“This above all: to thine own self be true.” Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act I, Scene III
How can you be true to yourself if you don’t know yourself?
Let’s analyze a situation from the New Testament showing the importance of loving people but not allowing love to blindside you about the reality of who they are as a culture generally.
One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith. Titus 1:12-13
Seems to me Paul made a blanket statement about all the people living on the island of Crete. Sounds pretty harsh, but he explicitly says it’s true. Don’t forget, Paul’s ministry began on the island of Crete. He made a man blind for three days there. Pretty controversial way of brining the Good News to the governor of Crete but that’s what happened. Thankfully Luke didn’t suffer from any of today’s woke sensitivities and recorded the history as it happened. Read the second half of chapter 13 in the Book of Acts for the full story.
This is Paul’s first miracle as an apostle. So he knew first hand something about Crete and the culture that shaped the people there. He knew what their poets had to say about their own people. And he agreed with them that it’s true. His faith didn’t blindside his objective perception of other people and cultures. He knew how to love people and gave his life to bring the Gospel to us clueless goyim (non-Jews). But he wasn’t blind to people’s shortcomings either.
He didn’t tell Titus that the Cretans shouldn’t be evangelized. He didn’t develop a theology of dooming the Cretans to damnation. He just had an objective assessment of where these people are at as a culture.
Paul wasn’t blind to his own shortcomings, or those of his companions. He was on a critical mission. He couldn’t afford to live in a mental fog about himself or others, given his mission.
If our lives are mission critical, can we I afford to live without having a good degree of self-awareness?
I ask this question even though the answer should be obvious. Yet we know that huge number of people don’t have much of self-awareness to speak of.
Science today acknowledges self-awareness as a complex and multifaceted aspect of human cognition and consciousness. Researchers from various fields, including neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science, have been trying to understand better self-awareness. Here are some key insights from current scientific perspectives:
Neuroscience of Self-Awareness: Neuroscientists have identified specific brain regions associated with self-awareness, such as the prefrontal cortex. Studies using brain imaging techniques like fMRI and EEG have provided insights into how the brain processes self-referential information and self-perception.
Mirror Neurons: Mirror neurons, a type of brain cell, are believed to play a role in our ability to understand and empathize with others, contributing to our self-awareness by connecting our experiences to those of others.
Theory of Mind: Psychologists study the development of “theory of mind,” which is the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others. It plays a crucial role in our capacity for self-awareness and empathy.
Metacognition: Metacognition refers to the ability to think about one’s thinking, and it is closely linked to self-awareness. Research in this area explores how individuals monitor and regulate their thoughts, emotions, and problem-solving strategies.
Developmental Psychology: Studies in developmental psychology examine when and how self-awareness emerges in children and how it evolves throughout a person’s life.
Disorders of Self-Awareness: Scientific research also investigates disorders of self-awareness, such as anosognosia (a lack of awareness of one’s own disabilities). Understanding these conditions helps shed light on the mechanisms of self-awareness in the brain.
I find all of this fascinating! I don’t have time to demonstrate it here but the findings of modern science actually align well with the information we have from the Bible when it comes to self-knowledge and self-awareness.
Much more can be said but let me wrap this up by summarizing my conclusions after 30+ years of first hand participation in Christian ministry all over the world.
I find the traditional Christian formula “Seek to know God only” as severely lacking. Seeking to know well ourselves should go hand in hand with the imperative of seeking to know God. Not knowing ourselves in a narcissistic way but knowing ourselves in the context of being his creation.
Jesus did say THE GREATEST commandment is to love God. But He also added the second “Love your neighbor as yourself”, and said it’s just as important as the first one!
Notice we are to love our neighbor as our own self. How can you love your own self?
True love to your own self is submitting your own self to the Creator and accepting the place He has for you. Accepting the place of being His creation, his child, with all the blessings and responsibilities it comes with. Only then can we love others well.
Only then can we grasp the full meaning of God’s Truth taught by the Torah (The Law) and the Neviim (The Prophets).
Matthew 22:36-40 (CSB) 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest? ” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 “This is the greatest and most important command. 39 “The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/img_3046.jpg418750Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2023-09-03 16:25:192023-09-03 16:25:19Knowing God and Self-Awareness
When people begin to take interest in Hebraica Veritas, or the recognition of the Hebrew language, the Jewishness of the Bible, and the history of Israel as the only correct way to understand and interpret the teachings of Moses, Jesus and the apostles, some end up asking themselves if they should circumcise in order to keep the Torah. Dr. Joseph Shulam has posted his thoughts on the subject and I would like to offer below summary, you can watch the full message if you want here.
There are questions that have come up to Netivya on all kinds of issues. One of the questions was whether Gentiles should be circumcised to keep the Torah.
First, let’s put down some of the most important principles when we deal with the Bible and when we want to understand and deal with God himself. The first axiomatic principle is that God doesn’t make mistakes. If He wanted Michael Jackson to be blonde and blue-eyed, he would have made him a Swede. Michael Jackson didn’t need to bleach himself in order to be white. Similarly, if He wanted me to be African, I would have been black. God doesn’t make mistakes. We are born who we are, and we must not want to be somebody else.
The second principle that’s also an immutable principle is that God is the God of all of humanity and creation. That means He’s the God of the Eskimos, our Arab neighbors and our Jewish neighbors, Vladimir Putin, and Joe Biden. God is the God of all, and that is a Biblical principle from the very beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation.
The third principle is that what the Bible doesn’t clearly demand, we don’t have to worry about. Why worry about it? Why do you want to think that God wants you to be a Jew? If He wanted you to be a Jew, you would have been born to Jewish parents, raised as a Jew, and did a bar mitzvah and circumcised on the eighth day. This is the most basic and important principle of the whole Bible.
God revealed His will to us through the witnesses that witnessed the events and to the apostles who were called, anointed, and received Revelation from God. They wrote down what we should teach future generations about how to live in this life and inherit eternal life forever.
Let’s talk about the Jews and the Gentiles. One of the problems with most Christian pastors and even professors of theology is that they have never learned how to read Jewish texts, especially Jewish texts written by a Jewish lawyer.
Let’s go to Galatians chapter 5. In order not to make this answer too long, I’ll only read a few verses.
Stand fast, therefore, in the Liberty by which the Messiah Christ has made us free.
Notice he’s writing to you. Then he says us, including here, in my opinion, the Jews. He’s saying, you Gentiles are just like us. We got liberated by the Messiah.
If you don’t keep one of the laws or the Commandments, you’re breaking your own oath. That’s why don’t enter in their law a yoke of bondage. Yeshua said, “my yoke is easy and light,” not a bondage. So Paul in verse 3 of Galatians 5, “I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised” – every man means Jew or Gentile – “that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.”
