{"id":293,"date":"2010-08-03T23:20:37","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T05:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=293"},"modified":"2013-04-24T21:44:21","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T03:44:21","slug":"deuteronomy-42-or-what-could-be-wrong-with-a-little-adding-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/?p=293","title":{"rendered":"Deuteronomy 4:2, or “What could be wrong with a little “adding to”…?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We live in a time of incredible deception.\u00a0 We have a “money system” which is called the “reserve currency” of the whole WORLD, and yet it’s a direct violation of our own Constitution (for more than one reason!)…and it’s called “abomination” by the Bible.\u00a0 God’s own ordination of marriage just wasn’t good enough either,\u00a0and now “civil unions” have been “added to”\u00a0the definition by governments all over “the world” (in spite of the fact He calls that an “abomination” as well.)\u00a0 Very few self-described “Christians” today understand how the appointed times of YHVH, which He said\u00a0repeatedly were to be\u00a0kept “forever” have been utterly replaced by pagan “holy days”.\u00a0 But there really is “nothing new under the sun”<\/em>;\u00a0a great many similar “traditions of men”\u00a0were condemned by our Savior almost two millenia ago.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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“<\/em><\/span>You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHVH your Elohim which I command you.” <\/em>Deuteronomy 4:2<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”<\/em> Deuteronomy 12:32<\/span><\/div>\n

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“…<\/em><\/span> If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life…” <\/em>Revelation 22:18-19<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Now, that sounds like a pretty simple, very straightforward command.\u00a0 And since it is repeated\u00a0several\u00a0times, through multiple witnesses, He must be serious about it.\u00a0 But it you read Genesis 3:3 carefully, you’ll see that it’s been an issue since the garden of Eden.\u00a0 (Hint:\u00a0 “nor shall we touch it<\/em>” was not part of Eve’s instruction.\u00a0 Perhaps it was an ad-lib, or maybe Adam was just trying to emphasize the point.\u00a0 Either way, it was a “little addition” that stretched enough for the adversary to end up “driving a truck through it.”\u00a0 And\u00a0he has found the technique valuable ever since.)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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The problem with outlining what should therefore be a simple concept in a short article is that, well, it’s too simple.\u00a0 But the TECHNIQUES<\/em> which have been adopted over the centuries, not to mention the examples, would fill books.\u00a0 In fact, they have.\u00a0 Most of “modern Xtianity” is not only full of ’em, but BUILT<\/em> upon them.\u00a0 As it turns out, it’s far more difficult to rationalize the evil of “adding to” His Word than it is to DO it, as the real ‘First Couple’ discovered.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Much of the post-Biblical history of ‘the Church’, from before the time of Constantine to the present, is the story of “adding to<\/em>” and “subtracting from<\/em>” the straightforward commandments of the Almighty.\u00a0 His Pesach, or feast of “Passover” was\u00a0changed — and even re-named — centuries ago to honor a pagan fertility goddess who was\u00a0deified as\u00a0an egg-laying bunny.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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The Caesar-created, State-licensed, tax exempt 501c(3) corporate “church” position, which\u00a0preaches what was once called “anti-nomianism (just a fancy word for the lie that “the law is done away with”) has elevated the practice of “adding to” His Word to a Sacrament.\u00a0\u00a0While the practice was originally “sold” as a method of removing “stumbling blocks” which might deter pagans from embracing ‘the Church’ — it has ended up where such violations of His clear commandments always do.\u00a0 Even most of those ‘churches’ which try to claim that it was only the “Law of Moses” which was “nailed to the cross” ** — but that the Ten Commandments still really do matter — fail to notice that they overlook the ones about making “graven images” and “keep the Sabbath”.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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After all, it sounds just so much more “enlightened” to say that the “Law” has been done away with, rather than to make the obviously absurd claim that His “teaching and instruction” no longer applies…as if man was now “too good” for what God might have to teach us!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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We’re now “above the Law”.\u00a0 Oops – sorry; wrong lie.\u00a0 That one only applies to politicians, armed gangs, and our course Executives of Too Big To Fail<\/em> Banks.\u00a0 We are “Not under the Law”.\u00a0 Now THERE’s a big “addition to” what is actually Written!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Read Matthew 23.\u00a0 Why did our Savior call the Pharisees “hypocrites”?\u00a0 (and He wasn’t ‘polite’ about it, either!)\u00a0 They had made a living from the practice of “adding to” the “torah” (calling it “Law”, or halachah, <\/em>or the ‘traditions of the elders’) and were without excuse — <\/em>because they should have known better!<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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So much more has been written by “scholars” and “church fathers” about Shaul’s (Paul’s) observation that “salvation” is a free gift, which cannot be earned by fallen man, than about our Savior’s relatively simple summary of what that means we should actually DO about it:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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“If you love Me, keep My commands.” <\/em>(John 14:15) <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Which ones?\u00a0 How about all of ’em; the ones that He thought were important enough to Write down for us, teach “with authority”, and tell us would not change so long as “heaven and earth<\/em>” still exist (Matthew 5:17-19).<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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The key is to make the Big Lie as easy as possible to sell.\u00a0 But it is still rebellion to Him, regardless of what those who try to “wrest Paul” might claim.\u00a0 (II Peter 3:15-16)\u00a0 And the consequences have not changed, either.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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“…if you will hear the voice of YHVH your Elohim, to observe and do all that I command you…all these…blessings will come upon you…<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
but if you wlll not obey the voice of YHVH your Elohim, to observe and do all His commandments and His statutes…then all these curses shall come upon you and overcome you…”<\/em> (Deuteronomy 28)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Those of us who are led to teach are perhaps particularly vulnerable to the trap.\u00a0 Perhaps the ideal teaching method is\u00a0to quote Scripture and ultimately encourage folks, as Acts 17:11 outlines, to be like the Bereans and search out the Truth for ourselves.\u00a0 But the obvious temptation to go beyond an “explanation” for what a text might mean, and suggest new “commandments” of our own is doubtless an element of how “traditions” end up becoming “doctrines”.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Whether it is changing His “teaching and instruction” about what is “food” – and what is NOT — or of marriage, or rewriting how we are to deal honestly with our neighbors, or His appointed times, or how we are to worship Him, the end result is the same:\u00a0 curses are the penalty for rebellion.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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It starts so easily, so simply…and for such arguably wonderful intentions.\u00a0 “There is\u00a0a way that seems right to a man…but the end thereof is death.”<\/em> When He admonishes us not to “add to<\/em>” or “subtract from<\/em>” the Word He has given us, there is a very good reason.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Note:\u00a0 This article was originally published in the August issue of the newsletter for Crucified Life Ministries, at <\/em><\/span><\/span>http:\/\/www.crucifiedlifemin.com\/<\/a>
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**\u00a0\u00a0 R<\/span><\/span>ead what Paul ACTUALLY wrote, sometime, in Colossians 2:14 — with a concordance if necessary.\u00a0 It was not, in fact, the “Law”, or “ordinances” which were nailed to the execution stake, but the ‘handwriting against us’; the indictment, <\/em>in modern parlance, for the crime of rebellion to His Word.\u00a0 Think of the situation this way:\u00a0 when a court — or our loving Father — drops the charges<\/em> for a crime against Him, should we go out and commit rebellion again?\u00a0 Paul has already answered the question, in Romans:\u00a0 “God forbid!”<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Scripture repeatedly commands that we are neither to “add to” or “subtract from” what is Written. The practice did not begin with the Pharisees, or end with the Popes, however. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,5,1],"tags":[213,212],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=293"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":984,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions\/984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markniwot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}