“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 pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Then to what degree is a man worth more than a sheep? So then, it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:10–12 (LEB)

If one does a You Tube search on the phrase “Jesus is my Sabbath”, countless videos will populate on this subject from famous preachers and influencers. They all have one thing in common and it is that they promote the idea that the Sabbath is no longer valid, it is wrong to keep the Sabbath, or anyone that tries to keep the Sabbath is putting themselves back under the law.

The consensus seems to be that “Jesus is my Sabbath now” among most Christians, implying that they get their rest from some supernatural transfer from Jesus. Also today, many Christians are often found to be burned out, plagued with ailments and emotionally unstable. Replacing God’s commandment to physically and mentally rest from work with “Jesus is my Sabbath now”, somehow imparting rest on a person’s body, does not embody the words, “come to me and I will give you rest”. It is simply trickery by an enemy to draw people away from God.

Where did this idea of abandoning the commandment of Deuteronomy 5:12 (LEB),  “Observe the Sabbath day to make it holy, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you.”, and replacing it with “Jesus is my Sabbath now” originate? It didn’t come from ancient Rome’s religious system because their decree was to “work on Saturday and go to church on Sunday, resting if possible”, recorded as Roman law at the council of Laodicea in 347 CE. Their change of God’s law was a result of antisemitism to distance themselves from anything that seemed Jewish. Emperor Constantine referred to the Jews as “those despicable Jews who murdered our Lord”. Anyone found Judaizing by keeping the Sabbath would be excommunicated or anathema to the church under the Roman canon. Contrast this with Paul, who said that the Jews were, Romans 3:2 (LEB), “entrusted with the oracles of God”. One of these “oracles” was the benefits of resting on the Sabbath.

However, the Jew’s view on the Sabbath, at least now, is that one cannot and should not try to keep it if one is not a Jew or has not converted to Judaism. A well known Rabbi told me this personally through email. As far as Judaism is concerned, non-Jews can only practice the Noahide laws, which are defined by them outside of the Bible. No Sabbath rest for you.

One place to garner support for the argument that “Jesus is my Sabbath now” is from the letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 4:4–11 (LEB): 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 5 and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter into my rest.’ ” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9 Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience.

In this version of the Bible verse eight is speaking of Joshua. In other versions, such as the King James version, it is translated “Jesus”.

Hebrews 4:8–9 (KJV 1900): 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Is it Joshua or Jesus? Since the real name of Jesus in English is Joshua, I suppose it is up for interpretation. The professional interpreters did not know what to do consistently, and we may never know for certain what the writer was thinking.

The word to focus on is in verse nine. It is “rest” in the KJV and “Sabbath rest” in the LEB. It is the Greek word “sabbatamos”, and means “Sabbath rest”.

Verse eleven tells us to: “Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience“. Here, “rest” is a different Greek word. So “that rest” is referring back to “Sabbath rest”. The word rest in this case means actual rest. In this chart it is compared to Hebrew words that the Greek word was used for in the Septuagint. This was a Greek translation of the Old Testament done in 200 BCE.

In Judaism the term was taken up in the sense of to give someone a good rest (LXX). anapausis in cl. Gk. meant repose, relaxation, recreation, a rest from something.

R. Hensel and C. Brown, “Rest,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 254.

It also says we should rest so as not to be found in the “same pattern of disobedience”. The reference goes back to verse seven where it quotes David in the Psalms.

Psalm 95:7–11 (LEB): 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you will hear his voice: 8 “Do not harden your heart as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tried me. They put me to the test, even though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, ‘They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.’ 11 Therefore I swore in my anger, ‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’ ”

The Israelites did not have any water at one point of their journey and they were griping and complaining to Moses. God told Moses to strike a rock at Horeb to give them water, then called the place Massah, but God was so angered by their attitude and disobedience that he did not allow this generation to enter into the promise land, or “His rest”. Moses reminds them of this in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:16–17 (LEB): 16 You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his legal provisions and his rules that he has commanded you.

What seems to be a theme is that disobedience angers the Father. “They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.’  Therefore I swore in my anger, ‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’ ” Those who were disobedient were not allowed to enter His rest. Forgetting the Sabbath, or teaching it is not valid, is exactly this. It is disobedience and not knowing the ways of the Father, who made it clear that it was important to rest on the Sabbath. This is also something Jesus reinforced.

Matthew 5:18–19 (LEB): 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place. 19 Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps them and teaches them, this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Being least in the kingdom does not mean one will be reduced to a trash collector on the streets of gold. These following verses in Isaiah seem to be speaking about a future kingdom of God. It is hard to understand why resting is such a burden to people that they must rail against it. Being least in the kingdom could be referring to the people in Isaiah 66:24.

Isaiah 66:23–24 (LEB): 23 And this shall happen: From new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh. 24 “And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Another argument against the Sabbath is of course, “Jesus abolished God’s laws” (like the Sabbath), so we no longer need to be burdened with them. This implies that the instructions God gave His people were bad and could not be followed.

Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (LEB): 11 “For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, and it is not too far from you. 12 It is not in the heavens so that you might say, ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 13 And it is not beyond the sea, so that you might say, ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.

What if the Sabbath is actually not bad, but it is something beneficial that was given to humanity at creation? A day to rest from the labors of day to day life where one forgets about regular responsibilities and simply rests? It is a delight, yet through history there has been a movement to bury and impugn the Sabbath. What if it is one of the secret weapons God’s people have to thrive in this world? What if an enemy has worked very hard to ensure no one properly taps into this type of weekly rest and refreshing?

The Jews added volumes of rules about how to keep the Sabbath making it burdensome. This was something Jesus pointed out in scripture where he tells them they are following man’s traditions, not God’s commandments. The Christians outlawed the Sabbath and created a whole system of theology to convince people not to follow the fourth commandment of simply resting from their work. Does this not make anyone suspicious? “They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.“

The type of rest that Jesus offers is freedom from the bondage of manmade tradition and lies leading us away from the Father. This opens our eyes to the blessing that the Sabbath brings into our life along with physical, mental and spiritual rest one day a week that our bodies are craving. Try it. As Paul said, “the law is spiritual”.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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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 practiced being righteous, therefore we don’t have to. This is a common belief system within Christianity due to a distorted doctrine derived from misunderstanding what Paul wrote to the churches.

Romans 5:18–21 (LEB): 18 Consequently therefore, as through one trespass came condemnation to all people, so also through one righteous deed came justification of life to all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sure, if this Romans chapter is the only part of the Bible that one reads because some preacher told us that we do not have to do anything the Creator said to do, by using these verses, then we are able to carry on with the lawless gospel and see how it works out. However, all one needs to do to debunk this interpretation is to read Paul’s conclusion in the next verses. Paul’s letters were never meant to be verses and chapters. It was a letter, and someone broke it up in sections for easier reference. Chapter six is not a new thought, it is a continuation of chapter five.

Romans 6:1–2 (LEB): 6 What therefore shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, in order that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Once we are freed of our sinful nature through the work of Jesus, our lifestyle should reflect the way Jesus walked. He walked by pleasing the Father and was the example of God’s instructions, or Torah. This is what fulfilling the law looks like. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?“

1 John 2:3–6 (LEB): 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know him,” and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. 5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. 6 The one who says that he resides in him ought also to walk just as that one walked.

These verses from John are the reason hyper-grace dispensationalists had to create a doctrine that says that John was not talking to “gentile” believers, he was only speaking to the “Jews”. They manufactured a complete alternate universe of doctrine so they do not have to be obedient to God. Then they will say, “follow Jesus”, all the while not doing what he said to do. This type of Christianity believes they should only do their distorted view of what Paul says in his letters-aka “rightly divide”.

Let’s look at Paul and Peter’s letters to see to whom they were writing. First, Paul to the Galatians:

Galatians 1:1–2 (LEB): 1 Paul, an apostle not from men nor by men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, 2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.

