all the nations of the world.

And this is why the Apostle Paul, Shaul, is now saying to the brethren those words. He says, "You remember that in time past, before you became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, you were Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hand." In other words, the Hebrews have distinguished themselves and still distinguishing themselves from the nations of the world. The Hebrews are the circumcised. The non-Hebrews are the uncircumcised. Even King Saul, Melech Yisrael, the king of Israel, when he was going to die, he did not want to be killed by the uncircumcised Philistine. And that's the way it was looked upon.

The uncircumcised, the people that are not belonging to God, but the circumcised people are the people of God. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, Abraham received this covenant from God. It was not Abraham who made the covenant with God, but God made the covenant with Abraham. It is called the Abrahamic covenant. So, God, who made this distinction, promised that he will bless the descendants of Abraham. The Abrahamic promise is a wonderful promise. And the sign of it was evident in the circumcision of Abraham's descendants. The Hebrew word for circumcision is Brit Milah. Two Hebrew words, Brit means covenant. Milah means to circumcise, the cutting off of the flesh.

It was a God-given command to Abraham and his descendants. And there was a purpose for that. God intended that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, namely the people of Israel, will serve as a blessing to all the nations of the world. So, you can just imagine when there was one chosen man and through him the whole nation came into being. And the rest of the world was intended to be blessed through the descendants of Abraham. Well, it was the sovereign choice of God alone. And you and I, now, who are believers in Yeshua the Messiah, also have been chosen. Even from before the foundation of the world in the Messiah, in Christ, long before even we were born.

So, you and I as well are part of this elected company that is called the Ekklesia, the church, the called out ones. We are not better than others, but we have been chosen by the Lord according to Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4 where we read, According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So, they were called the uncircumcised one by those who were called the circumcised, namely by the nation of Israel. Then, he continues now in verse 12 of Ephesians chapter 2. He is reminding those brethren five things that they were without.

You see, the Goyim, the nations of the world, were without so many things that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, namely the nation of Israel, had enjoyed because of God's election. And so, notice what Shaul Paul says in verse 12. They were outside. They were without God in this world. Those Ephesians were told by the Apostle Paul that at that time when you became believers, that ye were without Christ. At that time before you became believers, you were without Hamashiach, without Messiah. This is number one. Number two, he says, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Again, without citizenship. Thirdly, you were strangers from the covenant of promise.

They did not have any covenant. Fourthly, having no hope. They did not have any hope, these Ephesians, before they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And fifthly, without God in the world. Can you imagine? Can you imagine the condition of the nations of the world? And those believers in Yeshua the Messiah now of the city of Ephesus? What a blessing they have been brought to. But before they became believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, they were without Messiah, without citizenship, without covenants, without hope, and without God. Without Elohim in this world. Hopeless and helpless. Without any future whatsoever. This is what was the condition of the Gentile world.

And it is still the condition of the Gentile world those who refuse to accept the person and the work of God's Son, the promised Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior, our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Stay with me here for a moment on those five statements. The first one is without the Messiah. The Hebrew word for Messiah, Mashiach, in the Greek is the word Christos, without Christ. But notice what Psalm 2 is saying in verses 1 and 2. Why do the heathen rage? And the people imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord. This is Jehovah, Jehovah. And against his anointed.

His Mashiach, his Messiah saying. You see, Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2 shows us that the whole nations of the world were against the living God, but also against the Mashiach, the Messiah. The whole world counseled against God. They counseled against the anointed, the Messiah. But as far as the Hebrews, the Jewish people were concerned, there was a promise of Mashiach for our people. But the Gentile world has not this hope. As it says here, they were without Mashiach, without any of the promises of the coming of the Messiah to redeem that which was promised to the nation of Israel. Secondly, it says that being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.

The Commonwealth has to do with citizenship of the nation of Israel. God has chosen this nation Israel. And he gave to every Israeli that was born a citizenship in this nation. Many blessings connected with the nation of Israel. When the Gentile nations, the people from among the nations of the world had no citizenship and no privileges and relationship with the living God. They had no citizenship. In other words, they are not part of the Commonwealth of the nation of Israel. A Commonwealth has to do with rights and privileges that belong to the persons that belong to that country. There are various countries these days who belong to what is called the Commonwealth.

