A New Commandment?

Many Christians today claim that we don’t need to observe any of God’s commandments in the Old Testament anymore because we are no longer under the Law but under grace; and that Jesus gave us a NEW commandment to love one another. (John 13:34)

Interestingly, when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus simply quoted the commandments already found in Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5. When Jesus spoke these words, his words were not revolutionary or new. They were merely confirmation of what was already revealed in the Torah. (The only Bible people had in the first century). 

So why did Jesus say that he was giving a new commandment? Perhaps in the first century, just like today, people had been ignoring the greatest commandment of the Scriptures?  

Jewish sages Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Hillel both taught that loving one’s neighbor was of primary importance. Hillel was famous for saying, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole Law. The rest is commentary. Now go and learn.” 

Jesus was part of a faith system based on the Tanakh (OT) that encouraged study, debate and practice of one’s faith. Jesus never rejected the teachings of the Scriptures.  And neither did the apostles or the early Church. Rather, they all sought to encourage those around them to understand the truths of God’s Word and incorporate them in daily life. 

Jewish people teach that there are 613 commandments given by God. Exodus 20 lists only 10 commandments to live by. But most fail to obey most (or any) of them. Jesus gave us only two commandments: To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And to love one another as he loves us. (Matthew 22:37-40) But sadly, most Christians today refuse to even obey those two! The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:15: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!”

Today we are under a deluge of hate, racism and violence; and we are told that this is the “new normal”. This is NOT the new normal! This is not normal at all! And this is not God’s will for us. So how do we return to normal?

God answers that when He said, “If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wickedness, THEN I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14) God has been waiting for generations for His people to do just that, but they refuse.

Remember the words of Jesus: 

“But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. For this reason, you must also be ready, because the Son of man will come at an hour you do not expect….”  (Matthew 24:36-51)

The apostle John wrote: “By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome…” (1 John 5:2-3)

If people can’t tell the difference between how you act, speak and live and how unbelievers act, speak and live, then why would anyone have a desire to know God? 

Breaking The Heart Of God

As a father myself, my heart breaks when my children are bitter towards me. I remember years ago when I was living in New Mexico I paid for my daughter to come and visit me. After she arrived she spent most of her time with her cousins and  other family members while ignoring me. One day I began complaining to God. I said, “God, I paid for her to come here so we could spend time together and she’s spending time with everyone but me. I’ve done so much for her and she just ignores me as if I wasn’t even here and…” Then I stopped myself and said, “ Oh God, is this how I made you feel when I ignored you? I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”

In 2013 my wife and I discovered that our oldest granddaughter was sexually abused when she was 11 years old by her then step-father. We took steps to gain legal custody of our grandaughter in order to keep her safe. The step-father was later charged and convicted of child abuse, but was only sentenced to probation. My daughter still blames us for her ex-husband’s legal problems and for destroying her marriage. Currently my daughter still refuses to speak with me or allow my wife and I to see our grandchildren.

How much more must it break God’s heart when He sees His children ignoring Him and His word while behaving so badly toward each other with instances of everyday nastiness, foolishness, lack of empathy and shortsightedness. 

I remember when my grandfather was on his death bed and called his for his children to come to his hospital bed. After my aunts and uncles arrived they asked my grandfather what he needed. He just smiled and told them that he didn’t need anything. He just wanted to be surrounded by his children without having them fight with each other.

The Day of Atonement (September 27th – 28th, 2020) is a solemn day when God instructs us that we must set aside our usual family and commercial activities to fast and pray and mentally review our actions over the past year, identifying all those whom we have caused pain, or behaved unjustly towards. And to seek out those whom we have frustrated, angered, discarded casually or otherwise betrayed and offer them a complete and sincere apology—and recompense them, if necessary. This is God’s will for the requirement for forgiveness—so long as the apology is real. 

I challenge all of God’s people reading this to take a cue from God’s word and use the Day of Atonement (And every day) to repent, fast and pray and make amends with those you have hurt with either your words or actions. 

“With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!” (James 3:9-10)

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD has bestowed the blessing of life forevermore.” (Psalm 133)

The Danger of Speaking God’s Truth (And Obeying His Word)

Most Christians today have been convinced that God’s Sabbaths and Feast days and Old Testament laws are for the Jews only. They have been taught that they do not apply to Christians today because we no longer live under the law, but under grace. But Leviticus 23 tells us that all of the Sabbaths and Feast Days and their instructions are not Jewish only, but they are God’s Sabbaths and Feast Days. And God said His laws apply to everyone—the Jew and non-Jew alike. (Exodus 12:48-49; Leviticus 24:22)

Interestingly, the celebrations that are for Jews only are: Purim, Hanukkah, Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israeli Independence Day.  All of them commemorate when people tried to eliminate the Jews—but failed. And not one of these traditional Jewish observances were commanded by God, but by the Jews themselves. 

This is no different than how the Christian church has exchanged God’s Sabbaths and Feast Days for Sunday worship and other traditional holidays of man—Christmas, Easter, Lent, and Good Friday.

Over the years I have been criticized, despised and become the brunt of people’s jokes because of my speaking God’s truth from His word. It wasn’t always like that. I too believed as most Christians do. I celebrated Christmas and Easter and I had many Christian friends and had happy times of fellowship with them—As long as I stayed in the same lane as they did. But once I spoke out about how God revealed His truth to me from His word, by His spirit, all of that changed. Ones whom I thought were my friends avoided me—and even family members turned against me. All because I dared to speak God’s truth from his word. 

I have asked many Christians, “If Jesus’ death and resurrection did away with our obligation to observe God’s Sabbath and Feast Days, were all the apostles and early Church wrong to do so?” I have never gotten a reasonable answer. And as far as I know, none of them have ever sought out the answer in Scripture with an open mind.  

