What happens when the people of Yahweh grumble, complain and are disobedient? Typically they are thrown into some type of tribulation. What better example of this is there other than when Yahweh sent poisonous snakes to bite His disobedient Israelites?

Num 21:5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest this miserable food.”
Num 21:6 And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died.

It was Yahweh that sent the poisonous snakes, not “the devil” or some evil ruler. Once the people realized their sin, they repented and asked God to forgive them. Yah gave them a way out of their dire situation by having Moses put a serpent on a pole for them to look at to be healed.

Num 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes from among us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make for yourself a snake and place it on a pole. When anyone is bitten and looks at it, that person will live.”
Num 21:9 So Moses made a snake of bronze, and he placed it on the pole; whenever a snake bit someone, and that person looked at the snake of bronze, he lived.

Jesus referenced this “snake on a pole” event in regards to His own situation, being the way to inherit eternal life. He also tells us no one has ascended to heaven. This is ignored as much as the sign of him being in the grave three days and three nights. Our theology says we go to heaven when we die, yet Jesus told us no one ascended to Heaven other than Himself. Our theology says he died on Friday and rose Sunday, when there is no way to get three days and three nights if that were true.

Joh 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
Joh 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Deuteronomy has a lot to tell us concerning the latter days, even if you were told by your pastor it doesn’t apply to you. It will take tribulation for the people of Yah to turn from their disobedience. Once people realize they have been breaking the covenant, turn from their rebellion and repent, Yahweh will listen.

Deu 4:23 Watch out for yourselves so that you do not forget the covenant of Yahweh your God that he had made with you and make for yourselves a divine image of the form of anything that Yahweh your God has forbidden,
Deu 4:24 for Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
Deu 4:25 “When you have had children and grandchildren and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger,
Deu 4:26 I call to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it, but you will be completely destroyed.
Deu 4:27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.
Deu 4:28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
Deu 4:31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

It is we that are in the dispersion. Peter wrote to us, and it is arguable if we ever left the government run, pagan temples of Greek and Rome.

1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, told us we would be thrown into tribulation for tolerating Jezebel and the ways of the Nicolaitans. It was only a matter of time. Reading the Bible is much like reading the newspaper these days.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
Rev 2:23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
Rev 2:24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
Rev 2:25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.
Rev 2:26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
Rev 2:27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

One has to read the books of Kings to understand these verses. Jezebel was teaching everyone the pagan festivals of foreign gods. Both the sexual immorality of idolatry and plain old sexual immorality is not only tolerated in the church, it is promoted. Their pagan symbols have demons attached to them and cause tribulation. If the church wants to be a government run, pagan temple, then that is what it will become.

When it comes to the authorities imposing their will, it has taken me many years to understand what Paul was talking about in Romans 13. He is basically describing today’s church landscape. Yahweh puts rulers in place to punish those disobedient to the covenant.

Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God.
Rom 13:2 So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it,
Rom 13:4 for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.
Rom 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.

Paul is referring to breaking the commandments of God. “For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad”. The churches have been more and more rebellious toward the holy covenant in recent years. Is it any surprise that Yahweh will use plagues and the ruling authorities to punish His people? Are you wondering why churches are being affected so greatly by current events? What is the solution?

Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it,

Forget about fighting the authorities. Focus on repenting and doing what is good. You are where you are at due to disobedience. The only things that are good are what Yahweh told us to do, and Yeshua showed us in person. Yeshua told us we would be thrown in tribulation for sexual immorality and pagan idolatry. Worse than that, our kids are going to die unless we repent. Isaiah told us there was supposed to be a refreshing, but the people would not listen.

Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Peter told us about this too.

Act 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Isaiah told us there would be a refreshing of the covenant, and Peter told us it was through Jesus. Since I like this picture from Unsplash so much, I am using it again. “Yet they would not hear” You are here!

Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

What is said about those who want to fight in the flesh what Yahweh has ordained to punish his people for disobedience? It is not good.

Mat 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Mat 26:53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

We are watching prophesy be fulfilled in our life time. No one can change the hand of Yah with a political rally, resistance or complaining. The solution is to repent, give up pagan idolatry and start following the commandments. Even then, we are not guaranteed a happy ending in the flesh. Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. We have gone too far!

Rev 13:9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
Rev 13:10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The only way the church has convinced people the verses in Revelation are not for them is by one, omitting Revelation from sermons and two, by telling people they will be raptured, watching from heaven. Is Yahweh going to rapture a rebellious people breaking all His commandments? It is spelled out for us that we have to have faith in Jesus and keep His commandments, and these have to be the same as the Father’s commandments.

Rev 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

How can anyone say our deeds don’t matter if they follow us when we die? What deeds would matter to Yahweh other than what He told us to do? You have been lied to and deceived with your pop culture gospel. This is prophesy being fulfilled. You will also go into tribulation. My hope is someone remembers these words when they find themselves in tribulation. Ideally, we wouldn’t wait until it gets worse.

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

Jer 23:19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20 The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind. In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding.

The priests and the prophets are telling us nothing bad will happen. They say they have a word from Yahweh, when Yahweh didn’t speak to them. “Burden of the LORD!”. They are not speaking words from Yahweh unless they are saying to repent and follow the holy covenant. In other words, do righteousness.

Jer 23:32 Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,” declares Yahweh, “and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all,” declares Yahweh.
Jer 23:33 “Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, saying, ‘What is the burden of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will forsake you,'” declares Yahweh.
Jer 23:34 “And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of Yahweh,’ I will punish that man and his house.
Jer 23:35 Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’
Jer 23:36 But you shall not mention the burden of Yahweh, for the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God.
Jer 23:37 Thus you shall say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’
Jer 23:38 But if you say, ‘The burden of Yahweh,’ therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘because of your saying these words, “The burden of Yahweh,” then I will send to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of Yahweh.'”‘
Jer 23:39 Therefore look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors from my presence,
Jer 23:40 and I will bring upon you an everlasting disgrace and an everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

“For the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God.” This sounds similar to the words of Jesus.

Mat 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Mat 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Mat 12:37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Yahweh is using the situations at hand to at least wake up some of His people. Some will awake and repent, but many will not. They will be given over to an reprobate mind and strong delusion.

2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
2Th 2:12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Forget the lies you have been told and look at what Paul is saying. “They refused to love the truth”. Paul is talking about the righteousness found in the truth spoken by Yahweh that people will refuse. This is prophecy in our face right now.

Psa 86:11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.

Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth.

“Pleasure in unrighteousness” is doing what you want to do and not what Yahweh says to do.

Rev 2:26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
Rev 2:27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

We must follow the instructions Yahweh gave us if we want any chance of things to go well. It wasn’t until the people repented in the desert, that He gave them a way to be saved from the poisonous snake bites. Unless we repent and start doing what Yahweh said to do, we will face this plus much harsher punishment; such as the sixth seal.

