If you have been watching the news lately or following the stories coming out of France at all, then you know that that nation is entering a time of civil unrest and upheaval. In response to austerity measures imposed by President Sarkozy, demonstrations led by the unions have been in progress for 7 days and recently have broken out in violence. The strikes have also led to fuel shortages and shut-downs of air and railway travel throughout different parts of the country. The measure which has our debonaire older-brother in a tizzy? They have decided to raise the age of retirement benefits from 60 to 62! Mon Dieu!
Why should we be WATCHING what is going on in places like France and Greece? Because the United States is not far behind them. We're broke! Not only that, we live in an entitlement-minded society, just as they do. We are experiencing an atrocious national debt crisis with the threat that the Fed is about to announce it will begin printing more fiat money, which weakens the dollar and inflation is not too far behind. Not to mention the stage is set for civil upheaval due to the discontentedness of many Americans with the status quo in this country of taxing and spending our children's futures into oblivion and trampling upon the Constitution. Time Magazine (YES!-TIME Magazine!) has now commented that civil war is even a possibility. All one needs to do is plant that seed into the minds of some men who are prone to live and die by the sword and you have one disasterous crop at harvest time.
Then there are those who believe if we stick to our principles and the Constituion, that after all you-know-what breaks loose, we can re-build and re-make America into the great nation it was supposed to be.
I say- No. I don't think so. America's glory is fading, perhaps for good.
Our nation has entered into a cycle of divine judgement from which we are beyond the realm of an easy fix. Having a couple prayer vigils a month is not going to change that. We have entered a sovereign time on the calendar of YHVH. Yeshua said in Matthew 24 there would be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet. These are merely birth pains. They will intensify and increase in frequency.
Will we see civil unrest like they are seeing in France? I don't know. And I am not trying to fear-monger. I am simply looking at the climate and looking into the scripture which always predicts accurately. Your government will not save you. If you have been trusting in it thus far, you are in for a rude awakening. It is time to become as self-sufficient as possible. I do know the economic and political situation in our nation is not improving and as I have said before, fallen flesh does not care about your precious life, or that of your children's or your posessions when they have a growl in their tummies and a life philosophy of get yours while you can. A total disregard for human life does not a lawfully abiding citizen make. Even law-abiding, level-headed people don't act towards others with the guidance of the Golden Rule when their backs are against the wall and they are desperate. Put a whole bunch of those together and what do you have?
My mom just lost a friend to a horrendously violent crime. She was shot by her husband before he turned the gun on himself. Their two teenage boys found them in the bedroom. My sincere and heartfelt prayers go out to their family.
Sad to say, but this is becoming all-too-commonplce in our lives today.
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5a)
Batten down the hatches. We're in for a bumpy ride.
Shalom.
**
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
A Feast, A Sign, and a Set-Up?
A Feast
This week we are in the middle of Sukkot, or YHVH's Feast of Tabernacles. I say this is YHVH's Feast (rather than a Jewish feast) because this feast originated with the Creator Elohim (God), and not with the Jewish people. The Jews merely kept this feast. YHVH first commanded this feast, as He did with all of these appointed feasts, or appointments, in Leviticus 23. During this feast, He called the people of Israel to live in tents (booths or sukkot) for 7 days to remember how the children of Israel lived in tents for 40 years in the desert after YHVH brought them out of Egypt with signs, miracles, and wonders. The Feast is punctuated by a Sabbath day of rest on both the first and last day of the Feast. It lasts 8 days total. In Leviticus 23 it is written to rejoice before YHVH our Elohim and to bring offerings. No work is to be done on the first and last days of this festival.
We just got back from a quick camp out with some friends in the beautiful hills of California and we had wonderful fellowship, barbeque, singing, hiking, swimming. The children loved playing together. Apart from my children who cried several times during the night and woke everybody up, (!) it was a very relaxing and fun time hanging out with our spiritual mishpocah (family)doing what Elohim has called us to do at the time He has called us to do it.
Since this feast is a big one, our friends shared with us how they have decided to celebrate by giving gifts to their children (and thus I imagine making an indelible mark in their children's memories forever). Since this is this family's first year of not observing the pagan holiday of Christmas, they wanted to transition to YHVH's feasts in this way instead. We talked about how each person and each family is in a process with coming out of Babylon and her counterfeited ways and holidays and how each person and family does this at their own pace as they feel the leading of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). We all process truth and change at varying degrees and our Elohim did not make a bunch of cookie-cutter human beings. That would be boring and it would not bring Him glory. But the love for the Truth which this family has is very inspiring to me and freshens up my own walk just observing how fervent they are in the faith. It is truly what spurs one another on toward love and good deeds, as the scripture says to do.
A Sign
On Yom Teruah, our friends used the space application (I don't know the name of it) on their Apple I-Pad to look at the constellations as they are in real time. This app is very cool- you can point it anywhere in the sky and it will show you exactly where the constellations are in relationship to each other. Well, on this particular feast (the Feast of Trumpets-Sept 11th 2010), which prophetically began the beginning of the end, or Daniel's 70th week, our friends spotted a very interesting configuration that I hope you will find encouraging, and confirming, as our Elohim has given us the heavenly bodies for signs and for seasons, for months and for years (Gen 1:14). They saw the constellation of Leo the Lion (which represents Yeshua- the Lion of the Tribe if Judah) with his paw on top of the serpent's (Hydra's) head! This made me think of the prophecy of what Messiah Yeshua would do to the devil in Genesis 3:15. The NIV reads like this:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (Messiah) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
(clarification mine).
Indeed, at the execution stake, Yeshua did crush the head (which symbolizes authority)of the serpent.
We also know that in the book of the Revelation in chapter 12 there is another sign in the heavens and that is the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet, with a crown of 12 stars on her head. There is a dragon who seeks to kill her man child as soon as he is born, but he is caught up to heaven, and so the dragon goes after the rest of her offspring to devour them. The woman represents Israel, the 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel, the dragon is the devil, the man child is Yeshua, and the rest of her offspring are those who have the testimony of Yeshua and who obey God's commandments. This particular arrangement of stars will happen during the time of the end, the great tribulation. According to NASA projections, this configuration will appear above Jerusalem in a few years from now at sunrise. I will research to confirm the date and post it in the near future.
Father God loves the world and did indeed send His only begotten Son, Yeshua, to earth to die a horrible death in our place to pay for the judgement we so deserved for our sins (John chapter 3). He not only gave us His Word, but also confirmed it in the heavens (heavenly bodies). He wants the world to know His good news so that they will believe, repent, and be saved from eternal damnation. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Could He also want those who are His, the followers of Yeshua, to be encouraged and reminded of this at the start of Daniel's 70th week, the time of the end? Friend, I hope you are as encouraged as I am, that on Elohim's Feast of Trumpets (which fell on Sept 11th this year), YHVH sent a sign in the constellations to remind us that He is victorious! That He (and those who remain fathful to Him til the end) wins in the end! No matter what the circumstances look like, no matter what the cost is of serving Him in these last hours, no matter what you may be facing in your life....NO MATTER WHAT!
Now sit and think about that.
A Set-Up?
Also this week I caught wind that the deceiver is revving up his engines again getting ready for the grand deception which will envelope the whole world. One news report has the United Nations set to appoint their Contact Person (pardon the pun) or the ambassador to aliens from outer space. Apparently, this person has already been speaking out about the importance of the position. To read the article, copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/un-to-appoint-earth-contact-for-aliens/story-e6frfku0-1225929498742
This is just another brick on the foundation for what the enemy has in store for all of those who will believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 says: For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.
What is the reason God sends (them) powerful delusion? That they had not a love for the truth. Exactly what the delusion is, we do not know for certain. But we know that it may be possible for the elect to be deceived and that is why we want to walk in the truth in these last days, as we are led and guided into all truth by the Ruach HaKodesh.
Will there be "contact" made in the near future by extra terrestrials? Only time will tell. But it will be part of a powerful deception. At best, these "beings" are demons or possibly nephilim (due to limited time and scope, I am not able to go deeply into this subject at this time, perhaps in a future post). But for those who "watch" world events with discernment and diligence, all these manipulations, upheavals and cover-ups are starting to paint a very distressing scenario. Be assured of this one thing: Elohim is not taken off guard. He knows and He has told us. He declares the end from the beginning and He is sovereign. He shall be a sure foundation for our times for those who have the fear of Elohim for Isaiah 33:6 says so:
He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
Also this past week, we caught wind of a so-called cult in Los Angeles with whom the authorities intervened. Now, whether this was an actual cult or not, I don't know. I do know this: there will be some true believers who will be made to be examples to the rest of society in order to marginalize those who will cling to truth and not to the system in these last days. Many will be made out to be fools in front of the world in a attempt to influence the masses. Be alert! Be aware! And know that the enemy will use all manner of lies and manipulation to get you to not believe the truth. That is why we must be firmly grounded in the truth, rather than our feelings or our opinions. Even our own feelings and opinions can lie to us and they often do. Investigate for yourself and study the Word diligently so that you are not taken in by these set-ups for deception.
The stage for deception has been set for many decades, if not centuries. But Revelation does tell us one thing: that there will come a point in time when the devil, the adversary (called Ha Satan) will be thrown down to the earth and will be furiously seeking to devour the people of God because he knows his time is short and those same people, the scripture tells us, will sit in judgement of angels, which includes him. One of his go-to weapons in his arsenal, and this has been the case since the Garden of Eden, is deception. May we be girded about with the truth instead during this hour.
Shalom!
**
This week we are in the middle of Sukkot, or YHVH's Feast of Tabernacles. I say this is YHVH's Feast (rather than a Jewish feast) because this feast originated with the Creator Elohim (God), and not with the Jewish people. The Jews merely kept this feast. YHVH first commanded this feast, as He did with all of these appointed feasts, or appointments, in Leviticus 23. During this feast, He called the people of Israel to live in tents (booths or sukkot) for 7 days to remember how the children of Israel lived in tents for 40 years in the desert after YHVH brought them out of Egypt with signs, miracles, and wonders. The Feast is punctuated by a Sabbath day of rest on both the first and last day of the Feast. It lasts 8 days total. In Leviticus 23 it is written to rejoice before YHVH our Elohim and to bring offerings. No work is to be done on the first and last days of this festival.
We just got back from a quick camp out with some friends in the beautiful hills of California and we had wonderful fellowship, barbeque, singing, hiking, swimming. The children loved playing together. Apart from my children who cried several times during the night and woke everybody up, (!) it was a very relaxing and fun time hanging out with our spiritual mishpocah (family)doing what Elohim has called us to do at the time He has called us to do it.
Since this feast is a big one, our friends shared with us how they have decided to celebrate by giving gifts to their children (and thus I imagine making an indelible mark in their children's memories forever). Since this is this family's first year of not observing the pagan holiday of Christmas, they wanted to transition to YHVH's feasts in this way instead. We talked about how each person and each family is in a process with coming out of Babylon and her counterfeited ways and holidays and how each person and family does this at their own pace as they feel the leading of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). We all process truth and change at varying degrees and our Elohim did not make a bunch of cookie-cutter human beings. That would be boring and it would not bring Him glory. But the love for the Truth which this family has is very inspiring to me and freshens up my own walk just observing how fervent they are in the faith. It is truly what spurs one another on toward love and good deeds, as the scripture says to do.
A Sign
On Yom Teruah, our friends used the space application (I don't know the name of it) on their Apple I-Pad to look at the constellations as they are in real time. This app is very cool- you can point it anywhere in the sky and it will show you exactly where the constellations are in relationship to each other. Well, on this particular feast (the Feast of Trumpets-Sept 11th 2010), which prophetically began the beginning of the end, or Daniel's 70th week, our friends spotted a very interesting configuration that I hope you will find encouraging, and confirming, as our Elohim has given us the heavenly bodies for signs and for seasons, for months and for years (Gen 1:14). They saw the constellation of Leo the Lion (which represents Yeshua- the Lion of the Tribe if Judah) with his paw on top of the serpent's (Hydra's) head! This made me think of the prophecy of what Messiah Yeshua would do to the devil in Genesis 3:15. The NIV reads like this:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (Messiah) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
(clarification mine).
Indeed, at the execution stake, Yeshua did crush the head (which symbolizes authority)of the serpent.
