Hoshana Rabbah Blog

Midrash with Natan Lawrence

Hoshana Rabbah Blog

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Mystery Babylon and the Rise of Neo-Baalism in the End Times

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A  Normalcy Bias

For those of us living in prosperous and relatively stable societies, it’s easy to forget the words of  Yeshua’s apostle in 2 Peter 3:1–18,

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Master and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of Elohim the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with YHVH one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Master is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amein.

It’s only natural for each of us to think that we’re pretty okay spiritually. This is our normal mental default mode. So did the Laodiceans in Rev 3. But what really matters is what YHVH thinks about us. He’s the Lawgiver and the Righteous Judge. That’s the  most important thing, since he’s the one to whom every knee will ultimately bow. He’s the only one who can grant eternal life.

The prophecies of the Bible will come to pass…sometime. There will be a generation that will see them fulfilled. This includes all the less popular prophecies! It’s safe to say that when these prophecies begin to come to pass, most people will be so caught up in the day to day affairs of life that they will be oblivious to them. This is the normal state of things. In the days of Noah, it was life as usual, until the flood came and washed them all away. The same thing will happen in the last days (Luke 17:26). Most people will be blind to what is really happening spiritually around them. This is because their time is consumed with raising their families, building their careers, preparing for retirement or their next vacation. The saints, on the other hand, are called to be children of the light, not darkness (1 Thess 5:1–9). Light is a biblical metaphor for YHVH’s divinely revealed truth including his Torah instructions in righteousness and following and obeying Yeshua who is the Living Torah Word of Elohim and the spiritual light of the world.

Because most people are living in spiritual darkness, the Mystery Babylon the Great world-ruling system is currently coming upon them unawares. This is why the Bible calls a mystery. It’s hidden, yet at the same time it’s in plain sight. Only those who eyes are spiritually open will see it. This global antichrist system will rise up slowly, imperceptibly and Continue reading →

 

Panama Canal, Cartagena, Aruba, Costa Rica & Grand Cayman Cruise —2/17

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When It Comes to Prophecy Teachers: Caution, Danger, Warning!

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Many if not most Bible prophecy pundits or teachers on the internet are reckless and cavalier in their interpretations of end-times Bible prophecy. They play fast and loose with the Scriptures to come up with eartickling prophetic scenarios that are designed to wow and amaze their audiences!

The methods of biblical interpretation of many of these prophecy teachers are questionable, flawed and are often illogical upon closer analysis. In many cases, they, with self-assertive, over-confidence add two and two and get five, and with bold, and at the same time, boldly, yet recklessly assure their listeners that it is the truth—and, oh, by the way, they quietly slip into their spiel, “buy my video or book on the subject.”

Their ostensible authoritativeness is often bolstered by glib and articulate presentations, high quality videography, top-of-the-line websites, and professionally-designed graphics for book covers and dvd jackets all of which helps to legitimize (in people’s minds, at least) what they’re saying. Despite all this, often their prophetic pronouncements still don’t line up with the whole truth of the Bible.

I’m reminded of the saying, “If you can’t convince your audience with the truth and the facts, then wow, amaze and baffle them with lots of horse puckey.” Most people, sadly, aren’t critical thinkers, but are too trusting and gullible.

The reckless confidence of these guys and gals is often an alluring, but false facade for their own lack of a knowledge of the whole counsel of the Word of Elohim. Many of these teachers are neophytes when it comes to the study and teaching of the Bible. They’ve only been at it for a few years—not for decades, which is what it takes to come to a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of Scripture.

Furthermore, be wary of anyone is claiming to unlock the mysteries of Bible prophecy and has merchandise to peddle out of it!  Many of them are modern snake-oil salesmen.

Yes, we need to study end times Bible prophecy. It’s in the Bible for our admonition and edification, but let’s be cautious about being overly dogmatic about most of it, and certainly, let’s be extremely careful about cobbling together disparate and unrelated biblical passages and then cramming them to fit and painting them to match and ending up with end times scenarios that are in error, thus leading people astray by false teachings as they enrich themselves financially.

Over the decades, I have seen too much of this going on and many prophecy teachers have been proven to look like money-grubbing fools to the rational, biblically astute and Spirit-led person. There is nothing new under the sun, and around the corner is a whole new batch of poor, gullible suckers waiting to be deceived!

Be on guard!

 

New Video: Mystery Babylon/NWO Update Pt 2—Gates of Hell Opened!

