"This Is My Name Forever"

YHWH

The name or title by which one refers to Deity has been a subject of interest to mankind from time immemorial. Who is the Creator of the universe, and what is his name? While various titles, including God, Lord, the Great King, the Almighty, and the like have been applied to the Creator, he must certainly have a personal name, a name which expresses his nature and being as names applied to individuals did in Hebrew culture.

This was the question that Moses put to the Eternal God when he was commissioned to liberate Israel from Pharaoh’s bondage: "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" (Exodus 3:13). When the time came for the exodus, God equipped Moses with an infallible witness for his authority to organize such a momentous event when he revealed to him the meaning of his secret name, the name by which he was to be known forever. Listen to God’s answer to Moses’ question in Exodus 3:14, 15: "And Elohim [God] said unto Moses, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I AM WHO I AM] . . . and Elohim said again to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."

The Name and Its Pronunciation

The name Yahweh has been called the tetragrammaton because it is composed of four Hebrew letters, hwhy. YHWH in English cannot be pronounced because it has no vowels. On this technicality of the usage of vowels and their placement within the tetragrammaton, there is much controversy; however, the consensus of scholarship concludes that the most likely pronunciation is Yäh´-wêh.

Since the tetragrammaton appears so frequently in the Hebrew texts, it is important that we maintain the sound of that name as we bring it into English. This process is referred to as transliteration, which literally means to "represent, as a word, by the alphabetic characters of another language having the same sound." Transliteration enables us to bring the letters of one language across into another so that the word, when pronounced, sounds the same in both languages. While words may be translated from one language to another, names can only be transliterated. If one’s name were Smith in English, it would still be pronounced Smith in Russian. Although the characters of the alphabet would be different, the sounds of the Russian letters would approximate the sounds of the English letters, S-m-i-t-h.

We cannot circumvent the fact that the Bible is a Hebrew book. It is essential, therefore, that we transliterate (not translate) Hebrew names from that book. Most scripture versions maintain this principle; however, when they come to the name of Deity, they break the rule and substitute a title for it. Hence we have Lord for Yahweh. If the principle had been consistent, we could just as logically have George for Moses. Consistency must be maintained; therefore, we must transliterate the name of names, YHWH.

Meaning of the Name

The Hebrew name Yahweh can be compared with the Hebrew word for being, hayah, to gain the full significance of its meaning. Hayah means "I am." Yahweh means, "I am because I am, I am that I am, or I cause myself to be." It is a formation of the causative (hiphil) conjugation of the verb and is intended to reveal the cause of existence. Yahweh’s choice of this name to express his being then, was highly accurate, for he alone possesses the quality of aseity–he is the cause of his own existence.It is also an accurate expression of the fact that God alone is the cause of all existence. "Without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). The name Yahweh has also been translated, "I will be what I will be," which is a statement of God’s immutability, a characteristic which he alone possesses. This name can also be translated, "I will be there," a statement of his eternal presence.

Excessive Caution

God’s statement in Exodus 3 regarding his name, Yahweh, has a very noteworthy ring of finality: "This is my name for ever." The prophet Hosea reconfirms Moses’ account of God’s name: "Even Yahweh is Elohim of hosts; Yahweh is his memorial [name]" (Hosea 12:5). Isaiah corroborates this: "I am Yahweh; that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42:7). Jeremiah adds his confirmation: "They shall know that my name is Yahweh" (Jeremiah 16:21). Amos says, "Yahweh is his name" (Amos 5:8). Zechariah declares: "In that day there shall be one Yahweh, and his name one" (Zechariah 14:9). Considering the explicitness of this evidence, why would anyone wish to discontinue the use of the name of the Supreme Deity?

Because of their fervor to avoid misuse of the name Yahweh and their fear of violating the third commandment ("Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."), over time, the Jewish people became very reluctant to use the name at all. By the time of Christ, it was used only once a year by the high priest on the day of atonement and then only in such hushed tones that it was virtually lost in the chanting of the priests. Fearing an unwitting violation of this commandment, Jewish scholars substitute the word Adonai (Lord) instead of the name Yahweh in their reading of the Scriptures. In the later Masoretic text, the vowel pointing for the word adonai was used with the consonants of the name YHWH to underscore the fact that adonai should be read instead of Yahweh. The Talmud says, "It is written yothe hay [Yahweh] but it is pronounced aleph daleth [Adonai]." Because their lack of understanding of this this rabbinic vowel pointing of YHWH, later translators offered the word Jehovah as the name of God (which is totally in error).

When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek of the Septuagint, this emphasis was maintained so that Yahweh was "translated" Kurios, which means Lord. Subsequent translations of Holy Scripture have respected this same Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the name YHWH and offering instead a substitute rendering. It is primarily for this reason that we have the present-day representation–we cannot say rendering–in the Authorized Version, which is "Lord" in most cases. A seemingly legitimate reason for not transliterating the name YHWH, therefore, has caused the pnonunciation and understanding of God’s personal name to be lost to the vast majority of the Christian community.

The Son of God and His Name

When the Son of Yahweh was brought into the world in the role of Savior, he maintained the name of divinity by which he had previously revealed himself to Moses and other patriarchs of Israel in his pre-incarnation Christophanies. The name which the angel Gabriel instructed Joseph and Mary to call him was Yeshua, which simply means Yah in the role of Saviour. Jesus was the Memra (Logos in Greek), the Word of God who existed with the Father from eternity past and shared the name Yahweh. It was only fitting, then, that when he became man, he should maintain that name together with the expression of his role. Some have even suggested that the name Yah was more emphatic in the Saviour’s name. The Emphatic Diaglott says, "For Isoua among the Hebrews is salvation, and among them the son of Nun is called Joshua; and Iasoue is the salvation of Jah."

The English word by which we refer to the Son of God is Jesus, which is a transliteration of the Latin Iesus, which comes from the Greek form Iesous, which in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Yeshua. Some have supposed that the word Jesus is a translation of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. It is totally inconceivable that the scholars who translated the Hebrew into the Greek for the Septuagint Version would have used the name of a pagan deity in reference to their national hero, Joshua, who was called Yeshua in the Hebrew but was called Iesous in the Greek. This is the reason why Joshua is called Jesus in Acts 7:45 and in Hebrews 4:8 of the Authorized Version. We are certainly at liberty to use Jesus as the name of our Saviour in addition to his Hebrew name, Yeshua.

The name Yahweh was understood by the early Christian scholars. Clement of Alexandria (212 C.E.) gave Iaove (pronounced ë-ä-oo-ê , or Yahweh) as God’s name. Origen (253 C.E.) gives Iae as God’s name, a transliteration of Yah, the abbreviated form of Yahweh. Epiphanius (404 C.E.) and Theodoret (457 C.E.) give Iabe.

A Balanced Approach to Using the Name

One might well question the importance of learning the proper name of Deity. After all, in the most popular versions of the Holy Scriptures, this name does not appear. The Authorized Version gives his name as I AM THAT I AM and occasionally refers to him as Jah or Jehovah. Most often it names him as "the Lord." When one reads the Hebrew Scriptures, however, the continued and repetitive use of Yahweh in reference to Deity is unmistakable. This personal name Yahweh appears approximately 5,500 times in the Hebrew Bible. If the Heavenly Father was careful enough to give Israel his proper name, it would seem that we who honor and worship him should want to learn that name for ourselves.

On the other hand, it is certainly not so utterly distasteful for believers to refer to Yahweh by the various titles which rightly apply to his Being that he would cut them off for worshipping false gods, as some have mistakenly suggested. Using such titles and names to refer to Deity could not be construed as violation of the third commandment, for one would have to take or use the name Yahweh in vain, not use another name or title in sincere reference to the Eternal. Indeed, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father," not, "Our Yahweh." While the names of Deity are important, it should be remembered that all names are merely words designed to reveal the qualities of the bearer. Though Yahweh and Yeshua are the proper names of deity, it is appropriate to say, "The Eternal," or "The Savior."

Too often God’s people lack balance. This has been the case with the name Yahweh. The Jews were so afraid of violating the third commandment by pronouncing the name that they avoided its use and nearly lost its pronunciation altogether. Some Christians have rediscovered and restored the use of the name and have taken the other extreme, believing that failure to use the name exclusively is a violation of the third commandment. We must remember that God speaks English, Chinese, and Spanish, as well as Hebrew and that we can use terms and names that communicate with one another and with the public our understanding of God.

