Roots
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
“It was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, because its roots went down to plenty of water.” (Ezekiel 31:7, Complete Jewish Bible)
In 1977, and again in 2016, Americans were fascinated by the TV mini-series Roots, the well-done dramatization of author Alex Haley's book detailing his family line, from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement beginning in Africa to his descendants' liberation in the United States.
The website Ancestry.com sure saw its page visits shoot up during those seasons, and our fascination with our historical roots continues to this day.
People want to know their roots – where they have come from – to give them some indication of the who, what, where, why and so what questions all have had. You and I can be fascinated with shows like Who Do You Think You Are? on the TLC TV network. I know Laurie and I are. I am sure we have watched every episode!
And now today, you can get your DNA tested for only $69. When it hits the low, low price of $19.99 then I will too!
What nation are you from? Who are your descendants? Who do you think you are?
Now think about this. Do you realize that all of us must have imbedded genes from Noah and his family? They were the only ones of the human race who were not destroyed during the great, world-wide historical flood. After death and destruction were complete, these eight, if my math is right, were the only ones left to repopulate the earth.
So that makes you and I related. Right? That means my family and your family are truly brothers and sisters in the Creator’s immense family. True? Do you believe it? I certainly do.
Let’s go to the Scriptures, which are the solid, firm foundation of all truth, upon which anyone who will stand upon them will know the truth, from the very beginning. The roots of mankind are revealed in these truthful words of God.
“For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made." And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.
So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark…” (Genesis 7:4-13, NKJV)
So if I read this simply as it is stated, very plain for all of us to understand, ONLY Noah and his family were the remaining humans, along with the gathered animals, birds, reptiles and insects in that massive boat, who were left after the total destructing flood. (The fish had their own safety habitat!) And then it rained, with the massive flood coming, destroying all else.
I am glad these words aren’t fairy tales or Sunday school stories, taught to kids, to “convey” some made-up story about God and how we got the rainbow (which, by the way, is the Lord’s creation, not some wicked taken-over symbol of sinful men and women.) These things really happened. Read the true scientific facts, which abound in proven publications from all over the earth. And then watch TV to see how water can yet destroy today.
“The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered - the high water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved — dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life - dead. And all people - dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works - people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived. The floodwaters took over for 150 days.” (Genesis 7:17-24, THE MESSAGE)
In going a step further, that means people all over the world now are family. Good ol’ Ralph is related to Ingrid, who is related to Ming Sun Lee, maybe even the 43rd cousin of Abdul, from the family branch descendant of Japeth, or Shem, or Ham. Or even Noah and his wife himself. Make sense? Sure it does!
Going a step further, if you call yourself a Christian, then do you know who your family tree is? Who are the roots from which your life of faith has been built on?
It is the Jews! The roots of our tree, the olive tree, are the Jews!
Continuing down through the lineage of Noah, through Abraham, then King David, with Yeshua being of the tribe of Judah, along with the Jewish disciples of Mattityahu (Matthew), Yohanan (John), and Ya'akov (Jacob)…all Hebrews/Jews…the roots, both natural and then spiritual…brought forth the olive tree from which Christianity emerged. These are our roots, our Jewish roots.
The roots of our faith, which the Lord God Almighty Himself created, were delivered to us through the Jews. Deny the Jews and you are ultimately denying the very One from Whom salvation has come.
The Apostle Paul, formerly known with his given name Saul, being a Jew from birth - who believed in Messiah (Christ) after his awesome revelation and confrontation with Truth, in the person of the resurrected Savior, Yeshua - makes it clear as to whose roots make up and supply the vast olive tree from which you and I, believers in Yeshua (His Jewish/Hebrew name even today as He is seated in heaven), grow out of. Written Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit through Paul, were recorded as letters by him to Jews and Gentiles, who had become believers in Yeshua.
“For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief, they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:16-24, NKJV)
Understand? (as my boss would say). The Jews are the olive tree, roots and all. Believing Gentiles are grafted-in branches, who, if having called on the Name of the Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach also, believers in the Jewish Messiah, the Christ of the world, by faith are the wild olive branches grafted into the natural Jewish olive tree. And without the roots, no branch of the tree will survive and flourish.
Bottom line (part of my accounting roots lingo), Paul says that the natural branches, the Jews, in time will also be grafted back onto their own olive tree. The time will come when they will acknowledge that their very own brother, the Lamb of God, the soon coming Lion of the tribe of Judah, is indeed the long awaited Messiah. He came once to His own, the Chosen Ones, the Jews, and He is coming again for them, and all of us who have believed.
Yet to come along and be grafted in are all those who will also come to repentance from sin, come to the saving shed blood and everlasting grace of Yeshua, Jesus, and be included.
Without roots, no plant can survive. The necessary watering channel and delivery of nutrients from the deep ground up must occur for ongoing life. From the beginning, the Lord has chosen the Jews to be the roots of the tree. Without the Jews, no Bible would have been written. No Torah would have been scribed. No Savior would have been born.
Image source: Radionomy
That’s the way God planned it. That’s the way God meant it to be! (Is that a song I remember…?)
I am most thankful for my Jewish roots. I trust you will be too.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 09.09.17 - #313 – “Roots” – Saturday 6:00 am
When we're going through something painful, especially when it's long term, it can leave us feeling weary, frustrated, and forgotten. After so long it feels like nothing will ever change. We feel stuck in it. Stuck in a barren, lonely place. What once used to be vibrant and full of color has now muted into a hundred shades of dull gray.