Because the minute you begin following Judaism, especially as an adult, if you asked all the questions, you asked to commit, you ask to take a vow, and you have to do two things: circumcise and immersion in water. And when you are in the water before you dunk yourself in the water, you take an oath to keep the law and the Commandments. Everybody does it. When you do this, you give up the right to ask for God’s mercy, for God’s grace, because you have made an oath to keep the law and the Commandments.
Paul said, “I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised.” It doesn’t say every baby. He says every man who becomes circumcised is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from the Messiah, from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by the Torah, you have fallen from Grace. For we, the Jews, through the spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of the righteousness of faith.
As Jews circumcised on the eighth day we didn’t have to make an oath. But if you as an adult now are going to be converted to Judaism in order to keep the Torah, you make an oath. And when you make an oath, if you don’t keep one of The Commandments, you forfeited God’s grace by your oath. For we, the Jews, through the spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness of faith. We wait for that day in which we are going to be forgiven from our sins by our faith in Yeshua Mashiach, and he said that in verse 6, “for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love is everything.”
In Galatians Paul actually gives a command to all the churches on this topic, and the command is in First Corinthians chapter 7 verse 17 and forward. “But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, let him walk.”
This goes to the first principle that I mentioned before. God doesn’t make mistakes and he gave you what you need and equipped you with what you have in order to achieve the goal and spend eternity with God and the Saints and the prophets and the apostles.
I’m reading verse 17 of chapter 7 of First Corinthians again, “But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk,” that means live. And so I command in all the churches, the Jewish churches, and the non-Jewish churches, and the mixed churches, and the “Tutti-Frutti” churches today. We have some of those too. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.
So to summarize, the key principle that Paul emphasizes in both Galatians and Corinthians is that what matters most to God is keeping His commandments, rather than adhering to external practices like circumcision or non-circumcision. As he says in 1 Corinthians 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.”
This is a message that applies to both Jews and Gentiles. For Jews, it means not getting too caught up in the external trappings of the law, but focusing on the underlying principles of love, justice, and righteousness that the law is meant to promote. For Gentiles, it means recognizing that they too are called to live in accordance with God’s moral standards, even if they are not bound by the same covenantal obligations as the Jews.
In short, the message of Galatians and Corinthians is that what matters most to God is not our ethnic or religious identity, but our obedience to His will. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, circumcised or uncircumcised, we are all called to live lives of faith, hope, and love, and to seek to honor God in all that we do.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.png00Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2023-02-19 19:32:092023-02-19 19:33:26Should the Gentiles circumcise to keep the Torah?
I offer the following brief history of ancient Israel and Judah as a way to help students of Biblical history, especially young people. It takes 6 minutes to read through the following 1,000 words covering Israel’s 4,000 year old history!In an age of short attention spans, it may be a helpful tool for anyone, but especially parents to both understand and explain to others the history of ancient Israel and Judah. I didn’t add timelines and verse references on purpose. My goal was to create a smooth flowing narrative rather than a sophisticated study tool, if which there are many. George
The descendants of Abraham, to whom the land of Israel was promised, were a federation of twelve tribes in the era starting with Abraham and all the way to the era of the judges.
The judge was not a king but the twelve tribes followed him in times of conflict and war, which was often.
According to the book of genesis the Hebrews had been enslaved in Egypt before they invaded the Lavant where they completely destroyed several Canaanite city-states and their populations.
Such conquest was the only time in Israel’s history where offensive warfare would be used to seize other lands. The Bible clearly teaches that God used the Israelites for the conquest of the Promised Land as a way of executing a judgment on the peoples living there at the time. After the initial conquest they moved further north along the coast.
The period of judges lasted roughly from the fourteenth through eleventh centuries BC.
During these centuries at one time or another the Hebrew tribes would be vassals or tributaries of the Edomites, Moabites, Canaanites, Medianites, Ammonites, or Philistines.
The Philistines held a long time technological advantage over Israel in that they had iron weaponry and chariots.
In the north the Aramean kings of Damascus will be a long time foes as well. Their spoken and written language Aramaic would fuse into Hebrew around the sixth century BC in the Levant and by the first century it was the dominant spoken language throughout the Near East.
The people tired of being led by judges and wanted a permanent king. The last judge, Samuel, anointed Saul as the first king of the united kingdom of Israel.
David, a young man who initially was favored by Saul, fled after his popularity among the people soared resulting from defeating the philistine Goliath in a duel.
Ironically, he fled and lived among the Philistines working as a mercenary for the king of Gath, the city that Goliath came from.
Tragically, Saul would be killed in a battle against the Philistines.
David then returned with a motley band of international warriors known as his ‘mighty men’ and would first conquer the south. Conquering the previously independent Jebusite city of Jerusalem, he made it his capital. He then moved north and defeated Saul’s son Ishbosheth, who had ruled Israel for 2 years.
David spent much of his 40-year long reign waging war on many of the Canaanite city-states within and surrounding Israel’s borders.
His son Solomon succeeded him and was renowned for his wealth and wisdom.
Following Solomon’s death the ten northern tribes rebelled, establishing the city of Samaria as their capital city while Judah in the south remained loyal to Solomon’s son Rehoboam.
Israel and Judah would have hostile relations with each other from the beginning.
Jeroboam, king of Israel, had fled to Egypt during the reign of Solomon, receiving protection of the pharaoh Shoshenq.
The 10 northern tribes had become discontent with Solomon’s extravagance and welcomed Jeroboam as a liberator. Shoshenq saw opportunity and invaded Judah in the fifth yeah of Rehoboam’s reign.
With more than 60,000 men he subdued Judah making it a vassal state.
Finally, Egyptian influence was ended over Judah when an Egyptian backed Ethiopian army was defeated by King Asa of Judah.
The tumultuous relationship between the divided kingdoms would continue to unfold in a chaotic and blood splattered tale until the Syrian conquest of Israel ended that kingdom.
Josiah, Israel’s last king, stopped paying tribute to the Assyrian empire when he mistakenly believed that Egypt would back him up in the conflict. However, this was not the case and after 3-year siege Assyria conquered Samaria. The kingless vassal rebelled again and the Assyrians brutally crushed it. The survivors of the ten tribes were deported to distant areas of the Assyrian empire.
Their fate became unknown, giving way to many “Lost Tribes” theories and speculations, even to this day.
The last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was installed by the Babylonians as a puppet-king.
However, he did not play along and rebelled against the Babylonians at which point Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege and conquered Jerusalem, taking many captives back to Babylon.
Under the Persian empire Babylonian captives were allowed to return and enjoyed some level of autonomy as a vassal.
