No better example – His teachings on the Sabbath

Posted on 16 April, 2010 by mark

There may well be no better example of what II Corinthians 11:4 means about teaching  “another Jesus – whom we have not preached”  than the question of who – or what — changed the Sabbath from the day YHVH specified and said we were to keep “forever” (Exodus 31:16, etc).  While I won’t belabor the issue of blame — since there’s plenty to go around — it is easy to confirm that a political sell-out to Emperor Constantine culminated at the Council of Laodicea  in the fourth century.  More instructive is the more-or-less official attitude of the Roman Catholic Church on the matter, since they proudly proclaim that the change to sun-god-day (the first day of the week)  is NOT at all mandated by Scripture, but instead somehow “proves” the “authority” of “the Church” to overrule the Almighty Himself on the topic.  Even a quick web search will show the well-known writings of folks like archbishop James Cardinal Gibbons and various RCC doctrinal publications figuring prominently, and often even boast that the FAILURE of the ‘protestant churches’ to correct the Sabbath day to the Biblical one confirms their acceptance of that “authority”.

But I’m much more interested in what our Savior said — and DID – than what those who claim the power to change what He Wrote may allege.  After all, since the Bible REPEATEDLY forbids “adding to” or “subtracting from” what He Wrote (1), warns against false prophets who try to, “entice” us (2) and Yahushua Himself said he “came not” to change ANY of His Word  so long as “heaven and earth” still existed (3), it seems pretty clear that He wasn’t kidding when He said “I change not“, and remains consistent, “yesterday, today, and forever“. (4)

The silly rationalizations of apologists for concessions to paganism (such as the oft-cited claim that early Christians met on the ‘first day’)  is easily dismissed as well.  If you preferred to do business with your brethren in Him, but wanted to avoid doing so on the Sabbath, what is more natural than waiting until after the sun went down?  (We already know that Paul occasionally preached well past dusk!)  And there’s certainly nothing at all wrong with meeting, and worshiping, on any or EVERY day of the week!

But the most damning heresy I know of was expressed by a question I recently saw on another website, which prompted these essays:

“Why did Jesus break the Sabbath commandment?”  [sic]

Yahushua of Nazareth, the Branch of the “Netzir”, certainly did not.  And anyone who so accuses Him of doing something that would — by His own Words — mark Him as “least in the Kingdom” (3, again) is without question preaching “another Jesus“.  (5)

The details of what He really DID do and preach, as John noted, would fill many books.  But a few important facts should serve to make the point – at least initially.  I submit that as you “study for yourself”, more examples will become obvious.  But the central point remains:

He NEVER “broke” His own Written Word, concerning His Sabbath or anything else!  But He certainly did break the hypocritical “traditions of the elders”, concerning the Sabbath and  “many other things” they did (6).

What He did, repeatedly and deliberately, was to utterly make an open mockery of the FALSE “law”, the forbidden “additions to” His Word of the Pharisees. Do NOT confuse tradition with His Law! Our Savior certainly did not; this was the why He was so careful to point out that He came NOT to “destroy the Torah or the prophets” but instead taught “with Authority” what was actually Written…because He was the Word Made Flesh.(3, yet again!)

There are less than ten specific “do and don’t” directives concerning Sabbath in the entire Torah. But by the time of Yahushua, the “elders” had added well over fifteen hundred of their own! These so-called “laws” were the burdens that our Savior railed against!

Read the story of the healing of the blind man on the Sabbath carefully! (7) EVERYTHING He did was an explicit “slap in the face” to the vain “traditions of the elders”, the “doctrines of men” that those hypocrites  had “taught as doctrine“. (8)

When He picked up a handful of dirt, He VIOLATED an explicit “commandment” of the elders! When He spit in His hand, be deliberately VIOLATED yet another! When He “made mud” – another! “Anointed his eyes” – another! It was not ONLY the fact that He “healed” on the Sabbath that was a problem:  EVERY single act He took in healing that blind man was a deliberate and specific affront to those prohibited “traditions of the elders”! And when He told that man to travel to the pool at Siloam (a distance in excess of the mandated “Sabbath day’s journey” limit) and wash — He commanded at least two more!

