Not too long ago, my wife and I began talking about how we could grow closer to God. There were several small group programs and other events offered by our home church that seemed to be the direction we were being pushed to go. But something did not feel right. My wife explained how she always felt like the Old Testament and the things taught in the Torah were ignored largely by the church. At the same time, she didn’t think it was right to follow Jewish customs either. As the man of the house, I was sort of lost as well. I wasn’t quite sure how to solve this little dilemma we were in.
About two months ago, I was in Branson for the Prophecy Summit 2012. During that trip, I was able to hang out quite a bit with author and researcher Rob Skiba. In our discussions, I brought up some of the things my wife and I were talking about at home. He recommended a teaching by a gentlemen named Jim Staley called Identity Crisis. After jotting it down on my notes, I went ahead and began to watch the video in my hotel room that night. All I can say is WOW! This was the information I was looking for. This is the kind of thing that I believe is very much needed in our institutionalized church system. The video is long, but I had to repost it. Here it is below:
Please watch it. Just as a short very poor synopsis of the video, essentially, Jim goes over the reality that WE are Israel! In other words, the northern kingdom that was scattered has NOT returned to the promised land. Staley shows how throughout the Bible, the entire narrative, especially in the New Testament is talking about how we are going to be brought back! This is NOT talking about blood lines or anything like that. It’s more akin to the fact that we are grafted into the tribe of Ephraim. I will leave the rest of the details to the video. It has changed my view of how we ought to live out our faith.
Becoming Torah Observant
Because of this new found information, I began to really think about what it meant to follow Yeshua. I had always felt in my last 6 years of following Yeshua that something wasn’t right about the way culture did things. This is not a knock on the church per se because I honestly don’t think most people who call themselves “Christians” have any idea about this sort of information. So after some prayer and some discussion with my wife, we as a family decided to drop all the pagan holidays. That means no more Christmas, and no more Easter. At least in the traditional cultural sense. Instead, we as a family have decided to observe the feasts as taught in the Torah.
Now I am sure if you’re reading this and you are new to this information you are yelling, “LEGALISM!” But I assure you it is not. Without getting into all the details, I wanted to mention a few points of contention. First, there are verses in the Torah that tell us that we are to observe certain feasts forever! Consider Exodus 12:17.
“And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.” ~Exodus 12:17~
Notice that it says, “forever.” Unless God is lying here, I believe Him when He says, “forever”! This has nothing to do with salvation. But rather it has to do with doing things that are pleasing to God. If God told us to observe this day forever, I believe Him. In fact, the feast of Unleavened Bread has special significance in all of Scripture including the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua, as well as all of the prophecies concerning the end times and of His return! It’s all beautifully and intricately connected and I recommend EVERYONE, if you are a follower of Yeshua, to watch the video and begin to ask yourself what it means to be a follower of Yeshua.
I personally believe that if there is going to be a revival of the body of Christ, it is going to be under the revival of remembering who we are in Yeshua. For too long we have allowed the paganistic rituals and traditions shape the way we celebrate the Lord. It is time we go back to the Word of God and do what HE has asked us to do to honor Him!
UPDATE
I have not been doing as much blog posts due to the huge amounts of time I have been spending on Canary Cry Radio. In fact, in a few months, I am planning to retire this website as a blog alone. Since the release of my first film Age of Deceit: Fallen Angels and the New World Order I have felt very strongly called to focus on this type of work for the Kingdom. The hope is that I will be able to do this type of work full time to provide for my family. I am currently still working as a tech for what I call a “baby mega church” in southern California. And while the work is great, I am getting more and more disenchanted with the direction the church is going. And while I will still provide my services to the church during the “holiday” season, this year will be unique because myself and my family will be observing the feasts.
The other reason for retiring this site as a blog alone is to establish it as the production company that delivers my documentaries. With my partner in crime for Canary Cry Radio, Basil, being fully on board to help out with film making along with the podcast, I believe it is time to really step out in faith and produce a sequel to AGE OF DECEIT that will be equally powerful and glorifying to God. Please pray for me and my family as well as those who are still watching the films and listening to the podcast who are yet to have a personal relationship with our Lord Yeshua.
I really enjoyed your “Age of Deceit” video! It tied together many concepts and ideas that I think are related. Further, it makes a good witnessing tool.
