Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Ken Rank, an elder at Beit Minorah and longtime Hebraic-leaning Christian, about reading the whole Bible with first-century Jewish context and how New Testament writers frequently draw from the Old Testament.
They discuss division and toxicity in Hebrew roots and sacred-name debates, urging patience, humility, and focusing on weightier matters. Ken addresses whether Yeshua/Jesus is in the Old Testament, pointing to manifestations such as the Word (Logos/Memra), the angel of the Lord, Abraham’s visitor, the burning bush, and the fourth man in the fire, and connects New Testament claims to Old Testament passages (John the Baptist “prepare the way,” Isaiah 35, and “first and last”). They also discuss prayer, the Trinity analogy, God’s ability to take forms, the meaning of “name” as character/authority and applying knowledge through service.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! My guest is Melissa Schilling Smith!
Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Melissa Schilling Smith (“God’s Little Hummingbird”), a Bible/Torah teacher and content creator, about her testimony and the Hebrew-roots/Torah movement. Melissa describes Levite (Cohen) family history, Jewish identity hidden through persecution, and a turning point involving severe illness after eating shellfish, followed by fasting, study in Leviticus and Jeremiah, and conviction about Sabbath, food laws, and rejecting pagan traditions like Christmas and Easter. She links a modern “Ephraim awakening” to prophecies about scattered Israel and argues Shavuot/Pentecost reflects Israel’s restoration and the Spirit enabling obedience to Torah per Ezekiel and Jeremiah’s renewed covenant. They discuss Torah as defining love and freedom, Paul and Yeshua teaching from Torah and prophets, and Melissa’s concerns in the movement, including denying Yeshua’s divinity, divisive debates, Hebrew misuse, pride, slander of Jews, and neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews researcher, author, and Biblical Hebrew instructor Jeff Benner.
Jeff is the founder of the Ancient Hebrew Research Center and the membership site Excavating the Bible, which offers tiered masterclasses from “Bible reader” to “Bible translator.”
Benner argues the Bible is best understood through the language and concrete worldview of its Hebrew authors and says translations often “pave over” Hebraic nuance. He gives examples: tikva as “rope/hope,” nefesh as “creature/soul,” and a Hebrew term rendered “for” that he says literally means “under/in place of,” affecting “life for life.” He discusses word origins, gendered nouns, and re-readings of the Aaronic blessing, “name” as character, and “image” as shadow. Benner recounts lesser-known Dead Sea Scrolls history, access controversies, and how the scrolls confirm textual stability while restoring missing material such as an acrostic verse in Psalm 145.
Welcome to Grafted: Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos welcomes returning guest Sarah Williams of Wind of Change Torah Ministry to discuss Israel, Romans 11, and what it means to be “grafted in.”
They emphasize Paul’s Jewish background and reliance on Torah, noting Romans 11 begins by rejecting the idea that God has rejected His people and includes a “straw man” argument style. Sarah traces “Israel” to Jacob’s renaming in Genesis 32 and explains the divided kingdom (House of Israel and House of Judah), the northern kingdom’s exile, and how Israel is more than “the Jews,” citing the mixed multitude in Exodus and Ruth. They connect Paul’s olive tree imagery to earlier Hebrew Scripture, warn against boasting over “natural branches,” and stress salvation by faith versus Torah as a means of justification, distinguishing justification and sanctification. They argue believers are grafted into Israel and covenant identity rather than remaining “Gentiles.”
Welcome to Grafted Jewish Roots of Christianity! Host Stephanie Pavlantos interviews Will Turner, a Messianic content creator and plumber, about interpreting Scripture in context, focusing on common readings of 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:23.
Will argues these passages are often used to teach immediate conscious life in heaven after death, but in context refer to the future resurrection and receiving an imperishable body, drawing on 2 Corinthians 5:1–7, 1 Corinthians 15:50–58, Philippians 3:21, Ephesians 4:22–24, and Ecclesiastes 9:5–10. They discuss how beliefs about deceased loved ones “in heaven” conflict with resurrection hope, emphasize enduring to the end, using spiritual gifts to bring others into God’s kingdom, and stress that Paul’s “all Scripture is God-breathed” originally referred to the TaNaK, underscoring the Old Testament’s importance for understanding Jesus and the New Testament.
