Why Are We Messianic?
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WHY ARE WE HEBREW MESSIANIC?
In 1976, we, the Palladinos, became born-again in the spirit, with the understanding that the Jesus of the Bible was the Anointed One, the Sacrificed Lamb. However, as we grew in knowledge, searching from church to church to find truth from the Scriptures, we were never completely satisfied with what was being taught. We discovered that to the most degree, either nothing was being taught, or it was just the same material being presented over and over again, or information was being supplied with no Scriptural foundation. We had constant questions. Yet, we never found the answers.
In 1999 after a very interesting experience, we began searching the "complete" Scriptures for truth. It was a long, arduous process, which took several more years before we were able to find the solid path. Yet the LORD did not leave us empty or in want. We soon discovered the error of our ways. First, we were not being Bereans (Acts 17:11), searching the Scriptures to be sure what we were hearing from teachers was truth. Second, we were believing spiritual leaders and teachers because of their "credentials." Once we realized that we had been lead astray, which we had been warned about in the Scriptures, our family decided it was time to hold ourselves accountable before the LORD.
After awhile, seeing that we had "come out of her, "the religious establishments, our family and friends began questioning us about our family's "new religion." They had assumed because we keep the Sabbath (7th day), the Feasts and Holy Days, obey the commandments of the Scriptures, ate Biblically kosher, that somehow we had become "Jewish." However, this is not exactly the case. Let us explain...
The words Jew or Jewish actually stem from the word Judah, which was one of Jacob's children, e.g. the tribe of Judah. This is the same tribe into which Yeshua/Jesus was born. He was of the line of David, the tribe of Judah, and was also known as the Lion of Judah. He was a true Jewish person, not a Gentile, as most of the churches would have us believe.
In order to be Jewish, one must be born of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Benjamin or the tribe of Levi. These three comprised the full tribe or House of Judah, which is separate from the other 10 tribes called Israel. The House of Israel, which is now scattered throughout the world because of their rebellion toward the Almighty, has basically intermixed with Gentile nations (Goyim).
The name Judah means "one who praises Adonai, the Almighty."
There is no "J" sound in Hebrew, which means that the actual word is Yudah or Yehudah. The letter "J" in the English language didn't come into existence until around the1600's. The letter "J" in many countries, even to this day, is still pronounced like a "Y", e.g. Jorgensen as Yorgensen. Please note that Jesus is a Greek transliteration, which has no meaning. His true Name is Yeshua, meaning Savior.
The Scriptures warn us in the book of Revelation that there will be many who will come into the congregations saying that they are Jews but are not. Let's see why this is so.
Revelation 2:9 "I know how you are suffering and how poor you are (though in fact you are rich!), and I know the insults of those who call themselves Jews but aren't - on the contrary, they are a synagogue of the Adversary [Satan].
Revelation 3:9 Here, I will give you some from the synagogue of the Adversary [Satan], those who call themselves Jews but aren't - on the contrary, they are lying - see, I will cause them to come and prostrate themselves at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.
These Jews or Jewish people will even sit in the congregations of those who call themselves followers of YHVH--God's real name in Hebrew as a tetragrammaton. This is because they were most likely "born into the line" (ethnicity) of possibly Judah or Israel, but have no spiritual desire to praise Him. They are Jewish in name only. Therefore, when someone tells us they are Jewish, we have to stop, look and listen. Is there anything about that person or persons that would convict them of being a "praiser of Adonai/God"? Or, are they just of ethnic lineage?
Are we followers of Adonai, the God of Israel and Judah? Yes! Are we praisers of Adonai? Yes! Are we Jewish? No, not in the sense of being from the tribe of Judah. However, we are B'nai Israel, the House of Israel, through ethnicity. Our family lines are Sephardic, of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Italy). We also consider ourselves to be Hebrew, which means to "cross over." We have crossed over from being Greco-Roman, in thought and practice, to a Hebrew way of life, as did Abraham. We no longer consider ourselves Goyim, of the Nations, but of the House of Israel.
