THE MODERN
MESSIANIC MOVEMENT

The Awakening after 1900-years

​Emerging from the Tunnel

The modern Messianic Movement became more visible as it emerged from the long dark tunnel of the 1900-year suppression as discussed in the previous panels and especially after the Six-day War of June 1967 which brought the Hellenistic domination of Isra’el and Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to an end. That same war saw the completion of the prophecy in Dani’el 8:13-14, who's vision began with Gentile rulership of Y’hudah following the arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 BCE. The subsequent Hellenistic influence transferred from the Greek to the Roman Empire and beyond into all the western nations and lasted the throughout the 2,300-years.
 
However, during the 18th and 19th centuries, both the Jewish and Christian communities of Europe began to be influenced by two new modern phenomena, the enlightenment and the emancipation. “The European Enlightenment undermined the centuries old authority of both the monarchy and the Church and paved the way for the political and industrial revolutions.” (Eugen Weber, Movements, currents, trends: Aspects of European Thought)
 
Historians traditionally date the Enlightenment from 1715 to 1789, starting with the death of Louis XIV of France and lasting until the outbreak of the French Revolution that ended the Ancien Regime. (Wikipedia - Age of Enlightenment) It was no accident that during that same period a Jewish Movement called “Haskalah (from Hebrew sekhel “reason” or “intellect” emerged, initially in Germany and spread its influence throughout Europe. (Wikipedia - Age of Enlightenment)
 
“Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786 CE) a seminal German Jewish philosopher was one of the key figures of the Haskalah an intellectual movement among Jews of Central and Eastern Europe that inspired the Jewish Enlightenment. Mendelssohn primarily wanted to improve the position of his fellow Jews and help them to integrate more easily into their host society by mastering the German language. Since most German Jews spoke Yiddish, he produced a translation of the biblical text with which they were most familiar. It was a translation of the Pentateuch, called Sefer Netivot ha-shalom (‘Paths of peace’) and was published in Berlin in 1783 CE in five volumes. It contained the Hebrew Pentateuch accompanied by a German version in the Hebrew characters. Mendelssohn’s translation was in elegant High German.” (British Library -www.bl.uk/collection-items/moses-mendelssohns-Pentateuch-translation)
 
The Haskalah Movement was active in many fields such as - education, economics, philosophy, politics culture and not least religion. Having begun in Germany, it spread to other parts of Western Europe and eastward as far as Russia.
 
Enlightened despotism also developed as a new form of government in the 18th century which saw absolute monarchs pursue legal, social and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment. Among the most prominent enlightened despots were Frederick II (of Prussia), Peter I (Tsar of Russia), Catherine II (Empress of Russia), Maria Theresa (of the House of Habsburg), Joseph II (eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa), and Leopold II (King of the Belgians). They all instituted administrative reforms, religious toleration and economic development but did not allow reforms that would undermine their sovereignty or disrupt the social order.  (www.britannica.com/topic/enlightened-despotism)

Jewish Emancipation

The emancipation disrupted the relationship the Jews had with their own religion, which could no longer govern all the actions in their lives. Many preferred the practice of Judaism that more closely reflected the lifestyle of their non-Jewish fellow citizens. Emancipation in France, Italy, Germany, permitted many Jews to leave the ghettos and contribute, as a result of the Haskalah, there were moves toward the development of “Reform” during the 19th century. The emancipation also contributed toward the assimilation of Jews and sometimes to their cultural disappearance when they merged through marriage into the surrounding society.
(Wikipedia - Jewish emancipation - consequences)
 
Such was the European environment during the 18th and 19th centuries, which also paved the way for outreach by the Churches of Christendom toward the newly liberated Jewish communities. Many Protestant Churches copied the lead and began reaching out world-wide to evangelise the non-religious Jewish communities, with the intention of converting Jews to Christianity. The new evangelical phenomenon had emerged after centuries of dark religious suppression, during which time conversion had only ever been achieved through force and threat of death.