But in the second century BC, a group of Jews known as the Maccabeans led a revolt against the Seleucid empire (one of the empires that came into existence after Alexander the Great) and succeeded. This gave rise to the Hasmonean dynasty which ruled over the new Jewish state in the Levant.
In 69 BC the Roman general Pompey Magnus sacked Jerusalem and installed a puppet ruler loyal to him.
In 37 BC Judea would become an official client state of the Roman Empire.
The Idumaenian, Herod the Great was appointed king of the Jews by the Roman Senate. He attempted to curry favor with his subjects by reconstructing the temple in Jerusalem on a grand scale. However, this was funded through heavy taxation and he was still viewed as an unpopular foreigner and acolyte of the Romans.
After his death the kingdom was partitioned between his three sons and sister.
Following the death of his grandson, Herod Agrippa, in 44 AD Rome absorbed Judea into the empire and after a short rule by Agrippa’s son (Agrippa II) made it a full province of the Roman Empire administered by a Roman governor.
The period between 66-70 AD is known as the Great Jewish Revolt, or The Jewish War, which was followed by two more rebellions.
In 70 AD Jerusalem was sacked. The Romans destroyed the temple and either killed, exiled or enslaved all of the Hebrew leaders, elites and nobles.
In 132 AD the remaining Jews, under the leadership of Bar Kokhba, rebelled against the Roman Emperors Adrian but were defeated.
As a punishment Adrian exiled even more Jews and forbade them from living in their capital.
This marked the beginning of many centuries of Jewish exile which era ended with the creation of the modern, democratic State of Israel in 1947.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/img_7232.png954800adminhttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngadmin2022-06-14 12:38:552022-06-16 15:30:51The history of Ancient Israel and Judah in 6 minutes
This post is part of my IN 300 WORDS series. In exactly 300 words I highlight a key issue relevant to God-fearing people who seek authentic understanding of the teachings of the Messiah from Nazareth.
Let’s face it, the Christianity of the developed world has failed to win the hearts and the minds of the people of the Western civilization. Only three decades ago the dividing line between what used to be the free world and the rest of the world, was clearly visible and tangibly defined.
We have now come to a place where Western “doctors” are chopping off the breasts of perfectly healthy girls, social media companies are offering 70+ genders at signup, and jihadists are leading the FBI by the nose (Exhibit A: CAIR-MN).
How did we get here, friends?
It’s because of the failure of Western Christianity. We have been reinventing the God of the Bible since the days of Constantine. We made him Roman-Catholic, then Greek-Orthodox, then Protestant.
We invented monasteries, mega-churches and missionaries in his name. Even though none of these are in the Bible.
We’ve created hundreds of translations of the Bible into English while there are thousands of languages still lacking even ONE!
But even that’s a joke because most aid money goes to dictators.
What are we to do?
What if I decided to start a movement that honors THE TRUTH more than the lies of the media, politicians, pastors, academics and corporations? How many people would want to be part of such culture of truth?
Can we even know THE TRUTH?
Let’s begin with Jesus himself.
He declared to Pontius Pilate that the very reason He was born into this world was so that he can testify to the TRUTH! (Gospel of John 18:36-38).
And yet we each have our own “truths”?
Something doesn’t add up.
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Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Yehudi, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” [Zec 8:23 HNV]
This prophecy clearly foretells the coming of a day when the goyim, the people of the world, the non-Jews will experience a spiritual awakening which will compel them to do something very interesting; they will align themselves spiritually with the children of Israel.
This spiritual realignment will inevitably spill over into the political and geopolitical arena as more and more nations will choose life over death. The current developments in the Middle East and the way President Donald Trump’s administration has brokered peace between Israel and some of their formerly staunch enemies, is an astounding miracle of Biblical proportions.
In addition, more and more believers who have grown up in traditional Christian churches, are now experiencing a longing to return to the Hebraic origins of the our faith.
Could the movement to form alliances with Israel and to return to the Hebraic foundation of the faith be part of the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy? 1. Prophesying the big picture
Zechariah prophesied these words shortly after the time of the Babylonian exile as the Jews struggled to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. The Lord spoke through him to the Jews of the day and he spoke to them about a day when the goyim (traditionally translated “Gentiles”), will come to the Jews and form an alliance with them.
This was obviously a huge promise. A small community of around 50,000 had returned to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel). It’s estimated that 500,000 stayed behind in Babylon. Why did they stay behind? Because they prospered there and didn’t want to go back to Eretz Israel only to be confronted with hostilities. However, the Jews in Babylon became an important resource for the “Palestinian Jews” as most scholars would refer to those who went back to Eretz Israel. “Palestine” is a derivative of “Philistine” – derogatory name given to Eretz Israel by the enemies of Israel and referring to the Philistines, Israel’s arch-enemies.
Casting a great vision for the remnant of Jews who went back to Eretz Israel was very much in line with how God spoke to Abraham from the very beginning. This was entirely a prophetic act since this was not a time when Jews were held in high esteem by the surrounding nations. Jerusalem had no drawing power for the world. “In the natural”, as we like to say, there wasn’t much to look forward to – except the promises of God! 2. Who or what moved the Gentiles to align themselves with the Jews?
It’s interesting that the promise God gave the children of Israel through the prophet Zechariah was about the restoration of Israel but it also included the Gentiles (the goyim). What was good for the Jews was also going to be good for the goyim.
The first thing that God intends to make happen is to restore the Truth to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). Next, He promises He will not only bless Israel, but they will also become a blessing. This is also consistent with the promise made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that in Abraham the world will be blessed.
Thus says the LORD: “I have returned to Tziyon, and will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts, ‘The Holy Mountain.'” [Zec 8:3 HNV]
and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” [Zec 8:8 HNV]
“For the seed of shalom and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. [Zec 8:12 HNV]
It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Yehudah and house of Yisra’el, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.” [Zec 8:13 HNV]
Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Yerushalayim, and to entreat the favor of the LORD.” [Zec 8:22 HNV]
Clearly, the goyim are coming to seek the Lord in Yerushalayim and to entreat his favor.
It only makes sense; if you are serious about seeking the Lord you will end up in Yerushalayim. You will end up realizing the great love the Lord has for his covenant people and the blessing you will experience by aligning yourself with them.
“To entreat the favor of the Lord” speaks of humbling oneself and seeking to be blessed by the Creator rather than being arrogant and thinking of ways to make yourself prosperous on your own. Gentiles who align themselves with Israel can be confident about seeking the blessing and favor of God without any reservations. When you sincerely honor the God of Abraham and the children of Abraham, you will have no greater friend! Great alliances are forged when the Jews are rightfully honored for who they are in God’s plan -the people who gave us the Torah, who kept the faith for thousands of years. And for those of us who believe in Yeshua, they also gave us the Messiah (even if most Jews don’t accept Yeshua as the promised HaMashiach).
This is why it’s so important to expose false Jew-hating teachings and theology. This should be obvious but millions of people are still fed demonic teachings making out the Jews to be somehow enemies of God and Christians. This is a lie from the pit of hell. You can’t sow hatred towards the Jews, persecute and murder them, and expect to serve God at the same time. This is insane.
Many Christians have been seriously affected by Jew-hatred and the deception of the replacement theology. Until people come to grips with the fact this theology isn’t based on God’s Truth as revealed in the entire Bible, and turn away from it, they will remain stuck in deception. Such people will have a very hard time on the Day of the Lord.
3. Ten will seek one
Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Yehudi, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” [Zec 8:23 HNV]
This language is an exaggerated prophetic-poetic form very characteristic of the way the prophets expressed what God showed them. It means that even though the Jews are small in number, they will lead the majority. Notice, no one is forcing the majority of goyim to do anything. Their spiritual eyes have been opened. As a result, a change of heart has taken place in them. They aren’t ashamed to seek the God of the Jews in Yerushalayim. They aren’t ashamed to align themselves with the Jews and to seek the favor of their God. They are reaching out and grabbing the hem of the garment of a Jew. Something happens when we reach by faith and connect with the children of Abraham. For those of us who will never be Jews by blood, the next best thing is to align ourselves correctly with those whom God considers beloved fo the sake of the fathers – Avraham, Itzhak and Yaakov. Thus, the will of God is fulfilled and He is pleased. His people have fulfilled their calling – they have given His Truth, His Light to a dark and lost world. We, the Goyim have humbled ourselves and have received it.
The turning of the hearts of the goyim toward Israel and the Jews will be an astounding sign for the Jews that God is fulfilling his promise. It will move them to return to Him and to experience their own revival.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/d9822c33-78f9-4b33-8b6b-1a7edf0416b7.png400712Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2020-12-01 02:29:562020-12-01 17:09:25Why are the Gentiles aligning with Israel?
Christian Hebraism transformed Christianity completely during the Middle Ages. However, the impact this movement had on the world remains forgotten by most people who consider themselves believers today: clergy and laity alike.
I realize I’m not the scholar this subject deserves if Christian Hebraism will have to be re-introduced to believers in the 21st century and beyond. But given the fact that most of the scholars who have specialized in this subject have not produced materials in a format more accessible for the mass reader, any effort to resurrect the legacy of Christian Hebraism is better than no effort at all.
I began to investigate this subject matter three years ago when I experienced a “home coming” of sorts in my faith journey. I will explain this in an attempt to illustrate how deeply personal this subject is to me. The discovery of the story of Christian Hebraism helped bring together many of the otherwise scattered pieces of information I had accumulated through the years when it comes to the Reformation of the Middle Ages. But most importantly, it made me feel like I had “come home”. It made me realize that what I have been sensing intuitively and have been looking for through the years, others had been looking for something similar as well, some 500 or more years ago. This is both humbling and comforting from a spiritual standpoint and I will try to share this perspective with you.
One more thing that will probably help you understand why I am so sensitive to the origin of words, languages and translations – I grew up during the 70s and the 80s in Bulgaria – a hard-core Communist country. Communism is based on violence, theft and ruthless, shameless lies, deception, fraud, manipulation, and propaganda. Growing up, my parents didn’t voice their opposition to Communism in front of me and my brother – they wanted to protect us. But when I was thirteen years old one night I walked in on my father listening to The Voice of Europe on short wave radio in the dark and I realized there was something going on that I didn’t know about. I got my hands on a short wave radio and became an avid listener of the Voice of Europe and the Voice of America. I slowly began to realize we were living in a parallel reality and a lot was going on we had no clue about. Under Communism there is no freedom of speech. If there were freedom of speech, the opposition would expose their fraud and crimes and their regime would be over with very quickly. They controlled all the media: TV, radio and print. Thankfully, short wave radio was there to help bring some news to the people living behind the Iron Wall. I was one of them.
The foundation of Communism has to do with the manipulation of words. Words are the tool we use to explain things. When we corrupt words, we bring a corrupt understanding of the essence of the matter they are meant to convey. For example, Communist regimes have always called their terrorist, totalitarian regimes “people’s republics”. They have fake Constitutions, fake Parliaments and fake elections. This is a gross perversion of the very meaning of what a republic, a Constitution, a Parliament and elections are meant to be. There are no “republics” in Communism. They are all in fact dictatorships. But the Communists are shameless psychopaths and they have zero remorse as they impose their regimes forcing untold millions to submit to their “republic” at gun point.
Gradually, as one grows up in a country totally dominated by the Communist regime, you begin to realize all the public slogans, school textbooks, newspapers, TV and radio are there to produce nothing but one gigantic psyopp intended to keep the people brainwashed into believing the lies of Communism as a dogma and the Communist regime as its executive (and executing) embodiment.
I became a believer in God because I kept having questions such as “how did this world come into being?” and “what happens after we die”? No one could give me an adequate answer. I loved to read books and used to spend hours and hours in the local library while growing up. Thankfully some classic literature had made its way into the Communist system. I realized that people have been asking these same questions through the ages but they still didn’t have any good answers. I also read a number of books I purchased from a bookstore selling Eastern Orthodox literature. This was very interesting but still no real answers came from going to the Orthodox Church, lighting candles, getting baptized as Orthodox, and reading their books.
Finally, at the age of 20 I came into contact with some believers who actually read the Bible and discussed things about it. I started going to the meetings of a congregation that didn’t resemble the Orthodox Church – no temple, no priest, candles, icons and so on. I realized that the only way I can become a “believer” is to accept that Jesus had risen from the dead, that he is alive somewhere in a dimension we can’t see (Heaven), that the Bible is true, and that I need to turn away from my sinful way of life (and there was much to turn away from, trust me)! I took the leap of faith and experienced a dramatic conversion at the age of 20, only a few months before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. My world had fundamentally changed and the world itself was about to change as well. Such was the beginning of my faith walk. I didn’t worry too much about who wrote the Bible and in what language, who translated it, how and when. What was important for me at the time and for many years to come was to be “spiritual”; to read the Bible, to try to grasp its teachings, to try to live according to them, and to try to get others to do the same. Sounds simple but it’s a huge challenge in and of its own. I would say most Christians spend the majority of whatever time they have trying to do their best doing exactly this; study the Bible, pray, try to live out its teachings, try to do good works, try to help others become believers.
Sadly, not so many believers go deeper and investigate the origins of the faith, the history of Scripture, the historic background, culture and context of the different events described, the true meaning of its teachings as they were given at the time, and what all this means to us.
However, I have remained as hungry to learn about the origins of the faith, as I am to learn how to live its teachings. I therefore share my discoveries without any specific agenda except my deeply seated desire to get to the bottom of the story, to learn the truth about something as much as it’s possible and only then to draw my conclusions about it. It’s with this mindset that I have been pursuing the re-discovery of Christian Hebraism during the Reformation of the Middle Ages and its relevancy for us today.
TALMIDIM – NOT DISCIPLES; RABBI – NOT “MASTER”; YESHUA – NOT “JESUS”
My first encounter with the Jewish heritage of the faith was in 1993 when I visited a Messianic congregation where I also purchased the Jewish New Testament by David Stern. It impacted deeply my perception of the historic Jesus as a fully Jewish man, as well as the Jewishness of the Gospel, the “church” (a term we will be deconstructing in a future post), and really the faith as a whole.
I remember how refreshing it was to learn that the “disciples” I had been reading about in the Gospel were in reality “talmidim”, that the real name of Jesus was actually Yeshua and that he was a Rabbi, not “Master” as some translations would have us believe.
Does this matter? Do we have to use Hebrew words and then learn what they mean vs. accepting a bunch of substitute and sometimes totally made up Hellenistic terms? I’ll make the case for Christian Hebraism as I post more on this subject and you can investigate this for yourself and make up your own mind.
NO ONE TALKING ABOUT CHRISTIAN HEBRAISM
I was fortunate enough to have graduated from a Bible School that rejected the replacement theology and honored the Jewish people. This Bible School helped many accept a Biblically correct theological, moral and ethical position of support and love for Israel and the Jews. This was also a Bible School that took the position that the Reformation of the Middle Ages was “the” much needed reset and remake Christianity needed in the pursuit of its original, more authentic beginnings. However, I didn’t hear anyone in Bible School talk about Christian Hebraism and its impact on the Reformation of the Middle Ages.
That was almost 30 years ago.
Since then I have been around a good deal of Christians who love Israel and the Jewish people, the Messianic Jewish movement, and have also gotten to know many non-Jews who have walked away from Protestantism and embraced the messianic movement. When I say “Christians” this includes ordinary believers and leaders alike. They love God, they are zealous about bringing Christianity back to its Jewish foundation, they are eager to express their faith in a way closer to its Jewish origins and they emphasize the changes we need to implement on a liturgical level. But again, they know about Christian Hebraism as much as a Southern Baptist.
To learn about Christian Hebraism today one has to dig deep into the vaults of higher academic learning. While the Messianic movement has picked up quite a lot of momentum during the last 30 years and we rejoice over this fact, it remains a mystery to me why hardly anyone has attempted to re-introduce the Christian Hebraists to our generation. As I kept learning about their passion to re-discover the Truth of God through the lens of Hebrew, I couldn’t help but think about the implications of such discoveries for us today.
I wish I didn’t have to do this. This is not my “full time” job at this point in time and I don’t have the professional theological credentials to challenge the status quo when it comes to the Hellenization of the faith vs. its rightful Hebraic origins. But I kept on digging and investigating this story for me and the sense that I have an obligation to re-tell this forgotten story kept growing in my spirit.
WHAT IS CHRISTIAN HEBRAISM?
“Historically Christian Hebraism has been understood as the use of Hebrew, rabbinic, or Cabbalistic sources for Christian religious purposes during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The use of such source material had dramatic results including the re-translation of the Old Testament, the re-interpretation of the New Testament, and the re-examination of historically central doctrines of Christianity” – Prof. Jerome Friedman, Kent State University [https://www.amazon.com/Most-Ancient-Testimony-Sixteenth-Century-Christian-Hebraica/dp/0821407007]
Stephen Burnett, author of “Christian Hebraism in the Reformation Era (1500-1660)”, says the following: “The Reformation turned Christian Hebraism from a pastime of a few hobbyists and theologians into a broad intellectual movement that involved students and professors, printers, and patrons of many kinds living throughout Europe. Christian Hebraist authors were the central actors in this movement.” [https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Hebraism-Reformation-Era-1500-1660/dp/B01181VYU4]
Going forward, I will quote extensively Prof. Jerome Friedman and Stephen Burnett. They have summarized so much of the information that’s missing from the arsenal of Biblical Scholars and ministers today.
Johannes Reuchlin (1455 – 1522) was classics scholar whose defense of Hebrew literature helped awaken liberal intellectual forces in the years immediately preceding the Reformation.
Christian Hebraica became one of the most powerful spiritual and intellectual forces of the Reformation of the Middle Ages. It became known as “Hebraica Veritas” (Hebrew Truth) because for the first time in 1,000 years Christians recognized the Hebrew Bible and classical Hebrew as the legitimate source of spiritual truth, not Jerome’s Latin translation. While it’s true that Jerome did study Hebrew and Greek in order to produce the Vulgate into Latin, the Reformers of the Middle Ages felt they had many good reasons to re-examine Jerome’s translation which was given the status of “inerrant” or inerrant-like by the Roman-Catholic Church.
Christian Hebraists were scholars of Hebrew literature. Hebraists approached Jewish texts with both academic and polemical motivations; some wanted to study Jesus in his time while others sought a way to convert Jews to Christianity. Their focus was on Biblical scholarship, religious philosophy, and the aggadah. Christian Hebraism offers a fascinating perspective into the history of printing, linguistics, and European culture in the Middle Ages as well as comparative religion and Jewish-Christian relations. By impacting theology, literature, science, and philosophy, Hebrew literature played a vital role in the development of Western culture.
IS CHRISTIAN HEBRAISM RELEVANT FOR US TODAY?
Undoubtedly, this is the proverbial “million dollar question”. If the story of Christian Hebraism is only something that was relevant to the people in the Middle Ages, I can understand why very few people today should care about it.
But let’s go back to what Prof. Jerome Friedman had to say about the implications of Christian Hebraism, this intentional return to Hebrew as the primary lens of Biblical learning, and let’s see if there might be something important we need to pay a little more attention to:
“Historically Christian Hebraism has been understood as the use of Hebrew, rabbinic, or Cabbalistic sources for Christian religious purposes during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The use of such source material had dramatic results including the re-translation of the Old Testament, the re-interpretation of the New Testament, and the re-examination of historically central doctrines of Christianity”
Could this be the crux of the matter, the very kernel of what this treasure hunting journey is all about?
Re-translation (of the Old Testament, for better accuracy and understanding)
Re-interpretation (of the New Testament, due to better understanding of Hebrew, the language used by the Jews in the 1st century)
Re-examination (of the historically central doctrines of Christianity! This is huge.)
Christians have been in pursuit of a better, more authentic, and truer to the original version Christianity for the last 500 years. The creation of many translations of Scripture has been a huge part of this pursuit of authenticity.
The return to the Hebraic framework of thought has resulted in actual re-interpretations of the New Testament itself.
But have we done any serious re-examination of the historically central doctrines of Christianity in light of the fact that Hebrew, not Latin or Greek, is “the” most important key to the correct understanding of the Truth of God?
You may think we’ve done enough but my answer would be a “no”!
But hey, I am nobody. I’m just a normal guy who wants to know why I believe what I believe, why do we do what we do and most importantly, what is the Truth of God as intended by Him? If I am ready to live or die for what I believe, I don’t see why I need to spare one’s sacred cows in my pursuit of Truth.
Standby as post more articles on this subject and we look into the genius of the Hebrew language, what it has meant for the world, the true history of its origins, and how Christian Hebraism relates to our faith today.
I would like to also invite you to check out the beta version of a wiki I have been using to organize my research in the area of Hebraica Veritas. It’s only in its beginning stages but I haven’t seen even this much organized in one place when it comes to Christian Hebraism on the Internet – so I hope this can add to your own research: https://threefold.life/wiki
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/arundel_ms_155_f007v_detail.jpg4711500Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2020-09-18 05:50:152023-02-17 11:41:34What is Christian Hebraism and Is It Relevant for Today?
Let’s imagine you are a beginner in the faith. Up until few days ago you believed in reincarnation, elfs, Harry Potter and smoking pot. But something happened to you and here you are wanting to make things right with God, trying to figure out where to start.
And it so happens that this very important cataclysmic event took place in your life only few days before Christmas. Yay! Right on time as if it were! Or maybe not?
Just how important is Christmas for someone who is seeking to know the Creator and wants to see a spiritual change in his or her life? Your entire being is telling you it’s time to turn away from the old ways and to choose a new way. You begin to read the Gospel of John and “accidentally” find out that Jesus spoke of Himself being the Way, the Truth and the Life. Not only that but thanks to your very knowledgeable friend who has been following threefold.life, you learn that in the beginning the followers of Rabbi Yeshua weren’t called “Christians” and the Jewish sect they belonged to was simply called “The Way”.
You get confused. You want to do what’s right when it comes to Christmas now that you’ve decided to turn your life around by God’s grace.
You’re frantically looking for the “Christmas For Beginners” manual that doesn’t exist.
Relax. You don’t need to do anything special when it comes to Christmas. It’s not a holiday prescribed in Scripture. It’s something people do as a way to keep our traditions and some maybe in an attempt to be spiritual. Our spiritual leaders, pastors and theologians alike, have been going with the flow for far too long and no one dares to ask the inconvenient question about Christmas.
[From a cultural standpoint I’m a huge supporter of Christmas. Militant atheists and Muslims would abolish Christmas in a heartbeat if they had the political power to do so. Thankfully they don’t. In a free society of we need something to change about what Christmas means or doesn’t mean to us, this is entirely up to individuals and church bodies to discuss, not some crazed militants telling us what to do with a gun pointed to our heads.]
Back to our story.
First of all, dear beginner, the most important thing that could happen between you and God has already happened. You responded to the prompting of the Spirit in your heart, you drew the line and you chose a new path. You desire to know Him, to follow Him and to grow in Him. This is what counts the most. This is what it’s all about when it comes to making the Lord smile as he sees at yet anther soul given to seek Him and to serve Him.
You responded to the Spirit’s work in your heart and mind and you shifted lanes. You once were lost but now you’re found. No, not perfect. Just found. And placed onto some very different, new tracks, moving in a new direction. You are now a new creation in Jesus (Yeshua).
But what is a beginner to do with Christmas?
Here are some ideas however you need to determine what you need to do depending on your circumstances.
Family first
The first thing you will need to keep in mind is that Christmas is supposed to be a very family oriented celebration. In God’s economy family comes first. So in light of this, what is it that your family does for Christmas? If it isn’t anything outrageously wrong and against God’s Truth as revealed in Scripture, go ahead and be with your family and enjoy your time with them. Distancing yourself from them in the name of becoming more righteous probably won’t go over very well. The greatest manifestation of God in our lives is the love, grace, patience and joy in our lives. Go ahead and be loving, graceful, patient and joyful with your family. They will probably notice the change and will want to know what’s going on with you. You can then tell them and they will probably listen. No need to blast Christmas as being ungodly. They won’t hear that. But they will listen to you about the new love and peace that you sense now in your entire being. There, you heard the most important part of the Manual.
Shepherds in the winter? I don’t think so.
Jesus (Yeshua) was probably not born in December. How do we know that? Because the Gospel writers tell us there were shepherds who witnessed some amazing things.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields,” wrote one Gospel writer, “keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible says that, “broadly speaking, weather phenomena and climatic conditions as pictured in the Bible correspond with conditions as observed today” (R.B.Y. Scott, Vol. 3, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1962, p. 625). There are no shepherds in Israel in December, not today – not ever. That’s one argument against a possible December date for the birth of Jesus (Yeshua).
One commentary admits that, “as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact, which casts considerable light upon this disputed point” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Abingdon Press, Nashville, note on Luke 2:8).
Censuses don’t take place in December
I doubt censuses take place in December even in our days. But they certainly wouldn’t have taken place in the winter at the time Jesus was born. “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered… So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…, to be registered with Miriam, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son…” (Luke 2:1-7).
Generally a census would take place after the harvest season, around September or October, when it would not seriously affect the economy, the weather was good and the roads were still dry enough to allow easy travel. That’s yet one more strike against a possible December date.
No early Christianity witness
In the first 200 years of Christian history, no mention is made of the calendar date of Yeshua’s birth. Not until the year 336 do we find the first mention of a celebration of His birth. Why this omission? In the case of the Church fathers, the reason is that, during the three centuries after Messiah’s life on earth, the event considered most worthy of commemoration was the date of His death. In comparison, the date of His birth was considered insignificant. As the Encyclopedia Americana explains, “Christmas… was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…” (1944 edition, “Christmas”).
Speculation on the proper date began in the 3rd and 4th centuries, when the idea of fixing Messiah’s birthday started. Quite a controversy arose among Church leaders. Some were opposed to such a celebration. Origen (185-254) strongly recommended against such an innovation. “In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world” (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 edition, Vol. 3, p. 724, “Natal Day”).
During this time eight specific dates during six different months were proposed by various groups. December 25, although one of the last dates to be proposed, was the one finally accepted by the leadership of the Western church.
A summary of the debate on the dates of Messiah’s birth appears in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church: “Though speculation as to the time of year of Messiah’s birth dates from the early 3rd century, Clement of Alexandria suggesting the 20th of May, the celebration of the anniversary does not appear to have been general till the later 4th century. The earliest mention of the observance on Dec. 25th is in the Philocalian Calendar, representing Roman practice of the year 336. This date was probably chosen to oppose the feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti [nativity of the unconquerable sun] by the celebration of the birth of the ‘Sun of Righteousness’ and its observance in the West, seems to have spread from Rome” (1983 edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 1983, p. 280, “Christmas”).