We must use wisdom in conversing the unbelievers in the language with which they are familiar. By isolating ourselves totally to the use of biblical Hebrew surnames of God, we severely restrict the effectiveness of our witness. While understanding the name of God is important for information’s sake, understanding the authority and meaning of the name is more essential to the believer today.

Restoration

Biblical names in Hebrew forms, transliterated into the world’s languages, are a part of the restoration of Christianity’s Jewish foundations. Believers should gain this knowledge and enrich their relationship with God by understanding his nature revealed in his name and by communicating with him and about him, using his proper name, Yahweh.

The need for restoring the knowledge of God’s name by the believers today is readily recognizable in the fact that those who are called his elect are referred to in Revelation 14:1 as "having his Father’s name written in their foreheads." Surely those who will be called by his name would want to know his name. Moses did!

The name, Yahweh, is but another part of the great heritage of Judaism that is being restored in our day. It is a part of the better way of recognition and worship of the Eternal.

Biblical Ecumenism–

God’s Challenge to Today’s Church

The final prayer that Jesus made in behalf of the congregation (church) that he had established was this: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. . . . Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:17, 20, 21). Unfortunately, our Lord’s prayer has gone largely unanswered and unfulfilled. For the near twenty centuries that have ensued since Jesus prayed this prayer, the church has been the epitome of division and conflict rather than of unity and harmony.

From the earliest controversy that arose between the Hellenists and Hebraists in Acts 6, Christianity has been characterized by internecine strife and fratricidal carnage. Like Pogo in the comic strip, we have met the enemy, and he is us! The church has channeled more energy and resources into fighting against itself than it has in battling against the archenemy of everything that is of God, a very real and subtle Satan. Much of the division that has occurred has resulted from political intrigue, pitting brother against brother in a struggle over power, resources, and money. Often questions about dogma have drawn battle lines that have resulted in personal invective, excoriation, anathematizing, and excommunication. The landscape of history is littered with broken bodies and psyches, casualties of this ongoing, multifaceted "Christian" civil warfare.

How can a religion that is founded on love be so filled with hate? How is the church ever going to escape the treadmill of self-inflicted trauma and get on the road toward fulfilling Christ’s prayer? Is the vision for Christian unity an "impossible dream," or can we discover the reasons for historical divisions, come to an understanding of the nature of biblical unity, and begin an earnest quest for facilitating that unity?

Unity in Christianity, however, represents a massive paradigm shift, for the church has been characterized more by schism than by efforts toward unity. First, there was the great proto-schism in the second and third centuries that ripped the church from its Jewish matrix and its relationship with Judaism and the Jewish people. Then there was the great schism in the eleventh century which separated Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy. Other divisions were interspersed around these great schisms, and more followed. Corruption in the church forced the Reformation; however, the reformers often carried their rheto ric and zeal too far. Some made unfair and inaccurate caricatures of Catholic faith. They began to fight not only the Roman church but also one another. Rarely has a reformer had the spiritual maturity to employ Christ’s advice in the last of the Beatitudes and "rejoice" when they were persecuted and defamed. Rather than seek rapprochement, they entrenched themselves behind ever-growing denominational walls, hurling epithets and personal invectives at their "enemies," all the while bringing violent division to the church and dishonor to the name of their Lord.

Logomachy, the Bane of the Greeks

Cicero, the great Roman orator and statesman who lived just before the time of Christ, made the following observation about Greek society in his own day: "Mere logomachy is the poison of these pitiful Greeks, who thirst for contention rather than for truth." One could not ask for a more picturesque and apropos diagnosis of one of the major reasons for division in historical Christianity and in the church today. Fighting over words to no profit has been the church’s sport and folly for virtually all of its existence.

Instead of a never-ending, unquenchable thirst for the truth of God’s Word, Christians have sought to become more verbose, more adroit in their rhetoric, more advanced in polemics. Most ministers and laymen have been so entangled in denominationalism, so enslaved to organizations, that they would hardly lend an ear to the exposition of biblical truth. Instead of coming together to reason as the Lord admonished in Isaiah 1:18, most Christians are content rather to fortify the denominational barriers that so separate and alienate God’s people. Instead of examining the Word of God in search of truth, theologians and church leaders read their Bibles in search of even the smallest scintilla of scriptural evidence to lend credence to their already preconceived notions and theories. Prooftexting has become a virtual bibliolatry in the church, with people worshipping the Bible of God rather than the God of the Bible. Choosing to ignore texts that demand love for and submission to one another, they boast that they are "defenders of the faith." They align themselves on one side of controversial and often paradoxical issues, all the while ignoring or explaining away (to their own satisfaction) the evidence offered by others for their differing understanding.

Polemics has been the focus of much of Protestant Christianity as members of various denominational persuasions have characterized one another as less than Christian and often consigned one another to the pits of hell because they did not see eye to eye on matters of doctrine and polity. Then, trumpeting such texts as, "How can two walk together except they agree" (Amos 3:3), to justify their divisive words and actions, they have reveled in driving inextricable wedges between believers, ever widening the chasm of division. Men of sterling debating skills but questionable character have been celebrated as champions of "doctrinal purity."

It is apparent that Paul foresaw the grave danger of logomachy upon the church. He admonished Timothy: "Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words [logomachy] to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:14-16). Paul instructs the church not to engage in logomachy, connecting this practice with the "vain babblings" of Hymenaeus and Philetus, whose words ate like gangrene at the very fabric of the church (II Timothy 2:17). A great lesson for the church today is contained in these words. Mere logomachy is unprofitable and even threatens the welfare of the Christian community with the voracious appetite of gangrene.

Paul also elaborates more expansively on the danger of logomachy in I Timothy 6:3-5: "If any man teach otherwise, or consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words [logomachia], whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." What a graphic and accurate description of the church throughout its history! Logomachy has produced untold envy, strife, character assassination, and perverse disputation, all of which have generally come from men of corrupted minds who were destitute of truth. No wonder Paul enjoined Timothy to "withdraw" from such persons!

Logomachy was and is the deadly poison of the Gentiles that prevents the church from unifying itself into an irresistible force for Christ in the world. The church has been too much like the Athenians and strangers at the Areopagus who "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing" (Acts 17:21). Here is another poison to the church: theologians and leaders like nothing better than to initiate some new theory rather than to accept and practice the truth of God’s never-changing Word. O that church leaders would imitate Paul, who declared in I Corinthians 2:4, "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Paul was not confessing a vocabulary deficiency or some lack of erudition. He instead reminded the people that his preaching did not rely on the "persuasive power of words of human wisdom" (as the Greek is more accurately rendered). His confidence was in God’s power! His religion was that which was fulfilled in "believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets," the very essence of biblical Judaism (Romans 24:14).

When will the church stop drinking from the cup of this poison? When will leaders realize that even if they have the truth, it is not their job description to lead and guide people into truth (John 16:13)? When will we stop usurping the role of the Holy Spirit to "reprove the world of sin" and to " lead and guide into all truth" (John 16:13, 18)? When will we cease fighting over words and making a brother an offender for a word (Isaiah 29:21)? When will we realize that "only by pride cometh contention" (Proverbs 13:10), take a deep look into our individual and corporate souls to see the pride and its horrible effect, and rid ourselves of this debilitating malady? O that Christian leaders today were at least as wise as the pagan Cicero!

The Central/Peripheral Theology Question

Most Christians have always had a difficult time discerning the difference between what is central to their faith and what is merely peripheral. Their not being able to separate that which is of consequence from that which is less significant has left far too may Christians like those hypocrites among the Pharisees of old whom Jesus derided for "straining at gnats and swallowing camels" (Matthew 23:24). Inability to discern what is important has contributed greatly to the divisions in Christianity.

In Christian faith, there are certain fundamental beliefs which are essential to the faith without which it cannot stand. These are the theological non-negotiables which are considered central theology. In order to be firmly established in the faith, it is important for believers to have a solid understanding of these teachings and that they be elevated above all other beliefs to an area of primary importance.