Now I know God well enough to know that I am not the only one that He revealed His truth to and believes the same way as I do. And I know that just like Elijah, God has reserved thousands who have not bent their knee to the traditions of man and false teachings. (Even though as yet I have not met any of them personally)

We are definitely living in the last days. How do I know that?  Because in spite of my years of praying for hours at a time for God to send revival to His church and lead us to repentance, God’s people still have not repented of their wickedness. They have a form of godliness but deny its power. And in spite of the availability of God’s word to everyone in America and across most of the world, many Christians still do not tolerate sound doctrine, but with “itching ears” they gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. (See 2 Timothy 2 & 3) 

The Law (Torah) is not merely the written Mosaic Law, but the announcement of God’s will by the mouth of his prophets. And there is a contrast between the lawlessness and ruin of a people uninfluenced by its guidance and the joyful state of those who obey the voice of God—whether conveyed in the Old Testament or by the teachings of the apostles. 

Many today are trying to understand the cause of all the anger, hate and rioting happening now. The answer is in the Bible. “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” (Proverbs 29:18 NLT) 

That’s exactly what happened to the Hebrews in the desert (Exodus 32:24-25), and also to the Israelites under the king of Assyria ( 2 Kings 17: 6-17), and is happening now with us. Remember brothers and sisters, the apostle Peter wrote that “it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God…” (1 Peter 4:17). And the apostle Paul wrote that if anyone preaches a gospel contrary to the one he preached, they will be accursed! (Galatians 1) So shouldn’t we find out just what the true gospel is that Paul preached? Because the gospel that Paul preached is not what is being preached in most churches today.

It is time that we Christians begin to really study God’s word and obey what God says. But be warned! When you open your eyes, heart and mind to God’s truth in His word, and determine yourself to obey God’s word and His commandments, you will become the target of those who deny God’s truth. But be of good cheer, God will help us to endure until the end; when we hear our Lord say: “Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

God’s commandments were not designed to take away our freedom but to make us free.

Where are the men of God?

Warning! This may be offensive to some.

John Hyde, Willam Booth, John Knox, Sam Shoemaker, Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, Keith Green. These were all men of God who were concerned with people’s souls and the sins within the Church. They all preached boldly on the subject of repentance and revival in the Church. 

They were drastic, radical and at times offensive. They shocked some and frightened and alienated others. Many considered them too extreme or legalistic and at times even heretical. But each one of them knew what God had called them to do. 

John Hyde prayed more than 400 people into God’s kingdom. One of his biographers spoke of the holy power generated in Hyde’s prayer closet. He said that to be near Hyde when he prayed was to hear the sighing and the groaning, and to see tears coursing down his dear face, to see his frame weakened by food-less days and sleepless nights, shaken by sobs as he pleaded, “O God give me souls or I die.”

John Knox is known for his prayer “Give me Scotland, or I die.” Knox’s prayer was not an arrogant demand, but the passionate plea of a man willing to die for the sake of the pure preaching of the gospel and the salvation of his countrymen. 

The apostle Paul wrote: “I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood, the people of Israel…” (Romans 9: 3-4) 

William Booth was a remarkable man, who was given the title “The Prophet of the Poor.” He had a passion to save men’s souls. He was a man born into poverty and who worked in the midst of poverty his whole life. His life could be summed up in his own statement, “Some men’s passion is for gold. Some men’s passion is for art. Some men’s passion is for fame. My passion is for souls.” 

What is to become of us now that their voices have been silenced in the grave and there is no one willing to take up their mantle? We owe it to these men to seek the truth from God’s Word—not the preacher’s truth, not the evangelist’s truth, nor the truth of the best selling Christian author, but God’s truth found in the Bible! 

Where are the bold men of God today? Why is there no real spiritual growth in the Church today? Why is there no true revival in the Church today? Because most Christians today don’t want it! There is no travailing over the lost. No crying out to God to send revival. 

What kind of salvation do you have when you go out dancing, drinking and sinning like the people of the world on Friday and Saturday night and then go to a church service on Sunday morning, holding up hands and singing praises to God?  As believers and followers of Christ we are to be set apart from the world and its activities. If we act and speak the same way the world does, how will they know that we are different?  

What do the Scriptures say? “As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do…” (1 Peter 1:14-15) We are not to conform to the world, (Romans 12:2) but we are to encourage the world to conform to God’s will. But how can we teach them what we don’t know ourselves?

Christian, you have been deceived into believing the lies told to you from the pulpit, from Christian radio, and from your favorite televangelist—What the apostle Paul calls teachers who will tell you whatever your itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3)

The Bible makes clear what is true and what God requires of His followers. Here are just a few things that the Church has mistakenly (or purposely) taught as Bible truth and what the Bible actually teaches. Please note that these have nothing to do with salvation. Only what the Bible teaches is our obligation to God’s truths.

Natural immortality

The belief that the moment a person dies their souls are immediately ushered into heaven to live in eternity with Jesus and God, or immediately ushered into a burning hell to be tortured for all eternity.

Every mention of the word ‘hell’ in Scripture refers to “the ground’ or “the grave’. The only exception is when the Bible refers to the “Lake of Fire”. This is not to be confused with “Gehenna”, which is an actual valley in the city of Jerusalem. In Israel’s past, it was used as a place of child sacrifice to pagan gods. From the reign of Josiah onward, it was used only as a garbage dump where the fires burned the refuse continuously. Jesus used it only as an illustration of the final judgment of the wicked.  

There is no one in a burning hell. There is no Lake of fire burning…yet. And the only ones living in heaven right now is God, Jesus, the angels, and possibly Elijah and Enoch. In apostle Peter’s dissertation in Acts 2 he said, “Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” Now king David was a prophet who was a “man after God’s own heart.” So if he didn’t go to heaven when he died, where did he go? Nowhere! He’s still in his grave. Along with everyone else who has died since. 

I have heard many people—even evangelists that I respect, misquote 2 Corinthians 5:8 in order to prove their belief in natural immortality. They misquote it as: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” What the apostle actually said was: “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” Some version read, “prefer to be with the Lord.” I too would prefer to be with the Lord. Unfortunately that will not happen until the resurrection. 

