Manmade Tradition

One of the greatest battle grounds between righteousness and evil comes in the form of true worship. Elohim has stated how mankind is to have a relationship with Himself. The religious traditions of man (whether Christian, Rabbinical, or secular in origin) cause separation of mankind from the Almighty and the loss of blessing in life.

The central theme of salvation within Scripture is the acceptance of the Messiah as the Savior of a person's life. Those who accept the Messiah become companions in the book of life. However, the Christian religion has many traditions and beliefs that have added to or changed the commandments found in Scripture and therefore distinguish Christians from other believers in the Messiah.

The Christian religion chose to use an allegorical or spiritual interpretation even though most of Scripture is given in a direct and literal writing style. An interpreter was encouraged to first consult the church's orthodox creed before making an allegorical understanding of Scripture so that the two would match. This effectively adds the meaning to the text that the interpreter wants and does not seek what is truly there.

There is a belief that the Messiah ended the Old Testament covenant and law because He had fulfilled it's purpose and made it no longer necessary. Without this covenant relationship in place the teachings of the Messiah and the Apostles had no basis from which to be interpreted. Therefore, new meanings and forms of worship began to appear.

The Christian religion claims the day of Pentecost and the giving of the Spirit as the time of it's birth. With this claim comes the idea of rejecting the Jewish and Hebrew cultures as being part of the Almighty's people. Israel is now considered to be made up of an entirely different group of people rather than have those people added into the already existing Nation of Israel.

Within Scripture, the focus on the different aspects of the Almighty is His relationship with mankind. There is no attempt to define what the Almighty is. The attempts to define the Almighty and the wording of the Trinity formula come from Greek culture and philosophy rather than from Scripture.

Almost 2000 years ago, the Bishops declared themselves to have the authority to decide which commandments people are to obey in worshipping the Almighty and what observances to follow in daily life. This is not the Earthly Temple and the Aaronic priesthood sanctified by the Almighty nor is it the Heavenly Temple with the Messiah as High Priest.

The Christian religion states that one-tenth of a person's earned income is to be given to the church. This has been mostly spent on large ornate buildings and on the priesthood. The tithing system in Scripture was on the increase of the crops and animals given by the Almighty so that the Levites and the poor people would have food. It was never money that people worked to earn.

The seventh day rest known as the Sabbath was sanctified by the Almighty from the time of creation. The Christian religion has changed that rest to the first day of the week in order to memorialize the resurrection of the Messiah. This ignores the memorial already given in Scripture through the wave sheaf offering made during the feast of unleavened bread.

The Christian religion interprets the communion meal as being the time of the Passover and is sometimes used to represent the start of the new covenant. However, the Messiah Himself was the Passover sacrifice and this meal, while showing His death, is a betrothal ceremony for His bride who awaits His return and the wedding of the Lamb.

Christmas is one of the biggest Christian celebrations of the year. Yet there is no commandment in Scripture to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. The focus on His birth is given only to show the fulfillment of prophecy and prove that He is the Messiah. Further, the traditions associated with Christmas come from other sources with many of them being forms of worship for other religions.

Easter is the largest celebration on the Christian calendar. It is meant to commemorate the resurrection of the Messiah and show the eternal life offered to His people. The method of memorializing this is given in Scripture through the spring festival events and offerings. Yet the traditions and methods of worship now used by the Christian religion come from the rituals of other religions.

Christians are believers in salvation through the Messiah. However, the Christian religion has made a new definition of the Almighty, a new group of His people, a new covenant, a new priesthood, a new source of income, a new set of holidays, and a new set of Scripture interpretation. These changes are things that divide the Almighty's people rather than making them all one body in the Messiah. It is time for all believers in the Messiah to return to Scripture and to leave behind the traditions of man.

The central theme of salvation within Scripture is the acceptance of the Messiah as the Savior of a person's life. Those who accept the Messiah become companions in the book of life. Messianic believers generally try to keep the commandments and laws as part of the covenant relationship. However, Messianic Judaism has many traditions and beliefs that have added to or changed the commandments found in Scripture and therefore distinguish Messianic believers from other believers in the Messiah.

