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. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

John 5:43-47

Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

This verse in Matthew does not really say “and thou shalt call his name JESUS” because the word Jesus is neither Hebrew, Greek or Latin. Jesus is Strong’s G2424. The Hebrew origin, H3091, is actually the name the angel of the Lord told Jospeh to name his son. Everything else is simply linguistics. There also is not a “J” sound in the Hebrew or Greek languages.

G2424
Ἰησοῦς
Iēsous
ee-ay-sooce’
Of Hebrew origin [H3091]; Jesus (that is, Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites: – Jesus.

H3091 (Strong)
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ יְהוֹשׁוּעַ
yehôshûa‛ yehôshûa‛
yeh-ho-shoo’-ah, yeh-ho-shoo’-ah
From H3068 and H3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (that is, Joshua), the Jewish leader: – Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua. Compare H1954, H3442.

If we are going to discuss someone’s characteristics, we should at least know their proper name. Along with the name of the Saviour, there are other misconceptions of what Jesus would do. Jesus is often referred to as a peacemaker and all forgiving, but there are others sides to consider.

Mat 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Mat 10:36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

What is this sword that he brings to the Earth if it is not the the sword of His mouth? There are many references to a sharp, two-edged sword coming from the Saviour’s mouth. The Word of God is embodied in the Saviour.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The Word of Yahweh is the very method that all of creation came into existence. Psalms 33:6, “By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host”. Once we understand Yeshua is the Word of Yahweh, it helps us better understand the relationship of the Father and Son. The Word has been present since the beginning and in Old Testament passages, “the Word of Yahweh”, would come to His prophets. In Hebrew, we find this throughout scripture. It is “nom Yahweh” or “debar Yahweh”. Alongside the actual words of the Saviour, these passages that say “Thus says the LORD” also give us a picture of Yeshua. An example of this is found in Ezekiel:

Eze 13:1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 13:2 “Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’
Eze 13:3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, and they did not see anything!
Eze 13:4 Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.
Eze 13:5 You did not go up into the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh.
Eze 13:6 They saw falseness and a lying divination, the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait for the confirmation of their word.
Eze 13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination, and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but I myself did not speak.
Eze 13:8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!” declares the Lord Yahweh.

This is the same Word that rides in at the end to set things right once and for all. This isn’t a meek and shy Jesus, this is Yeshua, the Saviour of His people. Again we see the sharp two-edged sword coming from His mouth.

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.
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.”

If there is one thing we could use to answer the WWJD question, it is that He will execute justice. The liars and sorcerers are going to be fed to the birds. This execution of justice, or balanced scales, is gleaming out from His sermon on the mount

Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Mat 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Mat 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Mat 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Mat 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Commentary on these verses from F.B Meyer explains these words well:

“Note the passive side of the blessed life. To be poor in spirit, that is, to be lowly in one’s self-estimate; to be meek, not always interested in one’s rights; to mourn for the evils of one’s own heart and for the sin and sorrow around; to hunger and thirst after Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. These dispositions do not purchase blessedness, but to cultivate them is to be blessed. On the positive side are mercy, purity, peace and willingness to suffer all things for Christ.”

Those who are meek and thirst after His righteousness are those who fear the Lord and are obedient to His commandments. Another answer to the WWJD question is that He obeyed the Father and told us to be obedient as well.

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
Joh 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Being the Word of God, Jesus didn’t use His own words because by default He is the Word of Yahweh. We can understand Jesus better by reading everything the Father spoke through His prophets.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

That Word came in flesh and dwelt with mankind. John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”.

Jesus also did not approve of the money changers in the temple. They were selling animals for the sacrifices. It was a gimmick because the people needed animals to offer to the priest for various reasons, and these were the “approved” ones to use. This was a similar practice to the church later selling indulgences because it was using something of God to make money from the people in a questionable fashion.

Joh 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Joh 2:14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
Joh 2:15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
Joh 2:16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

The way verse 2:13 is translated makes it seem like the Apostle John and Jesus were viewing the “Passover of the Jews” as an event being celebrated by a people group they were not a part of. They were both Jews and very much involved in the Passover feast.

Joh 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

Jesus kept the feasts of God and the Sabbaths. His doctrine was not His own, but His father’s. This is a big part of what Jesus did: He taught His Father’s doctrine, which was the law and the prophets.

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.

Joh 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Joh 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Jesus didn’t teach any new doctrine. “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me”. What was the doctrine of His Father that sent him?