This letter was written to the churches in Galatia. Next, here is Peter’s greeting:

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

Peter wrote to “the chosen temporarily in the dispersion”, including those in Galatia. Was Peter excluding “gentile” believers by using the word “dispersion”? Many will say “yes” meaning there had to be two different camps of believers in Galatia. Paul wrote to the non-Jewish believers and Peter wrote to the Jewish believers in this belief system. This is what dispensationalism theology teaches quietly behind the scenes in many denominations. However, in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, as in others, he tells us there is only one kind of believer. There is no such thing as a “gentile” believer because “gentile” means foreigner to God, or “from the nations”. In other words, not Israel. Once we become believers through Jesus, we join ourselves to Israel, the family of God. This is not to be confused with the religion of Talmudic Judaism, which many Jews practice today, or the country of Israel formed in 1948 by UN resolution 181.

Galatians 3:26–29 (LEB): 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

The best way to explain Paul’s letters, what they are telling us, and to whom they were written is by heeding Peter’s warning in his letter to (in part) the Galatians.

2 Peter 3:15–17 (LEB): 15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, 16 as he does also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures. 17 Therefore, dear friends, because you know this beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position because you have been led away by the error of lawless persons.

Peter told us about all of these erroneous, lawless doctrines almost 2000 years ago in a letter to those “in the dispersion” of Galatia and other places in Asia. “The ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures.” These are the same people Paul and John wrote to. They were the believers in Jesus. The only difference between the Jew and non-Jew believers was that the Jews were well versed in scripture. They were raised believing the law and prophets. Most Jews understand they cannot be justified by the law, which is what the original argument was about. The first century non-Jews or “gentiles” were not raised knowing scripture. They came from polytheism religion and philosophy, much like believers today. With no grounding in scripture, they will believe anything someone in authority will tell them. A belief system where one can keep sinning and not regard the instructions of God taught by Jesus was very appealing in the first century as it is today.

Jesus made it possible for all of humanity to not have to die from sin by raising from the dead. There is nothing in the law that will keep us from becoming eternally dead, no matter how righteous we live. There were no offerings for adultery, murder, breaking the Sabbath, etc., in the law. There was only judgement and death. Jesus died and rose to set us free from the penalty of death which the law defined. This in no way nullifies the law because the law defines sin. Once we come to faith we should be living in the Spirit with the law in our hearts. If one remains carnal and fleshly, or disobedient, despising God’s instructions, then they will still bump into the law because they do not walk in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11–22 (LEB): 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, the so-called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, 12 that you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, not having hope, and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones who once were far away, have become near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh, 15 invalidating the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that he might create the two in himself into one new man, thus* making peace, 16 and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. 17 And coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to the ones who were near, 18 because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 Consequently, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

This is the mystery of how God was going to reunite the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The house of Israel, sometimes referred to as Ephraim, was cast into the nations becoming “gentiles” for idolatry and adultery by mixing traditions from other religions. This is the same as Christians today using symbols of other gods in their worship. I am talking about such things as wreaths, pine cones, easter eggs and trees.

In order to fulfill the promises given to all of Israel, there had to be a way for them to come back into the family. By making a way for them to come back it reconciled the whole world with God through Jesus the Messiah.

Hosea 1:11 (LEB): 11 Then the children of Judah and Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head; and they will take possession of the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.

This is a huge gift to the world and today we have Christians whose main theology is “we don’t have to ‘do the law’ or ‘practice righteousness’ because Jesus did it for us”. Acts chapter ten is not about whether Christians can eat a ham sandwich or not. It is about removing the dividing wall.

1 John 3:6–8 (LEB): 6 Everyone who resides in him does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.

The entirety of the Bible is written against anyone that claims we should not practice righteousness. Christians have been lulled into a lawless religion with no regard for the instructions of the Creator. He even sent His son to make it possible for those cut off by disbelief to be brought near, thus allowing the whole world to be saved. In return the church will not even consider looking at all the blessings there are in obedience.

Psalm 119:1–8 (LEB) Aleph 119 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of Yahweh. 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies; they seek him with a whole heart. 3 They also do no wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have commanded your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. 5 Oh that my ways were steadfast, to keep your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed when I look to all your commands. 7 I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous laws. 8 I will heed your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

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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. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood would seem like a weird thing to hear from a speaker. Many just didn’t stick around long enough to understand.

John 6:60–66 (LEB): 60 Thus many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This saying is hard! Who can understand it?” 61 But Jesus, because he knew within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “Because of this I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.” 66 For this reason many of his disciples drew back and were not walking with him any longer.

Drinking Messiah’s blood and eating His flesh is a spiritual matter. He is the Word of Yahweh and manna from Heaven. His blood is that of the new covenant, or the refreshing of the covenant as Peter tells us.

Acts 3:19–21 (LEB): 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and he may send the Christ appointed for you—Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times.

Many think that we are fully engaged in the new covenant right now. When the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, it makes me wonder if we are not fully there yet. Are we perhaps in a process? It is clear that His laws are not written on the majority of people’s hearts today. Most Christians hate God’s laws by their actions and words, so how could these same laws be written on their hearts?

Hebrews 8:6–13 (LEB): 6 But now he has attained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second. 8 For in finding fault with them he says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be my people. 11 And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer.” 13 In calling it new, he has declared the former to be old. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing.

The old covenant is growing old and ready to disappear. Hebrews 8:11, “And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest”. Do we still have to teach your neighbors about the Lord? Does everyone know Him? It does not appear to be so. We are in the refreshing as Peter told us. Once the Messiah comes back and establishes His kingdom, all of His laws will be written on our hearts and everyone will clearly know who He is.

Revelation 3:2–3 (LEB):2 Be on the alert and strengthen the remaining things that are about to die, for I have not found your works completed before my God. 3 Therefore remember how you have received and heard, and observe it, and repent. If therefore you are not on the alert, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you.

If eating His flesh and drinking His blood is spiritual, not literal, then what does that say for eating meat sacrificed to idols? Would that not be equally spiritual?

1 Corinthians 10:13–22 (LEB): 13 Temptation has not come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also make a way out together with the temptation, so that you may be able to endure it.14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you judge what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share from the one bread. 18 Consider Israel according to the flesh: are not the ones who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 Therefore, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but that the things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. 21 You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we attempting to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?

Paul knew that the pagan deities were place holders for demons. All of their symbology is polluted by demons. Therefore, to abstain from things polluted by idols was one of the first commandments new converts were shown.

Acts 15:19–21 (LEB): 19 Therefore I conclude we should not cause difficulty for those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but we should write a letter to them to abstain from the pollution of idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. 21 For Moses has those who proclaim him in every city from ancient generations, because he* is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

We know that the gentiles, or non-Jews, concerned themselves with the signs in heaven, such as the winter solstice and waiting for the spring equinox. Many cultures brought fir trees and evergreens into their house as a sign of fertility.

Jeremiah 10:1–4 (LEB): Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says Yahweh: “You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them. 3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, for it is a tree cut down from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool. 4 He decorates it with silver and gold, they strengthen it with nails and hammers, so that it does not stagger.

The fir trees will even rejoice once Babylon is defeated. Imagine trees rejoicing because no one is cutting them down for idolatrous purposes any more.

Isaiah 14:3–8 (KJV 1900): 3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5  The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. 6  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8  Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

“Meat sacrificed to idols” is not limited to eating actual meat that was sacrificed in first century temples of Diana or Zeus. These ancient deities are still with us today in our customs and traditions. Christians, without question, use the symbology of these ancient deities, sometimes boasting about their usage, in their special holy days handed down through tradition. Yet Paul told us in the first century to specifically not do this, repeating the commandment given to Moses from the One whom we as Christians claim to be worshipping.

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

Paul tells us we are “sharers with demons” and God told Moses to absolutely not use symbols or traditions from other cultures to serve Him. Despite these warnings, Christianity uses all of the traditions and symbols they can find to bring into the supposed worship of God. The question becomes ” which God are you worshipping?”. If the one true God of Israel says not to use these items to worship Him, then we can assume He does not count these traditions and symbols as worship towards Him at the very least (vain worship), and the worst case scenario is that He abhors it and turns His back on people that practice these things in His name? Paul simply says it is partaking at the table with demons.

