ב"ה
So there is a lot of confusion about these groups, so I thought I would share an overview from my near 25 years exposure. Short list of my qualifications to write this thread (not chest banging, just so you know I'm not a faker and I've served the time to make these observations):
I'm an ethnic Azhkenazi Jew (German Jew), teacher of Biblical Hebrew grammar for 2 decades, I've lived in the land of Israel; I was the "Baal Keriah" (the designated public weekly reader from the torah scroll) for years; the big scroll one without vowels. I've co-planted congregations on 3 continents and have taught at both Messianic congregations and guest taught at Hebrew roots congregations.
**** part 1- Messianic Judaism*******
Messianic Judaism was first. The basic theology goes like this:
We are Jews, this movement is for Jews first and Gentiles are welcome.
Ethnic Jews (at least 1 parent is a Jew) **must** keep the Torah (Law of G-d). Messianic Gentiles are not under this obligation as they are part of the covenant with Noah only and thus are only required to keep those commands given to Noah (I won't list verses as I want to keep this original post shorter).
Messianic Gentiles are, however, required to observe Torah while they are at a Messianic congregation; you can't bring a ham sandwhich to synagogue. Many Gentiles, however, are there because they are married to a Jew so they assimilate willingly, lovingly and are accepted.
The Torah is always part of the service at a real Messianic congregation with many / most of the prayers and worship being in Hebrew language accompanied by translations into the vernacular. This is useful as it drives away show-seeking Gentiles
Sabbath is sacrosanct and all the Jewish holidays with the possible exception of Lag b'omer are observed. Messianics do not say the 4 letter name of G-d...ever.
The Talmud and Rabbis are revered though there is a general lack of deep knowledge in these areas. The more popular Messianic leaders use these traditional Jewish resources well.
Nobody from a Messianic Jewish congregation will ever bash any of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Many remain active members at their local Jewish community center and some attend regular synagogue on occasion. The driving force of real Messianic congregations is twofold: 1) keeping Jewish identity/Torah observance & solidarity with Israel 2) sharing the gospel to family members and Jewish friends in a way which does not require "conversion" and swearing off of sabbaths, etc.
******** part 2 - summary on Hebrew roots movement ***********
This is a natural outgrowth from Messianic Judaism in a similar manner to Assemblies of G-d coming out of the Pentecostal movement.
The Hebrew roots movement is predominantly Gentile; some of the leaders have had later in life realizations that they may have some Jewish blood, often dubiously.
I have only ever met 1 ethnic Jew in this movement though there are some. This is not to disparage the movement, we are just comparing and contrasting here.
There is a huge focus on Hebrew language here (hence the name "Hebrew roots").
The Gentiles in the movement are zealous for the Torah so there is sometimes a natural affinity between Messianic Jews and Hebrew Roots folks. Many Hebrew roots congregations call themselves "Messianic".
This blurs the term and adds to confusion.
In Hebrew roots there is a general rejection of the Jewish sages and often conspiratorial ideas about the Rabbis of old concocting sneaky ways to lead people away from Torah; not always, but often.
The movement attempts to look at scripture with fresh eyes not steeped in Jewish tradition and determines from this new approach what the Law actually means to them.
Unlike Messianic Judaism, Hebrew roots teaches that all Gentiles must keep torah. There is a strong trend now to promote the idea that Christians who do not live by the Law will not be saved even. This varies from congregation to congregation though and can not be used as a litmus test.
Many Hebrew roots types will openly and often say the 4 letter name of G-d. This often drives a wedge between Messianics who never say the name of G-d and Hebrew roots types who love to say the name frequently. The name is pronounced very differently from one place to the next.
There is an undercurrent these days in my opinion, to delegitimize the Jews as proper keepers of Torah while this is hard for outsiders to notice with the various Jewish artifacts that work their way in and an apparent love for "Israel". Some groups in this movement are very fond of the "2 house" theology believing that all Christians are descended from Ephraim or Menasseh and as such there are 2 billion "Jews" from those tribes and only 13 million from Judah/Levi. This causes conflict sometimes between the Messianics and Hebrew roots. In addition, some groups have different calendars than the Jewish rabbinical calendar in an attempt to be more accurate to the torah observances; this causes a wedge between the 2 movements as well.
A big Hebrew roots leader with limited Hebrew language knowledge, Michael Rood often hosts an unbelieving Karaite Jew (Nehemia Gordon) as an authority to demonstrate how errant the regular / Messianic Jews are; in addition, Rood recently publicly labelled Messianic Judaism as a "cult". This will certainly continue to drive a wedge between the 2 movements.
