CHAPTER 1
JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, YHWH‘S BROKEN VEHICLES TO ACHIEVE HIS PLAN
Judaism is the original system that YHWH himself designed, approved and gave to his people through which
his people could commune with their Maker repeatedly. However, men have drifted away from YHWH‘s
design that his people commune with him in an intensely intimate, personal way. History records man‘s
wavering between truth and apostasy, between intense worship and apathy toward YHWH. Even the
vehicles which YHWH has designed to bring his people into intimacy with him have been perverted into
lifeless rituals of vain repetition to the point that ―I hate your feasts‖, and ―By your traditions you void the
Word of God‖, when men had perverted it into lifeless rituals.
Christianity, too, experienced apostasy, degenerating into such an abysmal state in the Dark Ages that it
warranted the prophetic denunciation of being "the cage of every evil and foul bird‖. Both Judaism and
Christianity have been victimised by satanic attacks that seek to limit or divert the worship of YHWH from its
designed intent, either through a loss of passion and fervency or through the introduction of profane, non-
biblical traditions.
Judaism is the Mother of Christianity
Christianity as a religion was an offshoot of Judaism as in Y‘shua‘s time. It has been said that Judaism does
not need Christianity to explain its existence, but Christianity needs Judaism both to explain its existence and
what it believes. To put it simply, Judaism is the name that men have attached to the formative stages
of biblical faith (Old Covenant) and Christianity is the name that men have attached to the completing
stage of biblical faith (New Covenant).
Hence, Christianity has also been termed historically as the Judeo-Christian faith. In the early years of the
Christian faith, Christianity was regarded as just another sect of Judaism (Acts 28:22) known as the sect of
the Nazarenes. The early disciples and the 12 Apostles were all Jewish. Apostle Paul even took a Nazarite
vow (Num 6) to prove to his critics that he was a Torah-observant Jew (Acts 21:17-26). The term 'Christians'
surfaced only in A.D. 42 when the disciples were first called that in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The term gradually
was adopted to differentiate believing Jews from unbelieving Jews and over time, it became a separate
identity altogether. "...don't boast as if you were better than the branches! However, if you do boast,
remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you (Church)‖. (Rom 11:18 JNT)
WAS Y‘SHUA A JEW AND WAS HE ROOTED IN JUDAISM?
As surprising as it may seem, many Christians are not aware that Y‘shua was a Jew. As a matter fact, when
some hear it said that He was, they get angry and even mad. This has happened many times.
"How can you say Y‘shua was a Jew? Everybody knows he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and is therefore
God and not a Jew. He just happened to live among the Jews‖.
This is a verbatim response to a statement made by Dr. Roy Blizzard during an appearance on Trinity
Broadcasting Network on February 21, 1985. The above was not an isolated response to Dr. Blizzard's
statement. A number of other viewers reacted in a similar vein. For instance: "What is all this stuff about
Jesus being a Jew? He wasn't a Jew; he was the first Christian and the founder of the Christian Church‖.
It is most unfortunate that this type of thinking is common in Christian circles today. Actually, it is an
expression of a subtle, often subconscious, attitude on the part of many Christians that is quite serious and
most dangerous. We might even go so far as to define it as "hellish‖. It is a "hellish‖, ingrained anti-Semitism
that expresses itself in an unwillingness to accept Y‘shua as a Jew. The perverted logic is, "How could
anyone so dear and precious to me, someone I love so much and to whom I have surrendered my life, be a
Jew?"
It is believed that this kind of thinking expresses the conviction of many Christians today. It is usually buried
deep within the subconscious mind, or repressed, and only manifests itself overtly when one's spiritual guard
is down. It is the result of the spiritual ―ship‖ of the Word of God being torn loose from the jetty of the
historical foundations of biblical faith that were secured firmly in the foundations of historic Judaism. As a
result, the spiritual ―ship‖ has, for centuries, been awash in a sea of pagan theology that has led to the
gentilisation; i.e., paganisation, of the Church. We have forgotten that we were wild olive branches