In the Weeds of Iniquity

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers [anomia], and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13:40-43

The purpose of all these blog posts I write, is to try to reach people in the church who have been deceived by a lawless gospel. It is plain to see this lawless gospel once a person’s eyes are opened, and hard to watch people in the churches blindly practicing iniquity. The Greek word that is translated to iniquity, or lawlessness, is Strong’s G458.

G458
ἀνομία
anomia
Thayer Definition:
1) the condition of without law
1a) because ignorant of it
1b) because of violating it
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

The associated word is Strong’s G459.

G459
ἄνομος
anomos
Thayer Definition:
1) destitute of (the Mosaic) law
1a) of the Gentiles
2) departing from the law, a violator of the law, lawless, wicked

These definitions are from the Thayer Greek lexicon. Strong’s has a little different definition.

G459
ἄνομος
anomos
an’-om-os
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G3551; lawless, that is, (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law; (by implication a Gentile), or (positively) wicked: – without law, lawless, transgressor, unlawful, wicked.

The deception lies with, “not subject to (the Jewish) law; (by implication a Gentile)”. If you are serving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are no longer a Gentile. Moreover, Jewish laws are rules added to Yahweh’s instructions that are followed in Judaism. These should not be confused with the instructions from Yahweh in the Torah. This is serious business when reading the words of our Messiah.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

With what we learned about the Greek word that is translated “iniquity”, we could provide a more accurate translation of these verses.

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that are ignorantly or willfully violating my instructions.

If being ignorant of the instructions of God gives a person a free pass, why do these people say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”?

I used to wonder at these verses before I understood the definition of iniquity. How could a person know what the Father expects? How can a person avoid hearing the words “depart from me”?

Deu 6:24 And so Yahweh commanded us to observe all of these rules and to revere Yahweh our God for our benefit all the days that we live, as it is today.
Deu 6:25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’

These are not Jewish commandments such as washing pots and hands properly. Do not confuse the commandments of God with the traditions of men.

Mar 7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
Mar 7:4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

Jesus is very clear about the distinction.

Mar 7:6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
Mar 7:7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Mar 7:8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Mar 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

The Pharisees added and took away from the commandments of God just as the church does. Examples of the church adding and taking away are adding festivals of pagan deities and taking away the Sabbaths of Yahweh. These are blatant violations.

Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
Gen 2:3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Imagine that at the foundation of the entire universe, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, or set apart and different. Next He told His followers in an audible voice at Mount Horeb how special the day is.

Deu 5:13 Six days you shall work, and you shall do all of your work,
Deu 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, or your slave, or your slave woman, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your domestic animals, or your resident alien who is in your towns, so that your slave and your slave woman may rest as you rest.
Deu 5:15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath.

Yahweh then sent His prophets to remind His people about the Sabbath.

Isa 56:4 For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose that in which I delight, and who keep hold of my covenant.
Isa 56:5 And I will give them a monument and a name in my house and within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6 And the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, so as not to profane it, and those who keep hold of my covenant,
Isa 56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,”

Finally Yahweh sent His son.

Mar 2:27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mar 2:28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Christians say “yeah whatever, that was for someone else. I am going to do what I want because my pastor said I could”. They say “Sunday is the Lord’s day and we go to church and give a tithe, so we are free to do whatever we want now”. This was also prophesied by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These prophesies are for the latter days.

Jer 23:16 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you with visions of their mind, They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh.
Jer 23:17 They are continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, ‘Peace it will be to you,’ and to each one who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’
Jer 23:18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it?
Jer 23:19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20 The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind. In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding.

Eze 22:26 Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them.
Eze 22:27 Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain.

Jesus gave us a parable to describe this situation.

Mat 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
Mat 21:34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
Mat 21:35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
Mat 21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Mat 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
Mat 21:39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Mat 21:40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
Mat 21:41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

The Sabbath is only one example. I suggest taking the commandments of Yahweh seriously. They are for our benefit. Who has the authority to claim that which Yahweh said for His people to do does not matter any more? Does a pastor of a church? Perhaps an emperor? A prophet or priest? No, nobody.

Deu 13:1 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder,
Deu 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’
Deu 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.
Deu 13:4 You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.
Deu 13:5 But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.

All these abominations that have been brought into the church are tests from Yahweh to see if the people truly love him. Yeshua could not endorse changing the Sabbath without violating these words in Deuteronomy. He also would not endorse eating things the Father said not to eat. These things are proclaimed “in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it”. Once the enemy has seduced a person to disregard the commandments of Yahweh, then that person will have serious problems to contend with. They may still do “great works in my name”, but the Father does not hear their prayers.

Pro 28:9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

A counterfeit gospel has been brought forth and widely accepted. It has caused people to forget the name of God, His instructions and the righteous, ancient path. The enemy has sowed the tares to weaken the church.

Mar 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
Mar 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus started His ministry with the message to repent and believe the gospel. This Gospel Jesus preached was much different than what is taught today. The gospel is the good news that you are able to repent and draw near to the kingdom of God! So, take it seriously and search these matters out.