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Richard Harrison

Church Replacement Theology is False

  • In light of this reality, His people are the one single born again people of Israel, who are spiritually saved, and redeemed, but who also have legitimate claims to being physically descended from Abraham, Isaac,, and Jacob. The second breakaway, renegade outlaw flock, that called themselves "the church", would not have had this need to be Israel, and replace the Jews as Israel, if they would have had this revelation that most of them were already physical Israel. They would not have been in such a hurry to divorce themselves from their Jewish believing brethren, and their Hebraic roots. James in James 1:1, does not write to two communities of New Covenant faith, rather he addresses the body of Yeshua as the 12 tribes. In First Corinthians 10:1-9, Rav Shaul (Paul) a Jewish Rabbi, and completed Pharisee, stated that the physical fathers of the Corinthian assembly or ekklessia, were the very ones that along with his physical fathers (notice in verse one the term "our"), left Egypt, and disobeyed YHWH in the wilderness. Over, and over again the inspired writings of the Renewed (second) Covenant through Messiah teach us that Yeshua came to set up His ekklessia or His called out assembly. Since He along with all other New Covenant writers were inspired to write about the one single flock or called out assembly known as Israel (Galatians 6:16), therefore any other flock must be illegal, fleshly, and illegitimate. Once we ascertain that YHWH is not in any shape, form, or manner, a practicing, and confused polygamist, then we can recognize what scripture clearly teaches. We will find that non Jewish believers in Yeshua (Ephraim), were called to leave behind their penchant for paganism, and join the redeemed Jewish people in New Covenant Israel. It was not, and is not the Father’s will for believing Jews to leave Israel, and all that that entails, by joining something manmade, and unrecognizable to the believing Jew, as well as to YHWH Himself. The called out believers from the nations (Ephraim), as well as those Jews called out of traditional Rabbinical Judaism, are called in scripture the ekklessia of Yeshua. Remember that Yeshua came to save Jews from sin not from Judaism.

    Once we have a proper understanding about the term ekklessia used scores of times in the Messianic Scriptures, then we will have our final solution to the disgraceful disease of replacement theology!

    Everywhere our English bibles use the word or the phrase "church", it is a terrible translation, mistranslation, and perverted understanding of the inspired Greek word ekklessia, along with its intended original meaning. The English translators as well as earlier monks, and papists, took the word ekklessia which literally, and quite simply means "the ones called out", or a "called out assembly", and translated the word as "church". The result of this terrible action gave license to the early Jew haters of the 4th century AD, to pin this unscriptural moniker (church) on themselves, thereby allowing themselves ("non Jewish "believers"), to reorganize, and reconstitute themselves under Constantine, and his amalgamation of Messianic faith with sun, and emperor worship. These breakaway renegades proudly used this word "church" derived from the word "kirch" of Celtic pagan origin, to SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THE NEW COVENANT COMMUNITY OF MESSIANIC FAITH, KNOWN INTERCHANGEABLY AS ISRAEL, THE NAZARENES OF ISRAEL, OR THE "WAY" OF ISRAEL.

    This separate breakaway entity based in Rome, then declared herself to be the new, and improved Israel, the true Israel that had arrived to do Yeshua’s will, and eliminate Jewish Israel by any means including the sword. This separate entity did not recognize YHWH as the Sovereign who sent The Son they claimed to love. This separate entity changed the Feasts, dietary laws, and the Sabbaths of YHWH, and claimed to have no ties whatsoever with Jewish Israel. This separate entity wrestled the title of Israel away from the early Messianic community that included all nations, and stated that the saved remnant of the Jewish nation was not welcome as Jews in this renegade separate entity. This separate entity called itself "the church", and its adherents were called Christians. Acts 11:26 confirms this truth by stating that the early disciples were first called Christians. Notice that YHWH never called born again Israelites by that name, rather it was man who called non Jewish believers Christians. Later these non Jewish "so called Christians", separated into the separate entity that for the next two millennia would be called "the church". With two separate entities vying for the much treasured title of Israel, is it any wonder that Jewish Israel has become the victim rather than the covering for Messianic faith?

