by Jay Scher
These are for those who think they have been done away with or nailed to the cross and who think they bring us under bondage if we keep them.
These are also for those who would just like to have a list of them to share with other people, who would like to see where they are being kept in other places of scripture.
First Commandment: You shall have no other Elohim’s before Me/ Mighty ones against my face.
...Matthew 4:10; 6:24; 22:37-38; Luke 4:8; Revelation 14:7.
Second Commandment:
Thou shalt not worship Idols. Exo 20:4 “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth,
Exo 20:5 you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exo 20:6 but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.
Acts 15:20; 17:16; 29; 1 Corinthians 5:10-11; 6:9; 10:7, 14, 19; 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 5:20; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Peter 4:3; 1 John 5:21; Revelation 2:14; 9:20; 21:8; 22:15.
Third Commandment:
Thou shalt not take the name of Elohim in vain. Exo 20:7 “You do not bring1 the Name of יהוה your Elohim to naught, for יהוה does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught. Footnote: 1Or lift up, or take.
Matthew 5:33-34; 1 Timothy 6:1; James 2:7.
Fourth Commandment:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Set-Apart/Kodesh. Exo 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart.
Exo 20:9 “Six days you labour, and shall do all your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath1 of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. Footnote: 1There are other Sabbaths, but this is the weekly Sabbath.
Exo 20:11 “For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.
Matthew 12:8, 12; 24:20; Mark 1:21; 2:27-28; 6:2; Luke 4:16, 31; 6:5; 23:56; Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:1-2; 18:4; Hebrews 4:4, 9-10 (See also Amplified, ASV, BBE, NASB, NIV, RSV and NRSV.)
Fifth Commandment:
Honor your father and your mother.
Matthew 15:4; 19:19; Mark 7:10; 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 1:30; Ephesians 6:1-2; Colossians 3:20; 2 Timothy 3:2.
Sixth Commandment:
Thou shalt not Murder. Exo 20:12 “Respect your father and your mother, so that your days are prolonged upon the soil which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.
Matthew 5:21-22; 19:18; Mark 7:21; 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 1:29; 13:9; Galatians 5:21; 1 Timothy 1:9; James 2:11; 1 Peter 4:15; 1 John 3:15; Revelation 9:21; 21:8; 22:15.
Seventh Commandment:
Thou shalt not commit Adultery
Matthew 5:27-28; 19:18; Mark 7:21; 10:11-12, 19; Luke 16:18; 18:20; Acts 21:25; Romans 1:29; 2:22; 7:3; 13:9; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 6:9, 18; 10:8; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:4; James 2:11; 2 Peter 2:14; Jude 1:7; Revelation 2:14; 2:21-22; 9:21.
Eighth Commandment:
Thou shalt not Steal
Matthew 19:18; Mark 7:22; 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 2:21; 13:9; 1 Corinthians 5:10-11; 6:10; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Peter 4:15; Revelation 9:21.
Ninth Commandment:
Thou shalt not bear false witness
Matthew 15:19; 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; John 8:44; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 1:29; 13:9; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9; 1 Timothy 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:3; Revelation 21:8; 22:15.
Tenth Commandment:
Thou shalt not Covet your neighbor’s things
Mark 7:22; Luke 12:15; Acts 20:33; Romans 1:29; 7:7; 13:9; 1 Corinthians 5:10-11; 6:10; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3, 5; 1 Timothy 6:10; 2 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 2:14; Hebrews 13:5.
I hope this is a blessing to you!
With brotherly love in the body of Messiah יהושע Brother Jay
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
The Renewed Covenant Feast Days
by Jay Scher
THE RENEWED COVENANT FEAST DAYS
THIS IS A GREAT READ!
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE FEAST DAYS!
A SPIRITUAL REVELATION LIKE NO OTHER!
Our world is in the midst of a religious knowledge explosion. Increasing numbers of more accurate and up-to-date Bible translations are rolling off presses. Religious bookstores are proliferating; TV evangelists are becoming more popular and numerous, and religious magazines are multiplying.
Then why, with all of this, can't so many people seem to find the truth, “the Bible” teaches?
יהושע the Messiah explained in Matthew 6:33 and 7:7-8 that His truth is something you must seek. How many nominal churchgoers are actively seeking that truth? How many are looking into their Bibles and comparing Scriptures to check the veracity of what their ministers are teaching them? How many question their pastors, ministers or elders about contradictions between what they read in the Scriptures and what they are being taught?
Paul said, "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good," 1 Thessalonians 5:21.MODERN MAN IS STUCK IN MYSTERY WORSHIP THAT IS NOT IN SCRIPTURE! It is really not a mystery where it comes from, but when you share the truth with people of where it comes from they get really mad or very upset at the least!
Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 31:29, "For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of יהוה, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands."
יהוה knows the hearts of human beings and He is not being found by most people because of their disobedience to His laws. In Deuteronomy 31:16-18 יהוה said to Moses, "Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the deities of the strangers of the land whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day. 'Are not these evils come upon us because our Elohim (mighty one) is not among us,' and I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto idols."
What does that prophecy have to do with keeping the Christian holidays of today? Aren't the churches teaching Christmas, Halloween, New Year's, Valentine's Day, and Easter on Sunday morning and Sunday worship being the true Sabbath day? These observances are based in ancient mystery worship - not on the scriptures in the Bible.
They are teaching mere traditions of man and that's the problem. They are actually fulfilling what was also prophesied in Daniel 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
The word ‘times' is zeman in Hebrew and means an appointed time or season such as an appointed festival as found in Leviticus 23 (see Strong's Exhaustive Concordance No. 2166). The words ‘time' and ‘times' in the latter part of the verse are from the Hebrew word iddan and mean to measure time such as a year.Nowhere in the Renewed Covenant writings had the Messiah or His disciples switched the days of worship. If you could talk to the Apostle Paul and tell him about the counterfeit days observed today, he would be stunned at the change. Similarly, millions of people today would be shocked if they only opened their scriptures and saw that the early Renewed Covenant Assembly kept the Feast days of Leviticus 23.
MEMORIALS TO OBSERVE FOREVER
People today are being taught that the Feast Days are First Covenant and are therefore obsolete. This erroneous doctrine is one reason millions assume they can't understand the Bible and therefore loose heart in seeking the one true creator. In reality it is the reason why so many can’t understand the scriptures. They think all they need is the Renewed Covenant writings and not the First Covenant writings. Why were certain days okay for one group of people to observe and not for another, they wonder. The only difference in keeping the Feast Days in the Renewed Covenant times is a change in the sacrifice, as we will show shortly. יהוה the Savior became the perfect sacrifice.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 that Paul in the Renewed Covenant said to keep the feast. Originally the Feast Days of Leviticus 23 were not sacrificial days (Jeremiah 7:22-23), but sacrifices were added because of man's transgression.Peter tells us יהוה was the perfect example we should follow, 1 Peter 2:21. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said he followed יהוה's example and we should follow him. To follow an example is to do as the example did. Nowhere does the Bible record that the Messiah offered a sacrifice.
In Matthew 9:13 יהוה Himself says, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The writer of Hebrews tells us how to offer sacrifices in the Renewed Covenant times. In Hebrews 13:15 we read, "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to יהוה continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name."OBSERVING יהוה'S LAW IN THE RENEWED COVENANTAll the commanded Feast Days are presented in chronological order in Leviticus 23. For each we will show the commandment and point out places in the Renewed Covenant where יהוה or the Apostles were observing these days. WEEKLY SABBATH
Leviticus 23:3, Acts 13:42Let us start with Acts 13:42, mainly because many preachers claim that Paul did away with the commandments. Paul's writings are controversial to those who teach or follow some other doctrine which Paul condemns (Galatians 1:8). Peter warns that Paul's writings are difficult to understand and would be used to pervert the Good News (2 Peter 3:15-18). Taken correctly, in light of the context and prophets, Paul's writings perfectly compliment the rest of the Bible.
Acts 13:42 clearly shows Paul taught gentiles on the Sabbath. If he was the one to change worship to Sunday, surely this was the time to do it. He would have told them to come back the next day (Sunday). However. he told them to come back the next Sabbath, verse 44.
