They were bitter enemies...they would walk miles just not to touch the dirt where the other lived. If they intermarried, instead of attending the wedding of their loved one, some families held funerals. They would never consider worshipping together...in fact, Jews forbade Gentiles to enter the inner section of temple. They even put up a dividing wall with a warning that they risked death if they dared enter. Now they were to be part of the same church...worshipping together, eating together, praying together, inter-marrying...RIGHT!
