24
A So making PEACE
A
to the Father
ACCESS
It is evident that the "peace" here, even as the "enmity", is not related to the individual's sin, but the
dispensational alienation of the Gentile as such. "The Both" refers to the Jew and the Gentile in their new
relationship, consequent upon the breaking down of the middle wall of partition.
The Middle Wall
What is implied in this figurative use of the Middle Wall? Josephus, speaking of the Temple as it stood in his
day, tells us that it consisted of an outer square some six hundred feet wide, and a second inner area, which he
describes as follows:
"On advancing to the second (court of the) temple, a stone balustrade was thrown around it four feet and a half
high, and withal beautifully wrought, and in it stood pillars at equal distances proclaiming the law of purity,
some in Greek and some in Roman letters, "that no alien might pass within the sanctuary"" (Wars of the Jews v,
v, 2.).
"Such was the first enclosure, and not far from it, in the middle, was the second, ascended by a few steps and
encompassed by a stone balustrade for a partition, which prohibited by inscription any alien from entering, under
penalty of death" (Antiquities xv, xi, 5.).
In 1871 one of these inscribed stones was discovered by M. Clermont Ganneau, built into the wall of the Via
Dolorosa, Jerusalem. The original is in the possession of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and a cast is exhibited in
the British Museum, the translation of the inscription being as follows:
"No one, being a foreigner, may enter into the enclosure around the holy place. Whosoever is apprehended will
himself be to blame for his death which will certainly follow".
During the period covered by the Acts of the Apostles, this barrier stood and the problems to which the
differences between Jewish and Gentile believers gave rise, caused the calling of the council at Jerusalem, as is
recorded in Acts 15. The "ordinances" associated both with the middle wall and the enmity that was destroyed, refer
to the "decrees" by that council and passed on to the churches (Acts 16:4). "Decrees" and "ordinances" here are
both translations of the same Greek word. The new company thus brought into existence, is NOT AN EVOLUTION of
the position obtaining while the middle wall stood, with a few improvements made in order that the position may
become more tolerable. It is an absolutely NEW CREATION. The word translated "make" in Ephesians 2:15 is the
Greek word ktizo "create". This word occurs in Ephesians as follows:
A 2:10.
... unto good works.
CREATED
B 2:15.
TO CREATE in Himself of the twain
ONE NEW MAN.
A 3:9.
all things. God.
CREATED
B 4:24.
CREATED ... THE NEW MAN.
When the New Man of Ephesians 4:24 can be looked upon as an improvement, an evolution from the past,
anything other than a brand new creation, it will be time to consider such a possibility in Ephesians 2:15.
The reconciliation of Ephesians 2 is dispensational in character. The enmity that is there annulled arose out of
the position occupied respectively by any Jew and any Gentile. The most villainous Jew was nevertheless a member
of a covenant race, and the most upright Gentile was a member of an alienated people. In the newly created New
Man, the Jew who believes and the Gentile who believes, meet on absolutely equal terms, a position never before
experienced since the call of Abraham. One of the evidences of the difference in privilege that obtained during the
Acts is illustrated by the attitude of Peter to Cornelius. Peter told Cornelius to his face that he was classed among
"the common and the unclean", and we can hear the shocked tones of the remonstrance of Acts 11:3 as we read the
words:
"Thou WENTEST IN to men uncircumcised, and didst EAT with them".