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Who will rise up? The Biblical case for civil disobedience

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Romans 13:1, Let every soul. Paul is not giving believers a carte blanche mandate to follow evil laws and decrees that civil authorities impose upon their subjects. He is instructing believers to follow civil authorities that are not in conflict with YHVH’s higher laws. Peter was faced with the dilemma of whether to follow man’s laws or to follow YHVH’s laws which conflicted with those of men. He made the well-known statement, “We ought to obey Elohim rather than men,” before the Jewish legal authorities who demanded that the disciples cease preaching in Yeshua’s name.

In General, Obey the Civil Authorities 

Elohim in his Word instructs his servants to obey the civil laws and authorities in the lands in which they are living (Deut 17:12; Matt 22:21; Rom 13:1–7; Tit 3:1; 1 Pet 2:13–17).

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. (Rom 13:1)

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work… (Tit 3:1)

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme… (1 Pet 2:13)

However, when obeying the laws of men goes against the higher laws of Elohim, Scripture requires the saints to follow Elohim’s laws over the laws of men (Acts 4:19;  5:29).

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of Elohim to listen to you more than to Elohim, you judge. (Acts 4:19)

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey Elohim rather than men. (Acts 5:29)

Examples of Civil Disobedience in the Bible

Here are some examples from the Bible of righteous saints who disobeyed the civil laws when those laws violated the higher laws of Elohim.

  • The Israelite midwives defied Pharaoh and refused to practice abortion or infanticide (Exod 1:15–20).
  • Rahab defied the ruling authorities of Jericho and hid the Israelite spies (Josh 2).
  • Gideon defied Israel’s Midianites rulers (Judg 6:11–8:21).
  • Samson rebelled against the Philistines (Judg 14–16).
  • Mordechai defied Hamon, the king’s agent (Est 3).
  • David became a fugitive on the run from King Saul (1 Sam 21–27).
  • Elijah defied the king’s religious establishment and defeated the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18).
  • Elijah became a fugitive fleeing for his life from Queen Jezebel (1 Kgs 19).
  • Obadiah hid the 100 prophets of Elohim from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel (1 Kgs 18:3–4, 13).
  • The three Hebrews defied King Nebuchanezzar and refused to worship the golden idol (Dan 3).
  • Daniel prayed to Elohim against the commands of King Darius (Dan 6).
  • Yeshua turned over the money changers tables in the temple (John 2:14–15).
  • Peter and John were arrested and imprisoned for preaching the gospel (Acts 4).
  • The apostles were arrested for preaching the gospel, put on trial, but refused to stop preaching the gospel (Acts 5).
  • Peter was arrested again for preaching the gospel (Acts 12).
  • Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching the gospel (Acts 16).
  • Paul was arrested, tried and imprisoned for preaching the gospel (Acts 21–25).
  • The end times Babylon the Great, Antichrist, New World Order system will require all the inhabitants of the earth to worship the beast and to take the mark of the beast on their bodies in order buy and sell (or, by implication) or starve to death (Rev 13:11–18). At the same time, there will be those saints who refuse to take the mark of the beast (Rev 15:2; 20:4). To not take the mark of the beast will be an act of civil disobedience.

The Case for Civil Disobedience

Civil governments all around the world—especially in formerly Christian nations—are increasingly removing freedoms from their citizens and demanding that they stop preaching biblical truth and the gospel message, and, in essence, obey and worship the State. 

For example, in the U.S. the constitutional right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to keep and to bear arms, to practice one’s religion, to raise one’s children in a biblical way, to educate one’s children outside the government approved educational system, to not be forced to immunize oneself or one’s children with harmful pharmaceutical chemicals, the right to privacy, or to circumcise one’s boys (and the list goes on) is being attacked or being infringed upon every day, and increasingly so at an alarming rate. The righteous saint at some point must establish boundaries and mark lines in the sand beyond which they refuse to go in acquiescing to illegal unbiblical governmental demands. Each person, prayerfully, while searching the Scriptures for wisdom and direction, will have to make the decision before Elohim where the line too far is and beyond which they will not pass. 