We also know that in the book of the Revelation in chapter 12 there is another sign in the heavens and that is the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon at her feet, with a crown of 12 stars on her head. There is a dragon who seeks to kill her man child as soon as he is born, but he is caught up to heaven, and so the dragon goes after the rest of her offspring to devour them. The woman represents Israel, the 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel, the dragon is the devil, the man child is Yeshua, and the rest of her offspring are those who have the testimony of Yeshua and who obey God's commandments. This particular arrangement of stars will happen during the time of the end, the great tribulation. According to NASA projections, this configuration will appear above Jerusalem in a few years from now at sunrise. I will research to confirm the date and post it in the near future.
Father God loves the world and did indeed send His only begotten Son, Yeshua, to earth to die a horrible death in our place to pay for the judgement we so deserved for our sins (John chapter 3). He not only gave us His Word, but also confirmed it in the heavens (heavenly bodies). He wants the world to know His good news so that they will believe, repent, and be saved from eternal damnation. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Could He also want those who are His, the followers of Yeshua, to be encouraged and reminded of this at the start of Daniel's 70th week, the time of the end? Friend, I hope you are as encouraged as I am, that on Elohim's Feast of Trumpets (which fell on Sept 11th this year), YHVH sent a sign in the constellations to remind us that He is victorious! That He (and those who remain fathful to Him til the end) wins in the end! No matter what the circumstances look like, no matter what the cost is of serving Him in these last hours, no matter what you may be facing in your life....NO MATTER WHAT!
Now sit and think about that.
A Set-Up?
Also this week I caught wind that the deceiver is revving up his engines again getting ready for the grand deception which will envelope the whole world. One news report has the United Nations set to appoint their Contact Person (pardon the pun) or the ambassador to aliens from outer space. Apparently, this person has already been speaking out about the importance of the position. To read the article, copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/un-to-appoint-earth-contact-for-aliens/story-e6frfku0-1225929498742
This is just another brick on the foundation for what the enemy has in store for all of those who will believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 says: For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.
What is the reason God sends (them) powerful delusion? That they had not a love for the truth. Exactly what the delusion is, we do not know for certain. But we know that it may be possible for the elect to be deceived and that is why we want to walk in the truth in these last days, as we are led and guided into all truth by the Ruach HaKodesh.
Will there be "contact" made in the near future by extra terrestrials? Only time will tell. But it will be part of a powerful deception. At best, these "beings" are demons or possibly nephilim (due to limited time and scope, I am not able to go deeply into this subject at this time, perhaps in a future post). But for those who "watch" world events with discernment and diligence, all these manipulations, upheavals and cover-ups are starting to paint a very distressing scenario. Be assured of this one thing: Elohim is not taken off guard. He knows and He has told us. He declares the end from the beginning and He is sovereign. He shall be a sure foundation for our times for those who have the fear of Elohim for Isaiah 33:6 says so:
He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
Also this past week, we caught wind of a so-called cult in Los Angeles with whom the authorities intervened. Now, whether this was an actual cult or not, I don't know. I do know this: there will be some true believers who will be made to be examples to the rest of society in order to marginalize those who will cling to truth and not to the system in these last days. Many will be made out to be fools in front of the world in a attempt to influence the masses. Be alert! Be aware! And know that the enemy will use all manner of lies and manipulation to get you to not believe the truth. That is why we must be firmly grounded in the truth, rather than our feelings or our opinions. Even our own feelings and opinions can lie to us and they often do. Investigate for yourself and study the Word diligently so that you are not taken in by these set-ups for deception.
The stage for deception has been set for many decades, if not centuries. But Revelation does tell us one thing: that there will come a point in time when the devil, the adversary (called Ha Satan) will be thrown down to the earth and will be furiously seeking to devour the people of God because he knows his time is short and those same people, the scripture tells us, will sit in judgement of angels, which includes him. One of his go-to weapons in his arsenal, and this has been the case since the Garden of Eden, is deception. May we be girded about with the truth instead during this hour.
Shalom!
**
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Reflecting on Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur 2010
Yesterday was Yom Kippur according to the Creator's Calendar. I would like to make a distinction here between the Creator's Calendar and the Rabbinic Jewish calendar, although I know many believers in Yeshua do go by the traditional Jewish, or rabbinic one.
The Creator's calendar goes according to the written scriptures, the TANAKH (or Old Testament) and is dictated by the moon cycles and the state of ripeness of the barley called "aviv". YHVH gave this calendar so that we, His creation, could easily and discernably know His moedim (or feasts), even before the age of technology, the internet, or even telescopes. The average farmer could look at the sky and discern which season it was and also when the feast days were. Our Elohim did not want us to be ignorant, nor did He want us to miss our appointments (moedim) with Him.
The rabbinic calendar was established by the last Sanhedrin to convene in Israel before Israel would once again go into exile, after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. The rabbis established a calendar which all of world Jewry could participate in the festivals while they were in exile because they would not be in the Land of Israel to declare the onset of the New Year in the spring with the "aviv" barley harvests and the sighting of the New Moon. This system worked while Israel was in exile.
However, Israel is now no longer in exile. She is established back in her own land and can once again follow the Creator's calendar the way He prescribed it in the scriptures. How else will she be able to discern the times and seasons of YHVH, especially at and near the end of the age? Yeshua chastized the pharisees for folowing man's traditions instead of rightly discerning the times and seasons (specifically Yeshua's first coming) according to the written Word, the Torah, which they had been custodians of for centuries. How much more will He chastize those who, now that we have the restoration of His calendar, are willfully ignorant or neglectful?
Despite the fact that Israel is back in the Land and can observe the onset of the new year according to the state of the barley and the moon cycles, they continue, for the most part, to follow the rabbinic Jewish calendar. This calendar is usually off from the Creator's calendar by as much as a week or 2. "So what?" You may say. As long as we are all doing the festivals, who cares on which days we actually do them, right? Wrong!
No word in scripture is put in there by accident. There is not ONE idle word. Every command, every instruction is put there for a reason and you bet our God has a plan for every one of them. When it comes to the fall feasts in particular, our Father in Heaven has a very specific purpose He will fulfill with them (including the fall feasts prior to and leading up to the second coming of Yeshua). That is why Yeshua was always telling parables about servants who were watching and waiting for their master to return. Likewise, our Elohim has a very specific timeline He will follow during this time. Guess who else will have a specific plan to fulfill during the time of the end? That is right- ha satan (the devil)and his false, or counterfeit messiah, also called the son of lawlessness, the son of perdition, and the antichrist. Knowing when YOUR Messiah is expected to show up is crucial. Whoever heard of a bride who did not know when her wedding would take place? What's worse, the bride does not want to show up for the WRONG WEDDING!
Is that possible? Matthew 24:24 seems to think so. It says: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible.
In the Greek language of this manuscript of Matthew, the implication seems to be that it WILL be possible that the elect could be deceived. Remember Yeshua said see to it that NO MAN deceives you! He would not say that if it were not possible, for He knows it is written in Jeremiah that the human heart is deceitfully wicked above ALL ELSE and who can know its contents? So the human heart can even be deceitful above all that is created....including the devil himself. And he will decieve with false and lying signs and wonders in the last days.
Therefore, we must look diligently at the fruit of anyone claiming to be His in these last hours. This is something that is a continual learning process for me. However, I know for sure there are three criteria which are ESSENTIAL in order to detect the real from the fake:
#1 Does the (person being considered) follow the Torah? The Torah is the plumbline for all who come in the Name of YHVH and with His authority. If they are torahless or lawless in their attitudes concerning Yah's instructions, that person IS NOT sent from Elohim and is false or in the least, in error. Oftentimes a person or ministry will simply be in error, following man-taught false relgion and simply needs to be corrected and warned. Doing the correcting or warning does not make one popular to say the least, but it is necessary. Giving the message they need to hear in order to turn around (repent) is crucial.
#2 Yeshua of Nazareth IS the Son of God, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Period. If teaching or people attempts to negate this fact or minimize or erase it, ditch that teaching. We do not have forgiveness for our sins apart from Messiah. He came and fulfilled every spring feast of YHVH to the tee. Our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight, and, contrary to what rabbinic judaism may teach, righteous works or deeds (mitzvot) will not get you forgiveness or entry into Heaven. This goes for Jews as well as for Gentiles. I know some believers who have renounced Yeshua in order to fit in to Judaism or even to imigrate to Israel.
#3 Does the (person, teaching, or ministry being considered), follow the timeline of YHVH as evidenced in the Torah?? Only YHVH and His representatives will do according to His commanded feasts. The false Messiah, as the prophet Daniel foretold, has CHANGED the times and seasons to seek to deceive the elect. The solar calendar by which the world goes by today was changed many years ago. The anti-messiah knows this is a very important step in tripping up those who have responded to the Good News. Yeshua was not born on Dec 25th and crucified on Good Friday with an Easter Sunday resurrection. That is counterfeit. He was crucified on Passover and raised on Firstfruits. Anything else is a false Yeshua, no matter what name they call him by, and the author is satan. Flee from such a counterfeit.
In the TANAKH, a prophet of Elohim was determined by if what he said came to pass, AND if he followed the Torah. If a prophet came, prophesied future events ACCURATELY, and yet said, "Come, let us follow other gods...." that person was a FALSE PROPHET and you were not to follow or obey him. In fact, that person would be taken outside the camp and stoned.
So it is no surprise NOTHING has CHANGED! We are still to hold up teaching to the Torah to see if it be a counterfeit fake, or if it be the real deal from YHVH.
That is why it may have been a non-deal-breaker-issue to follow the rabbinic calendar in the past, but why it is oh-so-important to be not only learning about the appointed times of YHVH in these last days, but to be WALKING IN THEM. For the whole Hebrew concept of "To hear" (Shema Yisrael....) is TO DO. We receive deeper and clearer understanding of His instructions AS WE DO THEM.
I ALMOST MISSED THE APPOINTMENT!
In the sixth month, I missed the sighting of the new moon. I was devastated. In fact, I had a holy envy when I had heard that the beloved believers had gathered the night prior and sighted the new moon, blowing the shofar and enjoying felowship on this feast when I had forgotten. I had been looking forward to it, but because we had had a really busy week and I was exhausted, I let my focus drift. It is so easy to do! I knew this was an important month to be "watching" for, for it led up to the seventh month, the first day of which THIS YEAR declared a very important season on Elohim's prophetic calendar (the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week-see article entitled Season of Sorrow Season of Joy). I was grieved in the way a lover is grieved about missing a date with her beloved. I felt like I really missed out. And knowing that it is oh so easy to get into drift mode in this day and age, I did not want to start slacking and falling back asleep. Yeshua warned against becoming weighed down with drunkeness, debauchery, and the cares of this life. I don't know one person who can say their life is not full of cares right now. Even if they habitually give them over to Elohim. Joblessness, finances, children running amok or in danger of doing so, sickness, sleeplessness (hello-that's my achilles heel!). And yet, in all of His parables, Yeshua made clear that it is the faithful servant who seeks.
Fortunately for me, I have brothers and sisters in the faith who help to keep me on track, encourage me, and keep in touch, sharpening me. Thankfully, I was ready for Yom Teruah the following month. Also, thankfully, the instructions for finding the Creators calendar are clear in the Word. And despite all the spiritual warfare onslaught which sought to distract me and prevent me from making my appointment (family sicknesses, and cooties, teething baby, exhaustion, and husband's work schedule), I was there to sight the new moon of the seventh month with my husband and children in a nearby soccer field. My husband blew the shofar and my 3 year old son blew his toy shofar. We had some fellow believers from the Sonora fellowship on speakerphone with us who were blowing the shofar at the same time, making it a holy convocation sponsored by T-Mobile. No, just joking. But it was joyful and I'm sure we gave the soccer players and their parents quite a show they had not anticipated!
Ten days later came Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement- a day of no work, of denying oneself, and reflecting on the sacrifice atonement of our Messiah, Yeshua. He paid for it ALL, once and for all (see Hebrews 7:27 and 9:12).
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON THE FALL FEASTS
This fall was the first year I had stopped giving lip service to observing the Sabbath days and festivals and actually started doing them. In the spring, it was the first time I had actually observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread, abstaining from foods containing yeast, and this fall was the first time I observed Yom Teruah as prescribed on the correct date.
Ya know, something wonderful happened. Even amidst all the hindrances the enemy tried to bring. Our Father is wise and knows if we diligently seek Him, if we really invest in finding Him, that it will be all the more rewarding for us. And we will be permanently changed. Perhaps this is one of the reasons He allows us to come across hindrances to the truth in the first place. Still, I felt for the first time in my life, like I was truly in the middle of the will of the Father, because it was there in plain sight in the scriptures, regardless and in spite of "evidence" in the natural to the contrary, and in spite of my feelings, because it was important for me to obey no matter what happened. Like it was practice for obedience when true adversity comes. I feel like something was added to my character. Moreover, I felt like the Father was giving me insight into how as Creator He has ordered everything in His will perfectly. Even the bad stuff that happens in life. He wants the gold in us. He wants to refine us according to His image, rather than the image of the world.
