Pentecost is a Greek term meaning “fifty”. Many churches are celebrating the day of Pentecost today, which in most cases is viewed as the start of the Church and the giving of the “Holy Ghost”. (This is, by the way, a terrible translation of the term Spirit of God.) However, Pentecost is the 50th day of the Feast of Weeks, known in Hebrew as Shavuot.
15 “ ‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks.1816 You must count fifty days—until the day after the seventh Sabbath—and then19 you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:15–17, NET 2nd ed.)
The apostles were gathered in one place on the day following the commandment:
2 Now1 when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly2 a sound3 like a violent wind blowing4 came from heaven5 and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues spreading out like a fire6 appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. 4 All7 of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages8 as the Spirit enabled them.9 (Acts 2:1–4, NET 2nd ed.)
“ ‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you.31 You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.32 (Leviticus 23:21, NET 2nd ed.)
The Church couldn’t have started on this day because they were already gathered as an assembly, much like they did at Mount Sinai, when God gave the ten commandments during the same time of the year. Stephen makes reference of the “congregation in the wilderness”. The KJV translates this word as “church”.
38This is the man who was in the congregation104 in the wilderness105 with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors,106 and he107 received living oracles108 to give to you.10939 Our110 ancestors111 were unwilling to obey112 him, but pushed him aside113 and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt (Acts 7:38–40, NET 2nd ed.)
At this celebration of the Feast of Weeks, where one counts seven Sabbaths from the Sabbath after Passover, this sect of Jews who followed Yeshua were meeting on the day after the seventh Sabbath as they had done their whole life. This time, on the fiftieth and last day of the festival, God chose to pour out His Spirit on these people. He had given the commandments so many years earlier at this time of the year, and now He has given the way these commandments can be written on our heart. The law is spiritual as Paul claimed. Peter explains what is happening to the people witnessing the outpouring of His Spirit and links it to the prophecy of Joel, not some new religion.
14 But Peter stood up25 with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea26 and all you who live in Jerusalem,27 know this28 and listen carefully to what I say. 15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk,29 for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.3016 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:31
17 ‘And in the last days32 it will be,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,33
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants,34 both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.35
19 And I will perform wonders in the sky36 above
and miraculous signs37 on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious38 day of the Lord comes.
21 And then39 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’40
22 “Men of Israel,41 listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds,42 wonders, and miraculous signs43 that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know—23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed44 by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.4524 But God raised him up,46 having released47 him from the pains48 of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power (Acts 2:14–24, NET 2nd ed.)
Today when we mention “Pentecost”, people envision a large sect of Protestants called “Pentecostals”. However, this sect usually omits anything related to the commandments given at Mount Sinai, the Feast of Weeks and Shavout, which is the platform God chose to pour out His Spirit “so anyone that calls on the name of YHWH will be saved”, as the prophet Joel stated.
Peter gave us a time stamp concerning the prophecy of Joel: God started pouring out His Spirit back then. The next verses speak about the events leading up the “Day of the Lord”. Today is an important day and it would be good for everyone to learn about it in order to have understanding.
Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6 (LEB)
When Jesus delivered his famous sermon on the mount, one of his statements was “Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.” Unfortunately, we are not given the definition of righteousness in today’s world. If one trusts in Jesus at all, it is often a “Jesus” of their own imagination or the imagination of a particular religious organization, and does not resemble the Messiah Yeshua’s Hebrew heritage.
It is very simple to define the righteousness Yeshua was speaking of that will satisfy. How many people do we know today that are not satisfied? Feeling satisfied is often sought after by trying to experience things such as special trips, occupational success and making more money. These things will only temporarily satisfy a person, if at all. Here is the Greek word, Strong’s G1466, that is translated “righteousness”.
δικαιοσύνη G1466 (dikaiosynē), righteousness, uprightness; δίκαιος G1465 (dikaios), upright, just, righteous; δικαιόω G1467 (dikaioō), justify, vindicate, treat as just, acquit, pronounce or treat as righteous, make or set free from; δικαίωμα G1468 (dikaiōma), regulation, requirement, commandment, righteous deed; δικαίως G1469 (dikaiōs), justly, in a just manner, uprightly; δικαίωσις G1470 (dikaiōsis), justification, vindication, acquittal. For ἀδικία (adikia), unrighteousness, and cognates → Sin.
H. Seebass et al., “Righteousness, Justification,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 352.
Righteousness is defined early in the Bible. It was shown to Israel how to be righteous in the eyes of the Creator God, Yahweh. Christianity today, for the most part, hates this definition of righteousness to the point that one will be ridiculed, mocked and cast out for suggesting it.
Matthew 5:11–12 (LEB): 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
They persecuted the prophets because they were always telling the leaders and people that they were not doing what Yahweh said to do. The definition of righteousness is found in Deuteronomy chapter six.
Deuteronomy 6:25 (LEB): 25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.
The word translated from Hebrew to “righteousness” in this verse is “Tsadaqah”.
To be righteous, we are to do all that Yahweh commanded. Yeshua helped explain this through the gospel accounts. It was already told to us by the prophets, but Yeshua came to embody righteousness. Justice, mercy, honesty, loving our neighbour and loving God are all examples of righteousness.
The ones that try to rob the blessings and satisfaction from us will call it “self righteousness” to try to do all that God commanded. It is simply lies that one should not listen to. Only listen to Yeshua, who is the Word of God, which is the word spoken through Moses and the prophets.
Acts 3:22–24 (LEB): 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’ 24 And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed him have spoken about and proclaimed these days.
“Self righteousness”, as spoken about by Isaiah, is when one thinks they are righteous because of some man-made tradition they are doing. For example, people may think going to a church every time the doors are open is righteousness, or they are righteous because they do not smoke or consume any alcohol, or they do what is right in their own eyes and make an imaginary god that shares their beliefs. They replace God’s definition of righteousness with their own, along with their “personal Jesus”.
I have seen some belief systems use Isaiah 64:6 as an excuse not to regard the instructions of God. They will say that it is actually a sin and anyone who tries is “going back under the law”. The following verses are taken out of context when one says that when we try to do God’s definition of righteousness it is like filthy rags to God, when the verses in context are actually referring to those who abandoned the commandments doing their own form of righteousness.
Isaiah 64:4–7 (KJV 1900):4 And since ancient times they have not heard, have not listened, no eye has seen a God except you; he acts for the one who waits for him. 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, Those that remember thee in thy ways: Behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: In those is continuance, and we shall be saved. 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: For thou hast hid thy face from us, And hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
We have been handed a lie when we are told “our righteousness are as filthy rags” when it is told to those seeking God’s will, meaning His instructions. We can call it dispensationalism theology, hyper grace theology, or any other theology that claims there is no true and right path. They are lying and it is why there is no satisfaction.
Yeshua pointed this out to the Pharisees. The traditions of men were more important to the Pharisees then the heart of the Torah.
Mark 7:5–8 (LEB): 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?” 6 So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. 7 And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”
Jesus was angry with the Pharisees because they “Abandoned the the commandment of God” . 119 Ministries has a great picture of what this looks like today.
Along with satisfaction, those thirsting for righteousness also are “blessed”. How do we know what it is to be blessed? Here are the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated to “blessed”.
In Greek and in Hebrew the word means happiness. Who does not want to be truly happy? One of my favourite Bible verses is from Psalms 119.
Psalm 119:165 (LEB): Great peace is for those who love your law, and they do not have a cause for stumbling.
Do you want “great peace”, happiness and satisfaction? Hunger and thirst for righteousness!
The featured photo by Stephen Mayes on Unsplash is a good example of fake Jesuses. The caricature of Jesus, along side of presidents Obama and Trump, and the Ninja turtles properly represents the lawless Jesus of today’s church, along with their other idols.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. And it will be that every…
They sacrificed to the demons, not God,to gods whom they had not known,new gods who came from recent times;their ancestors had not known them. Deuteronomy 32:17 (LEB) The Greeks set up Asherah poles and sacrificed…
And you will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open country; I will come to the people being at rest in safety, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and…
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles,…
And while he was still approaching, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. Luke 9:42 (LEB) What…
But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur,…
All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, in order that the person of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy…
And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another, and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase, the love…
And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a…
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place! For all who take up the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot call upon my Father,…
Pentecost is a Greek term meaning “fifty”. Many churches are celebrating the day of Pentecost today, which in most cases is viewed as the start of the Church and the giving of the “Holy Ghost”.…
Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,because they will be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 (LEB) When Jesus delivered his famous sermon on the mount, one of his statements was “Blessed are the ones…
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
He will speak words against the Most High. He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually. His intention will be to change times established by law. The holy ones will be delivered into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
Daniel 7:25 (NET 2nd ed.)
