 Exploring Mishkan HaMelech Miskan HaMelech is a Messianic Jewish congregation in Virginia. In many ways, it is at the heart of the Messianic Jewish movement, as their Senior Rabbi, David Hargis, is the President of the Yeshiva of the Messianic Bible Institute/Messianic Bureau International. However, you may be shocked to find out that Mishkan HaMelech is a Christian organization. Its "Rabbi" is not a rabbi at all, he is a Christian who is an ordained minister! I will demonstrate that this is true, using material from their own web-page and pages from similar Messianic Jewish/Christian organizations, so that no one can claim that the information is "invented" by Jews. The Leader David Hargis David Hargis is an ordained minister and a graduate of several Christian schools. According to his MBI faculty biography: "David M. Hargis, Ph.D. President of the Yeshiva / Professor of Hebrew and Theology /
Bachelor of Arts in Bible: Central Bible College / Master of Theology: Lael University / Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Communications: International Seminary and Bible College (closed) / Ordained to ministry 1973, Ordained Messianic Jewish Rabbi 1991 / President of Messianic Bureau International."
Bachelor's in the Bible from Central Bible College? Master's in Theology from Lael University and ordained to the ministry since 1973? Clearly, this is a Christian, not a Jewish resume. Here is the link to the proof: Click Here By looking at where someone studies, you get an idea of the beliefs of an individual. To get a better feel for the school he attended, here is the Purpose Statement of Central Bible College: "It shall be the purpose of Central Bible College to provide Bible-centered courses of training to prepare Christian workers for effectual service at home and abroad; to maintain an institution which shall foster and nourish the spiritual life of its students; to stimulate missionary and evangelistic interest and zeal; and to serve as an instrument to perpetuate and strengthen the distinctive testimony and ministry of the Assemblies of God."
No question that this is a Christian, not a Jewish training ground. For those that are unfamiliar, the Assemblies of God church is better known as the Pentecostals. Here is the link to the Purpose Statment:
Click Here The Pentecostals are perhaps the most evangelical Christian group in existence. In fact, the reason for Central Bible College's existence is "
The founding of the General Council of the Assemblies of God in 1914 was marked by an emphasis upon the need for training ministers and missionaries. Central Bible College was established in 1922 in response to this need."
Moreover, as part of the requirements for admission, the prospective student must live up to the following standards: "The applicant should have a definite born-again experience.
The applicant should have a definite heart conviction that God has called him or her into His service." Would a real Jewish leader attend a school like this? Of course not! Here are the links to the last two quotes: Click Here And Click Here Unfortunately for Lael Univeristy fans, I could not find a direct site for them. However, I located some of their graduates, such as Pastor Williams of the Church of God in Christ (in the third paragraph of his biography): Click Here and Pastor Jim Lanning of the New Albany First Church of the Nazarene Click Here Not exactly the classmates of most Rabbis! According to the Messianic Bureau International Introduction page, he has been the pastor of four Christian congregations and in the "ministry" for 32 years before getting involved with Messianic Judaism, which ultimately is a different kind of Christianity. Would a real Jewish leader have this resume? Of course not! Here is the link to the proof, his biography is at the bottom of the page: Click Here Interestingly, in the Messianic Bureau International Introduction page, he reports the following genealogy "His grandmother (Cordova) was a Sephardic Jew from Spain and her husband, his grandfather, was an Ukrainian Jew. A second cousins grandfather, Avraham Hargis, was an Orthodox Jewish Rebbe. The origin of Hargis, concerning his clan, is Yiddish taken from the Hebrew har-gil, meaning "mountain of rejoicing;" and there is some legendary belief that it is Levite, or even Kohen."
Sounds like a fascinating family with an interesting Jewish family name. First, though, I would like to point out that he discusses his grandparents being Jewish, not himself or his parents. This is undoubtedly because neither he nor his parents are actually Jewish. Secondly, and more importantly, his genealogy is innacurate. He stated that his grandfather was from the Ukraine and that the name is a Yiddish name. Fortunately, his family has their genealogy on-line. His grandfather is Milford Elias II Hargis, born in 1879 to Milford Elias Hargis, a native Tennessean and Mahala Bradfor Hargis, a native Arkansan. The two married in Missouri, where it is likely that Reverend Hargis' grandfather was born. The genealogy is traced back to Reverend Hargis' Great-great grandfather, Milford Paris Hargis, born in 1820 in Tennessee. Not exactly the Ukraine, is it? In fact, I can find no indication of anyone being from the Ukraine in their genealogy. As for his grandmother Isabelle, she is either from Spain or Florida, according to the site. No mention is made of her religion, or of Reverend Hargis' grandfather's religion. However, it is a safe bet that there were no Jews living in rural Tennessee, where the family is from. Further, Reverend Hargis' Great grand-uncle Zachariah, the son of Milford Paris Hargis, was a Baptist preacher, so it is pretty safe to guess that the rest of the family where Christians. Here is the link to their genealogy-the link will bring you to the page where Reverend Hargis is listed by his full name, David Mel Hargis. Click on "parents" to travel back through generations-you have to scroll a bit to find each person: Click Here So much for the religious background! A few sidenotes...he stated that Hargis is Yiddish taken from the Hebrew har-gil meaning "mountain of rejoicing". Though "har" means mountain in Hebrew, its Yiddish equivalent is "barg". Further, "to rejoice" in Yiddish is "Freyn Zikh". So much for the name derivation. Moreover, he makes it a big issue that he has some Jewish lineage. Now, let's pretend that his grandfather and grandmother were Jewish (we know that he lied about his grandfather, but we will ignore this major issue for a moment). Jewish lineage is traditionally traced from the mother's side, not the father's side, so by traditional standards he is not Jewish. But even if we use a more liberal view of using either paternal or maternal lineage, he is still not Jewish. As he was a Christian minister, either he or one of his relatives converted to Christiniaty. When someone willingly converts away from Judaism, they are no longer Jewish, nor are any children borne following the conversion. Here is a site by Rabbi Stuart Federow of the Houston area that address the topic: Click Here
Linda C. Hargis Linda Hargis, Reverend Hargis' wife,is the Worship Leader of Mishkan HaMelech. She, also, is clearly a Christian leader. According to her biography from the Messianic Bible Institute "Linda C. Hargis, M.Ed., ABD. Academic Dean of the Yeshiva / Associate Professor of Practical Studies / Bachelor of Arts: Lael University / Master of Arts in Education: Regent University / Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership Program: Regent University / Twenty-eight years of ministry / Eight years of Messianic ministry."
