“If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God,then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring.
Deuteronomy 28:58–59 (LEB)
God is referenced throughout our culture in North America likely because the people that settled here from Europe were in many cases fleeing religious persecution. At a minimum, they wanted freedom to worship in their own way. I have in mind such groups as the Puritans. I doubt they foresaw the way religion would evolve into mega-churches with prosperity preaching, or how songs such as Jelly Roll’s, “Need a Favor” would be broadcast across the airways and heard throughout the land.
The full catch phrase of Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” is “I only talk to God when I need a Favor”. This song is brutally honest and probably true for many people. It is sad to hear someone refer to the one who created the universe and everything in it with such a way of disregard, and to see the apathy towards the things of God in our society.
Another instance of taking God along to our events happens every Sunday at NASCAR races. Someone prays to God before the race for the safety of the drivers and for the general enjoyment of the fans. Some of the people that pray even try to work the message of salvation into their prayer. Very clever indeed.
Amos 5:21–24 (LEB): 21 “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. 22 Yes, even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals. 23 Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps! 24 But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
There are countless other instances where God is dragged into our every day lives. Is He listening though? Does God think it is a good idea to pray for safety then send 40 cars on a mile long track travelling inches from each other at speeds of 180 miles an hour? Does God want to be talked about in country songs? One recent song I heard had a line “we still go to church on Sunday and drink beer on Saturday night”. I don’t have anything against drinking beer, but the song is just using the phrase “drinking beer” contrasted with “church on Sunday” to make a point that they casually go to church and live anyway they want the rest of the week. God is woven in our culture, but rarely do we find anyone who cares what God thinks, who God is, or what they should be doing to please God. If these questions are not asked then everyone is basically talking about an imaginary sky-friend that happily is brought along as a good luck charm.
Proverbs 28:9 (LEB): 9 He who turns his ear from listening to instruction, even his prayer isan abomination.
Turning our ear from instruction loses its meaning in English. This is not just some random set of instructions defined by a pastor, priest or religious denomination. The word being translated to “instruction” is the Hebrew word “Torah”, which are laws and instructions of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There is no where in the instructions of God that I am aware of, where we are told to briefly leave our life of disobedience to ask for a favor from God, so we can carry on with our lives. The only “favor” we receive is the grace of conviction compelling us to return to His ways spelled out to us in scripture. This was only possible through His Son, Yeshua. Yeshua told us what to do and renewed the covenant with the Father. This means that we actually can covenant with God if we walk the path laid out by Yeshua.
Luke 22:14–20 (LEB): 14 And when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you that I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took in hand a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the product of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s descendants were the only people that had a covenant with the Creator God Yahweh. Even they went out of covenant with no way to return due to disobedience. God sent His Son to gather the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” and through doing so, now the whole world can be saved.
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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day of your bringing the wave offering’s sheaf—there shall be seven full weeks. Until the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; then you shall present a new grain offering for Yahweh.
Leviticus 23:15–16 (LEB)
Shavuot is traditionally the feast day that celebrates the marriage covenant between Yahweh and His people at Mount Horeb. It is also the feast that believers gathering on that day in the first century, received the breath of God (ruach), with tongues of fire, most commonly referred to as the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means fifty in the Greek language and this is where the “Pentecostal” churches derive their name.
Leviticus 23:15–16 (LEB): 15 “ ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day of your bringing the wave offering’s sheaf—there shall be seven full weeks. 16 Until the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; then you shall present a new grain offering for Yahweh.
There are some differences of opinion on the placement of Shavuot in the calendar. Some take the counting from the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread (the day after Passover), and others count from the weekly Sabbath. The first method will cause Shavuot to land on random days of the week, and the other method will cause Shavuot to always be on a Sunday. This is why this year some were celebrating on Thursday and some will celebrate on Sunday.
One reason I believe the Sunday model of Shavuot makes sense is that it aligns with the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, Yeshua. If he was crucified in a year when Passover fell on a Wednesday, then in order to fulfill His prophecy of three days and three nights in the grave, he would have risen at the end of the regular Sabbath and in time for the appointed time of First Fruits where the sheaf is waved on the day after the Sabbath.
1 Corinthians 15:22–24 (LEB): 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming, 24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
There are clues in the New Testament that appear to show the counting starting on the first weekly Sabbath. We can see these days referred to as the first sabbath and second sabbath in scripture, but we have to use the translations that use the Textus Receptus manuscripts, such as the King James Version.
Luke 6:1 (KJV 1900): And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
The word for the “second sabbath after the first” is Strong’s G1207, meaning the second sabbath after Passover. Most Bible translations have dismissed this word and just translated it as “another sabbath”. Some Lexicons call this word a “ghost word” that crept in due to error. I believe it is a legitimate word describing the counting until the fiftieth day.
G1207 δευτερόπρωτος deuteroprōtos Thayer Definition: 1) second-first 2) the second of the first Sabbaths after the feast of the Passover
Pentecost is not an invention of the Church, and has nothing to do with Easter, but is a feast tightly woven into the fabric of the Creator. It was the time of the Feast of Weeks that Yahweh made His marriage contract with His people, the twelve tribes of Israel at Mount Horeb.
Exodus 19:1–8 (LEB): 19 In the third month after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert. 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.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, 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and I brought you to me. 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, 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.” 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. 8 And all the people together answered and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.
This was not the first time that a covenant was made during Shavuot. The book of Jubilees, found in the caves of Qumran with our oldest transcript of Genesis, gives us a great history of the Feast of Weeks.
The Book of Jubilees translated by R. H. Charles 6:15-19:
15 And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not again be a flood on the earth. 16. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. 17. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tables, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. 18. And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah-twenty-six jubilees (1309-1659 A.M.) and five weeks of years: and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah’s death, and from the day of Noah’s death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and they ate blood. 19. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain.
The book of Jubilees is written as from angels narrating the law and history to Moses when he was on the mountain. Stephen makes reference to this in the book of Acts before he was stoned. I recommend reading the book of Jubilees because it gives a little more detail than Genesis.
Acts 7:53 (LEB): 53you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!”
The instructions of the Creator were not first given at Mount Horeb to the “Jews”, as is falsely claimed today. God’s people were always given His instructions until they forgot them, or stopped doing them, and all twelve tribes were at Mount Horeb, not just the tribe of Judah.
Genesis 26:4–5 (LEB): 4 And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
The Creator, or Heavenly Father in New Testament terms, gave us His Spirit on this feast as it is recorded in the book of Acts.
Acts 2:1–4 (LEB): 2 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. 2 And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.
This rushing wind is called Ruach in Hebrew. It is translated “spirit” from the Greek word Pnoe, which also means wind or breath. We get words such as “pneumatic” and “pneumonia” from the Greek word. Before this event, the disciples of Yeshua were in hiding and not very bold. Afterwards, they went out proclaiming the gospel.
John 16:7–15 (LEB): 7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me, 10 and concerning righteousness, because I am going away to the Father and you will see me no more, 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them now. 13 But when he—the Spirit of truth—comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you the things to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and will proclaim it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he takes from what is mine and will proclaim it to you.
Once again the Father ratifies His covenant with His people on Shavuot. This time it is not with the blood of animals as in the past, but the blood of Messiah and His Spirit. What effect does this have on those present? It emboldened them to start preaching repentance to the commandments of God and the good news that was bestowed on all of mankind, to be able to share in the covenants of promise with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.
Galatians 3:13–14 (LEB): 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” 14 in order thatthe blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The curse of the law is death for breaking it, not the law itself. There were no sacrifices for breaking the ten commandments, only stoning and death by the presence of two to three witnesses. Yeshua brought a better sacrifice to the heavenly tabernacle that resolved this problem. The earthly sacrifices were insufficient and temporary.
Hebrews 10:1–18 (LEB): 10 For the law, possessing a shadow of the good things that are about to come, not the form of things itself, is never able year by year by means of the same sacrifices which they offer without interruption to make perfect those who draw near. 2 For otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the ones who worship, having been purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in them there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when he came into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me; 6 you did not delight in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sins. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— in the roll of the book it is written about me— to do your will, O God.’ 8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not want, nor did you delight in,” which are offered according to the law, 9 then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second, 10 by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices many times, which are never able to take away sins. 12 But this one, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from now on waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will decree for them after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 He also says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will never remember again.” 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
The book of Hebrews was written around the time the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and the people needed comforting. Many dispensational Christians claim this book does not apply to Christians or the Church because it was written to the Hebrews. I disagree and believe it does an excellent job explaining the covenants and how the new covenant works. We are either part of the covenant with God or we are not. The covenant is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, so any one that is a part of this must be grafted into the family of God. There is no “side deal” for the “Church”. Speaking to the gentiles, Paul gives this warning:
Romans 11:17–21 (LEB): 17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although you were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree’s richness, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in.” 20 Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
It is my opinion that after the house of Israel, that is the northern kingdom consisting of the ten tribes, was divorced from God and scattered, they seeded the whole world. Therefore, the house of Israel can come back out of the nations and be grafted back into the commonwealth of Israel. In contrast, Judah remained the keeper of the law.