I decided to enter the world of artificial intelligence and recently created a ChatGPT account. I thought that I would ask it why Christianity switched its special day to Sunday from the Biblical Sabbath day that Jesus and his followers observed according to the Creator’s instructions.
Deuteronomy 5:12–15 (NET 2nd ed.): 12 “Be careful to observe the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the resident foreigner who lives with you, so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
As it turns out, ChatGPT has a good understanding of why Christians no longer set aside one day each week to rest from their work as the Father intended.
When and Why Did Christians Stop Celebrating the Sabbath?
ChatGPT: The shift from Sabbath (Saturday) worship to Sunday worship in Christianity was a gradual process influenced by biblical interpretations, early church traditions, Roman politics, and pagan sun worship. While some Jewish Christians initially observed both Sabbath and Sunday, by the 4th century, Sunday had become the official day of Christian worship, largely due to the influence of Emperor Constantine and the assimilation of Roman sun worship practices.
It then continued with some interesting observations that I mostly agree with.
ChatGPT:
1. The Earliest Christians: Sabbath and Sunday Worship (1st–2nd Century AD)
A. Jewish Christians Kept the Sabbath
The first followers of Jesus were Jewish, and they continued to observe the Sabbath (Saturday) as required by the Law of Moses (Exodus 20:8-11).
However, after Jesus’ resurrection, Sunday (the first day of the week) gained importance because:
Jesus rose on Sunday (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1).
Early Christians gathered on Sundays to break bread and worship (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2).
Many Jewish Christians observed both Sabbath and Sunday until they were gradually separated from mainstream Judaism.
B. Gentile Converts Did Not Emphasize the Sabbath
As Christianity spread beyond Jewish communities, Gentile (non-Jewish) converts did not see Sabbath observance as necessary.
The Apostle Paul taught that keeping the Sabbath was not required for salvation:
“Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come.” (Colossians 2:16-17)
“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5)
This freedom from the Jewish law allowed Sunday worship to gradually take precedence over Sabbath observance.
2. The Decline of Sabbath Observance (2nd–4th Century AD)
A. Church Fathers Promoted Sunday Worship
By the 2nd century, some Christian leaders began discouraging Sabbath observance:
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD) wrote:”Those who lived according to the old order have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath, but living in observance of the Lord’s Day.”
Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD) argued that Sunday was superior to the Sabbath because Jesus fulfilled the Law:”We too would observe the fleshly circumcision and the Sabbath if we did not know why they were instituted… but we do not because we have received a new law.”
B. Anti-Jewish Sentiment and the Roman Persecution of Jews
After the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 AD), the Roman Empire heavily persecuted Jews.
Many Christians distanced themselves from Jewish customs, including Sabbath-keeping, to avoid persecution.
C. Sunday Becomes the Primary Christian Day of Worship
By the late 2nd and 3rd centuries, Sunday was widely regarded as the “Lord’s Day”, commemorating Jesus’ resurrection.
Tertullian (c. 200 AD) wrote that Christians should avoid fasting or kneeling on Sundays because it was a day of celebration.
Some Christians still observed the Sabbath alongside Sunday worship, but this practice faded over time.
It’s interesting how AI follows the Church’s interpretation of Paul when he is actually talking about pagan holy days in his letter to the Colossians. If one reads the historical background of that letter, Gentile Christians were being persuaded by the government to go back to observing the feast days of the other gods.
ChatGTP also recognizes the connection between Christianity, sun worship and Sol Invictus.
ChatGPT continues:
3. Constantine’s Role in Replacing the Sabbath with Sunday (4th Century AD)
A. Constantine’s Sunday Law (321 AD)
The decisive shift came in 321 AD when Emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday the official day of rest:
“On the venerable day of the Sun, let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.”
This law legally recognized Sunday as a day of rest, reinforcing its role as the primary day of worship.
Although Constantine converted to Christianity, he still used language that honored the sun god (Sol Invictus)—showing a blending of Christian and pagan traditions.
B. Influence of Roman Sun Worship (Sol Invictus and Mithraism)
Sol Invictus (“The Unconquered Sun”) was the chief deity of the Roman Empire before Christianity became dominant.
Sunday (“dies solis”) was already considered sacred in Roman Mithraism, a mystery religion popular among soldiers.
Constantine, before fully embracing Christianity, continued to honor the sun god on his coins and monuments.
By merging Sunday worship with the existing veneration of the sun, Constantine made Christianity more acceptable to pagans, easing their transition into the new state religion.
4. The Church’s Official Rejection of the Sabbath (4th–5th Century AD)
A. The Council of Laodicea (363–364 AD)
The Church officially condemned Sabbath observance and commanded Christians to honor Sunday instead:
“Christians must not ‘Judaize’ by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day and honor rather the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, rest then as Christians.”
B. Augustine and the Theological Justification for Sunday Worship
Augustine (354–430 AD) argued that the Sabbath was a symbolic law fulfilled by Christ, making Sunday worship a spiritual replacement.
The idea spread that Sunday was the “Christian Sabbath”, though it did not have the same legalistic restrictions as the Jewish Sabbath.
C. By the Middle Ages, Sabbath-keeping was Nearly Eradicated
By the 6th century, almost all of Christendom observed Sunday exclusively.
Only a few groups, such as the Ethiopian Christians and later the Seventh-Day Sabbatarians, retained Saturday observance.
Sabbath keeping had to be systematically “eradicated”, and it took 500 years to get Christians to stop observing the Sabbath as Jesus and his followers observed it. Rome had to make laws against keeping the Sabbath, and the Church developed various theological arguments to move to the “day of the sun” to better align with the sun worshippers. This information is all coming from an AI bot. Interesting!
Luke 4:16 (NET 2nd ed.): 16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read…
Be like Jesus and make it your custom to do the will of his Father, that is following His instructions by resting on the Sabbath! It will make your life much better.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
He will speak words against the Most High.He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually.His intention will be to change times established by law.The holy ones will be delivered into his handfor…
The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God.” John 8:47 Confusion is a state of existence that does not…
And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail. Revelation 11:19…
“When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, take care so…
And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” in order that they could accuse him. But he said to…
And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’ Deuteronomy 6:25 (LEB) I recently heard a minister preaching…
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. John…
Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus. Revelation 14:12 (LEB) As I was going through some of my mother’s religious books written…
And as Jesus went out of the temple courts he was going along, and his disciples came up to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered and said to them,…
And behold, one of those with Jesus extended his hand and drew his sword, and striking the slave of the high priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back…
Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,because they will be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 (LEB) When Jesus delivered his famous sermon on the mount, one of his statements was “Blessed are the ones…
for we live by faith, not by sight—so we are confident and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:7–8 (LEB) “Absent from the…
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God.”
John 8:47
Confusion is a state of existence that does not come from the Creator. What could be more confusing than 50,000 Christian denominations of Christianity that all disagree with each other? I find that I have similar experiences while discussing Biblical topics with Christians regardless of their background. As soon as I start discussing something out of their comfort zone, they go into programmed mode and will say what they have heard preached, followed by the end of meaningful discussion. It is cult-like programming where a person stops thinking and goes into a robotic state.
A few examples of this type of programming are the following:
We only have to follow the moral law now not the ceremonial law.
We are in the age of grace not the age of law.
Jesus is my Sabbath now, the commandment to rest on the Sabbath no longer applies.
The law was a tutor and we no longer are under a guardian.
I don’t need to understand prophecy because I will be taken away in the rapture to be with Jesus before anything bad happens.
Christmas and Easter are the two most holy days of the year.
I sin every day.
Peter had a vision that made eating unclean animals permissible.
Jesus said all food has been made clean.
We must support the west Asian, secular country of Israel with no critiquing of their actions.
The list goes on. I would not have any problem having an open discussion (but not an argument) about any of these topics. In fact, I would like to hear reasoning from someone who has done deep study and prayer on any of these topics and others. However, these are just road blocks or programming that arises much like a child would block their ears and say “la la la la la la la” when they don’t want to hear something. It is very dangerous. What if they are wrong? What if I am wrong? Iron is supposed to sharpen iron, but if Christians only parrot what they hear someone like a preacher parroting what they have been taught by someone like a professor who is parroting what they were taught, we can easily become misinformed.
Jeremiah 16:19 (LEB): 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.
For example, no where in the scripture is the law divided into “moral” and “ceremonial” categories. This is an invention of men to try to understand what we are to do to please God. Someone decided the the fourth commandment of the ten commandments to rest on the Sabbath does not apply to Christians, yet the other nine of the ten commandments do. Some Christians, like mega-pastor Andy Stanley, say we should not concern ourselves with any of these commandments. When we look at what is being said in scripture we find that “commandment” is not even a proper translation. They are ten “words” or “matters”.
