Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Autistic telepathy and visits to heaven to talk to God? - First Fruits of Zion endorses The Telepathy Tapes
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Professor Solberg and The Bible Roots Ministries joins the dialogue about the dangers of the First Fruits of Zion
I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy to be the primary online voice discussing the First Fruits of Zion these past almost three years. I've put a lot more effort and passion into the effort to warn the Church about FFOZ than I ever imagined I would when I first heard about Torah Clubs in the Fall of 2022. From the beginning the entire Franklin Christian Ministerium has supported me, that has been invaluable. My whole church, including my board, have supported me, that has been crucial. But until now, I had only been able to have private conversations with people in leadership at various groups affected by this movement, the public element was missing. Today that changed. The reach of Professor Solberg's platform is roughly 1,000 times that of my own, this dialogue about FFOZ has needed to be moved into the mainstream conversation within the Church, that reality moved much closer with the release of this interview.
If you're new to my blog, or my YouTube channel, note that all of my research has been primary source. I don't write about what people say about what FFOZ says, I write about what FFOZ teaches in their own publications, the things they choose to publish and profit from. You may not agree with all of my conclusions, that's ok, they come from an Evangelical Baptist perspective, I wouldn't expect them to be universally understood and embraced. If my thoughts get in the way, look at the direct quotes, I flood my posts and videos with them. I believe in the priesthood of all believers, and I believe that the Holy Spirit is more than capable of guiding each follower of Jesus Christ into Truth. Weigh what FFOZ is saying against the Word of God for that is the ultimate judge, not me. I am doing my best to apply God's Word to these weighty matters, if I fall short God's Word will not.
Friday, May 30, 2025
HaYesod's 2023 edition (First Fruits of Zion, Torah Club) heretically redefines grace: "grace is earned" and claims humans can atone for sins by suffering
HaYesod is the primary disciple-training material for the Hebrew Roots Movement aligned organization: The First Fruits of Zion
The following analysis is not based upon this one lesson alone. These same false teachings have appeared in dozens of other Torah Club and FFOZ published materials.
What this lesson reveals is that Torah Club leaders are being taught to embrace these teachings, not gloss over them. The “correct” answers provided are truly damning.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #37: More Gnostic Dualism, pre-existence of the soul, and extra-biblical reliance
“How many opportunities to experience the Messiah and contribute to the redemption do we forfeit every day? He stands at the door and knocks, but the slumbering soul, comfortably tucked inside the physical body, does not want to get out of bed.” – p. 7
Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #36 - Subjective Reality & Diminishing all revelation except what was given to Moses
“Playing on the double meaning of the word – vision and mirror – the Midrash Rabbah contrasts Moses’ exalted level of prophecy against that of the other prophets. All other prophets saw their prophetic visions dimly through nine mirrors.” – p. 18{quoting Leviticus Rabbah 1:14}
Why do I have the feeling that Daniel Lancaster wants me to take the Red Pill? If that Matrix reference didn’t connect with you, in that 1999 movie Keanu Reeve’s character Neo is told by a guide named Morpheus that the reality he thinks that he is living in isn’t real. Not really real anyway, it is just a computer simulation.Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The Dangers of the First Fruits of Zion and their Torah Clubs: summarized in one page
To everyone who follows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
While we all
ought to enthusiastically support deep study of the Bible, including its Jewish
cultural and linguistic roots, all such study should occur within the framework
of a Church history-based orthodoxy, and an Apostolic understanding of the
Gospel. The First Fruits of Zion with
their Torah Clubs, are not an acceptable option.
Why are groups
associated with the Hebrew Roots Movement, like the First Fruits of Zion
dangerous? Ample documentation* has demonstrated
from primary sources, in their own words, that the First Fruits of Zion
organization, and the Torah Clubs materials they publish, are replete with the
following theological errors and/or heresies:
1. A
non-Trinitarian view of God in the forms of two ancient heresies rejected by
the Early Church: Modalism and Subordinationism. Through these heresies, they deny full
personhood and/or full deity to Jesus Christ.
2.
A
foundationally flawed hermeneutic {including the use of paraphrases, “my
translation,” out-of-context quotations, and word substitutions resulting in
more palatable texts} for interpreting scripture that proclaims that all
relevant passages have been wrongly understood throughout Church History, and
in fact mean nearly the opposite of what the Church has nearly universally
taught.
3.
A
consistent hostility toward the Church which is seen as the ‘mission field’ in
need of correction to bring it back to its supposed roots as a Torah observant
movement within Judaism. They teach the
Church should never have existed.
4.
That
the books of Moses, the Torah, are more fully the words of God than other
portions of holy scripture, making them the lens through which all scripture
must be interpreted. Even Jesus Christ,
the eternal Word of God, has no authority to establish anything beyond the
Mosaic Law.
5.
That
Jesus did not fulfill the Mosaic Law, rather it is still operative and
normative for all of God’s people, Jews and Gentiles alike. That it was designed by God to be the only
rubric for holy living for all peoples, in all places, and at all times.
6.
That
there is no covenant with the Gentiles, thus all followers of Jesus Christ who
accept the Gospel must be grafted into Israel by ‘becoming a Jew’ in spirit
through Torah observance.