Many Christians will use the excuse that they are “not under the law” to justify the use of symbols of Nordic witchcraft to the god Odin, or the sun worship of the god Mithras. Which god is being worshipped in all of these traditions? Law or no law, the Creator of the Universe weighed in on His thoughts of these practices. Do we want to temp God and use grace as a cover? It is a dangerous road to be walking.

The result of syncretizing the symbols, traditions or “meat” of gods of other’s is described in Revelation. One has to understand the sins of Jezebel and Ahab, and Balak and Balaam to fully see the repercussions of partaking at the table with demons. Often Christians will wonder why they are having a hard time in life without even considering which gods they are paying homage to and that they open the door to demons.

Revelation 2:14–16 (LEB): 14 But I have a few things against you: that you have there those who hold fast to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent! But if you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword from my mouth.

These words should be troubling to the “no commandment”, or antinomian crowd. “Repent or else”, “throwing people in a sick bed”, “killing their children with deadly diseases” and “I will give to each one of you according to your deeds”, seems to contradict the hyper grace message of the modern church. It sounds more like the curses for disobedience listed in Leviticus chapter twenty-six. If we are observant, this is exactly what is happening and it is caused by ignoring God’s covenant.

Revelation 2:20–23 (LEB): 20 But I have against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and deceives my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 And I have given her time in order to repent, and she did not want to repent from her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those who committed adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Balaam showed Balaak that he could defeat Israel by luring them into their fertility rituals and therefore cursing themselves. Jezebel used Ahab to promote Baal worship. Baal is still being worshipped today in Christianity. The “law” that Christians despise has nothing to do with any of this other than it told us not to do it. Even if the antinomian doctrine were true, it would still be hard to justify using symbols and traditions of other gods in the worship of the one true Elohim of Israel in light of all these scriptures.

Paul also warns the Galatians not to turn back to their former pagan practices. The Galatians were caught between a sect of Jews that insisted on circumcision to be saved, and a government that mandated the celebration of the festivals of the gods of their culture. Christians today try to make these verses about celebrating the Sabbath and God’s feast days, but that really is nonsense when we consider the whole of scripture.

Galatians 4:8–11 (LEB): 8 But at that time when you did not know God, you were enslaved to the things which by nature are not gods. 9 But now, because you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10 You carefully observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest perhaps I have labored for you in vain!

The best way to understand these things is to learn the nature of God by studying His words. There is work involved to learn enough history to understand what is actually being told to us in the scriptures. When Jesus came, he told us he only said what he heard the Father say and only did what he saw the Father doing. Jesus had no new agenda to change anything, only to free us from the curse of death we inherited from breaking God’s laws. Should we continue breaking God’s laws, which is sinning, simply because Jesus freed us from the curse of breaking the law? Romans 6:16 (LEB): 16 Do you not know that to whomever you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to whomever you obey, whether sin, leading to death, or obedience, leading to righteousness?

Photo by Alison Dueck on Unsplash

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

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Traditions or the Word of God?

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Religion, Doctrine and Cults

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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 the authors, never came close to being realized. If I have a book that was written in the 1970’s, predicting all sorts of Biblical prophecies coming true in the next decade, what value is it if none of it happened? Henry Kissinger passed away last year, never fulfilling his alleged role as Antichrist, and the so called “rapture of the church” didn’t happen in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s or the first 24 years of the 21st century. The list goes on and on. All of these books are simply fire starter now.

Jeremiah 23:21–22 (LEB): 21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

I started to think about all the prophecies in the Bible that have not happened yet. These are not the popular prophecies like “pin the tail on the Antichrist”, or the war of Gog and Magog, but ones that not many talk about. Here is one that I often think about because it is not just talking to the Church, the Jews or Israel, but it is addressing the entire population of the earth.

Isaiah 24:1–6 (LEB): 24 Look! Yahweh is about to lay the earth waste and is about to devastate it, and he will twist her surface, and he will scatter her inhabitants. 2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the female slave, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the one to whom he lends. 3 The earth shall be utterly laid waste, and it shall be utterly plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up, it withers; the world languishes, it withers. The elevated of the people of the earth languish, 5 and the earth is defiled beneath its inhabitants. For they have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and the inhabitants in it suffer for their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, and few men are left.

This has not happened yet, and it says the inhabitants of the earth “have transgressed laws; they have passed by statutes; they have broken the everlasting covenant“. What are the laws and statutes that the people defiled the earth by breaking? What is the everlasting covenant that has been broken? This certainly leads one to believe that we shouldn’t be transgressing laws and statutes or breaking the everlasting covenant, which is actually in opposition to what Christianity is teaching today. After all, Jesus supposedly did away with these laws and statutes according to mainstream Christianity. In light of just these verses, we know that claim is not true.

Another prophecy that has not happened yet is the land of Israel becoming a permanent ruins. As far as I know, the land has always been habitable, and there have always been some people group living there. When I think of “permanent ruins”, I think of Chernobyl, where it is currently uninhabitable due to radiation from the nuclear meltdown.

Ezekiel 38:8 (LEB): 8 After many days you will be mustered; in the last years you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as permanent ruins but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell in safety, all of them.

In this verse in Ezekiel, he is prophesying that Magog will be mustered against the people living on the mountains of Israel in some future period. “Dwelling in safety” does not appear to describe the current state of Israel where wars, car bombings, missile barrages and other unrest have been normal every day life since it began in 1948.

The prophecies in the writings of Zechariah have also not happened. The land is transformed and people are dwelling safely; Yahweh is king all through the land. I do not see that anywhere in western Asia currently.

Zechariah 14:8–11 (LEB): 8 And then on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen both in the summer and in the winter. 9 And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one. 10 All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And they will dwell in it, and there will be no more ban imposed, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.

Moses had many prophesies to the Israelites. He talked about a restored people turning back to doing the things that were commanded by God to do. It will happen in the latter days. This can’t be the state of Israel formed by the United Nations in 1948. Where are the twelve tribes? Ephraim? The returning to Elohim and listening to His voice? None of it is there and this has not happened yet.

Deuteronomy 4:27–31 (LEB): 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations to where Yahweh will lead you. 28 And you will there serve gods made by human hands, of wood and stone, gods that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell. 29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 In your distress when all these things have found you in the latter days, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice. 31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he will not abandon you, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.

Along these lines, there are many places that speak of the gathering of those that were scattered. One has to know the history of the kingdom of Israel to understand the dynamics between Judah and Ephraim. This has not happened yet, and chapter eleven of Isaiah is speaking about when the Messiah will gather all of his people.

Isaiah 11:11–13 (LEB): 11 And this shall happen on that day: The Lord will again extend his hand a second time to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea, 12 and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners of the earth. 13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.

Does anyone know the difference between Ephraim and Judah? “Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.” It is the basis of the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus made it possible and he was explaining the mystery through this parable. It truly was a mystery because people who understood the scriptures did not understand how this would happen!

Luke 15:29–32 (LEB): 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your command! And you never gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 30 But when this son of yours returned—who has consumed your assets with prostitutes—you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and everything I have belongs to you. 32 But it was necessary to celebrate and to rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead, and is alive, and was lost, and is found!’ ”

In a few places this gathering of God’s people is described as something that will make everyone forget about the first exodus because of its magnitude. This event is still in front of us. We remember the first exodus from Egypt at every Passover. The Jews say “next year in Jerusalem” at Passover in Jerusalem because they know that they have not arrived to the promised land yet.

Jeremiah 16:14–16 (LEB):14 Therefore look, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and it will no longer be said, “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,” 15 but only “As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them,” for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors. 16 Look, I am sending for many fishermen,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and they will fish them out, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.

We are told of a time when the people of the nations will realize they have been deceived by false prophets believing lies about false gods. This is when the Church will understand that they have been syncretizing witchcraft into their belief system by celebrating Halloween, Christmas and the spring fertility rituals along with the ancient pagans, modern Druidry, Wiccans and Satanists.

Jeremiah 16:19–21 (LEB): 19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them. 20 Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they are not gods!” 21 “Therefore look, I am about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my power and my might, and they will know that my name is Yahweh.”