As to your post on being Torah observant; that was something that troubled me for a while as well. Find someplace private, open up a king james Bible and read Galatians 3 & 4, and Acts 2:1-12.
Additionally, have a look at this video on “The Glory of Israel” by Mike Hoggard (of Bethel Church).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvhTyjHCIo8
Hoggard also has a few series on “The Giants,” “The Missing Piece,” and “UFO’s: Chariots of the Beast.” All located on his YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WatchmanVideoChannel
Hey Ron,
Thanks for the encouragement. I check out Hoggards video. He does a good job parsing out the truth. Staley says he is not promoting British Israelism or replacement theology. It’s actually totally Scripturally founded. We should all keep seeking Him.
Shalom
I know this might sound totally lame and mundane but shortly after committing my life to Yahushua earlier this year(January), I started seeing change in my heart and mind not just in a spiritual sense but also in a cultural sense as well. I started to yearn and want to understand what hebraic culture and tradition was like(thinking since my Lord&Saviour Yahushua was Hebrew I felt compelled to emulate Him in ALL His ways). I suddenly had an appetite for mediterranean-style food with the whole bread and hoummos deal which i know before coming to truly know Yah i could care less about such appetites; in fact i didn’t even want to try it. Nonetheless, it was a different kind of appetite in which I felt like i was feeding a starved Spirit. Also, I was never the person to go out and travel much but I suddenly yearned to visit the promised land now the middle east just to be at the site where all this biblical setting took place for no apparent reason in my own understanding. Now i tell you this was all not even within a year of coming to truly know Yah maybe just several months, yet I had this almost emotional & weird yearning inside me and right then and there I knew it was not me but the ways of the Spirit. For it is written, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”~John 3:8. Thanks for sharing this study, when I first came to Yahushua the first books I started to read in the Holy Bible were Genesis and Exodus and despite the fact I was a born again and didn’t delve straight into the gospels; I felt just reading Genesis and Exodus alone made so much sense and for some reason still felt relevant that’s why I went about asking even you Gonz and listening to my pastor whether or not I should still be keeping the sabbath day and other holy feasts days for I believed if the holy bible is the complete, perfect, authoritative, and inerrant word of the Living God, then the Old Testament is as relevant as the New and thereby Jewish Torah (Law) and its statutes still should apply even to new followers of Yahushua today. Yes, I do agree that the institutionalized church today has been infiltrated with so much of the pagan commercialized holidays that we are forgetting the name of the true God we should be praising, and matter-of-factly most of the calendar holidays the youth are sometimes made to recognize as sincere and jolly like Christmas, Easter, St. Patricks, Valentines, Halloween,etc. is just leading them further away from the truth. After watching this video it cleared my mind a bit I think I’d have to watch it again since he spoke quite hastily. Thanks again Gonz for sharing. Grace & peace be always with you
Hey Norm,
I’m glad this video was a blessing to you. It certainly helped me understand what’s going on with all of this. Shalom to you.
Gonz
Wow, it is really great to see so many people returning to the Jewish roots of Christianity. I am thrilled by this turn-around in events, and can only attribute it to God who is working in the hearts and minds of His people. I too have talked to my wife about all this, and we both want to celebrate the biblical holidays, and not the ones we have today.
I say this, because I too have been looking at the “traditional Christian holidays”, and see the connection to the ancient Babylonian paganism. It worked it’s way into the body of Christ because of the Roman Catholic Church. That isn’t a pot-shot at Catholics, just the truth of the matter… It is what it is.
Anyway:
Jeremiah 10:
1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Notice the “Christmas tree” in there? Yeah, totally paganistic. God says not to do it. We’re supposed to honor the Menorah, a symbol of the true Israel: The burning bush that Moses saw on the mount. That’s the REAL “Christmas tree”, lol.
And in Ezekiel 4 you have God telling Ezekiel to mix his bread with dung. Now why would God do that? We know that bread is symbolic of doctrine in the bible, and essentially God is telling Ezekiel to do this because it is a parable. God doesn’t want us mixing His holy bread with that of pagan dung, like Easter.
I haven’t watched the video yet, so I don’t know if any of this was mentioned yet, but I am going to watch it when my wife is done with her download.