And yet NOT ONE of those false “commandments” that He broke were HIS! They were nothing but traditions of men, they were all prohibited “additions” to His Written commandments, and they were all thus EXPLICIT violations of His Torah!  The Pharisees were “hypocrites” because they knew, or should have known , all of that.

Part of the problem, of course, is that “the church” — for seventeen hundred years or more — has done exactly what He was so critical of the Pharisees and scribes for doing…
…they changed times and seasons (9), and “added to” and “subtracted from” His Word. They rewrote the rules for everything from Sabbath to marriage to idolatry. “By their traditions” — just as He condemned the Pharisees for doing — they have “made the commandments of YHVH of no effect“.

To say that our Savior violated His own Word is to call Him a liar, and a fraud. He knew exactly what He was doing, and why.

NOWHERE, EVER, did He break the Sabbath! But He did demolish man’s desecration of it.  And since “heaven and earth” still exist, and He clearly said that not so much as “one yod or tiddle” (3) of His Word would pass away in the meanwhile, there seem to be many people who preach that “other Jesus“.

But Paul wasn’t one of ’em.

———————-

Scripture notes:

  1. Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32; also the End of the Book (Rev. 22:18-19).
  2. Deuteronomy 13:6  – but check out the whole chapter!
  3. Matthew 5:17-19.  There seem to be a number of people who “twist” these verses as well, by failing to check out the correct meaning of the words He used to mean “fulfill”, or to “complete”, or “fill up” with His intended meaning!
  4. Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8.
  5. II Corinthians 11:4 again.  (Paul was right – people DID “bear with” those heresies.  And if you’d like a second witness to his concern, check out Galatians 1:7-9, where he repeats the point twice and then goes on to make the distinction between religious “tradition” and what He taught as well.)
  6. See all of Mark chapter 7, and Matthew chapter 23.
  7. John 9.
  8. Matt. 15:9, Mark 7:7, in both of which He references Isaiah 29:13.
  9. This sounds suspiciously similar to the prophecy of Daniel 7:25…
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Paul vs. ‘the Church’

Posted on 13 April, 2010 by mark
Or — How he has been “wrested”

Peter warned (II Peter 3:15-16) that Paul’s writings can be “hard to understand”.  After all, if most of Israel could be fooled by the “leaven of the Pharisees” even while the Messiah Himself walked among them, how much more so could the legions of Torah-ignorant  “heathens” that Paul took His message be confused if they weren’t even allowed to enter the synagogues of every city and hear “Moses read”?  (Acts 15:21 )

If you think about it, that situation is at least as true today, when most ‘churches’ do NOT teach “Moses” at all, but instead parrot the lie that God’s “law” is “impossible” to keep, so modern “Christians” shouldn’t even bother to try.  They don’t even understand the difference between the “traditions of men” and the “commandments of YHVH“. (Mark 7:7, etc)

In other words, by now Paul has been twisted so badly that many decide to “sin more, that grace might abound“.

So here’s my simple summary of the books of Galatians, Romans, and the Gospel of John.

  1. Keeping YHVH’s commandments is “not too hard for you”.    (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 )
  2. Obedience brings BLESSINGS, not curses.      (Deuteronomy chapter 28)
  3. But don’t think you can ever EARN salvation — it’s a free gift, because He loves you.  (This is the part of Paul’s teachings most get right; it’s the subtle aspects that are “wrested”!)
  4. So why do it?  Because He ASKS:   (John 14:15) “If you love Me, keep My commands.”

And Paul, by the way, said it was our “reasonable service“.  Maybe that’s why he called himself a “bondservant“.    There’s no contradiction at all there either, if you study Exodus 21.  Those who study the ‘torah of Moses’ for themselves (Acts 17:11)  will know what he meant.

Paul was trying to explain His Word to those who had trouble trying to understand the word “IF”.  And some of them couldn’t discern the difference between the “law” of the Pharisees and what was actually Written in Scripture.

