Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

“In the mouth of two or three witnesses…”

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Deuteronomy 17:6 (and 19:15), By the testimony of two or three witnesses. In the Bible, one could not be accused of a crime (i.e. a sin) without the testimony of two or three eyewitnesses. This admonition is repeated in the Testimony of Yeshua:

But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. (Matt 18:16)

This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. (2 Cor 13:1)

Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. (1 Tim 5:19)

He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. (Heb 10:28)

Most gossip and slander would stop if this commandment were followed, and thus much division and strife within the congregation of believers. 

How many times have you repeated hearsay and gossip without checking the source? Even if you know it to be true, is it beneficial and righteous to repeat it to others? One Jewish sage goes so far as to say that Messiah has not come back because of all the gossip and slander of the people of Israel. Perhaps. At the very least, the Spirit of Elohim is greatly grieved, our intimacy with Elohim is diminished, and our marriages, families, friendships and congregations are fractured, hurt or destroyed because we speak things that should not be uttered.

How often do we accuse, slander and gossip about other people through use of the “evil tongue” (lashon hara) without going through proper channels and following proper biblical protocols to resolve interpersonal conflicts as Yeshua instructed in Matthew 18? How often do we attack others and spread our evil reports and accusations about others when we were not even eyewitnesses to what occurred or were not involved in the matter? How often do we attack YHVH’s leaders and accuse them of evil when there are no other witnesses (1 Tim 5:19)? YHVH hates those who sow discord among brethren and lying false witnesses, and calls this practice an abomination (Prov 6:16–17, 19). So let’s all be careful with our mouths!

 

Come Out of Her My People!

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Deuteronomy 16:22, You shall not erect for yourselves a pillar [Heb. matstsebah], which YHVH your Elohim hates.

The Anti-Torah, Demonic Origins of Obelisks, Steeples and the Christmas Tree

The word pillar/­VCMMN) is the Hebrew word matstsêbâh and literally means “stand (upright), be set (over), establish.” One of the derivatives of this word is pillar or standing image. Such pillars were erected for pagan religious purposes (see The TWOT). C.J. Koster in his book The Final Restoration (reprinted as Come Out of Her My People) cites historical evidence for relating these pillars to the Egyptian and Babylonian obelisk, which was connected to sun worship (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) and the phallic symbol (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallic_architecture). He states that these pillars were commonly erected at the entrances to pagan temples (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) as fertility symbols in honor of the sun deity (Koster. p. 79). 

Even an Egyptian obelisk of this sort sits in the very center of the Catholic Church’s St. Peter’s Square in Rome, and it is traditional for obelisk-shaped steeples to be found on many Christian churches to this day in the form of a steeple (ibid., p. 81). Richard Rives in his book, Too Long In the Sun,makes the same connection between the Egyptian obelisk, Canaanite standing pillars and the Christian church steeple (p. 136). 

What is the point here? YHVH commanded Israel to destroy these pagan symbols and to have nothing to do with them. They were abominations that would defile YHVH’s set-apart people. Have his people heeded his command? Many of these remnants of ancient pagan cultic practices remain in both the Protestant and Catholic churches to this day (Easter/Ishtar, Christmas/Saturnalia, the Christmas tree/Tammuz tree, the Christmas wreath/a pagan fertility symbol, Lent, Easter eggs and rabbits, and the list goes on and on). Does YHVH’s command to his people of the end times to come out of spiritual Babylon (see Rev 18:4) now take on a new meaning to you?

Pillar.The pillars the Canaanites erected to worship their gods were actually phallic symbols commemorating the incursion of the demon gods (sons of Elohim) when they had sex with the daughters of men to create their Nephilim or demigod children in the pre and post flood world (see Gen 6:2–6). 

The Canaanites were not the only indigenous ancient people to have such a tradition of the gods mating with humans to create supernatural offspring. So did the Yoruba tribes of West Africa as well as the native peoples of Madagascar, Polynesia, New Zealand, along with the Hopi, Acoma, Arihara and Apache of North America, along with Celtic, Japanese, East Indians, Australians and Scandinavians. “Trees were employed…as facilitators, or places of meeting/joining of the gods of heaven with Mother Earth, while their branches reach out to Father Sky, of the gods of heaven…[T]rees form a bridge between heaven and earth and are a symbol of regrowth (reincarnation)…Because trees can live for hundreds and hundreds of years, their extraordinary life span represents  the immortality of the gods and the immortal spirit given to the original Nephilim. The World Tree is also the Tree of the Knowledge of both good and evil, for knowledge in pantheistic culture holds the key to immortality and reincarnation” (The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, p. 122, by Gary Wayne). “A Judeo-Christian, then, should be wary of the Christmas tree, for the immortal evergreen represents the meeting place of the gods and Mother Earth and the creation of Nephilim” (ibid., p. 123).

