Hebrew Roots
Encyclopedia
This article refers to the modern religious movement. For the Hebrew language grammatical structure, see Hebrew root
Hebrew Roots is a contemporary global spiritual movement to return to the true faith revealed during the personal earthly ministry of Yeshua the Messiah.
Hebrew Roots Movement
The Hebrew Roots movement is popular enough to already have split into two main sects: 1) Christian Hebrew Roots; and, 2) Hebrew Roots.
Christian Hebrew Roots Movement
The Christian Hebrew Roots movement follows the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:3-17) and the feasts of the Lord (Lev 23:1-44).
The importance of both divisions of the Hebrew Roots movement, is best illustrated by contrasting it with the practices of the Roman Catholic Church whose core doctrines have been adopted by most Protestant Christian churches.
The Roman Catholic papacy thought to change the seventh-day Sabbath to the first-day Sunday; and, invented the feasts of the Cult of Saints to quote "replace the feasts of the Lord."
Mainstream Protestant Christianity, beginning with Martin Luther (an ex Roman Catholic priest), also observes the papal catechisms that teach a change to Sunday as the day of rest instead of the seventh-day Sabbath and keeps the feasts of the Cult of Saints unwittingly.
The Roman Catholic feasts of the Cult of Saints include: Christmas - St. Nicholas' feast; Easter instead of Passover; Halloween as the eve of All Saints Day; feast days for hundreds of "saints;" and, Mary's Octave on New Year's Day) and seven other feasts.
Note: Luther's main objection to the Roman Catholic institution was the "transubstantiation" doctrine of the Catholic Mass which held that priests literally change the communion wafer into the body (flesh) of Jesus during the MYSTERY part of the Mass when the priest turns his back on the congregation.
The Christian Hebrew Roots movement instead follows the biblical teachings set forth in the New Testament regarding the nature of Communion as a symbol of Christ's body instead of the literal body and flesh of Jesus. This, they deduce from the words Jesus spoke to describe the amendment to the Passover service being symbolic and not literal (in accordance with definitions of the Greek words in the New Testament).
The Christian sect of the Hebrew Roots movement does not teach a return to the Pharisaic Torah Law as dispensed by the scribes who Jesus rebuked as hypocrites. Instead, this sect of the movement follows the true worship pattern of Jesus who freed mankind from the yoke of the letter of the law; and, in fulfilling the Law, taught Christians to practice the Ten Commandments and feasts of the Lord which make up "the acceptable year of the Lord" in Jesus' speech inaugurating his personal earthly ministry.
Some followers of the Hebrew Roots movement choose not to even use the English translations of common Hebrew and Greek terms, preferring instead to pronounce the anglicized versions of certain Hebrew words, notably, the names of God and the Messiah (Yahweh and Yeshua). Those who go beyond this in returning to ones Hebrew roots are discussed in the section below called "Hebrew Roots." Both movements include adherents who are of Jewish heritage as well as Gentile heritage. The Christian Hebrew Roots movement is completely nondenominational, consisting of persons from many different religious backgrounds and teaches adherence to the health laws of the Torah but not the portions of the Torah abandoned by Jesush, Yeshua Messiah.
Hebrew Roots Movement
The primary thing that Hebrew Roots movement advocates is a return to Torah observance. Some Hebrew Roots congregations encourage the use of Hebrew-based forms of the sacred names but this is generally a minor emphasis. Also included is a greater understanding of the tribes of Israel. Herbert Armstrong felt that understanding about the tribes would help in understanding prophecy but his main focus was for Christians to observe the Torah, just like the apostles did. In addition, he taught, like Paul, that God's people should choose not to engage in "pagan" practices.
Some would state that this awakening is a sovereign act of Yahweh
through His Spirit. It would be better stated that Yahweh is restoring His followers to the true path or ancient paths and that people are independently catching the inspiration to return to forgotten truths by various means.
The Hebrew Roots movement has accelerated in the last few years, mainly because of a turn within the Messianic Judaism
community. The groups diverge on the issue of One Law theology which Hebrew Roots subscribes to but which Messianic Judaism denies. One Hebrew Roots teacher, Tim Hegg, responded to this issue by defending what he believes to be the biblical teaching of "One Law" theology and its implications concerning the obligations of Torah obedience for new Messianic believers from the nations.
