As we look around our western culture there are many believers who are told by their churches that mixing pagan rituals like easter and christmas are ok because adding the “blood of the lamb” makes it right, making “images” for worship that are forbidden in the commandments
we are now told is ok because of the resurrection of “Jesus”, and yet is this truly what scripture says?
If we go all the way back to the creation era and revisit the fall of mankind as revealed in what we call the book of Genesis, we find disobedience. The one thing we learn right off the bat is disobedience of God’s COMMAND is “sin” and as such is a death sentence. In Chapter 2 and verse 15-16 we see where God took ADAM into the garden, and then commanded him NOT to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil…or he shall die. “The wages of sin is death” could also be stated “the wages of disobedience is death”. Now did God REALLY mean that mankind would die just because of one “tiny” act of disobedience? In Genesis 5:5 we see where it is declared that Adam lived 930 years……. and he died…………..well…….. now we know. Another interesting statement is recorded in Genesis 5:1 where it actually states “…in the day that God created Adam, in the likeness of God made he him”. Now in verse 3 it shows the powerful impact of that one act of disobedience with this statement, “…and Adam lived 130 years and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image…”. God states that Adam was in Gods image and likeness, but Seth was in Adams image and likeness (doesn’t say God’s), this was pre fall and post fall. The word SIN is translated by some to mean “to miss the mark” but the outcome was that ALL of creation suffered because of this one act of disobedience. Names and obedience are important according to recorded scripture. Hebrew names have meanings attached to them and just remember that God spoke to the world thru His Hebrew people with a Hebrew language for a reason. In Exodus 3:1 we see God call Moses by his given name, in Ex 3:15 God declares His Holy and eternal name to be Yehovah, In Exodus many times Pharaoh refers to the Creator God by His name Yehovah, In Ex 6:23 God tells Moses that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as “God Almighty” (El Shaddai), and states “…but by my Name Yehovah I was not known to them”. We will now read where God shows that He is establishing His NAME at this point in History FOR A REASON. Exodus 6:7 “…And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and you shall know that I am Yehovah, your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians”. The phrase “Yehovah”, God of the Hebrews is used many times, for this reason. Now lets fast forward to the first mix of paganism and worship I can find and the outcome God wanted to bestow on them. first we better establish some history, we need to remember that at this point in history the children of Israel have seen incredible wonders from Yehovah, their God. From the wonders shown to Pharaoh to the parting of the red sea with destruction of the Egyptian army. These were fantastic things to behold and yet when Moses went on the mountain to receive instructions from God, the children of Egypt returned to what they learned from the Egyptian people for the previous 400 years, they turned to Images, pagan man-made gods of their own imaginations and tried to mix this with their new found worship of Yehovah. In chapter 20 of Exodus Moses is receiving what we call the 10 commandments (Law), and in ch 20:4 God specifically tells them NOT to make any carved images, or make anything that resembles ANYTHING in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. In verse 23 God specifically includes gods of silver or gold. In the next few verses Moses receives other judgements and then comes to the children of Israel to convey God’s Words. In Ex 24:7 Moses took the scroll of the covenant and read in the audience of the people, and they said “…All which Yehovah had said we will do and be obedient” and Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Yehovah has made with you concerning all these words. You would think now that they heard the Law from God, and agreed to be obedient that things would go well now. Now God commands Moses “to come up and receive tablets of stone, and a Law (Torah) and commandments (mitsvah), which I have written,” and so Moses was on top of the Mount 40 days with God. While Moses was with God, we read of trouble with the Hebrews. In Ex 32:4 they make a graven image of gold and proclaim it to be the god that delivered them. They build an alter for this pagan idol and proclaim a feast (sacrifice) day to Yehovah for the next day, and they hold that sacrifice day the next day. Lets see how God feels about true worship being intermingled with pagan ideas, His Holy name being declared with a man made image even though in their hearts they are really worshipping Yehovah (they say). Remember that they claim this is a feast day to Yehovah. In Ex 32:7 God tells Moses “your people… have corrupted themselves”. We see 2 things right away, first off God is distancing Himself from them by saying “your people”. Second off God proclaims they have “corrupted” themselves which can also be interpreted as “ruined or destroyed” themselves. In verse 10 God wants to “consume” (destroy) them, but Moses begs for their lives. We see first hand that we cannot mingle what is unholy (forbidden) with what is Holy. God has declared this MANY times in the Tanakh (Hebrew Old Testament). We MUST follow His Laws because His very nature is Holy. He will not cut corners in the end times when His judgement comes upon mankind (and it will), because His very holy and righteous nature will consume us. In Ex 32:34 God says this to Moses concerning this new found “sin” of the Hebrews “…nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them”. In