7.
That
on this basis true Christian discipleship requires the keeping of the Mosaic
Law, including the dietary (kosher), Sabbath, and festival provisions, which is
how Christians demonstrate their love of God as these have been redefined by
FFOZ as the true “fruit of the Spirit.”
If the tree
is diseased, so will its fruit be. Christians have already been warned against
the use of bible study materials produced by the Watchtower Tract Society (JW)
or LDS (Mormon) organizations, and would not use them even if locally 100% of
the parent organization’s theology was not being adopted. The risk that heretical teachings would gain
a foothold is simply too great. The same
danger exists when using materials published by FFOZ. If the desire is to learn about Judaism or
from Messianic Judaism, a host of materials from an orthodox point-of-view are
available for Christians to utilize. To
use that which comes from the FFOZ is an unnecessary risk, in addition,
purchases support an organization whose stated goals would harm the Church and
warp the Gospel.
In the end,
while protesting that they do not offer a works-based salvation, and claiming
that faith in Jesus is sufficient, this movement is built upon and structured
around the claim that all faithful Christians will begin observing the Law of
Moses once they become followers of Jesus, that faithful Christians will, in
essence, live like Jews. They may not outright
claim the Law of Moses as the gatekeeper to salvation and Christian
discipleship, but when you make it the gauge of genuine faithfulness you are
adding it to the Gospel message, casting dispersion upon the faith of 99% of
the world’s Christians, both past and present, and spreading doubt and division
within the Church. This movement is no
benign appreciation of the scriptures, but rather an aggressively proselytizing
misappropriation of them contrary to the established teachings of Orthodox,
Catholic, Protestant Churches, and Messianic Jewish congregations, alike.
Given this,
it is necessary to warn individual Christians and congregations against
participation in these groups, and call upon those who do so now, and
especially those who are promoting them, to repent and return to the faith our
ancestors rejoiced in as, “you are not under the law, but under grace.”
(Romans 6:12)
* For documentation, see the page on this blog with the same title.
Friday, August 16, 2024
Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #26: End Times speculation based on Young Earth Creationism combined with the Epistle of Barnabas
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Building an End Times chronology on the pseudepigraphal (i.e. the Apostle Barnabas had nothing to do with writing it so it lacks any genuine authority) Epistle of Barnabas. |
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Predicting that we are about to be in the last 1/7th of God's redemptive program based on the combination of Young Earth Creationism (i.e. the Earth is 6,000 years old) and the Epistle of Barnabas. |
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Using brackets, {In the Messianic Era} and {In the World to Come} to change the meaning of the book of Hebrews away from its intended target of comforting the Church today. |
Friday, July 26, 2024
Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #25 - As a disciple of Jesus, do you need to "compensate" for not being able to offer animal sacrifices through a Levitical priest at the Temple? First Fruits of Zion teaches that you do.
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The Straw Man in action again, these texts are not what prove that Jesus' death and resurrection canceled the sacrifices, but plenty of others do just that. |
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Three statements on one page claiming the animal sacrifices must continue to be made. |
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A question that assumes the false premise that there is a "lack" of sacrifices. |
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God does indeed delight in obedience more than sacrifice, but in the New Covenant nobody needs to "compensate" for not giving the latter with the former. |
I think this line of thought will seem rather bizarre to most of the world's Christians. For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins through his accomplished sacrifice of atonement (the resurrection proving it was accepted), the idea that the animal sacrifices of the Law of Moses would somehow still play a role flies in the face of what we've been taught from the New Testament. The following, false, premises are demonstrated as being a part of FFOZ's teachings in The Beginning of Wisdom, lesson 25:
1. That the animal sacrifices of the Law of Moses through the Levitical priesthood and the Temple will never cease.
2. That Jesus did NOT bring the sacrificial system to an end through his own death and resurrection.
3. Therefore, all followers of Jesus "owe" God animal sacrifices, which they cannot make without a priesthood or a Temple, and thus all followers of Jesus must "compensate" for that deficiency with other Torah-observant acts of devotion.
In the end, not a single New Testament author even hints at either of these premises, let alone that outrageous conclusion. Quite the opposite in fact occurs as Jesus' words in the Gospels combined with the writings of Paul, and especially the book of Hebrews, paint a picture of freedom in Christ over and over again. Jesus fulfilled the Law, from first to last. Jesus is the Great High Priest, we need no other. Jesus is the Holy Temple, we need no building. Jesus is the Lamb of God, we absolutely need no other sacrifice.
What is our "sacrifice" as followers of Jesus that is acceptable to God?
1. Our whole lives:
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2. Supporting Gospel witness to the Lost:
Philippians 4:18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
3. Praise:
Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
4. Doing what is good, sharing with others:
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
5. "Spiritual sacrifices":
1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
This isn't a comprehensive list, just the ways in which the Paul, Peter, and the author of Hebrews wrote about sacrifices with respect to what we owe God. Any mention of Levitical priests, the Temple in Jerusalem, or the blood of animals? Nope. There's a reason for that, and it is one that FFOZ cannot accept.