Romans 3:1–2 (LEB): 3 Therefore, what is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the use of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. For first, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
On Shavuot, remember that our spiritual ancestors were delivered from slavery in Egypt at this time and instructed in the perfect ways of the Creator. His Spirit was given to write these instructions on our heart and deliver us from evil and death. Repent and believe the gospel, so that your sins can be blotted out, and a refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord!
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
“If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the…
and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. And because of this, God sends…
And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?”So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly…
But the things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way. Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be…
And he said, “Because I am with you, and this will be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on…
As many as I love, I reprove and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent!Revelation 3:19 (LEB) What must one do to be saved? Most of us were taught to say a prayer and “ask Jesus…
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her; in order that he might sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; in order…
And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind.Isaiah 64:6…
And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus.Revelation 12:17…
But be doers of the message and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, because if anyone is a hearer of the message and not a doer, this one is like someone staring at his own face in…
And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he could say nothing. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw…
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.’
Jeremiah 6:16
We lose sight of our past as society progresses and every day brings something new and enlightening to us. The lives our children are currently living would be completely foreign to our grandparents, and I am sure that our grandparents lived much differently then people one hundred years prior. It is possible to progress too far, especially when progressiveness seems to be defined by how far society is able to move away from the instructions of the Creator.
There is a Creator God who called a group of people out of the nations to deliver His message to the world. The world has always “progressed” far from the ways of God throughout history and ancient times. I am speaking of the specific God who created the universe and revealed Himself to people throughout history to deliver specific messages. These messages always involved warning people to turn from there wicked ways and practice justice and mercy. The Creator’s idea of justice is much different than how we define justice today.
Throughout the scriptures, we are told to turn back and repent. It is the ancient path that we are to turn to, despite teachers today telling us that we can forsake the commandments of God and His ancient paths. This is pure deception, and people accept this teaching because they say in their heart, “We will not walk in it.”.
Popular Bible versions have had anything about commandment keeping scrubbed from their pages where possible. An example of this is found in Revelation chapter twenty-two. The newer versions that do not use the Textus Receptus manuscripts, are clearly obfuscating the scripture. First, the King James Version:
Revelation 22:14–15 (KJV 1900): 14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
The English Standard Version, along with many others have a different rendering of these verses:
Revelation 22:14–15 (ESV): 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. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
One could argue that “those who wash their robes” are doing so by keeping the commandments; however, these words make it much easier to draw subjective meanings from the text. People will say “we will not walk in it” .
I am not implying that the King James version of the Bible is necessarily better than some of the other versions. The King James version was translated from a different manuscript than many of the modern translations. Following the “ancient paths” is something that seems God has made clear to those who seek Him diligently, but if one wants to serve God in a casual manner, these ancient paths are hidden. Is it “those who wash their robes” or “they that do His commandments”? Let the reader decide and act accordingly.
Pastor Andy Stanley is a very good example of one who has progressed to the point of abandoning the ancient paths that Jesus taught. These ideas are not new at all though. All one has to do is study the teachings (or what’s left of them) of the first century heretic, Marcion, who had a similar message as Andy Stanley. The following is from an article in churchleaders.com:
Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, argues that Jesus’ new commandment—to love one another (John 13:34)—“replaced all the old commandments.” Although the 10 Commandments “played a significant role in God’s creation of the nation of Israel,” he writes, “Jesus’ death and resurrection signalled the end of that covenant and all the rules and regulations associated with it.”
The result, Stanley says, is that Christians, as “participants in the new covenant,” are “not required to obey any of the commandments found in the first part of their Bibles.” Instead, they’re “expected to obey the single command Jesus issued as part of his new covenant: As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
People such as Andy Stanley have pitted Jesus against the Father and Creator God all through history. This was the message of Marcion too. Yahweh the Creator told us to ask for the ancient paths and prophesied there would be people like Andy Stanley that would say, “We will not walk in it”.
John 14:23–26 (LEB): 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will take up residence with him. 24 The one who 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. 25 These things I have spoken to you while residing with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—that one will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything that I said to you.
Jesus only spoke the words that His Father spoke. This is where the commandment to love one another came from. It is one of the two great commandments.
Mark 12:28–34 (LEB): 28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating. When he saw that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “That is true, Teacher. You have said correctly that he is one and there is no other except him. 33 And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And Jesus, when he saw that he had answered thoughtfully, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to put a question to him any longer.
The only way to love people as Jesus loved them is to follow the commandments. No one can love someone while stealing, lying and cheating them. The scribe in the above account knew that keeping the commandments was a higher calling than burnt offerings and sacrifices. Those things were necessary because people didn’t keep the commandments. Jesus told him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”, because Jesus saw that this scribe was starting to “get it”.
The idea that we must simply love people the way Jesus loved people, and that this is the only commandment, is an interesting concept. In one sense it is true, because it is the fulfillment of the law to love one another; however, without the complete instruction, it leaves people to define love for themselves. More recently we see this path of “love is love” that Andy Stanley is embracing, rather than the love defined by Jesus. Are we able to love people by telling them things contrary to the way God defined love? For more about this, please refer to this article at the Baptistpress: Andy Stanley’s Stance on Homosexuality Questioned.
Jesus loved people by pointing them to the ancient paths. These are the ways of His Father. If we give them the necessities of this life without preparing them for meeting the Creator, then we have not loved them.
John 8:10–11 (LEB): 10 So Jesus, straightening up and seeing no one except the woman, said to her, “Where are those accusers of yours? Does no one condemn you?” 11 And she said, “No one, Lord.” So Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
In this story, the woman was accused of adultery. The accusers tested Jesus by asking if she should be stoned. In order for her to be stoned under the law, there would have to be two or three witnesses and also the man. Jesus could not accuse her under the law because he knew the law. The point of Jesus coming to earth was so that there was forgiveness for these types of sin. Under the law, the only solution for adultery was stoning. There was no sacrifice or offering to bring to the priest to receive forgiveness for breaking these commandments. We will never know if this woman was guilty of committing adultery, but Jesus told her to “go and sin no more”. In order to “go and sin no more” we must be able to define sin. The only way to define sin is by the words of the Torah, which is the instruction of God the Father.
It is common in Christianity to say that the stipulations of the new covenant are different than that of the old covenant. This idea of “new” and “old” makes us think this way. The “new” covenant should be looked at as a refreshing of the “old” covenant with the means to be able to stay in covenant available to us. One could argue that we have not seen the fulfillment of the new covenant based on the Jeremiah quote we find in the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 8:11 (LEB): 11 And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
This sounds more like Millennium kingdom language because we still have to teach our fellow citizens about God. Everyone certainly does not know Him yet, but they will. It is up to us to point people to the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and what He taught. He taught the ancient paths of His Father. It is unfortunate that today, people like Andy Stanley are leading the masses astray. To be fair, he is just an example of thousands of leaders and denominations progressing themselves out of the kingdom of God. I pray for wisdom and guidance from the Spirit of God sent to us to deliver the truth so that we will not be deceived and believe the lie.
Isaiah 24:1–6 (LEB): 24 Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. 2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. 3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, 5 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.
The earth is going to suffer great losses, and already has, because people have broken the eternal covenant by transgressing God’s laws. Yeshua came to empower us to be able to keep the eternal covenant, not make it obsolete. The ancient paths are always better to follow than those paths presented by the progressives. Repent and believe the gospel!
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!’ And he will reply, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see…
For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. But if you do not believe that one’s writings, how will you believe my words?”John 5:46–47 (LEB) Is Jesus the antithesis of Moses? That is what we are lead to believe. After all, Moses was all about mean laws of…
Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonnade.John 10:22–23 (CJB) I know that Hanukkah is not a commanded, Biblical feast day or celebration found in Leviticus. Someone who strictly follows those days may hate Hanukkah and think its origins are tainted. Those in Christianity…
And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live.Deuteronomy 8:3 (LEB) When most…
Yahweh called your name, ‘A leafy olive tree, beautiful with fine fruit.’ With the sound of a great storm he will set fire to it, and its branches will be good for nothing. And Yahweh of hosts, the one who planted you, has spoken evil against you,because of the evil of the house of Israel…
Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’Acts 3:22–23 (LEB) There are people…
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires you used to conform to in your ignorance, but as the one who called you is holy, you yourselves be holy in all your conduct, for it is written, “You will be holy, because I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges…
Therefore, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but that the things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. You are not able to drink the cup of the…
For I say to you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 5:20 (LEB) One of the errors Christians believe is that the Pharisees were constantly being upbraided by Jesus for being a stickler on the keeping of the law of…
Therefore is the law opposed to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, certainly righteousness would have been from the law. But the scripture imprisoned all under sin, in order that the promise could be given by faith in Jesus Christ to…
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 8:12 (LEB) Remember the old chorus we used to sing in church, To Be Like Jesus? “All I ask is to be like him”…
Therefore, what is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the use of circumcision? Much in every way. For first, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.Romans 3:1–2 (LEB) Erasing history is not a new phenomenon, and there is a considerable amount of history erasing happening in real time today. Our building…
And the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah 24:5 (LEB)
I enjoy engaging with strangers on social media to discuss religious topics because there is no shortage of opinions and willingness to debate. I am exposed to many belief systems that otherwise would be unknown to me. Leaving the religious echo chamber is something I strongly recommend because when everyone thinks they believe exactly the same way about God, discussion about God ends, and the conversation turns to such things as sports and the weather.