In Judaism there are 613 “commandments” which are pulled from the instructions given to Moses called “Torah”. This is the first five books of the Bible, and is the foundation of the teachings of Jesus. Many of them require a temple and Levitical priests which have not existed since 70 CE, therefore, no one can fulfill any of those. Some of the 613 commandments, as they are referred to, are only for men, or women, or farmers, or for people living in the land. This makes more sense than “moral” and “ceremonial”, but still does not give us the view of the Messiah, Jesus, whose name was Yeshua, or Joshua in English. The 613 commandments were a list created by Jewish Rabbis who believe this list is only for those practicing Judaism.
Deuteronomy 28:14–15 (LEB): 14 And you shall not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.15 “And then if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:
“This is the age of grace, not the age of law” is something Christians will say as if they are quoting scripture. This is simply a clever system of theology invented in the 19th century, or the 17th century according to some. It divides the time from Adam to present day into “dispensations” of time where God handles His people differently. Currently, according to this system of theology, we are living at the only point in history where mankind does not need to be concerned with God’s commandments because it is the “age of grace”. At the end of this dispensation, after the Christians are whisked away to an ethereal place, humanity and “the Jews” will have to follow the commandments again. How convenient for us! This is a form of replacement theology because it divides the people of God into two camps, Christians and “end times” Jews. It works very well with Zionism and the theology that the country Israel in western Asia, created by UN resolution 181 and a following war, can do no wrong and that we must unequivocally support whatever it does.
Matthew 26:51–54 (LEB): 51 And behold, one of those with Jesus extended his hand and drew his sword, and striking the slave of the high priest, cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place! For all who take up the sword will die by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot call upon my Father, and he would put at my disposal at once more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then would the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen in this way?”
The solution in western Asia is to remove all foreign money and interference. If dispensationalism theology and Zionism are correct, then the Creator himself will protect the current country of Israel and it could usher in the next age. If these philosophical and religious systems are not correct, then we can move on with whatever solution is hashed out by the people involved.
“The law is a tutor” is something Paul says in his letter to the Galatians and somehow this is used a an argument against God’s instructions. The word “tutor” or “guardian” comes from the following Greek word and definition:
παιδεύω G4084 (paideuō), bring up, instruct, train, educate; παιδεία G4082 (paideia), upbringing, training, instruction, discipline; παιδευτής G4083 (paideutēs), instructor, teacher; παιδαγωγός G4080 (paidagōgos), custodian, guide, the man, usually a slave, whose task it was to conduct boys and youths to and from school and superintend their conduct generally. D. Fürst, “Παιδεύω,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 775.
In other words, the law is the milk or basic instruction. A child that is instructed as in the definition above would not abandon what they learned as a child. They would build upon it and it would be the foundation of future learning. It is the same as the instructions of God – so basic that we should know and do them like elementary math or the ABC’s.
Hebrews 5:11–14 (LEB): 11 Concerning this we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. 12 For indeed, although you ought to be teachers by this time, you have need of someone to teach you again the beginning elements of the oracles of God, and you have need of milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes of milk is unacquainted with the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have trained their faculties for the distinguishing of both good and evil.
“The beginning elements of the oracles of God” and those who “because of practice have trained their faculties for the distinguishing of both good and evil” are those who study and understand the instructions in the Torah. It could not be any clearer. The Torah is the guardian or tutor, the basic instruction that we learn by heart and is imparted to us through the Spirit of God through faith to enable us to learn about the deeper things of God. How can we learn more about God if we do not even know to rest on the weekly Sabbath?
Hebrews 6:1–6 (LEB): 6 Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 teaching about baptisms and laying on of hands, and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.
One more knee jerk reaction we witness is to the prospects of refraining from eating creatures God tells us not to eat. In Acts chapter ten, a sheet of unclean animals was shown to Peter three times in a vision and God said to Peter “eat”. Peter was perplexed by the vision because unclean food had never touched his lips.
The first clue that is very obvious is that in all the time that Peter spent with Jesus, he was never made aware of the supposed new rule that allowed him to eat, for example, a dog. Leviticus chapter eleven tells us how to identify which animals we can eat anywhere in the world. It says “Peter was perplexed” years after Jesus ascended to heaven.
Acts 10:17 (LEB): 17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate.
In first century Judaism, it was against the rules for the Jews to interact with non-Jews. These non-Jews were considered unclean. Since Peter knew God would never go against His own commandments, he was perplexed because he knew this vision was not about eating unclean animals. He understands the vision once he sees the men coming to speak with him.
Acts 10:27–29 (LEB): 27 And as he conversed with him, he went in and found many people gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You know that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or to approach a foreigner. And to me God has shown that I should call no man common or unclean. 29 Therefore—and without raising any objection—I came when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you sent for me.”
Peter understood that the rule to not associate with foreigners was a man made religious rule and that through the vision of the unclean animals God was telling him it was okay and that they were now going to be allowed to be brought near to God. He never questioned the validity of God’s instructions concerning what to eat. This was a huge moment where the people of the world could be saved through what Jesus had done, yet Christians today make it about pepperoni pizza.
Isaiah 56:1–2 (LEB): 56 Thus says Yahweh: “Observe justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is close to coming, and my justice to being revealed. 2 Happy is the man who does this, and the son of humankind who keeps hold of it, who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
There are some Christians who are so weak minded that they would be scared to read a blog post like this for fear of having their religious programming challenged. We are warned all through scripture about a time when people will be deceived and call evil good and good evil. Scripture also tells us to be diligent about learning the ways of God and not to place man-made traditions above the commandments of God. It is a very serious situation in Christendom. Challenge the status quo by reading scripture, praying and seeking God.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
“Woe, my worthless shepherdwho deserts the flock!May a sword fall on his armand on his right eye!May his arm wither completelyand his right eye be utterly blinded!” Zechariah 11:17 (LEB) Often we see the subject of a worthless shepherd or leader who does not fulfill their duties of leading people on a righteous path. They…
For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or his mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received from me is a gift to God,” need not honor his father,’ and you make void…
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds,…
Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” John 18:36 (LEB) Yeshua walked the earth in the first century at a time when…
Blessed are the meek,because they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 (LEB) The world can be an unfriendly and intimidating place. We have forgotten how to maintain a simple life, and have embraced a society that cries for more war, is quick to get angry, and has completely mixed religion with politics to a point…
But at that time when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not gods. But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you…
The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail. Deuteronomy 28:43–44 (LEB) The Bible has been fractured today by…
And a highway shall be there, and a way,and it shall be called the way of holiness.The unclean shall not travel through it,but it is for them, he who walks on the way;and fools shall not wander about. Isaiah 35:8 (LEB) Those who hold to the theology of dispensationalism, most evangelicals, and many others, view…
And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and he will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for battle, whose number is like the sand of the sea. And they went up on the…
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. 2 Corinthians 11:13–15…
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), “in order that it may be well with you, and you may live a long time on the earth.” And fathers, do not make your children angry, but bring them up…
I hate and abhor falsehood; I love your law. I praise you seven times in the dayfor your righteous ordinances. Great peace is for those who love your law,and they do not have a cause for stumbling. I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh,and do your commands. Psalm 119:163–166 (LEB) There are many people today in…
And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail.
Revelation 11:19 (LEB)
There are many sects of Christianity in today’s world. Christianity started with a sect of people practicing first century Judaism who believed a man from Nazareth was the messiah whom the Jewish people were waiting for to come as prophesied in their writings. Many of the Jewish leaders rejected this idea because the man from Nazareth, Jesus, challenged their interpretation of the scriptures.
Jesus’ real name is Yeshua, or Joshua in English. This is a very basic fact even though many Christians today will mock the name Yeshua or Yahushua in the same way the Jewish leaders mocked Yeshua in person. Many first century Jews did however believe that Yeshua was the promised Messiah, and this is well documented in the gospel accounts.
Luke 1:31 (LEB): 31 And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus.
Ἰησοῦς, Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua, and the human name of our Saviour (see χριστός). Alexander Souter, A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917), 115.
The English letter “J” is used for the Hebrew letter “yud” in most cases. The “yud” is more of an “ee” sound. The Greek name was “Iesous”, pronounced “ee ey soos”, so I am unsure when the “J” sound was introduced to the name. It was likely after the 1611 King James version of the Bible.
We are told in the letter to the Hebrews, probably written by Paul or Barnabas, that faith is the hope for something not seen. The very first example given in Hebrews chapter eleven is that through faith we believe that God created the worlds through His word. We also know that God’s spoken word is Jesus in the flesh.