Acts 15:17 clearly shows us James was referring to gentiles. In verse 20 he tells them to abstain from 'pollutions of idols. from fornication, things strangled, and from blood. Pollution of idols would be eating unclean food sacrificed to idols; fornication was often with temple prostitutes (see Numbers 25). These former pagans drank blood in their rituals (ox blood, to make them as strong as an ox). Acts 15:21 says, "For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."
Thus instructions in righteousness were given the gentiles when they attended the synagogue, as we have seen in Acts 13:42, 44. Even when Paul was not in a synagogue he preached on the Sabbath day as mentioned in Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath he went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke unto the women who went there." (The word "spoke" is laloe in the Greek and means to preach.)
Some people believe that יהושע the Messiah abolished the law with His death, including the law of the Sabbath. Yet, Scripture shows that the Savior is "master of the Sabbath,"
Mark 2:28, having created it in the first place (John 1:3 and Hebrews 1:2). Having created the Sabbath, He also rested on it (Genesis 2:2).
Now if He intended to do away with the Sabbath, why would He observe it both at creation and while He walked on this earth? In Luke 4:16 and Mark 1:21 we find that the Messiah went to the synagogue to keep the Sabbath. He said He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, Matthew 5:17. The Sabbath He created was to be observed by man on earth and that is why He also observed it while He was on earth. He explained that the Sabbath was made for man, not only for Jews.
What about the Apostle John? He tells us in 1 John 2:24, "Let that therefore remain in you which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father." Nowhere is there even a hint of a change from Sabbath keeping, not even after יהושע's death.
In Isaiah 66:22-23 Isaiah foretells that the Sabbath and Feast Days will be in force after the resurrection. "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before Me, says יהוה, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says יהוה." יהוה was looking down through history and showing that His people will continue to worship and keep the Sabbaths even in the new age when the Kingdom is established on the earth. PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
Leviticus 23:5-6, Matthew 26:18, Acts 20:6Passover occurs once annually in the Springtime and portrays the passing over of the destroying angel in Egypt and also the Savior's death. The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize the putting of false doctrine from our lives and feeding on the pure bread of the Word. יהושע kept the Passover (Luke 22:14-16). Verse 16 tells us He will keep it in the future; "For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of יהוה."
Notice also verse 30, "That you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." This passage proves that the Passover will be kept after His return. Isn't it logical that we should keep this festival now? (The word "Easter" occurs once in the King James Bible at Acts 12:4, and is a mistranslation of pascha, the Passover. Request our Booklet, What You Should Know About Easter, or read our booklet online by clicking here.)In writing to a gentile congregation Paul unashamedly brings up the
Feast of Unleavened Bread
in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. He tells them a little leaven permeates the entire lump. He instructs them to purge out the old leaven (their old way of life); that they might be a new lump, verse 7. Because the Messiah is sacrificed for us, Paul tells these gentiles to keep the Feast with the unleavenness of sincerity and truth.Certainly Paul would never mention the Passover as being the Messiah and bring up the meaning of this First Covenant festival to gentiles if this holy time was done away in the Renewed Covenant. Yet here he is, chiding a people historically unfamiliar with the Feast Days of Leviticus 23 in terms that show they had now been instructed in these Feast Days.
Did the Apostles keep these annual Feast Days? Paul did. Acts 20:6 reads. "And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days."Many ministers of Sunday-keeping churches cite Acts 20:7 as abolishing the Sabbath simply because Paul preached to the people on the first day of the week; actually our Saturday night since Scriptural days begin in the evening. They ignore scores of Scriptures that support the Sabbath. Note that Acts 20:7 reads, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." In the King James Version the word day is in italics, which means it isn't in the original Greek manuscript. It was added by translators as a help word.
In the Greek Interlinear version the actual phrasing of Acts 20:7 in the Greek begins with, "And on the one (first) of the Sabbaths (week)." Notice the word 'day' does not appear. The word 'Sabbaths' is plural, showing it is linked to a group of Sabbaths. Because this was following the Days of Unleavened Bread, we can easily see the connection is to the count to Pentecost.To determine this third high or annual Sabbath, we are to number 50 days, starting with the first day-after-Sabbath (first day of the week) after Passover. This is the wave sheaf day (Leviticus 23:15), the same day we see in Acts 20:7. Counting seven complete Sabbaths brings us to Pentecost or the Feast of Firstfruits, the first day of the week. PENTECOST
Leviticus 23:15-17, Acts 2:1, 20:16, 1 Corinthians 16:8יהושע was יהוה's first fruit as He offered Himself in John 20:14-17. Exactly 50 days later, on Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Well over 20 years afterward we see Paul still keeping this observance, because in Acts 20:16 Paul says he is determined to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost.
The word Pentecost actually means "count 50" and in the First Covenant it's called Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits. יהושע became the firstfruits of the harvest and sent the Holy Spirit to help us to tell others about יהוה's loving gift of salvation.At Paul's trial, in which his own life was at stake (Acts 24:11, 14), he described True Worship and confessed he believed all things that were written in the law and the prophets. And he taught "none other things" (Acts 28-22). The second chapter of Acts records that the Renewed Covenant Assembly began with the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On Paul's missionary trip he mentioned to the Corinthian brethren that he was going to spend time in Ephesus until Pentecost, 1 Corinthians 16:8. Paul tells the gentile congregation he would come to visit with them and remain over winter, verses 6-8, but not until after Pentecost. Why does he inform them it will be after Pentecost if gentiles are not to keep Pentecost? FEAST OF TRUMPETS
Leviticus 23:24, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:52The Feast of Trumpets is about the future. This Feast pictures the return of יהושע "at the last trump" and typifies the events surrounding His return. Revelation 7:3-4 tells us that the angels are to hold off the plagues until the 144,000 (His people) are sealed. (John wrote that the people who keep the commandments will be blessed with everlasting life, Revelation 22-14.)Revelation 8:7 through Revelation 9:21 tells of the plagues that will come to the earth just before the Messiah's return. These plagues are similar to the plagues that came upon the Egyptians in Moses' time because they had not obeyed יהוה. Matthew 24:31 notes that at the last trump, יהוה's people will be separated from the worldly by the return of יהושע. "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."No one knows when He will return (Matthew 24:36) as יהושע Himself will execute the command (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This time is yet future and reminds us to keep our thoughts on heavenly things, looking for יהושע's return. We do that by observing this prophetic Feast of Trumpets. DAY OF ATONEMENT
Leviticus 23:27,Acts 27:9This solemn observance is to remind us of the covering of our sins by the blood of the Lamb. This is a special holy day during which we take in no food or drink for 24 hours and is mentioned in Acts 27:9 (see the center reference column of any Bible). The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) fast was on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is an annual holy day, Leviticus 23:27. Note that the author of Acts 27:9 mentions this day of fasting 30 years after the death of the Messiah.Remember, Paul was the Apostle to the gentiles and Luke was a gentile. Paul observed this annual holy day in remembrance of the Messiah as the Atonement for all sins. יהושע became our perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices (Hebrews 10:10). He is now our High Priest in heaven, atoning and making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).Today we afflict our souls with fasting to remind us it was our sins and the world's that He died for (Isaiah 53:7-9). Also, we are reminded that we are flesh, depending on food and water. We look for our fleshly body to one day be changed to spirit, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. We await His coming from the holy place (Leviticus 16:17). FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Leviticus 23:34, John 7, Acts 18:21Much can be said about the Feast of Tabernacles. The 7th chapter of John is about the Feast of Tabernacles (see verse 2). יהושע kept the feast (verse 10), as He did all the Feast Days.Years later, after the Renewed Covenant Assembly had been established, Paul said in Acts 18:21. "I must by all means keep this feast." This was referring to the Feast of Tabernacles that was kept in Jerusalem.
What about today and in the future 1,000 years? This festival represents the Millennium, יהושע's thousand-year reign on earth. In Zechariah 14 not only is this feast mentioned, but also it tells that keeping of this feast is going to be enforced.The passage in Zechariah 14:16-19 says,"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, יהוה of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, that Whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, יהוה of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt goes not up and comes not, they shall have no rain; that shall be the plague wherewith יהוה will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."
