Who are we? | nazareneisrael2house

Who Are We?

We are Nazarene Jewish/Israelite believers in Yahshua and not Messianic Jews. We are essentially a sect of the Pharisees as witnessed in Acts 15: 5 in this way: ‘But certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”’ A second witness comes from Acts 24: 5 & 14 as follows: ‘For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.(14) But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the Elohim of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets.’ Messianic Judaism is a more recent invention and to illustrate the difference, let me explain by means of the following example: Most people who are not J W’s can tell you that even though they proclaim the good news of the coming kingdom of Elohim, they like most believers in C*h*r*i*s*t* (the title they use instead of Messiah) are as described in Ezekiel 22: 26, in this way: ‘Her priests have done violence to My law (Torah) and have profaned My holy (set-apart) things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths (weekly and annual), and I am profaned among them.’ In addition the foundation of the J W faith is based on a mistaken name of the Creator, namely Jehovah.

But, why do we disagree with mainline Christianity as well as Messianic Jews? Firstly, both groups believe that they were commissioned by Yeshua/J*e*s*u*s* to convert Pagans and Jews to accept C*h*r*i*s*t* as their savior; and secondly Christianity came to believe the gospel to be is as given in John 3: 16 and that J*e*s*u*s* (the name they gave Yahshua our Messiah) came to do away with His strict old Fathers laws. However we understand from the Scriptures that Yahshua was born a Jew into a Jewish family, and that there is not a single witness that He gave up His Jewish faith or become a Christian in the Scriptures. The gospel that Yahshua proclaimed was the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim, as witnessed in Mark 1: 14 & 15, as follows: ‘And after Yochanan had been taken into custody, Yahshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of Elohim, (15) and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Elohim is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” We also read about Yahshua’s work from Matthew 9: 35 – 38, in this way: ‘And Yahshua was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (36) And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. (38) Therefore beseech YHVH of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”’We read further about the gospel in Luke 4: 43, ‘But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of Elohim to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

Yahshua’s purpose as prophesied in Isaiah 49: 5 & 6, was, as follows: ‘And now says YHVH, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him (for I am honored in the sight of YHVH, and My Elohim is My strength), (6) He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”’When Yahshua first instructed His disciples in Matthew 10: 5 – 8 He said to them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; (6) but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (7) And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give.” In addition we read a prophecy by Caiaphas in John 11: 49 – 52 that Yahshua’s death atoned for the nation of Judah, but also for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as follows: ‘But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, (50) nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” (51) Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Yahshua was going to die for the nation, (52) and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of Elohim who are scattered abroad.’ When later in Matthew 15: 24 the Canaanite woman asked Yahshua to heal her demon possessed daughter, He said to her: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The image of Elohim (according to Colossians 1: 15[1]) also known as the Word of YHVH who appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also to Elijah in first Kings 19: 9[2] and by whom the heavens were created according to Psalm 33: 6[3], became flesh in Yahshua the Messiah, as witnessed in John 1: 1 – 3 & 14[4]. The Word of Elohim was with the Father from the foundation of the world, as He confirmed in John 17: 24, saying: ‘Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.’ YHVH and His Word decided from the foundation of the world that He would come to redeem His people from their Torah breaking, as is also confirmed by Rav Kepha in first Peter 1: 18 – 21, in this way: ‘Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah. (20) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in Elohim, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in Elohim.’ As the lost ten tribes from the house of Israel, we have lost our claim to our piece of the Promised Land (or more specifically the Kingdom of Elohim/Israel) and Yahshua came as the Son of Man to redeem or buy back the property our forefathers possessed before they were scattered into the world because of idolatry.

This is in total agreement with the Torah commands in Leviticus 25: 23 – 25, as follows: ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. (24) Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land. (25) If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.’ It was for this very reason that the Word of YHVH who was on par with Elohim had to become like one of us, as witnessed in Philippians 2: 6 – 10, in this way: ‘Who although He existed in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) Therefore also Elohim highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Yahshua EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.’ We read further about this from Galatians 4: 4 – 7: ‘But when the fullness of the time came, Elohim sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (5) in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (6) And because you are sons, Elohim has sent forth the Spirit of His son into our hearts, crying, “Avinu! Father!” (7) Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through Elohim.’