Hebrew Roots also clearly differentiates itself from Protestant Christianity by examining the arguments against Torah observance and using the work of recent Protestant Christian scholars and early historical church records to establish alternate, and more accurate, interpretations. A good representative of this can be found at House of David Fellowship, a Hebrew Roots based religious educational fellowship with headquarters in Richmond Virginia. Here, one can find 12 distinct differences between Protestant Christianity and Hebrew Roots concerning Torah observance in their "Hebrew Roots of Christianity" section.
While both British Israelism as advocated by Herbert W. Armstrong
and the Sacred Name Movement proposed by Clarence Orvil Dodd
originated in the 1930s, the "Hebrew Roots" movement is more recent, emerging as a distinct phenomenon around 1997. In that year, Dean Cozzens of Open Church Ministries, Colorado Springs published a prophecy
titled "The Hebrew Movement", which revealed that God had foreordained four major moves for the 20th century, viz. 1. Pentecostalism
, 2. Faith-healing, 3. the Charismatic Movement
, and finally 4. The "Hebrew Roots Movement". In this prophecy, the Hebrew Roots Movement is the "final stage of empowerment" before Christ returns.
Notable advocates include...
The movement emphasizes the completion of the unified "House of Israel" in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus
), made up of both Jews and non-Jews alike. Followers believe that they have become a co-heir and equal member of the chosen people
of the God of Israel through the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah
and that returning to the mindset of the 1st-century church will provide deeper and more authentic insights into Hebrew idioms and 1st-century cultural understandings presented in Scripture.
Hebrew Roots teachers emphasize the adoption of all believers of Yeshua the Messiah into the faith of Abraham, often called in the Bible the "Unified House of Israel;" , , , , , made up of Jews and Non-Jews who maintain faith in Yeshua the Messiah while maintaining a Spirit-led adherence to the Torah, God's Teaching and Instruction, as a lifestyle of faith and love.
Hebrew Roots followers believe that Christians have the testimony of the Messiah, Yeshua, but are often found innocently to be living lawlessly according to the idea that Yeshua died to do away with the Torah by abolishing it.
Rev. Sheila Crawford of Shofar Ministrieshttp://www.shofarministries.net/index.html States, Hebraic Roots for the non-Jewish believer is this:
"We seek to inspire believers in Yeshua (Jesus) to study the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and thus make God number one in their lives and to be fully equipped with the whole armor of God, to increase in the knowledge of God through an understanding of our previously lost, Hebraic Roots."
So that Hebraic Roots is not a movement, but a move of God on the hearts of believers, drawing them deeper into an understanding of the culture and times the scriptures were written, in order that we may know HIM more by understanding His Word more clearly.
Hebrew Roots is a contemporary global spiritual movement to return to the true faith revealed during the personal earthly ministry of Yeshua the Messiah.
Hebrew Roots Movement
The Hebrew Roots movement is popular enough to already have split into two main sects: 1) Christian Hebrew Roots; and, 2) Hebrew Roots.
Christian Hebrew Roots Movement
The Christian Hebrew Roots movement follows the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:3-17) and the feasts of the Lord (Lev 23:1-44).
The importance of both divisions of the Hebrew Roots movement, is best illustrated by contrasting it with the practices of the Roman Catholic Church whose core doctrines have been adopted by most Protestant Christian churches.
The Roman Catholic papacy thought to change the seventh-day Sabbath to the first-day Sunday; and, invented the feasts of the Cult of Saints to quote "replace the feasts of the Lord."
Mainstream Protestant Christianity, beginning with Martin Luther (an ex Roman Catholic priest), also observes the papal catechisms that teach a change to Sunday as the day of rest instead of the seventh-day Sabbath and keeps the feasts of the Cult of Saints unwittingly.
The Roman Catholic feasts of the Cult of Saints include: Christmas - St. Nicholas' feast; Easter instead of Passover; Halloween as the eve of All Saints Day; feast days for hundreds of "saints;" and, Mary's Octave on New Year's Day) and seven other feasts.
Note: Luther's main objection to the Roman Catholic institution was the "transubstantiation" doctrine of the Catholic Mass which held that priests literally change the communion wafer into the body (flesh) of Jesus during the MYSTERY part of the Mass when the priest turns his back on the congregation.
The Christian Hebrew Roots movement instead follows the biblical teachings set forth in the New Testament regarding the nature of Communion as a symbol of Christ's body instead of the literal body and flesh of Jesus. This, they deduce from the words Jesus spoke to describe the amendment to the Passover service being symbolic and not literal (in accordance with definitions of the Greek words in the New Testament).
