The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20-21

Everyone that studies scripture could likely agree that idolatry is wrong. I have heard countless references in sermons and conversations describing how a person’s car, money or even a celebrity could end up being an idol. Although this is true, it often gives the impression that idolatry of the ancients has been vanquished from the Earth never to be concerned with again. This is simply not true, especially when we take the letter from the Jerusalem council, in the book of Acts, seriously.

Act 15:19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
Act 15:20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

In the letter from the council, the new believers are instructed to abstain from things polluted by idols or abstain from meats sacrificed to idols. This is completely different than making an idol out of something new, such as a material possession. We do not usually think of idols from the ancient world existing in our world today. How does an object get polluted by an idol? Strong’s G234, for polluted, calls it ceremonial defilement.

G234
ἀλίσγεμα
alisgema
al-is’-ghem-ah
From ἀλισγέω alisgeō (to soil); (ceremonial) defilement: – pollution.

This is not a new command for the people of Yahweh. Yahweh made this clear from the beginning by telling His people not to use objects from other nations’ gods.

Deu 12:29 “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land,
Deu 12:30 take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’
Deu 12:31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

The snare lies in the fact that it is not the worshipping of other gods in which we are speaking because that would mean the person never came to Yahweh in the first place. If we are worshipping other gods and claim Yahweh is our God, that is a different matter. It means that person has never left their former gods. What we are talking about is items defiled by other gods. This is people using items or “eating meats” meant for other gods. Our world is full of things polluted by idols from the ancient world. An example of something polluted by idols that is easy to identify would be a witch doctor’s mask. It should not be a surprise to Christians that they are drawing from a different power source than Yahweh. Paul exposes exactly what these defiled symbols are about: demons.

1Co 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
1Co 10:15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1Co 10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
1Co 10:18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
1Co 10:19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
1Co 10:20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
1Co 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
1Co 10:22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Paul isn’t pulling these ideas from thin air. Paul knows his Bible, which in his day was what we call the Old Testament. Paul and other New Testament writers did not invent anything new. We are generally just ignorant of the scriptures that they studied and memorized due to some very poor teaching, ear tickling and laziness.

Deu 32:16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger.
Deu 32:17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.
Deu 32:18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Deu 32:19 “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
Deu 32:20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Deu 32:21 They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Deu 32:22 For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Deu 32:23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them;
Deu 32:24 they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.
Deu 32:25 Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

This is very serious, so please do not block your ears. The words of Moses and Paul are as relevant today as they were in times of old.

Paul addressed the people of Galatia who were apparently turning back to their former idolatry. These days, months and seasons Paul spoke of, were the festivals polluted by idols during the winter solstice and spring equinox. “The elementary principles of the world” was used for Strong’s 4747.

Gal 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
Gal 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Gal 4:10 You observe days and months and seasons and years!
Gal 4:11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

G4747
στοιχεῖον
stoicheion
Thayer Definition:
1) any first thing, from which the others belonging to some series or composite whole take their rise, an element, first principal
1a) the letters of the alphabet as the elements of speech, not however the written characters, but the spoken sounds
1b) the elements from which all things have come, the material causes of the universe
1c) the heavenly bodies, either as parts of the heavens or (as others think) because in them the elements of man, life and destiny were supposed to reside
1d) the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, science, or discipline
1d1) i.e. of mathematics, Euclid’s geometry

It is well known that these stoicheion also refer to fairies, elves and guardian spirits, otherwise known as demons. Most Chiristians would agree that what I have mentioned so far can fall into the “things polluted by idols” category. In some cases, if I hadn’t brought up these items, many would not even be aware of their existence. Now, we are going to discuss the more common items polluted by idols.

The beloved decorated fir tree has many ties to idols, as does the whole Christmas tree season. All the people of the world that celebrate Christmas do not suddenly embrace Christianity for the month of December. It has been a time of year dedicated to all the ancient sun gods for 4500 years. The whole Christmas tree Jesus situation is a complete pollution of idolatry and there is no biblical basis for any of the celebrations, other than not to do them.

It is bad enough to use the symbols out of ignorance. I once heard it said that the fir tree was a symbol illiterate people could understand when explaining Jesus to them. Why not use the trees Jesus used such as the fig and olive trees? Why pick symbols used by other nation’s gods (demons), that Yahweh hates, to explain His son? Once a person knows what the symbols are used for, and the pollution, then they realize it is no longer Yahweh that is worshipped but Baal, the name of all the various sun gods. Arguably, it was always about Baal. Someday, Yahweh will put an end to the Baal worship, but for now it is up to those who know to warn the people.

Hos 2:16 And on that day—a declaration of Yahweh—you will call me, “My husband;” you will no longer call me, “My Baal.”
Hos 2:17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by their name.

Peter also addressed this issue with the people of Galatia in his general letter to the dispersion.

1Pe 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

“Former ignorance” is referring to when they were involved with items polluted by idols. When we are grafted into the Israel of God, there is no room for idolatrous objects in our life. Yahweh gives us His own festivals and seasons to celebrate with our friends and families that are not at all polluted with idols. These are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, the weekly Sabbath, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. These are sanctified by Yahweh himself and are the days Jesus and His followers celebrated long after His death and resurrection. These other days the church picked up are simply recycled idolatrous sun god days. These are the first things the Jerusalem council told new believers coming out of pagan religions to leave behind, yet they are the last things Christians will consider giving up today.

Loving my neighbour means I must share what I have learned about idolatry. Jesus gave the churches warnings which are still applicable.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Jezebel was all about Christmas tree Jesus, otherwise known as Baal. Practicing sexual immorality, and eating food sacrificed to idols is exactly what we partake in sitting at the table of demons. Do you find yourself or your children in continual tribulation? Tormented by demons? Try repenting and giving up the items and practices polluted by idols.

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

Psalms 146:3-4

We all like to believe that our loved ones that have passed on from this world are in a better place. Many believe that their loved ones are looking down and smiling from a place called heaven. There are those that dream about the first people they want to meet in heaven when they die. Is this just fantasy or wishful thinking? Are these belief systems based on emotion and feelings or are they factual? If factual, how so? As far as I know, science would not entertain any of this, because according to science, we either evolved from nothing, or are a product of star dust. Therefore, we must to turn to philosophy or religion to find the answer.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher, born approximately 470 BCE. When sentenced to death, this is how Socrates addressed the court regarding one option of the after life:

“On the other hand, if death is like a journey from here to another place, and if the things that are said are true, that in fact all the
dead are there, then what greater good could there be than this,
judges? For if one who arrives in Hades, released from those here
who claim to be judges, will find those who are judges in truth —
the very ones who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus, and Triptolemus, and those of the
other demigods who turned out to be just in their own lives —
would this journey be a paltry one? Or again, to associate with
Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer, how much
would any of you give? For I am willing to die many times if these things are true, since especially for myself spending time there
would be wondrous: whenever I happened to meet Palamedes and Telemonian Ajax, or anyone else of the ancients who died because
of an unjust judgment, I would compare my own experiences
with theirs. As I suppose, it would not be unpleasant. And
certainly the greatest thing is that I would pass my time examining
and searching out among those there—just as I do to those here-
who among them is wise, and who supposes he is, but is not. How much would one give, judges, to examine him who led the great army against Troy, or Odysseus, or Sisyphus, or the thousand others whom one might mention, both men and women? To converse and to associate with them and to examine them there would be inconceivable happiness. Certainly those there surely do not kill on this account. For those there are happier than those here not only in other things but also in that they are immortal henceforth for the rest of time, at least if the things that are said are in fact true.”

Socrates believed one view of the afterlife would give him eternal access to his heroes, and the result would be inconceivable happiness. This is in line with the view of many religions today that have these ideas coming from the pantheon of gods the ancients worshipped. This is also the main Christian view in my experience. Instead of looking for Minos, a son of Zeus, Christians are planning to look for Jesus, the son of God. They also dream of seeing loved ones and their heroes, who have gone before, when they die. Are these ideas of Socrates found in the Bible in which Christianity bases its belief systems? Why does Socrates describe essentially the same view of main stream Christianity in 2021, when he lived over 400 years before the first Christians walked the Earth?

The view of dying and having a non-material part of our bodies go to a place called heaven was foreign to the early followers of the Hebrew God, Yahweh. The children of Jacob, also called Israel, were set apart from the other nations, their gods and demigods, as well as their religious practices and beliefs. The text below is from the English Standard Version of the Bible which uses the Dead Sea scroll texts instead of the later, Masoretic transcripts found in other versions. LORD is a substitution used for the name Yahweh, יהוה.

Deu 32:7 Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
Deu 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
Deu 32:9 But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
Deu 32:10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Deu 32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,
Deu 32:12 the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.

God told Adam he would die if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If Adam died, would he go to paradise or heaven? He was already in paradise, so it was disobedience that brought death. Dead was dead, non existent.

Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

What did Yahweh tell us through the prophets from His chosen group of people concerning the afterlife? Let’s start with Solomon.

Ecc 9:3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Ecc 9:4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Solomon tells us the dead know nothing. Job tells us something similar; however, he hints at a time when the heavens will not exist any more.

Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?
Job 14:11 As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,
Job 14:12 so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.

What do the followers of Jesus say about the dead? Peter tells us that he was confident that David was dead, buried and still in the tomb. The only one that was resurrected at this point was Jesus.

Act 2:27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
Act 2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
Act 2:29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Act 2:30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
Act 2:31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

Jesus tells us that no one has ascended into heaven except the one who came down from heaven. This statement alone should end the discussion.

Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection. He was the first to die, then rise and ascend into heaven. One of the main views of early Christianity was that of a resurrection of the dead at the end of time. This is the time the dead will rise and be judged by the creator. Job hinted of this time and went on to explain in the following verses.

Job 14:13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
Job 14:15 You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.

Job is speaking of the resurrection Daniel also wrote about.

Dan 12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Dan 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Dan 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Jesus gave us an example of the resurrection. He tells the disciples that Lazarus is sleeping, then clarifies that He means he is dead.

Joh 11:11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
Joh 11:12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
Joh 11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

Jesus tells Lazarus’ sister that Lazarus will rise again. She is thinking of the time in the future Daniel spoke of when everyone will resurrect.

Joh 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Joh 11:22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Joh 11:23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Joh 11:24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
Joh 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Lazarus did not come out of the grave speaking of the marvellous things he experienced in heaven when he was dead. There was no mention of seeing Yahweh on the throne or any dead relatives. Lazarus was dead, wrapped in grave clothes.