But, just a little FYI: Some of the Jewish traditions that have been passed on through the ages, Jesus used in His ministry. I was very mystified about the whole wine thing at the last supper, and one day stumbled upon a youtube video about Jewish wedding traditions. It made my jaw drop, to say the least, and I will find that video for you if you want. (It wasn’t a very long video, but very powerful. Some Messianic-Jewish Rabbi was talking about it.)
Oh yeah, and I really think you are uneasy in your “baby mega-church” because there are Satanists in just about every church. They are usually leaders or influential members in the church, and very often wear a red tie and a gold ring around their MIDDLE finger on the right or left hand. (Red is the color of power, purple is authority/royalty in occultism; the gold ring signifies their “marriage” to Satan, and whether it is on the right hand or left signifies their “path”). Just keep your eyes open and look for occultism in your church, it isn’t hard to spot.
Anyway, God bless you Gonz. Keep up the good work. I pray for your safety and continued blessings. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.
He slips in about 25 minutes into the video that
“Because they continually were breaking the COVENANT that was handed down to Adam and then Noah and then Abraham and finally written down by Moses”
This is built on pretense and not scriptural at all. It is clear what the covenants with Noah and Abraham were NOT the same as the law given to Moses. This is the key for making everyone believe they must be Torah Observant.
Example for Noah:
3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
Here He CLEARLY introduces the eating of meat for the first time. Plants were ONLY allowed prior to this verse which was the COVENANT with Adam. “EVERYTHING THAT LIVES AND MOVES”.
This is not however the same COVENANT for Moses. Paul and Peter get together to discuss what the LAW/Commandments are for new believers that were gentiles before:
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
Romans 7:6
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Also if the same law was given to Adam how does this verse make sense.
Galatians 3:17
This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.
We are to follow the commandments of Jesus which are to Love the Lord your God as much as you can and love others as yourself. All of the other commandments of the law and prophets are fulfilled in this.
Jon,
I thought Jim was talking about the blessings that were passed down, not the law of the covenants. He specifically points out Deuteronomy 28 as how God made this new covenant with Moses and his crew, but this NEW covenant on top of the old one as well. It’s not more laws, it’s just more promises. And that promise from God is made to scatter the nations and then regather them.
By the way, I think it’s awesome to celebrate the feasts of God but were are not under obligation at all to do it.
Let No One Disqualify You
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Yeah, but we, as Christians, substitute pagan holidays when we shouldn’t.
“Christmas” is erroneously celebrated on December 25th, which is about 8 1/2 months after “Easter”. You can find in Jeremiah 10 where it perfectly describes a “Christmas tree” in detail, and that God said we shouldn’t do it. I don’t think I need to go into detail about “Easter”, but suffice to say it is evil.
The law is not dead, it is just changed in Christ– That our forgiveness is no longer done through priests and sacrifices, but directly to Christ Himself.
So if you’re going to celebrate holidays, at least try and celebrate God’s and not some Babylonian pagan ones.
I recommend everyone (including Gonz, lol) go to youtube and watch the “Know Your Enemy” series done by The Fuel Project. The whole series is nearly 11 hours long, but it is broken down into sections lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. They are all mostly within 10 to 15 minutes long.
It covers the conspiratorial view of history from a Christian perspective, starting from Genesis and going all the way to now. It is very detailed, hence the large amount of video run-time. Very well done, and 100% biblically based.
So what you are saying is that I can’t worship God on those days because pagans worshiped their gods on those days. I don’t worship any christmas trees or any other man made creations. Should I not have a tree in my yard or put decorations in my house because pagans may have done it first to worship their gods with it. I celebrate God on those days and most everyday for that matter. I hope it is every day. We can turn the attention to Jesus in everything we do. I’m not going to let the pagans have certain days for themselves and choose not to celebrate God on those days. God gave us every day to worship Him. I do not recognize pagan gods or worship anything pagan. The israelites did exactly that.
Jon,
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” ~II Corinthians 11:3
“Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” ~I Corinthians 7:19
In Acts 15 we are told that the the Jews could never keep the Law of God, so ‘why burden the Gentile Christians with something our fathers couldn’t even do?’ Yet, in I John 5:2, we find that “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”
What commandments? I thought the Jews themselves (the ones who had the advantage of receiving the oracles of God) couldn’t even keep the Law.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” ~Matthew 22:36
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12
THAT is simplicity! And it ought to make a Lutheran shout.