I understand that it’s a romantic notion that our loved ones who have passed away are looking down from heaven and watching over us. But how could they be able to enjoy their eternity if they have to constantly witness their loved ones being beaten, murdered, robbed or raped? The Bible clearly teaches that we who have died will remain in our graves until God resurrects us on the Last Day. (Daniel 12:1-2)

We no longer have to obey Old Testament Law

I have heard so many Christians tell me that Jesus’ sacrifice did away with God’s Laws and we are no longer under the Law but under grace. Matthew 5:17 is the scripture that most Christians quote in order to show that Jesus did away with the Law. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” They say, “See? Jesus fulfilled the Law when he died on the cross.”

But does this make any sense? Why would Jesus destroy the Law and still command the apostles to keep them? We need to read verse 18 where Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” 

Was everything accomplished? Does heaven and earth still exist? Yes! Has everything in God’s plan been accomplished? No! That won’t happen until Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom on the new earth. So then is the Law of God still in effect? Yes! Jesus says it is. Jesus continues to explain God’s laws and commandments in verse 19: “Anyone who breaks one of  the  least of these commandments and  teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” 

What Jesus fulfilled by sacrificing himself on the execution stake was to make a way for humanity to be saved by grace. God took His judgment against us and placed it onto His son. That’s why Jesus is called the Sacrificial Lamb of God. The only Laws that Jesus did away with was the Ceremonial and Sacrificial Laws. And he did this before the destruction of the Temple.

Think about it; if Jesus did away with all of God’s Laws, was the apostles and the early Church wrong to continue to observe them? (Acts 18:21; Acts 20:16) Many Christians today use Colossians 2:16-17 to support their belief that we should not observe the “Jewish” Holy Days: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Paul was not saying not to observe these things. He was saying don’t let others pass judgement on you when you do them. 

Christians also mistakingly believe that in Galatians 4:10 Paul was referring to God’s Feast Days. No! He referring to pagan practices and astrological superstitions, which are also condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

Many Christians today believe and teach that the Sabbaths and Feast Days are for only the Jews. But several times in Leviticus 23 God told Moses that they are God’s Sabbaths and God’s Feast Days. In fact, God went so far as to say that the same law for the Hebrews applied to the foreigner who resided with them. God was referring to the mixed multitude that traveled with them from Egypt. 

God gave us His Laws because He loves us and wants us to be set apart for Him. And we can show Him how much we love Him by obeying His commandments. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.” (1 John 5: 1-4) “By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2: 3-6) God gave us 613 commandments but sadly, most refuse to obey even 10, or 5 or 2!

The Rapture

This is another belief that is taught that could have detrimental consequences for uninformed Christians who don’t study God’s Word. The apostle Paul wrote: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15: 51-53)  

This will not occur until the last trumpet sounds. So then what happens during the first six trumpets? The answer is in Revelation 8 through 11. And during this time all believers are still on earth! We will not be changed or resurrected until the last trumpet is sounded. 

So when will the end come? “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NKG) Some versions read; “…until the apostasy shall have come first…” or “the great rebellion”. 

We need to ask ourselves, “What would make so many believers turn from the faith?” Is it possible it’s because many Christians used the “Rapture” as one of the cornerstones of their faith? And when it didn’t happen they turned against God? In Matthew 24 Jesus warns us ahead of time that in the last days false prophets and false Messiahs will arise and deceive even the elect. And if those days were not shortened no one would be saved. But for our sake those days will be shortened.

I write all of these things not to frighten you or upset you. But simply to warn you and encourage you—No, challenge you; to seek God now with all your heart, soul, mind and strength while you still can. Search diligently through the Scriptures, asking God to reveal His truths by His spirit so that you may “present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Most importantly pray. Pray that God will send true revival to His Church. We are living in dark times. And our only hope for our country and this world is if God sends us a great awakening—A true spirit sent revival. We must pray and fast, and weep and mourn for the Church to repent of its wickedness. Only then can God hear from heaven and heal our land.

Whenever we enter into communion with God, we should have a sense of the infinite distance between us and the holy God. How shall we, that are but dust and ashes, speak to the Lord of glory? Nothing is more likely, nothing more effectual to revive the drooping spirits of the saints, than to be assured of God’s love to them. From the very first day we begin to look to God, He is ready to meet us in the way of mercy. Thus God is ready and willing to hear our prayers. While Satan and his angels, and his evil counsellors, excite princes in high places to do mischief against the Church, we can rejoice and trust that God will answer our prayer from the moment we pray—but just like the prophet Daniel, all of God’s mighty angels battle against our enemies from the first day we pray. 

Lord God, teach us to pray and be faithful to your word. And send us revival now! 

Amen!

A Message To The Modern Church

The apostle Paul said to follow (imitate) him as he follows Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Corinthians 4:16; Philippians 3:17) This is the only safe example; and if we follow this, we can never go astray. 

And yet most Christians today follow unbiblical preachers, evangelists, authors and such, rather than follow the the apostle Paul or the Lord. In fact most Christians today are able to more readily quote from some book that was written by (spiritually) dead men than they can quote God’s word! And this to the Church’s shame! 

And why doesn’t the Church follow the way of the apostles and Christ? Because of selfishness. We want to live our lives OUR own way. But Jesus told his disciples, “…If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16: 24-25) 

The Church today has become an abomination to God! Everyone does what is right in their own mind. The house of God has become a den of thieves, a nest of vipers! And its preachers have become blind guides deceiving and being deceived! We have become like the Church in Laodicea—lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—and Jesus is about to vomit you out of his mouth! (Revelation 3: 14-22) 

Notice that verse 20 is speaking to the Church, not to the unsaved, as many Christians would have you believe. Jesus is knocking on the doors of Christians, asking us—pleading with us— to open up to him that he might come in and fellowship with us. But we will not. Because we believe that we are rich and in need of nothing from him. But until we realize that we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, we will never reach our full potential in Christ. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” 

“What we need today more than anything else, more even than victory in the war against aggression, are weapons, manpower and strategy to win the war against selfishness.” —Sam Shoemaker, Pastor, author and original founder of AA

God gave us 613 commandments to obey. And most Christians today refuse to obey even 10, or 5, or two! “So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them, will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:19 NLT)  

If the Church today does not live godly lives, if they refuse to obey God’s word, if they continue to follow traditions of men rather than the commandments of God, and teach others to do the same, then all is lost! 