Ex 34:5-7 when God stood there with Moses, and “proclaimed the name of Yehovah” as He walked by Moses. “Yehovah Yehovah, God merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, and upon the childrens children unto the third and fourth generation”….. well this seems pretty straight forward from the mouth of the Creator. OK THEN…..IS SALVATION FROM WHAT GOD TELLS US……..OR WHAT WE TELL OURSELVES?? NOTE: we do this same thing all the time in our western theology today with the Messiah and man made images (crosses and such) and we have integrated pagan holidays and customs with worship of God such as easter and christmas. We tell ourselves that it is ok because “in our hearts” we are really worshipping God (or so we think), and somehow by disobeying God on our terms will make it ok with God (?). Before the 4th century there was no recorded feast days other than what the divine oracles of God ordained. The Latin-speaking pagan-integrated Universal Roman church was established at the man made council of Nicea, which was convened by a pagan sun god worshiping Roman Emperor named Constantine. We saw the Holy Passover date, which was eternally established on that date by God become merged with a pagan date of easter, complete with fertility bunnys and eggs which will somehow bring us closer to the suffering and sacrifice of God and His Messiah (?). As time went on more paganism was injected by the church to win new converts such as a pagan sun-day to replace the Holy and eternal Sabbath, Christ mass (transubstantiation), Mariology, veneration of relics (good grief), apostolic succession, the alter, Lenten fast, and such. By the 1500’s reformation period many of the breakaway churches still held to much of the pagan injection like the council of Nicea’s man made doctrines. 2 Tim 3:16 is used out of context much of the time to try to promote the erroneous Western Theology we hold tightly to today, even though our man made doctrines are not supported by scripture. Let us really look at the whole picture of what the one we call Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3:13-16 (after a little modernization): 2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (prophetically this happened over the next 2000 years) 2Ti 3:14 But you continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned. 2Ti 3:15 And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in the Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). 2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.: Western Theology reads this after 2000 years and thinks the use of the word scripture includes the New Testament, there are many instances where Western Theology hijacks parts of a verse of scripture to try to portray another God or “Jesus” (Yeshua)….but…..there was…. no…. New Testament…… when this was written…there was no New Testament when the New Testament was being written. Now let us read this the way it was written 2000 years ago by a Hebrew Rabbi of the Hebrew Old Testament (Tanakh) whom we call Paul, written to a Hebrew convert who we call Timothy. Let us read this in everyday language, Paul tells him in verse 14 to continue in the learning he received from studying the Tanakh (Hebrew Old Testament) about the Messiah, and to have confidence in whom he has learned them from. In verse 15 Paul re-enforces to Timothy that from his youth he has known the holy scriptures (Tanakh) (also called the Law and the Prophets many times in the N.T.), and these holy scriptures (from the Tanakh) are all Timothy needs to bring him to salvation thru faith which is in the Messiah. Now comes verse 16, all scripture (from the Tanakh) (Hebrew Old Testament) (there was no New Testament yet) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Things look much different if you always remember that there was ….no…..New….Testament…..in this Messianic and Apostolic period of time. The scriptures the Messiah read from was in the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament), the scriptures the Apostles reasoned from were in the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament). Later we will blog at the “the Purpose of the Messiah” as stated in the Hebrew Old Testament (Tanakh) AND as stated by the Messiah Himself many times, which was later recorded in our New Testament. NOW LETS GET BACK TO PAGANISM IN WORSHIP The Roman church has tried to defend its views on all of the pagan and man made idols that are so prevalent in its church by misquoting some of the intentions of the Creator as stated in the Tanakh (Hebrew Old Testament). Remember that some of this Idolatry carried over to the protestant churches because the reformation happened around the 1500’s and the pagan Roman church nonsense of Constantine happened before that period of time, between 325 AD and 1500 AD, including the “cross” that plagues every western temple of worship today which continues to follow the man made doctrines of the Council of Nicea instead of following the eternal doctrines of God. This reminds me of the verse where it is written “as for me and my house, we will serve Yehovah”. The Creator knows mankind’s short comings, which is why he had directed us to not make images that are associated with ANY OTHER KIND of worship, because we ALWAYS go off the road of common sense and search out forms of disobedience that anger Him ….. again and again. History has shown that mankind will always find a way to try to justify sin, we believe that we can sin our way to salvation. The calf made by the Hebrews and given the “NAME” of the Creator at Mt Sinai is a great example of what not to do because it shows the Creator wanting to utterly DESTROY His people over this. The Cross (of Constantine) is another example of how an image that we feel is used in “true” worship thru the Messiah (though I’m not sure how) is justified