The Pharisees believed in the authority of the Oral Torah, which is another set of commandments that they claim had been given to Moses and orally handed down through the centuries. This would be written down in the third century AD and is known as the Mishna, or first part of the Talmud. Commentaries about what these laws mean were written down and became known as the Gemera, which is the latter part of the Talmud. This new book of law is the primary focus of Orthodox Judaism and it is heavily copied within Messianic Judaism.

The foremost element of the traditions of Messianic Judaism come from when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. This event caused the Sadducees to lose authority and leadership while the Pharisees gained that leadership as worship moved away from the Temple in Jerusalem and into the local Synagogue. The Pharisees were not priests of the line of Aaron, but they now claimed the power to decide how the people would worship.

The Rabbis say that the written Torah (the Tanakh or Old Testament) cannot be understood without knowing the Oral Torah. Under this idea, the Rabbis become the only ones who are able to correctly interpret Scripture and, therefore, are the only ones who have authority. They further claim that Scripture is written in a 'code' that must then be interpreted. The midrashic form of interpreting the Scriptures often uses filters which ignore the wording or context of the passage and enables the making of new traditions.

The customs and actions of the Rabbis are often made into commandments that must be kept by everyone. Further, some traditions are made simply because a Rabbi said it must be so without any basis from Scripture whatsoever. This takes the customs and the commandments of men and calls them the commandments of the Almighty. These are the very things from the teaching of the Pharisees that the Messiah warned the people not to follow.

Within Messianic Judaism, there exists a strong social pressure to become 'Jewish' in both culture and worship while still maintaining belief in the Messiah. However, this neglects that the Nation of Israel was originally made up of the twelve tribes plus people from other nations and that worship was based around the Temple. Furthermore, it neglects that modern Jewish culture has formed during the last two thousand years and is not the same as what would be found in Old Testament times. Becoming 'Jewish' is not a necessity to becoming a believer in the Messiah.

There also exist, within Messianic Judaism, those who desire to become part of Israel by claiming descent from the lost northern tribes. This is difficult, if not impossible, to prove and is sometimes claimed on faith alone. There are some prophecies about the reunification of the Northern and Southern Tribes of Israel. However, some groups overemphasize this concept, attempt to make these prophecies come true today, or make theories of how it will occur in the future. In the extreme, these groups claim a superiority to the tribe of Judah. This type of attitude separates the people rather than uniting them in the Messiah.

There is a general belief in Orthodox Judaism that the keeping of the commandments is something only for the Jewish people and not for the gentiles. This concept sometimes carries over into groups within Messianic Judaism. This produces a two level system of believers with one group keeping and the other group not keeping all of the commandments. Yet the commandments and laws are for all of the Almighty's people and are His instructions for living life. There is no distinction between Jewish, Israelite, and gentile believers in the Messiah.

The Rabbis have claimed the authority to set the times of the calendar, including the beginnings of the months and years as well as the timing of the Festival Days of Assembly. They basically follow the Metonic Cycle that works on a 19 year pattern with some additional postponements that have the effect of making it easier to follow other Rabbinical traditions. Although this calendar will be similar to that found in Scripture, this method neglects the direct connection that the festivals had with the times of harvest.

The Rabbinical interpretations of the festivals focus on the literal history of the Nation of Israel or of what the people can do to attain salvation. Because they have not accepted the Messiah who has come (and will come again) the true meaning of the Festival Assemblies, which picture the work of the Messiah, is missed. Furthermore, some traditions of the Rabbis which lack or deny the Messiah are taken by Messianic Judaism and given a layer of new meaning and symbolism meant to celebrate the Messiah.

One of the most elaborate and well-known Rabbinical festival celebrations is the seder ceremony that has replaced the Passover observance. The seder ceremony is a symbolic ritual used to emphasize freedom from slavery and for teaching the historic event of the exodus to the children. Messianic Judaism has taken the many customs which focus on the leaving of Egypt, mostly involved with eating certain kinds of foods (primarily fruits, vegetables, and grain), and has overlaid them with a new meaning that points to the Messiah and His work for the salvation of mankind.