Isaiah 66:23, tells us all Sabbaths will be kept after the return of יהושע. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says יהוה." LAST GREAT DAY
Leviticus 23:39, John 7:37-39The Last Great Day, the day immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles, represents the Great White Throne Judgment during which יהוה will judge the world according to their works (Revelation 20:11-13, John 12:48).In John 7:37-39 יהושע, on the Last Great Day, offered His Spirit, which He likened to a river of living water, to quench man's thirst for truth. You know the feeling, as when you first learned His truth and you couldn't get enough!He said, "He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said," verse 38. Through His Spirit we may learn His way so we may stand righteous at that Last Great Day.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
How about you? Can you now see the value of keeping יהוה's Feast Days? Many of יהושע's miracles, teachings, His birth, death, resurrection, sending of the Kodesh or Set-Apart Spirit, and other major biblical events occurred on Feast Days. Paul and all the apostles kept and worshiped on the Sabbath and Feast Days.Christmas, Easter, New Year's, Valentine's day, and Sunday mean nothing to יהוה. יהוה inspired Jeremiah to write. "Learn not the way of the heathen..." (Jeremiah 10:2). These pagan counterfeits never represented anything valuable and never will.יהושע condemns vain worship. He quoted Isaiah 29:13 to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8, chastising them for their traditions. In Matthew 15:8-9 יהושע says, "This people draws nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips: but have removed their heart far from Me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." All pagan observances are vain, empty worship made up by man. יהוה has set aside His Feast Days which have great meaning for us to worship Him.No matter how sincere a person is in offering his form of worship, it is not acceptable before יהוה unless יהוה sanctions it in His Word. He said in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to Me, seeing you have forgotten the law of your Elohim, I will also forget your children."
Throughout the Scriptures when יהוה refers to His Feast Days He calls them "My Feast Days, My Sabbaths" (see Ezekiel 36:20-27); but when He refers to man's set Feast Days or months (moons) (whether they are altered originals or substitutes) He says "your Feast Days," "your moons," or her feast days her new moons etc.In the 5th chapter of Amos, Israel went their own way (as they do today); but יהוה says "seek יהוה and live," (Amos 5:6). For those who worship their own way, He says in Amos 5:21-23, "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols." Isaiah 1:11-14 tells us we must keep these days with a pure heart to be acceptable to יהוה.
Today we have a lot of good singers who sing praises in their own way, but יהוה doesn't hear them. Gifted preachers preach in their own way on their own days, but יהוה does not hear them.He does not even hear their prayers, those that turn away from keeping the Sabbaths, Eating Clean Foods, Keeping all the Appointed times/ Feast days. This is that important to him! Pro_28:9 He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abominationThose who worship יהוה according to His way as explained in Leviticus 23, in His Name, are the people He hears. These are his set-apart people from the rest of the world! We do these things in both the physical part of the law but also the spiritual part of the law. So when Paul says once in a while don’t go back into bondage. He is talking about the fact that we should not be keeping these commands in Torah just to keep them, that would be bondage. We keep them to be in the spirit of the Torah/law. We keep them because we love Messiah and we keep them out of obedience to him. We are promised to live with Messiah forever if we do. Eternal life sounds pretty good to me.
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 3:36 “He who believes in the Son possesses everlasting life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim remains on him.”
We keep them, because it helps us learn to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh anymore. By not keeping Torah all of the commands we have just talked about we are still in the flesh.Gal 5:24 And those who are of Messiah have impaled the flesh with its passions and the desires. Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The Renewed Covenant is very spiritual. It is all about trying to develop the mind of Messiah. We do this through not dwelling on the flesh/sin in our minds and dwelling on spiritual matters as much as possible.
Rom 8:2 For the Torah of the Spirit of the life in Messiah יהושע has set me free from the law of sin and of death. Rom 8:3 For the Torah being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, Elohim, having His own Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, Rom 8:4 so that the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the matters of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the matters of the Spirit. Rom 8:6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.
This is what so many Christians don’t understand about those of us that do keep the commands in Torah that apply to us. There are many that don’t apply to us. Many of us are not Farmers and we don’t work in a temple. There are many other examples, but you get the idea.
We are in training now to learn of these special times so that we can be Priests, teachers in the Kingdom, Revelation 5:10. How can we qualify to be a kingdom of priests if we do not learn what to do now in this life? The bride is to make herself ready, Revelation 19:7. How about you? Are you following the example of יהושע and the example of His disciples? Are you showing your true love to יהוה by worshiping Him the way He desires to be worshiped, by being obedient to His Word?
I hope this was a blessing to you!
With brotherly love in the body of יהושע Messiah, bRO j
visit Jay @ Choose Live Set Apart, on Facebook
THIS IS A GREAT READ!
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE FEAST DAYS!
A SPIRITUAL REVELATION LIKE NO OTHER!
Our world is in the midst of a religious knowledge explosion. Increasing numbers of more accurate and up-to-date Bible translations are rolling off presses. Religious bookstores are proliferating; TV evangelists are becoming more popular and numerous, and religious magazines are multiplying.
Then why, with all of this, can't so many people seem to find the truth, “the Bible” teaches?
יהושע the Messiah explained in Matthew 6:33 and 7:7-8 that His truth is something you must seek. How many nominal churchgoers are actively seeking that truth? How many are looking into their Bibles and comparing Scriptures to check the veracity of what their ministers are teaching them? How many question their pastors, ministers or elders about contradictions between what they read in the Scriptures and what they are being taught?
Paul said, "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good," 1 Thessalonians 5:21.MODERN MAN IS STUCK IN MYSTERY WORSHIP THAT IS NOT IN SCRIPTURE! It is really not a mystery where it comes from, but when you share the truth with people of where it comes from they get really mad or very upset at the least!
Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 31:29, "For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of יהוה, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands."
יהוה knows the hearts of human beings and He is not being found by most people because of their disobedience to His laws. In Deuteronomy 31:16-18 יהוה said to Moses, "Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the deities of the strangers of the land whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day. 'Are not these evils come upon us because our Elohim (mighty one) is not among us,' and I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto idols."
What does that prophecy have to do with keeping the Christian holidays of today? Aren't the churches teaching Christmas, Halloween, New Year's, Valentine's Day, and Easter on Sunday morning and Sunday worship being the true Sabbath day? These observances are based in ancient mystery worship - not on the scriptures in the Bible.
They are teaching mere traditions of man and that's the problem. They are actually fulfilling what was also prophesied in Daniel 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
The word ‘times' is zeman in Hebrew and means an appointed time or season such as an appointed festival as found in Leviticus 23 (see Strong's Exhaustive Concordance No. 2166). The words ‘time' and ‘times' in the latter part of the verse are from the Hebrew word iddan and mean to measure time such as a year.Nowhere in the Renewed Covenant writings had the Messiah or His disciples switched the days of worship. If you could talk to the Apostle Paul and tell him about the counterfeit days observed today, he would be stunned at the change. Similarly, millions of people today would be shocked if they only opened their scriptures and saw that the early Renewed Covenant Assembly kept the Feast days of Leviticus 23.
MEMORIALS TO OBSERVE FOREVER
People today are being taught that the Feast Days are First Covenant and are therefore obsolete. This erroneous doctrine is one reason millions assume they can't understand the Bible and therefore loose heart in seeking the one true creator. In reality it is the reason why so many can’t understand the scriptures. They think all they need is the Renewed Covenant writings and not the First Covenant writings. Why were certain days okay for one group of people to observe and not for another, they wonder. The only difference in keeping the Feast Days in the Renewed Covenant times is a change in the sacrifice, as we will show shortly. יהוה the Savior became the perfect sacrifice.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 that Paul in the Renewed Covenant said to keep the feast. Originally the Feast Days of Leviticus 23 were not sacrificial days (Jeremiah 7:22-23), but sacrifices were added because of man's transgression.Peter tells us יהוה was the perfect example we should follow, 1 Peter 2:21. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said he followed יהוה's example and we should follow him. To follow an example is to do as the example did. Nowhere does the Bible record that the Messiah offered a sacrifice.
