I would like to write about a topic today that is fresh on the minds of those whom I have been interacting with who are on Facebook, since yesterday was Easter Sunday.
I have many people come up to me or contact me online asking about Torah and Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. I get many questions ranging from "Is the Old Testament for today?" to "How do I say the blessing when I light the candles for Shabbat?" to "How can you say Easter is pagan? It is when Jesus rose from the dead".
That being said, I want to talk about an important issue within the Body of Christ (Messiah) today. The issue is one of utmost importance and will grow in importance as we near the end of all days, the time when the anti-messiah (anti-christ) will be revealed, when people will be deceived into taking the mark of the beast thus sealing their fate forever in a burning lake of fire. That issue is the issue of MIXED WORSHIP.
I find it interesting that the reason the book of the Revelation, (that's right,the word is singular- there is only ONE revelation- the revelation of Yahushua HaMaschiach, you may know Him as Jesus the Christ) the enemy of God and His set-apart ones is described as a beast. A beast is an amalgammation, a mixture of things, like a mutant. And it is U-G-L-Y! This beast and the woman who sits atop it is responsible for having the kings of the earth commit adultery with her and they are drunk with her adulteries. She is drunk with the blood of the saints. I have heard many down through the years say they believe this is speaking of the Catholic church. I believe it is much bigger and more vast than the C.C. But I do believe the C.C. has become part of it, having adopted her ways as has been much documented. And so I believe most protestant and evangelical churches are hooked up to this beast because they have not yet purged out the leaven of pagan idolatry. More on that later.
The scripture gives us clues to what this beast is. I believe it is a false (counterfeit) religious system as well as a political and economic system. She is very pervasive in the world. She is called the "Whore of Babylon". This titles was given to Semiramis, wife of Nimrod who established sun god worship as the order of the day. The myth goes that she became the fertility goddess who took on different names in different cultures after Yahuah (God) scattered the people of Babylon across the face of the earth for their sin (God had instructed men to fill the earth and subdue it, not congregate in one city and worship created things (sun) rather than the Creator. You may know this demon as Ishtar, Astarte, Ashteroth, Eostra, from which we get our word Easter. Make no mistake, whether this woman actually did all her followers ascribe to her, she is an abomination to the Lord and her ways are an abomination.
You may be saying, why is this such a big deal? I mean, we are celebrating Christ rising from the dead, and you are talking about statues, which is all that idols are. After all, there aren't idols anymore, idolatry to us TODAY means greed, selfishness, drunkeness, ADDICTION...and so forth.
Not so fast. Number one, it does not matter what idolatry means to YOU. What matters is what God thinks about it. What He thinks about it is written in His Torah, the holy scriptures. Number two, while I agree that those things I listed are sin (sin means transgression of the Torah, or Law), they are not the same thing as idols. Idolatry did not change definition after the cross of Messiah, just as sin did not change definitions.
God treats the sin of idolatry very specifically. He told the Israelites not to seek out the idols in the pagan nations he was disposessing before them (Deut 12:30), not to worship them (Ex 20; Deut 11:16; Deut 12:30), not to even have the mention of THEIR names on their lips (Ex 23:13) AND NOT TO WORSHIP YHVH IN THOSE WAYS (Deut 12:30) for it is written: Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God. The scriptures make it very clear that we are not to take the practices of the pagan nations and worship the One True God, YHVH, with those ways, declaring it a "Feast unto the Lord" (Ex 32:5). For such is an abomination. God sent Israel into captivity not once but TWICE for doing so. In fact, Israel was guilty of worshipping YHVH, the God of Israel on the high places of the idols, complete with asherim, or asherah poles (not unlike our stripper poles today) and the ensuing sexual immorality. Can't get the sexual sin out of your own personal life or church? Revelation 2:20 says Jezebel (Jezeba'al) was responsible for leading the people of God (Christians) into the eating of foods sacrificed to idols AND INTO SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Read it. Your sexual problem is not merely rooted in looking at nudie magazines too much, it is due to the fact that you and/or the church is in agreement with Jezebel. We would see far more deliverance and victory in the church if we simply GOT RID OF HER. For Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spritual wickedness in the heavenly places. One of these principalities is the spirit of Jezebel.
Who was Jezebel? She was the worship leader for Ashterah, Easter. That fertility goddess and the sun god (Ba'al. Ba'al means 'master' or 'lord'). Why does Yahushua rebuke the believers for tolerating her if she died in the old testament? Because behind her (and every idol) is a demonic spirit that is opposed to Yah and His Word and wants to take all who are in agreement with it (and who participate with it) straight to hell. Jezebel opposes the prophet (the one who speaks God's Word, His Torah), the same way she opposed and tried to kill Elijah. So it will be in these last days. Jesus says in Revelation 20 He has given her "time to repent, but she was unwilling". How much time? Well, the Catholic church and the protestant and evangelical churches who descended from her have inherited her sin because the early church fathers incorporated and combined pagan practices (including that old pesky sun god and fertility goddess worship in the forms of both Christmas and Easter) into the worship of Christ. I would say Jesus has given the church as a whole, a few centuries to repent of Jezebel. But she is unwilling. Are you?
Now do you still think the sin of idolatry doesn't apply to believers? For those of you who think the "Law" (Torah) was done away with at the cross and none of this stuff applies to us anymore, I encourage you to read the following article:
http://www.annomundi.com/bible/should_christians_observe_torah.htm
And also read the many scriptures in Matthew where Jesus Himself said, "Think not that I came to abolish the Torah" (Matt 5:17), that anyone who lives according to these commandments of Torah and teaches others to do the same will be called greatest in the kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:19), and even that those who transgress the Torah will be told "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you" (Luke 13:27). What does "workers of iniquity" mean? It means "you transgressors of the Law (Torah)".