This whole “Torah Observant” thing is dangerous:
Be very wary of men who tell you “You’re saved by grace, and that’s good. NOW you need to… perform this, that, or another ritual. (Be on the lookout for phrases like “next level” or “new phase” or “next step” or “inner circle” or “outer court” etc).
“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us having troubled you with words, subverting your sould, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:” ~Acts 15:24
You can (and should) worship Jesus every day. “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” ~Colossians 2:16
It’s good to get alone and revisit the book of Romans in your king james Bible. It is [in my opinion] the foundational doctrinal statement of Biblical Christianity (as opposed to the vast majority of what passes for Christianity these days). See chapters 6, 7 & 8, particularly as they relate to sin, the law, and death. Then, follow that up with the book of Galatians (a terrific antidote for calls to ritualism… which Galatians 3:1 equates to witchcraft).
We cannot keep the law. The law was given specifically to demonstrate that there is nothing that men can do which will in any wise make them worthy. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” ~Romans 3:20
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” ~Romans 3:28
“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” ~Galatians 2:21
“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: ~Philippians 3:9
Being Torah observant has nothing to do with celebrating the biblical holidays. If you are Torah observant out of a love for God, then how is that wrong?
If it really doesn’t matter what we celebrate, then why all the “poo-pooing” the idea of celebrating of biblical holidays?
Who poo pooed the idea of celebrating the biblical holidays?
Jon — It seems like we shy away from the biblical holidays, because they’re “too Jewish”. Whether or not that is the case here, I don’t know for sure, but it seems like it. Why else defend “Christmas” and “Easter”?
I’m not saying you can’t worship God on those days, just don’t do it with all the ceremony and pomp of pagan traditions. We are not supposed to associate with pagan holidays at all.
A “Christmas tree” isn’t biblical, nor is “Easter”.
This video says you are SUPPOSED TO be Torah observant not you are FREE to be Torah observant. Do you think you are more righteous than other believers by keeping part of the laws given to Moses? Surely you are not keeping ALL of the laws given to Moses. Which parts of the law are you keeping? Observing the feasts, sabbaths and dietary laws? Just curious which you are observing.
Jon — I keep as much of the Mosaic laws as humanly possible, including refraining from eating shellfish and pork.
Out of our love of God, we do what God has commanded us, right? I feel that if I love God, I will observe The Law. But that is for me, personally. You can believe whatever you want.
Why observe the Mosaic covenant as opposed to the Noetic covenant when it comes to diet? Which one does God command? I am under neither covenant. I am under a new covenant given by Jesus Christ himself who said that what a man eats isn’t what defiles him. That is what I believe and it’s based on scripture also. Have you studied all the laws under the mosaic/levitical covenant? And you are following all of them that are humanly possible? People say they are observing the Torah but most think that is just obstaining from shellfish and pork and keeping the sabbath. There are hundreds more laws. How are you doing on ALL of those? I believe we are to keep the commandments of Jesus which are of the law:
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang ALL THE LAW and the PROPHETS.” (This combines all covenants that require obedience) (Abraham did nothing in obedience for his first covenent with God except for sleep.)
“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us having TROUBLED you with words, subverting your soul, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and KEEP THE LAW: to whom we GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT:” ~Acts 15:24
People are troubled if they feel that in order to please God they must keep the whole mosaic/levitical law.
Paul says he commanded no such thing.
Peter knew that the vision he saw was not about food, but about the Gentile nations receiving the Word of God.
This is revealed to us in the 28th verse of Acts chapter 10, as follows:
“And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”
No mention of food!
The vision was not about eating unclean foods. Therefore, don’t discourage people from keeping Mosaic Law simply because Jesus came along. All blood rituals, including circumcision, are not necessary. That was all sanctified in the redeeming blood of Christ.
Yes, the whole of The Law is based on love. So if I follow The Law out of my love for God, am I somehow wrong?
James, if you read ONLY Acts 10:28, you might get the impression He (God) was talking about the Gentiles.
HOWEVER…comma… read the rest of the chapter leading up to vs 28. Particularly Acts 10:10-16.
Clearly, it is a reference to [formerly] unclean food.
