From the Foreword

What happens when Jerusalem and Caesarea meet? In the days of the Apostles, Jerusalem was the spiritual/religious capital of Judaism and the land of Israel. Caesarea was the Roman/political capital of Judea. Jerusalem was Jewish; Caesarea was Gentile. Therein lies the significance of Peter’s mission to Cornelius, the God-fearing Gentile who lived in Caesarea. It is this theme that gives significance to the cover art we selected for Tim Hegg’s
landmark book Fellowheirs.

The mission of First Fruits of Zion is to strengthen the Body of Messiah’s appreciation for the land, the people, and the Scriptures of Israel. Part of this mission is to help restore the blessings of the Written Torah of Moses—the Torah of God—to believers.

For more than a decade now, First Fruits of Zion has been boldly asserting the eternal validity of God’s Holy Torah. Through our materials, Abba has strengthened the hands and hearts of many Jewish believers in and out of the Messianic movement, giving them the confidence to proudly embrace their biblical heritage as part of discipleship to Yeshua. But our goal is broader in scope than just reaching out to Jewish believers. We maintain that the Torah is vitally important for Jewish and Gentile believers alike. God intended the Torah life for all followers of His Son, the Jewish Messiah—not for the Jews alone.

Our position on this issue is not just a matter of personal preference or convenient ideology. We truly believe that this is the consistent message of the Bible. At FFOZ, the Bible is our sole authority in all issues of faith and observance.

In Fellowheirs, Tim Hegg has taken the trouble to carefully investigate what the Bible has to say about the sticky issues of Jewish identity and Gentile participation in the Torah. The result is a very important, much-needed book that offers some definitive, biblical answers regarding Jewish and Gentile relationships to the Torah. In so doing, Tim takes us deeper into the Scriptures than we may be accustomed to going.

Fellowheirs is written, by necessity, on a scholarly, academic level. Especially in the early chapters, some people may find it difficult reading. I urge you to stay with it and work through the arguments of each chapter. As we struggle to understand the full meaning of Scripture, we are wrestling with documents that often date back more than 3,000 years! This is not like reading the daily newspaper. It requires some diligence on our part. Press on to learn what the Bible has to say about Gentiles and their relationship to Israel and the Torah.

We originally intended to publish Tim’s research as an appendix to D. Thomas Lancaster’s Mystery of the Gospel. The authors developed their respective projects in cooperation with each other, and their works share many similarities. Mystery of the Gospel is built primarily upon the careful Bible scholarship of Fellowheirs. From the reader’s perspective, the two books should be regarded as part one and part two of the same project. Both works, however, are strong enough to stand on their own, and ultimately we decided to release them separately.

I pray that Fellowheirs will be an asset to the Messianic community, to the Hebrew Roots movement, and to the larger Body of Messiah. We all labor together in the service of our King, seeking to discern our Abba’s perfect will and wisdom for all of His children, even the Israel of God.

Boaz Michael
Founder/President
First Fruits of Zion

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