There is much discussion in differing perspectives on who the Jews today are. Many websites, including both Christian and Messianic, strive to show that the “Jews” are only of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and often include Levite. The OT shows us that the remnant of all tribes which remained faithful to God were taken into Judah. We see that even during the time of Rehoboam’s reign [1000 BCE] those from all tribes joined themselves to Judah.

[some of the following information is taken from:

http://www.seekgod.ca/hr/hrfaqs2.htm

2Chronicles 11:16 And after that, out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

2Chronicles 15:9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they came over to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

During the deportation of the ten tribes, some of them were left behind, intermarried with the Assyrians and became the Samaritans. They have not forgotten who they are after these 2000 plus years.

By the time of Ezra [600 BCE] and Nehemiah [500 BCE], those of the tribes that had been scattered to Assyria and Babylon that wished to return did so.

Ezra 2:70 So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their towns, and all Israel in their towns.

Ezra 6:16 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,

Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, who had come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

Nehemiah 5:8 And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the nations; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

After the exile of both kingdoms, and following the return from Babylon, there followed a return of the exiles as one not two kingdoms. Note Nehemiah makes reference to those that were sold to the nations, not just Babylon. When Babylon fell to Persia, the whole empire that had previously been under the Assyrians also came under Cyrus. Therefore not just those exiled to Babylon returned but any of those that wished to do so that were had been there from the Assyrian exile. Also, offerings were made for Israel after they returned not just for Judah.

Ezra 8:35 Also the children of those that had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve male goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.

By the time of Jesus we see that there were Jews from every tribe in existence and they weren’t lost, they knew who they were. ALL of Israel was scattered abroad, not just the northern tribes. Jesus also referred to Pharisees and scribes as Jews. Were all Pharisees from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levite?

Luke 2:36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I [Paul] also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

In the NT the term “Israel” and “Jew” are synonymous and refer to all twelve tribes, as it noted in these texts. All twelve tribes kept the feasts, not just the tribe of Judah.

John 2:13 And the Jews’ [2453] passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

John 7:2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.

G2453
Ἰουδαῖος
Ioudaios
Thayer Definition:
1) Jewish, belonging to the Jewish nation
2) Jewish as respects to birth, origin, religion

The Jewish nation is all twelve tribes.

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Matthew 27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.

John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. 33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

From Acts 2, it is evident that all the tribes were found all over. As Acts 2 states, “Jews” from many countries had come to celebrate Pentecost, one of the three required feasts for men to attend. This means Jews from all 12 tribes, not one house or the other.

Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Acts 2:22 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:
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

James wrote to the twelve tribes that were scattered, note scattered, not “lost”. To those that like to twist this to mean that James was somehow writing to the lost tribes, would have meant ten tribes not twelve. And how would James have known they existed if they were lost – how would the letter ever reach them?

The Jews today consider themselves to be one nation comprised of all twelve tribes. Many Jews know which tribe they are affiliated with, especially the Levites due to their priesthood and the future institution of the third Temple according to Judaism.

From a Jewish website:

“The tribulations of exile and dispersion have blurred the delineation of Israel into its twelve tribes. Today, most Jews have no certain knowledge as to which tribe they belong. But the concept of “one nation,” distinguished by various tribal identities, remains.”

“How, indeed, do a people comprised of various tribes, each with its own character, temperament, talents and vocation, achieve union as “one nation”?

One approach is to focus on our “interdependence”: to appreciate that since we share a common goal–namely, to build for G-d “a dwelling in the physical world”–and since we each have a crucial role to play in the achievement of this goal, our various “tribes” and types complement and fulfill one another to create a single people. In other words, our differences themselves are what unite us. Since the entity “Israel” and what it stands for would be incomplete were any one “tribe” missing from the equation, no Jew is fully Jewish without his relationship with every other type of Jew.”

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cd…Tribes.htm

Taken from another website giving the history of Israel:

Quote:“In Biblical Israel, the tribes were organized into a northern and a southern kingdom, and the southern kingdom developped a distinct identity as the “Jews” as 722 BC, when the Assyrians conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and sent its populace into exile. Many Israelites from the northern kingdom fled to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. At this point in time Judah’s population melded into a conglomerate of people from all the Israelite tribes. In 586 BC the nation of Judah was conquered by Babylon. About 50 years later, in 537 BC the Persians (who conquered Babylon 2 years before) allowed Jews to move back to Jerusalem. By the end of this era, members of the tribes seem to have abandoned their individual identities.

Today’s Jews are mostly descended from the Israelites of the Kingdom of Judah, and thus are often identified as Israelites. Note that over time people joined the Jews, and married with the descendants of the Israelites. The number of converts is not trivial, but not so large as to swamp out the origin. It is thus fair to say that Jews today are descendants of those Israelites who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, along with many converts who joined them.

Jews today are not descendants from only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone, but in fact are descendants of Israelites from all the other tribes of Israel (see below), as well as the converts to Judaism who joined them.

Most people believe that the southern Kingdom was only populated by the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, but this is not exactly so. Prior to King Saul, Israel was divided by its tribes with certain leaders from various tribes becoming judges of the tribe or surrounding tribes to fight the enemies of Israel. This is reflected in the book of Judges. Saul was selected as king, but after he acted rashly, the Bible says that God rejected his kingship and sought one who would replace him. David was then selected to be king, and his descendants were to rule over the House of Israel. For two generations, Israel had been united first under David for 33 years and remained so under Solomon for 40 more years.

Eventually, Israel suffered a civil war in 922 BC which split it into two parts. Jeroboam, Solomon’s assistant, rejected the leadership of Solomon’s son Rehoboam who wanted to tax the people heavily and this led to the revolt of the northern tribes and to the establishment of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel. It consisted of nine landed tribes: Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad, and some of Levi (which had no land allocation). This makes ten tribes, which later became known as “the lost ten tribes”. However, Manasseh and Ephraim technically count as just one full tribe, so there were really eight full landed tribes, and part of one tribe without land. Samaria was its capital.
Judah, the southern Kingdom, had Jerusalem as its capital and was led by King Rehoboam. It was populated by the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon (and also some of Levi). Simeon and Judah later merged together, and Simeon lost its separate identity.

In 722 BC the Assyrians, under Shalmaneser, and then under Sargon II, conquered Israel (the northern Kingdom), destroyed its capital Samaria, and sent the Israelites into exile and captivity. Much of the nine landed tribes of the northern kingdom become “lost.” However, what is less commonly known is that many people from the conquered northern kingdom fled south to safety in Judea, the Southern Kingdom, which maintained its independence.

Thus, Judah then was populated with Israelites from Judah, Benjamin, Shimeon, some of Levi, and many from all of the other tribes as well. Today’s Jews are descended from the inhabitants of this kingdom.”

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclop…of_Israel/

The Jews today agree that they are descended from all twelve tribes and do not differentiate tribal affiliation in order to be called a Jew.

Peter and the other apostles understood that Jew and Gentile were one under Christ and all are saved by God’s grace through faith, not by the law.

Every single person that claims to keep the law of Moses and advocates it must be kept fails. Because the very parameters within the law keep it from being kept without the temple, without the Levitical priesthood, and if even practicing Jews in Israel can keep less than 300, the dilemma becomes if one is required according to God in the law—to keep ALL of it– or face the curses for not and there is no verse anywhere in there to allow not keeping it ALL if one is bound to it—all those saying they keep it are lying–and breaking another commandment—so please before accusing, consider the implications.

Because Paul, Peter, Silas, Barnabas and other Jewish believers gave witness they could be with the Gentiles and not live as a Jew. Because Christ delivered the final sacrifice and removed the law out of the way so all people would have equal access based on the very basic reality that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The law made no one righteous–and no one or no sacrifice or works can make us clean or acceptable to God, except through Christ, who can make us clean. Acts 15 tells that those Jewish believers who were commanding that new believers be circumcised and keep the law of Moses—-were subverting the souls of those they told, according to the apostle James and the other apostles and elders of the churches.

Act 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

subverting means>

G384
ἀνασκευάζω
anaskeuazō
Thayer Definition:
1) to pack up baggage in order to carry it away to another place
1a) to move one’s furniture (when setting out for some other place)
2) of an enemy
2a) dismantling, plundering
3) of a place
3a) to overthrow, ravage destroy towns lands etc.
4) to turn away violently from a right state, to unsettle, subvert
Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G303 (in the sense of reversal) and a derivative of G4632

So to say those in Christ must be circumcised and keep the law is destroying their souls. That’s quite a burden to acquire and have on judgment day.

Peter said the Gentiles were no different than Jewish believers, and were made clean by faith in Christ, which is the true circumcision of the heart, not the body. He then asked why did any of them expect to put the yoke on Gentiles that the fathers couldn’t bear—and which they–the Jewish believers including the apostles– couldn’t bear. Notice that–it was meaning those from the time of Moses to then, and they as Jews were not able to bear that yoke; no one could keep it perfectly. So why expect Gentiles to?

Peter went so far as to say this concerning Jews and Gentiles, “… put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples…”

In other words, who did they think they were to challenge and try to change the message and Truth of the Gospel and the New Covenant, and try to burden new believers with the yoke that was taken away with Christ dying on the cross. And the truth that faith from Christ causes circumcision of the heart, and cleanses that which was unclean. For all. Jew and Gentile. There aren’t 2 different gospels and 2 different ways to live for Christ.

What was the yoke in question? What was being discussed? Circumcision and commanding the keeping of the law of Moses. That was the yoke the fathers nor they could bear.

The yoke was not something else as some try to say. Many Messianics and Hebrew Roots proponents like to say that the yoke was the “oral law”. But “fathers” in that text is defined as the fathers of Israel, meaning ancestors to those at Mt Sinai where the law was given to the children of Israel. The contrast of the burden of that yoke that Peter said the fathers nor they could bear, is found with Jesus saying,

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29. 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. 30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

The yoke of the law was not on Abraham, but on Moses and the people of the covenant. Paul encouraged against being caught up in trying to keep the law of Moses by comparing it to being entangled with the “yoke of bondage.”