Ron Jones,
No. God was speaking to Peter, who was a Jew. God was telling Peter exactly what Peter said God was telling him: Accept the Gentiles now.
Because how far after Jesus was the book of Acts written? After the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, God destroyed the religious power of the Jews, because God wanted it that way.
I could tell you to trust me, but I would rather you research it and find out. It strengthens your faith, not diminishes it.
If God told us we could now eat shellfish and pork, what would that prove? That God is hypocritical, and goes back on his own Law? No, it just means that we’re forgiven for it. Remember what Jesus said to the woman who was about to be stoned to death? “Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11).
Jesus didn’t say “Go sin as much as you want, I got your back!” A trespass against the Law is sin, and sin is punishable by death. The moment you tell me that you’re not as much a sinner as I am, is the moment you lie. One of the Ten Commandments, is thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, right? Don’t lie! Yet we do it all the time, even if it’s just a “white lie”, or to make a story about yourself sound cooler. We’ve all done it, so please don’t tell me you and you alone are determining what sin is, and what sin is not.
The “knowledge of good and evil.” Not just the “knowledge of evil”, but of “good” too.
Satan lied about what is “good”. Part of that belief is some are better than others, or just born that way. Why do we always have to divide each other into groups of who are “good” and who are “bad”? Who made us judges? I condemn no one, lest of all you. I just hope you see it that way.
Both kingdoms turned from God eventually so must also qualify just the same as out of covenant with God. Therefore the nation of Israel of today has been regathered but still has yet to repent and return to God. So they still can and it’s prophesied they will repent and turn to Him. They have a partial blinding until the fullness of the gentiles. Once they repent He will return on the Mount of Olives to destoy her enemies and save his people. That is at Megiddo.
So what all constitutes observing the torah?
So in a nutshell Jesus came to die and bring back the lost sheep or northern kindom which is all who believe in Jesus that are scattered all over the earth though none over the years have really been observing the torah since the first century. Meanwhile the southern kingdom was already not following Him but following tradition and rejects Him completely which later are also dispersed all over the world just like the northern kingdom. Then these who are returning as the lost sheep previously from the northern kingdom from then until now still have not kept His commandments by observing the Torah all the way up from the 2nd century until modern christians who are really them. But at the very end both kingdoms will repent (even though one already has believed that they have being the northern kingdom for the last 2,000 years) and return and finally observe the Torah and be His spotless bride.
Let me jump in fellas. I haven’t gone through all of the things posted here, but I did read something that compelled me to respond.
JON: You said, “People say they are observing the Torah but most think that is just obstaining from shellfish and pork and keeping the sabbath. There are hundreds more laws.”
The hundreds of laws that you are pertaining to, I assume, are the 613 right? Forgive me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that these laws came about as the “oral” traditions of the Hebrews, specifically the tribe of Judah and under the influence of Babylon, was made equal to, or higher than the Scriptures themselves. Wasn’t that why Yeshua was constantly after the Pharisees, along with the hypocrisy it caused? I am open to correction on that.
The point is, God throughout the Torah lays down foundations for how God operates. Not how man ought to operate under God. I simply consider the fact that in the Millennial kingdom, we will be celebrating the feasts. So…why wait?
The Bible comes alive for me when I connect the back of the book with the front of the book. Not just in terms of it’s continuity, but also all of the supernaturalism. In fact, Yeshua in His first coming fulfilled the spring feasts. And as some would say, His return will be fulfilling the fall feasts.
Again, open to being corrected on any issue. I am fairly new to this topic in particular, although it has already had positive life changing effects on me and my family. So to each his own, but to God be the glory.
“The hundreds of laws that you are pertaining to, I assume, are the 613 right? Forgive me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that these laws came about as the “oral” traditions of the Hebrews, specifically the tribe of Judah and under the influence of Babylon, was made equal to, or higher than the Scriptures themselves.”
The Talmud is from Babylon. After the destruction of the temple by Babylon (where the Ark of the Covenant simply disappears at this point in history), the observant Jews tried to write their oral traditions down, since most of their manuscripts were burned in the destruction of the temple. This text has been edited over the years by various rabbis, and include scathing remarks for Jesus. The Talmud is very prominent in Jewish culture, tradition, and religion.
The Mosaic Law, simply known as “the Law”, are the 613 laws in the Old Testament everyone usually is thinking of.
However, Jewish mysticism didn’t originate in the captivity of Babylon.
God bless.
God did allow pork and shellfish in the Noetic covenenant. It’s says nothing about eating clean or unclean it says ALL I give to you for food. It was just plants before that that were allowed. Was got being hypocrytical by saying we can now eat meat even though He first said only plants? God said ALL males had to be circumsised in the Abrahamic covenant. Is it a sin if we are not circumsised now? Do you think God is a hypocryte because He required circumcision before but not now? Each covenant God tells what He requires of His people. That is why I look to Jesus to His new covenant and to Paul who was the apostle to the non jews or gentiles. You probably believe there was one law given to Adam and written through Moses though which is not scriptural. Is this true? Have you examined each covenant and seen the differences?
Abraham was faithful to God before being circumcised. Circumcision is nothing but the outward appearance of being good.
Abstaining from shellfish and pork, is both an inward and outward appearance. If you are eating shellfish or pork, because you observe the law, it doesn’t not make you more righteous than anyone. If you are observing the law, because you love God, then it is in some regards, a righteous thing.
Likewise, if you are eating shellfish and pork, simply because God said that we can’t, and then later said you could, that would make us hypocrites, to even the eyes of those who see how divided we are. But if you’re eating shellfish or pork, because you had no other choice… Would God punish you for that? I don’t think He would, and I think that is the whole point.
There is a ton of tradition that goes along with all these things. Holidays reminiscent of the celebration of being freed from “this” law or “that” law, was straight from the Roman Catholic Church. They were doing nothing but making Christianity a pagan religion.
A “fun” religion, where everyone’s holidays are celebrated, and as long as you believe Jesus you’ll go to heaven! They slip the “everyone’s holidays” in with Jesus, just like I did in that last sentence. It’s a lie.
“Keeping the Law” has nothing to do with celebrating God’s holidays (“Holy Days”)!
So yeah, you’re probably not going to go to hell for eating a lobster wrapped in bacon. But will you go to hell for celebrating a pagan holiday? I don’t know, I can’t answer that for you. For me, I think if I would now do it, knowing what the “holiday” really represents, that I would be punished for it.
December isn’t even the right month Jesus was born in. They celebrate the “immaculate conception” in December, we already know they’re lying about it! Why they are lying about it, is the most important thing of all.
The Roman emperor Constantine, had the church celebrate the first “Christ-mas”, but only after he claimed the title of Pontifex Maximus and then “converted” to Christianity. It’s an evil celebration, and Jesus was never in competition with pagan gods. God didn’t need to symbolically “christen” a pagan holiday, to proclaim defeat of it. We did that on our own – It is a tradition of man!
Jesus wanted us to absolutely rid ourselves of any of the “Mystery Religion” doctrines. That includes “Christmas” and “Easter” to just begin the list. We haven’t even mentioned “Halloween” or some of the more profane “holidays” of the Roman Catholic Church.
How about some history.
First God commanded that we eat only plants.
Next God commanded that we may eat any living thing.
Then God set up dietary restrictions in a Levitical priest hood covenant.
Then God came and became a Priest under the order of Melchizedek from the tribe of Judah (not Levi) and set up a new covenant which we are under.
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 28 For it has seemed good to the HOLY SPIRIT and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these REQUIREMENTS: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
So have you been keeping the passover every year then? That is one that will go on forever. Do you keep the lamb in your room or the living room? Where do you kill it? Do you eat only unleavened bread when you are supposed to? Tell me about your experiences keeping God’s holidays? I’m curious. I have no problem with it either. We are free to do so.
Interesting stuff: a few comments…
0:40:50 — I don’t know whether Paul knew the entire Tanakh verbatim!
0:50:40 — This looks like an inconsistent hermeneutic to me!
…But on that last point, I think (following Staley’s argument), Israel could mean all Israel, i.e. Israel + Judah, and “in part” could then refer to the southern part, and “the fullness of the Gentiles” would be the northern part. “And so all Israel will be saved”! …Or not, I don’t know — just pondering aloud!
I think the ideas he mentions do have some merit. However, even if he claims to reject British Israelism, many of his points and proof-texts have been used by those advocating British Israelism. (And C.A.L. Totten, who is quoted at 1:05:30, was a notable British Israelist!)
