The Netsar, Netsarim, and Fruit

We love, honor, and magnify, Yahwéh-Elohiym, the Almighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, in union with Y‘shúa and all the holy ones therein.

The Netsar and the Netsarim

The Israeli man, Y‘shúa (Yhwshúa, Yahushúa; Joshua, Jesus) of Natzareth, and his disciples, were called The Natzarim and also The Qedoshim (Holy Ones, Saints) and The Way/Path. They consecrated themselves to walk in covenant with Yahwéh, Ĕl of Yisra‘ěl, vowing to keep his commandments in union with Y’shúa and his cousin Yoḥanan (John the Baptist). These “…were first called, Christians, at Antioch” in Syria, in the late 1st century. [¹] What were once synonymous terms, diverged into various hybrid sects after the first century. The original path is what we have sought to uncover, represent, and restore!

Below are prophesies written 700 years before Y’shúa was born to Yoseph and Miriam (Mary).
[Jesse was the Father of King David, ca., 1040-970 BCE. He is noted for uniting the tribes of Israel and establishing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Y’shúa was a descendent of King David.

Isaiah 11:1 A sprout will come out of the stump of Jesse,
and a branch/netsar out of his roots will bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:2 And The spirit of Yahweh* will rest on him … [*Yahweh = The Eternal Being]
Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant…; I have put my spirit upon him [the Netsar]
6 … I, Yahweh will give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations…
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 6 All of us, like sheep, have wondered about; we each have turned to his own way;
and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all. 7 …he was brought like a lamb to the slaughter…
11 …by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities…
Isaiah 58:12 Those who shall be of you shall be called …
“the Repairer of the broken walls” … “Restorer of paths to walk in”
who “rebuild the ancient ruins” and “erect the ancient foundations” …
Malachi 3:1 Yahweh says, Behold, I will send my messenger [John the Baptist], and he shall prepare
‘the way’ before Me: and the Lord [Y’shúa ], whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant [the Lord Y’shúa ],
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, says Yahweh [the God] of the hosts [of the heavens].
Isaiah 61:1 The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me for he has anointed me to preach the Gospel…
This was quoted by Y’shúa when:
Luke 4:14 Y’shúa returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. He came to Natzareth, where he had been brought up.
He entered, as was his custom, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day [the 7th Day of the Week = Saturday],
and stood up to read… saying, “The spirit of Yahweh is upon me for he has anointed me to preach the Gospel…”
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Y’shúa of Natsareth with the holy spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for Yahweh our Elohim (The LORD our God in translations) was with him.

Clear and Sufficient Witness to Israel his People

Kepha (Peter) under the inspiration of God, testifies to the Jewish crowds in Jerusalem:
16 “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Yo’ĕl (Joel 2:28-32)
17 ‘And it shall be in the latter days, says Elohim, that I shall pour out of my spirit on all flesh.
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [that is, they speak under inspiration of God], and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, 18 and also on my male servants and on my female servants I shall
pour out my my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy [speak under inspiration of God]…
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.

Kepha (Peter) continues:
Acts 2:22 Men of Israel, hear these words: Y’shúa of Natzareth, a man attested to you by Yahweh [our Elohim/our God]
with mighty works and wonders and signs that Elohim did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Y’shúa, delivered up according to the determined plan and foreknowledge of Yahweh, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 Yahweh raised him up, loosing the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it…

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that Yahweh has made him both Lord and Messiah,
this Y’shúa whom you crucified. 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart,
and said to Kepha (Peter) and the rest of the apostles,
“Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Kepha said to them,
“Repent [of all sin and transgression of the commandments of Elohim] and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Y’shúa the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit. 39 For the promise [of the holy spirit of God] is for you and
for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom Yahweh our Elohim calls to himself.
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation. 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The Apostle Kepha (Peter) said to Cornelius the Gentile who sought Yahweh

Acts 10:38 …Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of Elohim (God) to hear all things that have been commanded you by Elohim.” 34 And opening his mouth, Kĕpha said, “Truly I see that Elohim shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation, he who fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. 36 “He sent the word to the children of Yisra’ĕl, bringing the Good News: peace through Y’shúa the Messiah! (He is Master of all).