And El Shaddai has even provided for us in giving us His moedim. If you subscribe to the last days scenario, as many of you do, which says that Elohim will treat the remnant as He did our forefathers bringing them out of Egypt by bringing them out of Babylon, through the wilderness during the time of the great tribulation (last three and a half years prior to Messiah's return), and care for the "woman" in the desert (see Revelation 12), then there must be a plan of sustenance, and even provision for her. These are the things that have occured to me this fall that I have never realized before. YHVH has provided for His people in His appointed feasts, as they are meant to be rehearsals to ready us for the time of trial ahead:
* Yom Teruah- The sound of the shofar opens our ears (awakens us) to His feasts/appointments, which we need to be paying attention to in the last days. "Hear O Israel..."
*Yom Kippur- in addition to turning our attention to the hideousnes of sin in the eyes of Abba, and Yeshua's atoning sacrifice for all of our sins, the fasting itself prepares the remnant for times of dying to self, and maybe even times of literal hunger and thirst. When His people who have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and stand before the throne, Revelation 7:16 says "Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst...." Surely there must be some hungering and thirsting ahead of us (next year's famine perhaps?) and so having been prepared spiritually for this must be important.
*Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, in addition to being the Festival of Joy and the wedding feast to be fulfilled when Yeshua returns for His thousand year reign, also prepares the people of YHVH to live in tents, literally, to live in tents as the children of Israel did in the desert. The remnant will be preserved in the wilderness once she "Comes out of.." Babylon prior to Yeshua's coming. It is there YHVH meets with her face to face in the wilderness. There the Bride's garments will be made spotless; He will protect her and provide for her. If she has already been obeying Elohim by walking in His ways (observing His moedim), then she will be used to doing this at this time every year. It will not seem like such a major adjustment.
What a kind and merciful God! He has already provided (centuries) before we even had the need! NOW I SEE THAT HIS FEASTS WERE MEANT TO PROVIDE FOR US DURING THE TIME OF THE END, THE TIME OF GREAT TRIBULATION DURING WHICH IS THE TIME OF GREATEST SORROWS AS THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.* I never saw this truth before I started being obedient, truly obedient to walk in His ways.
Up until fairly recently, I had been looking forward to this coming season with dread and fear. When I had heard that Elohim provided such a plan for His people and that this scenario was possibly painted in the scriptures, I suddenly had total peace. In fact, brother Don shared this with one of the Torah groups recently and I went home and exclaimed to my husband, "I'm not scared anymore!" My husband was so thankful to hear that! Even if I do not make it to that point in Abba's plan, I am rest assured that no matter what, His plan is supreme and it is sovereignly perfect.
While the earth will be reaping the judgement for what it has sown for all of its sin, lawlessness, murders, witchcrafts, and defilements, our Father God will be providing and protecting a remnant of people as His own and teaching them His ways, meeting with them in love and mercy. Although I do know there will be great persecution against the saints when the anti-messiah will be given power "to make war against the saints and to overcome them" (Revelation 13:7) and many followers of Yeshua will be asked to follow literally in the footsteps of the Savior and give their lives as martyrs, the fact remains that YHVH has set aside a remnant to preserve and keep during this time who will also give Him glory. And this so encourages my faith.
Shalom!
**
The Creator's calendar goes according to the written scriptures, the TANAKH (or Old Testament) and is dictated by the moon cycles and the state of ripeness of the barley called "aviv". YHVH gave this calendar so that we, His creation, could easily and discernably know His moedim (or feasts), even before the age of technology, the internet, or even telescopes. The average farmer could look at the sky and discern which season it was and also when the feast days were. Our Elohim did not want us to be ignorant, nor did He want us to miss our appointments (moedim) with Him.
The rabbinic calendar was established by the last Sanhedrin to convene in Israel before Israel would once again go into exile, after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. The rabbis established a calendar which all of world Jewry could participate in the festivals while they were in exile because they would not be in the Land of Israel to declare the onset of the New Year in the spring with the "aviv" barley harvests and the sighting of the New Moon. This system worked while Israel was in exile.
However, Israel is now no longer in exile. She is established back in her own land and can once again follow the Creator's calendar the way He prescribed it in the scriptures. How else will she be able to discern the times and seasons of YHVH, especially at and near the end of the age? Yeshua chastized the pharisees for folowing man's traditions instead of rightly discerning the times and seasons (specifically Yeshua's first coming) according to the written Word, the Torah, which they had been custodians of for centuries. How much more will He chastize those who, now that we have the restoration of His calendar, are willfully ignorant or neglectful?
Despite the fact that Israel is back in the Land and can observe the onset of the new year according to the state of the barley and the moon cycles, they continue, for the most part, to follow the rabbinic Jewish calendar. This calendar is usually off from the Creator's calendar by as much as a week or 2. "So what?" You may say. As long as we are all doing the festivals, who cares on which days we actually do them, right? Wrong!
No word in scripture is put in there by accident. There is not ONE idle word. Every command, every instruction is put there for a reason and you bet our God has a plan for every one of them. When it comes to the fall feasts in particular, our Father in Heaven has a very specific purpose He will fulfill with them (including the fall feasts prior to and leading up to the second coming of Yeshua). That is why Yeshua was always telling parables about servants who were watching and waiting for their master to return. Likewise, our Elohim has a very specific timeline He will follow during this time. Guess who else will have a specific plan to fulfill during the time of the end? That is right- ha satan (the devil)and his false, or counterfeit messiah, also called the son of lawlessness, the son of perdition, and the antichrist. Knowing when YOUR Messiah is expected to show up is crucial. Whoever heard of a bride who did not know when her wedding would take place? What's worse, the bride does not want to show up for the WRONG WEDDING!
Is that possible? Matthew 24:24 seems to think so. It says: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible.
In the Greek language of this manuscript of Matthew, the implication seems to be that it WILL be possible that the elect could be deceived. Remember Yeshua said see to it that NO MAN deceives you! He would not say that if it were not possible, for He knows it is written in Jeremiah that the human heart is deceitfully wicked above ALL ELSE and who can know its contents? So the human heart can even be deceitful above all that is created....including the devil himself. And he will decieve with false and lying signs and wonders in the last days.
Therefore, we must look diligently at the fruit of anyone claiming to be His in these last hours. This is something that is a continual learning process for me. However, I know for sure there are three criteria which are ESSENTIAL in order to detect the real from the fake:
#1 Does the (person being considered) follow the Torah? The Torah is the plumbline for all who come in the Name of YHVH and with His authority. If they are torahless or lawless in their attitudes concerning Yah's instructions, that person IS NOT sent from Elohim and is false or in the least, in error. Oftentimes a person or ministry will simply be in error, following man-taught false relgion and simply needs to be corrected and warned. Doing the correcting or warning does not make one popular to say the least, but it is necessary. Giving the message they need to hear in order to turn around (repent) is crucial.
#2 Yeshua of Nazareth IS the Son of God, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Period. If teaching or people attempts to negate this fact or minimize or erase it, ditch that teaching. We do not have forgiveness for our sins apart from Messiah. He came and fulfilled every spring feast of YHVH to the tee. Our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight, and, contrary to what rabbinic judaism may teach, righteous works or deeds (mitzvot) will not get you forgiveness or entry into Heaven. This goes for Jews as well as for Gentiles. I know some believers who have renounced Yeshua in order to fit in to Judaism or even to imigrate to Israel.
#3 Does the (person, teaching, or ministry being considered), follow the timeline of YHVH as evidenced in the Torah?? Only YHVH and His representatives will do according to His commanded feasts. The false Messiah, as the prophet Daniel foretold, has CHANGED the times and seasons to seek to deceive the elect. The solar calendar by which the world goes by today was changed many years ago. The anti-messiah knows this is a very important step in tripping up those who have responded to the Good News. Yeshua was not born on Dec 25th and crucified on Good Friday with an Easter Sunday resurrection. That is counterfeit. He was crucified on Passover and raised on Firstfruits. Anything else is a false Yeshua, no matter what name they call him by, and the author is satan. Flee from such a counterfeit.
In the TANAKH, a prophet of Elohim was determined by if what he said came to pass, AND if he followed the Torah. If a prophet came, prophesied future events ACCURATELY, and yet said, "Come, let us follow other gods...." that person was a FALSE PROPHET and you were not to follow or obey him. In fact, that person would be taken outside the camp and stoned.
So it is no surprise NOTHING has CHANGED! We are still to hold up teaching to the Torah to see if it be a counterfeit fake, or if it be the real deal from YHVH.
That is why it may have been a non-deal-breaker-issue to follow the rabbinic calendar in the past, but why it is oh-so-important to be not only learning about the appointed times of YHVH in these last days, but to be WALKING IN THEM. For the whole Hebrew concept of "To hear" (Shema Yisrael....) is TO DO. We receive deeper and clearer understanding of His instructions AS WE DO THEM.
I ALMOST MISSED THE APPOINTMENT!
In the sixth month, I missed the sighting of the new moon. I was devastated. In fact, I had a holy envy when I had heard that the beloved believers had gathered the night prior and sighted the new moon, blowing the shofar and enjoying felowship on this feast when I had forgotten. I had been looking forward to it, but because we had had a really busy week and I was exhausted, I let my focus drift. It is so easy to do! I knew this was an important month to be "watching" for, for it led up to the seventh month, the first day of which THIS YEAR declared a very important season on Elohim's prophetic calendar (the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week-see article entitled Season of Sorrow Season of Joy). I was grieved in the way a lover is grieved about missing a date with her beloved. I felt like I really missed out. And knowing that it is oh so easy to get into drift mode in this day and age, I did not want to start slacking and falling back asleep. Yeshua warned against becoming weighed down with drunkeness, debauchery, and the cares of this life. I don't know one person who can say their life is not full of cares right now. Even if they habitually give them over to Elohim. Joblessness, finances, children running amok or in danger of doing so, sickness, sleeplessness (hello-that's my achilles heel!). And yet, in all of His parables, Yeshua made clear that it is the faithful servant who seeks.
Fortunately for me, I have brothers and sisters in the faith who help to keep me on track, encourage me, and keep in touch, sharpening me. Thankfully, I was ready for Yom Teruah the following month. Also, thankfully, the instructions for finding the Creators calendar are clear in the Word. And despite all the spiritual warfare onslaught which sought to distract me and prevent me from making my appointment (family sicknesses, and cooties, teething baby, exhaustion, and husband's work schedule), I was there to sight the new moon of the seventh month with my husband and children in a nearby soccer field. My husband blew the shofar and my 3 year old son blew his toy shofar. We had some fellow believers from the Sonora fellowship on speakerphone with us who were blowing the shofar at the same time, making it a holy convocation sponsored by T-Mobile. No, just joking. But it was joyful and I'm sure we gave the soccer players and their parents quite a show they had not anticipated!
Ten days later came Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement- a day of no work, of denying oneself, and reflecting on the sacrifice atonement of our Messiah, Yeshua. He paid for it ALL, once and for all (see Hebrews 7:27 and 9:12).
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON THE FALL FEASTS
This fall was the first year I had stopped giving lip service to observing the Sabbath days and festivals and actually started doing them. In the spring, it was the first time I had actually observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread, abstaining from foods containing yeast, and this fall was the first time I observed Yom Teruah as prescribed on the correct date.
Ya know, something wonderful happened. Even amidst all the hindrances the enemy tried to bring. Our Father is wise and knows if we diligently seek Him, if we really invest in finding Him, that it will be all the more rewarding for us. And we will be permanently changed. Perhaps this is one of the reasons He allows us to come across hindrances to the truth in the first place. Still, I felt for the first time in my life, like I was truly in the middle of the will of the Father, because it was there in plain sight in the scriptures, regardless and in spite of "evidence" in the natural to the contrary, and in spite of my feelings, because it was important for me to obey no matter what happened. Like it was practice for obedience when true adversity comes. I feel like something was added to my character. Moreover, I felt like the Father was giving me insight into how as Creator He has ordered everything in His will perfectly. Even the bad stuff that happens in life. He wants the gold in us. He wants to refine us according to His image, rather than the image of the world.
