This video from Torah teacher Michael (UK) presents thorough research with clear scriptural references. The video discusses the identity and significance of the Nazarenes. It examines Paul's leadership among them, the scriptural meaning of the term, its connection to Israel's olive tree, and its prophetic implications for Messiah and believers today. These points explain the importance of understanding the Nazarenes in the current context.

HA NETZARIM (The Nazarenes)

“Nazarenes” or “Netzarim” is a title used to identify the 1st century foundational group of disciples (Apostles) of the Messiah Yehoshua. Remember the 12 Apostles, the 120 and 3000 disciples (Acts 2:1, 2:47), 5000 (Acts 4:4), tens of thousands (Acts 21:20) were all Netzari Mashiach Jews, not Christians.

The singular of “Netzarim” is the Hebrew (#5342) “Netzer” – Greenness, a shoot, figuratively a descendant- Branch /Wiki- Netzarim, twigs that shoot off from a branch of a tree (Hebrew from the root “neitzer” (נצר) meaning “a shoot”).

Netzarim

The prophet Isaiah says, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch (Netzer) shall grow out of his roots.” – Isaiah 11:1A “Netzer” is a branch or a shoot from an olive tree. It grows from the original roots but can appear later, sometimes far from the trunk. Netzer is best translated as shoot or sprout. The Hebrew word Tsemach (H#6780) is often translated as "Branch." It is used in Messianic prophecies.

Christian replacement theology? Remember: you do not bear the root, but the root bears you!

Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree, Rom 11:18 do not boast against the branches. And if you boast, remember: you do not bear the root, but the root bears you!

If some of the branches, that is, unbelieving individual Jews but not the whole Jewish people, were broken off, removed (temporarily, not permanently! Rom_11:11-12, Rom_11:23-24) from being eligible to receive what YHVH-God has promised, and you Gentiles Christians (Rom_11:13), a wild olive, were grafted in among them, among the branches which are still part of the tree, the Messianic Jews, the Jewish nation as represented by its Messianic Jewish community, and have become equal sharers in the rich root of Yehovah God's cultivated olive tree, then don't boast as if you were better than (literally, "don't boast against") the natural branches, neither the ones still in place (the Messianic Jews) nor the ones broken off (the non-Messianic Jews).

Gentile Christian pride in having been joined to the "chosen people" is utterly out of place and unacceptable, particularly when directed against those very people! As Sha'ul writes elsewhere, "After all, what makes you so special? What do you have that you didn't receive as a gift? And if in fact it was a gift, why do you boast as if it weren't?" (1Co_4:7) However, if you do boast, for whatever reason-carelessness, thickheadedness, or actual malice-it ought to help you stop if you remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you. Or, to make Sha'ul's point as clear as it can be, whether the root is Yehoshua HaMashiach, Avraham, the Patriarchs, the Messianic Jews or all the Jews (see Rom_11:16), it is a Jewish root, and don't you forget it!

The Jewish community sometimes views a Jew who comes to faith in Yehoshua as doubly unwelcome. This person is rejected by both other Jews and by the Gentile majority in the Christian Church. It's easy to understand why a Messianic Jew might be rejected by some in the Jewish community. But why did the Church also reject them? This view came from Gentile Christians who forgot Sha'ul's warning. They saw the Jewish believer not as a natural branch grafted into the olive tree, but as an alien. Shifting perspective, Rabbi Sha'ul reminds Gentile Believers that trust in YHVH God also means joining Yisrael, God's people. This approach is consistent with Ruth: 'Your people shall be my people and your Elohim my Elohim' (Ruth_1:16). Gentile Believers have joined Yisrael, not the reverse (see also Eph_2:11-16). Looking down on the community joined is described as both chutzpah and ingratitude, as well as self-hate.

Isa 11:1  But a branch (a Netzar) will emerge from the trunk of Yishai (Jesse), a shoot will grow from his roots.

By Rabbi HaTzair M. Francisco Arbas