We continue with our in-depth research into the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM). It is also known as Hebraic Roots and Jewish Roots. You can read the introduction to this series here.

Adherents of HRM believe that Christianity left its Hebrew Roots centuries ago and that what they are doing now is bringing Christianity back to its “roots.”

The research format for this series is in two sections:

  • Section One — what adherents and critics believe about the doctrine and practice of the Hebrew Roots Movement
  • Section Two — what I believe about the doctrine and practice of the Hebrew Roots Movement

We are still in Section One of this series.

We looked at the HRM belief of keeping the annual Hebrew Feast days in the last part of our series. We turn now to the keeping of the annual Hebrew feasts. We will hear from HRM critics in the this part.

[*We do not necessarily endorse the critics listed below or their ministries or websites. Our purpose is to share some of the oppositional viewpoints to beliefs in the Hebrew Roots Movement. I will share my observations in the second section of this series.]

Annual Feast Days

Although they often speak of keeping the “law,” they are usually inconsistent in how this is understood and defined. For example, certain laws are either broken or neglected while a great deal of attention is placed on keeping the Sabbath (Friday sunset through Saturday sunset) and celebrating the feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23. These issues will be discussed in more detail below.

A very common teaching in the HRM is that faithful believers must only celebrate the holidays that were part of the Mosaic Covenant. Those who demand that others participate in these festivals and abstain from any other celebration or face God’s condemnation are teaching contrary to Scripture. Leviticus 23 describes the proper protocol for celebrating the following feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks (Pentecost), Trumpets, Tabernacles, and Day of Atonement.

First, as discussed above, Christians have the freedom to esteem any day higher than any other or to not hold one day in honor above another (Romans 14:5). While this particular verse might have been written to specifically address the issue of the Sabbath, it can still be applied to any holiday, and Paul taught the same type of freedom applied to the festivals (Colossians 2:16). Neither did the apostles at the Jerusalem Council instruct the Gentile believers to celebrate the Levitical feasts.

The HRM certainly cannot condemn those who celebrate Hanukkah for a couple of reasons. Their followers highly esteem Jewish practices, and Hanukkah is a very important Jewish celebration. But the greatest argument against the “Leviticus 23 only” position is that Jesus almost certainly celebrated Hanukkah, “the Feast of Dedication” in the “winter” mentioned in John 10:22. If he was not in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday, then what was he there for? And if it were wrong to celebrate it, why did he not take the opportunity to set people straight during the “Feast of Dedication”? So if Jesus did not violate the law by celebrating a holiday not found in Leviticus 23, then why would it be wrong for Christians to celebrate a holiday not listed in that chapter? It should be mentioned that many HRM followers also celebrate Purim, another Jewish holiday that started long after Moses (Esther 9:26–28). Answers in Genesis

Although there are many different and diverse Hebrew Roots assemblies with variations in their teachings, they all adhere to a common emphasis on recovering the “original” Jewishness of Christianity. Their assumption is that the Church has lost its Jewish roots and is unaware that Jesus and His disciples were Jews living in obedience to the Torah. For the most part, those involved advocate the need for every believer to walk a Torah-observant life. This means that the ordinances of the Mosaic Covenant must be a central focus in the lifestyle of believers today as it was with the Old Testament Jews of Israel. Keeping the Torah includes keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week (Saturday), celebrating the Jewish feasts and festivals, keeping the dietary laws, avoiding the “paganism” of Christianity (Christmas, Easter, etc.), and learning to understand the Scriptures from a Hebrew mindset. They teach that Gentile Christians have been grafted into Israel, and this is one reason every born-again believer in Jesus the Messiah is to participate in these observances. It is expressed that doing this is not required out of legalistic bondage, but out of a heart of love and obedience. However, they teach that to live a life that pleases God, this Torah-observant walk must be part of that life.

There are aspects of the Hebrew Roots teachings that certainly can be beneficial. Seeking to explore the Jewish culture and perspective, within which most of the Bible was written, opens and enriches our understanding of the Scriptures, adding insight and depth to many of the passages, parables and idioms. There is nothing wrong with Gentiles and Jews joining together in celebrating the feasts and enjoying a Messianic style of worship. Taking part in these events and learning the way in which the Jews understood the teachings of our Lord can be a tool, giving us greater effectiveness in reaching the unbelieving Jew with the gospel. It is good for Gentiles, in the body of the Messiah, to identify in our fellowship with Israel. However, to identify with Israel is different from identifying “as” Israel. Got Questions

The roots of Christianity grow deep in Jewish culture, and it is highly recommended that all Christians learn about the Jewish feast days, holy days and other customs. They will only deepen our appreciaton and understanding of our common ancestry that we have, Gentiles together with Jews. But to suggest that any Gentile believer who follows Jesus must be placed under Old Testament law is nothing but bondage, and it’s a bondage that the Bible speaks against not only in the verses quoted here, but in many other places as well. Regarding the freedom we have in Christ, let me leave you with this verse from the Master himself:

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. Christian Observer

We need to recognize that since the cross we are NOT required to keep ANY of the feasts, customs, or the Mosaic or Levitical law. Jesus paid it ALL for us! That is not to say it’s in any way wrong to observe the feasts, should we so desire to (see: Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 10:1). But by no means must we! Rapture Ready

All Torahists—even those who profess salvation through Christ alone—teach that not keeping Torah is sinful. They view disobedience of the Law of Moses (such as not observing Saturday Sabbath, kosher food laws, annual feasts, circumcision, etc.) as living in sin and lawlessness. So despite the claim that keeping the Mosaic Law is not a requirement for salvation, Torahism considers it a confirming sign of a truly-saved, obedient Christian.

