The Spiritual

Why Christians Celebrate Christmas

12/21/2019

Copied and adapted from The Whittier Housewife
Written by Heather Zubiate on Dec. 25, 2013

There are some very good reasons why many Christians celebrate Christmas. But first, I want to lay some ground work before I get to those reasons. Anyone who dares to call themselves a "Christian," had better agree, that the Bible (and no other book) is the exclusive manual for Christian living, right? Are we agreed? Good! Now I can give some verses from all over Scripture, that I hope will provide some insight regarding what the Lord considers to be righteous behavior vs. the profane behavior of the mixed multitude toward obeying the true faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.
Proverbs 14:8

The simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps.
Proverbs 14:15

There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:5, 7, 9,10

For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, Hebrews 3:14

Now I want to share with you a similar thought that follows along the lines with the above Scriptures, and it comes to us from Mencius. Who is Mencius?

Mencius lived in China around 372-289 B.C. and was a social and political philosopher, proponent of ethics, and was a disciple of Confucius. Now, I realize that this man was not a biblical scholar, nor was he saved, and though I don't normally agree with what unsaved men have to say about biblical matters, nevertheless, Mencius' words regarding beliefs and traditions in general are quite true, and actually agrees with Scripture in this case, and of course, also with common sense. Here is the quote:
"To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's life without knowing where it really leads, such is the behavior of the multitude" - Mencius circa 300 B.C.
See? Pretty accurate, huh? Meanwhile, many "Christians" so-called, celebrate Christmas because they follow (blindly, I might add) the traditions set up by those they consider to be the "fathers of the faith" and by doing so, they esteem man-made traditions rather than the actual word of God. Amen? Amen! Now, this may be done in innocent naivete, but if we are to grow in the faith, then staying a baby won't make for mature and obedient followers of Christ.

The Multitudes Claim: "Jesus is the reason for the season."

Are they sure about that? This tag line is another big reason why many Christians celebrate Christmas, they are acting without clear understanding, and form this and other habitual traditions without any investigation, and follow this sort of path all their lives without knowing where it really leads, or where the path originated from. They act in concert, as a mixed-multitude that wants some sort of physical gratification, and will use religion as a means of satisfying their inherent desires to celebrate a holy day.

Ultimately, they are completely ignorant of Scripture and the true way of Jesus Christ, there is only one narrow way, dear reader, and if we are to be truly Christ like, or Christian, then we need to follow that narrow path our Lord laid out. But the wayward sheep roam onto the broad path the world lays out and they gladly celebrate an ancient and wicked holy day, dedicated to a winged sun god, and the horned stag god (which are one in the same) and apply the Lord's holy name to it, and they make it a feast unto the Lord by changing all the names and give it Christian decorations, as evidenced in this picture where the rhyme: "Jesus is the reason for the season", which is placed up against an idolatrous evergreen tree. Again, I must inform you that ignorance is not a good defense for idolatry, dear reader, as far as Jesus is concerned, especially since we live in the information age, where we have access to zillions upon zillions of pieces of information (if we desire to search for it) at the push of a button. And because to whom much is given, much is required, that means Jesus isn't going to take innocent ignorance as a good excuse for joining in idolatrous celebrations, any more than he will concerning the justification attempts of willful ignorance, or even hypocrisy, which is of course, much, much worse.

Yes, for some Christians who are innocently, or even willfully ignorant of the true origins of this idolatrous holy day, Christmas is a wondrous time of year for them. All idolatrous holy days are seductive to the senses, if they weren't, then no one would want to join in the festivities. It's revelry features eye catching twinkling lights strung on homes, trees, and even cars, that when lit after sunset, sparkle like jewels on black velvet. Ear tickling sounds of merriment cheer the soul amid dreary surroundings, while smokey, sweet, and spicy scents fill the frosty air and tempt the appetite! But instead of gift giving and receiving, I'm sure that spreading the gospel is at the top of every Christian's priority list this time of year, right (wink wink)? On this one day out of three-hundred and sixty-five, their hearts are filled to overflowing with peace and goodwill toward their fellow men, as the magical words "Merry Christmas" are uttered.

Then, there are those who are considered to be the more militant soldiers of "Christ's Mass", those who take the supposed celebration of the peace and goodwill of Jesus' birth so seriously, that they are willing to declare war and "put the hurt" on those who commercialize it with the likes of Santa and his eight tiny reindeer. These sad souls mean well, but are usually featured on the Fox News channels, only to be ridiculed for their ignorance by the likes of John Stewart, and Bill Maher. But these ignorant "Christian" souls don't even consider that the day of Christ's birth, is not specifically given in Scripture, and it is never mentioned as a holy day to be honored by the following generations of believers, to begin with. To be perfectly honest (and to cut to the chase) the only holy day we Christians are specifically commanded to remember and honor, by our Lord, is that of Jesus' death, burial, and Resurrection. NEWS FLASH: "Hey Christians ...the pagans and idolaters called, and they want their winter solstice holy day back, the one that you stole from them. I say Let them have it!"

Communion, Not Christmas

That's right dear reader, the only event we Christians are to continually celebrate concerning our Lord, is communion, also known as, the Lord's Supper, and not the "Christified" idolatrous winter solstice celebration of the rebirth of the sun held in the dead of winter.
However, I want to make it clear that the Catholic Eucharist is not the same as the memorial meal Jesus instituted and demonstrated for his disciples at the last supper. Communion commemorates the finished work Jesus performed once and for all on the cross, where he appeased God's requirement of the death penalty for all sinners. Scripture states that the only thing that remits sin is the spilling of innocent blood. The elements of the bread and wine are only symbolic of Jesus' body and blood. While in contrast, the Catholic Eucharist, only requires the participants to partake of the bread, not the cup, and is the reenactment of Jesus' actual murder, each and every time the mass is performed. The Roman Catholic Church also teaches the heresy of transubstantiation, which is a big word meaning that the elements magically become the literal body and blood of Christ, through the incantation of the Mass. So, in a way, the priest who performs the mass is a serial 'mass' murderer, and even a cannibal if you think about it. Only he partakes of the entire communion, then he gives the "town folk" the crumbs, if you will. That's right, dear reader, ignorant masses of Catholics participate in a Satanic sun-god ceremony, which is a bloodless sacrifice for their sins, and is completely un-biblical. Don't believe me? Google it.

Anyway, getting back to the reasons why so-called Christians celebrate Christmas...not only is it because they value the traditions of man above the commandments of God, but they are also ignorant of the Scriptures and history. Again, it is the full ceremony of communion that a Christian is commanded to keep until the Lord comes, and not Christmas (the supposed commemoration of his birth), but even as important as his birth was, it pales in comparison to his victory over sin and death, by making peace between a sinless God and sinful mankind possible, through Christ's shed blood. And since the Catholic hierarchy (from the Pope to the lowest priest) have made the crucifixion of Jesus into a weekly blood bath of sorts, which is an affront to the Scriptures that made Jesus' sacrifice "once and for all," of course they see nothing wrong with grafting in the yearly idolatrous winter holy day of Saturnalia, onto their idolatrous tree of Babylonian mystery religion.

Keeping Jesus Out Of ChristMASS

The Bible is not just a book that contains wise sayings, it is the holy word of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh. Within the Bible's sacred texts, we learn that Jesus has never at any time, condoned or supported the notion of mixing pagan religious rites, with his true form of righteous worship. So, contrary to the ignorant Christian masses, the fact is that Christ was never in "Christ"mass. So common sense begs this question: "How can you keep the real Jesus in something he was never in to begin with?" The answer is: You can't! These ignorant masses of non-Catholics, who demand we keep CHRIST in Christmas, seem to completely ignore the last word in Christmas, which is in fact, a shortening of the word for the Catholic service called: the Mass, where Jesus is mocked, as I mentioned several times, by being continually murder in effigy. But really, it's not Jesus at all, it's the sun god they are murdering. The wafer itself has a crisscross on it, which is a sun symbol. Don't believe me? You know the drill!

So, after consulting the Google, you can see that the Catholic mass itself isn't even related to Jesus' birth, yet that is the excuse given as to why the accursed name of Christmas has been given to this high and un-holy pagan day, and why it has effectively duped the masses into marking it on their calendars, to celebrated for centuries now. In truth, the baby in the manger and the virgin mother that they worship (oops, I mean "venerate"), isn't the real Jesus and Mary of the Bible. They are in reality worshiping the goddess Ishtar (Isis,Semiramis), and the god Tammuz (or Adonis, her illegitimate son), as an infant. Mother/ child worship runs rampant throughout paganism, not biblical Christianity.

God Hates Syncretism

For a biblical example of what syncretism looks like, let's look back to the time when Moses and the Israelite refugees came out of Egypt and were lead to the foot of Mt. Sinai. We all know what happened while Moses was gone on the mountain for a long time, right? Did the Israelites stay true to God's command-ments that he had just given them from the mountain, that was set ablaze by his presence? No! We read that it was a fraction of the Children of Israel who first became restless with God's holy worship, and decided that they needed to spice things up a bit by making an idol for themselves. So, after quickly folding under some peer pressure, Aaron fashioned the Egyptian goddess Hathor out of their gold earrings, and then he had the nerve to tell them, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." That is syncretism, linking God Almighty with idols.

Honestly, who did he think he was fooling? Were God and Moses fooled, or were they very happy about this syncratic escapade of theirs? Not hardly. To rescue his great name, God had the loyal Levites, that Moses called upon, mow down 3,000 of their brethren with their swords. Ouch! I'm sure they were the ones who instigated this evil activity, but then not to be out done, Moses burned, and then ground up their stupid idol to powder. Then he went a step further and made them drink it!--wowee, was he ticked off! Why? To prove to them that their idol was powerless. The only reason why Aaron made it through that un-holy day debacle alive, was because Moses did some serious interceding for him.

In more than one place in Scripture, God has repeatedly demanded that his people not learn the ways of the heathen, nor to learn how they worship their false gods, nor were they ever to worship the LORD God in that manner, as it was detestable to him. I assure you dear reader, nothing has changed since that awful day at the foot of that great mountain in the Sinai desert. God hates the hypocrisy of being worshiped like he's a false god, he HATES, LOATHES, and completely DESPISES syncretism. I can't emphasis that enough -- eh, can you tell?

The Self-Styled "Spiritually Mature" Christian

Now enter the self-styled "spiritually mature" Christians, who think that they are able to pick and choose how they are to worship God, apparently because, they think they have the liberty to do so, and are stronger than he is. Wait, what does that mean? Well, every Christian should study what kinds of covenants there are in the Bible, and I'm not talking about the labels of Adamic, Noahaic, or Abrahamic, etc. that theologians give to the covenants in the Bible, no. I'm talking about what kinds of covenants those covenants were and are. There are only two types, or kinds of covenants in the Bible, those being Suzerainty, and Parity covenants. When the Almighty cuts a covenant, it is always a Suzerainty covenant and never a Parity covenant. Why?

That is because God is always the stronger party, since he has no equal, and so that means he makes the terms and conditions of the covenant, which are to be followed by the weaker party, namely us humans. God never welshes on his part of the bargain, but we often do. And so, just like Paul asked the idolatry prone Corinthians when they had questions in regards to covenant issues (like idolatry), I must also ask the Christmas celebrators the same question: "Are we stronger than He?" In essence, Paul was asking them: "Can we change the terms of his covenant and force him to comply to our terms?" The very idea of that question would be absurd to a genuine child of God. But to the idolatrous hearts of the Catholic Churches Protestant daughters like the Word of Faith minions, and the Purpose Driven disciples, all things are possible to those who believe that they are "little gods."

And so, that is why the self-styled "spiritually mature Christians" have decided to take up the holy day of the false god Saturn a.k.a.: Mithrus, Ra, Baal, Molech, Set, Osiris, Ahura Mazda, Tammuz, and any other sun god that dies at the winter solstice, as their own. They of course will tell you that this is not the case, but history, and God's word, are not on their side. Biblical and historical precedence proves without a shadow of a doubt, that Christmas has idolatrous origins. And as I have learned, these and many more false gods and goddesses, can be traced back to Nimrod's tower of Babel. And if we trace it farther still, it is Satan who is really behind all idolatrous practices, and is the one that is really worshiped on Christmas day, not Jesus. According to Scripture, the real spiritually mature person is the one who has devout faith in Jesus and obeys the Lord's commandments, not the one who picks and chooses what they will use in God's worship, to gratify their senses, including idolatrous holy day rites.

The World Hates Jesus, But It Loves Christmas

Does it really matter that much if a Christian celebrates Christmas? Yes!-- it does matter. You might be wondering if this issue is one of those "doubtful things" that Paul talks about in Romans and 1 Corinthians. Well it's not. While fleshly issues such as circumcision, sabbath rest, and kosher food choices are up for debate, the celebration of Christmas isn't doubtful, because again, biblical precedent is that the Almighty has never sanctioned the mixing of idolatry and righteous worship together. Now I ask you to please consider the words of our Lord Jesus as recorded in Matthew 10:22:

"And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved."

How about Jesus' words in John 15:18?

"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you"

And the next verse makes it clear that anything the world loves, can't possibly be of the Lord Jesus.

"If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

These verses prove that if Christmas was really indeed the true celebration of Jesus' birth, then the world would hate it, and never in a bazillion years, would it dream of celebrating it - - ever! For those who wish to deny historical and biblical precedent, and insist that the secular Christmas is a corruption of the real holy origins of Christmas, then please consider the question as to why the entire world has not secularized the Feast of Tabernacles. Do nations the world over celebrate this feast instituted by God? Why don't other nations send each other Tabernacle cards, or light menorahs, and sing Tabernacle carols? You see?-- the Feast of Tabernacles, which celebrates God living among his people, is in the month of Tishri, (September/October on our calendar) and is more likely to be the real time of Jesus' birth, and not on December 25th. (Deep Sigh! ) I can ramble on and on dear reader, but is any one listening? Do Christians really care about being holy and mature, and do they really desire to remove themselves from the world? If the Bible is accurate, and it is, then that means the that majority of the people who claim to belong to God, really don't. Oh yes, they offer much love in the form of lip service, but their acts prove that their hearts are far from him, and they themselves are hypocrites. Just as the holy prophets tried to keep the people from celebrating the pagan holy days associated with Ashtoreth/ Ishtar (The Queen of Heaven), and Baal (Tammuz/ Adonis) without success, so it is now. Yet, I persist. Lord, give me strength!

Persecution Comes To Those Who Obey Jesus

The reason that I wrote this article is because after recently learning that I don't celebrate Christmas, someone I dearly love tried to ridicule me for it. I haven't celebrated this pagan holy day for about three years now, and that was only after I did the unthinkable, which was read (research) and think for myself. When I finally excepted the truth, I didn't go on a public "I hate Christmas campaign", so apparently this person felt that they were some how left out of the loop.

Even so, there are many members of our family that know that my family doesn't celebrate this pagan holy-day anymore, and why. The only reason this loved one was ignorant of this fact, is because they hardly ever asked me what my boys wanted for Christmas. If they had done so in the last three years, then I would have told them the same thing I have told everyone else who does ask, we don't celebrate Christmas. I only allow those with truly giving hearts to give presents to our family on this holy day. Why? Because if they are truly giving for the sake of giving, then they will not expect something in return. I know the joy of giving and do not want to deprive truly giving people that joy. So one sided, huh? Well, the one who thinks that isn't eligible for Jesus' words, that it is more blessed to given than to receive. Anyway, when my loved one pressed me for more information, they even admitted their knowledge that Christmas is really a pagan holy day. See? Hypocrisy is antagonistic to the those who live the truth. Because they were mocking me, that only tells me that this person still has a conscience, and that it was bothering them, thank God for that. That means there is still hope for my loved one.

You know, maybe I'm wrong to take such a soft approach to this rampant idolatry, maybe I should wear ugly sweaters that defame and denounce Christmas, or play anti-Christmas carols (which do exist) and belittle all those who genuinely wish me a "Merry Christmas," but I think that is rather rude. I don't expect the entire world to feel the way I do, so why should I lash out in anger at them? The only thing I can do is to gently, yet firmly, educate people with the truth, and let them make their own decision, and that is the point of this article.

Well dear reader, the truth has been given to you, and I hope in a loving manner, so now you must make a quality decision. But rest assured, it isn't me you will have to answer to, besides, I'd probably let you off easy, I'm a sap. Almighty King Jesus is the one you will have to face and give an explanation as to why you ignored all the warnings and did what was right in your own eyes. And when that day comes (and it will), I guarantee you that his steady fiery gaze will make you squirm, because you will know that you have no excuse for your treachery, and he won't be very nice to the naughty on that day. Amen.

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Christmas Or Saturnalia

12/21/2019

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Copied From The Whittier Housewife
Written by Heather Zubiate on 12/18/2015

y uncle Daniel has said, of the Rivas family, that we like to argue; that it's in our blood. I can affirm that his statement is true, for me, anyway. However, I don't like to argue for the sake of arguing; I have reason, a purpose for when I make an argument, and that reason and purpose is to get to the truth of the matter. And the truth of the matter that I wish to argue here is the real reason for this holiday season.

Note: This video has since been taken down, but Sonic ® regularly has Winter Solstice ads.

My son and I were watching t.v. a few nights ago when we saw this commercial. Wow, what an eye opener! Most people really have no idea what this Sonic ® commercial is really advertising, even though the reason is clearly stated, it appears to them as just another silly Sonic ® commercial. Unlike many people, I have a few questions. Does anyone even wonder why there is an owl in it? And why are they're selling foot long hot dogs instead of, oh I don't know, double cheeseburgers? And why does their deal start on Dec. 17th? All of these questions will be answered via symbology. The symbology found in this commercial is there to honor the winter solstice, as they so plainly and honestly state. Historically speaking, winter solstice rites have been practiced by humanity since the tower of Babel days, thousands of years ago. Why? Because as sun worshipers, they learned the time when the sun began to dominate the sky once more was around late December. That is when the days would start to get longer, heralding the coming of spring, which would bring new life out of the dead of winter.As for the foot long hot dog?-- this is classic phallus worship, i.e. the male reproductive organ. Gross huh? Well in many parts of the world, there are still celebrations that are held in honor of the male reproductive organ. Don't believe me? Google it, eh, carefully.

From the Tower of Babel, the earliest recorded pagan civilization, let's fast forward thousands of years to the ancient celebration of Saturnalia, held in Rome, as a feast day dedicated to the false god Saturn (Kronos in Greek), who we know as Father Time in the West. When did this feast day occur? You'll never guess! Originally, it started on Dec. 17th and ended two days later! See what you can learn when you ask questions and seek the answers? Over time the idolatrous revelry, which included feasting, fornication, drunkenness, singing in the streets naked, and a human sacrifice, was extended to twelve days, which incorporated the birthday of the sun god on Dec. 25. Does anybody else find that fascinating? Historically speaking, the birth of the sun god, during the winter solstice, is the real reason for this holy day season, as the burger joint, Sonic ®, so plainly (and honestly) states; not Christmas. And they have chosen to honor the sun god in classic fashion with a phallus, a foot long hot dog, with the god Molech (an owl) in their car, that appears rather oblivious to their celebration. I have no idea why the owl would even be there otherwise, as opposed to a cat (another nocturnal animal), if it weren't there for a reason. And it is there for a reason, to oversee the wintry celebration. Molech is mentioned in the Bible and if you research it, Molech also take the form of the wise o' owl.

Now then, one must ask ones self, "Where does Jesus' birth come into all of this?" The answer is that it doesn't. Sonic ® makes no mention of Christmas here, which is odd since Christmas is the biggest time of the year for retailers. So kudos to Sonic® for being honest, as they candidly show, this time of year has nothing to do with Christ's birth. And at this time, I would like to point out that just because the word "Christ" appears in a word (like Christmas), that in no way means it is holy. After all, Jesus' name is used as a swear word, and the word Anti-Christ should also make my point abundantly clear. So, why haven't faithful Christians asked themselves why this holy day is called "Christmas?" Because they avoid the obvious, which is that Christmas is short for Christ's Mass, a Catholic religious rite which is held at midnight on Christmas eve and extends into Christmas day. What is the midnight mass? The midnight mass is the celebration of the birth of the sun god, not the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the Catholic faithful will deny this vehemently, but history and symbolism are not on their side. Here are a few images to show you, dear reader, the connection of pagan sun worship, and what goes on in the Catholic church.

Baal Shamash sun god rests within the crescent moon

Catholic Eucharist Monstrance. The crescent moon holds the disk wafer (host or body of "Christ"), which has a cross or sun symbol on it.

So as you can see from these images of idols, mother/child worship is ancient and also employs the worship of the heavenly host, something Yahweh abhors and has forbidden in his word. The roots of the Catholic church's worship rites are as idolatrous as Nimrod's tower of Babel, the visual evidence is too close to be a coincidence. How much proof does one need before one starts to see the truth, that the winter solstice festivities we now blindly celebrate, come from the ancient feast dedicated to the sun god, which the Catholic leaders incorporated into their winter solstice liturgy and renamed it "Christ's Mass," or Christmas? Like Paul said, there are those who willfully refuse the truth in favor of the lie. If the people who dare to call themselves "Christians" really cared about the Lord Jesus, then they would care to find out what he has to say about holiness, and what the proper way to worship him really is. But, as evidenced by their eisegesis, they really care more about what they want, not what he wants.

Tradition Trumps Orthodoxy

There are many witnesses in Scripture that prove mankind loves the tradition of men rather than the orthodoxy of the LORD God. For glaring example, how did the Children of Israel thank Yahovah for rescuing them from 430 years of Pharaoh's slavery? Did they patiently wait for Moses to return from the mountain? No. They got antsy and bullied Aaron into fashioning them an idol to worship, the golden calf, something Aaron, their high priest, had the chutzpah to connect with the LORD's holy name! If you care to recall, the LORD and Moses were not happy about it. Further on in Scripture, the Israelites in the book of Judges, continued to do what was right in their own eyes, because they had no king to rule over them. They worshiped false gods and idols that they made with their own hands and linked them with the LORD. Even when they finally got their (wicked) hearts desire for a human king (like the other nations), those kings led the people into idolatry. What were they thinking--that the LORD wouldn't mind? Well, he did! He often sold them into the hands of their enemies to punish them. Later, at the LORD's direction, Elijah did battle on mount Carmel with the priests of Baal, Jeremiah fought against the Queen of Heaven, Ezekiel witnessed the evil of Tammuz worship in the temple, and Daniel's friends refused to bow to a massive golden statue of King Nebby, a statue that other Israelites that were there, bowed down to, by the way.

Come to think of it, most of the Old Testament is dedicated to Israel's struggle with idolatry, and the warnings and punishments they incurred as a result. The Old Test-ament is there so we could learn from their mistakes, not repeat them! But like the Israelites before them, many so called Christians seem to ignore, or flippantly ridicule such warnings in Scripture and also ignore or ridicule those who would dare warn them, those like me. And as expected, they also wrongly misuse the grace of our LORD as a means to sin by eating what is offered to idols and commit spiritual adultery. Like their predecessors, they honor the LORD with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. They wrongly attribute winter pagan festivities to the LORD, and falsely claim it is the idolaters that have stolen and commercialized their holy day and continue in the tradition of the idolatrous Israelites, by making the word of God of no effect, and thereby making his name stink among the heathen.

Pagans, and idolaters all over the world know how to worship their sun god, not the Son of God, and they worship the re-birth of their god during the winter solstice. They gorge themselves, get tipsy, or out right drunk, deck their halls with all kinds of fertility vegetation, burn a Yul log, or fashion it into a cake, and then kneel before their star crowned tree to place and receive gifts. That heavily decorated plastic or evergreen fire hazard that is protecting the gifts you bought for your ungrateful children, not brought by some fat guy from the North Pole, actually receives your worship. Wait--what? Well, you bow down to it when you retrieve those gifts you went into hock for, don't you? There's even a song praising it. Have you sang that song? I know I used to. Kinda eye opening, isn't it?

If Christians, so-called, were really interested in learning the truth, then they would search and find that Christmas was not openly celebrated in this country until the mid 1800's. Wait, what? Yes, that's right. The people that Christians turn to to justify their right to force godliness on the rest of the nation DIDN'T EVEN celebrate Christ's birth! Why not? Because the Puritans and Pilgrims were closer to the truth, they knew that Christmas was the Roman Catholic solstice celebration thinly veiled with Christian decorations. That should speak volumes about the source of this false-Christ celebration in the dead of winter, but the truth is a bunch of humbug to these blind souls. So be it. Those who refuse the truth will face Jesus and have to explain themselves to him, and that fact should make them squirm and tremble, but it doesn't. I suppose that is the bliss that comes with ignorance, and a false sense of security.

Dear reader, time is ticking down, the one who made this universe will hold us all accountable for how we worship him, and he will judge us by our actions, not by our intentions, so let's not be caught unaware, we have been warned and the truth is available at our fingertips, there are no excuses. The world continues to worship their sun god on the winter solstice, the celebration was once called Saturnalia in Rome, it is now called Christmas. The world hates the real biblical Jesus Christ, so why would they celebrate his birth? The precise date of Christ's birth is still unknown, and that is by God's design. So, after being exposed to all of this information, are you still absolutely sure you are really celebrating Jesus' birth? Will you continue in your denial of the truth, that the clergy have wickedly linked our Lord's holy name to pagan idol worship, and continue on in your false worship? Or do you know it has nothing to do with his birth and celebrate it anyway? If you love the traditions of men rather than the orthodoxy of Scripture, then you may be one of the five foolish virgins that will be left out in the cold upon his return. I encourage you to stop the madness, and come out of Mystery Babylon, and leave her idolatrous worship rites behind. Instead, be like those Puritans and Pilgrims who gave us their good example, and see Christmas for what it really is, sun worship, and celebrate it no more. The choice is yours, dear reader, so choose wisely.

Contrary to what you might think, I do NOT enjoy telling people, "You're WRONG!" No one likes to hear that, especially me! But when you're wrong, you're wrong. And I was once terribly wrong in celebrating this wicked holy day. I desperately try to bring the truth to you in love, it takes a lot of nerve to bring this kind of stuff into the light, to face the ridicule of the masses, to rip the veil off and expose the lie. I don't take this stuff lightly, and neither should you. This is very serious business. So, I have given you the truth via history, which you can look up for yourself, and I have given you the truth via Scripture, which you can also look up for yourself. Now, simply see if what I say is so, just as I have done, and found the leaders of Christianity to be wanting in their exegesis regarding Christmas. They have lied to us, Christ doesn't want us to celebrate his Scriptural and historically undocumented birth via pagan rites, he wants us to celebrate his Scriptural and historically known death, burial, and resurrection via communion, until he comes.

Now, allow me to leave you with these words from Amos chapter 5. They are spoken by our Lord:

20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-- pitch-dark, without a ray
of brightness?
21 "I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
25 "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves. (see Acts 7:43)
27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.

Amen!

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Unconditional Love?

11/24/2019

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Written by Heather Zubiate

have recently started going to a local Apostolic church, and well, dear reader, I have some mixed feelings about it. More on that later. Right now, let me get to the reason for today's post. Today's message, given by an assistant pastor, and was titled...well, I can't remember the title of today's message, but part of it that stuck with me was about God's unconditional love for us, and this idea was thrown around quite a bit. To be honest, it really chapped my spiritual hide. Why? Because, this idea is not Scriptural, not to mention, unrealistic even on a worldly level. Dear reader, please understand, languages deteriorate over time. It is a struggle to keep a language from being polluted by laziness, do I need to explain that? Okay, just listen to today's youth and compare their vernacular to how children spoke in the 50's. It's embarrassing, isn't it? I can just hear the character Henry Higgins clicking a disapproving tongue and see him roll his haughty eyes regarding the pure laziness of "English" speakers. The war on words is real, people!

Speaking of languages, the ancient Greeks had at least seven words for the different kinds of love. Seven, not one. They are: Eros (erotic, or romantic), philia (brotherly affection), Storge (parental love for children), Agape (selfless), Ludus (playful), Pragma (long lasting), Philautia (self love). I like that, because that makes the emotion of "love" so specific, unlike the degenerate hippy dippy general haphazard definition of "love" that is thrown around these days like a joint at a real bender. Hey, just because I'm a sheltered Sandra Dee type (who's saved by God's grace) that doesn't mean I don't know about some of the seedy things that go on in this world. The world is getting so lazy in its words that their movers and shakers would have us believe their nonsense that love is love, no matter what kind. I. DON'T. THINK. SO!

So that's why we should turn to the Greeks for some sanity via their definitions of the seven types of love, which clearly shows not all love is the same. And, let's not forget that the New Testament was written in Greek. Now I'm sure you know the type of love that God has and embodies, which according to Scripture is of course agape (uh-gah'-pay), and it is the highest form of selfless love that there is. No surprise there, since God is the highest and most awesome sinless being there is. Here are some synonyms of agape that will further help us understand what it means, ready?

agog - full of intense interest or excitement
anticipant - expectant

and more related words are:
Open-eyed, open-mouthed, alert, vigilant, watchful, anxious, athirst, breathless, eager, enthusiastic, raring, antsy, impatient, restive, restless.

Now I ask you, in what way do any of those words imply or mean "unconditional?" I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that the definition of agape isn't: love that isn't subject to conditions. The cockamamie idea that God's love is "unconditional" is just another symptom of Hippyitis, which continues to infect the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. "What is hippyitis?" Thank you for asking. It's a word that I made up, and means: "an infection transmitted by the reckless souls that undermines traditional values by using the ideals of a rebellious subculture." And I for one, am sick of it! No, I'm not sick with it; I'm sick OF it! Maybe I'm so sensitive to this sloppy agape, because I was only until recently cured of this damnable infection, thank God! And it pains me to see it still floating around and infecting the pulpit, of what I had hoped would be, a sound doctrinal church. So what is the antidote to this debilitating spiritual disease? The Sword of the Spirit, which is able to cut this infectious crud from the body of Christ, and by its power, restore health to the heart and soul of the church's members. So, let's get our Scriptural scalpels out and get to cutting!

Surprise! God's love IS Conditional

Dear reader, let's be honest here, all forms of love have conditions. Well now, it suddenly got quiet, didn't it? Does this revelation shock you, dear reader? It shouldn't, because it's common sense based on our understanding of language and our own capability for loving others, and of course, Scripture. And yes, common sense isn't always put into common practice, as evidenced by this unconditional love drivel, and of course, some people are terrible lovers, what can I say, it's a fallen world. I'll give you a few examples of conditional love to get the ball rolling. In order to love your children or a neighbor, you need to be in possession of children or have a neighbor. In order to romantically love your spouse, you need a spouse, and hormones. That is only a rudimentary list of some simple conditions required for the those different kinds of love. Okay, you know me by now, so you know what's coming; that's right, more definitions. I know, I'm excited too!

Since we used the Greek language's seven definitions for love that actually translate well across the board to English, now let's look at the word: condition. Guess what? Greek has at least three words I found, for "condition." And they pretty much carry the same meaning in English, so to save time, we'll just go with my mother tongue. The word "condition" is both a noun and a verb.

The noun form means: 1. the state of something with regard to its appearance, quality, or working order and 2. the circumstances affecting the way in which people live or work, especially with regard to their safety or well-being.

The verb form means: 1.have a significant influence on or determine (the manner or outcome of something) and 2. bring (something) into the desired state for use.

I think we know that conditions in general can be good or bad, based on who is setting the terms and why, or in what state of use they are in. God's only sets conditions that are always geared for our benefit -- always, even if we don't agree with, or like them. And by reading and understanding those definitions, I hope it is becoming quite clear to you that there are people, who do not like anything that subjects them to any obligation or authority, and will automatically despise any conditions, unless of course the set conditions are only beneficial to them, but also without any consequences. Hypocritical? Selfish? Absolutely! These selfish conditional hypocrites are troublemakers in human societies, i.e. hippies, and other criminals of varying degrees. But the sad thing is that according to Scripture, everyone who was and ever will be born this side of eternity is a criminal of varying degrees in God's righteous eyes. That includes even you and yours-truly. I know, but we can't get away from it, sorry. So this is why they came up with their novel notion of unconditional love.

But there is good news for us sinners! This is where God's agape love comes in to save the day! Even though our sinful condition makes us worthy of execution, God's agape love has made a way to redeem us by his cross! Now all we have to do is accept his blood sacrifice made on our behalf, and then obey his commandments. Our obedience proves our love for him, while his willingness to die for our sins has proven his everlasting love for us. Did you get that? Do you see how "unconditional love" is utter non-sense? While I kind of get the gist of what the well intended infectious agents of counter culture are trying to convey; the end result is hippy-dippy hooey, a.k.a. false teaching.

Conditional Love In Action
Yes, dear reader, nouns like love and condition have verbs forms. Love is proven by deeds, and conditions are made known by how the rules are kept, based on truth or law. To illustrate, I will use the subject of children. I have children, and yes of course, I do love them; they are flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. But, as all parents know, at times, children are a royal pain in the butt, can I get an "Amen"? When my own children have been so rebellious and so incredibly evil that I want to kill them, and there were even times, dare I say cringing, that I hated them, that's when I hang my head in sorrow and say, "Oh Lord, I get it. I'm sorry." I'm fairly sure the Lord enjoys those moments of empathy. So, would you agree that that is a truly complicated and scary emotion?-- well, for us anyway. I know, dear reader, I'm just trying to keep it real here.

So many times, when my children (my youngest specifically) send me into that crazy realm of homicidal thoughts, that's when my starge love for my children supersedes my hatred of them. Thank God for that! And that is to say, I love them despite their sinning little selves, which is important to note, that despite means even though. Even though my children sin against me, I still love them. That is not unconditional love, dear reader, that's the condition of parental love. It over looks the wrong, and loves the wrong doer anyway. Hey, I think Scripture says that God has that kind of merciful love for us, and more! And I think that is the intended meaning when the spiritually clueless, use the misnomer of unconditional love, to relate God's love to the equally spiritually clueless masses. Do you understand God's love a bit better? I hope so.

Discipline & Love
Speaking of discipline and love, aren't we told in Scripture that if we don't discipline our children, then that proves that we don't love them? Uh oh, no hippy wants to hear that. Well, here is another biblical truth that hippies hate too: sin must be punished as a condition of righteousness. Therefore, because God is love and he is also righteous, then he will have those he loves/hates thrown into hell only because he has to, in order to satisfy his righteousness. Not because he wants to reject them, but because they chose to reject him, in spite of what he did for them. Harsh? That depends on whose side you're on. I think it's deplorable to reject such a costly and loving gift of mercy. Besides, that right there, is the phenomenon known as tough love! That kind of love also gives hippies a rash and makes them want to split.

And so, like God, because I love my children, I must set conditions and then punish their bad deeds when the conditions have been broken. Is that bad? No, of course not! Yes, there are people who try to make God out to be an angry God, who can't wait to punish us with lightening bolts from his lofty throne, while others make him out to be a cosmic sugar-daddy who only wants to bless us with health and wealth, if only we'd believe and say the right magic words. But, honestly, none of these childish extremes are true, or even Scriptural. God is the best parent in the universe. The extremely complicated emotions of both loving and hating your naughty child at the same time, are of course, loaded with conditions, and are geared toward obedience, and can only be handled correctly by God at all times, who never ever loses control of himself. Us?--eh, not so much.

Mercy In Love
The hosts of the unconditional love virus often spew John 3:16 as a way to protect their desire to stay in their fallen condition. Whether they realize it or not, they show their lack of spiritual and English comprehension by assuming this verse means that God's love is unconditional. Dear reader, when we interpret Scripture, we must do so from God's point of view, not from our fallen nature's point of view. In reality, that verse teaches us that agape love gives out of mercy, which sets up the condition that there must be someone who is in need receiving the gift of mercy, after all, one must receive what is being given, or there is no gift, right? So, in that verse, God is the one who is giving salvation through the sacrifice of his son. To whom is the gift being given? To any sinner who believes, which is the condition of the gift. The expectation of action is what is behind the meaning of "believes" in that verse. How do we receive his gift? We must acknowledge that what he says about us is true, which is that we are in the sad state of condition of being sinners, and then we must act in obedience to his requirements i.e. conditions for salvation. Works? No. Repentance. For surely, Satan and his minions believe there is a powerful almighty God, but that belief alone can't save them from their fate. Because, they don't love God, proven by their evil deed of sedition, and are continuously rebellious toward God's commandments, they are forever lost with no hope of salvation. They will not relent, or repent of what they have done.

In 1 John 4:8-11 (where John says God is agape) John expounds upon what he wrote in John 3:16, further defining the reason behind the gift of salvation, merciful love, which is after all the meaning behind propitiation. It is a direct reference to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, and if you know your Old Testament Scriptures, that is where the blood was sprinkled once a year for the remission of the people's sins, on the Day of Atonement. He further argues that if God loved us in our sad state of sin, and made a way out for us, because he loved us, while we didn't love him, then the least we can do is to obey his commandment, to love one another. Elsewhere, Jesus said, "Why do you call me 'Lord' and don't do what I say?" Good point, Jesus. Did Jesus ever say, "I like you the way you are, you don't have to do what I say."? Don't make me cackle. Jesus gave us his command to love one another even as he loved us, so he expects us to obey that command. John laid out the conditions that prove we are God's, which is that we love one another even as God loved us by giving his Son to die for our sins. That is a condition called mercy, because we don't deserve such a wonderful gift. Oh, and I believe that unconditional love is another viral manifestation of that other nauseating hippy notion, "free love." These ear tickling love euphemisms, symptomatic of Hippyitis, come from an adulterous heart that doesn't want any pesky strings attached that would make it responsible for its actions. Being responsible to tradition or authority is not a very groovy kind of love for hippies.

Agape Love Defined
So, instead of incorrectly saying God's love is "unconditional," we need to rightly say what the Bible says about his love. Paul perfectly describes God's love in 1 Corinthians 13. His love is everlasting. It's all consuming, it's ever giving, believes and hopes all good things, it forgives wrongs, it isn't haughty or boastful. It isn't easily provoked, and thinks no evil; never rejoicing in iniquity, but always rejoices in the truth, and it never fails! Those are the conditions of God's love. We are also told in Scripture to love in deed and truth, not in words only, which is what a hypocrite does. So, I'm calling for the mature body of Christ to stop with the hippy dippy love talk, enough is enough! All though well meaning, it's childish, nonsensical, and damaging. Kind of like its source.

Now what about those who acknowledge they are sinners, but refuse to accept God''s condition of love, which is obedience? They are self deceived. What about those who give a mixed message, one that says God's love is unconditional, but then give conditions for his love (that's what happened today)? They need to get their doctrine straight, because Satan is the author of confusion, not Jesus. You can't use language the flesh wants to hear and then expect people to conform to the truth given by the Spirit. This is only one reason why our churches are a mess. Which explains only one reason that I have mixed emotions about the church I'm considering attending full time. There are more causes of concern, but then again, according to Revelation, only two-sevenths of the churches in Asia had their doctrine and actions straight. That's only twenty-nine percent; not very good odds, which definitely constitutes a remnant that's traveling on the straight and narrow path to righteousness. Is this the only fly in the ointment of sound doctrine that goes on in that church? I don't know, but I seriously doubt it.

Will I keep attending? Yes, because I feel that the Lord wants me to go back to church, and this is the best one I've been to so far. I feel compelled to be obedient to my Lord, because I love him! As for the other reasons I have mixed feelings about this church, well, so far they are pretty much superficial. I can manage those feelings of angst concerning the volume that the choir screams into their mics brings me, but doctrine? That is non-negotiable. Even so, according to Scripture, there were only a few in the dead church of Sardis that the Lord Jesus commended as being worthy of wearing his white robe, and this church is way better than Sardis. So if those saints could hang in there, then so can I. So in conclusion, God's love is NOT unconditional, it is merciful and he loves us despite, (or in spite of - same thing) our sinning selves. How do we know? He says that he does good to both the good and the wicked in hopes that the wicked will turn from their evil ways in repentance, and he doesn't judge the good along with the wicked. Unfortunately, both types of people often mistake his mercy for license. While some people can be fooled with an invalid love license, God isn't fooled at all. So let us strive to avoid Hippyitis, and learn sound doctrine from the source, God's own word, and let us hold our pastors accountable to it, like the Bereans did.

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Zack Hunt's Bible Is Fallible

1/1/2017

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Written by Heather Zubiate

h! It's a brand new year dear reader, and what better way to kick it off than to examine the often misunderstood subject of biblical inerrancy, and do a little heretic hunting at the same time? Let's get started! Yee-haw!

I ran across an article written by Zack Hunt, a self proclaimed heretic, on a website called Red Letter Christians. As a "self-proclaimed" heretic hunter myself, I just love it when they come clean, don't you? It sure makes my job easier. Well, of course he meant it tongue in cheek, but as it turns out, it's actually true. He even makes a slanderous statement, attacking the important work that I, and other heretic hunters do.

"Self-appointed orthodoxy watchdogs plague the internet almost as much as porn."

Hmm..what an interesting word Zack used to vent his frustration about the amount of watch dogging i.e. heretic hunting, on the internet. Speaking of hunting, I watch The Homicide Hunter, and I love a good Poirot mystery; fans of these shows will know what I mean; his statement automatically makes me think that it is a Freudian slip. Why not say "spam," or, "ads" as these things are also major internet plagues? Eh, I could be wrong -- maybe.

I must admit, as one who holds to inerrancy, it was hard for me to read his article. And despite what he thinks, I don't think he made good on proving the Bible itself says that it is fallible, and I don't recall him using any Scriptures saying anything to that effect, he only shows his misinterpretation skills. He even sites the literary authority of a Wikipedia article. You can read his article here if you'd like to see for yourself.

Dear reader, I was not too long ago, lost in the Word of Faith, and I can tell you from personal experience that their leaders don't really know the Bible like they claim they do. And I realize that some people can make an idol of their Bible. Not because of their claim of "inerrancy," but because they only hold it in their hands as a prop while they butcher it with their forked tongues, to teach their heresy, something the apostle Peter warned us about in his second epistle. These people most definitely do not rightly divide the word of truth.

Are there sacred cows in cults, and in the heavily divided world of make-believe Christianity, like Zack asserts and belongs to himself? Sure there are. He doesn't even believe that Noah's ark housed all of the animals like Scripture says it did, so naturally, his humanistic lack of true biblical faith assumes that this is an error. So naturally he's right, and Scripture is wrong, which he bases on his doubt, not faith, which is real faith according to Zack and his guru, the "Apostle" Paul Tillich. Yeah, I know, philosophers are ever learning, and they never come to the knowledge of truth. And so, I think it's high time to slaughter Zack's sacred cow: errancy. Let's see if what Zack claims is so, by using Scripture, not Wikipedia, and not just quotes from Paul Tillich. Does the Bible really say it is errant, or fallible? (No. But Zack's Bible apparently does.)

The Inerrancy & Infallibility Issue

Well, first of all, to be fair, let's see what the synonyms inerrancy and infallibility mean, and then determine how we will apply them to the Bible. Both words basically mean: incapable of being wrong. Now that we know that, how do we apply this knowledge to God's word, or more specifically, the book we are supposed to read on a daily basis? There are three questions that I will ask to answer the question of biblical inerrancy, or infallibility.

Is the book, that was inspired by God, and written by Hebrew and Greek speaking holy men, and then translated into many languages; is that book literally infallible, and inerrant?
Is the LORD God, the supreme being who inspired the writing of the Bible, infallible, and inerrant? And --
In what way does the errancy, and falliblity of man affect God's infallible, and inerrant message?

Now we are getting to the nitty gritty! The short answer is: God's message has no errors, but the Bible does, so what? Hold on, now, hold on, I'm not finished. Please, let me explain.

Human Errors?

To be honest, not only does human error abound in this life, it has happened in the English Bible. (Gasp!) But not as Zack and his ilk claim. I have a real claim of an error in the Bible. Have you ever heard of the infamous Wicked Bible? It was published in 1631 by Robert Baker and Martin Lucas. Upon reprinting the King James Version, someone left out the word "not" in the seventh commandment. So it read: "Thou shalt commit adultery!" Oops! Now, is that what God originally said, or even meant? No, of course not, let's not be nincompoops, right Zack?

All one has to do to prove a copyist error occurred is to look at the original English copy, or a Hebrew scholar can be consulted if you really wanna be sure. Can you imagine the embarrassment of the poor guy who made that expensive, and rookie error? Well, at least I hope he was devastated by it. See how human error is possible and makes God's word appear to be errant? I say appear, because I'm sure that there were evil people who tired to use that mistake to commit adultery and justify it. But then, they would be in error for doing so, based on the truth, which is that God never said that, everyone with a reasoning brain knew that it was a human error -- a typo.

What about proper translations, that should have used better or different words, or even that they didn't translate a word consistently; this is a cornucopia of human error, or misunderstanding waiting to happen, right? So we need to understand that there is a fundamental and foundational message behind the original Hebrew and Greek words. It's message is called, the word of truth. Well looky here, Zack! I've found two verses that say as much, and one of them is even in red letters!

"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

God Dictated To Anointed, Yet Foreign, Men

"...languages are very good at dividing us, that was after all, God's design and purpose for them at the tower of Babel. And translating them can also be rather divisive, and even errant at times."

God's word of truth was indeed dictated to anointed and godly men, which means he chose them for the monumental task of faithfully recording Scripture, which is comprised of: miracles, unvarnished human history, laws, poetry, proverbs, prophecy and visions, eye witness accounts, and doctrine. I don't speak a word of Hebrew, which is the original language of the Old Testament, nor am I fluent in New Testament Koine Greek. And so, we English speakers have had to rely on the translation prowess of men like William Tyndale, and Myles Coverdale to make it possible for us to read Scripture. And as good as Tyndale was, and he was very good indeed, I'm sure there are things that have been lost in translation. I'm sure that he did the very best he could, but languages are very good at dividing us, that was after all, God's design and purpose for them at the tower of Babel. And translating them can also be rather divisive, and even errant at times.

It is the translations that are in dispute regarding accuracy, no one is arguing if the Hebrew texts themselves are full of error, human or other wise, well, except for Zack, who doesn't have the faith to believe in miracles, because they never happened in his humanistic world view. As I understand it, the Hebrew scribes had meticulous methods to severely limit copy errors. It had something to do with counting the number values of the letters, if they didn't match, then there was an error and the scribe had to start all over! I would have hated that job!

So, until I can get my hands on Moses' original copy, and I learn how to read it, I'm just going to have to trust the Lord that he watches over his word, and he made sure we have the best possible translations available to us, as humanly possible. But let's continue, and examine Zack's claim of who started the "lie" that the Bible is infallible. He claims it happened with the early church fathers. So that is only what? -- maybe 40 or 50 years after the Apostle John died? Oh no, wait....he said it's a 20th century invention! Ha ha ha ha! Hey, Zack, the Old Testament books have been around for thousands of years, and the New Testament gospels and epistles that claimed inerrancy had been in circulation for decades, two thousand years ago! Would that constitute as being "recently" according to Zack? Well, it's definitely not a 20th century doctrine since inerrancy was established by God's own word, before it was even compiled into the book we know as: The Bible, today. Heck, there's even a 240 page book written by John D. Woodbridge refuting the 1978 hack job of Rogers and McKim, who espoused errancy. I think I'm going to order his book: Biblical Authority:A Critique of the Rogers/McKim Proposal.

Concerning Translation Issues

The best translators are concerned with getting the intended message conveyed the best way possible, without taking too much liberty and thus, ruining the original meaning. Translating the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, was and is, a very weighty labor of love, that many translators took very seriously. Never the less, human error remains a problem, only in that the claim of errancy must be applied to the translation in our laps, not God's overall messages regarding: creation, sin, grace, mercy, law, who he is, what he wants from us, his salvation, faith, hope, love, truth, and much more. God doesn't lie, but people do. God doesn't make mistakes, but people do. Not to be flippant, but if God can put up with our typos, then I think we should be able to as well, without throwing that holy baby out into the cold with its bathwater. As for the likes of Zack, who are above believing in miracles, and the reality of all the world's animals fitting in an ark, or a ship two-thirds the size of the Titanic, well, that stuff is for 5 year-olds. Wait, didn't Jesus say something about having the faith of a child in order to inherit eternal life? (See Matt. 18:3 for more red letters)

So, thanks to learned men, and the richness of the English language, we have several English translations for us to read, each one giving a different nuance of meaning than the others. We live in such an amazing time where we can look at 20 different translations simultaneously at the press of a button, and in the privacy of our own home, or anywhere! Do we even know just how blessed we are? I think that would bring William Tyndale to tears of joy! Let's focus on that! I mean, not that long ago, possessing a Bible in English was punishable by death! DEATH!

Before that perilous time, poor darkened souls relied on spiritually dead Catholic monks, who wrote and read in a dead language, to give them Scripture, talk about errant! Even so, God always keeps a faithful remnant, and God's word was not completely lost in the dark ages, there were those brave souls who provided safe harbor for their stash of manuscripts. As great as central libraries are, I wonder how many original and rare books were lost due to fire, or some other natural disaster, or an unnatural like the torch, or flaming arrow. How much better to have many meticulous copies scattered here and there. God's wisdom abounds, does it not?

Riding On The Train of God's Robe

The Pope is perhaps, the biggest offender of the word of truth, only because, he, as a man, has the nerve to propagate the odious lie that his own contrived doctrines (which go against Scripture), are infallible, and on the same par as God's word. Hog wash! And so, because of the long line of unholy sinners who have occupied that needless office, who to this very day, continue to propagate this brazen barefaced lie since 1870, in order to force their mindless sheep to accept their heresies, has some how been transferred over to the Bible itself? I don't think so!

Dear reader, riding on the train of God's robe may work for a while, but that in no way excuses the practice. God's word of truth is always at war with man's "truth," like the brand of neoplatonic gobbledygook of Zack's hero: Paul Tillich. At the very heart of idolatry is rebellion against God's word. We see this rebellion played out in Genesis 3, where the foundation of false religions came into being through Satan's lie. These false religions claim to be merely a way to eternal reward, and in all of the vain human philosophies of the Greeks, that try to explain how our existence came about, without God. Or the syncretism that Zack apparently subscribes to. I think he may be confusing God's word with the Pope's word.

God's Message In His Word Is True!

"Human hypocrisy and sin don't make the truth null and void, rather the hypocrite and sinner are given a black eye by the truth, while the wicked use the hypocrite's actions as a flimflam reason to reject the truth entirely."

God's word contains his message -- his word of truth, that he wanted to get out to people, and that is what I am most concerned about, not so much the intricacies of human error like Zack's, or in a purely verbatim word for word translation. Because, as a grown up, I know that there are heretics out there, and a verbatim word for word translation isn't possible because of the differences in languages. As I recall, Zack Hunt reasoned that we are dirt, and God's creation isn't perfect, ergo, God's word isn't perfect. He even gives us an example in his imperfect mom as being capable of teaching him truth. So, she's on par with being anointed by God Almighty to write Scripture? Let's compare apples to apples, okay Zack. Or maybe this one of those "do as I say, not as I do" kind of things? Human hypocrisy and sin don't make the truth null and void, rather the hypocrite and sinner are given a black eye by the truth, while the wicked use the hypocrite's actions as a flimflam reason to reject the truth entirely. This is what I see at the very heart of this question. In an effort to appear wise and reasonable to the world, people like Zack are using unavoidable and obvious technicalities like: translation difficulties, typos, false interpretations, and fallen human nature, and vain reasoning to discredit the veracity of God's word. Thus proving Zack isn't a real Christian, he's a Sadducee, which is just as bad, if not worse than being a Pharisee.