Well, in Canada, for example, Canada is part of the Commonwealth, which belong together, united with other nations such as Britain and Australia and other countries. And they all have what you call the Commonwealth. And the Gentile nations of the world did not have this enjoyment of being part of this Commonwealth of the nation of Israel. So he's telling these to the brothers and sisters of Ephesus. Years ago, before the Messiah came, if a Gentile wanted to believe in the God of Israel, he could become a proselyte. A person who was a God fearer, who believed in the God of Israel, but they have never had a common citizen with the ordinary Jewish Israeli person.

So imagine here the Apostle Paul reminding the brothers and sisters of Ephesus that they came from so far away and they've been brought into this privilege of becoming united with others in the body of Christ. Another thing that I want to remind you is that the Apostle Paul said that they were without covenants. Again, they were strangers from those covenants that God had made with his people, the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So you can just see how God had brought them in such a favored place. When we study the scripture, we find out that there are eight covenants in God's word.

We have the Adamic covenant, the Noahic covenant. These covenants were made long before God even chose Abraham and his descendants. But after that, from chapter 12 of the book of Genesis and forward, the remaining five covenants that are found in the Tanakh, that is the Old Testament, God made those covenants with the nation of Israel, Abraham and his descendants. The Abraham covenant is in Genesis chapter 12. He made this covenant with Abraham, our father. Then on Mount Sinai, when our people of old Israel came out of Sinai, God made a covenant with the nation of Israel. It's called the Har Sinai covenant, Mount Sinai covenant. He made it with the whole nation of Israel.

Later on in Deuteronomy chapter 29, God made the land covenant with the people of Israel, giving them a promise that this land will belong to them. He gave Israel the land. Then later on, when he established a king upon the throne, he made the Davidic covenant. David, the king of Israel was promised that him and his seed will be sitting on the throne, the king of Israel. We read it in 2 Samuel chapter 7. God promised that David and his descendants are going to sit on that throne of David. It will be an eternal throne and God is going to make for David an eternal throne and an eternal house.

And the final covenant that God made with Israel is found in Jeremiah chapter 31 in verse 31. The prophet Yirmiyahu were speaking about this final covenant and we call it Brit Hadashah, the new covenant. And you can see how clearly that the covenant will be with the household of Israel and the household of Judah. This covenant, Yeshua the Messiah spoke about it when he pointed to his shed blood when he is going to die on the tree and bring about this promise of the new covenant. This is such a wonderful truth to understand. We must bear in mind that the covenants were made with Israel and not with the church.

The church came under the blessing of the new covenant. But all those covenants were made with the people of Israel, including the new covenant. And Israel as a nation haven't entered into the blessing and the joy of this covenant. Yet you and I as believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah have already now entered into the blessing of this covenant. But the covenant itself is made with the household of Israel and the household of Judah. What a blessing it is that our pastor Paul reminding these brothers and sisters of the city of Ephesus. So I want you to notice now that they also were without hope.

Paul said that you had no hope without hope. Can you imagine what it meant for these individuals to have no hope? No hope. It's sad when we have so many people who refuse to accept God's offer, but really they do not have any hope. They are hopeless. When a person that refused to accept Yeshua the Messiah continue on and leave these scenes without faith in the Messiah, he or she have no hope. Can you imagine what it means having no hope whatsoever? When a person who was not part of the nation of Israel, he or she could not look forward to something glorious as Israel the nation had.

The hope of the hope of the hope of the return of the Messiah, the establish of the Messiah kingdom, the rule of God through the Messiah over the nation of Israel and over the nation of the whole world. What a beautiful hope Israel had. But these non-Jewish believers, before they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, they had no hope. All those who are not believers in Jesus the Messiah today still have no hope. What a sad condition. They cannot look to anything in the future because they are without hope. Our hope is found in the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Many times when we speak to individuals and we ask them, what is going to happen when you're going to die?

Where will we spend eternity? Then some say, I don't know. Six feet under the ground and it is all over. No hope. Well, we can thank God already now that for us there is hope. There is hope for all believers, but there was no hope for those non-Jewish individuals. Non-Jewish individuals before they became part of the body of Messiah. So, without Messiah, without citizenship, without covenant, without hope. And finally in verse 12 we read, and without God in the world. Without God? Oh yes. They had made all sort of idols. Their own gods. But without the true and living Elohim God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Creator God. The lover of their souls. The one who provided for us, for mankind, the way of salvation. The psalmist of Israel said it this way. In Psalm 115 verses 1 to 8. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy true sake." Wherefore should the heathen say, "Where is now their God?" But our God is in the heavens. He has done whatsoever he has pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, and the work of man's hand. They have mouth, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not.

Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat. They that made them are like unto them. So is everyone that trusteth in them." Can you imagine what a condition for the unbelievers in this world today? Oh, there were many, many gods the unbelievers had, with a small g, idols they had. But they didn't have the true and living God in this world. So the Apostle Paul, when he came to Greece, and he was there preaching the message of the gospel, it had been said that in Athens you could find more idols than people.

At the time when Apostle Paul went to preach the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua in the city of Athens. And he preached about this living God who sent the Messiah. Paul emphasizes the fact that the Gentile believers, before they became part of the body of Messiah, they were uncircumcised, without Messiah, without citizenship, without covenant, without hope, without God in this world. What a state they had before. Now remember, we are talking about 2,000 years ago. Today, at the end of the church age, we believe that Paul was speaking to them at about 64 A.D., and long before the things have changed direction in the spiritual state of the church age.

Which is today is rather sad. But in the beginning of the church age, things were different. The church, the believers among the body of Messiah was growing and developing. He reminded them that those things that they have been without, and now they have, they have been brought closer to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah that became now part of the body of Christ. Now I want to mention one more thing. Israel was a favored nation. But Israel was not chosen in order to pride itself. Israel, the nation was not chosen in order. They will think that they were superior than other nations of this world. God forbid.

Israel has the responsibility to be a priestly nation to represent God in this world. So it was just what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 7, where God said to Israel in verse 6, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God." The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all the people that are upon the face of the earth. Then look what God says in verses 7, 8 and 9. "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep his oath, which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeem you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." So in other words, Israel was chosen because God set his love upon the nation. Not because Israel was superior, but it is totally the grace of God. Israel was responsible to reach the world with the message of the true and living God. Our nation as a nation had failed to fulfill that which God had given them to do throughout the ages. And so Israel did not fulfill what God had in mind for them, but it will come to pass in the messianic age when Israel as a nation will accept the Messiah.

Then Israel will fully fulfill what God had in mind for them. But I also want to remind you that those of us who are believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, who are part of the church today, we also have been chosen before the foundation of the world. But the church also had failed just the same as Israel, the nation has failed. And that's why we are so thankful for the grace of God. And verses such as this is so precious to our hearts to realize that everyone has been brought in by the grace of God. So now, after the apostle Paul pointed to these two verses, then from verse 13 to 18, Paul reminds the brethren from among the Gentiles what God had done for them.

And this is really refreshing to the heart of everyone who read this passage. Notice, in verses 13 to 15, Paul speaks about what God had done and what the Messiah had done between Jews and Gentiles. Believers from among the Jewish people, our own nation, and believers from among the Gentiles. Between Israel and the nations of the world. He points to this wonderful relationship that he had brought between those two. Then in verses 16 to 18, he shows what God had done for all through the person and the work of Yeshua the Messiah. So let's look over those verses together. First of all, notice, Ephesians 2, verse 13, 14, and 15. In verse 13, God now removed the enmity between the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Gentile world.

He says, first of all, in verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, in the Messiah Yeshua, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of the Messiah, by the blood of Christ. Notice, notice the word, notice the word, but now. Very similar to what Paul said in verse 4, but God. It is all from God. What God had done on behalf of those believers from among the Gentiles is now presented here. He says, but now in Christ, in the Mashiach, in the Messiah, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of the Messiah, of Christ. He is telling them in verse 13, that in the Messiah Yeshua, those Gentile believers are made nigh.

How they can become nigh? Because the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, shed his blood. That word for nigh. That word for nigh is the word for near. That's why when we read the hymn as we have read earlier, we can never be to God as near as we are now because of the work of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. He uses the word, had been made nigh by the blood of the Messiah. He doesn't use the word by the death of the Messiah or by the resurrection of the Messiah, but he uses the word by the blood of the Messiah. Why does he use the word blood?

Because Yeshua, the Messiah, had to shed his precious, precious blood. You remember what the writer to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 9 verse 22? He says, almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood, there is no remission. In other words, there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Under the law, we read in Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Beloved brothers and sisters, without blood shed of the Messiah, there is no forgiveness of sin.

Atonement is made through a shed blood of an innocent animal, and the removal of sin is made through the shed blood of the Mashiach Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah himself. We could never be brought near to God unless our Lord Yeshua the Messiah shed his precious blood. And so he is saying to these brethren, says now, right now, every believer in Yeshua the Messiah, made nigh by their precious blood of the Messiah. He is emphasizing the blood. The blood in Hebrew, the word is Dhamma, makes an atonement for the soul. His blood was shed. His blood was shed. And now it's made possible for one who trusts him and accepts him to be brought near to the presence of God.

Imagine what it meant for our blessed Lord Jesus the Messiah to give his life a ransom for many. And he said to them in 1st Peter 1, 18 and 19, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of the Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. What shall wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. The blood must be shed. And this is why he says in this passage: You who were from among the nations of the world, you were far off.

Now you become so near. And it was on the basis of the blood of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah. Imagine. He's showing them what the Messiah had done for them. There are many verses that can be presented before us like Colossians chapter 1 and verse 12 to 14, where Paul said, giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. And listen to this. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. The blood of an innocent one must be shed.

The life of the flesh is in the blood. God made us suitable to meet for his presence. And it is only because the blood of Yeshua the Messiah was shed on the tree. This is why it is so important to emphasize again and again that it is the blood that Yeshua the Messiah shed as a sacrifice that made us near. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban. This word means to draw near. Lehit karev means to be able to draw near. The sacrifice of the Messiah made it possible for the Gentiles to draw near to God. For all of us to draw near to each other.

But it is on the basis of the blood that the Messiah Yeshua Jesus have shed on the tree. Now notice secondly, in verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 2, he is saying now that the Messiah is our peace. In Hebrew, shalom. Verse 14, for he is our shalom, our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us. There was a distance that was between the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our nation, the nation of Israel, and the Goim, the nations of the world. And there was separation. There was not that privilege that you and I have today as believers in Jesus the Messiah to draw nigh to each other as brothers and sisters in the Messiah, close to each other.

Before the Messiah gave himself a ransom for many, there was always a separation. There was that middle wall of partition that was between the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the nations of the world. This wall of separation always distinguished Israel from the nations of the world. But now, what happened when Yeshua came? When Yeshua, Jesus came, the wall that was between us had to be torn down, had to be broken down. Can you imagine? When Paul wrote to the Ephesians at about 64 AD, the temple stood. At that time, the temple existed in the city of Jerusalem, waiting the day of destruction when the Romans came and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and burned it and destroyed the whole city of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

So, when Paul wrote in 64 AD, the temple still stood. There were various courts in the temple. And not everyone could enter into every court. In fact, the fifth court was further out. That court was called the court of the Gentiles. The priests could pass through the court of the Gentiles. Then there was another court called the court of the women. The priests could pass through the court of the women. And then there was another court called the court of the men, the Israeli men. Then the priests could pass through the court of the Israeli men. And then there was another court called the priestly court.

And the priests could get all the way up to the priestly court. But finally, there was the first court, you might say, and that was the Holy of Holies. Where the high priest could enter in the day of atonement Yom Kippur once a year. So, the Gentiles were so far away, he couldn't draw nigh before. In fact, archaeologists found and discovered that there was an inscription on one of the walls between the Gentile court and the women court that says there, "No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounded the sanctuary and the enclosure." Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing day.

No Gentile could come closer at that time. Even at the time when the temple stood, the Gentile could never get in. There was a wall that was separating between the court of the Gentile and the Jewish people. And therefore, the priests could enter all the way to the court of the priests and the high priests all the way to the Holy of Holies once a year. But the Gentile had to stay far away. Can you imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, being so far from the privileges, so far from the presence of God? But Shaul Paul is encouraging and reminding the believers of Ephesus, the Messiah Yeshua made peace, he made shalom now between the two.

Who has made both of us one? Now you see, brothers and sisters, he took Jewish believers and Gentile believers and united them together into one body. He is saying now that by the Messiah Yeshua there is shalom. He broke down this middle wall of partition that is between us. Even the law itself became a wall of separation between Israel and the nations of the world. Let me remind you what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 7. It says in verse 1 and 2. When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it. And has cast out many nations before thee. The Hittite and the Gergashite and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Chivites and the Jebusites.