Lord God, I confess that I have not been faithful to seek the lost as I should. I have shed no tears for them. But Lord, I pray that today you give me a great burden for the lost and for your people who are called by your name. Help me to travail in prayer for them. Give me tears for them. Let my heart be broken for them. And I pray that you will raise up mighty men and women of God who are willing to follow Paul’s example of following Christ. And I pray that, like Paul, I will not only be known in heaven, but that I will also be known by the devil and his demons as it was documented of Paul in Acts 19: 13-19. I pray Lord God, that you give me the strength and grace to die daily of self so that many will be saved for your glory. Lord send a revival to your Church now! And let it begin with me.

Amen! 

Biblical Feasts—Jewish Feasts or God’s Feasts?

My wife and I had the privilege of sharing Passover with our granddaughter last night. 

Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) commemorates the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt after suffering over 400 years of slavery. Passover is regarded by many  Christians as a “Jewish only” celebration. Some even claim that Yeshua (Jesus) and his disciples didn’t observe the Passover—even though it states in Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:8, and John 13:1 that they did! 

So why should Christians observe the biblical feasts? My answer has always been this: We don’t HAVE to observe the feasts—we GET to observe them. But the most important reason for us to observe Passover and all the feasts is that God told us to. We show our love for God by doing what He says. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” (1 John 5:2)  

In Exodus 12:38 we read that there was also a “mixed multitude” that left Egypt with the Hebrews. They were possibly Egyptians who followed them because of the miracles they witnessed, or were from other countries that the Egyptians conquered and forced some of the people into slavery.

We also need to remember that there were many members of  the 12 different tribes of Israel that left Egypt at the time of the Exodus. Not just Jews. (or the tribe of Judah) You see, every Jew is an Israelite, but not every Israelite is a Jew. And every one of us are descendants of those who belonged to one of the mixed multitude that God told Moses that, “The same law shall apply to the native ‘Hebrew’ as to the stranger.” (or non-Jew) And in Exodus 12:48-49 we read that “The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger (or non-Jew) who sojourns among you.” 

Yeshua said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, (The smallest letter in the Hebrew language) will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5: 17-20) Many Christians claim that everything was accomplished when Yeshua  was crucified and raised from the dead and that all the Old Testament laws were done away with. The only thing that Yeshua’s crucifixion and resurrection did away with was the sacrificial and ceremonial laws—since he was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb of God. But EVERYTHING will not be accomplished until AFTER Yeshua returns and sets up God’s kingdom and government on earth. 

Yeshua also said “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46) Why would we want to miss out on something that Yeshua said points to him? Besides, throughout the Scriptures we are told that the Passover and other Feast Days and Sabbaths are not Jewish Feast Days and Sabbaths. They are GOD’S. And God said that they are a  permanent statute wherever we live for the generations to come. ( See Exodus 12:14-28; Leviticus 16:29) 

I am amazed that so many Christian pastors and Bible teachers can spend years and years studying in Bible colleges and seminaries and STILL refuse to see this in the Scriptures. And worse yet, refuse to teach God’s truth to their followers! Not only have they rejected God’s Feats Days, but they have replaced them with traditional holy days of man such as Good Friday, Lent, Ash Wednesday, Easter and Christmas—which none of Yeshua’s disciples, the apostles, or any of the early Church ever observed.  

Remember Yeshua, in verse 20 of Matthew 5 said, “…So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” All my life I have been considered to be least here on earth. I don’t know about you, but I want to be considered great in kingdom of heaven.

The special foods we eat on Passover not only reminds us of the Exodus, but also helps us to focus on God’s love for us. But what many don’t recognize is that every thing in the Passover Seder, and in fact, all of God’s feasts, points to Messiah.  

Remember the words of the apostle John: “By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:3-6) 

“By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome…” (1 John 5: 2-3)

Observing God’s Feast Days and Sabbaths and obeying God’s commandments has nothing to do with salvation. It has to do with obedience to God out of our love for Him. When my children were young they obeyed my rules. Not because they thought I would love them more if they obeyed me, or afraid that I would love them less if they disobeyed. But BECAUSE they loved me, they obeyed my rules. 

And in the same way, we don’t obey God’s commandments because we think He will love us more or that we can work our way into salvation. But BECAUSE we love Him we obey His commandments.

At the end of our Passover seder we pray this blessing: 

“Blessed are You Lord G-d king of the universe, for the produce of the field, and for the precious, good and spacious land, to eat of its fruit and be satisfied by its goodness. Have mercy, Lord our G-d, on your people, Send us your New Jerusalem, your holy city, in our days, and we will rejoice in it and bless you in holiness and purity. And remember us for good on this day of the Festival of Matzot. 

And we all end by saying: NEXT YEAR IN NEW JERUSALEM! AMEN!

Is Hell Forever?

I realize that this may offend some, but I must speak God’s truth rather than continue to promote traditions and myths.

 I am continually amazed at how Christians who claim that God, who loves everyone, believe that this same God will condemn the unrighteous to an eternity of torment in a burning hell.

And why these same Christians become so upset when you show them in Scripture that God will only condemn the unrighteous to the “Second Death”—Never to exist again. Is it any wonder that unbelievers resist and reject anything that these Christians tell them about their “loving God”? 

So if a forever burning hell does not exist, just where did this belief come from?

To understand the source of the idea that people are tortured in an ever-burning hell, we have to go outside the Scriptures. That should send up a red flag for anyone who regards the Bible as his or her only truth and source of belief.

