[This article was first posted in 2012 under the series “We have heard it said . . . A Sinaite’s apologetics – 2.” Sinai 6000 is an option for unaffiliated gentiles (the ‘unchurched’) who feel they need to ‘associate’ and relate with like-minded believers in the One True God, or at least connect with others who have blazed the trail, so to speak, to yet another option and an alternative destination besides Rome or Jerusalem or Mecca.
From the time we left Christianity in 2011 to this day, we have had to constantly defend our drastic turnabout from the direction we had taken all our lives to a totally different pathway we have referred to as “the road less travelled,” to borrow from Robert Frost’s famous poem.
The 2 questions we addressed here came from a former Messianic colleague who, like all Christ-worshippers, believe in “progressive revelation” which teaches that the Sinai revelation was superseded by later revelations, particularly the teachings in 13 NT epistles attributed to Paul of Tarsus who all but negated the TORAH of YHWH and his own Hebrew scriptural legacy in NEVIIM and KETUVIM. Strangely, when it was ‘convenient’ to use the TNK to justify the New Testament claims about theirTrinitarian God and specifically the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, the TNK was invoked as “prooftext.”
For those in transition, not knowing what “religion” to join, this post might help. Timely reminder: we are not a “religion” nor a “church” . . . we simply have embraced the God of the Hebrew Scriptures and His Way of Life. Sinai is the destination of our journey, not Rome, not Jerusalem. We believe the Sinai Revelation has superseded Noachide laws but was not superseded by the “New” testament. Hence, this is part of our apologetics. These other posts might help:
—Admin1.]
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We have heard it said, (from a Messianic colleague):
- “Did the Sinai 6000 proponents and members actually believe and teach that the Neviim and Ketuvim were also given at Mt. Sinai?”
- “Do they accept Sinai (in Arabia) as more important than Jerusalem (in Israel) where additional revelations were given and where the rest of Israel’s History “actually” happened (after 40 years in the wilderness)?”
Image from www.bible.ca
Since we’ve already tackled the subject about who’s a Jew and who’s a gentile, consider this a continuation of that discourse because our choice of Sinai as the focal point of our spiritual quest has everything to do with the fact that we are not Jews but gentiles and intend to partake of what God has allotted to the gentile nations.
We have explained that when we got out of Christianity altogether [please read previous articles], the first question we faced was “what now?” Where do we go from here? We’ve left Rome, are we now headed toward Jerusalem?
Since we turned to the Hebrew Scriptures for foundational truth, it seemed logical to turn to Judaism. In fact, some are still mulling over that and have not closed the door on that option. If there were a synagogue right in our city of residence, some of us would have already gravitated toward the Jewish religion but then we felt we were simply moving out of one religion to join another!
Granting Judaism is Torah-based, still, we felt we could not fit there, not so much because we’re not ethnic Jews, but more because in our Torah studies, we started noticing slight differences between what’s biblical and what’s Jewish. We didn’t want to be Jewish, we wanted to be BIBLICAL. We’re still in the process of trailblazing for ourselves and for others who are in the same place as we are, figuring out what God means by “one law for the Israelite and for the foreigner.”
Jews themselves caution non-Jews to think very seriously about taking such a step. It is not easy to be a Jew, they say, and even secular Jews deem it difficult to be’ religious Jews’, even if there are sects in Judaism one could possibly fit in, from ultra-conservative to liberal, even mystical.
As former Messianics, we had collected many Jewish artifacts, were wearing jewelry with Jewish symbols; mezuzahs were on our doors, 7-stem menorahs and 9-stem hanukkiahs adorned our homes, men added blue tassels to their belts, wore the kippah, etc. The crucifix had long been put away since our messianic teacher said it was a pagan symbol, more suited to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and not Messianic Judaism. Like it or not, we already fitted the Jew-wannabe profile.
So why the reluctance in taking the final step: be a Jew, join Judaism? Rabbi Stuart Federow gave us a long lecture about what our next step should be, citing the book of Esther, 2:5. In case you missed reading it, here’s an excerpt:
Mordecai was called a Jew even though he was from the tribe of Benjamin. All those who follow the faith of Abraham, regardless of which tribe they came from, are known as Jews. The people at Mt. Sinai were all Jews, including and eventually the Mixed Multitude because having left Egypt and having joined the Jewish People and having witnessed the Exodus and joined themselves to it, to the people and to the religion, they became Jews as well. That is why there is no mention of them after Numbers, because they had all converted to Judaism and simply became a part of the Jewish People. Abraham is the first Jew and all the Patriarchs and matriarchs and all the sons of Jacob and all the members of all the tribes of Israel were all Jews, and the ex-slaves of egypt were all Jews, too. The only Gentiles at Sinai were the mixed multitudes and they, too, eventually became Jews, and all because the word Jew is used to describe those people, in the Bible and after, who were believers in Torah, the written, and then the Oral Torah as it developed and as Gd wished it to develop over the last 2,000 ++ years.