Peter tells us of a time when the earth and elements will melt from the heat of God’s wrath. He also tells us that we should be found in holy behavior and godliness because of God’s patience in holding back His wrath to give people more time to repent.

2 Peter 3:8–13 (LEB): 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will disappear with a rushing noise, and the celestial bodies will be destroyed by being burned up, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be disclosed. 11 Because all these things are being destroyed in this way, what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.

The Church teaches that the “Day of the Lord” is simply the seven year tribulation and that the Church will be transported to heaven and avoid any of these prophesies that have not taken place. That is not true and part of the deception. It is based on misunderstood words of Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians. Through dispensationalism theology the Church has twisted Paul’s words making people think they are “no longer under the law” and “lead by the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit, another name for the Elohim of Israel, is not going to direct anyone to do anything contrary to His word. Part of this teaching is that the lawless Church will be whisked away in the knick of time before anything bad happens.

Most people base their eschatology on “prophecies” from 1970’s authors such as Hal Lindsey, Morris Cerillo and Tim LaHaye. I have all the books from my mother’s library. The prophecies they pushed forward were all based on dispensationalism theology and the philosophy of Zionism. As a result, we have Christians and non-Christians looking for a pre-trib rapture of the church, and an Antichrist figure to make a seven year peace treaty with the current country of Israel.

Daniel 9:27 (LEB)

27 And he will make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in half of the week he will let cease sacrifice and offering and in its place a desolating abomination comes even until the determined complete destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

If one reads Daniel chapter nine without the dispensationalism theology view, then we can understand that it was the Messiah who made the strong covenant and was cut off, or crucified. There has not been any offering or sacrifice since the temple was destroyed in 70 CE, and there will not be a new temple until the Messiah comes back and establishes his kingdom in a supernatural way. If God stopped the sacrifices and offerings in 70 CE, who can bring them back? How can an Antichrist figure desolate a new temple in Israel? One cannot desecrate something that is not ordained by God and holy in the first place. It is dispensationalism theology that has the Old Testament God working with the “Jews” (as they believe) while the “Church” is raptured and with Jesus in some ethereal place. It is as if there are two gods in this scenario. This is in line with the early church’s heresy of Marcionism. It really is a form of replacement theology.

Many Torah abiding Jews understand that there cannot be a new temple and peace until the Messiah comes. However, they are not looking for Messiah Yeshua. This could be in part because Messiah Yeshua, who was a Torah observant Jew from the line of David, only saying what he heard his father say, has been morphed into Jesus Christ, a new Greco-Roman god that tolerates all manner of sin. Christianity and Judaism as they are today are two religious systems that are not compatible with the Creator of the Universe. Christianity rejects His commandments and Judaism rejects His son. Both add and take away from His instructions.

Deuteronomy 12:32 (LEB): 32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”

Therefore, let’s guard and keep His commandments as Yeshua told us to do. There is much prophecy to unfold in front of us and the best way to be prepared according to Revelation 14:12 is to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua!

Photo by Kato Blackmore 🇺🇦 on Unsplash demonstrating an example of “permanent ruins” in Chernobyl.

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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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 another stone that will not be thrown down!”

Matthew 24:1–2 (LEB)

There is a statistic that tells us eighty percent of evangelical Christians believe that the country of Israel that was created in 1948 is the fulfillment of prophecy that will “bring about the return of Christ”. My experience has been that most evangelicals believe that there will be a “rapture of the church” rather than the return of Christ as in the “second coming” and resurrection. The belief system that most of these evangelical believers draw from is called dispensationalism theology. This belief system teaches that “the Church” and “Israel” are to be “rightly divided”, and that they have two completely different roles and outcomes in the kingdom of God.

“What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israel’s political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible,” Pastor Nate Pyle told Newsweek in January.

This is not an uncommon view.
The LifeWay poll found that 80 percent of evangelicals believed that the creation of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy that would bring about Christ’s return.

Washington Post May 14, 2018

Dispensationalism theology fits well into the political realm of unconditionally supporting the current country that was named Israel in 1948. Dispensationalists will argue that the land has been Israel for thousands of years, which is only somewhat true. Historically, Israel has not been the current political arrangement it is today, and if the founders of Israel in 1948 were honest, they would have called it Judea. Solomon was the last king of united Israel almost three thousand years ago.

2 Kings 17:16–18 (LEB): 16 They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. 17 They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. 18 So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone.

After Solomon, the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms: the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Israel was dispersed into the nations after Assyria conquered them in 721 BCE. The southern kingdom was later taken into captivity by Babylon and then returned to the land to rebuild the kingdom. This rebuilding of the kingdom is recorded in the accounts of Nehemiah and Ezra in the Bible. This southern kingdom was mainly comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Fast forward to 70 CE and Judea was scattered and the temple was destroyed. However, a remnant of Judah remains with us to this day.

Genesis 49:10 (LEB): 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.

The house of Israel that was destroyed in 721 BCE was cut off from God and dispersed into the nations, becoming “gentiles”. “Gentile” is a word made up (or taken from Latin) to translate the Greek word “ethnos”, meaning nation or people.

Jeremiah 3:6–8 (LEB): 6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, “Have you seen what apostate Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted herself there. 7 And I thought, ‘After her doing all these things to me she will return,’ but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for this very reason, that on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted herself also.

Most evangelical Christians either do not know this history, or choose to ignore it. I don’t think it is discussed overtly in Judaism, and we are led to believe everyone at Mount Horeb with Moses was a Jew by modern standards. When we fast forward to the late 19th century, there were people that wanted to create a nation state for the scattered Jews to call home. Theodor Hertzl is “the father” of modern Zionism and he died in 1904. I have one of his books where in it he dreams of establishing a country somewhere in the world for the Jews to call home. The holy land was not being considered as a location at this time though.

Many Jews were still living in Palestine in the early 20th century. These Jews have kept and preserved the Torah and the “oracles of God” as Paul claimed. If one listens to the testimony of some of the older Orthodox Jews that were alive prior to 1948, they tell stories of living side by side in peace with Palestinians, Iranians and others even though they practiced different religions. Muslims are given credit for hiding Jews during World War II. It was the protestant countries such as England and the United States that thought the Jews should have their own country in the Holy Land because they believed that this would fulfill Christian prophecy. There were Jews that embraced the philosophy of Zionism that Hertzl also wrote about. Many Orthodox Jews were against this ideology and are still against it today. I realize this is over simplifying the situation, so please research the philosophy of Zionism as taught by the early proponents of it, and also, listen to the Jewish scholars that tell the other side of the story.

Many Torah following, Orthodox Jews believe that stealing land and murdering its inhabitants goes against Torah, and the only way the promises of God should be fulfilled is by a miraculous, world changing event by the Messiah. That would be the only way they could legally reestablish a kingdom because they know they are dispersed among the nations by the hand of God according to scripture. These are their words not mine. They believe the Messiah is the resurrected king David.

Dispensationalist evangelical Christians believe that the country of Israel, created by western Zionists in 1948, is the Israel that is referred to by all the prophecies in scripture. This is aligned with the 19th century Protestant’s theology that dreamed of creating a country like this to hasten Biblical prophecy. Evangelical Christians will also use the promise given to Abraham and apply it to 1948 Israel. They “conflate Zionism with Judaism”, as Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro declares. The Evangelicals think that they will be cursed unless they stand completely behind this newly formed country of Israel. I was raised in this ideology that is prominent in the United States by religious groups and both of the main political parties. Many are proud Zionists, but do not realize what that means.

Genesis 12:1–3 (LEB): 12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

This belief system is the reason we can witness many people in the west quietly cheering when thousands of human beings are maimed, blinded and killed by exploding electronic devices. They think they have to pick sides and always condone everything the country of Israel does. Currently, they are assassinating people who are part of other sovereign nations’ governments, killing thousands of innocent people and leading the world into World War III, all in the name of self defence. Who really drew “first blood”, to quote the Sylvester Stallone movie. Everything is claimed to be an act of retaliation on both sides, which seems to have started in 1948.

The truth is that there are not two peoples of God, “the church” and “Israel”, and we do not know what role the Zionist state of Israel will play in eschatology, if any at all. What we see currently in western Asia does not appear to have the fingerprint of God on it in any way. The Torah tells us not to oppress the alien, yet it is clear to see Israel has oppressed the Palestinian people for a long time.