Once our family began the journey to discover truth away from the teachings we had been immersed in since 1976, when we first became Believers, we discovered that many things we were taught through the denominational churches were just not provable in Scripture. We found that if we manipulated the words, we could make just about anything seem right, but the more we studied and questioned, the more we received few answers, if any. We tired of twisted truth. The Scriptures call this wickedness, as a wick is twisted to make oil or wax able to be burned.
Our grandmother once told us that anytime one twists the truth, it just becomes a lie. So, we searched diligently–like the Bereans–to find truth. Ah-ha! But where did the Bereans, who were commended in the book of Acts, do their searching?
Acts 17:10-11 But as soon as night fell, the brothers sent Sha'ul [Paul] and Sila [Silas] off to Berea. As soon as they arrived, they went to the synagogue. Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh [Old Covenant] every day to see if the things Sha'ul [Paul] was saying were true.
Please note, they searched the Old Covenant. Remember, there was no New Covenant yet, since these were basically letters to the Jewish congregations. Isn't it amazing that these "Bereans" would be commended for searching through something that we have been taught was old, out of date, done away with after Yeshua/Jesus died and resurrected, etc, etc?
Why would we be told these things? It is because the truth, the real meaning of salvation, the true gospel, is all in the Old Covenant. The Messiah is hidden in all the pages of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible! He is spoken of over and over again in the Prophets and Writing.
Do you know what the TeNaK is? The books of the Old Covenant are called the TeNaK or Tenak. The TeNaK, is comprised of the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible - writings of Moses) the Nevi'im (the Prophets - Daniel, Jeremiah, etc.) and the Ketuvim (the Writings - Psalms, Proverbs, etc.).
All of the love and wisdom of Adonai/God and the knowledge of His Son (God in the flesh) is hidden in the TeNaK, for those who know or are searching for the Savior, to find and enjoy. If you want to know more about this, please go to ASHLEY'S TORAH TIDBITS at levtahorisrael.org. Her weekly TidBits will take you through the Torah with a short study. You will be able to enjoy portions of the Scriptures for one year.
Now, if we were Gentiles, we would be like Ruth, the Moabitess, who married Boaz and became the great-grandmother of King David, which is the line of Messiah Yeshua. Or, Rehab the harlot, who was saved, and her household, by the spies, because all of them trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They, Gentiles, were grafted into the tree of the House of Israel, which is not the "church" or "America." Have you ever considered what Paul says in Romans 11? This is worth the read-time! You might find that these 36 Scripture verses will be a real eye-opener.
Romans 11:1-36 "In that case, I say, isn't it that God has repudiated [disowned] his people?" Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Israel, from the seed of Avraham, of the tribe of Binyamin [Benjamin]. God has not repudiated [disowned] his people, whom He chose in advance. Or don't you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu [Elijah]?
He pleads with God against Israel, " ADONAI, they [Israel]have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I'm the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!"
But what is God's answer to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba'al." It's the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
(Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.) What follows is that Israel has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen [Israel] have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike, just as the Tanakh says, "God has given them a spirit of dullness - eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, right down to the present day."
And David says, "Let their [Israel's] dining table become for them a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a punishment. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can't see, with their backs bent continually."
"In that case, I say, isn't it that they [Israel] have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?" Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them[Israel] to jealousy. Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world - that is, if Isra'el's being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter - how much greater riches will Israel in its fullness bring them!
However, to those of you who are Gentiles I say this: since I myself am an emissary [apostle] sent to the Gentiles, I make known the importance of my work in the hope that somehow I may provoke some of my own people [Israel] to jealousy and save some of them! For if their [Israel's] casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their [Israel's] accepting Him mean? It will be life from the dead!
Now if the challah [braided bread] offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches [Israel] were broken off, and you - a wild olive [Gentiles] - were grafted in among them and have become equal sharers in the rich root [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Messiah] of the olive tree, then don't boast as if you were better than the branches [Israel]! However, if you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you.