Some of the central theological concepts of Christianity include belief in one God, Creator of heaven and earth; in the doctrine of the fall of man, the inherent sinfulness of mankind, and in the need for a Savior; in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, who for the salvation and reconciliation of the human race to God came from heaven and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary; in both the absolute deity and absolute humanity of Jesus; in the vicarious atonement in which Jesus lived a sinless life, was crucified for the sins of the human race, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven to intercede for mankind with the heavenly Father; in the coming of Jesus to judge the living and the dead in his everlasting kingdom; in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers who receive Christ through faith; and in the coming resurrection of the dead. These are the areas of theology which are central to our faith. Of course, there are other doctrines about God and the Lord Jesus Christ that are important and should be understood by believers; however, the simple statements above form a focal point with which we can have clear vision in our Christian walk.

Other scriptural teachings fall into the area of peripheral theology. The further they are removed from conveying direct knowledge about God and Christ, the further they go into the periphery and the less clear they become. While it is possible for a person to have above 180 degrees of natural peripheral vision, it is also a fact that the further objects that are viewed are removed from the central focal point of the eyes, the less clear they are. Such is true with peripheral theology.

As long as we Christians keep the central and the peripheral in their proper perspective, it is possible for us to have the confidence that comes from being able to view both; however, we will always find ourselves in trouble with God when we attempt to focus on the peripheral. As with natural vision, in order for us to focus on something in the periphery, it is necessary for us to remove our eyes from the central. And, when we remove the focus of our attention from the Lord Jesus Christ, we become like Peter of old–we find ourselves sinking in the maelstrom of error.

This distinction between central and peripheral is true of much speculation about yet unfulfilled prophecy. One clear rule for interpreting prophecy is this: "No prophecy of the scripture can be fully understood until after it has been fulfilled." Much of the confusion that exists in Christianity over eschatology would have less effect upon Christian fellowship and unity if everyone could use Paul’s wisdom: "Now we see through a darkened mirror . . . but then face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12). If everyone would admit that his own understanding of future prophecy is not perfect and that it is often a matter of subjective, rather than objective thinking, we would be more tolerant of one another in this area of teaching.

It has often been said that Christians do not disagree so much on what the Bible says as they do on what it does not say. This true statement applies to the central/peripheral theology question where many of the controversies and conflicts that divide Christianity are founded in various interpretations of matters on which the scriptures are not definitive. To manifest dogmatic tenacity in clinging to concepts which are not definitively set forth in the scriptures and to force those concepts on others as a test of fellowship is to exert an aura of divine contact that goes beyond scriptural commissions. It is to arrogate to oneself the position of God’s voice of God in the earth, the sole repository of his truth. And, it certainly leaves one dangerously open to the deception of heresy.

The Servant Leadership Model

One of the reasons for division in the church is the fact that its leaders too often have ignored our Lord’s admonition, "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them . . . But it shall not be so among you . . . whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matthew 20:25-27). Jesus never intended that a professional clergy elevate itself above the rest of the church to form an elite ruling class. The model in which he, himself, had been reared and in which the apostles had functioned was synagogal Judaism, an egalitarian exercise which featured the interaction of a multitude of counsellors, wherein the safe exercise of leadership can be found (Proverbs 11:14). Plurality of eldership and collective decision making were the norm in the earliest church (Acts 6:3; 15:6; Galatians 2:9).

When church leaders in succeeding generations neglected the servant leadership paradigm which Jesus demonstrated, they began to model their leadership styles after the autocratic political and/or business systems of their societies. Leaders became increasingly turf protective, seeking to preserve and extend the aegis of their dominion. Sects within the church became more and more elitist and parochial. Increasingly, the church became a quasi-political organism, and leaders competed for political and economic power. Monarchial bishops assumed control over the church in geographic areas. Finally, the bishop of Rome sought to establish his primacy over the entire church, an effort that culminated in the establishment of the papacy, producing subsequent abuses of power and precipitating the East-West schism. Christianity had become Christendom.

When the Reformation came, leaders adopted the models of government common to their societies. Nationalism produced state churches and an ever-increasing sectarianism, as movements crystallized into entrenched bureaucracies. Unfortunately, these denominations escalated the infighting and strife within Christianity. Still others arose seeking reform from newly entrenched structures; however, their efforts produced other crystallized movements, fostering still more divisions in the universal church.

When men seek for dominion within self-serving bureaucracies rather than sacrificing their egos to submit themselves one to another in a humble search for truth, they have allowed demonic strongholds to be erected in their lives that bind them in pride, conceit, and arrogance and produce abusive behavior that wounds and weakens the members of the body of Christ. When the church departs from the servant leadership principle espoused and employed by Jesus and the apostles, it treads dangerous ground.

It should be noted that Jesus ascribed abusive exercises of power as being typical of Gentiles, implying that such conduct was not the norm in Hebrew society in which the disciples had been reared. This was especially true in the religious life of the Israeli people. Though the priesthood and the temple order remained important, the daily religious practices of the people had centered in their synagogues since the time of the Babylonian captivity. Synagogal Judaism was the first grand experiment in the democratization of religion. It was this model, rather than the Gentile examples, that the apostles were to employ in their exercise of leadership over the reformed congregation of Jesus.

Here is the biblical description of servant leadership: ". . . the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentile unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (II Timothy 2:24, 25). Whoever is the chiefest in the churches, let him employ this kind of conduct in providing oversight for God’s people.

Surely the church can now return to that model that was manifest in its earliest years. When leaders learn to serve rather than "lord it" over God’s heritage, they will be able to avoid the attitudes that have promoted division. When they are submitted to one another in love, they can promote the unity that the church so desperately needs.

Conservative in Doctrine, Liberal in Practice

It is very possible to maintain complete loyalty to one’s doctrinal persuasions while at the same time making allowances that others may well understand those issues differently and, therefore, have practices that differ from one’s own. Traditionally, most Christian denominations have considered such a flexible position to be "compromise" and have excoriated as unprincipled those who would be so exercised.

This principle, however, is one of the keys to promoting Christian unity. We must have the wisdom to understand that we are not infallible in our understanding and that we must have tolerance for others. It is important that we respect one another’s otherness. We cannot continue to consider other Christians who do not share our doctrinal positions to be less than Christian or even second-class Christians. We must gain a healthy appreciation for diversity within the body of Christ, understanding that there are different callings and giftings as well as different concepts. We need not compromise our own beliefs in order to maintain a diplomatic, magnanimous attitude and demeanor. We can, indeed, be staunchly conservative in our doctrine while at the same time being liberal in practice.

In seeking to reclaim our biblical Hebrew heritage, we must be careful that we do not establish some new elitism that brings judgment and condemnation upon those who do not understand these concepts. If we are to adopt a truly Judaic mind-set, we will maintain tolerance for others, and we will shun the development of yet another creed that establishes another orthodoxy and further divides the body of Christ. Such tolerance is truly Judaic and represents the mind of Christ as well.

Flexibility–A Cure for Exclusivity and Isolationism

Much of the spirit of exclusivity and isolationism in Christian denominations is the product of the intransigence of bureaucrats in crystallized organizations whose status quo was threatened by the insight of reformers, causing them to respond with excommunication and persecution. It is unfortunate, however, that the manner in which many of the reformers responded to persecution from traditionalists has proven nearly as damaging to Christianity as their restored truth has proven beneficial.

Persecution, whether verbal or physical, causes people to make clear distinctions between allies and enemies. Those who are friendly become strong allies; those who are unfriendly or even apathetic become enemies. And, the battle lines are drawn. If reformers are not balanced in their understanding of a new concept, persecution is likely to force them beyond their original progressive idea into egotism, egocentricity, or even megalomania. These personality traits of leadership, then, are translated into masses of people as exclusivity and even a kind of xenophobia.

The only way to avoid these consequences in religious reformations is for reformers to have an unusual degree of love and Christian maturity. Indeed, one’s level of maturity can be measured by the manner in which he handles criticism and persecution. Unfortunately, too many reformers have not had the ability to "rejoice" when persecuted and slandered (Matthew 5:11, 12).

When a movement becomes too rigid and crystallized in its exclusive thinking, it is probable that it will elevate secondary ideas to the level of primary truths, trying to bring the periphery into focus with the central. When this happens, a sect or even a cult develops, and fanciful scriptural interpretations or fleshy ideas gain prominence. Christians become even more divided, fighting against one another in implacable anger.