Below is a fragment from the second book of Esdras, which was removed from most Bibles around 1647. This is sometimes called the missing fragment because even Bibles that contained second Esdras were sometimes missing these verses. Some of these removed books contain information that explain passages that are in the sixty-six book Bible. Somewhat like the “rest of the story”. Many of the books that are missing in modern Bibles largely supported keeping the commandments of God. Perhaps this is one of the reasons they went among the missing.

88 Now this is the order of those who have guarded the ways of El Elyon, when they shall be separated from their mortal body. 89 During the time that they lived in it, they labouriously served El Elyon, and withstood danger every hour, that they might guard the Torah of the Torah giver perfectly.
90 Therefore this is the teaching concerning them: 91 First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders.
92 The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought which was formed with them, that it might not lead them astray from life into death. 93 The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the wicked wander, and the punishment that awaits them.
94 The third order, they see the witness which he who formed them bears concerning
them, that while they were alive they guarded the Torah which was given them in trust.
95 The fourth order, they understand the rest which they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory which awaits them in the last days.
96 The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and
shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty which they are to receive and enjoy in immortality. 97 The sixth order, when it is shown to them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on.
98 The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified.

The language in these verses speak about resting in profound silence waiting for the last days, presumably the resurrection. Paul tells us the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. We are mere mortals until we are changed at the last trumpet. This is the hope we have. We are not hoping to be unclothed as a spirit.

1Co 15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1Co 15:51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

I am suggesting we do not put on immortality until the last trumpet when the dead are raised. As mortals, we die dead. Without the hope of the resurrection, we would stay dead forever. This is why it is such a big deal that Jesus resurrected from the dead conquering death and the grave. If some non-material part of us went to heaven, why would we need a resurrected body? Jesus tells us He will raise the dead at the last day.

Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Right now, the reader is thinking about the thief on the cross whom Jesus said would be in paradise with him that very day, supposedly.

Luk 23:42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Luk 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The problem with this theory is that Jesus spent three days and three nights in the grave, so He was not in a place called paradise that day for the thief to be with Him. If Jesus wasn’t really dead like a man, then He didn’t resurrect from the dead. This would be very problematic. Jesus cannot be saying “I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”, because he had an appointment with death as did the thief. Since there are no commas in the Greek, it likely should read, “I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise”. Depending on what the translator believes, determines where the comma is placed.

When Jesus was found by Mary after He resurrected, He specifically said He had not ascended to the Father yet. This puts to rest any thought that Jesus may have been somewhere other than “hades”, or the grave, after He was removed from the cross and placed in the tomb.

Joh 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Joh 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Another verse that is quoted to argue that a non-material part of us goes to heaven when we die, is found in Paul’s writings.

2Co 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Now let’s look at this verse in context:

2Co 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2Co 5:2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
2Co 5:3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.
2Co 5:4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
2Co 5:5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2Co 5:6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
2Co 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Co 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

This is all resurrection language. We have an earthly tent, our mortal body, and we are longing for our heavenly dwelling, which is our resurrected body. We are given the Spirit as a guarantee that we are getting a resurrected, immortal body. Paul specifically says we do not want to be found naked, that is without either an earthly tent or resurrected, immortal body.

Jesus told a parable where a man was found without a wedding garment at the King’s wedding banquet. We must have our wedding garment, or resurrected body, to be at the wedding.

Mat 22:10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
Mat 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Finally, the resurrections of the dead are mentioned in Revelation, the first resurrection of the saints, and the general resurrection, just as it was mentioned of by Daniel.

Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The language “they came to life” would appear to indicate they were not alive anywhere in any form. “The rest of the dead did not come to life” also is language indicating they were not alive anywhere. If a person was in a conscience state in some form, how could it be said “they came to life”. All of this language points to dead being dead.

Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

The truth is, no one can say for sure what happens to us when we die. The evidence in scripture seems to point to death, and then a time of future resurrection where we get our heavenly body, or face the second death. As Peter said in Acts3:19, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out”.

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isaiah 14:13

Anyone who has witnessed a horrific event comes away from their experience a changed person. What if everyone was mesmerized by a carnival that came to their town every year and you happened to be suspicious that there was something nefarious happening at this carnival? Picture yourself snooping around and discovering that behind the scenes there was indeed something terribly wrong. The carnival was a front for something horrific. You tried to warn your friends and family only to have them think of you as a crazy conspiracy theorist, because everyone has been partaking in the traditions of the carnival for hundreds of years. What if I said this is actually a reality and people are being lead astray into deception?

The prophet Isaiah described a time when Babylon would be destroyed. As he discusses the king of Babylon, it sounds like simply a wicked human king is being discussed.

Isa 14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Isa 14:5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
Isa 14:7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

Once the Earth is rid of this wicked ruler, there will be rest, quiet and singing. It will be such a time the fir trees will even be rejoicing.

Isa 14:8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

It is an odd statement by Isaiah, that when this wicked king is taken down, the fir trees are going to rejoice because no one will be cutting them down any more. As he continues, we see this is not your average earthly king!

Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Even though Lucifer is somewhat of a made up name, the implication here is that this is speaking of the fall of the adversary of Yahweh, who deceives the world. Ironically, the word Lucifer comes from a Latin word meaning light bringing . The son of the morning has connections with the planet Venus. The Hebrew word that Lucifer is replacing is Strong’s H1966

H1966
הילל
hêylêl
BDB Definition:
Lucifer = “light-bearer”
1) shining one, morning star, Lucifer
1a) of the king of Babylon and Satan (figuratively)
2) ‘Helel’ describing the king of Babylon

This definition doesn’t help much because it cannot get past the word Lucifer, which came from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. A quick study from the Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language, shows the “ha” (ה) could be a prefix for “the” with the root word being ילל, meaning one who is lamenting. The part I want to focus on comes from verse 13:

Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

This “Lucifer” entity will sit on the “mount of the congregation”. What does that mean? “Of the congregation” is used for Strong’s H4150, the Hebrew word mo’ed.

H4150
מועדה / מעד / מועד
mô‛êd / mô‛êd / mô‛âdâh
BDB Definition:
1) appointed place, appointed time, meeting
1a) appointed time
1a1) appointed time (general)
1a2) sacred season, set feast, appointed season
1b) appointed meeting
1c) appointed place
1d) appointed sign or signal
1e) tent of meeting
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H3259

This H4150 Hebrew word is used for the festivals of Yahweh. The “sides of the North” have meanings of loins, soft parts, secret places etc. This verse could be telling us Lucifer would put his special days in place of Yahweh’s special days. This has indeed happened. The feast days of Yahweh have been replaced with the sun and solstice celebrations and the celebrations of Venus, or Ishtar. This is not a reach to come to these conclusions. Daniel speaks of something similar.

Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;
Dan 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

This king that arises out of the fourth kingdom changed the times and laws. We could speculate about many events that have taken place during the fourth earthly kingdom of Rome. We are still in this kingdom and Daniel goes on to say the iron will mix with clay. Please see my blog post Mixing Iron and Clay for more about this.

One Hebrew word can have many meanings, but the meanings are related because the word tells a story. The best way I can tell the story of the word mo’ed is that it describes an appointment by Yahweh for His congregation to meet at a special time over and over again. This word is used many times describing the congregation meeting in the tabernacle that was in the wilderness. Here is one of the places H4150 is used for the feasts of Yahweh in the King James Version with Strong’s numbers:

Lev 23:1 And the LORD H3068  spake H1696  unto H413  Moses, H4872  saying, H559
Lev 23:2 Speak H1696  unto H413  the children H1121  of Israel, H3478  and say H559  unto H413  them, Concerning the feasts H4150  of the LORD, H3068  which H834  ( H853 ) ye shall proclaim H7121  to be holy H6944  convocations, H4744  even these H428  are my feasts. H4150

One thing that is not speculation is that the great adversary has placed his feasts higher than Yahweh’s and is currently winning in that arena. The whole world celebrates the winter solstice every year with fir trees and lights, and the goddess Venus is celebrated with her fertility eggs and rabbits in the spring. Even though churches try to make Lucifer’s festivals appear to be about the business of Yahweh, it places Lucifer on the mount of the congregation, not Yahweh. They are actually serving Baal with these feasts. When will things turn around and when will Yahweh over take the one sitting “on the mount of the congregation”?

Dan 7:9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
Dan 7:10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
Dan 7:11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.
Dan 7:12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Yahweh tells us He will profane the sanctuaries of this festival high jacker.

Eze 28:11 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 28:12 “Son of man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and you must say to him, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You were a perfect model of an example, full of wisdom and perfect of beauty.
Eze 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was your adornment: carnelian, topaz and moonstone, turquoise, onyx and jasper, sapphire, malachite and emerald. And gold was the craftsmanship of your settings and your mountings in you; on the day when you were created they were prepared.
Eze 28:14 You were an anointed guardian cherub, and I placed you on God’s holy mountain; you walked in the midst of stones of fire.
Eze 28:15 You were blameless in your ways from the day when you were created, until wickedness was found in you.
Eze 28:16 In the abundance of your trading, they filled the midst of you with violence, and you sinned; and I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I expelled you, the guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor. I threw you on the ground before kings; I have exposed you for viewing.
Eze 28:18 From the abundance of your iniquities in the dishonesty of your trading, I profaned your sanctuaries and I brought fire from your midst; it consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of everyone who sees you.
Eze 28:19 All who know you among the peoples are appalled over you; you have become as horrors, and you shall cease to exist forever.”‘”

What happens to his false festivals that cause man to worship wood, stone, sun, moon and stars? Once again, the appointed times and feasts of Yahweh will be celebrated.

Zec 14:14 And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold and silver, and garments in great abundance.
Zec 14:15 Like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and every kind of animal in those camps.
Zec 14:16 And then every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:17 And then whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them.

In some future time, anyone who does not celebrate the feast of Booths will not receive any rain. Has anyone heard about what this means? Where is the church in this prophecy, and why are there people who are left in the outskirts of the Mountain of Yahweh? The second book of Baruk, which never made it into the redacted, sixty-six book Bible, sheds some light on the reign of Messiah.