And consider this: once upon a time, it took forty days to get two stone tablets that God himself carved out with is own finger, down a fiery mountain only to be thrown to the ground and shattered in a fit of rage by Moses, who found the Children of Israel sinning with a golden cow and sun disk. Eventually Moses had to trudge back up that burning mountain and make his own copy of the ten commandments, and thus starting a trend! God could have literally penned the whole Bible in stone or on parchment by himself, and there end the flimflam excuses of errancy used by his detractors like Zack, so why didn't he? We turn once again to the stiff-necked, and faithless idolaters, the Children of Israel for answers.

The Witness of Deuteronomy 30 & 31 Is True

The Purpose of writing things down, according to the Old Testament, especially in Deuteronomy chapters 30 and 31, (which was written a long time ago, Zack) was for the Children of Israel (and us) to hear, or read the written words over and over in order to remember them, and hopefully, do them. For us in the New Testament church, we are to learn from the mistakes that the Children of Israel made, so we wouldn't repeat them. Err much? Yes, we do! And so, the written law had another purpose, to be a tangible and faithful witness against those who broke it. All the better if the one doing the writing is himself, a faithful person, like Moses. Moses? Faithful? Why yes, he was even humble too, according to God. Hebrews 3:5 and Numbers 12:3 say so, even though they aren't written in red letters, but of course if you're like Zack, then you would doubt that, since you'd have to use faith to believe it, or more like doubt it, since that's Zack's brand of faith. Besides, Scripture is fallible, right, Zack? Here is what Scripture, not Wikipedia, has to say about the matter.

For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?" But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Deut. 30:11-14

Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of The LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying:"At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD you God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Deut. 31:9-11

Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them." Deut. 31:19-21

So God's written word was to be used as a witness against the sinners. Witnesses should be above all else, truthful. The idea of faithfulness in the Old Testament is akin to truthfulness. The Lord didn't allow anyone to pen his words for him, they were chosen by him because of their faithfulness. Does anyone with good sense allow just anyone to write their authorized biography? I don't think so. I found this snippet from an issue of The Journal of Religion (Vol. 31 No. 4 , page 264) which explains The Old Testament Understanding Of Truth, written by Edward Thomas Ramsdell. He states:

"The basic word for truth in the Old Testament is emeth. A kindred word is emunah. Both are derived from the verb aman, which in its simple stem means to be steady, to be firm, and in its derived stems, to make firm, to last, to sustain, to support. The root meaning of both emeth and emunah, therefore, is firmness, trustworthiness, faithfulness. But there is a difference between the two nouns. In addition to the root idea of faithfulness, emunah assumed the connotation of faith or trust. Emeth on the other hand, acquired the force of that which is opposed to falsity and falsehood. Its characteristic meanings in the Old Testament are truth and truth-telling. Luther, in translating the Old Testament into German, distinguished carefully between those occurrences of emeth, which require the rendering "fidelity"or "faithfulness" (Treue) and those which require "truth" (Wahrheit). Had our English authorized and standard versions been as discriminating as Luther's, we should have sensed more clearly the real force of the prophetic idea of the faithfulness which is truth." (emphasis mine)

See? Here we read how professor Ramsdell himself is lamenting a lack of discrimination in the English translation, which would bring more clarity, but not error. Maybe Zack should learn German and read Luther's translation, maybe he'd get a better idea of the Bible's inerrancy, that most of us were still able to grasp in the English translations.

A while back, I learned that the ancient or Paleo Hebrew language, or pre-Babylonian exile Hebrew, tends to be more concrete in that its concepts are not as abstract like Greek is. For example, a Paleo Hebrew would not have said, "Wow, is it a beautiful day!" since that is abstract or subjective. He would have said, "The sun is hot on my face!" which is far more specific, or objective. Do you see how languages are difficult to translate?

When professor Ramsdell stated that the verb aman is the simple stem that the words emeth and emunah are derived from, I remembered what I learned about the letters of Paleo Hebrew, that Moses would have used, are hieroglyphic, meaning that objects represent words, like the first letter in aman is aleph, which is drawn as an ox. It means strength. The letter mem is drawn with a wavy line, meaning water, or blood. The letter nun is drawn as a sprouting seed. Now let's think about these things and put them together. The strength of an ox is steadfast. Water and blood can be used in sacrifices that seal a covenant, and they sustain life. And seed, when put in the ground yields a crop, which not only sustains life, but you also get the surety that what you sow, you will reap. This is also where we get the word "amen," and it means: so be it, or what you said is so. Isn't reading and thinking fun and educational!? Edward T. Ramsdell confirms in the below quote once more, that faithfulness is the same as truthfulness.

"Though the prophets of ancient Israel had no philosophical doctrine of truth, they were very certain about its essential meaning. Its root idea was faithfulness. On the other hand, they could speak truth as the faithfulness of God; on the other, man's telling of truth was the faithfulness of man. Truth, therefore, meant the character of the world in which they lived and the quality of dependable statement." ibid. (emphasis mine)

And so, when ever the LORD God spoke to, and through his chosen holy, yet not sinless: prophet, king, priest, or average Joe, and gave them his: law, statue, commandment, judgement, or promise, that means because of the witnesses' faithfulness and God's faithfulness, whatever God said through them, was and is the truth! Including the historical accounts of a six day creation, an ark full of animals floating on the waves of a world wide flood, the decimation of Egypt by 10 plagues, a rebellious man being swallowed and spit out by a great fish, and a virgin girl giving birth to God's only begotten Son, who rose from the dead after three days. I just can't seem to find any Scripture in my Bible that says, point blank, that the Bible is fallible, and errant, as Zack claims. That's only because Zack's Bible has errors, that only he sees. As for his misunderstanding of the real apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12, don't get me started, this post is long enough. I again refer you to 2 Peter 3:15 which warns us about people like Zack Hunt.

A Matter of Faith

For some reason (one of a philosophical nature I'm sure) Zack seems to think that claiming inerrancy is akin to a lack of faith, and even a fear of the loss of control. That's a real head scratcher for me, but then I guess we inerrants, who don't think much of what Zack asserts as "facts," would be lost in Zack's labyrinth of what the Bible calls: vain human reasoning. The Christless Catholic clergy did indeed fear a loss of control and that's why they persecuted and murdered those who wanted to translate Scripture out of Latin into other languages. Cult leaders also fear losing control of the minions who dare to read the Bible and think for themselves. Like I've said, there are heresies that claim a biblical foundation, so what? This has been a problem since Moses came down from that fiery mountain. Since when do misunderstandings and misquotes of the untrained and unskilled in the word of righteousness, make the Bible fraudulent? They are the frauds, not Scripture. That is why we need heresy hunters. Not to worry, Zack, just as there are legal hunters, there are also poachers. So, who's to know who's telling the truth? Let's get a little philosophical here for Zack's sake. What is the yard stick upon which we measure truth, and what makes me a permitted heretic hunter with a valid license? Human philosophy? Fear? My God, I hope not!

Like it or not, the measuring stick for all truth is God's word. Everything in his word is the truth, Jesus said so, in red letters, remember? If you don't believe that, then you are making him a liar. No lie is of the truth, and Jesus is the way the truth and the life. God made the world and all that is in it, we can believe it or not. If we believe it, then as the maker of this world, and owner of ever soul, God sets the rules by which everything is governed, and his rules state that his word, all of it, is the truth. According to the Bible, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Which means it is a more sure word than Zack's, since he wasn't chosen to write Scripture, and he's not even saved to be perfectly honest. He thinks he is, but he isn't. Faith also comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, which is the word of truth. Even so, people like Zack can hear the word, but not mix it with biblical faith, or a real saving faith, just like the stiff-necked, hard hearted, hypocritical Children of Israel refused to do. They didn't enter into God's rest, and neither will Zack, if he doesn't change his tune before he dies.

How can he or anyone read accounts of miracles in Scripture and interpret them as being akin to Santa Clause, or the Tooth Fairy? I'm sure that is what his mommy (an authority figure that is supposed to be truthful) did, told him that they were real, hence his inability to believe in real miracles, or even the real Jesus of the Bible. His Jesus is an American, not a Hebrew. And so, to the dismay of all heretics out there, like Zack, rightly dividing the word of truth gives me, and other heretic hunters a valid hunting license. Not that I want to mount any one on my wall, I do it for the public service of tagging heretics. Well, okay, I must admit I like the sport too! I don't fear heretics, with or without credentials, or their heresies, and I don't fear being called one myself, by heretics, it's going to happen when you share your faith. But I do fear for them, and their followers who turn their long noses up against sound doctrine. There is a very deep, and a very dark, and a very hot ditch they are blindly headed for, if they don't snap out of it, they will fall into it.

Well dear reader, I think I've provided enough Scripture (some with red letters) and even some human reasoning form a credible theological professor to butcher Zack Hunt's sacred cow of errancy. The only errors in the Bible, if any, are found in translation difficulties, typos, human unbelief, and misunderstanding, but not in God's word of truth. Yes dear reader, heretic hunting is a dirty job, but I guess, well, you know.

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Dominionism

12/17/2016

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Written by Heather Zubiate

Then Jesus says to him, "Return your sword into its place; for all those having taken the sword, will perish by the sword." - Matthew 26:52 Berean Literal Bible

ominionism is a doctrine, and even a movement, which claims that Christians are to take dominion of the earth before the
return of Jesus Christ. And his return is dependent upon the success of the church doing so. But is this ideology biblical, or heretical? Should we take dominion? Well, as always, we need to define what dominion is, and then be good Bereans by searching the scriptures to see if what the dominionists say, is really so.

What is "dominion"?

First, let's define the word dominion, and then we'll figure out how it factors into the New Testamant gospel, if at all, by looking in the Old Testament for a valid precedent.

I'll start with the secular dictionary, and then move onto the Bible definitions.

Dominion /deh'minyehn/ n. 1. Sovereignty; control. 2. The territory of a sovereign, or government. 3. Another word for domination.

Dominion /deh'minyehn/ v. The power to rule over, or control a nation, territory, governemtn, or region.

In the Bible, there are nine Hebrew words for dominion. NINE! Each word has a different nuance of the same English definition. I won't list them all here, as it is tedious and I'm feeling lazy, please forgive me. In that list, I found an inseresting word: ba'al, which has to do with the dominion of a husband over his wife. That is not something many modern western women are keen on. But ba'al is also a reference to false gods. When one studies "the ba'als" one finds that they are the husband of a consort, or female god; so the marital relation is still present. I have no idea why that took my fancy, maybe it will play out later as being important.

World Conquerers For Christ?

Dominionists are concerned with conquering the world for the Lord Jesus by dominating the different spheres of influence such as, but not limited to: religion, government, all forms of media, family, and educational knowledge. Sounds good right? But is this what the Lord had in mind? Let's see. The Hebrew word that Dominionists have taken to mean this kind of far reaching control would be the word radah (Strong's H7287). That is the one word I will be focusing on here. Radah according to Strong's means: v. 1. To rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down. 2. To scrape out. Strong's definition: Radah /raw-daw'/;v. a primitive root; to tread down, i.e. subjugate; specifically, to crumble off:—(come to, make to) have dominion, prevail against, reign, (bear, make to) rule,(-r, over), take. edit.

It is translated as: rule (13x), dominion (9x), take (2x), prevaileth (1x), reign (1x), ruler (1x) in the Old Testament. This word is the most like the secular English dictionary definitions I found, and so I will focus on it and how and when it is used in the Old Testament.

In The Beginning

In Genesis 1:26 and 28, the word radah is used for the first time. This is when Yahovah tells Adam to have dominion (or radah) and subdue the earth, and all of the creatures that are in it. However, Adam was led into sin by his wife, when he should have obeyed God, and led her to righteousness, as her protector, since he wasn't deceived by Satan's lie. --Ah, now I see why the dominion word ba'al, caught my attention! The dominion of ba'al carries with it a connotation of the tender care of leadership a husband should have toward his wife, while radah carries the connotation of rigor with it, or correctness, harshness, and subjugation, usually by sword.

It appears that God intended radah to be used by man in order to subdue the earth, and it's resources, and creatures, but not for use upon other people. Even so, do we really think God wants us to subdue and subject his creation in harshness? I don't think so. The LORD God was, is, and has always been meant to be our "radah" type of king, and he is a very good king. But from the time since the first sin in the garden, whenever a man has taken on radah, either bestowed upon him by God, or taken up by himself, it has never ended well. Nothing has changed much, we still see this happen even now. While the LORD God rules his creation well, in perfect radah; human beings simply cannot rule over others without abusing any kind of dominion, including ba'al, much less radah.

Next up is Noah. He found favor with the LORD, who gave him the opportunity to escape the the punishment of the world wide flood, which God used to wipe out all of the disobedient rabble, by being told to build an ark to sustain him, his family, and all of the animals that the LORD brought to him, two by two. When they landed on Mt. Ararat and dry ground was achieved a year after it first started to rain, the LORD opened the door and set them all free, even though he didn't use the literal word "radah" he once again seems to define it in the text and established man's authority over creation, but not over their fellow man. He was the one who made the killing of a man by an animal or another human punishable by death.

The LORD God also made a covenant with Noah, and the earth that he would never again destroy the earth, or its inhabitants with a world wide flood, ever again. It didn't take long for Ham to reveal his sinful nature, and the first curse after the fresh start was dished out. Ham's linage is credited as siring Nimrod, a mighty hunter, or a rebel, against the LORD. He got the people to do his bidding and disobey God's order to disperse, and they even built a waterproof tower toward heaven in an attempt to make war with the Almighty. How else does a mighty hunter before the LORD make a name for himself? So much for the possibility of a godly theocracy under Noah. God's sentence for such behavior? -- different languages that caused them to disperse and abandon their lofty goal for a much later time.

Dominion In Israel

In 1 Samuel 8, we learn that the Children of Israel, God's own chosen people, decided that they didn't want the LORD to be their king anymore. Isn't that the worst thing you ever heard? Instead, they wanted Samuel to anoint a human king for them, so they could be like all of the other rotten nations. Samuel didn't like their request, but the LORD told him to honor it. Be careful of what you wish for, you might just get it! So, Samuel told them what it would be like to have a human king that would have radah over them, and despite the warning, they were fine with it. Fast forward to 1 Kings 12; let's read verses 1-4 to see what is happening there:

And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, "Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee."

As we can see, sin is still a hinderence to the proper use of radah, and as the story goes, we see how foolish Rehoboam went against the wise counsel of his father's old men, and went with the evil counsel of his young men instead; telling the people that his reign would be even more oppressive than his father's. Well, that didn't go over very well, but this was of the LORD's doing, so that some of his prophesies about Israel would come to pass. Here again, radah, in the hands of men, didn't work out very well for those under its heavy yoke. Well, it's pretty clear that men can't handle the radah of kingship, what about ecclesiasticl radah?

Here are some verses dealing with radah and the clergy. Again, it sounds like it's not panning out very well, let's read:

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule (radah) by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? Jeremiah 5:31

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds; "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled (radah) them. Ezekiel 34:1-4

Fortunatley for us, God isn't going to leave us in this fallen radah situation; he has a plan! A divine plan, which he had from the very beginning! He wants us to see just how crummy humans (and Satan) are at handling radah, in both the civic and religious arenas. And then, when the LORD's appointed time comes, he will become our rightful king, righteously dispensing radah in his never ending kingdom, as he always intended. And there will be world peace like no one has ever dreamed of! This is not something that the Dominionists, Joel's Army, and Manifest Sons of God want to hear. Nevertheless, it's the truth. We get a glimps of God's plan for his kingdom and temple in the book of Zechariah, where God said something rather curious in verse 6.

Zechariah's Vision

He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Zechariah 4:2 NIV

Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." Zechariah 4:3 NIV

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 NIV

The house of Judah was in captivity due to their idolatry, which was sponsored by the monarchy, and priesthood. Here we learn that Zechariah saw a vision from the LORD concerning what he was about to do, cause his temple to finally be rebuilt. The symbology of the lamp stand represents the LORD's light of his word in the Holy of Holies of his temple, and olive trees usually symbolize peace, not war. The oil that is supplied by the trees, is of course, an allusion to God's Holy Spirit, and his anointing upon the two that stand by the Lord of the earth. This symbology is seen again in Revelation 11 and also applies to the two witnesses who are allowed to defend themselves against their attackers. Even then, their power is only for a short time, and it seems to be localized to Jerusalem, not the whole world.

The LORD said in Zechariah, that the temple will be built, but it will not be by human might (chayil H2428) found in armies bearing swords, nor by human power (koach H3581) of wealth and substance, but by his Spirit, whose power far exceeds any and all human capabilities. No man would be able to say that the LORD's temple was built thanks to merely human means, but rather by God's miraculous and spiritual means. But wait a minute, we know that the second temple was built by Israeli men that were funded by the Medeo/Persian kings, and under their protection, and they succeeded in their task despite the attempts of the Samaritan rabble who tried to stop it. Even though the rebuilding of the second temple happened, according to how God worded this verse to Zechariah, there is more to this prophecy than meets the eye. In order to fully meet the critieria in the Zechariah vision, this had to be a future prophecy of the New Testament temple, or the body of Christ, not just the rebuilding of the Old Testament second temple!