Who Will Rise Up—A Mighty Cloud of Witnesses

The Bible is full of examples of those saints who chose to serve Elohim over man. Some paid with their lives for doing so, while many others were persecuted and suffered great hardship. But one thing is certain. They all received a higher, eternal reward from Elohim as the Epistles to the Hebrews chapter eleven records.

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

Elohim having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…. (Heb 11:39–12:1)

Therefore the question remains, when done righteously and in accordance with biblical principles,

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (Ps 94:16)

 

Vatican Archbishop to Trump: ‘Children of Darkness’ Oppose You

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From NewMax.com at https://www.newsmax.com/us/vatican-archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-letter-trump/2020/06/07/id/970927/

Vatican Archbishop to Trump: 'Children of Darkness' Oppose You

Vatican Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò (AP)

Sunday, 07 June 2020 05:07 AM

Influential Vatican Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Papal Nuncio to Washington, D.C., has written to President Trump, praising his leadership during a critical juncture in his presidency as he faces harsh criticism for his handling of the coronavirus and the George Floyd protests.

In a June 7 letter addressed to President Trump and obtained by Newsmax, Vignano writes that the President’s enemy is “the children of darkness – whom we may easily identify with the deep state which you wisely oppose and which is fiercely waging war against you in these days . . .”

The Archbishop indicated that the “Covid emergency” will likely be viewed in the future as a “colossal operation of social engineering.”

“We will also discover that the riots in these days were provoked by those who, seeing that the virus is inevitably fading and that the social alarm of the pandemic is waning, necessarily have had to provoke civil disturbances, because they would be followed by repression which, although legitimate, could be condemned as an unjustified aggression against the population,” Vignano wrote.

The Archbishop claimed that “the same thing is also happening in Europe, in perfect synchrony.”

Vignano praised Trump as a “President who courageously defends the right to life, who is not ashamed to denounce the persecution of Christians throughout the world, who speaks of Jesus Christ and the right of citizens to freedom of worship.”

President Trump came under fierce criticism last Tuesday after visiting the Catholic National Shrine of Saint John Paul II in Washington.

Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory, a church liberal, publicly chastised the Shrine for hosting the President.

In a statement Gregory stated: “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree.”

The President’s visit to the Shrine came shortly after he signed an Executive Order at the White House supporting religious freedom around the world. The day before the President had visited St. John Church and held a Bible up in front of a press gaggle. On Sunday night, protesters attempted to burn the historic church down.

In his letter Vignano told Trump that the attacks were “part of the orchestrated media narrative which seeks not to fight racism and bring social order, but to aggravate dispositions; not to bring justice, but to legitimize violence and crime; not to serve the truth, but to favor one political faction.”

Without referencing Gregory by name, Vignano implied he was “aligned on the opposing side” to the President.

“They are subservient to the deep state, to globalism, to aligned thought, to the New World Order which they invoke ever more frequently in the name of a universal brotherhood which has nothing Christian about it, but which evokes the Masonic ideals of those want to dominate the world by driving God out of the courts, out of schools, out of families, and perhaps even out of churches,” Vignano said.

Vignano concluded his letter, “United against the Invisible Enemy of all humanity, I bless you and the First Lady, the beloved American nation, and all men and women of good will.”

© 2020 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

 

Natan’s View on Vaccines and Mandatory Government Testing

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I just received a question in the comments section of this blog as to whether I would submit to forced government virus testing and quarantining. Below, I will answer this question as well as share with you my position on vaccines.

For the record, I am 60 years old and have never had a vaccine in my life—not a single one. I don’t intend to ever get one either. Are all vaccines bad? No. But most are because of the toxic substances (adjuvants) that they contain.

Now I’m not opposed to all vaccines. Vaccinations are not necessarily a bad concept. It’s called allopathic medicine and is based on the idea, among other things, that a little toxic substance put into the body can help to build the body’s immune system to fight the pathogens of a particular disease. However, before I would ever take a vaccine, I would have to be certain that it didn’t contain any toxic materials, biblically unclean substances, or biblically forbidden ingredients such as aborted fetal tissues. I would also want to make certain that the vaccine was effective and was actually fighting the disease for which it was intended, and NOT last year’s virus as opposed to this year’s virus.