The driving force behind Hebrew roots movement is: 1) The Law of G-d is a requirement for ALL Christians it was the pagan influences in the church which stripped it away, and the more subtle 2) Judaism is defunct and also infected with pagan influences so adherents to Torah must work it out on their own or by Hebrew roots leadership.
***** part 3 - the various shades of the Sacred Name movement ****
These guys are harder to pin down because they are so varied and move constantly. As of late, they also have adopted the term "Messianic". The tell tale sign you are talking to a "sacred namer" is they will attempt to inject G-d's name into everything. For example, the name "YAhoshua" and "YaHushua" never occur in the bible; the name "Yeshua" does and this is the actual Hebrew name for Jesus of Nazareth. Sacred namers will insist it must be the previous as that invokes G-d's name "Ya" as part of the redeemer's name.
Many Sacred namer groups actually get to the point where they teach that if you do not pronounce G-d's name frequently, you are going to hell. They have sacred name bibles which inject the name everywhere in English and one goofy version the "Hallelujah bible" even attempts to remove any English word which may have a connection to a foreign deity. They don't realize that even the Hebrew bible itself spells out full names of foriegn gods. I've been at a Messianic Synagogue before when a sacred namer was dragged out of the synagogue and tossed out on the street because he wouldn't shut up shouting G-d's name. Obviously the elders at the synagogue did not think he was holy enough to be doing this
Usually when you start asking these guys questions about Hebrew and such, you'll find the sacred namers can't hold a candle to the Messianics or Hebrew roots folks.
Summary:
There is interaction and overflow among these groups; more so in these days as the term "Messianic" has been co-opted by everyone and their dog. Confusion abounds. Many Hebrew roots guys now also say the name as often as possible, influenced by the sacred namers. For actual Jews this is offensive.
Since we have mix of Messianic and Hebrew roots in this forum I hope we can refrain from writing out the spelling of G-d's name here so we can work out the beauty and mysteries of the Torah together in peace.
I no longer call myself a "Messianic Jew" because I feel the term has been ruined and doesn't mean anything anymore.
Next time you see someone claiming to be "Messianic" just keep in mind how the term means different things to different people. There are fewer than 200k Messianic Jews worldwide.
I banged this out without review so I hope it's an OK overview. I'm sure I missed some nuances but I think we hit the main similarities / differences.
So there is a lot of confusion about these groups, so I thought I would share an overview from my near 25 years exposure. Short list of my qualifications to write this thread (not chest banging, just so you know I'm not a faker and I've served the time to make these observations):
I'm an ethnic Azhkenazi Jew (German Jew), teacher of Biblical Hebrew grammar for 2 decades, I've lived in the land of Israel; I was the "Baal Keriah" (the designated public weekly reader from the torah scroll) for years; the big scroll one without vowels. I've co-planted congregations on 3 continents and have taught at both Messianic congregations and guest taught at Hebrew roots congregations.
**** part 1- Messianic Judaism*******
Messianic Judaism was first. The basic theology goes like this:
We are Jews, this movement is for Jews first and Gentiles are welcome.
Ethnic Jews (at least 1 parent is a Jew) **must** keep the Torah (Law of G-d). Messianic Gentiles are not under this obligation as they are part of the covenant with Noah only and thus are only required to keep those commands given to Noah (I won't list verses as I want to keep this original post shorter).
Messianic Gentiles are, however, required to observe Torah while they are at a Messianic congregation; you can't bring a ham sandwhich to synagogue. Many Gentiles, however, are there because they are married to a Jew so they assimilate willingly, lovingly and are accepted.
The Torah is always part of the service at a real Messianic congregation with many / most of the prayers and worship being in Hebrew language accompanied by translations into the vernacular. This is useful as it drives away show-seeking Gentiles
Sabbath is sacrosanct and all the Jewish holidays with the possible exception of Lag b'omer are observed. Messianics do not say the 4 letter name of G-d...ever.
The Talmud and Rabbis are revered though there is a general lack of deep knowledge in these areas. The more popular Messianic leaders use these traditional Jewish resources well.
Nobody from a Messianic Jewish congregation will ever bash any of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Many remain active members at their local Jewish community center and some attend regular synagogue on occasion. The driving force of real Messianic congregations is twofold: 1) keeping Jewish identity/Torah observance & solidarity with Israel 2) sharing the gospel to family members and Jewish friends in a way which does not require "conversion" and swearing off of sabbaths, etc.
******** part 2 - summary on Hebrew roots movement ***********
This is a natural outgrowth from Messianic Judaism in a similar manner to Assemblies of G-d coming out of the Pentecostal movement.
The Hebrew roots movement is predominantly Gentile; some of the leaders have had later in life realizations that they may have some Jewish blood, often dubiously.
I have only ever met 1 ethnic Jew in this movement though there are some. This is not to disparage the movement, we are just comparing and contrasting here.
There is a huge focus on Hebrew language here (hence the name "Hebrew roots").
The Gentiles in the movement are zealous for the Torah so there is sometimes a natural affinity between Messianic Jews and Hebrew Roots folks. Many Hebrew roots congregations call themselves "Messianic".
This blurs the term and adds to confusion.
In Hebrew roots there is a general rejection of the Jewish sages and often conspiratorial ideas about the Rabbis of old concocting sneaky ways to lead people away from Torah; not always, but often.
The movement attempts to look at scripture with fresh eyes not steeped in Jewish tradition and determines from this new approach what the Law actually means to them.
Unlike Messianic Judaism, Hebrew roots teaches that all Gentiles must keep torah. There is a strong trend now to promote the idea that Christians who do not live by the Law will not be saved even. This varies from congregation to congregation though and can not be used as a litmus test.
Many Hebrew roots types will openly and often say the 4 letter name of G-d. This often drives a wedge between Messianics who never say the name of G-d and Hebrew roots types who love to say the name frequently. The name is pronounced very differently from one place to the next.
There is an undercurrent these days in my opinion, to delegitimize the Jews as proper keepers of Torah while this is hard for outsiders to notice with the various Jewish artifacts that work their way in and an apparent love for "Israel". Some groups in this movement are very fond of the "2 house" theology believing that all Christians are descended from Ephraim or Menasseh and as such there are 2 billion "Jews" from those tribes and only 13 million from Judah/Levi. This causes conflict sometimes between the Messianics and Hebrew roots. In addition, some groups have different calendars than the Jewish rabbinical calendar in an attempt to be more accurate to the torah observances; this causes a wedge between the 2 movements as well.
A big Hebrew roots leader with limited Hebrew language knowledge, Michael Rood often hosts an unbelieving Karaite Jew (Nehemia Gordon) as an authority to demonstrate how errant the regular / Messianic Jews are; in addition, Rood recently publicly labelled Messianic Judaism as a "cult". This will certainly continue to drive a wedge between the 2 movements.
The driving force behind Hebrew roots movement is: 1) The Law of G-d is a requirement for ALL Christians it was the pagan influences in the church which stripped it away, and the more subtle 2) Judaism is defunct and also infected with pagan influences so adherents to Torah must work it out on their own or by Hebrew roots leadership.
***** part 3 - the various shades of the Sacred Name movement ****
These guys are harder to pin down because they are so varied and move constantly. As of late, they also have adopted the term "Messianic". The tell tale sign you are talking to a "sacred namer" is they will attempt to inject G-d's name into everything. For example, the name "YAhoshua" and "YaHushua" never occur in the bible; the name "Yeshua" does and this is the actual Hebrew name for Jesus of Nazareth. Sacred namers will insist it must be the previous as that invokes G-d's name "Ya" as part of the redeemer's name.
Many Sacred namer groups actually get to the point where they teach that if you do not pronounce G-d's name frequently, you are going to hell. They have sacred name bibles which inject the name everywhere in English and one goofy version the "Hallelujah bible" even attempts to remove any English word which may have a connection to a foreign deity. They don't realize that even the Hebrew bible itself spells out full names of foriegn gods. I've been at a Messianic Synagogue before when a sacred namer was dragged out of the synagogue and tossed out on the street because he wouldn't shut up shouting G-d's name. Obviously the elders at the synagogue did not think he was holy enough to be doing this
Usually when you start asking these guys questions about Hebrew and such, you'll find the sacred namers can't hold a candle to the Messianics or Hebrew roots folks.
Summary:
There is interaction and overflow among these groups; more so in these days as the term "Messianic" has been co-opted by everyone and their dog. Confusion abounds. Many Hebrew roots guys now also say the name as often as possible, influenced by the sacred namers. For actual Jews this is offensive.
Since we have mix of Messianic and Hebrew roots in this forum I hope we can refrain from writing out the spelling of G-d's name here so we can work out the beauty and mysteries of the Torah together in peace.
I no longer call myself a "Messianic Jew" because I feel the term has been ruined and doesn't mean anything anymore.
Next time you see someone claiming to be "Messianic" just keep in mind how the term means different things to different people. There are fewer than 200k Messianic Jews worldwide.
I banged this out without review so I hope it's an OK overview. I'm sure I missed some nuances but I think we hit the main similarities / differences.
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