Galatians 5:1-4 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

People who advocate the keeping of the law of Moses, are trying to be justified by the law, which they can’t keep. Therefore, they are fallen from grace, according to the Scriptures. Anything believers do is to be for the glory of God and sharing the gospel. That is what the apostle Paul exemplified. Circumcision, as part of the discussed issues, did not come from the law of Moses, but was given to Abraham, after the promise was given to him by God and before he was circumcised. So that all those who walked by faith could be heirs of the promise. Circumcision became part of the continuing covenant with Abraham under the Mosaic law, but the promise had nothing to do with the law of Moses, other than to point to Christ and be a shadow of what was to come.

Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Act 13:40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
Act 13:41 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.

http://www.seekgod.ca/forum/showthread.php?tid=504

Labyrinths seem to have made their way into most religious venues, including  Christianity.  I ran across an interesting article on labyrinths, which I found to be quite informative.   Included here are several quotes, but the full article is well worth the read.  The link for it is at the end.

The Labyrinth Journey:

Walking the Path to Fulfillment?

By Carl Teichrib

Forcing Change: www.forcingchange.org

——————————————————————————–

“Symbols are keyholes to doors in the walls of space, and through them man peers into Eternity…Symbolism, then, is the divine language, and its figures are a celestial alphabet…”- Manly P. Hall [1].

“…symbolical rites are the external expressions of man’s inward desire to unite with Divinity.” – Roberta H. Lamerson, F.R.C. [2].

“Whilst we cannot be exactly sure what the labyrinths were used for, they were clearly a symbol of the Christian way, representing the path of the soul through life.” – About Labyrinths and Mazes [3].

——————————————————————————–

I was struck by the simplicity of the above statement: that labyrinths are “clearly a symbol of the Christian way.” An interesting position, especially given the fact that the authors of this particular quote admit, “we cannot be exactly sure what the labyrinths were used for…”

We live in a day and age where many “new things” are sweeping through the Christian church. Some of these alternative directions are simply a reflection of changes in style and format. However, in our exploration towards alternative forms of spiritual expression – particularly as we try to build relevancy in a post-modern culture – it is imperative that doctrinal discernment and discretionary principles come into play. This is especially true as society rapidly embraces a plethora of alternative spiritual practices, beliefs, and paths. Sadly, we as Christians often flounder in doing our homework, and in that vein we may inadvertently open our congregations to highly questionable choices and spiritual experiences.

Paradoxically, while the evangelical Christian community talks about “spiritual warfare” and “putting on the full amour of God,” many of these same churches can be found embracing that which they claim to counter. In seeking relevancy, we have become dangerously “experiential,” and old forms of mysticism are becoming center-pieces in “experiences of faith.”

The labyrinth prayer-walk, which follows a single winding path to a central location, is a case in point. Primarily jump-started by a UK-based Christian movement in alternative spiritual expressions and by an influential San Francisco cathedral, denominations around the world are embracing labyrinths as a viable part of the spiritual journey. But are labyrinths part of the Christian encounter, as suggested by the third introductory quote above?

Understand, Christians looking for ways to bring in new relevancy within church worship did not rediscover the labyrinth as a spiritual tool. As we shall see, it’s been part of the esoteric world for a very long time. Which is why, today, labyrinth walks and “prayer journeys” are being promoted by Rosicrucian groups [4], at New Age festivals and celebrations [5], and throughout the neo-pagan world. Not surprisingly, one of America’s largest witch, shaman, and neo-pagan assemblies, the 2005 Pagan Spirit Gathering at Wisteria, OH, held a night-time Summer Solstice Labyrinth ritual, which was described as a “transformative, walking meditation through an all night labyrinth formed by 1000 lighted candles” [6].

———-
The primary historical focal point for the lore of the labyrinth goes back to Cretan and Greek tales of Queen Pasiphaë, her perverse sexual desire for a specific sacrificial bull, an abominable act of bestiality, and the birth of a strange hybrid offspring – the dreaded Minotaur, which lived in a labyrinth built to cage him [7].

Each year, King Minos, the husband of Pasiphaë, demanded that seven boys and seven girls be given as a sacrificial tribute to be devoured by the Minotaur. One year, a hero named Theseus accompanied the children. Taking a ball of twine, he unravelled the string as he went through the labyrinth, giving him a trail leading back out. Once inside the labyrinth, Theseus followed the maze to it’s center, where he battled with the Minotaur and eventually beat the creature to death.

The labyrinth containing this Minotaur was not the typical single-path labyrinth of today, but rather a complex maze containing halls and chambers. However, esoteric philosophers have long understood that the Minotaur maze directly corresponds to the ancient (and now modern) spiritually-connected labyrinth walk; the long soul journey with its many twists and turns, the ultimate arrival at the central convergence point, the struggle with the inner monster – and the final victory over the forces of darkness and ignorance (which can only happen when one is illumined at the center), and the repeated journey back to wholeness and the light of day. This esoteric significance of the Cretan story has never been lost on the initiates of the Mystery Schools.

Don’t forget, this Grecian/Cretan story was immersed in the pagan religious context of the day; that’s the metaphysical origin of the labyrinth as we can trace it. Hence the story of Pasiphaë, with its labyrinth journey and inner battle, is of interest first and foremost to the world of occult lore: for the simple reason that this is the intended context.

————–

On the mystical journey to spiritual fulfillment, the middle-eye of the labyrinth becomes a place of divine illumination. Even Kimberly Lowelle, the President of The Labyrinth Society – a network of labyrinth scholars and enthusiasts – recognizes this basic function. “The labyrinth is an archetype of transformation. Its transcendant nature knows no boundaries, crossing time and cultures with ease. The labyrinth serves as a bridge from the mundane to the divine…” [10]

————–

“Labyrinths are temples that enhance and balance and bring a sense of the sacred – a place where we can confirm our unity with the cosmos, awaken our vital force and elevate our consciousness. These structures are space/time temples where we can behold realities that oddly enough transcend space and time. The orientation, form and geometry of a labyrinth has symbolic as well as spacial [sic] importance. It is a mirror for the divine…

…Moving through a Labyrinth changes ordinary ways of perception connecting the inner and the outer, the right brain and the left brain, the involutional and the evolutional through a series of paths that represent the realms of the Gods and Goddesses. These realms are associated with planetary movement as a process that induces Union with the One.” [12]
Divine illumination is the end-goal of esoteric philosophy; it’s the central arena of occultism.

Manly P. Hall, one of the 20th century’s greatest esoteric philosophers and an eminent Masonic historian, tells us that the labyrinth was symbolic of man’s search for truth [13]. Other occult scholars tell us that the labyrinth symbolized to the people “the difficulty of finding the Path to God” [14]. All of this points to the same thing – the mystical realization of our own divinity.

As Hall states in one of his earlier books, “Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being molded. When his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood…” [15]. Rosicrucian authority Christian Bernard explains this mystical goal as the building and unfolding of the inner Temple, “The Temple of the Universe, the Temple of the Earth and the Temple of Life are only one in the Temple of Man. This is why the time has come to work towards rebuilding it, for the Messianic Light must emanate from the Heavenly Jerusalem which vibrates within us.” [16] Laying it out very plainly, Annie Besant – an early Theosophical leader – simply said, “Man is not to be compelled; he is to be free. He is not a slave, but a God in the making” [17].

—————-

Freemasonry: when the Masonic candidate undergoes his initiation, he is led on an invisible path from station to station throughout the Lodge room. Each point and part of this journey is given an exoteric explanation – that is, the real meanings are cloaked in allegory and symbolism. After completing the journey around the Lodge, he is led to the center of the room where he kneels before an altar. The Worshipful Master asks what the candidate most desires, and the initiate responds with “Light” [20]. Know this, the light requested is not incandescent light or some other physical light energy, but spiritual illumination [21].

Order of the Golden Dawn: Initiations rites such as the Ceremony of the Grade of Philosophus have the candidate embark on a spiritual journey, following an invisible yet tangible path throughout the Lodge room. This journey, like that of Freemasonry, is intended to elevate the candidate’s level of transformative enlightenment [22].

Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis: In AMORC’s Temple ritual, Second Portal, the student partakes in an allegorical journey searching for light and knowledge. While engaged in the ritual, the student follows a path to each point on the compass, and returns to a central triangle. Again, like the two other illustrations above, this act is part of the mystical journey towards “light” and cosmic unity [23].

Order of the Eastern Star: As a co-Masonic body, the OES engages in a series of ritualistic initiations. Unlike Freemasonry, the OES ritual work is performed on a giant floor-rug pentagram. This pentagram, with an altar placed in its center, is called a Labyrinth. Each of the various initiation rites – journeys on the path to greater understanding – takes place in and around this Labyrinth [24]. Beulah Malone, Past Grand Matron and Secretary of the OES explains,

“The winding in and out of the labyrinth symbolizes the human soul stumbling and struggling through life; learning by mistakes and experiences that the way leading to the supreme life and to God is not easy but is a way of testing one’s power and strength.

By following the examples symbolized in the lives of the heroines of our Order [Author's note: this is part of the OES Labyrinth journey], we may come into a full light of His Star and into wisdom and understanding. The great magnet of our Star as it shines forth in the world is missioned to bring Unity, the Truth of Fatherhood of God, and Brotherhood of Man.” [25]
And herein lies the deeper spiritual meaning of the labyrinth-walk that has become so fashionable today. It’s the symbolic journey of illumination, completely spiritual in nature, and dependent on our works – the “journey,” or the “testing [of] one’s power and strength.”

The path to the center of the labyrinth is as the invisible but tangible path leading to the esoteric altar – it’s an initiation into the mystical.