One has to be thick-skinned in the social media religious world because when someone disagrees they will often damn a person to hell or say hurtful things “out of love” and concern. Perhaps this is the reason people are less likely to engage in person anymore. The more tolerant people supposedly become, it seems the less tolerance society has for dissenting opinions. This is especially true if the opinions are against the narrative being projected from government, media and religious institutions. Society is becoming more programmed with less ability to critically think and discuss thought openly. Authoritarians love this trend as it makes the population, congregation, or organization member easier to control and swindle. I suppose this is why discussing politics and religion is considered taboo.
This week in the social media world, I was told that I was not saved because I did not believe ultra-dispensational theology, I allegedly deny Paul, and I do not believe Jesus is God the Father. I have discussed hyper-dispensationalism and ultra-dispensationalism in my blog many times, and there are whole groups of people that believe this way. Granted, no one will introduce themselves by saying, “Hi I am a hyper-dispensationist”, but it is easy to spot after a little conversation. Hyper-dispensationalists believe that Paul’s letters are the only part of the Bible that apply to believers today. One cannot quote any scriptures from the Old Testament, the Gospels or any other letters to those in this belief system because they supposedly were written to people that were in a different dispensation, and do not apply to people living currently in the “age of grace”. The particular group of people I bumped into apparently also believe that anyone that does not believe this way has not experienced salvation.
Ephesians 3:1–5 (KJV 1900): For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
The phrase “dispensation of grace” is right here in the King James Bible, so it has to be true, right? I suppose this is one of the reasons there are “King James only” people. We loose the word “dispensation” if we dare to read a different version of the Bible.
Ephesians 3:1–5 (LEB): 3 On account of this I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 —if indeed you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace given to me for you. 3 According to revelation the mystery was made known to me, just as I wrote beforehand in brief, 4 so that you may be able when you read to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit):
One cannot assume Paul was discussing John Darby’s 19th century dispensationalism theology in these verses based on the King James Bible’s translators choice of the word “dispensation” in this verse. This belief system, that Paul was the only apostle that believers should listen to, started with a first century heresy called Marcionism, named after its founder, Marcion.
The reason I am bringing all this up right now is to ask the questions, “Who is saved?” and “What is a Christian?” Are these Ultra-dispensationalists the only people that are saved as they claim? What about the idea the Jesus is God the Father? Some will say one cannot be saved without believing this way, yet Paul spells out the roles quite plainly.
1 Corinthians 15:20–28 (LEB): 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming, 24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For it is necessary for him to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For “he subjected all things under his feet.” But when it says “all things” are subjected, it is clear that the one who subjected all things to him is not included. 28 But whenever all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.
I am not claiming to understand the complete nature of God, but there are clearly reading comprehension problems in Christianity. Out of all of the denominations, sects and theologies, who believes enough of the “right stuff” to be saved? There are people that never contemplate their belief system and “believe what they believe”, then there are people that only believe what their denomination tells them, their favourite evangelist says, or that which is accepted by current societal norms. Has anyone ever wondered what God, the Creator of heaven and earth, may have to say about all of this? The only words we have directly from the mouth of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, come through Israel. This is true even if someone says that they only come from Paul now. God did not simply address Israel, He addressed the whole world through Israel.
Isaiah 24:1–6 (LEB): 24 Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. 2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. 3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, 5 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.
This is the reason I have seemingly turned my back on organized religion. No one appears to be concerned about what God says He wants us to do. People are making things up as they go, and this is prophecy, if we choose to read it.
Jeremiah 23:16–22 (LEB): 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. 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.’ 18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it? 19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind. In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding. 21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.
My goal is to do as much as God said to do that I possibly can in light of what Yeshua taught us. “Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it? ” God tells us exactly what he expects from us if we listen attentively.
Isaiah 56:1–7 (LEB): 56 Thus says Yahweh: “Observe justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is close to coming, and my justice to being revealed. 2 Happy is the man who does this, and the son of humankind who keeps hold of it, who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 And do not let the foreigner who joins himself to Yahweh say, “Surely Yahweh will separate me from his people.” And do not let the eunuch say, “Look! I am a dry tree!” 4 For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose that in which I delight, and who keep hold of my covenant. 5 And I will give them a monument and a name in my house and within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, so as not to profane it, and those who keep hold of my covenant, 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,”
Many people use religion for control, while many people are deceived into thinking that Paul said we don’t have to do what God said anymore; however, this was prophesied long ago, and even Peter, in one of his letters, warned us that there would be those who twist the words of Paul. God will always want us to do what He said, and Yeshua reinforced this by making it possible for those who have “broken the eternal covenant” to return to the covenant and be part of the family of God. Therefore, repent and believe the gospel!
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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.Zechariah 14:16 (LEB) Most Christians have…
Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,to untie the ropes of the yoke,and to let the oppressed go free,and tear every yoke to pieces? Is it not to break your…
You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! Acts 7:51 Anytime subjects such as the Sabbaths or dietary instructions present themselves, the average Christian will sharply…
The Feast of Trumpets Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a rest period, a remembrance of the…
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing to…
And he also told them a parable: “Surely a blind person cannot lead the blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?Luke 6:39 (LEB) Many Christians believe in a pretribulation rapture happening…
And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.John 1:14 The fall feast days…
By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are…
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a faith without hypocrisy, from which some have deviated, and have turned away into fruitless discussion, wanting to be…
“So you must be very careful for yourselves, because you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not…
You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah pole beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves. And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that…
The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have…
Now these were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They accepted the message with all eagerness, examining the scriptures every day to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and not a few of the prominent Greek women and men.
Acts 17:11–12 (LEB)
Gnosticism is a belief system that puts the hope of salvation in knowledge of the divine. One who studies scripture and asks questions that are not popular with religious hierarchy is sometimes labelled as a Gnostic. I have heard people say that it can be detrimental to study scripture too much or delve into books that are unapproved by the church.
Gnosticism was also a first century belief system which taught that the Creator God was a lesser entity and created everything without permission from the supreme God, and that He didn’t know there was a god greater than He. In this heresy, Jesus was sent from the “greater” god to free mankind from this Creator God who held mankind captive with rules and commandments. We still see this mindset in the church today with the mentality that “Jesus kept the commandments so we don’t have to”. This belief system also seems to be similar to hyper-dispensationalism. Here is the definition of hyper-dispensationalism from theopedia.com:
Hyper-dispensationalism (or sometimes ultra-dispensationalism), as opposed to traditional (or classic) Dispensationalism, views the start of the Christian church as beginning with the ministry of the Apostle Paul after the early part of the book of Acts. Although variations exist in specifics, all hyper-dispensationalists view the four Gospels and many of New Testament Epistles as applying to the pre-Pauline Jewish-Christian church or to the future Davidic Kingdom; not directly applicable to the predominantly Gentile Church of today.
Hyper-dispensationlists will say that the four Gospels and books such as James and Hebrews, do not apply to believers in the “age of grace”. Many people unknowingly believe this because they do not study. They find themselves in a stupor of echoing this type of nonsense because they have no grounding in the Word of God. The first century heretic, Marcion, taught a similar message in which only the letters of Paul applied to believers. However, the letters of Paul were written to specific groups of people about specific problems these people were encountering. We do not know what prompted the letters, and we are also missing context from letters that were sent to Paul from these various churches. A new doctrine such as hyper-dispensationalism should not be derived from Paul’s letters. Likewise, no one should be deceived into thinking that Paul was starting a new religion with a new group of people, void of the law of God.
2 Peter 3:14–18 (LEB): 14 Therefore, dear friends, because you are waiting for these things, make every effort to be found at peace, spotless and unblemished in him. 15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, 16 as he does also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures. 17 Therefore, dear friends, because you know this beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position because you have been led away by the error of lawless persons.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.