“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, or what is the place of My rest? Acts 7:48-49

In short, God doesn't really need our help to build his N.T. temple, or kingdom since we are its building blocks. He allows us to participate in building, as long as we do so according to his word. The gospel of the kingdom is to be dolled out by harmless sheep and doves, not by predators like wolves and serpents. Zechariah 4:6 should be the nail in the Dominionist theology coffin, but the pernicious lies of the evil one are subtle, and crafty. I could go on and on through the Old Testament and give other examples of failed theocracies, but my point is, a long and successful earthly theocracy is not going to happen in real time, not until Jesus is sitting on David's throne in Jerusalem for his thousand year reign. So we need to stop trying to make it happen in our own strength before then.

The Lord Jesus' Dominion

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; he is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 9:9-10 NIV

Just look at this amazing prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9! Jesus our King of kings (who was given all power and all authority by the Father) could have road right into Jerusalem on a fine war steed and taken over the place with his myriads of angels at his beck and call. But instead, he humbly sat upon a lowly donkey and peacefully gave himself up, in a sense, to the murderous rabble that loathed him. And a donkey is not an animal associated with majesty, or charging into battle, how much less a baby donkey? As much as a donkey is worth, a fine war steed would have been much more costly. Even more revealing, Jesus borrowed the little burrow, he didn't buy it. And in what way is giving yourself up to your enemies so they can put you to death considered a good way to conquer anyone? What gives, Jesus? Don't you understand that you are supposed to be the all powerful, rich and conquering Messiah that the Jews imagined for themselves?

Well, he is the conquering Messiah, just not in the way the Jews wanted. Jesus' primary mission was to conquer the power of sin and death in order to bring us near to God by his shed blood. What accomplishment is greater than that? Those that love this world, and give the LORD their lip service, they are the ones who primarily desire a valiant warrior king, mounted on his fiery steed, with sword flashing, and bloody heads rolling. How many times must we hear that God's ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, before we get it? All that blood and gore will come soon enough, in its appointed time, and not before, thank God!

We should be careful of being desirous of God's justice instead of his mercy, especially since we might unwittingly find ourselves on the receiving end of his terrible and swift sword. The obvious lesson here is that Jesus will set up his kingdom when he comes back at his appointed time, like the prophecy that the Lord read from Isaiah 61 in Capernium, about three years before his triumphant ride into Jerusalem, when they tried to hurl him off of the brow of a hill for claiming to have fulfilled it. The appointed time for the fulfilling of the second part of that prophecy is not dependent upon us; whether or not we evangelize the world, or conquer it for Christ. It is already set, just as the times of his birth, death, and resurrection were already set.

Dominion in the New Testament

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all goodness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4

Under the terms of the New Testament, the Dominionists concept of radah is non-existent for the Christian, who is never given license by God to usurp any government, or authority figure either by power, or might. I have not found a solid Koine Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word radah, and it's very frustrating. So if anyone can supply the answer, that would be great! Fortunately there are only four words in Greek that mean dominion. I'll only touch on two, as that is enough to get the idea what the Lord intends for us concerning dominion.

But first, in the above Scripture, did Paul tell us in any way to revolt when Christian values were not being practiced where we live? No. Did he do any such thing, himself? No. Did Jesus tell Peter that it was a great idea for him to have his sword ready to strike? No. So where do Dominionists get the cockamamie idea that America's founding fathers were Scripturally justified in revolting against the king of England under the pretense of too many taxes? In Matt. 22:21, didn't Jesus say, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's" in regard to taxes? Why, yes he did! We are to be brothers, and sister in the Lord, and any leaders are to lead by serving, even as our Lord came to serve, and not be served (Matt. 20:28). In fact, there are many verses that teach we are not to be like the world regarding how they use authority and power. I will be using at least two of the Greek words that are translated as "dominion" and see if I can make the question of taking dominion more clear.

Katakyrieuō v. is defined by Strong's G2634 in the following manner: exercise dominion over (1x), overcome (1x), be lord over (1x), exercise lordship over (1x).

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over G2634 them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Matthew 20:25 - 27

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over ( G2634 ) God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 1 Peter 5:1-4

Kratos n. is defined by Strong's G2904 in the following manner: power (6x), dominion (4x),
strength (1x), mighty (with G2596) (1x).

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power G2904 of death, that is, the devil; Hebrews 2:14

To him be glory and dominion G2904 for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:11

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion G2904 and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude I:25

Naturally, we are also not to partake in other kinds of intrigues like bribery, nor are we to take up literal swords, or other weaponry to defend our faith, much less, enforce it upon others via a supposed "dominion." Did the Crusades bring Jesus glory? No! The only civil disobedience we are allowed, and expected to wage, is in regard to idolatry. If a leader makes it illegal to worship our God, and only leagal to worship a false god, then we are to leave for a better place (Matt. 10:23, Acts 17:10,14), or we are to understand that our life is forfeit (Matt. 10:39). Not very empowering is it -- fleeing, or if caught, possible martyrdom? And yet, that is to be our M. O.

The concept of a militant Christian is completely foreign to New Testament Scripture. Why? Because the father of our faith in the Old Testament is Abraham, not Moses. The only time Abraham was recorded to take up arms and fight was when he brought back Lot and the others who were taken by marauding kings. If Lot hadn't been among them, then Abraham wouldn't have done anything. Also worth noting, is that Abraham didn't set up shop as king after he was victorious. He gave portions of the spoils to the men he was allied with, the godly high priest and king of Salem, Melchizedek, and the ungodly king of Sodom.

The books of Exodus to Malachi are basically a record of a huge interruption in the gospel that God preached to Abraham. Why? God needed to show us that any theocracy that man tries to enforce by their own might and power will ultimately fail, be they idolatrous, or godly. Think about it. Abraham lived by faith, while the Children of Israel, for the most part, relied on their own righteousness in the law to save them. They didn't even conquer the promised land like God told them to, when he gave them permission to kill all of the evil idolaters by the sword! So now Christians think they will do better? Really?

If history shows us anything, it's that it repeats itself, because few of us ever really learn from it. Abraham's faith in God's promises didn't require militant conquest. God has said many times, and in many places that when Jesus comes back, he will set up his own kingdom, and he will rule with a rod of iron, and his kingdom will never come to an end! Does his plan involve us enforcing the law of Moses on the unsaved so Jesus can come back? No! No! No! No!

After Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross and promised to return in all his glory, we see the Catholic Popes that tried to conquer the world by sword for Christ-- they failed. Mohammed tried to conquer the world for his false god, Allah -- he failed. Calvin tried it in Geneva -- he failed! Joel's Army, Manifest Son's of God, and the Salvation Army, they have all tried and failed! The latest repackaged attempt at Christian dominion is the Seven Mountains diatribe being dolled out by one, Lance Wallnau. It too, will ultimately fail, but not in the way we are accustomed regarding this kind of presumptuous teaching. Only in bringing the real Jesus to earth will it fail, but it will actually succeed in fooling millions upon millions of make-believe "Christians" to accept the Anti-Christ's mark of the beast. This is the only militant theocracy that will briefly succeed, according to the New Testament, prior to Jesus' very public second coming in the clouds. Well, I guess in a way, all of those failed theocracies were successful in duping the masses to follow the sword to their eternal doom, too.

God's Sword vs. Man's Sword

The sword of dominion is a heavy one to bear, and it may even cut you if you're not carefull with it. Like Jesus said to Peter, "Return your sword into its place; for all those having taken the sword, will perish by the sword." In the New Testament, any talk of swords concerning God's kingdom, is metaphroical. God's word is called a double edged sword, and alludes to his word, or Scripture as seen in Isaiah 49:2 and Hebrews 4:12, not a literal broad sword the Roman soldiers carried at their sides. The sword of Jesus' mouth is also a metaphor for his word, we see this in Revelation 1:16; 2:16; 19:15, 21. So surely, the likes of Joel's Army, the Manifest Sons of God, and their ilk mean that their dominion is to be gained by a metaphorical sword too, right? Perhaps, but even so, this current world is not Jesus' kingdom, he said so. If it were, then he would have marched on Rome with his angels after taking over Jerusalem, and set up his earthly kingdom then and there.

Are we going to be like the disobedient Israelites who decided not to take the promised land, and then embarrassed themselves after the LORD told them not to go up against their enemies? They failed miserably, they just couldn't obey his word, no matter what, could they? Jesus told us in his word through his disciples that he would come back for us, and he would set up his own kingdom when he did. We are to preach the gospel, obey his commands, and hold onto our faith until his return. But there are those wicked servants who insist on beating the other servants as the master's return seems to be delayed. But to his faithful servants, the Lord says, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Little flock? Since when do a few sheep have the temperament to boldly take over entire spheres of worldly influence? And the Father's good pleasure is to give us the kingdom? That obviously means that he doesn't require us to take it by force. We are not to fear, he has it all under control, we are to run with his plan, not ours.

When men take up their swords, be they literal, or metaphorical, nothing good ever comes of it. Peter clobbered a servant of the high priest with a sword, and Jesus healed his wound, and then he told him to put it away. Saul, zealous for Judaism, was responsible for the deaths of many faithful Christians, yet he changed by the mercy and grace of Jesus into Paul, a powerful apostle for the gospel. Jesus, Peter, James, John, and Paul, none of them tried to take over the world through political, or ecclesiastical means of influence. Jesus' kingdom is not from here, he said so himself; he will bring it with him when he comes for his bride. With the Lord's help, we are to make ourselves chaste and pure, without spot or wrinkle, while awaiting his return. We are not to attempt to turn the whole dead and dying world system into Christ's bride through coercion, or trickery.

So, the answer to my question, should we TAKE dominion, is most definitely: NO! Not in the way the false teachers would have us do. Any dominion that we should take is over ourselves, and not each other, saved or not. And any dominion we are given is subject to Jesus' all encompassing dominion, and it will be given to us at his coming, not before. So put away your sword, and take up your cross! Amen!

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One God

12/12/2016

1 Comment

Written by Heather Zubiate

sn't this One God wheel a thing of beauty?
I am especially grateful to C.P. Kilgore for constructing it. It's easy to read and understand, and it's all Scripture. What's not to love? Well, I suppose that Trinitarians may not consider it to be a good thing, but I do. It is a visual and Scriptural rebuttal to the Trinity triangle illustration. The question of Jesus' nature is continually being challenged; thankfully God's word isn't silent, or as vague as some would suppose about God's reveled mystery. According to the angel in Revelation 19:10, the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. So let this wheel of Scripture testify of Jesus, that he is Almighty God in the flesh, or the one in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, as ultimately revealed in the book of Revelation. I have taken the liberty to post most of the Scriptures from the wheel on this page, and I have even added some of my own, enjoy!

God The Creator

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD (Yahovah) God (Elohim) formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Job 33:4 The spirit of God (El)has made me, and the breath of the Almighty (Shadday) has given me life.
Ps. 33:6 By the word of the LORD (Yahovah) were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Ps. 104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.
Isa. 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God (Elohim), the LORD (Yahovah), The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is
weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Isa. 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory,
I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa. 44:24 Thus says the LORD (Yahovah), your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD (Yahovah), who makes all things, Who stretches out
the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Isa. 45:11 Thus says the LORD (Yahovah), The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
“Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.
Isa. 45:12 I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the
heavens, and all their host I have commanded.
Isa. 45:18 For thus says the LORD (Yahovah), who created the heavens, who is God (Elo- him), who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not
create it in vain,who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD (Yahovah), and
there is no other.
Mal. 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God (El) created us? Why do we deal
treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?

Jesus The Creator
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
1 Cor. 8:6 yet for us there is one God (theos), the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom
we live.
Eph. 3:9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God (Theos) who created all things through Jesus Christ.
Col. 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Heb.1:8,10 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God (Elohim), is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. And: “You, LORD (Yahovah),
in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of
Your hands.
Rev. 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord (Kyrios), to receive glory and honor and power;
for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Rev. 10:6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things
that are in it, that there should be delay no longer,
Rev. !4:7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth,
the sea and springs of water.”

God The Redeemer & Savior

Ps. 78:34-35   When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God (El). And they remembered that God (Elohim) was their rock,
and the high God (El) their redeemer.
Ps. 106:21   They forgat God (El) their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Isa. 43:3 For I am the LORD (Yahovah) thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy
Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isa. 43:11   I, even I, am the LORD (Yahovah); and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa. 44:6 Thus saith the LORD (Yahovah) the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD
(Yahovah) of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no
God (Elohim).
Isa. 45:21   Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath
declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? Have not I
the LORD (Yahovah)? and there is no God (Elohim) else beside me; a just God
(El) and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa. 47:4 As for our redeemer, the LORD (Yahovah) of hosts is his name, the Holy One of
Israel.
Isa. 49:26   And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall
be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know
   that I the LORD (Yahovah) am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One
   of Jacob.
Lk. 1:46,47 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord (Kyrios), and my spirit hath
   rejoiced in God (Theos) my Saviour.

Jesus The Redeemer And Savior
Lk. 2:10,11 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you
   good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. “For there is born to
     you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Kyrios).
Lk. 24:21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
   Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
Jn. 4:42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you
said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ,
   the Savior of the world.”
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood.
Gal. 3:13   Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Phl. 3:20   For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the
     Savior, the Lord (Kyrios)Jesus Christ,
1 Tim. 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God (Theos) our Savior
and the Lord (Kyrios) Jesus Christ, our hope,
1 Tim. 4:10   For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach,[fn] because we trust in
the living God (Theos), who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who
believe.
Tit. 1:3,4 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was
committed to me according to the commandment of God (Theos) our Savior;
To Titus, a true son in our common faith:Grace, mercy, and peace from God
(Theos) the Father and the Lord (Kyrios) Jesus Christ our Savior.
Tit. 2:10-13   not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine
of God (Theos) our Savior in all things. For the grace of God (Theos) that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God (Theos)
and Savior Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 2:21   For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us
an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 Pe. 1:10,11 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully,who
prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
1 John 4:14   And we have seen and do testi fy that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
Jude 25   To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and forever. Amen.

God The Shepherd

Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD (Yahovah) is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 100:3   Know that the LORD (Yahovah), He is God (Elohim); It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Isa. 40:11   He (Yahovah)will feed His flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs with
      His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

Jesus The Shepherd
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Heb. 13:20   Now may the God (Theos) of peace who brought up our Lord (Kyrios)
Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of
the everlasting covenant,
1 Pe. 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Pe. 5:4   and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that
      does not fade away.

God The King

1 Sam. 12:12 “And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you,
you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD (Yahovah)
your God (Elohim) was your king.
Ps. 44:4 You are my King, O God (Elohim); command victories for Jacob.
Ps. 68:24 They have seen Your procession, O God (Elohim), the procession of my God
(El), my King, into the sanctuary.
Ps. 84:3   Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young— even Your altars, O LORD (Yahovah) of hosts,
my King and my God (Elohim).
Ps. 145:1   A Praise of David. I will extol You, my God (Elohim), O King;
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Isa. 43:15   I am the LORD (Yahovah), your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.”
Isa. 44:6 “Thus says the LORD (Yahovah), the King of Israel, and his Redeemer,
the LORD (Yahovah) of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last;besides Me
there is no God (Elohim).
Jer. 10:10 But the LORD (Yahovah) is the true God (Elohim); he is the living
God (Elohim) and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble,
and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
Dan. 2:47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God (Elahh) is the God (Elahh)
  of gods (elahh), the Lord (Mare') of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you
Zec. 14:9 And the LORD (Yahovah) shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be--“The LORD (Yahovah) is one,” and His name one.
Rev. 15:3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God (Theos), and the song of
the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord (Kyrios)
God (Theos) Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

Jesus The King
Matt. 2:2   “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star
      in the East and have come to worship Him.”
Matt. 2:6   ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
Lk. 19:38 “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD! (Yahovah)’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Lk. 23:3 Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered
      him and said, “It is as you say.”
Jn. 18:37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You
say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have
come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who
is of the truth hears My voice.”
Jn. 19:21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King
of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”
1 Tim. 6:15 He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the
   King of kings and Lord of lords,
Rev. 15:3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
       saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works,Lord (Yahovah) God (Elohim
/El) Almighty (Shaddai)! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!
Rev. 19:16   And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
  KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

God The "I AM" & "I AM He"

Ex. 3:14 And God (Elohim) said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you
shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Is. 43:10,11 “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD (Yahovah), “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God (El) formed, nor shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the LORD (Yahovah), and besides Me there is no savior.
Is. 43:12,25 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god
among you; therefore you are My witnesses,” says the LORD (Yahovah),
“that I am God (El). “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My
own sake; and I will not remember your sins.

Jesus The "I AM" & "I AM He"
Jn. 8:24   “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe
   that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Jn. 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught
Me, I speak these things.
Jn. 8:58   Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Jn. 18:5,6,8 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And
Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them,
“I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Jesus answered, “I have
     told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,”
Rev. 1:17,18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on
   me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. “I am He who
      lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have
   the keys of Hades and of Death.

God First & Last

Is. 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I
      the LORD (Yahovah), the first, and with the last; I am he.
Is. 44:6   Thus saith the LORD (Yahovah) the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD (Yahovah) of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no
  God (Elohim).
Is 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I
   also am the last.