——————-

Hundreds of Christians have taken part in labyrinth prayer walks, and many churches across North America and Europe are embracing this tool as a means to expand their spiritual experience. The Rev. Jill Geoffrion, a “certified labyrinth facilitator” and author of such books as Christian Prayer and Labyrinths and Praying the Labyrinth, writes,

“We are currently in a period of historic labyrinth revival. Churches, retreat centers and Christian camps are placing these prayer tools inside and outside. Christians all over the world are installing labyrinths in their yards and gardens. Many are using the labyrinths as a ministry tool, bringing portable versions to prisons, national denominational conferences and church group meetings. It is conservatively estimated that there are over 5,000 labyrinths in the United States alone. God is blessing the use of the labyrinth; many are being drawn closer to Jesus, experiencing healing and gaining spiritual clarity as they pray on its path.” [26]

On her labyrinth prayer website, Geoffrion offers suggested prayers for different labyrinth events. In dedicating a new labyrinth, she suggests that those in attendance form a circle on the pattern and extend “the energy that is in our hearts and minds through their hands towards the labyrinth.” Following this exercise is a meditative time where each person physically lays hands on the labyrinth and calls forth “the image of a loved one walking this labyrinth and receiving what is needed.” After more “imaging,” she recommends this responsive prayer,

“Community: We dedicate this labyrinth to spiritual awakening and reawakening.
One: With hearts extending in many directions, Let us pray…Sacred Sustainer, Way to wholeness, Creator of possibilities, Supporter of change, Forgiving Releaser, Freedom, Honesty, Wisdom, Hope, Joy…we thank You for the beautiful spiritual tool on which we are standing…” [27]

Geoffrion suggests other reflective meditations for the labyrinth, including short prayers from the “Christian Tradition,” “Egyptian Tradition,” “Hindu Tradition,” and “Sufi Tradition” [28].

——————–

For Christians holding to the exclusive message of Jesus Christ in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” a serious rift is now encountered. It’s the dilemma that exists between what Geoffrion’s first quote described verses the religious pluralism that the labyrinth appears to propagate. And because of the nature and metaphysical history of the labyrinth, this spiritual pluralism is inescapable. However, this ever-widening religious inclusiveness – which is the expression of the esoteric idea of the Fatherhood of God – shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, in the labyrinth experience every path is relevant, every road is right, every religion is valid.

—————–

Grace [Cathedral], San Francisco’s prominent Episcopal Church, has been North America’s “pathfinder” congregation in the labyrinth movement, hosting prayer walks on their two labyrinths for years. Moreover, Grace’s outdoor labyrinth is open 24 hours, and the church now has an involved global networking organization dedicated to advancing the labyrinth experience. Hence, Grace has been viewed by many Christian labyrinth advocates as the driving influence for this new spiritual expression in North America.

There’s no doubt that one reason for Grace Cathedral’s success is their connection to Chartres Cathedral in France. As an ancient medieval church, Chartres hosts an original pattern that is today’s recognized prototype for the Christian prayer walk. Grace meticulously copied Chartres, has marketed it very well, and is now a major spokes-church for the Chartres experience. Consider Grace’s website titled “Walking the Labyrinth: Reflections from Chartres, “A profound meditation tool, a metaphor for the spiritual path, a feminist Christian icon, a symbol of Mary or even all Christianity, even perhaps an almost cult-like centerpiece of a movement – the labyrinth is, most everyone can agree, a powerful inspiration.” [29]

The labyrinth exercise, Grace further explains, should be viewed in three parts,

“Purgation (Releasing) ~ A releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. This is the act of shedding thoughts and distractions. A time to open the heart and quiet the mind.
Illumination (Receiving) ~ When you reach the center, stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive.
Union (Returning) ~ As you leave, following the same path out of the center as you came in, you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher Power, or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for.” [32]
As an institution, Grace is no ordinary church. Not only has it been extremely influential in propagating the labyrinth prayer walk, it has been a hotbed for global interfaith work.
In the 1990’s William Swing was Bishop of Grace. During the 1995 United Nations 50th Anniversary, Swing proclaimed that Grace would work towards the building of a global interfaith network. After an intense amount of travel and lobbying, Swing succeeded in forming the United Religions Initiative – one of the world’s leading UN affiliated inter-religious partnerships. Today, the URI is an active player in advancing global religious unity.

Why does this matter? Remember all the connections between various esoteric philosophies with the labyrinth concept? A parallel runs between both themes; Unity. As a spiritual interface, and as Grace Cathedral reminded us, the mystical labyrinth belongs to “all religions traditions.”

Grace is open about the deeper meanings of the labyrinth. On the front piece to their labyrinth website, Grace states,

“The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.” [30]

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Reiki Master Kate McManus, in her article “Walking the Fire Labyrinth,” tells of her friend’s spiritual journey.

“This year a friend mentioned an event that was to be held further out west a week after our winter magic festival. She described it as a fire labyrinth ritual in which a stone labyrinth would be lit at night to be walked with conscious intent and so mark the end of the year and begin a new one, a shedding of the old and birthing of the divine child.” [35]

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In an earlier quote by the Rev. Jill Geoffrion, she proclaimed that “God is blessing the use of the labyrinth; many are being drawn closer to Jesus, experiencing healing and gaining spiritual clarity as they pray on its path.”

On the surface this sounds great. But is God really blessing this “new thing”? Moreover, can God bless something that has its origins in esoteric doctrine and ancient pagan mythologies? Adding to its historical pagan significance is the fact that the labyrinth has never lost its occult meaning. As mentioned earlier in the article, labyrinths are still being used, and will continue to be used, as an instrument of pagan spirituality.

If God is going to bless labyrinth prayer journeys, how is He going to deal with Deuteronomy 12:1-14, 18:9-13 and Exodus 34:10-17? In each of these Scripture passages God explicitly tells His people to refrain from anything used in pagan practices. Moreover, the entire book of Jeremiah is a warning against involvement in alternative religious practices.

Furthermore, if God is going to bless labyrinth prayer journeys, how is He going to excuse the interfaith aspect that is common throughout the movement? John 14:6 clearly states that the only path to the Father is through Jesus Christ, and by no other way.

Yes, the majority of Christians would affirm that their labyrinth prayer walk is completely focused on Jesus Christ. That may be true, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the labyrinth is, by its theological nature, an inter-religious and deeply mystical device. If God is going to bless the labyrinth experience, how is He going to deal with 2 Corinthians 6:14-16?

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?…”

http://www.forcingchange.org/the_labyrinth_journey

Here is another excellent article from Joyfullygrowingingrace on “Midrash”.  Enjoy!

http://joyfullygrowingingrace.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/hebrew-roots-movement-the-use-of-midrash/

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Hebrew Roots Movement – The Use of Midrash

Something that comes up repeatedly when one is exposed to those in the Hebrew Roots/Messianic Judaism movements is their primary method of interpreting Scripture called “midrash”.   In various venues I’ve seen those in the HR/MJ camp invoke superior knowledge and insight rendered by the use of midrash, which they imply means “context” -  just from a decidedly Jewish point of view.  They appeal to the Christian believer’s affinity for context by saying things like, “The Scriptures were written by Hebrews, about Hebrews, for Hebrews”, making their approach seem to make perfect sense.  Never mind that if we really look at the actual context of several of the Epistles, the “by Hebrews, about Hebrews, for Hebrews” shtick doesn’t hold up.  But I digress.

After all, as Christian believers, we’re all for looking at the Scriptures in context!  Considering a Scripture passage’s author, time of writing, the history of the day, who the passage was written to/about, the cultural traditions/implications of all of those things, etc., etc. - we find that those things give us a better understanding of many biblical texts.  For those who are serious about understanding the Scriptures, well, context is our thing!

That said . . .

While context may or not be an element of midrash, it is at best a fragmentary element, as you will see below.  As you will also see below, even if a midrash does contain even an element of context, the subjectivity of midrash cancels out any context because of that subjectivity!  Add to that the rabbinic prejudices and the potential mystical components of midrash, and, well . . . just keep reading . . .

Let’s look at just what is Midrash:

From Faqs.org:
Midrash minimizes the authority of the wording of the text as communication, normal language. It places the focus on the reader and the personal struggle of the reader to reach an acceptable moral application of the text. While it is always governed by the wording of the text, it allows for the reader to project his or her inner struggle into the text. This allows for some very powerful and moving interpretations which, to the ordinary user of language, seem to have very little connection with the text. The great weakness of this method is that it always threatens to replace the text with an outpouring of personal reflection. At its best it requires the presence of mystical insight not given to all readers.

From Wikipedia:
Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש‎; plural midrashim, lit. “to investigate” or “study”) is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact, but comparative (homiletic) method of exegesis (hermeneutic) of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes. The term midrash can also refer to a compilation of homiletic teachings (commentaries) on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), in the form of legal and ritual (Halakhah) and legendary, moralizing, folkloristic, and anecdotal (Aggadah) parts.

What is PaRDeS? Also from Wikipedia:
The term, sometimes also spelled PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the name initials of these four approaches, which are:

• Peshat (פְּשָׁט) — “plain” (simple) or the direct meaning.
• Remez (רֶמֶז) — “hints” or the deep (allegoric) meaning beyond just the literal sense.
• Derash (דְּרַשׁ) — from Hebrew darash: “inquire” (seek) — the comparative (midrashic) meaning, as given through similar occurrences.
• Sod (סוֹד) (pronounced with a long O as in gold) — “secret” (mystery) or the mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.

Each type of Pardes interpretation examines the extended meaning of a text. As a general rule, the extended meaning never contradicts the base meaning. The Peshat means the plain or contextual meaning of the text. Remez is the allegorical meaning. Derash includes the metaphorical meaning, and Sod represents the hidden meaning. There is often considerable overlap, for example when legal understandings of a verse are influenced by mystical interpretations or when a “hint” is determined by comparing a word with other instances of the same word.

From My Jewish Learning:
Midrash: The Interpretive Tradition
Midrash is a tool of interpretation which assumes that every word, letter, and even stroke of the pen in the Torah has meaning. Midrash Aggadah focuses on biblical narratives, Midrash Halakhah interprets legal passages. In modern times, midrash can include any retellings, additions, or twists on Torah stories.

From Jewish Virtual Library’s Glossary:
Midrash
(pl. midrashim). From darash, “to inquire,” whence it comes to mean “exposition” (of scripture). Refers to the “commentary” literature developed in classical Judaism that attempts to interpret Jewish scriptures in a thorough manner. Literary Midrash may focus either on halaka, directing the Jew to specific patterns of religious practice, or on (h)aggada, dealing with theological ideas, ethical teachings, popular philosophy, imaginative exposition, legend, allegory, animal fables—that is, whatever is not halaka.

