Why did we leave Christianity? And why did we not join Judaism?

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[First posted 2012. The occasion for the revisit in 2017 was this: Sinaites BAN & NSB attended a seminar held in Manila Stock Exchange on February 8, 2017. The guest lecturer? Rabbi Tovia Singer, who is based in Indonesia. Most of those who attended were former Christians/Messianics who ventured out of their religious roots, just like us. Not a surprise, what BAN & NSB discovered and realized for the first time is this: that those who attended who left their Christ-centered religion seem to share the same mindset—and what is that? That the only alternative for any ex-Christian is to join Judaism. So there were many questions about how to join and would non-Jews be accepted in that Jewish religion? Rabbi Singer was frank, that yes, Gentiles will often be discouraged from joining and that Rabbis will usually say ‘no’ 3X to test how zealous is the interested party and if still insistent, they get a foot in the door to start learning all the requirements to qualify. He added one more information that Sinaites had never heard before: that joiners of Judaism become “Jews”. What????

And that’s the crux! And here are more cruxes:

End up in yet another religion?
And lose one’s native-born identity/nationality?
Isn’t the difference between Jew and Gentile a matter of ethnicity, not religion?
Is that really what an ex-Christian is expected to do and become, to be a Jew?
Did the God of Israel intend for all to become Jews?
Or is the Divine intention for ALL humanity, Jew or Gentile, to know Him, declare His Name, so that all might live His Torah?

Question: Did we Sinaites ever consider joining Judaism? Admittedly, at the beginning, we explored it, read extensively about it, consulted online rabbis, did our thorough research. Because indeed, where does an ex-Christ religionist-believer go after leaving one of the three monotheistic religions? What is the alternative for Gentiles who don’t want to become Moslem, Buddhist, Noachide, etc.?

This post answers that question and explains the Sinaite’s adventurous spiritual journey: basically,

AWAY from man-made religion
toward the Source of Divine Revelation,
toward YHWH, the God Who revealed Himself, His NAME and His WAY on historic Sinai, once upon a time 6 millennia ago.

Did BAN & NSB try explaining that to the seminar attendees? To those who gave them a hearing, yes. Were they taken seriously? Not really. Why not?

“Sinai 6000? What is that? Yet another new religion?” Well, how does one explain in 5 minutes, a 7-year pilgrimage recorded in over 900 articles posted in a website?

Here’s the original INTRODUCTION to the 2017 post:

This is from Sinai6000 > About Us >

Further to our Statement of Faith.

Revisiting a statement (written in 2012) takes us back to the beginning of our journey (2010), focusing on one of the many books that influenced us to make a difficult and crucial decision to leave Christianity, a religion we had been born in, embraced without question, lived for decades of our lives, and successfully evangelized many others to convert from their former faith.

This is self-explanatory. —Admin1]

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Image from amazon.com

One of the books that greatly influenced our Sinai 6000 community is a book authored by James D. Tabor, Restoring Abrahamic Faith, available on the web at www.Genesis2000.org.

Since majority our affiliates are gentiles who were former Catholics, Evangelicals, Messianics, (and a few unaffiliated independent God-seekers), we felt that turning away from our former Christ-centered faith to turn to the God of Israel placed us in a neither-here-nor-there situation. Having left institutional religions, most of us were not inclined to get into yet another major religion such as Judaism, even as we embraced the God of Israel Whose Name is YHWH. We checked out gentile groups like the Noachides and web communities like the Synagogue Without Walls but did not fully agree with their credo. Why? Because after the flood that saved Noah and his family, what has been formulated as the ‘Noachide Laws’ (7 of them) were superseded by the Sinai revelation.

In time, we found our niche in Abrahamic faith, as defined by James D. Tabor.

While we don’t agree with some of the details he outlines in his Principles of Abrahamic Faith, we fully agree and endorse the following:

That there is ONE CREATOR GOD, YHWH.

He who always was, is, who will be, besides Whom there is no other.

He is Awesome, Great, Mighty, Merciful and Gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. Our deepest love and highest devotion is offered to Him alone. (Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 3:13-15; 6:3; 34:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 42:8; 43:10-11; 44:6-8, 24; 45:5-6, 21-22; Hosea 12:5).

We agree that—

the Holy Scriptures, that are divinely inspired, are limited only to the Hebrew Scriptures, the TNK, or Tanakh/Tanach; but we go further in limiting what we consider as “Divine Revelation” or “the very words of God” as the Torah, known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. Update 2015: We qualify that those ‘five books’ have been ‘attributed to Moses’ but are in process of being challenged by the most recent scholarly research.