Birth of the Modern Messianic Movement

In response to the Church outreach, in 1817 a small group of Jews within the Anglican Church of London England began gathering each Shabbat calling themselves B’nei Avraham. They met in what they called the ‘Jew’s Chapel’ in East London. They met over the next 50 years until 1867 when they finally formed The Hebrew Christian Alliance, which developed branches in other countries including USA in 1915. Finally in 1975 the Hebrew Christian Alliance changed its name to become The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA).  (Wikipedia - Hebrew Christian Movement)

After the formation of the Hebrew Christian Alliances in both Britain and the USA, their London Conference in 1925 set down conditions for an International Hebrew Christian Alliance, with a newly formed Executive Committee that wrote into their new constitution:-  The Constitution provided for the creation of National Alliances which should be affiliated to the International body, and under “membership” opened the door for Christians not of Jewish birth to become associate members, enjoying full rights except the power of voting. It was also made quite clear that the I.H.C.A. would not come under the jurisdiction of any Christian denomination. (History of Jewish Christianity - From the First to the Twentieth century Hugh Schoenfeld 1936)

Modern Evangelism

During the 100-years following the formation of the first Hebrew Christian Alliance in 1867 an internal struggle continued with many Jews having been liberated from Orthodoxy wanting to align themselves more closely with various Protestant Church organisations while at the same time retaining their right to reach out toward various Jewish communities. Others wanted to branch out on their own and form separate Hebraic Congregations exclusively for Jews who had come to acknowledge Yeshua their long awaited Mashiach (Messiah).
 
The breakaway Hebraic Congregation trend began in the USA and slowly spread to Isra’el and Europe, finally reaching New Zealand in the late 1980’s with the formation of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of New Zealand (MJANZ). Even then the first congregation did not begin holding Shabbat services until February 1998 under the name Beth Yeshua, which was established through support from the leadership of the MJANZ.

The Messianic Movement 1967 - 2017

The 50-year period between 1967 and 2017 saw the Movement go through many stages of rapid and sustained growth which could be loosely dubbed the “Baby Boomer Era” as most of the movement was lead and developed by people who were born post WW-II. Unlike the previous 100 years which saw the churches reaching out toward the Jewish community, the early 1970’s marked the start of a wave of independent Messianic Jewish synagogues, congregations, fellowships and ministries, which sprang up throughout the USA, Europe, Isra’el and other parts of the developed world. Throughout that period church evangelism and financial support continued, with many new congregations and fellowships being heavily reliant upon or totally subsidised by denominational church organisations. Because the churches kept pouring funds into the developing Messianic Movement, they encouraged many Messianic groups to remain closely aligned with Christian doctrines and teachings.
 
The pressure upon church backed groups led to an internal conflict that reflected the struggles of the 1st century Messianic Community. Between 30 and 70 CE the 1st Messianic Community faced its own internal struggle with demands from the Hebrew faction that all new Gentile believers should be circumcised and become proselyte Jews.
​
However, the reverse situation developed in the modern Messianic Movement, with Jews wanting the Gentiles to remain uncircumcised. Because in the words of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance Conference of 1925 agreed that Gentiles should be associate members only. Since that conference many Messianic Synagogues have continued to consider their Gentile members as merely adherents who should remain as adherents to the Messianic Movement by keeping the four Noachide Laws and continuing with the traditional Christian celebrations rather than follow the Mo’adim of Torah. ​

Messianic Milestones of the Past

Applying the words George Santayana, if we look back into history with fresh eyes, no longer looking through the lens of Rabbinic traditions nor the lens of Christian dogma, we will see the past from a purely scriptural and historical perspective.
 
Firstly, it is necessary to acknowledge that in developing his sovereign plan El Shaddai (God Almighty) selected just one-man Avraham Avinu. Through Avraham, El Shaddai made a covenantal promise that Avraham’s descendants would inherit Eretz-Yisrael for all time. Later El Shaddai revealed himself to Moshe (Moses) at the burning bush and established his memorial name as YHVH. It was through the name of YHVH, El Shaddai redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt and fashioned them into a nation that could live in the land promised to Avraham (Abraham).
 
On the night before Israel departed from Egypt, YHVH instructed Moshe that every household should sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts of their house. That was the first covenant made with the house of Isra’el and the house of Y’hudah. It is the same covenant that Sha’ul wrote about in Hebrews 8:13 as being the covenant that was passing away. It passed away during the 1st century CE having been replaced by the new covenant spoken about in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and which was ratified through the death and resurrection of Yeshua.
 