From VirtualReligion.net:
Midrash
Hebrew term for “Interpretation” or “Exposition.” The word generally used for any written or oral commentary on a biblical text. The original purpose of midrash was to resolve problems in the Hebrew text of the Bible. As early as the 1st c. CE rabbinic principles of hermeneutics & philology were used to bring the interpretation of difficult passages in the literal text of scripture into line with the religious & ethical values of the teachers. This method of interpretation was eventually expanded to provide scriptural pretexts to justify oral tradition. Thus, midrash exposes the values & worldview of the rabbinic interpreter & audience rather than the original intention of the author of the biblical text.

There is more information about midrash online and a myriad of websites out there with “midrashic” points of view, but one gets the general idea from the references above.

When one uses a midrash as a lens through which to interpret Scripture, based on the above it is likely that that person is seeking to mold Scripture to a predetermined opinion or belief system, rather than seeking to mold their opinion or belief system to what Scripture actually says. Even if one is sincere in their desire to seek truth using midrash, the method of midrash is fundamentally flawed, from its subjective nature (not to mention its rabbinic prejudice) to the possibility of mystical influence.

It is also interesting to note the Scripture passages that are targeted for midrash within the HR/MJ belief system.  Those passages are not limited to Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as with Judaism, but are often those New Testament Scriptures (which were written in Greek) that deal with issues such as the Old and New Covenants, whether or not those who have faith in Jesus Christ are or are not subject to the Law of Moses, even the issue of the Deity of Jesus Christ.  The list goes on, and the topics subjected to midrashic methods typically line up with the basic tenets of Christianity in an effort to tear them down or “modify” them one by one. A number of HR/MJ teachers and lay people even claim that the New Testament was written in Hebrew in an attempt to justify their use of midrashic techniques.

So if someone is trying to tell you that midrash is a “Bible study” or that it is looking at the Scriptures “in context”, or that midrash is simply looking at Scripture from a “Jewish perspective as opposed to our Western mindset”, don’t buy it.  Those telling you such things likely believe them to be true - I don’t doubt the sincerity of most folks who are in the HR/MJ movements.  But if you go to the simple definitions of midrash, its origins, and read what leadership influencing those in the HR/MJ movements has to say about and how they use midrash, deep flaws in the use of such a subjective method of interpretation comes into focus.

http://joyfullygrowingingrace.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/hebrew-roots-movement-the-use-of-midrash/

Shavu’ot – Pentecost – FirstFruits – - Feast of Weeks – Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah)

As Pentecost/Shavuot approaches, there seems to be some misunderstandings in both the Christian and Messianic venues as to exactly what Pentecost represents in the New Covenant. Most of the applications in cyber land come from Judaism’s traditions, with a Messianic twist. Neither of which are found in the Scriptures, but are interpretations from Rabbinical sources [also known as the “ancient sages]. These sources are not all that ancient, coming mostly from the middle ages and through the Talmud, which should not be a believer’s “handbook” for understanding. The Talmud denies Christ, it is not “for” Him, but against Him.

Below are some quotes referring to Shavuot – the first one from Judaism 101 which shows their traditional understanding and also explains the observation calculation.

“Shavu’ot, the Festival of Weeks, is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Hag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the First Fruits). Historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah).

The period from Passover to Shavu’ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu’ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. See The Counting of the Omer. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu’ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu’ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. Shavu’ot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day; however, Shavu’ot has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after their Spring holiday.

It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.”

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm

From a Messianic website:

“Israel came to Mount Sinai on the third day of the third month (Exodus [Shemot] 19:1). The L-rd visited the people three days later (Exodus [Shemot] 19:10-17). Therefore, the Torah was given by G-d in the third month of the biblical religious calendar, which is the month of Sivan, on the sixth day of this month. This day is exactly 50 days from the crossing of the Red Sea.

Shavuot (Pentecost) is called the season of the giving of the Torah (Z’man Matan Toraseinu) in Hebrew because this is the literal day that G-d revealed Himself to the people of Israel as they stood at the base of Mount Sinai.”

http://www.hebroots.org/chap6.html

Another Messianic site:

Join us as we have an awesome night of praise and worship in a variety of formats. We will celebrate the giving of the Torah and the Spirit all night while praising our Messiah and the God of Israel!

http://www.messianicisrael.com/

After surfing through those Messianic websites, and many others – it occurred to me that all the celebrations of Shavuot [Pentecost] revolve around the giving of Torah and the other Rabbinic traditions: eating cheese and dairy foods and deserts, staying up all night, reading the book of Ruth, decorating with flowers, etc —– but include only a couple of lines about the NT Pentecost > the Holy Spirit empowering the disciples to speak in tongues and preach the Gospel. Then the sites and blogs revert back to the central theme of Torah, delving into studies and comparisons of how the original Shavuot was the giving of Torah. The underlying theme is the emphasis on keeping the Law of Moses [Torah] because of these comparisons and additions.

As I have stated many times in articles and posts, Torah is the primary focus of the Messianic venues, not Jesus Christ. It seems that every feast time abounds in all kinds of “revelations” that tie the believer into practicing the traditions and practices of Judaism, with the teeniest notations, if at all, to Jesus Christ. It’s as if the New Covenant is about Torah, instead of the Gospel.

Some even use Shavuot as the actual betrothal/marriage between Israel and God, comparing it to the Jewish Wedding Tradition [see this article: http://fortheloveoftruth.wordpress.com/j...d-rapture/ ]

The Biblical theme of Pentecost, as directed under the old covenant, is bringing the first fruits of one’s crops. This theme is what the NT interprets in regard to Christ, believers, and Pentecost [stay tuned for more on this ] . Other parts of the Feast of Shavuot included 2 loaves of bread; drink offerings; meat offerings of lambs, rams, goats, and bullocks that involved the covenant of salt – all the meat was sprinkled with it. Requirements for some of the crops were sacrificial offerings, and other crops designated for eating. The goat offering was the atonement for sin.

I have included the old testament passages regarding Pentecost here, and as you can see, there are no references to all the traditions and concepts that are attached to this festival:

Exodus 34:22 And you shall observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Exo 34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your male children appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.
Exo 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before you, and enlarge your borders: neither shall any man desire your land, when you shall go up to appear before the LORD your God thrice in the year.
Exo 34:25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left to the morning.
Exo 34:26 The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

Leviticus 2:12 As for the oblation of the first fruits, you shall offer them to the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet smell.
Lev 2:13 And every oblation of your meat offering shall you season with salt; neither shall you suffer the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meat offering: with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
Lev 2:14 And if you offer a meat offering of your first fruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the meat offering of your first fruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
Lev 2:15 And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.
Lev 2:16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Leviticus 23:15 And you shall count to you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even to the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat offering to the LORD.
Lev 23:17 You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the first fruits to the LORD.
Lev 23:18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering to the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet smell to the LORD.
Lev 23:19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Lev 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Lev 23:21 And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation to you: you shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Lev 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest: you shall leave them to the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

Numbers 28:26 Also in the day of the first fruits, when you bring a new meat offering to the LORD, after your weeks be out, you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work:
Num 28:27 But you shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet smell to the LORD; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year;
Num 28:28 And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals to one bullock, two tenth deals to one ram,
Num 28:29 A several tenth deal to one lamb, throughout the seven lambs;
Num 28:30 And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.
Num 28:31 You shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, (they shall be to you without blemish) and their drink offerings.

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It’s interesting to note that when Jesus Christ instructed and informed the disciples about what to expect after His ascension, He never gave any reference to the giving of Law. He spoke clearly – the disciples would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and endued with power from on high to preach the Gospel:

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me.
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Act 1:8 But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you: and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.
Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

The Holy Spirit endued the disciples on Pentecost with tongues like fire and a mighty rushing wind that filled the house where they were. Notice that the text states, Pentecost was FULLY come – fulfilled. It’s interesting that God chose that day – for Jerusalem was filled with Jews from all over come to celebrate the feast!

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat on each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

Looking further into Acts 2 during Peter’s profound preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit, the first thing he mentions is the fulfillment of Joel 2 to explain the tongues praising God, and then immediately begins to preach the Gospel, telling them of Jesus Christ. The hearts of the Jews were pricked when they heard that Jesus was crucified. They repented of their sins and were baptized. Still no mention of some kind of celebration of the giving of Torah, or instructions as to how to keep it from then on. Pentecost involved a sacrifice for sin. I am sure all there understood clearly what the feast required as they had come in obedience to the command. Now they were free from that! The Jews must have been awestruck at the news!

Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added to them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Act 2:43 And fear came on every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Act 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Act 2:47 Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

The New Testament shows us that Jesus Christ is the First Fruits:

Romans 11:16 For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

What I find amazing are the number of verses in the New Testament that refer to fruit – the fruit that we must manifest through the Holy Spirit, which can be viewed as the first fruit of our sacrifices to God – proving that by His indwelt Spirit, by the fruit of the Spirit that we are His, sealed forever.

Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty times, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Luke 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.

Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Romans 7:4 Why, my brothers, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God.

Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2 Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Colossians 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:6 Which is come to you, as it is in all the world; and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day you heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 13:15 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.

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

In this document, I will discuss some of the writings of traditional Judaism that intentionally denigrate, as well as openly blaspheme the finished work of Jesus Christ. I feel the need to do this evaluation, because many of these texts are now being quoted by television evangelists such as Perry Stone, Steve Monsey, Benny Hinn and others. They are also used in the works of Christian book authors such as Grant Jeffreys, who appeared on the Benny Hinn show, as well as by some Pastors in their teachings to the people in their congregations. Some of the texts that I will discuss are the Talmud, the Toldoth Yeshu, the writings of the Jewish mystical system known as Kabbalah, as well as the Shem Tov book of Mathew, which is part of the Jewish writing titled Even Bohan.