Rev 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
Rev 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
Rev 6:14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Rev 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
Rev 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

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Many people will start the observance of Sukkoth today depending on the calendar they are following. This feast is also called booths and tabernacles because the Israelites were commanded to live in temporary dwellings for seven days.

Lev 23:37 “‘These are Yahweh’s festivals, which you must proclaim, holy assemblies to present an offering made by fire to Yahweh—burnt offering and grain offering, sacrifice and libations, each on its proper day—
Lev 23:38 besides Yahweh’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides your vows and besides all your freewill offerings that you give to Yahweh.
Lev 23:39 “‘Surely on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, at your gathering the land’s produce, you shall hold Yahweh’s festival for seven days; on the first day there shall be a rest period and on the eighth day a rest period.
Lev 23:40 And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the first fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees and branches of a leafy tree and of a brook’s poplar trees, and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God for seven days.
Lev 23:41 And you must hold it as a festival for Yahweh for seven days in the year; it shall be a lasting statute throughout your generations; in the seventh month you must hold it.
Lev 23:42 You must live in the booths for seven days; all the natives in Israel must live in the booths,
Lev 23:43 so that your generations shall know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them from the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.'”
Lev 23:44 Thus Moses announced to the Israelites Yahweh’s appointed times.

It is likely that Jesus was born during the feast of tabernacles. John 1:14, “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.” (Modern King James Version)

One of the biggest mistakes that Christendom has made is the belief that these feasts, such as Sukkoth, are only for the “Jews”. Lev 23:37, “These are Yahweh’s festivals”. One could argue that the term “Jew” did not even exist when these feasts were proclaimed. Christendom also failed to recognize being grafted into the natural olive tree puts a person in the commonwealth of Israel. We were once alienated, but now we are brought near as the Israel of God.

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

Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, only did what was pleasing to His Father, Yahweh. If someone doesn’t believe that they are grafted in to Israel and no longer a Gentile, then it makes sense that they would not do the things of Yahweh. Yahweh is the name the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave to His people. Christendom changed His special day, the Sabbath, to a different day, changed His special holidays to those of foreign gods (Halloween, Christmas and Easter), changed his name to the generic term “Lord”, changed his commandments and changed the people group from the commonwealth of Israel to simply the “church”, with a completely different identity than Israel. With all these changes it begs the question if they are worshipping Yahweh, or another god. They have disassociated themselves from Yahweh. Who is your god? Is it the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or another god? Do you follow His instructions and His special days, or those of different gods and Demi-gods?

Joh 8:25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.
Joh 8:26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
Joh 8:27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.
Joh 8:28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
Joh 8:29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Having a birthday celebration on the day of the birth of the sun god, Mithras, or changing the Sabbath to the venerable day of the sun, does not please the Father; therefore, there is no way Yeshua would sanction either of these. By understanding the feasts and scripture, we know Yeshua was not crucified on Friday and did not rise from the dead on Sunday. This is simply a myth to fit the account to honor the goddesses Venus (Freya) and Ishtar (Easter), and sun god Mithras (Saturn). It is only through the twisting of scripture that people have fallen for these things. Once the feasts of Yahweh are understood, scripture clearly shows the Messiah, Yeshua, was crucified on a Wednesday and rose at the end of the Sabbath, Saturday. These are hard words unless a person immerses themselves in scripture, becomes obedient and asks to be shown the truth.

Deu 12:29 “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land,
Deu 12:30 take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’
Deu 12:31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 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.”

The early church leaders reinforced the Deuteronomy 12 instructions by telling the new pagan converts to give up their things that are polluted by idols. It obviously didn’t work because pagan idolatry over took the church.

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

Peter continues with this messaging. Being “ransomed by the futile ways of your forefathers” and “do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” is talking about pagan idolatry. Replacing Yahweh’s holidays with those blended with foreign gods and their traditions, is the same thing Peter was speaking about in his letter to the dispersion. The house of Israel was separated from Yahweh for doing these things. Yeshua made a way for them to come back, and many never did. They simply blended their pagan traditions with some new religion later to come under the name of Christianity. We have inherited these lies from our forefathers, just as Peter indicates.

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

There is an argument that today we are not even able legitimately to observe the feast of Sukkoth. In Deuteronomy, it says to appear where Yahweh chooses.

Deu 16:16 Three times in the year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty-handed.
Deu 16:17 Each person shall give as he is able, that is, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you.

Whether we believe we should keep Sukkoth by living in temporary dwellings, based on these scriptures or not, does not give us a license to make up new holidays on the holy days of foreign gods. It is a good practice to learn the feasts and remember what Yahweh did for His people, along with the future hope we have. It is especially easy to keep a Sabbath.

Yeshua kept the feast, even if it was later then the rest of the people. Perhaps He was keeping the correct calendar?

Joh 7:1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
Joh 7:2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
Joh 7:3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
Joh 7:4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
Joh 7:5 For not even his brothers believed in him.
Joh 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
Joh 7:8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
Joh 7:9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Joh 7:10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

Yahweh tells us through the prophet Hosea that Ephraim will have to dwell in tents again. This is what is referred to as the second Exodus. It is all through scripture where Yahweh will deliver His people in the end times. Ephraim is another name for the house of Israel, who was dispersed into the nations.

Hos 12:5 Yahweh the God of hosts, Yahweh is his renowned name!
Hos 12:6 But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God.
Hos 12:7 The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit; he loves to oppress.
Hos 12:8 And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich, I gained wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is sin.
Hos 12:9 But I am Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, like the days of the appointed festival.

This time that Yahweh is referring to does not look like it is in the distant future either. It will be such a great event that we will not even talk about the first Exodus. This has not happened yet because we are still talking about the first Exodus.

Jer 23:5 “Look, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king, and he will achieve success, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety, and this is his name by which he will be called: ‘Yahweh is our righteousness.’
Jer 23:7 “Therefore look, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’
Jer 23:8 but ‘As Yahweh lives, who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.’ Then they will live in their land.”

This is speaking of the event Yeshua told us about.

Mat 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Mat 24:30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

One thing is for certain, everyone that is part of the millennium kingdom will be keeping this feast, or they will not get rain. This takes place after the great day of Yahweh.

Zec 14:16 And then every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:17 And then whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them.
Zec 14:18 And if the clan of Egypt will not go up and come in, on them will be that plague Yahweh inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:20 On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to Yahweh.” And the cooking pots in the house of Yahweh will be holy like the sacrificial basins before the altar.
Zec 14:21 And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a trader in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.

Learn the feasts of Yahweh, knowing they are a shadow of things to come, or a remembrance of events that have happened. The fall feasts all point to future prophecies that have not been fulfilled. Remember what Yahweh has done and the hope we have of a future kingdom where we will be keeping the feasts as intended. Leave behind the pagan idolatry we inherited from our forefathers, and follow Yahweh’s instructions!

