Ever wonder where the origins of our faith come from? Yes, Yeshua is at the forefront of our faith, but what about all of the intricate details that surround this foundation? What were the events surrounding our theology, causing us to believe as we do? These are some of the things I plan to take on in this blog. My prayer is that after reading this blog that it will ignite a spark in you, causing you to search out the truth for yourself. This is going to be an interesting ride, so tighten your seatbelt’s and lets hit it.
What were the events surrounding our theology,
causing us to believe as we do?
Once again, to answer these questions, we need to journey back to the time of Yeshua’s resurrection. We need to arrive somewhere around the time of the ministry of the Apostle Sha’ul, or as we know we have come to know him by, Paul. Paul’s ministry was for the most part to the gentiles, or rather, the non Jewish believers. One of his biggest oppositions to overcome at that time were those of the Orthodox Jews, who felt that not only was Yeshua not the promised Messiah, but that one only needed to focus on Torah for salvation. The had begun to confuse the gentile believer’s, telling them that they must follow Torah alone to be saved. Not only that, but that they needed to go through a certain purification ritual to become Jews, and then they could be saved. Confusion had set in, causing Paul and the others to seek a meeting with the elders to discus what needed to be done in order for the gentiles to receive the grace of Yeshua. We need to understand, these same Jews stirring up all this turmoil were followers of Rabbinic Judaism, the same people that Yeshua was constantly speaking against. Their doctrine, although they deemed it as Torah, was not the Torah that YHVH had given Moses, but rather what we know today as the “Oral Torah”, which consisted of centuries of writings by Rabbis over the ages, who took it upon themselves to expound, add to, and distort the Torah of YHVH. With this in mind, it becomes obvious that they meant the gentile believers no good, but instead wanted to put the same yoke on them that they put on the Jews. As Paul and the elders began their meeting, it was the outcome of this meeting that would unanimously decide the fate of the soon to be gentile church. The decision was simple. Although they did not lay out the entire Torah on them, they instead focused on what they already knew the gentiles were dealing with, and instructed them to avoid those things. The rest would come later, but for now, we will focus on the bigger issue. This is much like the church today. When a new person accepts Yeshua as Lord of their life, the ministers don’t lay down everything at once, but instead give them a few things to work on at a time.
I find it funny how many a Christian Pastors champion Paul as the one that taught that gentiles were not obligated to Torah, yet totally oblivious to the fact that this same Paul lived and taught Torah to the end. It’s almost like Paul had two doctrines, one for the Jew and one for the gentile. Here are a few Scripture to glance over where Paul endorsed the keeping of Sabbaths, Feast Day’s and the observance of Torah (Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4, Acts 20:6, Acts 20:16, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, Acts 24:14, Romans 3:31, Acts 28:23, Acts 21:24, Romans 7:25, 1 Corinthians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 11:1). Ok, with this out of the way, fully understanding that Paul was NOT anti Torah in any way, the likeliness of him teaching a different doctrine to the gentiles becomes highly unlikely. Not only that, but in Romans 1, he discuses how we are ALL one, whether Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female. How are we all one with separate teachings as it relates to our salvation? I hope I have laid a Scripturally strong foundation on how Paul as well as the other Apostles were pro Torah. Each of them lived as well as taught Torah. In fact, there was no Authorized King James version Bible to get doctrine from because they would be the ones to later pen the letters that would become what we know as the “New Testament”. Looking closely at their doctrine, one would notice that they pulled heavily from this Torah that we are so hard pressed to prove as being done away with. In fact, their letters only expounded on Torah, making it more clear for us to understand that which was once hidden from the masses.
“Each of them lived as well as taught Torah”
Having laid a foundation on how the Apostles lived and taught Torah, we can know see that this teaching was shared with Jew and gentile alike. As we move on up to the 2nd and 3rd century church, the annals of history penned by the early church fathers all agree that not only was the Church one, but it coexisted harmoniously between both Jew and Gentile. Understanding that they were still one at this time, I would liken to add something new to the equation. Just as their were “believing Jews”, there were also “unbelieving Jews” as well. This being said, before we can go on with this article, we need to make a distinction between the two. For the sake of this article, we call the “believing Jews” that are coexisting with believing Gentiles as “Messianic Jews”. I know it may sound odd that the Gentiles would be called by this title as well, but considering prophecies of Moses as well as some of the “major Prophets”, they all agree that the Gentiles would be grafted in to the family of Jews. Even Paul “piggy backed” on these prophecies. With this in mind, it just fits. Anyway, the Messianic Jewish Community was still in existence during the time of Constantine. According to Paul, the Greeks had coined the name “Christian”. Christianity had become a large movement all over, to include the Roman Empire. It had gotten so big that Constantine, realizing that since religion has a tendency to divide, thought it wise to establish one universal religion for his entire empire. This would ensure the unity of his empire. After claiming a miraculous conversion, Constantine made Christianity the national religion. This was a smart move, in the political sense. Christianity was now the state religion for the Roman Empire. However, there really wasn’t a conversion experience for Constantine. This is evident in how he continued his pagan practices. All he had done was renamed his pagan god’s to Christian figures. The worship remained the same. Christianity in the Roman Empire looked much like it does today. Claiming to be Christian became the “in thing”. If you wanted to get ahead, you had to be Christian. Eventually, Constantine made his famous proclamation, that all people would worship on “Sunday”, being the “Venerable day of the sun”. Incidentally, this is where the name Sunday came from. It was the day to worship the sun. No one had a problem with this other than the Messianic Jewish Community. Refusing to change YHVH ‘s 7th day Sabbath to the 1st day of the week, the Messianic Jews were about experience the wrath of the Roman Empire. Constantine made it clear that anyone found observing the 7th day as opposed to his new 1st day observance would be in violation of Roman law. The Messianic Jewish Community stood fast.
