Subject: How did the Church lose it's Hebraic Roots? - Part I
Date:    Fri, 15 May 1998 02:11:57 +0000
To:      "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

>From  Phyllis Petty  
Organization: Kyrie Ministries
To:  heb_roots_chr@geocities.com


                   THE DESERT TRUMPET   (May 1998 Vol. 12)

                            A Publication of Kyrie Ministries, 
          50-855 Washington Street, C-130, La Quinta, CA 92253


HOW DID THE CHURCH LOSE ITS JEWISH ROOTS?

Anti-Semitism: Christian Hatred and Persecution of the Jews

Now wait a minute! Is Christianity Gentile or Jewish? Does 
Christianity have Jewish roots? Are Christians anti-semitic?
Is there a history of anti-semitism in the Church? If so, why are 
many churches today talking about  "Jewish roots" and starting to 
celebrate the Passover and other feast days?

I can remember so clearly the remarks of my husband the first time I 
put up a Happy Chanukah banner. Take that thing down. We're not 
Jewish, we're Christians. But consider this: 

Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) was a Jew, born of a Jewish mother, in the 
Jewish city of Bethlehem, in the Jewish land of Israel. Not only was 
He a Jew, He lived an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle (Heb.13:8). When He 
returns, He will rule and reign as a Torah observant Jew (1). His 
first followers were Jewish; His twelve disciples were Jewish; and 
the first 3,000 and 5,000 conversions (Acts 2:41; 4:4) were Jews, 
making the first "Church" Jewish believers. Further, the Bible itself 
was written by Jews (Luke in all likelihood being a proselyte to 
Judaism). . . . The Messiah's vicarious atonement is rooted in the 
Jewish sacrificial system (Lev. 17:11). The Lord'ss Supper is rooted 
in the Jewish Passover. Immersion (baptism) is a Jewish practice. 
Yeshua was promised by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 31;30-24). 
The very concept of a Messiah is exclusively Jewish(2).

And do you know what the final blow to antisemitism will be: The One 
ne who plants His feet on the Mount of Olives will be a glorified 
Jew (15).

Yeshua and His disciples, as well as Paul and the early Church, 
followed God's instructions in the Old Testament, worshipping on the 
Sabbath and celebrating the Feasts of the Lord (Lev.23; Acts 21:20). 
These practices continued for some time after the deaths of Yeshua, 
Paul, and the apostles. But, as Paul wrote in Acts 20:29 and 30, 
savage wolves were soon to come--some even rising from among the 
Church, speaking perverse things, drawing away the disciples, and 
taking away the foundational truths which had been so diligently laid 
from the time of Abraham.

To answer the above questions, we will start at the beginning to see 
how Bible-believing  Christians have been deceived into becoming the 
chief persecutors of Jesus'  family and their own family--the Jews.


              IN THE BEGINNING--OUR JEWISH ROOTS

>From the beginning of creation God has always wanted to manifest 
Himself to show His love and care towards mankind. His plan was to 
choose a people in the earth for Himself, giving them His 
instructions whereby they could be a blessed, prosperous, and happy 
people. If these chosen people were obedient to His instructions, it 
would prove to the world that He did exist and also set an example 
for the nations to follow.


                                    OUR FATHER ABRAHAM

The Bible often refers to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  
Because Abraham believed (Rom.4:3), God chose him to be
the beginning of the race of people through whom He would manifest 
Himself.  Abraham became the father of our faith (Rom.4:16).  One of 
the first promises God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:2 and 3 is still 
in effect today: 

"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name 
great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, 
and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of 
the earth shall be blessed (3).

To show Abraham and his descendants that His promises were 
trustworthy, God personally  entered into a blood covenant with him 
(Gen.17:1-8). Abraham's  (and his descendant) part was to be obedient 
to God's instructions.

     The covenant was an EVERLASTING covenant (Gen.17:7) and was 
made with Abraham and Jesus at the same time (Gal.3:16). Since the 
promise that God made with Abraham is an EVERLASTING covenant, it is 
yet to be fulfilled and is still valid today.  God's covenant with 
Abraham will not be fulfilled (in it's fullnes) until Jesus returns 
and rules and reigns during the 1000-year Messianic Kingdom with His 
Bride(4).  Israel is mentioned in Scripture some 2,293 times with at 
least 15 references to God's everlasting covenant (5).