Amo 9:8 Look, the eyes of my Lord Yahweh are on the kingdom of sin, and I will destroy it from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares Yahweh.
Amo 9:9 “Yes, look, I am going to command and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations like one who shakes with a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil will not overtake or confront us.’
Amo 9:11 On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old.
Amo 9:12 Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares Yahweh, who does this.
Amo 9:13 “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.
Amo 9:14 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.
Amo 9:15 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.

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What is the curse of the law? Unfortunately, many have tried to say that the instructions of Yahweh are a curse, or anyone that pursues following Yahweh’s instructions are putting themselves under a curse. This could not be further from the truth, and to do this, a person would have to start using a black permanent marker for a highlighter in their Bible. I feel compelled to share the blessings that pursuing the instructions of Yahweh gives us. The curses are self evident, if a person understands the consequences of disregarding the fabric of a successful existence on this planet. Here is one of the verses used to try to imply the law or Torah of Yahweh is a curse.

Gal 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
Gal 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Gal 3:12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Gal 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

If we rely on the works of law, we are breaking the law, according to Paul in his letter to the Galatians. There are those who believe that they can be good enough to save themselves. In other words, if they do every detail of the law of Yahweh, it will somehow justify them in His sight. This belief was apparently being accepted by Paul’s audience. He goes on to quote Deuteronomy 27:26.

Deu 27:26 “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Before we had faith, we were all under the curse of the law, because everyone has broken the law. However, the curse lies in breaking the law, not the law itself. Paul clarifies in his letter to the Romans.

Rom 7:9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.
Rom 7:10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
Rom 7:11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Rom 7:12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

The law, which is holy, righteous and good, points out what is bad in us and curses us until we put our faith in Jesus. With this comes a transformation whereby these laws that were bringing us curses are suddenly written on our heart, and we are given the Spirit of Grace to walk in them.

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

One question that comes to mind is this: if the law is a curse, why would Yahweh want to put it into our minds and write it on our hearts? Consider the words of Jesus:

Joh 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Joh 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

As Paul indicated, the law is spiritual. Romans 7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into slavery to sin.”

Let’s look at some of the curses associated for not keeping the commandments of Yahweh. Do you find yourself with any of these problems? Do you disregard His instructions?

Deu 28:15 “And then if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:
Deu 28:16 “You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.
Deu 28:17 “Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.
Deu 28:18 “The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.
Deu 28:19 “You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.
Deu 28:20 “Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat in everything that you undertake, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me.
Deu 28:21 Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you from the land that you are going to, to take possession of it.
Deu 28:22 Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.
Deu 28:23 And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron.
Deu 28:24 Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.
Deu 28:25 “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; on one road you shall go against them, but you will flee on seven roads before them, and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth.
Deu 28:26 And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be anyone to frighten them away.
Deu 28:27 “Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with the skin rash that cannot be healed.
Deu 28:28 Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart.
Deu 28:29 And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time, and there will not be anyone who will rescue you.
Deu 28:30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it.
Deu 28:31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right before you, and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and there shall not be anyone who rescues you.
Deu 28:32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and you will be looking on longingly for them all day, but you will be powerless to do anything.
Deu 28:33 A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.
Deu 28:34 You shall become mad because of what your eyes shall see.
Deu 28:35 Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which you will not be able to be healed, from the sole of your foot and up to your crown.
Deu 28:36 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone.
Deu 28:37 And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.
Deu 28:38 “You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it.
Deu 28:39 You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.
Deu 28:40 There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives shall drop off.
Deu 28:41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity.
Deu 28:42 The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground.
Deu 28:43 The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower.
Deu 28:44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.
Deu 28:45 “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
Deu 28:46 And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring forever.
Deu 28:47 “Because of the fact that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything,
Deu 28:48 then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.
Deu 28:49 Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
Deu 28:50 a grim-faced nation who does not show respect to the old and the young and does not show pity.
Deu 28:51 And it shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed, and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, calves of your herds, and lambs of your flock until it has destroyed you.
Deu 28:52 And it shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls fall, which you are trusting in throughout your land; and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you.
Deu 28:53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, during the siege and during the distress your enemy inflicts upon you.
Deu 28:54 The most refined and the very sensitive man among you shall be mean with his brother and against his beloved wife and against the rest of his children that he has left over,
Deu 28:55 by refraining from giving to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him during the siege and distress that your enemy inflicts upon you.
Deu 28:56 The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, shall be mean to her beloved husband and against her son and against her daughter,
Deu 28:57 and even concerning her afterbirth that goes out from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret during the siege and during the distress that your enemy inflicts upon her in your towns.
Deu 28:58 “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,
Deu 28:59 then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring.
Deu 28:60 And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt concerning which you were in dread because of them.
Deu 28:61 Also any illness and any plague that is not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed.
Deu 28:62 And you shall remain only a few people in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.
Deu 28:63 And then as Yahweh delighted over you to make you prosperous to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it.
Deu 28:64 And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor your ancestors, gods of wood and stone.
Deu 28:65 And among these nations you shall not find rest, and there shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes and a languishing of your inner self.
Deu 28:66 And your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall be startled night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life.
Deu 28:67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it was evening!’ and in the evening you shall say ‘If only it was morning!’ because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see.
Deu 28:68 And Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt in ships by the route that I promised to you that ‘You shall not see it again!’ And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer.”

The law defines sin and curses us when we disobey it. What happens if, through the Holy Spirit of Grace, we pursue righteousness by obeying the law that is written in our hearts? Could these blessings still apply to us that were given years ago?

Lev 26:1 “‘You shall not make for yourselves idols and divine images, and you shall not raise up stone pillars for yourselves, and you shall not put a sculptured stone in your land in order to worship before it, because I am Yahweh your God.
Lev 26:2 “‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and you shall revere my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
Lev 26:3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and you keep my commands and you do them,
Lev 26:4 then I will give you rains in their time, and the land shall give its produce, and the trees of the field shall give their fruit.
Lev 26:5 And for you the threshing season shall overtake the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall overtake the sowing, and you shall eat your food to your fill and you shall live securely in your land.
Lev 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and there shall not be anybody who makes you afraid, and I will remove harmful animals from the land, and no sword shall pass through your land.
Lev 26:7 And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
Lev 26:8 And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue a myriad; and your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
Lev 26:9 And I will turn to you, and I will make you fruitful, and I will make you numerous; and I will keep my covenant with you.
Lev 26:10 And you shall eat old grain, and you shall clear away the old before the new.
Lev 26:11 And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self shall not abhor you.
Lev 26:12 And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people.
Lev 26:13 I am Yahweh, your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke, and I caused you to walk erectly.

I have heard the gospel explained by more than one person when describing what it should look like in someone’s life, as turning from their own way and starting to follow God’s ways. What are Yahweh’s ways if not His life giving instruction of the law? This idea of “following God” has been the changing goal posts in every church and denomination I have been a part of. In some denominations we are never good enough, we don’t read our bibles enough, pray enough, wear the correct clothing, go to enough church services, or give enough of our time or money. Sunday morning service stresses the importance of Sunday night, which in turn stresses Wednesday night, and so on. Yet in contrast, some church denominations have an anything goes approach, where all manner of unrighteousness is accepted as long as everyone “loves” one another. I surround “love” with quotations because there is no love without warning people of the impending wrath of Yahweh that will be poured out on unrepentant people.

