I have led a truly blessed life. Nothing has so declared as to who I was or ever
to be then the consistent fact that I was a Jewish
man. It took me 20 years of study to
convince me of one thing, and that is Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth is who the Bible says He is supposed to be, the living Son of God.
It
was exhilarating to decide to openly worship Yeshua, and I did. My new wife and I were very open about our
faith in Yeshua, we were even baptized together on one wonderful Summer
day. Yet, the Ruach haKodesh (the
Holy Spirit) still had one more thing to prove, and that was that Yeshua
is the living Jewish Son of David sent to one and all, both Lost Jews and
Gentiles equally. Thus when I was new to
my public worship I found myself becoming more and more involved with the Christian
denomination known as Messianic Judaism. After
all, I was Jewish and as far as I knew Messianic Judaism was the only Jewish-Christian around. They
practiced the Jewish traditions and celebrated the Jewish feasts. It was only natural for eager-eyed Jewish
intellectual to worship Jesus within Jewish rites All I saw when I watched the Messianic Jewish
movement and my Messianic congregation was that other Messianic Jews and
Gentiles (there was more Gentiles then Jews) happily and contently worship
their savior, Yeshua. As I
watched I became more and more enamored with the Messianic movement. In addition to becoming an official member of
the local congregation I also was entrusted with the title of Student-Minister
to the Addicted by the head Messianic-Rabbi.
From the start The Road to God Ministry has always
been founded upon the fact that each and every Gentile has the same right to
worship the One Lord as any Jewish believer does. From
the get go I knew deep inside that there was something fundamentally wrong in
the Messianic Jewish doctrine. With each
and every Messianic service two issues became more and more clear. Stan Telchin, author of "Messianic Judaism is
Not Christianity", goes so far as to say Messianic Jews are not even really of a
form of Christianity. I disagree categorically
with Telchin, but that does not erase the fact that there are serious false
doctrines rampant in the Messianic Jewish movement today. The most basic of these is that there needs
to be two centers of worship for Christianity: a Gentile Church and a Messianic
Synagogue. The argument is that the
Jewish believers will remain in a culture that honors the fact that they are still Jewish, even after their conversion. The second issue is
simply that most (not all) Messianic Jews continue to follow the teachings of
Talmudic literature. I always found this
odd as Messianic Jews are opposed to the historical group of Jews called p’rushim
(Pharisees) and their teachings.
Rabbinical Judaism is founded upon the teachings of Midrash, Mishnah
and Talmud. The Laws are part of
the Oral Traditions of Rabbinical Judaism and were first created by the exiled Jews
in Babylon at approximately 580 AD.
Messianic Judaism does not revere the Oral Traditions to consider them
to be true, but for some insane reason we Jewish Believers consider it only
proper to live by them. It is from these
two falsehoods that our ministry, The Road to God Ministry, honors, adheres to
and teaches the doctrine known as Olive Tree Theology. We believe with a doubt that all Believers in Yeshua
haMashiach (Jesus Christ)can worship together in one house of God,
together and in unity. Jewish believers
should feel open to worship ones heritage, race, creed and culture at whatever
church they may find themselves. Both
Gentile and Jewish believers should be free to worship in whatever place they
are. If a Jewish Believer wants to their
tallit (prayer shawl) then that is what they should do. The fear that one will lose their Jewishnesss
when they worship at a Church in an important one and one unspoken in the
Messianic Synagogue. I often consider
this situation as I am the only Jew (also my daughter) in a Gentile Baptist
Church. Yet, over time I have come to
realize that I will only lose my racial and cultural identification by remaining
at a Church instead of a Synagogue.
Another fear that exists is the phobia of becoming involved with a
Church that teaches Replacement Theology (RT). I make no illusions regarding the truth of
RT, There exists many RT churches
throughout Christianity today. RT is the
false view that God has eternally forsaken the Jewish people for their unbelief
in Christ. The Replacement doctrine
teaches that everything God has promised to the Jewish people since Abraham
will now take place, but only for the true Gentile Believers. Denominations that hold to this ideology are
the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Roman Catholic Church. Replacement Theologians have been extreme in
the formation of the Catholic Church and with and has caused a false dual view
of Scripture, one Gentile and one Jewish.
It teaches that the Church is now the true Israel and not the Jewish
people as God had promised them from the time of Avraham (Abraham).
In the end I like to believe that my Faith stems from the
Bible, literal and true. I am a
literalist when it comes to Hermeneutics and Scripture translation. When the Bible reads that something in
history happened, I trust in Him to be true to His Word. If I read Creation took place in six days, then
I believe it did. And when the Bible
reads,
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. 28 There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal 3:26-29 (KJV)
The great rule of literalists is that you always take the
Bible at face value. The written words
mean what they are supposed to be. But
if what is written is not possible then you must look for the greater
meaning. It is unfortunate that most
Gentile Church’s that believe in RT utilize Galations 3:26-27 in the false view
that there are no Jews anymore. But as
the rule states since in verse 28 we must look to the greater meaning as we cannot
stop being a male or a female. With that
nailed down the verse never states that there are no longer Jewish
Believers. As a literalist you must read
more than one verse. Instead we need to
read the passages before and the passages after to discern their meaning. If the verse states that there can be neither
male nor female then we should all realize we can never stop being what we
are. What the passage in declaring in
truth is that God doesn’t care about anything other then the question if we are
Believers or not. Olive Tree Theology
stems from this verse and the wonderful words of Paul in Romans 11. Olive Tree Theology is about the unity of
Christians. All Believers in Messiah
should be as one.
And that leads us to today.
Today and for some months now I have been fighting a
disease that cannot be cured. I have
spent more days violently sick in the past few months. But this time of tribulation has been one of
serenity as well. Throughout the
constant nausea and vomiting I have come to see that God wants me to give Him
proper testimony. Olive Tree Theology
has been the center of my testimony as some of you may have been contemplating
the same thing. Don’t let me be the sole
word on Olive Tree Theology, study it for yourselves.
My standing prayer is that all Believers whether they be
Christians, Messianic Jews, or just Jewish Believers as myself, may reread
Galatians 3:26-29 and Romans 11 in a new way.
I pray that we can all see and appreciate each other traditions in our
worship. Most of all I pray that God may
grant me the power to share His holy Word in such a fashion that gives Him all
due homage. In the name of Yeshua
I pray.
Steven H
President