So you will say, "Branches [Israel] were broken off so that I [a Gentile] might be grafted in." True, but so what? They [Israel] were broken off because of their lack of trust. However, you [a Gentile] keep your place only because of your trust. So don't be arrogant; on the contrary, be terrified! For if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], he certainly won't spare you! So take a good look at God's kindness and his severity: on the one hand, severity toward those who fell off [Israel]; but, on the other hand, God's kindness toward you [Gentiles] - provided you maintain yourself in that kindness! Otherwise, you too will be cut off!
Moreover, the others [Israel], if they do not persist in their lack of trust, will be grafted in; because God is able to graft them back in. For if you [a Gentile] were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches [Israel] be grafted back into their own olive tree!
For, brothers, I want you to understand this truth which God formerly concealed but has now revealed, so that you won't imagine you know more than you actually do. It is that stoniness, to a degree, has come upon Isra'el, until the Gentile world enters in its fullness; and that it is in this way that all Isra'el will be saved.
As the Tanakh says, "Out of Tziyon [Zion] will come the Redeemer; He will turn away ungodliness from Ya'akov [Jacob] and this will be my covenant with them [Israel], ... when I take away their sins."
With respect to the Good News, they [Israel] are hated for your sake. But with respect to being chosen they [Israel] are loved for the Patriarchs' sake, for God's free gifts and His calling are irrevocable. Just as you yourselves were disobedient to God before but have received mercy now because of Isra'el's disobedience; so also Isra'el has been disobedient now, so that by your showing them the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God's mercy. For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all.
O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable [mysterious] are His judgments! How unsearchable are His ways!
For, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been His counselor?' Or, ‘Who has given Him anything and made Him pay it back?'
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amein. [Emphasis using brackets is ours]
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We, Jewish people and Gentiles, are being grafted in to the true olive tree of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. By His blood we were cleansed of our sin and made ready to partake of the magnificent mysteries, which are hidden in the Torah.
Our Savior is Jewish of the House of Judah. We follow Him in all that He did on earth and taught through His Word, the Scriptures. We cannot tell you that we love our Savior without being obedient to Him and following what He did and taught. He pointed all, Jewish people, Hebrews, Israelites and Gentiles, back to the truth of the Torah and not the traditions of men as taught by most of the churches today.
The Laws of Torah are actually instructions given to us by a loving Father who cares for His children. The Commandments are there for us to follow in order to be healthy, happy, free from continuous sin, and rested every 7th day! None of these commandments will save us. Only the blood of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus can do that by grace through faith and repentance. But Yeshua/Jesus showed us the way to please the Father in Heaven through obedience.
Yeshua/Jesus was obedient in all things–even unto death on our behalf. He kept the 7th day Sabbath, all the Commandments, the Holy Days and Feasts, kosher eating of clean foods, etc. If we say we are "followers" of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, then we must follow what He did! He is our example!
Yeshua came to teach us the true meaning of the Torah and so did His disciples, including, if not especially, Paul. If you read closely, you will notice that the disciples are re-teaching the books of Moses in the true light, true meaning, to the "Jews first" and also to the "Gentiles" who came into the House of Israel through salvation in Messiah. Instead of being Lawless or Instructionless, we now have a "yoke that is easy" through our Messiah and Instructions to keep us on the right path. We joyfully keep these Instructions with gladness in our hearts. May you joyfully become a part of His House and receive the shalom (peace) that passes all understanding.
Here are some verses to ponder:
John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 15:10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in My love - just as I have kept my Father's commands and stay in His love.
Psalms 112:1 Halleluyah! How happy is anyone who fears ADONAI [the LORD], who greatly delights in His mitzvot [ Commandments].
Deu 11:27-28 ...the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot [Commandments] of ADONAI your God that I am giving you today; and the curse, if you don't listen to the mitzvot of ADONAI your God, but turn aside from the way I am ordering you today and follow other gods that you have not known.
Mat 5:17-19 [Yeshua/Jesus said] "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke [jot or tittle] will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot [Commandments] and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. [Emphasis in brackets & bolding is ours]