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An examination of the unorthodox beliefs of the First Fruits of Zion, their Torah Clubs, and the Hebrew Roots Movement in general; version 3
An Examination of the unorthodox
beliefs of the First Fruits of Zion, their Torah Clubs, and the Hebrew Roots
Movement in general
** Direct quotations
are in italics, brief explanatory notes are within {brackets} **
1. A non-Trinitarian view of God in the
forms of both Modalism and Subordinationism.
a. Rather than explicit statements from
FFOZ, this is more often the result of hostility toward Church History and
received orthodoxy, plus the subjecting of all scriptural interpretation to the
lens of the “Jewish perspective,” which calls into question any theological
belief that seemingly doesn’t fit that rubric, like the Trinity.
Examples:
Every
day, millions of Christians pray to the God of Israel through their mediator,
the King and Messiah of the Jews. (6) {Boaz speaks of prayer through
Jesus, not to Jesus, in a vacuum this just seems like awkward wording,
but coming from an organization whose intention is to subvert the Church...}
In
the same way, there are several other non-negotiable beliefs in modern
evangelical Christianity (and, of course, every other branch of Christianity) –
beliefs that are not clearly articulated in Scripture. The easiest example to deal with is the
Trinity. Nowhere in the Scripture is the
doctrine of the Trinity clearly articulated, and yet one would be hard-pressed
to find a modern “statement of faith” that does not include it. In fact, in every Christian institution I
have been involved with, whether academic or congregational, one would be
excommunicated as a heretic for not believing in the Trinity. How did it come to be that so much importance
is attached to a doctrine that is not articulated in any one place in
Scripture? (14, p. 12) {The Trinity is NOT clearly articulated in
Scripture? The number of places in which
God is declared to be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are too numerous to list, so
why is FFOZ casting doubt on this orthodox belief that was codified at the
Council of Nicaea? This book published
by FFOZ in 2021 confirms that our concerns about non-Trinitarian theology were
legit.}
…one must build this complex and mystical doctrine from
various scattered references throughout the Bible…How did the Trinity doctrine
attain the level of importance and complexity it currently has? Surely if it were always a central doctrine,
it would have been explicitly referred to in the Apostolic Writings. In reality, however, it does not emerge fully
formed until after centuries of debate.
Besides the sad fact that the church of the Nicene Era bore little
resemblance to the sect of Judaism from which it developed… (14, p. 13)
{Here Fronczak treats the Trinity like an impossible puzzle, something the
Early Church would not have understood, and dismisses its importance by
declaring the Church of the 4th century to be already hopelessly
corrupted.}
Pg. 128 Bradford makes a point that the Bible does not
refer to Yeshua by the Father’s personal name, Yehoveh – (4, #6) {Tom
Bradford, leader of Seed of Abraham Ministries, a HRM organization not
affiliated with FFOZ}
The Doctrine of the Trinity is a tough issue for the
Church and the Jews. – (4, #6) {Heather Mohnkern, leader of several Torah
Clubs in Venango County, PA}
Early Church and the Shema: Did not think of God being a
conglomerate of “3 persons”…NAS Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is
our God, the LORD is one!”…NAS Mark 12:29 Jesus Answered, “the foremost is,
‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; - (4, #6)
The Names of God…WE MUST RESTORE THE NAMES OF GOD!...When
Lord and God are used, how can we tell if it is “God” or “Jesus” being referred
to?...Y’shua, Who do you say he is? – (4, #6)
Reinserting God’s name (YHWH) creates doctrine
problems…NAS Acts 1:11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in just the same way as you watched Him go into heaven.” The manner he went includes: (1) The FORM
God/Man Jesus (2) the PLACE Mt. of Olives (3) The WAY into the sky,
clouds…Zechariah 14 says it is Y-H-W-H (Yahweh) who lands on the Mt. of
Olives!! We have always just ‘plugged
in’ JESUS. Hebrew says YHWH. Vs.9 says ‘He is ECHAD’ ONE. This description is always reserved for the
totality of the Godhead. The one we call
“God” – (4, #7)
“3 Persons” Doctrine…We must re-examine this
un-Scriptural construct…”Left Behind” is a story! NOT A CHALLENGE to the nature of God as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Separates
the Persons. Separates the Functions.
Logical conclusion of 3 Persons doctrine: when Christ was on earth, God
in Heaven was only 2/3rds complete! – (4, #7)
Theory of the ‘Trinity’…Tom Bradford (p. 127 also
132-139) “…I think we do a great disservice to ourselves when we attempt to
artificially limit the possible manifestations of G-d to three, so that it
makes a nice and tidy Roman Catholic doctrine.” – (4, #8)
Bradford likens the Trinity to one Person with three
different ATTRIBUTES/ROLES rather than three separates pieces that we label as
persons. – (4, #8) {What Heather is describing is Modalism, a heresy
rejected by the Early Church, 382 The Council of Rome.}
Throughout the history of the Church there has been
tremendous opposition and conflict to the connect of the Trinity of God – Dr.
Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum - (4, #8)
Where I Fall on this Issue…
Scripture does not ask us to believe in a
contradiction. A contradiction would
be…”There is one G-d and there is not
one G-d” “God is shown/revealed in three
roles/attributes/persons and G-d is one role/attribute/person”
To say “G-d is revealed often in three
roles/attributes/persons and there is one G-d” is not a contradiction. It is something we do not understand, and it
is therefore a mystery or paradox, but that should not trouble us as long as
the different aspects of the mystery are clearly taught by Scripture, for as
long as are finite creatures and not omniscient deity, there will always (for
all eternity) be things that we do not fully understand.
Our attention needs to be placed squarely upon the
Biblical text, to see if the concept of G-d composed of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit is something that can be legitimately derived from Scriptures. – (4,
#8)
I also wanted to acknowledge Tom Bradford’s teaching on
pg. 273 and 274 of our student manuals.
Oneness, Unity, ECHAD yet…Subservience of the Son to the Father…just as
Joseph wielded the full power and authority of Pharaoh, but was not
Pharaoh. Bradford reminds us of how
Yeshua taught his disciples to pray…not to Jesus; rather we pray to the Father
in the name of Jesus. – (4, #11)
2. A lesser view of all portions of
scripture that are not Torah. Torah is
the lens through which all scripture must be viewed, including the words of
Jesus, and only Torah is fully inspired.
a. This view is why FFOZ feels empowered
to substitute the term “Torah” into the NT text anytime it is convenient in
place of the various Greek words normally translated as law or commandment, an
example of eisegesis.
Examples:
The Torah is God's initial revelation of Himself to
mankind, and as such it is the basis upon which all further revelation of God
is tested, and the foundation upon which all else is built. – (1, p. 2) {Foundation? Yes, but in practice FFOZ treats Torah as the
culmination of God’s revelation, what comes later must be viewed through it,
interpreted by it.}
In the Messianic Era, the revelation of God will surpass
even what He revealed to Moses. Yeshua is the prophet like Moses. Moses heard
the voice of God speaking clearly, not in riddles, dreams, visions, or dark
oracles. All the other prophets heard only an obscure echo. Moses heard the
voice of God directly; consequently, Moses’ words were not his own. In the same
way, the Master tells the disciples, “The words that I say to you I do not
speak on My own initiative” (John 14:10). He spoke only what He heard from the
Father – (5, p. 6) {An attempt at creating a two-tiered Bible with Torah as
fully inspired and everything else “an obscure echo.” This was not at all how Jesus or the Apostles
treated the scriptures, they quoted the whole of it with equal authority, as
did the NT authors. A highly unorthodox
belief, but necessary if Torah is to reign above the rest unalterable and
eternal.}
The commands of the Master cannot be different from the
commands of the Torah any more than the Word of the Master is different from
the Word of the Father. – (5, p. 11) {Acc. To FFOZ, Jesus has no authority
to declare Torah fulfilled, to give a ‘new commandment’. Remember, Jesus is the eternal Word of God,
how can he not have the authority to continue/modify, even abrogate, what he (as
a member of the Trinity) previously revealed in scripture?}}
The church widely assumes it self-evident that Jewish
interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures is faulty and deficient, and the Bible
can be properly understood only when interpreted by a believer in Jesus. That assumption, of course, leads to
assumptions about authority and the right to interpret God’s Word…The Hebrew
roots movement arrives at its vitriolic disdain for the rabbis (and for Judaism
in general) on the strength of the premise that an individual’s personal
understanding of the Bible replaces Jewish authority. This assumes that the Jewish people forfeited
their authority to interpret the Bible when they rejected the Messiah. (13,
p. 16) {The quote contains a type-o by the author who meant to say that “The
Church arrives at its vitriolic”, as the context will show; FFOZ uplifts Jewish
interpretation (as they see it) as the only standard that matters, even
subjecting NT texts to this lens. It is
instructive that throughout the many pages of FFOZ published materials we have
examined, there are virtually no quotations from Christian theologians, past or
present, although quotes from rabbis are utilized.}
3. The New Covenant is an extension of
the Mosaic, which is still operative and normative for everyone.
a. This is the heart of HRM (FFOZ)
theology: the contention that the Mosaic Law was intended by God to be for all
peoples, in all places, for all time.