Pro 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Pro 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
Pro 4:3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
Pro 4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

It is simple and throughout all of scripture. Be like Jesus by learning and doing His Father’s doctrine. What would Jesus do? He kept His Father’s commandments and taught others to repent and do the same.

“and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery”

Revelation 18:23

Guns N’ Roses had a popular song in the late 80’s named Welcome to the Jungle. It unknowingly describes the biblical place called Babylon. Christians have been trying to understand the prophetic place of Babylon, that is written so much about in the Bible, for hundreds of years. I have heard various places discussed and taught that fit the description of Babylon, but no one actually knows where the place that will be destroyed in an hour is located. Like most things in the Bible, it will become self evident.

However, each time slot in history gives us different possibilities. If a person was living in the Middle Ages, then Rome was likely the choice for Babylon, while today, Rome is just an ancient city in Italy. Peter tells us in one of his letters that he is writing from Babylon.

1Pe 5:12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
1Pe 5:13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

That is from the English Standard Version. Verse thirteen uses “she who is at Babylon”, where the King James Version inserts its own understanding into the verse.

1Pe 5:13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

“Church that is” is used for Strong’s G1722. It is possible in Greek that the subject is implied, and it must be added for it to make sense in English.

G1722
ἐν
en
Thayer Definition:
1) in, by, with etc.
Part of Speech: preposition
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537)

In this verse, Peter is telling us he is in Babylon. Many people through the years have said Peter was using this for code, and he really meant that he was in Rome. This plays into the myth that Peter was the first pope in Rome. There is nothing Peter says to make us think He was anywhere other than Babylon, which is in the vicinity of modern day Iraq. I am simply pointing this out to show how very early on, people were calling Rome, Babylon.

The house of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes that went under Jeroboam’s leadership, were captured and dispersed by Assyria by approximately 722 BCE. Yahweh divorced them for their idolatry, such as sun god worship (Baal), the worship of the spring goddess (Ishtar) and their associated festivals. The house of Judah, consisting of the remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin, were captured later by Babylon for similar activities. They were brought into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar.

The prophets speak of Babylon before and during the Babylonian captivity; however, Babylon represents more than a physical, ancient kingdom. Isaiah prophesies about the day of Yahweh when He will punish the sinners of the world. In this prophesy Babylon is specifically called out.

Isa 13:9 Look! The day of Yahweh is coming, cruel and wrath and the burning of anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it.
Isa 13:10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low.
Isa 13:12 I will make humanity more rare than gold and humankind more than the gold of Ophir.
Isa 13:13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will quake from its place because of the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, and in the day his anger burns.
Isa 13:14 And this shall happen: like a hunted gazelle or sheep with none to gather them, they will each turn to his own people, and they will each flee to his own land.
Isa 13:15 Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword.
Isa 13:16 And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped.
Isa 13:17 Look! I am stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold.
Isa 13:18 And their bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look compassionately on children.
Isa 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isa 13:20 It will not be inhabited forever, and it will not be dwelled in forever; and no Arab will pitch a tent there, and shepherds will not allow their flocks to lie down there.
Isa 13:21 But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures, and the daughters of ostriches will live there, and goats will dance there.
Isa 13:22 And hyenas will answer in its palaces, and jackals in the pleasure palaces; and its time is coming soon, and its days will not be prolonged.

Jeremiah tells us to flee from Babylon. Was this the country located approximately where modern day Iraq is located, or is there more being told here?

Jer 51:6 Flee from the midst of Babylon and save each one his life. You must not perish because of her guilt. For this is the time of vengeance for Yahweh, he will repay her what is deserved.
Jer 51:7 Babylon was a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh, making drunk all the earth. The nations drank of her wine. Therefore the nations acted like madmen.
Jer 51:8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and she is shattered. Wail over her! Take balm for her wounds, perhaps she may be healed.
Jer 51:9 We tried to heal Babylon, and she was not healed. Forsake her and let us go each one to his country, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and it has been lifted up to the skies.
Jer 51:10 Yahweh has brought forth our vindication. Come and let us make known in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.

The warnings against Babylon are too many to list in this blog post. The last warning is from the book of Revelation. First, the verses that sound very similar to those we just read in Jeremiah.

Rev 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
Rev 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
Rev 18:5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
Rev 18:7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’
Rev 18:8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

Just as Jeremiah said to flee, the voice the Apostle John heard from heaven also said, “come out of her”. Jeremiah and John are both dealing with a futuristic Babylon in these cases. It is very possible that we are in the midst of it. Continuing with John’s prophecy:

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.
Rev 18:10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

This futuristic place called Babylon will be a luxurious place that has treated other people in the world poorly. It sounds like a center for commerce. “And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” It is also a world center for spreading sexual immorality and iniquity. “For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”.