How can a person repent if no one knows what to repent from? Yahweh did not make it complicated, and He even sent His son to show us the way. If we look at Jesus as our example, we can clearly see how He lived, and what He told us to do. Speaking of Jesus, the following verse shows Jesus’ custom of Sabbath keeping:

Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Jesus was a Sabbath keeper. Despite antisemetic, religious leaders that came along a few hundred years later trying to do away with the Sabbath, the New Testament church kept the Sabbath. Jesus showed us that the many rules created in the Oral Law and Talmuds were questionable. They created many fences around the commandments so no one would get close to breaking the actual commandment in the Torah. Here is an example from the Babylonian Talmud that speaks about tying and untying knots on the Sabbath:

MISHNA: There are knots on account of which one does not become culpable, as in the case of a camel-driver’s or seaman’s knot. A woman may tie the slit of her chemise, the bands of her hood, the bands of her girdle, the straps of her shoes and sandals; also the bands of leather flasks (filled) with wine or oil, and of a pot of meat. R. Eliezer, the son of Jacob, says: “One may tie a rope in front of cattle, in order that they may not escape.” One may tie a bucket (over the well) with his girdle, but not with a rope. R. Jehudah permits this to be done with a rope also. For a rule was laid down by R. Jehudah: One is not culpable for any knot which is not permanently fastened.
GEMARA: Is there not a difficulty in understanding the Mishna itself? The first part states, that there are knots on account of which one does not become culpable, etc., implying, therefore, that, while one who ties them does not become liable for a sin-offering, at the same time he must not do it to commence with. The latter part, however, says, that a woman may tie the slit of her chemise, etc., implying, then, that she may do it in the first place? The Mishna means: There are some knots for the tying of which one does not become culpable, as in the case of the knots of the camel-drivers, etc., and they are: The knots by means of which the guiding- line is attached to the nose-ring, and the knots by means of which the hawsers are attached to the ship itself. For tying such knots one does not become liable for a sin-offering, but he must not make them to commence with (because at times the knot is left on the nose-ring or on the ship for some time), and there are other knots which may be tied in the first place, such as the slit of a woman’s chemise, etc.; what would he inform us? Is it not self-evident, that a woman must tie the slit in her chemise. The case treated of is where a chemise has two slits, an upper and that only the upper one of the slits would be permitted to be tied; he therefore informs us, that both the upper and the lower may be tied and untied.

These are the types of rules that they had endless discussions about, none of which are found in the written instructions from Yahweh. Jesus was trying to get the Sabbath back on track.

Mar 2:23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
Mar 2:24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
Mar 2:25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him:
Mar 2:26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”
Mar 2:27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mar 2:28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

This would have been the place where Jesus could have said, “You don’t have to worry about the Sabbath. It’s done away with, and you can rest in me now. In a few hundred years we are going to start doing things on the Venerable day of the sun anyway.” He never said that though. What He said was that he was the “lord” of the Sabbath, which can be also translated as guardian.

In a different case, what did Jesus tell the woman who was accused of adultery?

Joh 8:10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
Joh 8:11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Jesus told this woman to go and sin no more. Is that possible? He is implying so. The laws that were argued about in the Mishnah, creating volumes of opinion in the Talmud, were very burdensome. This was what Jesus and the apostles spoke about often. No one ever indicated that the instructions of Yahweh were now obsolete. It was quite the opposite if you read all of scripture and understand what is being said. Jesus tells us the following:

Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I cannot imagine how having a day to simply rest would be called a curse, but some do and refuse to rest. Eventually it will catch up to them. As far as what I call the “Church Talmud”, with endless rules and regulations for the Christian church, I take comfort in the following scriptures in the Psalms:

Psa 119:160 The whole of your word is truth, and your every righteous judgment endures forever.
Psa 119:161 Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles because of your word.
Psa 119:162 I am rejoicing over your word, like one who finds great spoil.
Psa 119:163 I hate and abhor falsehood; I love your law.
Psa 119:164 I praise you seven times in the day for your righteous ordinances.
Psa 119:165 Great peace is for those who love your law, and they do not have a cause for stumbling.
Psa 119:166 I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh, and do your commands.

The theme of the entire Bible is “be obedient and follow God’s commandments”. Yahweh is coming to reward those who listen and practice His words and punish those who practice evil. It is only deception that lulls Christians into believing anything else. Daniel speaks about the end, that which has not happened yet, and it speaks of those who turn people to righteousness, shining like the stars in heaven. What is this righteousness if not the commandments of Yahweh?

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

Who is wise, but those who follow the commandments?

Psa 19:7 The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving life. The testimony of Yahweh is firm, making wise the simple.
Psa 19:8 The precepts of Yahweh are right, making the heart rejoice. The command of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psa 19:9 The fear of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether,
Psa 19:10 more desirable than gold, even much fine gold; and sweeter than honey, even honey in the comb.
Psa 19:11 Moreover, your servant is warned by them; in keeping them is great reward.
Psa 19:12 Who can perceive his errors? Acquit me from hidden faults.
Psa 19:13 Also, keep back your servant from arrogant sins; let them not rule over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your presence, O Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer.

Truth, righteousness, wisdom and understanding all come from the law of Yahweh. Yeshua, the salvation of Yah, (Jesus), was the living example of this. The law of Yahweh, His Word is a great reward. Follow His example and be a shining star.

Previous blog posts:

Earthly Kingdom by Force or Spiritual Kingdom by God? Dispensationalism and Zionism.

Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” John 18:36 (LEB) Yeshua walked the earth in the first century at a time when…

by Gary Vail January 13, 2024

The Meek Will Inherit the Earth

 Blessed are the meek,because they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 (LEB) The world can be an unfriendly and intimidating place. We have forgotten how to maintain a simple life, and have embraced a society that cries for more war, is quick to get angry, and has completely mixed religion with politics to a point…

by Gary Vail January 1, 2024

Observing Times

But at that time when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not gods. But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you…

by Gary Vail December 17, 2023

Overtaken

The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail. Deuteronomy 28:43–44 (LEB) The Bible has been fractured today by…

by Gary Vail December 9, 2023

The Regathering

And a highway shall be there, and a way,and it shall be called the way of holiness.The unclean shall not travel through it,but it is for them, he who walks on the way;and fools shall not wander about. Isaiah 35:8 (LEB) Those who hold to the theology of dispensationalism, most evangelicals, and many others, view…

by Gary Vail November 18, 2023

Wars and Confusion

 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison  and he will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for battle, whose number is like the sand of the sea.  And they went up on the…

by Gary Vail November 4, 2023

The False Light

 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. 2 Corinthians 11:13–15…

by Gary Vail October 8, 2023

Honour Your Father and Mother

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),  “in order that it may be well with you, and you may live a long time on the earth.” And fathers, do not make your children angry, but bring them up…

by Gary Vail September 30, 2023

Freedom in God’s Laws

 I hate and abhor falsehood; I love your law. I praise you seven times in the dayfor your righteous ordinances. Great peace is for those who love your law,and they do not have a cause for stumbling. I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh,and do your commands. Psalm 119:163–166 (LEB) There are many people today in…

by Gary Vail September 17, 2023

Twelve, not Thirteen; Where is the Church???