The act of the fallen angelic sons of Elohim mating with the daughters of men (Gen 6:2–4) and the results thereof literally turned the pre-flood world upside down resulting in YHVH’s most severe judgments against these evil-doers and those who followed them. The phallus to this day is the object that represents this act of rebellion and represents the unlawful sexual union between heaven and earth that created demons. Peter and Jude refer to this in their epistles (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6).

 

Democrats Pass Resolution Applauding ‘Nonreligious Americans,’ Criticizing Churchgoers

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From Christians Headlines at https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/democrats-pass-resolution-applauding-nonreligious-americans-criticizing-churchgoers.html?utm_source=blueconic&utm_medium=contentrec

Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Democrats Pass Resolution Applauding ‘Nonreligious Americans,’ Criticizing Churchgoers

DEMOCRATS PASS RESOLUTION APPLAUDING ‘NONRELIGIOUS AMERICANS,’ CRITICIZING CHURCHGOERS 

The Democratic National Committee passed a first-of-its-kind resolution Saturday recognizing the “ethical soundness” and “importance” of religiously unaffiliated Americans while contending such voters “share the Democratic Party’s values.”

The resolution – passed at the DNC’s summer meeting – was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics and humanists in public policy. The coalition said it was the first time the party had “embraced American nonbelievers.” It passed unanimously absent one abstention, the coalition said. 

“[T]he religiously unaffiliated demographic represents the largest religious group within the Democratic Party, growing from 19% in 2007 to one in three today,” the resolution says. “… [T]he Democratic Party is an inclusive organization that recognizes that morals, values, and patriotism are not unique to any particular religion, and are not necessarily reliant on having a religious worldview at all.” 

The religiously unaffiliated, the resolution asserts, “overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values,” with “70% voting for Democrats in 2018, 80% supporting same-sex marriage, and 61% saying immigrants make American society stronger.” 

The resolution says the DNC recognizes the “value, ethical soundness, and importance of the religiously unaffiliated demographic, a group of Americans who contribute in innumerable ways to the arts, sciences, medicine, business, law, the military, their communities, the success of the Party and prosperity of the Nation.”

It also says the DNC recognizes that “religiously unaffiliated Americans are a group that, as much as any other, advocates for rational public policy based on sound science and universal humanistic values and should be represented, included, and heard by the Party”

Further, the resolution criticizes religious Americans: “[T]hose most loudly claiming that morals, values, and patriotism must be defined by their particular religious views have used those religious views, with misplaced claims of ‘religious liberty,’ to justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, including but not limited to the LGBT community, women, and ethnic and religious/nonreligious minorities.”

Secular and atheist groups applauded the resolution. 

“America was founded as a secular government charged with representing and protecting the freedoms of people of all faiths and none – I am proud to see the Democratic Party take that to heart by bringing secular Americans into the fold,” said Sarah Levin, director of governmental affairs for the Secular Coalition for America.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation said it is “optimistic that the DNC resolution is a sign of bigger and better things to come for freethinkers.”

 

On Violent Elders Vs. Forceful and Righteous Leadership

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1 Timothy 3:3, Violent. This passage (vv. 3–7) lists the qualifications of an elder or leader of a congregation. One of the of character traits that he is not to possess is that of being a brawler (KJV),violent (NKJV) or pugnacious (NAS). What do the words brawler, violent or pugnacious mean here? When an elder preaches, rebukes, exhorts his congregation, as Paul instructed Timothy and Titus do to (2 Tim 4:2; Tit 1:13; 2:15), or “warns his congregation (Col 1:28), is this being “violent,” as Paul warns against in his first letter to Timothy (1 Tim 3:3)? We will discuss these issue below and what the biblical definition of violent is.