In Matthew 9:13 יהוה Himself says, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The writer of Hebrews tells us how to offer sacrifices in the Renewed Covenant times. In Hebrews 13:15 we read, "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to יהוה continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name."OBSERVING יהוה'S LAW IN THE RENEWED COVENANTAll the commanded Feast Days are presented in chronological order in Leviticus 23. For each we will show the commandment and point out places in the Renewed Covenant where יהוה or the Apostles were observing these days. WEEKLY SABBATH
Leviticus 23:3, Acts 13:42Let us start with Acts 13:42, mainly because many preachers claim that Paul did away with the commandments. Paul's writings are controversial to those who teach or follow some other doctrine which Paul condemns (Galatians 1:8). Peter warns that Paul's writings are difficult to understand and would be used to pervert the Good News (2 Peter 3:15-18). Taken correctly, in light of the context and prophets, Paul's writings perfectly compliment the rest of the Bible.
Acts 13:42 clearly shows Paul taught gentiles on the Sabbath. If he was the one to change worship to Sunday, surely this was the time to do it. He would have told them to come back the next day (Sunday). However. he told them to come back the next Sabbath, verse 44.
Acts 15:17 clearly shows us James was referring to gentiles. In verse 20 he tells them to abstain from 'pollutions of idols. from fornication, things strangled, and from blood. Pollution of idols would be eating unclean food sacrificed to idols; fornication was often with temple prostitutes (see Numbers 25). These former pagans drank blood in their rituals (ox blood, to make them as strong as an ox). Acts 15:21 says, "For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."
Thus instructions in righteousness were given the gentiles when they attended the synagogue, as we have seen in Acts 13:42, 44. Even when Paul was not in a synagogue he preached on the Sabbath day as mentioned in Acts 16:13, "And on the Sabbath he went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke unto the women who went there." (The word "spoke" is laloe in the Greek and means to preach.)
Some people believe that יהושע the Messiah abolished the law with His death, including the law of the Sabbath. Yet, Scripture shows that the Savior is "master of the Sabbath,"
Mark 2:28, having created it in the first place (John 1:3 and Hebrews 1:2). Having created the Sabbath, He also rested on it (Genesis 2:2).
Now if He intended to do away with the Sabbath, why would He observe it both at creation and while He walked on this earth? In Luke 4:16 and Mark 1:21 we find that the Messiah went to the synagogue to keep the Sabbath. He said He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, Matthew 5:17. The Sabbath He created was to be observed by man on earth and that is why He also observed it while He was on earth. He explained that the Sabbath was made for man, not only for Jews.
What about the Apostle John? He tells us in 1 John 2:24, "Let that therefore remain in you which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father." Nowhere is there even a hint of a change from Sabbath keeping, not even after יהושע's death.
In Isaiah 66:22-23 Isaiah foretells that the Sabbath and Feast Days will be in force after the resurrection. "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before Me, says יהוה, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says יהוה." יהוה was looking down through history and showing that His people will continue to worship and keep the Sabbaths even in the new age when the Kingdom is established on the earth. PASSOVER AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
Leviticus 23:5-6, Matthew 26:18, Acts 20:6Passover occurs once annually in the Springtime and portrays the passing over of the destroying angel in Egypt and also the Savior's death. The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize the putting of false doctrine from our lives and feeding on the pure bread of the Word. יהושע kept the Passover (Luke 22:14-16). Verse 16 tells us He will keep it in the future; "For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of יהוה."
Notice also verse 30, "That you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." This passage proves that the Passover will be kept after His return. Isn't it logical that we should keep this festival now? (The word "Easter" occurs once in the King James Bible at Acts 12:4, and is a mistranslation of pascha, the Passover. Request our Booklet, What You Should Know About Easter, or read our booklet online by clicking here.)In writing to a gentile congregation Paul unashamedly brings up the
Feast of Unleavened Bread
in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. He tells them a little leaven permeates the entire lump. He instructs them to purge out the old leaven (their old way of life); that they might be a new lump, verse 7. Because the Messiah is sacrificed for us, Paul tells these gentiles to keep the Feast with the unleavenness of sincerity and truth.Certainly Paul would never mention the Passover as being the Messiah and bring up the meaning of this First Covenant festival to gentiles if this holy time was done away in the Renewed Covenant. Yet here he is, chiding a people historically unfamiliar with the Feast Days of Leviticus 23 in terms that show they had now been instructed in these Feast Days.
Did the Apostles keep these annual Feast Days? Paul did. Acts 20:6 reads. "And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days."Many ministers of Sunday-keeping churches cite Acts 20:7 as abolishing the Sabbath simply because Paul preached to the people on the first day of the week; actually our Saturday night since Scriptural days begin in the evening. They ignore scores of Scriptures that support the Sabbath. Note that Acts 20:7 reads, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." In the King James Version the word day is in italics, which means it isn't in the original Greek manuscript. It was added by translators as a help word.
In the Greek Interlinear version the actual phrasing of Acts 20:7 in the Greek begins with, "And on the one (first) of the Sabbaths (week)." Notice the word 'day' does not appear. The word 'Sabbaths' is plural, showing it is linked to a group of Sabbaths. Because this was following the Days of Unleavened Bread, we can easily see the connection is to the count to Pentecost.To determine this third high or annual Sabbath, we are to number 50 days, starting with the first day-after-Sabbath (first day of the week) after Passover. This is the wave sheaf day (Leviticus 23:15), the same day we see in Acts 20:7. Counting seven complete Sabbaths brings us to Pentecost or the Feast of Firstfruits, the first day of the week. PENTECOST
Leviticus 23:15-17, Acts 2:1, 20:16, 1 Corinthians 16:8יהושע was יהוה's first fruit as He offered Himself in John 20:14-17. Exactly 50 days later, on Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Well over 20 years afterward we see Paul still keeping this observance, because in Acts 20:16 Paul says he is determined to be in Jerusalem by Pentecost.
The word Pentecost actually means "count 50" and in the First Covenant it's called Feast of Weeks or Feast of Firstfruits. יהושע became the firstfruits of the harvest and sent the Holy Spirit to help us to tell others about יהוה's loving gift of salvation.At Paul's trial, in which his own life was at stake (Acts 24:11, 14), he described True Worship and confessed he believed all things that were written in the law and the prophets. And he taught "none other things" (Acts 28-22). The second chapter of Acts records that the Renewed Covenant Assembly began with the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On Paul's missionary trip he mentioned to the Corinthian brethren that he was going to spend time in Ephesus until Pentecost, 1 Corinthians 16:8. Paul tells the gentile congregation he would come to visit with them and remain over winter, verses 6-8, but not until after Pentecost. Why does he inform them it will be after Pentecost if gentiles are not to keep Pentecost? FEAST OF TRUMPETS
Leviticus 23:24, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:52The Feast of Trumpets is about the future. This Feast pictures the return of יהושע "at the last trump" and typifies the events surrounding His return. Revelation 7:3-4 tells us that the angels are to hold off the plagues until the 144,000 (His people) are sealed. (John wrote that the people who keep the commandments will be blessed with everlasting life, Revelation 22-14.)Revelation 8:7 through Revelation 9:21 tells of the plagues that will come to the earth just before the Messiah's return. These plagues are similar to the plagues that came upon the Egyptians in Moses' time because they had not obeyed יהוה. Matthew 24:31 notes that at the last trump, יהוה's people will be separated from the worldly by the return of יהושע. "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."No one knows when He will return (Matthew 24:36) as יהושע Himself will execute the command (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This time is yet future and reminds us to keep our thoughts on heavenly things, looking for יהושע's return. We do that by observing this prophetic Feast of Trumpets. DAY OF ATONEMENT
Leviticus 23:27,Acts 27:9This solemn observance is to remind us of the covering of our sins by the blood of the Lamb. This is a special holy day during which we take in no food or drink for 24 hours and is mentioned in Acts 27:9 (see the center reference column of any Bible). The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) fast was on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is an annual holy day, Leviticus 23:27. Note that the author of Acts 27:9 mentions this day of fasting 30 years after the death of the Messiah.Remember, Paul was the Apostle to the gentiles and Luke was a gentile. Paul observed this annual holy day in remembrance of the Messiah as the Atonement for all sins. יהושע became our perfect sacrifice to end all sacrifices (Hebrews 10:10). He is now our High Priest in heaven, atoning and making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).Today we afflict our souls with fasting to remind us it was our sins and the world's that He died for (Isaiah 53:7-9). Also, we are reminded that we are flesh, depending on food and water. We look for our fleshly body to one day be changed to spirit, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. We await His coming from the holy place (Leviticus 16:17). FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Leviticus 23:34, John 7, Acts 18:21Much can be said about the Feast of Tabernacles. The 7th chapter of John is about the Feast of Tabernacles (see verse 2). יהושע kept the feast (verse 10), as He did all the Feast Days.Years later, after the Renewed Covenant Assembly had been established, Paul said in Acts 18:21. "I must by all means keep this feast." This was referring to the Feast of Tabernacles that was kept in Jerusalem.