The Mosaic Law becomes the idol that they twist their version of the
person and purpose of Jesus to serve.
Examples:
It seemed to harmonize with the work that the Spirit of
God was doing within them, turning their hearts toward the Torah of God—the
work of the New Covenant. – (3, p. 7)
By espousing these premises, Messianic Judaism has
maintained a convenient niche right next to the evangelical Christian church.
Since they are not teaching that the Torah is the biblically prescribed way of
life for all peoples and nations who call upon the name of the God of Israel,
they can conveniently co-exist in cooperation with the Church’s anti-Torah
theological assumptions. They can
receive financial support, utilize their buildings, speak at their conferences…
– (3, p. 8) {Here FFOZ differentiates itself from Messianic Judaism which does
not, like FFOZ, teach that Torah is for Gentiles. Plus, the abhorrent antisemitic trope that
the Messianic Jews are holding this theological position for the money.}
From the outset of our ministry, FFOZ has maintained
equal covenant participation for Jews and non-Jews. That is to say, we believe
that the Torah is for everybody who follows the Jewish Messiah. However, that
message has not always been crystal clear in our magazine publications and
personal communications – (3, p. 12) {Lamenting that it wasn’t always clear
that gentile Torah keeping was their central purpose}
Parts That Don’t Apply Today: The Torah is not done away
with or cancelled, but some parts of it do not apply to us today. (A) Death
Penalty and Court-Imposed Punishments – Death penalty does not apply outside
land or without Sanhedrin (B) Animal Sacrifices and Levitical Laws – Alter
sacrifices and Levitical laws do not apply outside of temple in Jerusalem (8,
1.14-1.15)
Is Messiah to be understood as the ending of the Torah
then? No. He is the end, but not the
ending. He is the goal of the Torah, but
not the termination of it. In fact, He
Himself said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law [Torah]” (Matthew
5:17) (8, 1.22)
James calls the Torah the “perfect Torah,” and the “Torah
of liberty.” (8, 2.20) {Followed by a quotation of James 1:22-25 where law
(Gk. Nomon) is replaced in the text by Torah each time}
{Offered for context: James 1:25 English Standard Version
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of
liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing.}
Messiah did not abolish the Torah; He abolished the
enmity between Jew and Gentile engendered by Torah. Because of the inclusion of Gentile believers
into the greater people of Israel, the Torah is no longer a wall of
separation. In Messiah, Gentile
believers have the prerogative to take hold of the covenant and take on the
commandments. The enmity that kept Jews
and Gentiles on opposite sides of the Torah wall has been removed. (8,
7.14) {A non-orthodox explanation of Ephesians 2:14-16}
We believe that the Torah is a revelation of the
righteousness of God and a description (along with the rest of Scripture) of
the lifestyle of the redeemed community. (8, C.1)
Replacement theology completely
subverts the Temple, the priesthood, and the Levitical worship system: The
death of Jesus replaces the sacrifices.
The body of Christ replaces the Temple.
The Christian priesthood (or clergy) replaces the Levitical priesthood
(non-Protestant). The priesthood of
Jesus replaces the Levitical priesthood (Protestant). (13, p. 15) {FFOZ
rejects the premise of Hebrews that Christ is a superior priest offering
a superior sacrifice because they believe that these things must continue into
the Messianic Kingdom because Torah is eternal.}
4. The belief that Jesus did not fulfill
the Mosaic Law.
a. If then, Torah is eternal, the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ must be reinterpreted as to ensure that it is not seen as a
fulfillment of that Law, that is, the sacrifice of Jesus must be diminished.
Examples:
If Jesus was (and is) Jewish, his teaching must be
located on the map of greater Judaism. His prophetic rebuke to his generation
should be seen in continuity with that of the earlier prophets. His core
message, his “gospel,” should not be seen as a call for Jews to abandon
Judaism, but rather, it must be recognized as a call to covenant fidelity, a
rallying cry to the Torah and its teachings. (6) {Jesus’ Gospel is in
quotations, he has not a new message to offer, only the call of the prophets of
old to return to Torah, this time with Gentiles included.}
Jesus’ Last Supper took place at Passover. The ceremony
known today as communion (or the Eucharist) was originally part of a Passover
Seder… Jesus took the unleavened bread and cup of wine and gave them new
meaning, and commanded us to partake of them in remembrance of him. For this
reason, we take the bread and the cup annually in the context of our Passover
meals. (1, p. 3)
The Master told His disciples, “If you love me, you will
keep my commandments.” A few verses further on in the text, He reiterated the
sentiment: “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me”
(John 14:21). Some teachers limit the scope of this statement by appealing to
Yeshua’s “new commandment” of love for one another or His summary of the
Torah’s greatest commandments: love God; love neighbor. That might make sense
if Yeshua intended to replace the Torah as replacement theology assumes. But He
did not intend to replace the Torah. Instead, His commandments should be
understood to include the broad range of His teaching about the kingdom,
including His words about the Torah. – (5, p. 10-11)
Each newer covenant was NOT a replacement of an older
one…The Mosaic covenant (agreement to keep the law) and the Law itself was NOT
declared null and void because of the covenant with Yeshua for the New
Covenant. – (4, #5)
Odd isn’t it? That
one would be temporary and the rest permanent, and considering the wording
throughout about ‘perpetual’, ‘obedience, and ‘forever’ and knowing there will
be a return to it in the Millennial Kingdom – (4, #13) {With respect to the
Mosaic Covenant}
The assumptions of replacement theology are part and
parcel of church teaching and the very warp and woof of Christian doctrine. The most obvious tenets of replacement
theology are axiomatic:
The
New Testament replaces the Old Testament.
The
Church replaces Israel.
Christians
replace Jews.
The
Lord’s Day (Sunday) replaces the Sabbath.
The
Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) replaces Passover.
Those are some of the obvious surface-level substitutions
propagates by replacement theology, but that’s just the beginning. Replacement theology completely subverts the
Temple, the priesthood, and the Levitical worship system:
The
death of Jesus replaces the sacrifices.
The
body of Christ replaces the Temple.
The
Christian priesthood (clergy) replaces the Levitical priesthood (non-Protestant)
The priesthood of Jesus replaces the Levitical priesthood
(Protestant) – (13, p. 15)
{Yes, Jesus replaces the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood!
Lancaster, however, rejects the very theme of the book of Hebrews, where the
author makes it very clear that Jesus has indeed replaced the sacrifices,
temple, and priesthood because he is superior to all of them. This is a bold rejection of the very nature
of the atonement, the Church’s understanding of salvation, and the New
Testament’s authors’ message. FFOZ
rejects these things because they believe the sacrificial system must continue
in the Messianic Kingdom because Torah is eternal}
5. That there has never been a Covenant
with the Gentiles, thus it is only through ‘becoming a Jew’ in spirit and in
practice that one can be a full/true follower of Jesus Christ.
a. If Torah is eternal, the only entrance
into the Kingdom of God is through Judaism
Examples:
we believe that a non-Jew’s position in Israel and
participation in Torah are the natural results of his identity in Messiah. As believers in Messiah, non-Jews have a
right and responsibility to take hold of the commandments of God. – (3, p.
4)
“The point is not whether or not you are Jewish or
Israelite. The point is that there is a Jewish Israelite living within you.”
– (3, p. 4)
In this teaching we present that the New Covenant is made
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, resulting in the restoration
of Israel. It is a common teaching of FFOZ that there is no covenant made with
the people of the nations—Gentiles. Our position is that the ger was always
considered to be equal participants in Israel based on their faith and
faithfulness to the covenants. This is not a replacement theology—this is a
theology of inclusion. – (3, p. 7)
the core teaching at FFOZ has always been one of full
non-Jewish participation in the things of Torah and the people of Israel. We
have predicated this participation upon the individual’s identity in Messiah
alone. We believe that, as disciples of the Torah-observant Messiah, we are
beholden to imitate His life and conform to His teaching. We believe in Torah
observance on the basis of our identity in Yeshua. We believe that we have a
position in Israel on the basis of the Messiah of Israel’s position within each
one of us. – (3, p. 12) {Jesus was incarnate as a Jew, he kept the Law to
fulfill it, to enable his righteousness to become our own, nowhere in the
Gospels is there any hint that Jesus intended Gentiles to imitate him in this.}
What is not debatable is that all, believers already have
citizenship in Israel through faith in Messiah. Non-Jews are grafted into
Israel. Non-Jews are made part of the commonwealth of Israel. Non-Jews are
given the covenants of promise. All of this is accomplished only through faith
in Messiah. – (3, p. 15) {Once again, the analogy of Romans 11 is
misinterpreted. In Christ, our
citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20), not Israel}
Most people who attend Beth Immanuel are not Jewish, but
we all practice Messianic Judaism together. – (1, p. 1)
Most people who attend Beth Immanuel are not Jewish, but
they practice Messianic Judaism in imitation of Jesus. – (1, p. 2)
Q – If the Jews are still G-d’s chosen people, what about
believing Gentiles? How can Gentiles benefit from the covenants G-d made with
the Jewish people without becoming Jewish?
