Oil City Pastor Brian Blais shares his warning about Torah Clubs (First Fruits of Zion)

 

Brian Blais is the Pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

 He may be contacted at: pastorblais@outlook.com 

It is my understanding that one of the consistent attempts to pushback against the warning from the Franklin Christian Ministerium that the teachings of the Torah Clubs (First Fruits of Zion) are dangerous and unorthodox has been that we're the only ones who have any issue with this organization.  That has never been true, as I've been contacted by pastors in multiple states who have read my research who wanted to thank me for it and/or ask my advice about how to counter this group in their congregation.

That being said, up until this point the various pastors of the two other ministerium's in Venango County have chosen to address this matter without making a public stance, and while I (and the Franklin Ministerium) have chosen a different path, all of us who are called to shepherd must make our own choices about the best way to protect our flocks.  Now, however, Pastor Brian Blais of Cornerstone Bible Church has utilized my research, added some of his own, and written his own warning about the Torah Clubs (First Fruits of Zion), the text of which is below.  As this is a lengthy post, the following link is to Pastor Brian's webpage which will contain the most up-to-date version of this document that is available: Are Torah Observant Groups/the Hebrew Roots Movement a Concern? By Pastor Brian Blais

Let me publicly thank Pastor Brian for using the time and discernment that went into crafting this document, I have shared it here with his permission as he wrote me, "You are free to print, copy, send along to anyone you think it may be helpful to, etc, if you think it may be of service."

Are Torah Observant Groups/the Hebrew Roots Movement a Concern?

By Brian Blais

Yes, here is why, specifically with quotes from materials from the FFOZ organization, leaders, and/or local Torah groups operating now in this local area.

1.     Torah Observant groups question, doubt, or explicitly teach a false view of the Trinity. Here are several direct quotes from FFOZ/TC.

 

·       “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?”  - Fronczak, Jacob, Rethinking the Five Solae: Why Messianic Judaism is Incompatible with the Five Foundations of Protestantism, First Fruits of Zion, 2021.

 

·      “…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.” (Note: FFOZ refers to the New Testament as the Apostolic Writings)- Fronczak, Jacob, Rethinking the Five Solae: Why Messianic Judaism is Incompatible with the Five Foundations of Protestantism, First Fruits of Zion, 2021.

 

·       “’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.” – Mohnkern, Keith and Heather, screenshots of PowerPoint slides created for local study, https://bfit-venango.org/powerpoints-media/

 

·       “Bradford likens the Trinity to one Person with three different ATTRIBUTES/ROLES rather than three separates pieces that we label as persons”. – Mohnkern, Keith and Heather, screenshots of PowerPoint slides created for local study, https://bfit-venango.org/powerpoints-media/

 

These statements are concerning because they cast doubt on, misconstrue, or are misleading about the doctrine of the Trinity.

Contrary to these statements above by FFOZ, the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught and articulated in the Bible. It is mysterious and something to wonder at, but I believe that it is taught clearly in Scripture, and is specifically referred to in the New Testament.

We see the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:16-17: “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

At the baptism of our Lord, we see God the Son incarnate, standing in the waters of the Jordan River. We have God the Holy Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. And we have the voice of God the Father speaking from heaven, and proclaiming that Jesus is His Son. We see each Person of the Trinity appearing simultaneously together in one moment of time. (In fact, commentator John Gill says that the early church had a saying: “Go to Jordan and there learn the doctrine of the Trinity”. (John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity).

In Matthew 28:19, the Lord said: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” 

In this verse, Christ commanded that believers baptize in the one, singular “name” (not plural “names”) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The one name of the one God, yet three distinct Persons identified here, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 also shows us the Trinity blessing us as Christians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen”

The Trinity is referred to in Ephesians 2:18: “For through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

In 1 Peter 1:2, Peter refers to the Trinity and each Person of the Trinity’s work in the believer’s life: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

The Apostle John said in 1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 

I disagree with the statements quoted above from FFOZ that “nowhere in Scripture is the doctrine of the Trinity clearly articulated”, or that the doctrine of the Trinity is “not articulated in any one place in Scripture”, or that the doctrine of the Trinity is not “explicitly referred to” in the New Testament (what they called “the apostolic writings”).

I think that the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught and articulated in the Bible.

Also, the quote above that says “we do a great disservice to ourselves when we attempt to artificially limit the possible manifestations of G-d to three” is strange and concerning. Are there other “manifestations of God” other than God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Is it Biblically true that God is not a Trinity, that there could be a fourth Person of the Godhead, or a fifth, or that there could be nine “manifestations” of God, or eleven, etc.? The implied message of the statement is why “limit” the Godhead to just the three Persons of the Trinity, when there may be more.

This is surely a strange and dangerous way of speaking about and teaching others about the Trinity. I don’t see these ideas in Scripture, rather Scripture consistently speaks of one God in three, and only three, divine Persons- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I want to point out that the doctrine of the Trinity is not a minor or fringe issue. The doctrine of God is very important. These statements and ways of speaking about the doctrine of the Trinity are concerning.

Our worship as Christians is trinitarian-we acknowledge, worship, and give honor, praise, and thanks to each Person of the Trinity for their role in saving and blessing us. There is one God, eternally existing in three, and only three, divine Persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.

2.     Torah Observant Groups make strange statements about the Lord Jesus that tend towards diminishing the deity of the Son of God.

In a lecture on Christology (the doctrine of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ), Daniel Lancaster, the Director of Education for FFOZ and the author of many of the Torah Club commentaries and materials, said:

·       “We already learned that God is the first cause that he created the whole universe and that he did it through his paintbrush, which is his word when he said, "Let there be."  And so he created a version of himself.  Like when you create a version of yourself online, what do you call that?  Yeah, an avatar, right? That's it. He created an avatar. Oh, that's the word. OK, he created an avatar of himself to enter the world. And and we called that the word, and this avatar is the is God as we know him in the world.” Daniel Lancaster, transcript of lecture entitled “The Only Begotten Son”, minute 6:14. The audio lecture can be found at: https://www.bethimmanuel.org/audio/only-begotten-son

Later in the same lecture he said:

·       “I mean, how can God be tempted? It says, "God is not tempted."  Right in the Torah. So how could, how could he have been tempted? You know, if he was aware, if he was God on an aware level?” Daniel Lancaster, transcript of a lecture he gave on “The Only Begotten Son”, minute 17:04. The audio lecture can be found at: https://www.bethimmanuel.org/audio/only-begotten-son

Lancaster went on to say:

·       “And and another thing, it wouldn't be any great accomplishment for him to be righteous. I mean, of course, HaShem isn't going to commit a sin. Of course, Hashem doesn't get points for being righteous. He is righteous. There's no, you see what I'm saying? But Yeshua on the other hand, earned God's merit and favor by doing so, by passing temptations and trials” Daniel Lancaster, transcript of a lecture he gave on “The Only Begotten Son”, minute 17:18. The audio lecture can be found at: https://www.bethimmanuel.org/audio/only-begotten-son

A quote from a local Torah Club said:

·       “Yeshua taught his disciples to pray…not to Jesus; rather we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus.” – Mohnkern, Keith and Heather, screenshots of PowerPoint slides created for local study, https://bfit-venango.org/powerpoints-media/

Daniel Lancaster went on to say:

·       “Why didn’t the Apostles just come right out and say, “Yeshua is God”? Why beat around the bush? They refer to him as the “Son of God”, the “glory of God,” the “representation” and “image of God,”, the “exact imprint” of God, and so forth? Why do they always seem to take one step back from just saying, “Yeshua is God”? Well for one thing, that’s not a Jewish way of speaking about God. They did not want to imply that God was two different beings, nor did they want to give people the idea that they were teaching polytheism. Besides, that wasn’t what they meant.” https://www.bethimmanuel.org/sites/default/files/4_the_only_begotten_son_0.pdf

The Apostles and the Scriptures do not always step back from coming right out and saying that Jesus is God. Scripture consistently refers to Jesus as God:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”, John 1:1 

He, the Word, was with God, and He was God. Here we have Someone who is called “the Word” who was both with God, and yet who Himself was God. God with God.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”, John 1:14 

“And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.”, Joh 20:28 

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”, Matthew 1:23 

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”, Isaiah 9:6 

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”, Philippians 2:6 

“But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”, Hebrews 1:8

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”, 1 Timothy 3:16

The apostles saw the Lord Jesus change water into wine, forgive people of their sins, cleanse lepers, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, feed thousands with a few loaves of bread and few fish, walk on water, command the wind and the sea, etc. They saw Him crucified, and three days later risen from the dead. The Apostles knew that Jesus was God. They were not hesitant at all in proclaiming that Jesus was God.

I would have you just please note again that Daniel Lancaster, who made the statements above, is the Director of Education for First Fruits of Zion and the author of the Torah Club commentaries as well as other books and study programs. For someone who is a leader, teacher, and author of the materials of what purports to be an international ministry to speak of the Son of God and teach that He is an “avatar”, or to say in a lecture on who Christ the Lord is, that God “created” a “version of Himself” is terribly careless, irresponsible, misleading, and dangerous language, at best, and at worst, is false teaching and heresy. Can we purchase workbooks, curriculum, and materials whose author is a man who says things like this?

In the quote above, Daniel Lancaster says three times that God “created” a “version” or “avatar” of Himself. But God did not “create” the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. The Son of God, the second Person of the Godhead, is fully divine and has eternally existed, along with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.

It is also unwise and misleading to speak of Jesus as a “version” of God, or as an “avatar”. Jesus is not a “version” of God, Jesus is God.

He is not an “avatar” or persona that someone creates on the internet. The terminology and concept of an avatar comes from Hinduism. It was adopted in our modern times to refer to a representation of a person on the internet or in a video game, but all of us know that a version or avatar or representation of ourselves in a video game or on the internet is not really a person and is not really us. When my twelve-year-old son creates a character based on himself in a Nintendo video game, we all know that that video game character is not really my son, or a real person at all. I think this way of speaking about Christ being “created”, or a “version” of God or “avatar” of God, or asking how He could be tempted if He was “God on an aware level”, is unwise and unhelpful, and is actually harmful, or if truly believed, is heretical.

Later, Lancaster does say that that spiritually the Son of God existed with God from eternity, but again, these statements are dangerous, alarming, concerning, and irresponsible and misleading statements that mislead people, or may lead people astray, and tend towards an unbiblical, untrue view of the Son of God.

Also, regarding another quote listed above, believers are not forbidden from praying to Jesus. In fact, in Acts 7:59, Stephen, who is about to die from being stoned by the Jews he was trying to tell the gospel to, prays to the Lord Jesus:

“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”, Acts 7:59

Again, as with the Trinity, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a minor or fringe issue in Christianity. These things are at the core of our faith. But FFOZ repeatedly (not just once or twice) makes disturbing, concerning, and misleading statements about major truths and doctrines of the Christian faith.

In addition to these statements, there are testimonies from people in Hebrew Roots Movement/ Torah Observant groups, including in participation in FFOZ and their materials, that confirm that Hebrew Roots Groups or Torah Observant movements have led even to denying that the Lord Jesus is God.

