I have learned through the years in my walk with God that He is a God of patterns. From the beginning of time, everything that God gave to man came from a pattern or a blueprint from Heaven. He gave specifics of these blueprints to men for a higher purpose; redemption. For instance, Noah was given a blueprint on how to build the ark. Moses was given a blueprint of the tabernacle and its furnishings that were patterned after the heavenly things (Hebrews 8:4-5) David was given the blueprint for the Temple built by his son Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:11-21). Jesus Himself came as High Priest of the good things to come with the greater and a more perfect tabernacle not made with hands… (Hebrews 9;11). He also followed a pattern as He prayed, “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” (Matthew 6:10). So each and every blueprint/pattern included a plan of redemption. Many of us don’t realize this but God also put into place a principle for the pattern of redemption. We see this principle in the book of Romans:

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, To THE JEW FIRST AND ALSO TO THE GREEK.” 

Some of us have missed this principle because only the first half of this verse is often quoted while the second half is often omitted. For those that are familiar with the second half of this verse, you may have thought to yourself, why to the Jew first? Before I came into the understanding of this verse, I questioned it myself and I am a Jew. You may be thinking okay, Paul is exhorting the church to follow this pattern but what about Jesus?  Jesus was the first one who initiated this pattern. It all began after His immersion and temptation (Matt 3&4). The first place He went to was Capernaum which was in the Jewish tribal regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. Isaiah prophesied this in 9:1-2 and was quoted by Matthew:

Matthew 4:15-16, ““The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:1-2) 

Jesus knew His assignment was to go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He also commissioned His disciples to do the same:

Matthew 15:24 – “But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

Matthew 10:5-6, “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

All of the above scriptures contain within them the principle, to the Jew first. If you follow Paul in the book of Acts you will see how he even practiced this principle that he preached (Acts 14:1;17:2; 18:4).

You may be thinking that it doesn’t seem fair that Jesus went to the Jew first. What about the Gentiles?  Rest assured, He took care of the Gentiles as well. Before Matthew 10, there was the centurion in chapter 8 who because of his faith, his servant was healed. In the same chapter of Matthew 15 after Jesus told the Canaanite woman that He was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He healed her daughter because of her faith.

It’s not that Jesus was ignoring or purposely dismissing the Gentiles. Nowhere does it say to the Jew only, but to the Jew first. He was following the pattern that the Father gave to Him, a pattern of redemption. While the Bible says “for God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son…” there was a principle that needed to be established and a pattern set in order for His plan of redemption to be fulfilled. Let’s examine this a little further. Let’s go back to God’s original plan and intent of salvation for the world. It is found in Genesis 12:3.

Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you (Abram) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Galatians 3:8, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 

Two points I want to make: What does “all” mean? All! It means no one left out!

The other point: God had the Gentiles in mind when releasing His promise to Abraham of salvific blessing to the world and this would be done through the Jewish nation. And from them came their Jewish Messiah who would be not only their Messiah but also all the families of the earth!

To the Jew first is God’s principle, His pattern for establishing His blessing upon all the earth. Salvation came from and went to the Jews first. The church’s foundation began with a bunch of Jewish men, the 12 Apostles. And as I always say, the gospel came from the Jews first, it needs to go back to the Jews. Why? Because in this pattern we find the plan of redemption for the world. Let’s look at two more verses.

Romans 11:12,15 – “Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!…..For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”

Let’s break that down. Their (Israel) fall became riches for the world, their failure, riches for the Gentiles, how much more salvific blessing will come to the whole world when the Jews come into their fullness of who they are in Messiah! And not only that, their acceptance from life from the dead means in these last days, worldwide revival! Glory to God! There is a connection between Jewish salvation and salvation for the world. That’s why God put into place to the Jew first AND also the Gentiles.

When we ignore the second half of Romans 1:16, we neglect in bringing the Gospel to the very ones from where the Gospel came from. We can actually hold up Jesus from returning. You might be thinking, what? Ellen, have you lost your marbles? No, I haven’t. Here is scriptural proof:

Jesus said in Matthew 23:39, to Jerusalem, meaning His people Israel, “You will not see me until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” What am I trying to say? Jesus will not return until the Jews recognize their Jewish Messiah, and that will happen when they receive their salvation. And that will only happen when the One New Man takes their place. I will save this thought for my next post.

Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you…. and give you shalom! Much love to you!