From a friend of mine: I got involved with the Hebrew Roots Movement 2 years after I got saved. I was interested in studying the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Which is a good thing for believes to do. Studying the feasts, OT prophecies about Messiah, the spiritual types that are found in the Sabbath are all good things. But I moved beyond just a mere appreciation of the Hebrew culture, to where I was infatuated with it. I met some HR believers on Facebook. We then met in person. It was so convincing to hear the way they were living a torah-observant lifestyle. They used all kinds of Hebrew terminology that sounded super-spiritual. It seemed that they had a real grasp on scripture. When I had questions about NT passages that contradict the teaching that we are under OT Law, they had seemingly convincing answers for everything. I was convinced I was missing something in the mainstream church I was attending. Being saved for just 2 years, I also did not have a good understanding on Gods word as I do now. At first when is started to attend a local Messianic assembly (Congregation of YHWH), it was kind of fun, because it was different. We passed around the Torah scroll, did some Hebraic dancing, and ate kosher food. (all on the Sabbath of course). I felt empowered at first, I felt I was a spiritual superwoman. I even looked down on others who did keep Shabbat, or eat kosher like me. After about 18 months, I started having conflicting feelings about being in the HRM. I began to notice the focus was on the Torah, with Yeshua (Jesus) mentioned as an afterthought. I thought to myself shouldnt it be the other way around. Shouldnt it be Christ that has preeminence? Also, the rabbi who did the majority of the teaching really spent much of his time bashing mainstream Christians, many of whom I was still friends with. He would refer to them as low-life pagans in his sermons. This angered me, because I knew this was not true at all. While they were not perfect, I knew my Christian friends were living godly lives and being good witnesses for Jesus Christ. I also realized that I was not really keeping the Torah according to Gods standards. I felt tricked because all my HR buddies made it sound like the Torah was so easy to follow. That it was not a burden like those pagan Christians teach. When I encountered other HRM groups on the internet, and in person, I saw they all had different beliefs. They all differed on how to count the omers between Passover and Shavout. They all had different methods for determining exactly when the levitical feasts began. Some used different calendars, others used the cycles of the moon to determine these things. I also saw some HRM people deny Christ as Messiah. This happened because they could not reconcile Pauls clear teaching about being under bondage to the Torah. They would then deny the NT altogether. The final step was to deny Jesus. I ended up being more confused than I wanted to be. I did not find myself to be sinning less by trying to keep the Torah. Eventually, I really started studying the NT on my own, and saw the errors the HRM was teaching. After 3 years in the movement, I finally left. The HRM is not romantic, it is not spiritual. It seeks to rob people of their security and liberty in Christ by replacing it with bondage. I praise God for opening my eyes. I also am thankful for BDB for starting this FB group. There has been some great debates. I hope the HRM people who are in this group will see their spiritual error. I now fellowship at an assembly where I take joy in partaking in the Lords Supper every week, where the focus is on the finished work of Messiah
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 03:02:59 +0000
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