temple sheckles are available in the hallway
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Temple Sheckles are available in the hallway. Ask the money changer for more details. (House Of Our Father). Welcome to our online Congregation! We’re happy to have you with us today!. NEWS. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Temple Sheckles are available in the hallway.
Ask the money changer for more details.
(House Of Our Father)
Welcome to our online Congregation!
We’re happy to have you with us today!
NEWS
(slide 1) Bob and I went to Leavenworth on Thursday and talked with Pastor Todd of Cascade Mountain Bible Church. We had a good meeting with them and they said they would recommend the Church to loan us a room for our services up there.
NEWS
They asked me to write up a proposal asking for which day we wanted and to send a statement of belief along with that.
NEWS
I did that and sent it and they will review the proposal at their board meeting along with Pastor Todd’s recommendation on the second Tuesday of next month which will be November 8th.
NEWS
So we’re going to know in just over a couple weeks if we have a place up there or not.
NEWS
If so, this will open more opportunities to those here who are interested in Ministry. Bob will be taking over up there after his training, provided his health allows.
NEWS
(Slide 2) Here’s a picture of the building.
NEWS
(Slide 3) The Pastor was very friendly and said they had “been praying for something exactly like this”. So we hope this is the door that G-d is opening for us in that area.
NEWS
(Slide 4) We also now have 1 million dollars in insurance for this building while we’re here. I talked with Mitchell, Reed and Associates Insurance just down the road.
NEWS
(Slide 5) They had originally quoted me $500.00 for the year but then the next day they reduced it to $250.00 for the year. They’ll also be able to insure us when we have our booths at the state fairs next year.
NEWS
I tried last year to get insurance for that which is required but I couldn’t find anyone to insure us. So I’m very excited about that as well. Beit Aveinu will be at the Douglas and Chelan county fairs next year.
NEWS
We’re still really new in this valley. Teresa and I have been here for a year and half and that’s really no time at all. We haven’t even covered the basics of Messianic Judaism yet so we have a long way to go and lots more to share with all of you.
NEWS
It’s gonna be a great journey ahead and it’s been fantastic so far. I honestly don’t believe it’s going to be long before we start a building fund and we will build our own synagogue here in Wenatchee.
NEWS
I think it’s going to be sooner then any of us have imagined.I also believe our Synagogue will do well up in Leavenworth and we will next be looking in Chelan next. There again will be more opportunities and we’ll move on from there.
NEWS
G-d has been blessing us immensely, they’re like blessings out of control. Sometimes there’s more blessings then I know what to do with. But those blessings come because we keep His Laws and appointed times.
NEWS
I believe there is a direct connection between us celebrating Sukkoth and getting this building. We celebrated even though we didn’t have a building at that time.
Traditions…
I Cor 11:2 2 Now I praise you because you have remembered everything I told you and observe thetraditions just the way I passed them on to you.
II Thes 2 15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm; and hold to the traditions you were taught by us, whether we spoke them or wrote them in a letter.
II Thes 3 6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
• We’d like to welcome any visitors. • We have visitor cards that you can fill
out then drop into the Tzedika (offering) box when we pass it around.
• No Hebrew class today after the service
• HaYasode Classes on Tuesdays•Tim Hegg last week, was
fantastic.
A man was seen fleeing down the hall of the hospital just before his operation."What's the matter?" he was asked.He said, "the nurse said, 'It's a very simple operation, don't worry, I'm sure it will be all right.""She was just trying to comfort you, what's so frightening about that?"
He said, “She was talking to the doctor.”
“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and there was
the sounding of a very loud SHOFAR blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.”
Please stand for the Shema and face east towards Jerusalem.
Shema Israel Adoni Elohaynu Adoni Echad.Barukh shem k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.(Remain standing for Hatikva)
Hear oh Israel the L-rd our G-d is one L-rd. Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
Because Messiah said it is the greatest Commandment!Mark 12:28-2928 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the greatest commandment of all?”29 And Yeshua answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is One Lord:”
We’ll now sing HaTikva (The Hope)
Kol ‘od balleivav penimah Nefesh yehudi homiyahUl(e)fa’atei mizrach kadimah, ‘Ayin letziyon tzofiyah; ‘Od lo avdah tikvateinu,Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim, Lihyot‘am chofshi be’artzeinu,Eretz-tziyon (v)'Y(e)rushalayim.