 It has a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel—on the east, three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the west, three…

by Gary Vail September 2, 2023

Paul is the Most Misunderstood Person in History

And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles the abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs. Acts 21:21 (LEB) People have been misrepresenting the Apostle Paul ever since his conversion on the road to…

by Gary Vail August 19, 2023

Will the Real Jesus Please Step Forward?

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Matthew 16:15–16 (LEB) There is so much confusion surrounding the person, Jesus Christ, to the point that there are multiple versions of Jesus Christ spread throughout Christianity.…

by Gary Vail August 12, 2023

Dividing God’s Word is Risky Business

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV 1900) Anytime someone disagrees with a doctrine or Biblical interpretation, usually Paul’s famous instruction to Timothy is used to remind the person, supposedly who has strayed, that they “must rightly…

by Gary Vail August 5, 2023

Something Different

And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit. They shall be yours as food.” Genesis 1:29 (LEB) We spend much of our efforts speaking about Sabbaths, feast days, justice, mercy and the importance…

by Gary Vail July 23, 2023

The day of atonement, or Yom Kippur, is a fall Mo’ed that many celebrate this week. Mo’ed are special holy days Yahweh set apart for His people to observe. Christians are taught these days were meant for only the tribe of Judah, and substitute them with new, made up, white washed holy days of foreign gods. Yahweh makes it clear that these are His special days intended for His people forever.

Lev 23:1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘The festivals of Yahweh that you shall proclaim are holy assemblies; these are my appointed times.

Concerning the day of atonement:

Lev 23:31 You must not do any work; it is a lasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening—from evening to evening you must observe your extraordinary Sabbath.”

The version of the Bible called the Scriptures, translates it like this:

Lev 23:27 “On the tenth day of this seventh new moon is Yom haKippurim.d It shall be a set-apart gathering for you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה. Foonote: d Day of Atonement or Day of the Coverings.

In verse 23:2 Yahweh says “speak to the Israelites”. The Israelites were the entire house of Israel, which consisted of all twelve tribes. These are the people of God, who are the same people of God today, even if one does not realize it. We have no problem understanding the letter James wrote was to the people of God in the New Testament. Was this written to a new entity called “the church”? Let’s look at to whom it was addressed.

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

James wrote to the same people whom Yahweh told to observe His appointed times. Peter also addressed a similar group of people.

1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Peter knew that it was prophesied that the twelve tribes of Israel would be dispersed throughout the world for disobedience, and Yahweh would send a shepherd to gather back the elect of the dispersion who have faith through the shepherd, Jesus, and are obedient to the covenant. Paul addresses “all who are called Saints” in his letter to the Romans, because he understands it is the twelve tribes along with anyone who is grafted into Israel, as he explains in chapter 11 of Romans.

Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Rom 1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
Rom 1:3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
Rom 1:4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Rom 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
Rom 1:6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
Rom 1:7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before we can talk about the day of atonement, we need to identify who we are as followers of Yahweh and His son Yeshua, commonly referred to as Jesus. Moses prophesied that the twelve tribes would be disobedient and dispersed to the four corners of the world as a punishment for their disobedience.

Deu 4:25 “When you have had children and grandchildren and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image of the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, thus provoking him to anger,
Deu 4:26 I call to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it, but you will be completely destroyed.
Deu 4:27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you.
Deu 4:28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
Deu 4:31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

Moses tells the twelve tribes they will be dispersed, but in the latter days, if they seek Yahweh with all their heart, they will return to Him and listen to His voice. Even though most Christians have been lied to and told Deuteronomy does not apply to them, it clearly does in light of the New Testament writers. Paul tells us we were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, but brought near by the Messiah.

Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Eph 2:15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
Eph 2:16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Eph 2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Eph 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Eph 2:21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Eph 2:22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Paul also tells us we are grafted into Israel in his letter to the Romans.

Rom 11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
Rom 11:14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Rom 11:15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
Rom 11:19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
Rom 11:20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
Rom 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
Rom 11:22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Paul is explaining more prophecy. By Israel being dispersed throughout the nations for disobedience, they actually seeded the nations. Yahweh did this so that all people have the opportunity to take part in the blessings of the covenants between He and Israel when they turn from their evil ways and are brought near through faith and obedience to Yeshua. This is what it means to be grafted in to the natural olive tree.

Paul also tells us we need to continue in kindness. This is not talking about being nice to each other by over looking sin. The Greek word for kindness is Strong’s G5544, meaning moral goodness and integrity. These things can only be defined by following Yahweh’s instructions. Yahweh is not looking simply for people to be kind, although it is good to be kind. He wants people who listen to His voice. Deuteronomy 4:30, “In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.”

G5544
χρηστότης
chrēstotēs
Thayer Definition:
1) moral goodness, integrity
2) benignity, kindness

The biggest lie that the enemy has fed through Christianity, is that the church is a separate people of God that don’t have to do anything Yahweh says. This is replacement theology, and the basis for dispensational theology. In Acts, Peter tells us we are in a time of refreshing and that we need to repent. To repent means to follow the holy covenant of promise.

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

The prophet Isaiah also spoke of a time of refreshing, and it is the same message speaking to Ephraim, those from the house of Israel scattered throughout the world. Isaiah also says “they would not hear”. Peter spoke about the refreshing that came with Yeshua, but today we are experiencing the ”not hearing part” Isaiah spoke about.

Isa 28:1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
Isa 28:2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
Isa 28:3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
Isa 28:4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
Isa 28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Isa 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isa 28:8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

All this discussion has been to show that we are the Israel of God, if we call the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob our God who gave us His name, Yahweh and His salvation through His son. He is telling us to keep His special holy days for all our generations. So, how then do we keep the day of atonement?

Lev 16:29 “And this shall be a lasting statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you must deny yourselves and you must not do any work, whether the native or the alien who is dwelling in your midst,
Lev 16:30 because on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you; you must be clean from all your sins before Yahweh.
Lev 16:31 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves—it is a lasting statute.

