“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.” Deuteronomy 11:16-17.

The idea of deception is hard to grasp. Some say “ I will not be deceived”, or “I am not deceived”. Then there are those who wonder if they have already been deceived. What is the base line for deception? Some would say the Bible, yet there are over 40,000 denominations or sects that claim a different interpretation of the Bible. How can this be with a creator that says, “ For I, Yahweh, have not changed, and you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.”? If Yahweh God does not change, then we should be able to establish that those who say he has changed, are deceived.

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Here is an exercise for the reader: determine attributes of the Creator, clear in scripture, and look around to find examples in some of the 40,000 plus denominations that claim those attributes have changed.

Jesus gives us a warning that in the end times, that even the very elect will be deceived.

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

So who are the elect? In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he admonishes us to “put on as the elect of God”.

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

In these verses Paul defines the characteristics of God’s elect. It is clear that the elect exhibit these attributes in order to be considered “elect”. The word elect is also used in the book of Enoch quite frequently. The New Testament authors would be very familiar with the book of Enoch, found along with the oldest known copy of Genesis in the caves of Qumran, as well as being contained in the original Ethiopian Bible.

The elect shall possess light, joy, and peace; and they shall inherit the earth. But you, you unholy, shall be accursed. Then shall wisdom be given to the elect, all of whom shall live, and not again transgress by impiety or pride; but shall humble themselves, possessing prudence, and shall not repeat transgression. CHANOK (ENOCH) 6:9-11 את CEPHER

The elect are so because of their way of life, not because they are predestined to be such. The elect are the opposite of unholy in the verses from Enoch. This is in line with Paul’s description we looked at in Colossians, where he uses the word holy to describe the elect. Holy is Strong’s G40.

G40
ἅγιος
hagios
Thayer Definition:
1) most holy thing, a saint

I don’t find this definition particularly helpful. In this case I like to go back to the Hebrew, which can be accomplished by finding cases where New Testament writers quoted Old Testament scripture. Peter quotes the following verse from Leviticus:

Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Lev 11:46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,

1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

From the Ancient Hebrew dictionary we get the best definition of Strong’s H6918:

H6918
Set apart co: Prostitute ab: Special: Set apart from the rest for a special function. [from: dh – separating and joining to something]
Set apart: To set someone or something apart for a special purpose. [freq. 172] (vf: Paal, Niphal, Hiphil, Hitpael, Pual, Piel) |kjv: sanctify, hallow, dedicate, holy, prepare, consecrate, appoint, bid, purify

Set apart, consecrated, dedicated and holy can all be used to define elect ones. Many of my blogs explain living a set apart and holy life before Yahweh through the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul states “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. Philippians 4:13. A good example of one of Yahweh God’s elect or dedicated, by definition, is King Solomon.

2Ch 1:7 On that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give to you.”
2Ch 1:8 Then Solomon said to God, “You yourself have shown steadfast loyal love to David my father and have made me king in his place.
2Ch 1:9 Now, O Yahweh God, let your word to David my father be fulfilled, for you yourself have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
2Ch 1:10 Now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this, your great people?”
2Ch 1:11 Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was with your heart and you did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, and the lives of your enemies, and also did not ask for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge that you might judge my people over whom I have made you king,
2Ch 1:12 wisdom and knowledge is given to you. And I will also give to you wealth, possessions, and honor, the like of which was not had by the kings who were before you, nor will there be the like after you.”
2Ch 1:13 So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon to Jerusalem before the tent of assembly. And he reigned over Israel.

I think it is a solid case that Solomon would be considered holy, set apart and one of God’s elect. Even so, God’s warning in Deuteronomy still applies to him.

Deu 11:16 Take care so that your heart is not easily deceived, and you turn away, and you serve other gods, and you bow down to them.
Deu 11:17 And then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, and there shall not be rain, and so the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh is giving to you.

I am using the Lexham English Bible translation a lot because it does not substitute the name of God, יהוה, with LORD. Compare the the King James Version in this blog’s opening quotation of the same scripture.

Solomon was an example of the elect of God, who was given wisdom and knowledge by God, yet he was deceived.

1Ki 11:1 King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;
1Ki 11:2 from the nations which Yahweh had said to the Israelites, “You shall not marry them, and they shall not marry you. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods.” But Solomon clung to them to love.
1Ki 11:3 He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.
1Ki 11:4 It happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father had been.
1Ki 11:5 Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of the Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully follow after Yahweh as David his father.
1Ki 11:7 At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which faces Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:8 Thus he did for all of his foreign wives, offering incense and sacrificing to their gods.
1Ki 11:9 Yahweh was angry with Solomon, for he had turned his heart from Yahweh, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice.
1Ki 11:10 And he had commanded him concerning this matter not to go after other gods, but he did not keep that which Yahweh commanded.
1Ki 11:11 So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this was with you, and you did not keep my covenant and my ordinances which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom from you, and I will give it to your servant.

Yahweh God doesn’t tolerate using symbols from the nations’ foreign gods to worship Him, so he certainly will not tolerate the worshipping of those gods. With someone specifically given wisdom and knowledge from God, and made king over the people of God having been deceived, how can anyone today think they are above being deceived? If a person thinks they cannot be deceived, they have already been deceived.

With the exception of atheists, most everyone believes in a capital G God. Sometimes people even think that the God of one religion is the same God of the other. For example, it is commonly thought that Christianity, Islam and Judaism share the same capital G God. This is not true. Here is a verse from the Quran 17:111, The Night Journey.

Muhammad Sarwar: Say, “It is only God who deserves all praise. He has not begotten a son and has no partner in His Kingdom. He does not need any guardian to help Him in His need. Proclaim His greatness.

Theirs is a Capital G God, even seemingly the God of Abraham, but he doesn’t have a beloved son, so he can’t be Yahweh. Also, Jesus has something interesting to say concerning a stone.

Mat 7:9  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 

Stephen hits upon some information before he is stoned, exposing the Jewish leaders of his day.

Act 7:42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Act 7:43 You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

Act 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
Act 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
Act 7:53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

Jesus also exposed the Babylonian religion that became Judaism.

Mat 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Mat 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
Mat 23:31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Mat 23:34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
Mat 23:35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Another capital G God is described by Albert Pike in Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

“Forget not, therefore, to what you have devoted yourself in this Degree: defend weakness against strength, the friendless against the great, the oppressed against the oppressor! Be ever vigilant and watchful of the interests and honor of your country! and may the Grand Architect of the Universe give you that strength and wisdom which shall enable you well and faithfully to perform these high duties!”

“The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh reversed; for Satan is not a black god, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry.

For the Initiates, this is not a Person, but a Force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or Free Will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythologic and horned form of the God PAN; thence came the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent, and the Light-bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend.”

“Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it. So God Himself incapacitates many men, by color-blindness, to distinguish colors, and leads the masses away from the highest Truth, giving them the power to attain only so much of it as it is profitable to them to know.”

Excerpt From
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Albert Pike

The motto “In God We Trust” on US currency comes from this Masonic line of thinking. What God are they actually trusting in? It’s not Yahweh.

Below is a short video clip that is a good example of what we are discussing. This is not to criticize any particular ministry, but just to show things are not always as they seem. The light that is spoken of here is none other than “God”, as Albert Pike would call the Grand Architect of the Universe, the Force, but not Yahweh.

Mat 7:13  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
Mat 7:14  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Jesus said the wide path Rev. Schuller spoke of leads to destruction, and the only way to the father is through him.

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

Another interesting character to look at is Alice Bailey, who explains how the New Age will be ushered in using the Church as one of the conduits. Below are a couple quotes from her book, Stages in the Externalisation of the Hierarchy, written in the early 20th century.

“The three main channels through which the preparation for the new age is going on might be regarded as the Church, the Masonic Fraternity and the educational field. All of them are as yet in relatively static condition, and all are as yet failing to meet the need and to respond to the inner pressure. But in all of these three movements, disciples of the Great Ones are to be found and they are steadily gathering momentum and will before long enter upon their designated task.“

“In all these bodies there are to be found esoteric groups who are the custodians of the inner teaching and whose uniformity in aspiration and in technique is one. These inner groups consist of occult students and of those who are in direct or occasional touch with the Masters and of those whose souls are in sufficient control so that the will of the Hierarchy may be communicated and gradually filter down to the channel of the physical brain. These groups which constitute the true inner esoteric group are many, but their membership is yet small, for the fact that a student may belong to any of the outer esoteric groups so-called is no indication of his true esoteric status. When the few who are the true esoteric students of the world know the difference between etheric and astral forms, between mental clairaudience and clairvoyance and their astral counterparts, between the elementals of thought and the elementals of nature, then will the Christ and His church have a real esoteric group on the physical plane and the outer organisations receive the needed stimulation. That is why it is necessary to work with the students at this time and train them in the nature of true occultism. When we understand better the significance of time in prevision, and of force in movement, and when we comprehend more fully the laws that control the subtler bodies, and through them therefore the laws that function on the planes whereon those bodies express themselves, then will there be more intelligent and more useful work offered in cooperation with the Occult Hierarchy.“

What Alice is saying is that they are going to infiltrate the Church and other groups to twist things away from the true Messiah in order to lead the masses, unknowingly, to the false Messiah. The inner esoteric group will know the true mission, but the average, biblically lazy person, will just be going along with this leadership. In another part of her writings she estimates the mission will be accomplished around 2025. She may be right on track.

