PAIR O' DIMES

The Third Rail

By and large, everyone I have met within the Hebrew Roots (HR) or Messianic 'camp' have come from Christian backgrounds.  Being persuaded that Christmas/Easter/Sunday worship is rooted in paganism [look up Constantine] they have jumped in with both feet.  Christmas trees and Easter bunnies are set on the curb alongside the Easter ham, Sunday worship is replaced with Shabbat fellowship and that's that.  There are disputes over how to pronounce the Names and what calendar is accurate, but even though those topics are touchy, there is a third rail that must never be touched!  Even though we all believe this verse!

Jer 16:19  O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, Our fathers have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

There are some things we inherited that are not open for discussion or debate or examination.  It is the third rail of coming out of Babylon, and it is the deity of Yeshua.

So, the bottom line is that whether or not this is truth, to even suggest it requires study is deemed heresy, false teaching, or confusion.  In effect, we have taken our Christian dogma, excised the holiday traditions, changed our diet and slapped the Feasts of YHVH and Sabbath over the bedrock of our 'faith.'  We still are the possessors of truth and the Jews just need to get on board with us.  It's okay though, because now that we agree on the Torah, they can embrace the Messiah as we understand him as their Messiah too!

A common mantra in the HR group is that we must abandon Greek Thinking and embrace Hebraic Understanding.  The irony is that the doctrines that characterize Yeshua as a deity are firmly rooted in pagan doctrine.  The Trinity can be traced back to the Babylonians, where the Queen of Heaven (Semaramis) gave birth to a son by being impregnated by the rays of the Sun.  Gee, that sounds awfully familiar!

Someone once said that even a broken clock is right twice a day to justify our acceptance of the foundational teachings of Christianity.  After all, they must have gotten something right!   Intellectual honesty would demand that we should never be afraid to test those beliefs we inherited from the Christian church.  Truth has no agenda, and if we are truly seekers of the truth, we surely will find it.  The only way to be sure is to test everything. 

It could be that the things we test will solidify our faith by confirming what we think we know.  It could also be that it will confirm our faith by having to cut away [circumcise] our most cherished beliefs.  Not many people are ready to have their hearts broken again, especially after the trauma of learning they had to abandon Christmas and Easter, but that is what seeking truth demands.

He demands that we pursue what he has placed on our hearts.  Do we stop short?   Do we trust Him to reveal what we need to know?

Luk 8:17  For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor secret that shall not be known and come into open view.
Luk 8:18  So pay attention how you listen. For whoever has, to him more will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he supposes he has will be taken away from him.”

Are you ready to challenge everything? 

Are you ready to examine everything to verify the truth?  We know that we received a lot of confusion from Babylon.  Have we tested if our understanding about Yeshua is Hebraic or just paganism repackaged in a Christian box? 

I grew up with the Greek myth of Hercules who was a demi-god.  He is part of a pantheon of deities, all of them gods that are not gods.  Which came first?  Yeshua or the mythology of Greece and Rome?

Is it worthwhile to study if we have adopted a Greek/Roman  paradigm and slapped it onto our Bible?  Can we claim that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and not challenge that translations may be tainted by the 'lying pen of the scribes?'   Were they all written without bias or error?

Everyone in the HR movement seems ready to abandon Judaism and Christianity for the truth that is found outside of a religious system made by man.  I am down with that!  But, are we equally ready to abandon myth and tradition that have crept into our Bible-view?

This article is not going to answer the question of Yeshua, and whether or not he is deity.  That question presupposes that there was no change in status from flesh to resurrected body.  It is Greek Think: Either he's God or he's not!  Instead, it is probably Hebraic thought: Seeing Yeshua within a progression of a Promise that became a Man that became the First Fruits of the Resurrection. 

The third rail seeks to shut down any examination of the Christian doctrine of a pre-incarnate god (Jesus) who came to Earth to save us all from our sins.  It's a great story, but is it the gospel of the kingdom?  Is it truly 'settled,' and unimportant?   Does it affect our ultimate wish to be resurrected at the last trumpet?

I contend that it can affect our walk with the Creator.  But be warned, even postulating that we might misunderstand the nature of Yeshua and the 'Godhead' is likely to land you in very hot water!  Just because it has been accepted as truth for 2000 years does not mean that it is truth.  Questioning and testing the scriptures is not being a false teacher, a heretic or nuts.  After all, our eternal soul is at stake!

This blog will continue to test our traditions, doctrines and cherished beliefs.  My first in depth study will be the proofs that Yeshua lived and was resurrected.  If this cannot be proven by extra-Biblical texts, then we are left with believing what we cannot know based on hear-say and faith.  I certainly think that faith in what cannot be seen is imperative, for none of us was there!  BUT, It is possible, I believe, to set forth an argument that the most extraordinary event in human history happened in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago.  

In the meantime remember this:

Psa 119:165  Great peace have they who love Your Torah, and nothing causes them to stumble.