News story of a growing trend amongst Christians

[liafailrock]

I have noticed this, too, very recently. I myself have been on board many years now, but I think one contributing factor for the rest was the lunar tetrad 2014-2015 brought a greater awareness of the biblical calendar. Even some mainline e.g. Baptist and Pentecostals are going back to Sabbath-keeping and feast days I hear. Definitely things going on in this generation.

Christians and Jews Stand Before Universal King on Rosh Hashana

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Very troubling.

 

[JonC]

It is troubling. Why, I wonder, would Christians turn back to Judaism and an anticipated/foreshadowed messiah when the King reigns?

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

 

[liafailrock]

Very troubling.

No need to worry. It's not what many Christians think about it being a turn back to legalism, but understanding the prophecy in the feast days. As Daniel prophesied, the times and seasons were already changed and replaced with non-biblical ones and the church unfortunately followed along these alternate religious paths. While I won't make this a salvation issue, I do see this newer generation wanting to get back to biblical Christianity (with the foundation of Judaism) with people waking up as this is revealed again in these last days. There were a few forerunner people in the last several decades that saw this too and now more are hopping aboard. The old is passing away and the new is coming along. I guess not everyone is part of the new but was destined to live out the old. As devout as they are, I think my elderly parents are such. My brother and I have for a long time seen this transition starting -- exciting!

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Christians are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:8-10). They have no need of these Jewish festivals 'which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ' (Colossians 2:17). At best these things are an irrelevance; at worst they take our eyes off Christ and lead us away from New Testament Christianity into 'Jewish fables' (Titus 1:14).

The old covenant was 'obsolete and..... ready to pass away' back in the 1st Century (Hebrews 8:13). To try and bring it back now is the ultimate in foolishness.

 

[liafailrock]

Christians are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:8-10). They have no need of these Jewish festivals 'which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ' (Colossians 2:17). At best these things are an irrelevance; at worst they take our eyes off Christ and lead us away from New Testament Christianity into 'Jewish fables' (Titus 1:14).

The old covenant was 'obsolete and..... ready to pass away' back in the 1st Century (Hebrews 8:13). To try and bring it back now is the ultimate in foolishness.

They are not really Jewish festivals as if Jews created them. They are festivals of YHWH who ordained them. It is because of those festivals that prophesied of Christ and all mankind is saved. Since YHWH is God to every person, these appointment schedules actually puts our eyes on Christ with a new understanding from a Christian perspective. And.... the autumn ones were not fulfilled yet, so some Christians are learning what future event they point to instead of being confused with the ("feastless") myriad of eschatology out there. Nobody is bringing any old covenant back. Just wanted to point these facts out.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

It is because of those festivals that prophesied of Christ and all mankind is saved.

Excuse me! It is because of Christ that all who trust in Him are saved. The festivals looked forward to Christ; Christ has come; and the festivals have fulfilled their purpose and passed away into history. We have a Saviour who is worthy of more glory than Moses (Hebrews 3:3) and a great High Priest in the order of Melchizedek who is greater than the Levitical priesthood, so we should not be looking back to the old covenant which has long since passed away, but to the new covenant in Christ's blood; not to the Jerusalem 'which now is, and is in bondage with her children' (Galatians 4:25), but to the New Jerusalem, the 'city which has foundations, whose builder and Maker is God' (Hebrews 11:10).

 

[liafailrock]

Excuse me! It is because of Christ that all who trust in Him are saved. The festivals looked forward to Christ; Christ has come; and the festivals have fulfilled their purpose and passed away into history. We have a Saviour who is worthy of more glory than Moses (Hebrews 3:3) and a great High Priest in the order of Melchizedek who is greater than the Levitical priesthood, so we should not be looking back to the old covenant which has long since passed away, but to the new covenant in Christ's blood; not to the Jerusalem 'which now is, and is in bondage with her children' (Galatians 4:25), but to the New Jerusalem, the 'city which has foundations, whose builder and Maker is God' (Hebrews 11:10).