Many people fast on this day. They get this from the word deny yourself, or in other translations, afflict yourselves. I believe fasting is a good thing, but it is not a checklist where we check the box that says fasting and rest, thereby fulfilling our duties of the day. We are supposed to examine ourselves deeply, and solemnly against the Word of Yahweh. Yahweh tells us what a true fast is through the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 58:1 “Call with the throat; you must not keep back! lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their rebellion, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Isa 58:2 Yet they seek me day by day, and they desire the knowledge of my ways like a nation that practiced righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of its God; they ask me for righteous judgments, they desire the closeness of God.
Isa 58:3 ‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’ Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!
Isa 58:4 Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice heard on the height.
Isa 58:5 Is the fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate himself? To bow his head like a reed, and make his bed on sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
Isa 58:6 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?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring home the poor, the homeless. When you see the naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.
Isa 58:8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.
Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’ If you remove from among you the yoke, the finger-pointing and evil speech,
Isa 58:10 if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy the appetite of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like noon.
Isa 58:11 And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.
Isa 58:12 And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect the foundations of many generations, and you shall be called the bricklayer of the breach, the restorer of paths to live in.
Isa 58:13 If you hold your foot back from the Sabbath, from doing your affairs on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a pleasure, the holy day of Yahweh honorable, if you honor him more than doing your ways, than finding your affairs and speaking a word,
Isa 58:14 then you shall take your pleasure in Yahweh, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

Was this not the message of Yeshua? Yahweh does not like hypocrites or showboating. Isaiah 58:6, “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?”.

As far as verse 23:7 is concerned, to bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh, we know with no early Levitical system or temple, it is not possible to do this. Paul tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice.

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The prophet Hosea tells us to offer the fruit of our lips.

Hos 14:1 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel, for you have stumbled because of your sin.
Hos 14:2 Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

Yeshua was made the high priest in the heavenly temple. The sacrifices on the day of atonement were a shadow of His sacrifice for us who are obedient to what He said.

Heb 5:5 Thus also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you,”
Heb 5:6 just as also in another place he says, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,”
Heb 5:7 who in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard as a result of his reverence.
Heb 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered,
Heb 5:9 and being perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him,
Heb 5:10 being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

The day of atonement also has prophetic implications. Many believe this is the day in which “the day of the LORD” will happen. The day of trumpets, Yom Teruah, is ten days before the day of atonement. On the day of trumpets we are commanded to blow trumpets and shout. This is the holy day many believe Yeshua will gather His people out of the way of his wrath on the day of atonement.

Joe 1:13 Gird yourselves and lament, O priests! Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because offering and libation are withheld from the house of your God.
Joe 1:14 Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all of the inhabitants of the land in the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.
Joe 1:15 Ah! For the day! For the day of Yahweh is near. It will come like destruction from Shaddai.

Amo 9:5 And thus will do the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like the Nile of Egypt,
Amo 9:6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth—Yahweh is his name.

I encourage everyone who calls Yahweh, the LORD, their God, to take a solemn day of rest and affliction on Yom Kippur as He commanded all of Israel to do forever in their generations. Hopefully, I have been able to penetrate the hundreds of years of lies that disguise the people of Yahweh’s true identity through His son Yeshua.

Previous blog posts:

Finding God in Organized Religion

Have you found yourself in a place where you cannot tolerate the manipulation, control and inconsistencies found in organized religion? Do you still yearn for an understanding of a creator or meaningful relationship with God? Please check out my book where I discuss many topics about these issues based on my personal experiences from fifty…

by Gary Vail June 30, 2023June 30, 2023

Who is your Neighbour?

Which of these three do you suppose became a neighbor of the man who fell among the robbers?” So he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” And Jesus said to him, “You go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36–37 (LEB) In Christianity we often hear about “loving our neighbour”. When Jesus was asked which…

by Gary Vail June 24, 2023

Which Feast are You Planning to Attend?

And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God, in order that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of military tribunes, and the flesh of the…

by Gary Vail June 11, 2023

Brutal Honesty: We’re in Trouble

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by Gary Vail June 3, 2023June 4, 2023

Happy Shavuot!

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…

by Gary Vail May 27, 2023June 4, 2023

The Ancient Paths are Better

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by Gary Vail May 20, 2023

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Does God Want Us to be Dumb?

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…

by Gary Vail April 30, 2023May 27, 2023

Generations to Come

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by Gary Vail April 22, 2023April 21, 2023

Manipulation, Control, Religion and Christianity

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by Gary Vail April 15, 2023April 14, 2023

Yeshua or Yearly Sungod Resurrections?

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by Gary Vail April 8, 2023

What do the Dead know?

Death Deprives Humans of Everything in Life Whoever is joined to all the living has hope. After all, even a live dog is better than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them…

by Gary Vail April 8, 2023April 7, 2023

Hear the Matter started just over a year and a half ago. We are happy that it has been so widely received. Thank you to all that have liked, commented and shared on all the various social media platforms and WordPress itself. Here is a map of all the places that regularly hit the website.

I realize not everyone will agree with everything that is written on Hear the Matter, and that is a good thing. For years I sat absorbing information in church, some wrong, some right, but never truly searching if the things I was being taught were true. It was not until I decided to let the scriptures speak for themselves that I realized how far we have strayed from the truth. For example, do you know what Paul is talking about in the following passage, and who Jannes and Jambres are that opposed Moses?

2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
2Ti 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
2Ti 3:9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

I encourage everyone to search the scriptures daily to see if the matters, discussed at Hear the Matter, are true. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but the Messiah says He will send the Holy Spirit of Truth to those who are obedient.

Joh 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Joh 14:17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

We have started a YouTube channel to hopefully one day be able to discuss some of the matters brought forth at Hear the Matter in video format. It’s just an idea currently, but it will help to have subscribers to the channel.

Previous Blog Posts:

What if it is True?

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…

by Gary Vail October 22, 2022October 21, 2022

To Be Like Jesus

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…

by Gary Vail October 17, 2022

Are There Antisemitic Roots in Christianity?

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…

by Gary Vail October 15, 2022October 13, 2022

Sukkot: The True God’s Week Long Festival

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 no knowledge of the week long festival the Creator gave to His people to enjoy called Sukkot. However, most…

by Gary Vail October 8, 2022October 7, 2022

Should Christians Regard Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement?

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 bread for the hungry?You must bring home the poor, the homeless.When you see the naked, you must cover him,and you…

by Gary Vail October 2, 2022

Should Christians Follow the Instructions of Their God?

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 reply, “that is the old covenant” or “I am saved by grace and not under the law”. It is as…

by Gary Vail October 1, 2022September 30, 2022

Happy Yom Teruah!

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 trumpet blast, a holy assembly. You must not do any regular work, and you shall present an offering made by fire…

by Gary Vail September 25, 2022

The Eternal Covenant

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 do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory…

by Gary Vail September 24, 2022

Futurism and the Pretribulation Rapture

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 before a seven year period called the “tribulation” where the “church” is taken off the Earth before the so-called…

by Gary Vail September 17, 2022

The Fall Feasts of Yahuah

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 start soon and what better time to celebrate the birth of our Messiah? There are many reasons to believe…

by Gary Vail September 11, 2022

The Burden of Yahuah

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 not burdensome 1 John 5:2–3 (LEB) People have reminded me at times that teachers and instructors will be held accountable…

by Gary Vail September 10, 2022September 10, 2022

What Now?