Seven nations greater and mightier than thou. This is what he is saying to Israel. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Now notice what he says in verses 3 and 4 of Deuteronomy chapter 7. Neither shalt thou make marriage with them. Thy daughters thou shalt not give unto his son. No, his daughters shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy you suddenly.

You see, we may blame Israel in failing to obey God and live for God. But this was what God set before the people of Israel. It was God who set up that wall. It is God who distinguished between Israel and the nations of the world. It was God according to his purposes. But Israel sought to live like the nations of the world. And therefore they were drawn away from God. Unfortunately, Israel failed in following God. And this is why the Messiah came in his first coming. So he will pay for the price of sin. His blood will make it possible now for a person to receive forgiveness of sins.

And to bring both Jewish and Gentiles into nearness to him. And into making one body, one union, shalom between the two. In order that we can draw near to each other. So the expression he is our shalom according to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. The one who came to bring peace. In the future, soon and very soon, he will bring peace between the whole world and God. But now everyone that have trusted in him, he now made peace, made shalom. We have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. But also peace with each other. Each one of us who have trusted that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Look where we read in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 and 7. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And a government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace and shalom. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom. To order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. You see, God promised one day there will be peace in this world.

And the Prince of Peace, namely Yeshua the Messiah, will rule and reign. But in the meanwhile, in the time of his rejection, he made peace through his blood for all those who have trusted in him. But also, he have made shalom, made peace between us, Jewish, and those from the nations. And he brought us together. God, the Son, Yeshua the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom. He is our peace. And he is the one who had broken down the middle wall of partition between us. And this is so amazing. Those of us that are Jewish believers, who have wives who are not Jewish, but God had blessed us to be united together, Jew and Gentile together in the Messiah, Yeshua.

It only can be possible because of our faith in Yeshua the Messiah. Otherwise, it's not the same. The Lord has brought us by his grace together. And why it is so unique? It is because here is Gentile and here is Jew united together, able to live with each other and worshiping the person of the God of Israel through the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Now, notice in verse 15, not only that he is the Shalom, but now he made Shalom for us by his finished work on the cross, on the tree. We read in verse 15, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandment contained in ordinances for to make in himself of the twain one new man so making peace." Now notice, this is an amazing verse, this verse 15, not only that he is our Shalom, but he made Shalom.

The people today trying to make peace, trying to make Shalom with each other. It has been said that thousands of peace treaties have been arranged, but broken over the many years by many, many nations. nations trying to make Shalom today in the Middle East, but it doesn't work. Every time we move towards peace, then something happened. So what is Shalom? The Hebrew word Shalom means Shalom, wholeness, complete. Shalom is not an absent of war, but Shalom is a complete peace. And every time this world in which we live in today make Shalom, it's most likely not necessarily true wholeness or true completeness. It is simply an absent of war.

Absent of war is not Shalom. There is still hatred between nations, animosity between nations, never true peace. The only true peace is made by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. That's the only true Shalom that we have in reality in the world today. This is why he abolished the enmity that we had. How many times we made agreements with people to stop to be their enemies, but it doesn't take too long and we break it. Or it is animosity that we have in the back of our mind. But here we have this assurance from the Lord that he became our Shalom between us and God. He broken not only the middle wall of partition, but he made peace between us and himself, God and mankind.

He put away the enmity positionally. He made peace. He abolished it in his flesh, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. For he made in himself of the twain one new man, so making peace. How did he make this peace? Well, Yeshua made eternal peace between God and between men only when he died for us on the tree. He abolished this enmity in his flesh. What does he mean here? Well, God entered humanity in the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. When he was born in Bethlehem to the Jewish virgin Miriam, he became a man, spirit, soul and body, a sinless man. He lived here upon the face of this earth for 33 and a half years.

Then he went to the Roman cross, where there he was placed in order to be punished for the sin of this world. On the cross, he bore the sin question once and for all. He bore the judgment that you and I deserve to receive. When he in his flesh bore our sins in his body on the tree, he literally became sin for us, that we will become the righteousness of God. In Mark chapter 15, it is interesting to see how the writers of the New Testament, the New Covenant placed this before us. In Mark 15:25, and it was the third hour and they crucified him. This is Yeshua, the Messiah, who was crucified on the tree.

