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:

Structural and Denominational Hindrances to the Good News

And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes, did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the Messiah. Acts 5:42 (CJB) It is clear for all to see that the church building has been elevated to the very essence of Christianity in many cases,…

by Gary Vail May 24, 2026

The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel

But an hour is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the ones who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23–24 (LEB) Yeshua makes a clear distinction of people groups…

by Gary Vail May 23, 2026

Do You Have “Freedom in Christ”?

 Submit as people who are free, but not letting your freedom serve as an excuse for evil; rather, submit as God’s slaves. Be respectful to all—keep loving the brotherhood, fearing God and honoring the emperor. 1 Peter 2:16–17 (CJB) I have had discussions with people where they argue that in Christianity there is no Messiah.…

by Gary Vail May 16, 2026

Who is “God”?

Who has gone up to heaven and come down?Who has cupped the wind in the palms of his hands?Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?Who established all the ends of the earth?What is his name, and what is his son’s name?Surely you know! Proverbs 30:4 (CJB) There are many gods in the world,…

by Gary Vail May 9, 2026May 22, 2026

When God’s Hand Protects His People

The dragon was infuriated over the woman and went off to fight the rest of her children, those who obey God’s commands and bear witness to Yeshua. Revelation 12:17 (CJB) After Joshua led the ancient Israelites into the land promised to Abraham and all of the promises were fulfilled as stated in Joshua 23:14 (LEB):…

by Gary Vail May 2, 2026May 22, 2026

Idolatry: The Love of God is not about Land

I, Yahweh, have spoken; I will surely do this to all this evil community who has banded together against me. In this desert they will come to an end, and there they will die.” Numbers 14:35 (LEB) After ancient Israel met God and heard His thunderous voice on Mount Horeb, outside of the land, they…

by Gary Vail April 25, 2026April 25, 2026

Go Ahead, Destroy the Earth

“We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful,the one who is and the one who was,because you have taken your great powerand have begun to reign.And the nations were angry,and your wrath has come,and the time for the dead to be judged,and to give their reward to your slaves the prophetsand to the saints and…

by Gary Vail April 19, 2026April 19, 2026

Jesus: The Prophet Like Moses

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’ Acts 3:22–23 (LEB) Jesus, or…

by Gary Vail December 24, 2025

Reasons for Christians to Celebrate Hanukkah

 They sacrificed to the demons, not God,to gods whom they had not known,new gods who came from recent times;their ancestors had not known them. Deuteronomy 32:17 (LEB) The Greeks set up Asherah poles and sacrificed a pig to Zeus in the temple of the God of Abraham on this day in 165 BCE. The Greek…

by Gary Vail December 14, 2025

Dispensationalism Theology, Israel and You

 And you will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open country; I will come to the people being at rest in safety, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and without doors, Ezekiel 38:11 (LEB) How is the theology of Dispensationalism related to the country of Israel? Dispensational theology teaches…

by Gary Vail November 29, 2025

Prophecy Fulfilled; And It’s Not Good

 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? Matthew 7:15–16 (LEB) When we speak about God’s instructions that He gave to mankind through ancient Israel, most…

by Gary Vail November 22, 2025

Testing the Spirits

 And while he was still approaching, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. Luke 9:42 (LEB) What is the “Holy Spirit”? Trinity doctrines exist as attempts to explain the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.…

by Gary Vail November 1, 2025

Did Jesus Hate the Pharisees?

But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death. Revelation 21:8 (LEB) Jesus had some of his harshest criticism for the Pharisees. Does this…

by Gary Vail October 25, 2025October 25, 2025

Are We Really Robbing God or Just Getting Robbed?

All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,  in order that the person of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (LEB) Having been raised in evangelical denominations in the United States, I became accustomed to hearing a sermon about…

by Gary Vail October 19, 2025October 18, 2025

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:

I was Raised a Christian-Zionist Nationalist- and Left

And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another, and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved. And this gospel…

by Gary Vail October 7, 2025

Choosing Your Sins Carefully in 2025

And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert,  and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a…

by Gary Vail September 6, 2025

This is How it Works

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place! For all who take up the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot call upon my Father, and he would put at my disposal at once more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the scriptures…

by Gary Vail June 17, 2025

Today is the Day of Pentecost

Pentecost is a Greek term meaning “fifty”. Many churches are celebrating the day of Pentecost today, which in most cases is viewed as the start of the Church and the giving of the “Holy Ghost”. (This is, by the way, a terrible translation of the term Spirit of God.) However, Pentecost is the 50th day…

by Gary Vail June 8, 2025May 24, 2026

Imaginary Jesuses

Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,because they will be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 (LEB) When Jesus delivered his famous sermon on the mount, one of his statements was “Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.” Unfortunately, we are not given the definition of righteousness…

by Gary Vail May 10, 2025

AI Bot Understands the Sabbath Better than Many Christians…

He will speak words against the Most High.He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually.His intention will be to change times established by law.The holy ones will be delivered into his handfor a time, times, and half a time. Daniel 7:25 (NET 2nd ed.) I decided to enter the world of artificial…

by Gary Vail January 31, 2025

Have You Been Programmed by the Religious Establishment?

