jstaplz Podcast

Can Someone Believe In Faith and Science? (ft. Adam Doyle)

What Do You Do With Noah And The Flood? (ft. Adam Doyle)

Does the Bible Read Like Fact or Fiction? (ft. Adam Doyle, Part 2 of 5)

What’s The Difference Between Proof and Evidence? (ft. Adam Doyle, Part 1 of 5)

Black Hebrew Israelites Cult

Black Hebrew Israelites Cult
 
History
“The origins of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement are found in Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy, who both claimed that they had revelations in which they believed that God told them that African Americans are descendants of the Hebrews in the Christian Bible; Cherry established the "Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations" in 1886, and Crowdy founded the "Church of God and Saints of Christ" in 1896.” - Wikipedia
Cherry taught that Jesus was coming back in 2000 AD. Later into the 19th century, he proceeded to claim that African Americans were the biological descendants of the Hebrews in the Bible.
The Black Hebrew Israelite movement is very similar to the Hebrew Roots Movement, but it’s nuanced by the understanding that the true Hebrews are black people in America. This movement is confusing at many points, beginning with the fact that they have multiple names for the same cult - Black Hebrew Israelites, Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and even African Hebrew Israelites. However, Black Hebrew Israelites are not to be confused with Black Jews! Perhaps the best way to understand these names is as representative of multiple “churches” within the cult.
They revise history constantly, insisting that the Israelites in the Middle East are imposters and that the holocaust never happened! Because of these issues, people have rightly come to know them as a hate group that promotes racial segregation, fuels the flames of a race war, and denies the holocaust. (To be clear, not every Hebrew Israelite is a radical.)
Since 2019, they have gained more eyes and ears. They are a small sect that tries to draw attention to its movement by street preaching and bullying techniques. There were some students from Covington Catholic High School that were harassed by some of these radicals. They called white students derogatory names such as racists, bigots, white crackers, and incest kids. Some people claim that Black people can’t be racist, but one thing this movement proves is racism goes both ways.
In 1896, the Church of God and Saints of Christ was established by founder and so-called prophet William Crowdy. By 1936, this church planted over 200 more churches, or what they called “tabernacles” - reminiscent of the first temple in the Bible, the tent.
 
Problematic Teaching
They taught people to go back to practicing Judaism. They insisted that all the Jews in the Bible were black and that family line has been preserved today in African Americans. They deny that Jesus is God and fail to see how he revolutionarily ended Judaism by bring a new covenant. They are guilty of trying to live under both the new and old covenants while failing to see how the new cancels the old (Hebrews 8:6-13). Culturally, they celebrate Passover instead of Easter, they circumcise their infant males, they observe Sabbath, and wear yarmulkes. From the new covenant, they baptize and foot wash, but neglect the Lord’s Supper.
The hinge verse for this movement is Deuteronomy 28:68. This is a verse that commentaries generally don’t have a lot to talk about. Black Hebrew Israelites insist that the Hebrews would be brought back to Egypt in ships, which never happened until the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They ignore the fact that some Israelites actually tried to sell themselves back to Egpyt during the exile, but nobody would buy them (Isaiah 31).
Here’s one helpful commentary:
Egyptian texts are replete with accounts of slave trade, particularly with the import of Semitics for the purpose of servitude. In the time of judgment for covenant violation the Lord would make his own elect nation available for the auction block of bondage, an ironic twist to the exodus in which Israel was freed from that very condition. Whether the return to Egypt is to be understood literally or it is better to see Egypt here only as a type of exile to all the nations is unclear. It is true that many Jews eventually settled in Egypt, some perhaps as slaves, and the exile probably embodied slavery at times, if not always of the body, certainly of the spirit (cf. Jer 42:13–17; 44:11–14, 24–30; cf. Neh 9:36). 1Merrill, Eugene H. Deuteronomy. Vol. 4. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994. Print. The New American Commentary.
 
Problematic Behavior
Everyone who has heard of this movement has come to know these people as violent and extremely disagreeable. They all are black supremicist groups. The FBI has from time to time had special interest in these groups to make sure they were not plotting terrorism.
“A 1999 FBI terrorism risk assessment report stated that "violent radical fringe members" of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement hold "beliefs [that] bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists".[89][90] The 1999 assessment concluded that "the overwhelming majority of [Black Hebrew Israelites] are unlikely to engage in violence.” - Wikipedia
“On December 28, 2019, a man with a machete attacked several Orthodox Jewish people during Hanukkah celebrations in a house in Monsey, New York. Authorities revealed that his journals included references to Black Hebrew Israelites, stating that ‘Hebrew Israelites’ have taken from ‘ebinoid Israelites’” - Wikipedia
 
Conclusion
This movement is more aggressive than the Hebrew Roots Movement. Hebrew Roots is an attempt to go back to the law of Moses as a way of life. The Black Hebrew Israelite Movement emphasizes that Black Americans are the Jews of the Bible.
Ironically, they believe and operate just like White Supremacy groups, but instead, they are black.
Since its clear that Jesus put an end to Judaism, they reject him as God, Lord, and Savior. They think he was just another law-abiding Jew, even though the gospels are filled with examples of him breaking the Sabbath law and angering the religious leaders. The reason they plotted for his life in the first place was because he broke their laws!
Anyone who adopts this belief has left the faith. I encourage anyone to go read the book of Galatians and learn about how the promise of God to Abraham proceeded his law to Moses by 430 years (Galatians 3:17)! This is a movement that denies the gospel of Jesus Christ and presents itself as a gospel of works. Once again, they deny that Jesus is God. This is a lie and lies along with the liars who tell them are cursed (Galatians 1:6-9).
 

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. 

6 Reasons Why People Are Lost and Need Salvation

6 Reasons Why People Are Lost and Need Salvation
 
1. They are lost because they reject biblical revelation (Acts 14:17; Romans 1:19-20)
2. They are lost because of disobeying their conscience (Romans 2:14-16)
3. They are lost because of their relationship to the world (Eph 2:2; James 4:4)
4. They are lost because of their relationship to Satan (John 8:42-44)
5. They are lost because of their relationship to sin (Gen 2:17; Job 14:4; Rom 5:12)
6. They are lost because of their relationship to God (Eph 2:12; 1 John 5:12; Jude 19).

Cosmic Battle Between Good and Evil

Based on Revelation 12-14
 
So far, the book of Revelation has revealed a powerful Jesus, his encouragement and warnings for the church, and his judgment on the world in various images such as the seven seals and trumpets.
 
Today’s section focuses the cosmic battle between the Lamb and the beast, God and government, Jesus and Satan.
 
The scene opens during Christmas. It’s important to know that Revelation is a series of visions and sounds, not a linear retelling of history. The scene jumps back many years to birth of Christ, but it tells it from a different perspective. Gospel writers Matthew and Luke give their retelling of the birth of Jesus. Mark skips ahead to Jesus’ adult life and so does John. Assuming that the author of Revelation also wrote the gospel of John, John saves his nativity narrative for his apocalypse. Why?
 
I assume its because the Christmas narrative as told in the gospels can tempt us to believe that the birth of Jesus was safe, when it actually was an invasion! John writes elsewhere that Jesus was born to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). His birth was so fearsome that King Herod tried to kill him and wiped out all the boys in Bethlehem under two years of age. Jesus came to destroy the devil and put an end to sin.
 
The main characters in this section is a woman clothed with the sun and moon (Israel), a boy (Jesus), and great red dragon (Satan). The woman also has children, and they are those who follow Jesus. Our spiritual mother Israel has been engaged in this conflict with Satan. Our Lord has been engaged in this conflict, and so are we. Now life makes sense.
 
These scene jumps ahead to highlight two beasts, one from the sea and one from the land. One represents a one world government that is opposed to God. The other represents a one world religion that is partnered with one world government. The point is that the entire world is under Satan’s control (1 John 5:19). We must also remember that Satan is under God’s control. Satan tries to control the world through a global economy that locks out of it the followers of Jesus from participating in it. This was the situation that the churches in Asia found themselves. If they don’t worship the emperor, they will be locked out the life of the society.
 
The irony is that God calls his people out of this world system that he calls Babylon. Babylon first appears in the Bible at the Tower of Babel, when people got together to build the highest zigurat, rule like God from the heights, and establish a one world government. God broke that up quickly. They appear again at the end of 2 Kings and the book of Daniel, where we read the Babylon led away the tribe of Judah into exile. Henceforth, the Bible refers to all oppressive governments who opposed God as Babylon - whether its Greece, Persia, or Rome. Babylon is what God would call the nations today.
 
Chapter 14 paints a stark picture of two opposing groups - Mount Zion against Babylon. At Mount Zion, Jesus stands with his people. Babylon has the world. Mount Zion has those who are marked with the Father’s name. Babylon has those marked by the beast. Mount Zion has pure people. Babylon has sexual impurity. Those at Mount Zion are redeemed. Those in Babylon are doomed. Mount Zion is harvested for eternal life. Babylon is crushed for eternal judgment. This is the justice of God.
 
The punishment may not seem like it fits the crime. You may not think its right for God to judge people and torment them forever. Its helpful to remember that unbeliever will be punished because they sinned against God, not because they sinned. God is infinitely worth more than anyone else and his authority is the highest authority. Therefore, even one sin is enough to suffer forever.
 
It isn’t our position to judge God. It is our responsibility to respond to God by believing the gospel, fearing God, and worshipping him.