What about today and in the future 1,000 years? This festival represents the Millennium, יהושע's thousand-year reign on earth. In Zechariah 14 not only is this feast mentioned, but also it tells that keeping of this feast is going to be enforced.The passage in Zechariah 14:16-19 says,"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, יהוה of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be, that Whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, יהוה of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt goes not up and comes not, they shall have no rain; that shall be the plague wherewith יהוה will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."
Isaiah 66:23, tells us all Sabbaths will be kept after the return of יהושע. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says יהוה." LAST GREAT DAY
Leviticus 23:39, John 7:37-39The Last Great Day, the day immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles, represents the Great White Throne Judgment during which יהוה will judge the world according to their works (Revelation 20:11-13, John 12:48).In John 7:37-39 יהושע, on the Last Great Day, offered His Spirit, which He likened to a river of living water, to quench man's thirst for truth. You know the feeling, as when you first learned His truth and you couldn't get enough!He said, "He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said," verse 38. Through His Spirit we may learn His way so we may stand righteous at that Last Great Day.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
How about you? Can you now see the value of keeping יהוה's Feast Days? Many of יהושע's miracles, teachings, His birth, death, resurrection, sending of the Kodesh or Set-Apart Spirit, and other major biblical events occurred on Feast Days. Paul and all the apostles kept and worshiped on the Sabbath and Feast Days.Christmas, Easter, New Year's, Valentine's day, and Sunday mean nothing to יהוה. יהוה inspired Jeremiah to write. "Learn not the way of the heathen..." (Jeremiah 10:2). These pagan counterfeits never represented anything valuable and never will.יהושע condemns vain worship. He quoted Isaiah 29:13 to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8, chastising them for their traditions. In Matthew 15:8-9 יהושע says, "This people draws nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips: but have removed their heart far from Me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." All pagan observances are vain, empty worship made up by man. יהוה has set aside His Feast Days which have great meaning for us to worship Him.No matter how sincere a person is in offering his form of worship, it is not acceptable before יהוה unless יהוה sanctions it in His Word. He said in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to Me, seeing you have forgotten the law of your Elohim, I will also forget your children."
Throughout the Scriptures when יהוה refers to His Feast Days He calls them "My Feast Days, My Sabbaths" (see Ezekiel 36:20-27); but when He refers to man's set Feast Days or months (moons) (whether they are altered originals or substitutes) He says "your Feast Days," "your moons," or her feast days her new moons etc.In the 5th chapter of Amos, Israel went their own way (as they do today); but יהוה says "seek יהוה and live," (Amos 5:6). For those who worship their own way, He says in Amos 5:21-23, "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols." Isaiah 1:11-14 tells us we must keep these days with a pure heart to be acceptable to יהוה.
Today we have a lot of good singers who sing praises in their own way, but יהוה doesn't hear them. Gifted preachers preach in their own way on their own days, but יהוה does not hear them.He does not even hear their prayers, those that turn away from keeping the Sabbaths, Eating Clean Foods, Keeping all the Appointed times/ Feast days. This is that important to him! Pro_28:9 He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abominationThose who worship יהוה according to His way as explained in Leviticus 23, in His Name, are the people He hears. These are his set-apart people from the rest of the world! We do these things in both the physical part of the law but also the spiritual part of the law. So when Paul says once in a while don’t go back into bondage. He is talking about the fact that we should not be keeping these commands in Torah just to keep them, that would be bondage. We keep them to be in the spirit of the Torah/law. We keep them because we love Messiah and we keep them out of obedience to him. We are promised to live with Messiah forever if we do. Eternal life sounds pretty good to me.
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Joh 3:36 “He who believes in the Son possesses everlasting life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim remains on him.”
We keep them, because it helps us learn to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh anymore. By not keeping Torah all of the commands we have just talked about we are still in the flesh.Gal 5:24 And those who are of Messiah have impaled the flesh with its passions and the desires. Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The Renewed Covenant is very spiritual. It is all about trying to develop the mind of Messiah. We do this through not dwelling on the flesh/sin in our minds and dwelling on spiritual matters as much as possible.
Rom 8:2 For the Torah of the Spirit of the life in Messiah יהושע has set me free from the law of sin and of death. Rom 8:3 For the Torah being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, Elohim, having His own Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, Rom 8:4 so that the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the matters of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the matters of the Spirit. Rom 8:6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.
This is what so many Christians don’t understand about those of us that do keep the commands in Torah that apply to us. There are many that don’t apply to us. Many of us are not Farmers and we don’t work in a temple. There are many other examples, but you get the idea.
We are in training now to learn of these special times so that we can be Priests, teachers in the Kingdom, Revelation 5:10. How can we qualify to be a kingdom of priests if we do not learn what to do now in this life? The bride is to make herself ready, Revelation 19:7. How about you? Are you following the example of יהושע and the example of His disciples? Are you showing your true love to יהוה by worshiping Him the way He desires to be worshiped, by being obedient to His Word?
I hope this was a blessing to you!
With brotherly love in the body of יהושע Messiah, bRO j
visit Jay @ Choose Live Set Apart, on Facebook
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Extensive History into the Names of the Week
SUN-DAY (day #1)
From Latin, dies Solis, the Day-of-the-Sun. Since Babylon was established, Pagans have worshipped the Sun. Here’s a few of the names they’ve used:
Baal, Shamash, Moloch, Ahura-Mazda, Dagon, Sol, Marduk, Mithras, Krishna, Amen-Ra, Aton, Woden (Odin), Zeus, Deus, and the Druid / Teutonic “God”. You may recall that the Pharaoh and the Caesar (Khazar/Czar) were worshipped as the sun.
This began with the first king, Nimrod, discussed later. This pattern of worshipping the sun, moon, planets, and stars permeated the Babylonians, Persians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Mayans, Aztecs, and Indians. The governments were the religion. If they were “good” Pagans, at death they would be transported to the skies (Heaven) to live with their deities. This was called Nirvana, Shambala, or Elysian Fields. The Roman Consul/Emperor Constantine I gave us the term Sun-Day, which he also called Sol Invictus Mithras (the day of the unconquerable sun, Mithras). In 321 CE he decreed under the penalty of death that all artisans, merchants, and people of his Empire cease work on the Venerable Day of the Sun, to honor Mithras. This was a Universal Edict, and is still enforced in our western culture with our “blue laws”. (Interestingly, the government phone numbers are printed on blue pages in our US phone books). It was a weekly ritual of sun-worshippers to assemble at dawn on this day to greet the sun at its rising. A great pillar, or sun-ray obelisk was the solar religion’s primitive high place, condemned by Scripture as a “pillar of jealousy” ~ secretly interpreted as a male fertility symbol. Various tower designs such as steeples, pagodas, turrets, ziggurats, minarets, spires, obelisks, and pyramids have served Pagans well. The Temple did not have a high place, nor do synagogues! These high places would receive the first hallowed rays of dawn. At this point, bells were rung by hand, as in a shaker-grid, and large ones were struck with oak logs swung horizontally. Gongs struck with hammers were especially fun for the Oriental Pagan, but they also used the familiar bell shape too. In the book, The Conquest of Peru, Prescott is an eye-witness to blatant sunworship:
“The Inca would assemble at dawn eagerly. They watched the coming of the deity, and no sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from the assembled multitude, the wild tunes from barbaric instruments swelled louder and louder as his bright orb shone in full splendor on his votaries.”