Salvation, of course, was never about “IF you keep My ‘law’, then you will earn eternal life.”  But walking in blessing and having life “more abundantly” is another thing entirely!
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The Remedy for a jealous Husband

Posted on 9 April, 2010 by mark

I don’t know why this never occurred to me before, but in hindsight it appears to be so obvious:

the cup of the “wine of the wrath of her fornication“, described in the hand of the harlot in Revelation chapter 18, is remarkably similar to  the remedy for the jealous husband outlined in Numbers chapter 5:

“And [the priest] shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her [to become] bitter. “

And, of course, it has been obvious for some time that the harlot, with whom the “merchants of the earth have waxed rich” through the “abundance of her luxury”, but that eventually “no one buys their merchandise” any more, is Amerika.

Even though that particular water seems to have become wine in the Book of Revelation, the penalty is still for her adultery/idolatry.  “For her sins have reached to heaven, and YHVH has remembered her [lawlessness].  Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.” It gets worse for her, of course, because those plagues are followed by fire.

But the first question seems to become, ‘What does it look like when her thigh rots and her belly swells?”

It sounds like yet another good reason to “come out of her“.

Posted in Come out of her...., Marriage, torah | Tagged , | 4 Comments

24 Lowers the bar

Posted on 5 April, 2010 by mark

YHVH declares (Amos 3:7) that He does nothing without declaring His plans through His “servants the prophets”.

The Adversary seems to do similarly — although not with the same level of integrity, or for the same reasons — and it could well be argued that he uses television and the movies for that purpose.  There may be no better example of the concept than the  TV show 24, particularly when it comes to propaganda for the burgeoning police state.

I originally started watching back when the threat that Jack Bauer faced was a terrorist nuclear weapon in LA, in large part to check out the message being sold to Amerika.  While the show is without question well-acted, fast-paced, and finely crafted — making it not only entertaining but a great vehicle for the purpose of “molding hearts and minds” — it is certainly not subtle:

If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs.

When the Constitution, and concepts like the “rule of law”, stand in the way of the “good guys” like Jack, we are evidently to be comforted by the fact that torture, break-ins, collateral damage, and a total surveillance state are all “necessary evils” in the Fight Against Terrorism.  While there may be a few bad guys in Government Itself (even in the Oval Office from time to time) the message is that ultimately the ends justify the means, even if there is a bit of ambiguity about getting there.  It is the subtlety of how good is mixed with evil, in other words (see Genesis 3) which makes the message so effective.

But when I watched the two episodes last night that I had missed during the recent trip, something new hit me:  24 is now lowering the bar.   The noble TV President  made that clear when she declared that the “total resources” of the United States would be brought to bear against the terrorists this season when they threatened about a 20 block square area of Manhattan with a “dirty bomb” made of nuclear fuel rods — a bomb smuggled into the city in spite of all the traffic cameras, spy drone UAVs, satellites, and even the NYPD’s Finest.

We were lured into Terror Fear Syndrome over worries about suitcase nukes and bio-terror pandemics.  We were conditioned to accept wiretaps and the torture of suspects because the “needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few – or the one”  (OK, that’s a bit of Star Trek “new-agery”; after all, this concept has been around since the Garden).  We strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel, in other words.

But look at how far the bar has now been lowered!

What constitutes a terror event justifying acts that were once utterly prohibited by Law have morphed from pandemic and national destruction to a few city blocks.  “Weapons of Mass Destruction” once meant a Manhattan Project effort, which required the resources of a nation-state to construct.  Now a Maxwell Smart wannabe shoe-bomber and an idiot who couldn’t even properly light his own underwear have managed to sell post-Constitutional Amerika on a series of airport intrusions and naked body scanners that would get ordinary peons arrested for child pornography if the very same images were found on a laptop that one of them tried to carry THROUGH the very same portal!

Even rifles that were once (prior to the bootlegger-era US v Miller travesty) called “weapons of military utility” and obviously protected by the Second Amendment are now being labeled “WMDs” by media sycophants.

Once the Police State “ball” starts rolling downhill, it obviously picks up speed.  The next steps are becoming increasingly apparent, particularly to those who study what our Creator Wrote for us.