So far in my life, I have never needed a vaccine, and if I’ve lived this long without one, I suspect that I can make it to the end of my life without one as well. YHVH has healed me many times, and I live a clean, pure life physical and spiritually, so there’s no reason that I should get the virus that’s currently pandemically circulating.

I haven’t exactly spent my life in a cave either without being exposed to possible diseases. I’m out in the world every day running my business. I have travelled to more than 20 countries on four continents, have been in some of the biggest cities in the world, been on many cruise ships and on countless airplanes and otherwise lived a normal, unsheltered life. But I’m careful, know how to protect myself and stay in a right spiritual relationship with my Creator. So far I’ve been spared by YHVH’s grace. I have been to the doctor only once in my life for a medical emergency, and that was more than 30 years ago because of a broken bone.

As far as the leftist governor of Washington State goes and his recent mandates regarding forced government testing for the Corona/COVID-19 virus along with forced quarantines, let me say this. I live in Oregon, which is between Washington and California, so I’m watching the situation in Washington carefully, since such measures could potentially come to my state. I am a libertarian at heart and am opposed to big-brother government encroachments and controls. Basically I want to be left alone to run and manage my own life. I am not opposed to reasonable government measures to protect its citizens from evil things, but am opposed to having my life micro-managed and my constitutional liberties abridged in any way.

With regard to testing, I’m not necessarily opposed to be being tested if I were to come down with symptoms resembling the Corona-COIVID-19 virus. I’d like to know what I’ve got, so I can protect myself and others from it. Quarantine is a biblical-Torah concept after all. If I were to be cursed with this virus, I’d want to know. Beyond that, the less the government knows about me, the less they can control me. They already know a lot, but I’m reluctant to give them voluntarily and for no good reason any more information than absolutely necessary. So to answer your question as to whether I’d submit to testing and mandatory quarantine as the governor of Washington is proposing, I’d have to read the fine details, pray for wisdom from above as to what to do or not to do, and then act out my conscience, and beyond that trust YHVH for his protection and then let the chips fall where they may. This is a decision that each person has to make on their own.

Know this, that the book of Revelation predicts that in the last days, the political and economic powers that run the planet will use pharmaceutical drugs to control the populace for their evil, nefarious and Antichirst purposes (Rev 18:23). I don’t intend to be one of their mind-numbed, subservient, worker bee peasant-serfs. I am a redeemed, blood-bought servant-saint of Yeshua the Messiah, and am in a blood covenant relationship with the Almighty YHVH Elohim, the Creator of the universe, and I will not allow myself to come under any dictates of man that in anyway compromises my relationship with my Elyon or goes against his Written Word. Period. So help me YHVH!

 

The Bible on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

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Leviticus 19:19, Livestock breed with another kind…sow your field with mixed seed.

What does the Torah have to say about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or foods? This verse addresses the issue. The type of genetic modification of plants and animals that we’re concerned about is that of forcing the DNA of one species into that of another. In reality, it’s a form of man-induced macro-evolution where one species takes on the characteristics of another species. Micro-evolution is a natural phenomenon that occurs between like plant and animal species (e.g. diverse kinds of cats, apples, palm trees, etc.).This can occur naturally (called adaptation) and through the human-induced processes of hybridization. This isn’t a bad thing, in most cases. However, there are no examples of macro-evolution in the creation despite evolutionists’ best efforts to prove otherwise. Evolutionists have failed to find the missing links between monkeys and men, or lizards and birds, or slime and amphibians—at least not until genetic engineering came along. Now through genetic engineering they can create the missing link. This is not only an affront to the Creator, and goes contrary to the Bible, but it’s the opening of a Pandora’s box of all sorts of unintended evil consequences where man is playing God, while not knowing what the consequences will be.