Leviticus 19:33–34 (LEB): 33 “ ‘And when an alien dwells with you in your land, you shall not oppress him. 34 The alien who is dwelling with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

The “resistance forces”, such has the PLO, Hamas and Hezballah, have also caused much violence in Israel through the years. The point is that Christians do not have to feel compelled to take sides. They can identify the wrongs on both sides. Jesus came and showed us how to apply the Torah. Jesus would not condone exterminating people, bombing, maiming and killing on either side. The Jews in Jesus’ day also wanted to establish the kingdom. They thought Jesus was going to take it by force, much like Benjamin Netanyahu seems to think his mission is today.

Matthew 26:51–54 (LEB): 51 And behold, one of those with Jesus extended his hand and drew his sword, and striking the slave of the high priest, cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place! For all who take up the sword will die by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot call upon my Father, and he would put at my disposal at once more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then would the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen in this way?”

Jesus also said we would know people by their fruits. If we see people murdering children and innocent men and women, we have to question if we should be supporting it. We often see Orthodox Jews being beaten by Israeli forces for protesting the anti-Torah behavior of the Israeli government. This event with the exploding electronic devices would be considered a heinous act of terrorism if it had been reversed and done to Israeli’s or Americans. It opens the door for anyone who gets labelled a “terrorist” to be fair game for destruction. This could happen to Christians themselves in the future if someone deems them “terrorists”.

Matthew 7:15–17 (LEB): 15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

Benjamin Netanyahu thinks he is fulfilling the prophecies intended for the returning Messiah, Yeshua! Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “We will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. You shall hear yet more destruction in your land. We will bring glory to your people. We will fight together, and we will win,” he said according to Khaberni. Source: Jordan News

The current government of Israel has also referred to them fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel 38. Here is a small clip of Ezekiel 38:

Ezekiel 38:8–12 (LEB)

8 After many days you will be mustered; in the last years you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as permanent ruins but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell in safety, all of them. 9 And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud covering the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you.”

10 “ ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And then on that day, things will come up on your mind, and you will devise evil plans. 11 And you will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open country; I will come to the people being at rest in safety, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and without doors, 12 to loot loot, and to plunder plunder, to assail inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples and who are acquiring livestock and goods and dwelling at the center of the world.

If we are in the “last years” as dispensationalism theology claims, then it may make sense that we are witnessing the beginning of the Ezekiel 38 prophesies and the current country of Israel is what this is about. However, my opinion is that we are working towards “a permanent ruins” where many people will dwell in safety in the future. In my almost 56 years, I don’t know about any time the 1948 Israel existed in safety. I have read that each dwelling in Israel has to have its own bomb shelter by the building code. That does not sound like a safe place to live. What would better describe a place of “permanent ruins” than a place that has had tactical nukes hurled at it? Jesus said one stone would not be left on another. What is the west wall in Jerusalem? Is that part of the old temple wall? If so, it will be completely destroyed according to Jesus.

Matthew 24:1–2 (LEB): 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 another stone that will not be thrown down!”

Also, there are prophecies that have not happened yet. In order for the regathering of biblical Israel, the people that are scattered have to return to His ways and commandments.

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

I believe we are still in verse 28, because there are not many in Christianity or Judaism that are following His ways. Yeshua tried to turn people from their traditions but they would not, and still do not listen.

Matthew 23:37–39 (LEB): 37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her young together under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 Behold, your house has been left to you desolate! 39 For I tell you, you will never see me from now on until you say,

‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Jeremiah is full of prophesies that have not been completely fulfilled.

Jeremiah 23:5–8 (LEB): 5 “Look, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king, and he will achieve success, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety, and this is his name by which he will be called:

‘Yahweh is our righteousness.’

7 “Therefore look, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who led up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As Yahweh lives, who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.’ Then they will live in their land.”

I tend to side with the Orthodox Jews who believe the restoration of the land has to be done miraculously by the resurrected king David, who I know is Jesus. This probably takes place after the resurrection when he gathers his people. Currently we are still talking about God delivering His people from Egypt 3500 years ago, and no one that I have ever heard views people returning to Israel in the mid 20th century on par with the Exodus of Egypt. In fact, thousands have left and are leaving due to the current war. Russia just recalled dual citizens from Israel warning them to get out while there are still commercial flights available.

Revelation 20:7–10 (LEB): 7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison 8 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. 9 And they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the fortified camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

It makes more sense to me that the Ezekiel 38 war is the same as the Revelation 20 war with Magog and Gog. People would truly be living in the land in peace during the millennium reign of Jesus.

As Christians, we really do not need to be compelled to pick sides in western Asian conflicts. We should not be influenced by dispensationalism theology eschatology to turn a blind eye to crimes, no matter who commits them. Start reading the Bible today and thinking for yourselves.

Featured photo by Dylan Shaw on Unsplash.

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

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 an email with the subject line, “Palestine just triggered the rapture”. It makes for a good email spam subject line, but can anyone “trigger” the rapture? What does that even mean?

The modern rapture doctrine is an adopted child of dispensational theology. It causes endless debate and feeds into the situation we have currently in western Asia. There are many complex explanations of dispensationalism and the “rapture”, but I am only going to generalize to keep things less confusing. I encourage everyone to learn about dispensationalism theology, where it originated and how it spread through the West in the twentieth century.

The basic doctrine of dispensationalism theology is that God divided the history of mankind into different dispensations affecting the way He dealt with humanity. In this belief system, the first dispensation was innocence, then conscience, eventually law, then the church and so on. “Law” supposedly started with Moses and ended sometime in the book of Acts. There are people that go so far as to say the gospels were not written to the “church” and we must only listen to the letters Paul wrote for our doctrine. This is one way modern Christianity dismisses the instructions of God. Because of this, we daily witness the debauchery that this doctrine has brought to the places where it has been preached the most.

2 Timothy 3:14–17 (LEB): 14 But you continue in the things which you have learned and are convinced of, because you know from whom you learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the holy writings that are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, 17 in order that the person of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Timothy was born around 17 CE, so the only “holy writings” were the law, prophets and writings. This is not about debunking the lawless teachings of dispensational theology though. I want to demonstrate how Christianity at large has adopted their geopolitical world view through dispensationalism theology.

One of the belief systems incorporated into mainstream dispensational theology is that the end of the “church age” will happen with a secret rapture where Jesus will take away all of the people “who believe”. This is taught as being a separate event from the resurrection or second coming of Christ. In this belief system, Israel will be left to face off with the anti-Christ and will supposedly believe in Jesus as they are slaughtered by the “beast” of Revelation. I am not going to argue any of that belief system. The point is to give some background.

Once the political state of Israel was created in 1948, it fed into this belief system that the “Jews” would return to “the land” and that we are coming to the end of the church age. Now that Israel is in the land again the prophecies of Gog and Magog can take place. Russia and Turkey are usually the main suspects of being related to Magog.

The question is this: Have we been watching prophecy unfold in front of our faces, or have there been world leaders forcing events to look like this prophecy is being fulfilled?

Mark 13:4–7 (LEB): 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 So Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you! 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. 7 And when you hear about wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must happen, but the end is not yet.

Once one studies Zionism and Judaism, it is clear to see they are not the same thing. Zionism has been conflated with Judaism and “the Jews” to the point where if one points out the flaws of Zionism they will be labelled anti-semitic, yet the semitic people take in more of a population then those who practice the religion of Judaism. Are all Israeli’s, that is people who live in Israel, practising Jews? How can the government of Israel do the things it has done and justify it with the Torah?

The idea of having a homeland which Jewish people could call their own started as early as the nineteenth century, and the philosophy of Zionism was explained by people such as Theodr Hertzel. Many of these Zionists were not Torah observant, and the Torah observant Jews often were against having a man-made “homeland” created. In the Orthodox view, only a resurrected King David could facilitate such an undertaking.

