נצרים — Netzarim
As followers of Yeshua who are the House of Israel, I have been diligently seeking a path and even a manner of calling us, that separates us from the more "Evangelical" Messianic movements and other "Hebrew Roots" organizations that seem to fall quite a bit short of the path that Yeshua placed before His followers.
Definitions
- Kehila – Community
- Synagogue – Church, place of worship
- Tanach – Old Testament
- Torah – Pentateuch – First 5 Books
- Neviim – Prophets
- Ketuvim – Writings
- Ketuvim Netzarim – New Testament
- Rabbi – Teacher of Torah
- Elohim – G-d our Father, Heavenly Father
- Adonai – Lord
- Yeshua – Jesus, our Savior
- Maschiach – Messiah or Christ
- Ruach HaKodesh – The Holy Spirit
- Emunah – Faithfulness or Faith
- Hashem – The Name, referencing the Name of our Father Yahweh
- Tzedek – Justice
Why "Netzarim"?
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 11:1-5: "And there shall come forth a Khoter (Branch) out of the Geza (Stem, Stump, Stock) of Yishai, and a Netzer [Branch] shall bear fruit of his roots..."
In Matthew 2:22-23 we read (in the Orthodox Jewish Bible): "And when Yosef [ben Dovid] heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Yehudah, Yosef [ben Dovid] was afraid to go there. And, having been warned in a chalom, he departed into the districts of the Galil. And Yosef [ben Dovid] made his home in the shtetl called Natzeret, so that which was spoken by the Neviim might be fulfilled: He will be called a Natzri."
The word for "stem" in Hebrew is netzer נֵ֫צֶר (H3342) meaning "branch." And the word that comes from it is Netzarim or "Branches."
That is why we followers of Yeshua, grafted into Judaism, observants of Torah and the Mitzvot of Elohim, are called Netzarim.