Head of the Church and King of Israel
©April 6, 2008 Asher Intrater

Yeshua (Jesus) is both head of the international Church and king of the nation of Israel. He is not schizophrenic. These two roles will eventually merge into one. It is difficult to grasp Yeshua as both. (- about as hard as trying to imagine Ehud Olmert as Pope, or Benedictus as prime minister of Israel)

Yet Yeshua is both, and the mystery of the kingdom of God develops out of that two-fold position. He has a dual nature, both son of God and son of David.

Romans 1:2-4
… the gospel, concerning His son, Yeshua the Messiah, who according to the flesh, was born of the seed of David, and according to the Spirit of holiness was demonstrated to be the son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead.

It is the perfect combination of His being both divine and human that we find salvation and destiny. On the one hand He is God; on the other hand He is a Jew. At least one half of that sentence is offensive to most people. Yet the dual nature of Yeshua is essential to both the gospel and the kingdom.

The title "Christ" reflects more His divinity; while "Messiah" reflects more his davidic nature. In the gospels, Yeshua is seen more as the king of Israel; in the epistles He is seen more as the head of the Church. In the dual nature of Yeshua, we also find the mystery of the partnership and unity between Israel and the Church.

Ephesians 2:14-15; 3:3-6
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one…
So as to create in Himself one new man from the two…
How by revelation He made known to me the mystery, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men…
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body.

Note that the mystery of the reconciliation of Israel and the Church is IN HIM. It is not just reconciliation between us. The reconciliation of Israel and the Church is first found in our being reconciled to those two natures within Him. It is the unity of His own personality that gives us the unity between one another.

We need to receive a revelation that Yeshua is head of the Church.

Ephesians 1:19-23
According to the working of His mighty power
Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies,
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, not only in this age but also in the world to come.
And God put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body.

First we need a revelation that Yeshua is alive and well, working and awake, doing His job at the right hand of the Father.
Secondly, we need to see that He rules over all the governments and authorities in the world.
Thirdly, His rule on earth is extended through an intermediary group of people – that invisible network of all true, born again, spirit-filled believers in the world.

Yeshua serves as head of that group, head of the Church. The Church is supposed to be the agent of His spiritual authority on the earth. We are supposed to be the intermediary body through which Yeshua rules the world.

Until you see Yeshua as head of the Church, you will never be able to see the Church as the ruling body in the world. We are the mediators of Yeshua's authority from heaven to earth.

On the other hand Yeshua is king of Israel.

John 19:19-22
Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: Yeshua of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city: and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews' but 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

God promised authority over the governments of this world to King David, and that David's son would be the Messiah (II Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:19-29; Matthew 1:1-2:12; Luke 1:31-33).

Until we see Yeshua as king of Israel, we will never be able to understand the destiny and authority of Israel. Israel's government will eventually take over the world and be the instrument of Yeshua's reign on this earth in the Millennial Kingdom.

That sounds like a contradiction. Who will rule – Israel or the Church? The answer is "both." According to Romans 11, all the different branches of "Christianity" will be grafted into Israel, and thus become part of Israel. On the other hand, "All Israel will be saved," so Israel becomes part of the Church.

The Jews are the children of Israel, while the Church is the greater "house" of Israel (Ezekiel 37:16). The Church will become part of the "commonwealth" of Israel (Ephesians 2:12). At that time His kingdom will not be divided into Israel and the Church, but the kingdom will be one and His name one (Ezekiel 37:22).

Zechariah 14:9
And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be – The Lord is one and His name one.

Christians do not know that in Jewish synagogues, three times a day, every service ends with this verse in the "Aleinu" prayer. Jews do not know that this verse refers to the nation of Israel and the international Church becoming one in Yeshua's kingdom.