More practically, how can Gentiles who are drawn to the Torah and the
Jewish people become involved with Messianic Judaism? Essentially, if Israel is limited to the
Jewish people, and Israel is the people of G-d, where do believing Gentiles
find their identity? – (4, #10)
Let’s consider that the church has taught a theology of
replacement and substitution by which we believe the church has replaced and
even superseded Israel. We have taught
the church is the New Israel. We have
taught that if a Jewish person wants salvation or any inheritance in the
covenants of promise, he or she must forsake Judaism and convert to
Christianity. This story contradicts
replacement theology. The sons of Jacob
were not adopted into the family of Ephraim and Manasseh, rather Ephraim and
Manasseh were adopted into the family of Jacob to become sons of Israel. Israel does not join the Gentile church; the
Gentile church has been spiritually united with Israel (Romans 9:4-5) Depth of
the Torah p. 425-426 – (4, #12)
Because there is no mention of the New Covenant being a
“universal covenant” made between G-d and the Gentiles, Gentiles have no part
of this new Covenant unless they are somehow declared by YHVH to be part of
either the house of Israel or the House of Judah. (p. 287) Romans 11 explains how this works. – (4,
#14)
Believers have been brought into a new family: the family
of Israel. (8, 2.17)
New Testament is not the New Covenant: The New Testament
is a collection of scriptures that tell about how the gospel brought about the
New Covenant, but it is not actually the New Covenant itself. (8, 3.17)
{Followed by the use of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:24-28, FFOZ identifies
this as the New Covenant, a covenant with Israel, not gentiles}
The New Covenant is a covenant only with the: people of
Israel (8, 3.21)
We learned that the “New Covenant” is not the “New
Testament,” and it does not replace Torah.
The Torah is actually a part of the New Covenant; that is why the New
Covenant could be called the “Renewed Covenant.” (8, 3.23)
We learned that the New Covenant was made only with God’s
chosen people Israel. Gentiles who want
to have a share in the New Covenant must do so by participation in Israel
through the Messiah of Israel. (8, 3.23)
The Old Covenant is part of this present world. The New Covenant is the covenant of the
restored world of the Messianic Age. The
Torah is the same in both covenants, but our relationship to it changes. In the Old, it was a matter of “if you obey
me” and in the New it is a matter of “this Torah will be written on you heart.”
Thus the New Covenant is not an abrogation of the Torah but rather a new
agreement changing our relationship to the Torah. (8, 3.30)
From Paul’s perspective in Galatians, the offense of the
cross is Gentile inclusion in Israel. (8, 6.24) {The crucified Messiah is
the offense of the cross, this is not what Galatians is proclaiming.}
The Messiah did not come to start
a new religion. He did not come to start
the church. The word “Christianity”
isn’t in the New Testament. Neither is
the word “church.” (13, p. 18) {Here FFOZ says what they really believe:
Christianity and the Church should NOT exist, they are a perversion of what
Jesus intended. FYI, this argument about
what words are in the NT text is laughably shallow.}
The idea of the
church as a separate entity that replaces Israel does not exist in the New
Testament. Our Bibles should not even us
the English word, “church” to translate the Greek work ekklesia. (13, p.
18) {Because FFOZ believes Judaism is the only path, it stands to reason they
reject the very existence of the Church.
The blanket statement about the Church not existing apart from Israel in
the NT is easily refuted, it is amateurish.}
In summary, to
effectively dismantle replacement theology and root out supersessionism, we
need to remember four simple facts about the New Testament:
1. There
is no church in the New Testament
2. There
is no new religion in the New Testament.
3. The
New Testament ekklesia was a community of Yeshua’s disciples within the Jewish
people.
4.
The religion of the New Testament
ekklesia Judaism.
(13, p. 21) {Aside
from the massive false assertion that every gathering of Jesus’ followers in
the New Testament is part of Judaism, note that there is no path to being a
follower of Jesus Christ, from the FFOZ perspective, that does not involve
becoming a part of Judaism.}
6. That faithful discipleship of Jesus Christ
requires keeping the Mosaic Law, including the dietary (kosher), Sabbath, and
festival provisions.
a. FFOZ’s official stance is currently
“divine permission”, i.e. that as followers of Jesus Christ we are allowed to
obey Torah if we feel called by the Spirit to do so. However, their ongoing commitment to their
former stated belief in One Law Theology’s “divine mandate” is clear throughout
their teaching materials.
Examples:
We have risen to defend the unchanging authority of the
Torah from those who claim it has been abolished. We have done the hard work of
figuring the Torah back into the equation of discipleship as it applies to
Jewish and Gentile disciples, respectively. (7)
We share a desire to walk after the commandments and to
live our lives in faithful obedience to God’s Torah. We share a sense of
belonging in the greater body of Israel. – (3, p. 4)
A large number of non-Jewish believers who are seeking
out their biblical roots in an attempt to return to a purer form of our faith.
– (3, p. 6)
Lest there be any doubt about where First Fruits of Zion
stands on this issue, allow me to remind everyone that First Fruits of Zion
officially separated from the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC) in
May of 2000 over the issue of Gentile inclusion. – (3, p. 9)
He clearly states that the Messianic Jewish Movement was
never intended to be a place in which Gentiles would begin to embrace the Torah
or feel compelled to keep the Torah. – (3, p. 10) {Which is why FFOZ broke
with Messianic Judaism, they wanted that compulsion}
We both espouse full non-Jewish participation in Israel.
We both believe the Sabbath, the Festivals, the dietary laws and the whole of
Torah applies equally to all God’s people, Jew and non-Jew. – (3, p. 16)
The restoration of Early Messianic Judaism has
implications for everything we do at Beth Immanuel. We keep the Sabbath and
biblical festivals such as Rosh Hashanah and Passover according to God's
prescription in Leviticus 23. We keep the Bible's dietary laws in keeping with
the instructions in Leviticus 11. More than that, we endeavor to preserve a
basic form of Jewish practice and tradition within our community. At the same
time, we clearly distinguish between Jewish identity and Gentile identity within
our community, making it clear that Gentile disciples are not required to
observe the Torah as Jews or to abandon their Gentile identity. – (2, p. 2)
As sons of Abraham by faith in Messiah, we all have
access to Yeshua’s Jewish heritage. This does not mean that Gentile believers
become Jews, but they should not be discouraged from practicing Messianic
Judaism: the Jewish roots of their faith. – (1, p. 1)
We strive to be like Jesus in everything we do, which
includes observing Jewish tradition. – (1, p. 3)
If they truly love Him, they must keep His commandments,
including what He said about the unchanging Torah. – (5, p. 3) {If you
really love Jesus, you’ll keep the whole Torah, does this sound like you’re
being given permission or a mandate, an opportunity or a warning?}
The Master binds the commandments, judgments, ordinances,
and statutes of the Torah upon His disciples with the cords of love. He taught
them to observe even the least of the Torah’s commandments. All of Yeshua’s
teachings were explanations and interpretations of His Father’s commandments.
The Apostle John understood the equation, and he explained that every disciple
of Yeshua is obligated by love for God to walk in obedience to Torah: For this
is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not
burdensome. (1 John 5:3) – (5, p. 11) {Sigh, Torah keeping is not what John
is talking about in 1 John 5:3, yet another non-contextual interpretation. If Jesus “binds” the Torah upon us, how is
that “permission” and not a “mandate”?}
Only those who subject themselves to the authority of the
Master’s teaching and His Torah enter into the union of His love and the love
of God: - (5, p. 14) {FFOZ don’t seem to be mincing words here, do
they? If you don’t take the yoke of
Torah upon yourself, you’re damned. This
was published in 2022, One Law mandate wasn’t left behind when Hegg was fired.}
We are primarily interested in those passages which
Christianity has traditionally used to teach that Jesus was against Judaism and
the observance of the Torah. On closer
examination, each of these passages proves just the opposite. Instead, we learn that in order to be
“sinless,” Jesus had to be Torah observant. (8, 4.2) {Question: Why is
“sinless” in quotation marks??}
Yeshua
came to properly interpret the Torah – not to cancel it or replace it.
Yeshua
is the Living Torah.
Yeshua
did not teach against Torah, Sabbath, or kosher laws.
Yeshua’s
law of loves does not replace the Torah. (8, 4.2)
We learned about Yeshua’s yoke of discipleship and that
“yoke” was a rabbinic metaphor for “Torah.”
(8, 5.21)
The
biblical Sabbath and holidays have not been abolished or replaced.
The
biblical Sabbath and holidays are relevant to believers today. (8, 8.2)
To say that Gentile believers are not expected to keep
God’s appointed times is the same as saying that Gentile believers are not
supposed to have any holy days or days of worship. (8, 8.5) {Evidently, the
Lord’s Day, Christmas, and Easter don’t count as holy days or days of worship
unless we faithfully keep the Jewish calendar too}
Not every commandment is applicable in our current
situation. “For there are many
commandments that are in force in the Land of Israel but not in countries
outside the Land; and there are commandments in force only at the time the
Sanctuary exists. There are those which
are related to ritual holiness and purity; there are those in force only at
beth din (court of law) of ordained and authorized judges [i.e. the Sanhedrin].