Around 200, when Clement of Alexandria mentioned the speculations about Messiah’s birthday, he said nothing about a celebration on that day. He casually reported the various ideas extant at that time: “And there are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord’s birth, but also the day…, the 25th day of Pachon… Furthermore, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi” (“The Stromata, or Miscellanies,” The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1986, p. 333).
In Rome December 25 was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and became the rule in the West in 435 when the first “Christ mass” was officiated by Pope Sixtus III. This coincided with the date of a celebration by the Romans to their primary god, the Sun, and to Mithras, a popular Persian sun god supposedly born on the same day. The Roman Catholic writer Mario Righetti candidly admits that, “to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast of the birth of Messiah to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the ‘Invincible Sun’ Mithras, the conqueror of darkness” (Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67).Protestant historian Henry Chadwick sums up the controversy: “Moreover, early in the fourth century there begins in the West (where first and by whom is not known) the celebration of December 25th, the birthday of the Sun-god at the winter solstice, as the date for the nativity of Messiah. How easy it was for Christianity and solar religion to become entangled at the popular level is strikingly illustrated by a mid-fifth century sermon of Pope Leo the Great, rebuking his over-cautious flock for paying reverence to the Sun on the steps of St. Peter’s before turning their back on it to worship inside the westward-facing basilica” (The Early Church, Penguin Books, London, 1967, p. 126).
The Encyclopedia Americana makes this clear: “In the fifth century, the Western Church ordered it [Messiah’s birth] to be observed forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol [the sun god], as no certain knowledge of the day of Messiah’s birth existed” (1944 edition, “Christmas”).
The year of Yeshua’s birth
Yeshua was born while Herod the Great was still living (Matthew 2:1). Wise men appeared in Jerusalem asking about “one who has been born king of the Jews?” Of course, this upset Herod, who had been given the title “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate. Herod talked to the wise men secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared (Matthew 2:7). The wise men then journeyed to Bethlehem and found Yeshua, Miriam, and Joseph in a house (Matthew 2:11) and they bowed down and worshiped Yeshua.
When the wise men did not return to give Herod a report, “Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men. He was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). This tells us that Yeshua may have been born two years before the appearance of the wise men and the death of Herod. Herod died the spring of 4 B.C.E. (according to the Jewish historian, Josephus).
So when was Yeshua born after all? Nothing is absolutely certain, because we are dealing with implications and assumptions, but a good guess from the Scriptures and history leans towards the end of September. So, there young beginner of the life-long journey with the Messiah! What matters is not so much on what date do we celebrate the birth of Jesus (Yeshua). What counts the most is the birth of the new creation in our hearts, souls and minds.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/PikiWiki_Israel_16624_The_Shepherd.jpg8451280Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2018-12-26 02:43:042020-07-27 07:32:21Christmas For Beginners
Let’s take a look at something the prophet Isaiah said and then we’ll look at something the apostle Paul said.
The Prophet Yeshayahu, aka Isaiah, lived and spoke the word of the Lord during a very tumultuous time in the history of Israel and Judah. Syria attacked Israel and Judah four different times during his lifetime. It was ups and downs with godly kings following ungodly ones.
The way Israel related to God’s Truth reflected directly on how things turned out with them as a nation.
And justice has turned away backward, and righteousness stands from afar, for truth has stumbled in the street, and straightforwardness cannot come. And truth is lacking, and he who turns away from evil is considered mad, and the Lord saw and was displeased for there is no justice. [The Book of Yeshayahu – Isaiah Ch. 59:14-15]
In one of the dark moments of Israel’s history at that time, when all seemed lost, Isaiah identified something very significant: “Truth is lacking and he who turns away from evil is considered mad…”
What an incredible prophetic statement! Seems to be so relevant to the way things look today in America. The notion of “Truth” is frowned upon in the public square. People who choose to live humble and chaste lives are considered “nuts”.
Now let’s get some perspective here. To speak about “truth” in the 7th century BC is something remarkable. Folks, that’s 200+ years before what historians call the classical Socratic period! If you read Socrates and you read what the Hebrew prophets wrote about two hundred of years before him (not to mention Moses over 1,000 years earlier) you can only then begin to understand the supremacy of the Torah and the Prophets.
Looking at it from today’s perspective Western Civilization is rooted much more on Moses than any Greek philosophical tradition. Greek literary thought pales when compared to what Moses and the Prophets brought forth spiritually, intellectually and ethically.
Most people today have never taken the time to understand just what kind of light were the Torah and the Jewish people to mankind – for centuries. The world would truly be a lost, dark, paganistic hell on earth without the light of the Torah. Mel Gibson provided an artistic glimpse into the world of idolatry and paganism in his movie Apocalypto. This clip gives you an idea of what I’m trying to convey here.
But now the prophet is speaking not just of the Torah. He is speaking of The Truth, the very synthesis of God’s revealed knowledge – something worth living or dying for!
When we transition from simply revering Scripture to a place of accepting Scripture as a vessel for God’s Truth, it can be said that we have become “believers”.
A few days ago I was given a research by the American Bible Society that has to do specifically with Minneapolis. The bad news is that 70% of adults in Minneapolis are “disengaged” (67%) or “neutral” (3%). Only 10% have a “friendly” relationship with the Bible, 14% are engaged and 5% are “centered”. Centered would be people for whom it is a priority to live out the values and truths they discover in Scripture. The good news is that this 70 % do want to know more about the Bible. [Or at least this is what they told the pollsters].
These stats are probably not much different on a national scale even though I’m sure they vary from city to city and from state to state.
Given the low percentage of people who apply the Truth of Scripture as a guiding and deciding factor in their lives, is it any wonder America is in moral and spiritual trouble?
I will resist and expose the advancement of Islam, Neo-Marxism and whatever other false ideologies, philosophies, and religions try to creep in. But that’s only one side of the coin. Until the majority of Americans turns away from their “disengaged and neutral” attitude towards God’s Truth to one of reverence and engagement, only resisting the false will not get the job done. We will fall as a nation within a generation. The main reason won’t be that these spiritual, cultural and political enemies have been so powerful, it will be because the people of this nation would have chosen not to acknowledge the Creator and His Truth.
It’s a known fact that the more devoted the Jews become to the Torah, the more conservative, pro-Israel and pro-Liberty centric they become. When the Jews abandon their heritage and the Torah they become liberal and succumb to the same self-destructive mindsets as the American Left.