O-seh Shalom Beem rue-mawvWho yah-seh Shalom aw-lay nu V'al kol Yees-raw-aleB'-eem rue Eem rue Ah- main
Ya-a-seh sha-lom Ya-a-seh sha-lom Shalom aw-lay-new V’al kol Yees-raw-aleSing twice 2X
May He who makes peace in His heights make peace upon us and upon all Israel…Amen."
He-nay maw tove oo-maw nye-eem shevet
aw-heem gum yaw hawd.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to
dwell in unity
Yoducha Amim Elohim
Days Of Elijah
Meet new people! Let them see that Messianics truly understand community and brotherly/sisterly love. Say hello to old friends… show that you care!
We say the L-rd’s Prayer (Our Prayer) because Yeshua toldus this is how we should pray.We pray so G-d will hear our petitionsand grant whichever prayers are in accord with His will. We also prayIn order to bless Him.
• You can email or hand write your prayers for Salvation of loved ones or healing to Bob and they will then be sent to the wailing wall in Jerusalem to be placed in the wall.
• If you have a need for healing or for an un-Saved loved one please raise your hand now and if you like, write it down to be sent to the wailing wall (Kotel) and give it to Bob afterwards.
• Psalms 122…• 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they
shall prosper that love thee.
• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem • Pray for unsaved loved ones
and healings.• Pray for Salvation for the Jewish
people.
• Pray for our government and for Social Security needs.• Pray for Holland and other
countries that anti-Semitic laws will not continue to pass.
• Pastors in Wenatchee to see the truth of HaShem’s Torah and forsake Paganism.• For new Beit Aveinu in
Leavenworth.
• For survivors of crime. • Prayer over our tithes and
offerings.• Messianic Evangelistic group in
Vancouver BC
Pray for RussiaPrayer for today’s messagePray that the UN will be dismantled.
• Any terrorism plots to be foiled• Continued sovereignty of Israel
pray for Netanyahu
•For sister and brother in law of Joann’s
End
This is our opportunity to render untoG-d that which is G-d’s.
Blessing Before The Reading Of The Torah
Gen 12:1 - 17:27Is 40:27 - 41:16Romans 4:1-25
Noach 29 Oct 20111 Heshvan 5772
We’ll read…Gen 6:9-end of chapterIs 54:9-151 Peter 3:18-end of chapter
Gen 6:9-11:32Is 54:1-55:51 peter 3:18-22
B'reisheet 22 Oct 201124 Tishri 5772
9 Here is the history of Noach. In his generation, Noach was a man righteous and wholehearted; Noach walked with God. 10 Noach fathered three sons, Shem, Ham and Yefet. 11 The earth was corrupt before God, the earth was filled with violence.
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
12 God saw the earth, and, yes, it was corrupt; for all living beings had corrupted their ways on the earth. 13 God said to Noach, "The end of all living beings has come before me, for because of them the earth is filled with violence. I will destroy them along with the earth.
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
14 Make yourself an ark of gofer-wood; you are to make the ark with rooms and cover it with pitch both outside and inside. 15 Here is how you are to build it: the length of the ark is to be 450 feet, its width seventy-five feet and its height forty-five feet.
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
16 You are to make an opening for daylight in the ark eighteen inches below its roof. Put a door in its side; and build it with lower, second and third decks. 17 "Then I myself will bring the flood of water over the earth to destroy from under heaven every living thing that breathes; everything on earth will be destroyed.
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
18 But I will establish my covenant with you; you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 From everything living, from each kind of living being, you are to bring two into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they are to be male and female.
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
20 Of each kind of bird, each kind of livestock, and each kind of animal creeping on the ground, two are to come to you, so that they can be kept alive. 21 Also take from all the kinds of food that are eaten, and collect it for yourself; it is to be food for you and for them."
