The Mysterious Religion behind the Yellow Deli

Twelve Tribes Communities: What do they believe?

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Identity
01:25 History
04:03 Yahshua
04:47 View of Christianity
07:10 Theology of Yahshua
07:24 Baptism & Communion
08:45 Education & Children
09:47 Scripture
10:12 Creation & Evolution
11:07 Personal Accountability
11:38 Gospel & Salvation
13:38 Charismatic Views
14:06 End Times
15:59 Afterlife
17:47 Marriage & Sexuality
18:37 Women
19:21 Birth Control
19:45 Lifestyle (Communal Living)
21:38 Sabbath
22:52 Worship
23:20 Standards & Practices
25:23 Food & Drink
26:49 Relation to Government
27:21 Organization & Leadership
28:15 Controversies
32:55 Statistics
33:21 Conclusion

[RansomedSoulPsalm-]

Another “everyone else got it wrong for the past 1900+ years, but we got it right”

[AlphaShark]

I like how they say they exclusively follow the words of the Bible, yet the Bible never says: "If you leave Christianity you can only communicate with your family again through your father." So many flags on the field for this group you can't even see the turf anymore. Definitely a cult, and people to be wary of.

[MAMoreno]

A Restorationist mindset is always a red flag. It's one thing to believe that things need to get back on track, but it's another to consider yourself the gritty reboot of Christianity.

[Tallandstrong]

I live in Chattanooga and have been to the original deli many times. The food is great, the people are sweet, and the cult is to be pitied.

[serion]

I first encountered the Twelve Tribes in 2013 when they owned a ship called Peacemaker. The people were very interesting, and no one tried to convert me. I had dinner and prayed with them a couple of times while they were in port. I still hear from one of the former members I met there. There was a very strong sense of community and working towards a common goal which I admired. I also learned a few things about how to get high quality food from wholesale markets and cooking for large groups.

[marcodesalud]

Have to love people learning 3 or 4 Hebrew words and then deploying them in such an impressive way...that's how you know they're legit.

[ClassyWhale]

Not gonna lie, living on a communal farm with a bunch of other believers and homeschooling our kids while consistently eating healthy sounds pretty cool.

This is not the way to do it.

[ststrength]

They have a yellow deli up here in Canada (Chilliwack, British Columbia). I ate there once and had no idea it was a religious community until we discovered pamphlets in the restaurant. I will say the food was really good.

[TheMVCoho]

A coworker and I had been talking and decided to go eat together after work and that evolved into a bit of a Bible study. She recommended the Yellow Deli as where she wanted to go. I didn't know too much about them but, I had heard of the place since its the original location here in Chattanooga. I found the server extremely interested in us and seemly wanting to jump into our conversion with little statements like, if you have any questions just let me know and she wasn't talking about the menu. Also, the guy at the cash register shared a paper with us. So for those saying they don't try to convert you, thats your fault for not showing any potential. LOL The food was good as well.

[NoNameNumberTwo]

A comprehensive, well put together overview of this group. Thank you. This channel is underrated.

[WordOfYah]

Love the way you put out content. Objective. Clear. Spot on. Keep it up.

[drkickyoface]

I'm a Chattanooga native and I eat at the yellow deli on a somewhat regular basis. The people there are just about some of the nicest you'll ever meet, they never try to convert you and only bring up their faith if you ask about it and I think because of that most people around here (including me) thought they were a sect of Judaism not a branch off Christianity. All in all though the sentiment I hear from everyone I've talked to about them seems to be "yeah they're kinda... odd, but they're incredibly kind people and they make a killer sandwich so they're fine by me"

[legodavid]

I had a friend visit us recently who was part of one of those communities for a while. Listening him talk about his experience in the group was very interesting. I've been curious about finding out more about the 12 Tribes group since, however I wasn't able to find any good information anywhere. This video was very helpful!

[enduser]

All I know about this group is that Appalachian trail hikers have a very negative view of them and warn of their predatory behavior when trying to attract hikers as members.

[fingerlakesWatcher]

My hometown cult! I'm from Chattanooga. My parents were always very leery of us even having lunch at the Yellow Submarine without them. Very interesting story - and characteristically well-told.

[tesla_autopilot]

“And upon this rock I shall build a false church which will lead souls into utter destruction for 1900 years or so, until a guy from Tennessee comes up with the right idea and then the real church will begin”

[NEVERGOINGHOME]

I visited two or three of their communities thirty years ago. My longest visit was for two weeks. I was unable to continue due to their ultra strict definitions of diet and general doctrine. In regard to general doctrine the best example I could give is that on the sabbath(Saturday) I was admonished that I should not ride a bicycle because that would be classified as work.

[DamonNomad]

Sounds like someone took the Hippie movement, the Seventh Day Adventists and the Hebrew Roots movement and threw them into a blender to come up with this group...

[KingoftheJuice]

In case you're interested, Gene's Hebrew name "Yoneq" means "one who suckles." It's the present participle form of a verb which means to suckle or nurse. Also, their pronunciation and etymology of "Yahshua" is very questionable. It's difficult to know how Jesus' name would have been pronounced in Hebrew (or it might have been a more Aramaic form). Joshua in biblical Hebrew is Yehoshua, but we also see a shorter version of the name, "Yeishua, " in many places, especially the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (see in particular Neh 8:17). There really is no "Yahshua, " in terms of the Hebrew Bible; the prefix Yo- or Yeho- is often used at the beginning of names with reference to the Tetragrammaton, but not "Yah." As for using the Greek to arrive at his Hebrew name, I don't see how they derive Yahshua from Ἰησοῦς given the eta vowel which is going to be a form of /e/, long or short, depending on your theory of Koine pronunciation, but certainly not /a/.

[flazzorb]

We are not a cult. Now, give up all your possessions and seclude your children from society. The children are given a choice, of course, but they aren't allowed to hear the other side. We are not a cult.