37 “You know what word came to be throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed:
38 how Elohim did anoint Y’shúa of Natsareth with the holy spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for Elohim was with Him. 39 “And we are witnesses of all he did, both in the country of Judea and in Jerusalem, whom they even killed by hanging on a tree.
40 “Elohim raised up this One on the third day, and let him be seen, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses, those having been chosen before by Elohim – to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. 42 “And he commanded us to proclaim to the people, and to witness that it is he who was appointed by Elohim to be judge of the living and the dead.
43 “To this One all the prophets bear witness, that through his name, everyone believing in him does receive forgiveness of sins.

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the holy spirit fell on all those who heard the word.
45 They of the circumcision (the Judeans) who believed were amazed, as many as came with Kepha, because the gift of the holy spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and magnifying Yahweh [speaking under inspiration of Yahweh]. Then Peter answered,
47 “Can any man forbid the water, that these who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we should not be baptized?”
48 He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Y’shúa the Messiah.

The Apostle Sha’ul was a Jewish “leader of the sect of the Netsarim (Nazoraios).” Acts 24:5
Standing before the Roman governor along with the Judean rulers, he described “The Way” of the Netsarim:
“And this I confess to you, that according to ‘The Way‘, which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim (God) of my fathers, believing all that has been written in the Law and in the Prophets, having an expectation, which they themselves also wait for, that there is about to be a resurrection of the dead [a raising up of people out of the realm of the dead], both of the righteous and the unrighteous. And in this,
I always exercise myself to have a clear conscience toward Elohim and men.” Acts 24:14-15


The Lord Y’shúa of Natsareth ² said to his disciples:
“I am the true Vine … (the true Netsar) [³]
and my Father (Yahweh, “the only true God” … “my God and your God” John 17:3; 20:17)
is the Gardener … and ye are the Branches (the Netsarim, plural of Netsar);
he who abides in me and I (and my words) in him, the same shall bear much fruit … “

The above metaphor might provide a sense of familiarity for those familiar with the Gospel of John. But, the assumptions within the brackets and footnotes might make you pause and think a little deeper if you are not familiar with the added information and Hebrew words. If you are studious, you would look up the references and meditate upon them asking for insight from the Almighty. Many more brackets and footnotes could be added and you will find such orientation in this website. The truth contained in this metaphor is like a tiny seed that produces a great tree. So, please return and re-read and ponder and seek wisdom, understanding, and experiential-knowledge.

In accord with the above metaphor of the Supernal-Gardener who planted the True Vine (with its’ Branches and Fruit), I am Netsarian Fruit^[1]which some spell as Nazarean, and there are various sects today with that name.. A “traditional” Christian might call me a Jew and a “traditional” Jew might call me a Christian–I have commonalities with both and sharp differences with both. Like all religions, they are hybridized religions containing truths and errors. I have learned from and appreciate the good people in all; I am part of all and yet, I am neither! How so? you might ask.

The difficulty in answering this question is this: What I actually say, may not be what you hear; for, we all hear in accordance with our own inherited life orientations, assumptions, definitions, biases, and maybe even studied opinions. We all have colored glasses like internal creeds through which we view the world. We easily make false-assumptions and jump to wrong conclusions.

Historical events and circumstances created different kinds of peoples spread out into the world, with each one preserving parts of the original truth of God. But, we tend to produce short labels to categorize peoples and dismiss them. Not wise! And, some, become confused and give up trying to attain the truth. Not wise either! Rather, one should be an eclectic, gradually sorting out the truth from the false like sifting ‘chaff from the wheat’ and rightly ordering the truths they contain without falling prey to false or adjusted narratives, inserted by deviant priests and philosophers. There are records and scriptures that most religious people are not aware that are worthy of consideration.