The Talmud speaks negatively of Jesus in various books that comprise its writings. The Talmud is a rabbinic commentary on the Torah, which Christians know as the first five books of the Old Testament. Recently, some in Judaism have tried to state that the Talmud is speaking of another person(s) named Jesus, and not Jesus Christ, but conervative rabbi’s such as Daniel Lapin have clearly stated that the Talmud does in fact denigrate Jesus. Here is a quote by Mr Lapin that can be found on his website:

“Do we really want to open up the Pandora’s Box of suggesting that any faith may demand the removal of material that it finds offensive from the doctrines of any other faith? Do we really want to return to those dark times when Catholic authorities attempted to strip from the Talmud those passages that they found offensive? Some of my Jewish readers may feel squeamish about my alluding to the existence of Talmudic passages uncomplimentary toward Jesus as well as descriptive of Jewish involvement in his crucifixion. However the truth is that anyone with Internet access can easily locate those passages in about ten seconds. I think it far better that in the name of genuine Jewish-Christian friendship in America, we allow all faiths their own beliefs even if we find those beliefs troubling or at odds with our own beliefs. This way we can all prosper safely under the constitutional protection of the United States of America.

http://www.towardtradition.org/article_Mel_Gibson.htm

In the Talmud, great measures are taken so that Jesus is never referred to by His actual Hebrew name of Yeshua, because His name itself means He is Salvation, and is a description of His finished work. Jesus is referred by many othe names and titles such as Otho Iysh, which is translated in the English version as “that man”.  In Abhodah Zarah, 6a, it is stated that “He is called a Christian who follows the false teachings of that man, who taught them to celebrate the feast on the first day of the Sabbath, that is, to worship on the first day after the Sabbath”.

Jesus is also referred to as Peloni , which is translated as “A Certain One.” In Chagigah, 4b, we read:
“Mary…the mother of a certain one, of whom it is related in Schabbath…” (104b)

Jesus is also referred to as Naggar bar naggar – “the carpenter son of a carpenter”, also Ben charsch etaim – “the son of a wood worker.”

He is also called Talui – “The one who was hanged.” and him who was hanged, as well as “the one who was hanged on his banner.”

Below are some Talmudic passages that denigrate Christ:

Sanhedrin, 67a ~ Jesus is referred to as the illegitimate son of Pandira, a Roman soldier.

Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus’ mother was a whore

Sanhedrin 106 ~ Revels in the early age at which Jesus died

Sanhedrin 43a ~ Says Jesus (“Yeshu” / Yeshu “the Nazarene”) was executed because he practiced sorcery.

Gittin 57a ~ States that Jesus is being boiled in “hot excrement.”

Sanhedrin 43a . Jesus deserved execution: “On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu was hanged…Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not a Mesith (enticer)?”

Abhodah Zarah II ~ Also referred to as the son of Pandira, a Roman soldier.

Schabbath XIV~ Again referred to as the son of Pandira, the Roman.

Schabbath, 104b ~ Called a fool and no one pays attention to fools.

Sanhedrin, 103a. ~ Suggested corrupts his morals and dishonors self.

Sanhedrin, 107b. ~ Seduced, corrupted and destroyed Israel.

Abhodah Zarah, 21a — Reference to worship of Jesus in homes unwanted.

Orach Chaiim, 113 — Avoid appearance of paying respect to Jesus.

Iore dea, 150,2 — Do not appear to pay respect to Jesus by accident.

Abhodah Zarah (78c) — Festivals of followers of Jesus regarded as idolatry.

Kallah, 1b. (18b) ~ Illegitimate son and conceived during menstruation.

Sanhedrin, 67a ~ Hanged on the eve of Passover.

Sanhedrin, 43a ~ On the eve of Passover they hanged Jesus.

Sanhedrin 90a ~Those who read the New Testament  will have no portion in the world to come.

Shabbath 116a (p. 569) ~Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament.

Rosh Hashanah 17a ~ Christians (“minim”) and others who reject the Talmud will go to hell and be punished there for all generations.

Sanhedrin 105ab ~ “Jesus fornicated with his jackass.

Gittin 57a ~ Jesus is in hell and is being punished by being boiled in semen. Christians are boiled in dung.

Talmudic passages are also used as the basis for the writing titled Toledot Yeshu, which translated means The Geneaology of Yeshu. This writing reports a distorted view of who Jesus was, with many blasphemous statements directed towards Him, claiming that he was the rebellious illegitimate son of a Roman soldier (Pantera) born of unclean conception or niddah, who practiced witchcraft by speaking the sacred or ineffefable name of God who tried to lead Israel astray. In this writing, it is also stated that he set up a brick and worshipped it, and that he was hung, which denies the blood atonement, and His finished work on the cross. The actual Biblical name for Jesus in Hebrew is spelled Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin which is Yeshua (H3442~H3443), a shortened form of Yehoshua (H3091). Yeshua means He is salvation or He saves. By shortening the name to Yeshu, they effectively deny His work of redemption. In order to get the name Yeshu, the ayin is dropped from His Biblical Hebrew name. All Hebrew letters represent something in Judaism. As an example, the lettter represents the hand. The letter ayin in the Hebrew language, is  known to be representative of the eyes. Here is an excerpt from the Toldoth Yeshu:

Miriam gave birth to a son and named him Yehoshua, after her brother. This name later deteriorated to Yeshu.

The above quote from the Toldoth Yeshu tells us that His name deteriorated to Yeshu. Deteriorated is a term that obviously does not have a positive connotation. It should be noted that informed believers object to the name Yeshu, because they understand it as a rabbinically modified form of the name Yeshua, and In some versions of the Toledot Yeshu, the name “YeSHU” is used as an acronym for “Yemach Shemo U’zikhro” which translated means “May his name and memory be blotted out”. Yemach comes from the root word Machah (H4229) meaning to blot, Shemo from the root word shem (H8034) which means name or reputation, and zikhro from the root word zayker (H2143), which means a memorial or remembrance. This statement is spoken in the form of a curse, because to erase the name and memory of a person is to erase all knowledge of their being. It should also be noted, that this phrase, or a shortened version is often used in Jewish writings when the name of a despised individual (Hitler, Amalek, Hayman, etc) has been mentioned. This could be a possible allusion to Psalms 109:13-15, where king David curses the enemies of Israel:

13 let his posterity be cut off; let their name be blotted out (yimach shemam) in the following generation;
14 let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered to YHWH; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out;
15 let them be always before YHWH, so that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; (v’yak’rat ma’erets zikram)

It could also be fashioned after the Biblical curses found in the Torah, that were placed on the enemies of Israel, such as Exodus 17:14 and Deuteronomy 25:19. In Exodus we find “machoh emche et zeykher Amaleq mitachat hashamayim” translated as “I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven”. Amalek is also cursed in Deuteronomy 25:19 as well.

In the Shem Tov Matthew, in many places the name of Jesus is also written in the Hebrew as Yeshu. The Shem Tov Matthew is a theologically altered middle ages manuscript (1390 ce), which was copied from a Latin text that originated from the Greek making it a third generation altered copy at best. This anti-Christian version of the book of Matthew was included in the writing titled “Even Bohan” which translates as “The Touchstone.” The Shem Tov Matthew has modified passages in some chapters that use Talmudic references, as well as some references from the Toldoth Yeshu.

This document was authored by Shem Tov, who resided in Spain during the fourteenth century.  He was an anti-Christian Jewish writer, who wrote this in an attempt to stop the Jewish people from accepting Christianity as their faith. The Shem Tov Matthew has anti-Christian polemical commentary written by him throughout the document. There are a handfull of Shem Tov manuscripts available, but many of them are not in agreement with each other.  Before his death, Shem Tov attempted to also translate a theologically altered version of the book of Mark, as he had done with Matthew, but the work was never completed.

In an excerpted article from the Jewish Encyclopedia quoted below, this was stated about Shem Tov, the author of Even Bohan, which includes the Shem Tov Matthew:

“…As a Talmudic scholar he carried on a correspondence with Sheshet. At Tarazona he completed his “Eben Bohan” (May, 1380 or 1385), a polemical work against baptized Jews…”

[IBN SHAPRUT (SHAFRUT, By : Richard Gottheil ;  Meyer Kayserling

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=43&letter=I&search=shem%20tov%2",,-1,0,,,,]

From the American Academy for Jewish Research (AAJR) of Brandeis Hebrew University, a well recognized school of traditional Jewish learning, we find this dissertation by student Joshua Levy. Mr. Levy is a doctoral candidate in the department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, studying medieval Jewish history. His dissertation, titled “Sefer Milhamot Hashem, Chapter Eleven: The Earliest Jewish Critique of the New Testament”, is an examination of medieval Jewish criticisms of the Gospel of Matthew:

“This study will begin with a critical edition of one chapter of an early and important medieval Hebrew polemical text, chapter eleven of Jacob ben Reuben’s Sefer Milhamot Hashem. The critical edition will be accompanied by a translation and commentary. Additionally, the dissertation will examine subsequent Jewish and Christian reactions to this pathbreaking text. Written by Jacob ben Reuben, a Jew living in southern France in the late twelfth century, Sefer Milhamot Hashem is one of the earliest extant Jewish polemical texts. Sefer Milhamot Hashem, as a whole, presents Christian, biblically-based arguments for the truth of Christianity and the subsequent Jewish counterarguments. Chapter eleven strikes at the heart of Christianity: it is a Jewish critique of the Gospel of Matthew. My work on this chapter will lead to an examination of the influence that this chapter had on later authors. Shem Tov ibn Shaprut, a Spanish Jewish author of the late fourteenth century, used the criticisms of Jacob ben Reuben in his own translation of the Gospel of Matthew; I will examine his translation to see how Jacob’s attacks were adopted and modified. Nicholas de Lyra, a Franciscan friar of the early fourteenth century, was the first Christian to write a refutation to Jacob’s criticisms. I will use his refutation to understand how the Church responded to Jewish attacks.” [http://www.brandeis.edu/ajs/dissertations.php?id=28]

Some other articles by Joshua Levy can be found here:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/TheStory6321666/Christendom/Crusades.htm

As we can see from the article quoted above, Jacob ben Reuben was a Jewish rabbi who lived in Spain, who wrote polemical writings against Christianity during the twelveth century. He wrote a book titled the Sefer Milhamot Adonai or Book of the Wars of the Lord as a response to attacks by the convert Petrus Alphonsi. This book was comprised of twelve chapters. In it was refutations of the Christian arguments demonstrating Jesus as the promised Messiah of the TaNaKh (Old Testament), coupled with a written criticism of the Gospels as well as the book of Acts, in which he attempted to point out what he viewed as contradictions within the Book. This was the main foundation that Shem Tov built his own writings on. We can clearly see some of these theological alterations implemented by Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut, by simply comparing passages from the Shem Tov Matthew against any of the standard translations:

These passages fail to identify Jesus as the Christ/Messiah/Annointed one who was predicted in the Hebrew Scriptures (OT).

