Category Archives: Christian Church

“Come Out of Her My People!”—Leaving Behind Baalism, Babylonianism and Spiritual Syncretism

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The Call Is Going Forth

A spiritual call is going forth across the planet to the people of Elohim—to those who look to the God of the Bible (YHVH Elohim) as their source of spiritual enlightenment and guidance. Our loving Father in heaven is urging his people to come out of spiritual Babylon. This plea and warning message is found in Revelation 18.

1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.

 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!

 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”

 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

 5 “For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

 6 “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.

 7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

 8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day–death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. (Rev 18:1–8)

Babylon the Great is a worldwide economic, political and religious system whose tentacles literal reach into every aspect of every human endeavor going back for thousands of years. It’s a demonic system at whose heart is the spirit of rebellion against the laws of Elohim as revealed in the Bible. It seeks to draw humans into its sticky net through appealing to man’s base nature involving his lust for power, fame, possessions, wealth, antichrist spirituality and head knowledge. All this is in opposition to the truth of the Bible and to Yeshua the Messiah, who is the central figure of the Bible. It is a cosmic struggle between Elohim the Creator, the source of all good, versus Satan, a created being who is in total opposition to Elohim and who is the  epitome of all evil. Man who is in the middle between the two has to choose who he will serve and follow. To not choose is by default to follow Satan. Babylon the Great is a poetic name for that end times worldwide system that stands in opposition to Elohim.

At this time, Elohim is calling his people out of the religious system of Babylon the Great in which they have unwittingly become entangled. We must first identify the problem and learn how it has ensnared us so that we will know what to come out of. It all starts when well-intentioned religious men start down a slippery slope called spiritual syncretism. This is what we want to discuss below.

Syncretism Defined

Syncretism is defined as “the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.”  In a biblical context, it has to do with YHVH’s people mixing or combining the religious truths as given them by YHVH, the God of the Bible, with those of the surrounding pagan cultures to form a religious admixture. Scripture reveals this act as mixing the holy (set-apart) with profane (that which is polluted or defiled)—something which YHVH detests. When YHVH’s people do this, the Scriptures liken this to spiritual adultery or fornication. Unless YHVH’s people repent of adopting pagan customs and belief systems, YHVH promises judgement upon them.

Down through the ages from the birth of the nation of Israel in Egypt until the present time, YHVH’s people have had to fight hard to not be swept along by the currents of the cultures in which they find themselves. The history of the people of Elohim is a sad and repetitive story of YHVH revealing his truth to them, and their eventually abandoning it to one degree or another to curry the favor of the world. This process started long ago with ancient Israel.

Ancient Israel and Syncretism

The biblical record chronicles many examples of ancient Israel turning away (or apostatizing) from the truth of YHVH and adopting or syncretizing YHVH’s truth with the heathen practices of the nations around them. Here are a few of them.

  • The golden calf incident in Exodus 32. While worshiping the golden calf, the Israelites proclaimed a feast to YHVH (verses 3–4).
  • The incident where the Israelite men fornicated with the Moabite and Midianite women in Numbers 25:1–18 and 31:16 brought a curse upon Israel.
  • Jeroboam when he led the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to turn from YHVH and to worship false gods (2 Kgs 17:7–23). The Babylonian church system continues to walk in the religious spirit of Jeroboam.
  • Isa 1:13–14—Elohim says, your feasts, sabbaths and new moons he hates because their yours, not his.
  • Mal 2:11—Not only Ephraim (the church) has mixed itself with the paganism of the world, but so has Judah. Judah has profaned YHVH’s holy institution, which YHVH loves, and Judah (rabbinic Judaism) has married the daughter of a foreign  god.

Resisting Baal worship—the religion of the pagans of Canaan where the Israelites lived—was one perhaps the greatest challenge the Israelites faced.

Baal Worship in the Bible

Baal was a Caananite god whose worship was characterized by nature worship and forbidden sorcery, divination, lewd sexual practices and other abominable practices that YHVH detested. Baal, whose consort (his sister-wife) was Ashteroth, had divine similar counterparts in Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman pagan religious systems. 

