[Etched in our minds is a saying sourced to our nation’s national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal:
“Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.”
Translation: “He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.”
Image from eileenbrown.wordpress.com
Sinai 6000 core community cannot be accused of never looking back where we came from; in fact we state it over and over like a broken record in many posts. The reason we ‘look back’ is to remember where we came from, how far we have travelled in this pilgrimage to Sinai, and how much have we learned from each year-lap of our, by now, 6-years-journey.
We have learned from the Torah how the God of Israel through His mouthpiece Moses keeps saying that word “remember” in connection with their whole experience with the God Who liberated them from bondage and Who gave them His “instructions and teachings” –Torah. And so, this post which was first posted August 22, 2012 is a good reminder of where we were at the start of this journey. We have recorded every detail of our experience from the very beginning and so this is being revisited in time for our season of reflection on our ‘turning point’.—Admin 1]
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In one of our discourses “S6K/RW” there was a suggestion by “JC” (a Messianic) in LEAVE A REPLY [specifics edited out]:
“May I also suggest that whoever is answering or writing for Sinai 6000 use his/her real name. Never in [our organization] have we used [our acronym] for our emails but we use our real names. Even Mt. Zion people Center and all. The president of the Philippines will not use “Philippines” in his letters, will he?”
It is a point well taken and has been in our minds for sometime now.
When we write individual articles, we do identify the writer with their 3-letter initials plus “@S6K” to indicate they belong to our small Sinai community. Later, we might be comfortable enough to write our real names; it’s just that the web exposure is so new to us, we’re treading cautiously this early on since the cause we have espoused is bound to arouse anger, confusion, perhaps even hostility, judging from the reaction among our former colleagues.
As we have repeatedly stated, we are not a church nor a religion, just a breakaway sect, if you will, from our former religious affiliations within the wide umbrella of diverse Christianity. Some of us are actually still members of church communities and are simply relearning the “Old Testament” in its original form, the Hebrew Scriptures. in fact what little these particular members have learned in our Torah sessions, they have been recognized in their Christian community as “Old Testament” experts simply because they have gone more in-depth in their Torah study than Christians normally do. We have encouraged them to remain where they are, because we feel that since our Adonai YHWH has originally placed them there to grow and bloom and to minister, they owe it to their following in their respective communities to enlighten them on the Torah of YHWH. What does it profit them to separate and start over with an unpopular (shocking to some) belief system when we can barely convince anyone else in our familial, social and religious circles to hear us out or even consider the Sinaite’s route.
Now back to the suggestion to identify “whoever is answering or writing for Sinai 6000.”
It is not fair to credit one person for the articles we post when it is the collective work and thinking of the whole core group of Sinai 6000. We meet regularly to study and scrutinize the Hebrew Scriptures, discuss our differences in understanding, compare the research we individually have done, and agree on our common stand which we then post on this website. We have not always agreed on the stand we are to declare and in such cases, we take a vote. The writer assigned to articulate our collective voice simply organizes and arranges the group discussions and explains the official stand in these articles in their published form. We also seek out comments and reactions from Sinaites living elsewhere in other countries to incorporate theirs. The writer does not deviate from the core group’s stand on any issue, the writer simply gives final form to the content collectively decided.
When any of us venture on our own to write a personal view, an opinion, share an experience, have a running discourse with our former Christian colleagues, then that writer is identified with his/her initials. If anyone is curious enough to want to know the identity of any writer, we will oblige, but privately and only to that individual.
We are one year-old, approaching our first anniversary this September. We decided to share as we progress in our studies because there is so much to relearn and unlearn. For now we are only on the first rung of the ladder, or the first skin to peel off multiple levels of truths in the vast and rich collection of writings in the Hebrew Bible. We have barely scratched the surface. We know that as we mature and grow, our 2nd, 3rd and more readings and reviews will yield more insight, more comprehension of the same texts we’ve read before. That is the nature of the Book on which is recorded YHWH’s one-time complete historic revelation to mankind. As we mature, when we read the same text, we see and understand more the next time around. We are in transition; our audience are people who have started questioning their long-held beliefs. We don’t expect Jews to learn from us, we address non-Jews just like ourselves who care to know how we arrived at where we are now.
Israel has left us gentiles their legacy in their Hebrew Bible. Christianity has attached its version of Israel’s legacy to its scriptures but it barely emphasizes the importance of studying OT on its own merit rather than as a “proof-text” to support all its Nicene Creed dogmatic declarations.
We provide the gentile voice and gentile understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, not a Jewish voice, since their agenda is different.
Our Lord YHWH is the God of all nations, we belong to “the nations.” We want to know what YHWH requires of us gentiles; and how or IF it differs from what he requires of His chosen people. We seek to provide the gentile’s perspective on the Hebrew Scriptures.
To our frequent website visitors, we share your hunger for Truth and encourage you to share your own journey with us; send your contributions, write in your questions, your disagreements, join the discussions and discourses. The FORUM is the avenue for this, please feel free to write in your opinion so we can learn from you.
We thank our Lord YHWH for the opportunity He has provided for us to reach beyond the borders of our mountain city and our national boundaries, enabling us to reach as many other seekers like ourselves around the world; truly we are fortunate to live in these times when the internet highway takes us right into the homes of nameless God-seekers like ourselves.
May His Truth be declared, may His Name be known and proclaimed. . . hear O gentiles, O nations, His Name is YHWH.
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