Well I don't think you truly grasped what these Christians are doing then. I trust you read the article. There's no harm in looking to Christ in the feast days he ordained and in the bible. And like I said, there are more to come, so they are not all passed yet. A Christian is free to worship this way in Christ because Christ was/is the past and future fulfillment of them and in the Kingdom. As stated it sheds light of His work of redemption and what's to come yet. There's no harm or threat in it. I was pointing out a trend taking place that I noticed. They are indeed the outline God created in the bible for the redemption of mankind. But yes I agree with you that what Paul said some people, as you are, esteem all days alike (in Christ), so there are no Sabbaths, special days of the week or holidays you ever celebrate. That's OK, too. Nobody's saying you have to do this, and nobody can call me accursed if I do. Let every man be convinced.

 

[David Kent]

The World Wide Church of God under Armstrong always followed the Jewish festivals, but they dropped them when he died although the Continuing Church of God still follow them.

 

[liafailrock]

The World Wide Church of God under Armstrong always followed the Jewish festivals, but they dropped them when he died although the Continuing Church of God still follow them.

Yes, most of the CoG's follow them yet e.g. United, Living, Restored, Philadelphia, etc. While I agree with their motivation I disagree with their belief that you MUST follow them. When one says they MUST follow them, that usually subtly translates "follow them my way". Yet Paul said not to judge anyone with regard to a Sabbath, new moon, feast etc which were shadows of things to come. So Paul was saying not to judge how one keeps them. No Christian (who observes them) seriously does sacrifice or do temple services any longer. Instead the article talks about a discovery amongst Christians as to their prophetic meanings and hence a day to worship and meet up with the Lord on this. While the CoG (but not the only church) had an interesting historical "head start" on them, I noticed that some Christians of late have been following more along a Judaic line of worship instead of traditions based in Gentile nations. I personally have been aware of them and in my own quirky way observing them since the 1980's. But it's mostly alone.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

I trust you read the article.

Yes. It seems to be an Israeli-sponsored website. Nothing wrong with that except that they're pushing another religion at you.
I'm finished on this thread. I'll only encourage you to avoid anything that is 'Christ Plus.' It's another Gospel.

 

[kyredneck]

It seems to be an Israeli-sponsored website...... they're pushing another religion at you.

THANK YOU!

 

[FollowTheWay]

Well I don't think you truly grasped what these Christians are doing then. I trust you read the article. There's no harm in looking to Christ in the feast days he ordained and in the bible. And like I said, there are more to come, so they are not all passed yet. A Christian is free to worship this way in Christ because Christ was/is the past and future fulfillment of them and in the Kingdom. As stated it sheds light of His work of redemption and what's to come yet. There's no harm or threat in it. I was pointing out a trend taking place that I noticed. They are indeed the outline God created in the bible for the redemption of mankind. But yes I agree with you that what Paul said some people, as you are, esteem all days alike (in Christ), so there are no Sabbaths, special days of the week or holidays you ever celebrate. That's OK, too. Nobody's saying you have to do this, and nobody can call me accursed if I do. Let every man be convinced.

I believe in replacement theology and that the New Testament teaches us that the Second Covenant under grace completely replaced the first. As Paul pointed out so many times, we are no longer under the law but under grace.

There are two statements in the article you posted that I personally completely reject:

1. “Rosh Hashana is a universal holiday,” Nekrutman told Breaking Israel News. “It is the birthday of the world. All of creation is being judged as to whether they are accepting the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as King of the World.”

I believe that the world will be judged as to whether they have individually accepted the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. Do you actually believe the first statement from this article.

2. “In Jewish tradition, repentance is universal and not individual,” Nekrutman explained. He emphasized that even the language used in Jewish prayer books is written in the first-person plural. “We sinned. On Yom Kippur, we turn to the king in national repentance.”

We will All (Jew and Gentile) stand individually before my Lord Jesus Christ and be judged. The Jews will be judged in the same way we are, individually. If they have accepted and followed the Lord Jesus they will be saved. If not they will be damned.

 

[rsr]

While I won't make this a salvation issue, I do see this newer generation wanting to get back to biblical Christianity (with the foundation of Judaism) with people waking up as this is revealed again in these last days.

More like a fad; could it be that some Christians, rather than live out the plain commands of Christ, are seeking affirmation for their faith in novelty? Modern Christianity seems prone to attempt to return to some mystic past that never existed.

 

[liafailrock]

I believe in replacement theology and that the New Testament teaches us that the Second Covenant under grace completely replaced the first. As Paul pointed out so many times, we are no longer under the law but under grace.