Hebrews 11:3 (LEB): 3 By faith we understand the worlds were created by the word of God, in order that what is seen did not come into existence from what is visible.
Speaking of Moses, this chapter gives us more examples of faith:
Hebrews 11:28–30 (LEB): 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land; the Egyptians, when they made the attempt, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been marched around for seven days.
It takes a lot of faith to cross the Red Sea in the way that Moses did. Many of us do not have a problem having faith to believe that the Elohim of Israel created the “worlds”, which are this earth and the entire universe. Why do we stop there? For example, The One who created the universe also told us which animals were for food and which ones were not to be eaten. Yet many do not have the faith to believe this is true.
Leviticus 11:1–3 (LEB): 11 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘These are the animals that you may eat from all the animals that are on the land: 3 Any among the animals that has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in the hoof and that chews cud, such you may eat.
Another example is the Sabbath day. The Creator made a day to rest at the time of creation and told His people to also rest on that day. Other than the myriads of people saying “don’t rest on the Sabbath”, it should take very little faith to take the Father at His word and simply rest on that weekly day. We have had 1500 years of church leadership telling us not to rest on the Sabbath and the reasons they give could be convincing without faith in the living God and His Word. Some will say that the command was never restated in the New Testament writings, yet everyone was found keeping the Sabbath in the New Testament. Is this not a perfect example of leading by example? Jesus even told us he was the lord or master of the Sabbath, which should point to its significance.
Deuteronomy 5:12–15 (LEB): 12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day to make it holy, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall work, and you shall do all of your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, or your slave, or your slave woman, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your domestic animals, or your resident alien who is in your towns, so that your slave and your slave woman may rest as you rest. 15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath.
There are also doctrines in the church that say that the Sabbath and list of animals for food were ceremonial laws and that in the New Testament church we are only to be concerned with so called “moral laws”. However, there is no place in scripture that makes this differentiation. As a result of all of the manmade interference, it now takes a lot of faith to eat what God calls food and to rest on the Sabbath; that is until one steps out and starts doing it and reaping the benefits.
So how do we understand faith? Moses needed faith to part and cross the Red Sea when an army was chasing him and today we need faith for simple milk-like doctrine such as resting on the Sabbath. The answer is understanding the covenants and the role Jesus plays in renewing the eternal covenant.
Moses had all of Israel and the mixed multitude make a covenant on Mount Horeb where God spoke to everyone there that day in an audible voice. They all said “we will” and blood was sprinkled on them to seal the covenant. Israel soon broke the covenant and it had to be renewed at Moab. Moses knew that the children of the Israelites would eventually break the covenants and He told them about God sending Jesus who would be a “prophet like him”.
Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (LEB): 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. 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!’ 17 And Yahweh said to me, ‘They are right in what they have said. 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. 19 And then the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.
Just as Moses spoke God’s instructions to the Israelites, this future “prophet” would be the one that will speak to the people, and we must listen to what he says because the Father said he “placed His words in his mouth”.
I am not making this up, or trying to invent a new connection, yet I am guessing this is going to be the first time hearing this for many Christians. First, Jesus tells us Moses spoke of him.
John 5:45–47 (LEB): 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father! The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope! 46 For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe that one’s writings, how will you believe my words?”
Peter specifically told us that these versus in Deuteronomy were speaking about Jesus.
Acts 3:19–24 (LEB): 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ appointed for you—Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’ 24 And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed him have spoken about and proclaimed these days.
Therefore, just as the people at Mount Horeb heard the voice of God and were afraid, we are to listen to the instruction of Jesus, who is called Yeshua in Hebrew. This is the same message the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey. Jesus renewed the covenant with his own blood. We must meet Jesus outside the camp. These are metaphors to show us how to live without the temple. Moses and the temple were the shadows of the Messiah and the heavenly temple. This does not mean the instructions of God, known as Torah, were changed.
Hebrews 13:12–16 (LEB): 12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. 13 So we must go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here we do not have a permanent city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and generosity, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Hebrews chapters 12 and 13 explain how to keep the law without a temple, that is being outside the camp. Jesus is now the one officiating the eternal covenant from heaven. This eternal covenant has the same stipulations as the covenant at mount Horeb.
Hebrews 13:20–21 (LEB): 20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.
The eternal covenant is what is pleasing to the Father and He will equip us to do His will and what is pleasing to Him (the instructions of the eternal covenant) with the help of Yeshua. The prophet Malachi connected the covenant at Horeb with Yeshua.
Malachi 4:4–6 (LEB): 4 “Remember the instruction of my servant Moses, which I commanded him at Horeb to all Israel, the rules and regulations. 5 Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh! 6 And he will bring back the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with a ban.”
It takes faith to do the things that are pleasing to the Father, especially when those in the church are telling us to do the opposite of what pleases the Father. He sent Yeshua to renew (or make new) the eternal covenant that had been broken so many times in the past. This is the world’s last chance to get it right. Through the scattering of Israel into the nations for breaking the covenant, it became possible for the whole world to be part of the renewed covenant with Yeshua’s blood. When he comes back, “it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people”. This is a huge opportunity for the whole world to be saved from destruction for disobedience.
Isaiah 24:1–6 (LEB): 24 Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. 2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. 3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, 5 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.
The kingdom of God is not dependent on land on this Earth. It is wherever Yeshua determines it is at his coming. We can be part of the kingdom of God by meeting Yeshua outside the gate so to speak, then doing what he says. He tells us he only says what he hears his father saying. We have a large book called the Bible with pages and pages of what the Father said, along with examples from Yeshua on how to apply it.
John 18:35–36 (LEB): 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your people and the chief priests handed you over to me! What have you done?” 36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
When the events of Isaiah unfold, and the wrath of God is poured out because “they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant“, the world is going to see that the eternal covenant still contains the commandments of God. Moses delivered them to the Israelites and Yeshua delivers them to the whole world, including the descendants of the Israelites.
Revelation 11:19 (LEB): 19 And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail.
Moses was a mediator for the Israelites and now through their disobedience the whole world benefits. In order to honor the promises given to Israel, God has extended them to the world with Yeshua as the mediator. Just as the Israelites were to listen to Moses, the whole world must listen to Yeshua, and his message was the same as the message of Moses on a much larger scale. No more shadows of the heavenly tabernacle, that is the tabernacle in the wilderness. We have the heavenly tabernacle with the heavenly priest and salvation of God!
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
It has a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel—on the…
And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles the abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to…
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Matthew 16:15–16 (LEB) There is so much…
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV 1900) Anytime someone disagrees with a doctrine or Biblical interpretation,…
And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit. They shall be yours as…
Have you found yourself in a place where you cannot tolerate the manipulation, control and inconsistencies found in organized religion? Do you still yearn for an understanding of a creator or meaningful relationship with God?…
Which of these three do you suppose became a neighbor of the man who fell among the robbers?” So he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” And Jesus said to him, “You go…
And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God, in…
“If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the…
And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day of your bringing the wave offering’s sheaf—there shall be seven full weeks. Until the day after the seventh Sabbath you…
Thus says Yahweh: “Stand at the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is, and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves. But they…
And the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants.For they have transgressed laws;they have passed by statutes;they have broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:5 (LEB) I enjoy engaging with strangers on social media to discuss religious…
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
“When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’
Deuteronomy 12:29–30 (LEB)
It is that time of year again where we constantly need to be reminded that “Jesus is the real reason for the season”, or of the “real” meaning of the “Christmas tree” (it allegedly points to Jesus) and other such things. One would think these meanings would be self-evident after 2000 years of Christian history. If Jesus is the “reason for the season”, everyone should already know, and most of the population would not be interested.
For example, Passover and Hanukkah are generally known by most people to involve holy days which the Jews celebrate; Ramadan is a holy month in Islam; Diwali is an Indian holiday, and so on. No one truly cares about these religious days unless they are involved in the respective religion, and one does not usually hear from these religions on their holy days because they are busy celebrating.
With the December holidays, we have a wildly popular festive holiday all over the world with a relatively small amount of people popping up proclaiming, “Jesus is the reason for the season!”, when the majority of the population, a) know he is not the reason for the season, b) are indifferent about it, or c) only care about the presents, lights, trees and festivities. Many secular Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and people from other religions all celebrate Christmas. How can this be? What possesses an atheist to partake in gift giving, Christmas trees and other festivities if they do not believe in God? Why would someone celebrate the birthday of Jesus who does not believe he existed, doesn’t care, or may actually hate Christianity? The answer is that most people know it is not really the birthday of Jesus, don’t care that some people assign it to the birthday of their god, and are participating in holiday rituals that have existed in different cultures for the last 3500 years.