Jesus First & Last

Rev. 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
   me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev. 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith
   the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
Rev. 22:13   I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

God The Rock

Deut. 32:3-4 Because I will proclaim the name of the LORD (Yahovah): ascribe greatness
  to our God (Elohim). He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for his ways are
  justice: a God (El) of truth and without injustice, righteous and upright is he.
2 Sa. 22:2,32 And he said: “The LORD (Yahovah)is my rock and my fortress and my
   deliverer;
“For who is God, except the LORD (Yahovah),and who is a rock, except our
God (Elohim)?
Ps. 18:2 The LORD (Yahovah) is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
my God (El), my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.
Ps. 31:3 For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me
and guide me.
Ps. 78:35 Then they remembered that God (Elohim) was their rock, And the Most High
      God (El) their Redeemer.
Ps. 89:26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God (El), and the rock of my
   salvation.’
Is. 17:10   Because you have forgotten the God (Elohim) of your salvation, and have not
been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,therefore you will plant pleasant
plants and set out foreign seedlings;

Jesus The Rock
Is. 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD (Yahovah):
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.
Mat.16:17,18 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. "And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,
   and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Acts 4:11,12 “This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief
cornerstone.' “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
   under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
1 Cor. 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that
      followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Num 20:8-11 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together.
Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall
bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation
and their animals.” So Moses took the rod from before the LORD (Yahovah)
as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together
before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring
water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock
twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and
their animals drank.
Eph. 2:20-22 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord (Kyrios): in whom ye also are
builded together for an habitation of God (Theos) through the Spirit.
1 Pe.2:6-8   Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
      cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to
shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are
disobedient,“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,
and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”   They stumble, being disobedient to
the word, to which they also were appointed.

God Is Coming

Zec. 14:4,5   And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces
   Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east
to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the
north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain
valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you
fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD
  (Yahovah) my God will come, and all the saints with You.
1 Th 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God (Theos). And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord (Kyrios) in the air. And thus we shall
always be with the Lord (Kyrios).Therefore comfort one another with
these words.
Rev.19:11,14   Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes
war. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses.
Rev. 19:16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Ps. 50:3-6 Our God (Elohim) shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to
the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with
Me by sacrifice.” Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God
(Elohim) Himself is Judge. Selah

Jesus Is Coming
1 Th.3:12-13 And may the Lord (Kyrios)make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord
(Kyros)Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Mat. 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God (Theos) that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed
hope and glorious appearing of our great God (Theos) and Savior Jesus Christ,

There are many more Scriptures on this chart for us to study regarding Jesus' dual God/Man nature, and how God's spirit is part, not separate from him. Scripture is also so very clear that there is only one God, and he was revealed to his disciples in the flesh, as our Lord Jesus Christ. The earth born son of a virgin, who the Spirit of God prophesied would come from heaven to be our only Savior, and Redeemer -- God in the flesh! Amen!

1 Comment

'Tis The Season!

12/9/2016

0 Comments

Written by Heather Zubiate

Revised from the December 2012 'Tis The Season article from The Whittier Housewife

Yes indeedy –“ 'Tis the season”...I say that not as you may think I mean it. For many, this time of year means different things, and inspires different emotions. Perhaps it means a fresh driven snow blanketing pine scented forests, or when friends and family come together with warmth and cheer to exchange gifts while excited children clap their little hands for joy. For others, it might bring on the pain and suffering of lack, extreme debt, or hold a note of sadness, and even suicidal depression. I ask you, "Why such a polar range of pictures and emotions at a time of year that boasts of the promise of cheer and good will toward men?" For many biblical and other reasons, my husband and I decided about 4 or 5 years ago that we were finally through with everything that " 'Tis the season" brought with it.

So, now when I say, “ 'Tis the season”, I mean – 'tis the season for tamales! Forget the kisses stolen under the poison of mistletoe. You can keep the tinsel and snake wrapped garland of the flocked tannenbaum idol, and the halls decked with prickly holly. I can't stand the noise of caroling, and spending money I don't have to purchase cheap and expensive trinkets. And I care even less for the many myths regarding a fat old man who lives at the North Pole, that gorges on cookies, and wears white fur trimmed red flannel p.j's, and runs a sweat shop for elves. And what of the long forgotten demon Krampus, that used to ride shotgun with Satan Claws? Would you like getting this as a Christmas card??? The Krampus tradition still lives large in Germanic and Scandanavian lands, by the way. For a Christian, isn't it painfully obvious who this goat demon really is?

News Flash! Extra! Extra! Read all about it! --There is no Santa Claus and December 25th is not, I repeat – is not Jesus' real birthday, no matter what Rome's pontiff or the millions of the well meaning, yet misguided and misinformed clergy say. The holy-day is called ChristMASS after all. Do y'all even know what a Catholic Mass is? What does that ritual have to do with Christ's litleral birth? Nothing!

The way things are going, they should change the name of it to “Santa-day”, or “Mammon-ma$$, or "Sungod-mas"! As for Jesus' real birthday? Again, no one really knows the exact day, and I've read many well written papers, essays, and blogs to prove it, not to mention the authority of Scripture alone, which is completely vague on the matter. That alone should settle the matter in every sincere and devoted Christian's heart. The only clues we have been given are the census, which would have taken a long time to carry out, and that there were shepherds still out in the field. Which, never would, and still doesn't happen in the dead of winter! Even so, many people claim to have the right day, and they claim the day is anywhere from Passover [Mar./April] to Tabernacles [Sep./Oct], and these are all Hebrew holy-days by the way, since Jesus was born into the Hebrew nation after all. It would make far more sense for the Lord to be born on one of God's appointed Hebrew feast days relating to his forgiveness of sin, or of God tabernacling with his people, right? Right!

I find myself wondering every year, why do Christians listen to a man who has declared himself to be God on earth, and who wears a long white silky dress and dons hats that honor nature gods like Dagon and Saturn, anyway? No thank you! Our family is through with all the “Christmas” propaganda, secular and religious. “Culinarily” speaking, what it is time for, in my neck of the woods, and what I now look forward to in the winter, is tamales!
I know dear reader, you must be thinking I'm a “Grinch”, a “Scrooge” or an Anti-Christ, right? Well, I'm not. What I am, dear reader, is a devout Christian realist! So let's get real for a moment, shall we?

Yes! Let's be very real here for just a moment, and let's put our thinking caps on and ask our selves what is this festive time of year really about? Is it about giving and receiving presents via a jolly ol' elf that pilots a shiny red sled pulled by eight flying rangifer tarandus, or is this time about the honoring winter solstice gods, or is it really about the birth of our Savior? I'll tell you what this time of year is really all about; the phenomenon that occurs when the sun moves away from the northern hemisphere, a.k.a. winter time!

Since the Tower of Babel, peoples and nations that don't recognize the Almighty as their God, instead, use this time of year to worship their winter solstice gods. They go by many names: Odin, Saturn, Kronos, Apolo, Janus, Jul, Yul, Ameratasu, Ahura Mazda, Tonatiuh, Tammuz, Surya, and even the more well known Ra, and Horus. And, these gods have many rites and rituals that are employed in their wintry worship, and not surprisingly, are the basis for many of our “modern” Christ-Mass traditions, thanks to habitual syncretism of the Roman Catholic Church.

I must sound very sacrilegious to many of you right about now, but that is not my intent. I'm just tired of the phony baloney man-made reasons for the season. As a Christian, I refuse to honor any sun god, and the Son of God didn't leave any instructions for his disciples to celebrate his birth, so why not mark this cold and dark time of year with a steamy and spicy seasonal food stuff instead?

That's what I and my family do now. And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some chicken to bake, green chili sauce to make, masa to mix, pepper jack to grate, and corn husks to soak! 'Tis the season for tamales!

P.S. For a more in depth treatise as to the many reasons why Christmas should be avoided by Christians, I'll be posting another article soon. Read it if you dare!

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"THIS DAY have I begotten you."

10/23/2016

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Written by Heather Zubiate

After kissing my love good bye at 5:45 a.m, I was left to
my early morning thoughts, as usual. All snuggled down in my warm and cozy bed, instead of the random stuff I think about, I began to think about and focus on what God's word says about the person of Jesus Christ.

I began to think about various Scriptures and then a particular Scripture struck me, the one that spoke of the LORD's decree to his Messiah, but I couldn't remember its exact address. And so I Googled it, of course. Voila! Psalm 2:7, that's it! As I read that verse and mulled it over, and over, that's when the light went BING! I am thankful to the Lord for giving me revelation of what some might deem to be pretty obvious; contrary to what my darling husband thinks, I'm not that smart, really. And I'm sure not more special than anyone else. I just want the absolute truth, that's all. And here is the simple revelation that miraculously came to me: This day (or "Today") is a point in time, whereas eternity has no end or beginning!" That is so obvious, right? Well then, let's apply that "duh" revelation to the Scripture and the teaching of the Trinity shall we? Some of you sharper knives may know where this is going.

Adherents to the Trinity have a God formula. They teach and believe that God is three separate co-equal, co-eternal persons, consisting of: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

QUESTION: "If Jesus is the eternal son of God (i.e. "God the Son" as claimed by trinitarians), then why would the LORD declare Jesus' son-ship by assigning a point in time like "this day" (or "today") to it?"

Good question, huh? The answer is clear, Jesus' son-ship is not eternal according to God's own words. Shocking, isn't it? Even more shocking, trinitarian pastors and teachers candidly admit that the Trinity isn't directly taught in Scripture; they call it an implied mystery, when in reality, it just isn't Scriptural, and Psalm 2:7 is more proof of that assertion. I am still amazed by how many people miss that Jesus is the one and only God of the Bible, and how even heavy weight scholars of Scripture, past and present, can be oblivious to Scriptural truth in favor of man's syncretic tradition.

Apparently the writer of the epistle of Hebrews was having a similar problem explaining things like Jesus' son-ship, and priesthood to his intended recipients, who were knowledgeable of the Scriptures regarding: the Messiah, temple, and priesthood of Israel. In the text of Hebrews 5, he basically says to them that they have become dull, or hard of hearing, and that even though by this TIME they should be able to teach others these things, they needed someone to teach them the first, or basic oracles of God. Ouch! Get out the burn cream. I wonder how many people left the church in a huff on the day that letter was read. I can hear the disappointment of the writer of Hebrews, who wanted to share deeper revelations with the people he was writing to, but couldn't because they were spiritual infants. How sad is that? But I also feel for those people that he wrote to, because like I've said, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm not the dullest either. Would I have been any better than them? I'm not so sure.

Anyway, speaking of time, look at what the author of Hebrews says regarding his quote of David in Psalm 95:7,8. If the day of the Hebrews' rest was in Moses', or Joshua's day, then the LORD would not have revealed to King David of another day (i.e. today) of rest yet to come. Therefore, I pose that if Jesus' son-ship is eternal, then according to trinitarian theology, the LORD messed up royally by making his son-ship a fixed point in time by using the words: this day, in the verse. If Jesus is God's eternal Son, then it should read something like this: "I will declare the LORD has said to me: You are my only begotten Son since eternity." But it doesn't, does it? No. No, it doesn't.

My point? God doesn't use the words: this day, today, and eternal lightly. The first two signify a specific point in time, while the third transcends time. So when the LORD decrees this prophesy to himself (for there is no other God in heaven, but one) that: "this day I have begotten you,"then that is what it means. Jesus was born of a virgin as the prophesied Son of God at a specific point in time, via the Holy Spirit. Scripture is very clear that there is no Son of God, or God the Son verbatim in name, or title in the O.T. So God did not exist as the Son until the time of his birth as told in the gospels- - the angel Gabriel told Mary that her child would be called the Son of God; that is the first time we see that title verbatim. I know, right?! If you've lasted this long, dear reader, then before you explode, please let that truth sink in. And let's not forget what the angel said to the shepherds in the gospel of Luke:

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you THIS DAY in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11 (NKJV)

Like I've said, even most of the heavy weight theologians don't seem to address this obvious revelation regarding Jesus' son-ship in relation to time. I'm not bragging mind you, but, this does make me very sad. I have read Matthew Henry's commentary on this verse and it is disheartening (to say the least) how he just glosses over this important point, and then asserts that Jesus' eternal son-ship was denoted in that very verse! In what possible way? How can anyone make today equal to eternity? Well, except for Harold Ramis, (I'm of course referring to the movie Groundhog Day), you can't! Not even God does this, and he could if he wanted to.

All silliness aside, "today" is unequivocally meant as a point in time, not to be mistaken with eternity, which we all know means: timelessness. Sure, the LORD's plan was from eternity, but the fruition of his prophecies regarding the Messiah came about, and will continue to come about, through the process of time! And when the LORD openly declares that Jesus' son-ship is so blatantly not eternal, how can people miss it and then come up with and believe a false teaching like the second person of the Trinity a.k.a. God the Son? See: Psalm 95:11 and Hebrews 5:11-12, for the answers to those reasonable questions! Amen!

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Merry Christmas? Maybe Not!

8/11/2016

1 Comment

Written by Heather Zubiate

hen a Christian says, "Merry Christmas," or thinks of Christmas, this is often what comes to their mind, right? But does this image really represent the sacred truth according to God's word regarding this holy day? Please know that I'm not denying the obvious, that Jesus Christ was indeed born of a virgin in Bethelhem at the inn with no room for them, where he was laid in a manger, etc. What I mean is; are we told how and when to celebrate Christ's birth in Scripture? And if not, then do we have license to celebrate it anyway, and however we choose? Are you ready to find out the answers to those questions? I hope so.

First, please allow me to make the obvious clear. A Christian should be (above all else) loyal and willfully obedient to our Lord and God, right? There are many Scriptures one can find to prove this command, such as Deuteronomy 13:6-17, and Matthew 10:37. Now that I've made that clear, let me cut to the chase, this treatise is for those who sincerely desire the pure milk of the word of God and are serious about being holy, even as the Lord is holy. If you are not interested in sound doctrine, and prefer to have your ears tickled, then this article is simply not for you. So go away and decorate your tree idol, or hang some stockings with care.

Now then, let me begin by stating how fairly recently this holy day has been called Christmas (i.e. "Christ's Mass" 1038/1131A.D.) and the date of December 25th set by Pope Julius 1, and that it is actually based upon the ancient celebration of Saturnalia (as early as 1645 B.C. by some estimates). Perhaps you have heard something like this before, well, maybe now is the time to pull off of the well worn path of the masses and consider the very serious issue.

Wisdom of The Masses?

"To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's life without knowing where it really leads - such is the behavior of the multitude."
-Mencius

Even though this is a quote from a Chinese philosopher, I think it fits this subject matter pretty well. Biblical history shows us that the behavior of multitude that left Egypt for the promised land were not very obedient to the LORD God, who saved them from hundreds of years of slavery with his mighty wonders. We don't want to behave like them, do we? Even so, there are those Christian's who defend their celebration of Christmas based on the argument of collective wisdom of the multitude; e.g. how could so many people be wrong? Well, very easily, actually! Remember the golden calf debacle? Now let's consider the wise council of Solomon.

"The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him."
Proverbs 18:17 NASB

I want us to consult the O.T. for a firm foundation concerning syncretism, which is the union of, or the attempted blending of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.

'He (Aaron) took what they handed him (their gold earings)and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."' Exodus 32:4-5 NIV(emphasis mine)

We see here that Aaron folded under the pressure of the multitude and gave them what they wanted, a golden calf (the goddess Hathor), fashioned by a man; God's high priest, no less. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Aaron then had the chutzpah to announce a feast for it, as if it were the LORD! This is syncretism. Idolatry in and of itself is bad enough, but linking it to the LORD? That's a positivly heinous abomination! Did Aaron himself believe that this dumb idol was responsible for their miraculous exodus? No. Do you know why? Because he heard the honest sinners claim that these gods (Hathor the calf, and the sun disk god that she cradles between her horns) were the gods who led them out of Egypt. Well, Aaron couldn't let them think that, so he built a holy alter in front of it and said, "Tomorrow, there will be a festival to the LORD." Do you realize just how wicked, WICKED, WICKED, a thing this is??!!
This is EXACTLY what the clergy has done ever since, link the LORD, Yahovah, with dumb idols, thinking that it will make idolatry okay by attaching God's name to it!

When Moses arrived on the riotous scene in godly righteous anger, that's when Aaron realized that he had greatly sinned, and then he tried to play the blame game and even tried to play dumb when Moses confronted him. How embarrassing, right? As if Moses would fall for Aaron's ridiculous assertion that he threw gold earrings into the fire and this golden calf came out! "It wasn't me Moses, it was the people, and this calf, they did it!" Can you just see Moses' face?

For surely there are Christians who claim they don't worship the Christmas tree. Yes they do! Don't they bow down before it on their knees to place and grab presents to give to their deceived and covetous children from under it's evergreen branches? Did it just magically appear in their living room and put itself up with care? Did it beautifully decorate itself with sentimental family trinkets when they threw them at it? Does it water itself? People are good at fooling themselves, but God isn't fooled, for goodness sake!

A quick note on Hathor, to really drive home the point that the Children of Israel really understood who they intended to worship, for surly, they said, here are our gods, not here is our god. It is said that as a planet goddess, and as the "Eye of Ra," she housed Horus, the sun god. That is why the calf idol has a sun disk between its horns, which is an illusion to the moon holding the sun in its embrace. Another way to look at it is that she was his mother, since Ra and Horus are both considered to be sun gods. I know, you will find that idolatry is very convoluted and confusing, like its originator, Satan. Now then, who is worshiped at Christmas time? Let's be honest here, it's Mary and Jesus, right? Satan's idolatry is subtle, and full of guile.