I live in Canada, and recently the Conservative party leader proclaimed his party’s alliance with Israel. I do not believe in dispensational theology eschatology, so I can look at the conflict in western Asia more objectively. Why does the leader of a secular political party take sides in a war that really does not involve us? We should be able to point out the atrocities of either side. The politics of the United States are also interwoven with dispensational eschatology along with politicians pandering to the evangelical vote where people believe that they will be raptured sooner if Israel is attacked by its enemies. There is something suspicious about all of this. How can we know the truth?

The fingerprint of God is easy to find when we look at His words. How do we determine what is right and wrong? How do we know when the Creator is behind a movement, country, religion etc.? We have instructions, and we can plug in any of the commandments into “let us go after other gods” in the verses below because when we come up with theologies, philosophies and religions that go against God’s commands, we are “going after other gods”.

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

Many of the people that heard Jesus were looking for someone to establish an earthly kingdom that would liberate God’s people from the Romans. Some thought he was the resurrected King David who was going to overthrow Rome, but he had a different message.

Matthew 5:43–48 (LEB): 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same? 48 Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Was the hand of God involved in creating the modern state of Israel? Is God with the modern state of Israel today, where it appears to have an atheistic, anti-Christ and anti-Torah government? I guess we will have to wait and see. Modern eschatology, taught by dispensationalism theology, looks like it will be proven true or false very soon. If proven false as I suspect will happen, people that are relying on it to be true will have to reevaluate their faith.

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
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Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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Thirsting for Righteousness

Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
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Matthew 5:6 (LEB)

When Jesus delivered his famous sermon on the mount, one of his statements was “Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.” Unfortunately, we are not given the definition of righteousness in today’s world. If one trusts in Jesus at all, it is often a “Jesus” of their own imagination or the imagination of a particular religious organization, and does not resemble the Messiah Yeshua.

It is very simple to define the righteousness Yeshua was speaking of that will satisfy. How many people do we know today that are not satisfied? Feeling satisfied is often sought after by trying to experience things such as special trips, occupational success and making more money. These things will only temporarily satisfy a person, if at all. Here is the Greek word, Strong’s G1466, that is translated “righteousness”.

δικαιοσύνη G1466 (dikaiosynē), righteousness, uprightness; δίκαιος G1465 (dikaios), upright, just, righteous; δικαιόω G1467 (dikaioō), justify, vindicate, treat as just, acquit, pronounce or treat as righteous, make or set free from; δικαίωμα G1468 (dikaiōma), regulation, requirement, commandment, righteous deed; δικαίως G1469 (dikaiōs), justly, in a just manner, uprightly; δικαίωσις G1470 (dikaiōsis), justification, vindication, acquittal. For ἀδικία (adikia), unrighteousness, and cognates → Sin.

H. Seebass et al., “Righteousness, Justification,” ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 352.

Righteousness is defined early in the Bible. It was shown to Israel how to be righteous in the eyes of the Creator God. Christianity today, for the most part, hates this definition of righteousness to the point that one will be ridiculed, mocked and cast out for suggesting it.

Matthew 5:11–12 (LEB): 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

They persecuted the prophets because they were always telling the leaders and people that they were not doing what Yahweh said to do. The definition of righteousness is found in Deuteronomy chapter six.

Deuteronomy 6:25 (LEB): 25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.

The word translated from Hebrew to “righteousness” in this verse is “Tsadaqah”.

To be righteous, we are to do all that Yahweh commanded. Yeshua helped explain this through the gospel accounts. It was already told to us by the prophets, but Yeshua came to embody righteousness. Justice, mercy, honesty, loving our neighbour and loving God are all examples of righteousness.

The ones that try to rob the blessings and satisfaction from us will call it “self righteousness” to try to do all that God commanded. It is simply lies that one should not listen to. Only listen to Yeshua, who is the Word of God, which is the word spoken through Moses and the prophets.

“Self righteousness”, as spoken about by Isaiah, is when one thinks they are righteous because of some man-made tradition they are doing. For example, people may think going to a church every time the doors are open is righteousness, or they are righteous because they do not smoke or consume any alcohol, or they do what is right in their own eyes and make an imaginary god that shares their beliefs. They replace God’s definition of righteousness with their own, along with their “personal Jesus”.

I have seen some belief systems use Isaiah 64:6 as an excuse not to regard the instructions of God. They will say that it is actually a sin and anyone who tries is “going back under the law”. The following verses are taken out of context when one says that when we try to do God’s definition of righteousness it is like filthy rags to God, when the verses in context are actually referring to those who abandoned the commandments doing their own form of righteousness.

Isaiah 64:4–7 (KJV 1900): 4 And since ancient times they have not heard, have not listened, no eye has seen a God except you; he acts for the one who waits for him. 5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, Those that remember thee in thy ways: Behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: In those is continuance, and we shall be saved. 6  But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: For thou hast hid thy face from us, And hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

We have been handed a lie when we are told “our righteousness are as filthy rags” when it is told to those seeking God’s will, meaning His instructions. We can call it dispensationalism theology, hyper grace theology, or any other theology that claims there is no true and right path. They are lying and it is why there is no satisfaction.

Yeshua pointed this out to the Pharisees. The traditions of men were more important to the Pharisees then the heart of the Torah.

Mark 7:5–8 (LEB): 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?” 6 So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. 7 And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”

Along with satisfaction, those thirsting for righteousness also are “blessed”. How do we know what it is to be blessed? Here are the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated to “blessed”.

In Greek and in Hebrew the word means happiness. Who does not want to be truly happy? One of my favourite Bible verses is from Psalms 119.

Psalm 119:165 (LEB): Great peace is for those who love your law, and they do not have a cause for stumbling.

Do you want “great peace”, happiness and satisfaction? Hunger and thirst for righteousness!

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash.

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

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 to “prove” that when we die we instantly go to heaven in some non-material form if we “believe” in Jesus. Otherwise, we are destined to hell in this same non-material form. I have heard this argued many times, yet it is rarely reconciled with the rest of scripture.

For example, does this mean that a non-material part of a person that dies, similar to a ghost, flies up to heaven? It would then mean at some point this ghost would have to reunite with it’s resurrected body. Would the resurrected body leave the grave to meet it’s ghost in heaven? Some say there is an army of ghosts of dead saints following Jesus on the white horse when he returns, spoken about in the book of Revelation. It becomes more messy when we add the rapture doctrine to this scenario.

John 5:28–29 (LEB): 28 “Do not be astonished at this, because an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and they will come out—those who have done good things to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil things to a resurrection of judgment.

According to Jesus, there will be a time when the dead will be raised where those that have practiced evil will go to a resurrection of judgment and those who have done good things to a resurrection of life. There is no indication of anyone being immortal before the resurrection.

Many churches teach that we should not try to “do good” or be righteous according to the scriptures description of righteousness because it makes us appear like we can save ourselves and diminishes what Jesus did for us. The churches that follow this doctrine will go as far as saying that the gospels were not written to us and we are only to follow the instructions of Paul. According to this theology, we are to ignore all of scripture and only get our doctrine from letters of Paul that were written to specific churches in the first century. However, Jesus told us at the resurrection it will be the people that do good who live.

In the book of Acts, Peter explains that David is still in the grave and never ascended to heaven.

Acts 2:29 (LEB): 29 “Men and brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us until this day.

Acts 2:34–35 (LEB): 34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’

Jesus tells us no one has ascended into heaven except himself:

John 3:12–13 (LEB): 12 If I tell you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

So what does Paul mean when he says, “so we are confident and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord”? Usually people leave out “rather to be”, and is why I say it is often misquoted. The verses are speaking about the resurrection in context and Paul is contrasting the difference between being at home in our earthy bodies compared to when we will have our resurrected bodies, at which time we will “be home with the Lord”, where we would rather be. Paul even refers to “being found naked”, which I assume is without an earthy body or resurrected body.

The idea of one being freed from their earthly body at death, and going to a good place or bad place, comes from mythology and philosophy. This completely leaves out Jesus’ work on the cross to free us from the curse of death and give us eternal life. Jesus conquered death by dying himself and resurrecting. The verses in Acts we looked at earlier showed that David was still in the grave, even after Jesus’ resurrection. Some people confuse the stories in mythologies where the hero goes to the under world and frees the people trapped there by thinking that is what Jesus somehow did when he died.

Jesus made it possible for everyone to resurrect at the appropriate time because he spent three days and nights dead in the grave before resurrecting. If he was dead in the grave, he certainly was not in paradise to meet the thief on the cross as some people also try to use to prove that we are immortal. The thief died and will resurrect with everyone else to be in paradise as Jesus promised at the end.

Revelation 22:1–5 (LEB): 22 And he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 in the middle of its street, and on both sides of the river is the tree of life, producing twelve fruits—yielding its fruit according to every month—and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will not be any curse any longer, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his slaves will serve him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will not exist any longer, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp and the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give light to them, and they will reign forever and ever.

What happens then when we die? I don’t think anyone can honestly answer that based on scripture. An emotional response would be something like, “I’m going to be with Jesus!”, without considering anything we just discussed. I prefer to try to understand as best I can what the scriptures actually say about death. It looks to me like when we die we “sleep” in the grave until the resurrection.

Hebrews 9:27–28 (LEB): 27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, 28 thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

There are many references in scripture equating being in the grave to sleep awaiting the resurrection. The only place I can find that describes what this will be like, are verses in the second book of Esdras that the New Revised Standard Bible includes in their apocrypha.

2 Esdras 7:88–101 (NRSV): 88 “Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from their mortal body. 89 During the time that they lived in it, they laboriously served the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly. 90 Therefore this is the teaching concerning them: 91 First of all, they shall see with great joy the glory of him who receives them, for they shall have rest in seven orders. 92 The first order, because they have striven with great effort to overcome the evil thought that was formed with them, so that it might not lead them astray from life into death. 93 The second order, because they see the perplexity in which the souls of the ungodly wander and the punishment that awaits them. 94 The third order, they see the witness that he who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life they kept the law with which they were entrusted. 95 The fourth order, they understand the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by angels in profound quiet, and the glory waiting for them in the last days. 96 The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and shall inherit what is to come; and besides they see the straits and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious liberty that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality. 97 The sixth order, when it is shown them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on. 98 The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been mentioned, because they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they press forward to see the face of him whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when glorified. 99 This is the order of the souls of the righteous, as henceforth is announced; and the previously mentioned are the ways of torment that those who would not give heed shall suffer hereafter.”

Some of the mainstream theologies in Christianity teach that when we die a non-material part of our being goes to a good place or bad place, when the resurrection is consistently taught in scripture. They also teach that we do not need to be concerned with any part of the Bible other than misinterpreted teachings of Paul, and we should not try to follow the instructions of “doing good” or righteousness taught by the Messiah himself. The same system of theology teaches that we are to no longer rest on the Sabbath and we should mix customs of other gods on our special holy days to honor the one true God. This sounds like a lot of deception to me.

Matthew 24:23–24 (LEB): 23 “At that time if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here he is,’ do not believe him! 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

One could argue that being asleep (dead) in a state of unconsciousness will seem as though there is no time that passes between death and the resurrection. The idea that our body goes into the grave and a non-material form floats away gives us scenarios of loved ones looking down at us from heaven, visiting the living in some form and a host of other fallacies. There are simply too many scriptures that do not allow for this philosophy. So we are confident and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord!

Featured photo by Arto Marttinen on Unsplash.

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
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The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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The Worthless Shepherd

“Woe, my worthless shepherd
who deserts the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm
and on his right eye!
May his arm wither completely
and 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 call the unclean clean and are described as devouring wolves. Are any of these references in the Bible relevant today? I say they are more than ever.

Zechariah 11:15–17 (LEB): 15 And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man, he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the fattened ones and tear apart even their hoofs. 17 “Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! May a sword fall on his arm and on his right eye! May his arm wither completely and his right eye be utterly blinded!”

Yahweh describes the worthless shepherd to Zechariah by the following attributes:

First, he will not attend to the ones perishing. This could be the elderly sick in bed or the surrounding area full of people lost without the knowledge of God in their life. Next, he will not seek the young men. The worthless shepherd surrounds himself with the old guard that keep the things of God locked up for fear of losing control. Then, the worthless shepherd will not “heal the ones that are crushed” and will “devour the flesh of the fattened ones”. In other words, he will live off of the rich who are more than willing to give resources to the one who tickles their ears with all the things they want to hear, while forsaking those who are of no use to him.

This sounds like a terrible situation, but these verses in Zechariah do not stand alone. Jeremiah also spoke of pastors that will go astray in the “latter days”.

Jeremiah 23:1–4 (LEB): 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture,” declares Yahweh. 2 Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, “You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I will punish you for the evil of your deeds,” declares Yahweh. 3 “Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous. 4 And I will raise up over them shepherds, and they will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear, and they will not be dismayed, and they will not be missing,” declares Yahweh.

God’s people are gathered by Him despite the shepherds that are working against the people and fighting the Creator. Later in the chapter we are pointed to the “latter days”.

Jeremiah 23:16–24 (LEB): 16 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you with visions of their mind, They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh. 17 They are continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, ‘Peace it will be to you,’ and to each one who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ 18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively to his word and heard it? 19 Look, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest. It will whirl upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of Yahweh will not turn back until his doing and until his keeping the plans of his mind. In latter days you will look closely at it with understanding. 21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. 23 Am I a God from near,” declares Yahweh, “and not a God from far? 24 Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?” declares Yahweh. “Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?” declares Yahweh.

This sounds like dispensationalism theology’s age of grace, where we no longer have to do anything God said, all the while being whisked away to a land far, far away in the rapture before anything bad happens “They are continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, ‘Peace it will be to you,’ and to each one who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ ” Then they say “Didn’t Jesus do enough on the cross?”, but they are leading everyone astray.

Even after speaking about the Righteous Branch coming, who we know is Yeshua, commonly called “Jesus” from the Greek “Iesous”, Yahweh tells us through the prophet Jeremiah that, “if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds”. The shepherds today that are saying His instructions are “nailed to the cross” or impossible to keep are fulfilling this prophecy. This is their worst crime; next in line is neglecting those in need, building empires and stealing the resources that could be used to feed and clothe people.

Ezekiel 22:26–29 (LEB): 26 Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. 27 Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. 28 And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practising divination for them by lying, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ and Yahweh has not spoken. 29 They severely oppress the people of the land, and they committed robbery, and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien without justice.

Declaring things “clean” that the Creator calls an abomination or detestable is the norm today in the Church. It became a tradition to eat ham for the spring festival of the sex goddess Easter to honor God at some point in history, and now the church allows all manners of abominations. Need I say more? We see the term “wolves” used in Ezekiel and it is likely where Paul lifted the term to describe the future of the church and the worthless shepherds.

Acts 20:29–30 (LEB): 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth in order to draw away the disciples after them.

Yeshua also referred to the wolves Ezekiel spoke about. Are we not able to trace the wolves through the history of the church changing everything away from the heart of the Creator to some new, unrecognizable religion that encourages the abandonment of all of the instructions of Yahweh?

Matthew 10:16–17 (LEB): 16 “Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 But beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues.

Matthew 7:15–20 (LEB): 15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.

Good trees produce good fruit. On the local level, what kind of fruit are the pastors producing? Is it strife, divisions and wantonness? How about on the world stage? Are the shepherds promoting the killing of innocent people by supporting those depriving them of the basic necessities? Bombing them relentlessly resulting in genocide? This is not good fruit.

Yeshua gives us the ultimate example to follow. The good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep and protects them from the wolves.

John 10:11–17 (LEB): 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf approaching and abandons the sheep and runs away—and the wolf seizes them and scatters them—13 because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep.14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep which are not from this fold. I must bring these also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock—one shepherd. 17 Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take possession of it again.

Yeshua laid down his life and conquered death by resurrecting so that we may also have eternal life. Be like the good shepherd and not like the wolves!

Featured photo by Bogdan Dogaru on Unsplash

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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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 the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Matthew 15:4–7 (LEB)

There are two schools of thought in Christianity regarding tradition. One says that the traditions were handed down from the apostles to the church fathers, pope and priests and that we are to obey them. The other position is “sola scriptura”, which means we are to follow scripture only.