The “prince of this world” and his servants, the prophets of Hollywood, have indeed managed to lower the bar once again.  It should make us prayerfully consider what those who “have eyes but do not see” are being set up for next.

Posted in Terror State | Tagged | 2 Comments

Home again…

Posted on 5 April, 2010 by mark

My apologies for the recent lack of activity here —

almost two weeks of travel, and a wonderful set of visits with family and friends, ended yesterday with a somewhat bumpy trip back into the Longmont airport after putting almost 2000 miles on the plane.  But the headwinds weren’t nearly as bad as forecast, so I’m thankful for what turned out to be a pretty good flight.

Between internet connection issues and more-or-less managing to keep up with events surrounding preparation for an out-of-town Pesach (Passover) and the regular  radio show and teachings, I had a couple of articles “not quite” ready for posting here, but not over the final hurdle.   I hope to remedy that shortly.

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Easter and Insurance

Posted on 26 March, 2010 by mark

Sometimes the words that we use are quite enlightening, particularly if we ever stop to think about them.  More often than not, they give us insight into assumptions we make, and things that we thus take for granted, even when they are utterly wrong.  The end of this month of March brings us a dramatic comparison with two false gods – neither of which is what they appear to be.

A word like “insurance” is instructive, for example.  Notice how many of the men of faith described in the Bible needed insurance, because they simply refused to believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was able to honor His promises to them.  (OK, I let a bit of sarcasm seep in.  But hopefully the reason will be obvious.)  Similarly, where once the “widows and orphans” of a city were a witness to the ability of its people to demonstrate their faith by their works, today coercion and theft replace voluntary “charity”.

There is  a certain irony in observing that insurance companies once called some types of disasters “acts of God” — often so that they could deny coverage.  Now a government that wants to mandate insurance denies God. And we see that a “health plan” which has far more in common with the “Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto” than it does the Bill of Rights — much less the Ten Commandments — has replaced freedom of individual choice, at least for those who serve Caesar.

We are also told, undoubtedly to the shock of those who once signed the Declaration of Independence, that such “insurance” is somehow a ‘right’.  Not a Right endowed by our Creator, certainly, but one granted by the would-be masters in Washington, DC.  Unlike those Rights once protected by the Constitution, however, this new one is funded by theft, what the Bible calls the “abomination” of dishonest weights and measures, and enforced at gunpoint — by over 10,000 new armed bureaucrats .  Worse still is that this “right” is one that people who once believed they were free CANNOT REFUSE.

How can this be, given that even the Sovereign Creator of the Universe gives us a choice — whether to obey Him, or not, and serve Him, or not, and love Him, or not?

Admittedly, it’s difficult to even summarize the serious violations associated with a billing running well over a thousand pages in just a few paragraphs – especially when even those who supposedly approved the thing have not even read it.  But the principles are clear, as are the transgressions.  Can the Right to “free exercise” of faith in YHVH still be claimed when the ability to say “no” to “another master” is denied?

The same week that saw the first widespread coerced “purchase” of any “product” in Amerikan history is also the week leading up to the Pesach, or Passover: the memorial of the sacrifice of our Savior, the perfect Lamb.  Unfortunately, this, too, has seen “substitution” of an even more subtle and insidious sort.  Imagine if you can how a Creator who clearly desires that His Name be glorified must feel when He sees that the most important event in all human history – which He fulfilled perfectly, in His perfect timing and in perfect accord with His promises — has been replaced by an impostor.  Not only has His calendar and day been changed, and the the feast that He said to keep “forever” been forgotten by many of those who claim to serve Him, but forbidden symbols of pagan idolatry have replaced those He specified, and even the name has been changed to glorify a pagan fertility goddess!  (Ishtar/Astarte/Ashteroth/Easter)
Our Savior, of course, warned repeatedly that we cannot serve two masters – whether YHVH and “mammon”, or Caesar, or ‘the world’.

The answer, of course, is simple, albeit perhaps unpleasant to contemplate.  We have a choice – and many have already made it.  The fact that there is massive deception involved is not new (see Genesis chapter 3, for the beginning of a process that has continued ever since) does not make it any less insidious.  Nor does it excuse us for having been blind to the Truth; after all, we have been warned over and over again.  There really is “nothing new under the sun“.

