Fiscus Judaicus the Jewish tax

The Disconnection of Hebrew Roots

Fiscus Judaicus, & Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt

What Really Happened To Our Hebrew Roots?

One of the main reasons a person may misunderstand what the Natsarim perspective is all about is due to how they are programmed by their teachers in their view of the Torah (instructions). Do we obey Torah, or ignore Torah?

Also, history records when certain alterations occurred, particularly during the reign of Constantine. Scripture reflects the record of real history, yet the average person is unaware that revisions (changes) have been made, so their view of the real world stands in stark contrast to what they see in Scripture. They need more information, yet think they have all they need. The Truth will set us straight, so this brief article may help restore some necessary prerequisite information. Coming across pure, unadulterated truth is a shock to the wineskin that holds old wine, which represents the teachings of men.

The yeast / doctrines we warn against are not intended to apply to every single person, only those who are engaging in practices invented by men.

The information I am going to reveal to you here needs to be independently searched-out, otherwise you will dismiss it because it will sound absolutely “ridiculous” at first.

The 3 stages of Truth, according to the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860):

First, it is ridiculed.

Second, it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

What Is The True Origin Of The Label Christian?

The term christianos is a foreign Greek term to the first-followers of Yahusha that was, at first, applied to them in scorn. Christianos meant a simple person, or cretan, in that day. Another meaning for it in that day is smeared ones (as with oil), or idiots. Later, it came to be redefined, or reinvented, just as so many other formerly pagan practices have been.

Let’s look at the use of the two terms, christianos, and Natsarim, from both Scripture and their context in the days of the emissaries, or apostles.

christianos

Web definitions

Greek title, applied to the 1st century Messianic Believers, by the pagan populace. It means the smeared ones, the English...

www.angelfire.com/ill/hebrewisrael/Lessons/glossary.html

Act 24:5: “For having found this man a plague, who stirs up dissension among all the Yahudim throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Natsarim, . . . ” Paul was being accused of being a ringleader, as in a circus, by a hired sophist (Tertullus). The ruler Felix understood the term Natsarim. Paul did not deny the term used for him and his hairesis, or sect. This is, in itself, quite revealing.

The first-followers held the prophetic label “Natsarim”, Acts 24:5, from the prophecy of our appearing in the future at YirmeYahu / Jer. 31:6:

“For there shall be a day when the watchmen (Natsarim) cry on Mount Afrayim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Tsiyon, to יהוה (Yahuah) our Alahim.’ ”

The first “Christian” sect worshipped Serapis at Alexandria, Egypt. From this, a syncretism or blending occurred, from which the “Catechetical School of Alexandria” later developed (first headmaster Pantaenus, 180-190 CE). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantaenus

This early school is the source of many adopted patterns from pagans, blended together by the circus patriarchs that taught there. These men are held to be “church fathers” today.

The Christian Label - Not From Hebrew Roots

If you were to take the next logical step, it might be to re-evaluate what you label yourself. If you identify with any sect associated with the term “Christian”, you may not have come “all the way out” yet. Over the centuries people have stumbled onto more Truth, and changed their behavior accordingly. We can respect the work of Ellen G. White, Martin Luther, and so many others for the things they were used to reveal, and our refining is continuing as we see Yahusha's Spirit bring us more in-line with His Torah. One of the things He is restoring is the label we are called by. He is also restoring us to His Covenant, an eternal relationship between Yahuah and His people. Foreigners graft into the commonwealth of Yisharal, and hold fast to His Covenant (Is 56, Eph 3). There is then no distinction between the native-born and an outsider that comes to trust in Yahusha. Both walk as Yahusha walked (1Yn 2:6). The way to tell that a person is not of Yahuah is by their behavior, or fruit. If they keep His Commandments, they are His. If not, they are children of the devil (1Yn 2:3, 1Yn 3:10, 1Yn 5:2). Yahusha was not a Christian, nor is He one now; and neither were any of His original followers. He did not "found" Christianity. The followers of Yahusha observed the Torah, and were told to teach the nations to do so as well. They met in the congregations (“synagogues”) with all the rest of those who walked in Torah, and were zealous for Torah (Acts 21:20). The disconnection began in the first century, and continued for centuries afterward.

All it took was a tax on those who observed Torah, as we will discover next.

The Fiscus Judaicus - Cause of Disconnection

The division between the groups (Yahudim & Natsarim) occurred after the destruction of the Hekal (Temple), during the years following the installation of the emperor Vespasian. Because of the rebellion of the zealots in the land of Yisrael, Rome came down with an iron fist on all the fortresses in Yisrael. Yerushalayim was razed to the ground, and the former “Temple tax” every Yisraelite had been paying to support their Temple was diverted to support the temple of Iupiter/Apollo at Rome. Vespasian enacted the Fiscus Judaicus, or what is today known as the Jewish Tax. A parting-of-the-ways occurred. The believing Israelites and former Gentiles began meeting separately from the unbelieving Yahudim, and later on Gentile doctrines began to be embraced to further distinguish the two from one another, due to this taxation. The tax began around 74 CE, and continued for centuries. The booty from the destruction of Yerushalayim was used to build the Roman Colisseum, and two enormous arches were erected, one for Titus, and one for his father, Vespasian, who became emperor after the destruction of Yerushalayim.

The greatest way to avoid this Fiscus Judaicus was to take on a new label, one that didn’t sound like it was associated with the Yahudim, and practices that disassociated them from their roots. Thus, the “Hebrew roots” of the faith were severed, caused by this attempt to avoid taxation. The Greek label served the purpose of distinguishing them very effectively.

We can stop this charade now, and be restored to the Hebrew roots without fear of being taxed.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The Roman beast is identified as a scarlet beast (Rev 17:3).

The former Pagan high priest and college of “cardinals” was the pattern of the Roman Mithraic culture, and has remained to this day. This pattern is not of Scripture and directed by Yahuah, but is of the world, and directed by the evil one. Examine this photo, and see if you recognize anything as being of Pagan Rome:

By feeding this false system, the world has gone after a Paganized pattern of worship, one based on a culture of blasphemous idolatry. There is nothing in this system remotely connected to our Hebrew roots, it only connects us with Pagan Rome, the scarlet beast. Let him who has eyes to see, let him see.

“See, I am giving up those of the congregation of Satan, who say they are Yahudim and are not, but lie. See, I am making them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have guarded My Word of endurance, I also shall guard you from the hour of trial which shall come upon all the world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Rev 3:9, 10

(Note: “synagogue” means congregation, not a building)

Google the words Fiscus Judaicus, and Catechetical School of Alexandria.

It will cause you to experience a paradigm shift that you will be ever-so-grateful to have gone through.

We will certainly strive to be sensitive and loving as we work to restore our Hebrew roots.

Love is our highest goal as we spread the Name and the Word.

The reason people can’t get to the Truth is that they are not abiding (living) in Yahuah’s Word: