Isaiah 5: | 1: “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3: And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4: What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5: And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7: For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” |
Proverbs 24: | 30: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31: And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 32: Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 33: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” |
According to the dictionary a Jew is:
In June 1970 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the child of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother may be registered as Jewish by nationality. But this ruling is disputed even to this day by orthodox Jews. David ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, even suggested that anyone who wished to be considered a Jew should be accepted as such. Many other definitions have been suggested and even applied; but the question still remains unanswered for many.
The New Testament-backed answer to the question: “Who/What is a Jew?” is stunning to say the least. Comparatively few Jews - or even Christians for that matter - would accept it. Nevertheless, in essence, here is what the New Testament teaches:
In short: once a Gentile becomes a true believer in the CREATOR,
the LORD God of Abraham and of His Son Jesus Christ; from that moment
that person is grafted into the Olive of Israel and becomes an
Israelite, a Jew! This, almost inconceivable reality, is detailed
in the following verses:
Romans 2: | 28: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” | ||
Galatians 3: | 26: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29: And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” | ||
Romans 11: | 17: “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.”
Ephesians 2:
| 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; | 12: That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” |
Isaiah 5: | 1: “My well beloved planted a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.”
|
Matthew 21: | 33: “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.” |
Matthew 21: | 28: “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.”
|
Mark 13: | 34: “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.” |
What then does he mean? I
believe that he means: ‘go and produce spiritual fruit
in your own life.’ After all, this is the main
produce of every spiritual vineyard. Those who are lazy about
this all-important task - to produce spiritual fruit
in their own lives - will deeply regret it on the Day of Judgment.
Proverbs 24: | 30: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31: And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 32: Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 33: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” |
Matthew 21: | 34: “And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.” |
Isaiah 5: | 4: “...He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” |
Galatians 5: | 22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23: Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” |
Isaiah 5: | 7: “...and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” |
John 15: | 2: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:”
|
Isaiah 5: | 5: “And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” |
John 15: | 2: “... and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” |
Ecclesiastes 12: | 13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14: For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” |
1 Corinthians 11: | 18: “Let a man examine himself...”
|
2 Corinthians 13: | 5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” |
1 Timothy 3: | 5: “{For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?} 6: Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7: Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” |
John 15: | 4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6: If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8: Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” |