So whether it’s a pagan fertility goddess named ‘Easter’ and symbolized by chocolate bunnies and candy eggs, or the slavery of “health care” mandated by a master who denies any Authority superior to itself over its property – its “human resources”– the principle is the same:
those who will not serve YHVH will in the end serve the ‘prince of this world’.   There indeed is a time to “come out of her”, and to “be not a partaker of her sins”.

The prophet Isaiah said it this way:

“Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,  So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose [that] in which I do not delight.” —   Isaiah 66:3-4

He tells us to “choose this day Whom you will serve“.  Choose wisely.
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On Jury “duty” and actual “Trial by Jury”

Posted on 15 March, 2010 by mark

As some of you who have known me since my first Constitution-oriented radio show are aware, I have a longstanding interest in what has been done to undermine and corrupt what was once called “Trial by Jury” in these former Republics.

This week Linda went into the People’s Republic of Boulder “Justice Center” in response to a summons for so-called “jury duty”.  (I used lots of quote marks – I know.  But I don’t want anyone to confuse what NOW passes for a system of justice with what the Constitution actually specifies.)

Many of you know that “voir dire” has been twisted in the Amerikan post-Republican demonocracy to the point where it really does mean “jury tampering”.  When most “judges” now routinely demand that their serfs-in-the-box pledge to be ignorant sheeple and “judge the facts only and the law as I give it to you“ they have utterly perverted the meaning of the constitutional term “Trial by Jury”.

But I was anxious to have an update on the real “state of the state”.   Knowing full well that no one who even REMOTELY KNOWS the Truth about the Law will be allowed to actually sit on a real jury — the best most people will be able to do is serve as a witness to those around them of what is being done to them and their “system of justice“.   A “jury summons” is a opportunity to speak the truth, if nothing else.

Linda was, of course, sent home.  But her report was interesting, because it shows how the crooked system has adjusted to the attempts of good people to tell the truth in spite of “voir dire”.

I have long advised people to quote or paraphrase one of the Founders (Adams, Jefferson, or even John Jay or something about William Penn) to the general effect that a juror has “not only the Right, but the RESPONSIBILITY, to judge BOTH the facts AND the Law according to the Supreme Law of the Land, and their own conscience.”

In times past, entire squads of potential jurors have been dismissed, along with the speaker who made the point, following such a statement of truth.  Don’t think for a SECOND that those who saw that happen didn’t have questions, and ultimately learn something very important!

But those who run a crooked system are smart.  They adapt.  They now WAIT to complete the section of questioning before releasing those who object to the bad oath requirement.  That way, anyone who catches on to the “get out of jury duty free” card will find it’s too late for them to play it themselves — and hopefully forget the lesson before it really registers.

More importantly, however, they don’t do that dismissal IMMEDIATELY.  They wait, and add a few other folks (think of a wild card, identified in advance and ready to play) in to the mix first, so as to obscure the truth:

anyone who says they know the truth WILL be ejected from the jury pool!

There was at least one more person in that pool with Linda who spoke up with her, after they were all asked the fatal question.  She evidently already knew about the issue, but seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak up first, and was emboldened by watching what happened.  (A few questions, but no arrest yet. 😉  The judge did pompously throw a heavy law book — evidently on-hand for that very purpose — up on the desk to show the complexity of the task of dealing with modern law…as if the important concepts and prohibitions shouldn’t ALREADY be known to the peons… er, jury candidates.   But she held fast…and they were both excused…a bit later.)

My prayer remains that a few of those who watched the whole thing (including a few who asked about “hardship”, but had NOT yet been dismissed) may have been able to see through the subterfuge.  Others will learn about it through reports like this.   As we “come out of” that system, it may be the best we can do in Caesar’s venue.

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Another ‘Jesus’

Posted on 3 March, 2010 by mark

For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted–you may well put up with it!    [NKJV]

— II Corinthians 11:4

And, as it turns out, Paul/Shaul was correct.  Most of what is now called ‘the Christian church’ did exactly that.

