CONGREGATION MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO
A Messianic Jewish Newsletter for the sake of רבינו ישוע מלך המשיח אדונינו Rabbeinu Yeshua Melech HaMashiach Adoneinu!
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CONGREGATION MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO |
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A Messianic Jewish Newsletter for the sake of רבינו ישוע מלך המשיח אדונינו Rabbeinu Yeshua Melech HaMashiach Adoneinu! |
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מתשובה למשיח לגאולה
במהרה בימינו. זכריה י"ב:י' |
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אני מאמין באמונה שלמה בביאת המשיח ואף על פי שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא. |
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CMY NEWSLETTER
January-February 2008 / Tevet-Shevet-Adar I 5768 Vol. 13 No. 5-6 |
A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI"Be Forewarned"
No sooner do we deal with one false teaching about Israel and who she is, like “Replacement Theology,” where they claim that the church has replaced Israel, than another false teaching pops up. I'm talking about the “Ephraimite Theory.” Perhaps you have already heard about it and have been taken in by its seemingly logical conclusions. To those who have and to those who have not I offer this excellent explanation concerning it. The first is by Kay Silberling, PHD of Beth Emunah in Agoura Hills, California and second by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, President of Ariel Ministries. "Without going into a lot of ‘hair-splitting’ over interpretation and context of the many scriptures that are used by these people as "proof" of their beliefs I will make a few general comments. First, the basic hermeneutical problem is that these so called ‘Ephraimites’ reinterpret the word "Israel" in an allegorical sense. This allows them to "read into" the meaning of a word a definition that was NOT the simple, plain or contextual meaning of the text within that particular time or context. This allegorical and often anachronistic type of interpretation is what confuses the issue regarding the identity of Israel that is being referenced. A good example of this is the Hebrew word Netzer. In its context in Isaiah it is translated in all major translations as ‘preserved ones.’ The Ephraimites say that these Netzrim are actually ‘notzrim,’ the Christian followers of Jesus. The various splinter groups of this belief system range from those who believe that ALL gentile Christians are Israel (Ten Lost Northern Tribes) to those who believe that only those gentile Christians who have a heart for Messianic Judaism are true Israel. Either way, the impact on Messianic Judaism and Messianic Jewish congregations is profound. There has been a long tradition of Christians claiming to be Israel or the "true Israel." This has caused enormous damage, fostering anti-Judaism and ultimately anti-Semitism in the Church. Such thinking came out of the same impulse by Christians to read themselves into the promises to socio-historical Israel and, in doing so, to appropriate the promises for themselves. |
The allure of this belief system is that it seems to answer a need for Gentiles within the Messianic Movement who feel a sense of second class status, as an invitation for Gentiles to come into the congregation with a ‘separate but equal’ role. They call themselves ‘New Covenant Israel’, rather than Old Covenant Judah.
There seems an implied message here. In fact Gentiles are already distinct but equal in Messianic Judaism today.
The practical problem that I have found is that since they see themselves as a biblical Israel, rather than a Jewish (Judah) based Israel, they often go just so far with the "fun Jewish heritage," but when they have a difficult time with something that is too
Rabbinic or Jewish, they will revert back to their separate identity, distancing themselves from Judah (Jewish). The danger here is that their pattern of allegorical interpretation of scripture allows them to reinterpret Messianic Judaism outside the Jewish context. When you transform this movement from a "Messianic Jewish" movement into a "Messianic Israel" movement, we have transgressed the boundaries of our identity.
I don't think that anybody wants to hurt another brother or sister over this particular interpretation unless it goes beyond the pale of the foundational theological presuppositions of our faith. Yet, as a movement, we must be careful to define ourselves and set boundaries around our community. If we do not take responsibility to clarify those boundaries and establish clearly the methodologies of textual interpretation that guard the contextual meaning of the Scriptures then others will do it for us. This is not an attempt to demean, denigrate or disparage any group, but rather, it comes out of the need to define ourselves with integrity, clarity, and authenticity.
We also need to insure that the various organs that help define the Messianic Movement for many outsiders, such as the Messianic Times, are held accountable to the movement. If we, as rabbis, do not take this task seriously, who will do it? If we do not take care to set the proper boundaries of identity around ourselves, how can we move forward with clarity of vision? If not now, when?"
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, President of Ariel Ministries had this to say about the "Ephraimite Theory."
"What the ‘Ephraimites’ are teaching is farfetched. This new teaching penetrating the Messianic Movement is really just a readjustment of the old British Israelism theory, but with a new twist. The ‘Ephraimites’ conclude that virtually everybody in the world is Jewish, or almost, and those getting saved are the ones who are of Jewish blood and only think they are Gentiles, when they are not. Let me just say that there is absolutely no biblical or historical validity to any of this stuff and their treatment of Scripture is permeated with two basic fallacies: First, is a preconceived theology being forced upon the text thereby ignoring the natural exegesis of the passage; secondly, it is what I call the fallacy of unrelated context where they take a verse out of one context and apply it to another rather than interpreting each passage within its own context.”
This Ephramite or Two House movement is a heresy that may ultimately rob unsuspecting believers of their salvation. How do you recognize this heresy? They usually speak about the House of Israel and the House of Judah as two separate entities. They also may refer to Yeshua as Yahshua. I am telling you this because, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
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