And El Shaddai has even provided for us in giving us His moedim. If you subscribe to the last days scenario, as many of you do, which says that Elohim will treat the remnant as He did our forefathers bringing them out of Egypt by bringing them out of Babylon, through the wilderness during the time of the great tribulation (last three and a half years prior to Messiah's return), and care for the "woman" in the desert (see Revelation 12), then there must be a plan of sustenance, and even provision for her. These are the things that have occured to me this fall that I have never realized before. YHVH has provided for His people in His appointed feasts, as they are meant to be rehearsals to ready us for the time of trial ahead:
* Yom Teruah- The sound of the shofar opens our ears (awakens us) to His feasts/appointments, which we need to be paying attention to in the last days. "Hear O Israel..."
*Yom Kippur- in addition to turning our attention to the hideousnes of sin in the eyes of Abba, and Yeshua's atoning sacrifice for all of our sins, the fasting itself prepares the remnant for times of dying to self, and maybe even times of literal hunger and thirst. When His people who have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and stand before the throne, Revelation 7:16 says "Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst...." Surely there must be some hungering and thirsting ahead of us (next year's famine perhaps?) and so having been prepared spiritually for this must be important.
*Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, in addition to being the Festival of Joy and the wedding feast to be fulfilled when Yeshua returns for His thousand year reign, also prepares the people of YHVH to live in tents, literally, to live in tents as the children of Israel did in the desert. The remnant will be preserved in the wilderness once she "Comes out of.." Babylon prior to Yeshua's coming. It is there YHVH meets with her face to face in the wilderness. There the Bride's garments will be made spotless; He will protect her and provide for her. If she has already been obeying Elohim by walking in His ways (observing His moedim), then she will be used to doing this at this time every year. It will not seem like such a major adjustment.
What a kind and merciful God! He has already provided (centuries) before we even had the need! NOW I SEE THAT HIS FEASTS WERE MEANT TO PROVIDE FOR US DURING THE TIME OF THE END, THE TIME OF GREAT TRIBULATION DURING WHICH IS THE TIME OF GREATEST SORROWS AS THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.* I never saw this truth before I started being obedient, truly obedient to walk in His ways.
Up until fairly recently, I had been looking forward to this coming season with dread and fear. When I had heard that Elohim provided such a plan for His people and that this scenario was possibly painted in the scriptures, I suddenly had total peace. In fact, brother Don shared this with one of the Torah groups recently and I went home and exclaimed to my husband, "I'm not scared anymore!" My husband was so thankful to hear that! Even if I do not make it to that point in Abba's plan, I am rest assured that no matter what, His plan is supreme and it is sovereignly perfect.
While the earth will be reaping the judgement for what it has sown for all of its sin, lawlessness, murders, witchcrafts, and defilements, our Father God will be providing and protecting a remnant of people as His own and teaching them His ways, meeting with them in love and mercy. Although I do know there will be great persecution against the saints when the anti-messiah will be given power "to make war against the saints and to overcome them" (Revelation 13:7) and many followers of Yeshua will be asked to follow literally in the footsteps of the Savior and give their lives as martyrs, the fact remains that YHVH has set aside a remnant to preserve and keep during this time who will also give Him glory. And this so encourages my faith.
Shalom!
**
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Culture Shock and the Proverbs 31 Woman
Sometimes I feel as though I live in a perpetual state of culture shock. Preparing to survive off the grid and fight off Babylonian subversive ideas that would harm my children or worse- assimilate them into the anti-Messiah's corrupt system one minute......and wiping spit-up or baby snot off of my newly laundered shirt the next. It's these mundane and humbling "mommy-moments"- laying on the floor, allowing my two young children to crawl all over me or giving them wet "zerberts"- that keep me grounded and focused on living in the now and being grateful, for instance, for even the foggy state of sleep deprivation I constantly live in. If it were not for these moments during which YHVH reminds me of who I am and who needs me, then I would surely become overwhelmed and out of balance.
As I have tried to describe to family members: I (we-my husband and I) live our lives on 2 tracks. One track is planning and preparing to live more off-grid (less dependant on the government and current social system who has its roots in Babylon- see Revelation 18:4, and, to go under cover if necessary to keep our children safe) and the other track is the normal, everyday life with its chores and tasks of putting one foot in front of another to get through each day. It is the going-between these two tracks which serves to tire me out, making me discouraged and faint of heart.
But the fact that this huge chasm remains only serves to remind me that my life is carved out to a purpose that would not be unlike that of Abraham's life. Abraham, the father of our faith, was a man who probably lived in a constant state of culture shock as well. Abraham and Sarah were the quintessential salmons swimming upstream as they sought to serve YHVH in a pagan world.
After all, Abraham did not have everything figured out. We know the "rest of the story....", but he didn't. He walked in trust every step of the way just as you and I do. Obedience was a daily choice for Abraham as well- I am not the first one to think...."Oh, what will it hurt, if I just- take- a- little- rest......"
It is moments like those when, usually, a crisis happens or the Father will remind me that it is NOT ok to just rest awhile, a folding of the hands, a little sleep- that the adversary is real, he is lurking around every corner and waiting to devour whom he can. I am deluded to think that I can just take a little rest and let my guard down, not seeking Abba with everything that is within me everyday. That is when we are led into temptation. That is when we fall back asleep. That is precisely when we need to be vigilantly awake, sober, and obedient to our Heavenly Father and walking in His Torah the most.
That is why it is during seasons like these that I am so encouraged by a friend of mine. We'll just call her "Samantha". She exemplifies the Proverbs 31 woman: caring for her husband and family and using the gifts which Elohim has given her (hello!- intelligence galore!-she is such a gift. And her reputation precedes her- I heard of this woman from other mom friends even before I ever met her)to bless and provide for her loved ones. Only, my respect for my friend Samantha far exceeds the normal I wish-I-could-be-like-you holy envy and veers toward the awe-factor in witnessing what YHVH is doing in the earth today and the kind of treasures He has reserved for Himself during times of great tribulation. The many women in the Body of Messiah who live as the Proverbs 31 woman in Suburbia USA today might be a dime a dozen comparatively. But this friend has actually worked tirelessly and faithfully to get herself off the very grid that supports the believers in the western world as she endeavors to live a life that is truly dependant on the Father and not on Emperor Cesar. (...'render unto Elohim that which is Elohim's and unto Cesar that which is Cesar's')during these stressful and uncertain days. Samantha homeschools her 2 children, she cooks nutritious organic and whole foods from scratch- no small feat in the age of Mc Convenience; and she even specializes in gluten and dairy-free fare for those in her family who are allergic (which is 3/4 of her household).
And yet, it is this friend who offers to come help me with my children while I get caught up on some rest to fight off the remaining vestiges of the seasonal cold virus. I am truly humbled. Many women are at their jobs and busy working hard to take care of the families WITH the modern-day conveniences available to them. And this friend, who works extra hard to make sure her children grow up learning and living in Torah, faithful to the very end, even in troublous times, helps ME? I have no room to complain ever again as a mom or wife. Surely she is a shining example to my life, another salmon swimming upstream-a reflection of Messiah...one of those who follows...the least of these (His) commandments and teaches others (by modeling) to keep them as well. Not only that, but the passage where Yeshua, hanging on the execution stake telling his talmidim about eachother, "Here is your mother...and Here is your brother...." is brought to life in my own faith walk as never before. And she, along with many other God-fearers in this movement, will be called "greatest" in the kingdom of Heaven. Another friend who comes to my mind....who lives with such purity of heart....deserves to have a volume of books written about her example to my life....that would be the subject for another blog.
I suppose this little deviation from end-times discussion today was necessary for me. Not only to remember those who live counter-culturally unto YHVH, as I endeavor to do and whom YHVH blesses, but also to focus more on others and their good deeds and less on myself. I suppose it was in response to a couple of compliments I have received in reaction to this blog recently, that I have not felt comfortable accepting, that I need to give the credit where the credit is really due: to those women in my life who serve as a shining example to me, such as Samantha, who live their lives unto YHVH whether they are standing in the front of a crowd of people teaching, or they are faithfully serving in their private everyday lives the ones Elohim has entrusted to them with patience and without complaining.
As women seeking to live in the pure stream of Torah and by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) in this day and age, we so need to look to women like this as beacons of encouragement, (I am so glad Abba put the example in Prov 31 so we know what to look for!-in the age where the love of many grows cold due to Torah-less-ness) as we seek to live as closely in community as possible and as we are looking UP...for our redemption draweth nigh. It makes the sense of culture shock seem less disheartening and makes it easier to keep fighting the good fight of faith. In a world where men call what is evil good and good evil, it is imperative to have God-fearing women to walk alongside who have the compass right side up in their lives; not only in sound doctrine, but in daily practice as well.
It is these women who keep pointing to the Messiah for me and it is these women who obey in secret who will one day have their (eternal) reward in plain sight.
SHALOM
**
As I have tried to describe to family members: I (we-my husband and I) live our lives on 2 tracks. One track is planning and preparing to live more off-grid (less dependant on the government and current social system who has its roots in Babylon- see Revelation 18:4, and, to go under cover if necessary to keep our children safe) and the other track is the normal, everyday life with its chores and tasks of putting one foot in front of another to get through each day. It is the going-between these two tracks which serves to tire me out, making me discouraged and faint of heart.
But the fact that this huge chasm remains only serves to remind me that my life is carved out to a purpose that would not be unlike that of Abraham's life. Abraham, the father of our faith, was a man who probably lived in a constant state of culture shock as well. Abraham and Sarah were the quintessential salmons swimming upstream as they sought to serve YHVH in a pagan world.
After all, Abraham did not have everything figured out. We know the "rest of the story....", but he didn't. He walked in trust every step of the way just as you and I do. Obedience was a daily choice for Abraham as well- I am not the first one to think...."Oh, what will it hurt, if I just- take- a- little- rest......"
It is moments like those when, usually, a crisis happens or the Father will remind me that it is NOT ok to just rest awhile, a folding of the hands, a little sleep- that the adversary is real, he is lurking around every corner and waiting to devour whom he can. I am deluded to think that I can just take a little rest and let my guard down, not seeking Abba with everything that is within me everyday. That is when we are led into temptation. That is when we fall back asleep. That is precisely when we need to be vigilantly awake, sober, and obedient to our Heavenly Father and walking in His Torah the most.
That is why it is during seasons like these that I am so encouraged by a friend of mine. We'll just call her "Samantha". She exemplifies the Proverbs 31 woman: caring for her husband and family and using the gifts which Elohim has given her (hello!- intelligence galore!-she is such a gift. And her reputation precedes her- I heard of this woman from other mom friends even before I ever met her)to bless and provide for her loved ones. Only, my respect for my friend Samantha far exceeds the normal I wish-I-could-be-like-you holy envy and veers toward the awe-factor in witnessing what YHVH is doing in the earth today and the kind of treasures He has reserved for Himself during times of great tribulation. The many women in the Body of Messiah who live as the Proverbs 31 woman in Suburbia USA today might be a dime a dozen comparatively. But this friend has actually worked tirelessly and faithfully to get herself off the very grid that supports the believers in the western world as she endeavors to live a life that is truly dependant on the Father and not on Emperor Cesar. (...'render unto Elohim that which is Elohim's and unto Cesar that which is Cesar's')during these stressful and uncertain days. Samantha homeschools her 2 children, she cooks nutritious organic and whole foods from scratch- no small feat in the age of Mc Convenience; and she even specializes in gluten and dairy-free fare for those in her family who are allergic (which is 3/4 of her household).
And yet, it is this friend who offers to come help me with my children while I get caught up on some rest to fight off the remaining vestiges of the seasonal cold virus. I am truly humbled. Many women are at their jobs and busy working hard to take care of the families WITH the modern-day conveniences available to them. And this friend, who works extra hard to make sure her children grow up learning and living in Torah, faithful to the very end, even in troublous times, helps ME? I have no room to complain ever again as a mom or wife. Surely she is a shining example to my life, another salmon swimming upstream-a reflection of Messiah...one of those who follows...the least of these (His) commandments and teaches others (by modeling) to keep them as well. Not only that, but the passage where Yeshua, hanging on the execution stake telling his talmidim about eachother, "Here is your mother...and Here is your brother...." is brought to life in my own faith walk as never before. And she, along with many other God-fearers in this movement, will be called "greatest" in the kingdom of Heaven. Another friend who comes to my mind....who lives with such purity of heart....deserves to have a volume of books written about her example to my life....that would be the subject for another blog.