The Romans considered anyone who did not worship the sun to be an atheist and a traitor, since Caesar was the sun enthroned in a man. Religion, politics, and sports were all different facets of the same thing. Sun-Day will be discussed later too.
MON-DAY (day #2)
The Day-of-the-Moon.
To the Romans, lunae dies.
The Old English term was monan daeg, as translated from Latin, where mona means moon. Mona Lisa means “moon lily”. We get our word month (moonth) from mona, the 29.5 day orbital cycle, but this 2nd weekday is named what it is because it has been dubbed the moon’s day! The moon was identified with Artemis (Diana), but in some cults the sun and moon were the ‘eyes of heaven’. Artemis is depicted with the crescent moon beneath her feet as if riding in a boat ~ exactly as you will see Miryam (Mary) in Roman Catholic illustrations. The Astral King, the sun, and his sister the moon, were the dominant figures that shaped the astro-biological mind. The futility of honoring Pagan deities resulted because their foolish hearts were darkened, because they did not honor or give thanks to the Creator, though His invisible attributes are clearly seen.
TUES-DAY (day #3)
Tyr’s Day: “day of Tiu”.
Teutonic Druid-Celtic idol.
Unable to help themselves, the population of the Angles and Saxons were kept under control by various Druid priest cults. Like any other Pagan religion, the population lived in fear and ignorance, while the parasite fed off of them and kept them brain-washed. The Druids still worship the sun at Stonehenge every Summer Solstice. Tyr, or Tiu, was the Norse deity of war, considered the son of Odin (Woden). The French call this day Mardi (Mar’s Day), after Mars, the Roman’s deity of war! Mardi Gras is the French name meaning “fat Tuesday”, still bearing the name of the Roman deity. This festival falls the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, both to be discussed later.
WEDNES-DAY (day #4)
Well, DUH ~ as expected by now, it’s another Pagan idol’s name! An elder in Iceland couldn’t stand it anymore, and changed the days back to numbers for that island several hundred years ago. By saying it’s “Wednesday”(Woden, Odin), we are declaring it to be Woden’s Day. Considered highly skilled in magic (majik), this Celtic deity was, to the Teutonic Pagan, the husband of Freya, or Frigga. The Romans honored Mercury on this day, calling it Mercurii dies (Mercury’s Day). This mid-week evening was highly regarded as a night of majik ~ the Druids met to hold hands in a circle, chant, enchant, cast spells, and do it while surrounding a burning cross, the symbol of Woden (Odin). Some believe the Celtic crux is a Pagan majik symbol, the Trifolium clover leaf representing Woden, Frigga, and Thor. Other Druid trinities included Esus, Teutates, & Taranus. Anglo-Saxon xenophobia (fear of foreigners) and Druid customs are seen today in the modern Ku Klux Klan. They still call their leaders wizards and use the Celtic term “clan”, a traditional social unit in Scot Land. The word comes from the Greek kuklos, meaning “circle”. A very secretive society, it rose up mainly in the South (US) after the civil war, to reassert “white supremacy” by terroristic methods. The Druids were very nationalistic, so it was difficult for Rome to conquer them. The only way “Christianity” could win them over was to absorb their culture. This is called inculturation. “Syncretisms” — the attempt to reconcile or combine differing beliefs in philosophy or religion by uniting them — mixes of two or more behaviors together, re-inventing the meaning “on the surface”.
Is this the real reason some Christians meet together on this night? Catholics have always had a “novena” session on this night. What is this idea we call syn-cretism? “Syn” means together, and the Dictionary defines Cretin* (kret’n) as “a fool; and idiot. [French cretin, idiot, from Swiss French, crestin, CHRISTIAN”. Sorry, look it up yourself. We will have a look at the word “Christian” as a translation of Mashian (a follower of any generic “messiah”/mashiach) a bit later. For now, let it be enough to say that the sect which was established by the true Mashiach was called Natsarim**. But most hang their hat on one text, or never question a translator’s choices. Well, did you know that the word “Christian / Christians” is only used a total of 3 times in all of Scripture, and it is only in the Greek translation? Woden’s emblem was the Celtic Crux, a cross with the circle (the sun). No wonder we see so many pictures of crosses with the sun nimbus behind it, and sunsets in Christian
art — not to mention the “halos” of yellow around the heads of “Jesus” and the “saints”. This will be shown to be a world-wide Pagan influence; Buddha, Krishna, Ahura-Mazda, and Jupiter are only a few! (**Now called “NAZARENES”)
THURS-DAY (day #5)
The Celtic Thor’s Day; the deity of thunder and son of Woden and Freya. The same as Taranus, Thor was associated with thunder; the Dutch donder, or Germanic donner (one of Santa’s reindeer!). The Romans honored Jupiter on this day which was originally IU-PITAR, meaning Jovis-father. “Jove” corresponds to Zeus. The altar of Zeus, used at every Olympic game, is lit by a torch. The altar is shaped like a “T”. Thor’s emblem was the hammer, secretly interpreted as the letter “T”, harkening back to Tammuz (Babylonian Duzu), the son of Nimrod and Semiramis.
FRI-DAY (day #6)
Old English Frigedaeg, this was Frey Day or Frigga Day. Frigga was the wife of Woden. The fertility concept associated with this day is very ancient. The Greeks honored Aphrodite on this day, and the Romans venerated Venus (Astarte). This day was the Egyptian’s day of Isis, depicted with the symbol of the fish on her head. The fish symbol pre-dates the Egyptians, coming from the Phoenician/Philistine cult of Dagon (Jdg. 16:23, 1Sa. 5:2). “Dag” is Hebrew for fish, and the Latin is Pisces. It was chosen by Pagans because a female fish lays hundreds, sometimes thousands, of eggs ~ a symbol of fertility. The Romans believed Venus (Astarte) came from the sky in a huge egg (not a saucer). We’ll go into more detail when we study the Great Mother, Queen of Heaven. Frigga’s emblem was also the FISH, hence it is seen today that Roman Catholics inculturated this into avoiding red meat on this day, replacing it with fish: the “fish fry” (even the word “fry” is describing a young fish). The Great Mother (Magna Mater) was universally represented by the fish emblem. The Greek word ichthys (ikhthus) spelled iota (Ι), chi (X), theta (Θ), upsilon (Υ), sigma (Σ) — spells “ICHTHYS” (“fish”).
ΙΧΘΥΣ doesn’t mean “Christ”, but fish. With considerable craft, the fish has
become a Christian symbol, due to a G r e e k a n a g r a m ,
Ιησουζ − Χριστοζ − θεου − Υιοζ − Σωτηρ (Iesous Christos Theou Huios Soter). Not to worry, it’s only a manmade tradition—too bad it just spells “fish”. The real “sign” of the Mashiach isn’t a crux or a fish, but a “lampstand” (menorah) Rev. 1&2. The Hebrew “menorah” has 7 lamps, and represents His body, the 7 assemblies, through which flows the “living water” (lamp oil, the laws which give light to the world). At Rev. 2:5 he said He would remove their menorah if they didn’t repent (stop breaking Commandments). Have you noticed any menorahs in and Christian homes or meeting houses?
Soon, you’ll learn why — He never threatened to remove any fish.
SATUR-DAY (day #7)
This was the Greco-Roman Day of Saturn.
Saturn was the Romans’ deity of agriculture, corresponding
to the Greeks’ deity Cronus. This day was dedicated to Saturnus, as was the
big party at the end of the Roman year at the Solstice, Saturnalia. Satur Day was also called Sater Day, and is unmistakenly linked to other Greco-Roman mythology. The SATYR, a goat-legged half man with horns and pointed ears, was believed to be a drunken, lecherous demon with an abnormal sexual appetite. The 7th day and the festival of “Satyrnalia” was modeled perfectly after the satyr profile; mischievousness, drunkenness, and orgiastic revelry. As you consider the wild week-ends enjoyed today by dating couples and party animals with their “mojo” drives, it’s clear nothing has changed.