The secret to avoiding such intransigence and crystallization is to maintain flexibility. Intransigence must give way to flexibility. Crystallization must be melted down by love for God and for men into viscosity and malleability. And, we achieve flexibility only by constantly stretching, almost to the breaking point. This is true in terms of the human body, and it is true also in the body of Christ. Believers must stretch themselves beyond their traditional ideas and comfort zones to be inclusive and accommodating to others who have different views and priorities. When we learn this lesson of flexibility, we will find the church moving toward true unity.

Wisdom Justified of All Her Children

The approach to ministry that Jesus and John the Baptist took could not have been more different. The one thing that they had in common was the fact that both of their ministries brought forth fruit unto righteousness in people’s lives. Jesus expressed a profound truth when he noted that John "came neither eating bread nor drinking wine," and Israel’s religious leaders said that he had "a devil." Jesus, on the other hand, came "eating and drinking," and the same leaders said that he was a "gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!" Then, he offered this great word of wisdom: "But wisdom is justified of all her children" (Luke 7:33-35). It is demonstrably true that men can take different approaches to ministry, with different emphases and different focuses and at the same time both be right. The determining factor is the results that their ministries produce. This is not to say that the end justifies the means and is certainly not an endorsement of consequentialism. It is to say that wisdom is manifest in producing righteousness and holiness in the lives of people.

Paul continued to emphasize this need for pluriformity and tolerance in the church with his argument in Romans 14 that those who preferred a vegetarian diet should be considered equally by those who did not and those who do not observe one day above another should be considered on equal footing with those who chose to memorialize special days. Paul’s words of wisdom are, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Romans 14:5). It has been said that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. We must allow every man to stand before God for himself and to give emphasis to those things of which he is personally convicted of the Holy Spirit. God’s requirements upon believers are not entirely uniform. Often he may require something of one individual in order to deal with a weakness in his life that he may not demand of another person because he does not have that same weakness. We must learn the wisdom of allowing the Holy Spirit to impart his gifts and graces, to lead into truth, and to bring conviction as he wills. Then, we can gain the benefit and strength that comes from accepting one another, not on the basis of what we believe but on the basis of who we believe–the living Christ.

Unity in Diversity

In order to come to unity, we must understand what it is. Historically, the church has thought of unity as uniformity, and it has sought to force a uniform approach to doctrine and polity through credalism. Denominations have insisted that all their constituents believe and practice the same things. Men have been excommunicated for daring to adapt church worship and polity to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and minister to God’s people. The safe feeling of uniformity has demanded that everyone look and act alike.

True biblical unity, however, is not uniformity. It is as impossible for the body of Christ to be entirely uniform as it is impossible for all the human body to be an eye. There are many different functions within the body, and each is vital to health and well being. So it is in the church. There are diversities of callings, of giftings, of administrations, but each is important to the community of believers.

Unity is cohesiveness in the midst of diversity. Just as the diverse organs and functions of the human body are joined together cohesively by the blood that flows to every part, so the church in all of its diversity is united through the blood of Jesus that both gives life and removes impurities from the body. Each part of the body must appreciate the otherness of the other parts, for it is through the diversity within the body that all of its functions are fulfilled and the body remains healthy.

Those who understand biblical principles of unity in diversity never hold to the possibility of the emergence of one monolithic organization that will eventually bring all Christians under its aegis. The Roman Catholic Church has tried that, declaring, "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus" ("outside the [Roman] church there is no salvation"), and scores of other denominations have made the same proclamation; however, it has simply not worked even when promoted on the edge of the sword. Just as Judaism has always been and still remains organized into a myriad of locally-autonomous bodies, so Christianity must maintain and respect the integrity of its various groupings.

Christianity’s Jewish Roots and Ecumenism

One of the factors that has contributed most to the division in the church is its denial of its Hebraic heritage, its severing itself from the Jewish roots of faith from which it grew. The unconscious result of this separation has been the ongoing tendency of the church to read into its self evaluation the various traditions of the cultures into which it expanded. Since it was taken from the biblically Judaic matrix from which it sprang and transplanted into foreign soil, the church has been defined by virtually every culture possible. Leaders have even read their own cultural and religious ideas into Holy Scripture rather than exegeting scripture in the light of the Hebrew language and the Jewish culture in which it was written. Is it any wonder then, that there are so many divisions in the church? The real wonder is that there are not many more divisions!

Greater unity in the body of Christ will be achieved only when the church rediscovers its biblical Judaic identity. Having been torn from its mother’s arms at a tender age, it suffers from an identity crisis and consequent immaturity. It is essential to the health of the church that it restore its Jewish connection, recovering its Hebraic foundations. When believers of various denominations around the world recognize the truth about the Jewish roots of their faith, they discover that they have far more in common than they ever thought possible. Controversial doctrinal issues are often resolved by a simple understanding of the historical and biblical matrix from which those issues emerged. When we get back to the Book and to the mind-set of the people who wrote the Book, we will find answers to most of the issues that have so long divided us.

While schism has been the norm for Christianity, it has been largely missing from Judaism. Variety, rather than schism, has been the spice of Jewish religious life throughout the Christian era (with the lone exception of the Karaites). Though Jews have always been divided into various overlapping groups (e.g., ancient Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees and the modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform), they have never lacked a sense of interrelationship and interdependence. They have always recognized one another as fully Jewish. This is a great lesson that Christians can learn from Judaism. Despite our different approaches to the worship of the one God, can we not view one another as fully Christian, brothers and sisters in the family of God?

A New Unity of the Spirit

As we continue the quest for Christian unity, we must understand that the unity which we seek is not produced by a spirit of unity but by the unity of the Spirit. It is the unity of which the Holy Spirit is the agent and facilitator. This is the clear first step toward ultimate unity in the body of Christ which Paul outlined in Ephesians 4:1, 3: ". . . walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called . . . endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." One of the historical problems in ecumenical efforts of the past has been that they have been motivated largely by a spirit of unity. But, labor unions have a spirit of unity, as do sports teams and political parties. A spirit of unity will never bring unity to the body of Christ. The only thing which can unify Christ’s body is the Holy Spirit of God. It is only through the agency of the Holy Spirit that God’s love is "shed abroad in our hearts" (Romans 5:5) drawing us together in fellowship and mutual submission. Christian unity is cohesiveness generated by the agency of the Holy Spirit.

As we yield ourselves to the agency of the Holy Spirit, we present the possibility that we can destroy barriers of fear, indifference, and hostility that have kept us from encountering one another with full knowledge of and concern for one another. Perhaps one of the most important factors in this new move of the Holy Spirit that will bring true unity in cohesive interaction among diverse elements in the body of Christ will be the recovery of the Jewish roots of our faith. Indeed, one of the primary job descriptions of the Holy Spirit is to "lead and guide into truth." As we come together to rediscover this ancient truth of the inherent Jewishness of Christian faith, we will find ourselves flowing together into cohesive relationships forged by the unity of the Spirit, true biblical ecumenism. We become networked for trranslocal fellowship without the constraints of a new denominational rigidity. We are made an organic one by the Holy Spirit, not by a contrived, manipulated, and forced human mechanism. Our unity then compares with that of Jesus and the Heavenly Father, a sublime cohseiveness that is manifest in our compliance with the will and Word of God.

Lion or Lamb–

       The Messianic

        Question

At the time of the birth of Jesus, the spirit of Messianism was everywhere in Israel. The Hebrew prophet Daniel’s predicted time lapse between the reconstruction of the temple and the coming of Messiah neared completion. During that pivotal time in human history, some sixty men arose in Israel or thereabouts, claiming to be the promised Messiah.

From the fall of man the expected appearance of the promised Deliverer had sprung up in the hearts of each succeeding generation. This was especially true of the Israelites after Jacob declared of Judah, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:10). Balaam, the prophet for hire who was commissioned to curse Israel, saw the Messiah instead: "I shall see him, but not now . . . there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel . . . out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion" (Numbers 24:17, 19). Even the great Moses, the founder of biblical Judaism, predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15 that God would raise up a "prophet from the midst of thee . . . like unto me" and that "unto him ye shall hearken."