"So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. "And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.
And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. Deuteronomy 9:15-16; 20 NIV

True Biblical Worship

"You must not worship the LORD your God in their way." Deuteronomy 12:4 NIV

Here Matthew Henry's commentary on this command from the LORD, that rings true even today:

"Moses comes to the statutes he had to give in charge to Israel; and begins with such as relate to the worship of God. The Israelites are charged not to bring the rites and usages of idolaters into the worship of God; not under colour of making it better. We cannot serve God and mammon; nor worship the true God and idols; nor depend upon Christ Jesus and upon superstitious or self-righteous confidences."
Matthe Henry's commentary on Deuteronomy 12 1-4

Oooo... "self-righteous confidences." Ouch! Aaron must have been pretty confident of his self-righteous proclamation that Hathor and her sun kid could be akin the The Almighty, that is until Moses arrived with the truth in his hands. That pretty much sums up the Christmas celebration argument, for me anyway. Perhaps others may need some more convincing...

God does not leave the questions of: how, where, when, and why we worship him, for to us to decide for ourselves. God decides. Are we agreed? We should be, because this is an indisputable biblical fact, and if we are true believers, then we must hear, accept, and do his commands -- period! So now we must find out if Christmas really and truly comes to us from the Bible, or ancient idolatry.

Is The Christmas Celebration In Scripture?

No where (and I mean NO where) are we told to celebrate Christ's birth in Scripture. The only thing we are given is the written account of the fulfillment of prophecy. A virgin girl conceived gave birth to the promised Messiah in Bethlehem, the city of David, just like God said. While it is true that the shepherds found the child lying in the manger and afterward spread the word about the what they had seen and heard, and glorified God, we are not told to commemorate this miraculous event. And there is no record of Jesus' parents celebrating the Lord's birth. The Magi showed up, apparently, two years after the fact, to worship the Lord with their gifts. So what? Where are we told to continue in this manner? Jesus didn't come to receive gifts, he came to give the ultimate gift, salvation!

What about false religions that refuse to celebrate Christmas? Just because the Jehovah's Witnesses got this obvious doctrine right, that doesn't mean they are right about everything, or that we should do away with the one truth they have, for it is the truth. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Devout Jews, Amish, and Mennonites don't celebrate Christmas, either, but do they have the truth about the gospel? Nope. So is this more reason to celebrate Christmas then? No, because some serious biblical born again Christians, like yours truly, do not celebrate it, as well. Trying to reason that keeping Christmas is okay, because some heretics don't keep it, or that the Bible doesn't specifically say not to, is childish at best, and stupid at worst.

Many years ago while in a church service, I remember the pastor gave us a Nativity quiz, only to find out that much of the story was fabricated by man-made tradition. For instance, was the date of Christ's birth really December 25th? No. There's a wisp of evidence in with the shepherds who were still out in the fields with their sheep when the angles appeared to them. In Israel, shepherds are NEVER out in the fields in the month of December! Maybe October, the latest. Going by that small agrarian clue, Jesus could have been born anywhere between March and October. If God really wanted us to know Jesus' birthday, then he would have made it very clear, but he didn't. Therefore, it's not as important to God as Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection is, which was clearly during Passover.

How about the wise men; were there really three of them? Not necessarily. There were obviously three gifts, but ancient tradition tells us that people traveled in large groups for protection against thieves, especially if they carried valuable treasures with them. More Nativity myths may have been dispelled for me that day, but more importantly, what I took away from that exercise was that man-made traditions can and do muddy the waters of historical facts, and seek to ruin God's word of truth.

So why do we celebrate Christmas as Christ's birth if it is not sanctioned in Scripture? Good question! It's a reasonable question that irks many Christians, and makes them VERY uncomfortable! Why? Only they can answer that for sure, but the apostle John tells us that: Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. So how do we know if the light of Christmas is really darkness? God's word is our plumb line of true light, and we need to use it as our lamp.

Christmas or Communion?
The celebration that has fairly reacently been called Christmas (i.e. "Christ's Mass" 1038/1131A.D.) is really the ancient celebration of Saturnalia (as early as 1645 B.C. by some estimates), that the early Catholic Church could not completely stamp out. So instead, they "Christianized" it, like Aaron did for the calf goddess, and her sun kid. The only holy event we are told to commemorate in the New Testament is Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and ressurection. We know this celebration as Communion, The Last Supper, or The Lord's Supper. That's it. And even that memorial meal is divinly, and therefore, highly regulated. It follows the pattern of the O.T. Passover, but only unleavened bread and wine are used. We are even given the symbology, too. The unleavened bread is to represent Christ's body (as the sinless lamb), and the wine? His all important sin destroying blood, of course!

As far as how often we are to partake of Communion? Well, that was given liberality for us. We could partake of it as often as we like. Even so, according to Paul, there were those who were abusing it at the church in Corinth, and they were quickly set straight in his epistle! But not to be outdone, hundreds of years later, the Catholic church had soared to new heights in Communions abuse, they went and made the symbols the literal body and blood of Jesus, this they call, Transubstantiation. This big word is akin to cannibalism; something the Roman god Saturn, the real Lord of ChristMASS, is associated with.

Even so, there are those who would argue that a heavenly birthday celebration of sorts took place when the angels arrived in Bethlehem to announce Christ's birth. Pfffff! Bwuhaha! That is so laughably ridiculous! The angels are heralds, they make announcements and worship the Lord of heaven-- that being said, I don't recall them leaving instructions to the shepherds from the Lord about any future celebrations of Christ's birth, do you? Are you prepared to presume upon the Lord's grace by making an assumption like that? That's never a wise thing to do, Aaron was nearly wiped off the face of the earth for that mistake.

The Mythology of Santa Clause

Now, I realize that not every Christian propigates the Santa myth, but some do, and it is important to understand how Santa is yet another ancient symbol of a nature god that is worshiped at the winter solstice by the Nordic peoples. The Catholic chruch tries to pass this guy off as a saint who lived in the fourth centuryA.D., in Turkey, I think. But in reality, he is just another Catholic attempt to "Christianize" the pagan god Saturn. He even mimics much of our Lord's powers such as omniscience, and even a kind of omnipresense, or at least supersonic speed. Saturn is the god of time after all. So what happens when children learn that Santa is a lie? Some will naturally reason that the existance of any god, especially our Lord Jesus, is a lie, too. Or this is what you will get as a result....

Hmmm....sorry about the profanity; I suppose I could have hid it, but why? That's the world for you, in all of its obscene and dingy glory. And despite what many Christians claim, these false gods are the real reason for the celebrations carried out during the winter solstice season, not our Lord Jesus. This is what syncretism buys and sells: lies and confusion. Another proof against a December birth is that if Jesus was really 33 1/2 years old at the time of his crucifixion, as some teachers claim (during the March/April Passover), then simple math tells us that he was born around September/October, perhaps near the Feast of Tabernacles, and not December!

Birthday of the Sun god, December 25th!

Antiquity is replete with evidence that many idolatrous nations celebrated the birth of their sun god on or around the winter solstice, which is December 21st. The current date of December 25th was set by the Western, or Roman Catholic Church, by the afore mentioned Pope Julius 1. Justification for this date, which was well known to be used for the birthday of the god Mithras, was given by St. Augustine, when he stated: "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it." That's nice, but God doesn't rule by our reasoning, remember Aaron's syncretism debacle? Ancient civilizations had their own sun gods, and so there are many names for these false gods, but the one I will be focusing on is Saturn. What does the Bible have to say about this false god, if anything?

Who Is Sikkuth?

“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of Heaven's Armies."
Amos 5:25-27 ESV

Sikkuth, and Molech, and Kiyyun, and Remphan ( Amos 5:26/Acts 7:43) are all one in the same, the false god, Saturn. The planet Saturn was concidered to be a wondering star back in the olden days. And what do you know, the sun is a star too. What are the odds? Saturn is also considered to be a second sun, and the god is often portrayed as an old man with an hour glass and sythe -- that's right -- Father Time! In this verse, God doesn't seem to be too happy that the Children of Israel were worshiping this false god, or his wondering star. That very same star that is mentioned is none other than the six sided "Star of David." This is easily verifiable, if one is willing to search it out. God even told the children of Israel, and us, not to make an idol of the starts of heaven, so there is no excuse for their worship of Saturn, or a six pointed star that represents him. Incidentally, they are still carrying it on their left hand, forehead, and on their flag!

Knowing all of this, do we honestly have any excuse to celebrate the winter solstice under the pretense of it being Jesus' birthday? Some would say - "Yes," and even claim that Christians have liberty in Christ, and that no one should judge the celebrations of others if they mean it as unto the Lord -- this argument is based in the wrested Scriptures of Romans 14. 1 Corinthians chapters 8, 9, and 10, Colossians 2:16 and others. Well, in what way is God's sanctioned celebrations the same as pagan celebrations? Paul makes it clear that we are not to dine at both a demon's table and God's table. God told his people not to worship him in the same way that pagans worship their gods. So should we disobey God and worship him by hijacking pagan celebrations and "make it better" by tacking on godly decorations? Did we not just read about what God thought regarding Aaron's golden calf fiasco? When we do this kind of stuff, we give the enemies of the gospel "evidence" to "prove" that the God of the Bible is just another representation of ancient false gods. This is of course not true, the Almighty is NOT like other false gods, not even close!

Saturnalia

Not to beat a dead horse, but it is a well documented historical fact that winter solstice celebrations, such as Saturnalia, revolve around the worship of false sun and nature gods, in this case, Saturn, specifically. Roman Saturnalia was celebrated on December 17th, which marked the first day that the sign of Capricorn entered the house of Saturn. Capricorn is half goat and half fish, if my memory serves me correctly. Kind of a Pan/Dagon mix, if you will. I'm sure this has loads of pagan significance, but it's lost on me, and this treatise is long enough. Maybe that factoid will means something to one of my dear readers, who can expound upon that for the rest of us.

The revelry started out as a one day celebration, then moved up to a three day event, but then at a later date, the festivities continued up until December 23rd. Some Roman emperors such as Augustus and Caligula (of all people) actually tried to curtail the number of days, but the multitudes didn't like that very much. The mob likes their festivals, don't they? This winter solstice holy day was not limited to the Romans though. The Greeks had their own winter solstice celebration for Kronos, and before them, the Persians had one for Mithras called Zayeshmehr (Yalda) around the 5th century B.C., and the Babylonians had one for a female deity called Sheshach (Jeremiah 51:41), it was supposedly called Sakea, but I can't find much about it on the Interweb. Interstingly enough, a sun-god chariot wheel cult was mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11 that had chariots dedicated to the sun. Josiah burned them and got rid of the other abominations in Judah.

I have read that these early winter solstice celebrations to these false gods included master and slave role reversals, vegetal decor associated with fertility, feasting, drunkenness, sexual perversion, nude carolers, and even a slave, or child sacrifice was made on the last day. But what about now? Well, thanks to the Catholic Church, much of this unsavory behavior has been cleaned up, and given new meanings. The Christmas tree isn't a totem to a false god anymore, now it's a symbol of Christ's cross! The gift giving? Jesus' gift of salvation, of course! Eating pastry effigies of men, such as the gingerbread man? The Eucharist. Christmas caroling? Not in the nude any more, and there are even solemn and beautiful Christian songs besides the ones dedicated to red and white pajama clad Satan Claws. Oh, by the way, that's not St. Nicholas in the picture, that's really father time (or Saturn) with his demon goat pal Krampus. See how the bad little tyke is begging Krampus for forgiveness, while the good little girl is getting rewarded by Saturn? Creepy. I'll tell you what else I see. That bundle of sticks ol' Krampy is holding reminds me of the barsom bundle, or a branch of fragrant sticks that was held to ones nose. I know it's meant to be a flail here, but he is holding it close to his nose. See Ezekiel 8 for reference to that pagan custom.

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I've always wondered why Christ's Mass (i.e. Christmas), or the ritualistic, yet bloodless murder of "Jesus" at the hands of the Catholic priest, is the basis of Jesus' birthday celebration. Weird, huh? Knowing what we know about the pagan ritual of the death and rebirth of the sun god on winter solstice celebrations, maybe it's not such a big stretch of the imagination after all. The Catholic celebration of Christmas in nothing more than the "Christization" of winter solstice son god worship. The monstrance that Bela Lugosi is holding here, is the host of "Christ", which is really an idol of the sun, and a representation of the sun god himself. Their most holy icons we see in their religious relics are of Jesus as a baby on his mother's lap (Isis or Hathor holding Ra or Horis), and as a sun haloed man dying on the cross (Horis,Tammuz, Adonis, or Mithras, take your pick).

Early American Colonials Cancelled Christmas!

I'm not entirely a big fan of the Puritans, dear reader, but the Pilgrims? -- they seemed to be better people. Anyway, they both hated Christmas as they deemed it an idolatrous Popeish holy day; I mean look at that monstrance image above, and the Krampus/St. Nick (another name for Satan, by the way) card, is it any wonder why? Christians would do well to learn why both the Pilgrims, and the Puritans made Christmas illegal in the United States for hundreds of years, until more immigrants settled here with their pagan Christmas traditions and eventually over ruled those laws. Shocking, isn't it?

Let's be honest, Satan has worked very hard to make Christmas very festive, and therefore, very hard for our flesh to resist! Beautiful sparkling lights and decorations, jolly music, special foods and drinks -- presents! Just because something is fun, and gratifying to our flesh, that doesn't give us license to attach God to it, in an attempt to justify it. We must resist what devilish delights that the world has to offer us. Let's be honest, does the world really love Jesus enough to celebrate his birth? No, they love the guy who works miracles, but they don't love the man who tells them they are sinners in need of a Savior. Jesus said that the world loves their own, and that the world hates him. It makes no sense whatsoever for the world to celebrate Jesus' birth. And since winter solstice celebrations are much older than the Christianized version of Saturnalia, well, it's obvious who's really deceived here. The pagans called; they want their winter solstice holy day back!

Doing What's Right In Our Own Eyes

By doing what is right in our own eyes, many Christians are doing exactly what the multitude did at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Not a good place to be dear reader -- we must never do what is right in our own eyes, or blindly follow the multitude, or even allow the clergy to marry God to a harlot. Need I say why? It may surprise some Christians that Satanists have a similar mentality and it goes like this: "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of The Law." Are we going to continue to follow the crowd because it's easier, and gratifies our fallen flesh, or are we going to allow the truth of God's word set us free from the bonds of sin and death? That cross we should be bearing isn't a fashion accessory, it means something.

I'm sure I'll get the inevitable insult from some that I'm a Grinch, or a Scrooge, or even that I'm being legalistic, to which I always say to the last sentiment, "Thank you! It's better than being a lawless syncretist! " Jesus never used that term "legalistic" by the way, he called the Pharisees hypocrites. "Legalistic" is nothing more than a man made word hurled at someone attempting to expose their hypocrisy. Another threat I usually get is Matthew 7:1, that I'm not allowed to judge anyone, lest I be judged. I have nothing to fear from that Scripture, since I'm not a hypocrite. I've taken the Saturnalia plank out of my eye, and now I seek to remove the "Christmas" speck from the eyes of others. If they want to blink and keep the speck in, well, that's their decision.

This is a very serious subject, and to be honest, I've only scratched the surface. The truth is never easy to say, or do. Even so, we must decide whom we will serve, and I hope this post has given some of us a little food for thought, which I hope will give way to action. I encourage you to see if what I say is so. Don't just look for justification websites that say Christmas is godly, look at the pagan's side of the argument, as they are the best resource on paganism. Some are amused by the hypocrisy, but the more devout pagans are not in the least bit happy that Christians have robbed their winter solstice temple and stolen their gods and have the nerve to link Jesus to the whole thing. They are deeply offended that hypocritical Christians tell them that they paganized their Christian holy day. In that, believe it or not, they are more righteous.

As always, do your own careful research, but let God's word be your final word on the subject. Amen!

1 Comment

Atonement Vs. Reconciliation?

2/26/2016

4 Comments

Written by Heather Zubiate

started out searching on the internet regarding the subject of heresy itself, but as a wanderer (which means that I start out on a subject, but somehow end up on another) I found myself focusing on the subject of atonement and reconciliation. And as usual, I am amazed by the amount of misunderstanding, if not down right heretical stuff floating around out there regarding this fundamental core doctrine. But first, I feel compelled to pose some questions....

Why do so many Christians misunderstand simple doctrines?
Why do Christians try to put their own (or a new) "spin" on fundamental core teachings?

I want us all to really understand that Satan knows Scripture. He has to, in order to twist it. He and his dupes accomplish their dastardly deed of mangling Scripture in many ways.

Scripture is quoted word for word, but the meaning is taken out of context and even skewed to an extreme.
Scriptures (God's own words) are misquoted or partially quoted in order to get you to doubt what you know, or to exploit a half truth, or lie you accepted as truth.
Scripture is added to (or words will be removed) in order to introduce, or support a false teaching.
Scripture is interpreted in such a way that the interpreter's own ideas, bias, or the like, are expressed rather than God's meaning of the text; a process that is called eisegesis, and is not to be confused with exegesis, which is the proper way to interpret Scripture.
Exegetical interpretation techniques are used incompletely and/or inconsistently.

These sly and shifty tactics can be used on their own, or can be combined in order to dupe the Lord's flock. What's a poor sheep to do against such crafty wickedness? Simple! Read and reread the Bible in its entirety for yourself! If we reject the knowledge that we have been given in God's word, then what hope do we have of identifying a hidden enemy to keep us from being destroyed? We don't! And if that isn't bad enough, when we reject the knowledge of Scripture that can keep us from perishing, then God will reject us! Ouch!