I suppose this little deviation from end-times discussion today was necessary for me. Not only to remember those who live counter-culturally unto YHVH, as I endeavor to do and whom YHVH blesses, but also to focus more on others and their good deeds and less on myself. I suppose it was in response to a couple of compliments I have received in reaction to this blog recently, that I have not felt comfortable accepting, that I need to give the credit where the credit is really due: to those women in my life who serve as a shining example to me, such as Samantha, who live their lives unto YHVH whether they are standing in the front of a crowd of people teaching, or they are faithfully serving in their private everyday lives the ones Elohim has entrusted to them with patience and without complaining.
As women seeking to live in the pure stream of Torah and by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) in this day and age, we so need to look to women like this as beacons of encouragement, (I am so glad Abba put the example in Prov 31 so we know what to look for!-in the age where the love of many grows cold due to Torah-less-ness) as we seek to live as closely in community as possible and as we are looking UP...for our redemption draweth nigh. It makes the sense of culture shock seem less disheartening and makes it easier to keep fighting the good fight of faith. In a world where men call what is evil good and good evil, it is imperative to have God-fearing women to walk alongside who have the compass right side up in their lives; not only in sound doctrine, but in daily practice as well.
It is these women who keep pointing to the Messiah for me and it is these women who obey in secret who will one day have their (eternal) reward in plain sight.
SHALOM
**
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Update on the Daniel's Timeline Video
The web address I posted in my last article for the full length video of "Daniel's Timeline" sponsored by waytozion.org was giving me some difficulties yesterday. If you have been unable to see the video on this link, please let me know either by comment or by emailing me directly so that I may get a DVD copy to you. I may be able to provide copies to anyone who needs one in the near future.
If you'd like a copy, please email me your address so I can get one in the mail to you asap.
And be looking for the renewed moon (sliver) until it is spotted til this coming Friday evening. Right now the moon is in its darkened phase, invisible to the naked eye. What a picture YHVH has painted for us in the interim- to be ready for His coming, when we must walk by "faith....NOT BY SIGHT!" Remember, two witnesses are required to see the renewed moon with the naked eye from Jerusalem to declare Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets (note: this is not the same as Rosh Hashana, the rabbinic declaration of a new year. More on that later).
....And Chag Yom Teruah Semeach! Happy Feast of Trumpets!!
SHALOM
**
If you'd like a copy, please email me your address so I can get one in the mail to you asap.
And be looking for the renewed moon (sliver) until it is spotted til this coming Friday evening. Right now the moon is in its darkened phase, invisible to the naked eye. What a picture YHVH has painted for us in the interim- to be ready for His coming, when we must walk by "faith....NOT BY SIGHT!" Remember, two witnesses are required to see the renewed moon with the naked eye from Jerusalem to declare Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets (note: this is not the same as Rosh Hashana, the rabbinic declaration of a new year. More on that later).
....And Chag Yom Teruah Semeach! Happy Feast of Trumpets!!
SHALOM
**
Monday, September 6, 2010
Season of Sorrow Season of Joy
Friends, we are about to enter the most important period of time in all of human history. I entitled this piece Season of Sorrow Season of Joy because that is the only way I can describe the next series of very important events on God's prophetic calendar. I am talking about Daniel's 70th week, or what many in the Christian Church have termed the "Seven Year Tribulation Period". (Although I do not hold to a 7 year Great Tribulation period the way those who hold to the pre-tribulation rapture do). I may get a lot of flack from my churched friends for saying this, but: according to the scriptures themselves, Yeshua our Messiah (Jesus Christ) is going to be returning in seven years from this next Feast of YHVH.
What is the next Feast of YHVH? And when does it occur?
The next Feast, beginning the fall feasts and setting off the final seven years begins this Friday sunset to Sabbath (Sat) sunset. On our pagan calendars it just so happens to fall on Sept 11th. This is the Feast of Trumpets, called Yom Teruah (see Leviticus 23). I used to think that Yeshua did not want us to know when He was coming. I took a Christian teaching for granted based upon "No man knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in Heaven nor the Son of Man..." (Matthew 24:36) to mean that He did not want us to calculate or know when He would return. I have since come to learn, since studying the Hebraic root of my faith in Yeshua, that in its context, He was referring to the feast of Trumpets. This feast falls on the first day of the seventh month. However, to calculate when that Day and Hour is, one must watch the lunar phases. There is about a 1-3 day variation of when the New Moon (or renewed moon) is sighted and thus beginning this feast. It begins when the sliver of moon is sighted after the moon is in its dark phase anywhere from 1-3 days. Due to this moon phase variation, indeed, no man knows the day or the hour!- of that feast! But it is this very important moed (feast) which kicks off the subsequent fall feasts which are so significant to prophetically indicating His return. It is also the Feast which will be fulfilled when the Lord returns with the shout of the archangel, with the TRUMPET (shofar) call of God....when those who have fallen asleep in messiah before us will rise, then we will be changed in an instant to meet the Lord in the air AT THE LAST TRUMP.
The Season of Joy refers to the Festival of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is often called the Festival of Joy. When Yeshua returns to start His millenial reign beginning with the Feast of Tabernacles when He will again TABERNACLE (or dwell with us), it will indeed be a season of great JOY! But we have much to endure until then....
This year, we are in the 62nd Shavuim (feast of Shavuot) of Israel since the decree went forth to rebuild Jerusalem in Nov 1947. That means in just seven years from now (for we know the Lord will descend and gather together His elect at the Last Trump- a clear referrence to Yom Teruah) the entire prophecy and this earth age will be complete, according to Daniel chapter 9.
Does Yeshua really want us to know when He will return? Well, it makes no sense to me that our Master and Creator chastized the pharisees for not knowing the times or seasons, and as He commanded His followers to WATCH for His coming (parable of the fig tree), and yet, as the traditional end-times teaching would have it, He does NOT want us to know when His return is? That makes Yeshua sound schizophrenic.
There is a huge clue in Genesis 1:14 regarding knowing His seasons according to His feasts:
And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (emphasis mine).
The word for seasons is moedim. It means appointments, or feasts.
YHVH wants us to be watching His appointed feasts for His coming. He created the heavenly bodies for our benefit, so that it would be made clear to us what His agenda would be. The wrong teachings of man have twisted the truth and obscurred these wonderful truths from our vision.
The reason I never knew this sitting in a church pew is because most Christians-as well as the entire secular world, follow the pagan calendar, rather than obey YHVH and walk in His statutes due to error in teaching. They (and I did as well) follow a calendar based upon the solar cycles, rather than the lunar cycles that Elohim told us to go by in the First Covenant.
In this hour, these truths, the truths of His Torah, are being restored in our midst. He has written His Torah (Law) on our hearts (Jer 31) and has given us his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead and guide us in them.
How about you? Will you be willing to be obedient, changing your trajectory to that of the Creator's Calendar, rather than the anti-messiah, who seeks to change times and seasons? Will you keep your appointments with your Creator? He is waiting for you. He longs to meet with you. He has set the agenda. He has named the time and place (...'all your dwellings....' Leviticus 23). Will you be there?
Beloved, I would be remiss not to mention this at this most important juncture in time. We are entering the second to the MOST important set of fall feasts (the first important are obviously those which will be fulfilled by Yeshua's soon return, which will happen in seven years).
So timeline goes like this:
Fall Feasts 2010-begin Daniel's prophetic "week" (7 yrs)
Anti-messiah causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease
and sets up the abomination which makes desolate-spring
-2013
3 1/2 yrs of GREAT TRIBULATION such as world has never seen
Yeshua gathers His elect at Yom Teruah (day or hour no
man knows- because of the lunar phase variable) 2017
Day of Atonement 10 days later- all Israel is saved
Festival of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) 5 days later
beginning the 120th Jubilee Year and the thousand year
Sabbath reign of our Messiah from Jerusalem.
To see a comprehensive and very visually accute teaching on this topic, please go to the following web address and watch the full-length video on Daniel's Timeline. It is very detailed and very awe-inspiring. And seek YHVH and to walk in all of His commands as never before:
http://www.waytozion.org/video/stream/timeline/timeline.html
All you have to do to follow the Creator's Calendar is to read His Word. It's all there. You may have to shed some false teachings along the way in order to fully understand and walk in it, but there is nothing more rewarding than doing His will and meditating on His Laws day and night. King David, the man after God's own heart did this. You can too. Read Psalm 119 to see how King David felt about the Law of YHVH. And read the entire instructions our YHVH meant for YOU!
May YHVH bless you as we prepare for a very bumpy (yet rewarding-in-the-end) ride!~ as the Bride of Messiah washes her garments and makes herself ready for her soon-coming bridegroom!
SHALOM
**
What is the next Feast of YHVH? And when does it occur?
The next Feast, beginning the fall feasts and setting off the final seven years begins this Friday sunset to Sabbath (Sat) sunset. On our pagan calendars it just so happens to fall on Sept 11th. This is the Feast of Trumpets, called Yom Teruah (see Leviticus 23). I used to think that Yeshua did not want us to know when He was coming. I took a Christian teaching for granted based upon "No man knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in Heaven nor the Son of Man..." (Matthew 24:36) to mean that He did not want us to calculate or know when He would return. I have since come to learn, since studying the Hebraic root of my faith in Yeshua, that in its context, He was referring to the feast of Trumpets. This feast falls on the first day of the seventh month. However, to calculate when that Day and Hour is, one must watch the lunar phases. There is about a 1-3 day variation of when the New Moon (or renewed moon) is sighted and thus beginning this feast. It begins when the sliver of moon is sighted after the moon is in its dark phase anywhere from 1-3 days. Due to this moon phase variation, indeed, no man knows the day or the hour!- of that feast! But it is this very important moed (feast) which kicks off the subsequent fall feasts which are so significant to prophetically indicating His return. It is also the Feast which will be fulfilled when the Lord returns with the shout of the archangel, with the TRUMPET (shofar) call of God....when those who have fallen asleep in messiah before us will rise, then we will be changed in an instant to meet the Lord in the air AT THE LAST TRUMP.
The Season of Joy refers to the Festival of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. It is often called the Festival of Joy. When Yeshua returns to start His millenial reign beginning with the Feast of Tabernacles when He will again TABERNACLE (or dwell with us), it will indeed be a season of great JOY! But we have much to endure until then....
This year, we are in the 62nd Shavuim (feast of Shavuot) of Israel since the decree went forth to rebuild Jerusalem in Nov 1947. That means in just seven years from now (for we know the Lord will descend and gather together His elect at the Last Trump- a clear referrence to Yom Teruah) the entire prophecy and this earth age will be complete, according to Daniel chapter 9.
Does Yeshua really want us to know when He will return? Well, it makes no sense to me that our Master and Creator chastized the pharisees for not knowing the times or seasons, and as He commanded His followers to WATCH for His coming (parable of the fig tree), and yet, as the traditional end-times teaching would have it, He does NOT want us to know when His return is? That makes Yeshua sound schizophrenic.
There is a huge clue in Genesis 1:14 regarding knowing His seasons according to His feasts:
And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (emphasis mine).
The word for seasons is moedim. It means appointments, or feasts.
YHVH wants us to be watching His appointed feasts for His coming. He created the heavenly bodies for our benefit, so that it would be made clear to us what His agenda would be. The wrong teachings of man have twisted the truth and obscurred these wonderful truths from our vision.
The reason I never knew this sitting in a church pew is because most Christians-as well as the entire secular world, follow the pagan calendar, rather than obey YHVH and walk in His statutes due to error in teaching. They (and I did as well) follow a calendar based upon the solar cycles, rather than the lunar cycles that Elohim told us to go by in the First Covenant.
In this hour, these truths, the truths of His Torah, are being restored in our midst. He has written His Torah (Law) on our hearts (Jer 31) and has given us his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead and guide us in them.
How about you? Will you be willing to be obedient, changing your trajectory to that of the Creator's Calendar, rather than the anti-messiah, who seeks to change times and seasons? Will you keep your appointments with your Creator? He is waiting for you. He longs to meet with you. He has set the agenda. He has named the time and place (...'all your dwellings....' Leviticus 23). Will you be there?
Beloved, I would be remiss not to mention this at this most important juncture in time. We are entering the second to the MOST important set of fall feasts (the first important are obviously those which will be fulfilled by Yeshua's soon return, which will happen in seven years).
So timeline goes like this:
Fall Feasts 2010-begin Daniel's prophetic "week" (7 yrs)
Anti-messiah causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease
and sets up the abomination which makes desolate-spring
-2013
3 1/2 yrs of GREAT TRIBULATION such as world has never seen
Yeshua gathers His elect at Yom Teruah (day or hour no
man knows- because of the lunar phase variable) 2017
Day of Atonement 10 days later- all Israel is saved
Festival of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) 5 days later
beginning the 120th Jubilee Year and the thousand year
Sabbath reign of our Messiah from Jerusalem.