The ancient biblical writings are amazingly prescient on this issue when the Torah forbids the mixing of dissimilar species (such as seeds and animal species), which were separated in the creation by Elohim, and which he established to reproduce after their own kind.

The Creator simply commands men not to mix diverse kinds (species) without giving the reasons. We are to assume that he knows best whether we understand the technical reasons or not.

Since the recent emergence of the science of genetic engineering and the negative consequences of some aspects of it, perhaps the Creator’s prohibitions against mixing dissimilar species now makes more sense.

Here are the scriptural prohibitions:

Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. (Lev 19:19)

Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. (Deut 22:9)

Here are some excerpts from some Bible commentaries on Leviticus 19:19 pertaining to this subject:

These practices might have been considered as altering the original constitution of God in creation; and this is the view which the Jews, and also Josephus and Philo, take of the subject. (The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on Lev 19:19)

God in the beginning made the cattle after their kind (Gen 1:25), and we must acquiesce in the order of nature God hath established, believing that is best and sufficient, and not covet monsters. Add thou not unto his works, lest he reprove thee; for it is the excellency of the work of God that nothing can, without making it worse, be either put to it or taken from it, Eccl 3:14. As what God has joined we must not separate, so what he has separated we must not join. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Lev 19:19)

By these laws the observance of the natural order and separation of things is made a duty binding on the Israelites…as a divine ordinance founded in the creation itself (Gen 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25). All symbolic, mystical, moral, and utilitarian reasons that have been supposed to lie at the foundation of these commands, are foreign to the spirit of the law. (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the OT on Lev 19:19).

God created the world with certain distinct species, and His wisdom decreed that these species remain intact and unadulterated. For man to take it upon himself to alter the order of Creation suggest a lack of faith in God’s plan. Moreover, each species on earth is directed by a Heavenly force, so that the earthly species represents profound spiritual forces. To tamper with them is to cause harm that earth-bound man cannot fathom. (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash on Lev 19:19)

…God’s Creation should be permitted to function according to the laws of nature that He instituted, without tampering by man. It should be noted that these laws of mixture are limited to specific matters [i.e. cross-mixing of species], and do not limit the infinite number of alloys or combinations that are so much a part of modern life. To the contrary, man is duty bound to improve the world and, in a sense, “complete” the work of the Creation. (The ArtScroll Tanach Series Levticus Commentary on Lev 19:19)

With regard to GMO foods, there is also the issue of what is biblically kosher or not. If foods are genetically altered, who knows if what one thinks he is eating actually is totally that. Within the milk you’re drinking or the steak that you’re eating, for example, there may be genes from an unkosher animal. 

 

The “Worldwide Web” Prophesied?

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Isaiah 25:7, The surface of the covering. This is a cryptic passage. What does it mean? Other translations render it as follows:

And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. (NAS)

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. (NIV)

And swallowed up hath He in this mountain The face of the wrapping that is wrapped over all the peoples, And of the covering that is spread over all the nations. (YLT)

Before YHVH establishes his millennial kingdom on earth, he will have to remove something evil that has been covering the earth and its people like a veil. Is this referring to the web of lies that Satan and his Luciferian stooges on earth have woven to control the minds of earth’s inhabitants, so that they could accomplish their nefarious schemes to enslave the human population spiritually, economically and politically? Or could it refer to an electromagnetic web put in place by the global power elite or something similar that covers the earth to enslave the human population for its evil purposes of power and control? Maybe it’s both. Whatever it is, Yeshua will destroy it at his second coming.

The context of this passage is millennial. Chapter 24 prophesies of Elohim’s impending judgment on the whole earth followed by his reigning from Mount Zion in Jerusalem (v. 23). Chapter 25 continues the same prophecy. In verse nine, we read that, “We have waited for him, and he will save us…We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation [Heb. Yeshua].” This is speaking of the second coming of Yeshua and the establishment of his millennial kingdom on earth after having destroyed the end times Babylon the Great New World Order.

