Spiritual Fences
For several ‘unmentioned’ reasons I was forced to rebuild my fence. While in the midst of this laborious task my mind kept racing down several deer trails of why we want or sometimes “must” build fences. Even to the thoughts of those fences which demand destruction.
My
mind ran wild running down deer trail after deer trail until: I caught
hold of the truths the Lord would have us know. I will not bore you, and
run you “too”
down every length of deer trail I eagerly sailed. Instead, I will serve
you up some venison stew. Filled with the tasty morsels I gathered to
feed your spiritual walk.
In the 1916 poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost; Frost penned the infamous quote, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
In
this poem two neighbors are walking a stone wall fence to jointly make
repairs. One neighbor does not understand the need for the fence or its
repair. He tries to debate the issue, there are no cows, one has apples
and the other pine, what are we walling in or walling out. It seems to
him like walls for the sake of walls.
The
other neighbor unconvinced by the first neighbors empty plight, and
attempts to convince him of his follies to rebuild the fence simply
repeats the adage, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
Right out of the gate in the Old Testament, scripture warns to the necessity of boundary fences.
“You
shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have
set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the
Lord your God is giving you to possess.
These
fences were meant to keep good relations between neighbor’s, tribes,
and nations. Some other verses that establish boundaries for people are (Proverbs 23:10), (Proverbs 15:25), (Proverbs 22:28), (Job 24:2)
Fence Laws
There
is another kind of fence built by God to separate out the believers.
You can look at the statues and laws of God as a fence to reinforce
Godly lifestyles and encourage proper convictions, standards, rules, and
acts of obedience.
Gods
laws ‘like a fence’ are stretched out along defined boundaries nailed
to spiritual posts which anchor down His laws and commandments.
These
all encompassing laws set a boundary between believers and the secular
world. Statues and Commandments involving active acts of obedience which
provide the framework for mutual fellowship and love between God with
man; and likewise man to man. These fences should become such a natural
part of our spiritual landscape that we hardly notice them as laws at
all.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Jesus
answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home
with him.
Satan’s Theology Fence
Satan’s perversion of God’s Word has built a demoralizing fence between the Old/New Testaments through religion. Religion often erects dangerous fences based on personal preference and taste rather than principles of truth.
The unenlightened and religious community stubbornly stands heavy on God’s grace as a substitute replacement for God’s Torah Laws.
This separation of Testaments proves Satan’s influence on the Church. Harmony of scripture shows that both the Old/New Testaments speaks of walls, stones, and landmarks as types of fences.
Jesus’ own teaching ministry. His actions of fulfilling all prophecies which were written in the Laws of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms about Him harmonizes the Testaments. (Luke 24:44), (Matthew 5:17).
And as if all of this were not enough; Surely Jesus’ finished work on the cross would demands the destruction of Satan’s theology fence. (John 19:30)
Jesus himself demanded the destruction of a fence built between Jew and Gentile. “Church Religion” through Satan’s influence has spiritually blinded believers to the knowledge that all who trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour have joined one family; the true Church. The commonwealth of “Israel” through salvation, inheriting all the covenants of promise into one spiritual body through the shed blood of Jesus. (Ephesians 2:11-17)
Jew/Gentile Fence
Therefore
remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called
Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by
hands—that at that time you 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.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 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, and that He might reconcile them both to God in
one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
Fence destruction
Using
the above passage in Ephesians; I would like to serve you a second
helping of stew infused with succulent morsels of wisdom truth. I would
draw your attention to verse 14. (Ephesians 2:14) For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
The word “Peace” translated from the Greek εἰρήνη transliteration eirēnē (Strong’s #1515), which means “peace or tranquility.”
The root of this word is the verb eirō, which means “to join.”
Thus,
to be at peace with someone implies that you are joined together with
them for mutual benefit. It does not imply a passive act (such as
countries leaving each other alone) but an active one (joined together
with another in harmony to do good).
The
word “Both” translated from the Greek ἀμφότερος transliteration amph
(Strong’s #297), meaning both of two, both the one and the other.
Therefore, amph means “each of two” or “both.”
The
word “Separation” is from the Greek φραγμός transliteration phragm
(Strong’s #5418), which is derived from the verb phrassō (Strong’s
#5420), meaning “to enclose with a fence or a hedge.” Phragm refers to a “fence intended to keep someone out.”
Take note:
The words “middle wall” is a translation from the hebrew word M’Chitzah
known also as the five foot high “wall of partition” (soreg). The
M’Chitzah was/is used as a separation fence to the Tempels inner parts
for the Jews only, from the outer Court of the Gentiles.
In
Orthodox Judaism today, despite Jesus’ teachings this wall still
exists! It is the “wall of partition” used to separate the men from the
women in the synagogue! It is a man-made fence that forces this
separation! God did not command it to be built in all of the Torah. It
was there to prevent contact between one group of people from another.
Jesus used this well know M’Chitzah wall found among them in Herod’s
Temple and Orthodox synagogues , as a teaching tool to explain the fence
erected between Jew/Gentile and Man/Woman.
Through
correct translation we taste the savory morsels of wisdom knowledge.
Consuming this spiritual food nourishes your mind to understand Jesus’
demand for the destruction of a spiritual fence built by man separating
His people. Jew and Gentile both men and women. This allowed for all
believers to become one nation, church, and commonwealth body called “Israel”.
Fence your Tongue
One last delicacy I added to our stew can be found on a deer trail which runs through the words of Philo.
Philo
of Alexandria, also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish
philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo used philosophical allegory in the attempt to fuse and harmonize
Greek philosophy with Jewish philosophy.
Philo in an article from The Jewish Quarterly Review (De Somniis II 262) describes the human lips as “the strongest possible fence and barrier (phragmos) for confining sound.” Keep in mind the power that is in your spoken word.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
But
I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give
account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Gateway to Salvation
But
what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your
heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Straddling the Fence
Are
you still straddling the fence in your decision to accept Jesus? Remove
the fence around your mind and heart. Make your choice to believe in
Jesus. “Tear down that fence,” that blocks your way to Heaven and Free your immortal soul into salvation through Christ,…while you still have time!
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:21)
“I
know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you
were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16)
Have you made your confession unto salvation?