“People are deterred from evil courses when, either through descriptions or through typical representations of objects unseen, they learn of divine punishments, terrors, and threats….There is need of religious fear also, and this cannot be aroused without myths and marvels.” —First-century Greek philosopher, Strabo  

Plato (ca. 428–347 B.C.E.) became a key figure in the development of this idea. His name appears frequently in the writings of Augustine, who noted that the Greek scholar had “perfected philosophy” and that he “is justly preferred to all the other philosophers of the Gentiles.” (City of God 8.4) 

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which describes Augustine as a “Christian Neoplatonist,” remarks: “One of the decisive developments in the western philosophical tradition was the eventually widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Augustine is one of the main figures through and by whom this merging was accomplished.” 

One of the key tenets of Neoplatonic thought adopted by Augustine was that humans possess natural immortality of the soul. This was a critical step in his developing the idea that unbelievers could be made to endure eternal torment in hell.

What does the Bible teach?

Pagan cultures and philosophies have contributed greatly to modern concepts of hell. But what does the Bible itself say on the subject? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word often translated as “hell” is Sheol, though it actually means “the grave.” The Greek word, “Hades” means the same thing as the Hebrew word, Sheol—The grave.

In the New Testament, we find that the the word most often used for hell by Christians is Gehenna, referring to the Gehenna Valley, or the Valley of Hinnom. Just outside the walls of Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day it was where the local population dumped and burned trash.  

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says that the Gehenna Valley “acquired a bad reputation because sacrifices were offered in it to Moloch in the days of Ahaz and Manasseh. (kings of Judah) The Valley of Hinnom came to be equated with the hell of the last judgment in apocalyptic literature.” In extra-biblical Jewish writings from the second century B.C.  the name Gehinnom thus came to be used for the eschatological fire of hell. In the first century A.D. the term was further extended to cover the place where the ungodly were punished, but this was not so in the teachings of Jesus or the Early Church. 

According to Jeremiah 7, the Israelite inhabitants of the region had erected idols in the temple of God, and in the adjacent valley they had set up altars to these false gods. They had even burned their children on these altars to appease their pagan gods. 

In Jeremiah 19:4–7, the prophet offers this message from God: “‘Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built high places to Baal to burn their sons in fire as burnt offerings to Baal, . . . therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Jehovah, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.” 

This is how Gehenna was known in Jeremiah’s day. In the New Testament, the word Gehenna is generally used in references to the final destruction of evildoers. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(Gehenna) (Matthew 10:28) 

In other words, people can kill you, but they can kill only the body. Don’t fear them; fear the One who can put an end to you forever. 

Many Christians today might ask, But what about Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:41? “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’”? And what about Mark 9:47-48? “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” 

In both cases the eternal fire is used in order to prevent them from wreaking any more havoc on the rest of God’s creation. But the “eternal fire” of hell has been misunderstood by the majority of people for many centuries. Note that “everlasting fire” (Matt 25:41) and “eternal fire” (Jude 7) are from the same original words. It is not the fire itself but its effects that are everlasting as in Jude 7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” 

Of course, Sodom and Gomorrah are not still burning yet they “are set forth for an example” of the results of a sinful course.

And the “worm does not die” in Mark 9:47-48 is referring to maggots. Maggots do not die. They later turn into flies and make more maggots. And the Lake of Fire will not be quenched, but it will eventually burn itself out—Just as a campfire or a charcoal grill will eventually burn itself out. 

The apostle Peter writes: ”And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly;” (2 Pet 2:6) 

The wicked will be burned completely, not burning forever in an eternal fire. “And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal 4:3) It is the destruction, not the process that is forever.

The Bible is very clear about what happens to the unrighteous after the resurrection:

“When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever!” (Psalms 92:7)

“Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.” (Psalms 104:35)

“A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.” (Psalm 37:10)

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) *Perish, not tormented forever in a burning hell. 

“But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” (Psalms 37:20)

And Psalm 59:12-13 says, “By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter. Consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, so it may be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah” 

There are many more Scripture verses that reveal the truth about God’s loving judgments. And the Bible is always clear when you allow it to explain itself.

So what is wrong with believing in and teaching that there is a forever burning hell reserved for the unsaved if some are saved and come to serve God because of it? Because God has not called us to frighten sinners into repentance. And if a person is only following God out of fear, their faith and love for God is not real. They are only using God as a fire escape. And what trauma this will cause them when a loved one dies without Jesus, and they believe that God condemned them to an eternity in a forever burning hell? How then, can you profess to be a follower of Jesus and “love your neighbor as yourself” and yet refuse to speak the truth? 

The truth about Hanukkah and Christmas

Hanukkah and Christmas are similar in the fact that they both promote false narratives and traditions of men.

The Hanukkah story essentially describes a culture war—Us against them, rather than us against the Greeks and Syrians.The Hellenists were the Jews who had assimilated into the Greek culture, adopted some of the Greek ways of life and incorporated them into the Jewish culture. The group led by the Maccabees resisted any outside influences and not only purged the Greeks, but even their own countrymen. Similar to those in the United States today where much of the population is involved in some sort of culture war and promoting false narratives.

Although the New Testament records that Jesus was at the temple during the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22-23) I don’t believe he was there lighting  a nine branched menorah and playing Dreidel. 

The real story of Hanukkah begins with a revolt, for reasons that would resonate to this day—gross inequality, immoral ideology and religious coercion. The truth is, is that Hanukkah originally had nothing to do with a miraculous oil supply or playing Dreidel, any more than the birth of Jesus originally had anything to do with decorating trees and houses, Mistletoe, caroling or exchanging gifts. 

I see nothing wrong with family traditions as long as they don’t take away from God’s truth of  the Bible. 

Since the Bible teaches that we are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, (1 Corinthians 3:16) perhaps we should consider rededicating ourselves to God, just as the Jews rededicated God’s temple. 

For more information see:

https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/the-astonishing-real-story-of-hanukkah-1.5296084

https://www.livescience.com/61073-hanukkah-history-traditions.html

Does The Church Need To Repent?