    Keeping in mind that the Greek word for church is ekklessia, we will allow scripture, and history to explain to us that ekklessia in Greek was understood by all the writers of inspiration to be a reference to Israel, and the people of Israel. Approximately 150 years before Yeshua the blessed Holy One was born in Bethlehem of Judea, seventy of the leading traditional non Messianic rabbis got together to translate the Hebrew Tanach (First Covenant) from Hebrew which was the original language of inspiration, to the widely spoken common Greek language which was the universal language of that time. The translation produced became know as the Septuagint in honor of the seventy scholars who translated the work.

    Every time the 70 traditional rabbis came to the Hebrew words Kehilah, Kehelat or Adat, they without fail translated the words into the Greek word "ekklessia". This same word is translated in English as "church" in the Brit Chadashah. Kehela, Kehelat, and Adat are all titles used to designate YHWH’s single covenant people, Israel. In both covenants whenever ekklessia is used in either the Hebrew Septuagint or the Greek New Covenant, it never refers to any group other than twelve tribe Israel! From a linguistic standpoint alone, the word ekklessia could not mean "church". The assembly or congregation or gathering of Israelites was, is, and always will be the ekklessia.

    Some modern translations are at long last correcting previous erroneous English translations. More, and more newer translations have thankfully eliminated the term "church", and are rendering ekklessia correctly as assembly. Following that same line of understanding into the Messianic or New Covenant scriptures, we see that all references to ekklessia or the ekklessia of Yeshua, or the ekklessia in YHWH, means the assembly of Yehowah. Since He is the YHWH-Elohim of Israel, the born again community of faith are the people of YHWH, or the people of Israel. The people of Israel make up a single flock that hears the Good Shepherd’s voice, and obeys His commandments (Rev. 22:14).

    So we see that Satan knowing this concept of one flock, attempted to erase the Jewish people by having them join the manmade "church", in order to pull them out of national Israel, and turn them into Roman citizens loyal to paganism. The idea being if all Jews that are saved join a man made institution, they will lose their Jewish nationality, and within a few generations genocide will in effect have subtly taken place. (Of course when this plan didn’t work Satan tried the old forced baptism, and forced conversion method done at the point of a sword!)

    The truth of the whole matter is that the opposite holds true. All peoples, tongues, and tribes are called to join believing Israel, as the true divinely created, and ordained ekklessia of Israel. In this divinely sanctioned version of New Covenant Israel, all paganism, and foreign detestable idols should be left at the door, and not brought to the altar. In Matthew 16:18, Yeshua tells Keefa (Peter), that the Heavenly Father had given Keefa divine revelation that Yeshua the Messiah would build His ekklessia against which the gates of hell would not, and could not prevail. The word here translated "church" is ekklessia in the Greek. Yeshua is in essence saying that national Israel’s elders, and leadership, were vainly trying to rebuilt, and restore Israel by their own manmade rules, and efforts. Satan continually prevailed against that version of Israel. Yeshua on the other hand would build His version of the ekklessia (Israel), and that that Israel would continually overcome all the forces of Satan, and of darkness. Traditional replacement theology points to Matt.16:18, as some sort of proof text that Yeshua was about to create, and built something new called "the church", and furthermore that it would be something that the Jews because of their unbelief would have to deal with. What hogwash, and popycock that is! Had He intended to built a church, He would have said so, don’t you think? Instead He told this Israelite named Keefa (Peter), that He (Yeshua), would build a successful enough, and strong enough ekklessia of Israel, that would survive the onslaught of the gates of hell. What a difference! In Acts 7:38 Stephen the first Israelite martyr (not "church" martyr, since scripturally speaking "the church" never existed), confirms this marvelous truth. He states that Moshe Rabainu or Moses was with the ekklessia on Mt Sinai receiving the Torah. Stephen here refers to the giving of the Torah to the ekklessia of Israel. In the King James Version, and others as well, it states that "this is he who was in the church in the wilderness". Now either Moses went to church at Mt Sinai, or the word ekklessia means that Moses was with the assembly of Israel when he was called up to receive the Torah. Stephen the first New Covenant Israelite martyr (not church martyr), understood the same thing as Yeshua, and all the other writers of New Covenant scripture. That the ekklessia that would mushroom into the global Kingdom of h, was YHWH Israel reborn, rebuilt, reconstructed, and renewed! In none of the aforementioned verses or anywhere else in the New Covenant for that matter, is there any divine authority or sanction given for the creation of a separate entity called "the church", the Gentile church, the Gentile Christian church, or the non Jewish church, for that matter.