Then down to verse 33, and when the six hours come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Here you have the third hour and the sixth hour and the ninth hour. Six hours our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, was hanging on that Roman cross. The first three hours, Yeshua suffered by the hands of men. Men mocked him and laughed at him. The leaders of Israel, the passers by, the Gentiles nations, even the malefactors, the soldiers. Everybody mocked him the first three hours. But the second three hours, he suffered by the hand of a righteous God. This is why we read in verse 33 of this chapter, Mark chapter 15, that there was darkness over the whole land.

From the sixth hour to the ninth hour. The second three hours of the sixth that Yeshua was on the tree, God laid upon him the whole question of sin. And then if you remember, verse 34 of Mark chapter 15. And at the ninth hour, Yeshua, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Elohi, Elohi, Elohi, lama shvaktani. Which is being interpreted, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? You see, beloved brothers and sisters, what happened here? God laid upon his son, Esmen, the sin question. All the enmity that we had against God. All the sin question that men have committed from Adam till today. All was laid upon Yeshua, the Messiah.

The sin, the root and sins, the fruit. Why? It is because God hates sin. Yeshua, the son of God, the Messiah of Israel. When he was there on the cross, he bore it on our behalf. And that's why he cried. Because God now, as a judge, had to separate from him for these three hours. He was judged by God. And at the ninth hour, he cried, Elohi, Elohi, lama shvaktani. Why did you forsake me? And notice what it says immediately in verses 37 and 38. And Yeshua, Jesus, cried with a loud voice. He gave up the spirit. And the veil of the temple was reined in twain from the top to the bottom.

Remember, the veil that stood between the holy and the holy of holies. The Kodesh and Kodesh HaKodeshim was a very thick veil. And it was ripped. Now notice it says from the top to the bottom. It doesn't say from the bottom to the top. Why? It is because God himself from the top have opened, have ripped this veil. As if it were, he was tearing and making it open. It's almost like a sign of mourning to tear the veil. It's like when we mourn, we tear our clothes. But God tore the veil and he opened the door to make a possibility for everyone who trusted in Yeshua the Messiah to draw near.

And all this was because our Lord Jesus the Messiah was penalized for the unjust one to bring us to God. God tore apart the veil. It was torn from the top to the bottom. We must understand that he has done it because of the work of the Messiah. And this is why now, as we turn to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 and 20, you will see the connection here. It says, "having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest." In Hebrew, "kodesh ha-kodeshim." How? By the blood of Yeshua. By a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

You see, beloved, the veil of the temple typified the flesh of the Messiah. In other words, when he died, when he bore our sins, the veil was opened and enabled us now to enter into the immediate presence of God. This is why Paul is saying in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 15, "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, so making shalom." Now, I want you also to understand here that he abolished the law and commandments contained in ordinances. Now, you see, some might say, "I can get forgiveness of sin on a basis of keeping the law." But here we learn very quickly that the basis and the ground upon which one can be drawn near to God is not on a basis of keeping the law, though the law is holy, but none can keep it.

And the basis to draw near is on a basis of the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. In other words, God's law never changed, but the ground upon which we draw near is not on the basis of keeping the law, commandments and ordinances, but on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah. You notice that he says he made in himself of the two one new man. What does that mean? Well, one new man? He doesn't talk about the individual man. He's talking about the union between Jewish people and Gentile people who became believers, one in the body of Messiah, the ecclesia, the called out ones.

That is that new man. So, no longer only Jewish people alone, it's no longer only Gentiles alone, but both together. One new man, Jewish and Gentile, uniting together in Messiah and making what is called today one new man, meaning one company. You notice that in many other verses that we can read about the church, we have talked about this. Notice verse 23 of chapter one of Ephesians. Ephesians, he said, "And has put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fulfilleth all in all." You see, he's the head and we are the body, the assembly, the ecclesia.