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

We could go on and on discussing the deception that abounds around us. Most religions that don’t serve Yahweh and his son, Jesus, are drawing from the mystery religions of Babylon and Egypt. This includes the Kabbalah, new age, mysticism, right hand left hand magic, Luciferianism, Gnosticism and all of its subsidiaries. Unfortunately, much of this has crept into the modern Christian church in the form of new age beliefs and witchcraft, which are essentially the same.

This is the reason I prefer to declare the name of Yahweh and stay away from titles like God and Lord. I am speaking of a specific God who created everything through his living Word and is above all the other gods. He also has a name and does not need to be disguised by titles, or terms like force and Grand Architect of the Universe. These terms are hiding the fact that it is the god of this world that is being spoken of, not יהוה .

Psa 102:18 Let this be written for the next generation, so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah,
Psa 102:19 that he looked down from his holy height. Yahweh looked from heaven over the earth
Psa 102:20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to liberate those destined to die,
Psa 102:21 so that they may make known in Zion the name of Yahweh, and his praise in Jerusalem,
Psa 102:22 when the peoples assemble, together with kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.

So how do we ensure we are not deceived or being deceived? I suggest learning who the real capital G God is. Learn his sayings, what He likes and doesn’t like, then compare him to the god being presented. They have to be the same. For end times and determining the second coming, Jesus is clear about what that will look like:

Mat 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
Mat 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Mat 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
Mat 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Mat 24:25 See, I have told you beforehand.
Mat 24:26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

There won’t be any mistaking the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, when he comes to gather his elect that have not been deceived. He is going to light up the sky, and as verse 7 in chapter 1 of Revelation states, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. “

Previous blogs:

Today is the Day of Pentecost

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

by Gary Vail June 8, 2025June 8, 2025

Imaginary Jesuses

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

by Gary Vail May 10, 2025

AI Bot Understands the Sabbath Better than Many Christians…

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

by Gary Vail January 31, 2025

Have You Been Programmed by the Religious Establishment?

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

by Gary Vail January 11, 2025

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

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

by Gary Vail December 25, 2024

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

“When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land, take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not…

by Gary Vail December 15, 2024

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

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

by Gary Vail December 7, 2024

We Can be Sure of This One Thing

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

by Gary Vail November 30, 2024

Load more posts

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

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the temple of Yahweh,” and Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 2 Kings 22:8

There were many cases of righteous kings and unrighteous kings of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. One king would lead the people astray by building sacred poles, erecting statues of Ishtar, and even sacrificing their children to Molech. That king would die off and the next king would tear all the sacred poles down and chase away all the prophets of foreign gods, turning the people back to the creator, Yahweh. Sometimes there would be so much time that passed, the people would completely forget Yahweh God and His instructions for living a blessed life.

2Ki 22:8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the temple of Yahweh,” and Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.
2Ki 22:9 Shaphan the secretary came to the king and returned the king a word, and he said, “Your servant poured out the money found in the temple, and they have given it into the hand of the doers of the work appointed over the temple of Yahweh.”
2Ki 22:10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read before the king.
2Ki 22:11 When the king heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, he tore his clothes.
2Ki 22:12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Acbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying,
2Ki 22:13 “Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this scroll that was found. For the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us is great because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this scroll to do according to all that is written concerning us!”

King Josiah, who started reigning at the age of eight, was a king that followed Yahweh. When they were repairing the temple, they found a Torah scroll, which would contain books of the first five books of the Bible. They dusted it off, and started reading it. This would be similar to a modern, or maybe futuristic church doing some renovations, and finding a Bible that had fallen between a couple wall partitions, and the ones finding it bringing it to the priest. Josiah asked the priest to inquire of Yahweh about the scroll that was found.

2Ki 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her,
2Ki 22:15 and she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Say to the man who sent you to me,
2Ki 22:16 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Look I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, according to all of the words of that scroll that the king of Judah has read
2Ki 22:17 because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.'”
2Ki 22:18 And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Concerning the words that you have heard,
2Ki 22:19 because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh.
2Ki 22:20 Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.’“‘” Then they reported the word to the king.

So Josiah took the words of the scroll seriously, and Yahweh spared him from the disaster that was to come to the kingdom, deferring it to a later time. The words that struck them in the scroll most likely were the blessings and curses, realizing they had taken part in the curses for not following Yahweh’s instruction. Often these instructions are looked at as mean rules that the creator wanted to punish mankind with, where they are more like the laws of physics or geometry, or cause and effect. “If you do x, expect this” etc.. Here are some of the curses. I recommend reading the whole chapter in Deuteronomy which includes the blessings for obedience as well.

Deu 28:15 “And then if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:
Deu 28:16 “You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.
Deu 28:17 “Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.
Deu 28:18 “The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of your ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.
Deu 28:19 “You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.
Deu 28:20 “Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat in everything that you undertake, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me.
Deu 28:21 Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you from the land that you are going to, to take possession of it.
Deu 28:22 Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.
Deu 28:23 And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron.
Deu 28:24 Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.
Deu 28:25 “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; on one road you shall go against them, but you will flee on seven roads before them, and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth.
Deu 28:26 And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be anyone to frighten them away.
Deu 28:27 “Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with the skin rash that cannot be healed.
Deu 28:28 Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart.
Deu 28:29 And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time, and there will not be anyone who will rescue you.
Deu 28:30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it.
Deu 28:31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right before you, and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and there shall not be anyone who rescues you.
Deu 28:32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and you will be looking on longingly for them all day, but you will be powerless to do anything.
Deu 28:33 A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.
Deu 28:34 You shall become mad because of what your eyes shall see.
Deu 28:35 Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which you will not be able to be healed, from the sole of your foot and up to your crown.
Deu 28:36 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone.
Deu 28:37 And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.
Deu 28:38 “You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it.
Deu 28:39 You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.
Deu 28:40 There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives shall drop off.
Deu 28:41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity.
Deu 28:42 The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground.
Deu 28:43 The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower.
Deu 28:44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.
Deu 28:45 “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.

King Josiah not only read the scroll, he listened, understood and did what it said. He and his kingdom were able to live in peace because of it. They even restored the Passover.

2Ki 23:21 Then the king commanded all of the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as has been written on the scroll of this covenant.”
2Ki 23:22 For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
2Ki 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept for Yahweh in Jerusalem.
2Ki 23:24 Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of Yahweh.

After this, Judah eventually went into captivity in Babylon, much like Israel went into captivity in Assyria. Israel never returned, (the ten tribes given to Jeroboam), but Judah returned to the land from Babylon. When they returned, we find the scribe, Ezra, in a similar situation as King Josiah, reading the Torah scroll to people who have never heard it.

Neh 8:1 All of the people gathered as one to the public square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that Yahweh had commanded Israel.
Neh 8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly for each man and woman to hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.
Neh 8:3 He read from it facing the public square before the Water Gate from dawn until noon that day, opposite the men, women, and those with understanding. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
Neh 8:4 Then Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden podium that had been made for the occasion. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right. On his left was Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Neh 8:5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, because he was above all of the people. When he opened it all the people stood up.
Neh 8:6 Then Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God, and all of the people answered, “Amen! Amen!” while lifting their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped Yahweh with their noses to the ground.
Neh 8:7 And Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites were teaching the people from the law while the people were in their places.
Neh 8:8 So they read the book from the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that they could understand the reading.
Neh 8:9 Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, “This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn nor weep.” For all of the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

Much like Josiah restarting the observance of Passover, Ezra had the people start observing the fall feast of tabernacles or sometimes translated as booths.

Neh 8:13 On the second day the heads of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites gathered together to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law.
Neh 8:14 They found written in the law, which Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the Israelites should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month,
Neh 8:15 and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written.”
Neh 8:16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim.
Neh 8:17 And all of the assembly of those who returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths because the Israelites had not done it from the days of Jeshua son of Nun until that day. And there was very great joy.
Neh 8:18 And he read from the scroll of the law of God day by day from the first day up to the last day. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was an assembly according to the rule.