If we look at different religions around the world, we find December 25th is a significant date. Many gods of different religions were born on December 25th. The one thing they have in common is that they were usually some type of sun god. The tree is part of the festival not because it points to Jesus, but because it is the symbol that goes with the sun god and his female counter part. The fir tree is a phallic symbol that dates back to Nimrod and Asherah. Most of the props and rituals of the winter solstice holidays are related to fertility, sex and the renewal of life.
Deuteronomy 16:21 (LEB): 21 You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah pole beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.
אֲשֵׁרָה, אֲשֵׁירָה n.pr.f. Ashera a. a Canaanitish goddess of fortune & happiness. b. a symbol of this goddess, a sacred tree or pole set up near an altar. Pl. אֲשֵׁרוֹת a. the goddess. b. sacred trees or poles.
Richard Whitaker et al., The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: From A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, Based on the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius (Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906).
The sacred trees are very important throughout history, and the Creator said not to put them by His altar. There is no question that the “Christmas” tree is fashioned after the trees in ancient sun god worship. “Christmas” is simply its own version of sun god worship with the demigod “Iesous” at the center. I only say this because the real Creator of the universe and His son would have nothing to do with a festival that blends all of the traditions of the sun gods and goddesses of antiquity, therefore there must be a different god at the center of the December 25th holiday. The stress, consumerism, depression, coveting and hardships from overspending all point to Jesus (Yeshua) not being the reason for the season.
Deuteronomy 7:5 (LEB): 5 But this is what you must do to them: you shall break down their altars, and their stone pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall hew down, and you shall burn their idols with fire.
The use of these symbols from other gods and religions to honor Jesus actually makes Christianity look dumb on the world stage, and the God of Israel told His people to have nothing to do with them. Jesus, called Yeshua by his followers, told us he only did what he saw the Father doing and only said what he heard the Father saying. The Father said that he does not change. So why do Christians think they can assign all of these symbols from other gods to Yeshua? Where are these things talked about in the Bible? Here are some places:
Jeremiah 10:2 (LEB): 2 Thus says Yahweh: “You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.
1 Corinthians 10:21–22 (LEB):21 You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we attempting to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
Matthew 24:3–5 (LEB): 3 And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you! 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many.
The whole Bible is written against the Church assigning the one true God to festivals and symbols of other gods. The holy days of the Creator were shared with the Israelites through Moses from God. These are not simply holy days of the “Jews”. They are the holy days that are important to the Father. It is through the error of dispensationalism theology that these get cast aside and replaced with holy days of other gods saying “we are not under the law” as if knowing and celebrating the holy days given to us by the Father is some type of punishment. We bring curses on ourselves by rejecting His days and choosing the days of the nations.
Leviticus 23:1–2 (LEB): 23 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘The festivals of Yahweh that you shall proclaim are holy assemblies; these are my appointed times.
Yahweh says, “these are my appointed times” and does not mention anything about them belonging only to the Jews. These are His festivals and they were shared to the world through Israel. When I say “through Israel”, I don’t mean the secular country that is in western Asia in 2024. I am speaking about those who were at Mount Horeb, the Israelites and the mixed multitude. Paul tells us how the Jews were the vehicle used to deliver the “oracles of God”.
Romans 3:1–2 (LEB): 3 Therefore, what is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the use of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. For first, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
The days on the left are the festivals of the nations celebrated for thousands of years and include modern day Easter (after the goddess Eostre or Ostara), Christmas (Yule), Samhain (all saints day and Halloween), Litha ( St. John the Baptist day). There is also May day with the May “pole” complete with streamers. It is all disgusting when one researches the meanings of all of the days that are involved in sun worship.
The days on the right are the “appointed times” of the Creator, found in Leviticus chapter 23 (except Hanukkah). These are the days Yeshua celebrated, as did the early church, until corruption creeped in. Paul warned of this corruption speaking to the elders at the church in Ephesus.
Acts 20:29–30 (LEB): 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth in order to draw away the disciples after them.
This means that perversions of the truth started to manifest themselves as early as 57 CE. Some accounts say that this corruption involved blending practices of the mystery religions. Based on how things are today in the Church this makes complete sense.
Dispensationalism theology teaches that Peter was only talking to the “Jews” in Acts Chapter three. This is deception to draw people away from the Father and the obligation to do what Yeshua said to do. We must be grafted into the family of God and do what He told us to do. This does not mean the religion of Talmudic Judaism. This means we follow the commandments as Jesus taught, not man made traditions by any religion.
Acts 3:19–26 (LEB): 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ appointed for you—Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.’ 24 And indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and all those who followed him have spoken about and proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ 26 God, after he had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you back from your wickedness!”
God hates idolatry and using things from other peoples’ gods supposedly to worship Him. Take Messiah Yeshua out of the Christmas sun god worship and learn to worship in spirit and truth! Truth contains no fairy tales, imaginary characters, myths or legends.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
Now these were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They accepted the message with all eagerness, examining the scriptures every day to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and not…
I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your…
Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps! But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos…
And not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the most holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12 (LEB): There is a great contrast…
Death Deprives Humans of Everything in Life Whoever is joined to all the living has hope. After all, even a live dog is better than a dead lion! For the living know that they will…
And in the day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation, and it will bring…
Having destroyed the certificate of indebtedness in ordinances against us, which was hostile to us, and removed it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 (LEB) I often refer to…
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27–28 (LEB) The Sabbath was…
He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God,…
and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. And because of this, God sends…
And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?”So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly…
But the things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way. Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be…
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” in order that they could accuse him. But he said to them, “What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?Then to what degree is a man worth more than a sheep? So then, it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath.”
Matthew 12:10–12 (LEB)
If one does a You Tube search on the phrase “Jesus is my Sabbath”, countless videos will populate on this subject from famous preachers and influencers. They all have one thing in common and it is that they promote the idea that the Sabbath is no longer valid, it is wrong to keep the Sabbath, or anyone that tries to keep the Sabbath is putting themselves back under the law.
The consensus seems to be that “Jesus is my Sabbath now” among most Christians, implying that they get their rest from some supernatural transfer from Jesus. Also today, many Christians are often found to be burned out, plagued with ailments and emotionally unstable. Replacing God’s commandment to physically and mentally rest from work with “Jesus is my Sabbath now”, somehow imparting rest on a person’s body, does not embody the words, “come to me and I will give you rest”. It is simply trickery by an enemy to draw people away from God.
Where did this idea of abandoning the commandment of Deuteronomy 5:12 (LEB), “Observe the Sabbath day to make it holy, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you.”, and replacing it with “Jesus is my Sabbath now” originate? It didn’t come from ancient Rome’s religious system because their decree was to “work on Saturday and go to church on Sunday, resting if possible”, recorded as Roman law at the council of Laodicea in 347 CE. Their change of God’s law was a result of antisemitism to distance themselves from anything that seemed Jewish. Emperor Constantine referred to the Jews as “those despicable Jews who murdered our Lord”. Anyone found Judaizing by keeping the Sabbath would be excommunicated or anathema to the church under the Roman canon. Contrast this with Paul, who said that the Jews were, Romans 3:2 (LEB), “entrusted with the oracles of God”. One of these “oracles” was the benefits of resting on the Sabbath.
However, the Jew’s view on the Sabbath, at least now, is that one cannot and should not try to keep it if one is not a Jew or has not converted to Judaism. A well known Rabbi told me this personally through email. As far as Judaism is concerned, non-Jews can only practice the Noahide laws, which are defined by them outside of the Bible. No Sabbath rest for you.
One place to garner support for the argument that “Jesus is my Sabbath now” is from the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:4–11 (LEB): 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter into my rest.’ ” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9 Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience.
In this version of the Bible verse eight is speaking of Joshua. In other versions, such as the King James version, it is translated “Jesus”.
Hebrews 4:8–9 (KJV 1900): 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Is it Joshua or Jesus? Since the real name of Jesus in English is Joshua, I suppose it is up for interpretation. The professional interpreters did not know what to do consistently, and we may never know for certain what the writer was thinking.
The word to focus on is in verse nine. It is “rest” in the KJV and “Sabbath rest” in the LEB. It is the Greek word “sabbatamos”, and means “Sabbath rest”.
Verse eleven tells us to: “Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience“. Here, “rest” is a different Greek word. So “that rest” is referring back to “Sabbath rest”. The word rest in this case means actual rest. In this chart it is compared to Hebrew words that the Greek word was used for in the Septuagint. This was a Greek translation of the Old Testament done in 200 BCE.