“After the signs have come, of which you were told before, when the nations become turbulent, and the time of my Mashiach is come, he shall both summon all the nations, and some of them he shall spare, and some of them he shall slay. These things therefore shall come upon the nations which are to be spared by him. Every nation, which knows not Yashar’el and has not trodden down the seed of Ya`aqov, shall indeed be spared. This because some out of every nation shall be subjected to your people. But all those who have ruled over you, or have known you, shall be given up to the sword.” BARUK SHENIY (2 BARUK) 72:2-6 את CEPHER

Connecting the dots of Lucifer, Baal and the popular holidays that happen today is not hard if one is willing to let go of tradition and truly seek the things of Yahweh. Read the books of Judges and Kings and know that Baal is the sun god. The one who was born right after the winter solstice in December. Asherah was Baal’s wife, the queen of heaven or goddess of spring (aka Venus). These are the gods Jezebel promoted in Israel.

1Ki 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you who throws Israel into confusion?”
1Ki 18:18 He said, “I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father have by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals!
1Ki 18:19 So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel.”

The theme is consistent. The people of Yahweh forsook His commands and went after other gods; the Baals. The same thing happens in the end times, which started in the first century.

Act 3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
Act 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’
Act 3:24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

Jesus had a very serious warning for those who tolerate Jezebel. This is not speaking about some dispensation that the church is going to miss. We are living in it now.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Yahusha, the real name of Jesus, told us that someone coming in their own name would be accepted rather than He who comes in His Father’s name.

Joh 5:42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.
Joh 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
Joh 5:44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Joh 5:45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
Joh 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
Joh 5:47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

The name Jesus comes from Iesous, Greek for Joshua. It is also the name of a greek god of healing, son or daughter of Zeus. The Hebrew name, according to Strong’s and Brown Driver Briggs, is Yeshua, which means “he will save” or Yahusha, which mean “Yahweh saves”. I believe the name of our saviour has been high jacked by the great high hacker as well. Is it a coincidence that the name Jesus was used as a replacement for Yeshua? Why not just use Joshua when translating to English? I realize that the name Jesus is a transliteration that progressed through Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Germanic English. The current form of the name became popular with the addition of a “J” into the alphabet, and it is hard to undue tradition. The 1611 King James Version Bible used Iesus. The fact remains that the current name “Jesus” is not our saviour’s name, or anything close to it. It is not conclusive when the birthday of Zeus was celebrated, but sacrifices were made to Zeus at the winter solstice. Antioch of Epiphanies forced the people to eat swine’s flesh or be killed, and sacrificed a pig on the altar of Yahweh. Today, the people of God celebrate eating swine’s flesh. This has become a mystery to me now that I have a better understanding of Yahweh’s instructions in the light of the New Testament. Here is scripture from the book of the Maccabee’s, removed from most Bibles around 1647.

1Ma 1:54 Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;
1Ma 1:55 And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets.
1Ma 1:56 And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.
1Ma 1:57 And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king’s commandment was, that they should put him to death.
1Ma 1:58 Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.
1Ma 1:59 Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.

It is hard to repent from the works of Jezebel if one does not know what those works are all about. Read about her and how she promoted Lucifer’s festivals and things polluted by idols. Something doesn’t have to be worshipped to be polluted by idols. All of the nations’ gods’ symbols are polluted and attract unclean spirits. Eventually Lucifer, the adversary, will “cease to live forever”, and His symbols and feast days also will go down in flames when Yahweh re-establishes His appointed times with His people. The question is, should we start practicing for that day now, or keep Lucifer “on the mount of the congregation” until Yahweh comes? I have lifted the veil and have seen what is happening behind the scenes of this carnival. Repent and get as far away from Lucifer’s festivals as possible.

Today marks the end of the Feast of Weeks, otherwise known as Pentecost. We count fifty days from the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to get to this day. There are two related and significant events that happened in history today. It is a long held belief that it is the time at which Yahweh spoke to His people in an audible voice at Mount Sinai, giving His called out assembly the Ten Commandments, and it is also the time at which Jesus breathed His holy breath on His people empowering them with grace and truth. First, let’s look at the giving of the commandments in the third month. Passover is the fourteenth day of the first month, so this is not speaking of the Gregorian calendar we follow today. The third month puts us in the right time frame for Pentecost.

Exo 19:1 In the third month after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert.
Exo 19:2 They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
Exo 19:3 And Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you will say to the house of Jacob and you will tell the Israelites,
Exo 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and I brought you to me.
Exo 19:5 And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, for all the earth is mine,
Exo 19:6 but you, you will belong to me as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Their covenant with Yahweh was brand new when they first broke the terms, making the golden calf as a representation of Yahweh to worship. This is something they were specifically told not to do.

Exo 32:20 And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the Israelites drink.
Exo 32:21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?”
Exo 32:22 And Aaron said, “Let not my lord become angry. You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil.
Exo 32:23 And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
Exo 32:24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.”
Exo 32:25 And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among their enemies.
Exo 32:26 And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him.
Exo 32:27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.'”
Exo 32:28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell.

Because of this sin, three thousand were put to the sword. As we fast forward to the day of Pentecost in New Testament times, we see all the disciples of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. One must keep in mind that the day of Pentecost(Greek language), or the feast of Shavuot (Hebrew language), was established at least 1500 years before the Holy Spirit was given to the believers celebrating the feast. Yahweh acts on His appointed times, not ones created by man.

Act 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
Act 2:7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
Act 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
Act 2:9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Act 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
Act 2:11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Act 2:12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

Peter explains what this means:

Act 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Act 2:34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
Act 2:35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
Act 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Act 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Act 2:39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Act 2:40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
Act 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

It is interesting that “about three thousand souls” were added on this day in contrast to the three thousand put to the sword at Sinai after the golden calf event. A little later, Peter is again addressing the people, explaining the events that took place on this important appointed time of Yahweh.

Act 3:17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Act 3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
Act 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’
Act 3:24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
Act 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’
Act 3:26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

In Act 3:19-20, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”, what is he telling us to repent from? What are we to “turn back” to? What is being refreshed, or breathed new life into? It is the commandments and covenant that were given at Pentecost on Mount Sinai by Yahweh himself, and the people’s ability to be obedient through the power of the Spirit. In Deuteronomy, it is told to us that these commandments are not too hard for us to do. If they are too hard, the only conclusion we can make is that we are doing them wrong, and outside of faith in Christ. Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, came and showed us how, empowering and refreshing us with His Spirit.

Deu 30:11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
Deu 30:14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Deu 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.
Deu 30:16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

Paul also tells us even if we were once strangers to the covenants, we can be brought near.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Repent and turn back that your sins may be blotted out!

Happy Shavuot!

“Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law”

Act 21:24b

The Apostle Paul has been used to justify Christian lawlessness since his conversion. When it comes to the way Christians are to live their life or explain the new covenant, Paul’s letters are usually the only reference anyone will use. I have witnessed people become very angry when other scripture is mentioned that may contradict their belief system they have built around Paul’s letters, isolated from the rest of scripture. This an an old heresy called Marcionism.

It is said that Marcion, a second century heretic, coined the terms “old” and “new” testament. Much of what is believed today comes from this twisted belief system that started with Marcion; however, Marcion had to develop this belief system from somewhere. One of the best scriptures to start the conversation is Peter’s warning to everyone not to twist the words of Paul to justify iniquity, or in other words, breaking the commandments of God.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
2Pe 3:13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2Pe 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
2Pe 3:15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
2Pe 3:16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
2Pe 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

It is hard to imagine that from the beginning, people were using Paul’s letters to promote sin, lawlessness and iniquity so much, that Peter had to address the problem in a general letter to believers in the first century. Something to think about: when was the last time you have heard a sermon or read a devotional concerning this warning of destruction, new earth, how to live, and not to misinterpret Paul leading to your own destruction? I never have.

This group of people Peter tells to “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace”, can also be found in the book of second Esdras. Unfortunately, this book was removed from most Bibles around 1647.

2Es 16:70 For there shall be in every place, and in the next cities, a great insurrection upon those that fear the Lord.
2Es 16:71 They shall be like mad men, sparing none, but still spoiling and destroying those that fear the Lord.
2Es 16:72 For they shall waste and take away their goods, and cast them out of their houses.
2Es 16:73 Then shall they be known, who are my chosen; and they shall be tried as the gold in the fire.
2Es 16:74 Hear, O ye my beloved, saith the Lord: behold, the days of trouble are at hand, but I will deliver you from the same.
2Es 16:75 Be ye not afraid neither doubt; for God is your guide,
2Es 16:76 And the guide of them who keep my commandments and precepts, saith the Lord God: let not your sins weigh you down, and let not your iniquities lift up themselves.

“Gold in the fire” are words similarly found in the book of Revelation.

Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Rev 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

The verses from Peter, Esdras (Ezra from the “Old” Testament), and Jesus are all speaking about a time in new covenant times. Why do so many Christians believe that both Jesus and Paul disregarded the commandments of God? I had a person comment on a Twitter post of mine that Jesus made a point to break the Sabbath several times. They do not understand scripture and the difference between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. This subject is something Paul was trying to convey. The word “law” is overused in the Greek and English, so a lot of study is needed to determine which law is spoken of when reading Paul. Hence, “the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures”.

Next to Peter’s warning about misunderstanding Paul, there is the dialogue that transpires when Paul comes to Jerusalem, and the leaders, such as James, have to deal with this issue where people think Paul is trashing the law of God.

Act 21:18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Act 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,
Act 21:21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.
Act 21:22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
Act 21:23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;
Act 21:24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

Are the elders and James lying and being deceitful to make it appear Paul kept Yahweh’s commandments, while all along he was telling everyone to disregard those same instructions? Do Paul and the Jewish believers “zealous for the law” have to keep the commandments and everyone else from the nations, or the capital “G” Gentiles, do not have to? Gentile is a made up Latin-English word meaning people from the nations. During the first century, this included those from the ten tribes, or Northern kingdom whom Yahweh divorced.

The council went on to tell Paul about the letter they sent to the Gentiles coming into the faith. This letter told them where to start living a set apart life from the culture they came from.

Act 21:25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

Earlier in Acts, this letter they are speaking of was drafted. I am using the Modern King James translation just to show what it looks like without the capital “G” gentile rendition of the Greek word ethnos.

Act 15:19 Therefore my judgment is that we do not trouble those who have turned to God from among the nations,
Act 15:20 but that we write to them that they should abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 For Moses from ages past has those in every city proclaiming him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

With this letter, are we to assume the Jerusalem council is implying that believers from the nations do not need to concern themselves with murder, being a false witness, coveting, honouring parents and Sabbath keeping? Or are they just focusing on the practices that new believers were entangled with coming out from the pagan religions? I say the latter, and that the council was implying the new converts from the nations (Gentiles) “would learn what Moses said every Sabbath”, as stated in verse 21.