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Is the Mainstream Christian Church the Real Cult?

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Returning to the Hebraic Foundations of the Christian Faith: “The Faith Once Delivered” or Cultism?

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3, emphasis added)

In recent years there has been great awareness brought upon the subject of non-Christian cults by Christian apologetic organizations whose mission it is to defend the “historic Christian faith” against teachings they consider to be contrary to the Bible and to traditional or normative Christian theology and tradition. At the same time, the so-called Messianic or Hebrew roots movement has come under the scrutiny of some of these “cult watchers.” Are those Christians returning to the Hebraic foundations of their Christian faith join a cult or are they actually earnestly contending for the faith once and for delivered to the disciples of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ)?

Many well-meaning Christians in their zeal to protect core Christian beliefs from the onslaught of missionizing activities by cultic groups have developed a fortress-like mentality where they label everything a cult that does not agree with their definition of “the historic Christian faith”. Yet at the same time, many of these same Christians would be hard-pressed to define the word cult or to explain the sociological, psychological and theological implications the label they so glibly attach to those who disagree with them.

So what is the truth? Is labeling the Messianic or Hebrew roots movement as a cult justified or not? To answer this question, we will use the same criteria that those Christian “watchdog” organizations themselves use to define a cult. We will then see if this moniker is justified when it comes to those Christians who are returning to a more Hebraic or Jewish orientations to their spiritual walk.

This author has a unique perspective on the subject of cultism having been born and raised in a name-brand cult till age 30 where upon leaving the cult he became an ordained Christian evangelist in a major Christian (Protestant) denomination where he then reached out to those bound up in cultism as he once was.

In exploring the ramifications of cultism, let us first define the word cult from Webster’s Dictionary: A cult is

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Natan Responds to Brainwashed, Stiff-necked Christians

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This is the Bible version that most Christians follow. It is NOT the Holy Bible, but the Holey Bible, Swiss Cheese Version, that is, one with holes in it for all the pages they rip out of the Word of Elohim and claim are not for them!

Some years ago, I made a sermon video on the importance of NOT profaning the seventh day Sabbath. You can find it on the Hoshana Rabbah YouTube channel and at https://www.youtube.com/HoshanaRabbah and at the end of this article. Here are some comments from two “Christians” who claim to be Bible believers and then make every excuse why they do not believe what it says to do. This is not only sad, but rather sickening. Yet such a mindset with regard to the clear Word of Elohim is not only commonplace among members of mainstream churchianity, but has been institutionalized theologically. For these folks, the clear Truth of the Bible is a lie and the lie of manmade traditions and doctrines has become the truth. Both Yeshua and Isaiah said it well:

“For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.…making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:8, 9, 13)

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20)

Please note: The names have been changed for obvious reasons and for effect.

Pat Smugly: The sabbath was never about a “day” but pointing to a “greater rest” found in the finished work of Jesus. (Hebrews 4:9ff) Colossians 2 and Romans 14 are clear that the observance of Sabbath’s and old covenant feast days is null and void now because we have entered into lasting rest in Christ. (Galatians 3:16-29)

Natan Lawrence: Incorrect. You reveal an incomplete understanding of the full counsel of YHVH’s Word from Genesis to Revelation. Instead, you have bought into the propaganda of the mainstream church instead of studying this subject out for yourself. I challenge you to study this subject out with an open heart, open mind in front of an open Bible instead of getting your information from second hand sources, or by cherry-picking a few verses out of the Bible out of context. The Bible presents the truth of the Sabbath at several levels all of which are true at the same time. For example, the Creator sanctified the seventh day Sabbath (and no other day), made it a command to do (one which he never rescinded), and is a practice that Yeshua and the apostles obeyed (and we are to follow their example). Moreover, the Sabbath points to our resting in Yeshua’s “finished work”, but in no way frees us to violate it any more than we are free to violate the other commands of Elohim (e.g. thou shalt not murder, lie, covet, commit adultery, etc., etc.). The Sabbath also prophetically points to the seventh millennia (i.e. the Millennium) when the earth and it’s inhabitants will be a rest from the evil and anti-commandment influences of the devil under the rulership of King Yeshua. The Sabbath is a commanded invitation (called a divine appointment or moed in Hebrew) from a loving Creator to meet with him and his people on this day, and for his people to hang out with each other as well in an atmosphere of love, peace, learning, fellowship, praise and worship free of the weekly rigors and stresses we typically have to deal with the other six work days of the week. What could possible be so wrong with this? Why is there so much antagonism and hatred for the Sabbath by so many people who claim to be followers of Yeshua who said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Instead of just talking about loving him by throwing our emotions at him and then doing the opposite of what he did or tells us to do, how about doing what he did and what he told us to do for a change? Stop believing the lies you have been taught by your denomination and start obeying Yeshua and his word. Amein!

