“In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ (Messiah). Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution.
Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture and, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise” (Rev. Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the US Senate, 1916-1995).
“In searching for truth today, it is neither tradition nor denominations that should be foremost in our lives as followers of Yeshua (Jesus) but is what the King of Kings says about a matter that should be priority. We are looking at some historical church practices and ground rules set down by Christendom centuries ago, which began with a religious hierarchy who today some call our forefathers. I speak here not of the apostolic Jerusalem Council or the Apostles, but others listed in the archives of historical information who took posturing and built a giant anti-Israel religious establishment that ended up severing itself from our true forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Scriptures tell us that “It is the…honor of kings to search out a matter”. (Proverbs 25:2) This major subject is a matter of seriousness to God. It is my sincere prayer that no one reads this as condemnation in a personal way, as I do not offer it as a criticism, but a man or woman of God will determine if a matter lines up with Scripture. Everything written from our CFI ministry offices is written with the utmost respect and deep love for every brother or sister in Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
It is of extreme importance and a glory to God to look at the truth. For gaining understanding, we turn out attention and review to the Torah scrolls from which the prophets of Israel learned and from which Yeshua taught. On this matter of no seal of approval, the Word of God clearly speaks: “Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people…”. (Isaiah 56:3)
In other words, the gentile who is not of the Jewish people, but belongs to the God and King of Israel, should never even think, let alone say, that God has disconnected them in all aspects from His People: Israel! When one does this, it puts the person in direct contrast to the Word of the Lord as given in Romans 11:24. We who follow Jesus are “grafted into” the true Israel of God and uprooted (from pagan ways). We become implanted into another Body, a redeemed Israel. We have had an operation on our hearts as we embraced the God of Israel through Jesus. We have been allowed to join the Commonwealth of Israel without becoming Jewish. (Ephesians 2:12) If we can accept such a thing, it appears that the powers-that-were took it upon themselves to separate the Church from Israel without any royal seal of approval from the King (Jesus).
To divide Israel and the Church would seem to oppose God’s Will as He is a God of unity and not division. In what ways did the neglect of Israel ever enter Christian hearts? By believing in Replacement Theology, Supersessionism, and Dominionism which is quietly deceptive. The blessing of God would have never been on such a stand that has caused the greatest breach of brotherhood ever seen by mankind. The mark of the Lord’s stamp of approval seems to be missing. This means that centuries of Christians down through time went to their graves without the understanding of the role that the Jewish people would play in world redemption in the latter days. Many missed opportunities to rejoice with God’s People (Romans 15:10). Our generation has been blessed to behold the return of the Jewish people to their homeland—the prophetic word has been jumping off the pages of the Bible every day since 1948. God has brought His Chosen People home for a purpose, and that is being revealed in the universe at this time. The greatest miracle of all is to come when the rise of Israel is a true “light to the nations”. (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; 52:10; 60:3; John 8:12) Our prayers help confirm the promises God has made to Israel from His Word as He works to fulfill it!
Ruth the Moabite is an excellent example for us of embracing and then holding on to something in which she believed. When one cleaves, they adhere firmly and closely with loyalty and unwavering hope. Even as in marriage, “…what God has joined together, let no man separate”. (Mark 10:9) It is clear God brought followers of Jesus into an understanding of biblical Judaism the way the Master taught it—the voice of God’s Words from the Torah. Early believers never left Israel and never thought of separation from God’s People.
I read where “World Council of Churches Makes War on Israel,” which report portrayed Israelis as demons and said that the world would seek blood from people who support Israel in its fight against the Palestinians. (Dexter Van Zile, Research Fellow for Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting, (CAMERA), Alegeminer blog). We realize that the World Council of Churches is deceived and following a wrong path; however, many Christians worldwide are standing up today and believing that the Church needs a reformation from centuries of wrong teachings, which produces an error as in the above article. The Bible tells us that there will come a time when the gentile nations say we have inherited, in succession from our predecessors, dishonest teachings. “…the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies…”. (Jeremiah 16:19)
We just all need to be alert and responsible in what we believe about Israel.
What is a Seal of Approval?
A seal is an endorsement or approval of something. Without it, all is meaningless. God the Father placed His seal of approval on His only begotten Son. (John 6:27) Aren’t we glad that we have that assurance from God?
Perhaps the subject of seals may not seem to be of great importance to some. Still, in truth and actuality, nothing in heaven or on earth takes place without God’s permission. Everything requires God’s approval. God is the beginning and end of everything. He is the final Authority. In fact, all things are held together by His power. (John 1:3-4) After God decrees and seals a matter, it stands forever. No one can change the King’s decree after it has been established. He decreed we stand with Israel in Genesis 12:3 and Isaiah 56:3. “Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying the LORD hath utterly separated me from His People…”. (Isaiah 56:3)
In the Book of Esther, King Xerxes gave a ruling against Haman because of his attack on the Jews. Haman’s estate was given to Esther, and a new decree was written and sealed with the King’s signet ring. (Esther 8:7-10) In the Book of Revelation, the Seven Seals of God are the seven symbolic seals that secure the scroll that John on Patmos saw in an apocalyptic vision. “The use of a seal by men was quite common before the Christian era, and functionaries of the Church adopted the habit. In one of St. Augustine’s letters, he used a seal. Later ecclesiastical synods required that letters under the bishop’s seal should be given to priests…the custom of bishops possessing seals may be assumed to have been pretty general. We thank God that the seal of the Holy Spirit is an identifying factor of our possession of salvation. He could not be the seal of our salvation if He is not received at the moment of salvation. He is our guaranteed seal.” (Jeanie Shephard)
At different junctures in time, Church authorities and often power-structured government leaders adopted their own doctrines, dogmas, and beliefs. Some constitutions were mutually agreed-upon principles and structures that governed their affairs. Bylaws were subordinate rules adopted by churches to augment a constitution. The question that lies directly in front of us is where we obtain a record of the Lord giving His Stamp of Approval (His Seal of Consent and Blessing) for anyone who follows Jesus to separate ourselves and totally disconnect from the Nation and People from which Jesus was born?
