Notes

Telling the Story

April 5, 2012

Telling the Story

From all of us at Roots of Faith I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful, meaningful and joyous Festival of Passover.

I have republished this each year for the past several years at this time and with slight modifications wanted to post it again. One of the key points of Passover is the telling of the story. It is most certainly the greatest story ever told. This act of salvation is the very thing for which YHVH, the God of Israel is known. Repeatedly in the Hebrew Scriptures, we find YHVH described as the God that brought forth the children of Israel out of bondage. It is a story worth telling and now is the appointed time to do so. This note is intended to provide you with some help in telling that story. Of course there are plenty of resources on the internet to assist you, but this is my own contribution to your search. Assemble your family. Invite some friends. Study the passages in this note and tell the story!

This is mainly intended for those who perhaps have never hosted a Passover meal. I do not follow the standard, but to those who know me, this has probably come to be expected. I have participated in Passover meals that went so long the children were bored and the adults were beginning to feel as though the host wanted them to get a taste of the entire 40 years in the wilderness in one L O N G night! One thought that went through my mind as I sat through the longest and most boring Passover was – Didn’t the Bible say that they ate this meal in haste? Why is this night different than any other night? The answer to that question should be a positive one. A learning experience that is both informative and fun. Engaging and joyous. Look. I am not knocking the approach of others, but as a parent and as a teacher I have learned that if the student does not learn, then the lesson has been wasted. My own approach will be aimed at sharing this great story from the Bible. The traditional plate will have a place of prominence at our table, and yet I will strive for the element of surprise. I love the picture in this note of one of my grandsons as he held the piece of unleavened bread. What went through his mind? Probably something quite simple, like…this is one HUGE cracker. Use the meal to teach and to tell, but please don’t forget that the little ones (and many of the big ones) will be looking and listening to learn. You will have a captive audience. Don’t lose them. It is our job to educate and inspire.

The name of the meal is the seder. It is a word that means “order”. The book that lays out the order of the service is called a Hagadah. The roots word means “to tell”. The traditional Haggadah”S” (there are multiple versions available) are meant to share the story in order. Whether you have a Haggadah or not is not essential. You can tell the story quite well if you know the story well. Below I have assembled some of the main points of the story. I may get in trouble with some of the religious authorities out there by saying this, but I personally will not be reading all of these passages. I will carefully select certain passages and tell the story contained within these wonderful verses. So, for those who may want to do the same, familiarize yourself with the story by reading these passages and make a few notes.

We will have unleavened bread and bitter herbs. For the bitter herbs, many use horseradish. Go easy on the horseradish. A little dab will do ya as we say in the south. The bitter herbs represent how the lives of the children of Israel were made bitter through hard bondage. I will have salt water and parsley. When I speak of the tears of the children of Israel (they cried because of the hard bondage) I will have everyone take a piece of the parsley and dip it in the salt water. This will make an impression. The traditional “charoseth” is a mixture of apples diced and mixed with honey and nuts. Recipes on the internet abound. It is supposed to represent the mortar that was used to make bricks. Experiment with this. It is hard to mess up apples, honey and nuts. Plus compared to the horseradish, it will be the favored part of the meal.

Here are some other things that will help make an impression. If the sky is clear where you are, I want you to go outside and look up. See the moon? This is the way it looked when the Children of Israel left Egypt! The full moon gave them light. The sky looked just like this when the children of Israel left Egypt.

Passover is about experiencing the past and future as well. It is about redemption and freedom. The Prophet Jeremiah says that another Exodus is coming for the people of God…an even greater exodus than the one we read about tonight! (see Jeremiah 16:14-15)

I encourage all of you to participate in this as it is perhaps the oldest religious practice that has been kept from the beginning of the history of Israel. So tell the story to your family! If you are alone, read it to yourself. It is an incredible story and one that God tells us to tell!

Read and study the following passages. This is not a comprehensive list of passages, but it should be helpful as you prepare to tell the story. Remember, this is not intended to be presented as an authorized Haggadah. Best case, this is a non-Jew’s guide through telling the story. If you choose to do a more traditional version, there are plenty of resources on the internet that one can find and download for free. What follows were notes that I assembled several years ago for the purpose of sharing the story. A friend recently forwarded me a 30 minute Haggadah that he found on the internet. You may want to search for something like that. Or you may want to go for the “real deal”. Hint. Feed the kids before you go. No offense intended.