While the world system in general is a type of Babylon, these verses in Revelation seem to be speaking of a very specific place that will be destroyed in one hour. Everyone else in the world will witness this. This place also deceived the world with sorcery. The Greek word for sorcery in Revelation is the same word Paul used in his list of the works of the flesh in his letter to Galatians.

Rev 18:23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

Sorcery is Strong’s G5331, which is defined as the use or administering of drugs, poisoning and idolatry.

G5331
φαρμακεία
pharmakeia
Thayer Definition:
1) the use or the administering of drugs
2) poisoning
3) sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it
4) metaphorically the deceptions and seductions of idolatry

There are enough clues given for this futuristic place of Babylon for the believer to be able to “get out of her”. All one has to do is look at the ancient place of Babylon and see the idolatry they were involved in, plus look at the items in the Revelation 18 list. Over the last 2000 years, there have only been a few places on Earth that fit the description in Revelation 18. Are you in a Babylonian state of mind like the Guns N’ Roses song, or a kingdom of God state of mind?

The following is from an article at CNBC.com: https://cnb.cx/3djpTHx . It is speaking about a law suit against Johnson and Johnson. Here is a quote from the article:

“The settlement follows years of lawsuits by states, cities and counties against major pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis, which has killed nearly 500,000 people in the U.S. in the last couple decades.”

Please do not misunderstand; I am not speaking against the use medicine. However, there seems to be an extreme dependence on drugs in the last several decades, as well as the illegal types of drugs. We are living with poisoned air, poisoned farmlands and a corrupt food chain. Moreover, science and medicine have become gods. Eat unhealthy, corrupt food, get sick and take a handful of pills a day to counteract the resulting illnesses. The administering of drugs and idolatry seem to go hand in hand and it is a telling definition of pharmakeia.

The word sorcery is also used for the Greek word pharmakeia in Paul’s “lusts of the flesh” list. The New Testament manuscripts that we have, were written in Greek, so the English word that is picked for the Greek word is someone’s best attempt to define it in context. I personally do not believe any English translation was divinely translated, as some believe the King James Version was translated. We all have the ability to have lexicons at our fingertips now and have a responsibility to use them. There is a reason pharmekeia is the basis for the English words around medicine, such as, pharmacy, pharmaceuticals and pharmacology.

Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Gal 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
Gal 5:21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I am amazed how easily Christians are convinced that they are “not under the law” based on Paul’s writings. We are not under the law when we do not break God’s laws, as a result of walking in the spirit. It is our responsibility to know the laws or instructions of God so we do not get deceived into trampling the Spirit of Grace. Gal 5:21 “that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”. If you are someone who thinks because you have said a prayer one time in your life, yet continue to live in the lusts of the flesh, and that “no one can snatch you out of His hand”, then you have been deceived.

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

Above all, read the Bible and learn what Yahweh likes and hates. The use of trees, stone pillars or other items of creation for worship are number one on the list throughout all of scripture as things angering Yahweh. Also, keep an eye out for a place on Earth that spreads sexual immorality throughout the whole world, lives luxuriously, oppresses certain cultures and countries, makes people rich by commerce, is steeped in idol worship and pushes its pharmaceuticals and tainted food on the entire world. It will be destroyed in an hour at some point in the future.

The feature image was taken by a game camera in an undisclosed location in New Brunswick, Canada.

“And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”

Deuteronomy 5:28-29

How does a person “walk in the fear of the LORD” as the church in the book of Acts walked? The definitions people typically give for the phrase “the fear of the LORD” talk about reverence, respect and awe. However, this definition of “fear of the LORD” is missing the “of the LORD” part of the idiom. Here is the verse from Acts:

Act 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Were they walking in the “fear” of the LORD, or in “the fear of the LORD”? Fear is Strong’s G5401.

G5401
φόβος
phobos
Thayer Definition:
1) fear, dread, terror
1a) that which strikes terror
2) reverence for one’s husband

When the phrase is used throughout scripture, is it telling us to dread God and be terrified? Maybe, but in what context? Are we supposed to just have irrational fear? The New Testament writers did not come to start a new world religion. They were preaching and teaching the Old Testament scriptures in light of the Messiah. Yahweh defined the phrase “fear of the LORD”, and it means something very specific.