     God renewed this covenant through Isaac (Gen.26:1-4) and Jacob 
(Gen.28:10-14). Later God reiterated His promise to Jacob and changed 
his name to Israel (Gen.35:10).  Jacob had twelve sons, who became 
the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen.49). These twelve 
tribes have never been forsaken by God as their names are written on 
the twelve gates in the New Jerusalem (Rev.21:12).  One of Jacob's 
sons, Joseph, had two sons by a Gentile wife. These sons, Manassah 
and Ephraim, were half Jewish and half Gentile, but Jacob adopted 
them into his own family. This was a foreshadow of the Gentile 
believers being grafted into Israel (Rom. 11).  While Jacob gave the 
first-born, Manassah, his blessings, he gave his younger brother, 
Ephraim, the blessings of the first born. Ephraim is a prophetic 
picture of the non-Jewish remnant of the Bride of Messiah (6).

      God renewed this covenant with the children of Israel at Mount 
Sinai by giving His further instructions--the TORAH. The nation of 
Israel was born on this day to be a light to the Gentiles. (In 
today's Bible versions, Torah has been translated as "law" but the 
correct terminology is "instructions") As long as God's people would 
follow His Torah, they would receive His covenant promises. By 
choosing the Torah, they would have life (Deut.30:19). If they became 
disobedient to the Torah, they would fall under  God's judgment--the 
curse in Deuteronomy 28--and be dispersed throughout the world. Thus, 
the beginnings of the people of Israel began to show God's existence 
and blessings on His chosen people.


GOD'S BLUEPRINT:  THE FESTIVALS OF THE LORD--LEVITICUS 23

God knew that His people would not be able in themselves to keep His 
Torah, so He ordained an animal sacrifice to atone (cover) for their 
sins. Other animal sacrifices were instituted by God solely for the 
praise and honor in worshipping Him. However, God's ultimate plan 
was to send a Messiah, who would redeem His people from their sins. 
This Messiah is Yeshua, which in Hebrew means "salvation."

      How would God's people recognize the Messiah when He came?  In 
Leviticus 23 God gave a blueprint to follow in order to recognize His 
first and second comings. This blueprint gives instructions on 
celebrating the Feasts of the Lord, all of which point to the 
promised Messiah.  We find in these feasts God's full outline of His 
redemptive plan for mankind. Each feast is a time in which the 
Messiah will DO something. In rehearsing these feasts year after 
year, Israel would be able to recognize their Messiah. The spring 
feasts teach of His first coming, while the fall feasts teach of His second
coming. Each feast also signifies a spiritual step forward in the 
maturity of the believer. Sad to say, the priests of Messiah's day 
were so caught up in their traditions, most of them missed His first 
coming. Today the Church is so caught up in its traditions, it could 
repeat Israel's blindness and miss His second coming.

Let us first say that these feasts are "Feasts of the Lord" 
(Lev.23:2,4). Many in the Church today do not keep them,
believing they are only for the Jews. But, God in His divine wisdom 
instructed that these festivals are for both Jew and non-Jew and are 
to be celebrated jointly with each other. The Lord is the Host of the 
festivals, and all Bible believers are His invited guests (4) 
(Ex.12:48; 20:8; Num.15:15,16; Isa.56:6,7). The feasts were to be 
celebrated by the people of God FOREVER (Ex. 12:14,17,24; 
Lev. 23:14,21,31,41), with the Feasts of Tabernacles being celebrated 
into the millennial reign of Messiah (Zech.14:16).

By keeping the feasts, there are three special blessings promised to 
the children of Israel in Exodus 34:23,24. As descendants of Abraham, 
we are now recipients of these promises as well.

Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, 
the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you 
(deliverance) and enlarge your borders (prosperity); neither will any 
man covet your land (protection) when you go up to appear before the 
Lord your God three times in the year (3, parenthesis mine).

The first feast listed in Leviticus 23 is the Sabbath day, the 
seventh day of creation. This day is a foreshadow of the
millennial reign of Messiah. There are many blessings for keeping the 
Sabbath holy. God instituted the Sabbath (Gen.2:2,3: Lev. 23:3; 26:2; 
Isa.56:6,7; 58:13,14), and nowhere in Scripture has He ever changed 
it from its original day. It is one of the ten commandments 
(Ex. 20:8) and a sign FOREVER that we love the Lord (Ex. 31:12-17). 