In Judaism the term was taken up in the sense of to give someone a good rest (LXX). anapausis in cl. Gk. meant repose, relaxation, recreation, a rest from something.
R. Hensel and C. Brown, “Rest,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 254.
It also says we should rest so as not to be found in the “same pattern of disobedience”. The reference goes back to verse seven where it quotes David in the Psalms.
Psalm 95:7–11 (LEB): 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you will hear his voice: 8 “Do not harden your heart as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tried me. They put me to the test, even though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, ‘They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.’ 11 Therefore I swore in my anger, ‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’ ”
The Israelites did not have any water at one point of their journey and they were griping and complaining to Moses. God told Moses to strike a rock at Horeb to give them water, then called the place Massah, but God was so angered by their attitude and disobedience that he did not allow this generation to enter into the promise land, or “His rest”. Moses reminds them of this in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 6:16–17 (LEB): 16 You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his legal provisions and his rules that he has commanded you.
What seems to be a theme is that disobedience angers the Father. “They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.’ Therefore I swore in my anger, ‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’ ” Those who were disobedient were not allowed to enter His rest. Forgetting the Sabbath, or teaching it is not valid, is exactly this. It is disobedience and not knowing the ways of the Father, who made it clear that it was important to rest on the Sabbath. This is also something Jesus reinforced.
Matthew 5:18–19 (LEB): 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place. 19 Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps them and teaches them, this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Being least in the kingdom does not mean one will be reduced to a trash collector on the streets of gold. These following verses in Isaiah seem to be speaking about a future kingdom of God. It is hard to understand why resting is such a burden to people that they must rail against it. Being least in the kingdom could be referring to the people in Isaiah 66:24.
Isaiah 66:23–24 (LEB): 23 And this shall happen: From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh. 24 “And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Another argument against the Sabbath is of course, “Jesus abolished God’s laws” (like the Sabbath), so we no longer need to be burdened with them. This implies that the instructions God gave His people were bad and could not be followed.
Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (LEB): 11 “For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, and it is not too far from you. 12 It is not in the heavens so that you might say, ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 13 And it is not beyond the sea, so that you might say, ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.
What if the Sabbath is actually not bad, but it is something beneficial that was given to humanity at creation? A day to rest from the labors of day to day life where one forgets about regular responsibilities and simply rests? It is a delight, yet through history there has been a movement to bury and impugn the Sabbath. What if it is one of the secret weapons God’s people have to thrive in this world? What if an enemy has worked very hard to ensure no one properly taps into this type of weekly rest and refreshing?
The Jews added volumes of rules about how to keep the Sabbath making it burdensome. This was something Jesus pointed out in scripture where he tells them they are following man’s traditions, not God’s commandments. The Christians outlawed the Sabbath and created a whole system of theology to convince people not to follow the fourth commandment of simply resting from their work. Does this not make anyone suspicious? “They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.“
The type of rest that Jesus offers is freedom from the bondage of manmade tradition and lies leading us away from the Father. This opens our eyes to the blessing that the Sabbath brings into our life along with physical, mental and spiritual rest one day a week that our bodies are craving. Try it. As Paul said, “the law is spiritual”.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
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And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by…
And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’
Deuteronomy 6:25 (LEB)
I recently heard a minister preaching on Romans chapter five where Paul is contrasting the work of Adam and Jesus. This minister’s conclusion was that Jesus practiced being righteous, therefore we don’t have to. This is a common belief system within Christianity due to a distorted doctrine derived from misunderstanding what Paul wrote to the churches.
Romans 5:18–21 (LEB): 18 Consequently therefore, as through one trespass came condemnation to all people, so also through one righteous deed came justification of life to all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sure, if this Romans chapter is the only part of the Bible that one reads because some preacher told us that we do not have to do anything the Creator said to do, by using these verses, then we are able to carry on with the lawless gospel and see how it works out. However, all one needs to do to debunk this interpretation is to read Paul’s conclusion in the next verses. Paul’s letters were never meant to be verses and chapters. It was a letter, and someone broke it up in sections for easier reference. Chapter six is not a new thought, it is a continuation of chapter five.
Romans 6:1–2 (LEB): 6 What therefore shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, in order that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Once we are freed of our sinful nature through the work of Jesus, our lifestyle should reflect the way Jesus walked. He walked by pleasing the Father and was the example of God’s instructions, or Torah. This is what fulfilling the law looks like. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?“
1 John 2:3–6 (LEB): 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know him,” and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. 5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. 6 The one who says that he resides in him ought also to walk just as that one walked.
These verses from John are the reason hyper-grace dispensationalists had to create a doctrine that says that John was not talking to “gentile” believers, he was only speaking to the “Jews”. They manufactured a complete alternate universe of doctrine so they do not have to be obedient to God. Then they will say, “follow Jesus”, all the while not doing what he said to do. This type of Christianity believes they should only do their distorted view of what Paul says in his letters-aka “rightly divide”.
Let’s look at Paul and Peter’s letters to see to whom they were writing. First, Paul to the Galatians:
Galatians 1:1–2 (LEB): 1 Paul, an apostle not from men nor by men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, 2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.
This letter was written to the churches in Galatia. Next, here is Peter’s greeting:
1 Peter 1:1–2 (LEB): 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Peter wrote to “the chosen temporarily in the dispersion”, including those in Galatia. Was Peter excluding “gentile” believers by using the word “dispersion”? Many will say “yes” meaning there had to be two different camps of believers in Galatia. Paul wrote to the non-Jewish believers and Peter wrote to the Jewish believers in this belief system. This is what dispensationalism theology teaches quietly behind the scenes in many denominations. However, in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, as in others, he tells us there is only one kind of believer. There is no such thing as a “gentile” believer because “gentile” means foreigner to God, or “from the nations”. In other words, not Israel. Once we become believers through Jesus, we join ourselves to Israel, the family of God. This is not to be confused with the religion of Talmudic Judaism, which many Jews practice today, or the country of Israel formed in 1948 by UN resolution 181.
Galatians 3:26–29 (LEB): 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.
The best way to explain Paul’s letters, what they are telling us, and to whom they were written is by heeding Peter’s warning in his letter to (in part) the Galatians.
2 Peter 3:15–17 (LEB): 15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, 16 as he does also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures. 17 Therefore, dear friends, because you know this beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position because you have been led away by the error of lawless persons.
Peter told us about all of these erroneous, lawless doctrines almost 2000 years ago in a letter to those “in the dispersion” of Galatia and other places in Asia. “Theignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures.” These are the same people Paul and John wrote to. They were the believers in Jesus. The only difference between the Jew and non-Jew believers was that the Jews were well versed in scripture. They were raised believing the law and prophets. Most Jews understand they cannot be justified by the law, which is what the original argument was about. The first century non-Jews or “gentiles” were not raised knowing scripture. They came from polytheism religion and philosophy, much like believers today. With no grounding in scripture, they will believe anything someone in authority will tell them. A belief system where one can keep sinning and not regard the instructions of God taught by Jesus was very appealing in the first century as it is today.
Jesus made it possible for all of humanity to not have to die from sin by raising from the dead. There is nothing in the law that will keep us from becoming eternally dead, no matter how righteous we live. There were no offerings for adultery, murder, breaking the Sabbath, etc., in the law. There was only judgement and death. Jesus died and rose to set us free from the penalty of death which the law defined. This in no way nullifies the law because the law defines sin. Once we come to faith we should be living in the Spirit with the law in our hearts. If one remains carnal and fleshly, or disobedient, despising God’s instructions, then they will still bump into the law because they do not walk in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11–22 (LEB): 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, the so-called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, 12 that you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, not having hope, and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones who once were far away, have become near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh, 15 invalidating the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that he might create the two in himself into one new man, thus* making peace, 16 and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. 17 And coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to the ones who were near, 18 because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 Consequently, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
This is the mystery of how God was going to reunite the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The house of Israel, sometimes referred to as Ephraim, was cast into the nations becoming “gentiles” for idolatry and adultery by mixing traditions from other religions. This is the same as Christians today using symbols of other gods in their worship. I am talking about such things as wreaths, pine cones, easter eggs and trees.
In order to fulfill the promises given to all of Israel, there had to be a way for them to come back into the family. By making a way for them to come back it reconciled the whole world with God through Jesus the Messiah.
Hosea 1:11 (LEB): 11 Then the children of Judah and Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head; and they will take possession of the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.
This is a huge gift to the world and today we have Christians whose main theology is “we don’t have to ‘do the law’ or ‘practice righteousness’ because Jesus did it for us”. Acts chapter ten is not about whether Christians can eat a ham sandwich or not. It is about removing the dividing wall.
