Newsletter: 2007-02 On the 10th day… GOD Test.

Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

"...On the tenth day of this month
every man shall take for himself a lamb...,
Your lamb shall be without blemish,
a male of the first year." - Exodus 12:3-5

The Spring Holy Days will be starting officially on the 14^th day of the 1^st month and I call the whole season of Biblical Holy Days our CREATOR’S Spiritual Opera, or YHWH’s higher spiritual lessons. Sadly most religions have turned their faith into ceremony and they miss most of YHWH’s spiritual meaning. All the Biblical Holy Days of Lev.ch.23 are visual representations of the higher spiritual world leading a-l-l humanity from our present dark and evil chaos to our CREATOR’S eternity; and how to live a GODly life in this evil world.

Please remember these are not Jewish holy days, and observing them is not done for salvation. These are YHWH’s Ordained Holy Days, and we observe them out of love and respect for our CREATOR and HIS Covenant with us (1Jno.5:3). The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that there is a time for everything. These days, beginning with YHWH'S New Year, are a busy time of spiritual reflection, and making preparations for the start of the new years Holy Days. Those preparations begin on the 10^th day. (The 10^th day of Abib this year is Friday March 30th.)

In ancient times the preparations on the 10^th day began when the Hebrews were required to choose their sacrificial lamb for the Passover. Choosing their lamb for the Passover sacrifice was a very painstaking process. They were instructed to choose a lamb "without blemish" which would require very close and careful examination, almost to the point of looking it over with a magnifying glass, to be sure of its quality (Exo.12:3-5).

Test YHWH-GOD

The Biblical analogy is, that on this day we are to test GOD. YHWH is admonishing us to look HIM over - very carefully, ask questions, dicker a little, if you have the chutzpah (Gen.18:22-33). Unlike the pagan religions that demand mute obedience and blind faith, YHWH clearly challenges a-l-l, humans, Angels, or otherwise, to prove or disprove that HIS way is the best way for a-l-l the citizens of the Kingdom to live. Over the years I have read a fair amount of history, and religion, I do not recall anywhere in the pagan or secular world were their leadership or deity commands the people to test them. Mostly if you open up your mouth to question them you would get your head lopped off. But here YHWH invites inspection and respectful comments.

The question is how do you really prove GOD exists? If you test somebody, first one must recognize the fact that that person exists. Proving that the one and only, the most powerful GOD exists, has been a thorny question that humankind has debated since the beginning of time. As always, the Bible has the simple answer, if one has the ears to hear.

"...I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning.
And from ancient times
things that are not yet done..."
- Isaiah 46:9-10

Prophecy validates the Bible, and proves the existence of our CREATOR. There are approximately 10,835 prophecies in the Bible, some are of curses and punishments, some are of blessings and redemption, and they are of two types, fulfilled, and unfulfilled. The fulfilled ones we learn from, and the unfulfilled ones are the ones we are watching for.

Prophecy should lead us to YAHWEH. Prophecy reminds us that YAHWEH’S Hand is in control of the course of humanities history. Prophecy assures us that good will triumph over evil, and it gives us hope for a future peaceful and just world. Prophecy tells us beyond the injustice of today, and wars of tomorrow, that there is good news in the future. Log on to learn more: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c9_prophecy.htm

Test YHWH’s Messiah

The major element in YHWH’s plan for redeeming HIS Creation is HIS Messiah. It is no coincidence that on this 10^th day, what has now become know as Palm Sunday in the Christian world, YHWH sent HIS Son Yahshua/Jesus to present himself to the Jews and the general audience, as the Messiah. Yahshuas’ doctrine that every life was precious, in an empire where human life was held so trivial, was a powerful idea and a welcome message. Log on: http://www.homeworship101.com/bb-c7b_are_you_the_messiah_ministry.htm

Let us remember, in Yahshua’s time, on an average high Holy Day, Jerusalem swelled to nearly five times its normal population of 125,000. Some Roman records show up to 1,250,000 people, some from very far places, would come to the city for Passover. The city was crowded with visitors who would witness the unfolding events that the holy season would bring.

“The ain’t makin’ Jews like Jesus anymore.”

Most have a romantic remembrance of the Palm Sunday event. It was a stunning time. Just as the Prophets foretold, Yahshua rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (Mat.21:1-11; Zec.9:9). As He rode in, the people called out “Hosanna,” which means in Hebrew “save us.” The people of Jerusalem thought that He would deliver them from the cruelty of Roman bondage. They shouted praises to YAHWEH - HalleluYAH! - for the miracles they had seen Yahshua do. They treated Him like a conquering king.

Most missed the subtle symbolism. On this same day, the Jews were carefully choosing their sacrificial lambs "without blemish.” By analogy, the followers of Yahshua were to examine Him and His is teachings of the Kingdom very carefully to be sure of the quality of His simple spiritual truths. And Yahshua’s simple truths are rooted in HIS FATHER’S Words.

In the Book of John, when Yahshua witnessed the Gospel to Nicodemus a Pharisee, he could not understand Yahshuas’ plainness of speech (Jon.3:1-21). He also admonished them for not being able to see the signs, “You look but can’t see; you listen but do not hear . . .,” (Mat.13:13; Luk.6:42).