British Israelism is a relic of the British Empire and I wouldn’t incorporate it into my theology (and I speak as a Brit). That said, I found some of the things Staley said to be very thought-provoking.
Thanks for posting the video, and may God guide you with your new direction! (For what it’s worth, when I came to faith, Christmas and Easter went out the window along with swearing and watching secular trash on TV. It wasn’t a “work” — God, in His grace, just kinda took ‘em away…)
My wife and I stayed up very late watching this video last night and it was profound. I grew up Catholic in the south and totally ignorant of most of the Bible. I’ve always considered myself a Christian, but have was drawn into exploring all kinds of new age spiritual meditations to frequency sounds and things like that. Last Fall I made friends with a guy at work that was into Vipassana meditation and was very curious to the benefits of silent meditation. This curiosity led me to some confusion about what I really believed and if Jesus was the savior for us. Something that stuck with me is that my friend that was really into this vipassana meditation told me that Jesus was just a man and no different from other enlightened people throughout history. Something about that didn’t feel right and not just because I was raised to believe that Jesus is our savior. After seeing Loose Change I started to feel that the evil we see in the world seems to be coordinated. Then my eyes were opened to all the deflection of truth that seems evident when looking at academics. The absolute statements made by evolutionary scientists that people that believe in creationism and not evolution just have it all wrong. That means we have scientists arguing that anyone that believes in creationism is saying that nothing in evolution is possible. The real issue being the origin of life which evolution doesn’t explain at all. These scientists are smart enough to know this. They should be arguing reasons why abiogenesis is a good theory. Not that creationists are idiots. Formerly a believer in evolution, I now fully believe that this world was created by a power greater than us with a purposeful design. Any other way is simply not probable.
Recently I have re-affirmed my belief in Jesus Christ and I feel I have been set on a path to uncover the truth and share it with others. But I fear that nobody will believe what I’m seeing now through the research you’ve done. My family already thinks I’m a nut sometimes.
I just want to say thanks for all the great information you and people like Jim Staley are sharing.
Hey Michael, I hope you read this:
You might very much enjoy the video series “Know Your Enemy” by The Fuel Project on http://www.youtube.com
It’s a real long series, but broken down into 5 to 20 minute sections. (Mostly in the 10 to 15 minute range).
I think it would help strengthen your faith, it confirms a lot of what I already knew to be a part of THE conspiracy against God. I think it will do the same for you.
I suggest anyone watch it though.
Hebrew Roots Movement/Two House Theory “Ephraimite Movement can be subsets of “British Israelism” without incorporating all tenets of BI.
PLEASE prayerfully research this and just ask the Lord to show you what’s what up or down. Love your work and can’t wait for Age of Deceit 2. God Bless.:)
Hey Eric,
I am well aware of this. I have since making this post, been returning back to simple theology to ground myself. Not that I was going heretical. I think this teaching launched me into a deeper understanding of the Bible, but now that the topic interests me, it’s time to sort through the mess and figure out what’s Biblical and what’s not. I am aware of the British Israelism and the Two House theory and how it causes issues. Thanks!
Awesome news.
“it’s time to sort through the mess and figure out what’s Biblical and what’s not.”
^^ That’s called being a Berean. That’s the name of the game, brother. For all of us.
what is really disturbing me with Jim Staley is his “psychedelic” Music. Sometimes he acts like a “Guru”
Hey man, just want you to know that I was blessed by Age of Deceit. I just became a true believer last year, and it’s been quite a year. Yours was one of the first films I watched that helped me make sense of the world from a SPIRITUAL perspective, and it truly made a big impact on how I thought about spiritual warfare, sin, deception, etc. So, thank you.
Second, I don’t know much about the Hebrew roots movement, but I would second the concerns raised by others to make sure you use caution and research before diving into behavioral changes. Perhaps the biggest source of false teaching the early church dealt with were teachers who put new believers under requirements the Gospel never intended them to fulfill, and later on it was Gnosticism. Legalism will allow for a Gospel of Grace, but once you’re saved, there’s stuff you have to do to please God and keep His favor. It works very subtly, and I fell into legalism just this past year…it was HORRIBLE. Anyway, just make sure whatever you do, you do out of GRACE, not a sense of responsibility to please God (which has always been impossible apart from faith, even with the law).
