Founder’s Blog

Closing the Gates

This evening I will stand before God on the most serious day of prayer in the year. Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment, begins tonight; I will stand before my Creator, account for my actions, words, and intentions. May God have mercy on my soul. May he show me his grace through the atoning sacrifice of his Son.

I write this note at the end of the Days of Awe, a period of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Days of Awe are a time for serious introspection, a time to consider ones actions; it is the time in which you seek forgiveness with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. Judaism reflects the Master's approach to atonement--if you desire for God to forgive you, you must first seek forgiveness from others and offer forgiveness to those who have wronged you. Tonight I seek atonement--today I seek forgiveness from anyone that I have hurt.

Over the last several weeks, many of our readers and supporters in the Messianic movement have launched a seemingly endless litany of allegations against me and my colleagues at First Fruits of Zion regarding our theological correction to the Messianic "Divine Invitation" theology.

One Law theology defined: The belief that Gentile and Jewish believers have identical obligation to Torah and liability for its transgression.

Brothers and sisters have accused us of deceit, manipulation, profiteering, theological marketing schemes, rabbinic-ism, occultism, Judaizing, and simple ignorance. Everyone seems to have a theory. At the end of the day, it's all speculation. God alone knows our hearts and motives. He is our judge.

This blog post will be our last in this series of communications on the controversial subject of Divine Invitation vs. One Law theologies. We have presented our case on-line, in personal communications, and through our Messiah Journal article. We feel that we have established our position biblically and in consensus with the majority of NT scholars: Jewish, Christian, Hebrew Roots, and Messianic. We may, from time to time, need to offer an additional clarification as things arise. We will as always be open to private communications and dialogue with our readers, supporters, and students, but for all practical purposes, we are closing the gates on this issue and moving on.

Reconciliation

My colleagues and I used these ten days and the days leading up to them to clearly and forthrightly reconcile our teachings back to a biblical model, but this process actually began years ago. We first officially announced that we recognized a flaw in the "One Law" theology we had helped to create in an editorial letter several years ago. In the fall of 2006--exactly three years ago at this time, the editorial letter for Messiah Magazine issue 92 stated:

In my last editorial letter, I wrote about the importance of protecting Jewish identity ... some believe that we blur the line of distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers. Sometimes it does, but I think that can be good. I'm glad when I see Gentiles keeping the Sabbath and the mitzvot side-by-side with Jewish believers. But I am also beginning to understand some concerns too... For two thousand years, most Christians have regarded themselves as the new, replacement Israel and I hope the believing Torah movement is not in the same danger of moving in a similar direction.... A good example of this distinction is the Apostles' decision for the four standards of Acts 15:20 which were offered to Gentile believers as a baseline for fellowship as they entered into Jewish culture and began to learn Torah in Diaspora synagogues. The ruling assumed a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The expectation seemed to be that Gentiles would grow in Torah as they learned in the synagogues. However, Acts 21:20-25 makes it clear that the Apostles did not intend that ruling for ethnic Jews. The four laws of Acts 15 were not an acceptable baseline for Jewish believers. The Apostles expected Jewish believers to remain steadfast in Torah after coming to faith in Messiah

Perhaps that 2006 announcement slipped under the radar of our readers. Our recent communications have not. Let me affirm the statement I made in 2006--this is our current position and has been since then. Fall of 2006 represents the beginning of our rapid distancing from dogmatic One Law language.

For the past several years, FFOZ has avoided the expression "One Law" and the implication that Jews and Gentiles have identical legal liability to the entire Torah. People are surprised to realize that we have not been One Law for quite a while. As our former theological advisor Tim Hegg recently told me, "When I saw you begin to use the term 'Messianic Judaism,' I knew that we were going down different paths."

