“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)
To the God of Israel, beginnings are significant. God tells us He created the heavens and the earth so that we would know more about the power and glory of His Supreme Being. Our faith had a foundational establishment, and its origin begins and ends in Jerusalem. All of us had a beginning. We advanced in life from somewhere, i.e., farms, villages, towns, cities, communities, and capitals. Returning to our roots gives us a spiritual perspective of our lives, where we have been, how we developed, and where we are today. Most of us do not omit our childhood beginnings. Then why do we not want to remember and include our spiritual foundations?
King of the Jews
Often, the big picture about our spiritual walk with God and understanding the context of the Bible comes into better focus when we find our roots. Returning home to our foundations is not about changing religion; it is all about relationship with the One True God and the command to be in right relationships with His Chosen People (Genesis 12:3). A Savior came out of Israel for the Gentiles, and His title in the New Testament is “King of the Jews” (John 19:3). He belonged to a distinct and separate people. That means Yeshua grew up as a Jew and remained a Jew all of His Life. The last words He spoke that were recorded in the Newer Testament were, “I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). He never left the Land of Israel nor His People while on earth. Yeshua has changed a Christian’s life forever. Certainly, the forsaking of former lifestyles and pagan culture we once partook of is the best thing that ever happened. The Lord now sits on the throne of our hearts, and we listen to His Voice when He speaks.
As Reverend Halverson so astutely stated: what the church started as (a sect of Biblical Judaism) and what the church has ended up being (a separate faith and religion) is totally different than the way Yeshua taught. We are in the era of the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). There is a lot of work yet to do to clear the highway and prepare it for the Coming of the Lord to Jerusalem. Will His road be ready for His Coronation day? It depends on how hard we work.
Replacement Theology: The Culprit
“There is no doubt that the Christians carry a heavy sin regarding the people of Israel” (Nicolai Berdyaev). The road to Zion is still scattered with obstacles such as spiritual pride, arrogance, antisemitism, and betrayal on behalf of Christendom. Since arrival in Israel, the ministry of CFI has been picking up the pieces of broken relationships toward God’s Chosen People. Over 20 centuries of religious bigotry mixed with prejudice and hatred produced a poison which spread throughout Christianity. The early days of brotherhood were plagued with an ecclesiastical sickness among the institutional church in which bloodshed plagued many who called themselves “Christian.” It pains me to think that false teachings, such as Replacement Theology, caused so much mistrust and misunderstandings between Jewish people and Christians that paved its way onto a separate road out of Jerusalem. It laid its own brick road, which led to a disconnected religion strange to what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples. As we attempt to repair the damage done to the Savior’s name in Israel today, we have a great opportunity now to reverse the curse of division among some 45,000 denominations in Christianity. Many issues divide Christians, such as how one is baptized, how communion is served, and on which day to worship. We need to be unified as one on the issue of Israel since the God we serve is the God of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is not divided. He is One. There will be no division of the one new man (humanity) to come in God’s Kingdom. It is time to work toward oneness. I do not speak of ecumenicalism or all-inclusiveness; I speak about being One spirit in the Lord and loving His Jewish people!
Why so many Divisions?
During Jesus’ ministry, He prayed that His future followers would exhibit a special kind of unity that would be a testimony to the world. “I appeal to you, brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). So what happened? Rather than unity, harmony, and cooperation, Christians are often known for their squabbles and divisions. Even when they appear to get along, they divide up into hundreds of different groups, churches, and denominations. For those who are not Christians, it seems confusing. Why can’t they agree on anything? Why are there sometimes four different churches on the same street? Even for believers, the question arises: why are there so many Christian denominations? (StartingPoint.com).
Religious blind spots formed many mindsets, which developed over the centuries. When religion itself exploded into being, instead of following the Jewish Messiah and letting the Judaism of Jesus form the basis for His followers, the gospel train quickly ran off track and subsequently off course. The track had divided into two different routes and quickly brought about a terrible disaster. Events involving Medieval times, the Nicene Creed, and the Reformation deviated from the Didache, the original constitution of the Disciples of Yeshua. Few of our people are taught this today because our pastors are not educated to know that the “missing link in Christianity is Israelology” (Dr. Arnold Fructenbam).