As time passed, the expectation of the Jewish people increased, reinforced by the ever-unfolding prophetic identity of this promised Messiah. Both the promise and the lineage were more firmly established in God’s oath to David, "Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" (Psalms 132:11). Centuries later, another Hebrew prophet pinpointed the place where the Messiah was to be born: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel. . . ." (Micah 5:2). Knowing that the Messiah was to come out of Judah, the Jews expected him to be like Judah of old, of whom Jacob said, "Judah is a lion’s whelp . . . he couched as a lion" (Genesis 49:9). They looked forward to his coming to deliver them from the scourge of Roman occupation. They expected Messiah to devour all the enemies of Israel.

The Suffering Messiah Brings Spiritual Liberty

Unfortunately, however, most Jews neglected to observe all that Yahweh had said about this coming Messiah. They overlooked Daniel’s prediction: "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself" (Daniel 9:26). Though some of Israel’s sages came to expect the coming of two Messiahs, Messiah ben David (the king) and Messiah ben Joseph (the suffering servant), most Jews hoped for the coming of the Lion of Judah. In their longing for deliverance from physical oppression, they neglected to anticipate the coming deliverance that Messiah would bring that would be of far greater consequence than mere physical and political freedom. The great work that Messiah was first to accomplish was the deliverance of the Jews–and, indeed, the whole world–from the bondage of sin.

How was this to be accomplished? Messiah was to be cut off, not for himself, but for the sins of man. This was the message of the prophet Isaiah: "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. . . . He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:5,7).

It was fitting, then, that the Lamb of God that was slain to liberate men from the bondage of sin should have been offered on the day of Passover, just as the lamb had been slain some fifteen hundred years before on the very first day of Passover to bring about the liberation of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Liberation from sin required the shedding of blood (Leviticus 17:11). Just as men’s paschal lambs provided the blood of redemption for Israel of old, so God’s Passover Lamb shed his blood and redeemed the entire world from the power of sin and death. Again, the Hebrew prophets made the issue clear. According to David, the Messiah’s hands and feet would be pierced (Psalms 22:16). Zechariah predicted that the Messiah’s Jewish brethren would share responsibility for this sacrifice (Zechariah 12:11; 13:6).

Before the Messiah could liberate Israel physically, he had to liberate them spiritually. What value would physical liberation have if one were in bondage to sin? This is why Messiah came first as a lamb–indeed, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The Resurrection Predicted

But, would the death of the Messiah as a sacrificed Lamb be the end of this profound personality? Again, the prophets of Israel predicted the truth: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days. . . ." (Isaiah 53:10); and "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life. . . ." (Psalms 16:10,11).

This is exactly what occurred when the Messiah was offered as a sacrifice for sin. History documents the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected from the grave and that he ascended into heaven, events witnessed by over five hundred people. Just as David had predicted in Psalm 1:7, God said of his resurrection, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," a fact confirmed by Peter in Acts 2:34, 35. And, as David had further prophesied in Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou art my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool," Jesus now sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father in heaven awaiting the time when his enemies will be placed to be a footstool for his feet, at which time, according to the Holy Scriptures, he will return "to execute vengeance" upon the ungodly (Jude 15), to dash the nations in pieces (Revelation 2:27), and to establish the Messianic Kingdom of righteousness upon the earth.

Coming As The Lion of Judah

The coming of the Messiah as the Lion of Judah will be that to which Zechariah 14 refers: "For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken . . . Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east . . . And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited."

When Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) came the first time, John the Baptist declared, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). When he comes the second time, he will appear as John the Revelator described him, "the lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David" (Revelation 5:5).

The enigma of a personality that could be manifest first as a lamb and then as a lion has baffled thousands of people, including a majority of the Jewish people; however, the Hebrew prophets predicted that such would be the case, and the Jewish Messiah of the first century manifestly fulfilled their predictions. This is the scandal of the good news of God’s salvation: he who was to be king of the world became a servant. He who was sinless took upon himself the sins of us all, suffered, and died. But, again in consonance with the Hebrew prophets, he resurrected to ascend to the Father as the Lamb worthy to open the book (Revelation 5:8, 9). And, even when he comes to sit in his kingdom as the Lion of Judah, he will still be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Revelation 22:1). Messiah is not, then, either lion or lamb, nor are there two Messiahs. He is one Messiah, both God’s king and sacrifice, lion and lamb.

Israel’s

       Divine

            Appointment

"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob" (Romans 11: 26). The promise of this passage of scripture goes beyond the salvation of individual Jews and beyond the grafting in of the Jewish branches into their own olive tree. It predicts the salvation of the entire nation of Israel.

This is in keeping with the prophecies of Zechariah, chapters 12 through 14. The prophet declared that in the last days God would make Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone for all people (Zechariah 12:2, 3). From the time that the atrocities of Nazi anti-Semitism burdened the consciences of the nations of the free world to the extent that they permitted the formation of the Israeli state, this tiny Middle Eastern nation has been spotlighted in world news. With the grip of the oil-rich Arab nations on the economies of the industrialized nations of the world, Israel is indeed a burdensome stone and a cup of trembling.

The situation will continue to grow worse until the time when a great political and economic upheaval will overwhelm the earth in the years immediately prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Then the nations of the world will come under the leadership of a charismatic dictator (the little horn of Daniel 7:20), and they together will seek to destroy Jerusalem, the Jews, and true Christians, trying to obliterate the nation of Israel, Judaism, and Christianity from the face of the earth.

In this time of tragedy, however, there is hope for Israel. Yahweh God told Zechariah, "in that day . . . I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son" (Zechariah 12:9,10). God further stated that this supplication would be heard: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness . . . and one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zechariah 13:1, 6).

The fulfillment of this passage of Jewish prophecy is rather obvious. Israel as a nation is destined to return to their God, whose heart they have pierced by their infidelity to his Word and will. The nation of Israel will recognize the Messiah whom they have long awaited to be he whose hands were pierced in the house of his friends (Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 13:6). As that takes place, they will find that the fountain for sin that was opened by a Roman spear two thousands years ago will again be opened to the whole house of Israel.

Irrevocable Election

The scriptures clearly show us that God’s covenant with Abraham and his children is a unilateral covenant contingent only upon God’s grace. The expansion of that covenant to become the national constitution for Israel is also a unilateral covenant, and since it is a divine covenant, it is especially irrevocable. Paul confirms this truth in Romans 11:26, 27, 29: "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins . . . for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable."

The preservation of the Jewish people is a matter of supreme importance, for it is proof of God’s immutability. "I am Yahweh, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6). The continuation of the Jewish people as an identifiable entity despite centuries of unrelenting persecution and slaughter defies all the laws of history for the assimilation of conquered peoples. God, and God alone, has insured their survival and their continued identity as his chosen people. He even devised the means by which they would be preserved. His law (Torah) has been and will continue to be a guardian assigned to supervise and protect the Jewish people until they are brought by that law to their divine appointment with their Messiah (Galatians 3:24). The law of God will remain in place until it has fulfilled this, its primary function. No amount of infidelity on Israel’s part has or will obviate God’s faithfulness and his continued grace toward his people.

Christians should remember that it was also an act of God’s grace that brought partial blindness to Israel (Romans 11:25) so that the Gentiles could be saved. It was the God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart who also partially hardened Israel (Isaiah 6:10). Likewise, it is God who will use the Gentiles as instruments in his hand to bring provocation to Israel (Deuteronomy 32:21; Romans 11:11), and it is God who will remove the veil that is upon Israel’s eyes–and upon the whole world, for that matter (Isaiah 25:7)–when Israel turns to the Lord (II Corinthians 3:26). Israel will never be provoked to anything but anger and disdain by a Christian church that seeks to "convert" Jews to a Christianity that voids the commandments of God and replaces the Judaic concepts and practices of biblical faith with pagan traditions.

Christians should also remember that only God can draw his chosen people Israel to himself. And, only the Holy Spirit can open eyes of understanding. There is no room in the church for proselytization through unethical and deceptive tactics. All Christians are called to witness to the entire world; however, that witness must be exercised in this manner: "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15). Too many Christians have approached Israel with a militant spirit and a trophy mentality, trying to "convert" the Jews for their own glory. Or, they have "loved" the Jews because of some eschatological scenario that forced them to love Israel so that their own expectations could be met. The job of the church today is to replace the arrogance and belligerence of the Christian past with genuine love and unconditional support for the international Jewish community and the nation of Israel, to share their faith in honesty and integrity, and to leave the future in the hands of the God who is able to bring his will to pass. Only God can save, and we have his word on it: he will save Israel. It is based on his immutability, it is his irrevocable election, and it is inevitable!