To see a comprehensive and very visually accute teaching on this topic, please go to the following web address and watch the full-length video on Daniel's Timeline. It is very detailed and very awe-inspiring. And seek YHVH and to walk in all of His commands as never before:
http://www.waytozion.org/video/stream/timeline/timeline.html
All you have to do to follow the Creator's Calendar is to read His Word. It's all there. You may have to shed some false teachings along the way in order to fully understand and walk in it, but there is nothing more rewarding than doing His will and meditating on His Laws day and night. King David, the man after God's own heart did this. You can too. Read Psalm 119 to see how King David felt about the Law of YHVH. And read the entire instructions our YHVH meant for YOU!
May YHVH bless you as we prepare for a very bumpy (yet rewarding-in-the-end) ride!~ as the Bride of Messiah washes her garments and makes herself ready for her soon-coming bridegroom!
SHALOM
**
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Why I Left the Institutionalized Church
The reasons for my recent decision to leave the institutionalized church can be summed up in 2 parts:
#1 Because I can no longer serve YHVH (the way He wants me to as prescribed in the entire Bible) in the institutionalized church
and
#2 Because in my heart, I left a long time ago.
ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS
Once I set my heart to really understand God's Word from a Hebraic perspective about a year and a half ago, I woke up to the truth of His Word, the whole thing, and I crossed over from pagan idolatry to the worship of the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through the shed blood of His Son Yeshua of Nazareth, or otherwise known by His Greek nickname, Jesus Christ. (Christ simply means Messiah, or anointed one). I have described this experience to friends as having been given a pair of 3-D or decoder glasses for a magazine I had been trying to read without them and could not understand its content. Now, as the metaphor would have it, the colors come LEAPING off the page and I see the scriptures so clearly now, the way they were meant to be seen. I even understand the Renewed Covenant (New Testament) so much more clearly whereas I could not before. Before it was murky and esoteric. Now it is wonderfully clear.
It is as if someone turned on the lights in a previously darkened room. I understand my Savior so much better now! I understand Him as Creator, Father, Husband, all those analogies we were told to see Him through but just could only see fragmented glimpses here and there.
I no longer see the Bible as this fragmented and cut up picture of God: old and grumpy in the Old Testament and all loving and dripping with syrupy sloppy agape in the New. I now see the entire counsel of the Word and the will of YHVH, He who lives forever and is to be praised. HalleluYah!
But before long, a problem arose. As I was entering deeply into His will for my life, walking in His feasts and Sabbaths and enjoying an intimacy with Him which I never knew possible (a feeling of He now knows me as friend, not just servant), I started to see the disconnect between my new-found life walking in His Torah and the beliefs, traditions, and practices of the church. Not just my church in paritcular, but the entire system known as the western institutionalized church. I had been taught Torahlessness (lawlessness) in that church system. I had been taught that His Torah (Hebrew for teachings, oftentimes translated into the Greek as Law) was not for believers in Jesus today. I had been taught in the institutionalized church that those (the laws of Moses) were for the Jews back then and that THE LAW had been "nailed to the cross". However, in my discovery of the truth of God's Word, I learned that the law is good and the commandment holy (Romans 7:12). I learned that, in fact, it was our transgressions, our inability to follow the teachings of YHVH and keep His commandments and the injunction against us for not doing so that was actually nailed to the cross. For it was our sin which was nailed to the execution stake of Yeshua, and the biblical definition of sin is transgression of the Torah. 1 John 3:4 states what the definition of sin is: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (emphasis mine).
I learned that the whole Word of Elohim (God) was forever. No part was ever meant to be done away with, contrary to doctrine in the Christian institutionalized church. Yeshua said this out of His own mouth. He said in Matthew 15:7, "Do not think that I came to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." And in Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33, Yeshua said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away". What word was He talking about?? The entire thing!! For "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16).
And yet, I learned in the institutionalized church (again I emphasize this is man's tradition, which is in contradiction to the scriptures) that Jesus did away with The Law in favor of a 2-command replacement called, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" (a looser, more nebulous and subjective interpretation of the Lord's words).
In Matthew 5:18 Yeshua said, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Now, last time I looked, heaven and earth was still here. I suppose not one punctuation mark has passed away from the Law from God's perspective. So why does the church say it has? Could it be that the church has taught us wrong? That the traditions in church doctrine do not line up with the Word, the express will of Elohim? Proverbs 28:9 says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination." I know of some praying churches that are lawless. What does this say about all our desires and efforts, our prayers, if we will not endure sound teaching or even be willing to hear it? 2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."
I learned that there was a serious schism between what the church teaches and what the scripture actually says. Most of this schism stems from anti-semitism, replacement theology (and the related dispensational theology taught in every evangelical seminary in the western world). Not to mention the rudiments of Greek philosophy (such as Gnosticism) and the reasonings of man, which have intertwined themselves with the pure gospel, like a gnarly weed growing up to kill the good fruit of a vociferous tree. The roots of this in the church go back to Constantine the Roman emperor who detested the Jews and replaced all of YHVH's holy feast days (Leviticus 23) with the pagan practices of Easter (and subsequently Christmas as well), even though the scriptures are clear that God HATES idolatry. And also the tenets of Gnosticism which teach MENTAL ASCENT (or the importance of our BELIEF or CREED), rather than works or deeds. Some of the lies institutionalized by Constantine have been done away with in some segments of the body of Messiah. However, I have not found that the practice of idolatry or dispensational theology has been rooted out or corrected in any institutionalized church, even those churches who love the nation and people of Israel!
So if the church teaches by way of their tradition of sanctioning Easter and Christmas (see Jeremiah 10), as religious holidays, they do what Yeshua chastized the pharisees for. The pharisees were following and teaching a tradition in violation of the Word of God called the "Oral Torah". Jesus said to them, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3). The institutionalized church actually teaches me to break the commandment of God, and yes, to break even their 2-command replacement which they say is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. For if the institutionalized church, by way of their doctrines and practices were to teach me to love God with everything that is within me, they would encourage me toward OBEDIENCE to the will of God, and NOT ENCOURAGE me toward the practice of idolatry with their annual Christmas parties and Easter egg hunts and Easter Sunday sunrise services. You can do just a minimal amount of searching on the internet to find out that the roots of these practices are indeed pagan. In some humorous attempts, even the pagans are telling Christians they want their holidays back!
To view an excellent article on the American Christian's favorite pagan holiday, check out this link: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/vital/xmas.html
Or read "Too Long in the Sun" By Richard Reeves.
And read Jeremiah chapter 10 on the explicit instructions of how to cut down and decorate a Christmas tree! (And what the Almighty thinks of it).
There is another doctrine in the institutionalized church called "we are under grace, not under law", which is how the institutionalized Christian rationalizes all these things. They get this doctrine, in part, by taking a quote from Romans 8:2. Yes, it is true that in Messiah, you are free from a law, but what law are you freed from? NOT the LAW of Moses or the Torah, whether it be God's moral, ceremonial, or civil law. According to Jesus, those have not been doen away with! What Paul is talking about here is being freed (in Messiah by His atoning blood) from the law of sin and death....When you sin, you break God's law and are handed over to the enemy and subject to another "law" called the law of sin and death. It is THAT law (the penalty of sin) which Yeshua has freed us from. Paul is using a play on words here. Paul never spoke against following the Laws of God or any other such nonsense. Look at his actions! He observed Sabbath, he observed all of the commanded feasts of the Lord, (and not just because he was born Jewish), he circumcised Timothy, preached in the synagogues, and even silenced his accusers with His love of Torah. And yet, the modern institution known as the church teaches that Paul taught we are not to follow the Law. Truly Peter was right when he said of Paul in 2 Peter 3:16, "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
The church also taught me not to keep the fourth commandment which is to honor the Sabbath (which is Saturday- the seventh day), in favor of a man-made tradition instituted by Constantine which honors SUNDAY above all other days, which in actuality is in honor of the sun god. Now, we can worship God on any day. And we can gather together on any day. You and I can gather on any given day, but that does not make it the Sabbath. There is only ONE day which He made holy (set apart) for rest. That is the seventh day. He never changed it. In fact, in scripture, it is a DAY (the Sabbath-Saturday), not a man, not a position, not a nation, not an article of clothing, which was the first thing that was mentioned which was called holy. Try throwing that one out at a church potluck!
Surely, those who changed the set-apart feast days of YHVH (Leviticus 23), replacing them with pagan festivals such as Easter and child-mass, which later became known as Christmas, as led by the charge of Constantine, had no authority from the Creator whatsoever to do this. Since almost every denomination of the western institutionalized church has not reversed such a wicked decree, they are equally as guilty for taking part.
Moreover, the fact that the institutionalized church is run as a corporate money-making, revenue-turning business that must “grow” in quantity in order to succeed (nevermind the mandate Yeshua gave to make disciples, not converts or patrons and that Shaul, the apostle Paul charged Timothy to teach a faithful man to be effective for the kingdom, not to create pew warmers), that is enough to turn off the true seeker of the truth, not to mention make the assembly so lukewarm as to make the Master want to spew that assembly out of His mouth! Perhaps this is why warnings against judges taking bribes (monetary gain in exchange for their services) were given in the desert to the children of Israel. The Pharisees of Yeshua’s day (a paid position in society) certainly were guilty of this practice which has the tendency to deceive men. It seems this leaven of mammon has tried to gain its way into the holy community from the beginning and it is large and in charge of the corporate-run church today.
Suffice it to say, the church I attended and was involved in leadership with was not in agreement with what were for me, these new-found truths. (Although they are not new at all, but have been the intent of the Creator from the beginning). Although I spoke the truth from scripture every chance I got, I never got a direct rebuke, however, I heard the word "legalism" from the pulpit more times than I care to count, as well as general references to a "religious spirit" (isn't someone who has a religious spirit in favor of man-made religion, rather than the Word of God, which is the perfect teaching of liberty? That is the quintessential pot calling the kettle black) Nevertheless, when I gently and lovingly confronted leadership about these incongruencies, I was met with blank stares or disagreement. Just as I knew I would be, I had been marginalized. Although a visiting evangelist friend of this church prophesied over me that I was to "speak the vision" to (them), which I did share the message which YHVH had made clear I was to give. It has (thus far) fallen on deaf ears. I am very hopeful that with the Lord everything is possible and that many of them will come to have their spiritual eyes opened, as He has done for me, and that they will be like the servant in the parable who started off saying no, but ultimately said yes. He who has an ear let him hear. May he who has a love of the truth not be deceived by the grand delusion which the Almighty will be sending in the last days to those who loved not the truth.
I love my friends at my old church. I am saddened, in a way that I had to part ways with them. And it was due to nothing personal, but rather a vast doctrinal differences which I have enumerated here. I could no longer go against my conscience by participating in the things they are in agreement with. It is like I said to them in my resignation from leadership: if I had been in the Lutheran, Pentacostal, Methodist, community, covenant, AG church....you name it, I would be leaving any of those churches as well.
The fact of the matter is I am not in agreement with the tenets of the institutionalized church. Period. And I haven't been for quite some time. I have felt this difference and this separateness for more than a couple seasons and can no longer condone. To do so would only cause confusion and disorder. It is not fair to others nor myself. And I certainly cannot continue to serve the YHVH in such a manner.
THE URGENCY OF TIME
Now more than ever it is of the utmost importance that we serve YHVH and Him alone (His Son Yeshua, who is YHVH in the flesh/ WHO wrote the 10 commandments with His finger? None other than the Holy One of Israel, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah).
We stand on the precipice of a period of time known as Daniel's prophetic week, or the 7 year period prior to Messiah Yeshua's return. It is imperative NOW more than ever to obey Him and for Him to find us watching and waiting, serving Him faithfully, when He comes! It is of the utmost importance that we serve Him and Him alone, doing ALL He has said to do and occupying until He comes. If that means we separate ourselves from doctrinal error, man's traditions, even friends and/or family in order to do that, then so be it. I think there are many in the church who think this separating out which is going on, between those who want to follow Yeshua and His Torah with everything that is within them, and those who just want us all to get along in unity, is of the enemy. Well, I ask you to remember the words of Yeshua Himself who said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34). Many times in scripture, the Word (Torah, instructions) is referred to as a sword. Also, Yeshua said if we do not hate our (various family members) in comparison to HIM, we are not worthy of Him. Moreover, He said if our right eye causes us to sin, we are to gauge it out! That's pretty harsh. The message remains, however, that if something causes us to transgress His Law, go against His instructions/commandments, we are to get rid of it.
