About David Fister

Howdy!

My name is David Fister, and I have been a serious student of biblical law and society for over 13 years. I grew up attending a Seventh Day Adventist school and church, and graduated from a SDA boarding high school in 1991. The Adventists stress the keeping of the ten commandments and the dietary laws. Their founding prophetess, Ellen White, prescribed these observances. However, she was antagonistic to ancient Hebrew culture and sought to “modernize” the biblical law with her own interpretation. Therefore, Adventists tend to pay great lip service to “keeping God’s commandments” but tend to ignore most categories of the biblical law. It was ego-gratifying to believe that I had an inside track on obeying God. For a more critical review of Mrs. White’s teaching and leadership, click here.

In 1994, I met and associated with a group of people who called themselves Identity Christians and Patriots. I firmly believe that YHWH wanted me to have that association at that time because there were far too many synchronicities leading up to it that cannot be explained by pure coincidence. These synchronicities began in southern California and continued in northern Idaho and western Montana, multiple people in multiple cities who didn’t know each other, popping up out of nowhere and expounding on their belief systems. And incidentally, not one of them was associated with the infamous former Aryan Nations.

The Identity Christians stress the laws of separation, purity, and cleanness. YHWH told the Israelites under Moses and Joshua, not to socialize with the other nations in the lands they were entering. No covenants, no commerce, and above all, no religious ecumenicalism. They interpret these separation laws as prescribing racial segregation. I eventually had to abandon that hypothesis because most of the people YHWH was trying to keep his people away from were actually their own distant relatives, and almost certainly of the same race. The separation that was emphasized was separation from idol worshippers, of whatever stripe or spot. Indeed, the law is crystal clear about separating yourself from even your brother born in your house, if he entices you to go to worship false gods.

In spite of my disagreements with some of their interpretations, I received value from the realization that my Adventist upbringing left many holes with regard to keeping the laws of YHWH. For instance, our new friends taught us that the same laws which prescribe the Sabbath observances, enjoin the rest of the Hebrew feasts as well. To observe the Sabbath without observing the feasts actually removes some of the power of the Sabbath observance. Also, through exposure to their separation theology, I was made aware of the intense family and tribal orientation of Hebrew society. Both the Adventists and the Identity Christians tended to be apocalyptic, and apocalyptic theologies tend to discourage tribe-building because the time is presumed too short for that. But the old testament emphasis on the family and tribe seemed discordant with that type of pessimism. Therefore, amid such conflicting theological messages, I started my own family by begetting my first son.

It was at this point that I began my most serious study of Hebrew law and society. Not just academic study, but application and experimentation. I wanted to know, really know, why when YHWH could have given them any laws to re-write their blank slates, he chose to give them the law he did. I became convinced that the laws of ethics and social structure that Moses received were rooted in immutable laws of human nature, timeless and enduring. I started cataloging the laws of Moses and put them on the web. I did this partly out of devotion, partly to help others who might be on the same path, but also very much for my own reference as I began to deeply explore the practical and social ramifications of adopting a biblical law perspective. I included New Testament references to show how the laws were applied in the first century A.D.

I began to try to apply as much of the Hebrew laws as possible in my own family. I did this not to be better than anybody else, but to attempt to understand the mind of YHWH a little better. Why did he make the laws he did? I earnestly wanted to know, and such knowledge cannot be had but through experience. As I began to experience the unfolding wisdom of the law, I started to see how the whole fabric fit together in a beautiful social and spiritual tapestry.

I continue to study the antiquities to understand the social culture of the time better. It is my belief that the closer we get to Hebrew society and culture, the closer we get to an environment where people can commune with YHWH and experience the miraculous.

Whether someone chooses to permanently embrace the laws of YHWH or not, the study of these laws is imperative for anyone wanting to fully understand the background of Christianity and Judaism. I suggest that many of the mundane day-to-day legal observances (sabbaths, cleanness laws) could be explored experientially through thirty-day trials. Thirty days is the absolute minimum time necessary to begin to evaluate any new behavior, particularly one so strikingly different than what one is used to. It is also the time required to establish a new habit.