Pat Smugly: Hoshana Rabbah You may call it propaganda, but you shared no scripture whereas I shared three for consideration. Galatians 3 being the most explicit. Oh, and Romans 3:21-28 is abundantly clear and Romans 7:1-6. But no worries, John 16:13 has a way of coming true and God’s Spirit will lead and guide into all truth if we are teachable. (Hebrews 12:18-24).

Natan Lawrence: This is the comments section. Not the Bible teaching section of my YouTube channel. If you want Scriptures, simply begin watching the nearly 300 videos that I have placed on this channel. Most of them are mine. You'll get thousands of Bible verses addressing nearly every subject in the Bbile. With all due respect, anyone can cherry pick out the Bible verse or two and like a drive-by shorter, fire them out of their theological gun at someone to "prove their point." Most Christians have a two or three pet verses that they use like silver bullets that supposedly answer every question. When I do a Bible teaching, I typically read every verse in the Bible on that subject before opening my mouth. There isn't room in the comments section for this sort of thing. So don't ask me to do it. If you are truly a truth seeker and you want my answer to your question, go watch my video series on the book of Galatians and then get back to me. Also watch my numerous videos on the Sabbath and go to my website and read my articles on the subject. This is just the beginning. BTW, I do all the original research on all of my articles, write them and publish them. I know this material well and know all the arguments pro and con on nearly every subject. These will be taken into consideration in my teachings, thus answering most if not all of your questions. Happy truth seeking! Blessings!

Luke Warm: I don’t “hate” the Sabbath, but I keep it on Sundays and so are my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are regenerate and bearing good fruit by the Holy Spirit. So my question is, if I don’t repent of worshipping on Sundays, I am in sin and if I were to die, I’d be cut off from eternal life to be damned forever?

Natan Lawrence: Do you want to follow the Word of God/Elohim or the traditions of men that are contrary to the Word of God/Elohim? Give me one verse from the Bible/the Word of God/Elohim where he commands men to rests on the first day of the week and calls it the Sabbath. You have to settle in your heart whether you are obeying the Word of Elohim or twisting it to fit your own manmade interpretations. I am not your judge, and cannot answer questions about your eternal fate. The Word of Elohim is our judge. Elohim will determine the eternal fate of each of us. I am, however, very concerned for someone when they have been presented with biblical Truth and refuse to obey it. At this point, they can no longer plead ignorance, for they have been shown the light of Truth, and are now responsible for the actions and the court of heaven will hold them accountable accordingly. At the tree of knowledge, the snake in the tree questioned the clear word of Elohim to the first humans and basically told them they didn’t really have to obey the Creator’s commandments. Sounds to me like you’re basically repeating the same lie of the devil and have convinced yourself that disobeying Elohim’s commands is okay and it the truth. The problem is that it’s YOUR truth, but not the Truth, or Elohim’s Truth. Look, I’m not judging you, but the Word of Elohim will as to how closely you’re following biblical Truth now that you have been presented with the truth. If you loved the Truth of Elohim, then you’d be honoring the seventh day Sabbath and obeying his commands to rest on that day. Sadly, you’ve convinced yourself otherwise because you’re listening to the liars in the pulpit who are listening to the snake in the tree when it comes to the Sabbath. Now that I’ve held the mirror up to your face so that you can see clearly what you’re doing, what are you going to do about it? Continue in your rebellion against the clear Word of Elohim, or repent of your sin which is the violation of Elohim’s commandments (1 John 3:4)? The choice is yours.

Luke Warm: Hoshana Rabbah I do follow the word of God. Been researching and studying for the past decade and came to many objections on these messianic teachings. Biblically as well. I don’t believe I am in sin, because I do keep the Sabbath with my family. Everything I do ain’t perfect, but my trust, hope and faith lies in Jesus Christ. Been a believer not as long as you, but there is evidence of saving faith in my life through God’s sovereign work in my heart and circumstances. I do study biblically and like you, am seeking to please God through His word. I understood everything you’ve said and presented very much. I’ve in times past, encountered so many like you. I’ve also watched so many of your videos, which honestly are very great material. But like you said, every “movement” has contributed in times past to reveal truths. Some good and some bad, eat the meat and spit out the bones. We are all fallen and imperfect this side of heaven. So whatever truths you share, I am willing to take some and throw out the rest that aren’t biblical. Just like you do with everything you learn about; sources and people. There are so many faithful teachers and preachers out there expounding the word of God biblically and tirelessly. Sin and judgement, the nature of God and His attributes. Especially dying for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is at the center of everything we live for. It’s His Gospel and atoning work on the cross that has compelled me to believe what I believe. Jesus Christ being the son of God, was slaughtered by His Father which pleased Him, for the remission of sins. Vindicated Himself by rising from the grave and who is now at the right hand of the Father. Through faith in Him, the offspring of Abraham, whom we have become part of God’s family. We now live in that kingdom to the glory of God forever.

Natan Lawrence: Thank you for giving me the perfect verbiage explaining why the mainstream Christians church is spiritually impotent and failing to make its mark on our society for the kingdom of Elohim. It has elevated the mind of man over the clear Word of Elohim and exchanging biblical Truth for manmade traditions and calling it Truth. This is called secular humanism. I will be able to use your comments in an article I am writing on another site as a warning to those who are prone to twist the Word of Elohim to make it fit their lawless and rebellious heart attitudes. As the Bible says,
 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jer 17:9)

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Rom 8:6–7)

 

How the Church Divorced Itself From Its Book of Acts Roots

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From A.D. 70 to A.D. 135 — How the Church Became Divorced From Its Hebraic Roots

What is called Christianity today in many ways is very dissimilar, and in many respects, outright antagonistic to the religion of the first-century, book of Acts believers. How did this come to be?

Many modern Christian churches prides themselves on being “a New Testament church,” yet what they practice and believe is often very different from and even opposed to the teaching and practices of the apostles and primitive, first century church. For example, life for the apostolic believers in Jerusalem revolved around the temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:19-21; 5:42; Acts 21:26; 22:17; 24:18; 25:8; 26:21), and for those outside of the land of Israel, on most Sabbaths, they attended the local synagogue (Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:1–2; 18:4, 7, 8, 19, 26; 19:8). Not only did the first apostles and early believers notcelebrate any pagan influenced holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Lent, and the rest, but they adhered to the Torah or law of Moses (see references below). The Book of Acts record is also clear that early believers kept the Bible festivals (as outlined in Lev 23; Acts 2:1; 18:21; Acts 27:9; 1 Cor 5:8; Jude 12) of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Day of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day.

What’s more, the book of Acts records that both Stephen and Paul were falsely accused of teaching that the laws and customs of Moses were nullified, and, as a result of this false accusation, both lost their lives defending Torah-obedience. 

A hundred other examples could easily be given showing how the Christian church has veered away from the Hebrew or Jewish roots of its faith, but hopefully, the reader gets the point.

So what happened to cause Christianity to veer so widely from the Hebrew or Jewish roots of its faith and to arrive at the place where it hardly resembles that religious faith from which it sprang? This is not an easy question to answer since one must look back nearly 2000 years and attempt to reconstruct the times in which our spiritual forefathers lived. Moreover, we must understand what was transpiring politically, religiously, and socially at the time to answer this question properly. It is also imperative that we understand the contextual social and linguistic fabric, the backdrop of history, and the parade of political and economic events which happened one after another between the years of A.D. 70 and A.D. 135. Then and only then can we understand how the church became divorced from its Hebraic roots and became Greco-Roman and Western in nature and combined itself with an admixture of with pagan and antibiblical doctrines along with pagan practices, traditions and beliefs.

