The Natsarim – The Watchmen of The Way

Torah Can Save Your Soul – A Deep Dive Into God’s Eternal Law, Sin, and Grace

Even according to the modern hit pieces of our Spiritual Controllers, the Netseriym are described as those who keep the Father’s Commands and the Testimony of Yahusha Ha’Mashiach. This much is true. Except when they do it, they spin obedience to our creator in icky-pooh terms, complete with baby-booby names like ‘Jew’. They make it out like the slippery slope to Hell is obedience rather than disobedience. The Propaganda Department is regularly featured in these parts but rarely is their target more apparent than with the War on the Netseriym. Pay attention to who would have you disobey the Commands when whispering into your ear: “Did God really say?” Where have we heard that one before?

~Source

The Natsarim

The Natsarim (Hebrew for “Nazarenes”) are a religious sect that mixes biblical truth with the Torah, the Israelite festivals, and the philosophies of men. The Natsarim claim to follow the Jesus defined in the four gospels, and they refer to Him as Yeshua HaMashiach (“Jesus the Messiah”).

The Natsarim trace the etymology of their name to the Hebrew word for “watchmen” or (by inserting different vowels) “branches” (i.e., the branches of the True Vine in John 15:5). They claim to be the first followers of Jesus, rejected by the Jewish leaders of the first century and by the early church. The Natsarim see themselves as having two divine purposes, which will be fully realized just before the second coming of Christ.

The Natsarim’s first purpose is to protect the name Yeshua HaMashiach. They teach that there is salvation found in only one name (Acts 4:12), and that name is Yeshua HaMashiach—not Jesus. The Messiah must be addressed as Yeshua HaMashiach. To call upon any other name (such as Jesus) is to participate in a false religion.

The Natsarim see their second purpose as protecting the Torah, the five books of Moses in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The Natsarim keep the Sabbath and the other commandments of the Mosaic Law and claim to be the watchmen, the guardians of righteousness. They reason that, if Yeshua HaMashiach kept the law, then so should His followers.

As the “original” followers of Christ, the Natsarim view themselves as the true disciples of Yeshua HaMashiach. All others who claim the name of Christ are imposters. The many denominations of Christianity are tainted with paganism; they live in willful sin, according to the Natsarim, and will be condemned unless they repent and follow The Way of the Natsarim (see Acts 9:2). They refuse to call themselves “Christians,” teaching that the word Christian means “cretin.”

In summary, the Natsarim are a self-proclaimed non-Christian group who believe in Jesus but not according to the Christian view. They insist on using Hebrew terms and law-keeping, and they view themselves as the only “watchmen” of righteousness.

https://theloveofgod.proboards.com/thread/3488/church-history-natsarim-christianity

“Christian” ?

The followers of Jesus Christ were first referred to as “Christians” by the Gentiles of Syrian Antioch, and the name was more than likely meant as an insult (see Acts 11:26).

In the New Testament, believers never refer to themselves as “Christians”; rather, they use such terms as brethren (Acts 15:1; 1 Corinthians 16:20, NAS), disciples (Acts 11:26; 14:24, NKJV), and saints (Acts 9:13; 2 Corinthians 13:13, ESV). Before his conversion, Saul of Tarsus sought out those “who belonged to the Way” (Acts 9:2), indicating that an early label for Christians could have been “people of the Way” (see also Acts 19:9; 24:22).

Believers in Christ came to be called “Christians” during a time of rapid expansion in the church. Persecution had forced many believers from Jerusalem, and they scattered to various areas, taking the gospel with them. The evangelism was at first limited to Jewish populations. That changed when “men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:20–21). Barnabas was there in Antioch, as was the newly converted Saul, and they were both teaching in the church. “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26, BLB).

At the time that believers got the appellation Christians, it was common for the Greeks to give satirical nicknames to particular groups. So those loyal to the Roman General Pompey were dubbed “Pompeians,” and the followers of General Sulla were called “Sullanians.” Those who publicly and enthusiastically praised the emperor Nero Augustus received the name Augustinians, meaning “of the party of Augustus.” To the Greeks, it was all a fun word game and a verbally dismissive gesture. Then a new group cropped up in Antioch; since they were characterized by behavior and speech centered on Christ, the Greeks called them “Christians,” or “those of the party of Christ.”

In the first decades after the resurrection, the word Christ meant little to the general population. In fact, some ancient sources refer to believers as “Chrestians” and relate that their key figure was “Chrestus,” reflecting limited knowledge of the actual faith. This makes it seem even more likely that the word Christian was cobbled together by those who were not involved in Christianity themselves.

Non-believing Jews of that day would not have referred to believers as “Christians,” since Christ means “Messiah” and refers to the Son of David. Christ was exactly what they did not believe Jesus to be; such a term would not have been used by Jews until it became an established, stand-alone word. In the book of Acts, we see the unbelieving Jews referring to Christians as those “of the Nazarene sect” (Acts 24:5)—Nazareth being a city of low repute in the minds of most Israelites (see John 1:46).

Both the Bible and history suggest that the term Christian was probably meant as a mocking insult when it was first coined. Peter actually tells his readers not to be “ashamed” if they are called by that term (1 Peter 4:16). Likewise, when Herod Agrippa rejects Paul’s appeal to be saved, he says, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” and he was probably playing off of the negative reputation of that term (Acts 26:28). Why would he, a king, submit to the indignity of being called a “Christian”?

The Natsarim – The Watchmen of The Way

The Natsarim

“Christian” ?

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