Here’s a big foundational girder with no rivets, installed by Constantine in the Roman year 321 CE. This 7th day, the commemoration of Creation in which we honor the Creator AS the Creator is a *CRETAN; IN SUNKRETIZEIN, TO UNITE IN THE MANNER OF THE CRETAN CITIES — CRETANS WERE ALSO KNOWN AS LIARS—TITUS 1:12
“Temple in time” from sunset “Frey Day” to sunset “Satyr Day” ~ changed to his “Sun Day” under penalty of death, by only the authority of a man! All theologians and scholars admit there is no Scriptural basis for this change, but it was done by the authority of “the Church”. This day which was set-apart at Creation to be a day of complete rest from work has been “superseded” by traditions that served to unite Pagans with the Nazarene sect. Constantine’s historian, Eusebius, records the Emperor’s edict: “All things what so ever that is was duty to do on the Sabbath, these WE have transferred to the Lord’s Day”. He also recorded Constantine’s infuriated words, “The cursed wretches who killed our Lord . . . (the Italian Romans executed Him, Constantine’s people!)
. . . We will have NOTHING in common with the hostile rabble of the Yahudim
(“Jews”)”. Remember, the Romans executed our Nazarene Rabbi for sedition, or the claim that He was a king ~ Caesar ruled as a religious king. Sabbath is the “sign” of the Everlasting Covenant, indicating who we worship.
A WORD ABOUT TIME ~ Y6K is coming! Since Creation, just under 6000 years have been completed. Given the distances in light years that we can see into the heavens (outer space), many have fixed the age of the universe at almost 20 billion years. To look at Adam 5 minutes after he was created, they might estimate him to be 20 years old too. The trees with fruit on them were brought into being fully developed. The animals, created the day after the plants, needed the oxygen from the plants, that’s possibly why the animals came second. Relativity has been at work also since the beginning. When YHWH created the quasars and galaxies of stars, He brought their light to shine upon the Earth ~ that’s what it says. That’s why it’s called super-natural. He created space-time. You just have to keep in mind just how awesome the true Creator is, instead of trying to figure out the whole scheme without factoring Him in.
The real moons and years are based on the signs and seasons, and measured in packages of years called Jubilees (Yob-hel), numbering 50 years each. However, the reprobate Pagan mind interpreted the sun, moon, stars, and changing seasons based on SEX. That’s what is at the root of all Paganism! Plant and animal sex is a created thing, but the fallen state of man caused him to worship it, and established Pagan religion based on its processes, as we will see. All of history was recorded by the “winners” — usually the tyrants. So, it is only natural that their process of measuring time be what we use today. The original pattern of Roman time-keeping established by the authority of Julius Caesar in 46 BCE is still with us (There were only 10 months in a Roman year). Our Roman ‘moonths’ totally disregard the real new moons. The proclaiming of the new month settled into when Caesar announced it, and this act was called Caesar’s calends, Latin for proclaim. Originally, the first Roman month was March. After you have read this a number of times, you may begin to see this Pagan process of keeping time is a kind of MARK on us.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Offend, Offence, and Offences
by Jay and Larry Scher
What does Scripture really say about these three?
Part 1 of 2
We live in a world of political correctness where people water down principles and laws in an attempt to please others, to fit in, and be socially and politically acceptable by others. People who experience the chameleon affect have no real strong convictions. People without strong convictions and beliefs can fall victim to deception and peer pressure.
We live in a world of political correctness where people water down principles and laws in an attempt to please others, to fit in, and be socially and politically acceptable by others. People who experience the chameleon affect have no real strong convictions. People without strong convictions and beliefs can fall victim to deception and peer pressure.
A false mantra in the world today is that we should not offend. People say that when they try to avoid confrontations. Yes, I think we should pick our battles, but not at the expense of denying our faith or Savior.
Many people use this as an excuse to water down our beliefs and afraid to offend others and not stand up and guard Torah.
In the world they are saying we shouldn’t criticize people for just about anything they do.
There was a water district that met Tennasee Valley got together because they were having lots of problems with their water so they passed a law that if anyone criticized their water that they deemed them a terrorist.
We have peoples speech now deemed hate speech, if you speak against them, like homosexuals or Muslims. We can’t call Mohammed a pedophilia, even though he married a 6 year old girl.
Sprint dropped thousands of customers just because they had complaints against the company, just recently.
Mat 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Luk 12:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of YHWH
When we look at the examples of our Savior and the apostles, except for John, they were all martyred. Certainly, they must have offended some body. The truth is the truth and the truth offends most people!
Joh 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you.
Joh 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they shall persecute you too. If they have guarded My Word, they would guard yours too.
Joh 15:21 “But all this they shall do to you because of My Name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
Joh 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they shall persecute you too. If they have guarded My Word, they would guard yours too.
Joh 15:21 “But all this they shall do to you because of My Name, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
The truth is an offence and a stumbling block to the world. They don’t want to know it, because they want to stay in their sinful ways.
Political correctness will be one of the down falls of the country.
Joh 16:1 “These words I have spoken to you, so that you do not stumble.
Joh 16:2 “They shall put you out of the congregations, but an hour is coming when everyone who kills you shall think he is rendering service to Elohim.
Joh 16:3 “And this they shall do to you because they did not know the Father, nor Me.
Joh 16:4 “But I have said these words to you, so that when the hour comes you remember that I told them to you. And these words I did not say to you at the beginning, for I was with you.
Joh 16:2 “They shall put you out of the congregations, but an hour is coming when everyone who kills you shall think he is rendering service to Elohim.
Joh 16:3 “And this they shall do to you because they did not know the Father, nor Me.
Joh 16:4 “But I have said these words to you, so that when the hour comes you remember that I told them to you. And these words I did not say to you at the beginning, for I was with you.
These words are not only for the disciples in Messiahs time, but for us today. As we prepare for the days ahead and face the day-to-day challenges of relationships with others and the world around us, we need to understand the many uses and meanings of the word “offend” as it is used in scriptures, not as it is inferred by the world of political agendas.
It takes time to learn to stand up for the truth and for Torah. It doesn’t happen overnight. It can take some time.
The Truth is the offence and the stumbling block to many people and you will get criticized for it.
1Ch_22:12 “Only, let יהוה give you wisdom and understanding, and command you concerning Yisra’ĕl, so that you guard the Torah of יהוה your Elohim,
Pro_28:4 Those who forsake the Torah praise the wrong, Those who guard the Torah strive with them.
Pro_28:4 Those who forsake the Torah praise the wrong, Those who guard the Torah strive with them.
First Covenant MEANINGS:
Strong’s # 2254 offend – deal corruptly, offend, destroy, spoil and bands.
Strong’s # 4383 – offend – a stumbling block, an obstacle, something an individual can literally stumble over. YHVH will become a stumbling block that both houses of Israel will stumble over. YHVH will also demand that the obstacle be removed from His people’s way. That which causes people to stumble morally, that is to sin. Something that causes people to fall to their ruin.
Strong’s # 816 – offend – to become guilty, to trespass, offend, commit an offense, do wrong.
Renewed COVENANT MEANINGS:
Strong’s #4624 – offend – to commit that which leads to the fall or ruin of someone. Without reference to the element of deceit, it means to throw someone unawares into ruin, to give occasion for ungodly conduct resulting in the mischief incurred thereby.
Strong’s #4625 – offend – a reference simply to the injury lurking or hidden in the ambush, also involves the conduct of the person that is injured, denotes enticement or occasion leading to conduct which brings with it the ruin of the person in question. It incites certain behavior which leads to ruin and rarely denotes merely a hidden, unexpected cause of ruin. Conduct that leads to ruin or to a fall. Leads others to turn away from YHWH’s salvation and thus to come to ruin.
Strong’s #4417 – offend – error, sin, fail of salvation, fall, offend, stumble.
Strong’s #677 – offence – not leading into sin, void of, without offence.
Strong’s # 3900 – offence – a sin involving guilt or missing the mark.
Strong’s #4348) – offence – stumbling, offence.
As we look at the various scriptures, we will see that various religious groups and the way the world uses this word has nothing to do with the truth of the way it is used in scriptures. So once again, what the world says and what the bible says are two different things.
The definition of offend according to the common use in our society today is offend – meaning outrage , insult, cause, resentment, to violate what is deemed proper or fitting to others. So much of this is subjective and situational depending on personal beliefs, politics, pagan beliefs, etc. As I said earlier, we should not intentionally be rude or disrespectful, but neither should we be intimidated or compromising of YHWH’s Word so we can be socially or politically correct or acceptable. Our standard is the Bible, not what men think is correct. So let us study the Word to find balance on this subject. Our standard and example should always be Yehoshua. Look at His reaction here in the following verse:
Matt 15:1-9.