The concept that Paul was teaching something different than Jesus, and after the cross we no longer concern ourselves with the commandments of Yahweh, is exactly what Peter warned us about. It was also in line with what Marcion taught. Marcion taught that the Old Testament God, Yahweh, was an evil demiurge and that Jesus was the saviour who came from a different god than Yahweh. Seemingly, this belief system is predominant in the church today, No one will say they are worshipping a different God than Yahweh, it is simply implied by ignoring everything Yahweh commands and stating that believers in the “new covenant” are free from the rules of Yahweh, as if His rules are cruel and unusual, or different from the teachings of Jesus. The result is the same as Marcionism. The believer that thinks this is correct theology should obtain a Marcion Bible, with only the edited Gospel of Luke and letters of Paul, because the rest of the Bible is just unnecessary weight to carry, or extra memory on a phone or tablet that could be used for something else.

Who is the real Paul and what did he believe and teach? We already quoted Acts 21:24. It seems Paul was often having to explain that he was not teaching against the instructions or Torah of Yahweh. Here Paul speaks in his defence before Felix. Was Paul lying to the governor, or telling the truth?

Act 24:13 Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.
Act 24:14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
Act 24:15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

Another place we get Paul’s view of Yahweh’s instruction:

1Co 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Torah is Strong’s H8451, and usually translated as law, but also means instruction and direction.

H8451
תּרה / תּורה
tôrâh
BDB Definition:
1) law, direction, instruction
1a) instruction, direction (human or divine)
1a1) body of prophetic teaching
1a2) instruction in Messianic age
1a3) body of priestly direction or instruction
1a4) body of legal directives
1b) law
1b1) law of the burnt offering
1b2) of special law, codes of law
1c) custom, manner
1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law

Is the Torah law handed down by a mean demiurge that kept His followers under His thumb smiting anyone that stepped out of line, or is it life giving instructions on how His people are to navigate successfully on planet Earth from a loving creator? My conclusion is again the latter. Paul also knew this and was constantly trying to explain how one cannot be saved or justified by keeping law, but doing the things that pleased the Father is the result of being saved and justified. Once walking in the Spirit, a person would want to be obedient to the wishes of the Spirit, the same that Jesus did and Yahweh commanded. They would have no desire to rebel against the Father, which is rebelling against Jesus. Jesus gives us the Spirit of Grace to walk in His ways, and when we follow the Spirit, He gives us another comforter, the Spirit of Truth. I am not making this up, even if you have never heard about it before. These are subjects and Bible verses that don’t make it into devotionals and sermons.

Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Joh 1:15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)
Joh 1:16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Grace is defined as divine influence on the heart and it is what enables us to please Yahweh through walking in the Spirit. It is the voice that convicts us of sin. The voice becomes louder when you begin to understand what sin is. Once the believer has yielded to the Spirit, then Jesus promises a second comforter, the Spirit of Truth. Grace is Strong’s G5485. From the Thayer Greek lexicon:

G5485
χάρις
charis
Thayer Definition:
1) grace
1a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
2) good will, loving-kindness, favour
2a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
3) what is due to grace
3a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace
3b) the token or proof of grace, benefit
3b1) a gift of grace
3b2) benefit, bounty
4) thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward

From Strong’s:

G5485
χάρις
charis
khar’-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

Grace is defined as the influence Yahweh puts on our hearts and comes from the Spirit of Grace. Grace is not a license to break the commandments of Yahweh as it is often implied. The writer of Hebrews knew the difference between what would happen when someone was caught breaking the law of Moses by two-three witnesses verses trampling the Spirit of Grace. Keeping the law through the sacrificial system could be compared to punching a time clock at work, where Jesus, taking care of the sacrifice for sin, is more like the honour system. Both require a person to do their work.

Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Once we yield ourselves to the Spirit of Grace through obedience, Jesus tells us He will send us the Spirit of Truth. Again, I am not making this up.

Joh 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Joh 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Are the commandments of Jesus different than the Father? Nope.

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.
Joh 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

The Spirit of Grace influences our heart to walk in the Spirit. Once we are obedient, the second helper, the Spirit of Truth, is sent to us to bring to remembrance all that Jesus taught. This is a pipeline from the the Father to understand the teachings of Jesus.

Paul understood this, and without this progression, it is really hard to understand what Paul is talking about. In Christianity, we often hear about a trinity where there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So where does Jesus get seemingly two Holy Spirits, truth and Grace? Actually the Bible speaks of seven spirits of Yahweh.

Isa 11:1 And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
Isa 11:2 And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him—a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
Isa 11:3 And his breath is in the fear of Yahweh. And he shall judge not by his eyesight, and he shall rebuke not by what he hears with his ears.
Isa 11:4 But he shall judge the poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.
Isa 11:5 And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Again we find the seven spirits spoken about in the book of Revelation.

Rev 5:5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Rev 5:6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

These verses are not speaking about an “anything goes” Jesus. I am suggesting the Spirit of the fear of Yahweh is the Spirit of Grace. This is what convicts a person to follow His ways. The Hebrew word for spirit is Strong’s H7307.

H7307
רוּחַ
rûach
roo’-akh
From H7306; wind; by resemblance breath, that is, a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions): – air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit ([-ual]), tempest, X vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y).

All the places translated to spirit could be translated breath. In Isaiah 11:2 and 11:3, one place it is translated breath and in the others it is translated spirit. In the New Testament, the Greek word for breath is also translated as ghost and spirit. Anytime a spirit of God is mentioned, it could be translated as breath of God, or God’s holy breath. Picture His spirits as Him blowing his breath on you. You are empowered by the breath of God. Also this: “and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips”. Scripture clearly tells us there is a spirit or breath of grace that divinely influences our heart, and a spirit or breath of truth that will bring us to remembrance of what Jesus said if we are obedient and yield to the Spirit of Grace.

Paul brilliantly explains to us that through Yeshua’s sacrifice the penalty of the law, which is death, was removed as a free gift. If we submit to Yahweh, we can be grafted into the cultivated olive tree, with the saints, joining the commonwealth of Israel. Anyone who wants to justify sin can use Paul, either by ignorance or twisting his words, just as Peter warned. Paul’s own words and actions indicate he followed the commandments of Yahweh. Don’t bring destruction upon yourself by failing to heed Peter’s warning.

“For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

Hebrews 6:7-8

During the reformation of the church that started with Martin Luther in 1517, one of the sayings that developed was, “sola scriptura”. This is the belief that scripture is the sole authority over doctrine, not the traditions handed down by the authority of Rome, any organization or manmade entity. Many brave men and women were able to break away from the grips of Rome; however, many were tortured, burned at the stake and otherwise murdered for breaking with church tradition and dogma. This reformation movement was eventually infiltrated by corrupt men, and although making great strides, never truly broke from the power of the Roman church and government. The Protestant movement eventually started doing the very same torturous things to Catholics and commandment keepers once government became involved. What started as the Protestant movement, never left the protesting stage.

Over the course of the last ten years, many people have decided they need to take a different path than the “protesting catholic” theology of Baptist, Pentecostal and other various denominations. There are too many teachings and practices that are contrary to scripture. People are starting to hold the truth of scripture higher than the church traditions handed down to us by both well meaning and in some cases, corrupt men. The fact that people are coming to this realization worldwide is prophecy unfolding before our eyes.

Jer 16:19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

Below are five of the major problems that Christians are becoming aware of causing them to change their practices and understanding . Many of these issues are discussed at length in my other blog posts. This refreshed belief system holds that the church, or the congregation of believers, called the ekklesia in the New Testament, started at Mount Horeb with Yahweh giving the Ten Commandments in an audible voice to all twelve tribes of Israel. Stephen clearly speaks to this in his speech recorded in the book of Acts.

Act 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Act 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.

The following is a short list of major discrepancies found between scripture and common practice.

1. Wrong day

Throughout scripture, the Sabbath is a very important day to Yahweh. The mark of the believer is one who keeps the Sabbath. We believe it is the seventh day of the week, as our Saviour kept it, and it was wrongfully changed to “the venerable day of the sun” by the Roman church when paganism began to be blended with Christianity. This pagan blending was also combined through tradition, adopted by church fathers due to the animosity between Jews and Christians that developed in the early Greek and Roman churches. There is no scriptural authority that changed the day of rest established by Yahweh himself at creation. Many people have claimed that Sabbath keeping is life changing. My family agrees and recommends the practice to anyone who wants to draw closer to God with greater understanding and blessings. It truly is a delight.

Exo 31:16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.
Exo 31:17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

“Foreigners who join themselves to the LORD”, is the same as Paul’s “grafted in” language in Roman’s 11. Our God is the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel); therefore, we should do what this particular God, who’s name is יהוה, pronounced Yahweh or Yahuah, (four vowel sounds), wants us to do.

Isa 56:4 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant,
Isa 56:5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—
Isa 56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful 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.”
Isa 56:8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”

“Foreigners that join themselves to the LORD” is referring to those of us who claim Yahweh is their God. As Paul states in Ephesians 2:19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”.

The Roman Canon that the church still follows:

Canon XXIX.Christians must not a by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ. Notes. Ancient Epitome of Canon XXIX.A Christian shall not stop work on the Sabbath, but on the Lord’s Day. Balsamon.Here the Fathers order that no one of the faithful shall stop work on the Sabbath as do the Jews, but that they should honour the Lord’s Day, on account of the Lord’s resurrection, and that on that day they should abstain from manual labour and go to church. But thus abstaining from work on Sunday they do not lay down as a necessity, but they add, “if they can.” For if through need or any other necessity any one worked on the Lord’s day this was not reckoned against him.

The Sabbath is one of the most important days discussed in the Bible, yet Rome changed the day, and cursed anyone who followed Yahweh’s special day. The fact that the Roman government made a law to change the Sabbath shows that many Christians at that time were still keeping the Sabbath on the biblically ordained day. Otherwise, it would have been a non-issue.

2. Wrong holidays

Nowhere in the Bible will you find anything about Christmas, “Christ’s Mass”, Easter (except a mistranslation for Pesach in Acts in the King James Version of the Bible), Halloween or any other traditional feast day of the church unless you study the gods of the nations living around Israel in the Old Testament, the Norse gods or the gods of the Greeks and Romans. Yahweh gave His people special days and feasts to observe forever.