Many say Yahshua did away with the Old Testament, but nothing could be further from the truth. He was YHWH’s perfect teacher and His New Covenant teachings were based on the Torah, and the Prophets (Heb.8:8-10). He was a believer and teacher extraordinaire of the literal understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, a-l-l the Sacred Scriptures, including the Prophets. Many of His lessons reflected this, for example, He quoted the Book of Deuteronomy over 130 times. He was a Master of His FATHER’S Words recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. No Lawyer of the Temple, no priest or rabbi, could argue with Him. Even at twelve years old He could intellectually confer with the Temple priests (Luk.2:41-50).

Make-no-mistake, Yahshua of Nazareth was the only man to fulfill to the letter over 200 Scriptural prophecies, many were predicted some 1,000 years in advance of His life. Every single messianic prophecy of the Hebrew Bible was precisely fulfilled by the life of Yahshua, in a literal, common sense way. And there are over 300 prophecies in the New Testament of Yahshua's second coming as the conquering-redeeming Messiah – which gives us hope for the future. The prophecies surrounding His trial and death are so accurate that critics have argued that the accounts must have been written after the event. But that lasted only until the discovery of Dead Sea Scrolls which recorded the words of Isaiah 53:1,3,7,12 at least 250 years before Yahshua’s birth and could have not been added to the Book of Isaiah after the life of Yahshua.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
...Serpents, brood of vipers!
How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”
- Matthew 23:29-33

Many seem to forget, Yahshua had a prickly side to Him. He often irritated the religious leadership. The point often missed is that Yahshua was also a religious reformer (Mat.3:7, 5:20, 7:6-13, 22:15-46, 23:1-36; Luk.11:37-54, 18:9-14; Jno.8:44). A point is that His church is not a church of potted plants; we should test the priests we follow.

As the reformer Yahshua challenged the orthodoxy. No one had ever before denounced the priests and Pharisees, or dared to question the doctrine of the elders. He expertly quoted the Prophets as He strongly rebuked Judaism’s stiff-necked religious hierarchy - the establishment religionists who never lived the righteous life. They were corrupt. They were blind guides. They were play-actors, and did not live according to the spirit of the Law (Mat.3:7, 5:20, 23:1-36; Luk.11:37-54, 18:9-14; Jno.8:44).

Yahshua challenged the doctrines of the scribes and rabbis, telling them bluntly that they did not know the Scriptures (Mat.22:29). At least eight times Yahshua scornfully denounced them for being legalistic and fourteen times for being hypocritical. They were excellent in reading and quoting Scripture, to keep the people on a tight leash, but in practice they themselves disobey by following their own ritualized customs.

Yahshua strongly scolded them because they were always bitter and constantly finding faults, tearing everyone apart. This, the “holier than thou” crowd, by their own attitude, promoted bigotry, prejudice and hatred. He showed them that their religious worship was mere ritual, with emphasis on minor details, “while ignoring the weightier matters of the Law,” such as “justice, mercy and faith.” He taught that the motive of the heart was important, not just the outward action (Mat.23:1-23).

Yahshua chastised them for the many traditions they added to YAHWEH’S Law, making the Law a hardship on the people. The religious authorities pretend to love you, but in reality they just want to hold you hostage. The Pharisees slowly gained power over Jewish society, by being the overseers of the many elaborate and intricate Jewish oral laws that they required the people to live by. These “traditions of men,” in an effort to micro manage the people, only burden the community, and has reduced righteousness to mere ceremonialism of outward splendor (Mar.7:6-13). YAHWEH calls HIS people to unity, not uniformity. The simple - common sense - Laws of YAHWEH do not enslave people, it sets them free!

The Christians have their problems too with their traditions of men. We often hear from the Christians that all we have to do is believe in Jesus – donate to their church - and we will be saved. If only it were that easy. Yahshua clearly said not all who call me Lord would be saved (Mat.7:20-23). And if one reads Yahshua’s message to the seven churches (Rev.ch.2-3), only one out of seven, and one possible maybe, makes the grade. It’s not just talking the talk, but we have walk the walk Mark 7:6-13.

“And Jesus answered and said to them:
“Take heed that no one deceives you.
For many will come in My name,
saying, ‘I am the Christ,’
and will deceive many.” - Matthew 24:5

Why is all this important? Because sometime in the future, almost tomorrow, an evil and cunning, charismatic man will arise to deceive the world. He will arise from the governments of man and claim himself to be god. The Bible faithful know him as the anti-Christ, but the Biblically illiterate world will call him god. He is a counterfeit god, and he will counterfeit YHWH’s rule, messianic prophecies, and Holy Days. During his final rise to power he will use these upcoming Holy Days to solidify his godhood position to the world beginning on Passover, and cause the most dreadful time in humanities history called the Time of Jacobs Trouble or the last 3½ years of the Tribulation era.

“Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men
but in the power of God” - 1Corinthians 2:5

REMEMBER: On this day, YHWH is teaching humanity be to critical thinkers. Question your spiritual teachers and leaders! Wisdom is based on the foundation of the Bible as opposed to spontaneous logic which is built on sand and will not stand the test of time - test everything, and consider carefully what you accept as spiritual everlasting truth – lest it leads you into damnation (Mark 4:24; Acts 17:11).

Teach no other doctrine,
nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies,
which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart,
from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.
- 1 Timothy 1:3-6

Enjoy the journey of learning…

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Take care. Peace and blessings, Errol.
**********************************************
Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2007-02, posted 03/28/07.

Copyright © 2007 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
For information, email or call toll free (877) 375-7878. White Stone Communications, Dothan, AL.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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On the 10th Day... GOD-Test