Pastor Mark Biltz, leader of the messianic El Shaddai Ministries of Tacoma Washington, has the kind of christ-driven "pro-Israel" approach, which should cause responsible Jewish community leaders to abruptly about-face and pave a clear detour to ensure the spiritual integrity of the Jewish collective. Biltz inter-changes religious identities and definitions in order to deliberately wreak confusion and blur the definitive lines between faiths. And yet, one can find a hefty sampling of Israel's best "Land-of-Israel" spokespersons and rabbis on the guest speaker line-up of that thriving messianic Christian congregation. ...more
Biltz was recently in Israel and was hosted in communities in Judea and Samaria. At the time of his visit we posted three videos which are directly related to this report:
Messianic Pastor Mark Biltz: "The New Testament is Torah"
Pastor Mark Biltz puts Jesus in the Torah on GLC
Pastor Mark Biltz puts a Christian spin on the "Aaronic Blessing"
Jewish Israel wishes our readership a Happy Chanukah!
26 comments:
People laughed me aside when I said that the current situation forebodes Israel becoming a Christian nation, but your well-researched article shows that we are quickly realizing this unfortunate truth.
May Hashem save us from ourselves, quickly and in our days!
I'm building an ark.
To donate, I'm asking for 25 shekel to dedicate a nail and 120 for a full wooden plank.
Seriously, we Jews are in seriously trouble, from within and without - and even from within the within.
These leaders from Shomron are leading us to a calamity they choose to dismiss.
Thanks for commenting, Penina. We never laughed at you!
And thank you for having provided JewishIsrael with your wisdom, guidance,and information on many occasions in the past.
The staff at JewishIsrael found this report particularly difficult to write. Heartbreaking stuff.
This is so sad and causes so much damage for the Jewish people and especially, a person like myself who is a convert and wishes to do Aliyah, because now you have to go through extreme hardships to do Aliyah. Because of actions of others of whom you have no idea of.Since Me and my children are converts who never had anything to do with these movements who are somewhere between xtian and Jews a place which to me seems very dangerous to the partakers and the Jewish people.
He should blow up on that podium. He should spontaneously ignite in the middle of his bastardizing the Priestly Blessing. May he be damned!
Anonymous 1
Are the hardships you refer to because of the background checks the Jewish Agency does or because of difficulty with the rabbinate?
Or something else?
Do you feel that Israeli officials are aware of the problem of members of Christians sects attempting aliyah?
Anonymous 2,
Is Pastor Biltz the problem?
Perhaps the anger and disappointment should be directed at our Jewish leaders who are playing with fire by encouraging a faith-based relationship with people like Biltz.
The lost 10 tribes are to be found scattered around the globe but concentrated in the west among evangelical christians. Christianity is a mixture of truth and paganism just as Yoseph was a hebrew that looked egyptian to his brethern and they did not recognize hime. The Hebraic restoration movement is part of HaShem's plan to restore and reconcile the lost 10 tribes with their brother Yahuda. When the lost 10 tribes return they will bring much paganism with them according to the prophets. It will take Yahuda's patience and teaching truth to help us in the process of return and reconciliation with Yahuda. I appreciate folks like Rabbi Avraham Feld who strive to teach us in love instead of being critical and condeming of our pagan attachments. Pastors like Blitz are tools HaShem is using to open the eyes of Christians to Torah as HaShem calls us home to Yahuda. Please check out Rabbi Feld and OvadYad Avrihami website Kolhator to see their efforts in this. Od Chai Yoseph! Daniel
Ellen, again, thanks for posting here. I think Jewish Israel is doing a very important job for the Jewish People.
are folks worried that THEY THEMSELVES will wander off the Derekh?
Or are they worried that their own lifestyle & narrative aren't sufficiently self-strong, that their kids will wander off the derekh?
If a dog doesn't fetch correctly, do we blame the dog - or blame the trainer?
Worrying about MEssianic Christians is a sign that your inner core ideology isn't as self-evident as you thought!
