What did Paul mean in Ephesians 2:15 that "abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two"?
Ephesians 2:15
ESV - 15 By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.
Anonymous
Ariel HaNaviy
Supporter
Emo's answer was concise and pinpoint accurate. I especially liked the fact that in commenting on Eph. 2:15 the answer forthrightly reinforced the central truth that Yeshua (Jesus) broke down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile and created one new man in himself. I want to elaborate on the antecedent theology as well as the 1st century historic and social implications of this “separation,” thus further uncovering the true meaning behind what it meant that Messiah “abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances…” I think my answer might go a long way towards helping to better understand some of the challenges Paul faced as a Messianic Jew sent to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21; Eph. 3:1). I will start with Eph. 2:14 to build context, then work towards Eph. 2:15. “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” It is commonly taught that the “dividing wall of hostility” being broken down was the Law of Moses, the Torah. In my study and teaching of the Bible I firmly maintain that the barrier being destroyed cannot possibly be the Torah because the Torah NEVER commanded a “dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles. It is true that Isra'el was singled out by God to be a nation separated unto himself (Ex. 19:6; Amos 3:2), but this separation is the paradigm presented to demonstrate the basis for a unique covenant relationship in which the Husband would love and cherish his Bride with a unique love not intended for other “women” (Is. 54:5). Moreover, this separation did not forbid those from the Nations (Gentiles) from attaching themselves to Isra'el, to her God, and thus by covenant, to Isra'el’s Torah (Ex. 12:49; Lev. 24:22; Num. 15:29). In fact Isaiah says the coastlands (Gentiles) would be eagerly waiting for the Servant of the LORD (Messiah) to bring this Law to them (Is. 42:4). Jew and Gentile coming together under one identifier called “Isra'el” is clearly shown in the TaNaKH. So, if the Torah cannot be the dividing wall, what WAS it? Whatever it was, it created the “enmity/hostility” (Greek=echthran) mentioned in both Eph. 2:15 and in Eph. 2:16. By the 1st century, Jews outnumbered Gentiles in national Isra'el. But more importantly, Jewish Isra'el forgot that Gentiles in Isra'el were to be counted as equal covenant members, and instead imposed a manmade proselyte ceremony upon them if new prospects wished to join Isra'el. This was wrong. God commanded Isra'el to practice communal ritual purity. The practical outworking of the Oral Torah and Rabbinic laws of purity, however, raised a strong wall of jealousy, shared resentment, and separation between the Jews in Isra'el and the Gentiles outside of Isra'el, even if this was not the original intent. Conclusions: The “dividing wall of hostility” in Eph. 2:14 was the vile, man-made social class/caste system set in place by Oral Torah and Jewish leaders seeking to keep a social and religious difference between Jews and Gentiles. Jewish religious pride and Gentile resentment of that pride fostered the shared social hostility. Jesus came to establish once and for all that Jews and Gentiles in Him constituted a “spiritual Isra'el within national Isra'el” (Rom. 9:6-8; Rom. 9:23, 24; Rom. 11:1-7)—the Remnant of Isra'el. In the Remnant, Jews and Gentile believers were equal, something Paul states later in Eph. 2:18-22. Using the whole context of Eph. 2 to bolster my argument, I would paraphrase Eph. 2:14, 15 thusly, “For he himself is our peace, who has made both Jews and Gentiles in Messiah into fellow citizens with one another and both into members of Isra'el, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility created by the class/caste system, by abolishing the laws of oral commandments found in manmade dogma, that he might create in himself one new, redeemed humanity in place of the fractured and separated two, so making peace…”