Tag: prophecy

Messages explaining prophecy from a first century Christianity perspective.

The Sign of God’s People

Here is how to be identified as a child of God.

Videos through Rumble, Twitter, and Spotify below.

The Sign of God’s People

Slide 2 For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:26-29)

While we do not condemn mainstream Christianity by any means, we have discovered some fundamental flaws in those systems and have moved as close to the early Christian beliefs as possible. The general feeling we get from the mainstream churches is that a new religion was established in the New Testament. That the Old Testament was effectively nullified with the New Covenant and how we worship was fundamentally changed. Some go so far as to say the church replaces Israel. This is just not the case. While the New Covenant is definitely new and different, the author of Hebrews tells us it’s a change in the law, not an abolition of the law. We can see in the New Testament that it was mostly Jewish people and proselytes (like the centurion who made the synagogue) for the first ten or so years after Yeshua’s ascension. Then significant numbers of gentiles, people like us, started coming to the faith all over the world. Paul is telling us here that was the intent all along. This is another step in the plan of salvation, that now people can join the family of God through accepting Yeshua as the Messiah and being baptized. Paul is saying here that gentiles who accept Yeshua join the family of God. We join Israel and come alongside those from Israel who accepted the Messiah as well. The text of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31, which Yeshua quoted the night He was betrayed, shows that the New Covenant is with Judah and Israel. It’s not with gentiles. In order for us to matter, for the New Covenant to even apply to us, we have to have a mechanism for joining Judah or Israel. Paul explains this right here. This is why we call each other brother and sister, because we are adopted family now, and heirs according to the promise Yahweh made with Abraham to make his descendants more numerous than the stars.

Slide 3 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Act 15:19-21)

This passage of Acts 15 is almost always cited without verse 21, that I have in bold here. Paul had traveled throughout the Roman Empire spreading the news of the Messiah primarily in the synagogues. Over time, significant amounts of gentile start joining in. The meeting in Acts 15 is estimated to be about 45-50 AD, fifteen years or so after Yeshua ascended. These dates are significant because it means for about ten years, there weren’t enough gentiles joining in for this to be an issue. What happened here is that many gentiles were showing up at synagogue, hearing of Yeshua, learning Torah, etc. that the Jewish believers wanted them to be circumcised. The response was to limit them to a few things right out of the gate, to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication as a start. They were already attending synagogue and hearing Moses each week, they would continue to do that and learn as they went. This is the same pattern we follow today, isn’t it? We learn of the Messiah, then we start attending somewhere, and grow as we learn.

When you are adopted into a family, you learn the family’s rules and customs and adopt them. First century gentile converts had to do this, hence attending synagogue to learn Moses.

Slide 4 YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHVH who sanctifies you.” (Exo 31:12-13)

Now we arrive at the sign. The sabbaths. You’ll notice this is plural, not singular. It means the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days. But it starts with the weekly. Those who learned about the Messiah were keeping the weekly Sabbath to learn Moses. They adopted the sign, well one of them. We know the Shema also tells us the Torah is to be a sign as well. But this is specifically about observing Yahweh’s appointed times. This is addressed to the “sons of Israel”. That benim Yisrael. It means children, not just men or sons. And the children of Israel is synonymous with the children of Abraham. One we are adopted into the family, we take the signs of the family, which means a change in behavior. We keep the Sabbaths.

Slide 5 Yeshua said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mar 2:27)

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Gen 2:1-3)

The word for man in Mark 2:27 is Anthropos, which is Greek for mankind. It’s interesting that the word adam, which means the guy, also means mankind. The LXX actually uses Anthropos for adam in some places. Without getting to much into the word-weeds, the Sabbath was made for all of mankind to observe. It began as a sign for all of the people and was meant to be that for all of this era. In our western reckoning, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, we are to rest and enjoy creation. Yahweh rested on the 7th day of creation as did Adam. This pattern is here for us to emulate because we are made in the image of God. That means more than just photocopying. We are made to work, to labor, to enjoy creation, and then on Shabbat to take a break and commune with our Creator.

Slide 6 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of YHVH your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore YHVH blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exo 20:8-11)

The 4th commandment, in Yahweh’s voice, told them to remember. That can be taken two ways. The first is that they forgot it in Egypt and they needed to remember it, to get back to it. The second is to not forget about it. To keep doing it. The commandment is comprehensive. Nobody works, everybody gets the day off. Even the animals. Yahweh is big about his creation getting a break. He even built in land rests for the earth, meaning soil. This commandment reminds us about Creation as well. How honoring the Sabbath emulates our Creator in how He rested while also keeping us humble. Knowing that we are but dust. The one who made the heavens and the earth made each of us, which means we are special, that He would think of us. But also that we are feeble in need of our Creator and cannot provide for ourselves without His providence.