But more importantly for you and for your website and for all those who are a part of your group worldwide, yes, indeed, it is possible for one to convert to Judaism and become a Jew! And the Bible explicitly says so. Look again at the Book of Esther 8:17
The Biblical text is clear, “”And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews…”” and so it is, in fact, possible to become a Jew through the conversion to Judaism. The Bible explicitly says so. Gentiles can become Jews, as they did in the Bible!
Do you and yours reject Rabbinic Judaism, the way in which Judaism survived over the last 2,000 ++ years as Gd has willed it to survive? IF there was any Judaism that could have been called “Biblical-only Judaism,” which there never was, it ceased to exist as soon as Ezra came back from the exile and not only read the Torah to the people, but he also expounded and explained it (Nehemiah 8:8), using the Oral Tradition. If you reject Rabbinic Judaism, the Judaism that has survived these last 4,000 years, and for the last 2,000 years, then yours will just be another fringe group that will be lost in the passage of time.
If you do, in fact, accept Rabbinic Judaism, then the path for you and all your groups is clear, seek out the rabbis and convert and become real Jews. It is the path that Gd Himself has been leading you down, it is the path that Gd has been leading all of your groups down, and that path leads straight to Judaism, fully Judaism, to the conversion to Judaism and to become Jews!
Take a look at: http://www.bechollashon.
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Not totally convinced of the rabbi’s very persuasive argument which is always an option anytime for any of us, we checked out a movement called the Noachides, more suited for gentiles.
In time, we decided to just keep studying, visualizing ourselves on a pilgrimage with one question left: which direction should we take, Jerusalem or . . . a neutral territory. . . like Sinai where the original revelation was given? Not so much the actual mountain which archeologists say is no longer identifiable, but more the spiritual place of meeting the One Who declared His Name as YHWH and simultaneously issued His guidelines for living.
Our journey is expounded in —
- Statement of Faith
- Further to our Statement of Faith
- Revelation in a Nutshell
- S6K – a Collective Voice for Truth-seeking Gentiles
We are convinced religion is not the best place to seek the True God, so we’ve stayed clear of religion. We are on individual journeys, but travelling together. We have not arrived, we’re in transition. We know where we came from and cannot be persuaded to return, knowing what we know now.
We’re meeting others all over the world through this website and we think many seekers are on the same page or path as we are. We surprised even ourselves and our website server, that in the few years we’ve been on the web, visitors from all over the world are a-plenty! Many are probably landing by mistake and moving on; others bother to check us out a little bit, but not a few linger, return, and become regular visitors, some registering 500 returns, and some clicking hundreds of posts in one visit, seemingly downloading every category on our menu! We see their locations, wonder who they are, spiritually link up with them, and are thankful that we are able to reach others out there who are seeking more ‘lamps’ on pathways leading to the One True God.
Truth to tell, we can barely convince anyone in our own vicinity — we started as a core group of 8, have convinced few others now living in different places in our base country and the world; there are about 20 of us, lost 3 whose breath of life returned to the Creator but who left content and secure in their renewed journey to know the God of Sinai and His teachings in the Torah.
As we continue to share what we learn, we hope that somehow we are contributing to the six millennia-old movement of YHWH to make His Name known to the world. We are comfortable using ‘God’ and ‘Lord’ instead of borrowing Hebrew words and phrases but we do declare the Tetragrammaton as THE NAME that identifies the God we embrace, love, and worship.
We don’t speak Hebrew, no one knows how God’s Name is really pronounced, so we simply stick with “Yahuwah” for YHWH, for presumably He hears whoever invokes the Name He declared as His. Naming Who our God is—is important to us because we’ve been declaring the wrong name all our lives. We don’t want to simply use a title, like “God” or “Lord” or “Father” which others use for their God. Some say we all worship the same God, think about it . . . no we don’t, not if a different name other than YHWH is invoked.
We know Jews are reluctant to say the Name out of reverence, we are not reluctant to say it for exactly the same reason—out of reverence. Since we’ve discovered the True Name, we are proud to finally be associated with THE NAME. But it is not enough for us to simply know The Name, we feel strongly compelled to say it, declare it, keep repeating it to as many as who would care to listen and learn.
Biblical faith is about living Torah as best as we can, loving and worshipping YHWH, and declaring Him as our GOD; then doing as much good as we can within the opportunities God opens to us, thankful for the giftings, financial capability or even lack of it, and what little influence we do have.
We are not heaven-bound, but Sinai-bound (Spiritual Sinai), earth-based and ‘other’-centered. Our only opportunity is ‘in the moment’, the ‘here and now’ in our lifetime. What use will we be to our LORD YHWH and our neighbor when the breath of life has already left us?
We equate Sinai with YHWH and His TORAH. There is enough there to learn for a lifetime of study. Jews have done it for themselves for centuries, [hence the Neviim and Ketuviim were added to Torah]; it is time we gentiles do the same and trailblaze for the likes of us, gentiles.
Image from Fooducate
The journey of a thousand miles
starts for you now . . . .
take the first step . . .
keep going . . . .
catch up with us . . . .
we’re just a few mile-years ahead of you . . .
overtake us . . . .
yes you can!
In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,
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