Mat 1:1 “…the generation of Jesus Christ…”

Shem Tov “…the generations of Jesus…”  [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

Mat 1:18 “…now the birth of Jesus Christ…”

Shem Tov “…birth of Jesus…”  [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

In these passages His ability to forgive the sin of His people is eliminated, which denies His Deity:

Mat 1:21 “…thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins”

Shem Tov “…you will call his name Jesus because he will save my people from their sins.”

Mat 9:2 ” And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”

Shem Tov  “9:2, “They brought to him one who was sick with contractions, that is, paralitico, lying upon his bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the sick man: Have courage my son. It is by the faith of God that your sins have been forgiven.”   [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

In this passage Jesus is made equal to the earthly scribes or sages.

Mat 7:29  “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Shem Tov “because he was preaching to them with great power, not as the rest of the sages“

The part of this passage which stresses His Deity is eliminated:

Mat 28:20 – Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and,  lo ” I am with you always, even unto the end of the world ” Amen

Shem Tob – and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever.

In this passage the coming of a future Kingdom is eliminated

Mat 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Shem Tov “may your kingdom be blessed; may your will be done in heaven and on earth”

In this passage the preaching of the gospel is eliminated.

Mat 11:5 “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

Shem Tov “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are revived and the poor are acquitted.”

In this passage the temple is exalted above Christ

Mat 12:6 “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.”

Shem Tov “Truly I say to you that the temple is greater than this“

In this passage the behavior of the Pharisees is questioned, and not their false doctrine.

Mat 16:12  “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”

Shem Tov “beware of the behavior of the Pharisees and the Saducees…”  [This does not have the verses broken up by number. There is a group of verses listed as 9-12 , with no verse 6, 7, or 8a.]

Mat 16:9-12  9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Shem Tov  16:9-12, “Do you remember the five loaves and four thousand men how many seahs were left over? Therefore you should understand that I am not speaking of natural loaves but I am saying to you that you should (beware) of the behavior of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

In this passage Elijah becomes the savior.

Mat 17:11  “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

Shem Tov   “11. He answered them and said: Indeed Elijah will come and will save all the world. 12 “I say to you, he has already come, they did not know him, and they did to him according to their desire. (So) they will do to the Son of Man. 13 “Then the disciples understood that regarding John the Baptizer he was saying this”"

Mat 18:11 “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”

Shem Tov  18:11, “and the Son of Man has stopped saving the enemy.”

In these passages the Deity of Christ is eliminated.

Mat 19:28 “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,…”

Shem Tov  “Jesus said: Truly I say to you who follow me, in the day of judgement when man sits upon the throne of his glory you also will sit upon the twelve thrones of the twelve tribes of Israel.”  [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

Mat 20:30 “…when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.”

Shem Tov  “…It was said to them: The prophet Jesus from Nazareth is coming. Then they cried out saying: Son of David, have mercy on us.” [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

Mat 28:9 “.. Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.”

Shem Tov “As they were going Jesus passed before them saying: May the Name [HaShem} deliver you. They came near to him, bowed down to him, and worshipped him"     [Jesus is written in the Hebrew text as Yeshu]

In this passage preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ becomes, “the Anti-Christ” and “abomination of desolation.”

Mat 24:14-16 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: “

Shem Tov “And this gospel, that is, evungili, will be preached In all the earth for a witness concerning me to all the nations and then the end will come. This is the Anti-Christ and this is the abomination which desolates which was spoken of by Daniel [as] standing in the holy place. Let the one who reads understand. Then those who are in Juda, let them flee to the mountains.”

In the passages below, Jesus is hanged in accordance to what is written in Talmudic writings and the Toldoth Yeshu, instead of being crucified. This eliminates His blood atonement and His finished work on the cross. The same Hebrew word is used to describe the death by hanging of Judas Iscariot in reference to being hanged by a rope.

Shem Tov

Matt 26:2

Do you not know that after two days will be the Passover and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hand of the Jews for the gallows.

KJV

Matt 26:2

Ye know that after two days is [the feast of] the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

Shem Tov

Matt 27: 22,23

Pilate said to them: If so, what shall I do with Jesus who is called Messiah?  All of them answered that he should be hung. Pilate said to them:  What evil has he done?  Then they vigorously cried out: let them hang him, let them hang him, let them hang him.

KJV

Matt 27:22,23

Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? [They] all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

Shem Tov

Matt 27:26

Then he released Barabbas (to them), and delivered to them Jesus for beating and affliction that they might hang him.

KJV

Matt 27:26

Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered [him] to be crucified.

Shem Tov

Matt 27:31

When they had mocked him (much), they stripped the robe from him, and dressed him in his own clothes, and gave orders to hang him.

As they were going out from the city, they met a man whose name was Simon the Canaanite.  They compelled him to carry the gallows, that is, “The Cross”.

27:35

When they had placed him on the gallows they divided his garments by lot

27:38

Then two thieves were hung with him, one on his right and one on his left.

KJV

Matt 27:31,32

And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify [him].

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

If Jesus were hung, He would have not been thirsty, because medical science has determined that it is impossible to drink or speak when one is being hung. This would then eliminate all of the words that are recorded in the Gospels that He spoke while on the cross, and He would have never been able to say “It is finished”. Also If He was hung, then there would have been no need for the soldier to pierce his side, because He would have been dead almost instantly,  which would deny His suffering. This errant translation of these passages denies all of His finished work, and also denies the cross and His finished work, because there is no blood shed during hanging, hence no redemption.

Yeshu is currently the name that many people refer to Jesus as when speaking modern Hebrew in Israel.

I would admonish anyone who has been using any of the above writings that I have evaluated as a source of learning and wisdom, to turn away from them immediately. In the NT writings we are told that Christ and Belial have no fellowship, therefore we need to understand that it is impossible to learn about who Jesus is and what He has done, from those who have not only openly denied Him and His finished work on the cross, but also have intentionally and deliberately blasphemed Him

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posted with permission

The Jewish Wedding and the Rapture

Understanding the Rapture from Jewish Wedding Traditions

Introduction

The title of this article speaks of what many are being taught. That being, Jewish Wedding traditions, parallel the Church as the Bride of Christ and the Groom, Christ, coming for His Bride as depicted within these traditions. The Jewish Wedding traditions being discussed are the rabbinic teachings found within the Talmud and Kabbalah. That means they come from those who had rejected Jesus Christ and which same writings denigrate and blaspheme Him. They are not a source for believers. Despite what many many are doing to inculcate Christian beliefs with them.

Many are being lured into Hebrew Roots by such ways as this. There is nowhere in Scripture where we are to take Jewish traditions as a way to interpret Scriptures. While these teachings concerning the Jewish Wedding traditions are much used by Messianic Jews, they are also found within the Christian community and those who specifically parallel them to the Rapture and as a way to attempt to confirm the rapture belief.

Some Jewish sites have stated that very little is provided in the Torah with regard to the procedures of a marriage, and therefore, the Talmud provides the method for providing a spouse, the form of the wedding ceremony, and the nature of the marital relationship.

Many become interested in Hebrew Roots and then involved with Hebrew Roots because of this issue, and with it the road is paved to accepting more false teachings and error. If you were to peruse most pre-trib forums and some Messianic ones, this teaching is being discussed and promoted time and again. And it is found written about on many websites.

As we will see with the various sources directly from Judaism -orthodox, reform, chasidic -the Jewish wedding ceremony is virtually the same. Some have different interpretations of meaning, with some more openly kabbalistic, but the source of the Jewish Wedding is defined by the Talmud, which all sects of Judaism follow. Understand that Judaism rejects Jesus Christ as Messiah, Savior and Lord.

It will be shown that the Jewish wedding ceremony and beliefs do not have, nor were they ever intended to have, anything to do with Jesus Christ. On the contrary, as stated from the one source, “You are hereby sanctified to me with this ring according to the Law of Moses and Israel.”. In other words, missing throughout the various descriptions is any part of the Jewish wedding ceremony being compared to, or a parallel to Christ, or a rapture. They do not exist. There is absolutely nothing anywhere in Judaism that points to a surprise wedding day scenario. And no where do we see anything that suggests He surprises–as a thief in the night– the bride and brings her to His fathers house where He has added a room for her.

What is being done by those who have taken snippets of the various Jewish wedding traditions, is they have taken pieces from one source, rearranged and reinvented the content and events and then made the declaration that the Jewish wedding tradition is really the story of Christ and the rapture, and attempt to match it to Scripture and or their opinion of particular Scripture or possible events. When the Jewish wedding in fact, does no such thing. It is entirely different than any scenario being declared as proving the rapture or the bride of Christ and so on. And the manipulation of these things goes against the very Scriptures said to be concerning all subjects involved.

It’s almost like the telephone game only worse. If I might make it clearer, its like reading one story and conveying a word or two from that first story, into a second and totally different story, and then saying it is identical to the first story. And then saying it is identical to a third and totally different story that uses a few of the same words.

As we will see with the various sources directly from Judaism -orthodox, reform, chasidic -the Jewish wedding ceremony is virtually the same. Some have different interpretations of meaning, with some more openly kabbalistic, but the source of the Jewish Wedding is defined by the Talmud, which all sects of Judaism follow. Understand that Judaism rejects Jesus Christ as Messiah, Savior and Lord.If one looks at the NT, we see one specific reference to a Jewish wedding where Jesus turned the water into wine. And the gist of the celebration was that it was normal for attendees to drink much wine, and after such was when the worst wine would have been served. Obviously that has nothing to do with Jesus Christ returning, regardless of what one believes concerning when Christ will return.