One could say that this sort of thing happened again in Jesus’ day. Except instead of the people finding a scroll, Yahweh sent his living Word to the Earth. Is the Word of Yahweh in the flesh different from the written Word? It’s a valid question that needs an answer. Here are some verses to consider:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Psa 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
Psa 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Eze 11:17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you.
Eze 11:18 And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it.
Eze 11:19 And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in their inner parts. And I will remove their heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh,
Eze 11:20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God.
Eze 11:21 But to the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” declares the Lord Yahweh.'”

With this concept of Jesus being the living Word of God and writing his laws on our heart, removing the stoney heart and replacing it with a heart of flesh, would the heart of flesh contain different laws than that of the “stone” tablets on the stoney hearts? Maybe it’s not the laws that changed, but that it is no longer about keeping a set of rules, and that with our heart of flesh from Jesus, we desire to serve Yahweh so much, our way will not desire to part from the Truth or Yahweh’s desire for us to live. If that is the case, won’t we want to learn the way of Yahweh to understand the way of his Truth? From personal experience, the Spirit of Truth will direct you in His ways, but once one discovers His ways that are written down, it makes the journey so much easier. At that point a person can throw out the commandments of men, which are burdensome and often go against the Truth of Yahweh. Here are some interesting verses in Acts often overlooked in regards to how to learn the Way.

Act 15:13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.
Act 15:14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.
Act 15:15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
Act 15:16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,
Act 15:17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things
Act 15:18 known from of old.’
Act 15:19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
Act 15:20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

These verses are often used to teach that all believers only need to be concerned with, “to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood”, However, with only these instructions, can one define sexual immorality? What does it mean to be polluted by idols? Strangled and blood what? Where is the instruction not to murder? Does this mean murder was okay for the new converts? These instructions were intended for people coming out of Temples with unclean animal sacrifices, temple prostitutes and many other nasty things. The key verse often over looked is at the very end. These instructions were a starting point and the people would learn the finer points through teaching. “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” It is implied here that new believers, former Gentiles, people of the nations, grafted back into the green olive tree, would seek to learn the ways of Yahweh on the Sabbath where it was being taught every Sabbath day.

How to serve Yahweh has been contentious ever since. The confusion between faith and works still abounds today. Make no mistake, I am not suggesting salvation can come through any works we do, but only in faith in the living Word, Jesus, the Messiah or Greek-Latin term Christ.

.

Act 13:38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
Act 13:39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
Act 13:40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
Act 13:41 “‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
Act 13:42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

When Yahweh God saves you through Christ Jesus, you will want to learn what makes the Father happy, His ways, and instructions to live a successful life in Jesus. If this is not the case, then what can we say other than there is a rebellious spirit? I am suggesting that even if once a person is saved, and that person disregards Yahweh’s instruction, they will have to contend with the curses. All one has to do is take a look around to see that. Paul speaks of this situation by saying the only way to identify sin is through the law.

Rom 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Rom 7:8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
Rom 7:9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.
Rom 7:10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
Rom 7:11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Rom 7:12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

We can contrast the written Word of Yahweh to the Word that came in flesh. In Germanic English, He is called Jesus, in Greek, He is called Iesous, and in Hebrew by the name of his Father Yah, Yahusha. Joshua in English, or the eternal existing one who saves. The contrast comes from comparing how the people of God would not deny His written Word when threatened by the Greek conquerors, much like the early church would not deny the Word that came in the flesh when threatened by the Sanhedrin or Roman government. From a book ignored by the church today, yet regarded through the ages, we see what the people of Yahweh faced with the Greeks in the books of the Maccabees. From the King James Version we read of an old scribe who was being forced to eat swine’s flesh at a heathen sacrifice to their gods. The Greeks sacrificed swine to their gods, made pork part of their sacred feasts, and defiled Yahweh’s temple with it, along with temple prostitutes and all the same sort of things that James was addressing with the council in Acts chapter 15 many years later.

2Ma 6:18 Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, an aged man, and of a well favoured countenance, was constrained to open his mouth, and to eat swine’s flesh.
2Ma 6:19 But he, choosing rather to die gloriously, than to live stained with such an abomination, spit it forth, and came of his own accord to the torment,
2Ma 6:20 As it behoved them to come, that are resolute to stand out against such things, as are not lawful for love of life to be tasted.
2Ma 6:21 But they that had the charge of that wicked feast, for the old acquaintance they had with the man, taking him aside, besought him to bring flesh of his own provision, such as was lawful for him to use, and make as if he did eat of the flesh taken from the sacrifice commanded by the king;
2Ma 6:22 That in so doing he might be delivered from death, and for the old friendship with them find favour.
2Ma 6:23 But he began to consider discreetly, and as became his age, and the excellency of his ancient years, and the honour of his gray head, whereon was come, and his most honest education from a child, or rather the holy law made and given by God: therefore he answered accordingly, and willed them straightways to send him to the grave.
2Ma 6:24 For it becometh not our age, said he, in any wise to dissemble, whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar, being fourscore years old and ten, were now gone to a strange religion;
2Ma 6:25 And so they through mine hypocrisy, and desire to live a little time and a moment longer, should be deceived by me, and I get a stain to mine old age, and make it abominable.
2Ma 6:26 For though for the present time I should be delivered from the punishment of men: yet should I not escape the hand of the Almighty, neither alive, nor dead.
2Ma 6:27 Wherefore now, manfully changing this life, I will shew myself such an one as mine age requireth,
2Ma 6:28 And leave a notable example to such as be young to die willingly and courageously for the honourable and holy laws. And when he had said these words, immediately he went to the torment:
2Ma 6:29 They that led him changing the good will they bare him a little before into hatred, because the foresaid speeches proceeded, as they thought, from a desperate mind.
2Ma 6:30 But when he was ready to die with stripes, he groaned, and said, It is manifest unto the Lord, that hath the holy knowledge, that whereas I might have been delivered from death, I now endure sore pains in body by being beaten: but in soul am well content to suffer these things, because I fear him.
2Ma 6:31 And thus this man died, leaving his death for an example of a noble courage, and a memorial of virtue, not only unto young men, but unto all his nation.

Below is a small part from Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, which is recorded in the Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 1. It is a free download on ccel.org, and I recommend reading the entire book. This small part will give some examples of what children of Yahweh had to endure in the early church. Just like the children of Yahweh of the written Word were required to deny the Word, these Christians were being forced to deny the Word that came in the flesh. I highlighted one example of someone walking in the name of the LORD blameless, to show what was being done in the pre-Roman church.