The Christian sect of the Hebrew Roots movement does not teach a return to the Pharisaic Torah Law as dispensed by the scribes who Jesus rebuked as hypocrites. Instead, this sect of the movement follows the true worship pattern of Jesus who freed mankind from the yoke of the letter of the law; and, in fulfilling the Law, taught Christians to practice the Ten Commandments and feasts of the Lord which make up "the acceptable year of the Lord" in Jesus' speech inaugurating his personal earthly ministry.
Some followers of the Hebrew Roots movement choose not to even use the English translations of common Hebrew and Greek terms, preferring instead to pronounce the anglicized versions of certain Hebrew words, notably, the names of God and the Messiah (Yahweh and Yeshua). Those who go beyond this in returning to ones Hebrew roots are discussed in the section below called "Hebrew Roots." Both movements include adherents who are of Jewish heritage as well as Gentile heritage. The Christian Hebrew Roots movement is completely nondenominational, consisting of persons from many different religious backgrounds and teaches adherence to the health laws of the Torah but not the portions of the Torah abandoned by Jesush, Yeshua Messiah.
Hebrew Roots Movement
The primary thing that Hebrew Roots movement advocates is a return to Torah observance. Some Hebrew Roots congregations encourage the use of Hebrew-based forms of the sacred names but this is generally a minor emphasis. Also included is a greater understanding of the tribes of Israel. Herbert Armstrong felt that understanding about the tribes would help in understanding prophecy but his main focus was for Christians to observe the Torah, just like the apostles did. In addition, he taught, like Paul, that God's people should choose not to engage in "pagan" practices.
Some would state that this awakening is a sovereign act of Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
through His Spirit. It would be better stated that Yahweh is restoring His followers to the true path or ancient paths and that people are independently catching the inspiration to return to forgotten truths by various means.
The Hebrew Roots movement has accelerated in the last few years, mainly because of a turn within the Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism is a syncretic religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of Jewish terminology and ritual....
community. The groups diverge on the issue of One Law theology which Hebrew Roots subscribes to but which Messianic Judaism denies. One Hebrew Roots teacher, Tim Hegg, responded to this issue by defending what he believes to be the biblical teaching of "One Law" theology and its implications concerning the obligations of Torah obedience for new Messianic believers from the nations.
Hebrew Roots also clearly differentiates itself from Protestant Christianity by examining the arguments against Torah observance and using the work of recent Protestant Christian scholars and early historical church records to establish alternate, and more accurate, interpretations. A good representative of this can be found at House of David Fellowship, a Hebrew Roots based religious educational fellowship with headquarters in Richmond Virginia. Here, one can find 12 distinct differences between Protestant Christianity and Hebrew Roots concerning Torah observance in their "Hebrew Roots of Christianity" section.
While both British Israelism as advocated by Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...
and the Sacred Name Movement proposed by Clarence Orvil Dodd
Clarence Orvil Dodd
Clarence Orvil Dodd , often known as C. O. Dodd, was an American author and magazine editor and an Elder of a particular Church of God denomination church in Salem, West Virginia in the early 20th century....
originated in the 1930s, the "Hebrew Roots" movement is more recent, emerging as a distinct phenomenon around 1997. In that year, Dean Cozzens of Open Church Ministries, Colorado Springs published a prophecy
Neo-revelationism
The English term is a translation of the German Neuoffenbarung.-Within the Christian church:The Roman Catholic Church in principle accepts the possibility of "private revelations", and recognizes certain instances in the sense of nihil obstat, i.e...
titled "The Hebrew Movement", which revealed that God had foreordained four major moves for the 20th century, viz. 1. Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
, 2. Faith-healing, 3. the Charismatic Movement
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
, and finally 4. The "Hebrew Roots Movement". In this prophecy, the Hebrew Roots Movement is the "final stage of empowerment" before Christ returns.
Notable advocates include...
- Brad Scott, of Wildbranch Ministries, whose focus is to restore the ways of our Creator to His people by teaching the Old and New Testaments from the language and culture of the people who penned them.
- Eddie Chumney, of Hebraic Heritage Ministries International, is devoted to restoring the Hebraic Roots/Jewishness of Christianity.
- Rico Cortes, of Wisdom in Torah Ministries, whose mission is to bring people back to the Torah of Yahweh.
