The Torah and the Tanakh
The word Tanakh is an acronym for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, meaning Law, Prophets, and Writings, respectively. These three categories include all the books of the Hebrew Bible. Torah means instruction in Hebrew and is comprised of the first five books given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai as a ketubah (a betrothal covenant) for his bride. We at the Assembly of Called-Out Believers love God’s Torah as it instructs us in how to love God and how to love our fellow man. Watch the video below to learn more about Torah and why it is still important for us today!
The Bible
The BIBLE, consisting of the Tenach (Holy Scriptures) and the later writings commonly known as the B’rit Hadasha (New Covenant), is the authoritative word of God. We recognize its divine inspiration, and accept its teachings as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice (Deut. 6:4-9; Prov. 3:1-6; Ps. 119:89, 105; Isa. 48:12-16; Rom. 8:14-17; II Tim. 2:15, 3:16-17).
Man
Created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), but: through disobedience, man fell from his first state and became separated from God (Gen. 2:17; 3:22-24). Isaiah says, “Thy sins have made a separation between thee and thy God. (Isa. 59:2). We know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but we do not believe in the doctrine of original sin which comes from the Catholic Church . Please watch the video below to learn more about why this erronerous doctrine is not biblically sound and not believed by Jews…
According to the Scriptures, all men are born with a fallen nature weakened by the sin of our forefathers (Ps. 14:1-3; 49:7; 53:3; Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:9-12, 23; 5:12). Man’s only hope for redemption (salvation) is through the atonement made by the Messiah (Lev. 17:11; Isa. 53; Dan. 9:24-26; I Cor. 15:22; Heb. 9:11-14, 28; John 1:12, 3:36), resulting in regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5), which is the new birth (John 3:3-8) and which makes it possible for us to be Overcomers. For by grace we are saved through faith, it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). The prophet John looked down through the ages in vision to the last days and saw a remnant of people who would hold fast to the Commandments of God and have their testimony in Yeshua… Today that vision is being fulfilled by all Messianic believers who keep God’s Commandments and have their faith in Yeshua as their Messiah! (Rev. 12:17, Rev. 14:12)
What is Sin?
Sin is transgression of the Torah according to 1 John 3:4 and it makes a separation between us and God according to the prophet Isaiah 59:2. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) not because God is an arbitrary punisher of sin and kills the sinner but because sin separates us from the source of life and is inherently self-destructive! It is by the gift of God that we are all given life in the midst of our sin, not so we can continue sinning but so that we can return to his principles of Life (Torah) in repentanace (teshuva) and be recreated as a new creature back into his image and have eternity with Him!
God
We believe that the Shema, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4), teaches that God is Echad, as so declared: that God is One and One is our God, eternally existent in oneness (James 2:19; 1 Tim.2:5)
[Gen. 1:1 (Elohim: God); Gen. 1:26 “Let us make man in our image”; Gen. 2:24 Adam & Eve were created to be as one flesh (basar echad)], that He is a personal God who created us (Gen. 1 & 2) to be equally yoked with His DNA for relationship with Him.
GOD’S CHARACTER
Pastor Isaac teaches extensively on God’s character and believes understanding our Heavenly Father in his true nature is the only way for us as children to emulate him and be changed back into his image!
God is the spirit of Selfless Love (1 John 4:8). That Selfless Love is Pure (1 John 3:3) and immiates out from Him in the manifestation of glorious Light (James 1:17; 1 Tim.6:16). The light of God’s love is other-centered and only life-giving and thus is the very source of life itself in all of the cosmos! (John17:3; 1Tim 6:13)
GOD THE FATHER (Abba)
God is a father to His Children: Jer. 3:4, 19; 31:9; Mal. 1:6; Matt. 6:9, 32; Rom. 8:14-15.
Luke 10:21-22; John 1:14; 4:23; 5:17-26; 6:28-46; Rom. 8:14-15.
THE SON (HaBen)
- God does have Sons [Ps. 2; Prov. 30:4-6 (cf. Heb. 1); Luke 12:35-37; John 1:29-34, 49; 3:14-18]. From the beginning Adam was called a son of God, and Yeshua 2000 years ago referred to himself as “bnei Adam” which gets translated “son of man”. Yeshua meaning salvation, was born as the fulfillment of the “prophet like unto Moshe” God has promised in Deuteronomy 18:18-20. God said He would put His Word in his mouth and thus John referred to him as the Word (seed) made flesh, born of a virgin [Isa. 7:14 (cf. Luke 1:30-35)].
The Word is referred to in Greek as “logos” meaning the “Divine expression” of the Creator [Ps. 110:1 (cf. Heb. 1:13); Isa. 9:6-7; Matt. 28:18-20; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-19; Rev. 3:21 (Heb. 1 – worshipped by angels); Rev. 4:8, 5:5-14]. This One it is said will return as the promised Mashiach (Messiah) of Israel [Is. 9:6-7; 11:1; Dan. 9 (esp. verses 20-26); Isa. 53; John 1:17, 40-41, 45, 49; Mark 8:29]. He is the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star (Num. 24:17; Rev. 22:16). He is what the Passover pointed to symbolically, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.(I Cor. 5:7; Rev. 5; John 1:29).
GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT (Ruach HaKodesh)
Introduced in Gen. 1:2. In the Tenach, the Spirit of God came upon individuals during the times of our forefathers, like Moses, David (see II Sam. 23:1-3), and the Prophets, for the specific purposes. God is Spirit and His Spirit is not a seperate entity as many have erroneously taught but His very essence. In the New Testament, Yeshua, promised His disciples that “the Comforter” would come to them after He was gone, described as the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 26), who was with them and would be in them. Yeshua further declared that the Spirit of Truth, would guide us into all truth and would glorify Him – not Himself (John 16:13-15). He empowers us (Acts 1:8). He seals us [Eph. 1:13; 4:30 (see NIV and Jewish New Testament versions)]. If we have not the Spirit of God, we are not His (Rom. 8:9). He leads us and teaches us (Rom. 8:14-17). His indwelling enables us to live a godly life. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, be immersed, and receive the Holy Spirit.”
Messiah
RESURRECTION & JUDGEMENT
We believe in the resurrection of both the redeemed and the lost: the former to everlasting life and the latter to eternal separation from God, a state of everlasting punishment (Job 14:14; 19:25-27; Dan. 12:2-3; John 3:36; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 10-15; 21:7-8).
THE MESSIAH
The Redeemer. The Scriptures promised two “comings” of the Messiah: First coming prophecy in Dan. 9:24-26 which speaks of him being “cut off” in the midst of the final 7 years of the 490 year prophecy pertaining to the Jews ending in 34 CE, thus he would be cut off around 31 CE. The purpose of him being “cut off” was to make an atonement for sin (Dan. 9:24-26; Isa. 53; Rom. 3:21-31; Heb. 9-10; John 3:16-17). The Second coming promised describes him coming in the air to receive the believers to himself (I Thess. 4:13-18; John 14:1-6; I Cor. 15:51-57). The scriptures says that the Redeemer shall come to Zion (Isa. 59:20-21; Zech. 14:4). Israel’s spiritual redemption (Zech. 12:8-13:1; Rom. 11:25-27; Heb. 9:28; Jer. 31:31-40; the New Covenant). Israel’s national restoration is to recover the remnant of His people Israel from the four corners of the earth, and restore the Davidic Kingdom (Isa. 11 – to re-establish the throne and kingdom of David, which will last forever) [Isa. 9:6-7 (cf. Luke 1:30-33); Jer. 23:3-8].
Israel In Prophecy
We believe in God’s end-time plan for the nation of Israel and for the world. A central part of Messianic Judaism is the belief in the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel, as taught in the Scriptures. The greatest miracle of our day has been the re-establishment or rebirth of the State of Israel according to prophecy (Ezek. 34:11-31; 36-39; Hos. 3; Amos 9:11-15; Zech. 12-14; Isa. 11; 43; 54; 60-62; 66; Rom. 11:1-34) (see also Scriptures under V. THE MESSIAH).
THE REUNIFICATION OF THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL –
The two greatly divided Houses of Israel, which came about when the Kingdom of Israel was taken away by God from King Solomon 3000 years ago and broken up into two sections, are now being re-united!
These two people groups are frequently referred to in the Bible as “Judah and Israel”. Both Houses in time were banished from the Land of Israel and exiled amongst the nations – but the Promise of God remained as a Challenge, that He would in the End times restore ‘the Fallen Tabernacle of David’.
We believe that we have now reached that Moment in Time and that God is re-awakening His people from both Houses and calling them together to be one.
Ezekiel 37:15-28
The word of the L-RD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the L-rd G-D; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
And say unto them, Thus saith the L-rd G-D; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their G-d.
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’ children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their G-d, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the L-RD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
Messianic Judaism
We recognize that Jewish people (physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, whether through the mother’s or the father’s blood-line) who place their faith in Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua, continue to be Jewish according to the Scriptures (Rom. 2:28-29). Gentiles who place their faith in Yeshua, and are “grafted into” the Jewish olive tree of faith (Rom. 11:17-25) become spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham (Gal. 3:28-29). When Gentiles return to the roots of their faith in the God of the Hebrews, and a love for His Torah, it is sometimes referred to as the Hebrew Roots movement. We observe and celebrate the Jewish Holy Days given by God to Israel, with their fulfillment in and through the Messiah Yeshua. We believe that true “Biblical Judaism,” the faith of first century believers, which we seek to practice, acknowledges the continuity of faith in the one true God, revealed throughout the Scriptures, and ultimately manifested in God’s Son, Yeshua the Messiah. We believe that salvation has always been “by faith,” and that works of law, or righteous acts, have never saved anyone (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 2-6; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 11:6, 39). We acknowledge that the New Covenant body of believers is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Yeshua the Messiah as the Promised Redeemer. The “middle wall of partition” has been broken down and now we worship the God of Israel together (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 2).