The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God.” John 8:47 Confusion is a state of existence that does not come from the Creator. What could be more confusing than 50,000 Christian denominations of Christianity that all disagree with each…

by Gary Vail January 11, 2025

Jesus is more than a Baby; He is the Administrator of the Eternal Covenant

And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail. Revelation 11:19 (LEB) There are many sects of Christianity in today’s world. Christianity started with a sect of people practicing first century…

by Gary Vail December 25, 2024

“Jesus is the Real Reason for the Season!” Really????

“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, take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not…

by Gary Vail December 15, 2024

“Jesus is my Sabbath Now”???? Are we being Bamboozled?

 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” in order that they could accuse him.  But he said to them, “What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a…

by Gary Vail December 7, 2024

We Can be Sure of This One Thing

And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’ Deuteronomy 6:25 (LEB) I recently heard a minister preaching on Romans chapter five where Paul is contrasting the work of Adam and Jesus. This minister’s conclusion was that Jesus…

by Gary Vail November 30, 2024

Sacrifices to Demons Happening in 2024

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. John 6:54-55 Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus in English, told His followers some hard things that caused many to walk away.…

by Gary Vail November 23, 2024

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:

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

“If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. Deuteronomy 28:58–59 (LEB) God is referenced throughout our…

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

Thus says Yahweh: “Stand at the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is, and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6:16 We lose sight of our past as society progresses and every…

by Gary Vail May 20, 2023

Who is a Christian? Who Can be Saved?

And the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants.For they have transgressed laws;they have passed by statutes;they have broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:5 (LEB) I enjoy engaging with strangers on social media to discuss religious topics because there is no shortage of opinions and willingness to debate. I am exposed to many belief systems that…

by Gary Vail May 6, 2023

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

I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring, by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life…

by Gary Vail April 22, 2023April 21, 2023

Manipulation, Control, Religion and Christianity

 Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps!  But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:23–24 (LEB) People have used religion to manipulate and control other people for thousands of years. Socrates was brought to…

by Gary Vail April 15, 2023April 14, 2023

Yeshua or Yearly Sungod Resurrections?

And not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the most holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12 (LEB): There is a great contrast between the yearly resurrection of the sun god and the resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua. Unfortunately, the myths of the…

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

Is this Really the End?

 And in the day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation, and it will bring an end to all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone from the…

by Gary Vail April 1, 2023

Are the Instructions of God Really Nailed to the Cross?

Having destroyed the certificate of indebtedness in ordinances against us, which was hostile to us, and removed it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 (LEB) I often refer to the phrase “the law of God was nailed to the cross” when comparing the words of the Creator to the…

by Gary Vail March 25, 2023

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:

The Lord’s Day

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27–28 (LEB) The Sabbath was made for man, and Jesus…

by Gary Vail March 18, 2023

Believe and Confess?

 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, who were born not of…

by Gary Vail March 11, 2023February 17, 2024

How are We Deceived?

 and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion so…

by Gary Vail March 4, 2023March 4, 2023

Traditions of Men

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?”So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it…

by Gary Vail February 25, 2023February 24, 2023

The Fullness of the Gentiles

But the things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way. Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of…

by Gary Vail February 18, 2023February 17, 2023

The Name of God

 And he said, “Because I am with you, and this will be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.” But Moses said to…

by Gary Vail February 11, 2023February 11, 2023

Salvation and the Sinner’s Prayer

 As many as I love, I reprove and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent! Revelation 3:19 (LEB) What must one do to be saved? Most of us were taught to say a prayer and “ask Jesus into our heart”. Where…

by Gary Vail February 4, 2023

Do You Know God?

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her; in order that he might sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; in order that he might present to…

by Gary Vail January 28, 2023January 27, 2023

Are We Able to Earn Our Salvation?

 And we all have become like the unclean, and all our deeds of justice like a menstrual cloth, And we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6 Are we able to…

by Gary Vail January 21, 2023

Where are we Headed?

And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Revelation 12:17 (LEB) There are many…

by Gary Vail January 14, 2023January 13, 2023

Living in Liberty

But be doers of the message and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, because if anyone is a hearer of the message and not a doer, this one is like someone staring at his own face in a mirror, for he looks at…

by Gary Vail January 7, 2023January 7, 2023

Manufacturing Religion

by Gary Vail December 31, 2022January 1, 2023

Load more posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

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.

Previous blog posts:

Weeping and Gnashing

And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he could say nothing. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’  For many are called…

by Gary Vail December 26, 2022December 26, 2022

No Other Gospel!

Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!’ And he will reply, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see…

by Gary Vail December 17, 2022December 17, 2022

Jesus and the Prophet Like Moses

 For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. But if you do not believe that one’s writings, how will you believe my words?” John 5:46–47 (LEB) Is Jesus the antithesis of Moses? That is what we are lead to believe. After all, Moses was all about mean laws…

by Gary Vail December 10, 2022January 1, 2023

Christianity without Hanukkah? Not Possible!

Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonnade. John 10:22–23 (CJB) I know that Hanukkah is not a commanded, Biblical feast day or celebration found in Leviticus. Someone who strictly follows those days may hate Hanukkah and think its origins are tainted. Those in…

by Gary Vail December 3, 2022December 9, 2022

Are You Satanic?

And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live. Deuteronomy 8:3 (LEB) When…

by Gary Vail November 26, 2022November 26, 2022

When did the Church Start?

Yahweh called your name, ‘A leafy olive tree, beautiful with fine fruit.’ With the sound of a great storm he will set fire to it, and its branches will be good for nothing. And Yahweh of hosts, the one who planted you, has spoken evil against you,because of the evil of the house of Israel…

by Gary Vail November 19, 2022November 18, 2022

Fulfilling Prophecy Poorly

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.  And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’ Acts 3:22–23 (LEB) There are…

by Gary Vail November 12, 2022November 11, 2022

The Age of Grace

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires you used to conform to in your ignorance, but as the one who called you is holy, you yourselves be holy in all your conduct, for it is written, “You will be holy, because I am holy.”  And if you call on him as Father who judges…

by Gary Vail November 5, 2022

Demons and You

Therefore, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?  No, but that the things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. You are not able to drink the cup of the…

by Gary Vail October 30, 2022

Can Our Righteousness Exceed that of the Pharisees?

 For I say to you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (LEB) One of the errors Christians believe is that the Pharisees were constantly being upbraided by Jesus for being a stickler on the keeping of the law…

by Gary Vail October 29, 2022October 29, 2022

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

After celebrating a couple Sabbaths with some new friends we have made over the course of the last few weeks, I want to share some thoughts about the Sabbaths and the blessings they bring.

Acts 20:7 records the disciples meeting on the first day of the week. What if I told you that this is an erroneous translation?

Act 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

In honest translations, the word “day” is italicized because it is an inserted word found no where in the original language. Here is the Strong’s numbers in the verse.

e-Sword Act 20:7 AndG1161 uponG1722 theG3588 firstG3391 day of theG3588 week,G4521 when theG3588 disciplesG3101 came togetherG4863 to breakG2806 bread,G740 PaulG3972 preachedG1256 unto them,G846 readyG3195 to departG1826 on theG3588 morrow;G1887 andG5037 continuedG3905 his speechG3056 untilG3360 midnight.G3317

G4521 and G3588 are mistranslated to “day of the week”. There is no word “day” in the text, and translators desperately wanted to make this about Sunday. Let’s look at Strong’s G4521, translated “week”.

G4521
σάββατον
sabbaton
Thayer Definition:
1) the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work
1a) the institution of the sabbath, the law for keeping holy every seventh day of the week
1b) a single sabbath, sabbath day
2) seven days, a week

This word most definitely means Sabbath, even if we want to call it a week, it is the end of the week. So how do we make sense of this verse without the erroneously inserted word “day” and mistranslating the Greek word Sabbaton to “week”? The context helps us understand once one understands the feast days of Yahweh.

Act 20:16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

Pentecost is the feast of Shavuot that is determined by counting seven Sabbaths after Passover.

Lev 23:15 “‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day of your bringing the wave offering’s sheaf—there shall be seven full weeks.
Lev 23:16 Until the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; then you shall present a new grain offering for Yahweh.

The verses preceding Acts 21:7 tells us it is after Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread.

Act 20:5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,
Act 20:6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Acts 20:7 should read “and upon the first Sabbath, when the disciples came to break bread”.

The Cepher translation gets it right.

Act 20:7 And upon the first Shabbath, when the Talmidiym came together to break bread, Pa’al preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

For a second witness to this concept, we can turn to this account in Luke from the English Standard Version.

Luk 6:1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
Luk 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

“Second Sabbath” is Strong’s G1207, which is the second Sabbath in the counting to Pentecost. “Second after the first”.

G1207
δευτερόπρωτος
deuteroprōtos
Thayer Definition:
1) second-first
2) the second of the first Sabbaths after the feast of the Passover

One must apply the whole of scripture to understand what is written. It is also imperative to learn the feast days of Yahweh to understand what is happening during recorded events. Putting forth the idea that the believers of the first century would abandon the fourth commandment does not really make sense until we realize it is the goal of our enemy to rob us of the blessings associated with the Sabbaths. Jeremiah warned us of this.

