The Way of Yahweh

For the modern reader, the first seven words probably sound strange. In English, it is more natural to say "...in all the ways..." The word "way" would be plural to encompass each way that made up "all the ways." When we look at the Hebrwer we see the word "derekh" (way) in its singular form. What we need to learn from this is that all of the Torah (the Torah is the context of the passage) makes a singular way or path that Yahweh requires His people to walk. In other readings in the Tanakh we see that "derekh" (way) also carries the meaning of "way of living" and "conducting oneself in alignment with Yahweh's will and instruction."

Paul on The Way

We see in this passage from Acts that Paul explains that the religion taught in the Torh and the Prophets is called The Way, just like we saw in Deuteronomy 5:33! Paul states that The Way is called a sect by his accussers, the Pharisees and Sadducees. This is because about 200 years prior to this passage in Acts, The Way was marginalized and forced out of the mainstream by two rival religious sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees. By the time of Acts, the Pharisees and Sadducees became the predominant religious partise whose beliefs drastically differed from The Way. These two apostate groups controlled the mainstream relgion in the first century. The beliefs of the Pharisees became Rabbinic Judaism as we know it today.

Yeshua on The Way

David wrote this psalm and it teaches us that those who follow The Way must "keep" Yahweh's Mitzvot. The word "keep" is the Hebrew word "Natsar." Natsar means to keep, to observe, to guard, to be a watchman over. The followers of The Way, according to Scripture, love Yahweh, have faith in Yeshua, and obey the Torah; these people are called Natsarim.

In Greek, the word "Natsarim" is translated as "Nazarene." Yeshua, throughout the gospels, is called Yeshua the Nazarene. Mainstream teachings will tell you this is because He was born in Nazareth, and point to Matthew 2:23. There are several problems with this. The biggest one is that if the authors wanted to concretely label Yeshua from the town of Nazareth, in Greek they would have written "Iesous apo Nazaret." With only one exception, Yeshua is refered to as "Iesous ho Nazoraios" or "Iesous ho Nazarenos." These Greek phrases are more of a title or designation than identifying someone's hometown. This is significant because it means Yeshua was called Yeshua the Natsarim. Yeshua was a Natsarim, one who kept The Way!

The Way Isn’t Everyones Way

Acts 11 is the first time the term "christian" shows up in the Bible. There were many herectical sects that formed in the first century that believed Yeshua was the Messiah, the vast majority of these christ-believers were antinomian or lawless; they did not keep the Torah. As early as the first century the Natsarim differed from Christians. Natsarim were never considered part of mainstream christianity. In fact, christianity has always labeled Natsarim as heretics from there definition of orthodoxy. For these reasons we are not and never have been christians. If you love Yahweh, have faith in Yeshua, and keep the Torah, Scripture both the Tanakh and the New Testament writings define you as a Natsarim.

In more recent times, there has risen a movement called "Hebrew Roots." While the movement may have started to sincerely return to the hebraic roots of Scripture, the movement as a whole has no clearly defined beliefs and can include many herectical teachings leading to the rejection of Paul's writings, Arianism, Sacred-Name, and some even reject Yeshua as the Messiah. While Natsarim keep the Torah like those in the Hebrew Roots movement, we are not part of it.