Deu 5:28 “And Yahweh heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken.
Deu 5:29 If only they had such a mind’; that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments at all times, so that it will go well for them and for their children forever.

If a person fears the LORD, whose proper name is YHWH or Yahweh, they will do what He says. If not, there really isn’t fear, because there is no regard for what He said. It’s like throwing your hands in the air and saying “yeah big deal” or “whatever”. “My pastor says that was directed to someone else, not me”. Yahweh gives detailed accounts of what will happen to those who truly do not fear Him. This is the lukewarm person Jesus spoke about.

Mal 3:5 “Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely, and against the oppressors of the hired worker with his wages, the widow and the orphan, and the abusers of the alien, and yet do not fear me,” says Yahweh of hosts.

Malachi tells us so much about commandment keeping, the fear of the LORD and the advents of the Messiah. Yahweh tells us through Malachi that all the evildoers (commandment breakers) will be burned up, and the opposite of evildoers are “you who fear my name” (commandment keepers). It may not be as obvious if He didn’t put “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel” in the middle of it all.

Mal 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Mal 4:3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
Mal 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
Mal 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

An arrogant person will say that the commandments are not relevant anymore, but not research it for themselves. If they would study and obey, God will show them how the commandments are very relevant, and woven into the entirety of scripture. This doesn’t typically happen though, due to arrogance. John the Baptist, who Jesus tells us is Elijah, explains Malachi chapter four.

Mat 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Paul explains that because we will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, if we have the fear of the Lord, we will want to persuade others. This is one of the most important commandments. In order to love your neighbour as yourself, one has to warn others of the coming judgement. The church has really dropped the ball in this department, and many denominations do not even believe in coming judgement. That is in part, the purpose of these blog posts. There are very few that will lend an ear long enough to be warned. Many times we only give each other the “complimentary three minutes”. This is where the person slows down enough to engage in polite conversation with another person. Such as: “how is the family, the weather, the garden etc.?” Going over the complimentary three minutes will cause eyes to glaze and wander. Hopefully, if someone stumbles across what I write, it will at least cause that person to think, crack open a Bible and step out of the cloud of hypnotic therapy that is currently being delivered at every corner of this world.

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
2Co 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

We walk in the fear of the LORD in Acts, and Paul says we know the fear of the LORD, which will cause us to act a certain way in his letter to the Corinthians. The psalmist also gave us the definition of fearing the LORD.

Psa 34:11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Psa 34:12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
Psa 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
Psa 34:14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Solomon understood the fear of the LORD:

Pro 2:1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
Pro 2:2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
Pro 2:3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
Pro 2:4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
Pro 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Understanding the fear of the LORD is related to finding the knowledge of God. Jesus spoke in parables about looking for silver and hidden treasures. “Seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures”.

Luk 15:8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
Luk 15:9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’
Luk 15:10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The women had ten silver coins and she lost one. She searched diligently until she found it, once again having all ten coins. Jesus then likens finding the lost coin to a person that repents? It is similar to loosing the fourth commandment out of the ten, that is forgetting the Sabbath, then finding it again. Many people are doing this very thing, and finding the Biblical Sabbath again after it has been lost for hundreds of years by the church.

Speaking of future kings Israel will have, Yahweh defines the “fear of the LORD” for us again.

Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them,

We learn to fear the LORD by keeping all the words of His law and statutes, and by doing them. It does not get any clearer than that. Please keep this idea of “the fear of the LORD” in mind when coming across it in scripture. It is not the watered down version so often taught in church now. It literally means keeping the Ten Commandments, loving God and your neighbour. He is speaking of tares in the kingdom, His followers, not just people lost in the world. “He who has ears, let him hear”.

Mat 13:40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
Mat 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
Mat 13:42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. 

Psalms 119:165

There is a country music singer who had a hit song quite a few years ago, named Tom T. Hall, who sang “Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money” in a song that he wrote named Faster Horses. In the song, Tom T. Hall was an idealistic poet looking for the meaning of life, only to have someone convince him life was about faster horses and these other things in the song. Going after faster horses is one of the options in life and it is equivalent to trusting in man rather than God. Trusting in the Creator God of the universe, Yahweh, is the opposite path. This concept is found in the book of Isaiah.

Isa 31:1 Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help! They rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.
Isa 31:2 And indeed, he is wise, and he brings disaster, and he does not remove his words, and he will rise against the house of evildoers and against the help of workers of iniquity.

Looking for help from Egypt (the world system), and relying on fast horses, rather than trusting Yahweh, will yield very poor results along the way, and in the end. This is proven over and over in scripture.