The church must resolve to support in word and in deed the right of all Jewish peoples to exist as Jews with complete self-determination, free from political, economic, social, or religious coercion, intimidation, or persecution. Christians also must profess determination to stand with the international Jewish community against any individual or corporate threat.

A Time of Great Trouble

Throughout history, the Jewish people have fallen victim to the blind hatred of the world’s anti-Semitic political powers. Surely Zechariah’s prophecy has been fulfilled in crusades, pogroms, and the Holocaust: "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third part shall be left therein" (Zechariah 13:8). This prophecy will be culminated in the coming time of world trouble that Jesus called the "great tribulation" (Matthew 24:21, 22) which God, himself, will truncate so that the entire human race will not be destroyed. This may well be the culmination of Jacob’s trouble predicted by Jeremiah the prophet, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). The key to Zechariah, however, is not the persecution and slaughter of the Jewish people, but that "the third part shall be left therein" to be refined as gold so that they will say, "The Lord is my God," and Yahweh will say, "It is my people." And, the key to Jeremiah’s "time of Jacob’s trouble" (whenever it is and is completed) is that Israel "shall be saved out of it." Frankly, Israel has already had enough persecution and slaughter at the hands of the Gentiles to have fulfilled these prophecies repeatedly. Now it is time to look for their return to their God, saying, "The Lord is my God," and for their salvation out of the trouble that the prophets predicted.

The time of great trouble upon all the world will be concluded when all nations will be brought against Jerusalem for battle, whereupon the Lord, himself, "shall go forth, and fight against those nations . . . and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives . . . and the Lord shall be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:2, 4, 9). In that day Israel will be saved and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David in the kingdom of their Messiah.

"All Israel Shall Be Saved"

This salvation of national Israel is the great spiritual event with which the New Testament writers concerned themselves. Paul referred to this prophetic work in Romans 9:27,29: "Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved . . . And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrha."

The Greek word for remnant in this passage of scripture means those who are left alive. This is the remnant of Romans 11:5: "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Both the prophets and the apostles of Israel predicted the time when a remnant of Israel according to the God’s choosing would remain alive upon the earth. And, they declared that those Jewish people would unanimously acclaim the Messiah, the Lord from heaven.

From all indications of the scriptures, Paul’s prediction in Romans 11:26, "All Israel shall be saved," will happen literally when the entire nation of Israel will turn collectively to God. He then will save them all with an everlasting salvation and will punish all the nations and people who have been their tormenters.

Don’t Let

Anti-Semitism

Ruin Your Health

From the time that God chose the nation of Israel above all peoples of the earth and revealed to them his chosen system of worship, the forces of evil have concentrated themselves in the spirit of anti-Semitism, the hatred for and aversion to Jews and things Jewish. The root of anti-Semitism is antipathy toward Yahweh, the God of the Bible. The satanic element in the world is aligned against God and against whatever he is doing on planet earth; therefore, the primary target for Satan and his minions has been the one major visible symbol of God and his sovereign election, the Jewish people.

The spirit of anti-Semitism first manifested itself in the heathen peoples of the Middle East who resented the establishment of the nation of Israel in their midst. Israel constantly defended itself against its neighbors whose love for their gods necessitated the hatred of Yahweh, the God of Israel. These inhabitants of the land could simply not submit themselves to God’s choosing and his awarding the land of Israel to the progeny of Abraham. They hated the Jews and tried repeatedly to destroy them.

Israel’s strategic location at the confluence of what was then the earth’s three known continents, the land bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa, made it a natural target for conquest-minded sovereigns of many nations. Land, however, was not the only motivation, for each of these competing empires had its own pantheon of gods and philosophies that were set forth in contradistinction to Yahweh and the Hebraic world view.

Anti-Semitism, then, was a primary motivation for Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern empires. Their religions exalted the sun god and sought the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews’ religion. A succession of these kingdoms conquered and enslaved the Jewish people, but they could not destroy Judaism. Babylon, the bastion and source of polytheism, conquered Jerusalem and carried most of the people to Babylon. Again, Babylonian anti-Semitism could not destroy Judaism. While in Babylon, the Jewish people began what would eventually be one of the preserving elements for Judaism, the synagogue, small corporate worshipping communities that perpetuated the knowledge and worship of God. The effort to destroy Judaism failed, and the Jews were returned to their land by Cyrus the Mede, who helped them rebuild the temple and restore the worship of Yahweh.

In the kingdom of Persia the ugly head of anti-Semitism was reared and personified in Haman, the prime minister of King Ahasuerus. Only the valiant, self-sacrificing stand of a young Jewish girl saved the Jewish people. With all of the Jews of the world living in the kingdom of Persia, Haman’s proposed slaughter of "all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus" (Esther 3:6) would have resulted in genocide, obviating of God’s covenants with Abraham and Israel had not God raised up Esther "for such a time as this."

Later anti-Semitism was focused in Antiochus Epiphanes. This Seleucid king subjected the Jewish people to tortures and slaughter, trying to force them to recant their faith in Yahweh and Judaism in favor of the polytheism of Greece that was directly descended from Babylonianism. Antiochus was defeated by the Maccabees only after he had profaned the temple in Jerusalem with pagan worship and had heaped atrocities upon the Jewish people. Once again, Judaism prevailed as the temple was rededicated. In a way, Antiochus’ anti-Semitism was even more subtle than what had preceded him because it sought to replace the Jews’ monotheistic religion with the polytheism of the Hellenic world or to syncretize their faith with Greek philosophy.

In later years, anti-Semitism found an effective vehicle in the Roman Empire whose egomaniacal emperors could not countenance the arrogance of a people who so staunchly defended their religion and their right to self determination in Israel, their land. Rome could not tolerate the passionate independence of the Jews and their devotion to the one God of the Bible. While Judaism was officially recognized by the Roman Empire as a legitimate religion, the intelligentsia and the patricians had nothing but disdain for this "primitive" people and their "invisible" God. They called the Jews "infidels" because they did not believe in the pantheon of deities that Romans worshipped. So, successive bitterly-fought campaigns were launched against the Jews in an effort to subjugate them and their religion. The greatest of these occurred in 70 C.E. when Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Later Hadrian built a Roman city on the ruins of Jerusalem after he had suppressed the Bar Kochba rebellion, and he forbade Jews and Jewish Christians to enter the city upon penalty of death.

Initially Rome’s extermination program was also turned against the Christians, the new sect that had arisen among first century Judaism that recognized Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah. Perhaps millions of these Christians were slaughtered by the Romans. The message of the Christians, however, was not envisioned as exclusively for the Jews and was extended to all men. Subsequently, therefore, masses of Gentile believers in this reformed kind of Judaism were brought into the church by the disciples of Jesus.

As with most new movements, the passage of time brought a diminishing of the zeal and fervor of the original faith and the gradual increase of institutionalism. As the congregation (or church) that Jesus had founded began to grow among the Gentiles, it gradually compromised its teachings, blending the Judaism of the primitive church with the Hellenistic concepts that were prominent in the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin.

The more the Christian church accepted the concepts of the heathen religions and the more they minimized the Jewish practices in the church, the less persecution came to the church and the more it became accepted by the political powers of the day.

Anti-Semitism Conquers Christianity

A sad and tragic event was occurring, for the anti-Semitism of the Gentile world was gradually being transferred to the Christian church which had been born out of Judaism in the first century. It began as Judaeophobia, a fear of Jews and things Jewish. Early Christian leaders who had replaced faith and power with rationalism and professionalism were hard pressed to compete with Jewish rabbis and the synagogues. They began to ingrain fear of Jews and Judaism as a means of maintaining their converts’ loyalty to the church. (A prime example of this is the "sermons" of John Chrysostom in the late fourth century.)