I heard a church leader once say we don’t even need to study scripture because we simply need to “believe in Jesus” to be saved. Does God want us to be this dumb in our faith? How can one “believe” in someone that they don’t know anything about? Wouldn’t this thought process open one up to deception? In other words, if we are ignorant about the character of God, revealed through Moses and the prophets, if we do not know what Jesus said, and about the nature of His character, wouldn’t that enable people to invent their own versions of God? An easy way to be deceived is to believe Jesus was talking to someone else. If the congregation allows the pastor be the only one to tell them about God, who checks to see if what the pastor is saying is true?
Isaiah 56:9–12 (LEB): 9 All wild animals in the field, come, to devour, all wild animals in the forest! 10 His watchmen are blind, none of them know. They are all dumb dogs; they are unable to bark, panting, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 And the dogs have a greedy appetite; they are never satisfied. And they are the shepherds! They do not have understanding. They all turn to their own way, each one for his own gain, every one of them. 12 “Come, let me take wine, and let us carouse with intoxicating drink, and tomorrow will be like today, very great indeed.”
I have read about secret societies where the average member is kept in the dark about the symbolism and beliefs of the society, and only are given more information if they are deemed worthy to move up in rank. This is where the terms “esoteric” and “exoteric” are used. Exoteric knowledge is the simple meanings or what the general membership is given, where esoteric knowledge is only for the initiated.
Hosea 4:6 (LEB): 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from acting as a priest for me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
An example of exoteric knowledge is having the average church believer thinking there is a “rapture” where they will be whisked away to heaven to see all their loved ones that have died at any moment, when Bible scholars will debate each other at a much higher level of knowledge. They do not allow some of this information out of their circles and just give the general membership something very basic to understand. Many religious leaders do not think the average person can handle what is in the Bible, so they spoon feed what they think the membership is able to comprehend. I am not just talking about pastors and their congregations, this happens on a much higher level in denominations and seminary. This is why pastors in some churches are not allowed to preach on certain subjects and why congregants are not “allowed” to question certain doctrines. Seminaries indoctrinate future pastors with “proper” doctrine. These situations are starting to be exposed as more people study for themselves and start questioning organized religion. There are also “whistle blowers” from within organizations coming to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:7–12 (LEB): 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and wipe out by the appearance of his coming, 9 whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. 11 And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.
Ask a pastor why the Sabbath is on the first day of the week instead of the Biblical seventh day and see what type of answer one is given. The typical answer is that Jesus resurrected on Sunday. Another answer is that it is not addressed in the New Testament, or we can call any day we want a Sabbath now etc. If pushed too far with the mountain of scripture supporting Sabbath keeping, along with the statement from the Catholic church saying they changed the Sabbath to show they have more authority than scripture, the conversation can get very unfriendly quickly. People will echo what they have been taught to the death about the Sabbath, yet if one lets scripture lead them, it is undeniable that changing the day to Sunday is a tradition that has “made void the law of God”.
Isaiah 56:6–8 (LEB): 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love the name of Yahweh, to become his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, so as not to profaneit, and those who keep hold of my covenant, 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” 8 declares the Lord Yahweh, who gathers the scattered ones of Israel (still I will gather to him, to his gathered ones).
If one is a dispensationlist, then these scriptures supposedly do not apply because Paul freed them from the laws of the mean Creator God. Meanwhile, the adversary laughs at the deceived ones losing the blessing of the Sabbath. The word “gentile” and “foreigner” are synonymous.
Once one studies scriptures for them self and takes to heart what is being said, the exoteric information given to the masses will not suffice. When the Creator of the universe says something and stamps it with His royal decree, it cannot be undone by any religion, pope, theologian or pastor spoon feeding pablum to the congregation. “Thus saith the LORD” or “the word of the LORD” in King James English means whatever preceded or follows these words will happen, and no one can stop it.
On the Messianic and Hebrew roots side of the aisle people are also trying to limit what one can study or talk about. There are those who do not allow anyone to discuss the name of the Creator just as in Judaism. They insult and mock calling people “sacred namers”. The latest item I have seen is those forbidding the discussion of the feast days or the Hebrew language, calling it a stumbling block. The logic according to these people is that we are not allowed to celebrate the feasts until we are in the land, therefore there is no reason to discuss them. It goes back to certain ones simply wanting to control other people.
Religion has been used throughout the ages to control people. Most recently we saw how the government worked with churches to push government mandates during the pandemic. We had people such as Franklin Graham giving his followers medical advice that echoed the government’s stance, and the pharmaceutical companies which were giving money to those promoting their products. Governments work closely with religious organizations they control through tax exemption status. This is nothing new, and not very different than the way pagan temples were run in the Roman Empire.
Don’t be dumb. Be like the synagogue of Berea by studying scripture and asking hard questions. The Father will send these deceptions to see if we love Him enough to see through the lies. The deception is real and one has to be prepared.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
What is more, I swore to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands, because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised,…
So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. And they worship me…
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ And then I will say to…
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain came down and the rivers came and the…
Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and…
Grass withers; the flower withers,but the word of our God will stand forever.Isaiah 40:8 (LEB) If I were a song writer I would write a country song with the title of this blog post. When…
Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!” “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might,…
But I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never carry out the desire of the flesh.Galatians 5:16 (LEB) The apostle Paul does a great job of condensing the commandments of God found in…
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.Leviticus 19:17 Do you love your neighbour? When asked to reduce all…
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place.Acts 2:1 (LEB) The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or in Greek, Pentecost, is traditionally the feast day that celebrates the…
And why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them—I will show you what he is…
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything. If anyone does…
I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.
Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (LEB)
I have witnessed the deterioration of organized religion and society in a fifty year timeline of situational observation which is hard to ignore. As a child I learned about the Ten Commandments and Bible stories in Sunday school and was even taught the “golden rule” in secular education. The golden rule is a Biblical principle that tells us to treat people the way we would want to be treated.
Matthew 7:12 (LEB): 12 Therefore in all things, whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.
Secular education taught the essence of “the law and the prophets” when I was in grade school, yet today most of the church has abandoned the teachings of Jesus, which was the law and the prophets. Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, told us we would know people by their fruits. The Apostle Paul expanded this and gave us a list from the Torah of how we should expect people to behave that are in covenant with Yeshua.
Galatians 5:22–24 (LEB): 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh together with its feelings and its desires.
A person who behaves in this manner through the Spirit is not affected by the law of God, or Torah. The Torah is what points out our short comings, life in the flesh or sin. Those who operate in the flesh, void of the indwelling Spirit writing the laws of God on their heart, will not be part of the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19–21 (LEB): 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, things which I am telling you in advance, just as I said before, that the ones who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
This list that Paul gives us is not for us to define by our own methods. The church has let societal norms define what is acceptable to God, instead of going to the “glossary of terms” that is found in the Bible. Children are not taught right from wrong as defined by scripture at their places of worship, instead they are given a more trendy set of morals. Of course, I am painting Christianity with a broad brush by these statements. There are still Bible teaching churches today, but what will the state of these churches be a hundred years from now? Three hundred years? What will it look like? I know some Christians are looking for a “rapture” of the church any day, just as believers of earlier generations were expecting the second coming of Christ. Instead they should be studying to learn how to be acceptable on that day, whatever or whenever it may be.
2 Peter 3:1–13 (LEB): 3 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I am writing to you, in both of which I am attempting to stir up your sincere mind by a reminder, 2 to remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 above all knowing this, that in the last days scoffers will come with scoffing, following according to their own desires 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by being inundated with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.
8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed. 11 Because all these things are being destroyed in this way, what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.
Peter does not mention anything about a secret rapture, just that we should be living a life of holy behaviour and godliness as the day of the Lord approaches where everything will be burned. People will get further and further away from what is considered holy behaviour and godliness as the years fly by leading up to His return.
2 Timothy 3:1–9 (LEB): 3 But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come, 2 for people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 hardhearted, irreconcilable, slanderous, without self-control, savage, with no interest for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God, 5 maintaining a form of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid these people. 6 For from these are those who slip into houses and captivate foolish women loaded down with sins, led by various kinds of desires, 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these oppose the truth, people corrupted in mind, disqualified concerning the faith. 9 But they will not progress to a greater extent, for their folly will be quite evident to everyone, as also the folly of those two was.
Jannes and Jambres were sons of Balaam who opposed Moses, just as people are opposing the truth today. The truth was given through Moses by God. It is not by accident Paul is comparing the rejection of Moses to the rejection of the truth.
John 17:17 (LEB): 17 Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth.
The kingdom of Judah completely forgot the truth until a renovation of the temple unearthed the word of God given through Moses.