– Chofetz Chaim, The Concise Book of Mitzvoth
77
Applicable Positive Commandments
194
Applicable Negative Commandments
26
Commandments Applicable only in the Land of Israel (8, 9.5)
If Gentile believers see the importance of keeping a
biblical diet in order to maintain their identity as a participant in the holy
nation, why should they be discouraged?
After all, Yeshua kept kosher. (8, 9.14) {Notice the rationale: “in
order to maintain”, they may state over and over that salvation is by faith
through grace alone, but “maintaining” that status requires Torah observance. Also, “Jesus kept kosher” is a cheap tactic
coming from a group who claim to imitate him but subvert 2,000 years of Gospel
witness.}
The Torah gives us 613 opportunities to show our love for
our Father in heaven, and our love for our fellow man. (8, 9.21)
It is not useful to try to impose higher standards on the
Gentile believers than the apostles themselves imposed. However, the apostles offered those standards
as a minimum threshold of dietary law, not a maximum. They pointed the Gentiles in the direction of
the Torah’s higher standards by encouraging them to remain in the synagogues
and learn Torah from the weekly readings {Acts 15:21 is quoted} With
these words, the apostles invited the Gentile believers to take hold of their
spiritual heritage by learning more of the ways of Torah…If someone who is not
Jewish wants to eat a biblically kosher diet, how can anyone object? How could
it possibly hurt to do so? How could it
be wrong to obey the Bible. (8, 9.28)
The person who decides to keep kosher needs to vigilantly
guard his heart from looking down on other believers who do not share his
conviction…Nevertheless, we certainly can argue against the idea that keeping
the biblical dietary laws places us under legalistic bondage…I would argue that
keeping the dietary laws and other ceremonial laws of Torah is completely
natural for believers. After all, if we
are under the new covenant, God has written His Torah on our hearts (8,
9.29) {Jeremiah 31:33 is quoted, once more misidentified as the origin and
definition of the New Covenant}
Keeping the dietary laws is a natural expression of who
we are in Messiah. It is part of our
identity in the new covenant. If
believers see the importance of keeping a biblical diet in order to maintain
their identity as a participant in the holy nation, why should they be
discouraged? After all, Yeshua kept
kosher. (8, 9.29)
The Gentile believer’s relationship to Israel and the
Torah comes through the Messiah. He is
not required to keep the specific signs of Torah that were given to Israel {Colossians
2:16 is quoted, but then Ruth 1:16-17 is quoted to imply strongly that truly
dedicated Christians will volunteer to keep Torah} Gentile believers have a
biblical invitation to participate along with Israel in keeping the Torah. (8,
10.18)
7. The ‘good works’ of the New Covenant,
and the purpose of the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, is to enable Jesus’
followers to more fully keep the Mosaic Law.
a. Again, “Torah” is inserted into any
NT text as needed to make the keeping of it the primary purpose of the Holy
Spirit’s indwelling and Christian discipleship.
Examples:
First Fruits of Zion teaches a different message, but
many of the results are the same. We teach that the believer’s identity in
Messiah gives him the right and responsibility to “take hold” of the
commandments of God. The observance of the Sabbath, the biblical Festivals, the
biblical dietary laws and the lifestyle of Torah becomes incumbent upon us
because we have been “created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which God
prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) – (3,
p. 6) {This is NOT a contextual interpretation of Ephesians 2:10, it fits not
at all Paul’s purpose in this passage.}
SIDENOTE*** Interestingly, the New Covenant and the
giving of the Spirit at Pentecost is to help us keep the Torah. – (4, #4)
When we keep the Torah, we allow Messiah to live through
us. He is righteousness, and Torah is
the standard of righteousness. He is the
law fulfilled, and He desires to fulfill it through us. (8, 2.25)
8. That the practice of the Early
Church, through the entirety of the apostolic generation, was a form of
Judaism, complete with observance of the Mosaic Law by gentiles, and that this
was in keeping with the desire of the Apostles and the Jerusalem Council (Acts
15).
a. FFOZ sees the first few years of the
Early Church, when most followers of Jesus were Jews who had been raised under
the Law, and the Temple in Jerusalem still stood, as normative for all-time,
ignoring the narrative of Acts which saw the Early Church wrestle with what it
meant to their belief and practice that Gentiles were being saved wholly apart
from the Law, and the ways they adapted to this revelation of God’s grace.
Examples:
The majority of people in attendance at Beth Immanuel are
not Jewish; most of us are Gentile Christians who have found spiritual
significance in a traditional Jewish expression of our faith as we emulate the
earliest form of Christianity. We feel called to follow the Jewish calendar,
celebrate the weekly Sabbath, enjoy the Jewish holidays, and participate in the
synagogue liturgical tradition – (2, p. 1)
The earliest form of Christianity—the Christianity of the
apostolic era—was a messianic sectarian movement within greater, first-century
Judaism. More than one hundred years after the life of Yeshua of Nazareth, the
explosive growth of Gentile Christianity eclipsed the early, messianic, sect of
Judaism he had founded. Many Jewish and Gentile Christians discarded the
distinctively Jewish practices of the Torah (Law) as they assimilated into the
evolving Gentile religious environment. The original, biblical faith and
practice of Yeshua and his first disciples faded into obscurity. – (2, p.
1) {This statement contains several clear falsehoods: The Early Church dealt
with questions of Gentile inclusion in the first generation, not ‘more than one
hundred years after’, and that change is spelled out in the biblical text
itself, it did not happen later, it happened under the direction of the
Apostles, not against their wishes.}
In the days of the New Testament, Jewish and Gentile
believers in Jesus worshipped together as co-religionists, participating
together in the prayers, rituals, expressions, and customs of daily Jewish
life. They understood the person and teaching of Yeshua from within the context
of Judaism and the Torah world-view. – (2, p. 1) {A bold statement,
divorced from an unbiased reading of the New Testament and what we know of
Early Church History. Ignorance of
Church History is foundational to FFOZ’s theology.}
Beth Immanuel exists to reconstruct and propagate that
simple form of faith. (2, p. 1)
According to the Apostles, Gentile believers are not
required to keep the distinctive commandments of Jewish identity such as
circumcision, Sabbath, the dietary laws, etc. Nevertheless, God-fearing Gentile
disciples in fellowship with those early Jewish believers naturally
participated in the Sabbath, synagogue, and Jewish-life along with the Jewish
community of faith (Acts 15:19-21). – (2, p. 2) {God-fearers are not who
Acts 15:19-21 is talking about (it is about formerly pagan Gentile converts),
just putting in a biblical citation does not automatically strengthen your
argument.}
The traditional synagogue liturgy is an essential part of
Messianic Jewish expression and continuity with the rest of the Jewish world.
Liturgy has been used in the Temple and in synagogues for thousands of years.
The prayers are based heavily on Scripture and most them were in use in the
Temple and synagogues of Yeshua's time. The early apostolic community used
liturgy extensively, and it is a hallmark of authentic Messianic Judaism. –
(1, p. 3)
ALSO, in the language of Torah, certain laws apply to
both the Jew and the stranger who sojourns in the midst of the people of
Israel (not all Gentiles…but those in the midst of the Hebrews). All four of the apostolic decrees belong to
that category of laws. (Read Leviticus 17-18) – (4, #2)
Many Christians have difficulty accepting the idea of the
ongoing roles of Torah and Israel because of the writings of the Apostle
Paul…Therefore, it is important for us to examine Paul – the man and his
message – in order to see if, in fact, his teaching are actually incompatible
with the Land, the People, and the Scriptures of Israel. (8. 6.2)
Paul has thus, wrongly, I believe, been seen as
disregarding the Law and customs of his Jewish past as he developed entirely
new, Christian solutions. He has,
mistakenly, been made the creator of a Gentile Christianity that rejected
Judaism and the Law as operative, rather than the champion of the restoration
of Israel who fought for the inclusion of “righteous gentiles” in this new
community as equals…as understood by James and the Council – Mark Nanos, The
Mystery of Romans (8, 6.15) {The author is a non-Christian, FFOZ chooses to
quote him to refute 2,000 years of the Church’s understanding of Paul.}
There is really no way around Acts 21. Paul meant to pay for the Nazirites to
demonstrate that he lived in obedience to Torah and never taught contrary to
Torah observance. Any seemingly contrary
statements from his epistles must be weighed against Acts 21. (8, 6.29) {This
is the house of cards used to reject the Church’s understanding of Paul in its
entirety. How Paul acted in Jerusalem,
to not cause offense to his people, does not mean that he intended every
Gentile believer in Jesus to live as a Jew; the conclusion simply does not
follow at all from Paul’s actions in Acts 21, let alone give us reason to
jettison dozens of passages written by Paul’s hand.}
Many believers today might consider living in obedience
to God’s commandments if not for the writings of Paul. It is widely believed that Paul discouraged
believers from practicing Torah and that he warned us from “going under the
Law” and “falling from grace.” But if
that is really true, then Paul’s writings hopelessly contradict what we know
about Paul himself. This week we will
examine a sampling of Pauline passages that have traditionally been interpreted
as anti-Torah and anti-Jewish. We hope
that we will be able to unravel these misunderstood passages to discover the
true message of the Apostle Paul. (8, 7.2)
Just like the apostolic decision in Acts 15, the Didache
does not bind Gentile believer to the Torah. Instead, it encourages them to take on as
much as they are able.