Slide 7 YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to YHVH in all your dwellings.” (Lev 23:1-3)

This is where the entire earth gets the notion to come to church. The word holy convocations is miqra kodesh, a sacred or holy assembly. The idea of having a weekly assembly for the purpose of worship starts right here and it’s tied to the 7th day sabbath. Leviticus 23 outlines all the Sabbaths, more broadly all the appointed times. Appointed times are the word moedim, which is the same word translated seasons when the sun, moon, and stars are made in Genesis 1. The weekly sabbath is counted apart from the months by having an evening and a morning. Yahweh then added in the moon, the sun, and the stars for us to have annual observances. Our following these times shows the world that our God is Yahweh. Getting together on this day to have a set-apart assembly is a commandment, a blessing, and a sign. It gives us a pattern for our lives and keeps us grounded while we honor the creator. We look forward to seeing each other, sharing stories, a meal, and the Word of God. This is not a burden at all. Surrendering to Yahweh’s will and surrounding ourselves with those who do the same is a blessing. It shows our humility and our faith. You might even say it’s a sign 😊

Slide 8 After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Act 18:1-4)

Here we are, three chapters after Acts 15, and Paul is reasoning with both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue on Shabbat. They were having holy convocations on the day the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob declared and that’s who Paul preached Yeshua to. Paul was working six days and resting, worshiping, and preaching on Shabbat. Just was it was in the beginning so it should be to this day. The Greeks had adopted the sign of Yahweh’s people by turning from their pagan holidays and practices and adopting the true worship commanded by Yahweh and exemplified by Yeshua, the Messiah, the Son of God. Paul preached to these people because they knew the Tanakh, the Old Testament, and would know about the Messiah.

I often give a message about how the holy days, if they had been kept properly by Israel, would have resulted in peace. Had the nation of Israel actually followed Torah as they were supposed to, there would have been a predictability to life through weekly and annual observances. They would have been blessed with an abundance to bring as offerings year after year and the society would have flourished. These things are components of Yahweh intends for us to have shalom like the peace of that first Sabbath in Eden. When sin entered the world, it spiraled out of control until Yahweh was sad He made mankind and He brought a violent end for all but Noah and his family. That violent end was the result of mankind defying Yahweh and being incredibly sinful. Brothers and sisters, we find ourselves in another time that looks very similar to then. And this all ties together with October 7, 2023. When Israelis and those from all over the earth were keeping both the weekly Sabbath and an annual Sabbath in Israel. They were observing Shemini Atzaret and make no mistake about it, American and all sorts of foreign Christians were they observing along with the Jewish people. They were trying to experience shalom, peace. And the evil ones came, Chamas, the violent ones. Their thoughts are evil continually. And they hate the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, and especially of Yeshua. So they attack on a day when they knew God’s people would be resting and they destroyed Yahweh’s rest.  

Many have said there would be a Sunday law in the end times and that was the lawlessness of the end times. That never made sense to me because it isn’t “Sabbath-less-ness”, it’s comprehensive lawlessness. Today, though, I realize that keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days is indeed part of the present tribulation.  I see lawlessness and a rejection of God entirely, like in the days of Noah. We see plainly how an enormous amount of people want to kill God’s people and bring pure lawlessness across the entire world. This isn’t limited to the middle east, as we have seen people protest in favor of the demons all over the world, even here in America. This makes no sense because those who killed Israelis and foreigners in Israel would absolutely love to kill us, too. But now we are seeing people go after Jews very publicly. Please realize that we look like Jews because we have been adopted into the family of God. We are God’s people and by adopting His signs, His Torah, His commandments, we are targets just like the Jews. However, we keep the Sabbath because it is the sign of God’s people. And it appears the world wants to kill God’s people. So maybe there was something to this commandment playing a role in the end times.

We have a Spiritual Problem

Many on the news and in social media are saying we have a mental problem with all the violence in the country and the world. I contend we have a spiritual problem.

Rumble, Twitter, and Spotify below. No written version of this one.

Judgment Day

Judgment Day

What will happen to those who never believed and when is Judgment Day?

Christianity has a skewed vision of end time events. The day of Judgment is almost always scrunched in with the return of Jesus, whom we call Yeshua. However, the Judgment is actually 1000 years after His return. The period of time between his return and the judgment is called the millennium. Revelation 20 explains this gap of time clearly. Unfortunately, modern Christian teachings about the end of days ignores this period of time. When the Messiah returns, those who accepted Him as the Son of God are resurrected. They, along with the believers alive at that time, rise and meet Him in the air. He then descends to rule from Jerusalem for this 1000-year period of time. At the end of the 1000 years, unrepentant sinners and those who had never heard of Jesus, aka Yeshua, in their lifetimes are resurrected and judged against the context of their lives.

The Two Resurrections and the Book of Life

Yeshua speaks of two resurrections in John 5. The first is a resurrection of life, which is generically called “the first resurrection.” Revelation 20 and Matthew 25 speak directly to the requirements for salvation at the resurrection of judgment. The Greek words for judgment in the relevant verses are either krisis or krino, both of which mean, effectively, “decision time”. When all the nations are gathered before Yeshua’s throne, they are judged according to the deeds they did in their lifetimes. The text clearly states that some of the people present at the second resurrection are written in the Book of Life and are granted eternal life, which runs contrary to most Christian teaching today.

The video above is a message explaining all the relevant verses about the topics summarized. It includes good insight from a few of our congregants as well. Understanding that Yahweh (God) has provided an opportunity for the bulk of mankind to enter eternal life is a blessing. The pdf below is a written-out study in case you want to be able to look these things up without listening and pausing. The relevant verses are quite easy to understand, so please enjoy this teaching and please give a share if it blesses you.

Judgment-Day-pdfDownload

Paganism in Christianity

It really boils down to a binary choice: Are we going to worship the God of the Bible or not? And if you want to know who the harlot of Revelation is, start here.

These notes do not do this message justice. Please watch the video for undeniable proof about the paganism in Christianity.

Refresh where we’ve been. Studying the Torah. It’s clear as can be that God forbids us from making up our own ways of worshiping Him and he has explicitly told us not to worship the ways of the nations. Yom Kippur starts just 24 hours from now. This is the time to talk about repenting of sins. Often time we focus on the “love your neighbor” type sins that we need to repent of. This is a great topic, but I want to talk about the “love God with all your heart” sins today. We learn that the Day of Atonement includes sins committed in ignorance. Well, the paganism inside of Christianity contains an incredible amount of sins committed in ignorance. After today, though, you won’t be ignorant any more.

Slide 2 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. (Act 19:24-26)

The disciples were preaching against idolatry. They were not Christianizing pagan practices.  This topic is the one that got me out of mainstream Christianity. Once I accepted that the biggest doctrines of Christianity of Sunday, Christmas, crosses, and Easter were not founded on scripture, I dove into a period of study to find out where they came from. In reality, I was trying desperately to find a way for those doctrines to be true. I was desperate to find some mechanism for what I was learning to be wrong. Because if it were true, then all of my ancestors, relatives, and friends were in deep error. The word for blending religious practices is syncretism but in the bible, it’s called harlotry or adultery.

The reason this is important is because it is THE sin that Israel kept committing over and over. We just finished a year of deep diving into Torah. What topic was addressed more than any other? That’s right, worshiping other gods or blending pagan worship with worship of the true God. This sin did not stop being a sin after Yeshua died. In fact, this sin defines God’s people all the way to the end of this age.

Slide 3 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” (Rev 19:1-2)

The great harlot. Yes, this includes sexual immorality but it is talking more about paganism. The end time bad guy is the great harlot. That means idolatry, worshiping false gods, and taking Yahweh’s Name in vain are the big sins of the end times. They were the big sins when Abraham lived, the big sins when Moses lived, the big sins when Israel got smote, Israel refused these sins after they came back from captivity, we see the Apostles going all over the earth preaching against false gods, and then the end times judgment is about false god worship. This all adds up to spiritual harlotry, or syncretism, being a very big sin whenever you live.

Slide 4 Pat Robertson video

Pat Robertson and that lady are very popular Protestant ministers. Tens of millions of people follow these people and others like them. For them to be so open about this is shocking. The big reason I put this video up is to show that they actually know all the things I’m teaching today. And they don’t care. Idolatry is wrong. It’s the sin that Yahweh destroyed Israel for over and over. He loathed it, and He forbade any blending whatsoever. It’s a strange idea to say that Yahweh killed all the idolators of Egypt and Canaan, then punished Israel for doing it by killing them, and then all of a sudden it’s OK in the New Testament. That would be a God of confusion, whom Yahweh is not. We know from Acts that they preached against idolatry to the point that the merchants thought the world would turn from it. We need to stick with that. We need to get this stuff out of our lives.