1. The country in which the arena was prepared for them was Gaul, of which Lyons and Vienne are the principal and most celebrated cities. The Rhone passes through both of them, flowing in a broad stream through the entire region.
2. The most celebrated churches in that country sent an account of the witnesses to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, relating in the following manner what was done among them.
   I will give their own words.
3. “The servants of Christ residing at Vienne and Lyons, in Gaul, to the brethren through out Asia and Phrygia, who hold the same faith and hope of redemption, peace and grace and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
4. Then, having related some other matters, they begin their account in this manner: “The greatness of the tribulation in this region, and the fury of the heathen against the saints, and the sufferings of the blessed witnesses, we cannot recount accurately, nor indeed could they possibly be recorded.
5. For with all his might the adversary fell upon us, giving us a foretaste of his unbridled activity at his future coming. He endeavored in every manner to practice and exercise his servants against the servants of God, not only shutting us out from houses and baths and markets, but forbidding any of us to be seen in any place whatever.
6. But the grace of God led the conflict against him, and delivered the weak, and set them as firm pillars, able through patience to endure all the wrath of the Evil One. And they joined battle with him, undergoing all kinds of shame and injury; and regarding their great sufferings as little, they hastened to Christ, manifesting truly that ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.’
7. First of all, they endured nobly the injuries heaped upon them by the populace; clamors and blows and draggings and robberies and stonings and imprisonments, and all things which an infuriated mob delight in inflicting on enemies and adversaries.
8. Then, being taken to the forum by the chiliarch and the authorities of the city, they were examined in the presence of the whole multitude, and having confessed, they were imprisoned until the arrival of the governor.
9. When, afterwards, they were brought before him, and he treated us with the utmost cruelty, Vettius Epagathus, one of the brethren, and a man filled with love for God and his neighbor, interfered. His life was so consistent that, although young, he had attained a reputation equal to that of the elder Zacharias: for he ‘walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless,’ and was untiring in every good work for his neighbor, zealous for God and fervent in spirit. Such being his character, he could not endure the unreasonable judgment against us, but was filled with indignation, and asked to be permitted to testify in behalf of his brethren, that there is among us nothing ungodly or impious.
10. But those about the judgment seat cried out against him, for he was a man of distinction; and the governor refused to grant his just request, and merely asked if he also were a Christian. And he, confessing this with a loud voice, was himself taken into the order of the witnesses, being called the Advocate of the Christians, but having the Advocate in himself, the Spirit more abundantly than Zacharias. He showed this by the fullness of his love, being well pleased even to lay down his life in defense of the brethren. For he was and is a true disciple of Christ, ‘following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.’
11. “Then the others were divided, and the proto-witnesses were manifestly ready, and finished their confession with all eagerness. But some appeared unprepared and untrained, weak as yet, and unable to endure so great a conflict. About ten of these proved abortions, causing us great grief and sorrow beyond measure, and impairing the zeal of the others who had not yet been seized, but who, though suffering all kinds of affliction, continued constantly with the witnesses and did not forsake them.
12. Then all of us feared greatly on account of uncertainty as to their confession; not because we dreaded the sufferings to be endured, but because we looked to the end, and were afraid that some of them might fall away.
13. But those who were worthy were seized day by day, filling up their number, so that all the zealous persons, and those through whom especially our affairs had been established, were collected together out of the two churches.
14. And some of our heathen servants also were seized, as the governor had commanded that all of us should be examined publicly. These, being ensnared by Satan, and fearing for themselves the tortures which they beheld the saints endure, and being also urged on by the soldiers, accused us falsely of Thyestean banquets and Œdipodean intercourse, and of deeds which are not only unlawful for us to speak of or to think, but which we cannot believe were ever done by men.
15. When these accusations were reported, all the people raged like wild beasts against us, so that even if any had before been moderate on account of friendship, they were now exceedingly furious and gnashed their teeth against us. And that which was spoken by our Lord was fulfilled: ‘The time will come when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.’
16. Then finally the holy witnesses endured sufferings beyond description, Satan striving earnestly that some of the slanders might be uttered by them also.
17. “But the whole wrath of the populace, and governor, and soldiers was aroused exceedingly against Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne, and Maturus, a late convert, yet a noble combatant, and against Attalus, a native of Pergamos where he had always been a pillar and foundation, and Blandina, through whom Christ showed that things which appear mean and obscure and despicable to men are with God of great glory, through love toward him manifested in power, and not boasting in appearance.
18. For while we all trembled, and her earthly mistress, who was herself also one of the witnesses, feared that on account of the weakness of her body, she would be unable to make bold confession, Blandina was filled with such power as to be delivered and raised above those who were torturing her by turns from morning till evening in every manner, so that they acknowledged that they were conquered, and could do nothing more to her. And they were astonished at her endurance, as her entire body was mangled and broken; and they testified that one of these forms of torture was sufficient to destroy life, not to speak of so many and so great sufferings.
19. But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, renewed her strength in her confession; and her comfort and recreation and relief from the pain of her sufferings was in exclaiming, ‘I am a Christian, and there is nothing vile done by us.’
20. “But Sanctus also endured marvelously and superhumanly[1] all the outrages which he suffered. While the wicked men hoped, by the continuance and severity of his tortures to wring something from him which he ought not to say, he girded himself against them with such firmness that he would not even tell his name, or the nation or city to which he belonged, or whether he was bond or free, but answered in the Roman tongue to all their questions, ‘I am a Christian.’ He confessed this instead of name and city and race and everything besides, and the people heard from him no other word.
21. There arose therefore on the part of the governor and his tormentors a great desire to conquer him; but having nothing more that they could do to him, they finally fastened red-hot brazen plates to the most tender parts of his body.
22. And these indeed were burned, but he continued unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession, and refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly fountain of the water of life, flowing from the bowels of Christ.
23. And his body was a witness of his sufferings, being one complete wound and bruise, drawn out of shape, and altogether unlike a human form. Christ, suffering in him, manifested his glory, delivering him from his adversary, and making him an ensample for the others, showing that nothing is fearful where the love of the Father is, and nothing painful where there is the glory of Christ.
24. For when the wicked men tortured him a second time after some days, supposing that with his body swollen and inflamed to such a degree that he could not bear the touch of a hand, if they should again apply the same instruments, they would overcome him, or at least by his death under his sufferings others would be made afraid, not only did not this occur, but, contrary to all human expectation, his body arose and stood erect in the midst of the subsequent torments, and resumed its original appearance and the use of its limbs, so that, through the grace of Christ, these second sufferings became to him, not torture, but healing.
25. “But the devil, thinking that he had already consumed Biblias, who was one of those who had denied Christ, desiring to increase her condemnation through the utterance of blasphemy, brought her again to the torture, to compel her, as already feeble and weak, to report impious things concerning us.
26. But she recovered herself under the suffering, and as if awaking from a deep sleep, and reminded by the present anguish of the eternal punishment in hell, she contradicted the blasphemers. ‘How,’ she said, ‘could those eat children who do not think it lawful to taste the blood even of irrational animals?’ And thenceforward she confessed herself a Christian, and was given a place in the order of the witnesses.
27. “But as the tyrannical tortures were made by Christ of none effect through the patience of the blessed, the devil invented other contrivances,—confinement in the dark and most loathsome parts of the prison, stretching of the feet to the fifth hole in the stocks, and the other outrages which his servants are accustomed to inflict upon the prisoners when furious and filled with the devil. A great many were suffocated in prison, being chosen by the Lord for this manner of death, that he might manifest in them his glory.
28. For some, though they had been tortured so cruelly that it seemed impossible that they could live, even with the most careful nursing, yet, destitute of human attention, remained in the prison, being strengthened by the Lord, and invigorated both in body and soul; and they exhorted and encouraged the rest. But such as were young, and arrested recently, so that their bodies had not become accustomed to torture, were unable to endure the severity of their confinement, and died in prison.
29. “The blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted with the bishopric of Lyons, was dragged to the judgment seat. He was more than ninety years of age, and very infirm, scarcely indeed able to breathe because of physical weakness; but he was strengthened by spiritual zeal through his earnest desire for martyrdom. Though his body was worn out by old age and disease, his life was preserved that Christ might triumph in it.
30. When he was brought by the soldiers to the tribunal, accompanied by the civil magistrates and a multitude who shouted against him in every manner as if he were Christ himself, he bore noble witness.
31. Being asked by the governor, Who was the God of the Christians, he replied, ‘If thou art worthy, thou shalt know.’ Then he was dragged away harshly, and received blows of every kind. Those near him struck him with their hands and feet, regardless of his age; and those at a distance hurled at him whatever they could seize; all of them thinking that they would be guilty of great wickedness and impiety if any possible abuse were omitted. For thus they thought to avenge their own deities. Scarcely able to breathe, he was cast into prison and died after two days.
32. “Then a certain great dispensation of God occurred, and the compassion of Jesus appeared beyond measure, in a manner rarely seen among the brotherhood, but not beyond the power of Christ.
33. For those who had recanted at their first arrest were imprisoned with the others, and endured terrible sufferings, so that their denial was of no profit to them even for the present. But those who confessed what they were were imprisoned as Christians, no other accusation being brought against them. But the first were treated afterwards as murderers and defiled, and were punished twice as severely as the others.
34. For the joy of martyrdom, and the hope of the promises, and love for Christ, and the Spirit of the Father supported the latter; but their consciences so greatly distressed the former that they were easily distinguishable from all the rest by their very countenances when they were led forth.
35. For the first went out rejoicing, glory and grace being blended in their faces, so that even their bonds seemed like beautiful ornaments, as those of a bride adorned with variegated golden fringes; and they were perfumed with the sweet savor of Christ, so that some supposed they had been anointed with earthly ointment. But the others were downcast and humble and dejected and filled with every kind of disgrace, and they were reproached by the heathen as ignoble and weak, bearing the accusation of murderers, and having lost the one honorable and glorious and life-giving Name. The rest, beholding this, were strengthened, and when apprehended, they confessed without hesitation, paying no attention to the persuasions of the devil.”
36. After certain other words they continue:
    “After these things, finally, their martyrdoms were divided into every form. For plaiting a crown of various colors and of all kinds of flowers, they presented it to the Father. It was proper therefore that the noble athletes, having endured a manifold strife, and conquered grandly, should receive the crown, great and incorruptible.
37. “Maturus, therefore, and Sanctus and Blandina and Attalus were led to the amphitheater to be exposed to the wild beasts, and to give to the heathen public a spectacle of cruelty, a day for fighting with wild beasts being specially appointed on account of our people.
38. Both Maturus and Sanctus passed again through every torment in the amphitheater, as if they had suffered nothing before, or rather, as if, having already conquered their antagonist in many contests, they were now striving for the crown itself. They endured again the customary running of the gauntlet and the violence of the wild beasts, and everything which the furious people called for or desired, and at last, the iron chair in which their bodies being roasted, tormented them with the fumes.
39. And not with this did the persecutors cease, but were yet more mad against them, determined to overcome their patience. But even thus they did not hear a word from Sanctus except the confession which he had uttered from the beginning.
40. These, then, after their life had continued for a long time through the great conflict, were at last sacrificed, having been made throughout that day a spectacle to the world, in place of the usual variety of combats.
41. “But Blandina was suspended on a stake, and exposed to be devoured by the wild beasts who should attack her. And because she appeared as if hanging on a cross, and because of her earnest prayers, she inspired the combatants with great zeal. For they looked on her in her conflict, and beheld with their outward eyes, in the form of their sister, him who was crucified for them, that he might persuade those who believe on him, that every one who suffers for the glory of Christ has fellowship always with the living God.
42. As none of the wild beasts at that time touched her, she was taken down from the stake, and cast again into prison. She was preserved thus for another contest, that, being victorious in more conflicts, she might make the punishment of the crooked serpent irrevocable; and, though small and weak and despised, yet clothed with Christ the mighty and conquering Athlete, she might arouse the zeal of the brethren, and, having overcome the adversary many times might receive, through her conflict, the crown incorruptible.
43. “But Attalus was called for loudly by the people, because he was a person of distinction. He entered the contest readily on account of a good conscience and his genuine practice in Christian discipline, and as he had always been a witness for the truth among us.
44. He was led around the amphitheater, a tablet being carried before him on which was written in the Roman language ‘This is Attalus the Christian,’ and the people were filled with indignation against him. But when the governor learned that he was a Roman, he commanded him to be taken back with the rest of those who were in prison concerning whom he had written to Cæsar, and whose answer he was awaiting.
45. “But the intervening time was not wasted nor fruitless to them; for by their patience the measureless compassion of Christ was manifested. For through their continued life the dead were made alive, and the witnesses showed favor to those who had failed to witness. And the virgin mother had much joy in receiving alive those whom she had brought forth as dead.
46. For through their influence many who had denied were restored, and re-begotten, and rekindled with life, and learned to confess. And being made alive and strengthened, they went to the judgment seat to be again interrogated by the governor; God, who desires not the death of the sinner, but mercifully invites to repentance, treating them with kindness.
47. For Cæsar commanded that they should be put to death, but that any who might deny should be set free.