Ezekiel 20:19, 20, also shows the Sabbath as a sign (or in Hebrew 
teachings (the wedding ring): I am the Lord your God: Follow my laws 
and be careful to observe My rules. And hallow My Sabbaths, that they 
may be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I the Lord 
am your God (3). Yeshua kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16), and, indeed, is 
Lord of the Sabbath (Mk.2:28).

 As we will see below, when anti-semitism came into the Church, our 
Church fathers changed the Sabbath to coincide with the pagan 
traditions of the Gentile unbelievers.

There are seven main FEASTS OF THE LORD in Leviticus 23. Yeshua has 
fulfilled all of the springs feasts as follows
:
1.  Passover (Pesach)        Death of Yeshua, our Passover Lamb (1 Cor.5:7)
    (Ex. 12; Lev.23:4,5;)         A permanent celebration for all eternity (1 Cor.4:8)

2.  Unleavened Bread         Represents Yeshua's Burial
    (Hag HaMatzah)      (Lev.23:6-8; Num.28:17-20)

3.  First Fruits (Bikkurim )      Resurrection of Yeshua, Salvation   
     (Lev.23:9-14;Num.28:17-25) Yeshua, our First Fruits (1 Cor.15.23)

4.  Pentecost (Shavuot) Yesuah sent the Holy Spirit (Acts 2)  
      (Lev.23:15-22)

      In between feasts:
      Teshuvah - 40 day repentance before Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

Yeshua will fulfill all of the fall feasts when He returns the second 
time as follows:

5.  Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) Resurrection of the Dead; Rapture of Believers;
    (The Head of the Year)        Coronation of Messiah; Marriage of the lamb
    (Lev.23:23-25; Num.29:1-6)
    Days of Awe (Yamen Nora'im)      Beginning of 10 High Holy Days (Teshuvah)

6.  Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) Literal Second Coming of Yeshua
    (Lev.23:26-32; Num.29:7-11)   on Mount of Olives

7.  Tabernacles (Sukkot)  Messianic/Millennium 1000-Year Reign of Yeshua
    (Lev.23:33-44; Num.29:1-34)   Joy of Messiah

    Simchat Torah (Athid Lavo)    8th Day of Tabernacles; Eternity  (Num.29:35-38)

We are beginning to see a restoration within the Church as many now 
celebrate Passover and other feast days (Acts 3:21).

  For a more detailed teaching on this subject, please read, "The 
Seven Festivals of the Messiah" by Eddie Chumney.

  If God instituted the feast days with all their blessings and never 
changed them, and Yeshua, Paul, the apostles, and the first Church 
celebrated them, how did we lose these Jewish roots? Even though 
these people were all Jewish, hasn't their example been recorded for 
us to follow? Scripture and Church history will provide our answers.


                             THE NEW COVENANT

There was nothing wrong with God's covenant with Abraham 
(Gen.12:1-3), for it was everlasting.  The thing that was wrong was 
the hearts of His people--a stiff-necked people, whose hearts were 
made of stone. Thus, there was no need for a different covenant, but 
for different hearts. His plan was to send the Messiah, Yeshua, who 
would usher in a New Covenant, redeeming the people from their sins. 
The New Covenant was made possible by the death, burial, and 
resurrection of Yeshua. He then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the 
hearts of the people. The New Covenant was not a different one, but a
"renewed one" in which the indwelling Holy Spirit would change 
the "hearts of stone" to "hearts of flesh" (Jer. 31:31,33; 
Heb.10:16). This New Covenant never negated the covenant made with 
Abraham, but for the first time wrote the Torah on the new hearts of 
flesh, enabling God's people to keep the Torah.  On the day of 
Pentecost (Acts 2), the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, God 
came again in blazing glory as He had done at Mt. Sinai. But this 
time He wrote His commandments not upon tablets of stone, but upon 
the fleshly tablets of men's hearts, as the prophets had foretold 
(Jer.31:31-34; Eze.11:19,20; 36:26f, 27) (8).

This New Covenant was what Yeshua was explaining to Nicodemus in John 
3:3,17 when he told him he must be "born again" to enter into the 
Kingdom of God. Paul further explains this in Romans 10:9,10:  
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in 
your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 
For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made to salvation(3). Those who personally accept 
Yeshua's death on the cross and trust in Him only for their salvation 
have their hearts "softened" or "circumcised." They become what is 
known as "saved" and can now honor God by growing and delighting in 
His Torah. This is not a one-time decision or prayer, but a lifetime 
commitment to serving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the God 
of Israel, living His Word by the power of the indwelling Spirit.


                THE PROMISED MESSIAH: YESHUA -- JESUS

The Redeemer, the Messiah of Israel, is mentioned either explicitly 
or implicitly by type, in every book of the Bible. He was and is the 
hope of Israel. It is very important that Christians recognize that 
Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel.  It is also essential to 
understand that in the last days God will make His Gentile "remnant" 
one with His Jewish "remnant" (Eze. 37:15-28) (6).

Through the death of Yeshua under the New Covenant, God made 
provision for Gentile believers to be "grafted" into the house of 
Israel  (Rom.11). Gentile believers are fellow citizens of the nation 
of Israel (Rom.11:5,17; Eph.2:11-13,19). Believers are encouraged to 
study the writings of Moses and learn and adhere to the Torah which 
was taught in the synagogues every Sabbath even long after the death 
of Yeshua.(Acts 15:21).

Are you starting to see your Jewish roots? Christians are still under 
the covenant that God made with Abraham, father of our faith. We are 
his descendants (Gal.3:29).


       IN THE TIMES OF YESHUA, PAUL AND THE APOSTLES

      It was not until approximately 200 A.D. that the New Testament 
was collected into a recognized corpus of writings that were listed 
as authoritative(5). Throughout this New Testament we find that 
Yeshua, Paul, the apostles, and the early church, all worshipped on 
the Sabbath and celebrated the feasts and new moons. Nowhere in 
Scripture does Paul state that God's instructions, the TORAH, the 
law, is done away with. In fact, he states that it is good, just, 
holy, spiritual, and excellent, and that he believed and fully 
followed the things written in the law and in the prophets (Rom.7:12,
14; 2:18; Acts 21:24;24:14). Paul took a Nazarene vow (Num.6) to 
prove that he was a Torah observant Jew and taught ot her Jewish 
believers in Yeshua to be Torah observant. (1) If Paul was keeping 
the law (Torah), why does the Church say that Paul was teaching 
others not to keep it?

The biggest lie Satan has propagated on the Gentile believers is that 
the Torah, God's instructions, His law, is no longer for today. His 
Torah is forever (Ps. 119:44). His instructions for a good life have 
never changed. Yeshua is the Word (John 1:1). Yeshua, the Word, is 
the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb.13:8). Man has changed 
God's laws by his traditions and his hatred of the Jewish people.

Early in Church history,  a total misunderstanding of the Book of 
Galatians developed. Only after one understands the Jewishness of 
Paul's writings can he obtain an accurate interpretation of the text. 
. . . Pauline statements, which at first might seem to disparage the 
law, were really directed not against the Law itself, but against 
that misunderstanding and misuse of it -- that of trying to keep 
Gentile converts from being taught they had to keep the Jewish 
covenant for salvation. The phrases "under the law" and "works of the 
law" were only used by Paul when addressing Gentile congregations who 
had mistakenly taught that they had to keep the law of the Jewish 
covenant to be saved(7).

      Christians who believe in keeping the Torah are sometimes 
called "Judaizers" by their fellow believers. While there were (and 
perhaps still are) real Judaizers, it should be noted that the word 
Judaizers  does not even appear in the KJV Bible. The first known use 
of the word did not occur until 1582, and if one searches for the 
word in the Scriptures, it will only be found in recent translations 
of the Bible. . . . Probably the best description of Judaizers is in 
Acts 15:1:  "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the 
brethren, and said  'Unless you are circumcised according to the 
custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'. . . Judaizers were those who 
insisted that Gentiles needed a full, formal conversion to Judaism in 
order to be saved (8). In other words, the term "Judaizers" referred 
to those Jews who were teaching new Gentile converts that they had to 
follow the Torah in order "to be saved." Judaizing had nothing
to do with adhering to the Torah as a means of instructions for 
living a fruitful life.  Further, proponents who teach that God's 
Torah instructions--the law--are not for today need only look to 
Matthew 5:18 and Luke 16:17 to dispel this error. Early proponents 
who spoke for  the law include Martin Luther, John Wesley, Charles 
Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, and many others.