So what is this veil or web that will cover the earth like a veil in the end times just before the second coming of the Messiah that the Spirit of Elohim revealed to Isaiah the prophet? Well, we’re all familiar with the term, “the worldwide web.” In and of itself, this is not evil. It can be used for both good and bad purposes. The worldwide web or internet has been hugely instrumental in helping to spread the gospel and awaken lost and scattered Israel to return to its biblical roots and heritage. However, do you think that this pleases Satan and his minions who hate Elohim and his word, and don’t want to allow their developed technology to be used to counter the spirit of antichrist?

Don’t be surprised if controls aren’t put in place to greatly restrict or even curtail the use of the internet as a vehicle to spread the gospel. In the mean time, as the saying goes, “Make hay while the sun shines!”

But there’s more. In the book of Revelation we read about an end time Satanic world governing and economic system that will control the entire earth including all nations and most people. Satan the devil empowers this system (Rev 13:2), and many people will be so in awe of it that they will literally worship Satan and his antichrist new world order system (Rev 13:3–4). 

During this time, for three-and-one-half years, Satan and his human minions will wage war against the saints and will even overcome some of them (Rev 13:5–7). This will be a time of both great persecution and spiritual refinement for the saints of Elohim. Only those who patiently persevere will come through victoriously (Rev 13:10). This patient perseverance involves loving Yeshua and keeping his Torah-commandments (Rev 14:12). Satan will persecute those who don’t love Yeshua by keeping his Torah-commandments (Rev 12:17 cp. John 14:12; 1 John 2:3–6). 

An aspect of this persecution relates to “the image of the beast” by which “he deceives those who dwell on the earth” (Rev 13:14). At the same time, a false religious system that resembles a lamb, but which is a demonically inspired wolf in sheep’s clothing (Rev 13:11–12), will arise and join forces with the political and economic system that’s led by Satan and his minions as previously discussed. 

Through the combined efforts of the political, economic and religious systems several things will happen. False signs and wonders will occur that will be visible to all men (Rev 13:13). This will lead to the deception of earth’s inhabitants (Rev 13:14), and the image of the beast will be humanesque in appearance causing awe and wonderment among those who are deceived resulting in men worshipping it (Rev 13:14–15; 16:2). This demonic antichrist economic-political-religious system that controls the earth will force men to worship this image and receive this system’s mark or seal of approval and membership on their bodies, thus allowing them to participate (and survive) economically in it (Rev 13:16–17 cp. 19:20). This seal or mark will likely involve men being required to take an oath of allegiance such that they will have to deny the true Yeshua of the Bible in favor of the false antichrist messiah. James seems to be warning against this when he writes, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘Yes,’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment.” (Jas 5:12). This is why those who take the Antichrist’s mark will never have a chance at eternal life in Elohim’s kingdom, but are destined for the lake of fire (Rev 14:11 cp. 20:1–15).

In light of the prophecies of the Bible discussed above, and in light of the recent advances in modern science, it seems likely that modern biometric, instant digital communication and artificial intelligence combined with robotic nanotechnology involving the internet of all things (or IOT) will all come together to form a global oligarchic technocratic net or veil over this earth that will politically, economically and spiritually attempt to control all life to the exclusion of the true saints of YHVH-Yeshua the Messiah. 

This is coming upon us like a freight train, and it seems that thousands of years ago, YHVH may have revealed this to Isaiah the prophet. 

Sadly, however, most people, including the Torah-obedient disciple of Yeshua, are too sound asleep in their spiritual complacency eating, drinking, giving in marriage and pursing their middle class lifestyles to give any of this much thought. They are modern day obscurantists. The Bible calls them Laodiceans. They don’t have time to study their Bibles, to fast or to pray, but they sure have time to plan their vacations, play their video games, talk to their “friends” on social media and watch NetFlix! As long as they’re smugly wearing their Christian, Messianic or Hebrew Roots label for all to see, they feel they’ve done their duty. Yeshua called them white-washed sepulchres and empty cups! He said, “You draw near with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.” Peter called them clouds without water! John refers to them as naked, blind, poor and miserable.

Of course, none of this applies to anyone reading this. It’s always the other guy. Right?!?