Christine Burden reviews 'The Messianic Church Arising' by Dr Robert D Heidler (2006, 224 pages, Glory of Zion International Ministries).

I first read this book in 2008 and was so impressed with it that I bought several copies to give away. In re-reading it more recently I have found it just as refreshing, relevant and challenging for the times in which we are living! It is a book about restoring the Jewish roots of Christianity.

Heidler, senior pastor of Glory of Zion Outreach Centre (USA), is passionate about restoring the Church to its covenant roots. His book is divided into two parts: the first entitled 'Discovering Our Lost Inheritance' and the second dedicated to 'Recovering Our Lost Inheritance'. In addition to this there are three helpful appendices dealing with God's heart for the Jews, the Jewishness of the early Church and the Jewish Feasts.

This book is thoroughly researched and well-presented and I did not find it difficult to read. As an aside, as a Messianic believer myself I appreciated the thoughtful note included that this book was written for Gentiles and for that reason the author uses terms and expressions easily understandable to Gentile Christians (p2).

This book, about restoring the Jewish roots of Christianity, is refreshing, relevant and challenging for the times in which we are living.

Messianic Revival

In the introduction, the author reveals a startling fact: as recently as 1967, there were no known Messianic congregations anywhere in the world! Over the centuries, Jewish people had come to recognise their Messiah, but they had been assimilated into the church and had "forfeited their Jewish identity" (p13).

However, everything began to change after the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel regained the City of Jerusalem. For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, Jerusalem was no longer "trampled underfoot by the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Since then, more Jewish people have come to recognise who Jesus is than in all the generations since the 1st Century AD – and many of these believers are retaining their Jewish identity.

Heidler goes on to note that now, there are Messianic congregations worldwide. This has not happened since the days of the early church. God is doing something: "The veil that had been over the eyes of the Jewish people has begun to lift" (p13)! Heidler then examines when and why this began, which is one of the main thrusts of the book.

Since 1967, more Jewish people have come to know Jesus than in all the generations since the first century AD.

Chapters of Interest

In his second chapter, 'The Root and The Branches', Dr Heidler looks at the influence of paganism, which he believes has caused mankind to lose "any understanding of spiritual reality" (p34). He raises many interesting points that could be quite a challenge to believers. For example, he discusses the effects that a pagan mindset has had, and still has, on Gentile understandings of God's relationship with the Jewish people – causing many Gentiles to struggle to see that there is one God, rather than 'one of many gods'.

There is also an excellent chapter entitled 'Living in Covenant', in which the meaning of covenant is unpacked. Heidler refers to Genesis 26:26-28 and states that covenant is "the key to security" in a lawless world (p108). Later, he compares 'cutting' covenant (the correct terminology) with "Jesus our Covenant Partner" (p114). He explains that believers are now in covenant with God and tells of the blessings which come from that.

The book contains useful appendices on the Jewishness of the Early Church and on celebrating the Feasts as God's appointed times. In this the author takes us through each feast in turn, showing how to appropriate them into the Christian life. A special mention goes to Appendix 1, 'God's Heart for the Jews'. I found that this chapter touched my heart, and I could see the compassion Dr Heidler has for the Jewish people. He reminds the reader that God has not forgotten Israel – and that there is an urgent need for the Church to wake up and mature in its understanding of the Bible, which is very much a Jewish book.

This is a book that will show you how to regain your lost inheritance as part of the 'One New Man' with Jewish believers.

Breaking Down the Wall

If you are being called to be part of the 'One New Man' with Jewish believers (which we all are), I would recommend this book to you. It covers the burning issue of Replacement Theology and the diabolical influences of anti-Semitism within the historical 'Church'. It is relevant and thought-provoking to us in these end times and it helps to "break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile believers" (Eph 2:14).

The purpose of this book is not to make you Jewish, but to help you experience the fullness of Christianity - to know Christianity as God intended. Overall this is a book that will show you how to regain your lost inheritance. You will read and be refreshed and revived, and want to cry out, 'Lord, let me return to my roots and receive your blessing!'

'The Messianic Church Arising' is available from Sozo Books for £10.99 + P&P.

Could a momentous statement from Orthodox rabbis signal a vital sea-change in Jewish-Christian relations? We welcome your comments!

We live in momentous times! Everything is being shaken. Revolutionary forces have been shaking the world for 50 years – social revolution, political revolution, technological revolution – everything is changing at an ever-increasing speed! Every day something new happens that causes us to change our thinking and re-assess what we had considered immutable, unchangeable, everlasting.

World-Changing Statement?