One need look no further than the words of the Messiah Himself (Matthew 5:17-18)  to make the point:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

For assuredly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will by any  means pass from the law (torah) until all is fulfilled.” (Emphasis added)

Last time I checked, “heaven and earth” had not passed away, which would seem to imply that those who say that “the Law” was “nailed to the cross” and “done away with” have a problem with Him.

Which should not be a surprise, either.  After all, everything in Scripture points toward that same Truth:  His character does not change, His Covenants are forever, He (and arguably He alone) is trustworthy, He “changes not”  (Mal. 3:6) and is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8).

We are even told by Moses that “Another” would come, greater than Moses…and given LOTS of information about how to confirm whether someone claiming to be That Prophet that he foretold was telling the truth.  Check out Deuteronomy chapters 7, 12, and 13 – just for starters.  The gist of those teachings are clear, specific, and consistent:  YHVH hates idolatry.   A LOT.  So should we.  We are not to engage in idolatry, at all.  We are not even to “bring an abomination into your house“!

And if “there arises among you a prophet” — even if his prophecies come to pass! — who tries to turn you from YHVH your Elohim, you are not to listen to him.  (Read Deuteronomy 13 for yourself, however.  He is far more blunt about it than my brief summary!)

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we are told (at least twice,  Deut, 4:2, and 12:32,  so He is probably serious about it) that no one is to “add to” or “subtract from” what is Written.

All of which should make the title of this article perfectly clear.  The entirety of the “old testament”  (I don’t like that terminology, obviously – if for no other reason than that it tries to perpetuate the false claim that it is some “old”, “done away with”, and no longer relevant to Modern Churchianity) tells us about His character.  It tells us Who He Is, and makes the point – over and over again — that He is a Keeper of His Word.  Unlike the Greek and later Roman ‘gods’, who were capricious, fickle, and downright demonic, He alone is worthy of our trust and worship.

If someone claims to “come in His Name”, but denies His character and attempts to REWRITE His Word, to “add to” or “subtract from” what is Written..in short, to DO AWAY WITH the very PROOFS which were given to us to know Who He sent… then that false prophet is a liar, and the Truth is not in him!

Yahushua of Nazareth Himself confirms these crucial points in John chapter 5:

“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me…But you do not have His Word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.

You search the Scriptures…and these are they which testify of Me…

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

The answer is simple, but distressing.  It is right there in John 5:43 as well:

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”

Indeed, that is exactly what happened.  Within only a few generations after His Sacrifice and for our Redemption, men had taken it upon themselves to do EXACTLY what our Savior had been SO critical of the scribes and Pharisees for doing:  “teaching as doctrine the commandments of men”  and rewriting His Word!

If you think that “Jesus” would never be hard on anyone for something like preaching that His “teaching and understanding”  (torah in the Hebrew) had been “done away with”, read Matthew chapter 23.

(And if you are worried about the oft-twisted words of Paul’s letter (Col. 2:14) — read it again, carefully!  Just like it is the “love of money” which is condemned in another popularly-misquoted verse, it is the “handwriting of the charges against us”, the INDICTMENT, or the accusation, literally the dogma, which was  “nailed” to the execution stake — and not the “law” itself!  That distinction is absolutely crucial!  After all, if that were not true, why would that same author and consummate Torah scholar have also said, (Romans 6:1)  “What shall we say then?  Shall we sin more that grace might abound?  YHVH forbid!”)

That same Messiah, the “Torah Made Flesh” who so carefully distinguished between the “traditions of the elders” and what is actually Written, made that point over and over again, so that those who ignored His lesson are ultimately “without excuse”.   Take another look, for example, at the repeated refrain from His “sermon on the mount” in Matthew 5.   Notice how many times (v. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43) He uses the same teaching structure:

  • You have HEARD it SAID that…   (where some element of their tradition, as commonly understood, but mistaught, is noted)
  • BUT I SAY to you that…  (where He then precisely quotes exactly what is Written, and teaches it “with Authority”…which is why the end of that story, at verse 7:28-19 , says they were “astonished.”)