The word violent as found in 1 Tim 3:3 is the Greek word amachos meaning one who is by nature “a fighter, brawler, contentious, quarrelsome, one who causes strife, or one who is combative.” In modern terms, he’s a bully. Perhaps you remember the neighborhood bully from your years as a school child. By contrast, an elder, overseer or shepherd of a congregation is not to be such a person. This is what Paul had in mind when he gave these instructions concerning the qualifications of an elder.

So let’s now explore this issue a little further. Is there ever a time when spiritual leaders may need to resort to forceful words or even to forceful actions to protect YHVH’s spiritual sheep? What, for example, did David mean when he asks the following question in Psalm 94:16?

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Let’s answer this question by asking another question? What did Yeshua mean when describing a good shepherd versus an evil hireling shepherd, and when he said that unlike the evil shepherd, a good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep and protects them from those who come to kill, steal and destroy the sheep? He goes on to say that the good shepherd defends the sheep, while the evil shepherd is a coward who runs away in the time of danger and fails to protect the sheep (John 10:7–15). Another example of an evil shepherd is found in Ezekiel 34 where such a shepherd fails to protect the sheep from the beasts of the field (Ezek 34:7–10). 

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Belief in God is bottom of the list of priorities for Gen Z

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Folks, the powers at be that are behind the Luciferian Babylon the Great New World Order Antichrist system are socially engineering our society away from the core values of God, family and country. This this article is evidence of the outcome of this.

Like thoughtless and naive lemmings, too many young people are allowing themselves to be indoctrinated with these new, unbiblical and ungodly societal norms that preach that there is no God, no ultimate accountability for one’s actions, that we’re all animals, and can act like animals (do anything we want when we want with few if any moral constraints). We’re watching the rise of neo-Baalism!

And no wonder! Most young people spend many hours each day at the leftist government indoctrination centers called public schools, then after that many spend a few more years at leftist indoctrination centers called colleges and universities, and when these young people aren’t at these places, they’re tuned to their leftist controlled new media, social media and entertainment sources. Where are they going to learn about God, country and family values? Nowhere!

Satan is laughing with glee, Elohim is weeping…But Elohim is in charge. Satan’s times is short. Messiah is coming. HalleluYah!

In the mean time, we must occupy until he comes and keep up the good fight of advancing the kingdom of Elohim one life at a time. Amein! — Natan

From Christian Today at https://www.christiantoday.com/article/belief-in-god-is-bottom-of-the-list-of-priorities-for-gen-z/133103.htm

Staff writer  Tue 27 Aug 2019 8:10 BST

bible
(Photo: Unsplash/Priscilla Du Preez)

When it comes to what young Americans value most, religion trails far behind hard work, community and tolerance, according to new research.  

A new study of Americans’ most cherished values by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News finds that for Gen Z – those aged 24 and younger – God is barely on the radar, with only a third saying it was important to them, compared to over half of the Baby Boomer generation. 

The survey of 1,000 people found an overall decline in the value placed on religion, with only half saying it was very important to them, down from 62 per cent when a similar survey into American values was conducted in 1998. 

For Gen Z, they were most likely to choose hard work, followed by tolerance for others and community involvement as their most cherished values. 

In addition to religion, this age group was far less likely than others to value having children. 

Out of the total surveyed, 43 per cent it was ‘very important’ to them to have children, a 16 per cent drop from 1998. But this was considerably lower within the 18- to 38-year-old age cohort where just over a third said having children was important to them.  Within the over 55s group, this figure was much higher with more than half regarding it as important. 

“There’s an emerging America where issues like children, religion and patriotism are far less important,” Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, told WSJ.

“And in America, it’s the emerging generation that calls the shots about where the country is headed.”

Recent research paints a mixed picture, though.  A study conducted earlier this year by Barna found that Millennial non-Christians were more likely than older non-Christians to be interested in spiritual issues. 

The ‘Reviving Evangelism’ study found that nearly three quarters of non-Christian millennials had at least one conversation about their religious beliefs with a close friend or family in the past year, far higher than among older non-Christians (52 per cent).

Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) said they had spoken about their beliefs with a Christian, compared with 44 per cent of older non-Christians and they were twice as likely to express a personal interest in Christianity (26 per cent against 16 per cent).

 

Is the mainstream Western church apostate?

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2 Thessalonians 2:3, Falling away [Gr. apostasia].