The following is a presentation of rabbinic thoughts, ie. from the Talmud and Kabbalah which all branches of Judaism use, and what some are declaring that this is how the Jewish wedding parallels the rapture, Christ and the Bride of Christ.

Part 1:

Many believe that the laws and customs relating to the Jewish wedding ceremony and all that surround it, date back to the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. For many the Talmud is merely those things written down.

According to various sites and if one were to peruse the Talmud, the belief is that Adam and Eve were created as a single being, as siamese twins. Others say with two faces. God then separated them, making them husband and wife. Prior to marriage, it is believed that neither a man or woman is complete until they marry and become one whole being again. The wedding then is the unification of the two halves making them complete. This theme is repeated at every Jewish marriage. [15]

And just as Eve was brought to Adam (Genesis 2:22), so to the bride is brought to the groom. “Eve, who was created later, was shown thereby to be the higher life form of the two, because the potential of future life lies with her. Therefore, Adam was not complete until Eve was brought to him.” [8]

*** Note — Eve was brought to Adam. Adam did not go to get her.***

The Jewish wedding ceremonies are in several parts. The seven nuptial blessings speak of paradise regained, the miracle of God’s creation, and the creation of man and woman, so that mankind might endure, and specifically the continuity of the Jewish people. The sixth blessing refers to marriage in the scheme of creation: “Make these beloved companions as happy as were the first human couple in the Garden of Eden.” The joy of the Creator’s blessing is invoked at the inception of every Jewish home.

***Note, the seven blessings obviously have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or His return. If they are said over the cups of wine, then the significance of the cups means nothing as well to Christians.***

The thought is presented that if God created man, woman, and their marriage relationship; and if the creation of man and woman is good and marriage a blessing; then God is a conscious, albeit silent, partner in the marriage. Thus the ideal Jewish marriage is a triangle composed of two human beings and their Creator.

*It should be noted that the Jewish sources being accessed for this information also quote the Zohar for these wedding teachings ie the Kabbalah.

*** Note–the bride is taken to the groom. The groom does not come for the bride. Which is contrary to the claim of the parallel of this to Christ returning to rapture the church. While I am not going to cover all the ceremony and details, I will cover some very significant parts. ***

Many believe that Tuesday is the best day to be married because God said the third day was good twice, during creation, not just once like the other days. [23] From the Talmud, it is also said, “Wednesday is the appointed wedding-day for virgins, and Thursday for widows “. [22]

***That flies in the face of only God knowing the day or hour for the return of Christ. Some paralleling the rapture also state that the groom always came at midnight, therefore Christ will come at midnight, which again goes against that Scripture. Others state that the “catching away of the bride” or rapture is understood by knowing their Jewish roots which they believe means that Christ will come for His Bride on Rosh Hashanah. ***

Many marriages were arranged from childhood. The couple may not have met prior to the betrothal or wedding. The betrothal was a legal marriage and could only be dissolved by a formal divorce, yet the woman remained in her father’s house. The betrothal constituted the actual “purchase” of the bride, and her eventual move to the groom’s house, the “delivery” of the purchased “property.” That was when the actual wedding took place. [1, 12]

*** Note: the marriage was formal at the point of the signed ketuba- marriage contract- which was signed at the betrothal, not at the wedding itself, and requires a divorce to break it. This is contrary to the rapture parallel which states that the wedding ceremony in Heaven– after the rapture– formalizes the marriage. The Jewish wedding considers the bride a wife BEFORE the wedding. That belief is also found in Deuteronomy.***

Historically, the mohar was the original purchase price of the bride paid by the father of the groom to the father of the bride. The marriage in those times was an agreement between families not two individuals. Until the Middle Ages, a marriage consisted of two ceremonies, with celebrations and an interval between. The betrothal and the later wedding. The wedding meant that the betrothed woman was brought with a colorful procession, from her father’s house to the house of the groom. After the marriage was complete, the groom would have a small area or nook for his new bride in his father’s house.

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Copyright . All articles are the sole property of SeekGod.ca and Vicky Dillen

http://www.seekgod.ca/rapturewedding.htm

Joyfully Growing In Grace posted a new article that I think captures the “essense” of how this movement baits people, and then draws them in subtly.   My experience fits the pattern exactly, but my “capitulation” was almost instantaneous from attending my first Saturday service and a special class 2 days later.  I was hooked for the next two years, buying into every facet, teaching, doctrine and practice that substitutes the finished work of Christ on the cross with my own efforts to find sanctification and righteousness in the works of the Law.

I have only posted parts of the full article.  I encourage you click on the link and read the full “enchilada”.

I pray that you will be as blessed as I was to read this article that “cuts to the chase” and exposes one of the more intricate roots of the Hebrew Roots movement.

http://joyfullygrowingingrace.wordpress.com/

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Hebrew Roots Movement – Salesmanship 101

Salesmanship 101 you say??  Whatever does that have to do with the Hebrew Roots/Messianic Movements?  Let’s go through some steps that a salesperson goes through as they try to get you, the consumer, to buy what they’re selling to see how those steps parallel the persuasive methodology in the HRM:

1) Identify the Target Pool
The first thing a good salesperson will do is to identify a target pool for what they’re selling.  I’m sorry to say that modern church culture is a prime hunting ground for the Hebrew Roots Movement.  There are the “health and wealthers”,  the “word of faithers” , the “signs and wonderers” , the “reformers”, the “dispensers”, the “shepherders”, the “mega churchers”, the“feel gooders”, the “patriocentrists”, the “dominionists”, the “reconstructionists” . . . not to mention all the different denominations and sects.  Sorry if I left anyone out . . . but I think you get the general idea.

Though the Gospel can be found in some of the above categories, the focus of each “system” of belief strays from biblical Christianity in such a way that the belief system becomes the focus of each group, and not the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the maturity of the believer in Him.

Agendas outweigh foundational teaching.  Financial and/or growth goals outweigh growing the local body in Scriptural grace and truth and maturity.  Programs are governed by perceived cultural “needs” instead of the commands of Jesus to love God and love others.  Our modern “drive thru” mentality leaves little room for waiting on God to show individuals or bodies of believers where He would have them serve in his Body.  Having a “successful” ministry becomes the goal (measured in many cases by church wealth and growth) instead of a solid foundation in sound, contextual, Scriptural doctrine and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The result is an anemic Church, more steeped in church “culture” than in sound biblical doctrine.  We have Christian bookstores stuffed full of books spanning every topic imaginable.  The Internet opens up all kinds of avenues for information gathering not previously available.  The “post-modern” believer is subject to information overload, and where they seek enlightenment and enhancement of biblical teachings, they often end up instead with a dilution of Scripture, giving them a spiritual diet of watery gruel instead of nourishing, hearty meals that provide opportunity for real spiritual growth and maturity.

The Homeschooling Pool
There is another group of Christians that I’ve observed that are susceptible to the errors in the Hebrew Roots Movement – that is the Homeschooling community.  We (and I include my family in that community) tend to be an independent lot, overall.  We tend question the status quo, question things more than the average bear, and have a tendency to be a bit counter-cultural and open to new concepts and ideas, while at the same time holding to basic traditional ideals.  We are not afraid to embrace “unique” ways of doing things – if something isn’t working the way it’s being done, we are willing to try doing it differently.  Those qualities in and of themselves are good things, providing the flexibility that those of us who homeschool tend to build in to our daily lives of educating our children at home.

However those qualities can be a double edged sword if a family is in a place of discontent, woundedness, or rebellion in their place of worship or feels like they can’t find any place with “like-minded” believers to worship.  Some prefer to “home-church”, while others find a “home fellowship” in which to worship.   I want to be careful in how I couch this, because I don’t want to lump all home fellowships together, but understand that some home fellowships are perfect venues in which those in the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movements can (and do) introduce and promote their ideas.  Depending on how the leadership is set up (assuming there is any leadership structure or shared accountability at all), there is the potential for the teaching or “sharing” of false doctrine to slip through from families or leadership who are on “the ancient path”.

In addition to the above, homeschooling families are, in their quest for good curriculum, exposed to Torah observant families on internet forums, support groups, and even suppliers of curriculum.  One such supplier is Heart of Wisdom, which stresses a “Hebraic approach” to educating children vs. the “Greek approach”.  While Heart of Wisdom does ha some good resources to offer, as with any entity offering false spiritual teaching, where there is good, there is always that “little leaven”, as the writer quoted above notes, that you need to look for and to stand firm against.

Heart of Wisdom is very subtle in its initial presentation of the “Hebraic mindset”, but like anything, if you investigate the Heart of Wisdom website and ALL of its sister websites and forum, it is clear that it promotes the “Hebrew Roots of our faith” through and through.  One book in particular that HOW Publishing offers to homeschoolers as curriculum (and which has become very popular in the homeschooling community) is “The Family Guide to Biblical Holidays.”

One mom relayed to me that in the homeschooling support group her family belongs to her family is the only family who is not Torah observant.  The families that have taken on Torah observance all have the “Family Guide to Biblical Holidays” in common.  The really interesting thing is that these families bought the book as curriculum to learn about Biblical Feasts and came away feeling commanded to keep not only the Feasts, but to become completely Torah observant.  There is no such command to the Body of Christ to keep the Law or the Feasts.

Conclusions
The realities of the shortcomings in the Church today prime many for the “getting back to the way early believers worshipped” and the “getting back to the Hebrew/Jewish roots of our faith” that the HRM claims to offer.  Teachers in the HRM systematically dismantle elements of both the modern and traditional Church (not without justification in some cases), replacing what they have torn down with a house of contradictions and doctrine woven in such a way that it can be difficult to discern its error.  Those in the Church who are unsatisfied, immature in their faith, disgruntled, wounded, or rebellious are bit by bit led from the error they may be experiencing in their current circumstance into compounded error in the HRM which has been dressed up in the seeming “authenticity” of Messianic Christianity.