Churches today, just as Israel of old, has forgotten God and replaced Him with our own golden calves of psychology, secularism, traditions of men and political bias—and we have reaped the rewards of our actions: Divisions, discord among believers, sexual perversion and worst of all, sexual abuse of children committed by the very ones who are supposed to protect them—from law enforcement to foster care to clergy in the Catholic and Protestant churches!   

It is a sad day indeed when the world tells the church that it needs to repent…And they’re right!  Hear what God says:

“As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done. Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:48-50)

Notice that there is no mention of homosexuality. 

The real sin of Sodom was complacency and refusal to help the needy. And the church today continues on as if nothing is wrong—Much like the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:17—“You say, I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

The church today has spent so much time judging others that we cannot see our own sin. (Matthew 7:3) Here Jesus is speaking of judging rashly, or passing judgment upon someone on outward appearance alone. We must judge ourselves and our own actions, but not make our word a law to everyone else.

The apostle Paul addresses this when he writes: “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.” (1 Corinthians 5: 9-12) 

Many have chastised me for speaking out against sin in the church—criticizing me as being self-righteous or legalistic. But I am only trying to warn God’s people of the path of destruction they are traveling on. Many Christians believe that just because they repeated a “sinner’s prayer” and “accepted Jesus as their Savior” that they’re okay with God and they don’t have to do anything else because Jesus cleansed them of their sins, now and in the future.

But listen to what the prophet Jeremiah said to those with that same attitude in his day:

“For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore. Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD. How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done—a restless young camel running here and there, a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her.” (Jeremiah 2: 20-25) 

The apostle Paul speaks of the same type of Christians in the Corinthian church: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?” (1 Corinthians 3: 1-3) 

But there is yet hope for us all who are called by His name:

“If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7: 13-14) 

Our land will not be healed by any political leader or policy. It will only be healed when God’s people, who are called by His name, humble themselves with repentant hearts, pray and seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways. Only THEN will our land be healed.

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 1: 18-20) 

Today is the day for repenting. Let us not wait until we are on the precipice of destruction before we cry out to God, like ancient Israel did. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion…See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3: 12-15) 

This is my prayer for the Church today.

False Doctrines In Today’s Churches

This is not an attack on the Church and I mean no disrespect. I only desire to encourage Christians to seek God’s truths from His Word, the Bible, and hopefully to give you some constructive correction so that you won’t be deceived. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

False Doctrine #1 – Natural immortality of the soul 

The majority of professing Christians today believe that when we die, we have a separate “soul” that continues to live on, so that at the time of their death, those who are saved will immediately be ushered into heaven to live out eternity with Jesus and the angels. But throughout the Old and New Testament, you will not see one verse where God or His people proclaimed an immortal soul teaching. 

Many Christians point to Luke 23:43 as proof of this doctrine: “And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” So, what did Jesus really say? Was He actually saying that on the very day He spoke, that the thief was going to be in paradise in heaven? Because Jesus did not go to paradise that day. The thief could not have gone to paradise that day because Jesus did not go to heaven that day either—but only after God resurrected his body 3 days later and Jesus ascended into heaven. 

So what is the answer? How can this text disagree with our doctrine of natural immortality? The answer is simple. Greek text does not have punctuation. When the Bible was translated, the scholars put in the punctuation that they felt was correct, where it allowed the text to agree with their own interpretation. The scholars simply misplaced a comma which changes the entire meaning of the verse. They put the comma before the word today instead of after the word today. Which would more accurately read: “I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise.”

The most misquoted Bible verse that pastors use to convince you of this false doctrine is, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) But do you know what that verse really says? Have you even looked it up? The actual verse states, “We are confident, yes, well pleased RATHER to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (NKJ) I would rather be absent from my body and be present with the Lord too. But that won’t happen until Jesus resurrects my mortal body.

All throughout the Old Testament we are taught that after death we know nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; Psalm 115:17). And in Isaiah, we are given a remarkable prophecy concerning the second coming of our Messiah and what happens when we die: “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19)

Do you see? Where do we dwell until the second coming of Jesus? In the grave, awaiting our resurrection! Christian, this is the Bible truth. The danger of this false doctrine is that it gives people a false sense of eternal security. I have heard people say of loved ones who have passed away, “They’re in a better place now.” Or, “They’re with Jesus now.” Or, “I know that they’re looking over us from heaven.” This makes no sense because how could anyone enjoy their eternity in heaven if they were able to look down and witness all of the sadness, poverty, murder, rape and other evil that befalls their loved ones on earth?

No one naturally inherits eternal life. When we die, we return to dust and await the second coming of Jesus when He will resurrect us. We do not have an immortal soul, because only Jesus has has the power to give us immortality. (1 Timothy 6:16) The apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15:53 that “this perishable body must PUT ON the imperishable, and this mortal body must PUT ON immortality. (See also Romans 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:2-4)  

False Doctrine #2 – Eternal Hell Fire 

Even though every mention of the word “hell” in the Bible refers only to the ground or the grave, mainstream Christian churches believe and teach that when the lost person dies, he or she will be sent into the “fires of hell”, to remain and burn in anguish in extreme pain and suffering for all eternity!

So let me get this straight…Our “God of love” is going to torture the lost with fire for the ceaseless ages to come? And all for their short life of sin, in a mortal body that is prone to sin because of the fall of Adam and Eve? Does this sound like love? Not one bit. 

Even Jesus himself said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not PERISH, but have everlasting life.”  

This is the most well known Bible verse in the whole world—And yet so few people actually know what it means. There are only two options for us. One is to follow Jesus our Messiah and gain eternal life. The other is to reject Jesus and “perish”. Perish means to be completely destroyed—ie; nothing left! And when you learn the truth that we don’t have an immortal soul, then this really makes complete sense. 