Lev 23:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

These are the feasts and Sabbaths of Passover, First Fruits, Unleavend Bread, Shavuot, Trumpets, Atonement, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. The weekly Sabbath is also in this list. The church rejects these days that Yahweh calls his appointed times.

From an early church father, John Chrysostom:

(5) What is this disease? The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews are soon to march upon us one after the other and in quick succession: the feast of Trumpets, the feast of Tabernacles, the fasts. There are many in our ranks who say they think as we do. Yet some of these are going to watch the festivals and others will join the Jews in keeping their feasts and observing their fasts. I wish to drive this perverse custom from the Church right now. My homilies against the Anomians can be put off to another time, and the postponement would cause no harm. But now that the Jewish festivals are close by and at the very door, if I should fail to cure those who are sick with the Judaizing disease. I am afraid that, because of their ill-suited association and deep ignorance, some Christians may partake in the Jews’ transgressions; once they have done so, I fear my homilies on these transgressions will be in vain. For if they hear no word from me today, they will then join the Jews in their fasts; once they have committed this sin it will be useless for me to apply the remedy.

In the fourth and fifth centuries, Christians were still celebrating the feast days of Yahweh, much to John Chrysostom’s dismay. The Roman Emperor, Constantine, wrote a letter to the bishops who could not attend the council of Nice in 325 AD changing the date of the Passover, a point of contention between the Eastern and Western churches.

When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable, than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of immortality, celebrated by all with one accord, and in the same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom, 113 we may transmit to our des-cendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed from the time of the Saviour’s Passion to the present day [according to the day of the week]. We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week); and consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast.

Yahweh tells us not to use the symbols of other nations’ gods, yet we use eggs from fertility goddesses, obelisks, fir trees, and fir cones which are all fertility or phallus symbols of other gods. The church uses them for the worship of “God”, on the feast days of the gods, in the name of worshipping “God” or Jesus, even though Yahweh says not to do such deeds. They even put these symbols on the altar where they pray to the living God.

Deu 12:29 “When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
Deu 12:30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’
Deu 12:31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

This is not an Old Testament command “done away with” because Jesus prophesies to the churches in Revelation about those who follow the practices of Balaam and Jezebel. The church today does this very thing with the same gods of Balak and the Northern kingdom, also promoted by Jezebel and Ahab. They are destined for tribulation because of these practices, according to Jesus.

Rev 2:18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
Rev 2:19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Sexual immorality spoken of here is whoring with other gods. It is a main theme in the Old Testament. If Jesus states He will give to each according to their works, what works is He speaking of? It is not works that we make up, such as how often we go to a church building, hear a sermon, name a pew after one of our relatives, or anything else of our own imagination.

3. Wrong name

The name of the Creator has been blotted out by words such as LORD and God which disguises and hides the Creator God, Yahweh. Here is how these verses in Exodus are rendered in most translations:

Exo 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
Exo 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Exo 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

God didn’t say His name is “the LORD”. “LORD” is a substitution for His name put there by translators because in Judaism, one is not allowed to say the name. Their substitution of choice is Ha’shem, which simply means “the name” in Hebrew. A more honest translation gives us the name of the Father. In most Bibles, this name, יהוה, is substituted over 6000 times. Many ancient transcripts of the scriptures, whether in Hebrew or Greek, used the Paleo Hebrew font for the name of God, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

Exo 3:13 But Moses said to God, “Look, if I go to the Israelites and I say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ then what shall I say to them?”
Exo 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I am that I am.” And he said, “So you must say to the Israelites, ‘I am sent me to you.'”
Exo 3:15 And God said again to Moses, “So you must say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.’

How can we call on His name if we don’t know it, talk about it or say it? Name also means fame, reputation and identity, so we are not simply getting caught up with the four letters of the Tetragrammaton.

Psa 9:9 And Yahweh will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of distress.
Psa 9:10 And those who know your name will trust in you, for you do not forsake those who seek you, O Yahweh.

4. Wrong identity

There is not a people group Israel and another people group “the church”. There is only one Israel of God. Dispensationalism theology crept into the church in the late 1800’s and has spread broadly to give us many false beliefs.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
One in Christ
Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Eph 2:15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
Eph 2:16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Eph 2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

If we follow Yahweh through faith in Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, meaning salvation, we are grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel. We do not replace Israel, nor do we have a different prophetic path than Israel. Believing the “church” is some separate entity, with a different path than who the “church” believes is Israel, is a form of replacement theology.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

5. Wrong Messiah

There are many versions of Jesus today. The Jesus of the Bible kept the commandments as did His followers. Keeping the commandments is what defines followers of Yahweh. Jesus was one with the father, and we need to be one with Jesus.

Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Mat 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Mat 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

John also tells us to follow the commandments.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1Jn 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
1Jn 2:5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
1Jn 2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Paul also:

1Co 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Finally, our call to endurance until the end:

Rev 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

If people keep a different special day of the week, different holy days and feast days, have a different identity, and do not follow the commandments of Yahweh, then it sounds like it is a god other than Yahweh, the Creator God of the Bible, that is being worshipped. We were warned about this:

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.

This is serious business with eternal consequences. I do not want to go against Yahweh, even if pastors and teachers say it is not important to do what Yahweh said to do any more, or it was for someone else. It is much like the serpent asking Eve, “did God really say?” Paul tells us the same thing:

2Co 11:3 But I am afraid lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be led astray from the sincerity and the purity of devotion to Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if the one who comes proclaims another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you put up with it well enough!

2Co 11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light.

There is a movement worldwide where people are abandoning the traditions of men, presented in the church, and are starting to follow the commandments of Yahweh. This is prophetic.

Deu 4:27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.
Deu 4:28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.

This is a modern reformation that we are witnessing. Unfortunately, the first reformation never made a clean break from Rome, and all of the pagan traditions and false beliefs slowly have worked their way back in to the point where there are over 40,000 denominations derived from one book. Along with all these belief systems, there are as many different versions of Jesus and God.

The people that are leaving mainline denominations are not in any way leaving the faith. Once a person sees error and continues in that error, that person will be held accountable. No one wants to be in that group.

1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1Pe 1:17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
1Pe 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Peter was talking to those who were “in exile”, the Northern kingdom, the so called lost ten tribes or the House of Israel, who were cut off from Yahweh for whoring after other gods and rejecting the commandments of Yahweh. Jesus made a way for them to come back to covenant, along with the rest of the nations they mingled with. This is the theme of the book of Hosea. We do not want to be guilty of the same sins that Yahweh divorced and exiled the House of Israel for committing . They continually broke the commandments of Yahweh.

There are home fellowships starting in many places along with long distance Zoom and Skype meetings with people from all over the world. It is amazing to see the Creator draw His people back to His Word. My family started practicing home church during the pandemic and have not looked back. We are looking forward to a time when there will be more like-minded believers to fellowship with locally.

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

We have been hearing rumours of there being a third temple built in the Holy land for many years. Is this what we are to expect? How much prophecy hinges on this happening? What if the third temple was already built and destroyed? Let’s investigate some of the points scripture speaks about. Hopefully, there will be something discussed that will prompt the reader”s own study.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians when the temple in Jerusalem was still standing. It was not destroyed until 70AD. In one of these letters to the Corinthians, Paul declares that the believer is the temple of God and quotes Ezekiel.

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
2Co 6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Here is the scripture in Ezekiel Paul is referencing.

Eze 37:23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Eze 37:24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.
Eze 37:25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.
Eze 37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
Eze 37:27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel also had a vision of a new temple. Is this the temple everyone is breathlessly waiting for to be built in the nation state of Israel that the AntiChrist will defile? I seriously doubt it. The new temple is described in Ezekiel chapters 40-42. In chapter 43, the glory of Yahweh fills the temple. Ezekiel describes Yahweh coming back to the temple just like the vision he had earlier of Him leaving the temple, but this time: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites to eternity”.

Eze 43:1 And he brought me to the gate which was facing east.
Eze 43:2 And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters and the land radiated due to his glory!
Eze 43:3 And the appearance of the vision which I saw was as the vision which I saw at his coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as the vision which I saw by the Kebar River, and I fell on my face.
Eze 43:4 And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple by the way of the gate facing east.
Eze 43:5 And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple!
Eze 43:6 And I heard someone speaking to me from the house, and a man was standing beside me.
Eze 43:7 And he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile my holy name with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead of their kings on their high places.
Eze 43:8 When they placed their threshold with my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the wall was between me and between them, then they defiled my holy name, with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger.
Eze 43:9 Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he also declares the temple is the believer and the Spirit dwells in us.

1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1Co 3:17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul tells us the AntiChrist is going to take his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Is Paul referring to a physical temple, or in what he calls the temple of God, the believer’s own body?

2Th 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
2Th 2:2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

It is very possible that the AntiChrist will try to cause the bodily temple to be defiled with his “mark”. It could be by DNA manipulation, artificial intelligence or something that we do not even know is possible yet. The AntiChrist could defile the human body to the point to where it becomes irredeemable. This seems more likely to me than an AntiChrist figure sitting in a physical temple in the nation state of Israel, because there cannot be a legitimate temple with sacrifices until Jesus returns to Earth.

Rev 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
Rev 14:7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Rev 14:8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
Rev 14:9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Rev 14:10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

Rev 16:2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

In the new heaven and new Earth, John did not see a temple in his vision described in Revelation.

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
Rev 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,
Rev 21:25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.
Rev 21:26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
Rev 21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

However, we know there is currently a heavenly temple.

Rev 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Why is there an ark of His covenant in the heavenly temple during the futuristic events described in Revelation if it was done away with as modern Christianity tries to tell us? We know Moses was commanded to make a copy of everything he saw in his vision of the heavenly things. The writer of Hebrews describes what is in the ark of the covenant, which is the covenant. The same tenants of the original covenant are in the heavenly ark. It is administered differently now through Yeshua, not requiring sacrifices of bulls and goats that were added because of sin, but the original covenant terms did not change.

Heb 9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.
Heb 9:2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.
Heb 9:3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,
Heb 9:4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

When Yahweh originally spoke in an audible voice to all twelve tribes and the people of Egypt who joined God’s people, it says,”and he did not add anything”.

Deu 5:22 “These words Yahweh spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire and the very thick cloud with a loud voice, and he did not add anything, and then he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

This is what Yahweh always wanted from his people. These are the terms of the covenant Jesus made it possible for us to return.

Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Act 3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
Act 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

What temple did Ezekiel see in his vision? It wasn’t in the new heaven and new Earth, it doesn’t appear to be the heavenly temple; therefore, it could be the temple the Messiah occupies during his one thousand year reign on Earth.

Zec 14:1 Look! A day is coming for Yahweh, when your plunder will be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, like when he fights on a day of battle.
Zec 14:4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half, from east to west, by a very great valley; and half of the mountain will withdraw toward the north, and the other half toward the south.
Zec 14:5 And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, because the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal, and you will flee like you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. And Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
Zec 14:6 And then on that day there will not be light, the precious things will congeal.
Zec 14:7 There shall be continuous day—it is known to Yahweh—not day and not night; and at evening time there will be light.
Zec 14:8 And then on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen both in the summer and in the winter.
Zec 14:9 And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one.
Zec 14:10 All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
Zec 14:11 And they will dwell in it, and there will be no more ban imposed, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.
Zec 14:12 And this will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples that fight against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
Zec 14:13 And then on that day a great panic from Yahweh will fall on them, and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of another.
Zec 14:14 And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold and silver, and garments in great abundance.
Zec 14:15 Like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and every kind of animal in those camps.
Zec 14:16 And then every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:17 And then whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them.
Zec 14:18 And if the clan of Egypt will not go up and come in, on them will be that plague Yahweh inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:20 On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to Yahweh.” And the cooking pots in the house of Yahweh will be holy like the sacrificial basins before the altar.
Zec 14:21 And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a trader in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.

None of that prophecy in Zechariah has happened yet. The survivors of this terrible day will be required to yearly celebrate the feast of booths. The feasts of booths is supposedly one of the feasts that was “ done away with” or “something the Jews did”, but here it is happening after the Messiah returns.

Looking at the collective body of believers as the temple again, Paul refers to God’s people as the temple in Ephesians.

Eph 2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Eph 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Eph 2:21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Eph 2:22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

If we, as fellow citizens with the saints, collectively make up the structure of the temple, what does that say for the effect of our actions? For example, I always heard that smoking was a bad thing to do because our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Is that true according to scripture? Smoking seems to be a bad idea based on the negative health affects, but I have not run across a command not to smoke anywhere in the Bible. Many Christians will cite Bible verse upon Bible verse as to why a person shouldn’t smoke, but in reality it is not there explicitly. Do not misunderstand, I am not advocating smoking. I am just pointing out the hoops that people will jump through to say smoking is defiling the temple of the body, yet something that is plainly written, described by Yahweh as a temple defilement, will go unmentioned.

Lev 11:43 You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them.
Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Lev 11:46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,
Lev 11:47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

Although we cannot find anything about smoking, there is a large list of creatures that will defile our temple, if eaten. If we truly are the temple of God, how many more actions can we find that will defile the temple? Yahweh paints a picture that resembles the way things are today, and could be very well prophesying to this generation and the descendants of Ephraim.

Jer 7:3 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place.
Jer 7:4 Do not trust in the deceitful words, saying, ‘The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.’
Jer 7:5 For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor,
Jer 7:6 you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods to your harm,
Jer 7:7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.
Jer 7:8 Look, you are relying for yourselves on deceitful words without benefiting.
Jer 7:9 Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear falsely? And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known?
Jer 7:10 And then you come and you stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and you say, ‘we are safe to go on doing all of these detestable things.’
Jer 7:11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it,” declares Yahweh.
Jer 7:12 “For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
Jer 7:13 And now, because of your doing all these things,” declares Yahweh, “and I have spoken to you over and over again, and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered,
Jer 7:14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you are trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors what I did to Shiloh.
Jer 7:15 And I will cast you out of my sight just as I cast out all of your blood relatives, all of the offspring of Ephraim.”‘

The actions that defiled the physical temple will still defile the temple today. With our bodies being the temple as Paul declares multiple times, how then should we live if not righteousness and holy before God? This is what Yahweh is saying to the contemporary church: Jeremiah 7:10 “And then you come and you stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and you say, ‘we are safe to go on doing all of these detestable things’”.

The temple discussion is a broad topic. In summary, here are a few points to consider:

1. Everything Moses built was a copy of the heavenly temple he was shown by Yahweh.

2. Ezekiel’s vision of a new temple could be the temple that will be on Earth during the Messiah’s reign on Earth before the new heavens and Earth, or it could be the temple Herod built before the first advent of Jesus.

3. The body of believers are the temple of God collectively, where the Spirit or breath of God physically dwells.

4. There is currently a temple in Heaven where Jesus operates as the high priest, and Jesus cannot be a priest while on Earth. This is revealed in Hebrews.

5. There will not be a temple in the new heavens and Earth because God and the lamb are the temple.

As the embodiment of the temple of God, we can learn how we should conduct ourselves by studying the instructions of the tabernacle Moses was instructed to build and the things that defile it. We do not have to make up new things that we think will defile a person when we pay no regard to the things God said will defile a person.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.

Luke 13:28-29

By now it should be obvious that the theme of most of my blog posts concerns commandment keeping, and how the church at large is, for the most part, is not doing this. There are two schools of thought at minimum, and many more, if we consider all of the doctrine that has come into existence over the last 2000 years. Let’s examine the doctrines that I was taught in Catholic, Pentecostal and Baptist churches during the first 45 years of my life.

1. The Old Testament is a series of stories to give us material for life lessons, Sunday school stories and sermon topics. For example, “face your giants like David”. These giants may be out of control credit card debt, or an abusive boss. Another example is “don’t look back” as Lot’s wife was guilty of doing, causing her to turn into a pillar of salt. On one hand, the Old Testament is reduced to illustrations and children’s stories, yet on the other hand, we are told to believe every word written in the Bible because it is the Word of God.

2. Any Old Testament law that Yahweh gave to Moses is obsolete now, part of an old covenant that Jesus nailed to the cross. This includes eating unclean animals, sexual conduct, Sabbath and feast keeping. Those are all things that the Jews did, and Yahweh, or the LORD, is not concerned with those things anymore; some more, some less depending on what denomination a person references. All would agree eating unclean animals and feast days do not matter, except for the day of Pentecost in some denominations, which is the feast of Shavuot. Tithing is not part of this. Yahweh expects that law to stand, but not the others.

3. Jesus was born on December 25. This is the day we celebrate his birth. If questioned, we say no one knows when he was actually born, then sing happy birthday Jesus anyway. Jesus was crucified on a Friday afternoon after the spring equinox, and rose three days and three nights later, early Sunday morning, which is celebrated on the day of Easter.

4. The Sabbath is no longer important, although it was changed from the 7th day of the week to the 1st day of the week, Sunday. This is the Lord’s day now and it is expected that the believer will attend church at least one or two times, depending on the denomination.

5. There are two groups of people that belong to God. “The church”, which is expected to be miraculously removed from the Earth before a time period called “the tribulation”, and the “Jews”, who will be required to endure the period called “the tribulation” while “the church” is in heaven with Jesus.

6. When we die, some non-material part of us immediately goes to be with Jesus, where we will see disembodied spirits of our loved ones. Unless of course we didn’t make it because of some undefined sin in our life, which then, our disembodied spirit goes to a place called hell, where the devil is with his demons. There is also something called a resurrection, where the believer gets their body back at some point.

There are obviously more items that we could consider; however, these give a generalized view of what I learned in all the years I attended the various denominations mentioned earlier. Are these views right? Does a non-material part of us depart to a good place or bad place when we die as the greek philosophers taught? Does God have two groups of followers He treats differently? Most importantly, did the laws, or instructions given by Yahweh, really get eliminated so we no longer have to be concerned with them? What if that view is wrong? What are the ramifications of thinking we no longer are required to do anything Yahweh said? What if the deception Jesus spoke about was these very things I am speaking about?

Mat 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

I have always wondered who the elect were that could be deceived, and I always prayed that I would somehow not be one of these people tricked and bamboozled out of the Kingdom of God. It was not until I started studying the Bible and asking hard questions of my belief systems that I realized something: either most of what I believed was wrong, or we have to take what tradition tells us as truth above what the Word of God tells us.

Unfortunately, in my experience, it does not go well when any of these points are brought up to people in church leadership who, logically, should be able to easily make things clear. After all, they are formerly educated in theology and their job is to study scripture, pray, and know these things inside out. At one time, I thought the reason I could not reconcile scripture with the theology I was being taught was due to my lack of understanding. As I studied more, I began to realize no one could reconcile scripture with many of our belief systems handed down to us. “It’s a mystery” is not an acceptable answer for questions with potentially eternal consequences.

I am extremely happy that no one was able to satisfy my quest for truth. Now, the deception that I was wondering about earlier becomes clearer daily. So why all the effort trying to tell people what I have discovered, writing blog posts that seem to ramble on and on? For one, in person discussion is complicated. It took me years, with hours of searching, praying and studying. It is impossible to have a discussion of these matters with someone who only gets a verse or two a week from the Bible, or a passage with modern commentary in a devotional every so often. These blog posts are meant to be a spring board for people who are interested in searching the heart of God for themselves. I do not want people to fall into the trap of blindly believing what they are told, and then just hoping for the best. It is critical for a successful life on Earth and the after life to seek God with all your heart. I will point out controversial matters so people that want to get it right will double check what they believe. If there is no concern of these matters, than that is a huge problem. I certainly do not understand it all, and collectively we could search and study together. With the help of the Holy Spirit of Truth, we could learn how to live a life pleasing to Yahweh. However, if we just want to be told what to believe, and are not allowed to ask hard questions, then it is not what seeking the heart of God looks like. It is merely a pagan cult with its associated rituals.

Act 17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Act 17:12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

The question is, do we do what the Father said to do, or do what religion tells us to do? Is the following verse in Jeremiah solely historical, or does it apply today as well?

Jer 6:16 Thus says Yahweh: “Stand at the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is, and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Jer 6:17 And I raised up watchmen over you: ‘Listen attentively to the sound of a horn.’ But they said, ‘We will not listen attentively.’
Jer 6:18 Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O community, what will happen to them.
Jer 6:19 Hear, O earth, look, I am about to bring disaster to this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened attentively to my words, and my teaching, they have rejected it also.

Judgement is coming. Do believers disobeying the Father really think they can live contrary to the Father’s commands and escape tribulation in a rapture? Look at this prophetic warning from Yahweh through the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 66:15 For look! Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the storm wind, to give back his anger in wrath, and his rebuke in flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword, and those slain by Yahweh shall be many.
Isa 66:17 Those who sanctify themselves and those who cleanse themselves to go into the gardens after the one in the middle, eating the flesh of swine and detestable things and rodents together shall come to an end!” declares Yahweh.
Isa 66:18 “And I—their works and thoughts!—am about to come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.
Isa 66:19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow; Tubal and Javan, the faraway coastlands that have not heard of my fame, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations,
Isa 66:20 and bring all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to Yahweh on horses and chariots and in litters and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh.
Isa 66:21 And indeed, I will take some of them as priests and the Levites,” says Yahweh.
Isa 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and earth that I am about to make shall stand before me,” declares Yahweh, “so shall your descendants and your name stand.
Isa 66:23 And this shall happen: From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh.
Isa 66:24 “And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

There is going to be some people group who are going to be eating rodents and swine’s flesh (hotdogs?) when Yahweh returns in the future, and He is not happy about it. I do not want that to be me. But wait, I thought it was Jesus coming back, not Yahweh? That is a good question, but for our purposes it means the same thing. These are the words of Jesus, also called Yeshua, meaning salvation.

Rev 22:11 The one who does evil, let him do evil still, and the defiled, let him be defiled still, and the righteous, let him practice righteousness still, and the holy, let him be holy still.”
Rev 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what his deeds are!
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Rev 22:14 Blessed are the ones who wash their robes, so that their authority will be over the tree of life and they may enter into the city through the gates.
Rev 22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

Jesus tells us to do the will of the Father.

Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Did the will of the Father change? If it truly did, what is the purpose of the Old Testament? Paul tells us the purpose of what we call the Old Testament. It is for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness. There was no other scripture when Paul wrote these words to Timothy.

2Ti 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it
2Ti 3:15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

When I think of training for righteousness, these verses come to mind:

Lev 19:1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 19:2 “Speak to all the community of the Israelites, and say to them, ‘You must be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
Lev 19:3 Each of you must revere your mother and your father, and you must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God.
Lev 19:4 You must not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal; I am Yahweh your God.

Lev 20:25 And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or with the bird or with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you as unclean.
Lev 20:26 And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.

Peter reiterates the same message in his letter to the Galatians and other dispersed Israelites:

1Pe 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1Pe 1:17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
1Pe 1:18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
1Pe 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

I read Peter’s message as follows: since Jesus ransomed you from your sin and inevitable eternal death with His own blood, and He is coming to judge according to each one’s deeds, be fearful and obedient to what the Father says to do.

There is only one way to be holy in conduct in the eyes of Yahweh. Imagine if I am wrong and at the judgement Jesus saying to me, “You were a little over zealous with guarding my commandments, just chill Gary”. That scenario seems ridiculous in light of all scripture. Peter says to conduct yourself in fear. He is not talking about fearing what the pastor will think if you can’t make it to Wednesday night Bible study, or if you do not donate to the next church building project. It is how you conduct your whole life before Yahweh. So, if I keep feast days and rest on Sabbaths as the Father said, and it turns out I didn’t have to, what have I lost? If I eat meat only from animals the Father declared clean and don’t mix the things of pagan gods with the things of Yahweh, will I be faulted for these actions by Yahweh? Not according to scripture. I also get the benefit of rest and eating healthy food. All of this is still useless without feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and the more important aspects of loving your neighbour. I have been only focusing the “love God with all your heart” commands. If you love Him, you will do what he says to do with love. Part of this love is warning others.

What if the church’s status quo is wrong? What if the majority are wrong? What will happen if we break all the commandments of Yahweh because we were deceived into thinking they didn’t matter anymore? What if Yahweh still gets angry because we use symbols of pagan gods for worshipping Him? What if He wants us to still do the fourth commandment and honour the Sabbath days because He is lord of the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath? The only conclusion I can find in scripture is that not regarding Yahweh’s instructions will not yield very good results, on Earth and in the future to come.

Mat 7:22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
Mat 7:23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Luk 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Luk 13:25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’
Luk 13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
Luk 13:27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
Luk 13:28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

Notice in these next verses Jesus is purging the law breakers out of His kingdom. This does not appear to be speaking of people who are outside the kingdom already.

Mat 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
Mat 13:42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

This is speaking of the tares and sounds much like the prophet Malachi. It should not be a surprise because Jesus, or Yeshua, is the salvation and Word of Yahweh. When Yahweh speaks through the prophets, is it not His Word Yeshua?

Mal 4:1 “For look! The day is about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says Yahweh of hosts. “It will not leave behind for them root or branch.
Mal 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like fattened calves.
Mal 4:3 You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am going to act,” says Yahweh of hosts.
Mal 4:4 “Remember the instruction of my servant Moses, which I commanded him at Horeb to all Israel, the rules and regulations.

It is the same event. A similar story in Ezekiel, where in the future, Yahweh will purge the rebels that transgress against Him from His own followers.

Eze 20:33 “As I live,” declares the Lord Yahweh, “surely with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage pouring forth I will reign as king over you!
Eze 20:34 And I will bring you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage poured out.
Eze 20:35 Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face.
Eze 20:36 Just as I executed justice on your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, likewise I will execute justice on you!” declares the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 20:37 “And I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Eze 20:38 And I will purge the rebels from among you and the ones transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land where they are living as aliens, but into the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am Yahweh.

Finally, Paul’s message to Timothy is “depart from iniquity”.

2Ti 2:19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Thankfully, we don’t have to guess what is meant by lawlessness, iniquity, transgressing against Yahweh, rebelling and sin. All we have to do is accept what virtually everyone who took part in putting scripture on paper told us. Personally, I think it is clear that we should endeavour to do exactly what the Father says to the best of our ability.

What if I am wrong? According to Deuteronomy, I get blessings for following the instructions of Yahweh.

Deu 28:1 “And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to diligently observe all his commandments that I am commanding you today, then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth.
Deu 28:2 And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and they shall have an effect on you if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

What if the “the law is nailed to the cross” and the “Old Testament doesn’t matter” crowd of the contemporary church is wrong? Depart, purge, consume, trampled, repayment, judgement, recompense; not a good scenario. Be sure of your faith! Repent!

Psa 119:162 I am rejoicing over your word, like one who finds great spoil.
Psa 119:163 I hate and abhor falsehood; I love your law.
Psa 119:164 I praise you seven times in the day for your righteous ordinances.
Psa 119:165 Great peace is for those who love your law, and they do not have a cause for stumbling.
Psa 119:166 I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh, and do your commands.

“Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive’. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”

MatThew 13:14-15

Springtime is here and the weather is starting to improve. It is finally time to begin sowing seeds in the fields and in the gardens. The Bible is full of farming metaphors, much like the parable of the sower that Jesus tells His listeners.

Mat 13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.
Mat 13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
Mat 13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
Mat 13:6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
Mat 13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
Mat 13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Mat 13:9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus was not talking about planting a garden in the proper soil. As with most of His parables, Jesus was talking about people and their relationship with the Father. If the person who receives the good seed has a mind that is focused on the richness of Yahweh, he will nurture the seed and produce fruit. Others will fade away, lose interest or look for teachers that teach doctrines that suit their preconceived ideas. Jesus explains the parable to His close disciples.

Mat 13:18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:
Mat 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
Mat 13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Mat 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mat 13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
Mat 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, meaning salvation of Yahweh, explains why He speaks in parables. He gives those who think it is too deep or hard to understand a way to go along their merry way, to their own destruction. This is why He uses the idiom “He who has ears, let him hear”. In other words, if someone is not interested in the things of Yahweh, or is happy in their own works that they deem right, their ears will not be open. If a person seeks with all their heart and applies what they are shown, then more understanding will be given.

Mat 13:10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
Mat 13:11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
Mat 13:12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Mat 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
Mat 13:14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

When good seed is sown in good soil, great things happen. Understand and turn to obedience, and He says He will heal you. What else is there to turn to that has any substance? Emotion? What happens when the emotion wears off?

Another scenario to consider is if the seed that is being sown is corrupt or a false gospel. Jesus also addresses this using farming analogies. There have always been prophets, pastors and priests who tell the people what they want to hear. The truth is not popular. For example, if a pastor today decided to embrace the scripturally ordained Sabbath day instead of Sunday, that pastor would be quickly removed from his church by the leadership or denomination, losing their income. If a pastor discussed most topics that I discuss in my blog posts, they would be run out of town. Why is that so? It is partly due to people not wanting to hear anything that is uncomfortable or that conflicts with what they already believe. There are some churches that forbid teaching anything from the book of Revelation. Revelation exposes the false doctrines of the churches and teaches commandment keeping, so in that regard, it makes sense.

I am currently reading an interesting book called Paganism in the Roman Empire. One character trait of the pagan cults was not to question cult traditions, and the older the tradition, the better. This trait was transferred to the early church by pagan converts and still exists today. Tradition trumps scriptural truth.

Mat 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Mat 7:16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

How do we know what good fruit looks like if we do not study the words of Yahweh? We take the words of prophets selling us smooth doctrines. Yahweh, speaking through Jeremiah, tells us these delusional prophets will tell us to disregard the word of Yahweh.

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.’

Disregarding the word of Yahweh is speaking of the life giving instructions He has given us. For example, “calamity will not come upon you if you disregard the instructions of God; the commandments are done away with and He sent His son, Jesus, so you can now break all of the rules that were important to Him in times past.” Is that not the main message of Christianity today? Disregard the words of Yahweh, we have a new god now, Jesus. Of course this is not true, Jesus did not come with his own, different message, but only what He heard His Father say.

Mat 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

We are not speaking of good seeds landing in poor soil anymore. This is bad doctrine being spewed out of the mouths of ear tickling pastors, which make people believe they are perfectly fine rebelling against God.

Eze 34:1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock?
Eze 34:3 The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock.
Eze 34:4 The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and with respect to the hurt you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force and with ruthlessness.
Eze 34:5 And they were scattered without a shepherd, and they were as food for all the animals of the field when they were scattered.
Eze 34:6 My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world my flock were scattered, and there was no one seeking them, and there was no one searching for them.”
Eze 34:7 Therefore, hear, O shepherds, the word of Yahweh:
Eze 34:8 “As I live,” declares the Lord Yahweh, “Surely because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to all the animals of the field, since there was not a shepherd, since my shepherds have not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,'”
Eze 34:9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh,
Eze 34:10 ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will no longer feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them.”