Alan,
With all due respect, what you wrote is ludicrous.
Obviously the Jewish people are concerned about the future of their children and about spiritual continuity. We are also concerned about our people who, for whatever reason, are not so strong in their faith. But the inner-core is always there
So in the same way I would strongly protest and oppose a mafia presence, hardened drug dealers or a prostitution ring in by neighborhood, because it endangers my children, my neighbors, and me, I oppose a spiritual threat.
Israel has a strong core army, should we cease to deem the Arabs a threat?
Anonymous Daniel
Hmmmm. That spin on prophecy is so interesting.
Did you hear the one about a guy named Santa Claus from a far Northern Kingdom who is going to come with a bunch of elves and gifts to serve the people of Israel. The elves will have to grab on to the hems of the Jews, because they are so short. Santa has a list of the naughty and the nice kids and the nice kids get a sleigh ride to the promised land, but the naughty kids will have to carry the Jews back on their shoulders.
Shalom!
David HaIvri has an article in the Jewish Press.
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/are-christian-zionists-a-threat-to-israel/2011/12/20/
He claims that his detractors do not have a accurate picture of the situation. In his words they have a "shallow understanding".
Hadassa, am I missing something or does Ha'ivri not bother backing up his counter-claims with any facts?
Obviously, facts are in inconvenience to Ha'ivri and can be ignored as such.
Shalom!
In this particular article he doesn't state any facts. In other articles he has stated facts, but he has never fully described the situation - in other words, yes, he does leave out inconvenient facts. Fortunately the first three comments on the article are very critical.
Hadassa, JewishIsrael has submitted the following to the Jewish Press in response to David Ha'ivri's article.
Sir; -
There is no question that there are many fine, upstanding Gentiles supporting Israel at this time. While certain strategic, moral and political alliances with the non-Jewish world are to be encouraged, it is both naïve and misleading to deny the serious costs involved in Israel's unregulated relationship with impassioned evangelical Christians.
As content and research director of Jewishisrael.com, an organization which monitors Christian activity in Israel, I regret to say that Mr. Ha'ivri has chosen to diminish the concerns of those working in the counter-missionary field and those investigating growing Christian influence in the Jewish state. Mr. Ha'ivri's article was bereft of any facts. This may indicate that either Ha’ivri is unaware of the facts on the ground in Israel or that he chooses to ignore them. That Ha'ivri thoughtlessly and flippantly minimizes the spiritual threat that missionaries present in Israel is indicative of his detachment from his own people, many of whom are spiritually thirsty, vulnerable and lacking a proper Jewish education or the means to respond to evangelical overtures.
Certain Christian individuals and organizations with whom Mr. Ha'ivri chooses to work with may not be aggressively proselytizing in the classical sense. However, they are on a religiously-driven mission with the intention to draw Jews close, or they strive for a theological unification between Judaism and Christianity. In addition, these parties are supportive of the messianic Christian sects in the Jewish state and aspire towards a Christian restoration in Israel. That makes them "missionaries" and it's apparent that David Ha'ivri has a very shallow understanding of that term.
If Jewish activists like David Ha'ivri choose to work with devout Christians, then they should be honest enough to acknowledge the problems and wise enough to use foresight, seek guidance, and draw red lines in such relationships.
Ellen Horowitz
Content and Research Director
JewishIsrael.com
Shalom!
Ellen, that's great, but why didn't you specify why Beck, Hagee and others that David HaIvri mentioned ARE involved with missionary work?
Hadassa,
It's not an article and letters to the editor usually don't get published unless they are brief.
The answer to questions on some of the specific groups and personalities partnering with Ha'ivri warrants full reports and investigations, which is what we do and what we have on our site.
But I think we did answer the question in general by stating that many of these personalities are"on a religiously-driven mission with the intention to draw Jews close, or they strive for a theological unification between Judaism and Christianity. In addition, these parties are supportive of the messianic Christian sects in the Jewish state and aspire towards a Christian restoration in Israel."
