Messianic Jews in Israel Head Toward Breakup Over NAR?
How destructive is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)? For one example, take a look at the news coming out of Israel. The historically close-knit Messianic congregations in the country are, reportedly, on the brink of a breakup -- because of controversy surrounding NAR teachings being promoted there by an influential apostolic network, based in Israel, called Tikkun. The online magazine, Israel Today, recently reported on the impending breakup in an article titled "Messianic Jews Head Toward Breakup: Will the Local Body of Messiah in Israel Survive the Current Serious Debates?" See the article here.NAR teachings being promoted by Tikkun, according to critics, include the core NAR teaching -- that present-day apostles must hold governing offices in the church. Critics also claim that Tikkun apostles have taught that Gentile Christians worldwide must come into "alignment" with (read: submission to) Messianic Jewish believers and, especially, to the Messianic Jewish apostles based in Israel. Only when believers worldwide are properly aligned with Israel's apostles will the "kingdom government order" be in place for God's kingdom to be set up on earth and the end-time prophecies of Scripture to be fulfilled. Tikkun has responded to their critics with a series of articles titled "Answering the Allegations Against Tikkun." See Part 1.But these teachings do appear to have been promoted by Asher Intrater, an Israeli apostle and co-founder of Tikkun International. In a YouTube video titled "End-Time Alignment," Intrater teaches about the necessity of Gentile believers aligning with Messianic Jewish believers -- an alignment he describes as involving "a type of submission." And his teachings that the worldwide church must submit to Israel's apostles to be in "right order" is also documented in a series of articles written by Hannah Weis, which can be read here. She cites his book, titled Alignment, as one source.According to the Israel Today article, more than two years of debate about Tikkun's teachings will come to a head this month when a decision is expected to made by officials in the Hebrew-Speaking Congregational Leadership Conference, or Kenes Artzi in Hebrew. However, the nature of the decision to be made remains unclear. The article states:
After months of dialogue and debate at conferences and online, a meeting has been called for in March to decide on a path forward.... According to the Messianic leaders we have spoken with, there is still a lot of confusion as to what will happen at the upcoming meeting. Will Messianic Jewish leaders be called upon to vote and determine if Tikkun is teaching false doctrines? Will Tikkun leaders and their congregations be considered false teachers or banned from the Kenes Artzi? Meanwhile, a number of Messianic Jews have already left, or are threatening to leave the Kenes Artzi over the controversy.
Pray for wisdom for the Kenes Artzi leadership and that they will have the courage to take a stand against any divisive and unbiblical NAR teachings that have brought disunity and confusion to Israel's Messianic Jewish congregations.
--------UPDATED 3/20/2020: The Kenes Artzi has delayed a decision due to ongoing talks with Tikkun and the coronavirus. I will post another update when a decision is reached.
About the author
Holly Pivec is the co-author (with R. Douglas Geivett) of A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement and God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement. She has a master's degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University.