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
22 This is what Noach did; he did all that God ordered him to do. END (Baruch HaShem)
Gen 6:9-end of chapter
And G-d said to Noah... Come into the ark (7:1)
Rebbe’s Parsha
(slide) The Hebrew word for "ark," teivah, also means "word." "Come into the word," It’s as if G-d was saying to Noah as He would say to us today…
Rebbe’s Parsha
enter into my word, enter into my Torah. It’s in the Teivah that you’ll find a sanctuary of wisdom, meaning and holiness amidst the raging floodwaters of life.Noah was in the Teivah
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) We notice in verse 9 it says… 9 Here is the history of Noach. In his generation, Noach was a righteous man and wholehearted; Noach walked with God.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Wasn’t it enough just to say he walked with G-d why does it say that he was righteous too?Rashi correctly points out that it was written that Noach was a righteous man because there is a blessing in noting a person of righteousness.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) Proverbs 10:7 says…7 The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.We take this literally. When you remember the righteous, you receive a blessing from G-d. G-d’s Word is true.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Something else I want to point out…Noah didn’t have 1 convert in 120 years of ministry.Not one. This should be a lesson to us that growth in any of our ministries should never be of first importance.
Rebbe’s Parsha
It’s ok to want to grow, there’s nothing wrong with that, but obedience always comes first. Noah was obedient even when the numbers weren’t there.Why he didn’t have one convert in 120 years is open for speculation.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Maybe he wasn’t very pleasant to be around. Perhaps he worked so much on the ark that visitation wasn’t a priority. You’d think one person, who maybe didn’t fit in so well with everyone else and needed a friend. Who knows but it’s a lesson any way we cut it.
Rebbe’s Parsha
I can imagine Noah if they’d have had Missions board meetings back then.“Noah, you’ve been on the mission field for 120 years now, good work on the boat by the way,
Rebbe’s Parsha
um 120 years Noah and not one convert. I’m sorry but we’re going to have to cut your funding.
Rebbe’s Parsha
I’m sure Noah would’ve said something like, “You’re going to cut my funding? Really? Ok, fine. Well I had some big news for you but I guess you’ll find out soon enough.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) Another interesting point here in this passage is that it says Noah walked with G-d. There’s a difference in Hebrew as it is in English by saying one walked with someone or one walked before someone.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Rashi again points out correctly that Noah walked with G-d whereas Abraham walked before G-d. Rashi explains that Noah needed more support then Abraham did thus Abraham was the only individual in the Tanach that G-d called “His friend”.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) It’s just an interesting point worth noting even though I wouldn’t build a theology around it.In verse 10 we see that one of Noah’s sons in named Shem. This is where the word Semite comes from.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Arabs are sons of Shem, so technically, if someone is an anti-Semite that would mean they also don’t like Arabs either. There’s another interesting point in verse 12…It says…
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) And G-d saw the earth and it was corrupt. In English we get different mental pictures when we hear the word corrupt. Many people think of government, corrupted officials maybe
Rebbe’s Parsha
And other various ideas.But this passage actually tells us a little bit more of what the major problems were in the time of Noach.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) The word there translated as corrupt (Shachat) means specifically sexual immorality and idolatry. So even though I’m sure there were many sins that were taking place at the time of Noach
Rebbe’s Parsha
We get a glimpse here of what the major problems were at that time. It wasn’t corrupt government that G-d notices even though that may have been a problem as well. What he does notice is sexual immorality and idolatry.
Rebbe’s Parsha
These are sins that G-d detests the most. So much so that he decided to wipe out the world because of it. Idolatry is defined as anything that one puts before G-d and makes it first in their lives.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Adam and Eve put the fruit they ate before G-d. They disobeyed G-d after making Him second. Idolatry was the first sin of man.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Disobedience can only be done when one puts themselves first before G-d. Disobedience was not the first sin of mankind. Idolatry was.
Rebbe’s Parsha
From Idolatry other sins were born. They then realized they were naked. Their morality came into question.
Rebbe’s Parsha
From those sins came murder when Cain murdered Able then as sin grew, as it will, it then covered all of mankind. by the time of Noah, only he and his family were considered redeemable by Adonai.
Rebbe’s Parsha
G-d looked on the earth and saw Shachat. We need to be sure that when G-d looks on any one of us, He sees that we have made Him first in our lives. We need Him to see that we are also pure before Him and not immoral.