Check it out for yourself.  Note that in EVERY SINGLE CASE, including even in His confrontation with the Adversary, He carefully teaches EXACTLY what He Himself Wrote, and often even notes specifically that “it is Written”, so that there is no doubt about His source!  He calls the Pharisees “Hypocrites!” repeatedly as well (again, the most striking set of accusations are in Matthew 23) for explicitly VIOLATING the very Torah they CLAIM as the source of their authority; specifically, they “added to” the Written ‘torah’ with their own interpretation of what MUST be done, or not done, and then called it the “law”.  Since both Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32 specifically forbade this hubris, He was quite correct when He called them “blind guides” and took them to task for “binding heavy burdens grievous to be borne” on men’s shoulders.

Our Kinsman-Redeemer warned in Matthew 24 that “many” would come “in His Name” and “deceive many“, and that rebellion to His torah would “abound”.  I submit that “another Jesus” is already deceiving many, because for centuries men have been taught that “another Jesus” came and “did away with” all of that “old” stuff that no longer matters.   Paul was right (II Cor. 11:4, above) when he expressed concern that such a teaching would be widely accepted.

Indeed, it is the real Yahushua the Netzerite  (literally of the ‘Branch’, of David) Who is now considered the impostor by the politically-correct “mainstream” churches.  In fact, “the world” truly hates Him, because He really does not change.  But they will not be able to claim that He did not warn them:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness are torah-less!'”

—  Matthew 7:21-23 [Emphasis added]

In these times of great deception, it is more important than ever that we take the advice from Acts 17:11, and study for ourselves.  Please do so…check out the Scriptures for yourself, and see if these things are True.

Next time:  “No better example:  His teachings on the Sabbath”

Posted in Come out of her...., torah, Yahushua HaMashiach | Tagged | 2 Comments

New radio show starts Thursday afternoons

Posted on 25 February, 2010 by mark

I will be starting a new radio show on KPJC  (1220 AM in the Salem, Oregon area) this afternoon — coincidentally, with the same title and general theme as this one.  It’ll run live at 4 PM Pacific time, which is 5 PM here in the Rocky Mountains, every Thursday.  I expect to also do  a pre-recorded hour or so in the future, which will be broadcast over the weekends.

The show will be available via a live feed here:

http://www.thejcmediagroup.com/shoutcast/

The main link for the network is here:

http://www.thejctown.com/

and I will try to make sure that the podcasts are eventually linked on this page as well.

Posted in Come out of her...., Economics, Radio shows | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Coming Disconnect

Posted on 24 February, 2010 by mark

There is no doubt in my mind that many people who would not take a second look at what the Bible has to say about most subjects, particularly when it comes to how they actually LIVE their life, day to day, are much more amenable to being awakened after their pockets have been picked while they were asleep.

 

Such is the case with “dishonest weights and measures”.   The fully “fiat”, based on nothing-but-debt, US dollar is probably the best example of one that most people will ever hold in their hand.  As we have seen, the Bible calls such things an “abomination”.  The  Constitution for these former united States, for its part, simply prohibits it outright as well.  (Given the fact that Congress, and indeed most of the population of Washington, DC seems to ignore that document just as they do the Bible, this should not be a surprise.)

I realize that these claims may sound sarcastic, perhaps even cynical, to those who have not studied the situation.  But please understand me clearly:  they are not.  The truth is indeed even more harsh, and this is why the level of criminality associated with what is arguably the most massive fraud, in economic terms, in all of human history, can now no longer even be measured in numbers like mere “billions”. Talk of “trillions”, and ultimately “quadrillions” — or worse — is now required.  Wars have been fought for far less.  Hosea 4:6 says something which is incredibly accurate today:  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Many people recognize that quote, of course.  But the rest of the verse is even more telling:

“Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being priests for Me.   Because you have forgotten the torah of Elohim, I will also forget your children.”

I contend that the signs of the coming destruction of the dollar, and indeed the entire crooked economic edifice of “false witness” and dishonest contracts which have been built upon that sandy foundation, are already obvious.  The die is cast, and the ultimate collapse is at this point unavoidable — although attempts to “fool the gullible” and put off the inevitable, will certainly continue, in increasing desperation.  We have ignored His Word, and allowed an entire economy to be built upon not only lies, but abomination.