All of the materials that FFOZ has created since 2006 have been written with a "Divine Invitation" understanding firmly in place. Most of our current resources are unaffected by the change because they were written, revised or created since 2006. For example, Boundary Stones, Grafted In (formerly titled Mystery of the Gospel), the current edition of Restoration, all our currently available audio and video resources, and Torah Clubs 1-3 were all written within the parameters of Divine Invitation theology. (Torah Clubs 4-5 may require a few, small revisions.) Each of these materials point people to the beauty of Torah without swerving off into a dogmatism that goes beyond biblical limits. We are proud of the passion and balance that the resources represent--in fact we just received from the printer the new edition (6th printing) of Restoration. The back of the book reads:

Biblical Christianity was originally a sect of Judaism that believed in Jesus and revered the Torah as the core of her scriptures. Restoration is a riveting argument for a return to that original, biblical expression of faith in Jesus....Discover for yourself the profound beauty of Torah life, the celebration of the biblical Sabbath, and the appreciation of the God's holy feast days...

What is the Difference?

FFOZ is still committed to our mission: "Proclaiming the Torah and its way of life, fully centered on Messiah, to today's people of God." The only difference is that you will no longer find us making sweeping over-generalizations that diminish the distinction between Jewish people and non-Jewish believers. You will not hear us saying that Gentile believers who do not choose a Messianic, Torah-observant, Jewish lifestyle are walking in sin.

The Difference: No longer ignoring distinction between Jewish people and Gentile believers. No longer teaching that it is a sin for Gentiles to fail to keep the commandments of circumcision, Sabbath, festivals, and Leviticus 11 dietary standards.

Still the Same: Still teaching Jewish and Gentile believers to keep Torah. Still encouraging Gentiles to take hold of the biblical Sabbath, festivals, and dietary laws disciples of Messiah from the nations, grafted in to Israel.

We are eager to get back to work teaching Torah to Jewish and Gentile believers both. We are eager to build the Messianic movement. We want to see a complete restoration of biblical Christianity for Jewish and Gentile believers both.

What Can I Expect to See from FFOZ?

With God's help we will continue to have a strong voice of restoration. We will continue to teach and educate the whole body about the role and beauty of the Torah. You will see a message that continues to mature, become more balanced, and careful. This theological correction brings FFOZ's teaching into better alignment with that of the Apostles, who are built upon the foundation, which is Yeshua the Messiah--who was the living Torah.

You can expect to see us teaching very carefully. We will continue to build on the foundation of Divine Invitation--the apostolic expectation that Gentiles will learn and practice more Torah as they grow in the scriptures and the community of Israel.

We feel confident that our message reflects the consensus of the best Christian, Messianic, and Jewish scholarship, a fact that lends greater credibility to our message of Torah while at the same time maintains a culture of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and mutual respect between brothers.

We will continue to present a message of Torah for Gentile believers as a response to one's love for God, devotion to Messiah, solidarity with Israel, and kingdom expectation. We will present the commandments of God as an opportunity to connect with God, revealing his holiness and righteousness to the world.

We resolve to do a better job in balancing our message, prioritizing the weighty matters of Torah over and above the external matters. First Fruits of Zion will not be a ministry that singularly focuses on Sabbath issues, festivals, pork, tzitzit, halachah, etc. as if those things represent the whole of Torah. While they are important, our Master Yeshua and his Apostles seemed to have a different set of priorities in their teaching of Torah.

It is our belief the message of Torah is fundamentally right and biblical--the closer our message is aligned with biblical parameters and expectations, the more it will impact people's lives. When we see an area where we have overstepped a biblical line, we will readjust. That is why we have gone to such pains to communicate with you our understanding of Divine Invitation.

The Future and HaYesod

On the advent of the new HaYesod program, we felt we owed it to all of our readers, users, and students to be unequivocally clear in this area of Gentiles and Torah. The imminent release of the new program required us to clearly articulate our position.

We have high expectations of the new program. We are partnering with group leaders to share the message of Torah with the nations. We did not want group leaders condemning our brothers and sisters in Messiah that are in the church, nor did we want group leaders that taught animosity or theological disregard for the Jewish people.

