Confronting "Hebrew Israelite Camp" False Doctrine #1

As I continue to study I've been blessed to meet some solid brothers & sisters in the faith of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ who identify ethnically as "Hebrew Israelites" or just "Israelites", but who are also followers of Christ. In light of that, the discovery of new information, and in my own personal search of my natural ancestry I've revised this blog article to better reflect my current position on this matter. 

For several years now I've encountered and engaged in numerous discussions with those from the group known as "Hebrew Israelites" or just either "Hebrews or Israelites". There are legitimate Hebrews/Israelites in the Americas that are the descendants of those brought over in the slave trade, but for this blog article we will be dealing with the highly dogmatic and radical elements of the Hebrew Israelite Community commonly known as "camps". 

The camps are more akin to a very divisive cult movement within a legit Community that can be differentiated by how they twist scriptures to fit their errant dogma. They have no practical solutions to any real problems other than to repent and turn back to the Old Testament Law of Moses rather than to Christ as the fulfillment of the law. Many claim all Black people who are descended from slaves in North America are the scattered tribe of Judah and other people of color in the Americas are the remaining lost tribes of Israel. They also adhere to the history of Robert Windsor as told in his book "From Babylon to Timbuktu" as historically accurate and almost as authoritative as the Bible itself. Windsor tells the history of Israel and Black people in America as one and the same. Windsor's book has some truth but is also full of historical conjecture and biblical errors for which there isn't enough time or space to point them all out here. 

While I firmly believe the gospel addresses all issues in life, especially those pertaining to the poor and racism, I also maintain that it is a colorblind truth for all people with none being excluded or considered superior over another. Since I originally wrote this blog I've been able to have dialogue with other more theologically sound Israelites who oppose the errant dogma of what I now know as "camp theology" which doesn't represent the Israelite Community as a whole. Upon further investigation I myself may even have Hebrew-Israelite genetic ancestry, but that will not change my beliefs concerning salvation through Christ. I respect and love a great many of Israelites, but I vehemently disagree with the fanatic camps as it pertains to salvation (on which they are very vague), and truth overall. 

A half truth is still a whole lie, and camp doctrine is heresy. It misleads other Black people and those of color into the same kind of supremacist dogmas as white supremacy groups who also often use religion or the Bible to try justifying their position. In this regard they are little different except in skin color and a long history of racially motivated atrocities against others like the Christian faith claiming KKK to which they are wrongly compared to. I'm for truth, and truth is colorblind when it comes to God and salvation. I've also found in my studies that many in these particular camps have a problem with accepting the entire New Testament; in particular the writings of the Apostle Paul because his scriptural writings directly contradict their errant dogma and prove their teachings to be a lie contrary to the doctrine of Yeshua Mashiach himself.

GALATIANS 3:26-29; "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." 

In their errant attempts to "blacken" everything up to justify their beliefs they've even gone as far as making "King James" of England a Black man, and not merely the actual white man he was. King James having a Black ancestor or two is not beyond possibility considering that Moorish free men lived in Europe for centuries, and that African slaves were first brought to Europe before being brought to the Americas, but it is highly improbable. Many Hebrew Israelite camps use this false history to validate the KJV Bible translation as their primary authoritative scriptural resource and ignore any possible contradiction within its translation, or attribute them to white men working against the king. King James and the scholars who translated Hebrew & Greek manuscripts into the KJV were predominantly white; period!

The Bible is a book of prophecy, and prophecy is history told in advance. Once prophecy becomes history it is no longer a mystery. Who translated what is immaterial to biblical prophecy because its truth is regardless, immutable, and will always be revealed in time over any lie. Deuteronomy 28:58-67 can very easily been seen as Black People in the Americas, but it should be noted here that the curses as recorded all the way to verse 68 are not in chronological order of which they would happen but are simply listed as to what will happen. This means that Deuteronomy 28:68 which is used as a foundation by many in the Israelite Community to prove Black people are the lost tribes in the Americas could be out of sequence and not apply to the Trans Atlantic Slave trade at all.

DEUTERONOMY 28:68; "And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you."

Let's break it down and point out a few things using good common sense and not fanaticism or a distortion of the truth:

1) The Lord is talking to the nation of Israel after He's delivered them from slavery in Egypt (where they resided for 430 years total), as they're coming to the close of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, and before they have entered the "Promised Land" of Canaan. Yahweh had previously foretold Abraham when he was still known as Abram that this would happen.

GENESIS 15:12-14; "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13) And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14) And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance."