Rebbe’s Parsha
We want to cleanse our lives of any Shachat so that He will continue to bless us and our community here in the Valley.(haftarah portion is next) (Slide)
Rebbe’s Parsha
9 "For me this is like Noach's flood. Just as I swore that no flood like Noach's would ever again cover the earth, so now I swear that never again will I be angry with you or rebuke you.
Is 54:9-15
10 For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed, but my grace will never leave you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed," says ADONAI, who has compassion on you.
Is 54:9-15
11 "Storm-ravaged [city], unconsoled, I will set your stones in the finest way, lay your foundations with sapphires, 12 make your windows shine with rubies, your gates with garnet, your walls with gemstones.
Is 54:9-15
13 All your children will be taught by ADONAI; your children will have great peace. 14 In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, with nothing to fear; far from ruin, for it will not come near you.
Is 54:9-15
15 Any alliance that forms against you will not be my doing; whoever tries to form such an alliance will fall because of you. END (Baruch HaShem)
Is 54:9-15
(Slide) We read in verse 9 where it says…so now I swear that never again will I be angry with you or rebuke you. This alone refutes the idea that the Holocaust was brought on the Jews due to G-d’s anger against them.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Anti-Semites love to say how the Holocaust was such a tragedy, but after all, the Jews brought it on themselves due to their unbelief.
Rebbe’s Parsha
I’m sorry, but the Holocaust had NOTHING to do with G-d.That was all man and The Adversaries doing.We have to understand that there are 3 powers in existence…
Rebbe’s Parsha
G-d, Satan and the Evil Inclination (the flesh).Humans often blame things on G-d that He had nothing to do with. Sometimes we blame Satan and he’s not the cause. More times then not…
Rebbe’s Parsha
it’s simply the Evil Inclination (man/flesh).G-d will not interfere with man’s will. He’ll try to influence it at times and so will Satan. But it’s always our own decision.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) In verse 10 it says… For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed, but my grace will never leave you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed," says ADONAI, who has compassion on you.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Who says there is no grace in the Old Testament??? This passage also shows a compassionate G-d. One who is full of mercy. This refutes the idea of a angry G-d of the Old Testament.
Rebbe’s Parsha
(Slide) He’s the same G-d then as He was after the cross. Still full of mercy, still full of love and still full of grace.The word for grace in Hebrew is Chesed. It’s used 270 times in the Tanach (Old Testament).
Rebbe’s Parsha
Guess how many times it’s used in the New Testament?(Slide) 131(brit hadasha portion is next)
Rebbe’s Parsha
18 For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit;
1 Peter 3:18-end of chapter
19 and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, 20 to those who were disobedient long ago, in the days of Noach, when God waited patiently during the building of the ark, in which a few people - to be specific, eight - were delivered by means of water.
1 Peter 3:18-end of chapter
21 This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one's pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah.
1 Peter 3:18-end of chapter
22 He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers subject to him. END (Baruch HaShem)
1 Peter 3:18-end of chapter
(Slide) We read in verse 19 where it says in the Complete Jewish Bible Version…19 and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits,
Rebbe’s Parsha
In some of your translations it says He “preached to the spirits”. The word preached can also leave the idea of a message of Salvation. There was none of that going on.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Stern translates it much better by saying “made a proclamation” The word in Greek there is ekEruxen which means He-PROCLAIMS in Greek
Rebbe’s Parsha
There are a lot of people out there who think Yeshua was preaching a message of Salvation to evil spirits.Other commentators say he went to the good side of hades to preach the good news to them.
Rebbe’s Parsha
That can’t be true either because it says they were imprisoned. Paradise isn’t prison.
Rebbe’s Parsha
So what did He do there. Basically, He went there and said, I told you this was going to happen. Your future is bleak. It doesn’t say anything in there about good news.
Rebbe’s Parsha
Baruch atah Adonay Eloheynu melech ha'olam, asher bachar-banu mikol ha'amim, venatan-lanu et torah-to.Baruch atah Adonay, noten hatorah.
Blessed are You, LORD our God, king of the universe, who chose us from all the peoples and gave to us His Torah. Blessed are You, LORD, giver of the Torah.
• Bob and Teresa will be leading Shabbat School today! The
Youth&Children are dismissed• unmute mic for video!