Jer 8:7 Even the stork in heaven knows its appointed time, and the turtledove, and the swallow, and the song bird, they observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the ordinance of Yahweh.
Jer 8:8 How can you say, ‘We are wise and the law of Yahweh is with us’? Look, surely the lying stylus of the scribes has made it a lie.
Jer 8:9 The wise will be put to shame, they will be dismayed, and they will get taken. Look, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, and what is wisdom to them?
Jer 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from the smallest to the greatest, all of them make profit for unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.
Jer 8:11 And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.

The Bereans were considered more noble than the Thessalonians because they searched the scriptures daily to see if the things Paul was explaining to them were true.

Act 17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Act 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Be like the Bereans and not like the Thessalonians. Search these matters out in scripture for yourself. There will be no one to point the blame to when we meet Messiah. Jesus and Paul both kept the Sabbath as Yah commands.

Feature image by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash.

Previous blog posts:

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

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 yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or…

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 16:21-22 The obelisk, which is an ancient stone pillar, is used in church architecture and…

by Gary Vail August 20, 2022August 20, 2022

In the age of smooth talking and ear tickling, we as a collective church are rarely warned about the coming wrath and judgement of the Creator. While church people bicker and entangle themselves with everything worldly, entertaining the anti-messiah spirit of error, there are millions of people who will eventually face the wrath of God. Many of these people sit in the pews week after week. Why are there no warnings from the very place we expect the Word of Yah, the Creator of the Universe to be proclaimed?

Isa 42:5 Thus says the God, Yahweh, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.
Isa 42:6 “I am Yahweh; I have called you in righteousness, and I have grasped your hand and watched over you; and I have given you as a covenant of the people, as a light of the nations,
Isa 42:7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoner out from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness from the house of imprisonment.
Isa 42:8 I am Yahweh; that is my name, and I do not give my glory to another, nor my praise to the idols.

If we are His people, this is our commission: “to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoner out from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness from the house of imprisonment”. How are we to do this when it is we who are blind, sitting in darkness, imprisoned by demons?

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.

If we do not keep the commandments, how can we walk in the light by the Spirit of Truth promised to us with this condition? For anyone who thinks the commandments of the Messiah are different than those of the Father, Yah, He is quick to correct the error.

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.

Apparently, there are people who think Yeshua was only talking to the Jews when He told us to follow the commandments. There are people who say Paul spoke a different message to the “church” than our Saviour. This is an old heresy called Marcionism. Today it is referred to as hyper or ultra Dispensationalism, and it is still hyper-deception. Paul tells us what he thinks of hyper-dispensationalism in his letter to Timothy.

1Ti 6:3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
1Ti 6:4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,
1Ti 6:5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

At some point in the future, the almighty Creator is going to come off His throne and pour His wrath out on the Earth for rejecting His ways. When this happens, the people dwelling on Earth will be looking for rocks to fall on them.

Isa 2:12 For there is a day for Yahweh of hosts against all of the proud and the lofty and against all that is lifted up and humble,
Isa 2:13 and against all the lofty and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and against all the large trees of Bashan,
Isa 2:14 and against all the high mountains, and against all the lofty hills,
Isa 2:15 and against every kind of high tower, and against every kind of fortified wall,
Isa 2:16 and against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the ships of desire.
Isa 2:17 And the haughtiness of the people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.
Isa 2:18 And the idols shall pass away entirely,
Isa 2:19 and they will enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the ground from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
Isa 2:20 On that day humanity will throw away its idols of silver and its idols of gold, which they made for it to worship, to the rodents and to the bats—
Isa 2:21 to enter into the crevices of the rocks and into the clefts of the crags from the presence of the terror of Yahweh and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.

This is the same scene we see in the book of Revelation. It is talking about the time when the sixth seal is opened.

Rev 6:14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their place.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
Rev 6:16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Rev 6:17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

It is my experience that most church going people do not read or understand most of scripture. Some of this comes from poor teaching, no teaching, willful ignorance or they have been handed over to a strong delusion as Paul speaks of in writing to the Thessalonians.

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.

Loving the truth or pleasure in unrighteousness, seems to be the two choices we have in this life. What is the truth? What is unrighteousness? The Psalmist defines truth for us:

Psa 119:160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

Yeshua the Messiah, commonly referred to as Jesus, embodied the truth by walking it out perfectly on Earth in flesh, pointing us to the truth and sending us the Spirit of Truth if we are obedient.

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

The wrath of Yah will be a bloodbath. It cannot be allegorized away. It is clear that everyone does not get saved in the end as some false doctrines teach.