Fifty days after departing from Egypt, at Mt Horev, YHVH entered into a second covenant with the house of Isra’el and the house of Y’hudah. That one comprised the Ten Words written on two tablets of stone and became the marriage ketubah between YHVH and his people Isra’el. They entered a unique marriage relationship. Immediately following the giving of the Ten Words YHVH proceeded to pour forth mitzvot (laws) and Mishpatim (rulings) which formed the basis of the Torah of Moshe and at no stage in history has the Torah of Moshe ever been voided or replaced.
 
Subsequently, the first covenant made in Egypt was broken by the transgressions of twelve tribes, which ultimately resulted in their removal from Eretz-Yisra’el. After seventy years exile the tribe Y’hudah alone returned to the Land, with instructions to build a 2nd Temple. The sole purpose of their return was to enable Yeshua to be born into that tribe. But, because even they failed to remain faithful to the Torah of Moshe, just forty-years after Yeshua’s death, they were again removed into a prolonged exile.
 
The following chart is a summary of the history between 333BCE–2017CE. However, there was a gap of 1900-years in the middle when the Messianic Community was silenced.

The Prophesy of Judah ben Samuel

​The March 2008 edition Israel Today Magazine published an article by the founding editor Ludwig Schneider who personally undertook the work of translating a little-known prophecy made by Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg Germany.
 
Judah ben Samuel, also called Judah The Ḥasid of Regensburg, or Yehuda The Ḥasid, (died 1217), Jewish mystic and semi-legendary pietist, a founder of the fervent, ultra-pious movement of German Ḥasidism. He was also the principal author of the ethical treatise Sefer Ḥasidim (published in Bologna, 1538; “Book of the Pious”), possibly the most important extant document of medieval Judaism and a major work of Jewish literature. (www,britannica.com/biography/judah-ben-samuel)
 
There have been a number of critics who have raised questions about the validity of the prophecy through recent years. But, in spite of many efforts by critics, the prophet’s message has stood the test of time. 
 
However looking back with hindsight we see that what Judah ben Samuel prophesied actually came to pass as predicted in exactly the right year each step was said to happen.

The prophecy was given from his death bed in the year 1217 CE. But he was looking three hundred years ahead, before the prophecy would begin. One important feature of his prophecy is that it was an unbroken series of sequential yovels (50-year cycles as defined in Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapter 25), which span 500 years. Judah’s prophecy began with the Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 which saw the Levant (incl. Israel) become a province of the Ottoman Empire for the next 400-years. That was followed by the British mandate in Isra’el between 1917-1948 followed by the UN domination of parts of Eretz-Yisra’el and particularly East Jerusalem. Then following the Six-Day War of 1967 the sovereignty of Jerusalem was retuned to the people of Y’hudah. That left just one yovel to complete the prophetic cycle, which brought us to the year 2017.

On the basis of such evidence, it seems reasonable to assume the prophecy of Judah ben Samuel was truly authentic as claimed by Ludwig Schneider, as set out the following table.
 
1517 – 1917 CE (a period of 8 Yovels) 
The Ottoman Empire would dominate Jerusalem for a period of 400 years.

1917 – 1967 CE (2 Yovels)
The Ottoman Empire would be destroyed, and a period of 50 years (1 Yovel) would pass. Firstly, under the British Mandate and latterly under the State of Israel, ending with the IDF taking control of East Jerusalem in the Six-day War of June 1967. That period Judah refered to as “no-man’s land.”

1967 CE
As a direct result of the Six-Day War, sovereignty was restored to Y’hudah, for the first time since 70 CE when the 2nd Temple was destroyed.

1967 – 2017 CE (1 Yovel)
Passed between 1967 and 2017 which he called it the period when the Messianic "end times" would begin. That whole Yovel saw a quantum leap forward in the Modern Messianic Movement.

Beyond 2017 CE -  Where to next?

What is the Future for the Messianic Movement?

That question was posed back in January 2019 by a long serving Messianic leader in a private email therefore, the person shall remain nameless. But the following comments were made by that person in relation to the question and remains very relevant as we enter into the second decade of the 21st century as stated:-
 
“There are deep divisions within the Messianic Jewish movement in Israel....If we are not able to overcome these differences, the Messianic Jewish Movement will become just another irrelevant conflicted religious offshoot. A disappointment to the Lord [ADONAI], to His purposes for Israel, and to many of us.”
​
In response I suggest we need to draw on David Stern, who summed up the present situation in Isra’el exceedingly well in his book “Messianic Judaism” (published in 2007). In Appendix 3, under the sub-heading “Crisis and Goals,” where he dealt with a similar crisis in a very succinct manner saying – “The American Messianic Jewish Movement at present faces a crisis, a crisis of faith. This crisis has a generational aspect common to many movements: the children of the founders have to find their own way of leading.”

Leadership between 1967-2017

David Stern continues, “the problems arose when one generation of leaders tried to pass the batten on to the next.” He also discusses how the Messianic Movement of the 1960-70’s went through a period of considerable growth, because of their pioneering spirit, which helped develop the Messianic Movement we have today. However, he exposes one very important problem when he speaks about what was in 2007 the “parent” generation. Speaking of that generation he says; “But, many of you have allowed yourselves to become entangled in its institutionalism and bureaucracy, refining its theology and practices and generating finances. In the process you have left your first love. You have retreated into your heads and your hearts are dying.”
 
Critical words! But they do appear to reflect the problems facing the current “parent” generation in Isra’el in the post 2017 era. He continues by addressing the generational shift. “The new leadership wave that took control post 1967 (now the parent generation). Through their zeal and excitement for the developing movement, in 1975 changed the name from Hebrew Christian Alliance to Messianic Jewish Alliance. However, many of the older pioneers (the grand-parent generation) who laid the foundations retrenched and even left the movement completely.”
 
As David Stern said, the name change was not in itself the problem, but the lack of consideration for what had gone before. The depth of work and sacrifice made by the older generation throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was not readily acknowledged.
 
The same situation must be avoided as the batten is now passing to the next generation. While there definitely needs to be a new directional focus and a transparent move away from Christian practices and dogmas, it must also be done in a conciliatory manner that acknowledges all that has gone before and the reasons why.
 
Each new generation in modern history has travelled a different path from the previous one and is often considered rebellious by the older generation. But are the young always wrong? Their paradigm changes can change the course of history and it is not necessarily wrong. After all, Yeshua himself completely changed the 1st century Jewish paradigm. His words and actions turned the whole establishment on its head. So, if we consider the Scriptures carefully, the changes he made were all completely in line with Torah. His changes simply advanced the Sovereign Plan of God. But those who rejected his teaching paid a great price forty-years later with the destruction of the 2nd Temple. That one event changed the course of Jewish history forever. So, is the current “parent” generation in the modern Messianic Movement going to repeat the mistakes of history by resisting change?

Beyond 2017

​As the mantel of leadership passes from one generation to the next it becomes necessary that the younger generation feel free to leave behind the burdens and constraints carried by the former generations. However, the wisdom of age must also be respected and acknowledged, but with the proviso that the older generation be prepared to let go of their own former religious constraints and at least acknowledge the pathways of the new generation.
 
What are the constraints that the older generation carried? They were the teachings and religious practises from 1900-years of Judaism or Christianity. Those teachings were adopted by the earlier generations of modern Messianic Movement. So, if the prophecy of Judah ben Samuel are to be believed, the generation 1967-2017 was responsible for bringing forth the “Messianic End Times.” That whole Yovel saw a quantum leap forward in the development of the Messianic Movement but it is failing to correctly define the full depth relationship of Jew and Gentile being one in Messiah as presented in the many letters of Sha'ul (Paul). The last yovel was meant to have been the era in which the true path of the 1st century Messianic Community was fully restored as the true "One New Man" community without rebuilding the m'chitzah (wall of partition). Maybe there is still time for a real change before Yeshua returns?

"This essay was written by Graeme Purdie – Founder of Talmidei Yeshua Messianic Ministry of NZ and may only be shared in full and must include this citation at all times. All scriptural references, unless stated otherwise, have been taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H Stern. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029 www.messianicjewish.net."

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