We also need to be mindful of Yahshua’s words in John 10: 14 – 16, saying: “I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, (15) even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (16) And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.”When the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at Messiah’s disciples about Him eating and drinking with tax-gatherers and sinners in Luke 5, Yahshua answered in verse 31 & 32, saying: “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. (33) I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” We read a second time when the tax-gatherers and sinners came to Yahshua, the Pharisees and the scribes again complained about Him eating with sinners. At this point Yahshua told them the parable recorded in Luke 15: 4 – 7, saying: “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? (5) And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (6) And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ (7) I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Then after this parable Yahshua continued telling another, about a woman who loses one coin and does not stop searching for it, until she finds it. However, next He followed it up with the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11 – 32. The parable about the prodigal son is essentially about the two houses of Israel; the prodigal son being the house of Israel who left the Father and the older son being the house of Judah who remained with the Father. This parable concludes when the prodigal son returns, which makes the older brother jealous because the father killed a fatted calf to welcome his younger brother back. The father in turn told his oldest son in verses 31 & 32, saying: ‘My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. (32) But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’

Yahshua Messiah was sent to bring the Israelites from the lost ten tribes back to the original covenant agreement they entered into with YHVH at Mount Sinai, together with the house of Judah. He came to show us the way; that ultimately we will have to be born-again like He was when He died and was resurrected three days and three nights later, to become the Son of Elohim, as recorded in Romans 1: 1 – 4: in this way: ‘Shaul, a bond-servant of Messiah Yahshua, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of Elohim, (2) which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, (3) concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, (4) who was declared the Son of Elohim with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Yahshua Messiah our Master.’ Rav Shaul told us exactly how Yahshua was the beginner of our salvation in first Corinthians 15: 20 – 24, saying: ‘But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruit(s) of those who are asleep. (21) For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all shall be made alive. (23) But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruit(s) after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming, (24) then comes the end (ones), when He delivers up the kingdom to the Elohim and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.’ He also showed us in verses 47 – 53 how we could ultimately become Spiritual Beings like Yahshua our perfect example who became the Son of Elohim after His resurrection, saying: ‘The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. (48) As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. (49) And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (50) Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Elohim; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (53) For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.’

This is further confirmed in Romans 8: 11 - 17, in this way: ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Yahshua Messiah from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. (12) So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - (13) for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (14) For all who are being led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim. (15) For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Avinu! Father!” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, (17) and if children, heirs also, heirs of Elohim and fellow heirs with Messiah, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.’ Yes, if Yahshua is going to rule the universe, those of us who finally qualify at His return, are also going to do so under Him.

Rav Kepha (Peter), when He was asked what people should do who are called by YHVH; he told them in Acts 2: 38 & 39 to be immersed in the Name of Yahshua for the forgiveness of their sins. He further told them to also immerse only Israelites (those who are ‘far off’ and not Jews who remained close to the Father and His Torah) and only those whom YHVH calls. The point is that Yahshua also told His disciples that no one can come to Him, unless the Father draws him in John 6: 44. The phrase ‘far off’ means those of the house of Israel who were scattered into the world, because of Idolatry, as witnessed in Daniel 9: 7, as follows: “Righteousness belongs to Thee, O YHVH, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against Thee.’ Rav Shaul also talks about returning Israelites, who used to think of themselves as Gentiles as those being far off in Ephesians 2: 11 – 16, saying: ‘Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Un-circumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands – (12) remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without Elohim in the world. (13) But now in Messiah Yahshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. (14) For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, (15) by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, (16) and might reconcile them both in one body to Elohim through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.’ Yahshua has already done His part; when we who are called by the Father and are immersed in Yahshua’s name, accepting Him as our personal Passover we are only at the beginning of our walk with YHVH. At that point we need to grow in grace and knowledge by getting to know YHVH and His way and start following it in all earnest, until Messiah returns.