Here is the testimony of a woman who was involved in a Torah Observant group, who eventually left due to major concerns:

“At first, the H.R. [Hebrew Roots] seemed amazing. As the years went on, we noticed big problems such as the idolization of Torah and the lessening of Jesus to a small side dish. We witnessed many people deny Jesus as their Messiah and convert to Judaism. They had basically studied themselves out of the belief in Jesus. It was heartbreaking, scary, and sobering. After seven years, and much prayer, God led us step by step right out the Hebrew Roots Movement, and we have never looked back.” Shared in Transcript of Public Debate: Should Christians Keep the Law? https://storage2.snappages.site/ZSCQF7/assets/files/Debate-2018.pdf

Another woman who became involved in Torah Observant groups and with FFOZ said:

“Wandering into the territory of mystical Judaism and obeying the teachings of the Talmud stood out as being clearly blasphemous to me. What was worse was to hear messages and read articles about how many Christians were beginning to abandon Jesus altogether for Orthodox Judaism, and how we needed to work to prevent this trend from spreading further into the TO Christian community. Somehow people who began studying the Torah and Hebrew idioms and culture out of a sincere love for Jesus, wound up growing farther and farther away from him. One day they were pursuing the “Jewishness of Jesus”, and the next they decided that Jewishness in and of itself was their savior, and that Jesus was merely a deceiver. Unexpected, but the reality none the less.” https://womenofchristianity.com/testimony-coming-out-of-hebrew-roots-movement/

Again, these types of statements, made repeatedly, are alarming, misleading, and dangerous statements about major truths and doctrines of the Christian faith, and these testimonies show that they really can mislead people. That’s why I think we should avoid them, and choose other material to study instead, that is solid.

Jewish Mysticism:

As a side-note: another strange statement we find in this same document from Daniel Lancaster says: “In order to become you, your spirit first divests itself of its heavenly identity and any memories it had. That’s why you don’t remember being a spirit before you were born.” https://www.bethimmanuel.org/sites/default/files/4_the_only_begotten_son_0.pdf

In one of the Torah Club Student Workbooks, there is more of this type of strange talk about pre-existent souls in heaven before we were born:

 “While at home in heaven, basking in the presence of God before you were born, you lacked nothing. You enjoyed all the good things of your Father’s household, but did not possess anything of your own. It was not until you went out from God’s presence to be born and suffer in this world of exile that you could grow, develop, and become something more than you were before.” - Torah Club, The Beginning of Wisdom, Student Workbook, Lesson 7

A little later in this same lesson, it says:

“Before you entered the world of concealment, you made a similar deal with God. Knowing that you were certain to face many dangers and vicissitudes in this world, you asked Him to go with you on the journey, provide for you, and return you to His presence safely.” - Torah Club, The Beginning of Wisdom, Student Workbook, Lesson 7

The Workbook goes on to say:

“Before you were born into this world, God probably warned you, “In that world, you will not see me. You will not remember me or your home here in glory. You will forget this entire conversation even took place.” Therefore we need to seek God and cling to Him in faith.” - Torah Club, The Beginning of Wisdom, Student Workbook, Lesson 7.

This is a very strange way of speaking that has no basis in Scripture. You didn’t exist before you were born. This is very strange, odd, and unbiblical language, it shows that this organization is off-track. It is better to choose something else to study than to get mixed up in this type of curriculum and materials.

3.     FFOZ materials teach that the principle of Sola Scripture, Scripture alone, is wrong.

 

FFOZ author and contributor Jacob Fronczak has written a book published and sold by FFOZ, and promoted on FFOZ’s podcast, against sola Scripture, the principle of Scripture alone, in his book, Rethinking the Five Solae: Why Messianic Judaism is Incompatible with the Five Foundations of Protestantism.

(I would pause here just to have us note the title of Jacob Fronczak’s book “Rethinking the Five Solae: Why Messianic Judaism is Incompatible with the Five Foundations of Protestantism”.

The five solas from church history are: Scripture alone, God’s grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone, and all glory to God alone. Fronczak teaches that these doctrines and principles as classically understood are not compatible with his view of Messianic Judaism. (Please note that there is debate about if FFOZ actually does belong within the category of Messianic Judaism or not. There are those within Messianic Judaism who would disavow FFOZ. One pastor who I spoke with who works with Jews for Jesus, stated that the views represented by these quotes are not what Jews for Jesus teach, and that they would absolutely denounce these views as unbiblical and cultish. Jews for Jesus would not consider these views to be good.)

In the books’ description it says, “The Five Solae themselves are at the root of Protestant anti-Semitism.”

Speaking of the principle of Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) Fronczak says in an FFOZ podcast interview about his book, that:

·       “what I realized…was that sola Scripture is not in the Bible. There’s not a Bible verse for it. So, if the Bible is your sole authority for faith and practice, sola scriptura…so everything you believe needs to come directly from the Bible, well the next thing you have to do is you have to get rid of Sola Scripture because it’s not in the Bible, so it rules itself out.” https://ffoz.org/messiah/podcast/is-messianic-judaism-compatible-with-protestant-christianity Minute 24:20

He goes on to say:

·       “they have fundamentally different starting points or methodologies for building theology and I think that sola Scripture is this way by design, sola Scriptura eliminates any extra biblical tradition as a source for doctrine and practice, Judaism mandates extra biblical tradition…. https://ffoz.org/messiah/podcast/is-messianic-judaism-compatible-with-protestant-christianity   

Fronczak also says:

·       you’re going to end up somewhere in Protestantism…you’re not going to end up in any kind of Judaism if you insist on holding on to sola Scriptura because its going to rule out all of that tradition and that tradition is the source for a lot of what makes Judaism Jewish” https://ffoz.org/messiah/podcast/is-messianic-judaism-compatible-with-protestant-christianity

Scripture says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

If we have Scripture, we have writings that are inspired by God, and are profitable, and having the Scripture, the man of God is perfect and complete, thoroughly furnished and equipped for all good works. Scripture is inspired by God, profitable, and sufficient.

However, the idea of sola Scriptura is not that it is the only authority or source we can learn from at all. Scripture itself tells us that Christ has given teachers as gifts to the Church to help build it up (Ephesians 4:11). Many people throughout history and in modern times have studied the Scriptures and we can read what they have said and benefit from their studies, and learn a great deal from them, and we should be humble and open to learning from what others have gleaned from the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura is the principle that the Bible alone is the one and only final authority which we ultimately look to for what we believe, and by which we measure everything else.

But Fronczak of FFOZ tells us that it is not Scripture alone, but that we should look to the traditions and councils of men as well, particularly the extra-biblical traditions of ancient Judaism. (Although the Lord Jesus Christ often rebuked and corrected ancient traditions the Jews had passed down). Fronczak wants us to end up in some kind of Judaism, and not Protestantism (which he says is incompatible with Messianic Judaism and tends towards being anti-semitic) and he’s telling us that if we hold on to sola Scriptura, we won’t get there (to Judaism, where he thinks we should be.)

We are told not to look to Scripture alone, but to set traditions and teachings and the councils of men next to the Word of God. But which traditions? Which teachings? Which councils and declarations? How do we know which one is right? When popes, creeds, church councils, teachings, and authorities tell us to believe something, how are we to ultimately measure and judge what is true?  Who is right? The ancient rabbis and Jewish authorities (and which of them, -they do not all agree or say the same thing on everything!?)  Various early Church traditions and teachings? Different traditions and councils of men say different things, how do we know which is truly from God? What is the final, ultimate, sole authority for all matters of faith and practice, that we know is divinely-inspired and breathed out by God?

Sola Scripture is the principle that our one and only final, infallible, divinely-inspired authority from God, is the Scriptures, and not the councils, traditions, or teachings of men.

We have many references from believers throughout Church History, that show that Christians have held to this:

There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source. For just as a man, if he wishes to be skilled in the wisdom of this world, will find himself unable to get at it in any other way than by mastering the dogmas of philosophers, so all of us who wish to practise piety will be unable to learn its practice from any other quarter than the oracles of God. Whatever things, then, the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatsoever things they teach, these let us learn; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as He wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify Him; and as He wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive Him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet as using violently those things which are given by God, but even as He has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them.”, Hippolytus (170-235 A.D.) Against the Heresy of One Noetus.

“They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures. We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith… Proofs of the things which are contained in the Scriptures cannot be shown except from the Scriptures themselves.” Irenaeus (175 A.D. ), “Against Heresies”

“For how can we adopt those things which we do not find in the holy Scriptures?” - Ambrose 330-397 A.D. On the Duties of the Clergy, 1:23:102

“The Arians, then, say that Christ is unlike the Father; we deny it. Nay, indeed, we shrink in dread from the word. Nevertheless I would not that your sacred Majesty should trust to argument and our disputation. Let us enquire of the Scriptures, of apostles, of prophets, of Christ. In a word, let us enquire of the Father.”Ambrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith.

“But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits will not desist from the search after truth until they get the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves.” – Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D. ) The Stromata, 7:16

“The innumerable books that have been written latterly we may sometimes find the same truth as in Scripture, but there is not the same authority. Scripture has a sacredness peculiar to itself.” – Augustine (354-430 A.D.), Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, 11:5

“For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute credence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.” Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 .A.D.), Catechetical Lectures, 4:17

 

4.     Torah Observant Groups teachings tend towards or imply elevating or focusing on the Torah, the first five books of Moses, above other Scripture.

 

In one of their Student Workbooks, FFOZ made this strange statement regarding Scripture:

·       “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;” - Torah Club student workbook, 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

This is not true at all. The prophets and others did not hear “only obscure echo”. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul and others all knew God was speaking to them, and they all recorded His message.

In 2 Samuel 23: 2, David, says:

 “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and His word was in my tongue”.

David knew that the Holy Spirit had spoken by him, and that it was His word that David was speaking.

The phrase “Thus saith the LORD” is uttered many times by many different authors throughout the Scriptures.

 Throughout the Scriptures, we also read things like what Jeremiah said:

“Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,” Jeremiah 2:1

The Apostle Paul said:

 

 “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 14:37

 

I would also add here that we should interpret the Scriptures in a Christ-centered, gospel-centric way, because this is the way Jesus Himself taught us to interpret the Scriptures, and it is the way in which we actually see the Apostles in Acts and in their Epistles throughout the New Testament interpreting and applying Scripture.

The grand theme of the Scriptures is the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of how He would come to bring salvation to man, particularly through His sufferings, resurrection, and the glories that would follow:

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”,  John 1:17 

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.”, John 5:39-40

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?”, John 5:45-47

“Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.”, Luke 24:25-27

“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?”, Luke 24:32

“And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”, Luke 24:44-47

“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”, 1 Peter 1:10-12

The coming, suffering, death, resurrection and glories of Christ for our salvation and the grace of God in the gospel is the theme of Scripture, therefore the gospel should be the interpretive framework or grid, a Christ-centered, gospel-centered interpretation, through which we interpret Scripture, including the Torah.

 

5.     FFOZ and Torah Observant Groups like them teach that the gospel you’ve heard in Church is not the complete gospel, and that the Church has not had the complete gospel for thousands of years.

 

I find the following quotes and claims particularly alarming and dangerous. FFOZ tells us that the gospel Christians have heard, that the Church has proclaimed from the beginning, is “incomplete”, “partial”, and that they at FFOZ have “discovered a totally different gospel”.

Here are their quotes:

·       “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.” - Lancaster, Daniel, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #1, Missionaries.

 

·       “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.” - Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #5, Then the End Will Come.

 

·       “Every house needs a firm foundation. The church has built its entire mission on an incomplete foundation on a partial gospel” Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #5, Then the End Will Come.

 

·       “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” Lancaster, Daniel, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #1, Missionaries.

 

·       “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” Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #5, Then the End Will Come.

 

·       “… 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…” Lancaster, Daniel, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #1, Missionaries.

 

Amazingly, the founder and leader of FFOZ, Boaz Michael, said:

·       “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” Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #5, Then the End Will Come.

Our blessed Saviour absolutely and repeatedly did teach about His sufferings, death, and resurrection!

 

““Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again.”, Mark 10:33-34

 

See also Matthew 17:22-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 20:28, Matthew 26:2; Mark 8:31, Mark 9:31-32, Luke 9:22, Luke 9:31, Luke 9:44-45, Luke 18:31-34, Luke 24:6-7, Luke 24:26-27, Luke 24:46.