The body here is on earth and the head is in heaven. So, Jewish people and non-Jewish people are now united together and become one assembly, one ecclesia. Here is not one church for the Jews and one church for the Gentiles. No. There is one congregation for both. There is only one body that is for both Jews and Gentiles alike. Well, we have to confess that we fail in our expression of that unity many times. But positionally, there is only one new man, namely the ecclesia, the body of Messiah, which is a composition of all believers in the church. God now removed that enmity between the descendants of Abraham and the nations of the world.

All this is on the basis of the finished work of our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. He is our Shalom. He made that peace. He is the one that brought us together. Now, let's move on to verses 16, 17, and 18. Here is not so much emphasizing the bringing the Jewish people and the Gentiles together, but now God removed not only the enmity between us, but God is now showing to us in verse 16, and that he might reconcile both. This is the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the people from among the Gentiles. And then he says unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.

Now, this is also very important. The word reconciliation, for me as a Hebrew person, I had a very hard time to learn some of these difficult English words, propitiation, reconciliation, justification. These words are not easy for us to understand. When we say God propitiated, God reconciled, I'm not necessarily always understanding that. But by the grace of God, we understand reconciliation. What happened? Since sin came into this world, man was at distance from the Lord. And God wanted to reconcile man to himself. So you remember what happened in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve could not now look at God because of sin. So what happened?

God, on the basis of the sacrifice, could now look at them and reach for them to be drawn back to himself because blood was shed. Atonement was made. Atonement was made. So now Adam and Eve could turn to him on the basis of the sacrifice and God will accept them. This is reconciliation. God looked at Adam and Eve and he says, I'm thankful for the creation that I made, but sin came. And Adam and Eve now turned their faces from God after they were astray from him. And now they were reconciled to God. But it was always on a basis of the shed blood of an animal.

God had to kill an animal, to shed its blood, to cover the skin of Adam and Eve, but to cover their sins through the blood of that animal. This is why we read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4. How Cain did not come to God on the basis of the blood and he ended up further and further from God. But Abel came to God on the basis of the shed blood. This is what John 3 verse 19 says. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. So you see what God did.

And that is the beauty of the gospel. God says, I love men so much that I want to bring him back to myself. And therefore I would send my son, send the Messiah in order to restore men unto myself. We read in Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 31. Rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth and my delight is with the sons of men. So what God was going to do, he provided a way of salvation for mankind. All on the basis of the cross, the basis of the work of Christ, the work of Yeshua the Messiah, we have been brought back to God. Now, I want to point out, when Yeshua cried, my God, my God, Elohim, Elohim, lama shvachtani?

He had to cry it because God had to forsake this sinless man in order that sin will be judged. In Psalm 22, there is an answer to the cry of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And the answer is simply this. In verse 3 of Psalm 22, "But thou art holy, thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." God is holy. He cannot look upon sin. He must judge sin. And therefore, he judge his son as men upon that cross. Well, what a privilege it is for us as brothers and sisters in the Messiah to be brought nigh on the basis of the finished work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

There is a verse in Romans 5, which says in verse 10, "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Again, notice the word reconciliation, it's mentioned. So, now we have in verse 16, he reconciled both of us, Jewish and non-Jewish believers, through the Messiah, now being reconciled. It was on the basis of the death of Yeshua the Messiah. Now notice verse 17. The Messiah came now and he preached shalom. Not only that he is shalom, verse 14, not only that he made shalom, verse 15, but now he is preaching peace through his servants to mankind.

It says here in verse 17, "And came and preached peace to you which were far off and to them which were nigh." Again, you notice Paul distinguishing between those that were far off, the Gentiles, and those that were nigh, the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now, it is preached the very same message of peace, of shalom to all around. It was preached in the past by the coming of the Messiah. And it is preached to others through the apostles. And we also can preach that message today. What is the message? Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, I will give you life, I will bless you." This is the invitation of God to mankind.

God made peace through the blood of the cross. And now notice what it says in verse 18. For through him, this is through Yeshua, we both, Jewish and non-Jewish people, Hebrews and non-Hewews, we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Notice how beautiful this verse. We see here the triunity of the Godhead in one verse. Through him, this is God the Son. We have both access by one Spirit, this is God the Holy Spirit. Unto the Father, this is God the Father. The whole triune person of the Godhead is found here in this verse. Beautiful. One God, three persons. Abba, Father, Ben, Son, Ruach, Holy Spirit.

