Testing Men. Testing Messiah.

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 13 

 

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,  and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.  But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

 

Do you have a process in place of testing men who claim to speak on the behalf of the Creator? Do you have a biblical template that establishes the filter of the Scriptures in order to know what is trustworthy counsel?

Even more so, have you ever taken the time to be absolutely sure that the Jesus that you follow is actually the prophesied, covenantal Messiah of the Bible? Time and time again the Bible warns us of false prophets. They are throughout every generation. And they all have one primary attribute: they lead men away from the Father's commandments and into lawlessness.

It is of utmost importance that we have the taken the proper time to examine who we follow. In regards to men and, most importantly, the one that we look to, to be our Messiah. Don't let this cause offense. Push through the questioning and pursue biblical, foundational criteria to be absolutely sure.

* For much more on this presentation, check out our latest video series titled, "The Nehushtan Principle: Is Today's New Religion Jesus the Messiah or is He an Idol?"

Violation & Rebellion

 Hosea 8:1  

YHWH: "Put the trumpet to your lips!
Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of YHWH,
Because they have violated My covenant and rebelled against My Torah."

Transgressed [Hebrew: awvar] Caused to become invalid and obsolete; moved on away from; caused to take away; to emigrate and leave

Violated [Hebrew: pawshah] Revolted and rebelled against; broken away from; apostacized

Time moves on and humanity repeats the exact same offenses from eons past. Humanity as a whole, and even Father’s Family, outgrow the need for His covenant and His Torah, His Law.

We see it in the Garden of Eden. We see it with the offspring of humanity’s first couple. We see it in Noah’s day. We see it with the Israelites. We see it throughout the reign of the kings. We see it with the Talmudic teachers of Messiah’s day. We see it with those who eradicated the ancient way and enstated a “new apostolic church” and labeled Father’s Feasts and Sabbath as merely “Jewish traditions.”

And… we see it today. There is nothing new under the sun, friend. So, what are we to do? We do our part to study biblical covenant. We learn what the Most High desires and requires of His covenant People. We strive to establish a proper, biblical understanding of covenant.

And then, when we humbly begin to find how to live, we surrender our own ways and walk in His – just like Yeshua did. This is what it looks like to walk in the footprints of the Messiah, friend. Empowered by the Spirit, we deliberately strive to avoid transgression of the covenant. We journey out from the ways of the nations and leave behind violation of Father’s Torah. The same Torah that the Word tells us is perfect and revives the soul of a man.

A greater dividing line is now being established. Choose well, today. Don't wait.

We Must Stop Cherry-picking Bible Verses

 

We must practice reading the Word fully and fairly... in Its complete and proper context.

Animal Sacrifices? Purification Rituals? …AFTER Messiah? (Examining Acts Chapter 21)

Can we ask some hard questions?

Commonplace, dispensational Christianity hits some major hurdles when one slowly and contextually reads the accounts of the post-resurrection Assembly. Here we see Paul instructed by the elders of the Assembly to join alongside others in a Nazarite vow, which the Book of Numbers tells us included purification rituals and... animal sacrifices.

And why was he to do this? To expose the *false accusations* that he was teaching people to "forsake Moses." What are we to make of this? Is this merely Paul "being all things to all men" or is it something much deeper that most have missed? Let's find out!

FULL VIDEO IS HERE

How in the World Can We be Holy Like the Creator is Holy?

Yesterday’s theme continues in today’s text. The biblical pattern is clear, there is a call for Father’s set apart covenant Family to consecrate themselves and be holy as He is holy. It’s never been a “magic wand” event, but rather an ongoing purification process. One who has been cleaned understands the need to be cleansed yet again.

As we saw yesterday, the Assembly in Acts chapter 21 were instructed to purify themselves, as we see with the men carrying out the Nazarite vow (alongside Paul.) There were purification rituals well intact post-Messiah and it would do the Believer today well to sit down and ponder this fact. (There are *many* other details to properly understand this, I know.)

Even today, in Messiah, there is a consecration process that must be in place. As we see Peter allude to, this is behavior based. One’s works matter, friend. Our behavior reveals the level of our transformation.00 Both the Father and the Son said that those who do not love Them, do not obey Their commands.

This is not complicated. Yielded obedience, from a heart of gratitude, is the key. The fruit of our lives is to become conformed into the image of the Son, which is the revealed image of the Father. Let us consecrate ourselves today and move towards being holy as He (YHWH) is holy. Selah.