Continuing my Torah studies, I’ve come to Deuteronomy 7:7 &8:
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deu 7:7-8 KJV)
Does this not describe accurately the situation of our Faith? Upon first coming in to the knowledge of the Hebraic Roots and the Messianic community, I was often concerned about the relative size of of our group. Indeed, our numbers in comparison with the number of orthodox-traditional Christian adherents is infantismal. I remember at one point conducting a google search in relation to the number of Hebraic Roots believers in the world today, only to be disappointed that no such numbers existed. In fact, simply trying to nail down what constituted a true Hebraic Roots/Messianic Faith was challenging. The overwhelming majority of websites and data that were associated with the Hebraic Roots/Messianic Community were Messianic Judaism in one form or another. I wish to make it known at this juncture that we are in no way associated with Judaism, Messianic or otherwise. Yeshua fought against Judaism during His 70–Week Life and Ministry, only to be crucified by the leaders of this religion that calls itself Hebraic Roots or Messianic. I’m not casting judgment upon those dear brothers and sisters who know about the Jewish Messiah but are in bondage to religion, which is what Judaism really is. Yeshua came to set His people free from the slavery and bondage of religion, and that includes Judaism. And I’m a firm believer that many who find themselves in Messianic Judaism, got into that mess unaware that they actually were not adhering to the true Faith spoken of by the brother of our Master Yeshua HaMaschiach. Heck, I came very close in my early years of examining the Hebraic Roots of giving over to Messianic Judaism as I became more and more convinced that Torah had to be my consuming passion and focus. As I focused solely on Torah (that is the rote obedience to Torah), I became slowly removed from Yeshua and the true Faith delivered to the first century saints. I began to identify more with the teachings of Jewish sages and rabbis than I did with the teachings of Yeshua Himself and His chosen apostles. This all happened quite slowly and over the course of time as I searched for teachings of Jewish leaders and instructors and began doubting the efficacy and applicability and genuiness of the teachings of the Apostle Shaul. In fact, I can pinpoint the time when much of my confusion over Shaul and his teachings occurred to me and I began leaning towards Messianic Judaism: and that was when I began reading Robert Eisenman’s book “James the Brother of Jesus.”
Eisenman’s book opened my eyes to the historical Jesus and many of the individuals associated with the first century Faith. Eisenman’s primary focus in part was on James’ role as the chosen leader of the Jerusalem assembly over the erroneously perceived teachings and doctrines of Paul and Peter being the head of the first-century Church. Beyond this, Eisenman compared and contrasted a mystical, unidentified-somewhat evil-character in many of the Essenes’ ancient writings (i.e., the primary occupants of the Qumran settlement and the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls) that was constantly in an insidious conflict with the righteous James. Eisenman argued that this unidentified-somewhat evil-character was Paul the apostle, who was actually a wolf in sheeps’ clothing, who was agressively attempting to hijack the Faith from the true head of the nascent Christian Faith. It was my reading of Eisenman’s material that set me on a journey that led me dangerously close to adopting Messianic Judaism “lock-stock-and barrel.”
Fortunately I was introduced to the teachings of Michael Rood and Arthur Bailey soon thereafter and it was their teachings that broke the hold of Judaism over my life. I accept a goodly amount of the information presented by Eisenman regarding James the Brother of Jesus. He provides what seems to be sound historical data. The problem with Eisenman’s work is that he attempts to apply match one of Yeshua’s chosen apostle, Shaul, to some mysterious, crazed, overly ambitious and evil character bent on taking over the Christian Faith to fulfill his evil desires. But then, we’re on a journey aren’t we. And I guess that’s why we must resist judging others who may not be grounded in the true Faith once delivered. Indeed, that old saying, “There but by the grace of God go I” rings ever so true. Yes, we are in a very very small group, outside the so-called orthodox and the traditional. To the orthodox and traditional, we appear as strange, abberant, cultic and lost. But then, so thought the other nations that surrounded ancient Israel. It may seem daunting at times, especially when we are trying to put forth the truth to a lost world. But here in Deuteronomy 7:7, we are reminded that we weren’t chosen because of our size, but because Yehovah loved us and He purposed to keep His word and it is through His wisdom and the work of His son Yeshua that we have been engrafted in to the heritage of Israel. Be blessed.