The Lord taught us not only that He would die and rise again, but why He would suffer, die, and rise, the meaning of it.

He said that He came “to give His life a ransom for many.”, Matthew 20:28.

He taught that He gave His body to be broken for us and His blood to be given for us for the forgiveness of sins. We have these teachings of the Lord memorialized in the Lord’ Supper, when Christ said:

 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” 

In John 6:51-56, the Lord said:

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.”

We can read what the Lord said in John 8:23-24: “And He said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.”

In John 10 the Saviour said: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep… As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”, John 10:11, 15-18

Jesus absolutely taught that He had come down from Heaven to suffer and die, to give His life to ransom mankind, to rise from the dead, and to bring forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who believe in Him.

The Scriptures tell us clearly what the gospel is:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”,

The Bible teaches us that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for our sins is the gospel.

This is what the Church is founded on, and it is not a “partial foundation”. Paul said: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”, 1 Corinthians 3:11

A chapter earlier, Paul said: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”,   1 Corinthians 2:2

The rock that Jesus said that He would build His Church upon was the confession of who He is as the Son of God, and in the context, the Lord immediately declares that He will suffer, die, and rise again (Matthew 16:18-21).

In the book of Acts, we can read what the Apostles and the early Church proclaimed to the lost Jews and Gentiles from the earliest times of the Church, right after Christ ascended to Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to the Church. What did they preach? Does it match the gospel that the Church has preached for 2,000 years, or is the Church’s gospel “incomplete”, “partial”, and is there a “completely different” gospel that we need to discover today?

Acts 2:22-38:   “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:  23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:  24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.  25  For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:  26  Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:  27  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  28  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.  29  Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.  30  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on ihs throne;  31  He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.  32  This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.  33  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.  34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,  35  Until I make thy foes thy footstool.  36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?  38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Acts 3:12-19: “ And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?  13  The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.  14  But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;  15  And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.  16  And His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.  But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; ”

Acts 4:8-12:” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,  9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;  10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.  11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.  12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Acts 5:29-33: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.  30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  32  And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him.  33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them”

Acts 8:5:  “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

We are told that Philip then went to an Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading from prophet Isaiah,

“And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”, Acts 8:30-38

We read of Paul: “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.”, Acts 9:20-22

We read what Peter proclaimed to Cornelius and the Gentiles:

Acts 10:34-45: “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed Him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Paul preached:

“Of this man's seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: When John had first preached before His coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not He. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of His feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised Him from the dead: And He was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.”, Acts 13:23-50

Paul proclaimed the gospel to a Gentile Philippian Jailer:

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”, Acts 16:30-34

Paul preached to Gentile Philosophers:
“Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.”, Acts 17:31-32

Before King Agrippa Paul gave his testimony and told us what he was proclaiming:

“And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”, Acts 26:15-23

The sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, eternal life, and salvation, the call of the gospel to repent and believe in Him is the gospel we see consistently preached over and over again throughout the book of Acts and the rest of the Scriptures.

This gospel described in Scripture, that Christ, the apostles, and the early Church preached, Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and risen again, repentance and faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation in His kingdom, and the love and grace of  God, has been proclaimed from the earliest days of the Church and this matches the gospel I have heard in many churches and settings these 2000 years later.

But FFOZ says that the Church has had an incomplete gospel for 2,000 years. That it’s not being preached from pulpits and churches. That a “totally different gospel”, the complete gospel has been discovered and that people today, through FFOZ and the Torah Clubs, are finally discovering it.

Statements like this are not new. Cults and false religious movements have made these types of statements in the past. I personally know someone who was involved in and influenced by the Worldwide Church of God, an organization that Herbert W. Armstrong founded that was a cult and a false religious movement.  In his day, Armstrong proclaimed that the gospel that the churches taught was not the complete gospel.

Here is what Armstong said in the 1950’s:

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ was not proclaimed to the world for 1,900 years. It was suppressed back in the year about 53 AD until in our time in the year of 1953… You know it is hard to believe, but it has been perverted through all these years. Millions and millions have heard a gospel. We talk about hearing the gospel. There are millions who hear it or think they do, every Sunday. But what gospel is it? What gospel is it? And what gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?... I have just shown you that gospel has not been preached for over 1900 years, until the year of 1953 AD. My friends I began proclaiming that gospel and God opened my mind to see it.”

Here is a statement from one of his booklets dating from the 1980’s:

“Ask any professing Christian whether he believes the Gospel, and he will immediately respond with a resounding "Yes!" But press that same person to explain just what that Gospel is and, if he is able to reply at all, he will almost surely give an answer that is false!... This is decidedly not what is being taught by most churches today. As strange as it seems, today's churches have lost, changed, twisted and perverted the true Gospel…This Gospel — the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God — has not been preached by this world's churches, and hence they have not understood the truth about that Kingdom.”

Statements like what FFOZ have said are not new. Armstrong taught that the church does not have or preach the true or complete gospel, which he said was the gospel of the kingdom.

O brothers and sisters in Christ! If any organization tells you that the gospel found in 1 Cor. 15 and that you see throughout the Scriptures, of Christ crucified for sinners and risen again, is not the true or complete gospel, or that the gospel you have and that the church has been proclaiming for 2,000 years “has been incomplete for nearly 2,000 years”, that the church has built “it’s entire mission” on “an incomplete foundation” and “a partial gospel, or that, as one of the leaders of FFOZ says, he has “discovered a totally different gospel”, run!

Paul warned us against false teachings and other gospels, especially ones that tell us to leave Christ, grace, and the cross, to go back to observing Old Testament Laws:

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”, Galatians 1:6-9

“desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”, 1 Timothy 1:6-11

“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”, Titus 1:10-14

“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”, Philippians 3:2-3

Related to this, and also very important, these types of statements tend towards distrust or disparagement of the Church. Making statements about how the Church has built it’s entire mission on a partial foundation and an incomplete gospel is alarming and dangerous. This obviously casts tremendous doubt on the Church, and makes it seem very dubious, in what it preaches and teaches.

In fact, the founder of FFOZ, Boaz Michael, said:

“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” -Michael, Boaz, Malchut Conference 2022, transcribed lecture, session #8, What is Your IQ?.

The implicit (and not so implicit) message of these statements quoted above is: “The Church does not have the complete gospel.  The Church has not had the complete gospel for 2,000 years. You won’t hear the truth in your Church, but we at FFOZ have it, and we’ll show you the real gospel, the complete gospel, a different gospel than what you’ve heard before. The Churches don’t have this, you’re not going to hear this in Church. We have it and we’ll show you the truth.”

When FFOZ and other groups make these types of statements about the Church, what do you think we can expect to see?

So often we find that right along with this disparagement and doubt of the Church, there is an actual trend toward people leaving the Church, perhaps joining in home-based Torah Observant groups instead, but not being part of a local church.

It is a red flag when Christians are not involved in any local church for regular worship, observation of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, the biblical oversight and accountability of Pastors, Elders, Overseers, and fellowship in a congregation for encouragement, blessing, and accountability in a congregation with other brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as the use of service and gifts. Church discipline is another blessing of the local church that can be greatly used to help us, lest we go astray.

If people are not in a church, or leave the church, that is a concern. Statements like this certainly lend themselves to doubting the local church and leaving it.

This is doubly true for people who would teach and lead others, but who are not a part of a local church themselves, where they themselves can receive care and teaching, and can be under the oversight, accountability, refreshment, and other blessings of the local Church. People can say they pray for and want to support the local church, but if they themselves are not in one, what kind of example is that, and what good does that do?

It is a question to me-why would someone who is a believer not be part of a local church? Is there absolutely no local church that someone could be part of? If that’s true, what would the reason for that be?

I am concerned when I see FFOZ making statements about how the church has not had the complete gospel for 2,000 years, and other disparaging statements about the church-and when I see that leaders and others involved in Torah Clubs are not themselves a part of any local church. Can you support an organization or a group that teaches that the gospel that you have heard, the gospel the Church has, is not complete, or is partial, or that they have discovered “a completely different gospel”?

 

6.     Torah Observant Groups teach that as a matter of love for Jesus and true obedience to God, believers ought to keep the Torah, the Old Testament laws that God gave to the nation of Israel found in the first five books of the Bible.

 

·       “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” -Torah Club, “Jesus, My Rabbi: The Shadow of Death”, Lesson 36, volume 2, Show Us The Father, John 14:7-31, page 11, published by First Fruits of Zion, 2022

 

·       “If they truly love Him, they must keep His commandments, including what He said about the unchanging Torah” Torah Club, “Jesus, My Rabbi: The Shadow of Death”, Lesson 36, volume 2, Show Us The Father, John 14:7-31, page 3, published by First Fruits of Zion, 2022

 

·       “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” Torah Club, “Jesus, My Rabbi: The Shadow of Death”, Lesson 36, volume 2, Show Us The Father, John 14:7-31, page 14, published by First Fruits of Zion, 2022

 

·       “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” Michael, Boaz, “Encounters with an Ephraimite: Identity through a Lost Heritage”, page 16, http://www.wholebible.com/PdfLibrary/Ephraimite-Encounter.pdf

 

·       “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”, . Michael, Boaz, “Encounters with an Ephraimite: Identity through a Lost Heritage”, http://www.wholebible.com/PdfLibrary/Ephraimite-Encounter.pdf

 

·       “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” Michael, Boaz, “Encounters with an Ephraimite: Identity through a Lost Heritage”, http://www.wholebible.com/PdfLibrary/Ephraimite-Encounter.pdf

 

·       “The Torah is God’s eternal standard of righteousness and must return to its place of prominence and authority in the community of faith”

 

·       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”. Michael, Boaz, Hayesod: The Foundation, 2010.

 

·       Messiah did not abolish the Torah…In Messiah, Gentile believers have the prerogative to take hold of the covenant and take on the commandments. Michael, Boaz, Hayesod: The Foundation, 2010.

 

·       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. 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

 

·       “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.”- 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

 

·       “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 love does not replace the Torah.”- 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

 

·      “The biblical Sabbath and holidays have not been abolished or replaced. The biblical Sabbath and holidays are relevant to believers today.” 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

 

·       “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” 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

 

The Scriptures say that many aspects of the Law, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, the food and drink laws, the Jewish festivals of Israel, the tabernacle and Temple, the animal sacrifices and offerings of bulls and goats, the Levitical priesthood, etc, could not really do anything, but were shadows, types, and promises of Christ, and of how He would come and be the true Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, and that now that Christ has come and fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, a change has taken place.

 

They are referred to as “a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things”, Hebrews 10:1. They were shadows of good things to come, shadows, but not the real thing, shadows meant to point us to good things to come! And now Christ has come!

 

Hebrews 9:8-10: “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”

 

Again, notice that the things spoken of in Hebrews 9:8-10 pertaining to the Old Testament Laws regarded “only” meat and drinks, washings, and what Paul calls “carnal ordinances”, that is these were external, physical, rituals and rites, that served as figures, signs, and that they were “imposed” on them “until the time of reformation”.

 

And so, we are no longer under the shadows of these ceremonial or civic laws of Israel, but we have the reality, the substance that those things pointed to, Christ Himself!

 

The Scriptures say that there have been changes to things of the Law since Christ has come, because the Law was never meant to be the actual accomplishment of things Christ would do for us, but they pointed to Him. Now that He has come, He has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, and the things they were pointing to, and we enjoy the fullness of what Christ has done and given to us.

 

So yes, there have been changes since Christ has come. Scripture speaks of it like this:

 

“ He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second”, Hebrews 10:9

 

(He takes away the Laws of animal sacrifices and offerings, which could not really take away sin, and establishes Christ as the sacrifice for our sins, that those Old Testament sacrifices were pointing to all along).