As years turned into centuries, Judaeophobia was replaced by anti-Judaism as the church began to stand against the religion of the Jews. Finally, the church took on more and more antipathy for the Jews, themselves, as well as for the system of Judaism. Anti-Semitism became entrenched in the church, producing an environment where it was not only acceptable but also applaudable for Christians to hate and persecute Jews in the name of Christ. Jews came to be characterized as bloodthirsty Christ killers, and the Christian religion that had been characterized by love came to be dominated by hate. Thousand, perhaps millions, of Jewish people were tortured and slaughtered through the subsequent centuries under the sign of the cross. Even today, the cross is a symbol of hate and murder to millions of Jews throughout the world and for good reason!

The Crusades, launched by frenzied Christians to liberate the "holy land" from the Moslem "infidels" in the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, became events of terror and death for the Jews when the cry went out, "Why should we go thousands of miles to kill the Moslem infidels when these infidel Jews live among us?" Countless Jewish men, women, and children were herded into synagogues and were immolated. Untold numbers of Jews were slaughtered under the banners of the crusaders. So many Jewish women were raped by "Christians" that the rabbis were forced to reckon Jewishness as being born of a Jewish mother rather than by the centuries-old patrilinear system.

Then, in the fourteenth century a pandemic plague nearly decimated the population of Europe and parts of Asia. The Black Death (bubonic plague), carried by fleas that infested the rats that were everywhere in the filthy cities, killed nearly half of the population in the West. Jews seemed exempt from this plague (probably because they kept their homes clean); therefore, the Jews were accused of poisoning wells, and thousands more were slaughtered.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Jews were murdered by the thousands by emissaries of the church in the Inquisition. Anti-Semitism enjoyed one of its most bloodthirsty seasons, as synagogues were destroyed, Jews were burned. An all-out effort was launched to destroy the Jews and their religion from the face of the earth. Spain, Portugal, and England expelled Jews, confiscating most of their land and possessions and adding them to royal treasuries.

Then there were centuries of pogroms in eastern Europe which forced resettlement of Jews and brought them torment, torture, and death. This was especially so in Russia where the czars were intensely anti-Semitic and often blamed the Jewish people for the ills of society, unleashing hordes of tormenters upon them. These state and church-sponsored persecutions continued into the twentieth century, as Jews were continually persecuted and slaughtered in the name of the Christian religion, out of the czars’ fervor to support and defend the Russian Orthodox Church.

The obvious question must be asked: Why would a religion that purported itself to be from Yahweh, the God of Israel, seek to slaughter God’s chosen people and their God-given religion? The answer must be equally obvious: The powers of evil (not the ministers of righteousness) were at work to obliterate the true knowledge of God from the earth. Romanism and Orthodoxy at their worst were at work to destroy the monotheism of Judaism in the name of preserving the Christian faith.

Miraculously, God preserved the Jewish people and their religious system. Though it was tainted by the tradition of the fathers and though it failed to recognize the true work of redemption wrought on Calvary by Messiah Jesus, Judaism was, nevertheless, a much clearer reflection of God’s system of praise, worship, and service than what was offered by the Latin or the Greek churches.

Protestantism Fails To Repudiate Anti-Semitism

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, God started a restoration of the Christianity of the first century, when the idolatry and sacramentalism of the official church was replaced in various reformed communities by faith in God and in the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ. Both the Protestant Reformation and the counter-reformation within the Roman Catholic Church sought a return to the principles of earliest Christianity.

The one thing that was tragically overlooked in the reformation, however, was the spirit of anti-Semitism which its leaders failed to purge from their midst. The fathers of Protestantism simply failed to restore their reformed Christianity to its inherent Jewish ideals.

The reformers espoused a restored faith that was founded on "sola scriptura" (scripture only) and "sola fide" (faith only), and they promoted a return to the grammatico-historical hermeneutic of the ancient Carthagenian school of biblical interpretation. They typically failed, however, to employ fully both their mottos and their hermeneutic. Scripture continued to be interpreted in the light of their own cultural biases rather than on its Hebrew grammar and the Jewish history and culture in which it had been written. The results for the Jewish people continued to be tragic as most reformed traditions perpetuated the Judaeophobia, anti-Judaism, and anti-Semitism that they inherited from Rome. This was manifest in the demonic doctrine of supersessionism (replacement theology) and other anti-Judaic teaching.

While the father of the Reformation, Martin Luther, was initially philo-Judaic, the failure of Jews to convert en masse to Christianity (as part of Luther’s eschatological expectations of the imminent return of Jesus) prompted him to become virulently anti-Semitic and to write some of history’s most vitriolic diatribes against the Jews, documents which were used four centuries later by Hitler and the Nazis to authenticate and justify their attempt at a "final solution" to the Jewish "problem." Other reformers held similar views, and the denominations that have been built on their names and teachings have been inherently opposed to Judaism. So, until recently, Christianity–whether Romanism or Protestantism– has remained essentially anti-Semitic, for it has expressed disdain for both Jews and for things Jewish.

From 1930 until 1944 the Holocaust or Shoah became the greatest single concentration of brutal and violent anti-Semitism in history. "Christian" Germans blindly followed Adolph Hitler’s quest to establish the Third Reich, the kingdom of God on earth. Part of this grand scheme to elevate the German people to supremacy over the rest of the world included the need to rid the earth of Jewish "vermin." Europe was to experience Judenrein, cleansing from Jews. Early in this process, Jews were shot by the thousands and buried in mass graves. This method proved inefficient because of the thousands of decomposing bodies became a threat to public health; therefore, more efficient processes were devised in which the Jews were herded into cattle cars and transported by rail to carefully-planned killing centers where they were murdered with lethal cyanide gas. Then their corpses were plundered of anything of value (gold teeth, hair, and even skin!), and they were cremated. Names like Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and others still ring across the pages of history with disgusting horror to civilized men of conscience because six million Jews, including more than a million children, were slaughtered there.

The Holocaust with all of its horror decimated over half of the Jewish population in Europe; however, Satan’s genocidal plot was foiled. Subsequently, the corporate conscience of the free world was pricked with sympathy for the plight of the Jewish people, allowing God to turn evil for good by effecting the restoration of the state of Israel, preparing the way for the prophetic return of the Jews to their land in their last great aliyah. Though certain segments of the church continue to be anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist, most of the church has affirmed the right of Jews to live as Jews with self determination. Most denominations have repudiated historical Christian anti-Semitism, and many have repented before God for their complicity in the persecution of the Jewish people or their silence when persecution was occurring. While Christian positions on the State of Israel remain varied; however, most organizations affirm the right of Jews to self determination, free from persecution, intimidation, and coersion.

Reawakening to Christianity’s Jewish Heritage

Many Christian leaders have erroneously supposed that the New Testament writers’ warnings against the dangers of legalism were a blanket indictment against Judaism; however, this could certainly not be the case, for we find these same writers practicing various elements of Judaism. While there is a danger in Judaism of looking to the ritual of the Old Covenant either for total justification or for a completion of the atonement of Jesus, there are many potential blessings in Judaism and secrets to carrying out the kind of praise and worship which God desires.

Today, the Holy Spirit is moving among people of all denominational backgrounds to awaken them to their heritage in Judaism. Thousands are throwing off the old anti-Semitic spirit and are taking an objective look into the blessings and advantages of Judaism in its New Testament order. While remaining ever on guard against legalism, they are, nevertheless, not yielding to the spirit of anti-Semitism that has robbed thousands of Christians in the past of the opportunity to have a greater understanding of the eternal God. They are beginning to realize that true Christianity is Jewish, a fact which even the atheist Sigmund Freud recognized when he said, "Hatred for Judaism is at bottom hatred for Christianity." Love for Christianity necessarily implies love for Judaism.

Escaping the New Wave of Anti-Semitism

New waves of overt anti-Semitism continue to stir in various countries and to sweep over others. Israel’s staunch and valiant defense of its right to existence and the accompanying turmoil in the oil-rich Arab nations have brought about a revival of popularity for anti-Semitism. Islamic anti-Semitism is excused and condoned by the Western news media which is essentially anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-Christian (once again a manifestation of hatred against the God of the Bible and his restrictions against hedonism). Much of Latin America is filled with the spirit of anti-Semitism as Jews are persecuted and synagogues and businesses are targeted by terrorists’ bombs. The old "blame-the-Jews" attitude continues to gain adherents whenever problems arise in the world.