FFOZ wants to build up the church not tear it down--we want to see all of God's people embrace the Torah in an appropriate, balanced, and measured manner. We want to see the kingdom of Heaven take over the entire world, to see all believers taking up the Sabbath, the festivals, the dietary laws and the beauty of Torah life. HaYesod is going to work towards that goal, but before it can, we need to be on the same page with you.

So let me encourage you. If you have come to the Torah message through this ministry--continue on in your growth and maturing in the Torah. If you share our perspectives, our understandings, our mission then join us in sharing this message.

We want to fulfill the visions of the prophets of Israel when they saw the Torah going out from Zion to all nations. We want to join the apostles in their message to carry the Gospel of Messiah from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth--teaching all men the paths of discipleship. We want to play a part in the Master's mission of transforming the world, bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.

Closing the Gates

At the end of Yom Kippur, the final service is called "Neilah," and Jewish tradition teaches that when the last shofar is blown at Neilah, the gates of heaven close. The gates of heaven, which stood open during the days of awe to receive prayers of repentance, swing shut, representing the end of the season and the end of this period of repentance. When the gates close, it's a good sign. It means the court is adjourned, the trial is over, and it is time to move on to the joy of the festival of Sukkot.

At First Fruits of Zion, we too are ready to close the gates on the current controversy and move on to the work of the kingdom.

As a teaching team we have read hundreds of letters, notes, posts on the forums, and full-blown position papers. We have taken each one seriously, read them, discussed them and learned from them. There have been so many Messianic blogs, discussion, and position papers written against First Fruits in the last few weeks that we have felt a responsibility to clarify and define our understanding of the biblical matter at hand. We wanted to state our position rather than let others caricaturize us. That is why we offered this series of blog posts in which we presented our argument concerning Acts 15 and 21 and a more apostolic understanding of Gentile obligation to Torah.

The blog responses we have posted in this series have been hard-edged, polemical, and dogmatic because we found ourselves in a theological fight for survival and truth, a theological fight that will impact not just this ministry, but the entire Messianic movement. But we aren't fighters, and we are not looking to carry the fight into the future. Having stated our case, we are ready to leave this subject behind and get back to teaching Torah.

We are not looking for a debate. We respect other Torah and Messiah centered ministries and encourage people to continue learning from them. Our ministry is not built on confrontation. We are not academic-level scholars. We are just Bible teachers. We are about peace, respecting others, and teaching the Torah.

We are ready to beat our swords back into plowshares, adjourn the court, and close the gates.

Slichot: Apologies

Please accept our apologies, apologies from me and from all of us, for the upset we might have caused in your homes and communities. Please accept our apology for teaching the theological oversimplifications that led us to One Law theology in the first place.
As we stand on the edge of the holiest day of the year, let me encourage you to pray for us as we pray for you. Each of you will be in our prayers this Day of Atonement.

Be encouraged. Change is necessary to grow and mature. Grow with us, mature with us. Together as a Messianic community we can continue the work of restoration that the Father began in our lives. Ask yourself, "Is it reasonable to suppose that during these early years of sailing through unchartered waters that we would not occasionally require a course correction?"

At the end of a long fast and many prayers, the Yom Kippur service will conclude with the following prayer, Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu, ve'al kol Yisra'el, ve'imru: "Amen."

So, "May the One who makes peace in His heights make peace for us and for all Israel. Amen"

And then the gates will close.

Links to Related Blog Articles:
Reasoning Together
One Simple Verse: Galatians 5:3
Moral vs. Ceremonial
The Unbearable Yoke
Q&A: Divine Invitation
The Tipping Point
Acts 15 Re-Examined
The Lone Voice of FFOZ
One Law in Context Part One
One Law in Context Part Two
Sin and Torah

About the Author: Boaz Michael is the President and Founder of First Fruits of Zion.