<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Ephesians 2;13-16<div><br></div><div><b>13. &nbsp;But now <u>in Christ Jesus, <i>you</i></u>&nbsp;</b>(Gentiles) <b>who were once far off have been brought near <i><u>IN</u></i><u>&nbsp;the blood of Christ.</u></b></div><div><b></b><b>14. &nbsp;For he is our peace, who has made us both </b>(Jews and Gentiles) <b>one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility,</b></div><div><b></b><b>15. &nbsp;by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create <u>in himself</u>&nbsp;one new man in place of the two, so making peace,</b></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.</b></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>&nbsp;There are ‘two hostilities” being written of in this text. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div>The ‘first hostility’ is between Jews and Gentiles. &nbsp;In Solomon’s&nbsp;temple in Jerusalem, there was a stone&nbsp;<i>“wall” </i>which separated the ‘Court of the Gentiles’ and the ‘Court of the Israelites’. &nbsp;The Gentiles were not allowed to enter the Court of the Israelites, (thus drawing nearer to God).&nbsp;&nbsp;They were not biological descendants of Jacob, (whom God renamed ‘Israel’). &nbsp;They were not of the ‘one blood’ of Jacob.</div><div><br></div><div>Further, Gentiles were considered&nbsp;unclean because they did not keep the law of Moses, including rites of purification and&nbsp;circumcision. &nbsp;If&nbsp;a Gentile were&nbsp;to enter the inner Court of the Israelites, he would be killed immediately. &nbsp;Nothing unclean could come near to God&nbsp;Most Holy.</div><div><br></div><div>The Law of Moses gave the Israelites an identity, it identified them as God’s chosen people, BUT, it did not make them&nbsp;acceptable to God, or&nbsp;able to draw ‘<i>near</i>’&nbsp;to God. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>They needed blood and the priesthood to go between them and God.</div><div><br></div><div>Between, the Holy Place and&nbsp;Most Holy Place, (where God was present), and the Court of the Israelites, was another invisible barrier. &nbsp;This barrier of&nbsp;separation between God and man&nbsp;was&nbsp;represented by the Altar of Sacrifice for&nbsp;burnt offerings. &nbsp;(The people could send to&nbsp;that Altar selected portions of animal offerings, and their blood,&nbsp;grain&nbsp;offerings, and libation offerings. &nbsp;These&nbsp;were&nbsp;received by the priests who would burn or pour&nbsp;them on the Altar).&nbsp; The people had to hand over the sacrificial offerings to the priest, they themselves could not approach the Alter of Burnt Offerings.</div><div><br></div><div>The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (beyond the Altar of Burnt Offerings) was&nbsp;originally&nbsp;a tent divided into two rooms, separated by a curtain, it even further represented the ‘separation’ or hostility between God and man.</div><div><br></div><div>Only the High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), could&nbsp;enter the Most Holy Place, going behind the curtain, taking with him blood to put on the corners of the Ark of the Covenant.</div><div>The blood was for his own sins as well as the sins of the people.</div><div><br></div><div>The Holy Place was regularly&nbsp;served, but only&nbsp;by priests, (the people never even saw inside these two rooms), &nbsp;replacing the Show Bread,&nbsp;the&nbsp;incense on the Altar of Incense, and the holy oil for the Lamp Stand. &nbsp;These were all located in the Holy Place. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The Altar for Burnt Offering, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (<i>Holy of Holies), </i>served to further&nbsp;separate the people of Israel from God. &nbsp;This may be referred to as the ‘second hostility’ between God and all people including the Israelites. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus the Christ is our High Priest, by his sacrificial death, he violently breaks down all separations of hostility. &nbsp;He&nbsp;carries&nbsp;<i><u>us&nbsp;</u></i><u>in his blood </u>into the very presence of God by his death on the cross which we have been joined into by our baptism into Christ! &nbsp;This violent breaking down of the walls of hostility is shown to us by the curtain in the temple being torn in two from top to bottom. &nbsp;No longer are God and man separated.</div><div><br></div><div>That holy blood of Jesus atones for all the sin of the world for all time. &nbsp;By the Holy innocent blood of Jesus, we are “<i>brought near” </i>to God. We are actually reconciled to God by that blood. &nbsp;Reconciled means: ‘to be made <u>one</u>&nbsp;with’. &nbsp;We use that word to indicate&nbsp;a husband and wife who were once estranged by sin,&nbsp;rightly joined again, the two become one again.</div><div><br></div><div>The law and the blood of Jacob&nbsp;which once gave the Israelites their identity, has been overthrown,&nbsp;abrogated, eliminated, overcome, dissolved&nbsp;by a higher law, the ‘law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus’. &nbsp;This does not mean we have no limits. &nbsp;It means we now willingly, joyfully, thankfully&nbsp;serve God from the heart by the Spirit through faith, <u>in Christ Jesus</u>. &nbsp;The outward laws of Moses,&nbsp;enforced by penalties, are gone. &nbsp;The will of the Father has become our will because we have been baptized&nbsp;<u>into&nbsp;Christ.</u></div><div><br></div><div>This is our peace, peace with each other and peace with God. &nbsp;We are made one new man, made one in Christ Jesus. &nbsp;We are the workmanship of God. &nbsp;We are one with each other AND one with God.</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, we are in you presence, <i>‘brought near’</i>&nbsp;in the blood of Jesus. &nbsp;Grant that we ever abide in Him who is our peace. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Love,&nbsp;</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, everyday, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br><br><br><div><a></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Ephesians 2;13-16
13.  But now in Christ Jesus, you (Gentiles) who were once far off have been brought near IN the blood of Christ.14.  For he is our peace, who has made us both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility,15.  by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,16.  And might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.
