Month 5:19, Week 3:4 (Revee/Shavu'ot), Year 5935:133 AM
Gregorian Calendar: Thursday 18 August 2011
No Rabbi Mentors, Please
Only One Way to Union with Yahweh
"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one (echad), as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one (echad) in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one (echad) just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one (echad), and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:20-23, NKJV).
One of the many rabbinical traditions of Judaism that we must be careful of, that has permeated the Messianic Israelite and Jewish Movements, is the idea that by clinging to ones Rabbi or spiritual mentor one is brought not only into spiritual union with the Rabbi but, because the Rabbi is supposedly in union with Yahweh, into union with Yahweh also.
This teaching borders on rank heresy and is an antichrist doctrine for whilst we are indeed commanded by the Scripture to be echad (one, in union) with one another, we are never - except in the marriage situation (which is a little different, as we shall see in a moment) - to seek union with Yahweh through a human intermediary but only through Messiah! Our union with one another is accomplished because of our union with Messiah and not because any other human being is a priestly stand-between or channel.
One of the punishments given to ancient Israel was to lose that direct connection to Yahweh because they insisted in going through the prophet Moses as their intermediary in everything to do with Yahweh. And though Moses was indeed a great prophet and worthy of the rôle appointed to him by Yahweh, most modern religious men absolutely are not. The Israelites soon grew weary of their choice and rebelled again and again, knit-picking Moses' every fault - real or imagined - and those who succeeded him like Joshua and Samuel.
The problem with such an extremist mentoring rôle is that it can lead to great disillusionment and loss of emunach (faith) when such priestcraft leads to union with unclean spirits in an unclean and very fallible mentor. In the New Covenant, Yahweh has appointed only one (essential) intermediary between Him and mankind, our Cohen Gadol or High Priest, Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ).
"No one comes to the Father except through Me (Yah'shua/Jesus)" (John 14:6, NKJV).
I am not saying that we should not seek or have mentors. Far from it. We are all in need of spiritual fathers and instructors. Thus Paul would write:
"I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Messiah (Christ), yet you do not have many fathers; for in Messiah Yah'shua (Christ Jesus) I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me" (1 Cor.4:14-16, NKJV).
But how many people do you know like the apostle Paul who are able to produce his fruits, who are trustworthy enough not to lead you astray because they have such a powerful anointing of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) that their teaching is 100% pure and they possess the gifts of healing and of prophecy? I am not saying such men do not exist in our time, only that they are few and far between, and that there are many pretending 'apostles' and Torah-teachers who wish to be treated as the first century apostles were. Just because they give themselves titles doesn't mean that is what they actually are. Our fruits are what we are.
Spiritual fathers in the form of Pastors and Elders, and spiritual mothers in the form of Pastresses and Eldresses, are indeed a great blessing to the Body. But none of them stands above the individual patriarch of his family and none of them are heads over a man's wife or his children unless that headship is temporarily set aside for the purpose of an ecclesiastical court as stipulated in Torah, and specifically for the testing of wife's chastity is she has been accused of unfaithfulness.
The kind of union demanded by the rabbis (and some Messianic leaders) between them and their pupils is strictly reserved for two situations only:
- 1. Elohim (God) as allegorical Husband to talmidim (disciples) as allegorical Wives - "You shall fear Yahweh your Elohim (God); you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast (dabaq = cling, cleave), and take oaths in His name" (Deut.10:20, NKJV).
- 2. Husbands and their wives - "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined (dabaq = clung, cleaved) to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen.:24, NKJV).
Ministers are not gurus, Roman Catholic priests, or intermediaries between man and Elohim (God) and must never assume the rôle of an allegorical husband - we are not to cling to them as we cling to Yah'shua (Jesus) or as a wife clings to her husband since we did not come from them and are therefore not returning to them. They may be fathers, but not as to children, but rather as to mature adults. Just as my relationship to my children who have grown up (who are 20 years old or more) is different now than it was to before they became adults (as defined by the Bible), so there is a difference between a Pastor (or Messianic Rabbi) and his 'children' in a congregation. His authority concerns only Body (congregational) matters to which a patriarch has voluntarily submitted himself by covenant and which, if he so chooses, he may leave. Likewise, my adult son consults with me voluntarily since I no longer have direct authority over him.
Ministers have none of the "divine rights" that kings and not a few modern 'prophets', 'apostles' and evangelists' have claimed for themselves. Only those in direct heavenly or earthly marriage relationship have such rights, as scripture firmly attests. And one who is authentically clinging to Yahweh-Elohim will instantly recognise His authentic ministers and gladly follow them in divine tavnith (pattern).
So beware the doctrines of the Talmudists and do not mix them into New Covenant teaching and practice!
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