Eze 39:8 Look! it is coming, and it will happen,” declares the Lord Yahweh. “It is the day about which I have spoken.
Eze 39:9 “‘”And the inhabitants of the towns of Israel will go out, and they will set ablaze, and they will kindle a fire with a weapon and a small shield and a shield, with a bow and with arrows, and with hand clubs and with spears, and so they will light a fire with them, a fire lasting seven years.
Eze 39:10 And they will not carry trees from the field, and they will not chop wood from the forests, for with the weapons they will light a fire; and they will plunder those plundering them, and they will plunder those plundering them,”‘ declares the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 39:11 “‘”And then on that day I will give to Gog a grave there in Israel, The Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea, and it will block the travelers and Gog and all of his hordes they will bury there, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-Gog.
Eze 39:12 And the house of Israel will bury them for seven months to cleanse the land.
Eze 39:13 All of the people of the land will bury them, and it will be an honor for them on the day when I appear,”‘ declares the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 39:14 ‘”And they will set apart men to continually go through the land burying the travelers, the ones left over on the surface of the land to cleanse it; for the whole of seven months they will explore it.
Eze 39:15 And the ones going through, they will go through within the land, and if anyone sees the bones of a person, then he will build beside it a sign to remain until the buriers have buried him in the Valley of Hamon-Gog.
Eze 39:16 And furthermore the name of the city there is Hamonah, and thus they will cleanse the land.”‘
Eze 39:17 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Say to all kinds of birds and animals of the field, “Be gathered, come be gathered from everywhere to my sacrifice that I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh, and you will drink blood.
Eze 39:18 Flesh of warriors you will eat, and the blood of leaders of the land you will drink; rams, young rams and goats, bulls, and the fattened animals of Bashan—all of them!
Eze 39:19 And you will eat fat until you are satiated, and you will drink blood until you are drunk from my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you,
Eze 39:20 and you will be satisfied at my table with horse and horsemen and warriors and every man of war,”‘ declares the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 39:21 “And I will display my glory among the nations, and all of the nations will see my judgment that I have executed and my hand that I have laid upon them.
Eze 39:22 “And the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God from that day and beyond,
Eze 39:23 and the nations will know that because of their guilt the house of Israel went into exile, because they acted unfaithfully against me, and I hid my face from them, and I gave them into the hand of their foes, and they fell by the sword, all of them.
Eze 39:24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgression I dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

Notice that the birds and animals are going to help clean up the flesh of all those destroyed. It is going to take seven months to bury all of the remains. Revelation speaks of this event as well.

Rev 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,
Rev 19:18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

The Earth will be harvested and put through the wine press of Yah.

Joe 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty warriors; let them approach and come up; let all the men of war approach.
Joe 3:10 Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, ‘I am a mighty warrior!’
Joe 3:11 Hurry and come, all the nations, from all around, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!
Joe 3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around.
Joe 3:13 Send forth the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Go tread, for the winepress is full! The vats overflow, because their evil is great!

The sickle of the great harvest is also spoken about in the book of Revelation. The only thing that makes the book of Revelation hard to understand is ignorance of the rest of scripture. Revelation lays out in great details the prophecies given in the so-called Old Testament.

Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

The same description of this day is spoken about again in Isaiah.

Isa 63:1 Who is this, coming from Edom, from Bozrah in bright red garments? Who is this honored in his garment, lying down in his great strength? “It is I, speaking in justice, mighty to save!”
Isa 63:2 Why are your garments red, and your garments like he who treads in the winepress?
Isa 63:3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and there was no man from the peoples with me. And I trod them in my anger, and I trampled them in my wrath, and spattered their juice on my garments, and stained all my clothing,
Isa 63:4 for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my blood-vengeance has come!
Isa 63:5 And I looked, but there was no helper, and I was appalled, but there was no one who sustains, so my arm came to assist me, and my wrath was what sustained me.
Isa 63:6 And I trampled peoples in my anger, and I made them drunk in my wrath, and I brought their juice down to the earth.”

So how do we miss the great wrath of Yah? Is it by saying a prayer, “giving your heart to Jesus” and continuing to live a life in disobedience to the righteous commands of the Creator? This is what some teach; however, there is nothing like this found in scripture. It is quite the opposite. We are to walk as Messiah walked.

1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
1Jn 2:5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
1Jn 2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The righteous who have the teaching of Yahweh in their heart will have to endure tribulation, but not the wrath of God. There is much confusion about these things due to the erroneous dispensational theology that has raised up like an over-proofed loaf of bread during the last 200 years. Run from the dispensational pre-trib, mid-trib , post-trib arguments that so many are enraged by. This was an attempt to throw the reformation off track; and it did. The bread loaf is about to deflate and be exposed as worthless.

Isa 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for the heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like a garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.
Isa 51:7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, people who have my teaching in their heart; you must not fear the reproach of men, or be terrified because of their abuse.
Isa 51:8 For a moth will eat them like garments; a moth will devour them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation for generation after generation. “
Isa 51:9 Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as in days of long ago, the generations of a long time back! Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, the one who pierced the sea-dragon?
Isa 51:10 Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, the one who made the depths of the sea a way for those who are redeemed to cross over?
Isa 51:11 So the redeemed ones of Yahweh shall return, and they shall come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be on their heads. Joy and gladness shall appear; sorrow and sighing shall flee away!

Yeshua confirms the time lines that are throughout scripture.

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.