There is not one instance where Yeshua or Paul attacked the law or 
any of its ordinances, but in every case supported it as the Word of 
God (5). If Yeshua, Paul, the apostles, and the early Church followed 
the law--the Torah--why should we not follow their example?  Are we 
not to be like them? Indeed, we are to follow the examples set forth 
in the Word.  But, the traditions of men have made the word of God of 
no effect, and the Church has been teaching as doctrines the 
commandments of men (Matt. 15:3,9).


      WORSHIPPING THE GOD OF ISRAEL ON A PAGAN ALTAR

   One of the most important instructions God gave in His Torah was 
regarding man's worship to Him.  This is where the doctrines of men 
have crept into the Church.

God only accepts worship, or a sacrifice, as set forth in His Word. 
We first see this with the two sacrifices of Cain and Abel.  As 
instructed by God, Cain brought an animal sacrifice which was 
acceptable, while Abel brought an offering of grain, which was not 
acceptable.

At Mount Sinai, the children of Israel worshipped the Lord of Israel  
on a pagan altar, the golden calf (Ex.32:1-6). The children of Israel 
mixed the worship of the God of Israel with paganism and called it 
the worship of the God of Israel. This is the spiritual significance 
of the sin of the golden calf. God did not accept their sacrifice, 
and they came under God's judgment. Therefore, what happened to 
Moses,  Aaron, and the children of Israel in Exodus 32:1 was a 
foreshadowing of future Christianity (4).

The same thing happened when Israel was divided into the northern and 
the southern kingdoms. As leader of the northern kingdom, Jeroboam 
foresaw that allowing the Israelites to go to Jerusalem to worship 
would cause them to assimilate back into the southern kingdom. Not 
only did he institute the worship of the God of Israel on two pagan 
altars with the golden calves at Dan and Bethel, but he also changed 
the days and times of worship (1K.12:25-33). Historically, 
Christianity has made this same mistake (4).

After the birth, death and resurrection of Yeshua the early Church 
fell into the same type of idolatry. The early church leaders led the 
people away from the faith of the first-century Church and the 
teachings of Yeshua and His disciples. Several hundred years later, 
Christianity became separated from the original Jewish Church which 
believed in Yeshua as Messiah, kept the Sabbath, observed the 
Biblical Festivals and followed the Torah. In doing so, the Christian 
Church began to mix the worship of God with the pagan religions 
around them(4). How did this all happen?

The first Church consisted of Jewish believers (Acts 2) and 
worshipped with non-believers in the synagogues.  After Peter's 
revelation in Acts 10 approximately ten years later, the first 
Gentile conversions took place at Cornelius'  house. However, the 
Gentile ways of worshipping their pagan gods were explicitly 
prohibited (Acts 15:19,20).  These four requirements were the minimum 
requirements for the Gentiles to come into the Jewish faith(1). The 
Gentiles were encouraged to grow in the things of the Torah and to 
attend synagogue every Sabbath to learn of their new faith (Acts 15:21).

Gentile believers soon began to outnumber the Jewish believers, and 
as Paul warned, wolves within the Church came to divide the new 
believers. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., Jewish and 
Gentile believers in Yeshua became less and less welcome in the 
synagogues. When the Romans won the war, it was not very popular to 
be associated with Judaism. As early as before 100 A.D., many Gentile 
believers had separated themselves from the Jews, the synagogue, 
worshipping on the Sabbath, and celebrating the feasts.