 

“For He testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”, Hebrews 7:17-19

 

“If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”, Hebrews 7:11-12

 

Note that Paul says above in Hebrews 7:12, that since the priesthood has changed from the Levitical priests to Christ the true High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, there is a change in the law.

 

Again, Paul says in Hebrews 9:8-10 that these ceremonies of the Law were “carnal ordinances”, external, physical, rituals and rites, that served as figures, signs, and that they were “imposed…until the time of reformation”.

 

We can remember the discussion our Lord had with a Samaritan woman in John 4:20-24: She said: “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

 

Paul says to believers:

 

Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”.

 

So these things were external, physical rites, serving as figures, types, and symbols pointing to the true, spiritual realities of Christ and of all that Christ would do and bring to us.

 

We who are believers in Christ have Him now, and the spiritual realities that those external, physical rites pointed to. Therefore, now, because of Christ, those things have faded away, since Christ has fulfilled these things, and brought in what those things were pointing to all along, and now that He has come, we cleave and cling to Christ and His fullness, and all we have in Him.

 

For example, animal sacrifices and offerings of bulls and goats were commanded by God in the Old Testament Law or Torah, but they couldn’t really take away sins, and they weren’t really the ultimate will and desire of God, rather, they were symbols pointing to Christ, the true Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and Christ came into the world to do the true will of God. Now that Christ has come, we no longer offer or need those animal sacrifices. The One those things were pointing to has come and has truly put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. There are no more offerings for sin now, because Jesus’ blood cleanses us, He is the sacrifice and offering for our sins!

 

Hebrews 10:1-10: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when He cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

 

Hebrews 9:8-14: “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

 

Similarly, circumcision was commanded in the Torah, but Paul says that circumcision and uncircumcision don’t really avail for anything, but that circumcision is of the heart. Scripture says that believers in Christ are circumcised, with the circumcision made without hands, that is, that through Christ’s flesh, that old body of sin has been cut off.

 

Paul said that circumcision is really spiritual:

“ But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”, Romans 2:29

 

Paul said that as believers, we are circumcised, spiritually, with the true circumcision, that which is made without hands:

Colossians 2:11  “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:”

Php_3:3  “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Paul wrote that circumcision or uncircumcision physically are nothing, in fact, in Christ, there is no circumcision or uncircumcision, it’s Christ and faith and being a new creature Christ in that matters.

1 Corinthians 7:17-19: “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.”

Galatians 5:6:  “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

Galatians 5:11: “And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.”

Gal_6:15  “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

Ephesians 2:11  “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;”

Colossians 3:11 “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”

 

Another example would be the Levitical priests appointed under the Old Testament Law. They served according to the commands of God in the Torah, but they couldn’t really make atonement for sin. Their serving was a type and symbol of the true High Priest who would come and make a  true, real, and complete offering of atonement for sin. And now we have Christ, who is our great High Priest, not of the tribe of Levi as the Law commands, but of the order of Melchizedek, and He is our ultimate High Priest, who made atonement for us. We cling to Him now, and the Old Testament Levitical priesthood is no longer necessary, they have been taken away and the gospel has been established, there has been a change of the Law, those were only carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation, which has come.

 

Hebrews 7:11-12: “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”.

 

Scripture says that the Law had it’s purpose, to point us to Christ, up until Christ came, but that now that Christ has come, we are not under those things:

 

Galatians 3:19: “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

 

Galatians 3:23-28: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

 

Galatians 4:1-5: “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Romans 7:4:  “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”.

 

And now the Christian rule is:

 

Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”.

 

Now, Christ the reality has come, and in Christ, no one is to judge us regarding food or drink, holy days, Jewish festivals, or sabbath days, because those thing were a shadow, but now the truth, the substance, has come. Christ has come!

 

Paul said that the Apostle Peter did not live like a Jew, he did not follow the distinctive laws of the Torah, but he lived like a Gentile!

Galatians 2:11-16: “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

In Galatians 4:9-11: “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.”

We see that Paul was concerned and raised the alarm when he saw believers going back to observe days, months, times, and years, food and drink, holydays, the new moon, and sabbath days, circumcision, etc.

The Scriptures tell us that these things of the Law pointed to Christ, and that Christ is the fulfilment of those Laws, and that now that Christ has come, those things have passed away, and we cling to Christ, the reality now, and all the spiritual realities Christ has brought to us.

Christ is our Temple:

 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But He spake of the temple of His body.”, John 2:19-21

 

We are told of the New Jerusalem when the Lord returns: “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.,” Revelation 21:22 

 

And believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and the Church as a whole is the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 2 Cor. 6:16, Ephesians 2:21, 1 Peter 2:4-5)

Christ is our High Priest who makes atonement for us:

 Genesis 14:18: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God”.

 

Psalm 110:4 “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 2:17  “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

 

Hebrews 3:1: “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;”

 

Hebrews 4:14- 15: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

 

Hebrews 6:20: “Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

 

Hebrews 7:26: “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;”

 

Hebrews 8:1: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;”

 

Hebrews 8:4-6: “For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”

 

Hebrews 9:11 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;”

 

Hebrews 10:21-22 “And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

 

Christ has made believers priests as well, to worship the Lord, and to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanks to Him.

 

1 Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 

 

1 Peter 2:9-10:  “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

 

Revelation 1:6: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

 

Revelation 5:10: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

 

Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”.

 

Christ is the offering and sacrifice for our sins.

John 1:29: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 

 

Hebrews 9:11-14: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”,

 

Hebrews 9:24-26: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

 

Hebrews 10:11-12 : “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

 

1 John 2:2: “And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

 

Romans 3:25: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

 

1 John 4:10: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

 

He is the sacrifice and offering that is the sweet smelling savour to God for us: (Leviticus 1:9, 13,17)

 

Ephesians 5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” 

 

And also, in Christ, believers offer spiritual sacrifices to God of praise and worship and good things He delights in:

 

Hebrews 13:15-16: “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

 

Malachi 1:11: “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.”

 

Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” 

 

Philippians 4:18 “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.” 

In Christ, we have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, as was stated above.

Christ is our Sabbath rest. Every day is the Sabbath for us, for we have Christ, and with Christ we rest from our works and we trust in Him and His work, and we also think of the ultimate heavenly rest we have through Him and His work for us.

 

Hebrews 4:1-3: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Christ is our Passover:

1 Corinthians 5:7-8: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

We keep the true Passover festival of Christ when we keep it spiritually, by clinging to Christ and all that He is for us and by remembering Him, and we keep it not with the leaven of wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Notice Christ is our Passover, leaven is malice and wickedness, and in Christ we have the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Note how the physical, external laws of the Old Testament regarding this are taken and interpreted and applied to us spiritually in Christ. The Old Testament laws were pointing to something spiritual, and Paul says, this is what the Church has now! Not the physical, literal Passover laws, but the spiritual application of these things that they were meant to point to. Christ is our Passover!

In Christ is our altar, and we eat of His sacrifice:

 

Hebrews 13:9-10: “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.”

 

Paul warns us not to be carried away with strange doctrines, but to be established by grace, and not meats, or foods, which have not been profitable to people who have been so occupied with the food laws, clean and unclean, etc. In Christ, we have an altar to eat of that even those who serve the tabernacle and observe all those Jewish rituals have no right to eat of! We stay with Christ and the gospel, and not the outward rituals of the Law, which have been fulfilled in Christ.

 

Christ is the veil, the way into the presence of God:

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;”, Matthew 27:50-51

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)”, Hebrews 10:19-23

 

All foods are clean to us in Christ.  He is what cleanses us . He and the Holy Spirit are what makes Christians distinct, not that we have circumcision physically or eat certain foods.

 

Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”.

 

Hebrews 9:10: “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” 

 

Mark 7:18-20:  “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man…And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.”,

 

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”, 1 Timothy 4:1-5

 

“For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”, Romans 14:2-4

Romans 14:17  “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 

 

1 Corinthians 8:8  “But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.” 

 

Colossians 2:20-23: “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.”

 

Christ is our temple, Christ is our Priest, Christ is the offering and sacrifice for us, our circumcision is in Christ, Christ is our Passover, Christ is our sabbath rest, in Christ all foods are clean to us.

 

We see the things of the Old Testament Law interpreted and applied to Christ and to us spiritually in Christ. (A Christ-centered, gospel-centered interpretation as I said earlier in the paper).

 

The danger, and why Paul sounded the alarm when he saw people going back to the physical rites, is that in going back to the external, physical rites, we will forget Christ and the gospel, the things those things pointed to and meant along. The danger is we will rely on our works in doing those things, and not on Christ, who those things pointed to. The fallen human heart is always ready to go back to works and the Law and trying to keep external rites and rituals, or work it’s own righteousness, rather than resting and trusting in the righteousness that comes from God to us through Christ by faith alone, and by God’s grace alone. And so we have to watch out.

 

We are not obligated to follow the Old Testament ceremonial and civic laws anymore, these things are applied to us spiritually in Christ.

 

There are so many beautiful, rich, and wonderful things we can learn from the Law. It points to Christ, and it's so precious to us and we know He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and brought in the reality of these things, the ultimate, spiritual realities, and so we're no longer obligated to the shadows or the external rites that were the shadows, and figures, types, signs and symbols for what Him and what He would do.  We have the fulfillment now.

For many years, Christians have believed and taught that there are distinctions in the Torah, or Law of God, that is, that the Torah has moral laws, ceremonial laws, and civic laws.

 

We see in the book of Genesis, that there are things that are sins and are wrong for everybody, things God is against-Cain murdering his brother Abel, Judah committing adultery, etc. The moral law of God includes universal things that are wrong for everyone, that all mankind knows is wrong, because God has written it on our hearts. (See Romans 2:25)

 

The ceremonial aspects of the law are laws of worship given to ancient Israel, laws of the tabernacle, of the temple, of the Levites and priests, of various animal or agricultural sacrifices and offerings, of festivals and feasts when the people were to appear before God to worship Him with sacrifice and offerings. These things are indeed beautiful when we interpret them correctly and see that they point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ and picture Him and the gospel (as the New Testament itself applies these things to us, as we have seen).

 

The civic laws point to various civil laws for ancient Israel as a nation to observe, often criminal punishments or civil penalties, and laws related to the government and statutes of that nation then. Some of these laws helped to distinguish Israel from the rest of the nations.

 

Of course, the moral things of the Law are important for Christians. But in Christ, it’s not the external, physical, rites or rituals or the ceremonial or civic commandments to national Israel that are important now, but faith in Christ, and that faith in Christ works by love, and Scripture says that love fulfills the Law.

 

The moral law of course, which is the law God wrote on all men’s hearts, of that is universally right and wrong, which in Christ and through the Spirit, God works in us as fruit, is spoken to us all throughout the Scripture.  We do not say that this is no longer important. The New Testament certainly teaches believers about loving God and loving our neighbors, not committing idolatry, having faith in Christ, being holy and godly, acting with love, kindness, and mercy, these things of the Law are spoken of everywhere. In fact, these things are spoken of as the fulfillment of the Law.

 

Romans 13:8-10: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

 

Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

 

We see what is spoken of by the Lord Jesus and the Apostles. The things that are part of God’s universal moral law, for Jews and Gentiles, mostly, love for God and others, holiness, and love.  (Of course, this love comes after faith in Christ and the gospel, faith worketh by love, Galatians 5:6).

 

But I never find Jesus chiding the people or rebuking them about the ceremonial or civic laws of national Israel.

 

Do we ever see Jesus telling the people “now make sure you keep this festival” or “you've been eating outside of the dietary laws and I'm going to rebuke you for that”?

 

I never see the Apostle Paul or Peter or James, writing to the believers in Christ  be they Jews or Gentiles, and saying “Now make sure you remember to follow all the festivals” or “make sure you remember all the laws of leprosy” or “make sure you women remember and keep the purification laws, you've been slipping in that” or “make sure you remember not to eat unclean things”, or “everyone make sure your children are circumcised”.

