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the Old and New Covenants. Both of these, however, have their origins in distant lands with a culture and
language quite foreign to us today.
The basic message of the Bible is clear. It tells us to "seek out the book of the LORD and read". "This is what
the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and
walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls".
Yet, the way found to be "good" by previous generations tends to be forgotten by those that follow. The
Arabs say that "the road is wiser than the man". Knowing that all who are partakers of the promise share in
the heritage of Israel should motivate us to seek a better understanding of just what that heritage is. The fact
that we have become increasingly distanced from the roots of our faith, gives us good reason to embark on
our own spiritual genealogical search.
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that believers in Y‘shua have not been planted separately from Israel but
have been "grafted in among the others" - the others most definitely being Israel. (See Romans 11 &
Ephesians 2) The facts are simply not a matter of debate. All the first disciples of Y‘shua were Jewish. The
entire New Covenant was written by Jews with the possible exception of Luke, (although, given the depth of
understanding of Judaism displayed in his writings, he was, in all likelihood, a Jewish proselyte.) The very
concept of a Messiah is nothing but Jewish.
Christianity, no matter how un-Jewish some of its current forms of expression may be, has its roots in
Judaism and in the Jewish people. The Lord's Supper is rooted in the Jewish Passover and Sabbath
traditions; baptism is a Jewish practice [mikvah]; and indeed the entire New Covenant is built on the Hebrew
Bible, with its prophecies and its promise of a New Covenant, so that the New Covenant without the Old is as
impossible as the second floor of a house without the first.
There is a saying, "The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed‖. I think a much better
way of expressing the relation between the Hebrew & Greek Scriptures is, "The New is in the Old contained,
the Old is in the New explained‖.
I'm going to close with one more illustration of the significance of an understanding of our "Jewish Roots".
Let me ask this question: What did Y‘shua mean when He spoke of an "evil eye" (some translation say "bad
eyes") in Mat 6:23?
Someone not knowing the Jewish background might suppose he was talking about casting spells. But in
Hebrew, having an "evil eye‖, means being stingy; while having a "good eye‖, means being generous. Y‘shua
is warning against lack of generosity and nothing else. Moreover, this fits the context perfectly: ―Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.... You cannot serve both God and money‖.
This emphasis on "Hebraic Roots" has, or should have one glorious goal. That goal is to seek to
help the Body of Messiah to more fully understand and appreciate the Scriptures in depth and to come to
know our Saviour better and more intimately. What higher goal can any of us have?