Three persons, one God. And we both have an access to the Father in the power of the Spirit of God on the basis of the finished work of the Son, Yeshua. Therefore, we don't need to go through somebody to God. You are closer to God than anyone has ever been. Each and every one of us can draw near to God through the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. Wonderful truth to get a hold of for us today. Now, let me conclude here in verses 19, 20, 21 and 22. Now, Paul, remind the gentle brethren that they are in Messiah, in Christ. Verse 19. Verse 19, believers are fellow citizens in God's household.

Right now. Not what you were in the past, but right now as believers in Yeshua. Therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Notice that the gentle believers now became fellow citizens with the Jewish saints. He distinguished, but he doesn't separate. Yes, in the body of Messiah, there are always Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals. There are all sorts of nations, languages. They always will exist. But positionally, there is one body, only one company. Imagine how they must have felt when they were strangers. But now they are in, they are no longer strangers. What a wonderful truth to get a hold of.

So they are now fellow citizens. They have a citizenship, no longer without passport, you might say. Every believer is fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God. Notice the household of God now does not speak about the temple in Jerusalem. He speaks about the household of every person. No longer physical bricks, but living stones. Every believer is part of this household of God. This household is not a physical temple, not a physical tabernacle, but it is a spiritual household. It's a house like a temple that is a composition of all believers. It is a spiritual house. This meeting hall where we are, it's made out of brick and cement and stone, but this is only a building.

It is not the household of God. Now notice verse 20. Believers are built together upon Yeshua the Messiah as the chief cornerstone. And you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophet Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. This house is built upon the apostles and the prophet, but the chief cornerstone is none else but our Lord Yeshua the Messiah himself. Beautiful to know this effect. And I want to point to Acts chapter 2 and verse 42 where we read in the beginning of the assembly age, of the church age. They continue steadfastly in the apostle doctrine and the fellowship and the breaking of the bread and in prayer.

You see, the apostles were the foundation of the church, of the assembly, of the house of God. And the rest of the believers continue to follow the teaching of the apostles, of the prophets of the first century church saints. They were the foundation, but the chief cornerstone, even happiness is none else but our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Our Lord Jesus the Messiah said in Matthew 16:18, I said to thee, he was speaking to Peter, that thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my assembly, my church, my ecclesia, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. You see, he did not mean that we are to build upon Peter, obviously.

He meant that Peter's confession is that which we are to build upon. And Peter's confession is, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. And I would like to conclude now with verses 21 and 22 of Ephesians chapter 2: "Believers are fitly built together and are growing, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." You see, the assembly is like a building, and it is growing into a holy temple. This is the spiritual temple in the Lord. So we are fitly put together, and we are to grow together as a holy temple in the Lord. There are various verses that we can read in the book of Psalms.

And you know, when Israel had built the temple, it had been said, there was various stories that they were looking for the cornerstone. And the cornerstone was already cast down from the mountain, and it was missing. But they were trying to fit all sorts of stone together, but they could not. There was one missing stone, and that stone was the cornerstone. And someone was calling, "Hey, bring that missing stone!" And they remember they cast this away earlier when they were building the temple in Jerusalem. This is a story that had been said over the years about the building of the temple. Well, Psalm 118:22 says, "The stone which the builders refuse is become the head of the corner." We need the Messiah as the one upon which the whole building will fit together.

But every believer is a member of that body of the Messiah. In verse 22, this is the last verse, "In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Again, he is speaking about the gentle believers. Habitation is a place where God inhabits. But because He does not inhabit now in temples made with hands, He inhabits in the power of the Spirit of God among His own people. We read in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." I always wondered when I read this verse. And I was thinking, "Well, we don't see God.

How He can be among His own people? How can He dwell in the midst of the saints?" Well, this means that He has authority over His own people. He is in the midst of His own people. He promised to be by the Spirit in the midst of His own people who gather together. We are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit of God. God enabled Himself to abide in the midst of His own people because of the person of the Holy Spirit of God. But His own people, practically speaking, they have to be submissive to Him in order for Him to be in their midst.

Positionally, it is the Spirit of God who now put together and allow God to be in the midst of His own people because of the finished work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Well, brothers and sisters, this is the conclusion of this portion. May the Lord help us to understand all this and to help us to grow and to appreciate what Yeshua the Messiah has done for us. May God bless you and keep you. May God bless you and keep you.