The reason we tell the story
Deuteronomy 6:20-25
Exodus 10:2
Exodus 12:24-27

The Prediction and fulfillment of the Slavery and cruelness of Egypt
Genesis 15:13-14
Exodus 1:8-22

The birth of Moses to his flight to Midian
Exodus 2:1-22

A cry to God and the call of Moses
Exodus 2:23-3:22

The son of God / God’s charge to Moses
Exodus 4:21-23

Meeting with Pharaoh
Exodus 5:1-23
Exodus 6:1-13

The beginning of the redemption
Exodus 6:28-7:13

The Plagues and Israel’s Departure from Egypt
Exodus 7:14-12:36

Salvation In the Wilderness
Exodus 12:37-14:31

Other passages related to Passover
Deuteronomy 16:1-8
Leviticus 23:3-8

One should eat unleavened bread from sundown tomorrow for 7 days. This bread is also known as bread of affliction (Deuteronomy 16:3).

Eat some bitter herbs as well (Exodus 12:8).

Only those that are circumcised may eat the meal. Don’t forget to be circumcised of heart as well. This applies to both males and females. (Deuteronomy 10:12-16, 30:1-6, Jeremiah 4:1-4)

I pray that every shackle will be broken from your life so that you are free to serve the Living God.

Shalom and Chag Sameach!

Posted in Festivals, Notes

Christ and Christian – It’s all Greek to me…or is it?

January 15, 2012

Some time back, the editor of my local newspaper’s Religious section requested responses to some key questions about Christianity. Here is what I sent in. Some of you may find it of interest.

Here are those questions, posed by the editor:

What does it mean to be a Christian?
Can one follow Christ and not be a Christian?
Does a Christian have to support everything the Church teaches and does?

The word Christian occurs 3 times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28 and I Peter 4:16). It comes from the Greek khris-tee-an-os, which in turn comes from khris-tos and means “anointed”. So Khrist-tos, or Christ originally meant the Anointed One and a Khris-tee-an-os or Christian was a follower of Khris-tos or the Anointed One (i.e., Christ). But if this all seems like Greek to you…. think again, because these ideas are Hebraic in origin and NOT Greek!

The origin of these Greek terms is to be found in the Hebrew verb mashach (to rub or smear with oil). Many have lost the original understanding of the term and think of Christ as a title or even a name for Jesus of Nazareth, but according to the original and thoroughly Biblical concept of anointing, there have been many “anointed ones” throughout the ages, each with a special purpose or task. The ancient anointing oil and its application, set an object or person apart (consecrating them) for a special purpose or task. See for instance Exodus 30:22-33. The priests were anointed (Exodus 28:41; 29:7; 40:15 & Psalm 133), as were Israel’s Kings (1 Kings 1:34-39; I Samuel 10:1, 16:13, 24:6). The Patriarchs are referred to as “anointed ones” in Psalm 105:13-15 and even the Gentile Persian King Cyrus is an “anointed one” according to Isaiah 45:1. The Hebrew equivalent to the Greek Christ is Messiah or mashiach in Hebrew (based upon the Hebrew verb mashach). Thus, Biblically speaking, the examples above can technically be called “messiahs”.

Apart from the many “messiahs” of the Hebrew Scriptures, a picture of a future eschatological figure began to emerge from the Hebrew prophets. This coming figure was believed to be “The” Messiah – a son of the famed King David who would usher in a golden age often referred to as the Messianic age. He is sometimes assisted by a priestly figure (see for instance Zechariah 6:9-12). Opinions from antiquity were varied. Would there be one or two messiahs? The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed that these questions were being discussed in the Second Temple period. The Qumran community favored an interpretation and an end time scenario involving two messiahs; one a priest and the other a king.