The EbionitesBy Rabbi Stanley
In the next couple weeks or so we’re going to learn about the sect of the Nazarenes. As I’m sure all of you know, this was one of the early names of the first Messianics incorrectly named the First Church.
There was no such thing as a “Church” until much later. So before we get into more information on the sect of the Nazarenes we need to know who they were NOT. They were not the Ebionites.
Who are the Ebionites and why should we care about who they are? We’re going to talk about who they are and then I’ll explain to you that some of you personally knew some Ebionites.
The Ebionites were an ancient sect who are still around to this day. You can find their website at (Slide) www.ebionite.org
Today's Ebionites believe they are the same today as they used to be. It’s not true and later we’ll go over what those differences are.
Why do you need to know who the Ebionites are? Because if you don’t, you could easily be deceived and drawn into their cult.
How could you fall into a cult that you don’t even know anything about?Because you’re about to learn about them and they have a very strong appeal to those who are searching out the Hebrew roots of the faith.
They’re a very smart group of people and they have some very persuasive arguments with the backing of some credible scholars and if you don’t know your Jewish history well, there’s very little to protect you from their misinformation.
Many a Messianic has defected into Ebionism and to date I’ve never seen one come out from it.
If I thought you’d never come across the Ebionites in your studies, I wouldn’t even talk about them, but some of you are known to be avid students so we have to talk about them because your discovery of them is inevitable.
There’s nothing to fear of them as long as you remain in the truth and use your head as well as this information when you read their material. We’re also going to find out there is a Church denomination today that is a very close relative.
So we’re going to first look at the origins of this group and I’ll share with you who they really are then we’ll see who they say they are today via their own manifesto.
There is much confusion as to who the Ebionites originally were. The earlier Church Fathers even seem to not have a good grasp as to when this sect emerged and who it included.
There is so much confusion that some honest scholars today have come to believe falsely that if they could sum up who the early Ebionites were they could successfully define who the sect of the Nazarenes were.
Their mistake is in thinking that the Ebionites are the direct heir of the Jewish Apostolic First Messianic Community. But believing that requires some mental gymnastics.
One thing we need to be aware of is that there were many different sects that emerged early on (SLIDE) (Epiphanius names 80 of them) and many of them mixed Judaism and Christianity. It takes a lot of time and effort distinguishing them and exposing the hybrids. But it can be done.
Just a few of these sects were called the (Slide) Cerinthians, the Basilidians, the Carpocratians, the Hypsistarians, the Symachians, the Audians and the Elkesaites.
We’ll be studying those sects later in this course and filling in the la-cu-nae or missing pieces as we progress.
(Slide) So let’s first take a look at their name. Ebion comes from the Hebrew word Ebyon which means poor. So Ebionites or אביונים Ebyonim, means poor people.
There are some scholars who believe that all the first believers were first called Ebyonim. They use a quote from one of the Church fathers, Epiphanius (320 – 403 AD) to support that claim…
(slide) He writes that the name Ebionite "...was at first ...a common name for all Christians“ (Adv. Haer., xxix. 1).It looks pretty clear cut at first glance.
(slide) But Epiphanius is mistranslated here because he himself speaks of the sect of the Nazarenes (Epiphanius; Panarion 29) as if they were a separate group who were also followers of Yeshua.
According to Paul, the followers of Yeshua called themselves Jews.More particularly the sect of Jews called the Nazarenes a sub-sect of the Pharisees.
We also want to remember that just because somebody called somebody else a derogatory name like poor person doesn’t mean that’s what they called themselves.
No different then the fact that the word Christian was also first used as a derogatory term.
So no, all the First Believers were NOT called Ebionites.
Some scholars today believe that the Ebionites and the sect of the Nazarenes were identical, just synonyms for the same group of people.
The Church Father Origin (do you remember him? He’s the guy that cut off his private parts because he thought they were offending him. He believed that any evil thought that came into his mind was a sin, if you think it, it’s just as if you’ve done it and since he thought he was in sin… CHOP!)
(slide) Origin wrote this… "for Ebion signifies “poor” among the Jews, and those Jews who have received Jesus as Christ are called by the name of Ebionites.”Again, it looks pretty clear cut.
But let’s remember that Origin was born in 184 AD and died around 253 AD. By the time he was an adult it was over 100 years after the death of Yeshua.
(slide) Origin also believed in the "apoka-tast-asis"... that in the end all beings, even Satan, would be reconciled to G-d.
So he’s not always reliable.
Certainly many other Church Fathers disagree with this portrayal of the Ebionites and see the Ebionites as complete heretics.Why did they believe them to be heretics. Some of their reasons were good, some of their reasons were not good.
(slide) One good reason they had against the Ebionites was because the Ebionites believed in what we call in Bible School “Adoptive Christology”. Christology means the Study of Christ and Adoptive Christology means the study of Christ being adopted.
So what the Ebionites taught was that Yeshua was a mere man until God adopted him at his baptism, when He was given a Mikva by Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptist).They weren't the only ones who taught this either. So did the Cerinthians.
So, this is where we really begin to see a difference between the Ebionites and the sect of the Nazarenes. We know that the Disciples didn’t believe this nonsense.
The Ebionites didn’t believe in a virgin Birth and they believed that Yeshua was a mere man when He was born and thus didn’t believe in a kinsman redeemer. Without a virgin birth, there’s no redemption from sin.
(slide) They’re not the same group.The so called Church Father Irenaeus wrote… “They use the gospel according to Matthew only and repudiate the apostle Paul, saying he was an apostate from the Law.”
So now not only did they rip out three of the Gospels but they also took out all of Rabbi Shaul’s writings.Now, I think Paul is often misunderstood, but I don’t think we should throw out his writings all together and I certainly don’t think he was an apostate.
So we have to call Origin’s remarks into question.Many of these same Church Father’s also saw the Ebionites as heretics for the wrong reasons. Those major reasons being that they felt the Ebionites were heretics because the Ebionites followed parts of the Law.
The fact that the Ebionites did follow some of G-d’s Law is a good thing in their favor, but it doesn’t negate the heresy that they taught along side of it.
(slide) So let me recap their main theology real quick, we’re only talking about the ancient Ebionites at this point…They didn’t believe He is G-dThey didn’t believe Yeshua was born of a virginThey threw out 3 of the Gospels and all of Paul’s writings.
They even had their own gospel, the Ebionite gospel, of which we only have excerpts that have survived.This gospel has some major differences from the Bible.
(slide) A few examples of what I’m talking about here… "He himself being the only true prophet, fittingly gave names to each animal, according to the merits of its nature, as having made it.
(Slide) For if he gave a name to anyone, that was also the name of that which was made, being given by him who made it (Gen 2:20).
(slide) How, then, had he still need to partake of a tree, that he might know what is good and what is evil, if he was commanded not to eat of it? But this… senseless men believe, who think that a reasonless beast was more powerful than the God who made all these things"
What the Gospel of the Ebionites is saying here is that Adam never fell. He never ate from the tree.
(slide) Here’s another excerpt from this writing… “Then Peter answered: "Assuredly, with good reason, I neither believe anything against God, nor against the just men recorded in the law, taking for granted they are impious imaginations.
(slide) For, as I am persuaded, neither was Adam a transgressor, who was fashioned by the hands of God; nor was Noah drunken, who was found righteous above all the world (Gen 7:1):
(Slide) nor did Abraham live with three wives at once, who, on account of his sobriety, was thought worthy of a numerous posterity; nor did Jacob associate with four--of whom two were sisters-who was the father of the twelve tribes,
(slide) and who intimated the coming of the presence of our Master; nor was Moses a murderer, nor did he learn to judge from an idolatrous priest--he who set forth the law of God to all the world" (H 2:52).
Quite a few differences now, wouldn’t ya say?Noah didn’t get drunkAbraham didn’t have more then one wife neither did JacobMoses never murdered the Egyptian and so forth.
So why all the confusion in the thinking that they were the same group? Because the Ebionites split from the Notzereem (Nazarenes).Early on there was a power struggle and they split off from the original sect.
Well, you know what happens when you split off from the ordained group… you slide off into strange fire. And as you see from the theology of the Ebionites, did they ever slide off. It doesn’t take long.
I knew a guy who studied with us for a while then decided to go and do his own thing and he decided it was ok to incorporate illegal drugs into his faith.