The Netsarim aka Qedoshim “…were first called, Christians, at Antioch…” in Syria, north of Israel. Acts 11:26b
What were once synonymous terms, diverged into various paths after the first century. ⁴

Disclaimer: Though I have places of overlap with various groups, ancient and modern,
that doesn’t mean I identify with all of their beliefs and practices. Nor do I necessarily accept what each one says about the others.
But I try to learn something from everyone. Maneuvering through everyone’s claims is no small task!
I sort through materials building upon my own path and experiences with Yahweh. I am always willing to fine-tune!

In 375 A.D., A Roman Bishop wrote a book^[2]Brackets are mine, inserted to clarify, reorder, and simplify his descriptions in various chapters and narrow in on the pertinent statements. We have used the Prophet Isaiah’s Hebrew term, Netsar … Continue reading about various sects/denominations of his day from the perspective of his own Roman Catholic denomination, who had already drastically redefined “The Way”. He said,

“This sect of
– The Netsarim or Nazoreans … ^[3]We have used the Prophet Isaiah’s term, Netsar (Is 11:2), instead of the Bishops’ Greek translation, Nazoreans, a term which is also confused in the New Testament with the similar sounding … Continue reading [They possess the Original Gospel of Y’shúa written in Hebrew.] This sect is to be found in Beroea near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella, and in Bashanitis at the place called … Khokhabe in Hebrew … [The Bishop says, in his disgust,] They are nothing but Jews [except for their fidelity to Iesous (Jesus) the Christos = the Hebrew means: Y’shúa the Anointed One [Is. 61:1: Lk. 4:16-19] … [since, unlike his own Roman sect who had distanced themselves from the “Jewish” Nazoreans, redefined God and Jesus, altered their Calendar, changed the Sabbath Day from Saturday to Sunday, altered Festival Days, and other practices of “the Jews”.]

[Likewise, the Essene (Assayin) Sect of]
– The Nasareans... [“Eagles” Ex. 19:4 & Is 40:31] ^[4]Nasharim or Nasareans comes from the word for Eagle (Nashar) and is rooted in the word, Nasa – to Ascend; Strongs #’s H5404, H5376), from Exodus 19:4 “You have seen what I did to the … Continue reading They are Jews by nationality, from Gileaditis, Bashanitis and the Transjordan as I have been told, but descendants of Israel himself.” There are only a handful of Nasarians [left as such, for] … they have been united with the sect of

– The Ebionites [“the Poor” due to their consecration; Matthew 5:3], who also possess the Original Gospel of Y’shúa written in Hebrew. They both also reject animal sacrifices and flesh eating claiming that it was part of a fraudulent editing of the Scriptures or something only grudgingly & temporarily permitted by God because of “the hardness” of their hearts, and thus, they also read the Scriptures with discernment and have other Sacred Writings as well. ^[5]Some of them at some point rejected the Apostle Paul’s writings, which probably meant they, in reality, simply rejected the twisted interpretations of Paul’s letters by later Christians … Continue reading

Similarly,
– The Ossayin are “the Doers of the Law” James 1:22. They also abstain from eating the flesh of animals.

And have you ever read the Clementine Homilies and Recognitions? also called by this Bishop, The Travels of Peter? These books contain the same teachings as those listed above and Bishop Epiphanius said they were read by the Ebionites—another name for Nazoreans/Netsarians.

Bishop Epiphanius, The Panarion (c. 375 AD)
A Nicene Bishop, an enemy of the Netsarim who was on the outside trying to look in and describe them!
Remember the Victors of war write or re-write the story in their own favor.

---

Obviously, these groups were interrelated if not identical and were at odds with the doctrines of what won out as “orthodox” Judaism and “imperial” Christianity with the aid of Roman Sword. I have attempted to restore them. We place these other groups under the one broad title: The Netsarim, disciples of Y’shúa, The Netsar/The Nazarene.