With this background in mind one can’t avoid noticing that John the Baptist is presented as a descendant of Levi (priest) while Jesus is presented as a descendant of David (King). The fact that their “ministries” overlap is also of interest. According to the New Testament writings however, John and his role would decrease while that of Jesus would increase. The writers of the New Testament, particularly the gospels are attempting to show and prove from the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth was the long awaited and prophesied Messiah par excellence – a son of David. Christianity was destined to become a faith with room for only 1 messiah. The priestly role would be handled nicely by an obscure reference to a “priest after the order of Melchi-tzedek” (Genesis 14 and Psalm 110) eliminating the need for the Levitical messiah. Jesus would declare the search for the messiah as ended from his hometown synagogue appealing to a passage in Isaiah 61 (see Luke 4:16 ff). Those who accepted his claim to the title would have been messianists in that they would have believed that based upon their understanding of the ancient criteria laid out in the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus fit the bill.

The various forms of Christianity today are far removed from the original and thoroughly Jewish faith of the first followers of Jesus of Nazareth. The first followers of Jesus were apparently first called “Christian” at Antioch by others and not by themselves (Acts 11:26). All of the first followers were Jews as was Jesus. In fact, though shocking to some, it is fair to say that Jesus was not a Christian. “Christianity”, at first, was not a separate religion, but was comprised by Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the prophesied Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures. From the outset of his ministry, Jesus called for disciples (students) to follow him (see Matthew 4:16 ff). In a sense they were a traveling school, following their teacher or rabbi – a common experience in ancient Judaism. Jesus and his first followers attended services in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Saturday) where they read from the Law and the Prophets (Luke 4:16-22; Acts 13:15). Though largely ignored by those who claim to follow Jesus today, it seems that this was supposed to continue (Acts 15:21 ff). They believed in the eternal validity of the Hebrew Scriptures (Matthew 5:17-21), and used these Scriptures to define every aspect of their faith and practice. It was the only Bible they had. I once read that the two things the New Testament Church did not have when it began were a (1) New Testament and (2) a Church.

For nearly 2,000 years, the followers of Jesus have functioned quite separately from their Hebrew roots. The teachings of Jesus have been interpreted, understood and taught from a Gentile platform, void of proper context.

A growing number of modern Christians however are seeking to understand Jesus and his teachings from a Hebrew perspective. A transformation is underway and the result is a much more Hebrew oriented faith, seemingly more in line with what Jesus and his first followers set out to establish. Most forms of modern Christianity can best be defined as religions “about” Jesus in contrast to the religion “of” Jesus. I propose that one can certainly follow Jesus apart from Christianity (a religion about him) by practicing the faith that he taught through his life and ministry – the religion of Jesus.

According to Matthew, a resurrected Jesus charged his followers with three tasks; (1) To make disciples or students, (2) to immerse them, and (3) Teach these disciples to observe all that he (Jesus) commanded them. Jesus had emphasized doing and keeping the commandments (Matthew 5:17-19). When asked what one must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus said, “Keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:16-17).

I am reminded of the statement in I John 2:6. There we read, “Whoever says he abides in him (Jesus) ought to walk in the same way he (Jesus) walked.” Somehow along the way, points 1 and 3 of the “Great Commission” were forgotten. The great commission became the great omission! Those who seek to follow Jesus ought to walk even as he walked. They ought to learn and live by the teachings of his Bible. They ought to eat the same foods that he ate. They ought to keep the same festivals he kept. They ought to proclaim the coming Kingdom as he did. A Kingdom where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

If Jesus was not a Christian, but rather a Jew – ought not those who follow him look more “Jewish” than they currently do? As his followers seek to imitate him in their faith, I propose that they will. I further believe that the more they follow him, the less likely they will be to follow modern forms of Christianity. So long as there is a vast difference between forms of faith that talk about Jesus and those that truly seek to follow his teachings, there will be those who claim to follow Jesus but do not call themselves Christian. It is time for those who claim to follow Jesus to “walk even as he walked.”

Ross Nichols is a Bible teacher and the leader of Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls. He currently leads a weekly Sabbath service every Saturday morning at the Temple Sinai Synagogue in Saint Francisville, Louisiana. His classes are broadcasted live via the internet at 10:30 AM CST (www.shma.tv). For more information about Ross Nichols and Roots of Faith, visit them on the web at www.rootsoffaith.org.

Posted in Notes, Special Teachings

An Invitation to New Beginnings!

October 18, 2011

Shalom,

On October 22nd, 2011, the Roots of Faith Congregation will begin again in Genesis on their annual trek through the Torah of Moses. This is an excellent opportunity to join up with us for a year of Scriptural study that will change your life!

