A dry tree?

Posted : 26 Aug, 2014 12:07 AM

No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.



Deuteronomy 23:1







Mutilation was performed by the two methods here specified - crushing and excision.







Why did God say that?







It was due to the priestly character of the Jewish nation. Israel was a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6) and the admission into it of one in whom the nature of man, as made by God, had been degraded and marred, would have been unfitting; just as all bodily blemish unfitted a man for being a priest, though otherwise qualified (Leviticus 21:16-24).







What does "the assembly of the LORD" mean or refer to?







According to the Sages of the Talmud, "entering into the assembly" means marriage to become a Jew!



Any gentile who converts to Judaism and accepts upon himself all the commandments of the Torah and slaves who are freed from slavery, attain the status of a Jew as the verse says: 'As for the congregation, there shall be one statute, both for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you' (Numbers 15:15). And such a person is allowed to enter the congregation immediately except for an individual of the following nations: Amon, Moab, Egypt and Edom. When an individual from one of these nations converts to Judaism, he is a complete Jew in every respect except for the aspect of marriage into the congregation.







Why these nations were Excluded from the Congregation?







Deuteronomy 23:1-8 lists some people that are forbidden to enter "the assembly of the LORD".







Those Excluded from the Congregation







1 �He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. 2 �One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD. 3 �An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 4 because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7 �You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. 8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.











Is eunuch a dry tree for God?



God said that they will not enter the assembly of the Lord.







Isaiah 56



Salvation for the Gentiles







1 Thus says the Lord:







�Keep justice, and do righteousness,



For My salvation is about to come,



And My righteousness to be revealed.



2 Blessed is the man who does this,



And the son of man who lays hold on it;



Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,



And keeps his hand from doing any evil.�







3 Do not let the son of the foreigner



Who has joined himself to the Lord



Speak, saying,



�The Lord has utterly separated me from His people�;



Nor let the eunuch say,



�Here I am, a dry tree.�



4 For thus says the Lord:



�To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,



And choose what pleases Me,



And hold fast My covenant,



5 Even to them I will give in My house



And within My walls a place and a name



Better than that of sons and daughters;



I will give them an everlasting name



That shall not be cut off.







6 �Also the sons of the foreigner



Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,



And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants�



Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,



And holds fast My covenant�



7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,



And make them joyful in My house of prayer.



Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices



Will be accepted on My altar;



For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.�



8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,



�Yet I will gather to him



Others besides those who are gathered to him.�







Why did God teach us about the assembly of the Lord?







11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision " by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.�



13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.



Ephesians 2







Christ Our Peace







14 For He (JESUS) Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.







Christ Our Cornerstone







19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.







Romans 2:29



No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God.







Summary: Gentiles could not enter the assembly of the Lord of the Jewish people in Israel because of their hatred. But the Son of God made them fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God through their faith in the Son of God and His BLOOD shed on the Cross.







They (unbelievers) were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ becoming believers.



Praise the Lord Jesus for His mercy and death on the Cross and reconciliation with His Father. That is why there are NO dry trees for God among those who believe in the Son of God and OBEY Him.

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