Alone in a Dark, Strange House

Have you ever found yourself groping and stumbling around in a totally dark, strange room without a light? You’re running into walls and furniture, stubbing your toes on things looking for a light switch or the door? Similarly but on a spiritual level, many people have left the comforts and familiar surroundings of the mainstream church system with some vague notion of returning to the Hebrew roots of their faith only to find themselves in such a dark house. Welcome to the house of the so-called Messianic or the Hebrew roots movement!

Many of us have been in this new spiritual house asking ourselves questions like: Where are we? Where are we going? What’s next? Who’s out there? Am I alone? 

Shifting from a traditional church-system paradigm and lifestyle to that of that of a more first century or Hebraic one as modelled by the early believers in the Book of Acts and apostolic leaders isn’t an easy to do. There are a lot of questions and unfamiliar territory to traverse. Am I moving into cultism? Legalism? Too much Jewishness? Or some bizarre new religion or what? 

Perhaps knowing the transition zones or spiritual growth stages that you will likely go through, as most of us have, might be like someone handing you a flashlight in that dark house. Even a little light on the subject might save your toe from getting stubbed and keep you from doing a nose plant on the floor! Not only that, knowing the stages most people inevitably go through when making the transition from a traditional Sunday Christian orientation to a Torah-pursuant one just might…

help us to stay on course spiritually, so that we won’t get stuck in one stage of spiritual development and fail to move to the next stage.

help leaders to see where people are at in their path to spiritual maturity, and help them to move to the next level.

help those who have advanced through these stages to be gracious and helpful to those who have not yet done so.

Here are the stages, as I see them. Each one’s personal experiences may vary a little, and the order of the steps may be slightly different for each person, but I think that most of us can relate to these steps of spiritual transformation to one degree or another. I know, because I’ve been through these steps myself!

The Eight Stages of Coming Out of Spiritual Babylon

1– Awakening Stage: Hearing the Sound of the Shofar and the Call of the Bridegroom

At this stage, we begin to awaken to our spiritual heritage—to the Jewish or Hebraic roots of the Christian faith.

We begin to develop a love for the land of Israel, the Jewish people as well as the Hebrew Scriptures.

We become aware of our need to return to YHVH’s ancient and good spiritual (Torah) paths (Jer 6:16), which predate Constantine Christianity and the traditions of men that are contrary to the Word of Elohim that often characterize much of what has been associated with our past church involvements. We realize that we have strayed spiritually from YHVH’s biblical paths of Torah-Truth and bought into many lying doctrines and traditions of men (Jer 16:19) that were taught in our Christian church experience.

2 – Anger Stage: Our Fathers Have Inherited Lies

We become aware that our spiritual fathers have inherited lies (Jer 16:19). Namely, we discover that the church has lied to us about our Hebraic heritage and YHVH’s Torah-instructions that he revealed to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs and then to Moses and the children of Israel. We come to realize that the mainstream church has withheld much in the way of YHVH revealed biblical Truth from us, and has substituted for that Truth man traditions of men and pagan ideas. If not careful, anger against the Christian church—our brothers in the faith—can set in and overtake us.

Some people, at this point, will begin to despise, denigrate and even hate the Christian church and Christians. Some don’t even believe that there are any Christians who are saved. In the process, many Hebraic-minded people become judgmental and bigoted toward Christians who still adhere to anti-Torah belief systems. In anger and bitterness, some people will even turn away from what correct Truth the church does have (e.g., the message of Yeshua, the cross, the basic gospel message, the message of love, etc.) and toss out the proverbial baby with the bath water. Sadly, some people will turn away from belief in the New Testament, the gospel message and the truth about the deity and messiahship of Yeshua.

3 — Exploratory Stage: Learning About the Roots of Our Faith

Next, we begin to search the Bible for truth and knowledge. We want to discover the truths that the church system has been withholding from us.

We develop a new-found love for studying the Scriptures—especially the Torah or books of Moses. 

This search leads us to a learning about YHVH’s Torah-instructions in righteousness, and we begin to fall in love with the Torah.

We seek head knowledge concerning the details of YHVHs Torah-law from many sources out of desire to adhere, as much as possible, to its precepts. 

At the same time, we become drawn to Messianic personalities, the big name “Torah teachers”, programs and conferences that will give us the understanding that we seek. To their credit, these celebrities are highly instrumental in introducing newbies to the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. At the same time, there is a tendency to place too much faith and confidence in learned and charismatic human personalities instead of studying the Bible for ourselves—something that we learned to do in the Christian church.

4 — Jewishness Stage: Rabbinic Judaism Holds the Answers

For many people, at this stage the spiritual pendulum begins swinging away from Christianity toward Judaism. Perhaps, we reason to ourselves, the Jewish sages can teach us what the church system has failed to teach us about the Torah-based, Hebraic roots of our faith. After all, we reason, they have faithfully adhered to the Torah. Right?… Therefore, everything Jewish must be good.

Some people will even endeavor to become Jewish, and outdo the Jews, so to speak, with regard to Torah-obedience. Non-biblical Jewish traditions and lifestyles are often embraced.

Some people may even fall prey to the anti-Messiah lies in rabbinic Judaism and turn away from the gospel message and from Yeshua altogether and convert to Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism or something akin to that. 

5 — Apathy Stage: Our Love for Yeshua Grows Cold

Apathy for things Christian develops unwittingly.