Every Saturday morning, people from literally around the world join with us for a unique religious service that is aimed at inspiring people to live a more biblically authentic lifestyle. Services are broadcast live over the internet at www.shma.tv. Class begins at 10:30 AM CST. Viewers can log in and participate in a live chat session before and during the class.

Our services begin with a stimulating, engaging and educational class on the reading from the Law of Moses (the Torah) for that particular week. This part of the service lasts about an hour. These teachings are available for download through iTunes or directly from our site each week and are enjoyed and shared by hundreds.

After the conclusion of the class, the local congregation reads the designated reading from the Law of Moses (Genesis though Deuteronomy). These weekly readings are identical with those read in most synagogues around the world and thus participants find themselves in sync with the Jewish people. It typically takes about 30 minutes to read the weekly portion of Scripture.

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the local congregation assembles on camera at a table where we discuss elements of the weekly reading. The internet audience participates in the discussion through an interactive chat feature.

In addition to the weekly services, Roots of Faith also celebrates the Biblical Festivals and broadcasts these services over the internet.

If you are looking for spiritual nourishment and an environment where you can learn and share your views with others, then perhaps Roots of Faith is for you. We are making efforts to fully utilize technology to convey an ancient and relevant message to the modern world.

Non-Jews as well as Jews are welcomed and encouraged to participate as we seek to learn to live a more Biblically authentic lifestyle! Anyone who believes in the One God of Israel and seeks to live according to the principles of His words will find this outreach quite refreshing.

Please join us and tell others about us. Thanks for your continued interest in Roots of Faith!

Shalom,
Ross

Posted in Notes, Torah Readings, Weekly Lessons, Weekly Services

America’s Amalek – Al Qaeda

September 11, 2011

Today marks 10 years since the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in the heart of Manhattan in the early morning hours of September 11, 2001. This event is one of those life-changing moments. People for years to come will ask one another what they were doing when they heard the news that planes slammed into the Twin Towers.

Thousands of innocent lives were lost. Lives of people who knew nothing of a hate filled group known as Al Qaeda. All I can think of this morning as I watch the news coverage of various ceremonies is that Al Qaeda looks familiar to me. I cannot help but recognize the resemblance between the hate filled group Al Qaeda and an ancient enemy mentioned in the Biblical text. Yesterday, the Torah reading ended with mention of Amalek.

“Remember what Amalek did unto you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; how he met you by the way, and smote the hindmost of you, all that were enfeebled in your rear, when you were faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when Yehovah your God hath given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which Yehovah your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.”

Amalek is also mentioned in the book of Exodus. In the 17th chapter, we read of a battle between the Israelites – led by Joshua, and Amalek (Exodus 17:8-16). The battle went in the favor of Israel when the hands of Moses were lifted up and in the favor of Amalek when “he let down his hand”. Aaron and Hur got on either side of Moses and held up his arms. The battle went in favor of Israelites. But according to the account in Exodus 17, the story of Amalek does not end there.

“And Yehovah said unto Moses: ‘Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Jsohua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it, Yehovah-Nissi. And he said; “Because a hand is against the throne of Yah – War to Yehovah with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Rabbi Hertz says in his comment on this verse – “Amalek has disappeared from under heaven, but his spirit still walks the earth. In the battle of Yehovah against the Amalekites in the realm of the spirit, the only successful weapons are courage and conviction, truth and righteousness.”

Since the beginning of time there has been a war between good and bad. The faces and names of our enemies may change, but the spirit remains the same. When we see evil manifested such as the attack on the Twin Towers, we must recognize that the spirit of Amalek drives the enemy. Our weapons are courage, conviction, truth and righteousness. We look forward to a day when the remembrance of Amalek will be blotted out and with it the name and memory of America’s Amalek. May the memory of our Amalek be blotted out from under heaven!

Posted in Notes

Advancing the Kingdom Work

September 4, 2011

As a result of the long holiday weekend I have spent a good deal of time thinking of organizational matters.

The truth is, I feel certain that more people will be attracted to our efforts and one must be prepared for “growth”. We are seeing more people joining in every Sabbath. I am also aware that some of you are not at all involved with what we are doing. I would like to think that all of you are joining us every Sabbath or at least downloading the classes and listening later, but i know that this is not the case. I want to enlist many of you to assist me, since I know that within our small group we have much talent that is waiting to be engaged in something worthwhile.