What are the signs of the coming collapse?  By the time that food shortages, infrastructure collapse, and war are widespread, the directive to “come out of her…that you partake not of her plagues” will be obvious, but only too late for most people.  I note that our loving Creator does nothing without first declaring His intentions through His “servants, the prophets”…and that He already done so, repeatedly.  While the fact that this coming Greater Depression is different, and somehow more severe, than anything seen here  before is increasingly hard to deny, there are other signs that those who understand economics, and honest money in particular, should be watching for.  Remember as well that we have been warned just how insidious this deception will be!

Mark Twain, a century ago, observed that there are “lies, damn lies, and statistics.”  Official economic numbers — whether they are “jobs reports” that understate unemployment rates by removing “discouraged” workers, or those who take multiple low-wage jobs in lieu of a former career, or lie about real inflation (and thus economic growth as well!) by means of “hedonic” adjustments and other transparent manipulations — are literally an open charade.  Rather than label current bond auctions “money printing”, the term “quantitative easing” is used by the press and their masters to hide what would otherwise be called “counterfeiting” if any unlicensed criminals attempted it!

My suggestion remains that those who want to understand what is coming should watch the gold and silver markets.  Know, in particular, that there is a big difference between the “paper market” price – which you will see quoted in the news, from rigged markets like the US “Comex” and the “London Metals Exchange” (LME), and even the popular ETFs, or “Exchange Traded Funds” – and REAL precious metals.  Coins that you can HOLD IN YOUR HAND and keep where you alone can find them after the meltdown are FAR different than the “paper gold” imitations…and the REAL-WORLD prices will ultimately make that undeniably clear!

You will in general have to pay far more for a REAL gold coin, or pre-1964 silver dime even, than the “official” gold or silver prices in the paper.  Why?  Simple:  when crooks are allowed to SELL something that they DO NOT HAVE TO ACTUALLY DELIVER — or even possess — is it any surprise that they can drive the “paper” price down?  (Well, for a WHILE, at least!  While you and I might well go to jail for such fraud, when central bankers and politically-connected insiders manipulate markets, they get bonuses and bailouts.)  This price difference between the real and the paper imitation is called the spread, and it will increase as the level of the fraud become undeniable.

But our “God is not mocked”, and His “Iron Law” that one reaps what they sow remains.  No “fiat currency” in history has ever survived, manipulation of markets eventually fails, and ultimately people who contract to buy gold and silver will want the real thing, rather than increasingly worthless “dishonest weights”.  And while the rules can, and WILL, be changed to protect the criminals and steal from the “little guy” who “invested” in commodities or ETFs, the big guns — like China — are increasingly angry about aspects of the fraud which no longer benefit THEM.

Look for that spread to increase dramatically as the end draws near.  Whether it’s Ebay or the corner store, gold and silver coins will command increasingly higher prices than what Wall Street will claim they are “really” worth.  The time may come when the Comex, or another ‘depository’ (including perhaps even Ft. Knox, or the Fed – audits, anyone?) , defaults, or is suddenly “discovered” to have less  in the vault than is claimed…and when real precious metals are not available at ANY ‘paper price’.  Or perhaps another substitute “currency” will be mandated before any massive fraud is publicly admitted.

But in either case, the time to “come out of her, My people”, to “touch not the unclean thing” — to withdraw your consent from a system of “dishonest weights and measures”  — is now, before the debt and fraud completely corrupts and destroys everything that touches it.  People who seek to deal honestly with one another in the times to come will need an alternative.  Those who recognize that truth now may soon be open to accepting the fact that His Word is True in every other way as well!

Like the “men of Issachar”, those who understand the times will know what ought to be done.  Buy some physical gold, and pre-1964 silver coins – especially while price manipulations mean that your purchases are subsidized!   But remember that planning and physical preparation for the coming meltdown is only part of the solution.  Be thankful that we have been given warning, and should not be caught unaware.

Posted in Come out of her...., Economics | Tagged | 1 Comment