even though the very God we worship SPECIFICALLY SAID NOT TO DO IT. Nobody is “SAVED” by the Cross today just as the Hebrews were never “SAVED” by the door post in Egypt on Passover. We are saved by the BLOOD on the doorpost and on the cross and NOT by the wood itself. Next is a great example of this in all bibles. The Latin speaking pagan sun-god worshiping Roman Church of Constantine brought the cross to the forefront of pagan laced worship by using the “Nehushtan” and the “ARK of the testamony” as examples that permit this, even though the very words of the “Old testament”, as spoken by God himself, show the need for mankind to NOT do this because it is FORBIDDEN BY GOD. (p.s. This is why they discourage us from independently learning the O.T. the way it was written). If you were to read the complete bible from front to back you would never see the views of Western Theology as taught today. From our early days of exposure we are taught a different view of the “New Testament”, which makes the Old Testament seem foreign and strange to our views. If you were to understand why the Messiah was sent by the Father, as recorded in the Old Testament over and over and as stated many times in the New Testament by the Messiah, Your head would spin in amazement. THE NEHUSHTAN Due to the sins of the Hebrews in the desert, God put serpents on the ground that would kill them if they were bitten, and after the Hebrews pleaded to God thru Moses (in Num 21.9), Moses was instructed to construct a brazen serpent on a pole (not cross), as a foreshadowing of a future event, and if the Hebrews would look up to a brass (sign of judgement) serpent (symbol of sin) on a pole that they’re health would be restored (Sign of faith). Now we will see how this backfired for the Hebrew people. Later on in 2 kings 18:1- 4, we find that a man named Hezekiah became King of Judah (house of Judah) and we are told that “he did what was right in the sight of Yehovah” The King strives to bring the Hebrews BACK to the ways of YeHoVaH. He relearns the ways of the Creator from which they have strayed. During his reign in Judah (house of Judah)(the Southern Kingdom), Samaria (house of Israel)(the Northern Kingdom) was taken and given to the King of Assyria by God Himself because of the Hebrews constant mixing of pagan worship with Godly worship, and this is never accepted by the Creator, NEVER ACCEPTED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. King Hezekiah searches out the pagan places of worship and destroys the images and pillars and sacred trees (phallic symbols of asherah worship). Here we go now . .. wait for it now… Get ready for the climax. .. He broke into pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made because they were burning incense to it (worshiping it), They called it Nehushtan. Funny how even in the present times that
a latin speaking Roman Church of Constantine still longs to burn incense in front of its man-made images of worship every chance it gets. If we fast forward to what we call the “New Testament”, the Messiah himself makes a reference to this event talking about the reason for His impending death and resurrection. In John 3:14 the Messiah said “and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that who so ever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”. The action of looking up to God’s judgement on sin with a heart of faith in God can redeem the Hebrews, and this was extended to us in Acts chapter 11.
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. Salvation did not come from the pole (or cross) but by the act of God’s judgement on mankind’s sin and a sincere belief on our part. The Hebrews continued to worship this “one time” symbol just as we do today with the cross (of Constantine), which is a man-made object of worship that was forbidden for us to do by the very God we claim to worship. You can not come to obedience thru disobedience, no matter how hard you try to justify it.
ARK OF THE TESTIMONY
In the book of Exodus we see that the Ark was not a form of idol worship. The Ark was constructed by the Hebrews in accordance with God’s Word and was a sacred place for the Creator to meet with His people. It was special to God for a meeting place between Him and the Hebrews and no one else. It was recorded in the book of 1 Samuel in chapter 4 that the “Ark” was used in a wrong way for a wrong purpose and was taken from the Hebrews by the Philistines. In chapter 5 we see that YeHoVaH caused trouble for these pagans and their pagan fish god “Dagon”, killed some of them to the point that they returned the Ark with gold offerings in hopes that the God of the Hebrews would leave them alone. In chapter 6 we read that the Hebrew common people rejoiced to see the Ark returned, but they did what was only allowed by the annointed Levitical Priest …. they looked inside the ARK and we’re struck dead.
We know from biblical history that the “Nehushtan” and the “Ark of the testamony” were used by the Creator of the Universe for a specific purpose and God in no way breaks his own laws about making “anything that resembles anything”.
The Nehushtan was a foreshadowing of the Messiah of YeHoVaH, and the Ark is a snapshot of the place where Yehovah resides, a Holy place suitable for His holy presence. The Nehushtan was destroyed by a Hebrew King that walked right with God, because people were forgetting the purpose of it and were integrating it into worship… which was NOT the purpose of it.
The Ark was a meeting place between God and His people, no one knows where it is anymore but it stands to reason that since no one else can be in its presence except for the Levitical Priesthood, and they were scattered with the 10 Northern tribes, it would be a reasonable guess that Yehovah, God of the Hebrews has taken it to the place where He resides.
“As YeHoVaH lives”
noothernamegiven 