Last month a statement was made by a group of 25 Orthodox rabbis that attracted very little attention in the media but which may prove to be an event that changes the course of world history. The statement was entitled: 'To do the will of our Father in Heaven: Toward a partnership between Jews and Christians'.¹

It began with the following paragraph:

After nearly two millennia of mutual hostility and alienation, we Orthodox Rabbis who lead communities, institutions and seminaries in Israel, the United States and Europe...seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven by accepting the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters...

The statement continues:

Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal covenant between G-d and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes.

As stated by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Bilateral Commission with the Holy See under the leadership of Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, "We are no longer enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the essential moral values for the survival and welfare of humanity". Neither of us can achieve G-d's mission in this world alone.

Changed Attitude to Jesus

One of the key points that the statement acknowledges is that Jesus upheld the centrality of the Torah. This was a point of contention when the apostles first began their mission in Jerusalem. In the trial of Stephen before the Sanhedrin it is recorded, "They produced false witnesses, who testified, 'This fellow never stops speaking about this holy place and against the Law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us'" (Acts 6:13-14).

In the Gospels there are many occasions when Jesus disputed with the Pharisees concerning their interpretation and practice of the Torah, but he always upheld the Torah as the unchangeable word of God. In the statement from the Orthodox rabbis this is acknowledged in a momentous passage that unties 2,000 years of misunderstanding between Jews and Christians. The statement affirms a declaration by 18^th Century German rabbi Jacob Emden:

Jesus brought a double goodness to the world. On the one hand he strengthened the Torah of Moses majestically, and not one of our sages spoke out more emphatically concerning the immutability of the Torah. On the other hand he removed idols from the nations.

Significantly, the statement acknowledges that Jesus upheld the centrality of the Torah, untying 2,000 years of misunderstanding between Jews and Christians.

An Historic Turning Point

Since issuing this statement, it has been signed by many more Orthodox rabbis around the world, undoing two millennia of Jewish rejection and animosity towards Jesus. This is surely a notable miracle and could signal a turning point in the history of Jewish-Christian relations, as prophesied by the Apostle Paul in a letter to Christians in Ephesus. He said that the purpose of Jesus was to destroy the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace" (Eph 2.15).

Rabbi Dr Eugene Korn, Academic Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Cooperation said:

This proclamation's breakthrough is that influential Orthodox Rabbis across all centers of Jewish life have finally acknowledged that...Christianity and Judaism have much in common spiritually and practically. Given our toxic history, this is unprecedented in Orthodoxy.

Another significant passage in the statement says, "Both Jews and Christians have a common covenantal mission to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty, so that all humanity will call on his name and abominations will be removed from the earth. We understand the hesitation of both sides to affirm this truth and we call on our communities to overcome these fears in order to establish a relationship of trust and respect" (emphasis added).

Could this statement signal the turning point in the history of Jewish-Christian relationships prophesied by the Apostle Paul?

United Witnesses

Christian tradition that dates back to the New Testament is that the day will come when the barriers between Jew and Gentile will be broken and the two will be used by God in a powerful spiritual unity to witness truth to the world, which will transform the nations. This teaching is clearly set out by Paul in the three central chapters in his letter to the Romans: chapters 9 to 11.

Paul saw this coming together of Jew and Gentile believers in Jesus to be part of God's end time purposes for the evangelisation of the world. He believed that this would not take place "until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Rom 11:25). Then "All Israel will be saved" and God will reaffirm his unbreakable and irrevocable covenant with Israel.

This expectation of unity between Jew and Gentile was foretold 500 years before the time of Jesus by the prophet Zechariah, who was given a vision of two branches of an olive tree and told, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth" (Zech 4:14). This is repeated in the last book of the Bible, in a prophecy foreseeing the future of Jerusalem and the end of its occupation by unbelievers:

They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (Rev 11:2-4)

Long foretold in Scripture is a coming unity between Jew and Gentile, a miraculous breaking down of barriers, through which God will reach the world.

Need to Reject Replacement Theology

Now that rabbis are reaching out to Christians, it is surely time for senior church leaders throughout the world to respond by utterly rejecting the curse of 'Replacement Theology' that says that the church has replaced Israel in the purposes of God. This has done untold harm in stirring up hatred against the Jews over so many centuries. It was this false belief that God had broken his covenant with the Jews that caused Luther to urge the German princes to drive out Jews from their lands.

Luther's teaching became influential in Hitler's Nazism that produced the bloodbath of the Second World War and the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were murdered. This past week we have been remembering Holocaust Memorial Day (27 January) the day on which the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz and revealed its horrors to the world.