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New Video: Mystery Babylon/NWO Update Pt 1— Rise of Neo-Baalism

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Growing Number of Americans Love Jesus but Don’t Go to Church, Barna Finds

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Can anyone relate to this? I sure can! Personally, I’m rather burned out on the traditional church service model having been in church every weekend since I was born. 

I view as critically important that like-minded believers get together as often as possible—especially on the Sabbath and feasts, but not necessarily in a traditional churchy environment, which, quite frankly, isn’t really the biblical model, although there is nothing wrong with it. — Natan

From the Christian Post at http://www.christianpost.com/news/americans-love-jesus-dont-go-to-church-barna-179227/

The Christian Post

Growing Number of Americans Love Jesus but Don’t Go to Church, Barna Finds
BY ANUGRAH KUMAR , CHRISTIAN POST CONTRIBUTOR

While an increasing number of Americans are reportedly abandoning the institutional church and its defined boundary markers of religious identity, many Americans still believe in God and practice faith outside its walls, a new Barna study has found.

RUNNER1928?WIKIMEDIA COMMONSParishioners sitting on church pews as seen from above.

Barna has released a report on the first of a two-part exploration of faith and spirituality outside the church, looking at the “fascinating segment of the American population who, as the saying goes, ‘love Jesus but not the church.'”

One-tenth of the population comprises those who self-identify as Christian and who strongly agree that their religious faith is very important in their life, but are “dechurched,” meaning they have attended church in the past, but haven’t done so in the last six months or more, the Barna study says, adding that only seven percent of the population belonged to this category in 2004.

More than 60 percent of the people in this group are women, and 80 percent are not millennials, between the ages of 33 and 70.

“This group also appears to be mostly white (63%) and concentrated in the South (33%), Midwest (30%) and West (25%), with very few hailing from the Northeast (13%),” the study reveals.

“This group represents an important and growing avenue of ministry for churches,” says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief of Barna Group. “Particularly if you live in a more churched area of the country, it’s more than likely you have a significant number of these disaffected Christians in your neighborhoods. They still love Jesus, still believe in Scripture and most of the tenets of their Christian faith. But they have lost faith in the church.”

What’s more, their beliefs about God are more orthodox than the general population, even rivaling their church-going counterparts, the study shows.

“For instance, they strongly believe there is only one God (93% compared to U.S. adults: 59% and practicing Christians: 90%); affirm that ‘God is the all-powerful, all- knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today’ (94% compared to U.S. adults: 57% and practicing Christians: 85%); and strongly agree that God is everywhere (95% compared to U.S. adults: 65% and practicing Christians: 92%).”

Furthermore, while they might not be comfortable with the church, this group still maintains a very positive view of religion, the study adds.

“When asked whether they believe religion is mostly harmful, their response once again stood out from the general population, and aligned with their church-going counterparts (71% strongly disagree, compared to 71% among practicing Christians and 48% among U.S adults).”

However, only 55 percent disagree, either strongly or somewhat, that all religions basically teach the same thing, much closer to the general population at 51 percent. Eighty-six percent of evangelicals disagree with the statement and believe in the distinctiveness of Christianity.

The study notes that this group falls outside of the characterization of “spiritual but not religious” folks. “But unlike practicing Christians and evangelicals, this spirituality is deeply personal—even private—with many preferring to keep spiritual matters to themselves: only two in five (18%) say they talk with their friends about spiritual matters often.”

For the study, Barna interviewed 1,281 U.S. adults via web-based surveys, in each of the 50 United States between November 4 and 15, 2016. The sampling error for this study is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, at the 95% confidence level.

“The critical message that churches need to offer this group is a reason for churches to exist at all,” Stone concludes. “What is it that the church can offer their faith that they can’t get on their own? Churches need to be able to say to these people—and to answer for themselves—that there is a unique way you can find God only in church. And that faith does not survive or thrive in solitude.”

 

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                                                    — Light-Hearted First Day—

My good friend Daniel Botkin from Illinois has given me permission to reprint some of his cartoons on this blog. He is a long time Messianic, Hebrew roots pastor, and gifted and anointed Bible teacher, writer, artist, cartoonist and composer. He can be reached at GatesOfEden.org and at danielbotkin.com. I encourage you to subscribe to his magazine, The Gates of Eden—The Botkin Bimonthly. He is one of the most balanced Bible teachers out there. He’s also very funny, as the cartoons below show.