For if you are able to bear all the yoke of the Lord, you
will be perfect; but if you are not able, do what you are able to do –
Didache 6:2 Yoke of the Lord = The
Torah (8, 10.19)
9. A hostility toward the history of the
Church, predicated on the notion that the Church has always been in error
(and/or lying to you) and only this movement has God’s truth.
a. FFOZ embraces the realization that
they’re standing outside of the orthodoxy and flow of Church History, that’s
part of the selling point of the movement.
Examples:
So, we aren’t fighting the church, and we aren’t fighting
against Christians or Christian practice. However, we are challenging the
underlying system of replacement theology and supersessionism. That’s the root
issue. Rooting it out is going to be a battle. I’m afraid it’s going to be an
ugly fight. While we can organizationally separate the goodness and
productivity of the institutional church and sincere spirituality and devotion
of the individual Christians—both the church and most Christians will feel assaulted,
offended, and targeted. (7)
Separating the institution from the theology that
supports it is difficult, but that is what we need to do to progress. Again,
the church is not the enemy—but we are challenging the theology the institution
represents and propagates. (7)
Most churchgoers still have no idea that they are called
to be disciples of a Jewish rabbi. The potential to come alongside these
brothers and sisters and seriously reorient their understanding of Jesus’ life
and teachings is nearly limitless. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers
are few” (Matthew 9:37). (6) {Boaz defines the Church as the mission field}
Messianic Judaism rediscovered an authenticity deeper and
older than any form or structure existing within the mainstream Church: Torah.
Suddenly, it wasn’t primarily Jews coming into the movement. Rather, it was
Christians, Gentile Christians who have been starved for authenticity for
centuries. Gentile Christians hungry and zealous for Torah. – (3, p. 9)
Suddenly Gentile Christians everywhere are responding,
“Yes! This is what my faith has been missing. This is what I have always been
looking for.” – (3, p. 9)
The matrix of the Messianic Jewish Movement simply is not
big enough for the restoration that God is doing in the Body of Messiah. The
Hebrew Roots movement has outgrown Messianic Judaism. – (3, p. 11)
Rest assured we are working on this issue in our
study…little by little…chipping away doctrines of men and replacing it with the
Scriptures themselves. Please be
patient!!! – (4, #10)
We are on a mission to restore the original faith and
practice of the apostles and first followers of Jesus of Nazareth. We rejoice in our rootedness in Judaism as
well as our relationship with Christianity. (8, Intro XV)
Galatians 3:23-24 retranslated: “But before faith came,
we were kept protected under the Torah, being kept inside for the faith which
was later to be revealed. Therefore the
Torah has become our caretaker to lead us to Christ, so that we may be
justified by faith.” (8, p. 1.12)
{Provided
for comparison: Galatians 3:23-24English Standard Version
23 Now before faith came, we were
held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be
revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that
we might be justified by faith.}
For the unbeliever is bound by Torah to sin
and punishment while sin is living; but if sin and punishment
dies, the unbeliever is released from the Torah’s condemnation of sin. So then, if while sin and punishment
is alive the unbeliever is declared righteous and justified, the unbeliever
shall be called a lawbreaker; but if sin and punishment dies, the
believer is free from the condemnation of the law, so that the believer
is not a lawbreaker though she is joined to righteousness and
justification. Therefore, my
brethren, you also were made to die to the condemnation of the Law
through the body of Messiah, so that you might be joined to righteousness
and justification, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we
might bear fruit for God. (paraphrase of Romans 7:2-4) (8, 7.8) {Part of a
pattern of using paraphrases of key passages to ‘demonstrate’ that they mean
the opposite of the Church’s traditional interpretation}
{For Comparison: Romans
7:2-4 New International Version
2 For example, by law a married
woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies,
she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has
sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is
called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law
and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you
also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to
another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit
for God.}
Later readers of the epistle who were not aware of the
contextual situation interpreted Galatians as an anti-Torah and anti-Jewish
work. Based largely upon this misreading
of Galatians, early Christianity jettisoned Torah and our connections to
Judaism. We began to believe that anyone
who attempted to keep a commandment of Torah was under the curse of the
Torah. In retrospect, it was an absurd
position…Paul was not preaching against Gentiles keeping the Torah. Technically, he was not even preaching against
Gentiles becoming circumcised. He was
preaching against Gentiles undergoing the conventional conversion into Judaism
in order to achieve salvation and status in the Jewish community…Ironically,
the epistle to the Galatians is the very scripture that Christian most often
use to refute Gentile believers who are beginning to return to their Jewish
roots and practice aspects of Messianic Judaism. As Christians begin to involve themselves in
the various aspects of their heritage (such as Sabbath observance, kosher laws,
daily prayer, etc.), they are often rebuked by other believers quoting from
Galatians. That is turning it exactly
backwards. Galatians was written to
argue for Gentile inclusion in Israel, not Gentile exclusion from Israel. (8,
7.24-25)
We live in a prophetic time of restoration, and we are
committed to seeing the whole body of Messiah, Jews and Gentiles, restoring
four essential elements of apostolic faith
{The 4th standard in
the list:} Torah – The Torah is God’s eternal standard of righteousness and
must return to its place of prominence and authority in the community of faith.
(8, 10.19-20)
We
considered four things that we need restored to our faith:
The
Jewishness of Messiah
The
Torah context of the gospel
The
Jewish tradition of discipleship
The
prominence of Torah in the body of the Messiah (8, 10.21)
Today’s Bible students are seeking more! More than just
creeds and dogma, today’s Christian wants to apply the Bible to life by
studying to learn, practice, and teach.
Believers want to explore outside of traditional, denominational
interpretations by examining the Bible as it was understood by the Jewish
writers of the New Testament. (8, D.1) {A sound exegetical principle,
except FFOZ defines traditional orthodoxy as a dead-end in this pursuit}
We perceive what’s happening here as an impetus to the
kingdom, a contribution to the kingdom, something prophetic, something
profound, something world-transforming. (10, 6:14ff)
So, the responsibility of this message falls on us, a
small minority of God‘s people who’ve come to an understanding of the gospel of
the kingdom and whose lives are being transformed by the undiluted power of
Yeshua’s message. And we’re called to take this gospel of message to the
kingdoms, repent for the kingdom of God is it at hand. And this prophetic
movement has only become possible in our generation. It’s our responsibility.
(10, 23:11ff) {We alone can save the Church?
A reform not possible in any point of Church history until now?}
Until the gospel of the kingdom, the original authentic
message of Yeshua, has been proclaimed to the ends of the earth, the partial
hardening of Israel will continue. (10, 29:16ff) {Only FFOZ can bring
salvation to the Jewish people.}
You are the creators. You are the doers. You are the ones
that God has chosen to proclaim this gospel, the gospel of the kingdom, to all
nations. What an amazing burden that HaShem has placed upon us. You’ve
dedicated yourself to a mission. You might not have the biggest Torah Club. You
might not even think of yourself as qualified to teach others about the gospel
of the kingdom and yet you are here. And yet your eyes have been opened.
(10, 44:13ff)
Your efforts as Torah Club leaders and students is a
direct, and in my opinion, fulfillment of these words of our master. The
reconciliation of Israel and the restoration of the world are in God’s hands,
but the mission is in yours. (10, 46:21ff) {Breathtaking hubris.}
Our eyes have been open to the reality of the kingdom.
We’re standing on that summit and we see far off in the distance, and we wonder
why other people don’t see or share our same perspective. Seems like it’s an
inspiring idea to know the authentic Jesus. (11, p. 1) {When the entirety
of the Church sees things differently, maybe that’s a sign that you’ve wandered
away?}
Until then, however, there’s a small remnant, right. It’s
a pretty small remnant of the kingdom on earth. There’s a few of us. There’s a
few of us clinging to the Commandments in the testimony of Yeshua as it says in
the Book of Revelation. (12, 7:47ff) {Any Gospel that supposedly only saves
a tiny minority of those who claim Jesus as Savior is warped and twisted.}
Replacement theology is not only the idea of Christians
replacing Jews as God’s people; it’s also the idea that God has replaced the
old religion (Judaism) with a new religion (Christianity). (13, p. 15)
{FFOZ doesn’t believe the Church should exist, it was never supposed to exist.}
10.
That Sabbath worship was the practice of the Early Church, something not ‘changed’ until Constantine.
a. Much of the doctrine of the HRM and
FFOZ is built upon either ignorance of history, or willful blindness to
it. This conspiracy theory they embrace
about the Early Church does not fit our knowledge of it.
