One Law for One Corporate People At this point in my commentary, it becomes painfully clear that I need to define whom the recipients of the blessing and the curses are, based on responsibility to the Torah. For it is indeed true that historic Gentile responsibility differs slightly from Jewish responsibility. The operative word is “historic”. Volumes could be said, but I will be brief. Historically, those identified as Corporate Isra'el were first given the task of showcasing God’s holiness and righteous standard in the earth (“…to the Jew first…”). To this end HaShem supplied them with his Written Word of holiness. The very same God expected them to accept and uphold this Torah in faith. So the Jews have been given Torah, and their responsibility and response to it should be a heart that is circumcised towards God. The corporate Gentiles are in a position to receive the very same Torah and grace demonstrated by believing Isra'el, by becoming partakers and fellow covenant-keepers, through their demonstration of the exact same biblical faith! Yeshua the Messiah came to inaugurate the covenant originally made with the offspring of Avraham (read Jeremiah 31:31-34). This covenant now includes Gentiles en masse, provided they continue in the very same trust that Isra'el was expected to demonstrate. Don’t get me wrong. God has always ‘included” the ger (a technical term referring to a non-Jew”). But Yeshua demonstrated the Father’s plan by reaching out to the disenfranchised Y’hudi (Jew) first, while sending his sh’li’chim (apostles) to the Gentiles afterwards. Are you following me? Failure to continue in genuine trusting faithfulness for either Jew or Gentile participants invited God to place them in a position that Sha’ul called “broken off”. In other words, natural branches (Jews) could be broken off because of lack of trust, and grafted-in branches (Gentiles) could also be broken off due to lack of trust (read Romans chapter 11)! Far from purporting that some “ethnic-driven” halakhah secured one’s place in the ‘olam haba (Age to Come), the native born Jew, the convert Jew, and the good old fashioned Gentiles all faced the same penalty for remorseless lack of faith: spiritual death. So we see that the Torah is the universal document for both peoples and it outlines God’s plan for all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles. To walk in disobedience and lack of trust is to invite God’s punishment and withholding of blessing. To belong to the family is to mentally, spiritually, and physically accept the family rules. To this end, both Jews and Gentiles are expected to practice Torah submissiveness within their hearts and within their communities. To submit to God is to desire and allow his Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) to continually mold a person’s life into the example of the Son of God, who vividly displayed a Torah-obedient and submissive life! This is the responsibility of a believer. To sum up my commentary this week: Blessings and curses are dependent upon the orientation of the individual’s heart, and his responsibility to the Torah of HaShem. To the Jew, the Torah spells out the consequences of failing to heed the instructions of HaShem, while attempting to be included in the covenant family. An uncircumcised heart is simply not acceptable in terms of Torah-based righteousness. For the Gentile, to be grafted into the family of HaShem one needs to place his unreserved trust in the Son of HaShem—just like any Jew—and then let God work in him the good work which was designed for him since creation (Ephesians 2:8-10). Everyone else who falls into the category of simply not being found in covenant relationship with HaShem, through his Son Yeshua, fails to receive covenant blessings, and is ultimately a candidate for destruction. God only deals within covenants. His Son freely offers a covenant with salvific benefits and all men are freely enjoined to participate!