Isa 30:15 For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; your strength shall be in quietness and in trust.” But you were not willing,
Isa 30:16 and you said, “No! For we will flee on horses!” Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses!” Therefore your pursuers shall be swift!
Isa 30:17 One thousand because of a threat of one, because of a threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved” could mean repentance and keeping the Sabbath. In other words, rest in Yahweh by keeping His instructions rather than trusting in the world system, which is run by “the satan”. Some think they can outrun the enemy with a fast horse, but this is where Yahweh says He will give the enemy faster horses.

Yahweh gave His people simple instructions, yet they rejected them. God’s people are no different today. Yahweh even told us what would happen when we reject His instructions for a successful life on Earth.

Lev 26:14 “‘But if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out all these commands,
Lev 26:15 and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self abhors my regulations, to not carry out all my commands by your breaking my covenant,
Lev 26:16 I in turn will do this to you: then I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed in vain, and your enemies shall eat it.
Lev 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated before your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but there shall not be anybody who is pursuing you.
Lev 26:18 “‘And if in spite of these things you do not listen to me, then I will continue to discipline you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:19 And I will break the pride of your strength; and I will make your heaven like iron and your land like copper.
Lev 26:20 And your strength shall be consumed in vain; and your land shall not give its produce, and the land’s trees shall not give their fruit.
Lev 26:21 “‘And if you go against me in hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins.
Lev 26:22 And I will send wild animals out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate.
Lev 26:23 “‘And if you do not accept correction from me through these things, but you go against me in hostility,
Lev 26:24 then I myself will also go against you in hostility, and I myself also will strike you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:25 And I will bring upon you a sword that seeks vengeance for the covenant, and you shall be gathered to your cities; and I will send a plague in your midst, and you shall be given into the hand of an enemy.
Lev 26:26 At my breaking the supply of bread for you, then ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight; and you shall eat it, and you shall not be satisfied.
Lev 26:27 “‘And if through this you do not listen to me and you go against me in hostility,
Lev 26:28 then I will go against you in hostile anger, and also I myself will discipline you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:29 And you shall eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat.
Lev 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and I will cut down your incense altars, and I will place your corpses on your idols’ corpses; and my inner self shall abhor you.
Lev 26:31 And I will lay your cities in ruins, and I will lay waste your sanctuaries; and I shall not smell your sacrifices’ appeasing fragrance.
Lev 26:32 And I myself will lay waste the land, and your enemies who are living in it shall be appalled over it.
Lev 26:33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin.
Lev 26:34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths.
Lev 26:35 All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest for the time that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it.
Lev 26:36 As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee like flight before a sword, and they shall fall, but there shall not be a pursuer.
Lev 26:37 And they shall stumble over one another as from before a sword, but there shall not be a pursuer; and you shall have no resistance before your enemies.
Lev 26:38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you.
Lev 26:39 And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors, they shall decay with them.

This is a discouraging set of events which are still happening to God’s people. All one has to do is look around at any church and its people to see these curses. You may be thinking “but through Jesus we only get the blessings”, and “these curses were only for Israel”. This is twisted dispensational theology, and you have been lied to. After Israel was completely cut off, with no way to return to Yahweh because of sin from breaking the holy covenant, Jesus, more accurately, Yeshua, the salvation of Yahweh, came to restore the ability to return to Yahweh. Through the dispersion of Israel, caused by disobedience, the whole world could come back to Yahweh through repentance and obedience thanks to Yeshua.

Lev 26:40 “‘But when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility—
Lev 26:41 I myself also went against them in hostility, and I brought them into the land of their enemies—or if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they pay for their guilt,
Lev 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Lev 26:43 And the land shall be deserted by them, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths in its being desolate from them, and they themselves must pay for their guilt, simply because they rejected my regulations, and their inner self abhorred my statutes.
Lev 26:44 And in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them, and I will not abhor them to destroy them, to break my covenant with them, because I am Yahweh their God.
Lev 26:45 And I will remember the first covenant for them—whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am Yahweh.'”
Lev 26:46 These are the rules and the regulations and the laws that Yahweh gave between himself and the Israelites on Mount Sinai through Moses.

If you are a person who claims you follow Yahweh, how can you willfully break the covenant and not expect the curses? Will Yahweh treat you differently than Israel? No, He will not, because when you come to Yahweh through Yeshua, you are joining yourself to Israel just as Paul explains 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 tells us that as people from other nations, Gentiles, we are grafted into the natural olive tree that is Israel, but only if we continue in his kindness, or else we will be cut off. What does “continue in His kindness” mean? The word translated to kindness is Strong’s G5544, which actually means usefulness.