Hear the word of the LORD [Yahovah], ye children of Israel: for the LORD [Yahovah] hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Hosea 4:1 [emphasis mine]
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6 [emphasis mine]

In this passage, the priest are in trouble again for lying to the people, and as a result, the people are being destroyed. The knowledge that the priests forgot, which Yahovah (the LORD) speaks of, is the law of God, or Scripture. Not only do modern pastors and teachers give the wrong information about God's word to his sheep, most Christians don't even read their Bibles on a regular basis; they seem to forget about it. Now most of us know that Satan and his minions (willing agents, or dupes) will usurp the authority of God's word (that they've corrupted) and then inject their poisoned heresy (like how a virus bypasses the wall of its host cell) into the mind of the unsuspecting listener... or do we? Yes, even though Jesus and his apostles warned us over and over that there would be wolves disguised in sheep's clothing mingling with the flock (hoping to go unnoticed), apparently their disguise and method work so well, that despite the warning, many of us fall for their ruse! I know this because there are many Christians who think that everyone who says they are a Christian must be one, but they aren't, because Jesus said so!

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23 [emphasis mine]

Dear reader, Jesus told us the truth here, that just because someone says they are a Christian, and may even do godly things in his name, that doesn't mean they are in fact his sheep. And just because someone uses Scripture in an effort to prove their theology, that doesn't mean they rightly divided the word of truth, or that what they say is so. There are false prophets and false teachers, deceitful workers, and many Anti-Christs in the world, all of which use Scripture in order to deceive their prey. [ Isa 8:19-20, Acts 20:30-32, 2Pet.2:1-3] That is why the word of God must be read by the individual, and then interpreted correctly, according the Almighty's point of view, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, not some faith guru, false spirit, or angel.

Any point of view other than God's is wrong, and must be corrected. How? With Scripture! A true spiritually reborn person will have the mind of Christ in them, and they will only accept sound doctrine, or God's word, over and above the false teachings of men, but only when they search Scripture in a critical manner. When all of Scripture [2 Tim.3:16-17]refutes a few " key verses" of men's theology, then guess who's wrong -- the men are wrong! I have found time and time again that if a teaching isn't in the Old Testament, then it won't be in the New Testament!

Okay, getting back to the subject at hand: atonement and reconciliation -- sorry for the detour, but I had to lay some ground work first.

Like I said earlier, the reason I'm writing this post is because I ran into a particular website where the writer claims that there is a difference between Old Testament atonement and New Testament reconciliation. He even goes so far as to claim that the KJV translators wrongly used the word atonement instead of his preferred word reconciliation in Romans 5:11. Is this true? Well, let's see if what he says is so!

Is There A Difference?

There are those who would like us to believe that there is a difference between atonement and reconciliation. However, according to Scripture (and lexicons, and dictionaries) there is absolutely no difference between the meanings of the words atonement and reconciliation. None. Zip. Zilch. They are synonyms. That means they are the same, and contrary to what heretic David J. Stewart of www.jesus-is-savior.com says, both words are used interchangeably and are therefore found in the Old and New Testaments. Here is a sample of his Scriptural eisegesis:

The only mention of the Word "atonement" in the New Testament is in Romans 5:11, and is a mistranslation. It should be the word "reconciliation."

Now, he is right that Romans 5:11 is the only verse in the KJV that has katallage translated as atonement, but I would like to know why he thinks there is a mistranslation here. What?...just because it's the only verse that uses a different word, that alone automatically means it's been mistranslated? There are a LOT of Hebrew and Greek words that use several English words to define it, yet use one of those words only once in the text. For instance, the Hebrew word kaphar is translated as atonment (71x)! It is also translated as cleansed (1x), disannulled (1x), appeased (1x), put off (1x), pardon (1x),and pitch (1x). So are all of the other (1x) words mistranslations for this word too? Well if that is so, then he's in trouble, because he mentions the "pitch" translation of kaphar to back up his rant. Or perhaps this is a simple matter of inconvenience for him to have Rom. 5:11 translated as atonement, in the KJV since it screws up his (faulty) theology. Now let's look at his own incriminating words regarding heretics:

Usually, the heretics will just take a few words out of this Scripture, failing to quote the entire Verse.

This is true, but I would also add that heretics and false teachers usually only quote one verse that (they feel) fits their theology while ignoring the verses above and below their "key" verse. However, when the "key" verse is put back and read properly, the point that was made with it often goes against the context of the surrounding verses, the entire chapter, and the entire Bible. Those who do this kind of stuff have now paddled out into the treacherous waters of eisegesis, and left the safe harbor of exegesis. People like David J. Stewart for example. Now let's see what Scripture has to say for itself.

Here is a list of Scriptures from the KJV, which was heavily influenced by William Tyndale's awesome work of translating Hebrew and Greek Scripture. William Tyndale was no scholarly slouch. He was fluent in Hebrew and Greek, and several other languages. He also had a passion for getting God's word to the people of England. So if he translated a word a certain way, you can rest assured that it was the best word possible to convey the Hebrew and Greek meaning. And so, the KJV uses the English word reconciliation to translate the Hebrew verb kaphar [kah-far] Strong's H3722 as we see here:

Reconciliation: Lev 8:15, Eze 45:15,  Eze 45:17,  Dan 9:24.

Kaphar [H3722] is also translated as meaning atonement in the next few Scriptures. I say few, because I didn't list them all, there are 60 to 70 more.
Atonement: Exo 29:33,  Lev 1:4,  Num 5:8,  2Sa 21:3,  1Ch 6:49,  2Ch 29:24,  Neh 10:33.
Again, all of these Scriptures using reconciliation and atonement are in the Old Testament.

Now let's look at the New Testament. The English words reconciliation, and reconciling and atonement are  used to define the Greek word katallage [kah-tahl-lah-gay] Strong's G2643.

Reconciliation: 2Co 5:18,  2Co 5:19, Reconciling:  Rom 11:15
Atonement: Rom 5:11

Do I really need to give any dictionary proofs that these two words are synonyms? Surely you can look that up on your own. I mean, even the Strong's definition legend has the words as synonyms, see here?: καταλλαγή katallagḗ, kat-al-lag-ay'; from G2644; exchange (figuratively, adjustment), i.e. restoration to (the divine) favor:--atonement, reconciliation(-ing).

Despite the assertions of the heretic David J. Stewart, this Scriptural evidence crystal clearly means that atonement and reconciliation are synonyms; they mean the same thing in Hebrew, Greek, and English, so there is no mistranslation, just a preference on the translators part. Remember, if it's not in the Old Testament, then it won't be in the New Testament. I think I have adequately shown that both the Hebrew word kaphar and the Greek word katallage are translated in English to mean both atonement and reconciliation. So all of those out there that try to make them different need to stop. S.T.O.P. already! And those who try to say one or both of these words aren't in both Testaments need to stop too, because they're wrong for saying so! Honestly, this is not difficult.

Anyway, Stewart's faulty reasoning is that atonement itself (i.e."an Old Testament word" in his opinion) wasn't good enough to forgive sin, because it only covered up sin, is not completely correct. But let's take a look at what he says, then we'll see what Scripture has to say.

Furthermore, atonement is an Old Testament word. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4); BUT, only cover (atone) for those sins. Look up the Greek word for "atonement" and you will see that it means "to cover." Interestingly, this is the same Hebrew word used for the "pitch" used to cover Noah's ark. Thus, the blood of the Old Testament animal sacrifices only temporarily atoned for the sins of the people. In contrast, Jesus' blood sacrifice didn't atone for our sins; BUT, rather, TOOK OUR SINS AWAY (Hebrews 9:12).

I've already shown that atonement isn't just an Old Testament word. And kaphar doesn't just mean "to cover," it can also mean to propitiate, to atone, or to pacify. Interestingly enough, even though many of kaphar's definitions contain the words "to cover" in them, the actual word cover itself is never used in Scripture for kaphar. But because it is used to help define the word, it's obvious once more, that cover is another synonym to both atonement and reconciliation. As far as his request for the reader to look up the Greek (the language of the New Testament) word for "atonement,?" Wow! If that isn't him inadvertently admitting he's full of hot air about the word atonement not even being a New Testament word, then I'm the Queen of England!

Also, see how he mentions the "pitch" definition in the quote? Well, according to www.blue
letterbible.org's lexicon, it was only used once, so by his own flaky translation criteria, it must be mistranslated.

He further asserts that Jesus' blood didn't atone for our sin; but rather, TOOK OUR SINS AWAY. Well, what does atone mean if not take them away, as in forgive them? Part of the Day of Atonement ceremony involved the scapegoat, which took away the sins of Israel on its head, out into the wilderness [Lev.16:22]. He singles out Hebrews 10:4 to make his point that the O.T. atonement wasn't enough to remove sin, therefore atonement is not in the N.T. This is not correct. The point the author wants to make is clear (when we read all of the chapter) is that the O.T. atonement offerings were not meant to cleans us from all sin forevermore. They were a shadow of the atonement to come, that of Jesus flesh (symbolized by the veil in the holy of hollies). If only David had read the entire chapter of Hebrews 10! And Hebrews 9:6-11, and 13 - 14 for that matter! Let's do that shall we?

6 Now when these things were thus ordained [first covenant ordinances v.1-5], the priests went always into the first [outer room of the]tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second [inner room]went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the [inner]holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience [of the inner man];
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, [external regulations] imposed on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [as opposed to daily and yearly redemption] for us.

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the [outside of the] unclean, sanctifieth [make holy] to the purifying of the flesh [outer man]:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience [inner man]from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:6-14 [emphasis mine] Hebrews 9:6-14

This is what happens (David) when verses are taken out of context to prove a preconceived notion; we get bad and even heretical teaching. So as we can clearly read in the above Scriptures, the first covenant, which Israel constantly broke, was a temporary outer cleansing, or atonement for sin, not an eternal inner atonement of the conscience. Nevertheless, both covenants, or testaments deal with sin via atonement. In Hebrews 10 says much the same thing, and I encourage you to read the entire chapter for yourself. In Hebrews 10, the writer also makes it clear that Jesus' fulfillment of God's plan for atonement now meant he would write his laws in our hearts and in our minds, not just on some tablets, or book. But you have to read Scripture in order for it to be written in your mind and in your heart: the Bible truly is a great gift to us, so let's not neglect it like David J. clearly does.

What Does Atonement/Reconciliation Mean For The Believer?

This doctrine is very important to the Christian faith! The purpose of atonement/reconcil-iation is to bring the sinner close to God by removing their sin, because sin separates us for our Holy God. But thanks to the reconciling sacrifice of Jesus, we can now be at-one-ment with God, with no sin separating, or coming between us. So simple! Now the pivotal question here is: "What atones, or reconciles us back to God?" That is also easy to answer! "Is it money?" No. "Is it works?" Uh uh. It 's the shedding of blood, but not just any ol' blood atones for sin. In the Old Testament, it was the blood of spotless and blemish free clean animals such as sheep, goats, and oxen. No unclean animals such as dogs, pigs or camels were allowed, nor were human sacrifices acceptable, or even demanded by the Almighty to atone for sin.

However, as we read in Hebrews 9: 9,12; the blood of these clean animals was only enough to cleanse the outside filth of the sinner, but not enough to cleanse the conscience, or inside of the sinner. Moses' law of daily and yearly sacrifice was a temporary fix, and was meant to be a type and a shadow to show of better things to come, and to show (the faithless of) Israel they needed a more permanent solution to sin. That they needed a Suffering Servant and Savior, and even a faithful high priest after the order of Melchizedek who would bring the spirit of the law, instead of a priest according to Aaron and the letter of the law.

Now enter the New Testament! However, the law of Moses was still enforced until Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God on the cross. Meaning, Old Testament animal sacrifices were still required and performed prior to that glorious event, as recorded in the New Testament gospels. Jesus alone was the one and only acceptable sacrifice that was made unto God for the once and for all atonement/reconciliation offering for sin. That is what Paul meant when he said Jesus was our propitiation (kaphar : 1,b,i piel: to cover* over, pacify*, propitiate*), he was our atonement sacrifice sprinkled on God's mercy seat. Therefore, once we (the sinner) hear the gospel and believe (or have faith) that Jesus is the Son of God slain for us, and accept by faith, Jesus' extraordinary free gift of blood atonement for sin, then we are saved (redeemed and justified). PERIOD! That's it! We are now cleansed on the inside and made into new creations! That is what makes Jesus' sacrifice, his life's blood, far better than that of the blood of animals.
*(I would like to point out to David J. Stewart, that when a group of words are used in a definition, that means they are synonymous with one another.)

We cannot be saved from sin by doing good works anymore than the Israelites could be saved by the works of the law. The law condemned them every time they broke it, and any human "good works" are filthy rags compared to God's incredibly high moral standard. We are saved by our faith that Jesus' sinless blood is sufficient to wipe away our sin. What all this simply means is the imperfect blood atonement of the Old Testament was fulfilled by the perfect blood atonement of the New Testament.

Incredibly, Stewart seeks to make a difference between atonement and reconciliation when there is none. Why? I have no idea! Well, I think it is because he is refuting the Seventh Day Adventist heresy of "Investigative Judgement," which is yet another atonement heresy. And he does a good job, but while David is correct in saying that the atoning Old Testament blood sacrifices were not enough to completely remove sin, he seems to miss the point that the principle behind blood atonement remains the same, that it is the only way God will cover (forgive) or remove sin. This is worth repeating: while the Old Testament blood sacrifices were a foreshadowing of what was to come, we see the fulfillment of the final atonement of Jesus' perfect blood sacrifice in the New Testament. Atonement itself isn't the issue; it's what kind of blood sacrifice that is used for atonement, that's the issue here.

Therefore, even though the blood sacrifices differ by type, the principle and function of the atonement sacrifice in both Testaments is the same: the forgiveness of sin. Jesus' blood not only cleansed the heavenly sanctuary, but it also cleansed us on the inside and was the once and for all, never to be offered up again, and that is what make eternal redemption possible. So now we no longer have to offer any kind of blood sacrifice to God. Yay Jesus!

So it would seem that heretic David J. Stewart of www.jesus-is-savior.com, in his well intended,
all be it erroneous effort of refuting the SDA's false teaching of "Investigative Judgement," has thrown the baby out with the bath water. False prophetess Ellen G. White had to conjure up the lie of "Investigative Judgement" in order to save their cult from the false prophecy of Baptist minister William Miller, who dared to say that Jesus' return would be in 1844. Do you see how more lies are needed to cover up other lies? Dear reader, Satan's spin machine never changes.

Just because SDA's teach a falsehood about a New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament atonement, that doesn't mean we can completely remove Jesus' work of atonement form the New Testament altogether, and make up a dippy heretical teaching in order to distance true Christian atonement from heresy. "Has Jesus removed (i.e. atoned, covered/forgiving, propitiated, reconciled, remitted) our sin completely?" Yes! I'ts a done deal! "Are we now completely free from the act of sinning?" Yes and no. While the believer no longer has a hell bent will, or desire, to sin; nor do we long to enjoy its fleeting pleasures, we do however still have to deal with our sinful flesh in this fallen world; alas! we are still susceptible to sin. The only difference is that now we have God's will in us in order to help resist sin, and if we should succumb to sin, we have a faithful High Priest in Jesus, who personally knows our weaknesses, and continually inter-cedes on our behalf with the Father. Since he is the final propitiation (or atonement) to God for our sin, now we don't have to wait for a priest to slaughter an animal daily to purify our outer man, or a high priest to yearly cleans our outer man from all unrighteousness. We now confess them to Jesus, the one who cleanses the inner man of sin forever!
What a Savior he is! Amen!

P.S. David J. Stewart, I urge you to stop being a heretic, and confess your sins to Jesus, and turn away from them. And then actually start reading the Bible that you claim to defend! Until then, I hope no one actually takes what you say as gospel truth, because you will be held accountable for it.

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The Multitudes Claim: "Jesus is the reason for the season."

Communion, Not Christmas

Keeping Jesus Out Of ChristMASS

God Hates Syncretism

The Self-Styled "Spiritually Mature" Christian

The World Hates Jesus, But It Loves Christmas

Persecution Comes To Those Who Obey Jesus

Tradition Trumps Orthodoxy

The Inerrancy & Infallibility Issue

Human Errors?

God Dictated To Anointed, Yet Foreign, Men

Concerning Translation Issues

Riding On The Train of God's Robe

God's Message In His Word Is True!

The Witness of Deuteronomy 30 & 31 Is True

A Matter of Faith

What is "dominion"?

World Conquerers For Christ?

In The Beginning

Dominion In Israel

Zechariah's Vision

The Lord Jesus' Dominion

Dominion in the New Testament

God's Sword vs. Man's Sword

God The Creator

God The Redeemer & Savior

God The Shepherd

God The King

God The "I AM" & "I AM He"

God First & Last

God The Rock

God Is Coming

Wisdom of The Masses?

True Biblical Worship

Is The Christmas Celebration In Scripture?

The Mythology of Santa Clause

Birthday of the Sun god, December 25th!

Who Is Sikkuth?

Saturnalia

Early American Colonials Cancelled Christmas!

Doing What's Right In Our Own Eyes

Is There A Difference?

What Does Atonement/Reconciliation Mean For The Believer?

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