- I have thought long and hard about “my story�…I could recount the horrible incidents of my past: the sin, perversion, and addiction that I was bound to for most of my life. I could go on to describe the many miraculous instances that brought me freedom, and new life – indescribable transformation. After all, the path of my salvation is a beautiful story that I love to share; and if you desire to hear it, email me and I will gladly tell you all you wish to know. But for the time being, I wish to shift my focus from the path that I have walked, to the path that lays ahead.I am a pursuer of truth, and I have found it in the person of Yahshua, the Hebrew Messiah. Yet, once He is accepted the pursuit does not end there. He calls us unceasingly into deeper and greater knowledge of who He is…of Truth Himself.
Who is Yahshua? He is a Jewish man, and yet the God of Israel. He is the Son of God, and yet the Son of Man. He is the root of Jesse, and yet descended of David. He is the author of humanity, and yet born in human flesh.
There are many aspects of the person Yahshua that deserve our attention and consideration, but there is one that I feel is neglected above all others…He was a Hebrew. Born of a Jewish woman, a child of Abraham, of the people Israel.
Of course, most of us know this cognitively but has this reality actually penetrated the depths of our spiritual perception? Why did Yahveh create a Jewish nation, separate from the world, in order to bring Yahshua into the world? Why did He dictate such things as an elaborate sacrificial system, an entire calendar of festivals and holidays, and a rich culture full of symbolism and intricate ritual? Was this all just part of an “old testament� that was given as a way of biding time until Yahshua came? Every voice in the heavenly realm screams a resounding “NO�! With every law, ritual, and historical circumstance Yahveh was preparing the way for Yahshua. He was laying a foundation for the understanding and acceptance of salvation. He was preparing the hearts and minds of the people for the person of Yahshua who would bring reconciliation between man and God.
What has happened to the foundation that Yahveh has formed? Why have the followers of Yahshua severed ties to the Hebraic root of their faith? Oh what a deception of the enemy…no building can stand without a foundation, and none built apart from the foundation that Yahveh has provided will survive!
Why is this so important?
Paul told us in the book of Romans that Abraham is the root that gives life-nourishing sap to the branches (Romans 11:17,18). Yahshua tells us in John that He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). A picture is being drawn and we must fully comprehend what Yahveh is telling us. Abraham is the root (that gives life-nourishing sap), Yahshua is the vine (the means that this sap is delivered), and we are the branches (that when grafted into the vine produce fruit). We may not be naïve enough to allow the enemy to remove us from the vine; but we are certainly ignorant enough to allow him to remove the vine from the root! Why has the church been responsible for some of the most horrific acts of anti-Semitism in history? Why have we abandoned the foundation of our faith and replaced it with pagan rituals and rampant syncretism? Why have we Westernized our Messiah and disassociated Him with His Jewish ancestry? Simple – the enemy has severed the root to disrupt the plant. Will we allow him to transplant us, or will we fight back and embrace the complete “testament� of Yahshua Hamashia (Jesus the Messiah)?
It is time for the church to be reconnected with her Hebraic root and fully embrace all that Yahveh has done. It is then, and only then, that the full power of Yahveh can be actualized among His followers. I am not suggesting a mere change in semantics or a return to the Law. What I am suggesting is that we must be transformed into the “one new man� that Paul describes to the Ephesian believers (Eph. 2:15). He stated that the dividing wall of hostility, the barrier that separated Jew and Gentile, was destroyed through Yahshua. The “old� and “new�, the “near� and “far� have been brought together, and in Him (Yahshua) one new man would emerge. We must understand that without the “old� or without the “near�, we are only half a man! What an injustice we have done to the world and Yahshua by perpetuating this crippled half-man through our “new testament� focused faith. I have heard this sad reality wonderfully described as a person who wishes to drive from Detroit to Seattle with only a map of Seattle. What good is a map of Seattle when you are in Detroit? What good is that which Yahshua brought if it is not connected with the foundation that Yahveh laid?
It is my desire to tear down the dividing wall that the church has resurrected. That somehow I may assist Yahveh in bringing reconciliation to the “old� and “new�. We must wake up and preach the Gospel of the whole “testament�; we must be revived and live the life of the “one new man�.
This is the path that lays ahead; this is the story that I must write…