Now don’t misunderstand. The lost WILL be judged and punished with “hell fire”, which Revelation chapters 19 and 20 describes as the “lake of fire”. But that fire will burn them up completely, (Malachi 4:1) and they will die the “second death.” (Revelation 21:8) And this agrees with what the prophet Daniel was foretold long ago. “And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:1-2) 

This is exactly why God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after they ate from the tree of good and evil, “…lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” God did not want Adam and Eve to live forever in a state of corruption. When the wicked, (Those who have rejected God’s love and plan of salvation) are resurrected, they will be resurrected with corruptible bodies. (Think “The Walking Dead”) So the most loving thing that God can do is to destroy them in the Lake of Fire to put them out of their misery. 

What sense would it make if a loving God placed someone into a place of torment for ages, only to pull them out of the flames to judge them, and then throw them back into the flames? That is not the act of a loving God. Of course it is a way to instill fear into the hearts of those ignorant of the Scriptures in order to control them. Just as the early Catholic church did. But God has never called us to frighten people into His kingdom.

False Doctrine #3 – The Sabbath Day and Biblical Feast Days Abolished 

Many Protestant and mainline churches have criticized the Catholic church for it’s non-biblical doctrines and practices. But did you know that most of the doctrines taught and practiced in the Protestant churches came directly from the Catholic church? 

Ever wonder who changed God’s seventh day Sabbath to Sunday? In both Old and New Testament there is not a shadow of variation in the doctrine of the Sabbath. God’s Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends on Saturday evening. The seventh day Sabbath is the only day ever designated by the term Sabbath in the entire Bible. Not only was Jesus a perfect example in observing the weekly Sabbath, but all His disciples and apostles followed the same pattern even after Jesus had ascended into heaven. 

But if the change did not take place in the Scriptures or through the influence of the apostles, when and how did it happen? 

Most know about the Roman emperor Constantine and his supposed “conversion” to Christianity. But during the time of the Roman Empire, Constantine as well as his army and most Roman citizens were pagan sun-worshipers. At that time the cult of Mithraism or sun-worship was the official religion of the Roman Empire. It stood as the greatest competitor to the new Christian religion. It had its own organization, temples, priesthood, robes—everything. It also had an official worship day on which special homage was given to the sun. That day was called “The Venerable Day of the Sun.” It was the first day of the week, and from it we get our name Sunday. 

Most have also heard the story of Constantine’s supposed “vision” on the battlefield. Afterward, Constantine declared Christianity the new official religion of his kingdom and forced all his pagan soldiers to be Christians. He became very zealous to build up the power and prestige of his “new religion” with the help of the Catholic church. Through his influence, great numbers of pagans were taken into the Christian ranks. And for the first time in history Christians were forced to worship alongside pagan sun- worshippers—and they brought much of their pagan ideas, which they continued to be devoted to, with them. Christmas, Easter and many other pagan customs were Christianized and appropriated into the practice of the Church as well.  

After Constantine made the initial pronouncement and legal decree about the change, the Catholic church reinforced that act in one church council after another. For this reason, many official statements from Catholic sources are made, claiming that the the Catholic church made the change from Saturday to Sunday. 

The Catholic Mirror of September 23, 1894, puts it this way: “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” 

From the Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Reverend Peter Giermann: “Question: Which is the Sabbath day? Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” 

From Reverend Steven Keenan’s Doctrinal Catechism we read this: 

“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day; a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”

See? Even the Catholic church admits that it changed the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday! Has the Catholic church, or any religion, ever been given power to make any alterations to the commandments of God? Absolutely not! 

The apostle Paul, who wrote pages of counsel about lesser issues of Jewish and Gentile conflicts, had not one word to say about any controversy over the seventh day Sabbath. Circumcision, foods offered to idols, and other Jewish customs and ceremonial laws were readily challenged and discussed by the apostles and non-Jewish believers in the church, but the weightier matters of the weekly Sabbath and God’s biblical laws were never an issue. Why? For the simple reason that no change was ever made! Had there been a switch from the Sabbath to the first day of the week, you can be sure the controversy would have been more explosive among the apostles than circumcision or ceremonial laws. 

The apostle Paul had warned the early Church that there would be a falling away from the truth soon after his departure: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:29-31) 

He also wrote to Timothy: “Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” (1 Timothy 4: 1-4) 

One doesn’t have to read very far in early church history to see just how that prophecy was fulfilled. 

I find it remarkable that out of the Ten Commandments, the one commandment God spent the most time explaining, is the one that Christians have refused to obey the most. I also find it saddening that God gave the Israelites 613 commandments, and most Christians today refuse to obey even ten! 

But I digress. 

There are a few differing views and beliefs concerning the Sabbath day throughout the mainstream Christian churches: 

• Some believe that the Sabbath day commandment has been abolished completely.
• Some believe that the Sabbath day has been changed from Saturday to Sunday
• And others believe that we can keep any day as the Sabbath day. 

But according to Scripture, they are all wrong! Because the seventh day Sabbath still stands today exactly the same as when God commanded it on Mount Sini.

Consider the statement that Jesus Himself made: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 17-19)

Let me share with you an interesting discovery I made concerning the seventh day. 

Below is a short list of names for the seventh day of the week in which the root word ‘Sabbath’ is still easily recognizable. There are many, many more you can find by simply doing a Google search.

Arabic: Sabet 

Bosnian: Subota 

Greek: Savvato 

Hebrew: Shabbat 

Italian: Sabato 

Polish: Sobota 

Russian: Subbota 

Somali: Sabti 

Even the Navajo language has a way of counting days that refers to Sabbath. But the Navajo language is so difficult, that it’s a lot easier to use the word for Sunday (Damóo) and use that to frame the succession of days starting from the first day of the week. “Biisk’ání” is the Navajo addition that means, roughly, “the next day.” It’s like saying, “Sunday, and then another day is Monday, and the next day is Tuesday, etc.” But the only day that doesn’t follow this succession is Friday (nda’iiníísh), and it means the end of the work week. (Remember, the biblical Sabbath begins at sundown on Fridays)

It is obvious that Sunday was never considered the biblical Sabbath until later religious leaders substituted Sunday for the true Sabbath day.  