Third, there is a major problem with the institutional church. It has nothing to do with drifting away from Jewish roots….it has everything to do with reinstating a version of the law and not divorcing itself completely from Roman Catholicism. The Reformation was only a partial reformation, but as you know, a lot of pagan baggage and bondage was sustained. What’s needed is for Christians to understand what they truly have in Christ, and what the New Covenant is all about.
My wife and I started a site revealing some of the miraculous things God has for us, already laid out in scripture if you can believe. There are over 50 hours of teaching and training material that cover some of the amazing blessings we have because of what Christ did on the cross, and you can access them absolutely free here:
http://begintohope.com/?page_id=2
A day is coming where Christians will be fighting the forces of evil with supernatural love, power, and a sound mind walking in healing, deliverance, while boldly proclaiming the Good News to world in need. God gave us tools to shine brightly in these darkening days! Doesn’t mean it will be easy, just means we have true Love and Power on our side. Many blessings to you.
I know this is not a recent post, and there have already been lots of comments, but I just found this, and after watching it I did find it to be extremely thought-provoking….
I mean, the whole concept of the Jews basically being just the tribe of Judah? If that is really true, then, wow…. That IS a super significant fact! Even as a kid in church I remember wondering about how you go from the end of the Old Testament, to the beginning of the NT, and all of the sudden there is the concept of the “Jewish” people, a word which doesn’t even really seem to appear anywhere in the O.T… (maybe I had heard a vague explanation about “Jew” being derived from Judah, but still no explanation about the whole Northern Kingdom, or “Ephraim”, never returning back to Israel from exile….)
However, I would have to say that if a considerable amount of people are hearing this presentation, and thinking that it sounds like he’s advocating some message about blood-lines, then I’d have to say that it’s kind of his own fault…
He mentions the bit about Josephus recording that during the days of Jesus there were still descendents of the Northern Kingdom scattered outside of Israel, and talked a fair big about how when Paul went preaching to the gentiles around the Roman Empire, they were largely in areas where lots of “Gentile Israelites” had settled, etc… He made this big point about how that semi-forgotten Israelite heritage had to be reason why they were accepting the Gospel by the thousands, but I just don’t see anything that would actually support such an idea in the scriptures themselves….
He actually included a lot of material which gave ME the impression that he was inferring that we Christians (the “scattered remnant” of the Northern Kingdom) are in fact possibly physical descendants of those lost ten tribes…. (his comments about predestination and so on…)
It’s an interesting conjecture I suppose, but one that I think ultimately confuses the main, true point about the meaning of the “Lost Tribes”, rather than giving it more weight…
The whole point is that blood-line doesn’t guarantee anyone citizenship in the Kingdom of God, nor does any kind of religious heritage….
Overall, I think his main points about the identity of true Israel and the Jewish people falls into what I had already understood from scripture, but definitely adds a lot more dimension and meaning to it…
Thx for posting this and providing an arena for some reflection on it…
Hey Dan,
thanks for the comments. ya I’ve been working on Canary Cry Radio so much that the blog has been stagnant.
And yes, I think he is not talking about blood lines, in fact even says so at the end of the video. He should have led with it to be clear on that fact.
Since this posted, I’ve backed away from his position a little bit because it does have some problems or conflicts with orthodox theology. At the same time, the challenge is a good one and something worth investigating. I haven’t been able to look into this particular topic since the blog post, so I won’t have any deep insight for you here. Thanks for taking the time to comment on the post though. God Bless.
Gonz
Maybe this video will help you?
Should Christians Keep The Sabbath in the New Covenant?
by C. White
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HpPEdNOyK0
F.N.
I actually communicated with Chris the same week I made this post. He gave me the low down which was summed up nicely in this video. I think a big problem is that as soon as I say “my family and I observe the feasts” I immediately get accused of legalism. But this is not my position on it at all. What we do when we can…(key word “can”…we don’t do this religiously) we gather as a family on Friday night, have communion as a family, read Scriptures, and share a meal. This is just a way to honor God and His Word and not a call to say “everyone must do it.” If there is fault in doing so, then I am guilty.
Not to mention I’ve stepped away from the stuff Staley teaches. It’s good on the surface, but once you dig into it, you can see the flaws.