1 John 3:6–8 (LEB): 6 Everyone who resides in him does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.
The entirety of the Bible is written against anyone that claims we should not practice righteousness. Christians have been lulled into a lawless religion with no regard for the instructions of the Creator. He even sent His son to make it possible for those cut off by disbelief to be brought near, thus allowing the whole world to be saved. In return the church will not even consider looking at all the blessings there are in obedience.
Psalm 119:1–8 (LEB) Aleph 119 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of Yahweh. 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies; they seek him with a whole heart. 3 They also do no wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have commanded your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. 5 Oh that my ways were steadfast, to keep your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed when I look to all your commands. 7 I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous laws. 8 I will heed your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
Yahweh called your name, ‘A leafy olive tree, beautiful with fine fruit.’ With the sound of a great storm he will set fire to it, and its branches will be good for nothing. And Yahweh…
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You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! Acts 7:51 Anytime subjects such as the Sabbaths or dietary instructions present themselves, the average Christian will sharply…
The Feast of Trumpets Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a rest period, a remembrance of the…
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
John 6:54-55
Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus in English, told His followers some hard things that caused many to walk away. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood would seem like a weird thing to hear from a speaker. Many just didn’t stick around long enough to understand.
John 6:60–66 (LEB): 60 Thus many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This saying is hard! Who can understand it?” 61 But Jesus, because he knew within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “Because of this I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.” 66 For this reason many of his disciples drew back and were not walking with him any longer.
Drinking Messiah’s blood and eating His flesh is a spiritual matter. He is the Word of Yahweh and manna from Heaven. His blood is that of the new covenant, or the refreshing of the covenant as Peter tells us.
Acts 3:19–21 (LEB): 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ appointed for you—Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times.
Many think that we are fully engaged in the new covenant right now. When the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, it makes me wonder if we are not fully there yet. Are we perhaps in a process? It is clear that His laws are not written on the majority of people’s hearts today. Most Christians hate God’s laws by their actions and words, so how could these same laws be written on their hearts?
Hebrews 8:6–13 (LEB): 6 But now he has attained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second. 8 For in finding fault with them he says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be my people. 11 And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer.” 13 In calling it new, he has declared the former to be old. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing.
The old covenant is growing old and ready to disappear. Hebrews 8:11, “And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest”. Do we still have to teach your neighbors about the Lord? Does everyone know Him? It does not appear to be so. We are in the refreshing as Peter told us. Once the Messiah comes back and establishes His kingdom, all of His laws will be written on our hearts and everyone will clearly know who He is.
Revelation 3:2–3 (LEB):2 Be on the alert and strengthen the remaining things that are about to die, for I have not found your works completed before my God. 3 Therefore remember how you have received and heard, and observe it, and repent. If therefore you are not on the alert, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you.
If eating His flesh and drinking His blood is spiritual, not literal, then what does that say for eating meat sacrificed to idols? Would that not be equally spiritual?
1 Corinthians 10:13–22 (LEB): 13 Temptation has not come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also make a way out together with the temptation, so that you may be able to endure it.14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you judge what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share from the one bread. 18 Consider Israel according to the flesh: are not the ones who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 Therefore, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but that the things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. 21 You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we attempting to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
Paul knew that the pagan deities were place holders for demons. All of their symbology is polluted by demons. Therefore, to abstain from things polluted by idols was one of the first commandments new converts were shown.
Acts 15:19–21 (LEB): 19 Therefore I conclude we should not cause difficulty for those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but we should write a letter to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. 21 For Moses has those who proclaim him in every city from ancient generations, because he* is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
We know that the gentiles, or non-Jews, concerned themselves with the signs in heaven, such as the winter solstice and waiting for the spring equinox. Many cultures brought fir trees and evergreens into their house as a sign of fertility.
Jeremiah 10:1–4 (LEB): Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says Yahweh: “You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them. 3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, for it is a tree cut down from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool. 4 He decorates it with silver and gold, they strengthen it with nails and hammers, so that it does not stagger.
The fir trees will even rejoice once Babylon is defeated. Imagine trees rejoicing because no one is cutting them down for idolatrous purposes any more.
Isaiah 14:3–8 (KJV 1900): 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, 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5 The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. 6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 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.
“Meat sacrificed to idols” is not limited to eating actual meat that was sacrificed in first century temples of Diana or Zeus. These ancient deities are still with us today in our customs and traditions. Christians, without question, use the symbology of these ancient deities, sometimes boasting about their usage, in their special holy days handed down through tradition. Yet Paul told us in the first century to specifically not do this, repeating the commandment given to Moses from the One whom we as Christians claim to be worshipping.
Deuteronomy 12:29–32 (LEB): 29 “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, 30 take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’ 31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods. 32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”
Paul tells us we are “sharers with demons” and God told Moses to absolutely not use symbols or traditions from other cultures to serve Him. Despite these warnings, Christianity uses all of the traditions and symbols they can find to bring into the supposed worship of God. The question becomes ” which God are you worshipping?”. If the one true God of Israel says not to use these items to worship Him, then we can assume He does not count these traditions and symbols as worship towards Him at the very least (vain worship), and the worst case scenario is that He abhors it and turns His back on people that practice these things in His name? Paul simply says it is partaking at the table with demons.
Many Christians will use the excuse that they are “not under the law” to justify the use of symbols of Nordic witchcraft to the god Odin, or the sun worship of the god Mithras. Which god is being worshipped in all of these traditions? Law or no law, the Creator of the Universe weighed in on His thoughts of these practices. Do we want to temp God and use grace as a cover? It is a dangerous road to be walking.
The result of syncretizing the symbols, traditions or “meat” of gods of other’s is described in Revelation. One has to understand the sins of Jezebel and Ahab, and Balak and Balaam to fully see the repercussions of partaking at the table with demons. Often Christians will wonder why they are having a hard time in life without even considering which gods they are paying homage to and that they open the door to demons.
Revelation 2:14–16 (LEB): 14 But I have a few things against you: that you have there those who hold fast to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent! But if you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword from my mouth.
These words should be troubling to the “no commandment”, or antinomian crowd. “Repent or else”, “throwing people in a sick bed”, “killing their children with deadly diseases” and “I will give to each one of you according to your deeds”, seems to contradict the hyper grace message of the modern church. It sounds more like the curses for disobedience listed in Leviticus chapter twenty-six. If we are observant, this is exactly what is happening and it is caused by ignoring God’s covenant.
Revelation 2:20–23 (LEB): 20 But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and deceives my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 And I have given her time in order to repent, and she did not want to repent from her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those who committed adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
Balaam showed Balaak that he could defeat Israel by luring them into their fertility rituals and therefore cursing themselves. Jezebel used Ahab to promote Baal worship. Baal is still being worshipped today in Christianity. The “law” that Christians despise has nothing to do with any of this other than it told us not to do it. Even if the antinomian doctrine were true, it would still be hard to justify using symbols and traditions of other gods in the worship of the one true Elohim of Israel in light of all these scriptures.
Paul also warns the Galatians not to turn back to their former pagan practices. The Galatians were caught between a sect of Jews that insisted on circumcision to be saved, and a government that mandated the celebration of the festivals of the gods of their culture. Christians today try to make these verses about celebrating the Sabbath and God’s feast days, but that really is nonsense when we consider the whole of scripture.
Galatians 4:8–11 (LEB): 8 But at that time when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not gods. 9 But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10 You carefully observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest perhaps I have labored for you in vain!
The best way to understand these things is to learn the nature of God by studying His words. There is work involved to learn enough history to understand what is actually being told to us in the scriptures. When Jesus came, he told us he only said what he heard the Father say and only did what he saw the Father doing. Jesus had no new agenda to change anything, only to free us from the curse of death we inherited from breaking God’s laws. Should we continue breaking God’s laws, which is sinning, simply because Jesus freed us from the curse of breaking the law? Romans 6:16 (LEB): 16 Do you not know that to whomever you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to whomever you obey, whether sin, leading to death, or obedience, leading to righteousness?
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory…
And he also told them a parable: “Surely a blind person cannot lead the blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? Luke 6:39 (LEB) Many Christians believe in a pretribulation rapture happening before a seven year period called the “tribulation” where the “church” is taken off the Earth before the so-called…
And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth. John 1:14 The fall feast days start soon and what better time to celebrate the birth of our Messiah? There are many reasons to believe…
By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome 1 John 5:2–3 (LEB) People have reminded me at times that teachers and instructors will be held accountable…
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a faith without hypocrisy, from which some have deviated, and have turned away into fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law, although they do not understand either the things which they are saying or the things concerning…
“So you must be very careful for yourselves, because you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you do not ruin yourselves and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or…
You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah pole beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves. And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that Yahweh your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:21-22 The obelisk, which is an ancient stone pillar, is used in church architecture and…
The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. Isaiah 24:4–5 (LEB) Life is full of decisions and there are…
What is more, I swore to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands, because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors. And in turn I gave…
So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition…
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ And then I will say to them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:22–23 (LEB) How can this be?…
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not collapse, because its foundation was laid on the rock.…
Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus.