- Sheila Crawford, Emphasizes the study of God's Word and understanding the Lost Hebraic Roots of Christianity. Founded "Shofar Ministries" around 1995 with a web presence and archived newsletters dating back to 1998.
- William F. Dankenbring, former member of the Worldwide Church of God, founded Triumph Prophetic Ministries in 1987 and produces a newsletter called Prophecy Flash.
- Bill Cloud, of Shoreshim Ministries, who teaches on our lost Hebraic heritage.
- Tim Kelley, of Ami Yisrael Hebraic Fellowship, who teaches that it is difficult to understand the Bible, especially the Apostolic scriptures, without a good understanding of the Torah as well as the culture of the first century Jewish people.
- Sid Roth, Messianic Jewish host of Messianic Vision, a nationally syndicated radio, TV and publishing ministry, advocates "Hebrew Roots" topics to non-Jewish Christians.
- Season of our Joy, a Feast of Tabernacles site located at the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri, features over 2 dozen teachers teaching topics on Hebrew Roots and the role of the festivals in our Christian walk.
- Dean & Susan Wheelock, who have the HebrewRoots.net website, which is a teaching ministry dedicated to exploring the Hebraic roots of the Christian Faith.
- Lee Miller, congregational leader of the House of David Fellowship in Richmond Virginia, who teaches the Hebraic perspective of The Holy Scriptures and works to clearly define the line of demarcation between Protestant Christianity and Hebrew Roots.
- Tony Robinson, of Restoration of Torah, who uses thematic analysis to develop his teachings on Torah.
- Tim Hegg, of Torah Resource, who provides resources that are Biblical based, honoring Yeshua, and upholding the Torah.
The movement emphasizes the completion of the unified "House of Israel" in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
), made up of both Jews and non-Jews alike. Followers believe that they have become a co-heir and equal member of the chosen people
Chosen people
Throughout history and even today various groups of people have considered themselves as chosen by a deity for some purpose such as to act as the deity's agent on earth. In monotheistic faiths, like Abrahamic religions, references to God are used in constructs such as "God's Chosen People"...
of the God of Israel through the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
and that returning to the mindset of the 1st-century church will provide deeper and more authentic insights into Hebrew idioms and 1st-century cultural understandings presented in Scripture.
Hebrew Roots teachers emphasize the adoption of all believers of Yeshua the Messiah into the faith of Abraham, often called in the Bible the "Unified House of Israel;" , , , , , made up of Jews and Non-Jews who maintain faith in Yeshua the Messiah while maintaining a Spirit-led adherence to the Torah, God's Teaching and Instruction, as a lifestyle of faith and love.
Hebrew Roots followers believe that Christians have the testimony of the Messiah, Yeshua, but are often found innocently to be living lawlessly according to the idea that Yeshua died to do away with the Torah by abolishing it.
Rev. Sheila Crawford of Shofar Ministries
"We seek to inspire believers in Yeshua (Jesus) to study the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and thus make God number one in their lives and to be fully equipped with the whole armor of God, to increase in the knowledge of God through an understanding of our previously lost, Hebraic Roots."
So that Hebraic Roots is not a movement, but a move of God on the hearts of believers, drawing them deeper into an understanding of the culture and times the scriptures were written, in order that we may know HIM more by understanding His Word more clearly.
See also
- Early ChristianityEarly ChristianityEarly Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
- Messianic JudaismMessianic JudaismMessianic Judaism is a syncretic religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of Jewish terminology and ritual....
- Nazarene (sect)Nazarene (sect)The Nazarene sect is used in two contexts:* Firstly of the New Testament early church where in Acts 24:5 Paul is accused before Felix at Caesarea by Tertullus of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."...
- New Perspective on PaulNew Perspective on PaulThe "New Perspective on Paul" is a significant shift in the way some scholars, especially Protestant scholars, interpret the writings of the Apostle Paul.-Description:Since the Protestant Reformation The "New Perspective on Paul" is a significant shift in the way some scholars, especially...
- Paleo-orthodoxyPaleo-OrthodoxyPaleo-orthodoxy is a broad Christian theological movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries which focuses on the consensual understanding of the faith among the Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers...
- Sabbatarianism
- Hebrew Roots 101
External links
- Our Hebrew Roots, Heart of Wisdom Publishing
- Pam Dewey, Hebrew Roots Movement (Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion)
- Vicky Dillen, The Pentecostal, Faith-Healing, Charismatic & Hebrew Movements