If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a total First Fruits of Zion fanboy. Whenever I get my hands on books or materials from these guys, I gobble it up like a ravaneous animal. Maybe it's because of their pragmatic approach to Messiah-faith. Maybe it's because I'm so damn sick of the bickering among religious people, especially among otherwise-good-Messianic folk; FFOZ works towards unity and shalom and building up. They work toward God-knowledge, but more importantly, toward God-relationship. I recognize, for the first time in my life, a group of people who are in actuality building up God's kingdom. And their encouragement and leadership has helped me, personally, to mature in God. That's why I love 'em.
Their latest work is republishing Love and the Messianic Age, a book by Messiah-loving luminary Jewish voice, Dr. Paul Phillip Levertoff. Levertoff was raised a Jewish chassid who, through discoverery of a New Testament at a young age, soon found Yeshua as Messiah. While he became in his day a Hebrew Christian, Levertoff never abandoned his love of Judaism. In Love and the Messianic Age, a book described as "a Chasidic discourse from one of the pioneers of Messianic Judaism, crammed with stimulating thought and pervaded by real spiritual beauty, a mint of good things and solid learning", Levertoff discusses Chassidic Judaism, mysticism, and the gospel of John.
In the following little video blog, Messianic congregation leader and First Fruits of Zion contributor Daniel Lancaster discusses two kinds of knowledge of God explored in Levertoff’s book: knowledge about God -- attained by studying creation, the Scriptures, and so on -- and inner, intimate knowledge of the Creator. Enjoy, fine blog readers: