According to Strongs Concordance, the definition of "Christian" is "follower of Christ". Not that long ago in American History, The Ten Commandments which Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) taught, along with
the rest of the Bible, were vigorously expounded upon among
Christians. Though you may or may not hear this at the corner church these days; What we purpose is not new. It's just a returning to many of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith and the way things should still be.
Returning to the Roots of our faith
The Biblical
roots of Christianity grew from an everlasting covenant that Yahweh God made with Abraham. Today, as always, Believers enter into and become part of that same covenant through faith in Jesus
Christ (Yeshua the Messiah).
Apostle Paul, who had previously been
a Jewish Rabbi, wrote these words to fellow Believers in Rome, “Do not boast against the branches (Israel).
But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root (root =Israel and the Hebrew origins of
our faith), but the root supports you (Yahweh God's people)” (Romans 11:18).
As people of Yahweh, the God of the Bible, and followers of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ), the more we know and learn about our Biblical Hebraic roots, the better we can know
and serve Yahweh, the God of the Bible. And the more we know Him the more productive, fruitful and blessed we
are in our daily lives.
A Fuller, Clearer Understanding of the Bible
When we read the Bible through Hebrew / Hebraic eyes (of which
it was written), our understanding becomes much richer and deeper. A clearer perspective evolves to include
things that we never before even knew existed. The impurities
float to the top and the good stuff is left remaining.
Exciting Insights About Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah
and His teachings
When you are born into a country, or even simply live in a country, you accept it's language,
customs and culture (theoretically). In these ways you are able to function and communicate with others of the
same nationality ie; your neighbors, employer, customers, and others. Abraham along with King David, Yeshua and His early followers were primarily Hebrews of the nation
of Israel. Therefore, the more we understand and embrace the Bible from the perspective of those who lived, breathed
and penned it, the more we will understand Yahweh God and Yeshua the Messiah. Please note that Biblical
Israel is not synonymous with the geographical / political Israel that we see on the news today.
Interesting
facts about (Jesus the Christ) Yeshua the Messiah; He
- Read and studied only the Hebrew Scriptures / "Old Testament" (The "New Testament"
had not yet been written. Please note that we accept Gen.
- Rev. as the inspired Word of God)
In these ways, as Yeshua / Jesus was unquestionably a Hebrew of Israel, we readily embrace and hold fast to the attributes of Yeshua the
Messiah as expressed in the Hebrew Roots of our faith. Likewise we also appreciate the Spirit, Truth and commitment of the disciples and Apostles that were commissioned by Yeshua as recorded in the
Bible from Matthew to Revelation. For more information regarding what we believe please click here.
Clarification of Paul's Writings
Apostle Paul is probably
the most misunderstood person in the Bible. Both Christians and Jews think that Paul was an “anti-Law”
Jew who created his own religion and called it Christianity. But when we understand that Apostle Paul was a Hebrew of
the nation of Israel, and that He approached Yeshua the Messiah, The Ten Commandments, and the "Law" or Pentateuch (and the rest of the Hebrew Bible), from that perspective, then we are
able to see Apostle Paul and his writings from an entirely different light. Suddenly the confusion slips away.
From a Western world view, "the Law" (Torah) is erroneously understood as a legalistic
system of rules which Israel had to keep in order to be "saved". The Western world view of "Grace"
has come to be understood as freedom from "the Law". As these understandings have evolved, "the
law" of Judaism and the "grace" of Christianity have been placed in opposition to one another.
Was this by design? These are modern world views but this is not what Yeshua, Apostle Paul, or the others who embraced
first century Christianity taught and lived. This is evident by their writings. But unfortunately things have become
muddled.
A Better understanding
of Yeshua
As we accept Yeshua as the Messiah, an exciting benefit of understanding Biblical Israel and the Hebraic roots
of our faith is that we are enabled to understand Yeshua the Messiah more and we are then subsequently able to follow Him
better. A quick, objective view of the Bible will reveal that, generally speaking, the Bible is a book written by Hebrews
of Israel to all of God's people. Unfortunately this
understanding has been derailed and convoluted by
others with racist views. Because of this it is important to understand that
the Bible was lovingly given to the world so that ALL could accept the Salvation offered through redemption by Yeshua as the Messiah.
Today, the Catholic and Babylonian
influences, along with apostasy, have had a tremendous impact / influence upon the Protestant / Christian Church. As stated in other areas of the web site; though this information may understandably
seem like a bit of a stretch today; in days past the relationship between the Hebrew Roots of our faith and Yeshua the Messiah
was not so difficult to see. For example, in early America, the Sabbath was strictly practiced, there were no commercial holidays to confuse things, The Ten Commandments were closely adhered to and the entire Bible was America's text book and governing document for individual citizenship.
Just The New England Primer alone is glaring evidence of that.
Just as Yeshua and the Apostles walked out Biblical principles in their daily lives;
In many ways, by looking at early America we can see how Biblical principles can and should be applied to our daily
lives today.
At Living Water Homestead of Faith we lovingly embrace
the Hebrew Yehsua as our Messiah along with the principle of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone (Gen. - Rev.). And in accordance
with the Bible we accept all who accept the ways of Yahweh God, regardless of their skin color or nation of origin.
You can read our statement of faith here.
In the book of Luke, Chapter 24, after His resurrection Yeshua came upon two of His followers
walking along a road. These were people who had known Him and listened to His teachings.
But we see something
interesting in verses 25 and 26. Here Yeshua says“... ‘0 foolish ones, and slow of heart to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ (Messiah) to have suffered these things
and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself ” .
In verses 31-32 Luke went on to say “Then
their eyes were opened and they knew Him... And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn
within us while He talked with us on the road; and while He opened the Scriptures to us?".
No matter how long we have known Jesus (Yeshua) or study His teachings (which were all based upon the Ten Commandments) He can still have our eyes opened to things that we didn't see before. Join us as we meet the Hebrew Messiah; Yeshua.