My heart is full of love for every brother and sister in the Body of believers around the world. I feel this burden to share truth without condemnation to make us think about God’s desires and not man’s. Accountability will eventually fall to shepherds who will have to give an explanation. Who will respond from ecclesiastical groups who made themselves “heads of the Church?” How will they answer, “why did you separate from My People?” A separate religion developed over the centuries completely unlinked from its mother foundation set down by the Jewish apostles. “If you had told Peter, Paul, or any of the early Christians that they had switched religion, they would have looked at you as if you were crazy. They were Jewish; they stayed Jewish; they believed in Israel’s Messiah, and they taught gentiles about the Holy Scriptures of the Jews. If that is not Jewish, then what is? However, as the centuries passed by, there was a gradual process that separated the Jews who followed the Pharisee version of Judaism and the Jews and gentiles who followed the Nazarene or Christian version of Judaism…the groups of people who believed in Jesus…were just another couple of branches….” (Tuvia Pollack)
It appears that the Church has dropped their own roots instead of staying attached to the Hebraic ones. Our King clearly stated, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). If the Lord Jesus establishes His Father’s Doctrine in John 4:22, then it is true! When God declares a thing, He establishes it. (Job 22:28). But the present separation ends up being a denial of God’s intended purposes for mankind before He sets up His Kingdom on earth. As we continue to learn from Ruth’s example, she joined the House of Israel and the community and came under the Wings of the God of Israel— as we have done through Jesus. She not only joined the community but stated, “I will worship your God, I will live where you live, I will go where you go, and your people will be my people” (Ruth 1:16). She included in her declaration the Jewish people! So must we.
God would have had to have approved a separation before it could be valid. Consequently, the Church built the Church without Israel. It doesn’t make sense to take an ax to our roots! It doesn’t matter if all the world is called “the Church,” if God did not approve something, it is not approved. The opposite of approval is disapproval. As I write this, I am not condemning anyone but asking a question. Why did the Church do this? Is God’s intended purpose for the Church being denied by an apostate Church? It does not seem like the “fruit” which we are asked to bear is coming forth from a great deal of Replacement churches around the world. Again, there is no condemnation but only questions. If the Church is the “Bride” of Christ, then what Bride gets married without the Groom’s family being present and their consent and approval to share in the joy? How can you be betrothed to someone and not know their background, culture, homeland, family, and relatives and embrace them? It would be hard to begin a marriage with a rift between the Bride and the Bride Groom’s relatives!
I believe we live in times when we have to ask ourselves these questions. I kindly ask that no one see this as a rebuke but written from pure love—truth has a right to surface and ask where the seal of Our King Jesus is on the attitude that God is finished with the Jews and are no longer a Chosen People? Will the King sanction a marriage if the Bride is anti-Semitic or prideful and arrogant towards her Groom’s family? Will someone ask who gave the greenlight and permission to do this? I naturally believe a true Bride will be connected with the Groom’s family.
Reasoning against the Law
I totally understand our argument and agree that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were wrong in condemning Jesus; on the other hand, Jesus rebuked Peter for wanting to stop His Crucifixion. Someone had to do it, and only the High Priest and religious of Israel were allowed to slay the sacrificial lamb. Jesus was very popular among the common people of Israel; they loved Him. How could they not? He healed, delivered, saved, taught, and made people whole again. If the Jewish people would have crowned Jesus King back then, where would the Gentiles be today? He had to die for all of us. The Pharisees said to one another, “…look, the whole world has gone after Him!” (John 12:19). What world? The Jewish world. They were looking all around them in Jerusalem. If Jesus had allowed the people to crown Him King at the time of His entry into Jerusalem, many names would have been left out of the Book of Life. It had to happen. He conquered death! When Jesus walked into the Temple courtyard, a non-Jew could not enter the Temple as there was a sign outside that said, “Non-Jews not welcome on pain of death.” But Jesus conquered death, walked out of the grave. Yes, God so loved the world; He wrapped Himself in the flesh and came to live among us and to die for us (John 3:16).
It is true Israel does not yet see Him. But we need to let God be God, and in His timing, He will come to reveal Himself as He is. Justice and holiness demand God has a plan for the Jewish people. They are the “apple of His Eye” (Zechariah 2:8). We all have to make choices in this life. Our aim must be to please God and not a man even if we are unpopular (Isaiah 56:4). By the way, God allowed Israel to separate from the pagan nations (Leviticus 19:34). Still, non-Jews were never to separate from Israel. (Ezra 6:21, 9:12; Exodus 29:33; Galatians 1:15; Nehemiah 9:2; Genesis 12:3; Matthew 19:6; Ephesians 2:14; Numbers 15:14-16; Leviticus 20:26; Isaiah 56:3; 2 Samuel 20:1). The Lord has been building an “ecclesia,” an “assembly” of his called-out ones–followers who would never separate from His Nation, Israel (Isaiah 56:3). Even if a remnant, let us who see God’s plans and purposes for Israel stay attached to our spiritual forefathers, the Prophets, and Apostle’s teachings and never stray away.
His seal of approval to separate is missing. Let us love one another and work together in unity to search the Scriptures to at least look at and allow Scripture to guide us, just as our former brothers, the Bereans.
Watching for His Return,
Sharon Sanders