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 teachers of the law, although they do not understand either the things which they are saying or the things concerning…

by Gary Vail September 3, 2022September 3, 2022

Many us have heard the story of Esau selling his birthright to his brother for a cup of stew. Is this just a cute Bible story, or is there a message for us today? Esau stated he was about to die. Why did he think he was going to die? We have to look outside the sixty-six book Bible to find a possible answer.

And all the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness. And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house. And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Yaaqov and sat before him. And he said unto his brother Yaaqov, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Yaaqov acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Yaaqov, for it was so brought about by Yahuah. And Esau’s portion in the cave of the field of Makpelah, which Avraham had bought from the children of Cheth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Yaaqov, and Yaaqov bought all this from his brother Esau for value given. And Yaaqov wrote the whole of this in a cepher, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and the cepher remained in the hands of Yaaqov. YASHAR (JASHER) 27:9-14 את CEPHER

Jacob and Esau’s life spans overlapped that of the great king Nimrod. Anyone who is familiar with this history knows that Nimrod was a type of anti-messiah in Abraham’s day, and actually sought the life of Abraham when he was still a baby. Esau came across Nimrod while they were both hunting, and for whatever reason, decided to ambush Nimrod and two of his attendants.

Gen 10:8 And Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior.
Gen 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.”
Gen 10:10 Now, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Most understand that “a mighty hunter before Yahweh” was not a good attribute of Nimrod. The word translated “before” could also be translated “against” or “in the face of”. Nimrod was likely where the mystery religions started after the flood, and he is the start of all world mythologies, from Gilgamesh right down to Santa Claus.

Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
Rev 17:10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
Rev 17:11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.

What does this all have to do with Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew? Esau was running from the anti-messiah system of his day because he just slayed their leader, a type of anti-messiah. He was on the run and was assuming he would die. He made several mistakes. For one, he murdered Nimrod on his own accord when Yah says, “do not kill”. Instead of repenting and trusting Yah to save him, he went to his brother and sold his birthright for a final meal, figuring he was going to die. He gave up his inheritance to the kingdom that Abraham was promised by Yah.

Rev 13:13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
Rev 13:14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
Rev 13:15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
Rev 13:16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
Rev 13:17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Someday we may find ourselves in the position where if we do not worship the image of the beast and take its mark, we will not be able to by or sell, and be slain. It is not so hard to picture this happening any more in a world where tyranny rules and even Christians are being used as tools of the satan [השטנ[. To take the mark and worship the image is the same as selling our birthright. Our birthright enables us to inherit the kingdom.

Both Revelation and the prophet Isaiah tell us of the beast that is slain.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 19:21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Isa 27:1 On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that is in the sea.

In this picture we have those with the mark and who worshipped the image thrown into the lake of fire, and the rest were slain by the sword of the Messiah. It doesn’t look good for either group at this event. Where are those who did not sell their birthright?

Rev 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
Rev 19:8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Rev 19:9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Isa 27:13 And this shall happen: on that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, and they will bow down to Yahweh on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

“The fine linen of the saints is the righteous deeds of the saints”. This should shout out “commandment keeping” to anyone who understands scripture. This is the age old argument. James states that we are justified by our faith producing works.

Jas 2:22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
Jas 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Jas 2:25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Jas 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Paul seemingly contradicts James in his letter to the Romans to those who do not understand:

Rom 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Paul is saying that following the letter of the law will not justify a person. He is fighting that mindset continually in his letters. James, on the other hand, is telling us that having faith will produce works, the result being that works prove faith and without them a person isn’t justified because it shows they do not have faith. Faith is still the focus, and our actions will determine if we really have faith. A person can camp out at either place, trying to rely on works, or a lawless gospel. Both camps are in error.

Our Saviour spelled it out for us. Notice there was no mention of faith at the judgement of the nations. If works were required of these people, why not us? Their works were the evidence of their faith. How can a person say they have faith in the Creator, yet not do what He says?

Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Mat 25:36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Mat 25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
Mat 25:38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
Mat 25:39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
Mat 25:40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Mat 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Mat 25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Mat 25:44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
Mat 25:45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Mat 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We need to figure this out now more than ever. A weak, “anything goes” gospel is not going to suffice. We take all of our passions very seriously, so why not studying scripture and learning what Yah expects from us? There will be no one to blame but ourselves when the day to judge sheep from sheep and goats from sheep comes.

Previous blog posts:

Counterfeit Religion

“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 ruin yourselves and make for…

by Gary Vail August 27, 2022

Stone Pillars and Other Things That God Hates

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 Yahweh your God hates. Deuteronomy…

by Gary Vail August 20, 2022August 20, 2022

Choose Life

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 passed by statutes; they have…

by Gary Vail August 13, 2022August 12, 2022

The Struggle of Living in Rebellion to the Creator’s Instructions

 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, and my Sabbaths they profaned,…

by Gary Vail August 6, 2022August 5, 2022

Are Y’all With the Cult?

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 in vain, teaching as doctrines…

by Gary Vail July 29, 2022

Miracles and Casting out Demons? Not Impressed.

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 them plainly, ‘I never knew…

by Gary Vail July 23, 2022July 22, 2022

Building on the Sand

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 winds blew and beat against…

by Gary Vail July 16, 2022July 16, 2022

Friends Don’t Let Friends Ignore Scripture

 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 you will find rest for…

by Gary Vail July 9, 2022July 8, 2022

Who is Going to Mow Your Lawn When You’re Gone?

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 I was younger…

by Gary Vail July 2, 2022July 2, 2022

Making a New God is Easy

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, and they will know that…

by Gary Vail June 25, 2022June 24, 2022

Walk in the Spirit: Keep the Commandments Like Paul

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 the first five books…

by Gary Vail June 18, 2022June 17, 2022

Neighbourly Love

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 of the commandments of…

by Gary Vail June 11, 2022June 11, 2022

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Someone who has been raised in Christianity will likely know how displeased Jesus was with the religious leadership of His day. In fact, this is such a theme in Christianity, many confuse the anger of Jesus towards the religious leader’s misrepresentation of Yahweh, thinking Jesus is angry at the actual ways of Yahweh, or His righteous commands found in scripture. This is where we need to look hard at our belief system of who Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, claimed to be. There is a dichotomy between modern Jesus, and Yeshua, the salvation of Yah, who is seen in the Bible.

The Word of Yah, came to Ezekiel, speaking against the shepherds over Israel. They harvested wool from the flock and neither fed or healed them, eventually causing them to be scattered.

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

Yeshua, the Word of Yah in flesh, delivered this message in person, face to face, with the religious leadership in His day. Yahweh Himself says He will deliver His flocks from these worthless shepherds.

Mat 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
Mat 23:3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
Mat 23:4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
Mat 23:5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
Mat 23:6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
Mat 23:7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
Mat 23:8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
Mat 23:11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Mat 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
Mat 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Mat 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
Mat 23:17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
Mat 23:18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’
Mat 23:19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Mat 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Mat 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.
Mat 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
Mat 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Mat 23:24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
Mat 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Mat 23:26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
Mat 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Yeshua also tells us who He has come for, which fulfills Ezekiel 34, in part. Yeshua’s message was “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand”. This is what we should be proclaiming throughout the world; turn back to the ancient path.