You may say, Well, we don’t know anybody who believes anything like that. Actually most of you do. We had people who attended here who did believe in some of the same tenants as the Ebionites. Enough of these theological points to be classified as Ebionites.
They don’t attend here any longer and I tried to bring them out of their heresy although I was unsuccessful. If people don’t want the truth, there’s nothing anybody can do.And I’m not saying this to bash those people, I’m telling you this so you can know how close it is.
And just because someone doesn’t call themselves Ebionites, doesn’t mean that’s not what they are.If someone tells me they believe in the book of Mormon, but that they’re not Mormons, then I’m sorry they’re still Mormons.
If someone tells me they believe in the Koran but they’re not Muslims. Guess what? They’re Muslims!
Likewise there is an entire Church denomination that believes in the same main tenants (not all of them) of Ebionism.
(Slide) Have you ever heard of the Unitarians? The Unitarian Church was first started in 1568 in Transylvania, Romania in a small town called Cluj-Napoca
(slide) This is the Church it started in
That Church is about 4 blocks down from where I used to live on Baba Novak Street in Romania.(slide)
Though the Unitarians do not see themselves as Ebionites. That’s exactly what they are. They’re nothing new. Most sects, cults and religions today aren’t anything new.
There’s nothing creative about them, they just rehash The Adversaries old tricks. Satan can’t create, he can only imitate.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons have also adopted the main theme of the Ebionites. They too do not believe that Yeshua is G-d.
They may accept all the Gospels and Paul’s writings, but stripping Yeshua of His deity is Ebionistic in nature. Today’s Ebionites do NOT claim the Mormons, JWs or any Christian denominations however.
They see the Unitarians, the JW’s and the Mormons as Christian and today’s Ebionites do not see themselves as Christians.
As we delve into this part, we have to realize that today there are different sects or branches of Ebionites.
For the most part they consider themselves Jews although they have very little in common with the Orthodox or Karaites and… no body else considers them to be Jews.
Though they say they accept the Law, they actually only accept parts of it.So they pick and choose what they want to believe.
So what do they believe today? Let’s see what they say themselves. Here's a list of their goals, let’s look at them one by one.
(Slide) “1. The promotion of monotheistic Yahwism”That’s how they put it. In their view they believe in “true Judaism” which they call Yahwism from the word “Yahweh”.
(Slide) “2. The promotion of this to gentiles.”In their view they want to reach out to the Gentiles of the world and convert them to Ebionism
(slide) “3. The restoration of the good name of Yahshua ben Yosef as a righteous JewThis necessitates the deconstruction of the mythological "Jesus" of Christianity…
(slide) disproving that Christianity is a biblically related religion.”What they mean by that is they want to correct the wrong idea, according to them, that Yeshua was deity.
They believe that the idea that Yeshua is G-d is a myth. (slide) “4. Social justice based on honesty, and love in the context of the Bible (Tanak).”That being they want to wrap all these ideas in love and their idea of context of Scripture.
They also don’t believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. Here’s how they further define themselves… (slide) “There are a number of Christian derived fringe groups who have misrepresented themselves as Ebionites.
(Slide) They are often “Pentecostal" "non-denominational," "right-wing" conservative, anti-government, anti-authority, and apocalyptic if not gnostic.
(slide) They commandeer the name Ebionite to further another extremist agenda. Some of these groups maintain relations with other extremist groups, and began as extremist Christians.”
(slide) They go on… “Likewise, there are "Jews for Jesus" type people who would insist that they are Ebionites yet promote a belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, or maintain other Christian beliefs. Jesus was not the Messiah, and they are not Ebionites.”
(slide) They go further and say…”We are in no way Christian or supportive of Christianity. We consider Christianity to be a type of Mystery Religion devised by Paul of Tarsus and others.
(slide) We believe that there is no relationship between Christianity, actually better described as Paulism, and the man Christians refer to as "Jesus."
(slide) For that matter, since Christians often claim that "Christian" means Christ-like (that is like "Jesus"), it is most unfortunate that there are few who could honestly make that claim.
(slide) Some scholars categorize the ancient Ebionites as Christian or Jewish-Christian. That description is unjustified and untenable. In fact there is no such thing as a Jewish-Christian just as there are no Muslim-Christians.
(Slide) They don’t sound very friendly towards Christians do they. Yet then they quickly backtrack from there and say this…
(Slide) For Ebionites there is a difference between Christians and Christianity. We look at Christians as individuals just as we look at anyone no matter if they are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Wiccan, or any other religion.
(Slide) And not only that, but we believe that every person that pursues righteousness and loving kindness has a place in the World-to-Come (`olam ha-ba'), the time of peace and new creation which Christians call Paradise. Yahweh is a righteous Judge who wants good for all His creation. “
So they are attacking Christian and Messianic beliefs but they recruit from these fields so they then say, (paraphrased) “But hey, everybody that’s good is going to heaven. Even the Wiccans.”
You see there’s no end to that kind of theology. “All the good people are going to heaven.” Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
If it’s anyone who’s good, then you have a broad path. Yeshua said, it’s a narrow path. I’m sorry if that goes against your opinion, but that’s Scripture. G-d’s words not mine.If it was my way, it’d be anyone who’s good would make it. But it aint my way.
Both of my older brothers have rejected the truth. They are the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. If they needed a kidney I wouldn’t hesitate I’d take a bullet for either of them. That doesn’t mean they’re going to make it to heaven.
G-d’s rules and I trust He knows better. If you mix your opinion with theology, you’re entering into strange fire.
I’d love for any one of you to prove to me with Scripture that nice people or people that we love are going to heaven even if they reject the truth. You would make my year. You’d be telling me my two brothers are going to heaven. They believe in Jesus, but so do the demons.
“But have they made Jesus Lord of their life???” The only way that Jesus is Lord of your life is if you continually follow the truth. If you begin to reject the truth it’s called apostasy. It means you’re a backslider. You can’t just pick the truths that you like.
Yes, the ignorance factor is always in play, but don’t kid yourself that G-d hasn’t already tried to speak the truth to everyone you know.Otherwise, He wouldn’t be a merciful G-d would He?
So now we know from which spirit the modern day Ebionite is coming from. It’s right on their own documents.It’s important that we understand that. As we grow there will be Ebionites who come to visit us.
They always do. That’s not a prophecy, it’s the law of averages. There’s an Ebionite who visits one of our Congregations up in Canada. We haven’t designated him as an Ebionite, that’s what he calls himself. Super nice guy but he’s an Ebionite.
Sometimes they come to learn, sometimes they come to recruit. If they just come to sit in, we let them. If they try to recruit, we ask them to leave. Even if they’re really nice people. There may be times in the future that the leadership has to ask people to leave. You may have become friends with them.
I may have become friends with them, but the spiritual welfare of the community has to be cared for. The leaders here at Beit Aveinu as well as the leadership that will develop in Leavenworth and Chelan will sometimes have to make difficult calls. But they’re doing it with a heart to protect you.
Sometimes we make mistakes, but G-d will cover you in spite of our own blunders as long as you do what you’re supposed to do.So let’s summarize…(slide) 1. There’s differences between the ancient Ebionites and the Sect of the Nazarenes, they are not the same.
(slide) 2. The ancient Ebionites did not believe that Yeshua was G-d. They are a cult.3. They had their own gospel which was contradictory to the Scriptures4. There are Church denominations as well as individuals who are Ebionistic in nature.
(slide) 5. There are different groups today that call themselves Ebionites and they don’t all agree with each other. 6. Ebionites have been to our congregation and more may come in the future so it’s important that we know who and what they are.
(slide) In the next two or three weeks, we’ll be looking at the name “Nazarene” we’ll see where it came from and what it means, we’ll see what the New Testament actually says about the sect, we’ll examine what some of the Early Church step-fathers had to say about us,
(slide) We’ll look at their migration to Pella after the Bar Kochba War and some ancient Nazerene commentary that has survived via the writings of one of the early Church step fathers.
(slide) Remember the sect of the Nazarenes were the First Believers in Yeshua. Wouldn’t you like to hear what they had to say in one of their commentaries?And to think, you didn’t even know there was a Nazarene commentary.
(slide) We will also take a look at a prayer said to this day in most Synagogues that is a curse to the Sect of the Nazarenes. Why do they curse us? We’ll find out in the weeks to come.Let’s stand for the benediction.