“Eventually, Constantine made his famous
proclamation, that all people would worship
on “Sunday”
The Messianic Jewish Community was now under attack. Not only would they not accept Constantine’s Sunday worship, but they would not participate in any of the pagan practices. They were a serious problem to Constantine. This Roman version of “Christianity” looked nothing like what the Messianic Jewish Community had brought from Israel. Rome had made it a “universal” religion, that accepted all things, so long as it was under the banner of “Christianity”. Christian persecution had begun again. The Romans, utterly outraged by they Messianic Jews, began to strip away everything about Christianity that was Jewish. They wanted absolutely nothing to do with anything Jewish. Feast Days and observances were changed, the Sabbath day was officially made as Sunday, Torah was now null and void, even the Hebrew names of people needed to be changed. Christianity had to be totally independent of it’s Jewishness. Not long after, the Roman Catholic Church was born. The title of Bishop of Rome that was used by Constantine, now went to the first Pope. Roman Christianity, now separate from it’s Jewish roots had become the “New Jerusalem” and the “Mother Church”, according to the Pope. Still having an issue with people not accepting the Sunday as the new Sabbath, the Church of Rome began its purging of those who violated their authority. Under the pangs of death, people were forced to either accept Roman Catholicism or certain death. The most wicked of torture devices were created to torture and or ensure the most painful death possible to those who chose not to accept Catholicism. Although many gladly accepted, if to just to avoid torture, there were yet quite a few who chose death over denying Yeshua. This went on for centuries. Entire villages were wiped out because they refused to deny the faith. Eventually the resistance was shut down, not completely, but as far as the Roman church could tell. YHVH has always had a remnant, even in the darkest of times. Through the years, the Church of Rome amassed so much power that it was even able to depose kings at will. The Popes were larger than life, as they sat on their throne like seat in the place of YHVH. No one dared defy them. Like the Rabbinic Jews, they began to create traditions and additions to Scripture at will. The right of the common person to read Scripture for himself had been stripped away, forcing the masses to accept what they say as the Word of God. It was said that the word of a Pope has more weight than written Scripture. Countless traditions were added to the faith, almost all of which were contrary to the Bible, but since the Bible was on the forbidden book list, who could know? The Papacy ran amuck. Several centuries later, most of the world was under the hand of the papacy, although some defied them, it was kept silent. After all this time, there wasn’t so much as a speck of Jewishness in Christianity. Outside of being born in Israel, there was nothing else about Christianity that connected them to Israel in any way. Our Holidays were given to us by Rome, to include the minor ones. Our Sabbath observance was on the 1st day of the week. Rome even admits that there is no scripture any where that supports the changing of the sabbath. Furthermore that by observing Sunday rather than Saturday, we are acknowledging their power to change times at will.
“It was said that the word of a Pope has more
weight than written Scripture”
As we approach the time of Martin Luther, his actions sparked a movement that once and for all broke the hold that the Roman Catholic Church had on us. The still retained power, just not the power that once allowed them to kill those who opposed them. Martin Luther’s reformation opened the door for the common man to not only read the Bible for himself, but to even own one if he so desired. It was a great day, as the Bible began to be translated in dozens of languages for people around the world. The only real problems now was that for several centuries, Rome had most of the written manuscripts, and changed a lot of what was said as they re-transliterated them. Nonetheless, this was the birth of the Western Christianity. After centuries of Roman theology being taught to us, we left the nest embracing most of their theology. It is because of this, that we are ignorant to YHVH ‘s Feast Days, and see them as only for the Jews. Pagan holidays, rebranded by the church of Rome as being Christianized have been embraced as holy by the Protestant Church, to include Christmas and Easter. Interesting thing is that both days contrast Feast days of YHVH. Rather than celebrating YHVH the way He commanded, Rome taught us to celebrate Him the way we choose to. This was the same thing that Cain did. The Book of Genesis records that YHVH had no respect for Cain’s sacrifice because he gave YHVH what he wanted to give, and not what YHVH wanted him to give. There is a big difference in giving when contrasting our way over His way. In any case, if you really wan’t to know why there is no Jewish roots in Christianity, this is why. If you were to compare the Messianic Jewish Community during the time before Constantine, with the Christian Church today, there would be some serious differences. Although we both acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah, there is so much more to being a believer of “The Way” than just belief in Him. Observance of Torah is what makes the difference. And this is NOT to be saved, but because we are saved. Yeshua commanded us to be like Him, but if He was a follower of Torah, as was His Apostles, yet we are not, in what way are we being like Him? Yeshua did not come to change YHVH ‘s teachings, but to show us what we would look like walking in them. When looking at the two churches, it’s like looking at foster kids. Without our Hebrew roots, we are lacking the thing YHVH wanted to have that connected us. This is what “echad” is all about. I am not talking down on the Church, just saying that as always, we need to look deeper at Scripture apart from our Roman based theology. I know this was a bit longer than normal but it was so much to get out. I hope this was enough to cause you all to look into these things for yourselves though. Search the Scriptures daily, and never take what one tells you as fact until you fact check for yourself. Blessing!
