Image from www.praisesnprayers.com
[Had to dig out this post from the 2nd month at the start of this website, April 6, 2012.
For people ‘on the move’ which is what life is all about, for pilgrims in search of meaning in life, it is good to look back to the start of a journey if only to appreciate how much distance one has travelled and more importantly, if the journey has changed the traveller in any significant way. Is one the same person at the beginning as one is at any point of the journey?
Each Sinaite began with a re-examination of unquestioned and unchallenged set of beliefs and convictions. That beginning led unexpectedly to an awakening and consequently a major shift in core beliefs. The decision to shed and unlearn what amounted to virtually a lifetime of accumulated doctrinal knowledge moved toward taking on the challenge of rediscovering foundational truths that were ‘buried’ in the first part of the Christian bible we had neglected to read with fresh eyes and a blank mental slate. One had to seriously study what is referred to as the “root” —- with no preconceptions and baggage from the supposed “fruit.”—admittedly, not an easy thing to do, for it required —in computerese terms —“delete” and start over with a mental blank slate. How does the mind do that? With conscious choice and will power, one can do it: ‘Learn the Old, unlearn the New’ became the battlecry in our rewrite of lyrics to the tune of “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
What were we thinking at the beginning of this pilgrimage? This post reviews. —Admin1]
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For God-seekers/Truth-seekers, life is a pilgrimage.
We journey through each phase of our earthly life, choosing pathways we think will lead us to our destination . . . only to face that fork on the road that gives us pause. Those who don’t wish to stray from ‘the familiar’ continue on the same convenient and comfortable pathway; after all, they have been convinced that the map they’ve depended on has been reliable. Few dare to stray into the unknown, unbeaten path.
Thankfully, many of us did and have been blessed for doing so, for in checking what was on the “other pathway” that diverged from the road widely travelled—the beaten path—we learned, we matured, we became progressively more discerning; best of all, we got biblically educated!
Some of us have spent almost a lifetime journeying toward that “Sacred Place” where we expect to meet the ONE TRUE GOD. On that journey, we made a thoughtful decision every time we faced a fork on the road. That fork showed up not once, not twice, but thrice on this pilgrimage.
Some of us started out as children inheriting the religious choices of our parents, baptized in the Roman Catholic Church; then, discontented with mere tradition, ritual and unquestioned dogma, we turned to seeking God in what we were told contained His complete revelation—The Christian Bible.
So we ended up in one of the “protestant” sects or turned to one of the many evangelical fellowships where we listened to preachings from “The Word of God”, except much of that preaching/teaching focused only on the newer testament. Many of us organized into weekly bible study groups and got involved in churches/fellowships.
While comfortable and content in following that map provided by The Christian Bible, later in the journey, we faced yet another fork on the road. This time, the alternative led us to a closer look into the neglected part of the Christian Bible —the so-called “Old” Testament. Messianic Theology introduced us to the Hebraic roots of our Christian Faith.
Well and good, most of us felt we had finally arrived. . .only to encounter one more fork on the road . . . one that challenged us not only to venture more deeply into the foundational Hebrew Scriptures on which the supposedly newer testament was based, but also to question the very foundations of our Christian heritage.
It is this latter investigation that shook up the very core of our God-search, for we discovered that what we had unquestioningly accepted as God-given Truth turned out to be man-made doctrine hatched in mere councils of men within the first three centuries of millennium 4 in the Biblical reckoning of time, though in the Gregorian calendar, it would be the first thousand years after the supposed birth of Christianity’s Savior — Jesus Christ.
Jesus of Nazareth, Yeshua–like any Jew in his time —was raised and educated in the Hebrew Scriptures, lived Torah, worshipped the God of Israel. Other than that, there isn’t much written in historical records about this man; much of what we know about him comes from “New” Testament books.
We who have awakened to the consistent message of the Hebrew Scriptures about the self-revelation of the God on Sinai have followed Jesus out of Christianity into his faith in Israel’s God [Following Jesus…Out of Christianity – A Synagogue Without Walls, www.rootsoffaith.net/video/following–jesusout-of/Ross Nichols]. The faith OF Jesus is not the same as faith IN Jesus, as explained by one author who greatly influenced our individual and collective decision, James D. Tabor, Restoring Abrahamic Faith.
With all due respect, this is where we now depart from our former Christ-centered colleagues, friends, teachers and pastors. Contrary to misunderstandings about our faith, we are not joining Judaism; we are gentiles drawn to the God of Creation, the same God of Abraham, the God of Moses Whose self-revealed Name is YHWH, the God who made His one and only covenant with Israel, the God of the Jews and of the historical Jesus.
Our former co-travellers on this journey [committed and dedicated Christ-worshippers] who are befuddled at our turnabout from a whole belief system we had embraced all our lives, have understandably reacted in various ways—ranging from pity that we’ve lost our salvation, to active resistance by warning others and labelling us “apostates”, “bastards” and “anti-christs”. Such negative reactions hardly threaten our resolve to continue on this last and final lap of our pilgrimage.
This pathway has led us back to the place of Divine Revelation:
- geographically, that place is Mount Sinai;
- historically, that time is recorded in Exodus . .
- literarily, that “place” is the repository of the True Revelation—the Hebrew Scriptures, the TNK, but specifically the TORAH.
The journey’s length depends on the God-seeker . . . for the True Revelator had given His directions as early as that historical point in time to Moses and the mixed multitude. That Revelation has been accessible to all mankind for 6 millennia now, but it has taken each one of us almost a lifetime to get to it.
Why? That is a question each one must answer for himself.
Image from thesoberistblog.wordpress.com
There is nothing to lose in pursuing this path. We all have already known the other side; all our lives have been spent on studying its theological/scriptural/doctrinal implications and conclusions.
All we can say at this point is — none of us regret ever returning to the original Way. We wish we had discovered this Way so much earlier, so that we could have worshipped, served, and made known the One True God in the spring instead of the autumn of our lives. It is not too late for the youth among us; we trust they will carry on our legacy.
Blessed be the true and living God we have come to know, love and now serve—
His Name is YHWH.
NSB@S6K
On behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community