Yahshua will at His return enter into a new Marriage Covenant with both houses of Israel, as is confirmed in Jeremiah 31: 31 – 33, as follows: ‘Behold, days are coming, declares YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, (32) not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares YHVH. (33) But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares YHVH, I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.’The reason for immersion is to wash away our past sins of breaking Elohim’s Torah teachings habitually. These are things like murder, stealing, lusting after your neighbor’s wife and property, but also breaking Elohim’s Sabbaths (weekly and annual), not eating only Kosher foods and belief in a trinity or twinity. We from the lost ten tribes of Israel need to be immersed into Yahshua’s saving name because of breaking Elohim’s Torah commandments, from before He scattered us into the nations of the world. We read accordingly from Romans 6: 3 – 7: ‘Or do you not know that all of us who have been immersed into Yahshua Messiah have been immersed into His death? (4) Therefore we have been buried with Him through immersion into death, in order that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; (7) for he who has died is freed from sin.’ Since we the bride of Messiah whom He divorced because of idolatry, have died with Messiah in immersion, He is now able to remarry us at His return. This is also why His last words on the cross as per John 19: 30 was “It is finished” transliterated in Hebrew as ‘kallah’ which also means ‘My bride’. He said this because He knew that when He is resurrected He will be able to remarry His bride again, since she (we) also died at immersion and can now legally be remarried to Him again, as Rav Shaul also explains in Romans 7: 1- 4, saying: ‘Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law (of divorce and marriage) has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? (2) For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from this law concerning the husband. (3) So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from this law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man. (4) Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to this Law through the body of Messiah, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for Elohim.’

Finally we get to some truths which Yahshua taught whilst He was on earth, and are clearly not taken to heart by many who claim faith in Him, namely: (a) Yahshua clearly taught in Matthew 5: 17 – 20 that He did not come to abolish Torah but to make it more binding as follows: ‘Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. (18) For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. (19) Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (b) Yahshua further taught that you cannot believe in Him unless you do not believe in Moses, saying in John 5: 43 - 47: “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him. (44) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only Elohim? (45) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. (46) For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. (47) But if you do not believe his writings (Torah), how will you believe My words?”(c)Yahshua also said in Matthew 12: 38 – 40 that the only sign that He gives to prove that He is the Messiah, is that He will be in the grave 3 full days and 3 full nights, as follows: ‘Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” (39) But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; (40) for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Those who say He was buried on a Friday and resurrected on Sunday, deny that Yahshua is the Messiah. (d) Continuing in John 3: 13, Yahshua taught unmistakably that no one is going to heaven, but He who comes from heaven! A second witness comes from John 8: 21 – 23, in this way: ‘He said therefore again to them, “I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come” (22) Therefore the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” (23) And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world”’ This is in fact confirmed in Psalm 115: 16, as follows: ‘The heavens are the heavens of YHVH; but the earth He has given to the sons of man.’

Even though John 3: 16 is true, the real gospel taught by Yahshua was the gospel about the coming kingdom of Elohim on earth, as it is now in heaven (as per Matthew 6: 10). That also confirms that human beings, in our present state, are assigned to dwell on earth and not in heaven – even after death, since YHVH is also eventually planning to come and dwell with us – be it after the great white throne judgment when the New Jerusalem will come down to earth. However, we as believers in Messiah should be equally aware of Ruth 1: 16, where the non-Jewish Israelite is saying to the Jewish Israelite: ‘Your people shall be my people, and your Elohim, my Elohim.’ The account of Ruth and her daughter-in-law Naomi is a prophecy how we from the lost tribes of Israel will return to the Father through a Jewish kinsman Redeemer. In Naomi’s case Boaz, whose name means “come here now”, was her kinsman Redeemer, and in our case Yahshua meaning the salvation of Yah, is our kinsman Redeemer. We also read from John 3: 36 that there is more to the faith, than just saying we believe, in this way: ‘He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim abides on him.’ Faith and obedience goes hand in hand and you cannot have the one without the other. This is after all what YHVH told Moses in Deuteronomy 18: 18 & 19, saying: ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. (19) And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.’ In fact YHVH repeated this in Matthew 17: 5, when Yahshua was transfigured before Kepha, Yaa’cov and Yochanan, as recorded in verses 2 – 5, as follows: ‘And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. (3) And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. (4) And Peter answered and said to Yahshua. “Master, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (5) While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”’

Despite many claiming to believe in Yahshua (or the false name that Churchianity assigned to Him), there are only a few people who truly believe in what He said and did whilst He was on earth. Do you believe in what Yahshua did and taught whilst He was on earth? Think about it!

[1]Colossians 1: 15, ‘And He is the image of the invisible Elohim, the first-born (from the dead as per Colossians 1: 18) of all creation.’

[2]First Kings 19: 9, ‘Then he (Elijah) came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of YHVH came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”’

[3]Psalm 33: 6, ‘By the word of YHVH the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.’

[4]John 1: 1 – 3 & 14: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.’