 

No. They speak about love and morality because of the gospel and God’s love for us in Christ, and the Spirit producing His fruit within us,  but other aspects of the Law, the ceremonial and civic aspects of the Law,  are not spoken of to believers or are applied spiritually to us, pointing to Christ and salvation and the Church, rather than believers being told “now make sure you keep the Old Testament laws of Israel”.

Back in the early days of the church, the temple was still standing, and Israel was still in its land,  they could still have followed these laws to an extent. Can we think that the Apostle Paul led the Gentiles from all the Gentile areas where he would go and proclaim the gospel and people would be saved and believe and be baptized and have the Holy Spirit and be gathered together as a church, do we ever see Paul or any of the apostles telling them to make sure they observe the ceremonial or civic Laws of Israel?

 

Do we see in the Book of Acts, or the Epistles, or anywhere, Paul leading all the Gentile converts out from Ephesus, or Galatia, or Rome, to Jerusalem three times a year for all of the Jewish festivals that were described in the Law? A steady stream of Gentile, or for that matter, Jewish converts being led by the Apostle Paul to the temple three times every year to fulfill those things?

 

Can we see anywhere in the New Testament where the ceremonial or civic laws of Israel are commanded of or imposed on believers, Jew or Gentile?

 

No, even in the early church, when the temple was standing and Israel was still in the land, we don't see them emphasizing that at all to believers, rather their letters are full of Christ and the Holy Spirit and the grace of God and of how that works out in our lives in holiness and in faith and in love.  It is these things that are emphasized, rather than ceremonial or civic aspects of the law. We don’t these things emphasized in Scripture.

 

Does God’s Law Change? (Or Can/Does God Change His Laws?)

 

One of the things that we see and learn when we read the Torah, the first five books of Moses, is that God’s laws are changeable, that is, the Lord can and does change His laws or commands to people.

 

We see this in the very areas relevant to our discussion, food laws, circumcision, and in external ceremonial worship rites and practices.

 

Food Laws Can Change:

In the beginning, with Adam and Eve, we read: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”, Genesis 1:29.

 

We also read: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”, Genesis 2:15-17

 

However, several chapters later Genesis 9:3-4, after the flood, we read that God told Noah and his family:

 

 “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”,

 

God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2 that He had given them plants, herbs, and trees, to eat of, and that they (and all mankind) could eat of any tree except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But later, after the flood, in Genesis 9, God tells Noah that now mankind can eat any animal except without the blood in it.

 

Notice the recurrence of the phrases and terminology:

“to you it shall be for meat” in Genesis 1:29, “shall be meat for you”, Genesis 9:3.

 

And:

 

“Behold, I have given you every herb … and every tree…”, Genesis 1:29

 

“even as the green herb have I given you all things.”, Genesis 9:3

 

Notice also that God makes the specific point of referring back to what He had said to Adam and Eve to confirm this to Noah, “even as the green herb have I given you all things”.  He seems to assure and confirm to Noah that in the past, He had given the plants to eat, but that now He is giving them animals to eat as well, and they may eat animals now that will be for food for them.

 

We might say, “just as I gave Adam and Eve, and all humanity, plants to eat then, in that same say, so now “every moving thing that liveth” shall be food for you, and “I have given you all things”.

 

We see that there is the stipulation that animals are not to be eaten with the blood still in it. Man can eat all these animals that live and move, but it must be prepared in such a way that the blood is not still in it. It should be prepared or cooked in some way so that the blood is not eaten.

 

So, one of the things we learn from the Torah, right in the very beginning, right in the book of Genesis, is that God changes His laws, including a specific instance of His changing food laws! First God gives humanity plants, herbs, and fruit to eat, then after the flood, He gives mankind animals to eat, every moving thing that lives, and “all things”, with the stipulation that man not eat the blood.

 

(By the way, what if one of Noah’s sons had said, “Wait a moment. From the very beginning, God gave us plants and herbs to eat, now you’re saying that God says we can eat animals? I don’t know about that. God’s Word at the beginning, and all we’ve ever known, is that God has given us plants to eat.” What would Noah say to his son? I’ll leave you to make right applications to the whole discussion at hand concerning believers having to observe the Torah).

 

Then many years later, as God forms a people, the nation of Israel, to be a distinct people, living in a distinct land that He promised to give them, under Him in a very unique way, after they come out of Egypt, and received His laws in the wilderness, we then have Leviticus 11 where God gives dietary laws to and for the nation of Israel as His people. Here and in other places, God gives various laws of clean and unclean to His people, this is believed to distinguish them and mark them as distinct from the nations, and as separate to the Lord, visualizing concepts of holiness and unholiness, cleanness and uncleanness, as His people. The distinguishing markers of God’s people now are faith in Christ, and presence of the Holy Spirit in His people, love, and the fruit of the Spirit, not external things like what foods were eaten. (Acts 15:9)

 

So, we see in the Torah, as well as in the rest of the Scriptures, that the law changes. God’s laws are changeable, by that I mean that God is absolutely sovereign and has all power and authority to change His own laws. In His sovereignty, infinite wisdom and goodness, God can absolutely give to one people, at one time, one law or command, and then at another time give that same people another law.

 

God can give mankind plants to eat at first, and then in His great goodness and wisdom, give them all animals to eat. Also, later, God can give a set of laws to His people Israel as a nation, and then later the Lord God can step out of Heaven, come to earth incarnate, and declare all foods clean and allowable to eat (Mark 7:19, Acts 10:9-28, 1 Timothy 4:1-5). And when He does, the word of God then is “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”, Acts 10:15.  

 

We learn from the Torah that God’s laws are changeable. God can and does, according to His own sovereignty, infinite wisdom, and goodness, give or restrict things, make a law, and then change that law to something else. It is not capricious; God always has His purposes. Particularly in the ceremonial laws, we see that these things were signs, types, and figures, shadows pointing forward to Christ. The Lord used these things to teach us about Christ.  

 

The Law of Circumcision Can Change

God first commanded circumcision for Abraham and his household in Genesis 17. But up until that point, there is no mention of it. It is not commanded, and no mention is made of anyone being punished for not being circumcised.  Until Genesis 17, Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, and all their descendants, even those who called upon the name of the Lord, are not commanded to be circumcised, at least in no place is it spoken of. But then beginning with Abraham in Genesis 17, God commands it for Abraham’s family and household. Of course, as we have seen, in the New Testament, circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but faith in God, and Christ is what matters.

 

Practices, Laws, and Commands About External, Physical Rites of Worship Can Change:

 

It seems that in the early days, such as in the times of Adam or Able and then in the patriarchs, that people would set up altars in various places, and would make sacrifices and offerings to God, perhaps heads of families and fathers, as we read of in the book of Job, would make sacrifices and bring offerings and prayer to the Lord (Cain and Abel-Genesis 4:3-4, Noah -Genesis 8:20, Abraham-Genesis 12:7-8, 13:18, 22:9, Isaac -Genesis 26:24-25, Jacob- Genesis 33:20,35:3, 7, Job-Job 1:4)

 

Then, later on,  in a period when, again, we see that God forms a nation to be a people for Himself, the people of Israel, and brings them out of Egypt, gives them His laws, and brings them to Himself, He tells them to create a tabernacle, and so there are all these laws in a significant part of Exodus, chapters 25-40,  about the Tabernacle. And there are very specific laws and details that God commands them regarding the Tabernacle, and its materials, and structure, and the furniture for the Tabernacle, and now there is going to be a priesthood established through Aaron and the tribe of Levi, etc and the people obey and do these things.  

 

And the tabernacle is not in one place, but it’s movable, so there are commands about how to build it so it can be moved, and how to move it.

 

And God said, through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy that the people were not to make offerings and sacrifices in every or any  place now, but they must bring their sacrifices and offerings to the tabernacle:

 

Deuteronomy 12:5-6: “But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:”

 

Deuteronomy 12:13-14: “Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.” (See also Leviticus 17:2-5).

 

These are changes. Before there was no tabernacle, people were permitted to make altars and make offerings to the Lord in various places, and then later, God commands the people of Israel to build a tabernacle, and when they are in the land, the people are no longer to build altars and make offerings every where, but are to bring their offerings to the tabernacle, where God’s presence was uniquely manifested, and now priests were to be involved in the people’s sacrifices and offerings (Deuteronomy 12:4-18). God would teach them now about sacrifices, offerings, atonement, and priests, things pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come.

 

Then later in their history, we see that God gives them the plans for the temple and it's not going to be the tabernacle anymore, a place that is moving around, but worship in offerings and sacrifices will be at the temple, in one location, and the people will go to the temple with their offerings and sacrifices now.

 

And as was discussed, in New Testament times, Christ comes, and Christ says that He is the temple and later on believers, and the Church as a whole, are called the temple, a spiritual temple, that God indwells.

 

The Lord Jesus in John 4 tells us that an hour is coming and now is when people won't worship the Father either in Samaria or in Jerusalem, that is only on a certain mountain or place,  but that God will be worshiped in spirit and truth, and so we see the gospel spread to the Gentiles, and people worshipping God in every land and place, and lifting up spiritual offerings to Him.

 

In the Torah we see that God does give laws according to His holy and wise and good will,  but that He has total power and sovereignty to change His laws or to give other laws, or to give laws to a certain people, but not others, or to give laws for a certain time and purpose, but then give other laws later, or to take away or change laws and allow things previously forbidden, etc.  We see examples of this specifically with food laws and ceremonial aspects of the law related to worship, physical rites, rituals, and external things associated with it.

 

We would note that while food laws, or laws about external worship rituals changed, the universal moral law of God never changed.  From the beginning of the book of Genesis, and all through Scripture we see that idolatry is wrong, murder is sin and is wrong, adultery is wrong, etc.  We see these moral universals before there was a formal law of Moses, and we see this after and throughout the New Testament. While some laws of God changed, these things do not. We are always told to love God and to love our fellow man, not commit idolatry, not commit murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. The New Testament, or any other place in Scripture, does not change these laws. God never says, now you may murder, or commit adultery, or commit idolatry. We know we have all broken these laws and are saved by the grace of God, through Christ, by faith alone, and as believers, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, we can obey these universal, moral laws that are the will of God.

 

FFOZ repeatedly reminds us that Christ did not come to abolish the Law, Matthew 5:17. That’s true, but He did come to fulfill it. How do we think of this?

 

By way of an analogy to serve as an illustration, think of this. From the Torah, God gave many laws about the tabernacle. We have chapter after chapter at the end of Exodus of very detailed laws, and it was very important that the people observe them. But then later, the temple is given and built.  God gives laws and a pattern for the temple, and it was constructed, and so there were laws of the temple now. When that happened, when the temple was built and was in operation, what happened to the tabernacle? How did the people of Israel, or how should we, we regard it or how did they relate to it? Was it abolished? Well, it was not despised by God or held in contempt by God or the Israelites, but those laws having to do with the tabernacle were no longer in effect because the temple was now standing. They had served their purpose and now there was the temple that the people were directed to go to. To be sure, there were many similarities between the tabernacle and the temple, and so there were principles from the tabernacle that carried over to the temple and its laws of worship, but the tabernacle had served its purposes, and when the temple came about, other laws were in place now. (I would point out that Hebrews 8:1-5 tells us about spiritual lessons from the tabernacle we can learn).

 

We might say just as an analogy or illustration that the Old Testament ceremonies and civil laws were laws for the people of Israel, and are not to be despised, there's much we can learn from them, but now that Christ has come, those things have been fulfilled, and we focus on Christ now,  just as the tabernacle (which God had given many commands and laws about in the Torah) was no longer in operation when the temple was built.

