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Hebrew Roots

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This article refers to the modern religious movement. For the Hebrew language grammatical structure, see Hebrew root

Hebrew Roots is a contemporary global spiritual movement to return to the true faith revealed during the personal earthly ministry of Jesus, Yeshua Messiah.

Hebrew Roots Movement

The Hebrew Roots movement is popular enough to already have split into two main sects: 1) Christian Hebrew Roots; and, 2) Judaic Hebrew Roots.

Christian Hebrew Roots more closely follows the ministry of the Apostle Paul who established the early Church in Asia Minor and portions of Europe under Roman rule. Judaic Hebrew Roots more closely follows the Early Christian Church at Jerusalem led by James the Lord's brother, then Simeon a nephew of Jesus, then two additional members of Jesus' extended earthly family until it ended with the destruction of Jerusalem[1] (in A.D. 70, as prophesied by Jesus) under Roman General Titus.

Christian Hebrew Roots Movement

The Christian Hebrew Roots movement follows the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:3-17) and the feasts of the Lord (Lev 23:1-44).[2]

The importance of both divisions of the Hebrew Roots movement, is best illustrated by contrasting it with the practices of the Roman Catholic Church whose core doctrines have been adopted by most Protestant Christian churches.

The Roman Catholic papacy thought to change the seventh-day Sabbath to the first-day Sunday; and, invented the feasts of the Cult of Saints to quote "replace the feasts of the Lord."[3]

Mainstream Protestant Christianity, beginning with Martin Luther (an ex Roman Catholic priest), also observes the papal catechisms that teach a change to Sunday as the day of rest instead of the seventh-day Sabbath and keeps the feasts of the Cult of Saints unwittingly.

The Roman Catholic feasts of the Cult of Saints include: Christmas - St. Nicholas' feast; Easter instead of Passover; Halloween as the eve of All Saints Day; feast days for hundreds of "saints;" and, Mary's Octave on New Year's Day) and seven other feasts.[4]

Note: Luther's main objection to the Roman Catholic institution was the "transubtantiation" doctrine of the Catholic Mass which held that priests literally change the communion wafer into the body (flesh) of Jesus during the MYSTERY part of the Mass when the priest turns his back on the congregation.

The Christian Hebrew Roots movement instead follows the biblical teachings set forth in the New Testament regarding the nature of Communion as a symbol of Christ's body instead of the literal body and flesh of Jesus. This, they deduce from the words Jesus spoke to describe the amendment to the Passover service being symbolic and not literal (in accordance with definitions of the Greek words in the New Testament). [5]

The Christian sect of the Hebrew Roots movement does not teach a return to the Pharisaic Torah Law as dispensed by the scribes who Jesus rebuked as hypocrites. Instead, this sect of the movement follows the true worship pattern of Jesus who freed mankind from the yoke of the letter of the law; and, in fulfilling the Law, taught Christians to practice the Ten Commandments and feasts of the Lord which make up "the acceptable year of the Lord"[6] in Jesus' speech inaugurating his personal earthly ministry.

Some followers of the Hebrew Roots movement choose not to even use the English translations of common Hebrew and Greek terms, preferring instead to pronounce the anglicized versions of certain Hebrew words, notably, the names of God and the Messiah (Yahweh and Yeshua).[7] Those who go beyond this in returning to ones Hebrew roots are discussed in the section below called "Judaic Hebrew Roots." Both movements include adherents who are of Jewish heritage as well as Gentile heritage. The Christian Hebrew Roots movement is completely nondenominational, consisting of persons from many different religious backgrounds[8] and teaches adherence to the health laws of the Torah but not the portions of the Torah abandoned by Jesush, Yeshua Messiah.

The main difference between the two types of Hebrew Roots movements is that Christian Hebrew Roots adherents follow the passionate teachings of the Apostle Paul regarding freedom from the letter of the Torah law, in accordance with the teachings of Jesus. In contrast, the Judaic Hebrew Roots follow the compromise of James, the Lord's brother, who was leader of the Christians in Jerusalem after the death of James the Apostle and whose continuing practices of circumcision and segregation from Gentiles socially is characterized by one historian as erroneous.[9]

The orthodox Jews in Jerusalem persecuted Paul over this very issue (freedom from the letter of the Torah Law) stoning Him and dragging him out of town supposedly dead. In order to keep the Christian Church alive in Jerusalem, James, the Lord's brother, who became their leader after the murder of Peter, reached a compromise in which the Christian Church at Jerusalem recognized the Torah circumcision requirement and also acquiesced in the decree to not socially interact with Gentiles.[10]

In returning to the Torah, the Judaic Hebrew Roots movement (below), is more like the early Church at Jerusalem described by Dr. Scott;[11] while the Christian Hebrew Roots movement is on the clear path taught by Jesus, His Apostles, Disciples, and in particular, Paul, in the Gentile churches extant during the First Century in Asia Minor and Europe[12] ---before the rise of the Antichrist system of religion:

"It is difficult to overrate the importance of Paul's part in the freeing of Christianity from the control of the Torah. He championed the cause of freedom from the Torah for many years in the face of great odds against his view. His experience of a new way of life revealed to him at his conversion is the ultimate explanation of his long and successful struggle to establish Christianity in its own right. He found through that experience that he had found the key to a completely satisfying life of righteousness. Through union with Christ he had been enabled to conquer sin, which, in spite of his best efforts in the past, had always conquered him."[13]

Judaic Hebrew Roots Movement

The Judaic Hebrew Roots Movement described below consists of the similar clinging onto the Torah which one historian records as characteristic of the early Christian Church at Jerusalem under the control of James, the Lord's brother. A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, pp. 185-189.

The primary thing that Judaic Hebrew Roots movement advocates is a return to Torah observance. Some Judaic Hebrew Roots congregations encourage the use of Hebrew-based forms of the sacred names but this is generally a minor emphasis. Also included is a greater understanding of the tribes of Israel. Herbert Armstrong felt that understanding about the tribes would help in understanding prophecy but his main focus was for Christians to observe the Torah, just like the apostles did. In addition, he taught, like Paul, that God's people should choose not to engage in "pagan" practices.

Some would state that this awakening is a sovereign act of Yahweh through His Spirit. It would be better stated that Yahweh is restoring His followers to the true path or ancient paths and that people are independently catching the inspiration to return to forgotten truths by various means.

The Judaic Hebrew Roots movement has accelerated in the last few years, mainly because of a turn within the Messianic Judaism community. The groups diverge on the issue of One Law theology[14] which Judaic Hebrew Roots subscribes to but which Messianic Judaism denies. One Judaic Hebrew Roots teacher, Tim Hegg, responded to this issue by defending what he believes to be the biblical teaching of "One Law" theology and its implications concerning the obligations of Torah obedience for new Messianic believers from the nations.[15]

Judaic Hebrew Roots also clearly differentiates itself from Protestant Christianity by examining the arguments against Torah observance and using the work of recent Protestant Christian scholars and early historical church records to establish alternate, and more accurate, interpretations. A good representative of this can be found at House of David Fellowship; see "Hebrew Roots of Christianity" section for 12 distinct differences between Protestant Christianity and Hebrew Roots concerning Torah observance.

While both British Israelism as advocated by Herbert W. Armstrong and the Sacred Name Movement proposed by Clarence Orvil Dodd originated in the 1930s, the "Judaic Hebrew Roots" movement is more recent, emerging as a distinct phenomenon around 1997.

One notable advocates is *Sid Roth, Messianic Jewish host of Messianic Vision, a nationally syndicated radio, TV and publishing ministry, which advocates "Hebrew Roots" topics to non-Jewish Christians.

Judaic Hebrew Roots emphasizes the completion of the unified "House of Israel" in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), made up of both Jews and non-Jews alike. Followers believe that they have become a co-heir and equal member of the chosen people of the God of Israel through the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah and that returning to the mindset of the 1st-century church will provide deeper and more authentic insights into Hebrew idioms[clarification needed][16] and 1st-century cultural understandings presented in Scripture.[17]

Judaic Hebrew Roots teachers emphasize the adoption of all believers of Yeshua the Messiah into the faith of Abraham,[18] often called in the Bible the "Unified House of Israel;" (Leviticus 10:6), (Jeremiah 37:11), (Ezekiel 39:25), (Romans 11:13–26), (Ephesians 2:10–14), made up of Jews and Non-Jews who maintain faith in Yeshua the Messiah while maintaining a Spirit-led adherence to the Torah, God's Teaching and Instruction, as a lifestyle of faith and love.[19]

Hebrew Roots followers believe that Christians have the testimony of the Messiah, Yeshua, but are often found innocently to be living lawlessly (1John 1:9) according to the idea that Yeshua died to do away with the Torah by abolishing it.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, p. 180.
  2. ^ http://www.christianhebrewroots.org/02_Feasts_old_v_new_1p_snp.pdf
  3. ^ A Still Small Voice: The Vatican, the USA, and Israel in Bible Prophecy, 2006, ISBN: 9780978947002, p. 153, endote 59, citing: "Abbott, Walter M., S.J., Gen. Ed., The Message and Meaning of the Ecumenical Council, The Documents of Vatican II, With Notes and Comments by Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Authorities [hereafter ‘Vatican II’]; therein, The Liturgical Year, Art. 108, p. 169."
  4. ^ See page 4, a chart comparing Christian Hebrew Roots practices against the more popular but erroneous Roman Catholic feasts at http://www.christianhebrewroots.org/Antichrist_Feasts_2_snp.pdf
  5. ^ A Still Small Voice, op. cit., pp. 160-161.
  6. ^ http://www.christianhebrewroots.org/03_Acceptable%20Year%20of%20the%20Lord_5_snp.pdf
  7. ^ Cf., A Still Small Voice: The Vatican, the USA, and Israel in Bible Prophecy, 2006, ISBN: 9780978947002, p. 33.
  8. ^ cf., http://www.christianhebrewroots.org
  9. ^ A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, pp. 185-189.
  10. ^ A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, p. 236-237.
  11. ^ ibid., Dr. Scott., pp. 185-189.
  12. ^ A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, pp. 194-195.
  13. ^ A History of the Early Christian Church by William Scott, Th.D., Cokesbury Press, Nashville, 1936, p. 195.
  14. ^ One Law Movements; a Challenge to the Messianic Jewish Community January 28, 2005
  15. ^ [http://www.torahresource.com/EnglishArticles/OLMResponse.pdf One Law Movements A Response to Russ Resnik & Daniel Juster
  16. ^ Bivin, David; Blizzard, Roy B.; Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus; Treasure House, 1994, ISBN 1-56043-550-X.
  17. ^ a b Richardson, Rick; Origins of Our Faith: The Hebrew Roots of Christianity; Trafford Publishing Company, 2003, ISBN 1-4120-0824-7.
  18. ^ Wilson, Dr. Marvin R.; Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8028-0423-3.
  19. ^ RabbiYeshua.com

[1] Moseley, Ron; Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church; Messianic Jewish Resources International, 1998, ISBN 1-880226-68-5.

20:55, 1 March 2011 (UTC)20:55, 1 March 2011 (UTC)~~

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