Revelation 14:12 (LEB)
As I was going through some of my mother’s religious books written from the 1970’s to 1990’s, I realized that many prophecies that were supposed to happen in those decades, according to the authors, never came close to being realized. If I have a book that was written in the 1970’s, predicting all sorts of Biblical prophecies coming true in the next decade, what value is it if none of it happened? Henry Kissinger passed away last year, never fulfilling his alleged role as Antichrist, and the so called “rapture of the church” didn’t happen in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s or the first 24 years of the 21st century. The list goes on and on. All of these books are simply fire starter now.
Jeremiah 23:21–22 (LEB): 21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.
I started to think about all the prophecies in the Bible that have not happened yet. These are not the popular prophecies like “pin the tail on the Antichrist”, or the war of Gog and Magog, but ones that not many talk about. Here is one that I often think about because it is not just talking to the Church, the Jews or Israel, but it is addressing the entire population of the earth.
Isaiah 24:1–6 (LEB): 24 Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. 2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. 3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, 5 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.
This has not happened yet, and it says the inhabitants of the earth “have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant“. What are the laws and statutes that the people defiled the earth by breaking? What is the everlasting covenant that has been broken? This certainly leads one to believe that we shouldn’t be transgressing laws and statutes or breaking the everlasting covenant, which is actually in opposition to what Christianity is teaching today. After all, Jesus supposedly did away with these laws and statutes according to mainstream Christianity. In light of just these verses, we know that claim is not true.
Another prophecy that has not happened yet is the land of Israel becoming a permanent ruins. As far as I know, the land has always been habitable, and there have always been some people group living there. When I think of “permanent ruins”, I think of Chernobyl, where it is currently uninhabitable due to radiation from the nuclear meltdown.
Ezekiel 38:8 (LEB): 8 After many days you will be mustered; in the last years you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as permanent ruins but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell in safety, all of them.
In this verse in Ezekiel, he is prophesying that Magog will be mustered against the people living on the mountains of Israel in some future period. “Dwelling in safety” does not appear to describe the current state of Israel where wars, car bombings, missile barrages and other unrest have been normal every day life since it began in 1948.
The prophecies in the writings of Zechariah have also not happened. The land is transformed and people are dwelling safely; Yahweh is king all through the land. I do not see that anywhere in western Asia currently.
Zechariah 14:8–11 (LEB): 8 And then on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen both in the summer and in the winter. 9 And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one. 10 All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And they will dwell in it, and there will be no more ban imposed, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.
Moses had many prophesies to the Israelites. He talked about a restored people turning back to doing the things that were commanded by God to do. It will happen in the latter days. This can’t be the state of Israel formed by the United Nations in 1948. Where are the twelve tribes? Ephraim? The returning to Elohim and listening to His voice? None of it is there and this has not happened yet.
Deuteronomy 4:27–31 (LEB): 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. 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. 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. 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. 31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.
Along these lines, there are many places that speak of the gathering of those that were scattered. One has to know the history of the kingdom of Israel to understand the dynamics between Judah and Ephraim. This has not happened yet, and chapter eleven of Isaiah is speaking about when the Messiah will gather all of his people.
Isaiah 11:11–13 (LEB): 11 And this shall happen on that day: The Lord will again extend his hand a second time to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea, 12 and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners of the earth. 13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.
Does anyone know the difference between Ephraim and Judah? “Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.” It is the basis of the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus made it possible and he was explaining the mystery through this parable. It truly was a mystery because people who understood the scriptures did not understand how this would happen!
Luke 15:29–32 (LEB): 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your command! And you never gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 30 But when this son of yours returned—who has consumed your assets with prostitutes—you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and everything I have belongs to you. 32 But it was necessary to celebrate and to rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead, and is alive, and was lost, and is found!’ ”
In a few places this gathering of God’s people is described as something that will make everyone forget about the first exodus because of its magnitude. This event is still in front of us. We remember the first exodus from Egypt at every Passover. The Jews say “next year in Jerusalem” at Passover in Jerusalem because they know that they have not arrived to the promised land yet.
Jeremiah 16:14–16 (LEB):14 Therefore look, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and it will no longer be said, “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,” 15 but only “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them,” for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors. 16 Look, I am sending for many fishermen,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and they will fish them out, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.
We are told of a time when the people of the nations will realize they have been deceived by false prophets believing lies about false gods. This is when the Church will understand that they have been syncretizing witchcraft into their belief system by celebrating Halloween, Christmas and the spring fertility rituals along with the ancient pagans, modern Druidry, Wiccans and Satanists.
Jeremiah 16:19–21 (LEB): 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. 20 Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!” 21 “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might, and they will know that my name is Yahweh.”
Peter tells us of a time when the earth and elements will melt from the heat of God’s wrath. He also tells us that we should be found in holy behavior and godliness because of God’s patience in holding back His wrath to give people more time to repent.
2 Peter 3:8–13 (LEB): 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed. 11 Because all these things are being destroyed in this way, what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.
The Church teaches that the “Day of the Lord” is simply the seven year tribulation and that the Church will be transported to heaven and avoid any of these prophesies that have not taken place. That is not true and part of the deception. It is based on misunderstood words of Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians. Through dispensationalism theology the Church has twisted Paul’s words making people think they are “no longer under the law” and “lead by the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit, another name for the Elohim of Israel, is not going to direct anyone to do anything contrary to His word. Part of this teaching is that the lawless Church will be whisked away in the knick of time before anything bad happens.
Most people base their eschatology on “prophecies” from 1970’s authors such as Hal Lindsey, Morris Cerillo and Tim LaHaye. I have all the books from my mother’s library. The prophecies they pushed forward were all based on dispensationalism theology and the philosophy of Zionism. As a result, we have Christians and non-Christians looking for a pre-trib rapture of the church, and an Antichrist figure to make a seven year peace treaty with the current country of Israel.
Daniel 9:27 (LEB)
27 And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering and in its place a desolating abomination comes even until the determined complete destruction is poured out on the desolator.”
If one reads Daniel chapter nine without the dispensationalism theology view, then we can understand that it was the Messiah who made the strong covenant and was cut off, or crucified. There has not been any offering or sacrifice since the temple was destroyed in 70 CE, and there will not be a new temple until the Messiah comes back and establishes his kingdom in a supernatural way. If God stopped the sacrifices and offerings in 70 CE, who can bring them back? How can an Antichrist figure desolate a new temple in Israel? One cannot desecrate something that is not ordained by God and holy in the first place. It is dispensationalism theology that has the Old Testament God working with the “Jews” (as they believe) while the “Church” is raptured and with Jesus in some ethereal place. It is as if there are two gods in this scenario. This is in line with the early church’s heresy of Marcionism. It really is a form of replacement theology.
Many Torah abiding Jews understand that there cannot be a new temple and peace until the Messiah comes. However, they are not looking for Messiah Yeshua. This could be in part because Messiah Yeshua, who was a Torah observant Jew from the line of David, only saying what he heard his father say, has been morphed into Jesus Christ, a new Greco-Roman god that tolerates all manner of sin. Christianity and Judaism as they are today are two religious systems that are not compatible with the Creator of the Universe. Christianity rejects His commandments and Judaism rejects His son. Both add and take away from His instructions.
Deuteronomy 12:32 (LEB): 32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”
Therefore, let’s guard and keep His commandments as Yeshua told us to do. There is much prophecy to unfold in front of us and the best way to be prepared according to Revelation 14:12 is to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua!
Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.
Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and…
Grass withers; the flower withers, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 (LEB) If I were a song writer I would write a country song with the title of this blog…
Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!” “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might,…
But I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never carry out the desire of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (LEB) The apostle Paul does a great job of condensing the commandments of God found…
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. Leviticus 19:17 Do you love your neighbour? When asked to reduce…
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. Acts 2:1 (LEB) The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, or in Greek, Pentecost, is traditionally the feast day that celebrates…
And why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them—I will show you what he is…
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything. If anyone does…
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. Therefore do and observe everything that they tell you, but do not do…
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…
So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a person examine himself, and…
Brothers, even if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of humility, looking out for yourself, lest you also be tempted. Carry the burdens…
Hear the Matter Proverbs 18:13 