At this point, many inadvertently put the truths of Yeshua, the gospel message and the New Testament or the Testimony of Yeshua on the back burner. 

Some delve so deeply into digging out the jots and tittles of the Torah— often by studying deeply the writings of the Jewish sages—that the message of the gospel begins to diminish in their eyes.

If not careful, one can grow cold in one’s love for Yeshua. Sadly, some people never come back from this place and leave Yeshua and the gospel message altogether figuring these are inventions of the Catholic church fathers. Some go all the way into Judaism and end up denying Yeshua altogether.

6 — Torah Legalism Stage: An Over-Emphasis on the Dos and Don’ts of Torah 

At this stage as one begins to learn about the Torah-law with all of its prescriptions and proscriptions (dos and don’ts), some will move from the emphasis of Christianity on the spirit of the law to an over-emphasis on the letter of the law.

A letter of the law orientation then causes these people to focus more on religiousity—or the externals of Torah-obedience. Often there is a hyper-focus on things such as the sacred or Hebrew names of Elohim, tzitzits and talits, beards, head coverings, shofars, mezuzahs, Hebraic dance, Paleo-Hebrew, clean and unclean meats and the like over the spirit of the law. A strict adherence to these externals often makes us feel special and even superior to those who “haven’t attained to our level of understanding.” If we’re not careful, we can become a legalistic and pharisaical. We can even become “Torah-terrorist”, if you will, as we demand that others come into obedience to the Torah and condemn them if they don’t. We often become judgmental of others, and prideful in our holier-than-though spiritual walk.

Head knowledge and the how-tos of Torah become the dominant motivator in one’s life. Much time is spent worshipping at the alter of intellectualism. Gaining spiritual head knowledge becomes one’s dominant pursuit. We flock to Hebrew roots teachers who inundate us with a torrent of spiritual—often esoteric—truths from the Word of Elohim. As a result, our mind swells with head knowledge, but our heart remains unfed, and we make very little progress in our personal relationship with Yeshua and our Father in heaven. 

In the mean time, we forget about the beautiful truths pertain to love and grace as taught in the Christian church. We spend more time debating doctrine. We tend to hyperfocus on the areas where people are not Torah-compliant instead of focusing on where they are Torah-compliant. If we’re not careful, we can become a pack of arrogant, unloving, legalistic and pharisaical spiritual nitpickers or even Torah-terrorists who beat people over the head with our personal Torah-scrolls. Yeshua referred to this as being like a whited sepulchre full of dead men’s bones. 

If not careful, we will end up spending more time debating doctrine, then fulfilling the great commission of reaching out to the lost with the love and hope of Yeshua the Messiah. We seldom share the gospel with anyone, feed the hungry, cloth the naked or help the sick and poor. We now end up spending much of our time in our own spiritual pharisaical bubble and only hang out with others who believe exactly as we do. We have now acquiesced to an exclusivistic, even cultic mindset.

7 — Leanness of Soul Stage: Full Head; Empty Heart

With a head of full of Torah knowledge and Jewish understanding, and feeling better than everyone else, surprisingly, we begin to feel spiritually empty inside.

At this point, totally disillusioned, some people will wonder what went wrong, become disillusioned and will actually abandon the their new-found Hebraic walk altogether figuring that it’s not working for them. Some return to Christianity, others convert to Judaism, and some just give up on religion all together only. Some will invent their own self-styled form of secular Jewish-Christianity or “spirituality” which is often a hodge-podge of religious ideologies and traditions of men that suit them personally. Others revert to total secularism and the pursuit of money and materialism.

8 — The Spirit and Truth Stage: The Bride and the Bridegroom Dance Together in the New Jerusalem

Those who are hungry truth seekers and who realize the spiritual traps and pitfalls outlined above, will begin to understand these stages of spiritual growth and development. They will push through and progress through all these stages, learn form their mistakes, and pass the tests along the way while progressing to the next level. Sadly, they see many of their friends and loved ones fall by the wayside, yet they keep pushing forward. They refuse to take their eyes off of Yeshua, who is both the Living and Written Torah. At this point…

One begins to long for the grace, mercy, love and Yeshua-centeredness once experienced in the Christian church, yet in a Torah-Truth and Spirit-filled context.

One begins to seek more of Yeshua, desiring to abide intimately in him, yet in a Hebraic, pro-Torah context and paradigm.

At this point, it behooves us to rediscover the glorious and transcendent beauty of the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament), and then to find out what the apostles really did teach about the Torah, spiritual life and Yeshua. 

As we begin to walk in more love, tolerance, grace, and mercy toward one another, we come into a spirit of one-accordness with others who are in the spiritual body of Yeshua. We develop a deep and heartfelt desire for praise and worship to return to our fellowships. The power of the Spirit, the anointed presence of YHVH, will soon to follow those who seek Yeshua more than anything else. We, at this time, have now entered into the glorious dance of the bride and the Bridegroom (Yeshua the Messiah), which occurs at that place of anointing before the altar of incense before the veil in the Tabernacle of Moses. The bride (those who love Yeshua by keeping his commandments, and how have the word of Elohim and the testimony or faith of Yeshua) is preparing to enter the bridal chamber of the holy of holies, which is the chupah or place of marital oneness or consummation, in preparation for the coming of Yeshua our Bridegroom. This is a spiritual picture of the New Jerusalem as revealed in the last two chapters of the Bible. This should be the ultimate goal of each born again, Spirit-filled disciple and lover of Yeshua the Messiah!