2 Kings 22:4–6 (LEB): 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and let them count the money being brought to the temple of Yahweh that the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people, 5 and let them give it into the hand of those appointed doers of the work at the temple of Yahweh. Let them give it to the doers of the work who are at the temple of Yahweh to repair the breach of the temple: 6 to the skilled craftsmen, to the builders, to the masons, and to buy timber and hewing stones to repair the temple.
Picture a church building project years after the word of God has been completely forgotten. This is already the case in some denominations.
2 Kings 22:8–10 (LEB): 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the temple of Yahweh,” and Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 9 Shaphan the secretary came to the king and returned the king a word, and he said, “Your servant poured out the money found in the temple, and they have given it into the hand of the doers of the work appointed over the temple of Yahweh.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read before the king.
In modern times this would be like the deacons giving the money to the workers renovating the church. After cleaning out a closet of junk, they discovered a Bible from the 20th century and started to read it, having never read any scripture in their life.
2 Kings 22:11–13 (LEB): 11 When the king heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Acbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this scroll that was found. For the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us is great because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this scroll to do according to all that is written concerning us!”
Once the King heard what was in God’s instructions he turned the kingdom around. This is what we should do to avoid the wrath of God. It is called repentance. Repentance is not aimlessly walking in a new direction, it is following the instructions of God.
2 Kings 23:1–3 (LEB): 23 So the king sent word, and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. 2 Then the king went up to the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their hearing he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar, and he made a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes with all of his heart and with all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people joined in the covenant.
The King went on to remove all of the abominations from the kingdom. The sun god paraphernalia, the male prostitutes that were in the temple, the false priests, were all removed. Asherah images were destroyed and burned.
2 Kings 23:4–7 (LEB): 4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi Kidron and burnt it at the Wadi Kidron; then he pulverized it to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the common people. 7 He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah.
Once they destroyed the items God warned against, they started doing the things that God commanded.
2 Kings 23:21–25 (LEB): 21 Then the king commanded all of the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as has been written on the scroll of this covenant.” 22 For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept for Yahweh in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of Yahweh. 25 There was not a king like him before him, who turned to Yahweh with all of his heart and with all of his soul and with all of his might according to all of the law of Moses, nor did one arise like him afterwards.
It’s hard to imagine that the modern church is at the same place Judah was before King Josiah heard the words of God read from the Torah scroll found during temple renovations. The same sun god holidays are observed, Asherah poles are brought into the church for certain celebrations, the mediums and spiritists have their place in the new age teachings so prevalent in the church today. I am not sure if any denominations have male prostitutes, but history will likely repeat itself.
The abominable symbology of the mystery religions of Isis, Ishtar, Asherah, Horus, Moloch and all the Baali had to do with sexual immorality as defined by the God of Israel. This is fitting because breaking the covenant of Yahweh and conducting business with other gods is sexual immorality in itself. Therefore, we see all through history that the sex gods and goddesses are representative of all the false religions. This is more apparent today than it has been in recent history, but we are paying the penalty of keeping the fertility rites of other gods alive in the church for the last 1500 years.
Revelation 2:20–23 (LEB): 20 But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and deceives my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 And I have given her time in order to repent, and she did not want to repent from her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those who committed adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
Loving God with all our heart and soul means we will hate the things God hates and love the things God loves. Take the instructions of God seriously. A casual disregard will bring curses and destruction to one’s life.
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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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Amos 5:23–24 (LEB)
People have used religion to manipulate and control other people for thousands of years. Socrates was brought to trial and condemned to death for supposedly teaching his students things contrary to the gods of the popular religion of his day. His punishment was to drink a hemlock tea which causes a painful death. He believed he had the truth as a philosopher, and the people that thought he should die also thought they had the truth regarding the pantheon of gods of the third century BCE. Two groups of people thinking they both have the truth, and one group controlling and manipulating the other even to the point of determining the other must die for believing a different “truth” than them.
This makes us ask the questions, “What is truth?”, and “Where does one find ‘the truth’?”. Yeshua told the tempter that man needs to live on “every word that comes out of the mouth of God”.
Matthew 4:1–4 (LEB): 4 Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, 2 and after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. 3 And the tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” 4 But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”
What does it mean when Christians accuse someone of “living in the flesh” or not “using their talents for God”? The implication is that in order to do these things in an acceptable manner to the accuser, one has to be performing the acts in whatever church or manner this accuser considers valid. They will then go on to say it is not for the church or for them, but it is for God. Which god are we speaking about?
This manipulation comes in forms of supposed friendships as well. “If you really loved God, you would be doing (fill in the blank)”. What these types of friends are really saying is “If you really loved God, you would do what I tell you to do!” What does the Creator of the Universe say to do? That is what I would ask.
Religion dictates many commands, and depending on which brand, there will be different commands and forms of manipulation. No one likes anyone who dares to question these beliefs, even if they are blatantly against the words of God. With so many different breeds of Christianity how do we know who is right? We all decide what we want to believe, and it is everyone’s right to do so. However, everyone with opposing views cannot all be correct. The question then becomes, “On what are you willing to base your eternal future?”. Is it what a certain preacher says, a pope, denomination, professor, parent, religious or political figure perhaps? Maybe leaning on one’s own understanding is the key to pleasing God? Doubtful.
John 12:44–50 (LEB): 44 But Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me, 45 and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, in order that everyone who believes in me will not remain in the darkness. 47 And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I will not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has one who judges him; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from myself, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So the things that I say, just as the Father said to me, thus I say.”
Yeshua says he will not judge us because “the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day“. Why would anyone want to listen to a different word than what was spoken by Yeshua? If Yeshua is not going to judge us, but we will be judged by His words, why do we not take these words seriously? Why would we listen to words by other people leading us in different directions? Why be manipulated or controlled by someone telling us they are disappointed in us for “not doing what God would want us to do”? We have the words that Yeshua told us we would be judged by. Why not follow them?
What if doing what Yeshua told us is being a good parent or spouse instead of forsaking one’s family for the work of the church? Christianity tends to equate serving God with serving the church. This is not the eklessia or the “congregation in the wilderness”, this church I am speaking about is whatever the controller or manipulator designates to be the one that is on par with doing the works of God. Yet we are given the works of God we will be judged by in His word, and they often do not look anything like we see in the thousands of Christian denominations. Most of these denominations have come to be over disagreements. Disagreements in politics, or sometimes people not getting their own way such as with King Henry the VIII creating the Church of England so he could divorce his wife.
Is living in the flesh having a job and providing for one’s family? Do we till the land and raise animals because we are fleshly? In a sense the answer is “yes” because flesh is fallen. Unfortunately, we have to live in this lot.
Genesis 3:17–19 (LEB): 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I forbade you to eat, the ground shall be cursed on your account. In pain you shall eat from it all the days of your life. 18 And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until your return to the ground. For from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Since we all can and do choose what we believe, there are many different opinions about what serving God looks like. The first thing we must ask ourselves is which god or God are we serving. There is a very specific God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that has revealed His character through Israel, and told Israel that through them the whole world would be blessed. The creator told them that He would bless them, they would disobey and serve other gods, and through this process He would provide a means of salvation for the whole world.
I choose to believe this Creator God, and that He gave us enough information to prove that His means of salvation would come through Yeshua the Messiah from the tribe of Judah. Yeshua also said that he only did what he saw his father do and he only says what he hears his father say, and that His commandment is eternal life. I cannot put my eternal future in the words of pastors, popes, denominations, teachers and politicians, especially if what they are saying or presenting is something different than what the Eternal Creator God of the Universe has told us. The following is the way God told Israel to deal with those who try to lead them astray to serve other gods:
Deuteronomy 12:29–13:10 (LEB): 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, 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.’ 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. 32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”
13 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 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,’ 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. 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. 5 But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or your wife whom you embrace or your intimate friend in secrecy says, ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors have not known, 7 from among the gods of the people who are around you, those near you or those far from you, from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, 8 you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up for him. 9 But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
This is serious business. Thank goodness we are no longer stoning people that try to lead us astray from what God told us to do. This is sacrificial law where people died without mercy by two or three witnesses. There was no way to reconcile their sin with God. This is the high handed sin of wilful disobedience where the only means of salvation would come through the sacrifice of Yeshua. This does not mean we should tolerate people trying to lead us astray through control, manipulation or any other means. This simply means that there is a sacrifice for their sin now if they repent, where the only option under the law was stoning.
Matthew 7:15–23 (LEB): 15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 And then I will say to them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Choose which god you serve wisely. Do not try to control and manipulate people with false gods made up in your own imagination. Do not let yourself be controlled or manipulated by anyone. The false gods can easily be seen when compared to “every word that comes out of the mouth of God”. Remember:
Matthew 11:27–30 (LEB): 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light.”