In my impassioned and idealistic, albeit naive way, I tried to change the system. Or in my case, my local church congregation. However, there is a greater spiritual reality at work when a church is not only run by leaders who have been trained in seminary with all of the man-made traditions and doctrines I have mentioned above, but also when the body is incorporated with the government and/or has 501 c3 status. They are hooked into the system, part of which is Babylon, with this financial and logistical umbilical cord. The church or ministry in question must pull the plug or else it continues to open itself up to attack from the head. From the head of WHAT? From the head of government which belongs to Cesar. (Render unto Cesar what is Cesar, unto Elohim what is Elohim’s) When the church submits to Cesar, rather than to Elohim (God), it is not easy to transform it into the image of the incorruptible Elohim. In order to receive the new wine, a new wineskin must be created. I cannot change the old wineskin nor can new wine be poured in, lest it break. It is like trying to change the stripes on a tiger. It does not work. That is why Jesus said we had to COME OUT OF HER [Babylon] (Rev. 18:4). He did not say rehabilitate her.
Remember, Jesus Himself said "he who endures til the end, the same shall be saved". There is also described a great "Falling Away" from truth in the last days. And as we are living in the end times, it is important to note the description of those in the book of Revelation (14:12 and also 12:17) who obey God's commanments and remain faithful to Jesus (or who hold the testimony of Yeshua). Now, I used to view this scripture from my Greek philosophy/dispensationanalist glasses and think this was talking about 2 separate groups: the Jews being one group and those gentiles who come to believe in Jesus during the tribulation period as a separate group. I have since changed my thinking on this: this is not 2 separate groups, but ONE GROUP. Both of these defining characteristics apply to them.
Moreover, over and over in the letters to the churches in Revelation, Yeshua Himself addresses the theme of each church's "works". A case could be made that even in the last days, Yeshua is looking at our works (not just what we believe, say, feel, or sing) and, in fact, our obedience. Such works or obedience, as Revelation makes clear, determines our rewards. While He was on the earth, Yeshua said it like this in Matthew 5:19, "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." He is talking here of REWARDS, not SALVATION, for those who are in the kingdom of God already have salvation. I have made this point over and over again. Walking in Torah has nothing to do with earning salvation through our works. We have salvation through the blood of the Lamb of God (Yeshua/Jesus) ONLY. But even the Lamb of God said to "follow Him". We are to walk as He walked. We are to do as He did. We are to obey all of God's commandments. Salvation is the beginning point. He set us free from sin so that we could serve Him as outlined in His instructions.
BUT, BUT, BUT.....
I have heard so many objections to observing all of the Lord's commandments today in Messiah. I have even heard people say, well, it says to stone your children outside the camp if they disobey...are you saying we should do THAT TOO?! My answer to that is some will be fulfilled in the millenial kingdom. If God said it, just because we are not doing it today, or because we don't fully understand it yet, does not mean it is not His intent. Yeah, I am sure there are things that will be re-instituted in Yeshua's Millenial kingdom such as the strict and fair punishments which He decreed in His Word. It says He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. I am sure He has provisions for all of His Word to be fulfilled, even if we do not understand it right now. (the above punishment was not the first resort, by the way. It is my understanding that it was enacted when willfull and unrepentant rebellion took root). However, when our modern conceptions of what we think ought to be conflict with the Words of Yeshua Himself, we should be willing to re-examine our understanding of things, not blindly accept others' opinions or interpretations, or likewise, not find the most extreme example in order to discredit the whole.
NOW WHAT?
Since I have decided to leave the institutionalized church, I have not decided to take myself out of fellowship with the Body of Messiah. That would be contrary to His instructions to "assemble yourselves together and all the more as you see That Day approaching". In fact, there is a vast growing movement of people who have come to similar conclusions as I have and who gather themselves together on a regular basis. Such are part of a movement of the Holy Spirit of which He is restoring His Torah in this hour, in our generation. Many of these people are part of the greater messianic movement, attend messianic congregations, but many of them opt to meet in homes instead, in a loosely-organized group, just as the believers did in the first century. The people I have been connecting with and fellowshipping with have a great love for the Torah and study it, holding everything in the scriptures up to its foundation and even endeavor to interpret the prophecies, which are being fulfilled in our times, according to this Torah perspective. After all, it is through the Torah that YHVH provided for and promised redemption, restoration, and His future kingdom. All teachings, and interpretations of prophecy must undergo the rigorous exam of lining up with the truths of the Torah. Yeshua was the Torah made flesh (John 1:14). He followed every commandment. He fulfilled the spring feasts of the Lord in His first coming. He is about to fulfill the fall feasts in His soon return.
To know the times and seasons, as we are commanded to do to watch for His return, we must not only know the feasts (Hebrew moedim-appontments) of Elohim, but we are to be walking in them, making them part of our lives and indeed our service to Him. We will not know the times and seasons as He commanded us to do, if we do not follow the Creator's calendar. His calendar, as marked by His spring and fall festivals, which are according to the lunar cycle, is the time markers by which He does anything. He does not do things according to the Gregorian solar calendar, of which the anti-christ system goes by. If we want to know His will for the times and seasons, we must become familiar with his calendar which are outlined in the scriptures. Additionally, he has promised to not do anything unlesss He first tells His servants, the prophets. The prophets of YHVH, by His own definition, will NOT be those who participate in the worship of other gods. Which is why I do not listen to those professed "prophets" in the Body of Messiah who participate in the church's celebrations of Christmas and Easter. By the Torah's definition, these are false teachers and I am not to follow or heed what they say. The prophets of YHVH will be those who foretell accurately AND refuse to bow down to idols. They will teach the Word of Yah in its entirety, not according to a dispensational view. They will not set out to do ear-tickling. They will probably offend the sensibilities of every single one of us. They will hold fast to the Word of Elohim, for let God be true and every man a liar.
How important is it that we do not follow wrong teaching and/or voices or opinions, or even our own feelings and spiritual experiences-which can deceive us- in these last days? EXTREMELY! Yeshua told us in Matthew 24 to not let any man deceive us. He said this during His discussion of the last days with His disciples. We have been sorely deceived! We have been utterly DUPED!- into thinking lawlessness is ok with God, that He forgives, no matter what (don't forget what He will say on That Day to the workers of iniquity- those who transgress the Law- He will say 'Depart from me...I never knew you').
In order to follow the Messiah with my whole heart, mind, and soul in this very important hour, I can come to no other conclusion than to join hundreds of other believers who have seen the truth of His Word to begin to "Come out of her [Babylon] my people, lest ye partake of her sins and receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). I have found it to be an important step in order to shake off the sins which so easily beset (us) and to make myself ready for the very difficult days ahead preceeding His coming.
**
#1 Because I can no longer serve YHVH (the way He wants me to as prescribed in the entire Bible) in the institutionalized church
and
#2 Because in my heart, I left a long time ago.
ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS
Once I set my heart to really understand God's Word from a Hebraic perspective about a year and a half ago, I woke up to the truth of His Word, the whole thing, and I crossed over from pagan idolatry to the worship of the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through the shed blood of His Son Yeshua of Nazareth, or otherwise known by His Greek nickname, Jesus Christ. (Christ simply means Messiah, or anointed one). I have described this experience to friends as having been given a pair of 3-D or decoder glasses for a magazine I had been trying to read without them and could not understand its content. Now, as the metaphor would have it, the colors come LEAPING off the page and I see the scriptures so clearly now, the way they were meant to be seen. I even understand the Renewed Covenant (New Testament) so much more clearly whereas I could not before. Before it was murky and esoteric. Now it is wonderfully clear.
It is as if someone turned on the lights in a previously darkened room. I understand my Savior so much better now! I understand Him as Creator, Father, Husband, all those analogies we were told to see Him through but just could only see fragmented glimpses here and there.
I no longer see the Bible as this fragmented and cut up picture of God: old and grumpy in the Old Testament and all loving and dripping with syrupy sloppy agape in the New. I now see the entire counsel of the Word and the will of YHVH, He who lives forever and is to be praised. HalleluYah!
But before long, a problem arose. As I was entering deeply into His will for my life, walking in His feasts and Sabbaths and enjoying an intimacy with Him which I never knew possible (a feeling of He now knows me as friend, not just servant), I started to see the disconnect between my new-found life walking in His Torah and the beliefs, traditions, and practices of the church. Not just my church in paritcular, but the entire system known as the western institutionalized church. I had been taught Torahlessness (lawlessness) in that church system. I had been taught that His Torah (Hebrew for teachings, oftentimes translated into the Greek as Law) was not for believers in Jesus today. I had been taught in the institutionalized church that those (the laws of Moses) were for the Jews back then and that THE LAW had been "nailed to the cross". However, in my discovery of the truth of God's Word, I learned that the law is good and the commandment holy (Romans 7:12). I learned that, in fact, it was our transgressions, our inability to follow the teachings of YHVH and keep His commandments and the injunction against us for not doing so that was actually nailed to the cross. For it was our sin which was nailed to the execution stake of Yeshua, and the biblical definition of sin is transgression of the Torah. 1 John 3:4 states what the definition of sin is: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (emphasis mine).
I learned that the whole Word of Elohim (God) was forever. No part was ever meant to be done away with, contrary to doctrine in the Christian institutionalized church. Yeshua said this out of His own mouth. He said in Matthew 15:7, "Do not think that I came to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." And in Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33, Yeshua said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away". What word was He talking about?? The entire thing!! For "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16).
And yet, I learned in the institutionalized church (again I emphasize this is man's tradition, which is in contradiction to the scriptures) that Jesus did away with The Law in favor of a 2-command replacement called, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" (a looser, more nebulous and subjective interpretation of the Lord's words).
In Matthew 5:18 Yeshua said, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Now, last time I looked, heaven and earth was still here. I suppose not one punctuation mark has passed away from the Law from God's perspective. So why does the church say it has? Could it be that the church has taught us wrong? That the traditions in church doctrine do not line up with the Word, the express will of Elohim? Proverbs 28:9 says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination." I know of some praying churches that are lawless. What does this say about all our desires and efforts, our prayers, if we will not endure sound teaching or even be willing to hear it? 2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."
I learned that there was a serious schism between what the church teaches and what the scripture actually says. Most of this schism stems from anti-semitism, replacement theology (and the related dispensational theology taught in every evangelical seminary in the western world). Not to mention the rudiments of Greek philosophy (such as Gnosticism) and the reasonings of man, which have intertwined themselves with the pure gospel, like a gnarly weed growing up to kill the good fruit of a vociferous tree. The roots of this in the church go back to Constantine the Roman emperor who detested the Jews and replaced all of YHVH's holy feast days (Leviticus 23) with the pagan practices of Easter (and subsequently Christmas as well), even though the scriptures are clear that God HATES idolatry. And also the tenets of Gnosticism which teach MENTAL ASCENT (or the importance of our BELIEF or CREED), rather than works or deeds. Some of the lies institutionalized by Constantine have been done away with in some segments of the body of Messiah. However, I have not found that the practice of idolatry or dispensational theology has been rooted out or corrected in any institutionalized church, even those churches who love the nation and people of Israel!
So if the church teaches by way of their tradition of sanctioning Easter and Christmas (see Jeremiah 10), as religious holidays, they do what Yeshua chastized the pharisees for. The pharisees were following and teaching a tradition in violation of the Word of God called the "Oral Torah". Jesus said to them, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3). The institutionalized church actually teaches me to break the commandment of God, and yes, to break even their 2-command replacement which they say is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. For if the institutionalized church, by way of their doctrines and practices were to teach me to love God with everything that is within me, they would encourage me toward OBEDIENCE to the will of God, and NOT ENCOURAGE me toward the practice of idolatry with their annual Christmas parties and Easter egg hunts and Easter Sunday sunrise services. You can do just a minimal amount of searching on the internet to find out that the roots of these practices are indeed pagan. In some humorous attempts, even the pagans are telling Christians they want their holidays back!
To view an excellent article on the American Christian's favorite pagan holiday, check out this link: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/vital/xmas.html
Or read "Too Long in the Sun" By Richard Reeves.
And read Jeremiah chapter 10 on the explicit instructions of how to cut down and decorate a Christmas tree! (And what the Almighty thinks of it).