A return and restoration towards Israel is definitely in order as we move through the prophetic future. The rise of Jerusalem is on the future horizon as it will one day host all nations to come and sit at the feet of the Messiah. Only one city is destined to become “the throne of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:17), not Washington, London, Paris, Buenos Aires, or anywhere else. The destiny belongs to Jerusalem.
As a church we need to set our watch posts toward Jerusalem. Daniel did when he went to prayer. I see God, Creator of the Universe, today fulfilling His Promises to the Patriarchs of Israel. One of the greatest gifts we need now more than ever is discernment as it is going to get more difficult in the world before it gets better. We need to read and study the prophetic word and know about the days in which we live. The “sons of Issachar” (1 Chronicles 12:32) anticipated, focused on, and observed what was happening around them. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes our ancestors did in stating they were the “new Israel” and that God had forsaken His Beloved people and nation. This would be Replacement Theology.
Lightening will one day flash out of the east (Jerusalem) and will fill the sky to the western horizon “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27, The Complete Jewish Study Bible). Before this event happens there is definitely coming a falling away from truth in the coming days and it is happening right before our eyes today. It is folly (as many have done) to separate from Israel. “He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you” (Numbers 24:9). It may be that Israel is not where she should be spiritually; however, the promises of God still stand and have not been removed from the people He chose to love.
Join in Reversing the Curse
On the near horizon is coming an apostate one-world church who will have nothing to do with Israel. Without a doubt, Jerusalem is going to remain at the center of importance to God, the core, the heart and headquarters of the Living God. Yeshua (Jesus) will break through the clouds over Jerusalem one day and arrive to set up His Father’s Kingdom. In our last For Zion Sake, I reported that Dr. David Stern, a very revered scholar of the Bible who translated the Jewish New Testament Commentary and the Complete Jewish Study Bible, wrote: “There is no Christian Messiah. He is either Jewish or He is not the Messiah.” Do we understand Dr. Stern’s statement? Let us awaken to our beginnings and return home to our roots and the home of Jesus. Join the movement to reverse the curse!
Looking to the Prophetic Future
We must learn and come to grips with the fact that in the coming Kingdom of God in which Yeshua will reign, there will be absolutely no antisemitism. If we take a walk back through history with Reverend Halverson and view the first century of early Christianity, we will indeed see a brotherhood of believers trusting in the Lord Yeshua that often attended the local synagogues (as there were no churches at that time). Men, women, and children focused on the Lord and what He did for them at the cross by shedding His blood. After the disciples of Yeshua died, more and more gentile leadership came into being. As the gospel spread to Greece, it took on new ideas and ways of thinking, including Hellenistic thoughts, and the national character and culture of Greece, especially ancient Greece. Many studied and imitated ancient Greek culture. The Hellenistic period spans the period of Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great (323BC), the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium (31 BC), and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year (Wikipedia). Following the arrival of the Good News about the Messiah in Rome, it developed into ritualistic and nobility-orientated form of paganism. It then moved on to Europe, where it developed into a refinement of European nobility and customs. Lastly, it progressed to the new world of the Americas, where it enlarged, spread, and often developed into a business program in pursuit of affluence and comfort. If we have “ears to hear” (spoken about throughout the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke), we learn that this is not a generic statement of “everybody, listen up,” but that Jesus is calling for people to take careful heed not to be deceived. We know that from Matthew 24-25, He is asking us to discern the times and not to become deceived. He indeed, will judge nations on how they treated His Brethren, the Jewish people. We know, that in context and time He spoke this, and there was no “church,” at the time and the only people group who called one another “brethren” were the Jews.
I have asked many times, “What bride gets married to a groom and doesn’t get to know the groom’s family?” If the church of Yeshua stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish people, the strength and power we would have together would bring many who live in disunity and division into the light of God’s Love to forgive, get over the offences, and come together for the sake of God’s Holy Name. May the great omission of Israel by the church be turned truly into the great commission of embracing the God of Israel, the Messiah of Israel (Yeshua) and the beginning of reversing the curse of Christian antisemitism in these prophetic times. This would truly be for the church a great beginning.
-Sharon Sanders-