Opportunity for the Church

This is an historic time for Christians throughout the world to call upon church leaders to respond to this statement from Orthodox rabbis by humbly apologising for the false theology we have propagated for centuries. We should also be humbly confessing before God that we have dared to teach that he is not a covenant-keeping God who would never ever break his promises.

It is surely time for Christians to call on their church leaders to respond to this statement by humbly apologising for the false 'replacement theology' we have propagated for centuries.

We have denied the truth that God revealed to Jeremiah when he told him "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jer 31:31). This new covenant was only opened to us Gentiles through Jesus. God affirmed his promise with a solemn oath:

Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done, declares the Lord. (Jer 31:37)

Now is the Time

Now is the time, while God is shaking the whole world, for Christians to recognise our responsibility for so many of the tragedies of history and to reach out in love and humility to our Jewish brothers and sisters. The Catholic Church has done this: surely Protestant Church leaders should do the same – reaching out in the name of Jesus the Jewish Messiah.

It is Jesus who opened the one true God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob to us Gentiles. His followers were said to have turned the world of the Roman Empire upside-down. Maybe the time has come when God is turning our upside-down world the right way up!

Read the CJCUC statement in full here.

References

1 Orthodox Rabbinic Statement on Christianity, CJCUC, 3 December 2015.

Prophecy Today UK sends an open letter to Her Majesty the Queen.

Despite all the problems our nation has faced over the last year, we at Prophecy Today found a little encouragement over the Christmas season to hear the Prime Minister's affirmation of Christian values in our nation and also the Education Secretary's resolve to promote the Christian heritage of Britain in our schools.

Most of all we were greatly encouraged by the Queen's Christmas message - perhaps the most overtly Christian message of her reign. The message can be accessed for three more weeks on the BBC website and is worth listening to several times as an encouragement and as a prompt to our New Year prayers for the nation.

The Board of Prophecy Today UK has sent a short letter to the Queen, copied in full below.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
Buckingham Palace
London
SW1A 1AA

Your Majesty,

We at Prophecy Today UK would like to thank you for your 2015 Christmas Broadcast. In these challenging days it was so refreshing and encouraging to hear such a clear message of hope and love founded firmly on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We would also like to encourage you as you enter another year of service to our nation, and to assure you of our ongoing prayers for you, your family and the Government.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Clifford Denton

Chairman
Prophecy Today UK

On behalf of the Ministry Board and our Supporters

'The Christian in an Age of Terror: Selected sermons of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1941-50' (Ed. Dr Michael Eaton, New Wine Press, 2007, 208 pages. RRP £11.99, available from ICM Books for £8.99)

This book contains sermons preached in Westminster Chapel during the period that European nations were at war. Dr Lloyd-Jones spoke to his people about how war, persecution and suffering could be seen by Christians and afterwards he encouraged his congregation with talks on the Christian life. In view of the present threat of terrorism throughout the world, this is a book of relevance and inspiration for Christians today.

In the first chapter on religious persecution, which looks at Acts 12, we see how history does repeat itself.

If we study the history of the church we will find she has gone through periods of terrible trial and persecution – then follows a period of comparative peace and calm, then another time of persecution, followed by a time of rest. In Acts 12 we are shown how the church should act and what should be done to emerge in a triumphant manner. (p15)

We are exhorted to pray for Christians in other lands as we discover what is happening there, and to develop a ministry of intercession.

The book exhorts Christians to pray for the persecuted church and to develop a ministry of intercession, in response to news of conflict.

Reading further in the book there are wonderful chapters about how when Peter was persecuted and in prison he did not suffer alone because the whole church suffered with him and "prayed without ceasing". God is on the side of the church and that makes all the difference. Even in prison and awaiting execution, chained to a soldier on each side, Peter was given peace and calmness from God, and was sleeping soundly (Psalm 127:2 is quoted here - "He giveth his beloved sleep"). And then – a light shone in the cell and he was led out by an angel!

There are chapters on how the church has persisted and remained in spite of oppression; and another on how Christianity is a religion of revelation because it is God who acts and speaks, reveals and manifests himself to us because of his amazing love and grace. Chapter 7 answers the question relating to the value of the Old Testament, the necessity of reading it and "seeing the wonderful proof it provides of the truth of the New Testament" (p78).

The church has persisted and remained in spite of oppression - God is on the side of the church, and that makes all the difference.

Other chapters focus on how we are to live as Christians, having the mind of the Holy Spirit and loving God who gives us an assurance of our salvation and hope for the future. The concluding chapters exhort us to "Stand Fast in the Faith" and "Watch and Pray".

This is a thought-provoking and inspiring book which is well worth reading - especially for encouragement in the present uncertain days.