Whether the mainstream Western church is apostate or not depends on how define the word “apostate.” The word apostate comes from the biblical Greek apostasia, which literally means “a falling away or defection or forsaking of the truth.” That word is found in only two places in the NT. One place is 2 Thess 2:3. What is Paul telling us that people are falling away from? From the truth (see verses 10, 12, 13). What is the truth? Yeshua is the truth (John 14:6), so is the Word of Elohim (John 17:17), and so is the Torah (Ps 119:141, 152), and finally, to unite everything together, Yeshua is the Torah-Word of Elohim in flesh form (John 1:1, 14).

The other place that apostasia is found in the NT is Acts 21:21 where some Jews were falsely accusing Paul of forsaking or falling away from the Torah—an accusation he vigorously opposed, even to his own personal detriment. In defending himself against this lie, he eventually was arrested and sent to Rome for trial, which eventually led to his martyrdom. Ironically and sadly, the mainstream Christian church, to this day, believes the lies of Paul’s false accusers—that he was forsaking or abandoning or falling away (apostasia) from the truth of the law. So now to answer your question specifically: Is the American church apostate? The answer is yes and no. To the degree that the church, any church, or person, or denomination or whatever doesn’t have the truth (as the Bible defines it) is the degree to which that person, church or religious institution is apostate. The church teaches many biblical truths, but also teaches many lies. To the degree that any person or institution teaches against the truth of the Bible is to the degree to which that person or system is apostate or a part of the Babylonian mystery religious system, which YHVH is currently calling his people out of as per Revelation 18:4.

The word Babylon means “confusion or mixture,” and it’s a confusion of truth and lies, good and evil, like the tree by that name. The devil or serpent is in the details. However, when we read the details of Scripture and put the pieces of truth together (“here a little, there a little” and “rightly dividing the word of Elohim”), a very different picture emerges, and it’s not always a pleasant picture either; namely how humans have often twisted and eviscerated the pure light of YHVH’s biblical truth, with the help of the serpent who is slyly hiding camouflaged in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

What is the main point I’m trying to make here? Simply this. None of is right before YHVH. (Only the imputed righteousness of Yeshua and the work of the Spirit of Elohim in our lives makes us right before the Kadosh One of Israel.) To the degree that any of us (including our Christian, lost sheep of the house of Israel brethren) aren’t walking according to the light of the truth of both the Living and Written Torah-Word of Elohim is to the degree that we are apostate and under the control of the world, the flesh and the devil.

 

A False Versus a Carnal Prophet

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Deuteronomy 13:1, If there arise a prophet.

In the church not only is the term “prophet” carelessly thrown about, so is the term “false prophet” as applied to any God-fearing individual who simply “misses” hearing the word of Elohim correctly, but isn’t guilty of leading Elohim’s people astray spiritually into heathenism. For years, I had been using this term too broadly and generically (as many in the church do) to apply to those who either prophecy presumptuously out of the dictates of their own heart, or who hear a word from Elohim but incorrectly interpret it or misapply it (as was the case with Nathan the Prophet who repented for telling David incorrectly that it was YHVH’s will for him to build the temple), as well as to those evil prophets who lead YHVH’s people away from the Word of Elohim and into paganism.

The term “false prophet” is not to be found in the Tanakh (or Old Testament) at all, and is only found several times in the Testimony of Yeshua (or New Testament) and is applied to patently evil, satanic individuals. Therefore, based on the biblical evidence, it is incorrect to apply this term to a godly individual who, for example, makes an accurate prophecy, but gets the dates wrong, or somehow misinterprets a prophetic message from YHVH. 

Although the term “false prophet” isn’t found in the Tanakh, there are many warnings given against individuals who, through their false prophecies, lead YHVH’s people astray into idolatry or who don’t urge the people to repent and get back to YHVH’s straight paths of Torah-obedience, or who otherwise involved in ungodly activities (e.g. Deut 13:1–5; 18:20–22; Jer 23:9ff; 28:1ff; Ezek 13:2ff; Isa 28:7). The term “false prophet” doesn’t strictly apply to a godly person who isn’t leading YHVH’s people into apostasy.

Therefore, based on the biblical evidence, the godly person who “misses it,” so to speak, should be more correctly called a presumptuous prophet (Deut 18:22), or foolish prophet (Ezek 13:2) or a carnal prophet (i.e. who speak out of the flesh; Ezek 13:1). As such, I can see no biblical precedence for applying the derogatory term “a false prophet” to such a person.

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