This is not just history from the Old Testament. This is for the latter days. When those who have been led astray find themselves in tribulation, they will need to remember Deuteronomy, chapter 4.

Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
Deu 4:31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

There are not two gods, one for Israel and one for “the church”. Following Israel’s God, Yahweh, and His son Yeshua, makes a person part of Israel. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had his named changed to Israel by Yahweh. Worshipping the same God as Abraham, Isaac and Israel, makes the worshipper the same as Israel, or Jacob. This is not speaking of a political state currently in the Middle East. There are many verses to support this in the Old Testament and New Testament. First, as the Israelites were leaving Egypt, many Egyptians came with them. They were to follow the same commandments.

Lev 24:22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.”

Paul also tells us how we are grafted into the cultivated tree.

Rom 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
Rom 11:19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
Rom 11:20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
Rom 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

Jesus made a way for the branches from the wild olive tree (nations) to be grafted into the cultivated tree (Israel), allowing those formerly cut off to be brought near.

Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Those in Christ are no longer strangers to the covenants of promise. We are allowed to partake in these covenants that we were locked out of in the past due to unbelief. Often we only hear of the blessings. I have heard it said that the church will receive the blessings and Israel will receive the curses. That is not how it works. Salvation is through faith and the blessings come from obedience. The curses go to the disobedient. Read the rest of Deuteronomy chapter 28 for the whole picture. Are you enduring the curses from disobedience? This question is worth consideration. Psalms 119:165 tells us: “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble”. 

Deu 28:45 “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
Deu 28:46 And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring forever.

Jesus told us Himself, notwithstanding modern day, ear tickling preaching, that we are to follow the commandments of Yahweh, not practicing falsehoods.

Rev 22:11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
Rev 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
Rev 22:15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Rev 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Repent, be holy and righteous. The only way to do this is to study and learn the ways of Yahweh and His son, Yeshua, having eyes to see and ears to hear.

And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt”.

Exodus 32:5-7

The people of Yahweh did not get very far in their journey out of Egypt before they had their first major blunder. Moses was on the mountain with Yahweh, and the people became impatient, telling Aaron to make them a god so they could have a feast. Aaron complied, melting earrings and jewelry to fashion a calf. The one detail that is often missed in this story is that they were using this calf to worship Yahweh.

Exo 32:5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.”

This was the first false feast dedicated to Yahweh. They used the golden calf to represent Yahweh who brought them out of Egypt; ate, drank and had a good time. Did they say; “God knows my heart” and “We are doing this to honour God who brought us out of Egypt. That is what it means to me.”? This event happened after the people had heard Yahweh himself speak the Ten Commandments in an audible voice at the base of Mount Horeb. Yahweh was not happy that Aaron made a symbol to represent Him and create a feast to honour Him which He had not commanded.

Deu 9:19 For I was in dread from being in the presence of the anger and the wrath with which Yahweh was angry with you so as to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me also at that time.
Deu 9:20 And with Aaron Yahweh was angry enough to destroy him, and I prayed also for Aaron at that time.
Deu 9:21 And your sinful thing that you had made, the molten calf, I took and I burned it with fire, and I crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was crushed to dust, and I threw its dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain.
Deu 9:22 “And also at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to anger.
Deu 9:23 And when Yahweh sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, and you did not listen to his voice.

Gideon was another person who dealt with false worship and symbols. Yahweh told him to cut down the sacred tree, the Asherah, that was on the altar they used to worship Baal, set up a proper sacrifice and use the wood from the sacred tree to burn the sacrifice.

Jdg 6:25 Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
Jdg 6:26 and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.
Jdg 6:27 Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.
Jdg 6:28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
Jdg 6:29 And they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.”
Jdg 6:30 And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.”
Jdg 6:31 But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”

Any worship that is done in a manner not prescribed by Yahweh is by default, Baal worship. If we make up our own ways to worship Yahweh then we cannot be worshipping Yahweh because He commands us to worship His way.

Another great example of false worship is found in the story of Jeroboam. Yahweh handed Jeroboam the northern kingdom of Israel with only one condition; that is to follow the commandments.

1Ki 11:29 It happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and he accidentally met Ahijah the Shilonite the prophet on the way. Now he had clothed himself with new clothing. While the two of them were alone in the field,
1Ki 11:30 Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.
1Ki 11:31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes,
1Ki 11:32 but one tribe shall be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel;
1Ki 11:33 because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the Ammonites. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as did David his father.
1Ki 11:34 But I will not take all of the kingdom from his hand, but I will make him a leader all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my ordinances.
1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingship from the hand of his son, and I will give ten tribes to you.
1Ki 11:36 To his son I will give one tribe in order to be a lamp for my servant David, always before my face, in Jerusalem the city in which I have chosen to place my name.
1Ki 11:37 You I will take, and you shall reign over all your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 It shall be that if you listen to all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
1Ki 11:39 I will punish the offspring of David on account of this; however, not always.'”

Jeroboam could have been as great a king as David. Because of Solomon’s sin, Yahweh was handing the kingdom to Jeroboam. Unfortunately, Jeroboam wasn’t interested in the commandments of Yahweh. He decided to make up his own holiday like they had in Judah.

1Ki 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he resided in it. Then he went out from there and built Penuel.
1Ki 12:26 Then Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David
1Ki 12:27 if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The heart of this people will return to their master Rehoboam the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and return to him.”
1Ki 12:28 And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
1Ki 12:29 He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan.
1Ki 12:31 Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests from all walks of life who were not from the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32 Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the Israelites, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.

As soon as symbols from other gods or cultures are brought into worship, or new religious feasts are created, which Yahweh did not command, the whole affair becomes Baal worship.

Ezekiel was shown abominations happening in the temple. Abomination is Strong’s H8441

H8441
תּעבה / תּועבה
tô‛êbah
BDB Definition:
1) a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable
1a) in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages)
1b) in ethical sense (of wickedness etc)

Eze 8:1 And then in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me. And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there,
Eze 8:2 and I saw, and look! A figure like the appearance of a man; from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and upward was like the appearance of brightness, like the outward appearance of amber.
Eze 8:3 And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate that faced north, at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous.
Eze 8:4 And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley.
Eze 8:5 And he said to me, “Son of man, lift up now your eyes toward the north.” And I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance.
Eze 8:6 And he said to me, “Son of man, “Do you see what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing here so as to drive me from my sanctuary, and yet you will see again greater detestable things.”
Eze 8:7 And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall.
Eze 8:8 And he said to me, “Son of man, dig now through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway.
Eze 8:9 And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doing here.
Eze 8:10 And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creatures and detestable beasts; and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around.
Eze 8:11 And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing before them. Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up.
Eze 8:12 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.'”
Eze 8:13 And he said to me, “Still you will see again greater detestable things that they are doing.”
Eze 8:14 And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.
Eze 8:15 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Still you will see again greater detestable things than these.”
Eze 8:16 And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun.
Eze 8:17 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Was it too small a thing for the house of Judah to do the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and they provoked me to anger again, and look! They are putting the branch to their nose.
Eze 8:18 And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”

These abominations, sacred trees and pillars, drove Yahweh away. It is a wise thing to study what Yahweh considers an abomination. If we have abominations in our life, how do we expect Yahweh to dwell in us? If we are doing abominable practices in the churches, will Yahweh do anything different than He showed Ezekiel? Any practice Yahweh did not command is Baal worship. These are the traditions of men.

Mat 15:3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
Mat 15:5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”
Mat 15:6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
Mat 15:7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
Mat 15:8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
Mat 15:9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Jesus, or as He is called in His own language, Yeshua, was just as displeased with traditions of men put in the place of true worship or commandment keeping. This is due to the fact that Yeshua was the Word of Yahweh on Earth as a man. He was not a new god sent to start a new religion any different from that which He spoke as the Word at Mount Horeb, giving the Ten Commandments. It’s the same message. Even when Yeshua was upbraiding the Pharisees for neglecting the weightier matters of the law, He did not give them the option of neglecting any of them.

Mat 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

People today like to imply that the Pharisees angered Jesus because they were teaching God’s law. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The Pharisees were teaching their own law in place of God’s law. They were breaking God’s law by adding and taking away from it as they saw fit. This is what goes on in many churches today. From Aaron’s calf to the ways of the Pharisees, not much has changed.

Mat 23:2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
Mat 23:3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
Mat 23:4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
Mat 23:5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
Mat 23:6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
Mat 23:7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
Mat 23:8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
Mat 23:11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Mat 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

From the beginning, Yahweh has shown us what He likes and what He hates. For example, He hates Ashreah poles, stone pillars, unjust scales and measures, eating unclean animals and the ways of the Nicolaitans. He has sent servants, prophets and even His only begotten son to warn people how to turn to His judgements, statutes and commandments. Jesus gave us a parable about this very thing, and it does not end well.

Luk 20:9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
Luk 20:10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Luk 20:11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
Luk 20:12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
Luk 20:13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
Luk 20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
Luk 20:15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
Luk 20:16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”
Luk 20:17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
Luk 20:18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

The servants, prophets and the son of God all had the same message; to repent and follow the commandments of Yahweh. Time is going to run out soon, and the owner of the vineyard is coming.

Isa 66:15 For look! Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the storm wind, to give back his anger in wrath, and his rebuke in flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword, and those slain by Yahweh shall be many.
Isa 66:17 Those who sanctify themselves and those who cleanse themselves to go into the gardens after the one in the middle, eating the flesh of swine and detestable things and rodents together shall come to an end!” declares Yahweh.
Isa 66:18 “And I—their works and thoughts!—am about to come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.
Isa 66:19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow; Tubal and Javan, the faraway coastlands that have not heard of my fame, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations,
Isa 66:20 and bring all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to Yahweh on horses and chariots and in litters and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh.
Isa 66:21 And indeed, I will take some of them as priests and the Levites,” says Yahweh.
Isa 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and earth that I am about to make shall stand before me,” declares Yahweh, “so shall your descendants and your name stand.
Isa 66:23 And this shall happen: From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh.
Isa 66:24 “And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Jesus quoted from this passage in Isaiah when talking about sin. Sin is breaking the commandments.

Mar 9:42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Mar 9:43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
Mar 9:45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
Mar 9:47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
Mar 9:48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
Mar 9:49 For everyone will be salted with fire.
Mar 9:50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Worship in spirit and truth as Yahweh commanded. Repent and leave behind the witchcraft of manmade doctrines and practices.