What did Peter have to say about ex-Messianic anti-missionaries?

While researching some material for a new book on Wednesday, I came upon a section of scripture that honestly made me laugh out loud, truly.  I was pouring over 1 and 2 Peter after going over the Pauline epistles with a fine toothed comb and I noticed that both of Peter’s letters were written to former Gentile converts to “the Way” as it was called. I usually quote from the KJV, but I will quote from ISR The Scriptures this time.

2 Peter 1:1 Shim’on Kepha, a servant and emissary of Yeshua Messiah, to those who have obtained a belief as precious as ours by the righteousness of our Elohim and Savior Yeshua Messiah.

Now why do I say this is written to converted Gentiles?  Because Peter is referring to a belief as “precious as ours” – referring to himself and the other Jews.  The former pagan Gentiles were now brought in to the faith in God through Yeshua, as were the Jews before them.

1:4 Through these there have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these you might become partakers of the Mighty-like nature, having escaped from the corruption of the world caused by lust.

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What are the exceedingly great and precious promises? Throughout the prophets, a gathering in of the Gentile nations into Israel was promised (Isaiah 14:1 being a prime example).

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Because YHVH has compassion on Ya’aqob (Jacob), and shall again choose Yisra’el (Israel), and give them rest in their own land.  And the strangers shall join them, and they shall cling to the house of Ya’aqob.

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So, as Messiah also promised, the strangers (Gentiles) would join Jacob (the literal, eternal nation of Israel) and cling to him.  This is what we see happening after the events of Acts 10, when Peter receives the wisdom that men are not common or unclean if they are keeping God’s commandments, no matter what their ethnicity may be. I only shared that to establish the audience, and now we get to the fun part.

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2:1 But there also came to be false prophets among the people, as also among you there shall be false teachers, who shall secretly bring in destructive heresies and deny the Master who brought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.

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Let’s break this down and explain it

But there also came to be false prophets among the people (what people?  The Hebrews)

as also among you (the Gentile converts to Israel)

there shall be false teachers, who shall **secretly** bring in destructive heresies (they will not be inclined to do this out in the open)

and deny the Master who **brought them** (brought them to what?  To righteousness, to the way of God)

bringing swift destruction on themselves (I think that is pretty definitive right there)

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Over the past year I have seen quite a few people go this path, people unlearned in the ancient near eastern context of the scriptures, people who believe that if something isn’t readily apparent to their 21st century mindsets in a shallow reading of the word, that it cannot be so.  And because they insist on everything being easy for them, they fall away. They were Christians, oftentimes ones who came to hate Christianity and refused to see the good in it, and they followed the knowledge trail into Hebrew Roots, and there was nothing wrong with coming into the roots of our faith. Getting here, however, a few of them learned just enough to give them doubts and stopped learning.  The crazy thing was, they claim the Torah is the way, and it certainly is because Yeshua is the living Torah, the Word of God; by their own testimony, they only got to Torah by studying about the man they knew as Jesus.  Jesus led them to Torah and then introduced Himself as Yeshua. Yeshua drove them to the dance, and then they got itchy for other partners when they found out that Yeshua is not a popular guy and all of a sudden they had no place to rest their head.  The Christians didn’t want them (oftentimes because of their behavior but also because of doctrinal misunderstandings), and neither did the Jews. This was unexpected. They really thought that the Jews would embrace them and throw open the doors of the Kingdom. But by and large, it didn’t happen and they met with a lot of resistance and sometimes with outright racism, even from within the movement between Jew and former Gentile.

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Unfortunately that made them easy targets for the disreputable anti-missionaries out there who have made a life’s work not in preaching God (like genuine Jews do), but instead preaching against Jesus (they refuse to call Him Yeshua, they don’t want to deal with Yeshua the faithful, Torah keeping Messiah, so even when they know His Name and His way of life, they would rather deceptively deal in terms of Jesus).  Wanting to belong, and not seeing any legitimate cultural status being awarded to followers of Yeshua, halfway between Christianity and Judaism, they went to the people promising legitimacy – the anti-missionaries. “Deny Jesus, become a Jew and then you can keep Torah and be in right standing with us.” Some even go as far as to say that if “Jesus” is really as forgiving as we say He is, that He will forgive them for denying Him, blatantly ignoring the scriptures that say that we cannot deny Him and change our minds, crucifying Him again and putting him to shame.

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Once they deny privately, they are generally in no hurry to announce it but secretly start bringing in destructive heresies. They just ask questions, never stating what they believe or their intent. They lurk in half truths and shadows, unwilling to be honest and open. They post videos online to their friends who still think they are believers, along with verses entirely out of context, and slowly but surely start weaning people away from salvation. These same people who proclaimed Torah from the rooftops when they became whole-bible believers are now not as open with what they believe? Why the change? Why aren’t they bold, proud and convicted this time around? Why the secrecy? Surely fear of rejection can’t be the reason – as that didn’t stop them from proclaiming the commandments! No, Peter nailed the reason – they have become false teachers and must operate in secret. Surely if we are deceived and they love us they would openly plead with us for our very lives!

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They act like a harlot who can’t remember that the only way she got to the dance in the first place was that her devoted fiance drove her there. Messiah led them to Torah, just as the scriptures said He would. But these people pretend like they came to Torah without Him, in spite of Him, that somehow God decided to reward what they themselves call their “idolatry” by using it to lead them into the truth. I am honestly trying to remember when idolatry ever led anyone to the truth and I can’t think of any examples. Yeshua brought me to the Torah, no question, no question whatsoever. It was because I knew the voice of my Master when He spoke to me that drove me to my knees in repentance and to my feet in obedience. I wasn’t looking for the Torah, quite the contrary, I thought I was happy and free without it. Jesus brought me to Torah, and then Torah showed me who Yeshua is.

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So these people, they have brought swift destruction upon themselves. I am not the only one who sees the personality changes before they publicly come forward. So no, I don’t think there is any hope for them, and if there is it will not come from me. They are little more than zombies – they were alive, now they are dead, and they want to devour the living. They are people that these anti-missionaries never cared one bit about – until they started obeying the commandments of God. Anti-missionaries do not go after Christians. I want you to consider that, they don’t try to convert anyone until they believe in Yeshua and in keeping the commandments.  They sound an awful  lot like this chap.

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Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Yeshua Messiah.