Slide 5 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to YHVH.” So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. (Exo 32:1-6)

This is specifically the blending that is forbidden. Nobody is allowed to make up how they worship Yahweh. None of us get to make that decision. Aaron was left in charge of the nation and folded, quickly, too. This is the huge warning against clergy blending things, it’s simply a death penalty sin. Many people were executed for this right then and there. They named the calf YHVH and made up a day for worship that included celebratory practices. This is all of the bad stuff wrapped up in one. Their celebratory practices included lewd behavior so the net result was similar to Saturnalia, a multi-day wintertime celebration by pagans that included debauchery, and treated December 25 and January 1 as holy days. Pat Robertson acknowledged that clergy decided to Christianize that, which is completely forbidden and why we do what we do. And Christianity’s acceptance of these practices is a cause of the end time harlotry. Those who know better are not telling their flocks the truth.

Slide 6 Ankh and Crosses It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (Luk 23:44-45)

Rome crucified people to show they were in charge. The excruciating public execution was meant to teach a lesson. Often people were crucified at the entrance of a city so all coming and going had to be reminded of who was in charge. There’s one instance where 1000 people were crucified at the same time to crush a rebellion and show the world what happens if you defy Rome. In this literal sense, it’s bizarre that the cross became a symbol of anything holy. But in a religious sense, crosses are a symbol of sun worship and have been since Egypt, hence the ankh on the picture. Do we think Yahweh want’s us to use an Egyptian religious icon in our worship of Him? Rhetorical question.

Crosses are a symbol of religions that Yahweh commanded His people to avoid and destroy. The cross is how the Messiah was executed for a couple of reasons, one being that’s how non-Romans were executed by Rome. It showed He was not Roman and served its gruesome purpose, but who would ever use the instrument of murder to memorialize someone? At the reformation, many protestant faiths took those things down but they keep coming back. We don’t use these because they are pagan and for a bunch of other reasons.

Yeshua being killed on the symbol of a sun god was a huge insult. The sun going dark when He died showed that sun god did not win but the sun, the moon, and the stars are under Yahweh and Yeshua’s authority. But now you know a little why you don’t see any crosses around here!

Slide 7 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

(Act 12:4 KJV)

When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. (Act 12:4 NAS95)

Easter is also pagan. The first thing I want to show you is the remarkable syncretism that found it’s way into the KJV, the most popular Bible ever. The Greek word behind Easter is Pascha, which is the same as paschal lamb. There is ZERO doubt this is supposed to be Passover. Easter is a day for the pagan Goddess Eostre!

Slide 8 more Easter. This one is everywhere. Fertility goddess. Yes, Starbucks logo is a fertility goddess and they know it.

Slide 9 Sun Day

This is a sermon all by itself, but Sunday worship isn’t just an invented day to replace the Sabbath. Sol Invictus was one of the gods in the Roman empire that became the god of the Roman empire in the second and third centuries. Christmas traces to this god as well as Sunday worship. You may not realize it, but our days of the week and even some of our months are named after Roman gods. Sun-day is exactly that, the day of worshiping the sun god. Saturday is Saturn day, and so on. Rome hated the Jews and the Jews were known by Shabbat. No working, resting, no commerce from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. The Romans wanted this gone. Christians were forced to give up the Sabbath when Christianity became the Roman religion, but it wasn’t really Christianity. It was a mixed up faith that all the Roman regions could adopt. And they worshiped on Sunday, not Shabbat. So Shabbat was banned, first by clergy and then by civil law. There are numerous quotes from both Catholics and Protestants about the change. The Catholics brazenly claim to have switched the day of worship and brag that the Protestants follow them. And they are correct. Sunday worship is 100% pagan, unless it’s Pentecost Sunday or some other high day. The Bible only sanctifies Shabbat.

Slide 10 Repent

This is a ton of information and just skims the top a bit. Many of us got into this faith of keeping the commandments because we discovered just one of these items was a huge error and then we unraveled all of it. When people discover this, their faith is often shaken and they go through a period of study that can last years. I was one of those types. You have to come to a point, though, about whether you will obey and turn from this wickedness or not. As I showed earlier, classically trained ministers know what we teach and they simply do not care. They somehow conclude that it’s OK to allow idolatry and syncretism even though the bible and history say no. It’s not even close to a grey area. We are not supposed to do any of these things at all, let alone in the Name of Yahweh.

Abraham was the first Hebrew. The word Hebrew means “one from beyond” but can also mean to cross over. Abraham crossed over from idolatry to worship of Yahweh. Crossing the Red Sea and then the Jordan also symbolizes this. After the faith went forth from Zion in the first century, people are invited to become as Abraham all over the world. We are invited to cross over from idolatry to worshiping the trued God. Take the invite.

As we prepare for Yom Kippur, let’s call to mind all of our sins. Today’s message was new information to some of you but old hat to others. I have some books on order to share that will educate everyone on the details of this wickedness. But I wanted to put this out just before Yom Kippur so we can repent comprehensively. Shalom.

The Day of Trumpets

Explaining the Day of Trumpets and the return of the Messiah . A brief prophecy primer and what we can do to prepare for His return!

Salvation and Works

Salvation and Works

The truth about salvation and works.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

This is the famous verse that believers use to show we can’t save ourselves. That’s completely true. We can’t save ourselves. Yahweh grants salvation to whomever He wishes. Paul writes the same thing in Romans 9:18, that Yahweh hardens whom He hardens and has mercy on who He has mercy.

The challenge comes when folks focus on this topic to the extreme position that negates works with respect to salvation. The idea is that because works can’t save, then one doesn’t need to do anything to obtain or maintain salvation. This is a ridiculous concept.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Act 2:37-38)

Repentance means what we all think it means, to be sorry for what you have done, acknowledge it, and decide to not do it again. Peter is talking to the very people who had Yeshua innocently executed. Murdering people will prevent you from being in the kingdom, therefore not murdering people is required for salvation. Repentance covers sins, therefore one must acknowledge sins and repent of them to be saved. What are sins, pray tell?

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. (1Jn 3:4-6)

Read more in the pdf below but this is best experienced through the media options.

Works-and-Faith-pdfDownload

It Started with the Word Judgment

The real meaning of the resurrection of judgment, identifying two false prophets, and showing how the KJV misrepresents Jesus’ own words.

Defining the Nephilim and the Days of Noah

Defining the Nephilim and the Days of Noah

Defining the Nephilim and the Days of Noah a key to understanding prophecy. There is a pattern established at the beginning of the bible that continues to repeat all the way to Revelation and the end of days. This format is not generally recognized in mainstream Christianity. Since about the third century AD, Christian doctrine has moved to break from the Old Testament and try to become a new religion. This is a big error because Christianity is really the continuation of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Incorrectly Defining the Nephilim

For those of us who came up in mainstream Christian circles, there was seldom any doubt about the Nephilim. Genesis 6 had something to do with fallen angels mating with women and creating demi-gods and that was that. The doctrine goes further to teach that mankind was destroyed because of these illicit matings. There are a number of problems with this concept right from the get-go.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Gen 6:4-7)

The Nephilim are already on the earth before the supposed illicit mating. That’s a pretty big problem if we’re we are defining the Nephilim as demi-god spawn. Another big problem is why YHVH (the LORD) destroyed mankind. This says He did that because all of men’s thoughts were continually evil. He destroyed mankind because of mankind’s behavior, not because of a corrupted bloodline.

The Correct View

The Torah was not written with chapters and verses. They were added over 1000 years after the New Testament was completed. If we read the Torah without chapters and verses, we realize that the Sons of God are defined just before the flood. Genesis 5 tells of the holy lineage, which are the Sons of God through Seth. This is confirmed by the beginning of the Messiah’s lineage in Luke:

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
(Luk 3:38)

The video above and the pdf below are a teaching to correctly identify what happened in Genesis 6. This is so we can be on the alert for the behavior that will occur at the end of days. When Yeshua (Jesus) spoke of the Days of Noah in Matthew 24, He was not warning us to be on the alert for angels to mate with our women. He was warning us that when the children of God give themselves over to lust, by rejecting their calling, then the end will come. This pattern is established in Genesis 6 and repeated in other places of the Old Testament. We look for an enormous repeat of it at the end of day.

I hope you find Defining the Nephilim and the Days of Noah not just interesting, but a tool to help you understand scripture and prophecy better.

Nephilim-and-the-Days-of-NoahDownload

Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge

How the generation with the most access to information in history can be destroyed for lack of knowledge what that has to do with organic sea salt, encyclopedias, and a chance encounter with a Rabbi.

Audio only below

Slide 2 Listen to the word of YHVH, you sons of Israel, Because YHVH has a case against the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, Nor knowledge of God in the land. There is oath-taking, denial, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky, And even the fish of the sea disappear. Yet let no one find fault, and let no one rebuke; For your people are like those who contend with a priest. So you will stumble by day, And the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hos 4:1-6)

I’ve often wondered how modern society could ever get to a place where we have a lack of knowledge. These verses have likely been fulfilled at least once before, but we read them as prophetic, also looking forward to an end time scenario where lawlessness abounds. We certainly have lawlessness in abundance, but we appear to have more knowledge than we know what to do with. Today, I’m going to talk about how our society is actually lacking knowledge even though we appear to have more knowledge than ever before in recorded history.

Slide 3

Rabbi on the plane story with Josephus Finish later.

The knowledge here is primarily talking about the Torah, that YHVH was upset about Israel not keeping the commandments. Included is one who contends with a priest. That’s really what I’m going to talk about, specifically but also broadly.

There is an anomaly that has been brewing for about a decade where people are having no respect at all for learned people. Not just learned people when it comes to the bible, but people who are authorities on even secular topics.

Slide 4

This picture is where I started thinking about this problem. And the problem is immense because this advertisement works. This ad would not work thirty years ago because people were better educated. I’m going to ask a question here and pause for a second. What’s the problem with this labeling?

Salt cannot be organic. We learn this in middle school. This is the most basic of science. Right after we learn the difference between solids, gasses, and liquids, we learn about the periodic table of the elements. Salt is sodium, or a few other elements, which just exist as minerals. They cannot be organic. Organic material comes from organisms, like a tomatoes or grass. It’s something that grows. Salt is a mineral, it has to be mined. In the case of the ocean, the water needs to be boiled off or the salt filtered out somehow. My point is that everybody knew that thirty years ago. It was foundational teaching in our country and society. So people would think a label like this would have been a joke or something.

Slide 5 Scientific method

The Scientific Method was also something we learned in junior high.

Make an observation.

Ask a question.

Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation.

Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.

Test the prediction.

Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.

This was taught to us young so we could have a standardized template for understanding and testing things as we continued in school. You see something that makes you curious and wonder why or how, then you come up with an answer, test the answer, analyze the results, and continue until you find your answer.

This is how a lot of us came to the knowledge of the truth of scripture. We made the observation that our old churches were teaching things that didn’t line up with the bible. We tested that with the bible, and realized the errors. Then we searched out where the false doctrines came from and realized we had been worshiping like pagans.

The first layer of concern here is that this came from our education. We were equipped from an early age to question things and make changes if we found answers. This was the foundation of American education, know things, have a system to test them, and learn more stuff, and help progress society. That doesn’t seem to be the case today. What we’re seeing are people testing traditional Christianity, sure, but then they’re coming up with more absurd ideas than the ones we left. It’s maddening.

Slide 6

Another layer of concern here is that we believed what we read, which is not necessarily the case today. There are two problems simultaneously on this front – folks don’t know how to evaluate a source, meaning what to trust, and due to the internet, sensationalism has been beating accuracy for 20 years. It’s a bit of a mess, much like the stuff to the left of my bookcase. This bookshelf has my parents’ encyclopedias on it. These were my childhood reference materials. We understood that when we looked something up in these books, it was true. Publishers would not let errors be put into their encyclopedias and these books even contain the truth about Christmas. We could trust the entries in the encyclopedias and use them as references in our later papers and such. It was also considered a luxury or special to have these so that one could be informed about the world. The top set was written in 1967 and the bottom set in 1983. Interesting note, the 1983 date was ONLY in Roman numerals, so praise Yahweh I learned that in grade school, too!

This is a concern today because people are challenging the actual bibles, and worse, they are challenging the Strongs numbering and the dictionaries! Don’t get me wrong, the more you learn the more you will understand that the Bibles got better over time. If you want one that’s readable and literal, the NASB is my preferred. But the traditional bibles like the KJV are not that bad and I still look things up in them. I am not saying that we can’t test all things and adjust accordingly, but what’s happening in our movement today is to distrust everything and then make up your own replacement, particularly when it comes to the Hebrew language.

This brings me back to the Rabbi on the plane story from the beginning of today’s message. At that point in time, I was pretty mature in my faith but still learning at a rapid pace and apt to just rule stuff out that sounded ridiculous. But I trusted the information in Josephus. Even though I disagreed with the author, I could trust that the information was reasonably accurate. I was looking for a sense of 1st century Judea by reading it and the doctrinal things I learned along the way were just icing on the cake. Beyond this, I trusted the Rabbi as a legitimate authority. Here’s a man who presumably rejects Yeshua as the Messiah but is a professor of religious studies at a university and an ordained Rabbit. I found it exciting and an honor to be able to converse with such a person and ask him Biblical questions. The story sticks in my mind because of the opportunity to learn but also the opportunity to teach. Imagine how he felt that a Christian was not just interested in his faith, but one who respects it and understands Christianity is built on the Torah. This was a moment in time where our societal foundations worked as they were meant to. We have to learn from people with whom we disagree and respect their intellect and studies so they can do the same and we all grow as people while progressing civilization. What is happening today is the absolute opposite. We have a population that is increasingly ignorant of our founding, ignorant of science and methodology, and motivated more about self than either serving God or serving the greater good of civilization.

Slide 7

Guy who rejected Yeshua the word. Yod shin vav ayin is not salvation. That somehow the Jews changed that word so it wouldn’t reflect on the Messiah. Absolutely ridiculous. But how do you have a conversation when someone is so wrong but convinced they are so right? We all were able to leave Babylon because of the education and societal norms our nation used to cherish. A basic education, a bible, good reference material, and a respect for educated people or those with solid expertise, couple with the Holy Spirit, brought us to the knowledge of the truth. Unfortunately, the same paradigm today, where someone questions the Sunday system doctrines, tends to be leading people to worse outcomes, not better. And it’s making our way, Yahweh’s intended form of belief and worship, a laughingstock.

Our culture, our very foundations, simply aren’t there anymore. Without the common, trusted foundation, how can we function as a society? Are we even still considered a society without these basic elements? How can we even have a conversation about things that are wrong, in religion or otherwise, and how to fix it if our nation doesn’t have this common education anymore. Hence, we are destroyed from a lack of knowledge while swimming in a sea of information.

You Can’t Tell Me What to Do!

We in the west are conditioned to be convinced of everything. We have no concept of authority, let alone the authority we will be under in the kingdom of Yahweh. Are you willing to shed your liberty for salvation or are you in the “You can’t tell me what to do!” camp?

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US society is based on individual liberty. Without a lengthy civics lesson, that I would need to refresh on anyhow, this nation was founded as a clean break from the feudal systems of Europe and residents of this new country became citizens instead of subjects. It’s not the first time in History that this happened. Rome had citizens and not subjects, for instance. In general, a citizen has a say in how they are governed while a subject does not. A subject is someone who is ruled by a monarch, where the only sovereign individual in that government/country would be the king and all others subjected to his rule. The residents of western countries that retained their monarchies while adopting parliamentarian democracies have mostly become citizens because their monarchies have either restrained themselves or have become ceremonial offices. Becoming a citizen of the United States culminates in swearing an oath to our constitution, a document that was ratified by the people as an agreed foundation of governance. In a pure monarchy, becoming a subject would be to swear allegiance to a crown and the wearer of that crown. Britain is the country we most relate to in this regard and you can see that even though they use the word citizen in their oath of citizenship, the reality is that those become British citizens literally become subjects. For reference Citizenship ceremonies: guidance notes (English and Welsh) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Are we subjects or citizens?

I’m bringing this up to discuss a practical and a theological point of view. In our faith, we are looking forward to being in the Kingdom of Yahweh, where we will be subjects. Being raised in the United States, or most anywhere in the west, we largely have no idea how to be ruled. In fact, we are conditioned from birth to not be ruled and that we can ultimately do whatever we wish. We are raised that we must be convinced of everything. This is by design. Our country elects representatives who represent either a set population of a state or entire states, who then have to be convinced to pass laws and spend money. We lobby our representatives to support or oppose issues. So this idea of being convinced of things is foundational to our upbringing. Our president is the commander in chief of the military, but we are not supposed to go to war without the consent of Congress. In history and in the bible, kings were the leaders of the militaries, and they answered to nobody but God. I refer you to King David being a brutal military commander and his heirs were expected to be the same. Hence why the disciples were so ready to take up arms for Yeshua, being He is the Son of David as well as the Son of Yahweh.

