Page 3 - Attractive Deception - The False Hope of the Hebrew Roots Movement

Introduction

Authentic Christianity! That is the heart’s desire of many believers today who have become
discouraged with the sensuality and materialism of the prosperity churches; the dubious spirituality
of the prophetic and apostolic congregations; and the vapid trendiness of the rock and roll, seeker-
friendly, coffee-swilling, and doctrinally-flimsy houses of worship that dot the landscape of our
nations. Many sincere people of God have at some point despaired of ever finding a group of fellow
believers who see through the vacuity of popular modern Christianity, and who have set their hearts
to walk with Christ in truth and obedience. The no-cost (and no-transformation) gospel that appeals
to church-members’ desire to be entertained and reassured of heaven when they die, has produced
a spiritually empty parody of Christian discipleship that has led to a mass exodus from the churches.

In an hour of apostasy, there have been increasing numbers who have recognized that somewhere
along the line the church has departed from the original faith of Christ and His apostles. They have
wanted to return to first century Christianity that they might reconnect with lost truths, and thereby
restore spiritual health and vitality to their own lives and the lives of believers with whom they
fellowship. Many look to the book of Acts, to that first church which was birthed in Jerusalem. They
observe that all of the apostles were Jewish men. Indeed, for a number of years the church consisted
entirely of Jewish men and women. Yahshua had declared that He was sent only to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. He informed His disciples that there was a divine order to the spread of the
kingdom of God. The gospel of salvation through Yahshua must be preached first in Jerusalem, then
Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.

Recognizing the Jewish foundation from which the church sprang, many Christians have concluded
that a more authentic Christianity must of necessity require a return to the Hebrew roots of the first
church in Jerusalem. In one sense they are quite correct, for the Law and the Prophets were given
both to the Jews and to all mankind to guide them to Christ. The Old Testament foreshadows that
which is brought into full view in the New Testament. All who would be disciples of Christ should
be students of both covenants, for ALL SCRIPTURE is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine,
reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness that the man of God might be thoroughly
equipped and furnished (II Timothy 3:16).

From the time I was a child I have given as much attention to the 39 books of the Old Testament as
I have the 27 books of the New Testament. Over the course of many years of ministry I have found
the TaNaKh, the Torah, the Nebium, the Kethubim (which are also referred to as the Law, the
Prophets, and the Writings which make up the Old Testament) to be as rich and valuable a teaching
source as the New Testament writings. I cite both divisions of the Bible with equal familiarity,
authority, and value. Christians who have judged the Old Testament to be a Jewish book that has no
benefit for their lives are acting foolishly. All 66 books of the Bible are “God-breathed.” All of them
are pregnant with revelation, instruction, and encouragement for the people of God, whether they be
Jews, Christians, or Jewish Christians.

Jesus Christ/Yahshua the Messiah did not arrive in this world 2,000 years ago without an
introduction. 1,500 years before He died on a cross to serve as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of
mankind, He was foreshadowed in the Passover lambs that Moses instructed the people of Israel to