From http://theorthodoxfaith.com/article/tradition-in-the-scriptures/: “Often Jesus associates tradition with the “tradition of men.” There is a distinction between traditions of men and traditions given by the Holy Spirit. Those traditions that Paul commands us to obey come from the Holy Spirit and not of men”.

So, the way the Orthodox Christians distance themselves from the Pharisees is to say their traditions come from the Holy Spirit and not from men. The Roman Catholics also have a similar stance on their traditions being handed to the fathers by the “the Spirit of truth”, and that they hold a higher place than the written word of God.

However, the Pharisees’ traditions came from the oral Torah which was also supposed to be given by God to Moses orally. The Protestants used the term “sola scriptura” to break away from the traditions of the Catholic church, but the protestants did not do a very good job of “sola scriptura” and seemed to copy a lot of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (LEB): 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught, whether by spoken word or by letter from us.

The Orthodox website I quoted earlier maintains that Paul told the Thessalonians to follow the traditions handed down to them. It continues by claiming the New International Version of the Bible changed the word “tradition” to “teachings”.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NIV): 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

The following is from the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology regarding the Greek word for “tradition”:

NT 1. In the NT paradidōmi occurs in all 120 times; of these 84 are in the Gospels, 13 in Acts, only 19 altogether in the Pauline Epistles (6 in Rom., 7 in 1 Cor., 3 in Eph., 1 each in 2 Cor., Gal., 1 Tim.), 3 in 1 and 2 Pet., 1 in Jude. It does not occur at all in Heb., Rev., and the Epistles of Jn.
In the NT paradosis never occurs in the sense of handing over or betrayal, but only in the sense of the transmission of doctrine (→ Teach, art. παράδοσις).

Now we know that there is an argument about the meaning of the Greek word paradidōmi, and whether or not the traditions of the church fathers, “given by the Holy Spirit”, have more weight than what word of God tells us.

This idea that the “Holy Spirit” gave instructions that supersede what we read in scripture is suspicious, especially if one believes the scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit continually change His mind? Who is the Holy Spirit? Is it not the Creator of the universe? I could start a tradition and tell everyone it came from the “Holy Spirit”, force people under my control to do it for hundreds of years through an institution and now we have just described hundreds of years of Christianity.

Jesus gives us the perfect example with the Pharisees’ oral tradition, supposedly from God, where one could give money to the priests in lieu of taking care of their parents. Here are some verses about how we should honor our mother and father.

Exodus 20:12 (LEB): 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days can be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.

Exodus 21:15–17 (LEB): 15 And whoever strikes his father or his mother will surely be put to death. 16 “ ‘And whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death. 17 “ ‘And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

Leviticus 19:3 (LEB): 3 Each of you must revere your mother and your father, and you must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God.

Jesus never seemed to quote anything from the oral Torah, which eventually was written down in what they call the Mishna. He was all about the “Word of God”

Matthew 4:4 (LEB): 4 But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Even this comes from the Word of God. Jesus never makes new doctrine and then tells us it is “from the Holy Spirit”.

Deuteronomy 8:1–4 (LEB): “All of the commandments that I am commanding you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and multiply, and you may go and take possession of the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors. 2 And you shall remember all of the way that Yahweh your God led you during these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what is in your heart, whether you would diligently keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live. 4 Your clothing did not wear out ⌊on you⌋, and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

We are free to believe whatever we want. If the Pharisees believed the “Holy Spirit” gave them oral tradition that said one could give money to the priests instead of honoring their parents, then that was their prerogative. Jesus came to correct their error and this ended in the crucifixion stake for him. What would Jesus think about the Greco-Roman tradition of Sunday being God’s new special day, replacing the Sabbath? This is clearly a tradition handed down through the church that makes the Sabbath commandment void. Was it given to the church fathers by the “Holy Spirit”, or is it a Christian version of the Pharisees’ tradition of giving money to the priests instead of taking care of one’s mother and father?

Here are some verses about the importance of the Sabbath.

Exodus 20:8–11 (LEB): 8 “Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. 9 Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who is in your gates—11 because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and consecrated it.

Isaiah 56:2–5 (LEB): 2 Happy is the man who does this, and the son of humankind who keeps hold of it, who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 And do not let the foreigner who joins himself to Yahweh say, “Surely Yahweh will separate me from his people.” And do not let the eunuch say, “Look! I am a dry tree!” 4 For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose that in which I delight, and who keep hold of my covenant. 5 And I will give them a monument and a name in my house and within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Did God change His mind about the Sabbath and tell the Holy Spirit to tell everyone it is to be changed to a different day with different traditions? That does not sound like the voice of the God in the Old Testament. Do we have a new God now? Jesus was very harsh with the Pharisees who viewed their traditions higher than the commandments of the God of the Old Testament. Would he not be just as indigent to those who completely changed the Sabbath?

Mark 7:6–8 (LEB): 6 So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. 7 And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”

Jesus quotes Isaiah, who was quoting God, saying that it is vain worship when we forsake the commandments of God. How is this not the case with the Sabbath? It was Roman law in 343 CE. “The Canons of the Synod Held in the City of Laodicea, in Phrygia Pacatiana, in which Many Blessed Fathers from Divers Provinces of Asia Were Gathered Together”.

Canon XXIX.
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.

This is actual Roman law making the commandment of God void, telling us to work on the Sabbath.

Are there other commandments of God made void by the traditions of men? By misusing Paul’s writings, millions of Christians have convinced themselves that most of God’s commandment’s are null and void. This is a precarious place to be once one discovers the true nature of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He selected a particular family from the earth, Genesis 26:5 (LEB): “because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” He told this family how to live and then extended the blessing to the whole world through Jesus the Messiah. Jesus simply pointed us back to the words of his Father. Now we have a big mess on our hands because people do anything they want and say it is from the “Holy Spirit”.

Other examples of replacing commandments of God with traditions of men is that of God’s feast days. The Father tells us His special days are Passover, First Fruits, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot and Sukkoth. Tradition has us replace Passover with Easter, a day mixed with traditions of the “queen of heaven”, with the eggs, baked cakes and rabbits; and then make up a day mixed with traditions from Roman and Nordic gods calling it the birth day of the son of God at the winter solstice. These traditions were not given by the “Holy Spirit” because the theme of all scripture is about the importance of keeping the commandments of God and not mixing worship with gods of others.

The Father gave us his secrets through Israel, and Jesus the Messiah gave us the ability to understand through the real Holy Spirit. The way to spot a tradition of man is to see where it leads. There have been many deceiving spirits, prophets and dreamers who have led Christianity astray. Just as the Father put the serpent in the garden, He has sent all these different traditions to see if we love Him enough to do what He said to do. Even the writings of Paul sit there in scripture giving the reader a choice to follow God or man. If one wants to believe God’s commandments are null and void they can use Paul to justify it and feel good about it, even though Paul said the law is spiritual, holy and good, and he also believed.

Acts 24:14–16 (LEB): 14 But I do confess this to you, that according to the Way (which they call a sect), so I worship the God of our fathers, believing all things that are in accordance with the law and that are written in the prophets, 15 having a hope in God which these men also themselves await: that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 For this reason also I myself always do my best to have a clear conscience toward God and people.

To learn the nature and voice of God, one must study what He said. Jesus emphasized the importance of love, mercy and justice and that is the purpose of God’s law.

Deuteronomy 12:32–13:4 (LEB): 32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”

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

It’s a test that unfortunately, many are failing.

The featured image is a meme made by 119 ministries.

Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.

The Test Results are in
The Blood of the New Covenant
Understanding the Law of Christ
The Importance of the Sabbath
Demons Confess: “Jesus is Lord”
The Great Day of the Lord Yahuah
Where is the Church in Prophecy
Mixing Iron and Clay

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Please check out my first book on Amazon titled, Finding God in Organized Religion. It is the story of my life focusing on my involvement with three major denominations, from my childhood to present, describing the good and bad, and what I learned during the process. This link is for the Canadian Amazon marketplace. It is also on many other Amazon international marketplaces.