 

Or for another example, take the laws that God gave to the people of Israel in the book of Exodus about manna. These laws weren’t in effect always, throughout all time,  and they were not for every nation.  These were specific laws given to the nation of Israel for a certain period of time, for Israel (no other nations were promised that they would wake up and find manna to gather and collect to eat that day).  This was for a unique time, for the nation of Israel, under Moses, in the wilderness, under God's direct rulership where His presence was manifested in the pillar of cloud and in the pillar of fire.  They were told to rest on the Sabbath day and manna would fall from Heaven, and they were told to pick it up each morning, except on the 6th day, they were supposed to gather more than just one day’s allotment, and they were not supposed to collect it at all on the Sabbath,  (but on other days they weren't supposed to get more than they were supposed to or it would just rot), and yet we find that when they went into the promised land,  the manna stopped. How were the people of Israel to relate to or think about the laws of the manna given in the Torah then?

 

Well, those laws no longer applied, they were no longer in effect. But they weren't despised, they weren't something you would regard with contempt or disdain, but rather it was obvious that those were laws for a certain purpose and people,  in a certain time,  and we see that in God's redemptive purposes,  the manna has spiritual lessons for us, and was pointed to Christ who said He's the true manna, and they were for the Sabbath rest while Israel were in the wilderness, and  it was provision for them. But once they got into the promised land, the day they were in their own land, the manna stopped now.  

How would we talk about that, what language or words would we use to say how Israel was to regard those laws about the manna?  We would say those laws passed away, or those laws were not in effect anymore at all, even as a system. (Would anyone in the promised land be punished if they tried to go out and gather manna).  No, it just wasn't in effect for them anymore because they were in the land now. But certainly, there were other laws about the Sabbath that were observed still. (And as noted above, there are many spiritual lessons we can learn from the manna which the New Testament indicates to us).

 

The manna was still a cherished part of their history, it was something precious to them, and it was full of meaning about God's provision, about faith, about rest and the Sabbath, and ultimately pointing forward to Christ the true Manna, the true Bread of God that came down from Heaven to give life to the world. The manna was gathered into a jar kept in the ark of the covenant, so it was still respected and had a cherished place, but it was no longer in effect for the people in the promised land.

 

Though not from the Torah, we see in the New Testament that at one point, the Lord Jesus Christ gives power to His twelve disciples to cast out demons and to heal all manner of sickness and He sends them out to preach the gospel and to heal and to travel to various towns and cities and at that time, in Matthew 10, He commands them not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans but rather to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But in Matthew 28,  after Christ was crucified, died, and rose from the dead, He now tells His apostles to go throughout the whole world, and we see in the book of Luke and in the book of Acts that He tells them that they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  The command of Christ at one time (in Matthew 10) to go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, is superseded by His command after He rises from the dead, to go to the whole earth to preach the gospel. (Similarly, Jesus gives commands in Matthew 10 about not taking things with them, and then in Luke 22:35- 36, He modifies what He had said, and He even refers to the fact that before He had sent them on one way, now He is sending them out another. There are still spiritual lessons in all these things that we can learn and benefit from).

 

The point is that these are examples and illustrations of how the Lord can make laws and give commands in His infinite wisdom and goodness that are for a certain time or a certain people until something else occurs. He can modify, cancel, or change laws. He can give freedom where once He gave restriction. He can open things to us that He once closed. If He could give Noah and humanity all the animals to eat, when at first He gave only the plants to Adam and humanity to eat, why can He not, when Christ comes, through Christ, declare all foods clean for everyone?

 

The Lord's Supper was not commanded all along throughout the Bible. Adam and the patriarchs didn’t have it. It was not until the Lord Jesus took the bread and told us it's His body and took the cup and told us it’s His blood, this is enacted the very night before He's about to be crucified and give His body and blood for us. And then He told us to do this in remembrance of Him and this is repeated in the New Testament and is so precious to us today.

 

Baptism was not commanded, particularly not in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, until after Christ dies and rises from the dead. And then in Matthew 28 the Lord tells us to do this, and we have baptism which we see throughout the book of Acts consistently observed and in the Epistles.

 

The Law and the Prophets, and every part of God’s Word, should be very precious to us. The New Testament quotes or refers to the Old Testament all over the place, so it is not to be forgotten, it is not to be despised, it is not to be held in contempt, rather, as we have seen, very often, particularly with ceremonial or civic aspects of the Law, it pointed forward to Christ and the gospel, and it is interpreted and applied to us in Christ today spiritually.

 

One helpful way to think about this may be as Dr. Peter Masters speaks of it in his book “Not Like Any Other Book”. Dr. Masters wrote:

 

“All Scripture is binding today unless Scripture itself cancels, limits or modifies what it prescribes. Many passages, such as Old Testament historical narratives, record acts of God’s people carried out in obedience to His commands-such as the “church” going to war-which are not literally binding for today, because the record makes clear that they were God’s will for that time and locality. This is usually too obvious to warrant discussion. All God’s ancient commands continue for today in a spiritual sense, referring, for example, to our fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have already noted that the New Testament cancels literal compliance with the ceremonial law of Moses.” - Masters, Peter. Not Like Any Other Book. Wakemen Trust. 2004.

 

Or as Francis Turretin, answering the question “Was the ceremonial law abrogated under the New Testament?”, wrote around the 1680’s:

“The ceremonial law can be viewed in two ways: either with regard to doctrine and signification; or with regard to obligation and observance. The question is not whether it was abrogated as to doctrine. We confess that it still remains and is useful in many ways among Christians; and that the mystical truth, hidden under this shell, is always the same and of perpetual necessity. Hence on account of that analogy, the names are always retained (the ancient state being changed) and circumcision, sacrifices, altars, incense are attributed to Christians, not because these rites ought to prevail under the gospel, but because the truth of these figures always remains (in which we have the things adumbrated by these signs). Rather the question is whether it was abrogated as to obligation and obedience and whether believers are still in subjection to the ceremonial law (as the Jews of old) and are bound to keep it (as the Jews maintain). This was the opinion not only of the Jews of old (and is of those in our time), but also of the Judaizing false apostles in the time of the apostles. They urged the observance of ceremonies as necessary, rashly confounding the law with the gospel, Moses with Christ. However we with the apostles and the whole church, deny it.” Turretin, Francis. Institutes of  Elenctic Theology. P&R Publishing.

 

I would also emphasize that in the New Testament we have human authors,  but the true Author is the Holy Spirit, and He is inspiring the Scriptures, and so when the New Testament quotes or refers to the Old Testament, we have Holy Spirit inspired commentary on the Old Testament.

 

Did the Early Church Keep the Old Testament Ceremonial and Civic Laws?

Early church history shows us that believers in Christ did not observe the Jewish rites,  but understood that the Old Testament laws regarding rituals were physical, external types and symbols, pointing to the reality of Christ and since Christ brought the spiritual truth of these things to them, they held on to Christ and no longer observed the physical, external rights and rituals such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and food laws as the Jews in the nation of Israel had.

 

Here's a quote from Justin Martyr, about 100 years after the crucifixion of Christ, speaking with a Jewish man named Trypho. Justin brings this subject up:

 

“Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do?”

 

Trypho the Jewish man replies:

 

“This is what we are amazed at,” said Trypho…this is what we are most at a loss about: that you, professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves better than others, are not in any particular separated from them, and do not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that you observe no festivals or sabbaths, and do not have the rite of circumcision; and further, resting your hopes on a man that was crucified, you yet expect to obtain some good thing from God, while you do not obey His commandments.

 

We can see from this conversation in early church history that both the Christian believer, Justin Martyr, and the Jewish man, Trypho, acknowledged and agreed that Christians do not follow the external rites and ceremonies of the Old Testament law, such as the Sabbath, the festivals, circumcision, etc.  Like Peter, they did not live like Jews.

 

Tertullian, a Christian teacher who lived from 155 A.D. – 220 A.D. in the Roman Province of Africa, wrote:

“Therefore, since it is manifest that a sabbath temporal was shown, and a sabbath eternal foretold; a circumcision carnal foretold, and a circumcision spiritual pre-indicated; a law temporal and a law eternal formally declared; sacrifices carnal and sacrifices spiritual foreshown; it follows that, after all these precepts had been given carnally, in time preceding, to the people Israel, there was to supervene a time whereat the precepts of the ancient Law and of the old ceremonies would cease, and the promise of the new law, and the recognition of spiritual sacrifices, and the promise of the New Testament, supervene; while the light from on high would beam upon us who were sitting in darkness, and were being detained in the shadow of death. And so there is incumbent on us a necessity binding us, since we have premised that a new law was predicted by the prophets, and that not such as had been already given to their fathers at the time when He led them forth from the land of Egypt, to show and prove, on the one hand, that that old Law has ceased, and on the other, that the promised new law is now in operation.” Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews. Chapter 6. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0308.htm

 

Early Church Fathers also observed that men such as Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah were accounted as righteous and blessed by God, though they did not have circumcision or sabbath-observation commanded them.

 

The church is one new man now, made of Jews and Gentiles, it's not any one national country where the people are all of one race or ethnicity, all in a certain physical land, rather the gospel spreads to all lands and people of every tribe and tongue and nation and language hear the gospel and become Christians by believing in Christ, and they are baptized, and they are in the Church, and so these national ceremonial and civic laws are not in place for them, they have the spiritual reality that these things pointed to.

Adam is a type of Christ (Romans 5:12-21, esp. vs. 14. 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45).

The blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of Abel and calls out for our pardon and forgiveness (Hebrews 12:24)

Christ is an ark of salvation to save us from the wrath of God (1 Peter 3:20-22)

Christ is the great Seed or descendant of Abraham through Whom the whole world would be blessed (Galatians 3:8-16)

Many have seen Joseph with his rejection and umiliation but then exaltation and salvation threw him because of his sufferings and exultation as a type of Christ.

Christ is the Angel of the Lord who appeared throughout the Old Testament, to Abraham along with two angels, the One who spoke to Hagar in the desert, Who wrestled with Jacob, Who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Who spoke to Gideon, Who appeared to Samson's parents, Who appeared to the prophet Zechariah, etc.

Christ is the Passover Lamb. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

Christ is the Rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

Christ is the one who cleanses us from the leprosy of sin and makes us clean.

Christ is our City of refuge.

Christ is our kinsman redeemer.

Christ is the true Manna - John 6:25-58, esp. vss. 32-33 “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.”

 

The serpent lifted up on the pole, healing all who looked to it, was a type of Christ- John 3:14-15: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”,

Isaiah saw Christ’s glory and was glad - John 8:56-58: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

Jonah’s three days and three nights in the heart of the fish was a picture of Christ’s resurrection:

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”, Matthew 12:40

Yes, we do have regard for what the Lord has taught us in the Law, in the Torah. We believe it is divinely inspired and important, and there are many glorious, rich, beautiful things to be found there that are a blessing and benefit to us, when understood through a Christ-centered, gospel centric interpretation. But we recognize that especially the ceremonial aspects of the law, point forward to Christ and His coming, the gospel, and the salvation He would bring us. Now that He has come, we don’t need the physical, external, outward rites and ceremonies of the Torah they had then, we have the fulness of those things in Christ spiritually.

 

All the statements by FFOZ or Torah Clubs quoted in the various sections of this paper are very concerning, and I think dangerous. We must be very, very careful in what we say, especially as teachers who will receive a greater judgment. We should be careful to be precise in our words, lest we lead someone astray! These are  not one or two statements about some minor, obscure, or fine point in theology that are unclear or debatable. These are concerning, dangerous statements, made about vast, crucial truths of the Christian faith-The Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, what the gospel is, the Church, the relationship of believers to the Law and Grace.

 

Four Testimonies

 

Does all this really matter?

