The Genuine Disciple of Yeshua/Jesus is always a Nazirene
A Consecrated and Set-Aside man/woman who lives by the Vow to the Lord!
Only a Nazirene can learn directly from the Lord!
Only a Nazirene receives all the Spiritual Blessings of the Promise!
"I brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the desert to give you the land of the Amorites.
I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of
Israel? declares the LORD."
(Amos 2:10-11 NIV)
As a geographical place, Nazareth did not exist
The references in the Gospels are to a spiritual Nazireth -- the Nazirene Vow
The evidence for a 1st century town of Nazareth does not exist – not literary, not archaeologically, and not historically.
Biblical scholars and clergy alike have always had difficulty accepting the possibility that at the time of Jesus there was no city called “Nazareth.” They have always resisted this possibility and sometimes, quite vigorously.
The Encyclopaedia Biblica, a work written by theologians, and perhaps the greatest biblical reference work in the English language, says: "We cannot venture to assert positively that there was a city of Nazareth in Jesus' time."
Nazareth is not mentioned in any historical records or biblical texts of the time and receives no mention by any contemporary historian. Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud (the Jewish law code), nor in the Apocrypha and it does not appear in any early rabbinic literature.
Nazareth was not included in the list of settlements of the tribes of Zebulon (Joshua 19:10-16) which mentions twelve towns and six villages, and Nazareth is not included among the 45 cities of Galilee that were mentioned by Josephus (37AD-100AD), a widely traveled historian who never missed anything and who voluminously describes the region. The name is also missing from the 63 towns of Galilee mentioned in the Talmud.
The first reference to Nazareth is in the New Testament where it can be found 29 different times. However, there is still cause for speculation as to whether or not the city existed at the time of Jesus. It is mentioned only in the Gospels and Acts. These books do refer to Nazareth, but they did not originate at this time, they are later writings. The earlier writings of the NT (Paul etc) mention Jesus 221 times - but never mention Nazareth.
In The Armageddon Script, a book by Peter Lemesurier, we read: "... historical evidence that it (Nazareth) existed at the time is entirely lacking. The tradition almost certainly goes back to the fact that the family were members of the Nazarene sect of the Essenes. This group seems to have become the dominant one on Carmel, to the point where the word 'Nazarene' came to be applied to the Northern Essenes in general. It is possible, of course, that the Essenes had a camp in the vicinity of the modern Nazareth."
The early Christian writer Epiphanius admits that the Nazarenes "eat no meat", and modern scholars concur; Hugh Shonfield, in The Passover Plot:
"There has been emerging ever clearer evidence that in the Galilean region an ancient Israelitish type of religion persisted in the time of Jesus, defying Judean efforts to obliterate it.... The name he bears, Jesus the Nazorean, has northern sectarian implications.... The name borne by the earliest followers of Jesus was not Christians: they were called Nazoreans (Nazarenes).... They were vegetarians and rejected animal sacrifices."
In regard to Schonfield's reference to the Nazarenes as "an ancient Israelitish type of religion... defying Judean efforts to obliterate it", it is important to note that the term "Judean" refers to southern Israel and especially the orthodox Jewish temple at Jerusalem. Like Schonfield, H.P. Blavatsky demonstrates that the northern Nazarene-Essene religion was much more ancient and authentic than the orthodox Judaism that held power in Yahshua's day, pre-dating even the authentic versions of the several books of Moses (Moses was attempting to reestablish the Essene Nazarene religion after the captivity) and certainly pre-dating the falsified versions; in her Isis Unveiled:
"The Nazireate [her spelling] sect existed long before the laws of Moses, and originated among... the people of Galilee... where was built Nazara, the present Nazareth. It is in Nazara that the ancient Nazoria or Nazireates held their "Mysteries of Life...."
In reference to Epiphanius charge that the Nazarenes believed the books of Moses had been falsified -- modern scholarship again concurs; Schonfield writes:
"The old Nazareans ("Nazarenes"), like the Samaritans, were opposed to the Judean traditions, holding that the southerners had falsified the Law of Moses."
Historically, the Nazarenes were known as a sect of Jews practicing a Messianic form of Judaism as given in Torah. The early believers in Yeshua including the Apostles were Nazirene Jews. The Apostle Paul is referred to as a ringleader of the Nazarene Jews. "For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5 NKJ)
Nazirites, on the other hand, are those who
have taken the vow of the Nazirite, a vow of separation (Numbers 6:1-21).
Nazirites start the vow by shaving their head and then let their hair grow long,
they do not cut the hair on their head and they do not eat anything from the
grape vine, and neither do they come into contact with anything that is dead.
The Apostle Paul was not only a Nazarene, he was also a Nazirite: "And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea:
for he had a
vow" (Acts 18:18 KJV).
The Apostle Paul was not the only one who had taken the vow of the Nazirite. It
is believed that all the Apostles were Nazirites as Yeshua was. Paul was added
to the twelve much later than the other Apostles and therefore had taken the vow
much later, after he became an Apostle. Further, the vow of the Nazirite was not
just something for the Apostles alone, and we can see this in their statement to
Paul: "Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them,
that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing;
but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the
law" (Acts 21:23-24 KJV).
The word Nazarene also shares the same root as
Nazirite and Nazirene, which means that they share something in common. It is
believed that it was a common practice for many, if not all new Male
believers in Yeshua, to take the vow of the Nazirite. After all Yeshua himself
was a Nazirite and the Scripture says that we ought to live as he did:
"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He
walked" (1 John 2:6 NKJ).
The vow of the Nazirite is a vow of separation -- separation unto G-d --
separation from the world and its ways. The literal meaning of the word Nazirite
is set-apart and the word 'holy' also means set-apart. The very idea of being a
Nazirite is to live a 'holy' life. Nazirites are highly revered by the Father
and are named with the Prophets:
"I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of
Israel? Says the LORD" (Amos 2:11 NKJ).
A true Nazirene is one who has
so dedicated their life to the service of the Lord, that they live for Him --
and Him alone. The Lord in return then Anoints the mind of His faithful
servant -- teaching him the Mysteries of the Gospel and the Secrets of
Creation. That the Nazirene who lives apart from the rest of society --
holding fast to the Nazir vow -- and purifying his physical body and mind as if
they lived in Eden -- holding to the words:
"And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for
food" (Gen 1:29 NKJ).
The importance of this purification of body/mind is further seen in the Book of
Daniel where it is written: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel,
'I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the
king.' So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah, 'Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your
servants.' So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies.
Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
As for these four young men,
God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and
wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams" (Dan 1:8-17 NKJ).
Those who can hear the Word of God being spoken in their ears, are the Nazirites
who are under the vow of separation to the Lord. They reject the doctrines
of men, and learn only from the One Teacher and Rabbi (see
The True
Prophet). The have no part in
the spirit of this world. They live as Yeshua lived. And they do not
defile their bodies by touching or eating dead flesh.
It is important to note that Yeshua saw two classes of people -- i.e., the common believer, and the disciple. Thus, it is written: "Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' And he answered and said to Him, Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth. Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions" (Mark 10:17-22 NKJ).
What this conveys is that while the believer who seeks eternal life is to live in accordance with the Law, the disciple must rid themselves of the things of this world and take the vow of separation, pick up their cross and crucify the lower nature of the flesh, and follow in the footsteps of the Master of The Way.
GoTo Part Two: Only the Nazirene can Enter the Kingdom of Heaven
|
Click to Access
|
|