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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Hebrews 9:12 (LEB):
There is a great contrast between the yearly resurrection of the sun god and the resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua. Unfortunately, the myths of the sun gods have been combined with the events surrounding the death and resurrection of the Saviour. Ancient Israel was guilty of sun god worship, and Ezekiel records people weeping for Tammuz and men turning towards the sun at the temple of the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Ezekiel 8:13–16 (LEB): 13 And he said to me, “Still you will see again greater detestable things that they are doing.” 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. 15 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man? Still you will see again greater detestable things than these.” 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.
From the Baker Bible Encyclopedia, we get a little more information about the resurrecting sun god Tammuz:
“Tammuz. Chief Sumerian deity whose name derived from the Sumerian dumuzi. He is the god of fertility, of vegetation and agriculture, of death and resurrection, and the patron of shepherds. The son and consort of Ashtar (Inanna), Tammuz represented the annual vegetation cycle of death during the heat of summer and the rebirth of life with the coming of the fall and spring rains, as mythically recounted in the Akkadian poem, “Inanna’s Descent into the Netherworld.” This rejuvenation of life and defeat of death was annually celebrated during the Babylonian New Year Festival. In the OT, the prophet Ezekiel sees in a vision women weeping for Tammuz at the north gate of the temple, descriptive of coming desecrations of the Lord’s house (8:14). In subsequent cultures following the Sumerian civilization (3rd millennium bc), the Tammuz cult was carried on; it was undoubtedly embodied in the worship of Marduk of Babylon, Ashur of Assyria, Baal of Canaan, Attis of Phrygia, and Adonis of Syria (Aram) and Greece. Numerous liturgies and dirges have been found detailing Tammuz worship in ancient Mesopotamian culture. During the postexilic era, the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar was named Tammuz.”
The mother of Tammuz went by many names such as, Inanna, Ashtar, Ishtar, Eostre, Dianna and Ashera. This mother of Tammuz is the “queen of heaven” or mother goddess who birthed Tammuz. This is the counter narrative of the virgin birth of the Messiah.
Jeremiah 7:18–20 (LEB): 18 The children are gathering wood, and the fathers are kindling the fire, and the women are kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger. 19 Are they provoking me to anger? ” declares Yahweh, “Is it not themselves they hurt, for the sake of the shame of their faces?” 20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be extinguished.”
Images and practices of sun god worship are front and center in Christianity. Weeping for Tammuz, sacrificial cakes and the “queen of heaven” have all been rebranded to fit the “death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ”. On Eostre Sunday we will see Facebook proclamations saying “he’s alive” or “he is risen” like every year before, as if he dies and resurrects every year. I realize this is not the intent, but it is more like the unintended result of the influence of the sun god and mother goddess.
How are we able to discern fact from fable? What do eggs and rabbits have to do with Yeshua? There are two narratives being combined at the time of the spring festival of the goddess Eostre. One is real and one is counterfeit. One involves fertility symbols of eggs and rabbits to honour the sun god and his mother-wife goddess, and one is a spring feast that is commanded by Yahweh foreshadowing the “root of Jesse” that would redeem the Earth from sin that previously there were no sacrifices to atone. The penalty was death by stoning for breaking the eternal covenant prior to the high priest Yeshua sprinkling his blood in the heavenly tabernacle. The spring feast that Yeshua and his disciples celebrated memorialized the event where Yahweh delivered His people from slavery in Egypt. Yahweh had warnings for those mixing the gods of the nations with His stuff.
Deuteronomy 12:29–32 (LEB): 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, 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.’ 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.
Why are we still honouring the sun gods from the sun god cults in Christianity thousands of years after these myths were generated? As soon as egg hunts and made up celebrations are introduced it is no longer about Yeshua, the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Yahweh hates these things so much he destroyed His temple and made the land desolate because His people were doing these abominable practices.
There is a reason why the entire world, which normally despises anything to do with the Saviour and righteousness, celebrates the spring festival of Easter. This is the same festival that has been celebrated for thousands of years honouring the ancient sun cult gods.
John 4:22–24 (LEB): 22 You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming—and now is here*—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and the ones who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Paul tells us how to observe the spring feast. There are no re-resurrecting sun gods, Easter egg hunts, resurrection services, sunrise services consuming unclean animals or anything else that comes from worshipping foreign gods.
1 Corinthians 5:6–8 (LEB): 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven in order that you may be a new batch of dough, just as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven or with the leaven of wickedness and sinfulness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
We are all free to believe anything we want, which is a great freedom. Yahweh is looking for followers to worship in spirit and truth, fleeing from idolatry, yet we have become entangled with the gods of the world, unable to separate truth from myths.
Featured photo is by Timothy Eberly on Upsplash.
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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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Ecclesiastes 9:4–6 (LEB)
When attending funerals, a common statement for one to hear is that the person lying in the casket for all to see is now finally with Jesus and all their loved ones in heaven. Is this a true statement? What does the Bible say about death, heaven and hell? Unfortunately, Christianity has blended so much mythology with their theology that the truth is hard to discern.
Plato was a Greek philosopher who is responsible for much of the Christian thought on the after life through the framework of the church fathers. Many of the church fathers loved Plato and were greatly influenced by his work. He draws from Egyptian mythology, where the disembodied souls of good people go to a good place in the sky and the disembodied souls of bad people go to the under world. People scoffed when Paul presented the Biblical idea of the resurrection in Athens.
Acts 17:32–34 (LEB): 32 Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, “We will hear you about this again also.” 33 So Paul went out from the midst of them. 34 But some people joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
The idea that a person has a non-material part, such as a “soul” is biblically debatable. To say that the soul is immortal is simply not true. It was originally intended to be immortal until sin entered and humankind experienced death. The cartoon on the left is a popular Facebook meme, yet it is far from what the Bible describes. If we look closely, there are what appears to be tombstones also in this meme. I realize it is only a Facebook meme, but this is all that some Christians are holding on to due to the poor teaching we experience in the many thousands of denominations.
Genesis 3:22–24 (LEB): 22 And Yahweh God said, “Look—the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. What if he stretches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life and eats, and lives forever?” 23 And Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming, turning sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
In order for Adam to live forever he would have had to eat from the tree of life. God removed humans from having access to the tree of life so they would not become immortal in their sin. Eternal life is granted to those through the resurrection of the dead, promised for the people who choose to serve Yahweh. Eternal life does not equal an eternal, non-material part of the body that floats around when our bodies are lying in a casket or tomb.
John 11:21–26 (LEB): 21 So Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will grant you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever. Do you believe this?”
Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, equated death with sleeping. Mary knew of the resurrection where everyone will be raised at the end of the ages spoken about by Daniel.
John 11:11–15 (LEB)
11 He said these things, and after this he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I can awaken him.” 12 So the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 (Now Jesus had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about real sleep.) 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Yeshua claims that whoever believes in him will never die, but does this equate a body-less ghost floating to heaven? It was not the case with Lazarus. He was dead and Yeshua resurrected him, or woke him up. There was no talk of him being in heaven and disappointed to be back on earth, or mention of all his dead family members that he saw in heaven during the three days he was dead. This is where we have to discern mythology from Biblical truth.
Luke 20:34–38 (LEB): 34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they are not even able to die any longer, because they are like the angels and are sons of God, because they are sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed in the passage about the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him!”
Paul understood the idea of resting in peace until the resurrection. Even though, people still misquote him when they say, “absent from the body, present with the Lord” to promote this idea of body-less phantoms habituating heaven. How does one picture their loved ones in heaven without a body, especially when they see the dead body in front of them? The body goes into the ground and is like a seed that sprouts new life at the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:20–26 (LEB): 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming, 24 then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For it is necessary for him to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.
“But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming” means we are waiting for His coming in the grave, or Sheol. This does not give us a picture of body-less humans floating around heaven ahead of the resurrection. It also does not indicate anyone will have their new, incorruptible body before the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:35–53 (LEB): 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they come?” 36 Foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body which it will become, but you sow the bare seed, whether perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest. 38 But God gives to it a body just as he wishes, and to each one of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same, but there is one flesh of human beings, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish, 40 and heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly bodies is of another kind. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. 42 Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is from heaven. 48 As the one who is made of earth, so also are those who are made of earth, and as the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the one who is made of earth, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For it is necessary for this perishable body to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body to put on immortality.
Paul tells us some will fall asleep, but some will be alive at the resurrection and be changed instantly. These that have “fallen asleep” are just like Lazarus was when Yeshua said “he is sleeping”. Sleeping is a term used for the first death because Paul and Yeshua knew it was not the end. For those in Messiah, theirs would be a resurrection to life, for all others, the second death, which is final.
John 5:28–29 (LEB): 28 “Do not be astonished at this, because an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and they will come out—those who have done good things to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil things to a resurrection of judgment.