A wealth of implications are contained in this synopsis and are elucidated on this website. I have learned over the decades when going through a spiritual or mental “paradigm shift”, that it is a matter of rethinking and fine-tuning my knowledge rather than becoming disillusioned and “throw the baby out with the bathwater”. My Faith, Trust, and Faithful-Obedience (Emunah) has remained strong as I have sought Yahweh, the Most High, every step of my path. Short answers are not sufficient. Thus, my Lord Y’shúa said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The one who has ears to hear is the one who is willing to hear until understanding comes and then become an obedient doer of the message–that is, begin implementing the message.

Welcome to Netsarim.com

The Israeli Netsarim “…were first called, Christians, at Antioch…” in Syria, north of Israel.

Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse, [the Father of King David]
and a branch/netsar out of his roots will bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:2 The spirit of Yahweh* will rest on him …
Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant…; I have put my spirit upon him [Y’shúa the Netsar]
6 … I, Yahweh will give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations…
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 6 All of us, like sheep, have wondered about; we each have turned to his own way;
and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all. 7 …he was brought like a lamb to the slaughter…
11 …by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities…
Isaiah 58:12 Those [The Netsarim & their Fruit] who shall be of you
shall be called … “the Repairer of the broken walls” … “Restorer of paths to walk in”
who “rebuild the ancient ruins” and “erect the ancient foundations” …
Malachi 3:1 Yahweh says, Behold, I will send my messenger [John the Baptist], and he shall prepare
the way before Me: and the Lord [Y’shúa the Netsar] , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant [Y’shúa the Netsar, the Anointed],
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, says Yahweh of hosts.
Isaiah 61:1 quoted by Y’shúa : The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me for he has anointed me to preach the Gospel…

* “I Am that I Am” (Aheyéh asher Aheyéh) is speaking in first-person-singular of an absolute state of Being that we as creatures cannot comprehend. We can only use metaphors to compare our own reality to “It” — the Infinite Being. Reflecting this, the name revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus chapter three was, Yahweh. It is a third-person-singular name that translates as,
“He-Who-Is”; “The Eternal One” or The Only Eternally-Self-Existent One,
The Source from whom all other existence exists!

1. (Acts 11:26) The Book of Acts was finished in about AD 62–about the same time that Ya’aqob (James, the Brother of Y’shúa, and the Leader of the Netsarim) was murdered at the Temple in Jerusalem. The earliest manuscript of a portion of Acts that we now have is about AD 200-250. Obviously, they were called by the Hebrew name, Netsarim (Grk: Nazaraios). They were later, at some point, called by the Greek term for Messiah, Christianos, at Antioch. Notice that neither Paul or any other writer in the NT ever used the name, Christian, except once in 1 Peter; and this may have been changed from Natsri. (The question is, When was the first time and when did it become the dominant term? Was it original to the writing of Acts or was this phrase inserted as a parenthetical note added by a later copyist? And, if so, what was the motivation for inserting it; and, what is the latest date that it could have been inserted? AD 70? 100? 135? Could it have been polemical, as an effort to disassociate themselves from the original Jewish Netsarim and their continued practices (—not of the priestly “bloody-ritual-works of the Law” but of “the righteousness of the Torah-Law”(Rom. 8:4)—its’ moral laws and wisdom, including, Sabbaths, Festivals, Foods, etc.?) Can one find evidence of a split and a broadening gap between Netsarim and Christianos in the 2nd Century? How wide did the gap between them eventually get? We only find in the New Testament the term, Christian, three times: Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16. Were these terms changed from Netsari to Christian as part of an effort to make a distinction and widen the gap? Maybe, maybe not. It may have been synonymous originally. But, it is clear that later “Christians” criticized the “Netsarim” as aberrant & different from themselves. Christian is not at all a bad term and can be a natural progression with the Greek language–Christ & Christians and perhaps was so. But, when and if a designation becomes loaded with specific historic developments, one may not want to be associated with that designation. They were also called “The Way”. The term most used to designate them in the New Testament is Saints or Holy Ones — those consecrated and set apart to follow Y’shúa the Netsar, the Messiah (Christos), and the restored walk the Path of Righteousness and Holiness that he outlined. It was a path that separated one from those on other paths. ↩︎
2. The name, Jesus, comes from the Biblical Hebrew name, Y^ahushúa/Y^ǝhoshúa from whence we also get the form, Joshua/Yoshua. There was originally no “J” sound in English nor is there one in Hebrew or Greek. Yahushúa was abbreviated to, Y’shúa, and Aramaic as, Yeshu, then into Greek & Latin as Iesous, and into Spanish as Hesus. Joshua, Jesus, Iesous, Hesous, Yeshu, Yeshúa, Y^ahushúa or Y^ǝhoshúa. All derive from the merger of two words: Yahweh–yeshuat:
   