After reading a short portion of what early believers endured, it makes the myth that believers in the end times will not suffer tribulation less believable. In order to endure that sort of torture for their faith, they had to have more than a mediocre experience with Yahweh. They too, must have found the scroll.

Featured image taken by Emma Vail in New Brunswick, Canada.

Previous blogs:

Sacrifices to Demons Happening in 2024

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

by Gary Vail November 23, 2024

Who is Your Antichrist Pick for 2025?

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…

by Gary Vail November 10, 2024November 20, 2024

Israel and End Times Prophecy; is this the End of Days???

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, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone will be left here on…

by Gary Vail October 5, 2024

Can the “Rapture” be Triggered?

 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 into its place! For all who take up the sword will die by the sword. Matthew 26:51–52 (LEB) I received…

by Gary Vail August 3, 2024

Thirsting for Righteousness

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

by Gary Vail July 6, 2024May 10, 2025

Absent from the Body? Now What?

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 body, present with the Lord” is a misquoted verse from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. It usually is used…

by Gary Vail June 29, 2024

The Worthless Shepherd

“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…

by Gary Vail April 27, 2024

Traditions or the Word of God?

 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…

by Gary Vail March 9, 2024

Religion, Doctrine and Cults

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,…

by Gary Vail March 2, 2024March 2, 2024

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

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

by Gary Vail January 13, 2024

And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all of the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger. 1 Kings 15:29-30

Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom after the civil war in which Israel divided into two kingdoms. Jeroboam initially was part of Yahweh God’s plan, but he made some poor decisions which caused him to eventually be an enemy of God. There are many references to Jeroboam, even after his death. These references usually say something like this:

2Ki 15:8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
2Ki 15:9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
2Ki 15:18 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
2Ki 15:24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

2Ki 15:27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
2Ki 15:28 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

There are different ways to distinguish people from one another so they are not confused with anyone else. Today, we have first and last names, addresses and numbers issued by governments to distinguish our identities. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a person’s name was often followed the name of their father, much like Jeroboam the son of Nebat. This was obviously done to set them apart from anyone with the same name, so the person could say, “I mean this certain Jeroboam”. How would you like a key identifier in your name to be recorded in scripture as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin? This tells us what Jeroboam did was very bad in the sight of Yahweh, so bad, that the sins of the people for years to come, would be identified by what Jeroboam did.

Jeroboam started out as part of Yahweh’s plan, and Jeroboam, for the most part had good intentions. He is introduced when Solomon is still king over a united, twelve tribe kingdom.

1Ki 11:28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

The house of Joseph referred to, is Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, which usually refers to the tribes of the northern kingdom. Unfortunately, some will immediately think of the LDS church with this type of terminology, but the book of Kings predates that theological system, and Joseph Smith, by more than a couple thousand years. If that holds anyone back from understanding the truth, remember that deception is mixed with a lot of truth to make it believable and deceptive at the same time. As we read on, Jeroboam is picked by Yahweh to be a leader.

1Ki 11:29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
1Ki 11:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
1Ki 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
1Ki 11:32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
1Ki 11:33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
1Ki 11:34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:
1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
1Ki 11:36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
1Ki 11:37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
1Ki 11:39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
1Ki 11:40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
1Ki 11:41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
1Ki 11:42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
1Ki 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

These verses have huge impact on history. Yahweh gave Jeroboam ten tribes from Solomon, because Solomon sinned by using symbols of foreign gods, setting up altars to foreign gods and did not follow Yahweh’s instructions or walk in his ways. Here is all Jeroboam had to do to be successful: “if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee”.

Jeroboam didn’t have to be shamed forever by having the reputation of causing Israel to sin. The northern kingdom of Israel did not need to be scattered among the nations of the Earth, and Yahweh may have brought the split kingdom back together again if Jeroboam was obedient. What did Jeroboam do that was so grievous to God?

1Ki 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

Jeroboam was afraid that if the people he was leader over followed Yahweh’s instructions to return to Jerusalem three times a year for the feasts of Yahweh God, they would become loyal to the king of the southern kingdom, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and he would lose his power. The logical thing in his mind was to make his own feast day to Yahweh, on a day Yahweh did not command, and make some golden calves to go along with it, at places Yahweh did not command, so everyone could stay close to home. Much like people today, Jeroboam did not study or know scripture, so he did not remember what happened when Aaron tried the same thing while Moses was on Mount Horeb receiving the Ten Commandments.

Exo 32:3 And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
Exo 32:5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.”
Exo 32:6 And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

Something I never realized until a few years ago, is that in Exodus chapter 32 verse 5, Aaron and the people were using the golden calf to represent Yahweh. In verse 4, the Hebrew word there for gods is Strong’s H433, Eloheem, which can refer to Yahweh, capital G God, or simply gods. Based on verse 5, it clearly is referring to Eloheem capital G God, Yahweh, hence the confusion associated with this story. The same word is used in first Kings 12:28, which shows Jeroboam was using the calves like Aaron, to represent Yahweh.

Jeroboam makes the same mistake and sets up his phoney feast day for Yahweh out of complete ignorance of scripture and the nature of the creator of the cosmos. What does this say about our feast days, with all the symbolism of the gods of the nations described throughout scripture, and that the whole world embraces along with us? Just a question.

Jeroboam does not stop there though. It looks like idolatry with good intentions will lead to more idolatry. When a person, or group of people, justify breaking one of Yahweh’s commandments, it leads them down the path to break them all, then completely forget them. At some point down this path, one begins worshipping a different god or gods, strange gods, and is no longer worshipping Yahweh.

1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

What was Jeroboam’s great sin that gave him the name Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the one who made Israel sin? He devised a feast day in his own heart, a holy day, that was not ordained by Yahweh in scripture, along with making an image of Yahweh and worshipping it. This lead him down the path of worshipping all the foreign gods of the nations that Yahweh specifically commanded us not to do. Here is how it ended for Jeroboam, and ultimately the prophecy came to pass and the Northern Kingdom was scattered among the nations, given over to the gods they worshipped.