It’s important to note that the feasts given in Leviticus 23 were given to Israel as a nation. They were not given to the Gentiles. The Egyptians were never expected to keep Sukkot. The Babylonians were not required to observe Pesach. The Assyrians were not commanded to celebrate Yom Kippur. And no Gentile nation was ever expected to keep Shabbat. Unlike the moral commandments about murder, adultery, child sacrifice, greed, and so on, the Gentile nations were never judged for not keeping the feasts or Shabbat. R. L. Solbert

With regard to Galatians 4:8-11, that great Reformer Martin Luther had this to say:

“The Apostle Paul knew what the false apostles were teaching the Galatians. The observance of days, and months, and times, and years. The Jews had been obliged to keep holy the Sabbath Day, the new moons, the feast of the Passover, the feast of Tabernacles and other feasts. The false apostles constrained the Galatians to observe these Jewish feasts under the threat of damnation. Paul hastens to tell the Galatians that they were exchanging their Christian liberty for the weak and beggarly elements of the world.”- Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians

The entire book of Galatians can best be understood as a polemic against the idea that Christians must observe the Mosaic Law in order to be truly saved, or truly disciples of Christ. 

The early Christians had to deal with the issue of what became known as “Judaizing” several times. They remained absolutely faithful to the teachings of Paul and the decision of the Jerusalem Council in their denouncing Judaizers. For example, Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

“Let us learn to live according to the principles of Christianity. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ…It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize.”- Ignatius of Antioch

“…if we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace.”-Ignatius of Antioch

“There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do. Yet some of these are going to watch the festivals and others will join the Jews in keeping their feasts and observing their fasts. I wish to drive this perverse custom from the Church right now.”- John Chrysostom

So can a Christian observe the Holy Days of Israel? There seems to be no mandate to do so. In fact, the mandate of Scripture seems to be that we avoid doing so, since to observe the things of the Mosaic Law is an implicit denial of the grace we have received through Jesus Christ. Rather, the tradition of the church has been to observe certain days of significance to the life of Christ and that serve as reminders of that grace. We can certainly learn from the Holy Days of Israel, since they were prophetic of the life and work of Christ, and of His future coming kingdom, but to observe them as if they are mandatory is a denial of the grace of Christ. Don’t be misled by the Hebrew Roots error. Paleo Orthodoxy

True Christians are very vulnerable because of their God-given love for the Jewish people and Israel. We long to be one with them. We love the rich heritage of God’s chosen people in the natural and we love Israel and Jerusalem, the City God chose as his own. God will restore Israel, but God will not restore the old Judaic Religious System, because Christ came to fulfill what that system could never do. The Laws, ordinances, feasts and festivals all pointed to Christ, but they were only a shadow of the true. The Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world brought to man in completion what was only a promise to those who lived under the Old Covenant.

I don’t believe we should be observing the feasts or the Sabbath or any of the Jewish holy days, because Paul warned us that, “After that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” He clarifies exactly what he means by his next words: “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid [for] you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (Gal. 4:10-11).

If we in any way try to keep the Law of Moses or keep all of these OT ordinances, Christ has become no effect to us, because whether you realize it or not you’re striving to be justified by the Law. Paul says those that do this have fallen from grace. (Gal. 5:4).

Galatians 5:18 “If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law.”

Titus 1:14 says not to give heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men, for those that do have turned from the truth.

I believe the Hebrew Roots organizations have become the modern equivalent of the Judaisers who followed the Apostle Paul from city to city, spying on the NT believers’ liberty in Christ and striving to pervert the Gospel and cause confusion among the Early Christians. When these Judaisers sought to draw the Christians of the Galatian church back under the Judaic Religious System, Paul warned the Galatian church to not give credence to their arguments for they were perverting the Gospel of Christ.

Instead of Christ alone, the HRM and Messianic Jewish Movement over-balance into the religion that they have never really left! They cannot grasp that ALL is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, but they want the Christians to embrace the O.T. Jewish religious beliefs, ordinances, and traditions that were necessary under the Law as well! Christian Observer

So if we want to be like Jesus, does that mean that we must become observant Jews, as some allege? Is that what being like Jesus really means? Should Gentile believers try to be Messianic Jews? Can they? Should Gentiles don a yarmulke, worship in a synagogue, blow a shofar, wear a prayer shawl, call Jesus Yeshua or Yeshu, keep the Old Testament feasts and dietary laws, and give their pastors the title of Rabbi, even though Matthew:23:8 says otherwise? Are Jewish ceremonies and practices efficacious?

Is it the Passover or the Lord’s Supper? Paul reminded the Corinthians what the Passover stood for and what was really central: “For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians:5:7). It’s clear that all the Old Testament ceremonies, symbols, and feasts were types and shadows pointing to Jesus (Colossians:2:16-23, Hebrews:10:1-10). The Berean Call

eBook

You can download a free eBook of Chapters One – Five of this study here. Please share with family and friends as God leads.

Next Time

In the next part of our special series, The ‘Hebrew Roots’ Movement, we’ll look at how HRM followers believes they are not to participate in “pagan traditions” adopted by Christians.

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