   “O Yahweh, I wait for your yeshuat (salvation).” Genesis 49:18
   
   Let us illustrate this further. If we abbreviate the Greek name, Timotheos, to Timothy to Timmy to Tim, we may be talking about the same guy, but we lose the meaning of his name: Timay and Theos: Valued by God. Many Hebrew words have a full form and an abbreviated form.
   
   Yeshu part of his given name, Yeshu-Maryá (Yeshumaryá). Maryá is the emphatic form of Mar and means: The Lord or The Master. It is taken from Psalm 110, which is one of the cornerstones passages of the New Testament. He is thusly identified in King David’s prophetic vision as The Lord to whom Yahweh (The Eternal One) spoke:
   
   ¹“Yahweh said unto my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet‘.
   
   In the original Hebrew of Isaiah 11:1, he is metaphorically called, a Choter and Netsar (a Shoot and Branch) that will spring-up out of the Shoresh or Root of his Hebrew ancestors, Jesse and King David); He was to be Anointed (Authorized & Empowered) in Isaiah 11:2 & Isaiah 61:1 (compare: Rom. 15:12 ; Luke 4:16-30 ; Rev. 5:5 ; Rev. 22:16). When he says, “I am the true Vine” he is commenting on Isaiah 11:1. In Revelation 5:5, he clarifies that though he is the Root and Branch springing out of Jesse & David, he is more than that—he is actually the Root that precedes all others in time and status! He was ordained by “only true God” before the world began and was manifested in the latter days of the old covenant age. 1 Peter 1:20 ↩︎
3. (John 15 ; GHT 73) Y’shúa is the Netsar from the root of Jesse; (Isa. 11:1 ; Ruth 4:22). He was a descendent of King David (John 7:42) He is from the Tribe of Judah/Jewdah (Hebrews 7:14) He is the firstborn son of God among “the sons of God” (Job 38:7). He is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek, maybe even Melchizedek himself—in contrast to the later temporary Aharonic priesthood established following the ‘sin of the golden calf (Hebrews 5:6; Gen. 14:18; Ps. 110:4) The nation of Israel was compared to a Vine planted by God also in Isaiah 5. But, Y’shúa says that he is the True Vine. Just as YHWH had threatened to destroy the idolatrous Israelites after the Golden Calf incident and start over with Moses, that is exactly what was happening in Y’shúa with the Jewish “remnant” who united to him, while the Jews as a whole, were mercifully given a temporary partial blindness and hardness of heart toward Y’shúa “until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in”. Rom 11:25 The same happened to the “church” as it distorted the teachings of the New Testament with false doctrines. ↩︎
4. Was this phrase original to the Book of Acts written about AD 62 or was it added? There is a curious gap with almost no information about the churches between the time of about AD 70 to 110. When information picks back up in the middle of the 2nd century, there is a distinct sect that has taken shape at war with so-called, “Judaizers”. It is one different from the original–a hybrid mixture of scriptural and unscriptural views. Was the phrase inserted “they were first called, Christians, at Antioch” inserted to distinguish and further the separation between the original Netsarians and the new developing hybrid? The term “Christianos” is only used 3-times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26 ; 26:28 ; 1 Peter 4:16). The Apostle Sha’ul (aka, Paul) never uses this word in any of his Epistles nor Ya’aqob (James) nor John nor Jude nor any of the Gospels nor the Book of Revelation nor the Book of Hebrews. It would have been quite easy for a Scribe to insert these. ↩︎