Hebrew Roots Movement

Hebrew Roots Movement

 

Who are the Hebrew Israelites?

The Hebrew Roots Movement is a religious movement that has merged the religions of Judaism and Christianity together. They insist that one must become a spiritual Israelite before becoming a Christian. This is the same problem the Early Church worked through (Acts 15:1-2).

Instead of Jesus, they say Yeshua (and there is one way to pronounce it). They don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter. They have no statement of faith or main leader, and they don’t all agree on which laws from the Torah to obey. They demands observance to the Mosaic law, the Torah, and the festivals.

So-called Hebrew Israelites adhere to One Law Theology, that is one should obey the law of Moses as a way of life - things like ritual washing, temple worship, animal sacrifices, etc.

They also hold to Two-House theology - the restoration of the lost tribes of Israel. They preach that Christianity has been influenced and infected by Gentiles.  Herbert Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God, and taught that to become a Christian, you must become a spiritual Israelite. The Worldwide Church of God disbanded in the 90s. 

Problem: This movement is a form of deconstruction.

As mentioned before, this movement blends Judaism and Christianity together. Perhaps some people accept this believe out of an overreaction to the popular belief that we should unhitch from the Old Testament. However, this is syncretism. Syncretism is when two opposing beliefs or religions are mixed together to form a new belief. This is extremely problematic because God has established various covenants throughout the Bible and the only one that hasn’t been broken is the one that Jesus established by shedding his blood. All the other agreements were broken by the unfaithfulness of Israel. It is impossible to go back to a covenant that was already nullified thousands of years ago (Hebrews 8:7-13).

They demand that we say Yeshua instead of Jesus, but using his name doesn’t benefit you if you aren’t authorized to use it (if you aren’t his follower (7 Sons of Sceva (Acts 19:11-16). This sectarianism promotes more unnecessary division in the Church.

They reject being taught by anyone who isn’t one of them. What arrogance! If they really were confident in what they believe, they would be able to invite people to objectively read the Bible for themselves and come to the same conclusions about who God’s people are. They know that it would never work, so their teachers are absolutely necessary if they are going to promulgate that the Jews aren’t the Hebrews and the church is not God’s people.

Why would you not celebrate Christmas or Easter? You must have buried your head in a hole if you really believe that thousands of well-intended Christians celebrate those holidays for secular reasons. Jesus is what gives Christmas its meaning. Its even in the name, Christ mass - a gathering in honor of Christ. Easter, (you could also call it Resurrection Sunday) commemorates the day when Jesus defeated death by rising to life again by the power of God. I personally have more questions for someone who doesn’t celebrate the reality of Jesus’ birth, death, and rising. Are you even in awe of Jesus?

This is a weak movement because of its cult-like proselytizing of people who are already believers in Jesus, not unbelievers. If this belief was really worth anything, than why aren’t its evangelists trying to convert people who aren’t believers at all? You can always identify a cult by its predatory parasite-like nature that preys on the Church.

This goes against the apostles’ wise decision to not make it hard for Gentiles who are turning to Christ (Acts 15:7-11, 16-19).

The strongest argument to consider is that the Apostle Paul preached that you have left the Christian faith if you adopt Judaism as your practice (Galatians 5:2-4). Read Galatians and Hebrews. The point of those books is we are cursed if we go back to the law of Moses and Judaism is outdated and replaced by the covenant that Jesus established with his blood. This movement therefore disrespects Jesus and his sacrifice.