2) In Exodus 12:40-41 the scriptures are clearly talking about geographical Egypt, which still exist today, and is not an allegorical reference to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The added 30-years onto the 400 is a result of YAH's chosen deliverer, Moses, having fled into the wilderness of Midian for 40-years and causing a delay when he himself was 40-years old. Had he waited another 10-years instead of acting out of the will of God by trying to aid his Israelite brothers with his own might, then the 400-year mark would have been hit right on the head (see: Exodus 2:11-15*). God Almighty didn't get it wrong but man did, and man's interference in YAH's divine plans always delays his own deliverance while complicating things for himself on the Earth. Just as the scriptures said, The Most High judged Egypt by the "Ten Plagues" and the children of Israel went out with great substance in the form of the wealth of Egypt.

EXODUS 12:40-41; "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41) And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." 

The errant Hebrew Israelite camps believe they are going to spoil the United States and other western American powers just as the children of Israel did Egypt. What they fail to see is the disconnect between the timeline of ancient Israel and themselves. Ancient Israel had a plan and a land from God to build a nation. What plans do these supposed camps have to build a nation? What unified plans do we have as Black people to do this for ourselves? Not one of them has ever rolled out or presented a comprehensive plan to build up a people into a nation. That's nothing but bluster.    

Not only that, but they fail to mention that it is the Black Community being plagued from all sides with violence, political disfranchisement, social exploitation, and economic oppression more than any other group of people from within & without, yet they continue to try telling us it is because we are disobedient to GOD. If we're disobedient then shouldn't they be preaching "repentance" instead of "pro-black" hatred or discrimination against African blacks and other ethnic groups they deem as non-Hebrew who they say will become their slaves? 

There is more damaging doctrine from these camps than just dietary restrictions, Sabbath keeping, or rampant racial bias that sets Hebrew-Israelite Camps apart from other Israelites as heresy being taught within the Community. Those of us in the Black Community can speak on it honestly, and I don't care for being "political correct" in doing so. If you're a Christian who thinks my saying things in a certain way is racially stereotypical then don't waste your comment calling me a racist, or judging how much of a better "Christian" you are that's going to win them with "your much more loving and godly approach." I've encountered this response from white Evangelicals who then viciously go after Black people under the guise of Christian orthodoxy or apologetics. You don't know better or have more of Christ than those who confront this almost daily in the Black Community under siege by these damnable race based doctrines. 

In most cases those who condemn those like me that stand against this satanic race based heresy are White Christians with no experience dealing with this, no true empathy for the Black Community, or understand the racial dynamics behind it. These same people won't speak out against racial injustice on behalf of Black People but are quick to tell us to "just pray" about it while they continue to do nothing about it. When dealing with this type of false doctrine they pompously behave like they know better and have the perfect solution as if Black Christians don't know the gospel as well as them. That's being racist by behaving like the "almighty whitey", and in some cases other uninformed Christians act the same way. Your naivety won't accomplish anything other than disappointment by your own lack of discernment. 

3) Furthermore, the scripture clearly says, "And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again..." So if they will be taken by the way where He said they would see no more wouldn't that mean geographical Egypt? Did the ancient Israelites go into bondage in America all the way back then? NO! In order to be taken back somewhere you've seen before you would have had to have been there before. We weren't in America before. So you see the twist of scripture. This is the kind of perversion of scripture they use to preach a black feel good doctrine. 

Furthermore, this scripture in Deuteronomy 28:68 was fulfilled literally in history when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman Empire under General Titus and most Israelites were removed from Palestine either by death or taken back into geographical Egypt and sold by the Romans into slavery by way of ships traveling through the Red Sea / Reed Sea, and the Nile River. They became unwanted by the Egyptians and other citizens of the region which caused them to become so impoverished by displacement that they tried to sell themselves into bond servitude to survive, but were often rejected. This is history not a mystery.

4) The nation of Israel is a people, not a race of one particular color; although I believe they are predominantly Black people. The Black slaves brought to America far out numbered any national census of Israelite people in history, and it is my belief that there wouldn't have been enough Hebrews to fill the slave ships to the tune of an estimated 30 to 60 million people during that period, and account for all the Black people in the Americas. I believe this based on their numbers having to had been reduced due to the supposed "curse" that was on them as stated in Deuteronomy 28:62 which says, "And ye shall be left few in number...." 