 There are ‘two hostilities” being written of in this text.  
The ‘first hostility’ is between Jews and Gentiles.  In Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, there was a stone “wall” which separated the ‘Court of the Gentiles’ and the ‘Court of the Israelites’.  The Gentiles were not allowed to enter the Court of the Israelites, (thus drawing nearer to God).  They were not biological descendants of Jacob, (whom God renamed ‘Israel’).  They were not of the ‘one blood’ of Jacob.
Further, Gentiles were considered unclean because they did not keep the law of Moses, including rites of purification and circumcision.  If a Gentile were to enter the inner Court of the Israelites, he would be killed immediately.  Nothing unclean could come near to God Most Holy.
The Law of Moses gave the Israelites an identity, it identified them as God’s chosen people, BUT, it did not make them acceptable to God, or able to draw ‘near’ to God.  
They needed blood and the priesthood to go between them and God.
Between, the Holy Place and Most Holy Place, (where God was present), and the Court of the Israelites, was another invisible barrier.  This barrier of separation between God and man was represented by the Altar of Sacrifice for burnt offerings.  (The people could send to that Altar selected portions of animal offerings, and their blood, grain offerings, and libation offerings.  These were received by the priests who would burn or pour them on the Altar).  The people had to hand over the sacrificial offerings to the priest, they themselves could not approach the Alter of Burnt Offerings.
The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (beyond the Altar of Burnt Offerings) was originally a tent divided into two rooms, separated by a curtain, it even further represented the ‘separation’ or hostility between God and man.
Only the High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), could enter the Most Holy Place, going behind the curtain, taking with him blood to put on the corners of the Ark of the Covenant.The blood was for his own sins as well as the sins of the people.
The Holy Place was regularly served, but only by priests, (the people never even saw inside these two rooms),  replacing the Show Bread, the incense on the Altar of Incense, and the holy oil for the Lamp Stand.  These were all located in the Holy Place.  
The Altar for Burnt Offering, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies), served to further separate the people of Israel from God.  This may be referred to as the ‘second hostility’ between God and all people including the Israelites.  
Jesus the Christ is our High Priest, by his sacrificial death, he violently breaks down all separations of hostility.  He carries us in his blood into the very presence of God by his death on the cross which we have been joined into by our baptism into Christ!  This violent breaking down of the walls of hostility is shown to us by the curtain in the temple being torn in two from top to bottom.  No longer are God and man separated.
That holy blood of Jesus atones for all the sin of the world for all time.  By the Holy innocent blood of Jesus, we are “brought near” to God. We are actually reconciled to God by that blood.  Reconciled means: ‘to be made one with’.  We use that word to indicate a husband and wife who were once estranged by sin, rightly joined again, the two become one again.
The law and the blood of Jacob which once gave the Israelites their identity, has been overthrown, abrogated, eliminated, overcome, dissolved by a higher law, the ‘law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus’.  This does not mean we have no limits.  It means we now willingly, joyfully, thankfully serve God from the heart by the Spirit through faith, in Christ Jesus.  The outward laws of Moses, enforced by penalties, are gone.  The will of the Father has become our will because we have been baptized into Christ.
This is our peace, peace with each other and peace with God.  We are made one new man, made one in Christ Jesus.  We are the workmanship of God.  We are one with each other AND one with God.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, we are in you presence, ‘brought near’ in the blood of Jesus.  Grant that we ever abide in Him who is our peace.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.

Love, Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, everyday, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”


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