Twenty-eight years in ministry? Again, not a Jewish leader! Here is the link to the proof: Click Here Now, we have already reviewed Lael University, so let's look are her other educational institution, Regent University. Regent University was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, known for creating/leading the Christian Broadcast Network, and for frequently insulting various other groups/individuals. Here is the link to the proof that he is the Founder/President of Regent University Click Here In case you were curious about their beliefs, here is the beginning of their misison statement: "Preamble
Regent University is an institution of higher learning that exists to bring glory to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Mission
Our mission is to provide exemplary education, from a biblical perspective, leading to bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees for aspiring servant-leaders in pivotal professions, and to be a leading center of Christian thought and action.
Vision
Our vision, through our graduates and scholarly activities, is to provide Christian leadership in transforming society by affirming and teaching principles of truth, justice and love as described in the Holy Scriptures, embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, and enabled through the power of the Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria.
Obviously they are not training the next generation of Jewish leaders, but Christian missionaries. Here is the link to the Mission Statement: Click Here As a last piece, I want to re-reference her resume. If you look, next to her name, where her degree titles are listed it has "ABD", but in the history it has "Ph.D.". "ABD" generally stands for "All But Dissertation", as in all of her classwork is completed but she has not completed her dissertation project for her Ph.D. As such (unless she completely confused how to write a resume), she does not have a Ph.D. in organization leadership, or she would have listed Ph.D. rather than ABD next to her name. Kind of gives you an idea of her nonesty if she is changing her degree status within two sentences. The Rest If you look at the Mishkan HaMelech homepage and the Messianic Bible Institute faculty web-page (which we have looked at a few times already), you will notice that the same people are in charge. You probably also noted from the faculty web-page that not a single one of them have any Jewish education. In fact, they generally lack any religious education. Since they do not have much experience or education, it is hard to identify what they really are, other than clearly not Jewish. I have done some web searches of their names, and saw what came up for the Virginia area. My research suggests that Don Doherty is a computer techie for the local VA hospital, Melissa Seitz is the Proprietor of Jessica's Sweet Shop...Cafe and Bakery in nearby Gloucester, Walter Thorp is a lawyer and Cyd Thorp does some sort of finanical planning. As their names are not exactly uncommon, I cannot say with a 100% guarantee that I found the correct people, so I will not bother with proof links. I do want to take a minute to point out that one of their positions is Zaken/Elder. "Elder" is a normal position at a church...there is no such thing as the position of "Elder" at a synagogue.
Their Beliefs If you look at Mishkan's set of beliefs, it is identical to the beliefs of the Messianic Bureau International, as Reverend Hargis is in charge of both groups. Their beliefs are also purely Christian in their beliefs. They attempt to use Hebrew words to mask this fact, such as calling Jesus "Yeshua" and the New Testament "Brit Chadashah", but it is unmistakingly Christian. Sometimes, when a site says that they celebrate Saturday as the Sabbath, individuals assume they are Jewish. But it takes far more than calling Saturday your Sabbath to be a Jewish group. As proof, here is a comparison of their beliefs and the beliefs of Assemblies of God (Pentecostals). You will notice that they are identical.
Click Here for Assemblies of God Click Here for Mishkan Hamelech On a side note, Mishkan Hamelech refers to the New Testament as the "Brit Chadash", then translate "Brit Chadash" as "Renewed Covenant". Brit does mean covenant, which is the same as the word "testament". However, Chadash does not mean "renewed" but "new". "Chidesh" is the word for "renewed", which leads to one of two conclusions. Either Mishkan does not know basic Hebrew, or this is an attempt at religious revisionism. In each option, Mishkan is in the wrong. Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Outreach Judaism Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Torah Atlanta Counter Missionary Reference Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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