For the Christian who says, "Oh, but Jesus only gave us only 2 commandments: Love God will all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31) I say this: part of loving God IS TO NOT COMMIT IDOLATRY.
But we want to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. Why can't we do it on Easter Sunday? For one, Jesus did NOT rise from the dead on Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is pagan, always has been (before Jesus even came to earth) and always will be pagan. Jesus said He would be THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the earth. How do you get 3 days and 3 nights from "Good Friday" until Sunday? Even my two year old can count to three. There's something wrong with that logic. The Sunday resurrection is a tradition of man, the root thereof is pagan. For a more in-depth study on this, go here:
http://apostlearthurbailey.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/did-jesus-yeshua-resurrect-on-sunday/
And here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/note.php?note_id=67079012108&id=533905209&ref=mf
The following article, then, begs the question, "Whose Resurrection are you celebrating?":
http://www.facebook.com/Lioness4Yeshua#!/note.php?note_id=71595887108&id=533905209&ref=mf
So when do we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus?? My answer to that is, how about on the actual day and Feast upon which He rose? The Feast of Firstfruits, which this year, as in the year He was crucified, was on Saturday (Sabbath), exactly 2 days ago (California time). NOT yesterday, which was "Easter Sunday".
The issue of this mixed worship is also echoed throughout the New Testament. The admonition to not be equally yoked with non believers (2 Cor 6:14) would certainly apply to the unequal yoking to pagan gods (such as Easter) for the verse goes on to say, "...or what harmony has Messiah with Belial (Ba'al)?" (vv. 15).
Which Jesus Are You Serving?
It is the tactic (scheme) of the enemy of your soul to gradually and oh-so-subtly change, twist, and pervert your pure devotion to the Messiah into the worship of ANOTHER god. For instance, if the Jesus you are serving is full of grace and not a whole lotta truth, contrary to what scripture says about the True Jesus, then you are serving a different Jesus. If the Jesus you are serving only loves, but does not chastize, judge, or condemn, then you are serving a different Jesus. If the Jesus you are serving says "what's right for you may not be right for me" (cultural relativism), then you are not serving the Jesus of the Bible. If you are serving a Jesus that says you must only believe in your heart (or mind) but do not have to repent, then you, my friend, are serving a different Jesus. If you are worshipping a Jesus who was "resurrected" from the dead on "Easter Sunday" the HIGH PLACE OF ANOTHER god....despite the clear teaching of scripture....well, you get the point. My admonition for you, then, is to repent. Turn to the One Who purchased freedom and eternal life for you with His own blood. Not so you could continue sinning (transgressing the Torah), but so that you may walk with Him, walk in His ways.
What Does This Mean For Me?
We are nearing the very last of the end of days. As from the beginning, satan has mixed his corrupt and wicked seed with the pure seed of Truth. But in the end, the Creator of the Universe is going to demand a harvest. And a separation of the wheat from the tares. All of our works will be brought into account and we will be rewarded according to those works. But not so fast. BEFORE that happens, the whole world will be tested. There will be a grand delusion, many deceivers (Matthew 24) arising and claiming "I am HE" (the annointed one) and such confusion and deception, that even the elect would be deceived if it were possible. (Matt 24:24). Satan will pull the greatest magic trick in all of history with the aim of taking as many people to the pit of hell with him as he can. And those who do not know their God according to His Word, will not recognize the lawless one (Torahless one) when he arises on the scene. Both groups: those who hold to Torah (such as unbeleiving Jews) but who do not have the Blood of the Lamb of God who is Yahushua HaMashiach on their hearts, and those who claim to have the blood but who refuse to follow His Word (Torah) have the spirit of anti-christ and will be misled into the lake of fire. They will be duped into following a counterfeit. Why? Because through their mixed worship, their unholy mixture, they will have been serving him all along. They will not know they have been duped. Their worship was gradually transferred over to a counterfeit who looked like the real thing. They accepted a lie, one untruth and one "flattery" at a time. Dan 11:32: With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him." (emphasis mine). Which covenant? The Torah. The way in which we know Him. Of which Jesus is the Torah made flesh (John 1:14).
The Bible says that men have abandoned the truth because they no longer tolerate sound teaching. 1Ti 4:1 says, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." The bitter poison is already in the mixture.
And so it is with sober love and intense desire for you that I encourage you with the words of Jesus in Revelation 18:4:
"Come out of her [Babylon], my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues" (clarification mine).
And also, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (Torahlessness)." (2 Ti 2:19).
It has taken me awhile to "come out of Babylon" myself. Sometimes I wonder how long God was waiting for me to repent. I wonder if I had to go through all I have gone through: backsliding, trials, sin, and all, if I had just simply repented. Repented of idolatry. Repented of my pride.
Repentance is a process. We are all in that process of sanctification and repentance. It is an ongoing process as we are being conformed to His image. We are all in the transition of coming out of Babylon. But make no mistake...we MUST come all the way OUT. It is not enough to know the truths of scripture as head knowledge. A response is required. And most times a sacrifice as well. But usually that sacrifice is pride or the fear of man, which will burn up in the fire anyway. Oh so much depends upon it.
Shalom.
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