God’s Heart and Pathway for Uniting Jews and Gentiles
My work in this area is grounded in a Biblical worldview that sees God’s covenant with Abraham as a loving and saving “beachhead” to redeem all families of the Earth. Furthermore, God extended this rescue plan through covenant promises to Abraham’s physical descendants—Isaac and Jacob (renamed Israel). Similarly, God covenanted with Jacob's descendants at Mount Sinai to extend this rescue plan by forging Israel as a “beachhead nation” to reach all nations. This redemptive plan reflects God’s heart to bring wholeness and reconciliation to the world through His chosen people.
I articulate this vision through what I call the Maranatha Mandate, which encompasses three shaloms (from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning wholeness and peace).
Church Shalom: This represents unity between Jews and Gentiles in the body of Messiah (the Church). It emphasizes relational depth among Messiah followers, maintaining a clear Jew-Gentile distinction while fostering a transcendent unity rooted in the love of God. This unity overcomes all divisions, reflecting the principle of relational depth as the foundation for transformation.
Gentile Shalom: This refers to the fullness of the Gentiles, the remnant from every nation whom God seeks to redeem as His sons and daughters. The fullness of the gentiles reflects God’s redemptive purpose for all nations. In this Age, however, before the Messiah returns, God’s work involves raising up a remnant from within every nation.
Jewish Shalom: This encompasses the fullness of the Jewish people, reflects God’s covenantal faithfulness to Israel, and will lead to the Kingdom being restored to Israel.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Quotes:
Now? Acts 1:9
When? Matthew 24
Thus, the Maranatha Mandate includes pursuing shalom in three areas:
Church Shalom: emphasizing relational unity between Jews and Gentiles.
Gentile Shalom: emphasizing the fullness of the Gentiles represented by a remnant from every nation turning to the God of Israel before the return of Messiah.
Jewish Shalom: emphasizing the fullness of the Jews returning to their God through repentance and covenant renewal in Messiah.
Ultimately, this stream of my work seeks to glorify God by advancing His covenantal plan to redeem and unify all peoples, with Israel (land & people) playing a central role in His Kingdom purposes.
CTA: JCRI & Parashah Project
A Portal for Biblical Litetacy Promoting Relational depth for Kingdom breadth.
Here are seven biblical lenses to help summarize God’s word and work from Genesis to Revelation with and eye toward distinguishing between events that are past versus events that are still future. But remember, the point is not primarily about knowing events but about pursuing relational depth with God so we can incarnate His love to others!
The Parashah Project
The Parashah Project is a Jesus-centered, bite-sized Bible study and teaching tool built in weekly installments that correspond to the ancient Jewish reading cycle of the Tanach.
Tanach is an acronym. It is the traditional Jewish way to refer to the Hebrew Bible - the same words referred to by Christians as the Old Testament and by academics as the Hebrew Scriptures. The Apostolic writers of the New Testament all had a Tanachian worldview that was shaped by their God-given Jewish history and identity. This included an inherited memory of God’s covenant encounter at Mt. Sinai and a fuller revelation of Messiah and God’s restoration work on Mt. Zion. I like to think of these Apostolic writers as having “Tanachian Optics” or looking at the world through a Scripture-shaped lens. Similarly, we need a Spirit-salve for the eyes of our hearts in order to behold the beauty of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and whose inheritance is nothing less then all the nations of the world.
The Parashah Project is a way to experience the scriptures holistically, accessibly, and in unison with the global Jewish community. Over the course of a year, students of the scriptures will be able to ingest fresh, insightful, and bite-sized study content, broken into weekly portions and daily readings.