What kind of curse are we talking about anyway? Is it from not keeping the law of Moses as stated in Deuteronomy 28 or is it from rejecting Christ as the fulfillment of the law and the beginning of a new covenant as recorded in Matthew 27:25? The Hebrew Israelite camps don't even know themselves, but overlook rejecting Christ and go all the way back to Old Testament Law which Christ himself came to fulfill so they wouldn't have to go back to it. To go back to it is to fall from grace which is the same as denying Christ and rejecting salvation according to the Word of Yah: 

GALATIANS 5:3-4; "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4) Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

5) The awakening of the Israelites in the Americas began happening as early as the 18th century. This belief first came to light as a means for oppressed Black people to identify their struggles with the Israelites of the Bible, and to reject the twisted version of the Christian religion of their  white oppressors in the hopes of being free. The latter part of Deuteronomy 28:68 says, "...and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you." Well this couldn't possibly be the American Negro as Israel because they were bought and sold regularly from plantation to plantation all over the South until slavery was fully abolished in the U.S. in 1865. There are actually more black Hebrews in existence in Africa such as the Lemba tribe in southern Africa who genetically and genealogically can prove their origins. Only by DNA testing or thorough lineage investigation can American Negroes prove their ancestry, and most haven't done so. 

6) Not one of the false doctrine teaching Hebrew Israelite camps have been able to definitively prove their tribal connection to Israel. We know that much of our heritage was destroyed in slavery, and it is highly possible that the majority of Black folks in the Americas DNA will trace back to an enslaved ancestor from western Africa with no ties to Israel. These ancestors may have never knew Hebrew, and many practiced African spiritualism or Islam. A few were actually Christians before they were taken by Europeans as slaves. Many of them would later combine African spiritualism, Catholicism, or other Christian elements in an attempt to hold on to their culture as seen in Voodoo, Santeria, and other southern superstitions passed down through generations. 

7) Could some true Israelites have come over? I believe so, but not to the degree that some say, and if truly so it should be expected that they retained some connection to their true heritage to pass down, or we should be able to find more evidence of this in Africa itself. YAH has always left a "remnant" of his people as a witness, but they were never the majority. What makes it hard to prove is that we are hard pressed to find such a distinctly clear and indisputable history of retention among American Blacks. That doesn't mean the genetic connection doesn't exist and that other physical evidence hasn't been covered up either on purpose or due to a lack of thorough research. 

Another point of "Hebrew Israelite" camp dogma is to convince Black people they are unrelated to Black Africans who they say sold them into slavery, and that American Blacks who they say are really Hebrews are cursed by God for disobedience as to why we're here, yet we should be mad at white people for it. If Yah cursed us for disobedience then why be mad at white people or other Africans for it? Hebrews in Africa also sold Hebrews just the same as other Africans besides being stolen away by white Europeans during the slave trade. The Moors often led the way in the European enslavement of Black people in Africa.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade didn't start until the 15th century which means we would have to believe that God Almighty has been pissed off at Black folks for nearly 2,000 years and even the more so over the last almost 600 years because of our disobedience. Why would I want to serve God according to this if he holds a grudge for such a long time? Is God a vengeful terrorist just against Black Israelites, but allows the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Israelites to prosper while we suffer? I think not. It is also taught that a "Negro" and a Black African are two different types of Black people; which is not actually true. The word "negro" is Spanish & Portuguese for "a member of the black skinned races" and can also be applied to Hamitic Africans. 

Seeking our true ancestry and trying to fill in the gaps of our lost heritage due to "identity  displacement" by slavery is not a sin, but teaching a racially biased identity doctrine or philosophy is not of God but of man. The good news of the gospel is that you can find a new identity in Christ, but you can also search out and trace your earthly heritage as others have done. Calling one's self a natural "Israelite" is irrelevant to the salvation of one's soul, but learning one's ancestral ancestry is a worthy cause for which one should not be ashamed or turned away from. All who've tried to live by the Old Testament Law failed except our Lord & Savior Yeshua Mashiach. Rather than twist scriptures to "Blacken" them up to feel special to God Almighty why not just obey his Word by faith and receive the grace of Christ unto salvation? Trying to do it any other way only puts you at odds with Yah, but in accepting salvation through grace by faith in Christ you are part of the "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16) just as much as any natural born Israelite.  ~ Isaiah J. West 

ROMANS 10:1-4; "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

You can find "CONFRONTING HEBREW ISRAELITE FALSE DOCTRINE WITH HISTORY, #2" here, http://ijwest.blogspot.com/2017/04/confronting-hebrew-israelite-false.html

Here's another blog article you may find of interest as it pertains to the above subject matter that is titled "DEBUNKING RACISM FROM A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE" at http://ijwest.blogspot.com/2013/08/debunking-racism-from-biblical.html 

Also, please read "IDENTITY DISPLACEMENT - Who Are You?" at http://ijwest.blogspot.com/2015/04/identity-displacement-who-are-you.html 

Watch "The Detriment of a Lie Called White Jesus" at https://youtu.be/3ZEYvZFjGJs 

Watch "If Ancient Israel Was Black Why Are Today's Jews White?" at https://youtu.be/StUlLb5liQE