Again, Yeshua tells us that the dead will come out of the tombs. There is no mention of some non-material part of a person flying down from heaven to meet their resurrected body. This is where the Egyptian mythology from Plato is mixed with the Biblical ideas of death. Very few try to reconcile the myths taught in Christianity with the Bible.
The resurrection of the dead is not simply a New Testament idea. Daniel was shown this as well.
Daniel 12:1–4 (LEB): 12 “Now at that time, Michael, the great prince, will arise, the protector over the sons of your people, and it will be a time of distress that has not been since your people have been a nation until that time. And at that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written in the scroll. 2 And many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life and some to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 But the ones having insight will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and the ones providing justice for the many will be like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the scroll until the time of the end; many will run back and forth and knowledge will increase.”
Those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake; some to everlasting life and some to disgrace. This is more clear scripture. Daniel is told to go rest until the end. Daniel 12:13 (LEB): But you, go on to the end and rest, and you will arise for your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.”
Of course there are arguments against death and sleeping in the grave until the resurrection. One of the most common arguments is made using the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Luke 16:19–31 (LEB): 19 “Now a certain man was rich, and dressed in purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. 20 And a certain poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, 21 and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes as he was in torment and saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain. 26 And in addition to all these things, a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able to do so, nor can they cross over from there to us.’ 27 So he said, ‘Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he could warn them, in order that they also should not come to this place of torment!’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must listen to them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
The biggest take away I get from this parable is that if one will not listen to the words of Moses and the prophets, neither will that person listen to the one who raised from the dead. This is Yeshua referring to Himself because He was saying the same thing as Moses and the Prophets and no one listened. Today the church says that Yeshua spoke against Moses and has created a lawless doctrine which shows clearly the meaning of this parable . One rose from the dead and people still do not believe what Moses and the prophets taught.
We can find this type of language that is in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the second book of Esdras. This is one of the apocryphal books that many do not regard as scripture. It tells us a similar story with more detail: sleep in profound quietness guarded by angels is the destiny for the righteous.
2 Esdras 7:76–99 (NRSV): 76 He answered me and said, “I will show you that also, but do not include yourself with those who have shown scorn, or number yourself among those who are tormented. 77 For you have a treasure of works stored up with the Most High, but it will not be shown to you until the last times. 78 Now concerning death, the teaching is: When the decisive decree has gone out from the Most High that a person shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, first of all it adores the glory of the Most High. 79 If it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High, who have despised his law and hated those who fear God— 80 such spirits shall not enter into habitations, but shall immediately wander about in torments, always grieving and sad, in seven ways. 81 The first way, because they have scorned the law of the Most High. 82 The second way, because they cannot now make a good repentance so that they may live. 83 The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the covenants of the Most High. 84 The fourth way, they shall consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days. 85 The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by angels in profound quiet. 86 The sixth way, they shall see how some of them will cross over into torments. 87 The seventh way, which is worse than all the ways that have been mentioned, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the glory of the Most High in whose presence they sinned while they were alive, and in whose presence they are to be judged in the last times.
88 “Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body. 89 During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver 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 that was formed with them, so 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 ungodly wander and the punishment that awaits them. 94 The third order, they see the witness that he who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life they kept the law with which they were entrusted. 95 The fourth order, they understand the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory waiting for 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 that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality. 97 The sixth order, when it is shown 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 press forward to see the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified. 99 This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced; and the previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter.”
We could also look at the book of Enoch which describes the chasm between the two chambers, but it is too long for our purpose here. The point is that none of these sources, whether in the sixty-six book canon or other books considered extra-biblical, mention anything about souls reuniting with loved ones in heaven when they die. They all point to resting in peace or “sleep” until the resurrection and judgement.
Egyptian mythology may be the basis for many of Christianity’s belief systems. I believe it was simply a distortion of the earlier known truth known by Noah and his children. The following is the Egyptian thought on the afterlife from World History.org:
When the soul left the body at death, it was thought to appear in the Hall of Truth to stand before Osiris for judgment. The heart of the deceased was weighed on a golden scale against the white feather of Ma’at. If the heart was found to be lighter than the feather, the soul was allowed to move on to the Field of Reeds, the place of purification and eternal bliss. If the heart was heavier than the feather, it was dropped on to the floor where it was eaten by the monster Ammut (the gobbler) and the soul would then cease to exist.
Yet another of Socrates’ arguments appeals to the affinity between the soul and the forms. In Plato’s understanding, forms are perfect, immaterial and eternal. And, in as much as the forms are intelligible, but not sensible, only the soul can apprehend them. In order to apprehend something, the thing apprehending must have the same nature as the thing apprehended. The soul, then, shares the attributes of the forms: it is immaterial and eternal, and hence, immortal.
One way to purge false belief systems from our minds is to write down a set of dearly held beliefs and then search scripture to prove these beliefs. Do not go to the internet or some super evangelist’s You Tube channel. I guarantee one will find their belief system in a particular denomination or website, but may not be able to find it in scripture. Let’s strive to worship in Spirit and truth, not man-made fables.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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And in the day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation, and it will bring an end to all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone from the mountain was chiseled out but not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, thereby the great God made known to the king what will be in the future, and the dream is certain and its explanation trustworthy.”
Daniel 2:44–45 (LEB)
The last few years have brought upon new interest to declaring “the end of the world”. There are a lot of ideas floating around on topics of the “mark of the beast”, the coming of Jesus Christ, secret raptures of the church and much more.
I read a book several years ago discussing the Roman Empire and the rise of the church into power. I cannot remember the name of the book, but the part that stood out was how people were convinced that various emperors were the “antichrist” of Revelation and that most certainly the year 1000 CE would see the return of Christ. Some believed to be in the middle of the millennium reign of Christ and the year 1000 CE would be significant in many ways. However, the year 1000 CE came and went and the only events that took place were more of the same that had been happening for hundreds of years. After 1000 CE, the church began the crusades and essentially murdering anyone that did not comply to her dogma. This is hardly a picture of “the bride of Christ”
I was raised on the doctrine of the “secret rapture” where Jesus comes like a thief in the night and takes away “the church”, leaving everyone else behind, like the popular Left Behind book series and movie. The rapture, in this scenario, was a separate event from the second coming of Christ. This narrative is still very popular today in evangelical, Christian circles. This theology, or philosophy, has Jesus returning at any minute and taking “the church” away to heaven. The “Jews” realize that they missed the coming of the Messiah and are the “saints” left on earth to deal with the wrath of the antichrist figure. At some point during the “seven year tribulation”, Jesus will come back from heaven with all of the “church” riding on horses and defeat the antichrist. There are variations of this story, but this is the gist of it.
We have been playing pin the tail on the antichrist since the first century. The latest version of the the rapture story I have been hearing has the people being raptured and also resurrected at the same time as the secret rapture. The political nation state of Israel plays a large role in the rapture and antichrist narrative. Christians have been listening to rumors and fairy tales since the first century, and still do not have a solid understanding of what is important when it comes to end times prophecy.
2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 (LEB): 2 Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to him, 2 that you not be easily shaken from your composure, nor be troubled either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter alleged to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has arrived. 3 Do not let anyone 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, 4 who opposes and who exalts himself over every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God.
It is a common held belief that the temple of God which Paul indicates the man of lawlessness will inhabit will be a rebuilt temple in the political state of Israel. That temple was destroyed in 70 CE and rebuilding it, in accordance with the Torah in order that it would be acceptable for God to dwell, seems very unlikely. I suppose there is a possibility that the antichrist sitting in the temple of God could be so abominable, that God will not tolerate it, even in an illegitimate temple dedicated to Him in Israel. Another theory is that we are the temple of God and the antichrist figure will some how defile our body with his mark. Some people believe this is the Graphene Oxide supposedly contained in the Covid-19 shot, and there are many, many other theories.
2 Thessalonians 2:5–12 (LEB): 5 Do you not remember that while we were still with you, we were saying these things to you? 6 And you know that which restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and wipe out by the appearance of his coming, 9 whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. 11 And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.
For those who say God’s laws have been rendered obsolete, which laws is the “lawless one” going to break that cause him to be lawless? Please define unrighteousness and truth for me in this doctrine. Law and truth in the Scriptures are only from the Word of God.
John 17:14–17 (LEB): 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth.
Psalm 119:137–152 (LEB): Tsade 137 You are righteous, O Yahweh, and your ordinances are upright. 138 You have ordained your testimonies in righteousness, and in exceeding faithfulness. 139 My zeal consumes me, because my enemies have forgotten your words. 140 Your word is very pure, and your servant loves it. 141 I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth. 143 Trouble and anguish have found me; your commands delight me. 144 The righteousness of your testimonies is forever; give me understanding that I may live. Qoph 145 I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Yahweh. I will keep your statutes. 146 I call to you. Save me, and I will heed your testimonies. 147 I rise early in the dawn and cry for help; I hope in your word. 148 My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on your word. 149 Hear my voice according to your loyal love; O Yahweh, preserve my life according to your justice. 150 Those who pursue a wicked purpose draw near; they are far from your law. 151 You are near, O Yahweh, and all your commands are truth. 152 Concerning your testimonies, I knew long ago that you have established them forever.