With the only possible exception I can think of being those who have served in the military, we find ourselves in a place where we are almost completely ignorant of how to be subjects. We’re supposed to have some reverence for the elected offices, not necessarily the people who hold them, but with the advent of social media, we don’t even do that anymore. We’ve arrived at a place where not only do we not respect offices, but we also often believe the opposite of what a person in authority says just because we figure they are all either wrong, lying, or both.

Slide 2 “And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Mat 24:10-14)

We are in a very strange place today because of a lack of authority, or rather, a lack of respect for authority. Just ten years ago, could you imagine there being even one drag show at an elementary school, let alone a controversy about this being appropriate? Could you ever imagine men pretending to be women so they could win trophies in women’s sports and even force young ladies to allow these men into their locker rooms? We even have men who protect others from violent criminals being arrested and the violent criminals being protected by the law. This present state of lawlessness has come about because we don’t have anybody willing to say “no”. This has gotten to the point where states are making drugs legal that are federally illegal and nobody is willing to say “no” or, gasp, change the federal law. Brothers and sisters, for most of my time in this walk I was told that the Sabbath was the commandment of lawlessness. That the Sunday keepers purposely breaking that one commandment was the sign of lawlessness. That is because for most of our lives, for most of the last 1500 years, the other 9 commandments were a given. Today, most recoil at the word commandment at all, because Jesus set us free, don’t you know, so nobody can tell us what to do!

Last week, the Torah portion brought us to a pretty obscure passage for most believers that I really like to use to illustrate the problem we have with authority. Check it out.

Slide 3 YHVH spoke further to Moses, saying, “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp. Now when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall meet you. And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out. Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp. When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without sounding an alarm. The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by YHVH your Elohim, and be saved from your enemies. Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim.” (Num 10:1-10)

Chatsoserah not shofrot. These are very special metallic trumpets. Only two people could blow them and then their descendants. This is part of the kingdom/authority stuff I’m talking about today. The trumpeters were the trumpeters, and nobody else’s lips would ever touch those special trumpets. Ever. Shofrot are animal horns that all of us can have. They are common, not holy, but could be used for holy purposes. YHVH took the Levites to be set apart and gave them sets of specific tasks, to the point of specific descendants doing very specific tasks. That’s how a kingdom works. They were subjects and YHVH was the King. Only the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest could say when these trumpets were blown and for what purpose. If they were blown to move out, out they moved. If they were blown for a new moon, it was the new moon. What somebody in the camp thought about a sliver or whatnot meant nothing. The Kohen Gadol determined the new moon and that was that. These metallic trumpets were a reminder of who was in charge and that was YHVH. By respecting the Levitical priesthood, the people were showing reverence and respect to Yahweh who set that system up.

Guess what? We’re going back to something like this when Yeshua returns.

Slide 4 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1Co 15:50-52)

The last trumpet is something we have likely never heard in our lifetimes, but I bet you it’s something made of a metal we have never seen before. Paul is telling us the kingdom of God begins with the sound of a trumpet. From Revelation, it seems there will be a series of trumpet blasts leading up to it. When these sounds happen, will we be ready? Will we be ready to submit to our king, Yeshua, who is coming back with legions of angels? Are we going to submit to His rule and be ready to serve however He commands? Because that’s how it works in a kingdom. There will be one last choice for us, which will be very similar to this one:

Slide 5 “Now, therefore, fear YHVH and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve YHVH. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve YHVH, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve YHVH.” (Jos 24:14-15)

Joshua is using monarchy language here. Serving Yahweh as the King of the Universe that He is. He is Melech ha olam, but also Melech ha ba, which is the world to come. He is asking the people if they will put away their gods and submit to Yahweh. The choice at the return of Yeshua will be similar, but with worse consequences for failure.

The sound of Yeshua’s return will begin with the blast of a Trumpet. Will that be a welcome sound to us or will it bring terror?

How will we know if it’s really Him or some imposter? Through study and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Ha Kodesh.

The real Messiah is coming back and will usher in a 1000 year reign of Torah with Him ruling from Jerusalem. And mankind will have one last chance to say “you can’t tell me what to do”. For most of us, the time to choose is right now. To become a subject in the kingdom of Yahweh, you have to submit to Him and acknowledge that He, and His Son, can indeed tell you what to do. And you’re going to do it. And you learn what they want us to do by reading their Word, the Bible, from cover to cover.

Putting this off this submission until the end is the worst decision a person could make. Those who choose “you can’t tell me what to do” will not like the consequences. But as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh and His Son, Yeshua.