You may be wondering, ‘Do I need to learn Hebrew?’ Many Messianic congregations strongly focus on the Hebrew language and give the impression that anyone who doesn’t want to learn is foolish and uneducated. Are they right? Let’s take a look.
There is a certain attitude around Messianic congregations that insist on making Hebrew a prominent part of their services. Scriptures are read in Hebrew, and songs are sung in Hebrew. There is a strong push to get people to learn it and practice it. But is this necessary? What if you never learn Hebrew? How does that affect your relationship with Christ?
Have you ever gone to a Messianic service on the Sabbath and found they are reading in Hebrew? Many if not most of the people there don’t understand Hebrew and there are no interpreters, or there is a practice of reading first in Hebrew and then either paraphrasing or reading in English afterwards. The odd thing is, that the people speaking Hebrew also speak fluent English or whatever the common language of the congregation is. So why are they reading Hebrew at all? This practice is not desirable because the people are getting almost nothing out of the Hebrew portion. Paul explains it well,
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” 1Corinthians 14:4
If you are the only one who knows what you are saying, you aren’t helping anyone but yourself. This is not helpful to a congregation unless someone is interpreting in a real way. The best way to read the bible is in the language of the people, not first reading in a foreign language and then re-reading it again in the common language. Paul discusses this in depth in 1Corinthians 14 to make it clear that this isn’t a good practice. I recommend reading the whole chapter of 1Corinthians 14 but here a few more verses.
“Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.” 1Corinthians 14:11
“But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” 1Corinthians 14:28
The point is this, if you are speaking a different language that no one understands, then as Paul says in 1Corinthians 14:9 “… you will be speaking into the air”, meaning you are wasting your words, they are not being received. In these Messianic congregations, there is no reason to even do this as the speaker almost always could be speaking English or whatever the congregation language is. An interpreter is not needed, Hebrew is not needed, the congregation has bibles written in their own language.
The only reason an interpreter may be needed would be… 1. Someone in the congregation has a direct message from God that came to them in a different language or 2. There is something specific about a bible word that a person with God’s Spirit wants to explain, and so wants to teach about a Hebrew or Greek word. There may be some other reason, but it would be something like that. Generally, the reading in Hebrew to a congregation of non-Hebrew speakers is wasting time that could be spent learning God’s Word. It is a foolish practice.
So why do these congregations do this? They seem to think that Hebrew is some kind of heavenly language or the language that will be spoken after the Judgement when everything is made new again. This is a commonly held belief, but is that supported by the bible? Where did the Hebrew language come from?
Abraham is the father of the Hebrews, so Hebrew was his spoken language. Where was Abraham from? Abraham’s name was originally Abram. He grew up in the land of the Chaldeans,
“And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.” Genesis 11:31
So where was the land of the Chaldeans and this city Ur? The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that this was located in Southern Babylonia. Abraham was undeniably Babylonian. His Babylonian dialect spoken by his descendants became known as Hebrew. So does this mean that many Messianics believe that a Babylonian language is a heavenly language? Unfortunately, yes, as ridiculous as that sounds. For some reason they are missing that connection.
Many also believe that Hebrew was the original language that Adam spoke but this is impossible because God confused all languages on Earth during the rebellion in Babylon when the tower was being built.
“Therefore its name is called Babel, because there YHWH confused the language of ALL the earth; and from there YHWH scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:9
It doesn’t say God confused all the languages except Hebrew, it says YHWH confused the language of ALL the earth, that includes Babylonian from which Hebrew is a dialect. The angels would know the original language and may even speak it, or they may have their own language, but certainly it isn’t Hebrew. Paul mentions that angels do have a language.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” 1Corinthians 13:1
We need to remember that God speaks ALL languages, He is the one that created them. God can teach you everything in your OWN language, He doesn’t have to get you to learn Hebrew.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” Acts 2:4-11
I’m not saying that learning Hebrew is a waste of time, but reading it to people who don’t understand it definitely is. Certainly, there are benefits to learning Hebrew and Greek because these were the languages the bible was written in, but is Hebrew necessary for salvation? Absolutely not. If you receive the Spirit of God, He will teach you all things. You do not need Hebrew lessons from anyone.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, HE WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26
“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, AND YOU DO NOT NEED THAT ANYONE TEACH YOU; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” 1John 2:27
The idea that Hebrew is a heavenly language is somewhat similar to the notion that Latin is a holy language because it is used in churches. Latin and Hebrew are just two of the many languages on earth. God never chose Abraham because of the Babylonian language he spoke, God chose him because Abraham trusted YHWH, Abraham had faith. To learn an ancient language has value, it’s a fun and interesting way to enhance your learning BUT it is NOT mandatory to your salvation, not at all.
If you think Hebrew will be God’s chosen language after the judgment, you will be very disappointed. Our human languages are corrupt, certainly God will destroy the corrupt languages along with the rest of the corrupt world when He recreates everything again. Why would God keep a corrupt Babylonian language? He wouldn’t.
Puffing up Hebrew as a necessary component of faith is just a segregating ideology that breeds arrogance and hypocrisy, it is elitist and very pharisee-like. Don’t be fooled by such doctrines, Christ can teach you everything you need to know in your own language. If you want to pursue studies in ancient Hebrew and Greek, that’s great but remember that those are secondary to the fundamentals of Christ. No one should push Hebrew on others as a necessary thing.
These segregating ideologies often come with other Jewish traditions which aren’t necessary either, like running their congregations like a synagogue or things like that. Many people leave Christian churches to enter a Messianic congregation only to be swept away by another vain organization that is just as full of man-made traditions as the Christian churches they left.
If you think Hebrew is a heavenly language and you are clinging to it, then your heart is still in Babylon.
“And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” Isaiah 13:19
Don’t be like Lot’s wife, make sure you don’t hold on to this old life, be ready to let go of everything Babylonian, including Babylonian languages like Hebrew.
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