With regards to Beck and some of the others, we probably should have mentioned that they are closely affiliated with those who actively evangelize. In fact Beck featured known missionaries, who have targeted Jews with campaigns or expressed missionary intentions,in his program while in Israel.
But there are certainly other activists who have taken a more severe stand against partnering with Christians than JewishIsrael.
Ha'ivri's comments may have been directed towards them.
We're more in a respect and suspect mode and do not deny the value of responsible alliances and accountable relationships with non-Jewish parties.
For those who would like to view excerpts of David Ha'ivri on Christian missionary television last week with Tommy Waller, please got to
http://jewishisrael.ning.com/video/david-ha-ivri-appears-with-tommy-waller-on-the-missionary-tv-stat
In the excerpts from the 2-hour show, Tommy Waller quotes from the new testament and describes his Christian mission.
GLC, is a missionary network dedicated to "help you see Yeshua (Jesus) in the Torah".
Shalom!
Ellen, OK.
Penina--that's what I've thought all along, from the moment I first heard the phrase Christian Zionist. They want a Christian Zion.
Happy Chanukah, Ellen, Batya, Shy, hadassah, Penina. I hope I haven't missed any of the regular commenters here.
Chag sameach to the anonymos commenters, too.
Ellen, Answer to #1 Anonymous:
I feel the Israeli Government is doing the very best they can do. I do not know about the Rabbinate, I feel they most likely do all they can do. However when a convert like myself who doesn't even understand the messianic religion. and is actually just as much prey to the goy as any other Jew it is real hard when your own people doesn't discern and your treated with suspicion. Simply because you decide to live in a different area for your Klita and your friends happen to be Jewish converts as well. It just stinks and has cost my family a lot of money we do not have because our visa's were put on hold and now we are paying rent in Israel and the USA and have paid half our shipping for our lift, spent so much money even getting to the point of Aliyah. We are Jews and have raised our children to be Jews. We hate xtian anything and have never been messy anything. We are persecuted for being Jews and Persecuted for being converts. Yet I do not blame Israel with all the crap I see here going on. When are these Goy's going to get it! (you can not believe in a MAN god and Be a Jew) period. HaShem has to help us. And for those of you on here saying this is HaShems way of bringing bringing xtians to Israel and waking them up to Torah... Well maybe so but what I see is these so called Ten tribes need to wake up and smell the coffee, we are not allowing their pagan g-d in our midst. Either they Deni their xtian g-d JC, and convert. Or stay the out of our country.. There is no middle ground. Issiah 43:10. And quit causing honest people like myself and my family problems because of your lies. So you see I do not blame the Gov. or the Rabbi's even with all we are suffering I am 100% understanding. I blame these crazy goy who have no idea or the extent to the damage they cause Innocent people..
Anonymous 1,
Thanks so much for your very thorough and thoughtful answers to my questions.
It's a shame that sincere converts find themselves in this very painful situation.
It's interesting that the most articulate and passionate voices battling the missionary intrusion into Israel are more often than not converts to Judaism.
Ellen?'s
Why do you think converts get treated so? Is there anything we can do to stop the oppression?
Anonymous,
I wouldn't call it "oppression", as many converts are as Jewish tradtion dictates, warmly welcomed into the Jewish community and encouraged. A lot depends on the Jewish community and location. But certainly a number of sincere converts suffer and go through a grueling process before they feel accepted.
I think "Anonymous 1" made it clear that there remains suspicion among because of the tactics of the messianic movement and their attempts to plant themselves in Orthodox communities and covert attempts by practicing christians to take advantage of the aliyah process.
I think strigent counter-missionary laws in Israel which are enforced would alleviate some of the problem, as well as clear guidelines issued by our rabbinic leaders.
After reading our Letter to the Editor in response to David Ha'ivri's oped, the Jewish Press invited Jewish Israel to write a Counterpoint oped piece, which has now been published at
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/counterpoint-to-david-haivri/2011/12/27/
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