As Tabor explains, “the Hebrew and Aramaic texts of these books reflect the fundamental historical revelation of YHWH to humankind.”(Deuteronomy 4:4; 12:32; Psalm 1:2; 19:7-11; 119:89, 142, 160; Isaiah 8:16-20; Malachi 3:22-24 [4:4-6])

We fully agree, without reservation that—

“The WAY OF GOD for humanity is revealed and reflected in the TORAH and amplified in the Prophets and Writings.
- It is chiefly summed up in the Ten Commandments spoken to all Israel at Sinai, but is known and illustrated by precept, example, principle, and admonition, throughout the Holy Scriptures.
- That WAY is ultimately applicable to all nations –the universal WAY of peace, justice, love, truth, and righteousness for all humankind (Psalm 119:89, 142, 160; Isaiah 2:2-4).

We agree with Tabor that:

SALVATION is an individual matter, not a church/religious connection or membership, since what it involves is
- REPENTANCE, the turning away from belief in false gods or idols
- and dedicating one’s life of faith, trusting in the One True Self-Revealing God on Sinai —YHWH.
- All who call upon YHWH as Savior, Redeemer and Lord, receive forgiveness and grace.
- As Tabor correctly states, “there are no mediators required, no sacrifices, animal or human” because like a compassionate parent, YHWH forgives sins for His own sake so that those who turn to Him begin to have an intimate relationship just like sons and daughters of a heavenly Father.
- Just like Abraham, they enter into the Abrahamic Covenant of faith and become the “friends of God.”
- (Zechariah 1:3-7; Malachi 3:7; Isaiah 1:16-20; 45:22-24; 43:25; Psalm 145:18; 103:9-14; 25; 40:6-8; 51; Micah 6:6-8; Ezekiel 18; Genesis 12:1-3; Jeremiah 16:19; 31-34; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2-3).

We agree with Tabor that:

“The KINGDOM OF GOD is the goal and meaning of history;
- it is the chief longing of those who know, love, and serve God in the present age.
- In that Day YHVH Himself will dwell with humankind,
- the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
- violence among men and beasts will cease,
- and the knowledge of YHVH will fill the world as the waters cover the sea.
- YHVH will be King over all the earth,
  - the TORAH will reach all nations,
  - and humankind will experience the benefits of a new age.
  - Human beings will be able, at long last, to reach their full potential as creatures made in the image and likeness of their Creator God.
  - (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11; 24; 66; Zechariah 14:1-9; Daniel 2:44; 7:27; Malachi 3:23-24 [4:5])

Indeed,

“The NATION OF ISRAEL, descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, has a continuing Covenant with YHVH that has not been revoked.
- They are the Chosen nation,
- the priestly kingdom,
- the Servant of YHVH through whom He has vowed to bring the light of TORAH to the whole world.
- Because of this historic mission, the full restoration of all twelve tribes to the Land is the central theme of all the Prophets.
- (Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 4:27-31; Jeremiah 31:27-40; Ezekiel 36-37)

Lastly, we affirm that—

the First Coming of YHVH occurred on Mount Sinai and that He will come again; in the words of Tabor,

“The SECOND COMING OF YHVH as Lord, Redeemer, Savior, and King of Kings, to rule over all the earth is the hope of humankind. This great turn in history will be ushered in by His prophetic Messiahs/Anointed Ones, as His chief human agents who prepare the way for His coming — the Branch of David as Prince, and the final Priest/Teacher who stands beside him. They will be empowered by YHVH to fully restore TORAH faith in the land of Israel, complete the re-gathering of the Twelve Tribes, rebuild the Sanctuary as a House of Prayer for all Peoples, and call upon all nations to repent and turn to God. (Isaiah 11; Micah 5:2-4; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:14-26; Zechariah 2-4; 6:11-14; Malachi 3-4).

Source: Exodus/Shemoth 24 – "the sight of the Glory of YHVH (was) like a consuming fire" -- We gentiles living in this 21st century are able to experience that climactic moment [God appearing on Sinai] by reading and studying this portion of the TORAH. Indeed, we see YHWH not quite as dramatically as the mixed multitude did, but perhaps even better through these accounts recorded in Exodus. There is a saying that hindsight is 20/20 vision, i.e., we begin to see and understand the question marks in our past only later in our lives, as we mature and hopefully become wiser and more introspective about the meaning or seeming meaninglessness of happenings in history, whether personal, national, or universal. Søren Kierkegaard adds a twist to this: “Only 20:20 vision is hindsight. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” As we endeavor to understand each portion in the TORAH of YHWH, much of it will seem irrelevant to our current situation but if we see beyond the time-bound cultural and religious situations and begin to understand what truly has not change—human nature and the Great Revelator who designed the perfect blueprint for living in peace, happily and contentedly with family, community, country and the nations, the unquestionable conclusion is: TORAH is relevant to ALL humankind, not just to Israel, to this very day.

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