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"So I went digging..."

By Boaz Michael | Comments (1) | Posted on August 15, 2008

On Wednesday I gave final approval for our newest book to go to press. God willing it will be ready to ship sometime towards the end of the month. We will be making a formal announcement of the publication on the 28th of August. I think you are going to appreciate this new book and its audio companion entitled Hallowed Be Thy Name: Sanctifying God's Sacred Name.

Here is a short clip from my forward:

God's Name is a big issue, especially in the Christian Hebrew Roots and Messianic Jewish movements. I don't regard it as an essential issue worth fighting over, but many people do. Many of my brothers and sisters have become entrenched in an argument about whether or not to pronounce God's Hebrew Name and even how it should be pronounced. Incredibly, I have heard of whole congregations splitting over these questions. What is more, we often receive mail at First Fruits of Zion from people who are concerned because they have been told that the common English names for God and Messiah are actually the names of pagan deities.

It is my hope that this new booklet in the Mayim Chayim series can shed some light on these matters. I don't want this book to be used as one more volley in a holy war. Instead, I hope it will be received as an educational resource that can lend some clarity to the discussion. The Mayim Chayim series is meant to introduce Messianic Judaism to the traditional Jewish application of Torah, and to show how traditional Judaism provides a wealth of information pertinent to the argument over God's Name.

The day we sent this to the printer I received, what I like to consider a note of confirmation, Karen from Colorado wrote us saying,

I am new, about 8 weeks into my Hebrew Roots Bible study ... It was one of my teachers who told our lot of women (about 15) that Jesus is really a pagan name for Zeus! So I went digging, couldn't find it proven anywhere and was a bit upset that she didn't give us any back up... I have found in my diggings that there is a lot of conspiracy theories about Christianity.

I feel that this is an important book for our movement. I hope it brings unity and balance. I love the Torah movement, and I deeply desire to see it grow and mature. Part of that process involves moving past the divisive foolishness that has hampered our development over the last decade. May Abba give us wisdom and patience, and may He enable us to see one another with the love of Messiah. May we learn strive continually for unity, understanding, humility, and grace.

Karen concluded her letter to us by saying, "Your work seems to be rooted in history and truth, not conspiracy... Thank you and I pray for you all working for this organization to be blessed beyond measure."

I would thank all of you that support this work and enable us to created needed resources like this book. It is a solid resource that will go a long way to bring stability into this movement and peace into the souls of people that have been misinformed about the Name of God.

If you would like to support this message please give a donation to assist us in our efforts for the kingdom. Donate

About the Author: Boaz Michael is the president and founder of First Fruits of Zion.

Visitor Comments

Thank you Boaz for your dedication to be a bridge of unity and love. I think this is an important topic that needs some loving attention. I have been apart of the movement since 1999. I am amazed at what is going on in the movement and how different many groups are that consider themselves under the umbrella of Messianic. To those just coming into the movement it can be quite confussing. And this name only, never say the name, and such doesn't help these young believers coming into the faith. Many times there are those that are teaching that haven't taken the instruction to be disciples first. I feel anyway and I'm not saying everyone, but many. I think we are still getting the horse before the cart. First we are called to be disciples, then we are to go and raise up more disciples for HIS kingdom. It is my opinion that there are to many in a hurry to teach and not be taught! Yeshua taught humbleness. This comes from being discliplined. Keep up the good work!

Blessing,
Kimmy

Posted by: Kimmy Mashore | August 18, 2008 3:32 PM

With this all new Hebrew learning resource you can get started in learning Hebrew and drawing ever nearer to the Jewish Messiah as you master the Hebrew alphabet

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