In 325 A.D. it was declared official by Constantine at the Council of 
Nicene (Roman decree), whereby worshipping on the
Sabbath or in a synagogue was prohibited, as well as celebrating the 
feasts.  In order to become a Christian under Constantine's reign, a 
new Jewish believer had to  renounce all customs, rights, legalisms, 
unleavened breads and feasts ...new moons...synagogues, shabbats... 
everything Jewish, every right, law and custom (15). To make an even 
more defined division of the two sects, Constantine at this time 
declared that Christians would worship only on the first day of the 
week, now called Sunday, the day of the sun god. He further changed 
the observance of Passover to the spring pagan holiday of Ishtar, now 
known as Easter, as well as changing the birth of Yeshua from the 
first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) to the pagan winter 
solstice, the birthday of Nimrod on December 25, now known as 
Christmas(7). Nowhere in Scripture are we told to celebrate the birth 
of Yeshua, but we are commanded in Leviticus 23 to celebrate the 
Feast of Tabernacles. Thus, we began to lose our Jewish roots as 
pagan idolatry entered into the worship of the God of Israel.

The present day Church still participates, some without knowledge, in 
this idolatrous worship of God by celebrating pagan holidays and the 
world's practices that go along with them. God did not accept Abel's 
sacrifice, nor the Israelite's golden calf, nor Jeroboam's pagan 
ways--neither will He accept the pagan ways of the present day Church.


    TWO KINGDOMS--JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY--ONE CHURCH

   God's family is now divided into two kingdoms--Judaism and 
Christianity. Both have preserved certain truths of God's Word and 
certain truths of His Kingdom. Both have erred in their ways. 
However, God has promised that one day His Kingdom will no longer be 
divided but that the two kingdoms will become one kingdom 
(Eze.37:15-27). In order for the two kingdoms to become one, 
Christianity needs to embrace the Torah and repent to God for 
breaking it and teaching other believers in Messiah to break it. 
Judaism needs to repent and acknowledge that Yeshua is the 
Messiah (1).

    God wants to bring believers in these two kingdoms--traditional 
Judaism and Christianity--together to understand that the God of 
Israel has one family, one Torah and One Messiah (1). Since the 
Christian faith has its roots in the Torah, together they are one and 
the same faith in Yeshua (Rom.10:12; Eph.2:14). There is no such 
thing as a Gentile church.

  God never meant for a new "religion" to be birthed at the death of 
Yeshua. Scripture shows that the early Christian Church was 
considered a sect of Judaism (Acts 28:22). Yeshua Himself said He 
came to fulfill the Torah, not do away with it (Matt.5:17). 
Christians are joint heirs with the Jewish people. In fact, Scripture 
says that anyone whose heart has been "circumcised" is the true Jew 
(Jer. 31; Rom.2:28,29). Why have Christians throughout the ages 
persecuted the Jews, their own people? Hosea 4:6 states it so well:  

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have
rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; 
because you have forgotten the law (Torah) of your God, I also will 
forget your children. (3, parenthesis mine).


                      THE BRIDE OF MESSIAH (CHRIST)

Paul's admonishment to press forward to the high calling of God is to 
press forward to being a part of the Bride of Messiah.  The Bride of 
Messiah is to be without spot or wrinkle.  While only the blood of 
Yeshua can make us "righteous" before God, do you think the Bride of 
Messiah can be spotted with the wrinkles of worshipping on a pagan 
altar and on the wrong Sabbath and feast days?  God will judge those 
in His Church who do not come out of this Babylonian system of 
worship.  Therefore, the cry of God's heart to His people today is to 
flee this golden calf and Babylonian system and celebrate the 
Sabbath, the Biblical Festivals and keep His Torah. He is calling His 
remnant out in Revelation 18:

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her 
(Babylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that 
you receive not of her plagues(4). This faithful, mature remnant, the 
Bride, is a type of the Zadok priesthood (Eze.44), who will keep the 
Sabbath, the Biblical feasts and the Torah. The Torah is the Tree of Life
(Prov.3:1,18), and those who eat of the tree of life have the right 
to enter the heavenly city of the New Jerusalem (Rev.22:14)(1). Only 
the Bride will live in the New Jerusalem in the continual presence of 
Yeshua as its light (Rev. 21). Believers who do not hear and obey 
what the Spirit is saying and remain in their pagan forms of 
worshipping the God of Israel will not have this privilege, but will 
comprise the nations which will come up to Jerusalem only once a 
year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech.14:16). (Highly 
recommended, Who Is The Bride of Christ? by Eddie Chumney) see 
footnote 1 for ordering.)


                                       End of Part I

                                              by
                                       Phyllis Petty 
                                     Kyrie Ministries

***********************************************************************