This is the first great reaping, possibly the wheat that is gathered into the barn.

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud was seated one like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Send out your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe!”
Rev 14:16 And the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Yeshua gives us many parables to explain what is going to happen. The evil will be separated from the righteous.

Mat 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
Mat 13:48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
Mat 13:49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
Mat 13:50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The question is: “will you be gathered into the barn or thrown in the fire to be burned?” Pray that you escape the wrath of Yah and heed the words of Paul, written to the Philippians:

Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
Php 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
Php 2:15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Php 2:16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Php 2:17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
Php 2:18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Feature image by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash

Previous blog posts:

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 broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:4–5 (LEB) Life is full of decisions and there are…

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, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors.  And in turn I gave…

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 the commandments of men.’ Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition…

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 you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:22–23 (LEB) How can this be?…

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 that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock.…

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 your souls. For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light.” Matthew…

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 I was obsessed with mowing the lawn. It could be that one of my first…

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 my name is Yahweh.” Jeremiah 16:20–21 (LEB) There are many gods that we see in…

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 of the Bible for those who are not familiar with them. Paul uses terms such…

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 God to one, Jesus recited the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter six, which states that Yahweh…

by Gary Vail June 11, 2022June 11, 2022

The Feast of Weeks; Pentecost

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. Acts 2:1 (LEB) The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or in Greek, Pentecost, is traditionally the feast day that celebrates the marriage covenant between Yahuah and His people at Mount Horeb. It is also the feast that believers gathering on…

by Gary Vail June 5, 2022June 4, 2022

What are you Afraid of?

And why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them—I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid the foundation on…

by Gary Vail June 4, 2022June 3, 2022

The words “left behind” have different meanings to different audiences. To some, it was an act by the US Congress to help school children, to others, it brings to mind the Tim LaHaye fictional depiction of what many still believe the “rapture” of the church will look like, based on his Left Behind movie and book series. There is another group of people getting left behind, whose numbers are increasingly growing. These are people which can no longer tolerate the direction modern Christianity is heading, or in many cases, where it has been for decades.

2Ti 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
2Ti 4:4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As mega churches are exposed for their fraud, prosperity preachers fleece their flock, giving a false doctrine and false hope in return, many are walking away. There are others in more traditional churches watching leadership and laity become more apostate everyday, and they are turning to studying scripture for themselves. The problem with people reading the Bible for themselves is that it exposes all of the discrepancies of man made doctrines with the actual Word of God. Pastors and leadership are not prepared to answer hard questions, in a lot of cases, simply because there are no logical answers. The doctrine is simply wrong.

For example, I know of a person who had legitimate questions about the Sabbath. This was a person in a leadership role in a church. The first couple times he asked his pastor, he mostly was brushed off. Finally, after a third attempt, the Pastor yelled at him not to ask about the Sabbath again. So, it created another one “left behind”, leaving the institutional church to find a home study group to get some answers. Twenty years later this person has a large following, meeting weekly on the Sabbath, teaching scripture.

Jer 16:19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.
Jer 16:20 Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!”
Jer 16:21 “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 my name is Yahweh.”

It is my understanding that pastors are bound by contract in many cases not to even discuss certain topics. They will ignore, steer away or get angry when off limit topics are brought forward. Many church denominations are set up much like secret societies where the upper tier keeps the esoteric knowledge and the lower tier, the laity, only get the exoteric knowledge. If a church official were to tell someone in the laity what he may really think about any given topic, their job as pastor, presbyter or bishop may be at stake.

A topic that often makes people open their eyes to error in the church are the church festivals that coincide with the same festivals celebrated in witchcraft, using all the same symbols of trees, lights, logs, eggs, rabbits, pumpkins, pine cones, berries and greenery. A person would have to have their head buried in the sand not to realize they are taking part in thousand-year old festivals that Yahweh said not to do. It is willful ignorance, or cognitive dissonance in many cases.

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.”

Where God never changes, I thought this was a slam dunk scripture passage in Deuteronomy explaining not to use the same symbols or days as done in ancient mythology. These were all the same gods whom Christians are celebrating today; Baal, Nimrod, Molech, Astarte, who became, Mithras, Saturn, Ishtar, and Woden, the Queen of heaven, and Santa. All these gods are packaged in modern secular holidays and the church celebrates them all in the name of Jesus. This is exactly what Yeshua (Jesus) said would happen. John 5:43, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him”. By celebrating all these other gods in the name of Jesus, the name Jesus has become a catch all for the pagan deities. It is fitting that Jesus is not even a real name, but a Germanic, Greek representation of Yeshua or Yahushua. This is not even a topic of discussion that is allowed in most churches.

The typical response from church people is that we no longer have to do what the Old Testament says, that was for someone else, “That’s not why I celebrate them”, or “God knows my heart”. However, there are many scriptures in the New Testament that speak against these festivals. They are scriptures rarely discussed for obvious reasons.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful more than anything else, and it is disastrous. Who can understand it?
Jer 17:10 I, Yahweh, examine the mind, I test the heart, and give to each one according to his way, according to the fruit of his deeds.