There is another doctrine in the institutionalized church called "we are under grace, not under law", which is how the institutionalized Christian rationalizes all these things. They get this doctrine, in part, by taking a quote from Romans 8:2. Yes, it is true that in Messiah, you are free from a law, but what law are you freed from? NOT the LAW of Moses or the Torah, whether it be God's moral, ceremonial, or civil law. According to Jesus, those have not been doen away with! What Paul is talking about here is being freed (in Messiah by His atoning blood) from the law of sin and death....When you sin, you break God's law and are handed over to the enemy and subject to another "law" called the law of sin and death. It is THAT law (the penalty of sin) which Yeshua has freed us from. Paul is using a play on words here. Paul never spoke against following the Laws of God or any other such nonsense. Look at his actions! He observed Sabbath, he observed all of the commanded feasts of the Lord, (and not just because he was born Jewish), he circumcised Timothy, preached in the synagogues, and even silenced his accusers with His love of Torah. And yet, the modern institution known as the church teaches that Paul taught we are not to follow the Law. Truly Peter was right when he said of Paul in 2 Peter 3:16, "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
The church also taught me not to keep the fourth commandment which is to honor the Sabbath (which is Saturday- the seventh day), in favor of a man-made tradition instituted by Constantine which honors SUNDAY above all other days, which in actuality is in honor of the sun god. Now, we can worship God on any day. And we can gather together on any day. You and I can gather on any given day, but that does not make it the Sabbath. There is only ONE day which He made holy (set apart) for rest. That is the seventh day. He never changed it. In fact, in scripture, it is a DAY (the Sabbath-Saturday), not a man, not a position, not a nation, not an article of clothing, which was the first thing that was mentioned which was called holy. Try throwing that one out at a church potluck!
Surely, those who changed the set-apart feast days of YHVH (Leviticus 23), replacing them with pagan festivals such as Easter and child-mass, which later became known as Christmas, as led by the charge of Constantine, had no authority from the Creator whatsoever to do this. Since almost every denomination of the western institutionalized church has not reversed such a wicked decree, they are equally as guilty for taking part.
Moreover, the fact that the institutionalized church is run as a corporate money-making, revenue-turning business that must “grow” in quantity in order to succeed (nevermind the mandate Yeshua gave to make disciples, not converts or patrons and that Shaul, the apostle Paul charged Timothy to teach a faithful man to be effective for the kingdom, not to create pew warmers), that is enough to turn off the true seeker of the truth, not to mention make the assembly so lukewarm as to make the Master want to spew that assembly out of His mouth! Perhaps this is why warnings against judges taking bribes (monetary gain in exchange for their services) were given in the desert to the children of Israel. The Pharisees of Yeshua’s day (a paid position in society) certainly were guilty of this practice which has the tendency to deceive men. It seems this leaven of mammon has tried to gain its way into the holy community from the beginning and it is large and in charge of the corporate-run church today.
Suffice it to say, the church I attended and was involved in leadership with was not in agreement with what were for me, these new-found truths. (Although they are not new at all, but have been the intent of the Creator from the beginning). Although I spoke the truth from scripture every chance I got, I never got a direct rebuke, however, I heard the word "legalism" from the pulpit more times than I care to count, as well as general references to a "religious spirit" (isn't someone who has a religious spirit in favor of man-made religion, rather than the Word of God, which is the perfect teaching of liberty? That is the quintessential pot calling the kettle black) Nevertheless, when I gently and lovingly confronted leadership about these incongruencies, I was met with blank stares or disagreement. Just as I knew I would be, I had been marginalized. Although a visiting evangelist friend of this church prophesied over me that I was to "speak the vision" to (them), which I did share the message which YHVH had made clear I was to give. It has (thus far) fallen on deaf ears. I am very hopeful that with the Lord everything is possible and that many of them will come to have their spiritual eyes opened, as He has done for me, and that they will be like the servant in the parable who started off saying no, but ultimately said yes. He who has an ear let him hear. May he who has a love of the truth not be deceived by the grand delusion which the Almighty will be sending in the last days to those who loved not the truth.
I love my friends at my old church. I am saddened, in a way that I had to part ways with them. And it was due to nothing personal, but rather a vast doctrinal differences which I have enumerated here. I could no longer go against my conscience by participating in the things they are in agreement with. It is like I said to them in my resignation from leadership: if I had been in the Lutheran, Pentacostal, Methodist, community, covenant, AG church....you name it, I would be leaving any of those churches as well.
The fact of the matter is I am not in agreement with the tenets of the institutionalized church. Period. And I haven't been for quite some time. I have felt this difference and this separateness for more than a couple seasons and can no longer condone. To do so would only cause confusion and disorder. It is not fair to others nor myself. And I certainly cannot continue to serve the YHVH in such a manner.
THE URGENCY OF TIME
Now more than ever it is of the utmost importance that we serve YHVH and Him alone (His Son Yeshua, who is YHVH in the flesh/ WHO wrote the 10 commandments with His finger? None other than the Holy One of Israel, Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah).
We stand on the precipice of a period of time known as Daniel's prophetic week, or the 7 year period prior to Messiah Yeshua's return. It is imperative NOW more than ever to obey Him and for Him to find us watching and waiting, serving Him faithfully, when He comes! It is of the utmost importance that we serve Him and Him alone, doing ALL He has said to do and occupying until He comes. If that means we separate ourselves from doctrinal error, man's traditions, even friends and/or family in order to do that, then so be it. I think there are many in the church who think this separating out which is going on, between those who want to follow Yeshua and His Torah with everything that is within them, and those who just want us all to get along in unity, is of the enemy. Well, I ask you to remember the words of Yeshua Himself who said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34). Many times in scripture, the Word (Torah, instructions) is referred to as a sword. Also, Yeshua said if we do not hate our (various family members) in comparison to HIM, we are not worthy of Him. Moreover, He said if our right eye causes us to sin, we are to gauge it out! That's pretty harsh. The message remains, however, that if something causes us to transgress His Law, go against His instructions/commandments, we are to get rid of it.
In my impassioned and idealistic, albeit naive way, I tried to change the system. Or in my case, my local church congregation. However, there is a greater spiritual reality at work when a church is not only run by leaders who have been trained in seminary with all of the man-made traditions and doctrines I have mentioned above, but also when the body is incorporated with the government and/or has 501 c3 status. They are hooked into the system, part of which is Babylon, with this financial and logistical umbilical cord. The church or ministry in question must pull the plug or else it continues to open itself up to attack from the head. From the head of WHAT? From the head of government which belongs to Cesar. (Render unto Cesar what is Cesar, unto Elohim what is Elohim’s) When the church submits to Cesar, rather than to Elohim (God), it is not easy to transform it into the image of the incorruptible Elohim. In order to receive the new wine, a new wineskin must be created. I cannot change the old wineskin nor can new wine be poured in, lest it break. It is like trying to change the stripes on a tiger. It does not work. That is why Jesus said we had to COME OUT OF HER [Babylon] (Rev. 18:4). He did not say rehabilitate her.
Remember, Jesus Himself said "he who endures til the end, the same shall be saved". There is also described a great "Falling Away" from truth in the last days. And as we are living in the end times, it is important to note the description of those in the book of Revelation (14:12 and also 12:17) who obey God's commanments and remain faithful to Jesus (or who hold the testimony of Yeshua). Now, I used to view this scripture from my Greek philosophy/dispensationanalist glasses and think this was talking about 2 separate groups: the Jews being one group and those gentiles who come to believe in Jesus during the tribulation period as a separate group. I have since changed my thinking on this: this is not 2 separate groups, but ONE GROUP. Both of these defining characteristics apply to them.
Moreover, over and over in the letters to the churches in Revelation, Yeshua Himself addresses the theme of each church's "works". A case could be made that even in the last days, Yeshua is looking at our works (not just what we believe, say, feel, or sing) and, in fact, our obedience. Such works or obedience, as Revelation makes clear, determines our rewards. While He was on the earth, Yeshua said it like this in Matthew 5:19, "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." He is talking here of REWARDS, not SALVATION, for those who are in the kingdom of God already have salvation. I have made this point over and over again. Walking in Torah has nothing to do with earning salvation through our works. We have salvation through the blood of the Lamb of God (Yeshua/Jesus) ONLY. But even the Lamb of God said to "follow Him". We are to walk as He walked. We are to do as He did. We are to obey all of God's commandments. Salvation is the beginning point. He set us free from sin so that we could serve Him as outlined in His instructions.
BUT, BUT, BUT.....
I have heard so many objections to observing all of the Lord's commandments today in Messiah. I have even heard people say, well, it says to stone your children outside the camp if they disobey...are you saying we should do THAT TOO?! My answer to that is some will be fulfilled in the millenial kingdom. If God said it, just because we are not doing it today, or because we don't fully understand it yet, does not mean it is not His intent. Yeah, I am sure there are things that will be re-instituted in Yeshua's Millenial kingdom such as the strict and fair punishments which He decreed in His Word. It says He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. I am sure He has provisions for all of His Word to be fulfilled, even if we do not understand it right now. (the above punishment was not the first resort, by the way. It is my understanding that it was enacted when willfull and unrepentant rebellion took root). However, when our modern conceptions of what we think ought to be conflict with the Words of Yeshua Himself, we should be willing to re-examine our understanding of things, not blindly accept others' opinions or interpretations, or likewise, not find the most extreme example in order to discredit the whole.
NOW WHAT?
Since I have decided to leave the institutionalized church, I have not decided to take myself out of fellowship with the Body of Messiah. That would be contrary to His instructions to "assemble yourselves together and all the more as you see That Day approaching". In fact, there is a vast growing movement of people who have come to similar conclusions as I have and who gather themselves together on a regular basis. Such are part of a movement of the Holy Spirit of which He is restoring His Torah in this hour, in our generation. Many of these people are part of the greater messianic movement, attend messianic congregations, but many of them opt to meet in homes instead, in a loosely-organized group, just as the believers did in the first century. The people I have been connecting with and fellowshipping with have a great love for the Torah and study it, holding everything in the scriptures up to its foundation and even endeavor to interpret the prophecies, which are being fulfilled in our times, according to this Torah perspective. After all, it is through the Torah that YHVH provided for and promised redemption, restoration, and His future kingdom. All teachings, and interpretations of prophecy must undergo the rigorous exam of lining up with the truths of the Torah. Yeshua was the Torah made flesh (John 1:14). He followed every commandment. He fulfilled the spring feasts of the Lord in His first coming. He is about to fulfill the fall feasts in His soon return.
To know the times and seasons, as we are commanded to do to watch for His return, we must not only know the feasts (Hebrew moedim-appontments) of Elohim, but we are to be walking in them, making them part of our lives and indeed our service to Him. We will not know the times and seasons as He commanded us to do, if we do not follow the Creator's calendar. His calendar, as marked by His spring and fall festivals, which are according to the lunar cycle, is the time markers by which He does anything. He does not do things according to the Gregorian solar calendar, of which the anti-christ system goes by. If we want to know His will for the times and seasons, we must become familiar with his calendar which are outlined in the scriptures. Additionally, he has promised to not do anything unlesss He first tells His servants, the prophets. The prophets of YHVH, by His own definition, will NOT be those who participate in the worship of other gods. Which is why I do not listen to those professed "prophets" in the Body of Messiah who participate in the church's celebrations of Christmas and Easter. By the Torah's definition, these are false teachers and I am not to follow or heed what they say. The prophets of YHVH will be those who foretell accurately AND refuse to bow down to idols. They will teach the Word of Yah in its entirety, not according to a dispensational view. They will not set out to do ear-tickling. They will probably offend the sensibilities of every single one of us. They will hold fast to the Word of Elohim, for let God be true and every man a liar.
How important is it that we do not follow wrong teaching and/or voices or opinions, or even our own feelings and spiritual experiences-which can deceive us- in these last days? EXTREMELY! Yeshua told us in Matthew 24 to not let any man deceive us. He said this during His discussion of the last days with His disciples. We have been sorely deceived! We have been utterly DUPED!- into thinking lawlessness is ok with God, that He forgives, no matter what (don't forget what He will say on That Day to the workers of iniquity- those who transgress the Law- He will say 'Depart from me...I never knew you').
In order to follow the Messiah with my whole heart, mind, and soul in this very important hour, I can come to no other conclusion than to join hundreds of other believers who have seen the truth of His Word to begin to "Come out of her [Babylon] my people, lest ye partake of her sins and receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). I have found it to be an important step in order to shake off the sins which so easily beset (us) and to make myself ready for the very difficult days ahead preceeding His coming.
**
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