1Ki 14:1 At that time, Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill.
1Ki 14:2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people.
1Ki 14:3 You must take ten loaves of bread in your hand and cakes and a jar of honey, and you must go to him. He shall tell you what will happen to the boy.”
1Ki 14:4 The wife of Jeroboam did so. She got up, went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was not able to see, for his eyes were fixed because of his old age.
1Ki 14:5 Then Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Look, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from you about her son, for he is ill. Thus and so you shall say to her. When she comes, she will be disguising herself.”
1Ki 14:6 It happened at the moment Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you making yourself unrecognizable? I have been sent a hard message for you:
1Ki 14:7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “Because I raised you from the midst of the people and I made you leader over my people Israel,
1Ki 14:8 I tore the kingdom from the house of David and I gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David who kept my commandments, and who went after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes.
1Ki 14:9 But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have completely disregarded.
1Ki 14:10 Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off males from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished.
1Ki 14:11 He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it.”‘
1Ki 14:12 As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
1Ki 14:13 All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel.
1Ki 14:14 Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day.
1Ki 14:15 Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh.
1Ki 14:16 He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin.”
1Ki 14:17 Then the wife of Jeroboam got up, went, and came to Tirzah. As she was coming to the threshold of the house, the boy died.
1Ki 14:18 They buried him and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

If you study and do some research, it is not hard to understand the symbology of sacred poles, groves, the mystery religions, sun god worship, and mythology. It all exists today, in 2020, and we are seeing its fruits. It was also prophesied that at some point in the future, after Israel was scattered among the nations, they would wake up and realize what was going on.

Jer 16:14 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,”
Jer 16:15 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.
Jer 16:16 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.
Jer 16:17 For my eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden from before me, and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes.
Jer 16:18 And I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because of their profaning my land with the dead bodies of their abhorrences, and with their abominations they have filled up my inheritance.'”
Jer 16:19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.
Jer 16:20 Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!”
Jer 16:21 “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might, and they will know that my name is Yahweh.”

Know Yahweh, יהוה by his name, and his expectations. Jesus came and explained it to the people that were alive at that time, and his words are for us as well.

Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Mat 11:26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Mat 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Don’t be a Jeroboam.

Featured image taken by Emma Vail in New Brunswick, Canada.

Previous blogs:

The Meek Will Inherit the Earth

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

by Gary Vail January 1, 2024

Observing Times

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

by Gary Vail December 17, 2023

Overtaken

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

by Gary Vail December 9, 2023

What is more pleasing to a parent, a child who continually rebels and then apologizes, or one that is obedient? Children have to be taught what is expected of them, and they will often challenge instruction, causing the need for correction. As a parent, it is pleasing to see a child learn what is expected through teaching and correction. Sometimes children will knowingly disobey, then say they are sorry. After a while, the cycle of doing the same things wrong and apologizing becomes tiresome to a parent, and they would prefer the child to obey and not have to apologize or be continually corrected. This was the way it was with the children of Israel. Their way of apologizing for breaking Yahweh’s commandments was to sacrifice certain animals. Thankfully, after the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, that sacrificial system is not applicable to believers. However, we can offer a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, and ourselves as a living sacrifice.

Heb 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Yahweh preferred obedience over sacrifice because if there was obedience, there was no need for sacrifice. This becomes apparent when King Saul was disobedient. The whole premise of Israel having a king was not in Yahweh’s plan. Yahweh was supposed be the King of Israel. Yet the people wanted to be like the other nations and have an earthly king over them.

1Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
1Sa 8:5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.
1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
1Sa 8:8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
1Sa 8:9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Yahweh God viewed Israel’s desire to have a king as a flat out rejection of Him as King. This was not a surprise to God because He told Moses and His people this would happen. They were continually on a roller coaster of obedience and disobedience. Why do His people today think they are different from His people then? Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Moses spoke to the people and told them they will be scattered throughout the earth for their disobedience. At some point in the future, they will also return to the ways of Yahweh and be regathered. This theme is found throughout the Old Testament.

Deu 30:1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
Deu 30:2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 30:3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
Deu 30:4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.
Deu 30:5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.

Israel wasn’t scattered until much later than the time of Moses, after they continually bounced back and forth between obedience and disobedience, after King Saul, David and Solomon. It was not until Assyria took the northern kingdom captive and Babylon conquered the southern kingdom, that God’s people were completely scattered. Yahweh spared a remnant from the two tribes of the southern kingdom for his servant David’s sake who eventually returned and rebuilt the temple. Yet the prophecy in Deuteronomy still has not been fulfilled. Yahweh’s people never returned to do all that he commanded as a whole. When Judah returned from Babylonian captivity they brought volumes of commandments with them they picked up in Babylon, namely the Talmud. Jesus continually was at odds with the teachings of the Talmud, which many in the church today confuse with the Torah, Yahweh God’s instruction to His people. Even in 1948, when Israel became a nation again, the Deuteronomy prophecy was not fulfilled. The closest fulfillment we have seen was at the feast of Shavuot, in Acts chapter two, where many from the tribes were gathered for the feast and thousands were saved.

Continuing with Saul, we see he foolishly breaks Yahweh’s commandment by not waiting for the priest, Samuel to sacrifice.

1Sa 13:8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
1Sa 13:9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
1Sa 13:10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
1Sa 13:11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
1Sa 13:12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
1Sa 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
1Sa 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

The next time Saul does not obey the words of Yahweh, Samuel has to correct him again. Yahweh prefers obedience over sacrifice, and he likens rebellion to divination and idolatry.

1Sa 15:10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel:
1Sa 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night.
1Sa 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”
1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
1Sa 15:14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
1Sa 15:15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
1Sa 15:19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” Jesus says something similar, quoting Hosea 6:6.

Mat 9:13  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

The people of God will be gathered again. Jeremiah speaks of this gathering which will be greater than being delivered from Egypt. This clearly has not happened yet.

Jer 16:14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’
Jer 16:15 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

Another prophesy by Isaiah has also not been fully realized.

Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
Isa 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
Isa 11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Isa 11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Isa 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 11:10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
Isa 11:14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
Isa 11:15 And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
Isa 11:16 And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Many things have not happened in these verses of Isaiah. His people must return to Him and His ways, because we will see these prophesies fulfilled. If you are one of Yahweh God’s people, these things apply to you. Paul told us that there is no longer Jew or Greek, we are one in Christ. That must mean that we his people, are the ones being spoken of in the future.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Jesus speaks of this gathering Isaiah spoke of, taking place at the time of his second coming.

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

Paul reaffirms this in his letters to the Thessalonians. How many people are under this strong delusion today? Paul said people will reject the truth, have pleasure in unrighteousness, and believe lies. Where is truth and righteousness found except in the living Word of God?

2Th 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
2Th 2:2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2Th 2:5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
2Th 2:12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Another verse in Deuteronomy speaks of the latter days, which is now, or sometime in the future. It is speaking to the people of God, not some future remnant of one tribe, because we are all one in Jesus now, grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel.

Deu 4:27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
Deu 4:28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 4:29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 4:30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.
Deu 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Jeremiah speaks of an awakening in the future where the people of the nations will realize they have been led into sun worship idolatry, images of jealousy polluting the holy things of God, and have inherited lies. Don’t be in that group, “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Jer 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.
Jer 16:20 Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”
Jer 16:21 “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.”

Also, remember that God’s name is not “the LORD”. That is a substitution the translators used for His real name, יהוה, which I use the transliteration Yahweh, a widely accepted English representation of יהוה. Verse 21 above would be more accurate as such: “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is יהוה [Yahweh].”

How will the deception come? How has deception come? It has and will continue to come through the false shepherds, priests and prophets. Just as Yahweh speaks through Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Jer 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.
Jer 23:2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
Jer 23:4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Jer 23:9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.
Jer 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.
Jer 23:11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:12 Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.
Jer 23:13 In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.
Jer 23:14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
Jer 23:15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
Jer 23:16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
Jer 23:17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,
Isa 5:19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”
Isa 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Isa 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!
Isa 5:24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

I like exposing people to writings by early church fathers because it shows what the early church was like and what they believed 100 to 300 years after Jesus and the apostles walked the Earth. The following is from the Shepherd of Hermas, which was considered canonical in the early church by some. There is some discrepancy as to who the author is, one possibility being Hermas who Paul greets in one of his letters. Some date it to a later 2nd century writing. Regardless, it has been generally ignored by the modern church. Here the discussion is about fasting, which could be likened to sacrifice. What type of fasting is more advantageous?

Shepherd of Hermas,The Pastor,Chapter 3, Part 1 : While fasting and sitting on a certain mountain, and giving thanks to the Lord for all His dealings with me, I see the Shepherd sitting down beside me, and saying, “Why have you come hither [so] early in the morning?” “Because, sir,” I answered, “I have a station. “What is a station?” he asked. “I am fasting, sir,” I replied. “What is this fasting,” he continued, “which you are observing?” “As I have been accustomed, sir,” I reply, “so I fast.” “You do not know,” he says, “how to fast unto the Lord: this useless fasting which you observe to Him is of no value.” “Why, sir,” I answered, “do you say this?” “I say to you,” he continued, “that the fasting which you think you observe is not a fasting. But I will teach you what is a full and acceptable fasting to the Lord. Listen,” he continued: “God does not desire such an empty fasting. For fasting to God in this way you will do nothing for a righteous life; but offer to God a fasting of the following kind: Do no evil in your life, and serve the Lord with a pure heart: keep His commandments, walking in His precepts, and let no evil desire arise in your heart; and believe in God. If you do these things, and fear Him, and abstain from every evil thing, you will live unto God; and if you do these things, you will keep a great fast, and one acceptable before God.”

Learn Yahweh’s commandments, his ways, sabbaths and feasts. Practice now, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Keep the great fast.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
Mat 11:26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Mat 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Featured image taken by Emma Vail at Humarock, Massachusetts.

Previous Blog Posts

The Regathering

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

by Gary Vail November 18, 2023

Wars and Confusion

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

by Gary Vail November 4, 2023

The False Light

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

by Gary Vail October 8, 2023

Those who know me understand the importance I place on quality bread. I started making bread from organic, stone ground flour and from ancient grains seven years ago. However, at the time, I didn’t realize the significance of bread concerning the ancient people of Yahweh, and His instructions regarding bread. Also, there are many instances of bread used as symbolism concerning the Word of God, the body of Jesus, and the comparison of bread being a life giving gift of Yahweh through Jesus, the bread of life. In the very beginning of humanity, bread is shown being part of Adam’s new life outside the garden of Eden after rebelling against Yahweh’s one instruction to not eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Gen 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The Hebrew word for bread is Strong’s H3898, which implies waging war, and the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon likens the war to that of kneading bread.

H3898
לָחַם
lâcham
law-kham’
A primitive root; to feed on; figuratively to consume; by implication to battle (as destruction): – devour, eat, X ever, fight (-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war (-ring).

H3899
H3899 = AHLB# 2305 (N)
2305) Flour and water are mixed together and kneaded. Also war in the sense of fighting with the bread when kneading. [from: mh – food]

With food shortages likely in the future, the inordinate weather patterns and the corruption of wholesome food by methods of mass production and greed, I have been wondering how to maintain my supply of raw materials to make bread. In order to make bread a person needs grain and a way to grind it into flour. These thoughts I have are inspired by the following verse in Deuteronomy:

Deu 24:6 “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

Written in the instruction given to us to live a successful life on earth by Yahweh, יהוה, is the command that we are not to take someone’s millstone as a payment or pledge. This is the means of a person producing their daily bread from grain, and ability to eat. So, if we are not to take this away from someone, how much more important is it to possess one in the first place?

Yahweh gave two outcomes for his people regarding how they treat the instructions he gave them. The first outcome is blessings for obedience.

Lev 26:1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.
Lev 26:2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Lev 26:3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,
Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Lev 26:5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.

On a side note, verse two mentions keeping His Sabbaths, which is plural, meaning the days he set apart, not just the weekly Sabbath. Please see What are he Feasts of the Lord, יהוה? for more information on that subject.

The alternate outcome for not obeying Yahweh’s instruction is also given, and clearly the path the majority of people on earth continue to take.

Lev 26:14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,
Lev 26:15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,
Lev 26:16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Lev 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

Since we are focusing on bread, I have only included the verses that are relevant. What describes mass produced, highly processed, bleached, chemical injected bread, better than Leviticus 26:26? “When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.”. As of late bread has been accused of causing heart disease, but pure bread will not do this as we see recorded in scripture. Notice here also, that wine was given by Yahweh “to gladden the heart of man”, where bread was given to “strengthen man’s heart.

Psa 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth
Psa 104:15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

I believe this is literally true, but it also has a deeper meaning. The bread and wine are used throughout scripture. The high priest of Yahweh, Melchizedek brings out the bread and wine after Abram’s war of the nine kings.

Gen 14:17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

In an extra-biblical text named Jasher, there is much more on the life of Abraham. The book gets more archeological and historical support as we keep learning; however, many still discredit the book. Here is the part where Melchizedek arrives in the book of Jasher, and in this account he is named as Shem, the son of Noah.

And Adoniy-Tsedeq king of Yerushalayim, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Avram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melek. And Adoniy-Tsedeq blessed Avram, and Avram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adoniy-Tsedeq was a priest before ELOHIYM. YASHAR (JASHER) 16:11-12 את CEPHER

Melchizedek is often referred to as a proper name, a mysterious person who has no beginning or end, and some will say that this is actually Jesus meeting with Abram. This is possible, but more likely Melchizedek is a title of priest and King, an established order separate from the Levite priest system, where Jesus is the first and final holder of the title. We can see in scripture more on Melchizedek.

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psa 110:2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Psa 110:3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
Psa 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Psa 110:5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
Psa 110:6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
Psa 110:7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

If we look at the word Melchizedek in Hebrew, it is actually two words: Strong’s H4428, Melek, מלכ, which translates to king, and Strong’s H6664, צדק, which translates to righteousness, justness, and of law just to name a few definitions.

H4442
מלכּי־צדק
malkı̂ẏtsedeq
BDB Definition:
Melchizedek = “my king is Sedek”
1) king of Salem and priest of the Most High God to whom Abram paid tithe after the battle he fought to free Lot; ‘the order of Melchizedek’ the order of the priesthood to which Christ belongs

H4428
מלך
melek
BDB Definition:
1) king

H6664
צדק
tsedeq
BDB Definition:
1) justice, rightness, righteousness
1a) what is right or just or normal, rightness, justness (of weights and measures)
1b) righteousness (in government)
1b1) of judges, rulers, kings
1b2) of law
1b3) of Davidic king, Messiah
1b4) of Jerusalem as seat of just government
1b5) of God’s attribute
1c) righteousness, justice (in case or cause)
1d) rightness (in speech)
1e) righteousness (as ethically right)
1f) righteousness (as vindicated), justification (in controversy), deliverance, victory, prosperity
1f1) of God as covenant-keeping in redemption
1f2) in name of Messianic king
1f3) of people enjoying salvation
1f4) of Cyrus

The writer of Hebrews plainly tells us it is Jesus who now holds position of Melchizedek, and that it is a priestly order.

Heb 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 5:1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Heb 5:2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.
Heb 5:3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
Heb 5:4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Heb 5:5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
Heb 5:6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Heb 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Heb 5:10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

This is where we get the title of king and priest for Melchizedek, moreover, Jacob prophesies over Judah this very thing. Jesus fulfills this prophecy by being the king, law giver and high priest.

Gen 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Gen 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Gen 49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
Gen 49:12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

Jesus, our high priest in heaven, speaks much of bread and uses it to discuss topics of great depth. The day after feeding the five thousand with just a few loaves and fish, many of the people return to hear Jesus.

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Joh 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Joh 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Joh 6:30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Joh 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Joh 6:32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Joh 6:34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Joh 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Joh 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Joh 6:56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
Joh 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The people didn’t understand the bread Jesus was speaking of. He would shed his blood and give his body for the sin of the world. Many of them left when they heard him say these things. He explains more before he becomes the sacrificial lamb at Passover.

Luk 22:14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
Luk 22:15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Luk 22:16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Luk 22:17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
Luk 22:18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Luk 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

The bread He gives is his life and the wine is his shed blood. This is the new covenant He established with those who are willing to join Him. Please see my blog Lost Identity and the New Covenant for more on this subject. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”, but how do we believe? James said, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe”. Jesus tells us how, and that he will send His Spirit to help us.

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

Paul tells us natural man cannot discern the things of Yahweh God without His Spirit. That is why the things of Yahweh or Yah (יה) are foolishness to those without God.

1Co 2:6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
1Co 2:7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
1Co 2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
1Co 2:10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
1Co 2:11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
1Co 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
1Co 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
1Co 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

How do we get this Wisdom from God and partake in the new covenant, and eat the bread of life? We ask for it, just as Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew.

Mat 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Bread comes from grains and we get a glimpse into the future with more scripture from John the Baptist who was calling for repentance and preparing the way for Jesus.

Mat 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Mat 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
Mat 3:4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Mat 3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
Mat 3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Mat 3:9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Mat 3:10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Mat 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

What John was speaking of is the coming great day of the LORD or Yahweh, יהוה. The event is spoken of in the book of Revelation and also by many of the Old Testament prophets. It is when the wheat is separated from the chaff, and in Revelation the analogy is switched to the pressing of the grapes in the wine press of God’s wrath. In verse 14 and 15 the son of man, Jesus, is likely gathering his wheat into the barn.

