The Middle Wall of Partition

Walls obviously form boundaries. A prison wall keeps people in and a boarder wall keeps people out. There is a wall found throughout most of the Bible that God built to keep you out. You’ve probably never heard it explained this way before because most of Christianity believes that they have taken the place of Israel and spiritualize these verses away. This was a physical wall in the temple. This was more importantly a spiritual wall of separation between Jew and Gentile. As you know, Israel was to be separate from the rest of the world. They were not to intermarry, or form alliances with other nations. A study of the end of Solomon’s life reveals exactly why God gave these strict orders. Israel was to operate separate of the nations. If you read the Gospels honestly, with a ready mind, and let the writers say exactly what they say, you can only conclude that the middle wall is still in place during Jesus’ earthly ministry. If you would read the book of Acts without pre-interpreting the verses from your denominational tradition and with the sole intent of looking for this middle wall you would find some very interesting verses. As you begin the book, you find an entirely Jewish context. Jesus is questioned, “wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” This is a question most Christians have no idea how to handle, but it makes perfect sense to a right divider. You find the middle wall is clearly still up in Peter’s preaching at Pentecost. In Acts chapter 10, we see the Holy Spirit preparing Peter for the transition that should be obvious in the book of Acts. In this chapter, Peter obviously sees the middle wall still in place. Peter visits a Gentile after the Holy Spirits prodding. Upon Peters return, he is not greeted with praise but contention as to why he would go into the house of a Gentile. Peter nor any of the other disciples speak of the middle wall being broken down in Acts. What is clear in scripture is that Paul tells us specifically about the tearing down of the middle wall. In Ephesians 2:11, Paul reminds us who we were. In verse 12, Paul reminds us we were aliens from Israel, strangers from the covenants, and had No Hope. The first 2 words of verse 13 are some of the most important words in all of scripture, which are “But now”. The “but now” we read in verse 13 erases the “no hope” of verse 12! The “but now” goes on to explain we are now “made nigh” by the blood of Christ, who has broken down the middle wall of partition. Paul then goes on to explain the body of Christ. The blood of Christ made Jew and Gentile one body, but no one knew this information back at the cross! This is mystery information that Jesus himself revealed to the Apostle Paul. If you force this information backwards into the Gospels, you will confuse the clear teaching of scripture. Paul calls his Gospel “my gospel” (Rom 2:16, Rom 16:25, 2 Tim 2:8) for a specific reason, because he is the one that reveals the gospel by which we are saved today. Paul is also the one that explains when and why the middle wall of partition was torn down.