Examples:
Constantine and the Catholic Church in the 4th
century attempted to change the keeping of the 7th day…Though
Christ’s resurrection day, the 1st day of the week, is not ordained
in the Holy Scriptures as a weekly day of meeting, there is certainly no
prohibition against the church meeting on the 1st day but the L-rd’s
Day is not the Sabbath as defined by G-d Himself in the Holy
Scriptures…Justification to change the Sabbath can sometimes be misunderstood
by reading Paul’s writings out of context. (Colossians 2:16-23) – (4, #3)
{This theory has no basis in the historical record, Sunday worship was
established in Early Church practice, during the life of Paul, when the Church
was a persecuted minority, centuries before Constantine. The Catholic Church as an entity (Pope,
Vatican, etc.) did not exist in the 4th Century, this is an attempt to utilize
latent anti-Catholic bigotry.}
The New Testament contains no specific commandments
concerning the nature, place, or time that God desires for corporate
worship. There is no commandment to
assemble on Sunday morning or any other day of the week. The Torah, on the other hand, contains ample
instruction about God’s appointed times of worship. In the faith and practice of the apostolic
community, believers followed the biblical calendar, kept the seventh-day
Sabbath, and worshipped God at His appointed times. (8, 8.2) {The
Jewish-only, Jerusalem based Church of the first few years (not nearly the
whole first generation) is NOT normative for the Church for all peoples, in all
places, and at all times. The Church
evolved in Acts as God showed them the depth of his grace to the
Gentiles.}
11.
An eschatology that awaits the rebuilding of the Temple complete with a
Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system where the whole world will obey
Torah in the millennial kingdom.
a. Like all movements that are built
upon a particular End Times interpretation, the HRM (FFOZ) twists scripture to
fit their own expectations about the future.
Examples:
We believe that there is a Jewish man who has taken up
residence within each and every believer. The more one gets in touch with this
inner Jew (i.e. Yeshua), the more one will feel compelled to turn to the ways
of Torah and identify with the people of Israel. The non-Jewish call to Torah
is part of biblical prophecy too. In the Messianic era, all nations will be
keeping the Torah. – (3, p. 14) {Actually, it is the Holy Spirit that
resides with the followers of Jesus, we do not have an “inner Jew” calling us
to obey Torah.}
In the Messianic Era, Israel will walk in covenant
fidelity, observing God’s commandments and statutes. The whole world will live
according to the Torah - (5, p. 10) {What then is the purpose of a full
Levitical sacrificial system in the Messianic Kingdom? Why are sin offerings necessary when Christ
has made the final sacrifice of himself?}
Why does keeping God’s commandments bring us into the
Messianic Era in advance of its actual coming? – (5, p. 12) {This is a
group discussion question that assumes FFOZ’s End Times interpretation is
correct, thus impacting how they teach people to live here and now.}
Gentile Christianity mistook the fall of Jerusalem and
the exile of the Jewish people as indications that the church had replaced
Israel…To the Gentile Christians, the Temple symbolized the Old Covenant and
Judaism. Its destruction symbolized the
end of the ceremonial religion of the Jews and the beginning of a spiritual
religion in which the church became the new spiritual temple…While the New
Testament does speak of the believers as the temple of the Holy Spirit and
while we understand Christ is our high priest and ultimate sacrifice for sin:
the New Testament writers NEVER intended to imply the cancellations of the
literal Temple or the Levitical priesthood. (1. Sacrifices continued in the
Temple after the ascension of Christ and we see the rebuilding of the Temple
and the coming of Messiah with the sacrifices reinstituted. We need to work thru this information and
make sure our theology meshes with what the Scripture has to say.) – Ideas
taken from: Shadows of the Message – parsha Terumah – (4, #1)
What are your thoughts on righteous
people/animals/objects atoning for mankind?
These things indicate (when studied) why the millennial sacrifices will
return under the rule and reign of Messiah.
(Another subject for another day.) (4, #9)
The work of preparing for the Final Redemption requires
the restoration of a Jewish Messiah, a Jewish gospel, a Jewish concept of
discipleship, and Jewish understanding of Torah. (8, 10.2) {FFOZ believes
that transforming the Church into a Torah-observant branch of Judaism will
bring about the End Times.}
12.
The acknowledgement by FFOZ that what they are teaching is ‘another
Gospel’.
a. Throughout the Franklin Christian
Ministerium’s research of FFOZ, we kept finding evidence that reinforced the
conclusion that what they’re teaching/selling is indeed “another gospel.” Little did we know at the time, that the
leadership of FFOZ was willing to tell their Torah Club leaders and financial
supporters that a Gospel unconnected to the global Church or its history is
their goal (as opposed to an error they were unaware of).
Examples:
I mean, as this evangelical I did not understand the full scope of the
gospel message. That is for sure. Especially as it pertained to Israel. But I
would say as it pertained to any human being, but especially as it pertained to
Israel. Instead, I learn to divide the world, as I’m sure many of you did, into
two types of people: the saved and the unsaved, right? Those who have been born
again by accepting Jesus into their hearts for a personal relationship went
into a category we called the saved, that is the Christians. And those without
Jesus, the unsaved, the non-Christians. And so the onus was on those of us who
are the saved, that we have a responsibility and a mission to save the unsaved
and persuade them to become Christians. Which seems reasonable. In this
respect this approach to evangelism, you know from what I’m looking at it now,
was a little naïve and largely a misunderstanding of the gospel message. I
mean, this is just not what Yeshua taught. We thought the gospel message was
believe in Jesus so that you will go to heaven when you die. I mean, really,
that was it. So believing the right things about Jesus. That was our sacrament.
Having the right things in your head about Jesus, that was the thing that saved
you. But that’s not what Yeshua said and that’s not what he taught. When I
started to learn the New Testament from a Jewish perspective and to study the
teachings of the Jewish Yeshua, I discovered a totally different gospel
message. In fact, it used to trouble me that he never said anything about
becoming Christians. Didn’t it trouble anyone else? I mean, it really troubled
me. I mean, I’m talking as a teenager reading. I remember throwing the Bible
across the room because it just seemed like everything contradicted, everything
in the Bible contradicted everything I was learning in church. (9, 24:10ff) {Daniel Lancaster, who grew up as
an Evangelical Baptist, admits that he rejects the Church’s understanding that
the people of the world can be divided into the saved (those who trust in
Jesus) and the unsaved (those who do not trust in Jesus). While painting a very weak Straw Man version
of what the Church has always taught about the Gospel, Lancaster claims to have
discovered a “totally different gospel message.” FYI, Jesus never told people
to become “Christians” because the term wasn’t coined with respect to his
followers until after his death (Acts 11:26).
This argument is beyond weak.
Jesus called people to be his disciples, and he then established his
Church, promising the Spirit would soon come to guide them/it.}
His message had nothing to do with consenting to a creed. He didn’t
introduce a new religion. Instead, he called for repentance within the religion
that he was already in. (9, 26:37ff) {Again, Lancaster proclaims that
FFOZ’s version of the Gospel has nothing to do with what you believe about
Jesus, is NOT a new religion, but only a reform movement that was intended to
and must remain within Judaism.}
Going
to heaven and escaping from hell, in other words, dealing with the world of
souls, these are corollaries. They’re related ideas. But not at all the focus,
and never presented as the measure by which humanity can be divided into two
categories, or that we could divide humanity into two categories, saved and
unsaved. Wow! You know for somebody who grew up as an old Evangelical like me,
that’s a big shift. It’s taken most of a lifetime for me to absorb the
implications there, and I am still to this day trying to process it. I mean,
it’s another one of those complete reshuffling of the cards, right? The Jewish
gospel as I just described it is far more nuanced and at the same time far more
robust, far more sweeping than rescuing a few fortunate souls from the fires of
perdition. But, if you’re like me, and I’m assuming a lot of you are, coming
from an evangelical background like me and accustomed to a simple formula
message that divides the world into black-and-white, saved and lost, who is in
and who is out, then this broader, deeper, wider message of the gospel actually
leaves you feeling a little tongue-tied when it comes to evangelism and
articulating the mission. (9, 30:13ff) {Here Lancaster fully develops the
Straw Man version of the Gospel, one that only cares about souls and Heaven and
has nothing to say about repentance and this life (Who is preaching this
nonsense? Virtually nobody). By creating the deficient Straw Man, now
Lancaster can reject the traditional Gospel in favor of what FFOZ intends to
replace it with.}
I hope tonight to communicate
clearly that the message that all of us have heard, the gospel message that all
of us have heard, is not the message of the gospel of the kingdom. It’s a
gospel in fact devoid of the kingdom, a gospel that has in fact obscured the
kingdom. (9, 8:27ff) {The Founder and President of FFOZ proclaiming that
the Gospel message taught by the Church is NOT what God intended.}
We’ve seen something that most
Christians haven’t. Most followers of Yeshua have accepted him as their Savior,
maybe as their Lord, but they have yet to see him as a humble rabbi from
Nazareth, a teacher of Judaism who upheld the Torah and the Jewish way of life.
Missing these critical aspects of Yeshua’s life and ministry doesn’t just mean
missing out on Shabbat or Passover. It means we are missing the very
cornerstone of his message, the gospel of the kingdom. In fact the biggest
difference, the biggest tension between post-supersessionist Christianity and
Christianity, mainstream Christianity, isn’t what holidays we keep or the kind
of food we eat. It’s not the biggest difference. It’s our understanding of what
Yeshua ultimately came to teach and accomplish. The church’s gospel, the
church’s interpretation of Yeshua‘s core message, has been incomplete for
nearly 2000 years. (10, 8:27ff) {FFOZ believes they are the first ones in
Church History to teach the “complete” Gospel, the hubris involved, and the blanket
condemnation of the entire Church, is astounding. This is the same path as the Mormons and
Jehovah’s Witnesses.}
Study the Gospels, what did
Yeshua actually say to the crowds in Jerusalem?