 

Why make an issue of this?

 

This isn’t just theoretical or academic. The truths of the gospel really do matter deeply to real people living real lives right now!

The Hebrew Roots/Torah Observant movement has many other groups other than FFOZ, but there are many commonalities. Here are four testimonies of people with real experiences in Hebrew Roots/Torah Observant Groups. These testimonies take us inside these movements and groups and give us real-life experiences of people who were part of these groups and who went down these paths. They can be helpful for noticing patterns in what can occur with these groups or movements.

1. Here is the testimony of a woman who at the time of her writing this was actually still currently held in a Hebrew Roots/Torah Observant mindset.

She took to social media to describe her experience of trying to keep the Passover:

“This year I felt overwhelmed. We decided to keep pasach at the house this year. We used one of my male goats my husband slaughtered, but after we killed the goat everything went south.  Blood went everywhere, my husband got a headache, he went to bed, I ended up cooking it by myself running back and forth between kids and cooking. 

This Passover was the hardest. I didn't feel my heart was in the right place. I have never been as upset and angry as I have this Passover, not just that, drained emotionally and physically.  My animal was wasted, I cried my eyes out, I even cursed. I feel like I should give up, like I'm a failure. I let my Creator down, I couldn't even go through one night of trials and overcome it. I wanted to have a special Passover with my family, it ended up being like a big regret and a burden on me..."

Is the Passover meant to make someone feel overwhelmed, like it is the hardest, upset, angry, drained emotionally and physically, in tears, cursing, feeling like giving up, like one is a failure, like one let down their Creator, and like a big regret and burden? 

Looking at the Passover from this Torah observant perspective, this woman is laboring under a burden she should not have to bear. How satanically ironic that something like the Passover, which is meant to point us to our the Saviour Jesus Christ shedding His precious blood in our place as the Lamb of God,  dying to redeem us and give us freedom, would instead be something that was a cause for her to be upset, angry, drained, and have the guilt and shame of feeling like a failure and a burden.

This woman was focusing on her own works and attempts at keeping the laws of the Torah in regard to the Passover, and not on Christ, who is Himself the true Passover, who has been sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7-8), and who the Old Testament Passover was meant to point us to all along!

Christ is our Passover, and we keep the Passover most truly when we cling to Him and worship Him in awe and adoration for His blood spilled for us, and when we walk in the deliverance and freedom He has given us.

I believe our Lord would say to this poor woman, laboring under guilt, exhaustion, anger, and her own emphasis on working the works of the Law, what He says to all of us:

 “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”, Matthew 11:28-30

2. Here is the testimony of a man who became involved in a Torah Observant Group:

“At first, I thought the ideas were zany, but soon the arguments towards Torah Observance sounded convincing and logical.  After all, if God said don’t eat pork, maybe nobody should ever eat it?  Maybe since we are grafted in, we should be following the Torah?  And from there, I buried my ‘roots’ so to speak, deeper into the doctrines of the HRM.

I thought to myself, maybe I had been missing something important in traditional church and what if what I had believed growing up was wrong?  After all, I had never questioned any of it before but instead of studying the Scriptures for myself and carefully weighing everything, I swung the other way and embraced the HRM perspective and teachings because it seemed there was an answer to everything.

Soon our small family must have appeared Jewish to anyone who would enter our home or observe our way of life. From the wearing tzitzit and head coverings to the way we observed Shabbat to the removal of crosses and the replacement with the mezuzah and menorah and the refusing of all things labeled ‘pagan’ by most in the HRM – the way I understood ‘pleasing God’ changed greatly both on the inside and maybe more so on the outside.

Fellowship with other Christians typically included arguments advocating Torah observance and denouncing ‘paganism’ in ‘churchianity’. ..The whole Torah Observance/traditional holiday-avoiding lifestyle made me feel isolated in many ways.  But at the same time, I thought I was better than all these churchianity Christians who didn’t fall for the HRM arguments that my household presented…

Still, I found myself turning into a righteous snob without realizing it.  I had dropped out of nearly all fellowship and found that I had no best friend I could confide in about spiritual matters, even within the HRM. 

But there was still something that didn’t make sense to me; I observed Christians who lived full of love and joy, and I hadn’t known true joy in a long time. The fruit in my own life had gone downhill tremendously.  It’s like Jesus said, those who strain a gnat and swallow a camel or those who look at the speck in someone’s eye but forget the plank in their own; while I was worried about everyone else accepting the Torah truth, my own life didn’t reflect anything that anyone could desire.

Besides judgmentalism, I was losing hope, complaining a lot more, becoming skeptical, starting to become confused about what I believed, and I even swore like a sailor which was new to me.  I wasted my time doing useless projects and even a few times got drunk on purpose.  My faith was becoming ship-wrecked and I knew I was soon coming to a complete faith crisis…Something drastic had to change; I had to come to the end of myself….

Thankfully I did finally come to the end of myself.  One evening, I opened my Bible to read as though it were the first time ever.  I poured over the epistles with a voracious fervor like I was completely starved.  Those first few weeks I took time to read Galatians, again and again and again, along with Romans and practically all the epistles and multiple commentary notes.

So many varying degrees of thoughts went through my mind while reading – from extreme hope, to extreme confusion, to HRM arguments, to finally coming to the question that I wasn’t sure if I could ask:  could it just maybe really be this simple to be a Christ-follower?  All I had to do is trust in Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit and love in my life?

…I regret my strong involvement in HRM, but I know God can use all things for His glory if we let Him.

People who have never been in captivity may not be able to understand freedom or may not fight for it, but those who have been in bondage appreciate and fight for their freedom all the more.  And I have that freedom in Christ.  I’m learning what grace looks like practically both for my own life, in raising my children, and in dealing with other believers.”

 

3. Here is the testimony of a child who was effected by his parent’s involvement with the Hebrew Roots Movement/Torah Observant Groups:

“It started when I was about nine years old. My parents were under the impression that if they did more to please God, that God would bless the family more. The basic idea was that if we kept the law of Moses, and observed all the feasts (old covenant holidays), God would be pleased with us. When we made this change, my mother told me it was just an observation, more like adopting a new culture. We were gaining a new insight into what life and religion was like back in Bible times.

Soon after, we started attending a study group (or as they say in the Hebrew Roots, ‘Congregation’) ... My friends and I would play out there for hours while our parents would sit together and study the Torah (the first five books of the Bible.

A few years went by, we had been to a few different groups by that time, and eventually had started our own with friends we had made the whole time. I was a little older by this time, and I was listening to what the adults were saying)…

…I believed Jesus died and rose again for my sins, but the obsession with the Law that everyone had gave me the impression I had to keep all 613 commandments to be saved. None of it made sense to me. How could Jesus die for me and still expect me to live a perfect life? I knew I wasn’t able to do it, and as hard as I tried to be perfect, I believed I was headed straight for Hell. I remember crying out to God on several occasions, pleading for mercy, and thinking to myself , “You don’t deserve it, He won’t listen to you”.

Not long after I turned 14, God led my parents out of the Hebrew Roots Movement, and we started going to a Baptist church. I was relieved to know at this point that I didn’t have to follow the Law of Moses to be saved, and that I just had to let Christ into my heart… I remember sitting in the church building, my pastor giving us a sermon …, and seeing the pulpit had a cross on the front. While I was listening, I started focusing on the cross. … and how Jesus defeated sin on the cross. The image was simple, but it was powerful to me, and God changed my heart right there. I was free! I know people go through much worse than I have, in a sense, I’m very blessed to have suffered very little, though when I look back now, I don’t so much see myself as I do another 10 year old boy, in torment, feeling unworthy of God’s presence, of His mercy. I hope that in writing this, someone will spare themselves, and their children of the bondage that is in the Hebrew Roots movement.”

 

4. Here is a testimony of a woman who participated in Torah Observance teachings, including First Fruits of Zion. These testimonies can be helpful as we see patterns of what can happen when someone begins to participate in this material or these groups:

“I found myself on Amazon.com looking for books on biblical eating and the law, and discovered a whole genre of books on Torah observance. … After reading them, I was thoroughly convinced that, even as new covenant believers, Christians did have a responsibility to observe the law, except for the commandments that were absolutely impossible or inappropriate for us to follow (ie, stoning someone for working on the Sabbath).

Along the way I also became a major fan of websites that were a one-stop-shop for all things Torah Observant, especially First Fruits of Zion. These ministries taught that while salvation is received solely by having faith in Jesus, that a lifestyle of righteousness can only be achieved through obeying the law. After all, Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Of course, their definition of “fulfillment” was that Jesus was the fullness or embodiment of the law. Therefore, how could we say we loved him, and disobey his commandments? He even said that if you loved him, you would obey his commands. So goes the logic of the Torah observant movement…

I began to learn that it was necessary for us to understand the Hebrew culture, idioms, and language, in order for us to truly understand scripture, which in turn made me doubt the accuracy of any mainstream Christian interpretations of scripture, and lose faith in our ability to even understand scripture without the aid of those who are experts on the ins and outs of the Hebrew culture and language. (HR/TO proponents argue that the Greek/Western mindset misinterprets scripture, as it doesn’t understand its context, which has resulted in most in Christendom turning its back on the Torah.) This led me to trust the teachings of those within the TO movement over others because they sought to interpret scripture from the information they received in their studies of Hebrew culture and language. Little did I know, therein laid the problem. Their sources for this information were unbelieving Jewish rabbis and their teachings.

With my beliefs changing so much, I made the decision to leave the church I had been a part of for almost 5 years, and set out on my own…

Along the way there were certain aspects of the TO/HR movement that bothered me...I found that even the TO/HR proponents were evolving in their understanding of what it meant to be a biblical Christian. They began to see non-Messianic rabbis as “fathers” of the faith whose authority Christians were obligated to come under. They believed that aside from its exclusion of Jesus Christ as savior, that rabbinic Judaism, complete with praying 3 times a day facing Jerusalem, learning and obeying the Talmud, and even delving into mystical practices (Kabbalah) should be an integral part of the Christian’s faith. I actually was able to be deceived by their teachings on prayer. I remember owning a DVD series produced by First Fruits of Zion called Praying in the Spirit, that took the position that praying pre-written prayers from a prayer book 3 times a day facing Jerusalem was the way one prayed “in the spirit” and “without ceasing”. It bothers me now to think about how I used to take mini breaks at work to pray, and actually brought a tiny compass along with me to ensure that I was indeed facing Jerusalem when I did it.

While I was able to be deceived into thinking that praying set prayers according to Jewish tradition was a biblical commandment, I could never buy into the idea that unbelieving Jewish rabbis had a place of spiritual authority over me or other Christians. Wandering into the territory of mystical Judaism and obeying the teachings of the Talmud stood out as being clearly blasphemous to me. What was worse was to hear messages and read articles about how many Christians were beginning to abandon Jesus altogether for Orthodox Judaism, and how we needed to work to prevent this trend from spreading further into the TO Christian community. Somehow people who began studying the Torah and Hebrew idioms and culture out of a sincere love for Jesus, wound up growing farther and farther away from him. One day they were pursuing the “Jewishness of Jesus”, and the next they decided that Jewishness in and of itself was their savior, and that Jesus was merely a deceiver. Unexpected, but the reality none the less….

The writer describes how she reached out to a Pastor for help with some other areas of her life and then:

…as I explained to him how I was practicing my faith, he kindly suggested that it was not good for me to be without the fellowship of other believers, listening to online sermons in my room. While no church was perfect, he strongly believed that I would be better off in a church, connected to other Christians, however flawed they may be, than I would be going it alone…

… Up until that time, I had bought into the HR notion that Western interpretations of scripture were unreliable due to their lack of understanding of the Hebrew culture and language. Anything written in the New Testament that seemed to indicate that we were no longer under the law was actually pro-Torah observance. We had just been interpreting those passages incorrectly. Works like The Complete Jewish Bible were able to translate those verses “correctly”, and restore the proper pro-Torah meaning.