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
Rev 14:16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Who would have thought that bread and wheat would play such an important role in our lives?

Previous Blogs

Honour Your Father and Mother

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

by Gary Vail September 30, 2023

Freedom in God’s Laws

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

by Gary Vail September 17, 2023

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

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

by Gary Vail September 2, 2023

Paul is the Most Misunderstood Person in History

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

by Gary Vail August 19, 2023

Will the Real Jesus Please Step Forward?

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

by Gary Vail August 12, 2023

Dividing God’s Word is Risky Business

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

by Gary Vail August 5, 2023

Something Different

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

by Gary Vail July 23, 2023

Finding God in Organized Religion

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

by Gary Vail June 30, 2023June 30, 2023

How well do we take care of the people around us? Many I know personally are very generous, but I have run into a person or two who believe the responsibility for taking care of people’s needs belongs to someone else. My favorite dialogue is in the movie A Christmas Carol , and it goes like this:

“At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge, … it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

Scrooge: “Are there no prisons?”
“Plenty of prisons…”
Scrooge: “And the Union workhouses, are they still in operation?”
“Both very busy, sir…”
“Those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
Scrooge: “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Looking to the scriptures, we see there is much to say about this situation, and how one is supposed to act. In the Torah, which is simply the instructions Yahweh gave us to live by and prosper on Earth, there are these instructions.

Deu 15:7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,
Deu 15:8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
Deu 15:9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin.
Deu 15:10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Deu 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

According to this, there will always exist those in need. There doesn’t appear to be conditions that seem to matter as to how the person became wanting, just the requirement to help as needed. Jesus also reaffirmed there will always be those in need.

Matthew 26:11 “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”

Next, we see Jesus talking with a rich person about how he may obtain eternal life. First, he tells him to follow the commandments, and after the man says he has done all of that, Jesus tells him to sell everything and give it to the poor.

Mat 19:16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Mat 19:17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Mat 19:18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mat 19:20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Mat 19:22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

An early church father, Origen, speaks of a Gospel of Hebrews, which he had access to, and it revealed more to this story. After the rich man said he has kept the commandments, according to Origen, in the Gospel of the Hebrews, Jesus answers him, “How can you say, ‘I have done the law and the prophets’, since it is written in the law: love your neighbour as yourself; and behold, your many brothers , who are sons of Abraham, are covered in dung, dying from hunger, while your house is filled with many good things, and not one of the good things goes out to them.”. Unfortunately, the only text available from the Gospel of the Hebrews today is that which Origen sites.

Looking at the early church, an early church father Tertullian, sheds some light on how the early church handled giving. This is from Tertullian’s Apology, chapter 38 written to the Roman Emperor.

The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honour not by purchase, but by established character. There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety’s deposit fund. For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God’s Church, they become the nurslings of their confession.

That sounds quite different than what we see today, with often 80% of church budgets going into just sustaining themselves. What would these Christians of the first three centuries, who had to conceal their meetings and faith to survive, think of massive building projects, cathedrals, and all the luxury of modern churches, when there are people going without daily necessities all around them?

Paul also gives us an example of giving, and that the purpose is to feed the hungry. He quotes Psalms 112:9, “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor”.

2Co 9:6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2Co 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2Co 9:9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
2Co 9:10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Do we give to receive a tax deduction? It is something that the government allows today; however, are we bound by their rules in succumbing to such a system? What does Jesus say about paying the tax? What would giving be like if all of a sudden we had to compromise our beliefs in order to receive a tax receipt? What if this very thing has already happened?

Mat 22:17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Mat 22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?
Mat 22:19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.
Mat 22:20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
Mat 22:21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Mat 22:22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Now, let’s look at what Jesus calls the greatest commandments.

Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.
Mat 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus is not stating anything new here. He is quoting from the instructions Yahweh God gave to us.

Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Deu 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

Strong’s H8085, which is translated as the English word hear, has much more depth in meaning than to simply hear as the English word implies. The definition of the word pronounced shema, שמע, means to hear, listen and obey. This is what James is speaking of.

H8085
שׁמע
shâma‛
BDB Definition:
1) to hear, listen to, obey (verb)
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to hear (perceive by ear)
1a2) to hear of or concerning
1a3) to hear (have power to hear)
1a4) to hear with attention or interest, listen to
1a5) to understand (language)
1a6) to hear (of judicial cases)
1a7) to listen, give heed
1a7a) to consent, agree
1a7b) to grant request
1a8) to listen to, yield to
1a9) to obey, be obedient

Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
Jas 1:24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
Jas 1:25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

In regards to faith and works, James uses this very issue of taking care of people in need, to demonstrate what having faith in Yahweh God looks like. Faith without following Yahweh’s commandments is dead on arrival.

Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
Jas 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
Jas 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 

Where we find ourselves today is likened to the church of Laodicea. We think we are in great shape but the truth is slipping away.

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
Rev 3:15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

We are to buy gold refined by fire, so we can be clothed and get ointment for our eyes, so we are no longer blinded to the truth of His word. Is this partly the meaning of the parable of the wedding feast?

Mat 22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
Mat 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,
Mat 22:3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
Mat 22:4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’
Mat 22:5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
Mat 22:6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
Mat 22:7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Mat 22:8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
Mat 22:9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’
Mat 22:10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
Mat 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

How can we obtain this gold Jesus is speaking of to the Apostle John? Hear and do the commandments. Clothe the naked and feed the hungry. Also, Peter tells us our trials our more precious than gold refined by fire.

1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Pe 1:7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
1Pe 1:9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
1Pe 1:11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
1Pe 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
1Pe 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
1Pe 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Where is Peter quoting scripture from when he says “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”? It is from Leviticus regarding eating clean. Would Peter cite a verse regarding being holy and talking about obedience, that in context references knowing the difference between what Yahweh declared good to eat (clean), and not good to eat, ( unclean), if the expectation was anything other than to be obedient and holy, like Yahweh, so we would not eat anything He declares unclean?

Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Lev 11:46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,
Lev 11:47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

So often we hear the verses in Malachi about bringing the tithe to the storehouse and robbing God. If we read the entire chapter we get more than discussion of the tithe. We should also look at what the tithe consists of. We see Abram giving a tithe to the Priest of the most high God after the war of the kings.

Gen 14:17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The subject of the tithe is enormous, and my purpose here is to just make some of the scriptures known that discuss it. We get more information in Leviticus about what the tithe was at that time.

Lev 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.
Lev 27:32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD.
Lev 27:33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”
Lev 27:34 These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

As we keep looking, we see that the tithe was to be given to the Levite for their service in the temple, and also because they received no inheritance. This next passage also shows that the Levites were to tithe a portion of what they received.

Num 18:24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”
Num 18:25 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 18:26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.
Num 18:27 And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.
Num 18:28 So you shall also present a contribution to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the LORD’s contribution to Aaron the priest.

One additional passage sheds more light on the subject. The tithe appears to be given every three years.

Deu 26:12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,
Deu 26:13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

Now let’s look at the chapters in Malachi, where we see the verse referencing robbing God. Malachi starts out by Yahweh God upbraiding the priests for bringing unsatisfactory offerings to him.

Mal 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Mal 1:7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised.
Mal 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 1:9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 1:10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

Yahweh continues talking to the priests about their faulty offerings.

Mal 2:1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you.
Mal 2:2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
Mal 2:3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
Mal 2:4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts.

Mal 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Sometimes we give tithes much like the priests with their lame and blind animals, worshiping with our lips and not in action, giving money, but not our hearts, as a type of indulgence offering.

Mal 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
Mal 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
Mal 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
Mal 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Mal 3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
Mal 3:8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
Mal 3:9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Mal 3:10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Mal 3:11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
Mal 3:14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts?
Mal 3:15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

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

After reading chapters three and four, is the take away only about robbing Yahweh God of tithes or are we robbing him of much more? Are we giving him the lame and blind offerings, ignoring His commands and statues , which were given to all of Israel, not just to the tribe of Judah or “the Jews”? He says return to him, keep his statutes and commands, remember the law of Moses and be blessed. Give to those in need, feed the hungry, hear and do the commandments.

Feature picture taken by Emma Vail in Bristol Virginia.

• 
  Jesus: The Prophet Like Moses
• 
  Reasons for Christians to Celebrate Hanukkah
• 
  Dispensationalism Theology, Israel and You
• 
  Prophecy Fulfilled; And It’s Not Good
• 
  Testing the Spirits