Mat 15:1 Then there came to יהושע scribes and Pharisees from Yerushalayim, saying,
Mat 15:2 “Why do Your taught ones transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
Mat 15:1 Then there came to יהושע scribes and Pharisees from Yerushalayim, saying,
Mat 15:2 “Why do Your taught ones transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
This is talking about the ORAL TRADITIONS OF THE TALMUD. THE ORAL LAW THAT WE DO NOT FOLLOW
Mat 15:3 But He answering, said to them, “Why do you also transgress the command of Elohim1 because of your tradition? Footnote: 1See Mat. 5:20.
Mat 15:4 “For Elohim has commanded, saying, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
Mat 15:5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated,”
Mat 15:6 is certainly released from respecting his father or mother.’ So you have nullified the command of Elohim by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 “Hypocrites! Yeshayahu rightly prophesied about you, saying,
Mat 15:8 ‘This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.’ ”1
Mat 15:10 And calling the crowd near, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
Mat 15:11 “Not that which goes into the mouth defiles the man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
Mat 15:12 Then His taught ones came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees stumbled when they heard this word?”
Mat 15:13 But He answering, said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted.
Mat 15:14 “Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.”
Mat 15:4 “For Elohim has commanded, saying, ‘Respect your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
Mat 15:5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated,”
Mat 15:6 is certainly released from respecting his father or mother.’ So you have nullified the command of Elohim by your tradition.
Mat 15:7 “Hypocrites! Yeshayahu rightly prophesied about you, saying,
Mat 15:8 ‘This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.’ ”1
Mat 15:10 And calling the crowd near, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
Mat 15:11 “Not that which goes into the mouth defiles the man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
Mat 15:12 Then His taught ones came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees stumbled when they heard this word?”
Mat 15:13 But He answering, said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted.
Mat 15:14 “Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.”
They are both spiritually blind so that is how it is. Yeshua wasn’t upset when he told them the truth.
The next group of scriptures that demonstrate that the truth is an offence and a stumbling block for those who reject the truth and those who have an appearance of being on track with scripture, but have not really been called.
They are really teaching the doctrines of men.
They are really teaching the doctrines of men.
Isa 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock
of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared,
and be taken.
Isa 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared,
and be taken.
Isa 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Jer 2:3 “Yisra’ĕl was set-apart to יהוה, the first-fruits of His increase. All who ate of it became guilty – evil came upon them,” declares יהוה.’ ”
Jer 2:4 Hear the word of יהוה, O house of Yaʽaqoḇ and all the clans of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
Jer 2:4 Hear the word of יהוה, O house of Yaʽaqoḇ and all the clans of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
1Co 1:23 yet we proclaim Messiah impaled, to the Yehuḏim a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness,
Gal 5:11 And I, brothers, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling-block of the stake has been set aside.
Yehoshua did not want others to offend or put a stumbling block before Him.
Mat 16:21 From that time יהושע began to show to His taught ones that it was necessary for Him to go to Yerushalayim, and to suffer much from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and to be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22 And Kĕpha took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Be kind to Yourself, Master, this shall not be to You!”
Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Kĕpha, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me, for your thoughts are not those of Elohim, but those of men.”
Mat 16:22 And Kĕpha took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Be kind to Yourself, Master, this shall not be to You!”
Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Kĕpha, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me, for your thoughts are not those of Elohim, but those of men.”
Messiah could see the motivation here and was not going to allow it to get in the way.
Peter was being influenced by Ha Shatan to get in the face of Yehoshua at this time.
Peter was being influenced by Ha Shatan to get in the face of Yehoshua at this time.
Mat 16:24 Then יהושע said to His taught ones, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his stake, and follow Me.
Even some of Messiahs own disciples who were not really being called were offended at Him, as we will see in the following scriptures.
Joh 6:54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the last day.
Joh 6:55 “For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink.
Joh 6:56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me.
Joh 6:58 “This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.”
Joh 6:59 He said this in a congregation, teaching in Kephar Naḥum.
Joh 6:60 Therefore many of His taught ones having heard, said, “This word is hard, who is able to hear it?”
Joh 6:61 But יהושע knowing within Himself that His taught ones were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this make you stumble?
Joh 6:55 “For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink.
Joh 6:56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me.
Joh 6:58 “This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.”
Joh 6:59 He said this in a congregation, teaching in Kephar Naḥum.
Joh 6:60 Therefore many of His taught ones having heard, said, “This word is hard, who is able to hear it?”
Joh 6:61 But יהושע knowing within Himself that His taught ones were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this make you stumble?
Joh 6:63 “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh does not profit at all. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and are life.1 Footnote: 1See v. 68, and 1 Cor. 15:45. Word and Spirit are in unity.
Joh 6:64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For יהושע knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would deliver Him up.
Joh 6:65 And He said, “Because of this I have said to you that no one is able to come to Me unless it has been given to him by My Father.”
Joh 6:64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For יהושע knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would deliver Him up.
Joh 6:65 And He said, “Because of this I have said to you that no one is able to come to Me unless it has been given to him by My Father.”
They were offended and didn’t accept this.
The Parable of the sower and seed also demonstrates those who were not really called and converted and are offended at יהושע Words.
Mat 13:20 “And that sown on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Mat 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived, and when pressure or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Mat 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived, and when pressure or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
I am sure we have all met people that we thought were called, but then as time went on we saw that they were really spiritually blind and fell away back to the things of this world.
There are great consequences for those who cause others to stumble and sin.
Mat 13:40 “As the darnel, then, is gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be at the end of this age.
Mat 13:41 “The Son of Aḏam shall send out His messengers, and they shall gather out of His reign all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing lawlessness,
Mat 13:42 and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:41 “The Son of Aḏam shall send out His messengers, and they shall gather out of His reign all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing lawlessness,
Mat 13:42 and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
This is talking about the Lake of Fire after the second resurrection.
Mat 18:6 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Mat 18:7 “Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling-blocks come, but woe to that man by whom the stumbling-block comes!
Mat 18:8 “And if your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the everlasting fire.
Mat 18:9 “And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
Mat 18:7 “Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling-blocks come, but woe to that man by whom the stumbling-block comes!
Mat 18:8 “And if your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the everlasting fire.
Mat 18:9 “And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna.
Now this is just a saying and not to be taken literal as to actually cutoff a hand or a foot and pluck out your eye. We are to change these things that our hands, feet or eyes may be doing in our minds. We do this by taking every thought captive into the submission of Messiah. When thoughts come into our minds we automatically compare them to Torah and Messiah. These two are really the same as he is the living Torah. If the thoughts in our mind do not compare and measure up we are to rebuke them in his name and say get behind me Satan. We cast them out and don’t dwell on them anymore.
As for verse 9 of Matt 18 this verse is widely miss interpenetrated. It is off topic by I will do a short explanation of it.
Gehenna is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew term, Ge Hinnom, for the Valley of Hinnom, the place outside Jerusalem where garbage, trash, dead animals, and even executed criminals were disposed of. Fires continually burned to get rid of the trash and the bodies. Worms would live in whatever had not been consumed by the fires so it seemed as though the worm would not die. The smoke, fires and worms were a constant reminder to the residents and visitors to Jerusalem of the descriptions of Sheol, so Gehenna was used as a synonym for Sheol. From early in the history of Israel this valley was used for human sacrifices, offerings of babies to the heathen god, Moloch. Joshua 15: is the earliest reference, the Josh 18:16, 2 Chron. 28:3, and Jer. 7:32, 19:2,6, 32:35, 2Kings 23:10 uses the full name of the valley, valley of the Sons of Hinnom. Hinnom means wailing, lamentation.
This is part one of a two part series on this subject, Offend, Offence and Offences. What does Scripture really say about these three?
I hope it was a blessing to you. If you have questions please don’t be shy and ask. If you are offended, please pray before making a comment or asking a question.
May Yah’s Favor be upon you, bRO j
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