Mat 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Yeshua is both the Word of Yah sent to Ezekiel, and David, the leader of the people. Look at what will happen when we repent and turn back to the ancient path.

Eze 34:11 “‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I, even I, will seek my flock, and I will look after them,
Eze 34:12 just like the caring of a shepherd for his herd on the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on the day of storm and stress.
Eze 34:13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land.
Eze 34:14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their pasture will be on the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will lie down in good pasture, and on lush pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel.
Eze 34:15 I myself will feed my flock and I myself will allow them to lie down,” declares the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 34:16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the scattered, and I will bind up the one hurt, and I will strengthen the sick; and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed her with justice.”
Eze 34:17 “‘And you, my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am judging between one sheep and another, between the rams and between the he-goats.
Eze 34:18 Is it not enough for you that you feed on the good pasture? And still you must trample the remainder of your pasture with your feet, and clear water you drink, and the leftover water you must make muddy with your feet.
Eze 34:19 And my flock must graze the pasture treaded upon by your feet, and must drink the mud puddle stirred up by your feet.”
Eze 34:20 “‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: “Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep,
Eze 34:21 because with your flank and with your shoulder you shoved, and with your horns you pushed all of the sick animals until you scattered it to the outside.
Eze 34:22 And so I will save my flock, and they will no longer be for plunder, and I will judge between one sheep and another.
Eze 34:23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he will feed them; that is, my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be for them as a shepherd.
Eze 34:24 And I, Yahweh, I will be for them as God, and my servant David will be a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken.

Yeshua is the servant David, taking care of the lost sheep, and the Word of Yah who is coming back in His glory to separate the goats and the sheep. He will also judge between one sheep and another somewhere in that timeline of resurrection, wrath and setting up the Millennial kingdom.

1Co 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
1Co 3:13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
1Co 3:14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Many things will be sorted out on that Day.

Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

Revelation gives a more detailed look at this scene:

Rev 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
Rev 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

The prophet Baruk, whose writings are included in second temple literature, puts it this way:

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

One more view of this scene from the prophet Ezra, comes from Second Esdras, a book removed from Protestant Bibles around 1647. This is from the King James Version of the Bible:

2Es 13:3 And I beheld, and, lo, that man waxed strong with the thousands of heaven: and when he turned his countenance to look, all the things trembled that were seen under him.
2Es 13:4 And whensoever the voice went out of his mouth, all they burned that heard his voice, like as the earth faileth when it feeleth the fire.
2Es 13:5 And after this I beheld, and, lo, there was gathered together a multitude of men, out of number, from the four winds of the heaven, to subdue the man that came out of the sea
2Es 13:6 But I beheld, and, lo, he had graved himself a great mountain, and flew up upon it.
2Es 13:7 But I would have seen the region or place whereout the hill was graven, and I could not.
2Es 13:8 And after this I beheld, and, lo, all they which were gathered together to subdue him were sore afraid, and yet durst fight.
2Es 13:9 And, lo, as he saw the violence of the multitude that came, he neither lifted up his hand, nor held sword, nor any instrument of war:
2Es 13:10 But only I saw that he sent out of his mouth as it had been a blast of fire, and out of his lips a flaming breath, and out of his tongue he cast out sparks and tempests.
2Es 13:11 And they were all mixed together; the blast of fire, the flaming breath, and the great tempest; and fell with violence upon the multitude which was prepared to fight, and burned them up every one, so that upon a sudden of an innumerable multitude nothing was to be perceived, but only dust and smell of smoke: when I saw this I was afraid.
2Es 13:12 Afterward saw I the same man come down from the mountain, and call unto him another peaceable Multitude.
2Es 13:13 And there came much people unto him, whereof some were glad, some were sorry, and some of them were bound, and other some brought of them that were offered: then was I sick through great fear, and I awaked, and said,
2Es 13:14 Thou hast shewed thy servant these wonders from the beginning, and hast counted me worthy that thou shouldest receive my prayer:
2Es 13:15 Shew me now yet the interpretation of this dream.
2Es 13:16 For as I conceive in mine understanding, woe unto them that shall be left in those days and much more woe unto them that are not left behind!
2Es 13:17 For they that were not left were in heaviness.
2Es 13:18 Now understand I the things that are laid up in the latter days, which shall happen unto them, and to those that are left behind.

How does He determine the sheep from the goats? How does He judge between sheep and sheep? It looks as if the determining factors are the deeds in our life that showed whether or not we chose the righteousness path Yeshua pointed to for us to walk. Saying a onetime prayer then living a life of disobedience is not going to provide eternal security. Baruk stated that those nations who showed mercy to the people of Yah would have a better outcome. Yeshua words it a bit differently here in the Gospel of Matthew.

Mat 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Mat 25:36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Mat 25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
Mat 25:38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
Mat 25:39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
Mat 25:40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Mat 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Mat 25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Mat 25:44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
Mat 25:45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Mat 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There will be those considered both the least and greatest according to the Messiah when He judges between sheep and sheep. Eze 34:22, “And so I will save my flock, and they will no longer be for plunder, and I will judge between one sheep and another”.

These are verses I often write about. This time I am using the ISR 2009 version of the Bible. It is a free download on eSword, and comes from the Institute of Scripture Research. Compare it to your favourite translation.

Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. Footnote: The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the pre-Messianic Scriptures.
Mat 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. Footnote: Luk 16:17.
Mat 5:19 “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.
Mat 5:20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the reign of the heavens. Footnote: See also Mat 23:28, Mat 15:3-9, Mar 7:7-13, Joh 7:19, Act 7:53, Rom 2:23-27, Gal 6:13.

The question becomes “how least is the least?” We see one group in Zechariah still around during the Millennium, so they are still part of the Kingdom, but not taking part in the affairs of the “bride” whom some of which became a “kingdom of priests” ruling with King Yeshua. Another possibility is much worse, found in Isaiah and quoted by Messiah, speaking of the aftermath of the wrath of Yah at the beginning of the Millennium.

Isa 66:15 “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many.
Isa 66:17 “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.
Isa 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory,
Isa 66:19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations.
Isa 66:20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
Isa 66:21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
Isa 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.
Isa 66:23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD.
Isa 66:24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Those who are least in the Kingdom could also be those who are cast into outer darkness. They didn’t have oil in their lamps, invest their talents, or have a wedding garment. They miss the wedding. Whether or not outer darkness is permanent damnation is unclear, but it does not sound like an enjoyable place to be.

Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
Mat 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Repent and follow the ways of Yah, shown to us again by His son Yeshua. Strive to be the greatest in the kingdom. We have a responsibility to warn people of the coming wrath and judgement, pointing to the way the Messiah showed us. This is loving your neighbour as yourself.

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