Even in the United States and other "enlightened" Western societies, neo-Nazi spirits are becoming more and more vocal and open with their anti-Semitism. Jews are not the only the objects of the anti-Semitic spirit. Those who will practice anything revealed in Judaism also find themselves targeted for persecution and violence. The powers of evil are gearing up for one final massive assault against God’s chosen people, the Jews, and against his chosen system of religion. Eventually, however, the nations of the world will be judged on the basis of their conduct toward Israel and the Jewish people.

God has determined that anti-Semitism is dangerous both to your spiritual and physical well being. This truth applies to both nations and individuals. God will simply "bless those who bless" the Jewish people and "curse those who curse" them. This was his promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), and this promise is just as sure as God’s promise of eternal life for those who believe. The fortunes of nations have risen and fallen in direct proportion to their conduct toward the Jewish people. And, individuals have been blessed and cursed in like manner.

So, be careful! Don’t let anti-Semitism poison your relationship with God and with the Jewish people. There is so much in Judaism that can make you a better Christian. Don’t let Judaeophobia, anti-Judaism, and anti-Semitism keep you from it.

Bringing Back The Ark–A Strategic Paradigm

for Restoration

The renewed interest in the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith is one of the greatest and most universal works that the Holy Spirit is producing in the church in this generation. After being marred for nearly two millennia by Judaeophobia and anti-Semitism, Christianity is experiencing what is only the beginning of a reawakening that has scholars, ministers, leaders, and laymen in virtually every denomination of the body of Christ engaged in the quest to reclaim the church’s Judaic heritage.

This reawakening is changing the way Christians think about themselves and about the world around them. The traditional dualistic world view that the church has inherited from the Greco-Roman mind-set is gradually being replaced by the holistic world view of Judaism by which Jesus and the apostles lived and expressed their faith. This is affecting the way a more and more Christians throughout the world are thinking and acting about their families, their community life, their church relationships, and–most importantly–their relationship with the God of the Bible.

The reawakening that is occurring independently in lives of believers throughout the world is a sovereign work of God, for its universal manifestation in isolated places cannot be traced to any single identifiable human source. The Holy Spirit is at work leading individuals, Bible study groups, local congregations, fellowship groups, and even organizational structures into various elements of restoration truth. The wave of spiritual renewal that has penetrated virtually every denomination has prepared the hearts of God’s people for the final restoration, the restoration of the church to its biblical heritage in preparation for the coming of Messiah.

The question that confronts those who have a burning passion for the restoration of Christianity’s Jewish roots is this: How can we promote and sustain this growing phenomenon? Or, put another way, How can we keep this work from becoming another passing fancy of a fad-conscious society and see to it that it makes a profound and lasting impact upon the life-style of a large segment of the Christian community and changes forever their thinking with regard to Israel, the Jewish people, and Judaism?

A Model for Restoration

The answer to these questions is found in the strategy which King David employed in restoring the ark of the covenant to a place of prominence and honor among Israel. Listen to I Chronicles 13:1-5’s account of this event: "Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us; and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul. Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people." The parallel between the restoration of the ark to Israel and the restoration of the Judaic heritage to the church is striking, indeed.

When Israel chose Saul as king, they abandoned God’s system in favor of a man of their own choosing. "They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them," God told Samuel (I Samuel 8:7). The ark of the covenant and its attendant service were abandoned in favor of a cult of personality worship, and Israel became like every other nation. Could the parallel with the church be more obvious! Concurrent with its rejection of its Jewish roots, the church also abandoned its spirituality in favor of a cult of personality and power. Instead of a living experience, religion became a ritualistic performance for the masses. Finally, in the Middle Ages, the church’s Judaic heritage was all but obliterated, and the church became a Gentile institution governed more by Hellenic philosophy than by biblical faith.

The Protestant Reformation and the counter reformation within the Roman Catholic Church made significant steps in the direction of restoration; however, they stopped far short of fully restoring the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Progressively over the ensuing centuries, God has continued his restoration work. Now, in the twentieth century, this work has been accelerated, with significant numbers of people around the world committed to restoring the foundations of Christian faith that were laid by Jesus and the apostles on the bedrock of biblical Judaism.

Now the spirit of Messiah is calling the leaders of the universal church to consider whether it is appropriate to restore the New Testament order of God’s Judaic system of praise, worship, and service. Leaders from various denominations and fellowships are hearing the call to come together for dialogue about the foundations of our faith. Leaders of every calling, from priests and pastors, to educators and writers, to captains of industry and political leaders are hearing God’s call: "If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen . . . that they may meet with us," and let us collectively discover and restore the Judaeo-Christianity that the apostles practiced.

Interactive Ministry on Leadership Level

We must recognize that God’s work is too great for any one man or any single organization; therefore, it is vital that we serve as catalysts for interactive ministry on a leadership level. David’s strategy was to bring leaders together to analyze the challenge for restoration in his day to see if it was an imperative from God.

We must understand that networking is the focus of God’s designs for our time. Leaders must abandon their proclivities toward self aggrandizement and turf protection to become mutually submitted to one another in the fear of the Lord and for the welfare of the body of Christ. We must learn to work together as a team with each member’s talents and otherness respected and honored. We must stop trying to build up our own ministries and concentrate on helping one another build up the kingdom of God. We must affirm daily our unity in the Messiah, seeking by example and word to bring to completion our Lord’s prayer that we "all may be one."

One means of achieving this goal is by adopting a true servant leadership model. Again, David is the prime example. Knowing that his authority came from God, David neither fought to gain power nor struggled to maintain power. While Saul became insane trying to protect his power and Absalom lost his life trying to seize it, David was content to be a servant of God and of the people and leave the question of who was in authority over the people in the hand of God. For this reason, he was a man after God’s own heart, a shepherd and a servant of Israel.

Jesus said, "He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant." God is not looking for lords; he is looking for servants. This concept runs cross current with the world’s models of leadership, where power is grabbed by the heaviest hand and maintained with murderous efficiency. Our model must be the yeshivas of the rabbis, where every man was "greenlighted" to express his own views on every issue but where all issues were decided in the "multitude of counsellors."

Unity in Diversity

Because of its emphasis on orthodoxy and credalism, Christianity has sought to establish unity through uniformity. If some could not subscribe to the majority’s belief system, they were anathematized and ostracized. This approach to the issue of unity has produced a fragmented Christianity more often than not engaged in internecine strife with more energies expended upon exchanges of polemic pyrotechnics than upon engaging the enemy of men’s souls. Denominationalism’s quest for purity of doctrine has produced impurity of the soul in far too many of its adherents.

The Judaic model of unity, on the other hand, is one of unity in diversity, with each person’s distinctives respected. Regardless as to what their views may be, the total Jewishness of each person is affirmed. Christians could well learn from this Jewish idea. We can affirm our total brotherhood either in Adam or in Christ, a concept that can help us with the Christ-mandated task of loving all mankind. We can honor the diversity in the body of Christ and not seek to make every member a hand or an eye (I Corinthians 12). We can be our brother’s brother regardless as to his ethnic, racial, cultural, or denominational background.

We can place greater attention on the Judaic concept of orthopraxy rather than on our Christian concepts of orthodoxy. Someone has said that many Jews do not believe anything but they do everything that their scriptures require while Christians believe everything and do nothing. Perhaps this statement is a bit extreme; however, it does illustrate a point. Christians are far too concerned about beliefs and ideas (a Greek concept) and give too little attention to practicing their faith (a Jewish concept).

Together We Can

If the cause of restoring the church’s Judaic heritage is to succeed in changing the face of Christianity in this generation, it will do so only because those who have this vision come together in truly Judaic fashion to promote and sustain this cause. We must reach out with compassion to all of our fellow citizens of the kingdom of God to invite their involvement in the research, analysis, and development of the concepts of restoration. We must dare to be inclusive. When others draw a circle that excludes us, we must have the wit and wisdom to draw a bigger circle that includes them and their circle. Every Christian body is included in this word, for every communion has faith and practice that is rooted in the Judaic heritage of Jesus and the apostles. When we include everyone in this restoration, we are not perceived as elitist purveyors of some strange, foreign teaching. Though it may seem idealistic, if we present this message with the proper attitude of love and inclusion, it will be accepted for the truth that it is and for the blessing that it will bring the body of Christ. It will be said that "the thing was right in the eyes of all the people."

Chapters 24 - Reflections