Since forming Roots of Faith I have had great clarity around what the vision is. What is needed is a “fleshing out” of some of the details.

Here are some things that are foundational to what I see as our “mission” and to our path forward.

The Torah and the prophets must be taught to the world. One of the greatest lies of our age, especially among Christians is that the Torah has been abolished, superseded, etc. I believe that every week, we should be reading aloud the Torah and the prophets. I believe that in doing so, the faith of those who hear will be increased and lives will be changed. I think that this needs to be expanded over what we are currently doing. We need more of the same.

We need to find more ways to share the message of the Hebrew Bible. I would like to figure out a way to share more of the Bible’s message. I think that my weekly teaching is unique and I have much more to share than I am currently doing in my one hour lesson every Saturday. I want to do more teaching since in the cycle of Torah readings I rarely have time to branch out into other very important teachings. I have more to say than 1 class every Saturday allows me to say.

Hebrew studies need to continue. Anne and Stephen McLeod as well as my own teacher Johnny have much to offer in this and many of their students are well beyond basic studies at this point. I would love to see the Hebrew Torah Reading Team become more integrated into what we are doing. I have some ideas here. Perhaps we could put together some nice learning tools. I have already written a vocabulary guide for the top 1,000 words. I would like to see this cleaned up and published for distribution to anyone who wants to learn. I would also like to see this material in the form of flash cards, etc. My goals go beyond what I am writing here, but sharing too much at this point might seem a bit overwhelming and so we will leave it here for now.

Charity and giving to those in need is something that is near and dear to my heart. I have always believed that our generosity and help should flow outwards and not inwards to some coffers or to a leadership that wears nice suits and drives fancy cars. I would like to see the development of a special “committee” that would help us establish a fund of sorts that would be used to provide for those less fortunate within our own community. Quite often various religious groups raise funds for far away places and people within their own gates are in need. I am not sure what this will look like, but I think it is essential. There have been examples where I have been approached by members who have asked me to privately pass along help to another while asking me to withhold from the receiver where the help came from. This is an indication to me that (a) this can work, and (b) that maybe my teaching is getting through to people.

Written publications are needed. We have been blessed with many wonderful truths. I see us with many handsome publications on essentials teachings, from charts of the holy days, to calendars (with holy days, and Torah readings), tracts for lack of a better word on subjects such as the Sabbath, the festivals, the dietary laws, etc. Jeff and Teri Peacock have introduced an idea to me of a monthly magazine published on the web (an E-zine). The content would be in line with our overall mission and would be able to be downloaded and printed by anyone with an internet connection and a printer, or read on line. There would be no publication costs per se and the readership potential would be limited only so far as access to the internet is.

I want to correct misinformation. Rather than engage in picking apart what is wrong I want our materials to focus on teaching what is good and right. I am convinced that our mission is to teach the truth and that in doing so we will provide correction, instruction and direction to those who have been led astray. It is far more effective in my mind than spending our time refuting false teaching. This can be a distraction and the teachings will be less clear.

I want to expand our outreach via the web / Internet. I want to use every opportunity provided by our technological advances to spread truth. This includes a better management of SWW, the social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc). I want us to be at the front edge of this field. Churches are using this media to their advantage. We need to do the same. I have not even begun to use YouTube, but see this as a great opportunity. I am thinking that we should begin to do cyber conferences where people can log in and learn without the expense of travel. I, like many of you enjoy seeing others in the flesh, but there are many that can’t afford to make the trip. We have been able to webcast some of our conferences in the past and so this would be an expansion of that.

Musical talent is something that we are blessed with. We have musicians, singers, and songwriters. We need more music that is biblical and doctrinally acceptable. I would love to see albums from our group on iTunes.

As always I want people to be able to learn without money or expense. So far, we have never had to beg for money. If it ever got to that I would close the doors and accept that Yehovah was not with us.

I plan on working on this some more tonight and tomorrow. I would appreciate some help. Does anything that I have said here ring true to any of you?

Within this group is a whole army of talent. Are you doing what you have been gifted to do? Do you have skills and talents that should be used to advance the Kingdom?

I look forward to your responses. Use the contact page or email me.

Shalom, Ross

Posted in Notes, Weekly Lessons, Weekly Services