Now, let us go back nearly 2000 years for a short lesson in history. The early church was Jewish and much of what they did centered around the synagogue and the temple. As already noted, references are made 25 times in the Book of Acts to the Jerusalem temple and 19 references to various local synagogues.

The Apostles Were Pro-Torah

Before commencing our trip back in his… (To continue reading this, go to https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/ad70ad135.pdf)

 

Golden calf worship is alive and well in the Christian church today!

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Exodus 32

Exodus 32:1, Moses delayed coming. Moses is a prophetic picture of Yeshua. Moses’ descending from Mount Sinai is a prophetic picture of Yeshua descending from heaven to the earth the first and second time. When the people presumed that Moses delayed his coming, they fell to the temptation to syncretize with the heathen religious system around them by yielding to their baser nature giving in to the lusts of their flesh as expressed in golden calf worship. Heathen, man-made religious systems have lower moral and spiritual standards than those of YHVH. In many respects, the mainstream church has done the same thing as the ancient Israelites by acting as if Yeshua has delayed his second coming, and by conforming to some of the world’s standards and customs. This is a form of golden calf worship, which is a mixture of Torah-truth and pagan practices. Yeshua warned his disciples against this proclivity of humans to grow impatient and spiritually cold wile waiting for his return (Matt 24:48).

Exodus 32:2, Break off the golden earrings.The Christian people have generously given the mainstream church much gold and other wealth over the past 1900 years. In the mean time, with that wealth, the church system has constructed many huge religious monuments. These are monuments, in part, to the gods of materialism, and is a form of golden calf worship. Neither Yeshua nor his disciples needed vast sums of money, resources or monuments to spread the gospel message. What they lacked in material resources they made up with passion for the gospel message and with the anointing of YHVH to proclaim that gospel with miraculous power. What the mainstream church largely lacks in passion and the anointing to spread the gospel, they now, sadly, substituted with wealth and religious monuments.

The Golden Calf Incident: A Prophetic Picture of the Church

The golden calf as described in the book of Exodus

On Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), at Mount Sinai, YHVH entered into a marriage covenant with the children of Israel, but they were not ready to live up to the terms of that covenant. Those terms, simply stated, involved the Israelites being faithful and obedient only to YHVH, Israel’s Elohim (God) and spiritual husband, and to follow his instruction in righteousness, the Torah. This Israel quickly demonstrated they were not willing to do, and the subsequent golden calf incident is proof of this.

The proverbial ink was barely dry on the marriage certificate between YHVH and the children of Israel, or otherwise state, the children of Israel had hardly said “I do” to their marriage vows (Exod 24:3, 7) when they turned their hearts away from YHVH and began worshipping the golden calf—a pagan deity from Egypt. After the golden calf incident and up until Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets or Shofar Blasts) when Moses received the second tablets of stone from YHVH containing the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel, the bride of YHVH, prepared herself not only to receive YHVH’s instructions again, but this time to be faithful to her marriage vows. This Israel did. She remained faithful to YHVH for approximately 38 years while trekking through the wilderness of Sinai, after which she entered the Promised Land and “stayed the course” until after the death of Joshua. What can we as Bible believers learn from ancient Israel that applies to us today?

Sadly, the cycles of history often repeat themselves. This time, it involved the descendants of the spiritual children of Israel who were at Mount Sinai. In the early first century a.d., the redeemed Israelite followers of Yeshua received the Torah written on the fleshly tablets of their hearts by the finger of the Spirit of Elohim on the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot) as recorded in Acts 2. But starting in about a.d. 70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and continuing up through the Second Jewish Revolt of a.d. 135 until the time of Emperor Constantine (in the fourth century), the first-century spiritual bride of Messiah had, to a large extent, abandoned YHVH’s Torah-commandments and turned, to one degree or another, to a mixed form of worship (of which ancient Israel’s worship at the golden calif was a prophetic foreshadow) where some pagan practices were assimilated into the early churches’ belief system (most notably, Sunday replaced the Sabbath, and Christmas, Easter and other paganistic holidays replaced the biblical feasts). 