…a couple in New Jersey, … prayed with me over the phone. They were just “regular” Christians, and before getting to the meat of our conversation they wanted to make sure I was a Christian too. They asked me some standard litmus test questions, one of them being “How do you know you have salvation?” I explained to them that I was confident that I had salvation because I believed that Jesus had died on the cross for my sins and because I obeyed his commandments. That seemed fair enough to them, and having satisfied them with my answer, we moved on. However, there was a major problem. When I said that I obeyed Jesus’ commandments, I wasn’t just talking about righteous living that comes from loving God and loving one another. I was referring to the law. When I heard these words come out of my mouth I realized that my theology was dangerously off course. I now believed I was saved because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and because I obeyed the Mosaic laws.

Then I realized that I no longer truly understood why I needed Jesus at all. If I had the law, and obeying it made me a righteous person, what was Jesus’ role? After speaking to this couple, I noticed that I felt very far away from Jesus. I can’t say I’ve ever felt his presence in a noticeable way, but I certainly felt that there was a distance between us now. How could I, in my desire to love Jesus and obey him, have ended up feeling like we were strangers? Unfortunately my good intentions had not been enough. I found myself, after having been raised in church my whole life, and saved since 6 or 7, now needing to relearn the basics of my faith all over again. Above all, I needed to understand why Jesus came to earth, and why I needed him.

During this period of relearning my faith I also reread Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and all of the sudden it made so much sense. Galatians was written to people just like me, Gentile Christians who had been deceived into believing they had to obey the law of Moses. When you have lived as a Galatian, Paul’s words really come alive, and speak so clearly to your situation. I thank God that he preserved his letter for us.

Now that my mindset was changed, my lifestyle began to change as well. I allowed myself to eat my favorite foods, even if they were considered unclean or weren’t kosher. I no longer felt the need to celebrate biblical holidays, and allowed myself to do whatever I wanted Friday night and all day Saturday … I stopped trying to learn about the Jewish mindset on biblical issues, and regained trust in the scholarship behind mainstream bible translations. My Complete Jewish Bible and all those other HR/TO books and resources went in the trash, and I eventually started attending a regular church.

At the end of it all, I had learned many lessons:

I saw that when I strayed, God would leave the 99 other sheep, and come and get me, and bring me back to the truth.

You can either have the law or Jesus. You cannot mix the old and new covenant. It’s all or nothing.

No one alive today can keep the law in full. There is no temple, no Levitical priesthood, and most of us don’t live in Israel, so we cannot live by the law even if we wanted to.

Beware of the yeast of the Pharisses! The yeast is their teachings. Today’s unbelieving Jewish rabbis are the religious descendants of the Pharisees. They believe and teach what the Pharisees taught. Their teachings are hostile to the gospel, and will lead believers away from Jesus Christ, even if they have good intentions.

The heart of our faith is found in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and faith in him and his message. The gospel is meant to be easily accessible and understood by people of all cultures and languages. Jesus and his blood are the “roots” of the Christian faith, not his culture or the language he spoke. They may be the backdrop of the events of his life, but they can become a major distraction to God himself, if we let them.” https://womenofchristianity.com/testimony-coming-out-of-hebrew-roots-movement/

Conclusion:

Are the Hebrew Roots Movement and Torah Observant Groups A Concern? Does it really matter?

Yes, it does.

The Lord Jesus Christ, His sufferings, death, and resurrection is our only hope.

Just a few closing thoughts:

1. It seems that fairly often, these groups, FFOZ, and Torah Club leaders will charge churches or individuals with believing “replacement theology” or even with being “anti-semitic”, “anti-Jewish” or “anti-Torah”.

While I cannot speak for every church or individual, the people I have known in churches are none of these things. They are loving Christians, who hate no one, and who have compassion on, love, and pray for all the people of the world, indeed for Israel, that all would come to Christ and be saved.

Regarding replacement theology, in the gospels, the Lord Jesus did foretell what would happen to Him and to many in the Jewish nation.  For example, Jesus commended the faith of a Gentile, a Roman Centurion, who came to Him:

“When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”, Matthew 8:10-12

During the last week of His earthly life, while in Jerusalem, the Lord foretold that the Jewish leaders and people would kill and crucify Him in a few days as an ultimate rejection of God and of Christ who had come to them, and the Lord wept for Jerusalem and foretold that they would be judged and face terrible punishment.

He cursed a fig tree that was barren, representing the nation of Israel and people of Jerusalem, which had advantages and appearances of being fruitful, but were truly barren when He came to them.

He told parables about what would happen, that He would be rejected, and that terrible judgement would fall on the nation:

The Lord Jesus said “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen? They say unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, … And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that He spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. Matthew 21:40-43, 45-46

 

We see in the book of Acts that the Lord Jesus sent His apostles to Jerusalem and Judea first, to proclaim the gospel starting with them, however they were rejected, persecuted, driven away, and killed, and we see that Paul turned to the Gentiles (while always continuing to pray and reach out to his brothers and sisters in the flesh, the Jewish people):

“But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”, Acts 13:45-46

 

Later, the Apostle Paul in Romans 9-11 tells us that as a whole, national Israel did reject the gospel and fell and has been hardened, though some are saved, we see from Acts and Romans that since the Jewish people by and large rejected the gospel, the apostles were commanded to turn to the gentiles, and they did so, and many gentiles heard the gospel and believed and were saved and rejoiced.

And so today we are in the days of what may be called the Church age, where all believers, Jews and Gentiles are together as one new man, the body of Christ, the Church.

But Paul tells us that one day, after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, the Lord will again bless national Israel and Israel will see the truth and receive the Messiah and be saved in those days.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”, Romans 11:25-26

Although “blindness in part is happened to Israel” (Romans 11:25),

And “the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 9:30-33),

and “Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” (Romans 10:19-21).

God has not cast away His people Israel (Romans 11:2). He will not cancel the promises and blessings He made with the nation of Israel, He will bless them and save them and fulfill every promise He has made to them, particularly when the Lord comes back to rule and reign over the Earth and to bring in a time of flourishing and joy in His presence.

The Churches I have known have believed and taught these things, while as I said earlier, sincerely loving and respecting the Jewish people. They have not taught what FFOZ constantly charges is “replacement theology”.

Upholding the gospel and the Church’s understanding of Scripture for 2,000 years is not replacement theology or antisemitism. That is not the issue here.

2. There are many other organizations that teach and give understanding into the Torah, the Law of God, Israel, etc, but with none of the alarming statements and doctrinal dangers of First Fruits of Zion or the local Torah Clubs.

For example, the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is an organization that began in the early days of the Holocaust, when Christian pastors and businesspeople becoming aware of the terrible things going on to the Jewish people, prayed, sacrificed, labored, and gave financially to help the Jewish people. The organization continues to this day, and publishes a wonderful magazine called “Israel, My Glory” and also has a website full of articles and resources about the Old Testament, Israel, and the richness and beauty of the Law and the Prophets, but from a Christ-centered, solid doctrinal perspective (For example, see this Friends of Israel Article: https://www.foi.org/2023/09/15/should-christians-celebrate-the-fall-feasts-of-israel/.)

 There are conferences that one can attend, such as the upcoming national Friends of Israel conference called “Proclaim” about “The Biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah”. https://www.foi.org/proclaim/

There are many ways to get involved and many opportunities to learn and grow as a believer and even to volunteer to serve through the Friends of Israel gospel ministry, where one does not have to be concerned about the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry making strange, alarming, or disturbing statements questioning or denying the Trinity, diminishing the deity of Christ,  telling you that the gospel that Christians have believed for 2,000 years is partial and incomplete, that the Churches are preaching an incomplete gospel, that sola Scriptura, Scripture alone, is wrong, or that believers are under the Law or emphasize keeping the Torah or works of the Law instead of Christ and what He has done for us.

Many other Christian organizations have a wonderful teaching ministry, including many Jewish believers in Christ who specialize in teaching regarding Israel, Old Testament Scripture and history from a Christ-centered perspective, who would absolutely deny First Fruits of Zion and the teachings of the Torah Clubs.

My plea to people would be: please do not support organizations like FFOZ that disparage the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the gospel, the Scriptures, the Church, or that teach that believers are under the Law and the whole Torah. There are so many other worthy ministries that do wonderful work, that are doctrinally sound, and that could really use your support! There are many doctrinally sound resources available for people to learn about the Old Testament or Jewish culture and history. There is a Ladies’ Bible Study going on in my own church right now all about the first book of the Torah, the Book of Genesis, and about finding Christ and the gospel in this amazing book of the Bible.

Please support good, solid Christian ministries that are doctrinally sound instead of organizations like FFOZ which have said so many dangerous and alarming things, which people have testified lead people astray. Give these good, solid ministries your support instead of problematic ones like FFOZ.

I have heard local leaders speak about how much they want peace and unity in the churches, and their brothers and sisters in Christ, etc. How about discarding FFOZ materials and not supporting them anymore, because of these alarming and dangerous statements they have made, and just selecting a different Bible study resource for studying the Torah, or the Old Testament prophets or Jewish festivals of the Old Testament? Why does it have to be FFOZ’s materials? Why can’t they just select something else that would be very good, but without all the problematic statements like those ones here?

3. Lastly, if a group is teaching falsehood, or making statements that are very dangerous and misleading like the ones I’ve quoted from FFOZ in this paper, can or should we support it with our attendance, participation, and with finances as we purchase workbooks, curriculum, and videos?

No. There is such a thing as biblical separation.  In matters of great doctrinal importance, especially the soul-saving doctrines of the gospel, the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, believers not being under the Law, we cannot support, endorse, or partake with people who hold to serious error and dangerous or false doctrines that can mislead so many.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”, Romans 16:17 

“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.”, 1 Timothy 6:3-5

Are Torah Observant Groups a concern?

 Yes, there is much more that could be discussed, but I have tried to show here a little of why.

I don’t know if anyone really wants strife or contention. I know I don’t. However, what groups and people teach matters. The true gospel matters. It matters for the eternal salvation, comfort, hope, and joy of souls. We cannot just say nothing while people may be grievously deceived on such vastly, eternally important matters.

My goal in this paper has been to share what I believe are very concerning, alarming, irresponsible, and dangerous statements that come from FFOZ, and other Torah-Observant Groups, and their materials that I believe can lead people to serious falsehood.

My hope is that you will read these statements and understand why I have real concerns about these groups, and why I cannot support them, and my hope is that you will also have these concerns, remain in a solid, gospel-preaching, biblical local church, and choose material to study that will be a blessing to your Christian life, and not something dangerous or misleading, as I believe the statements quoted here show FFOZ and the local Torah Clubs to be.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

 

 

Addendum:

With the quotes and statements about Hebrew Roots and Torah Observance groups given above in mind, I thought it would be fitting to encourage you to read the book of Galatians in the New Testament. Here are passages that seem particularly relevant.

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:6-10

 “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” Galatians 2:11-14

 

“We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16 

 

“For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”, Galatians 2:19-21

 

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”, Galatians 3:1-3

“So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”, Galatians 3:9-14

 

“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.,” Galatians 3:23-29

 

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.,”, Galatians 4:4-11

 

“Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”,  Galatians 4:16 

 

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”, Galatians 4:19-21

 

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”, Galatians 5:1-4

 

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.”, Galatians 5:6-10

“And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”, Galatians 5:11-14

“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”, Galatians 5:18

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”, Galatians 6:1-3

“As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. AmenTo the Galatians written from Rome.”, Galatians 6:12-18

Amen.

Indeed, God forbid that we should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!

May grace and peace through Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.