The same is true for Christians. The more liberal a denomination becomes, the more accepting of various perversions the people become, the more anti-Israel and pro-socialism they become.
Here’s a New Testament verse from the apostle Paul’s epistle to his spiritual son apostle Timothy (mistakenly considered a “pastor” and the epistles referred to as “the pastoral letters” of Paul. Timothy was the overseer of a huge metropolitan-wide network of family-based communities in Ephesus, not the “pastor” of a “local church” the way we think of it today.)
“…but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15
The word church here is the word “ekklesia” which for hundreds of years was used in a specific civic scenario – to describe the governing council of the polis, the city. When Yeshua (aka Jesus) spoke about “the church”, he taught that this “church”, this ekklesia that he was going to be a Head of, will be like the governing council in the city. Those who were one with him would walk in love towards each other and would win the trust of the city by virtue of their honorable and godly lives.
Having forsaken the true teachings of the Messiah whom we call “Christ”, the Western world invented a new religion, Christianity. It is time to get back to the roots and the essence of the Truth of Scripture: the teachings of Moses, the prophets, Yeshua, and his apostles.
This is where I see the only hope for America’s spiritual and civilizational renewal and victory over the false “gods”, religions, and ideologies of the world.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/forsaking-gods-truth.jpg13501080Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2018-12-02 12:55:542020-07-27 07:37:59Is America lost because Truth has been lost?
Paul Larsen* is a former portfolio manager and business/economic development consultant. The principles he shares so clearly and masterfully here, in “The Four Conditions For Human Flourishing And National Prosperity”, are based on his deep experience and work in Africa and Eastern Europe.
This material will provide solid, well researched “package” every true Kingdom influencer needs!
Are missions your passion? How do you explain in simple terms why nations aren’t prospering? Christians are known for providing shallow, “magical” explanations for everything that’s wrong with our world. This time is over. The time has come and it’s here for people who are serious about helping developing nations to bring to the leaders of these nations wisdom deeper than few spiritual sounding cliches. Leaders of churches, communities, cities and nations are looking for real, Biblical-based, well-researched answers to today’s problems. These answers are relevant for those in the developing and the developed world alike.
Is human flourishing your passion? Human flourishing will never be possible without sound, Biblicaly compatible economic solutions.
Are you an educator? This is an excellent resource for your classroom, a great way to show why some nations are prospering and others aren’t.
Are you a pastor? Why not aquatint your congregation with a more holistic approach to human flourishing vs. the old “humanitarian-aid only” model?
Are you a law-maker? This can help you in your daily struggle against economic freedom and the pressure media and Academia exert on today’s legislators by pushing false socialist narratives.
Paul Larsen’s current full time focus is to “Build leaders worth following that lead organizations everyone wants to work with” as a Senior leadership culture consultant with global consulting firm GiANT Worldwide. You email him at (paul.larsen.pa@gmail.com) or you can reach him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-larsen-giant/
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/img_3598.jpg7201280Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2018-06-04 02:45:592020-08-13 19:07:27The Four Conditions For Human Flourishing And National Prosperity
The ability to ask the right questions is considered a sign of great wisdom and maturity in life, in business and in leadership in many cultures today. But it seems that the Jewish culture, already from antiquity was a question-asking culture.
Our Messiah grew up asking the rabbis questions at an early age. As a result the rabbis were asking him questions, too. Was this unusual? Not really.
Let’s find out more.
In rabbinical literature there is much written about the relationship between a talmidim (disciple) and his rabbi.
According to Brad Young, Professor of Biblical Literature in Judeo-Christian Studies at the Graduate Department of ORU, one of the world’s leading experts on the history of the rabbinate, the only way a talmidim was to approach his rabbi was by asking questions. Even when a talmidim had to come to gain some great knowledge, he wouldn’t come to his rabbi boasting about it or arguing. He was to show what he had learned by way of asking questions. This same ethos we see beautifully described in the Gospel record of Lukas.
But first let’s take a look at the educational process of the Jews in those days.
For Jews living in Jesus’ day, there were three separate educational venues.
Bet Sefer
The first was called Bet Sefer. At the ages of six through twelve, Jewish children began their formal education. Both boys and girls attended synagogue school and learned to read and write. The textbook was the Torah and the goal was not just to read but to memorize the sacred text.
Bet Midrash
For the best of the best, the next educational opportunity was called Bet Midrash. Boys who were deemed worthy to continue their educational pursuits went on to study (and memorize) the entire Tanach, as well as learning the family trade. Very few were selected for this pursuit.
The Mishnah says that the time that some began to attend the bet midrash which was a rabbi’s “school” or “study group” was about 15. Adults of all ages could come to listen in on the sessions (including women) when they had spare time, and there were quite a few who studied but never became teachers – they were still called “disciples” even at advanced ages. There were just a few who were dedicated enough to spend years of time in training to become rabbinic teachers themselves.
Even though marriage was strongly encouraged, some young men were so earnest in their studies that they would put it off until later so that they could study full time. Gamaliel II (the grandson of Paul’s teacher) already had disciples when he finally got married.
Bet Talmud
Of those who finished Bet Midrash, again only the best of the best were able to pursue the final educational leg, which was called Bet Talmud. This was the longest in duration; it went from the age of 15 to 30. To participate, he must be invited by a Rabbi and, if selected, he would begin a process of grooming that would lead to the potential of becoming a Rabbi at age 30. Those who were chosen were referred to as talmidim. They would literally follow in the dust of their rabbi – desiring to emulate him in all of his mannerisms. They would eat the same food in exactly the same way as their rabbi. They would go to sleep and awake the same way as their rabbi and, more importantly, they would learn to study Torah and understand God the exact same way as their rabbi.
It appears that Jesus Himself followed this model. At twelve we know that He attended His first Passover in Jerusalem and He began His formal ministry at 30. The Bible is silent as far as His mentors, but we do know that He selected His disciples and, just like those young fifteen year olds when invited to Bet Talmud, they left everything to follow after this Rabbi from Galilee. No doubt they walked in His dust, wanting to be just like their Rabbi!
How does our “church” culture measure up against the rabbinical ethos that existed back in the days when our Messiah dwelled amongst his people?
Can you find any similarities at all between their culture of respect and discipleship and the spirit of today’s youth? Do families today think it important to emphasize the study of Scripture? Do disciples today grow in an attitude of respect for their rabbi? Do we even foster a culture of asking questions, are we the inquiring minds whom God might consider worthy to reveal His mysteries to?
Seems like the culture of asking questions has deep Hebraic roots. Many believes today are rethinking their Christianity in light of these reformative truths and the consequence we are suffering due to neglecting them.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_3489.jpg585588Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2018-05-27 08:14:542020-07-27 07:45:19The roots of the question-asking culture
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