Homeschool News & Views

Issue 99, Demember 21, 2008

From Homeschool Helpers

In association with Pass It On Ministries

By Dan L. White

In the summer of 1970, Jerusalem was quiet, but still tense. It had been only three years since the Jews had regained the site of the temple. Bullet marks pocked some of the walls in the city, and blown up tanks sat by the roads here and there.

Margie and I were there with a group of college students excavating around the temple area. We were Christians who worked with Jewish archaeologists but lived in the Arab section of Jerusalem. The hotel we lived in was later used by Yassar Arafat as his headquarters.

Security was tight in Jerusalem in 1970. Actually, as we roamed the city in our free hours, the city seemed safer than any big city in the US. But it did seem tense.

Once six of our female college students wanted to go to a local Arab sweet shop, called The Swiss Patisserie, so I accompanied them. After all, cute Margie Brown was part of that group.

The shop was cozy and quiet. We seated ourselves at one round table and a young Arab fellow came to take our orders. The first young lady studied the menu for a considerable amount of time, then ordered some fudge something. The waiter wrote that down and turned to the next girl. She studied the menu for a considerable amount of time, then ordered the same fudge something. The waiter wrote that down and turned to the next girl at the table. She studied the menu a considerable amount of time and then – ordered the very same thing.

I tend to have the nature of a squirrel’s tail, quick and twitchy. We had sat there for what seemed like fifteen minutes, we were halfway around the table, and after great deliberation all three girls had ordered the very same thing.

Guess what?

Girl number four did the same thing.

Then girl number five.

Finally we came to the girl on my left. By this time I was fascinated with the process that was occurring before my eyes. Certain profound questions were presenting themselves to my questioning mind. If they were all going to order exactly the same thing, why did they have to ponder for so long? Conversely, if they were going to ponder for so long, why didn’t at least one of them order something different?

Alas, such questions will forever remain unanswered. The young lady on my left, after, you know, considerable consideration, ordered the same fudge something.

Finally it was my turn to order. I immediately blurted out to the very patient Arab waiter, apparently rather loudly, “Guess what? I’m going to have the fudge something!”

He nearly jumped out of his skin. “Please, sir. Don’t yell! Don’t yell!” he yelled at me.

I didn’t think I was yelling. I was just a loud American and I was making a joke. Did he not see the humor in what was happening? But I guess it was way too loud for the sensitivities of the time and place.

At least I didn’t take all day to decide my order. I quickly ordered the same fudge something.

I played guitar at the wedding of a fellow student that summer in Jerusalem. He was Jewish, but like the rest of us, he was Christian. I think he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get married in Jerusalem.

A Jewish Christian was a rare individual at that time, in Jerusalem, or in the whole world.

What an amazing statement that is.

In Jerusalem, where Christ was crucified and where the body of believers began with Jews --

When the Jews regained control of the temple site, Jewish Christians were scarcely found.

Look at this --

Act 1:11-15 Hebrew Names Version

(11) who also said, "You men of the Galil, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Yeshua, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky."

(12) Then they returned to Yerushalayim from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Yerushalayim, a Shabbat day's journey away.

(13) When they had come in, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying; that is Kefa, Yochanan, Ya`akov, Andrew, Philip, T'oma, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, Ya`akov Ben-Chalfai, Shim`on the Zealot, and Yehudah the son of Ya`akov.

(14) All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Miriam the mother of Yeshua, and with his brothers.

(15) In these days, Kefa stood up in the midst of the talmidim (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty)…

Who were these folks?

They were the disciples whom Christ used to begin His assembly of believers. They were the first Christianos, or Christians. About a hundred twenty of them. All Israelites, commonly called Jews, even though all were not from the tribe of Judah.

On Pentecost day, 3,000 more were added to the 120. Then soon 5,000 more were added. Finally Luke quit putting in specific numbers, and just said that multitudes were added to the body of believers. And they were all of Israel, up until Acts 10, when Cornelius was added, and then Gentiles.

Rome burned the temple in 70 AD; Jerusalem was plowed under, rebuilt and renamed in 135. Most Jews were run out of the Holy Land. Then followed 18 centuries of persecution, mostly by the Roman church. In all that time, almost no Jews accepted the Jewish messiah, because Christians were the hated persecutors.

However, when the Jews regained the site of the temple, they also began to regain their Messiah.

The Messianic ministry Out of Zion says:

“Since 1967, the number of Messianic Jewish congregations has grown from none to more than 400 world-wide and incredibly, there are now more than 80 Messianic congregations in Israel. This is nothing short of a ‘modern miracle’ as these congregations didn’t exist 33 years ago!” [This was apparently written in 2000.]

“The restoration of secular Israel on May 14th 1948 was a miracle. The return of the 5 million plus Jews who have come home to Israel, and continue to come daily, is also supernaturally inspired and energized. Another supernatural restoration is currently taking place in Israel. On the Biblical Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost ) this year, Tents of Mercy leaders baptized 39 new believers as they celebrated the festival beside the Sea of Galilee. Until recently, this number of Jews coming to faith in their Messiah, has not been seen since the early days of the Church in the first century.”

David Silver, out-of-zion.com

A Wikipedia article on Messianic Judaism says:

“As of 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic synagogues in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide. By 2008, the number of Messianics in the United States was around a quarter million. The number of Messianic Jews in Israel is reported to be anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 members.”

There are a number of movements in the world currently. One is the homosexual movement. It does not include a large percentage of people right now, but the liberals have adopted this as their civil rights cause, and they are pushing it hard. There is also a strong trend toward closer world unity, which has gained much momentum from the financial crisis. Islam is in a strong growth trend, and is making great gains, even in the US. In the western world a strong force is being exerted against anything Christian, the anti-Christian movement. Along with that, Christian churches in the west are spiritually inert, casual Christians who accept whatever society throws at them, never willing to make a stand against sin. This movement crosses all denominational lines, and is the dead church movement, except being dead, it really doesn’t move at all.

On the other hand, there are the Christian homeschoolers and the messianics. Both these modern movements started at about the same time.

I have noticed that a number of US messianics are homeschoolers. Jews are not homeschoolers. They make up about 2% of the US population, but only about ²/₁₀% of homeschoolers. Catholics are not really into homeschooling. They make up 22% of the population, but only about 5% of homeschoolers. Like the most conservative Christians, though, a goodly proportion of messianics are homeschoolers, perhaps a higher relative percentage than any other religious group.

In my experience, many messianics are not Jews at all, but Christians who seem fascinated with Judaism. Judaism is not the religion of the Old Testament, any more than the Roman church, with its pomp, icons and inquisitions is the religion of the New Testament. Judaism was rules and traditions which were added to God’s law. Many messianics try to retain not just the law and festivals of God, but the liturgy and vain traditions of the rabbis. In spite of that, there are now many Jews who do accept Christ, and who try to follow Him and not men. And there are messianic Christians who don’t give a hoot about the rabbis, but only try to follow The Rabbi.

Let’s look over at Jerusalem again, nearly 40 years after we dug impacted dirt from the temple mount. The area has been largely excavated, revealing steps and scenes not seen for hundreds of years. Every year at the Feast of Tabernacles a parade is held through Jerusalem. The Jewish rabbis ordered Jews not to take part in this parade, because the messianics might talk to them about Y’shua. But the International Christian Embassy web site says:

“With a record attendance of over 7,000 pilgrims from 100 nations the ICEJ's 28th annual Feast of Tabernacles Celebration spilled out [into] the streets of Jerusalem in unprecedented fashion this October.

Some 30,000 Israelis ignored a rabbinic ban on Jewish participation in the event and walked side-by-side with their Christian friends, while 50,000 more lined the streets and cheered.“

At that feast, Jerusalem again had thousands of Christians in the city, and probably had more Jewish believers in Christ there than at any time in nearly 1900 years.

So we see a situation where Islam grows while casual Christianity wilts, and where rich societies progress from divorce and adultery to homosexuality. On the other side are the Christian homeschool movement and the messianic movement. Both of these movements require taking a stand and an unpopular position. Both movements are of God, cannot be stopped by human opposition, and are spreading worldwide.