The very first instruction to the new believers coming into the faith from all the pagan religions is to get rid of their pagan symbols and practices of foreign gods. This is what “abstain from things polluted by idols” or “meat polluted by idols” means. The church should not be blending the holy, set apart things of Yah with deities from other nations. This is serious business, serious enough to be a deal breaker once a person realizes the gravity of the situation. There is also the implication that these new believers would be learning about what Moses taught every Sabbath. Once they understood the milk, they could handle the meatier things of Yahweh. Most never did the very first commandments the Jerusalem council gave them to do.

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.”

Yahweh gave us His special days to celebrate. The Sabbath is a weekly festival the church could be celebrating by sharing songs, scripture prayer and food with each other.

There are many people being left behind by institutional Christianity, which follows man, not Yeshua, that there are organic Sabbath meetings taking place in every corner of the world by people interested in following Yeshua, and “walking as He walked”. This is how the early church operated when the institutional religion of the day rejected Yeshua.

Act 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Act 2:43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
Act 2:44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
Act 2:45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Act 2:46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Act 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Early on they were meeting together in homes and at the temple, devoting themselves to the teachings of the apostles. Just as home meetings that are not sanctioned by the church are “illegal” in most churches today, these early believers would soon feel the wrath of the synagogues.

Act 8:3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Stephen pointed out how the church wrongly paid homage to all the foreign deities, and they were so enraged they stoned him.

Act 7:36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Act 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Act 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Act 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
Act 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Act 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Act 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Act 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

There are many people who have left institutionalized religion who view the current day, 40,000 denominations, as prophecy in the book of Revelation. I am not saying I agree or disagree with this interpretation, just pointing out that it is prevalent among people leaving organized religion.

Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,
Rev 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
Rev 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
Rev 17:5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

The theory is that the whore, who is the mother of harlots, is the universal church that came out of fourth century Rome, who is the mother of all the 40-50,000 denominations that now exist. Yahweh often compared His people to a whore and eventually divorced the House of Israel for their whoredom with other gods. It is clear that there is a plethora of foreign gods in the church system today. If you do not believe that, just try suggesting removing a Christmas tree from an altar at Christmas time at your local church. People have an unnatural bond with these symbols that can be understood better considering Paul associates them with demons. The Christmas tree is an ancient symbol that has been modernized to fit the “Christmas tree Jesus” model of religion. It is a form of the Asherah pole, or groves in the Old Testament, and it is a phallic symbol, just like the obelisk. If true research is done, this is undeniable. A person can spend five minutes on the internet to find something that supports what they already believe, but that is not research. Do not be deceived. This is extremely important.

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

The root of the “left behind” Christians does not come from Christmas trees or Sabbath keeping. These are simply examples of the result of discovering that the Ten Commandments are still relevant for believers today. Once a person realizes what the Ten Commandments, or words, are really about, the Old Testament instruction on how to follow them, and then the instruction Yeshua gave to follow them, a person can no longer go along with blatant attacks on their integrity.

For example, the first words are as follows:

Deu 5:4 Face to face Yahweh spoke with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire.
Deu 5:5 I was standing between Yahweh and you at that time to report to you the word of Yahweh, for you were afraid because of the presence of the fire, and so you did not go up the mountain. He said,
Deu 5:6 ‘I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
Deu 5:7 There shall not be for you other gods besides me.
Deu 5:8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a divine image of any type of form that is in the heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
Deu 5:9 ‘You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the guilt of fathers upon their children and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those hating me,
Deu 5:10 but showing loyal love to thousands of those who love me and of those who keep my commandments.

In chapter six of Deuteronomy, more detail is given.

Deu 6:13 “You shall fear Yahweh your God, and you shall serve him, and by his name you shall swear.
Deu 6:14 You shall not go after other gods from the gods of the peoples who are all around you,
Deu 6:15 for Yahweh your God is a jealous god in your midst, so that the anger of Yahweh your God would be kindled, and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deu 6:16 You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
Deu 6:17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his legal provisions and his rules that he has commanded you.

Yeshua, commonly referred to as Jesus, quotes Deuteronomy six when asked about the greatest commandment.

Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.

We do not get to define how to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. Yahweh, the name of the “Lord God”, tells us what he loves and hates in scripture, The writers of the New Testament assume you have read and understood the milk of the Old Testament. These Old Testament scriptures are what they were teaching. I believe the writers of the gospels didn’t write a word for word manuscript of the exact dialogue of people. It is unlikely Matthew was sitting there taking short hand notes of all the conversations. It is the teachings that they learned and later recorded. Deuteronomy six is something that the audience of Yeshua was very familiar with because they recited it multiple times a day.