There are two statements in the article you posted that I personally completely reject:

1. “Rosh Hashana is a universal holiday,” Nekrutman told Breaking Israel News. “It is the birthday of the world. All of creation is being judged as to whether they are accepting the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as King of the World.”

I believe that the world will be judged as to whether they have individually accepted the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. Do you actually believe the first statement from this article.

2. “In Jewish tradition, repentance is universal and not individual,” Nekrutman explained. He emphasized that even the language used in Jewish prayer books is written in the first-person plural. “We sinned. On Yom Kippur, we turn to the king in national repentance.”

We will All (Jew and Gentile) stand individually before my Lord Jesus Christ and be judged. The Jews will be judged in the same way we are, individually. If they have accepted and followed the Lord Jesus they will be saved. If not they will be damned.

No I don't agree with those points in the article, either. I used the article because of what it said about Christians returning to biblical feast days and what I see as a trend. As insightful as I find the Jewish people, I (and other Christians) don't always agree with their interpretation of the feasts since they did not see Messiah the first time. I have a feeling Jews may be more flattered that we keep "their" feasts than if we see eye-to-eye on them. As for me personally, you have to understand that I relate to time, space, mathematics, astronomy and the like, so it appeals to me. It's a visual outline of God's redemptive plan as understandable as bullet outlines at a convention. LOL

 

[rsr]

Fair enough. But I think that many observant Jews are horrified that "Christians" are appropriating their feasts in service of what they consider blasphemy and "Christians" are blithely ignorant of of the sordid history of Christian-Jewish relations when they take part in these things for no particularly good reason except that it feels good.

 

[FollowTheWay]

No I don't agree with those points in the article, either. I used the article because of what it said about Christians returning to biblical feast days and what I see as a trend. As insightful as I find the Jewish people, I (and other Christians) don't always agree with their interpretation of the feasts since they did not see Messiah the first time. I have a feeling Jews may be more flattered that we keep "their" feasts than if we see eye-to-eye on them. As for me personally, you have to understand that I relate to time, space, mathematics, astronomy and the like, so it appeals to me. It's a visual outline of God's redemptive plan as understandable as bullet outlines at a convention. LOL

Interesting. Actually, my brother has started attending a Messianic Jew Synagogue on Sat.(as well as a Baptist service on Sunday) to witness to a man who has a Jewish background. This is a great movement of the kind I think you were really talking about to help Jewish people realize that their Messiah and ours has already come and all the prophesy they are looking for about his coming has been fulfilled. Praise be to the Lord!

 

[liafailrock]

Indeed the trend is growing..... today I found this article in my email alerts. Interesting and short read. This is an article by an Irish evangelical lady very pro-Israel. It came up because today is the Day of Atonement. Much like her, I do not agree with replacement theology. The Jews have their rightful place in the scheme of things -- a very big and primary scheme may I add (not just a side mention). As a matter of fact, I take it one step further by applying the promises to ALL Israel, even the house of Israel and not just the Jewish part of Israel. The lost descendants of Abraham formulated themselves into powerful (Gentile) nations (unknown to themselves and others as prophesied by the life of Joseph) and by them many brought the light of the gospel to the world. I'm a big fan of the book Judah's Scepter/Joseph's Birthright by J. H. Allen. It's online for free as a .pdf file so check it out sometime.

Op-Ed: A time for Christian soul searching

 

[Rob_BW]

Indeed the trend is growing..... today I found this article in my email alerts. Interesting and short read. This is an article by an Irish evangelical lady very pro-Israel. It came up because today is the Day of Atonement. Much like her, I do not agree with replacement theology. The Jews have their rightful place in the scheme of things -- a very big and primary scheme may I add (not just a side mention). As a matter of fact, I take it one step further by applying the promises to ALL Israel, even the house of Israel and not just the Jewish part of Israel. The lost descendants of Abraham formulated themselves into powerful (Gentile) nations (unknown to themselves and others as prophesied by the life of Joseph) and by them many brought the light of the gospel to the world. I'm a big fan of the book Judah's Scepter/Joseph's Birthright by J. H. Allen. It's online for free as a .pdf file so check it out sometime.

Op-Ed: A time for Christian soul searching

British Israelism? Thanks, but I'll pass.