2) Establish the Need
In part, because of some real and deserved discontent in much of the modern Church today, the Hebrew Roots Movement makes use of that discontent in such a way as to establish something that has the appearance of authenticity.  In effect, they validate one’s discontent (and/or immaturity, woundedness, or rebellion – whether or not it is justified) and provides a possible explanation for one’s unhappiness in Christianity – that one is in fact being “drawn back to the Hebraic Roots of one’s faith”.

The HRM systematically tears down the orthodox (small ‘o’) tenets of biblical Christianity as being “Hellenized” , then systematically rebuilds an entirely new perspective on Scripture, based on “Hebraic” systems of thought, language, and customs.  [You can read more information about about the true influences of Hellenism on both Judaism (both BCE and CE) and the early Church at "Hebrew Roots Movement - The Issue of "Hellenization" here at JGIG.  Highly Recommended.] The result of HRM teachings regarding Hellenistic vs. Hebraic thought and perspective is the significant minimizing of the Gospel and an inappropriate elevation of the Torah and “Jewishness”.  The simplicity of the Gospel for all tongues, tribes, and nations fades and eventually disappears under the weight of the Laws and traditions required by the “Hebraic mindset.”

The HRM establishes a further need for their belief system by framing the Church of the last 2000 years as being rooted in paganism.    No facet of the Church is exempt – from Catholicism (which is indeed steeped in extra-biblical doctrine and practices) to Protestantism to Evangelicism to Fundamentalism, etc. - all are indicted by the HRM as at least being influenced by and at worst practicing paganism in one form or another throughout the ages.  In Sheep Wrecked’s Testimony, one portion in her story brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it:

That first yesod class broke my heart.  I truly believed that I “had missed it”. I completely fell apart in the car on the way home, weeping non-stop for two days in repentance for the “error” that I had been taught my whole life in “church/babylon”.  I totally believed I had found the “truth” I had been searching for.  I was elated, but very misled, as I immersed myself in a new life style and new theology which systematically worked against me.  It eventually became a burden and a yoke that I could not bear.  I was absorbing another Gospel and it weighed so heavily on me that I could physically feel it.  I did not comprehend then why there was an underlying feeling of weariness and oppression that I could not shake.

A  number of books feed into the Hebrew Roots Movement’s cycle of paranoia, including “Fossilized Customs” by Lew White, “Come Out of Her My People” by CJ Koster, “Too Long in the Sun” by Richard Rives, and the grand-daddy of them all, “The Two Babylons”, by Alexander Hislop – the book which is the basis for many modern books on paganism in the Church.  While there is some truth to some of their charges, the points on paganism found in these books and books like them are taken way too far by the HRM.  They inflate the influence of pagan practices  and Hellenistic culture as well as exercise poor scholarship in research [on purpose?], linking historical events (where their historical accuracy is tenuous at best in many cases) to practices in the Church that really have no basis in reality at all.

3)  Fill that need
Once you establish a need, you need to fill that need, or provide a solution.  Once someone had been convinced that Christianity has been in error – indeed that it is a false religion according to some in the HRM, false teachers can swoop in with their “secret knowledge” and “hidden insight”.  This goes for ALL false belief systems, by the way, not just the Hebrew Roots Movement.

The Hebrew Roots/Messianic movement determines to fill that  need with the efforts of man to keep a Covenant we, in Christ, are no longer under.  And Christians who become convinced that they’ve been “doing it all wrong” for so long are perfect targets.  They feel a need to “make up” for their error.  It’s a perfect set-up for the introduction to a works-based belief system.

Yup, everything will fall into place when you start to keep Torah.  Special insight, hidden knowledge, fascinating culture and a systematic re-working of the doctrines that that those in the HRM have convinced you are false, needing replacement from the context of the “Hebraic mindset”.

There are some consistent, key ways that I’ve observed how the HRM pulls this off:

* They systematically tear down the cultural Church, not without some cause, but deftly mix valid criticisms with invalid ones, bringing about the idea that the entire Church has been in error for all but the first century.  Not only that, but they will try to convince you that the “true” religion of the early believers in Christ is a perpetuation of the practice of Torah observance, and not “Christianity” at all!  To pull this off, they do one or all of three things:

1.) They will try to convince you that the belief system that you have been subjected to since the first century has been “Hellenized”, stripping “true first century beliefs” from their origins.  They will tell you that you engage in pagan sun worship and idolatry, not to mention blatant disobedience to God’s Law.  For an in-depth study dealing with these accusations by the HRM, refer to the post, “Hebrew Roots Movement – The Issue of ‘Hellenization’ “.

2.) They will re-define the New Covenant, changing it into a “renewed” Covenant, which is clearly communicated in the New Testament to be a NEW Covenant.  Refer to the post, “Hebrew Roots Movement – New Covenant or ‘Renewed’ Covenant” for an overview of

the HRM position and an in-depth word study proving the “renewed” position to be false.

3.) They will try to convince you that though a “New Covenant” exists, we are not yet under that New Covenant, and as as such, we must still “keep” Old Covenant Law.  They will mis-use prophecy and the words of Jesus to support their position – always taken out of context and/or will mis-use the original language of a text in effort to support their error.

* They distort the biblical concept of repentance. For the redeemed believer in Christ, when we repent, we turn away from our sin and to the Grace of God and the completed work of the Cross for our salvation.  To one in the HRM, repentance means to turn away from their sin and toward the Law of God.  The only use the Cross has for them is that the work that Christ did there “saves” them from the “second death, the one we all deserve”.

* Sanctification and the maintaining of their “salvation” is not in the hands of God, but in their own hands, dependant on their keeping of the Laws of the Old Covenant.  Most in the HRM will try to deny this reality in their belief system, but if you systematically take each of their beliefs and see where they take you, there is no denying that their system of belief is upheld not by the Grace of God, but by the works of man.

4)  Overcoming objections
The people I’ve come across that were once involved with but are now out of the Hebrew Roots Movement/Messianic Judaism or its sects are not unintelligent people.  As a rule, I have found that their number one goal is to worship God in a manner pleasing to Him, unencumbered by human traditions.

Questions proselytes have had have been addressed with “special knowledge” and “hidden insights” as those in the leadership and laity of the HRM rattle on about linguistics, church history, and the re-working of pivotal doctrines.

Following is a glossary definition I put together to describe one method used by those in the HRM to establish superiority as they endeavor to answer questions/objections:

Hebrew-isms – Okay, I made that one up.  “Hebrew-isms” is a word I’m putting here to describe how those in the Hebrew Roots Movement choose to speak and communicate matters of faith.  Using the Sacred Name(s) exclusively (YHWH/Yeshua), would be one example,  using the Hebrew “Ruach HaKodesh” instead of using English to refer to the Holy Spirit, another.

Leadership will also use Hebrew instead of English when referencing Bible passages from their own “translations” (see “Hebrew Roots Movement - Messin’ With the Word”) as will laity when exposed long enough to their new paradigm.  The book of “Matthew” becomes “Matityahu”, “John” becomes “Jochanan”, etc.  “Brit Hadashah” is a big one, which means “Renewed Covenant”, not “New Covenant”. [Great article detailing the language errors the HRM engages in to "prove" that the Covenant is "renewed" not "new" can be found HERE.] “Renewed Covenant” has the sense of going back to the Law, a renewing of the Old Covenant – not entering into the newness of life that the New Covenant brings.  The vernacular of the details of the Feasts is also an element, not a bad thing in itself, as the Feasts paint a powerful picture of the reality that is in Christ.

However, all that astute language usage becomes a platform of superiority on which HRM leadership can stand upon above their “students” and on which HRM laity can stand upon above their potential “converts” as they lead them into a Hebrew Roots mindset.  That platform delivers in a couple of ways:

1) It’s very impressive and gives one the air of superior knowledge and wisdom, enticing the hearer to place unearned and untested respect and weight in the speaker’s words.

2) It can be a diversionary tactic, distracting the hearer from the false doctrine being delivered amidst the flurry of unfamiliar language.

There comes with Hebrew-isms’ platform of superiority

the prospect that the speaker does have special insight, secret knowledge, or hidden revelation, that before now, you, Joe Christian, were not privy to in the Church (Body of Christ).  Not only that, but the “truth” was purposefully hidden from you by the Church, corrupted through the ages, and you must rely on your new teachers to enlighten you.

And on all those “Hebrew-isms” they build their false doctrine.  Straight answers are hard to come by. Questions are met with questions.  While they are not prepared with a ready defense of what they believe, they are more often prepared to tear down what you believe, and then replace it with their false doctrine, leaving you nothing but a pile of rubble to look back on if you question them again.

You end up becoming so busy looking at the doctrinal rubble that’s been spread on the ground around you, and are so overwhelmed with the possibility that you’ve had it all wrong for so long, that you are exhausted from it all and don’t have the energy to really investigate where this “special knowledge” and “hidden insight” is truly coming from.  To the believer subjected to these techniques, they are unknowingly being beaten down, only to be “rescued” by the lies of the Enemy.

5)  Closing the “sale”
One person I know who came out of the Messianic Christian movement put it this way:  “Once you’re in ‘Messy’ “, as she affectionately calls it, “you become convinced that if you don’t keep the Law, you’ll lose your salvation.”

That’s it.  That is the close of the “sale”.  Taking it beyond “If you love God, you’ll keep His commandments”, the Hebrew Roots Movement is reduced to a fear-based belief system:  If you don’t hold up your end, you will die an eternal death.  If you don’t believe me, press those in the Hebrew Roots/Messianic movements on this issue.  If your salvation is not dependant on your keeping of the Law, then “keeping” the Law would be optional.  As conversation progresses, you’ll find that in their belief system, the “keeping” of Old Covenant Law is not optional.  And if it’s not optional, where there is law, there must be enforcement and punishment.

It’s a pretty effective close.

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Dear Believer,

If you find yourself in a discourse with a Law Keeper of any persuasion, investigate fully where their beliefs come from before discarding the completed work of Christ at the Cross.  Don’t be afraid to question your own beliefs . . . that’s a healthy thing to do on occasion, to reinforce why we believe what we believe.  While doing so, NEVER lose sight of the Cross, the Grace of God, the truths of the New Covenant, and the whole, contextual use of Scripture.