So what did Jesus mean about fulfilling the law and commandments? The prophecy of Messiah coming to fulfill the law is found in the Book of Isaiah: “The Lord (Speaking of Messiah) is well pleased for his righteousness sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” (Isaiah 42:21) The English word ‘magnify’ is translated from a Hebrew word that literally means ‘to make great’ or ’cause to be great’. This is exactly what Jesus did. He magnified the law or “made it great and honorable” by showing how good and beneficial it is to us.

False Doctrine #4-Biblical Feasts—For Jews Only? 

Many Christians today believe that the biblical feasts mentioned in the Old Testament were for only the Jews. But does that really make sense? God himself said that the Holy Feast days and Sabbaths were HIS feasts. Not Jewish only feasts. 

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are MY appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is to be a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.” (Leviticus 23: 1-3) 

Verse 4: “These are the LORD’s appointed feasts…”

Verse 37: “These are the LORD’s appointed feasts…”

Verse 38: “These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths…”

Verse 39: “…you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days.”

And in Exodus 12 God tells Moses several times that these feasts were to be a “permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever.”

So who was God speaking this to? The Jews only? No! In Exodus 12:38, it is recorded that there was a “mixed multitude” that journeyed with the Hebrews away from Egypt. Nothing is told of exactly who this mixed multitude was. Some may have been Egyptians impressed by the recent miracles and plagues, some may have been foreigners held in servitude to the Egyptians like the Hebrews, happy to escape from their masters. These may also be the ones who were murmuring and causing dissension among the Hebrews in the wilderness. The fact is, NONE of them were Jewish because Judah did not exist yet. 

Everyone living today are descendants of either one of the tribes of Israel or the ancient “mixed multitude”. And if God told Moses that His feasts were to be a “permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever”, and if God never changes, then these laws must apply to all of us today. 

Many Christians today who claim that we no longer have to observe the biblical feasts point to the apostles’ meeting in Acts 15 as proof:

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:19-21) 

The apostles suggested these limited rules because they knew that the non-Jewish converts would hear the Mosaic laws discussed every Sabbath in the synagogues. Just as a new convert to Christianity is not expected to follow all of the rules and doctrines of churches immediately after conversion, the four prohibitions seem to have been a temporary arrangement until they were to learn that which was acceptable to God when they went to the synagog every Sabbath.

The New Testament reveals that Jesus, Paul and the apostolic Church also kept all of God’s feast days and Sabbaths. (John 7; Acts 21:22-24;  Acts 18:21; Acts 20:1-60) If God’s feast days and Sabbaths were abolished, was Paul and the apostles wrong for observing them?

I find it interesting that some of the more modern translators made some notable changes to the New testament writings. For example, in Acts 27:9  they use the term, ‘Fast’ in place of  Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement. Note that Luke mentions this day of fasting 30 years AFTER the death of the Messiah.  

Why was Acts 18:21 changed? We read in the older translations, “…I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.” But the more modern translations completely removed any mention of the coming Feast. “…I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.” 

It is bad enough that churches today have rejected God’s commandments; but then they exchanged them for traditional man-made holidays such as, Christmas, Halloween, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Pastors teach people that these holidays are Christian holidays and encourage them to observe them. Even though they know that these observances are based on traditions of man and ancient pagan worship—not on the Bible!

And what does Jesus and the apostles say about God’s commandments? 

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” 

(John 14:21) 

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome…” (1 John 5:3) 

“By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)

We must remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: 17-19:  “…whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 17-19)

False Doctrine #5- You must believe in the Trinity to be saved

I have heard many Christians and pastors say that salvation is dependent on believing in the doctrine of the Trinity. God in three persons—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in the Bible—not even a hint, that this is biblical.

To me, this is the most dangerous of the false doctrines in churches today. Because it limits who can be considered to be truly saved and cheapens the blood of the Messiah. This doctrine is no different than many Pentecostal churches who claim that you can’t be truly saved unless you’re able to “speak in tongues”.

I attended a Messianic congregation years ago where during his teaching, the head rabbi said, “Unless you believe in the Trinity you cannot be saved.” I was astounded that a rabbi would make that statement! After I discussed my views based on Scripture and my concerns about it, some people there made it their mission to “reconvert” me. And to this day many of my Christian friends refuse to interact with me as they once did. Maybe they’re afraid of being found guilty by association?

Some have considered me to be legalistic—to trying to earn salvation by observing the Law. Nothing could be further from the truth. When my children were young they didn’t obey my rules because they thought I would love them more if they obeyed, or afraid I would love them less if they didn’t. But BECAUSE they loved me, they obeyed my rules.

I don’t obey God’s laws because I think He will love me more if I obey Him, or afraid that He will love me less if I don’t obey Him. But BECAUSE I love Him, I obey His laws.

I know there are many who would prefer that I remain quiet—to keep my opinions to myself. But regardless what happens, I know in my heart of hearts that what I believe comes directly from Scripture. And I can say with Jeremiah, “If I say, I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name, His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.” 

Christian, these are important doctrines that Satan has twisted and uses to deceive the masses in these last days. And what is the result of rejecting of God’s laws? Widespread idolatry, pagan religious practices, jealousies, hatefulness, social injustice and sexual perversion. 

When Israel rejected “God’s statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them,” but instead “walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel.” They lost favor with God and came under the harsh rule of those they followed. (See 2 Kings 17:5-17) This led to the Israelites’ pandemic failure to love their fellow man. 

The prophet Amos spoke of the epidemic of social injustice within the Kingdom of Israel. “…because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble.” (Amos 2:6-7) The only way we can be guarded against this same thing is by studying and learning God’s truth and obeying His laws. 

I sincerely pray that you will prayerfully study these things for yourself in the Bible. And I believe that God, through His Holy Spirit, will open your eyes to wonderful things that He is longing to share with you, so that you may stand in the day of temptation and not be deceived. 

God bless you on your journey.