What did he actually teach his disciples on the Mount of
Beatitudes? He didn’t say, “I’m going to
die for your sins.” He said, “The time
if fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel
of the Kingdom.” Repent for the kingdom
of God is at hand. It’s a message to Israel and it’s a message that doesn’t
make sense without Torah, without Judaism, without Jewish people, and without
Jewish, like, identity. It’s a promise of restored monarchy, restored
Sanhedrin, restored nation of Israel. (10, 8:27ff) {Why make the point that
in this moment Jesus wasn’t talking to his disciples about dying for their
sins? Remember, in FFOZ’s system, the
Torah is eternal, and the Levitical sacrifices will resume in the Millennial Kingdom.
Also, by emphasizing the Kingdom aspect of Jesus’ message, FFOZ can make their
next claim, that the Gospel only exists within the Mosaic Law. A Gospel without obeying Torah, practicing
Judaism, and adopting Jewish identity doesn’t make any sense?? It is clear where FFOZ stands. The Gospel without obeying Torah, practicing
Judaism, and adopting Jewish identity doesn’t make any sense?? It is clear where FFOZ stands.}
Every house needs a firm
foundation. The church has built its entire mission on an incomplete foundation
on a partial gospel. This process began early, early, early when church
theologians intentionally, intentionally stripped away the Jewish context of the
New Testament. (10, 8:27ff) {According to FFOZ, the Church has never had
the full Gospel because the Early Church intentionally warped the Gospel
message.}
The church today is floundering
in the waves of cultural change with no Torah to guide them, no clear
direction, and no concrete moral compass. Like shattered glass, thousands of
denominations and independent churches fight each other over theology and practice
because their core message is missing something. The gospel of the kingdom has
been replaced with an oversimplified distortion of Yeshua‘s message. (10,
16:53ff) {Boaz blames a non-unified Church on a delinquent Gospel message, and
claims that without Torah observance the Church has no direction or
morality. Question: Does God not speak
through the non-Torah portions of his Word?
Can’t we find the will of God throughout scripture? Not according to FFOZ, remember, only the
Torah is fully inspired in their view.}
The same Christians who
propagated this incomplete gospel also translated the Bible into languages all
of us can understand. The whole world knows about the Messiah of Israel because
of missionaries and their efforts. But they were only telling a small part of a
much larger story. Perhaps HaShem has ordered that for a time, let’s consider
this. It’s temporary. The gospel of the kingdom needed to be watered down. It
needed to be simplified so that at least some part of Yeshua’s message, his
name, would travel as far as possible. And reach as many people as
possible...But I believe that gospel and that time is coming to an end. I
believe that the missionary efforts of the church have paved the way for the
original gospel of the kingdom, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
(10, 16:53ff) {Why did God allow the Church to “flounder” with a “watered down”
Gospel for 2,000 years, and why were missionaries so successful in spreading
it? Boaz thinks that it made evangelism
easier, so God allowed it, but now the world is finally ready for the “real
Gospel”. FYI, God doesn’t operate like
this, how could this be the Church that Jesus promised was coming and the
Spirit came at Pentecost to empower?}
This gospel that has gone forth
is only a tiny sliver of an idea but yet it was able to spread like wildfire
and drew billions of people into the church. But, without Torah, without
Israel, without repentance, it’s not the gospel of the kingdom. The whole world
knows at this point, from my perspective, the whole world has heard or seen,
knows the name Jesus, perhaps even Yeshua. They know the classic formula for
what it means to believe or to go to heaven. Everyone has heard it. But the
work isn’t finished. It’s just beginning. (10, 19:10ff)
Bringing Yeshua’s message to
Gentiles is the whole purpose of the Torah Club. If you’re a Torah Club leader
or student you’re part of this prophetic movement to proclaim the gospel of the
kingdom to all nations. Even if it’s not happening at pulpits and churches or
in theological textbooks or in alter calls, it’s happening in your living room.
Gentile Christians are finally discovering Yeshua’s message (10, 33:19ff)
{According to FFOZ, The Church is not bringing the message of Jesus to the
world, only they are, for the first time, in this generation.}
I believe that there is a seed
already planted by the gospel message that has been sent out, that is ready to
be watered, ready to be nurtured so that it blossoms into the gospel of the
kingdom. And as kingdom goes from something that looks dry and dead to
something that is green, plush and beautiful. (10, 46:21ff) {The Gospel of
the Church is “dry and dead”, FFOZ believes they will bring forth something new
to replace it.}
Don’t think of this as a Bible
study. Don’t burden yourself with the idea that, “You’re just, you know, each
week…” You’re proclaiming the kingdom. You’re bringing Israel’s redemption.
What we are doing is so much bigger than a Bible study. (10, 50:01ff) {Just
a Bible study? They don’t think so.}
We teach that Jesus and his
disciples were all Jewish, that their religion was Judaism, that Jesus did not
cancel the law, Christians don’t replace the Jewish people, and Yeshua and the
Apostles didn’t start a new religion to replace an old one. (11, p. 2)
{They believe Christianity should never have existed, only Judaism is God’s
true plan.}
Because we are on a mission
from God to transmit this good news unencumbered with the distractions that
have beset it, the distractions of theology and supersessionism and
misconstrued dogmatisms about eternal destinies. (12, 7:47ff) {The Gospel
that the Church preaches needs to be stripped of its false dogmas according to
FFOZ.}
Only a few proclaim an
unencumbered gospel message like this. (12, 9:23ff) {FFOZ knows that their
version of the Gospel represents only a tiny minority, that it is NOT the same
as that of the Church.}
Too often the good news of the
gospel has been presented as bad news, as you know. I mean, It’s bad news for
Israel, I tell you that. According to the bad news of the gospel, you know and
I’m just gonna be a little facetious for a little bit, just forgive me because
that’s just the way I am. It’s just part of my yetzer hara. But we need to
harness the yetzer hara for the service of the kingdom. So that’s what I’m
doing. According to the bad news of the gospel that missionaries ordinarily
offer to Israel, Jews who don’t believe in Jesus, you know, suffer in hell for
eternity. So that’s a good opening line. Along with the vast majority of
humanity, so at least they won’t be lonely. But if you consent to believe in
Jesus you can escape that fate in hell wherein, of course, almost all of Israel
parishes but the only catch is you need to quit being Jewish because in Jesus
there is no such thing as such thing as Jew and Gentile. I’m not kidding. I
said I’m going to be a little facetious. But that is the message. That is the
implicit message anyway that Jesus does away with Judaism and Jewish identity.
(12, 17:43ff) {Daniel Lancaster, writer of the Torah Clubs materials, speaks
with disdain about the idea that believing in Jesus or not affects a person’s
eternal destiny.}
Likewise, the traditional
message to the world doesn’t sound like good news for the nations either. It
sounds, you know, something like this. God created you to be a worthless
sinner. From the moment you were conceived, God destined you to suffer in hell
forever. And if you’ve ever broken a single commandment, well it doesn’t really
matter because Adam did for you, but you’ve broken them all and of course you
know “all have sinned and fallen short” of his impossibly high expectations and
the wages of that is eternal torment along with the Jews. So, therefore, you’re
consigned under God‘s eternal wrath unless you consent to a certain set of
theological propositions according to one side of the church or to a specific
sacramental series of rituals according to the other side of the church.
(12. 19:25ff) {Utilizing a poor Straw Man presentation of the Gospel, Lancaster
again mocks the traditional message of the Gospel as “bad news.” Scorning God’s
“impossibly high expectations” indicates that Lancaster doesn’t even understand
the Gospel message he’s rejecting.}
OK, I’m done being facetious
now. And again, I apologize. I’m just trying to make a point. When you put it
like that the Gospel does, you know, it sounds pretty bleak. And it sounds a
little absurd. That’s not good news for anyone. That would be bad news. And
that particular formulation of the message probably did work pretty well in the
Middle Ages when you could frighten people with dogmas that dangle them over
hell only inches above, you know, a host of horn demons with pitchforks. It
might have sold well in the Reformation when people were willing to except
anything that could liberate them from the authority of Rome. But it just does
not have a lot of traction with the average thinking person today. Who wants a
religion like that? Who needs it? (12, 20:31ff) {While the traditional
Gospel could be sold to the less educated people of the Middle Ages and
Reformation eras, according to FFOZ, thinking people today want no part of
it. The disdain for, and mockery of, the
Gospel as it has been believed since the Apostles is very thick.}
Now, again, I’m not just trying
to be controversial or irreverent. I’m just explaining to you why we need to
reassess this. Why we at First Fruits of Zion and in Messianic Judaism, why we
are putting the time and the effort into recovering the original good news
message proclaimed by Yeshua and the Apostles. And this is why we need to
understand the Gospels from a Jewish perspective (12, 21:34ff) {FFOZ is
leading a conscious ‘reassessment’ of the Gospel, replacing it with what they
claim to be the original version.}
Outside of the Jewish context
really, when you strip it back, doesn’t really make a lot of sense. It comes
out convoluted. It comes out sideways like this which is—and it comes out in a
way that really repels people rather than drawing them near to the kingdom and
nearer to God. It’s rather than a message about God‘s love for Israel and his
love for all of humanity. Even though that’s what we say it comes out—it sounds—when
you really read between the lines of what we’re saying it sounds an awful lot
like a message about God’s hatred for Israel and for human beings in general.