Moses’ descent of Mount Sinai on Yom Teruah with the second set of tablets containing the Torah prophetically foreshadows Yeshua’s second coming. As Moses renewed YHVH’s covenant with the repentant Israelites after the golden calf incident and the Israelites remained faithful for a long time afterwards, even so, Yeshua, at his second coming, will establish a renewed covenant with his faithful end time saints who have come out of golden calf-type religious systems.

In our day, YHVH is calling out a remnant of people from the church who are leaving behind the pagan traditions of golden calf worship and who are returning to the ancient blessed paths of YHVH’s Torah-instructions in righteousness. The book of Revelation speaks of a group of end-time saints who will say “I do” to YHVH (Rev 14:4), and whose identifying mark is their faith in Yeshua the Messiah (i.e. the gospel message) and yet who faithfully keep YHVH’s Torah-commandments (Rev 12:17 and 14:12). 

When Yeshua returns on or near Yom Teruah at the end of this age, he will be ready to marry a bride that is without spot and wrinkle and who has come out of the end-times Babylonian religious whore system (Rev 18:4). This bride who will be wearing the robes of righteousness of Torah-obedience (Rev 12:17; 14:12; 19:7–9) will be ready to enter into a new covenantal agreement—a wedding contract or ketubah—with Yeshua (Heb 8:7–13), the Bridegroom, ever to remain faithful to him and never again to return to Baal or golden calf worship. He will lead his wife into the Messianic Age or Millennium, even as Joshua, a prophetic foreshadow of Yeshua, led the younger generation of wilderness Israelites into the Promised Land.

Golden Calf Worship Among YHVH’s People Today

Let’s look at the series of events that occurred as the children of Israel were leaving Egypt, which have major relevance to what is occurring in mainstream Christianity in our day. If we fail to learn the lessons of history, we’ll likely repeat the mistakes of history. It has to do with golden calf worship.

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Rebutting the Entitlement Mentality in the Church

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Who me???

Exodus 19:10, Consecrate them today. 

How to Come Into the Presence of YHVH Elohim

How did Israel, as a bride-to-be, prepare herself to meet with YHVH? How are YHVH’s people now to be preparing themselves for their spiritual marriage with Yeshua? (Compare Exodus 19:10 with Revelation 19:7–9.) What is the righteousness of the saints (mentioned in Rev 19:8)? Righteousness is defined in Psalms 119:172 as, “…all thy [Torah] commandments are righteousness.” If what the Scriptures define as righteousness (i.e. the Torah) was “nailed to the cross,” as is popularly taught, then who is in error? The Scriptures or those who teach against YHVH’s Torah laws? 

Why it important to ask these questions? Simply because popular religious notions as taught by respected religious leaders often get lodged into the thinking of well-meaning people, who then need to ask themselves whether these notions line up with Scripture or not (see 1 Thess 5:21 cp. Acts 17:11). As the serious Bible student will soon discover, often what is taught in churches does not line up with the Word of Elohim. By studying the Bible assiduously, including the lives of those who have gone before us as recorded in Scripture, the Word of Elohim, including the chronicles of the lives of those recorded within its pages, can become a mirror in which we can view our own lives. Let us now pursue this trail to see where it leads.

Discussion A. Why is it essential to study the example of the children of Israel preparing themselves to come into the presence of YHVH in Exodus 19? After all, if Yeshua did it all for us, we can just come boldly before the Father’s throne anytime, anyway we want, right (Heb 4:16)?

Let’s explore this concept a little to see what the Bible has to say about it.

Paul says in I Corinthians 10:11,

Now all these things happened to them [i.e. the children of Israel] as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (See also Rom 15:4.)

The writer of Hebrews has something similar to say in his prefatory remarks to his statement in Hebrews 4:16 about coming boldly before the throne of YHVH through the merits of the sinless righteousness of Yeshua our High Priest. In the preceding several verses, the author draws upon the example of the children of Israel (Heb 4:1–10) as an example for us not to follow. They were a faithless and disobedient lot in that they rebelled against the Torah-word of Elohim.