Yeshua knew the words of God were truth because He is the Word of God personified. Rather than getting dismayed or fearful of rumors and lies as the people of Thessalonia were, we should be reading God’s word and applying it as Yeshua taught us. This is the opposite of what we see today with the church shamelessly thumbing their nose to the words of God rendering it useless by their disgusting traditions. ” In order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness”.
We can see the big picture of end times prophecy in the book of Daniel. It can be summarized by saying God is going to crush the earthly kingdoms and rule forever.
Daniel 2:36–45 (LEB): 36 “This was the dream, and now we will tell its interpretation to the king. 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory, 38 and also human beings wherever they dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of heaven—he has given into your hand and made you ruler over all of them—you are the head of gold. 39 And after you another kingdom inferior to yours will arise, and another third kingdom of bronze that will rule over the whole earth. 40 And a fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, and just as iron crushes and smashes everything, and as iron shatters all of these other metals, so it will crush and it will shatter these nations. 41 And just as you saw the feet and the toes, partly potter’s clay and partly iron, it will be a divided kingdom; and some hardness of the iron will be in it, just as you have seen the iron mixed with the wet clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so part of the kingdom will be strong and partly brittle. 43 And in that you saw the iron was mixed with wet clay, so they will mix in marriage and they will not cling to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation, and it will bring an end to all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone from the mountain was chiseled out but not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, thereby the great God made known to the king what will be in the future, and the dream is certain and its explanation trustworthy.”
Daniel interpreted king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream about the different kingdoms that would come after his. His was Babylon, the next represented the Persian Empire, then Greece and finally Rome. We are still seeing the remnants of all of these empires, and some say the mixing of clay is speaking about democracies mixing with the hard line rulerships of the old kingdoms and dictatorships. I think that the iron and clay involves the “marriage” of humans with something else, as in the days of Noah. Regardless, the take away is that God will topple the statue and crush the iron, bronze, silver, gold and clay, and be king forever. That is all we need to be concerned with. If we know who the king is and will be forever, we should be following His ordinances, decrees and laws presently in this iron, or iron mixed with clay kingdom.
Revelation 14:12 (LEB): 12 Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus.
This verse in Revelation applies to everyone, not just the “Jews” who were not part of a “secret rapture” as dispensational theology teaches. The faith of Jesus, or his real name Yeshua, Joshua in English, was to follow the commandments of His Father. This word “faith” is one we have discussed before with believe and confess. It is the Greek word “pistis” and a good way to describe this word would be to use “covenant” and “agreement”.
CL 1. (a) In classical Gk. literature pistis means the trust that a man may place in men or the gods (Hesiod, Works, 372; Soph., OT, 1445), credibility (Soph., OC, 611), credit in business (Dem., 36, 57), guarantee (Aesch., Frag. 394), proof (Democ., 125), or something entrusted (IG 14, 2012 A 23). Similarly, pisteuō means to trust something or someone (Hdt., 1, 24; Aesch., Pers., 800 ff.). It can refer to and confirm legendary tales (Hdt., 4, 96) and mythical ideas (Plato, Grg., 524a). In the construction pisteuō tini ti it means to entrust something or someone to someone (Xen., Mem., 4, 4, 17). With reference to people, pisteuō means to obey (Soph., OT, 625). The pass. means to enjoy trust (Xen., Anab., 7, 6, 33). The adj. pistos means trusting (Theognis, 283), trustworthy (Hom., Il., 2, 124). to piston means dependability or the faithfulness of those bound through an agreement (Aesch., Ag., 651; Xen., Anab., 2, 4, 7). The vb. pistoō has the meaning of binding someone or oneself to be faithful (Soph., OC, 650). In the pass. it means to be sure, to trust (Hom., Od., 21, 217 f.). The pistis word-group has a special colouring, where it refers to believing doxa (opinion). In such a case dependability is limited (cf. Plato, Phd., 107b). apistia means mistrust (Theognis, 831), unreliability (Soph., OC, 611), and incredibility (Hdt., 1, 193). apisteō means to be mistrustful to disbelieve (Hom., Od., 13, 339), and particularly to be disobedient (Soph., Ant., 219, 381 f.). apistos means distrustful (Hom., Od., 14, 150), undependable (Thuc., 1, 120, 4). (b) Originally the word-group denoted conduct that honoured an agreement or bond. It had a social orientation, and its use indicated misconduct by implication. In order to obtain a pause in battle, it was necessary to make agreements pledging fidelity (Hom., Il., 2, 124: horkia pista). Disappointed confidence led to the accusation: “There is nothing trustworthy in women” (Hom., Od., 11, 456). The critical situation revealed fidelity. Hence, experience of faithfulness and unfaithfulness belongs to the idea of faith from the beginning. (c) The idea had religious overtones at a very early date. The gods vouch for the validity of an alliance or treaty (Hom., Il., 2, 115 ff.; note the importance of the oath). The words can also be applied directly to the divinity in cases of the trust-worthiness of an oracle. The pistis word-group plays an important part in questions of the power of the gods to save in face of threatening danger (Aesch., Sept., 211 f.), the unfathomable sovereignty of God (“He who hears the word of God and does not obey is out of his mind,” Eur., Iph. Taur., 14, 75 f.), and the power of God to direct a man’s fate against his will (Soph., OT, 1445). In such case unquestioned obedience to the will of God is required of men.
O. Michel, “Πίστις,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 593–594.
“Faith in Jesus” is much more than simply saying “I believe! Okay, now let’s get on with life”. Faith in Yeshua is keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Yeshua. In the Greek manuscripts there is no word “in” as in “faith in Jesus”, or “of” as in “faith of Jesus”. It simply says “pistin Iesou”. This word “pistin” is described as “originally the word-group denoted conduct that honoured an agreement or bond”. Our agreement with Yeshua is the new covenant.
Luke 22:19–20 (LEB): 19 And he took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.
The new covenant is the means by which the laws of God are written on our heart. How can the laws of God be written on our heart if the law is no longer valid? The idea that the law would become invalid goes against scripture, even if pastors and teachers claim otherwise. Hence the “powerful delusion so they would believe the lie”. Antichrist is simply one who is against the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:20–27 (LEB): 20 And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because every lie is not of the truth. 22 Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This person is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which he himself promised us: eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you concerning the ones who are trying to deceive you. 27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you do not have need that anyone teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
If one “confesses” the son it means they will have the Father too. Confessing the Son is agreeing or being in covenant with Him. Therefore the new covenant, where the laws of God will be written on our heart. This is the work of the Spirit. Are they different laws? Of course not! This is why one who confesses the son also has the Father. It is one in the same and cannot be separated.
Hebrews 8:8–10 (LEB): 8 For in finding fault with them he says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be my people.
Some people will ask “are you a Hebrew?” because I am quoting the letter written to the Hebrews. Once we are in covenant with Yeshua, we are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Otherwise, we are still lost and outside of the covenants of promise. This is the good news of the gospel. Those previously cut off for breaking the covenant would be allowed to return because of Yeshua. We do this by repenting, receiving the Spirit of God through Yeshua and having the laws of God written on our hearts. Moses prophesied these very things, yet the common response to Moses is “that’s the despicable customs of the Jews”, repeating Emperor Constantine in his letter to the bishops of the Roman empire.
Deuteronomy 30:6–10 (LEB): 6 “And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self so that you may live. 7 And Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, on those who harassed you. 8 And you will again listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you will do all his commandments that I am commanding you today. 9 And Yahweh your God will make you prosperous in all your undertakings, and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground abundantly, for Yahweh will again rejoice over you, just as he rejoiced over your ancestors. 10 He will do this if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping his commandment and his statutes written in the scroll of this law and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your inner self.
The enemy knows how to defeat the men and women of God. It is by convincing them not to do what Yahweh commanded. It is the only way to victory. Going to church three times a week will not help a person who is void of the law of God in their heart. Imagining that Jesus will whisk us away in a secret rapture will not help either. Repent and believe the gospel, and be in God’s kingdom. Amos describes the future of God’s kingdom and I am ready to be gathered back to the land and plant some vineyards and gardens after the statue crumbles to the ground!
Amos 9:13–15 (LEB): 13 “Look, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps, the one who treads grapes will catch up with the one who sows the seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all of the hills will flow with it. 14 And I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and will drink their wine, and they will make gardens and will eat their fruit. 15 And I will plant them on their land and they will not be uprooted again from their land that I have given to them,” says Yahweh your God.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process.
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