Deu 6:4 “Hear, Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is unique.
Deu 6:5 And you shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might.
Deu 6:6 And these words that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.
Deu 6:7 And you shall recite them to your children, and you shall talk about them at the time of your living in your house and at the time of your going on the road and at the time of your lying down and at the time of your rising up.
Deu 6:8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as an emblem between your eyes.
Deu 6:9 And you shall write them on the doorframe of your house and on your gates.
Deu 6:10 “And then it will happen that when Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to you large and fine cities that you did not build,
Deu 6:11 and houses full of all sorts of good things that you did not fill, and hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, and you have eaten your fill,
Deu 6:12 then take care for yourself, so that you do not forget Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt from the house of slavery.

Just as loving God with all your heart relates to purging symbols of the ancient deities from your life, keeping the Sabbath is not just a new fad for rebellious church goers to start to embrace. These are Yahweh’s commands for His people to follow. When we come to the Father through faith in Yeshua, we are to align with Him, not make Him align with our beliefs.

Deu 5:12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day to make it holy, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you.

Yeshua, speaking of the Sabbath:

Mat 12:7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

“Lord” of the sabbath comes from Strong’s G2962. It is also the word the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses to replace the name Yahweh.

G2962
κύριος
kurios
Thayer Definition:
1) he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord
1a) the possessor and disposer of a thing
1a1) the owner; one who has control of the person, the master
1a2) in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor
1b) is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master
1c) this title is given to: God, the Messiah

Jesus is basically saying that He invented the Sabbath, and should know what He can or cannot do. In no way did this ever nullify the Sabbath.

People will argue that Paul later said not to regard one day over the other due to the following passage in Romans, and that this nullifies the fourth commandment. If this is truly what Paul meant, why is Sunday, the venerable day of the sun, regarded so highly by Christianity? After all, everyday is regarded the same now according to this understanding of Paul’s letter to the Romans. That should mean that pastors who want to change their church gatherings to the Sabbath day should be embraced, not forced to give up their credentials.

Rom 14:2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Rom 14:3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
Rom 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Rom 14:6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Paul was not talking about Sabbath’s or unclean animals being used for food. The audience would already understand Pauls’s position on those things. There were apparently arguments about which days one should fast and whether a person should eat meat.

The covenant was made with Heaven and Earth as the witnesses.

Deu 30:19 I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,
Deu 30:20 by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.”

Yeshua enforces the heaven and Earth witnesses by proclaiming that not one jot or tittle will change in the law until heaven and Earth pass away.

Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Mat 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

When does heaven and Earth pass away and when will all be accomplished? It is clearly marked in scripture at the end of the Millennium, when death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

This is the new Covenant in full. Everyone present will know Yah because He is there among His people.

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.

These are examples of things that make it hard to carry on in institutionalized religion once a person learns about what the Word of the living God actually says. It is okay to get “left behind” from this “Christmas tree Jesus” system, and soon there will be many more places to gather on the Sabbath and exhort one another with scripture and song in every corner of the Earth.

Vines, Branches, Sticks and Trees

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and dries up, and they gather them and throw…

by Gary Vail May 28, 2022May 27, 2022

The Church, Korah and a Rich Man

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. Therefore do and observe everything that they tell you, but do not do as they do, for they tell others to do something and do not do it themselves. W. Hall Harris III…

by Gary Vail May 21, 2022May 21, 2022

The Test Results are in and…

 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them”. Jeremiah 16:19 (LEB) Tests can be stressful because they are…

by Gary Vail May 14, 2022May 13, 2022

The Blood of the New Covenant

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread and let him drink from the cup. For the one who eats…

by Gary Vail May 7, 2022May 6, 2022

Understanding the Law of Christ

Brothers, even if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of humility, looking out for yourself, lest you also be tempted. Carry the burdens of one another, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:1–5 (LEB): What is different about the law of…

by Gary Vail April 30, 2022April 30, 2022

Importance of the Sabbaths and the Kingdom of God

“Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your…

by Gary Vail April 23, 2022April 23, 2022

Die by the Sword If You Wish

If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity will go into captivity. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed by a sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:9-10 The crusader mentality is alive and well in western Christianity. Read the…

by Gary Vail April 16, 2022March 8, 2026

Passover Celebration

And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and their number was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands times thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom…

by Gary Vail April 9, 2022April 9, 2022

Who is Your Father?

In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that…

by Gary Vail April 2, 2022April 1, 2022

Called to be Holy, Sanctified and Set Apart

Therefore, when you have prepared your minds for action by being self-controlled, put your hope completely in the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires you used to conform to in your ignorance, but as the one who…

by Gary Vail March 27, 2022March 27, 2022

What Heresy?

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth in order to draw away the disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30 The controversy started in the early church, and we find Paul caught in the…

by Gary Vail March 26, 2022March 25, 2022

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is in the Bible

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be snatched away at the same time together with them in the clouds for…

by Gary Vail March 19, 2022April 23, 2022