G5544
χρηστότης
chrēstotēs
khray-stot’-ace
From G5543; usefulness, that is, moral excellence (in character or demeanor): – gentleness, good (-ness), kindness.

Jesus tells us a parable about a useless fig tree. It was given chances, but in the end, if there is no fruit the tree is cut down.

Luk 13:6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
Luk 13:7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
Luk 13:8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
Luk 13:9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

I can tell you firsthand that this usefulness, or fruit, is keeping the commandments of Yahweh, not some ambiguous set of expectations a church or man decides. It is also not kindness practiced where a person says nice things, plays pretend nice, then does evil in their heart. What does Jesus say before the parable of the fig tree?

Luk 13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
Luk 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus didn’t come to start a new world religion. He came to turn people back to an ancient path. Repent! This was told to us over and over. The word repent does not simply mean change direction. That would mean you just need to do something different than what you are doing. Repent does not mean you are walking one way, then turn and walk the other way, because that explanation does not give any direction. Repent is Strong’s H7725. It means return, refresh and restore.

H7725
שׁוּב
shûb
BDB Definition:
1) to return, turn back
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to turn back, return
1a1a) to turn back
1a1b) to return, come or go back
1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back
1a1d) of dying
1a1e) of human relations (figuratively)
1a1f) of spiritual relations (figuratively)
1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise
1a1f2) to turn away (of God)
1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent
1a1f4) turn back (from evil)
1a1g) of inanimate things
1a1h) in repetition
1b) (Polel)
1b1) to bring back
1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (figuratively)
1b3) to lead away (enticingly)
1b4) to show turning, apostatise
1c) (Pual) restored (participle)
1d) (Hiphil) to cause to return, bring back
1d1) to bring back, allow to return, put back, draw back, give back, restore, relinquish, give in payment
1d2) to bring back, refresh, restore
1d3) to bring back, report to, answer
1d4) to bring back, make requital, pay (as recompense)
1d5) to turn back or backward, repel, defeat, repulse, hinder, reject, refuse
1d6) to turn away (face), turn toward
1d7) to turn against
1d8) to bring back to mind
1d9) to show a turning away
1d10) to reverse, revoke
1e) (Hophal) to be returned, be restored, be brought back
1f) (Pulal) brought back

Peter defines repentance in his speech in Acts:

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.

Repentance through Jesus is the only way.

Joh 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
Joh 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Joh 10:13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Joh 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus also says that anyone that tries to get into the fold another way is a thief and a robber.

Joh 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Joh 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The question becomes how to enter the fold through Jesus? It is not by doing the things of Egypt or our current world. Jesus tells us over and over to repent and follow the commandments of Yahweh. Moses told us this would happen.

Deu 18:15 “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen, and to him you shall listen.
Deu 18:16 This is according to all that you asked from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘I do not want again to hear the voice of Yahweh my God, and I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!’
Deu 18:17 And Yahweh said to me, ‘They are right in what they have said.
Deu 18:18 I will raise up a prophet for them from among their countrymen like you, and I will place my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him.
Deu 18:19 And then the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.

Yahweh sent Jesus to speak His words, not new words of his own. So what are we to do then? Repent! Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, keep just scales, keep the Sabbath and remember the covenant!

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.”

Are you a Christian experiencing chaos in your life, wondering where the peace of God is that you supposedly have? Are you unsettled and being tormented by things seemingly out of your control? Try walking out your faith the way our Messiah told us to. The ancient path. Do things the way the Bible tells us to do them instead of the ways of man and tradition. Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

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

Revelation 9:20-21

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalms 146:3-4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Job is speaking of the resurrection Daniel also wrote about.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now let’s look at this verse in context:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah 14:13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peter explains what this means:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Shavuot!

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

Act 21:24b

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Strong’s:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
Joh 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hebrews 6:7-8

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Wrong day

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

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

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

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

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

The Roman Canon that the church still follows:

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

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

2. Wrong holidays

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

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

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

From an early church father, John Chrysostom:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Wrong name

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Wrong identity

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

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

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

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

5. Wrong Messiah

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

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

John also tells us to follow the commandments.

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

Paul also:

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

Finally, our call to endurance until the end:

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

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

Deu 13:1 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder,
Deu 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’
Deu 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.
Deu 13:4 You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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