Some things, like laws related to feast days or marriages and births, would require a longer perspective. And some, such as the social structuring of families and tribes, cannot be explored alone, but require multiple participating families. I recommend starting where you are and exploring the law in whatever small or large chunks you can manage. After thirty days, you can choose to abandon that chunk, or continue to explore it for another thirty days

Howdy!
My name is David Fister, and I have been a serious student of biblical law and society for over 13 years. I grew up attending a Seventh Day Adventist school and church, and graduated from a SDA boarding high school in 1991. The Adventists stress the keeping of the ten commandments and the dietary laws. Their founding prophetess, Ellen White, prescribed these observances. However, she was antagonistic to ancient Hebrew culture and sought to “modernize” the biblical law with her own interpretation. Therefore, Adventists tend to pay great lip service to “keeping God’s commandments” but tend to ignore most categories of the biblical law. It was ego-gratifying to believe that I had an inside track on obeying God. For a more critical review of Mrs. White’s teaching and leadership, click here.

In 1994, I met and associated with a group of people who called themselves Identity Christians and Patriots. I firmly believe that YHWH wanted me to have that association at that time because there were far too many synchronicities leading up to it that cannot be explained by pure coincidence. These synchronicities began in southern California and continued in northern Idaho and western Montana, multiple people in multiple cities who didn’t know each other, popping up out of nowhere and expounding on their belief systems. And incidentally, not one of them was associated with the infamous former Aryan Nations.

The Identity Christians stress the laws of separation, purity, and cleanness. YHWH told the Israelites under Moses and Joshua, not to socialize with the other nations in the lands they were entering. No covenants, no commerce, and above all, no religious ecumenicalism. They interpret these separation laws as prescribing racial segregation. I eventually had to abandon that hypothesis because most of the people YHWH was trying to keep his people away from were actually their own distant relatives, and almost certainly of the same race. The separation that was emphasized was separation from idol worshippers, of whatever stripe or spot. Indeed, the law is crystal clear about separating yourself from even your brother born in your house, if he entices you to go to worship false gods.

In spite of my disagreements with some of their interpretations, I received value from the realization that my Adventist upbringing left many holes with regard to keeping the laws of YHWH. For instance, our new friends taught us that the same laws which prescribe the Sabbath observances, enjoin the rest of the Hebrew feasts as well. To observe the Sabbath without observing the feasts actually removes some of the power of the Sabbath observance. Also, through exposure to their separation theology, I was made aware of the intense family and tribal orientation of Hebrew society. Both the Adventists and the Identity Christians tended to be apocalyptic, and apocalyptic theologies tend to discourage tribe-building because the time is presumed too short for that. But the old testament emphasis on the family and tribe seemed discordant with that type of pessimism. Therefore, amid such conflicting theological messages, I started my own family by begetting my first son.

It was at this point that I began my most serious study of Hebrew law and society. Not just academic study, but application and experimentation. I wanted to know, really know, why when YHWH could have given them any laws to re-write their blank slates, he chose to give them the law he did. I became convinced that the laws of ethics and social structure that Moses received were rooted in immutable laws of human nature, timeless and enduring. I started cataloging the laws of Moses and put them on the web. I did this partly out of devotion, partly to help others who might be on the same path, but also very much for my own reference as I began to deeply explore the practical and social ramifications of adopting a biblical law perspective. I included New Testament references to show how the laws were applied in the first century A.D.

I began to try to apply as much of the Hebrew laws as possible in my own family. I did this not to be better than anybody else, but to attempt to understand the mind of YHWH a little better. Why did he make the laws he did? I earnestly wanted to know, and such knowledge cannot be had but through experience. As I began to experience the unfolding wisdom of the law, I started to see how the whole fabric fit together in a beautiful social and spiritual tapestry.

I continue to study the antiquities to understand the social culture of the time better. It is my belief that the closer we get to Hebrew society and culture, the closer we get to an environment where people can commune with YHWH and experience the miraculous.

Whether someone chooses to permanently embrace the laws of YHWH or not, the study of these laws is imperative for anyone wanting to fully understand the background of Christianity and Judaism. I suggest that many of the mundane day-to-day legal observances (sabbaths, cleanness laws) could be explored experientially through thirty-day trials. Thirty days is the absolute minimum time necessary to begin to evaluate any new behavior, particularly one so strikingly different than what one is used to. It is also the time required to establish a new habit.

Some things, like laws related to feast days or marriages and births, would require a longer perspective. And some, such as the social structuring of families and tribes, cannot be explored alone, but require multiple participating families. I recommend starting where you are and exploring the law in whatever small or large chunks you can manage. After thirty days, you can choose to abandon that chunk, or continue to explore it for another thirty days