And so, we’ve got something wrong here. (12, 21:34ff) {In Daniel Lancaster
opinion, the traditional Gospel is the message of God’s hatred for Israel and
humanity. This statement is beyond bold,
it is deeply heretical, but also honest in that it reveals that FFOZ has no use
for the Gospel of our ancestors in the faith.}
And when we clear the debris
and uncover the truth, I don’t think it’s gonna take a lot of effort to sell
the Good News, because it really is good news. But it does take a lot of effort
to clear away the obstacles that are obscuring it. (12, 24:21ff) {The
Gospel, as it is, is unacceptable to them.}
Where’s the good news in the
replacement-theology version of the good news?
Israel has been replaced, the Torah has been canceled, and God’s
covenant with the Jewish people is over.
Adding insult to injury, replacement theology posits that Jewish
people’s relationship with God has been replaced by a new order and mechanism
for salvation, thereby damning most Jews to eternity in hell. (13, p.
15-16) {After yet another Straw Man is painted about Christian theology,
Lancaster claims that the Gospel as the Church has taught it is a ‘new order
and mechanism for salvation’, which flies in the face of Hebrews 11 (it has
always been by faith). The hint here is
that Jews don’t need Jesus (i.e. faith) to be saved, that this radical thought
is where he is going will be made clear in the next quote.}
A Christian Zionist might say,
“I don’t teach replacement theology. The
Jewish people are still the chosen people, but without Christ, they are still
under the law.” By “under the law” he
means lost and going to hell. Any
Bible-believing Evangelical might say, “Christian’s don’t replace Jews, but
Jews need to come to Christ to be saved.”
How is this not replacement theology?
The premise is that unless Jews become Christians, they will be damned.
(13, p. 17) {Without Christ a person is damned?
Aside from the Universalists, this has been the full belief of the
Church for 2,000, see Acts 4:12. How is
it problematic if this applies equally to Jews and Gentiles, unless what you’re
teaching is indeed a ‘different gospel’?}
13.
The Church is the target, disruption of it is a purposeful goal, not a
fluke.
a.
This includes a hostility toward the history of
the Church, predicated on the notion that the Church has always been in error
(and/or lying to you) and only this movement has God’s truth. And also a goal and methodology designed to
pull people from the fellowship and discipleship of their current congregation.
Examples:
One
of our dreams as an organization is to see post-supersessionist Christianity. A
Christianity that is restored to a proper theology with Israel to the Torah and
to the Kingdom. Most of us started our journey to post-supersessionist
Christianity in the church. And while many of us still attend the church we see
it differently now, we see it through different eyes. We see that something is
missing. (10, 8:27ff) {Participation in FFOZ starts with people who are in
the Church, there’s no reason for them to stay there one they’ve had their
“eyes opened.”}
Imagine
having your home filled with Christians, experiencing the renewal of their
salvation, bringing them into an understanding of the gospel of the kingdom,
increasing their devotion to king Messiah, assisting them alongside yourself of
becoming agents of the kingdom alongside Israel. And this is all through your
mission and efforts where HaShem has placed you. (10, 38:20ff) {Why belong
to the Church if the real Kingdom work is only happening in Torah Clubs?}
We’re
going to return to the Torah and find that its wisdom is the antidote to the
fractured and confused world that we live in and a fractured and confused
church that we are part of. Some of you might feel like your Torah clubs groups
are in some way subversive. Like they’re supplanting the local church. Like
they’re not legitimate expressions or legitimate places of communal fellowship.
Now I want to tell you the opposite is true. Many people say, many people say,
I don’t wanna say it because someone might say, “you said that.“ So I’m just
going to say many people say that the institutional church that we have known
is not recoverable. It’s not coming back the way it was. It’s going to change,
and perhaps a Torah Club or some type of home base communities are the pattern
for the future. But know this and be confident in this, the institutional
churches’ issues are not a result of your efforts in the Torah Club. They are a
result of various cultural and generational shifts. And perhaps it’s the result
of sharing a tired message that has not resulted in what it has promised. (10,
39:52ff) {FFOZ proclaims the Church to be dead, groups like the Torah Clubs are
the future. Why did the Church die according to FFOZ? Because its message is tired and ineffective.}
At
the end of the day we are a disruptive movement. We’re disruptors. And a
disruptive movement is an ideological idea that’s connected to community to
prevent something from continuing or operating in a normal way. We’re
introducing an idea that is intended to challenge and to transform the status
quo. We’re not satisfied with, and we’ve not been inspired by the direction
that the institutional church has gone for the most part over the past 2000
years. (11, p. 1) {The Church throughout its history doesn’t suit them, so
they’ll disrupt it.}
We
have to be disruptors that are very patient in our disruption. We have
disruptive ideas.
A
disruptive idea is a perspective, the introduction of an idea that opposes an
entrenched view, process, or perspective. This disruptive idea of ours, it
attempts to displace the opinion of the majority in a particular field and
transform the status quo. So we are a disruptive movement full of disruptive
ideas. And we believe that the church or perhaps disciples must be
re-introduced to the Jewish Messiah. And this re-introduction will result in
radical changes to their worldview, to their theology, to their practice of
faith as disciples of Yeshua. (11, p. 1-2) {FFOZ’s goal is radical change
to both the faith and practice of the Church.}
So,
these ideas, they are disruptive. And to some degree they’re confrontational.
They are threatening to established organizations And structures of power. So
it should come as no surprise that we should encounter opposition. That we feel
suppressed. (11, p.3) {FFOZ knows that their ideas are a threat to the
Church, to dismantle/overthrow the Church is the end goal. Our ancestors in the faith died to protect
the Gospel message, should we not, in a free society, speak out against this
heresy?}
Likewise,
were in a similar situation right now where we realize that the whole body of
Messiah, the whole church, is a mission field as well. (12, 1:14ff) {The
Church is the mission field because in FFOZ’s belief system, the Church is full
of people who don’t know the true Gospel.}
14.
That Hebrew is a ‘holy tongue’, a more fitting language for worship than
any other.
Examples
Why do
you pray in Hebrew? Hebrew connects us
with the wider Jewish people and other synagogues throughout the world. It
creates continuity that stretches back to the Temple in the days of the
apostles. In the Messianic Era, the whole world will speak Hebrew (Zephaniah
3:9). Hebrew is considered to be the Holy Tongue, since it is the language that
God used to speak the world into existence, and to speak the words of the Torah
to Moses on Mount Sinai. However, the majority of people attending Beth
Immanuel don't know Hebrew. For this reason the cantor leads in both Hebrew and
English, and all Hebrew has an English translation. We encourage people to
learn Hebrew to increase their understanding of the Scriptures, and to pass
this understanding along to the next generation. – (1, p. 4)
Citations of Primary
Source Materials
1.
Beth Immanuel, “Common Questions”, https://www.bethimmanuel.org/about/questions
2.
Beth Immanuel, “Messianic Judaism, Israel, and
the Nations”, https://www.bethimmanuel.org/about/messianic-judaism
3.
Michael, Boaz, “Encounters with an Ephraimite:
Identity through a Lost Heritage”, http://www.wholebible.com/PdfLibrary/Ephraimite-Encounter.pdf
4.
Mohnkern, Keith and Heather, screenshots of
PowerPoint slides created for local study, https://bfit-venango.org/powerpoints-media/
5.
Torah Club, “Jesus, My Rabbi: The Shadow of
Death”, Lesson 36, volume 2, Show Us The Father, John 14:7-31, published by
First Fruits of Zion, 2022
6.
Michael, Boaz, “The Most Tragic Mistake: The
Tragedy of Forgetting that Jesus Is Jewish”, https://ffoz.org/discover/messiah-magazine/the-most-tragic-mistake.html
7.
Michael, Boaz, “Building a Better Airplane:
What does a perfectly engineered airplane have in common with church theology?”,
https://ffoz.org/discover/theology/building-a-better-airplane.html
8.
Michael, Boaz, Hayesod: The Foundation,
2010.
9.
Lancaster, Daniel, Malchut Conference 2022,
transcribed lecture, session #1, Missionaries.
10.
Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022,
transcribed lecture, session #5, Then the End Will Come.
11.
Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022,
transcribed lecture, session #8, What is Your IQ?.
12.
Lancaster, Daniel, Malchut Conference 2022,
transcribed lecture, session #9, Band of Survivors.
13.
Lancaster, Daniel, “Dismantling Replacement
Theology: Redefining the New Testament Church and locating it within Judaism
and the Jewish people”, Messiah Journal #134, Summer 2019, p. 14-21.
14.
Fronczak, Jacob, Rethinking the Five Solae:
Why Messianic Judaism is Incompatible with the Five Foundations of
Protestantism, First Fruits of Zion, 2021.