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YOUR false Messianic expectations could cause YOU to deny Yeshua!

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Is your view of the Messiah actually a cartoon character?

Luke 23:38, The King of the Jews. The placard that the Romans placed on the cross just above the head of Yeshua reflected the Jewish people’s prevailing politically correct view concerning their Messianic expectations. Their expectations of who they wanted the Messiah to be were not in accordance with heaven’s plan, which is why some denied him and others yelled, “Crucify him!”

The Tanakh (Old Testament) reveals that two Messiahs were to come: the Conquering King Messiah or Mashiach ben David and the Suffering Servant Messiah or Mashiach ben Yosef. Because the boot of Roman tyranny had been resting heavily on the neck of the Jewish people for some 150 years, the Jews were hoping for and, therefore, were placing their confidence in the Conquering King Messiah, who would, in their eyes, miraculously deliver them from Roman rule and oppression. This prevailing notion was even the mindset of Yeshua’s closest disciples. This is why when Yeshua predicted his death in Jerusalem at the hand of the Jews, Peter vehemently declared that this would not happen (Matt 16:21–23). Then when Yeshua failed to fulfill the people’s expectation of a Conquering King Messiah, this is when Judas betrayed his Master as a false messianic figure. This is probably why Peter denied Yeshua at the eleventh hour; because his deepest expectation of the Messiah’s mission as the Conquering King were not being met, and thus doubts about Yeshua’s Messianic claims rose to the surface in Peter’s mind at that critical hour and in confused discouragement he turned his back on the Messiah. This is why the Jewish people insisted that the Romans crucify Yeshua—he had failed to meet their expectations. 

The Roman placard that was nailed to the cross, therefore, was simply a Roman mockery of the Jewish people’s prevailing misguided messianic expectations. Their conquering king was being pitilessly crucified as Rome’s sovereignty over the Jewish people remained concretely intact.

Sadly, the Jews’ expectations were not lined up with heaven’s divine will. In reality, the Jews, and even to some degree, Yeshua’s disciples, had created a Messiah in their own image—a caricaturized or cartoon  Messiah that, to one degree or another, had become an idol in their minds replacing the true Messiah.

What are our hopes and expectations concerning Yeshua the Messiah? What cartoon view of the Messiah have we created in our minds? Were Yeshua to return today, would most Christians even recognize and accept him? The biblical reality of a first century, Torah-teaching and Torah-observant Jewish rabbi hardly fits with the stereotypical westernized, Greco-Roman caricature of the Christian Jesus. 

Moreover, when Yeshua, just before his return, sends his two witnesses to preach the gospel in Jerusalem (Rev 11:7–12), will people, including mainstream Christians, accept their message, likely a Hebraic one, if it does not line up exactly with traditional Greco-Roman Christian theology? How about when Yeshua shortly thereafter sends an angelic messenger to preach “the everlasting gospel” to those who dwell on the earth (Rev 14:6–7)? Will mainstream Christians accept this message—likely a Hebraic-centric one that will contain overtones of Torah in it? It is hard to say. Some will and some will probably not, since it may not line up with “the historic Christian faith,” as most Christians have been taught, which, to one degree or another, is ambivalent if not outright antagonistic toward YHVH’s Torah-law.

Whatever may be our views and expectations concerning the Messiah and his return, we would be wise to be certain that they are grounded in the full counsel of YHVH’s Word from Genesis to Revelation, which is intensely Hebraic in context. Moreover, it would also behoove us to hold in a loose grip our expectations on how we think end time events will roll out. If we are expecting one thing to happen and something else happens, we may find ourselves, at the very least confused and our faith shaken, or at the most, we may even deny Yeshua as Judas and Peter did. He who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12). 

To be sure, if one stays in a close, daily and intimate relationship with Yeshua the Hebraic Messiah, and follows the Lamb of Elohim wherever he leads day-by-day, one will have nothing to be concerned about.

Stay close to Yeshua!