It seems that God’s people do have at least one
thing in accord: most believe that judgment is at the door! Whether Christians, Jews, Muslims, or those
in the “other” category (all that have Abraham as a starting point for their
faith) seem to see the “signs” all around them (worldwide) and sense something
is getting ready to happen. How that
judgment will come, exactly when it will come, what it will look like, and how
to escape it, this is where the divide begins.
But maybe all these faiths could just read what God says in Isaiah
24:1-6 and remember that God declares the end from the beginning.
Behold,
YHVH maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down,
and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
And it shall be, as the people, so with the priest; as with the servant,
so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer,
so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker
of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for YHVH hath
spoken this word. The earth mourneth and
fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the
earth do languish. The earth also is
defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the
laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,
and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the
earth are burned, and few men left.
Observations
from Scripture:
Note that right there in the passage, for all of us to see for centuries, is the “REASON” this judgment will happen to them (us) in the last days (see section above which I underlined). Also note that “all the earth” (not just Israel) is defiled for:
1) not keeping the instructions of God found in His laws;
2) for changing His ordinances; and
3) for breaking His everlasting covenant.
Questions:
1) If these are the “reasons” that YHVH will come
to judge the earth, and we have His Word on the reasons, shouldn’t teachers of
Scripture be pleading with all of us to repent of these errors?
2) Since
the warning in these verses of Scripture is also “to the priest” (teachers and
those who proclaim the word) shouldn’t these same teachers first repent
themselves if they are not teaching others accordingly?
3) Shouldn’t
all those who claim to be followers of God seek deeply in His Scriptures to
know what His laws, His ordinances, and His everlasting covenant are and how to
apply them quickly to their lives to get right with Him before He comes?
Word
Study:
Let’s look at some of the words in this warning from
God with the hearts desire to seek His ways over our ways, or the ways we were
taught, putting away bias and letting His word define itself.
We must first look at the word “laws” and define
it. The Hebrew word in that passage is “Torah”
(Strong’s 8451) and is defined as God’s instructions and understood to refer
specifically to the first 5 Books in Scripture.
These form the foundation for all other Scripture which comes
afterwards, and therefore all other Scripture must reconcile or not conflict
with these foundations. They (the Torah)
by God’s own word define what “Good Doctrine” actually is.
For
I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law (Torah - Strongs 8451) Proverbs
4:2
I believe these are also what we are being directed
back to in the warning from Jeremiah 6:16-19
Thus
saith YHVH, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you saying, Hearken
to the sound of the trumpet, But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation,
what is among them. Hear, O earth:
behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts,
because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my laws (Torah), but
rejected it. Jeremiah 6:16-19
Realize you in the last days will fulfill this;
whether you turn to the old paths, or haughtily reject them. Note that His actual watchmen are the ones
that are calling people back to His Torah.
Sadly, many considered “watchmen” today are themselves rejecting the call
back to the Torah themselves. They themselves
“will not hearken” to many who are trying to turn His people back to His old
paths.
Another word in the passage is ordinances, which is
the Hebrew word “choq” (Strong’s 2706) defined as: an enactment, hence and
appointment of time, space, quantity, labor, or usage. These are also found within the Torah. The appointed times of YHVH are therefore
easily found in Leviticus 23 for those who want to know YHVH’s calendar and
leave behind man’s. The ordinances
include many other aspects as well, and can be expanded into a whole other
paper, but for now know that the Torah is full of ordinances that can be kept
by those that love God and His ways, more than their own ways.
Discussion
so far:
So far we have addressed the aspect of the Torah and
Ordinances, at least to understand that these are available to anyone who seeks
to obey YHVH in his heart. One can
merely repent from doing things their own way; or how they were taught, and
read the Torah with its ordinance and apply them as they read them. There are most certainly others that are
doing the same that can helpful on this journey of faith, His faith. If I can be of
help, let me know at ministerwya@aol.com
So
what is The Everlasting Covenant?
So what is this everlasting covenant and how does
one enter into it? Again, let us look to
the beginning of the Torah. After
everything was “very good” in the garden, man sinned by not following a simple
command to “not eat of the tree in the midst of the garden”. This did not catch YHVH off guard, as He had
the solution to the problem already planned from the foundation of the word:
the lamb of YHVH slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).
Mankind is locked “in time”; however, our heavenly
Father is outside of time. The Messiah
of the whole world is YHVH’s only begotten Son, the One “slain before the
foundations of the world” (Rev. 13:8). By His blood we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin.
But how did man enter into this? Abraham was willing to offer up his son
Issac; but once YHVH saw that Abraham had faith to do what YHVH said, He
stopped him and provided himself a sacrifice (Genesis 22). Remember that to YHVH, His Son Yeshua (Jesus)
was “already slain from the foundations of the world” but to Abraham; the
crucifying of Yeshua was not even known of yet, as it was still over a thousand
years away. That fact of “time” was not
critical to YHVH as He see’s the end from the beginning.
The Scripture defines “saints” in Psalm 50 this way:
Gather
my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice. Psalm 50:5
Notice that we, to be His saints, must enter in to “His
covenant” (His everlasting covenant) by sacrifice. The word sacrifice is the Hebrew word “Zebach”
(Strong’s 2077) which involves the slaughtering of something (shedding of its
blood).
Now go back to beginning and consider the first
problem of sin entering the world. The
soul that sins shall die. “All have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:23) and hundreds of other
Scriptures define man’s separation from God and his need to be redeemed from
sin.
YHVH’s solution was to allow His only begotten Son,
Yeshua the Messiah, to die in our place as a substitute; just as YHVH provided Abraham
a substitute for Issac. Though people
groups fight over which son was offered up, they should not get caught up in
the fighting, but rather look towards the One that was sacrificed in place of
Abraham’s son; because their own (our own) salvation can be found in none other
than Yeshua, YHVH’s own Son.
Conclusion:
Entering Into YHVH’s Covenant:
Repent of your sins and turn yourself to His ways. Accept
Yeshua as your “substitute for death” your Savior and Lord.
When you enter into faith and accept Yeshua as
Savior and Lord, do not think you make void His Torah, but rather realize that
faith begins the journey into living according to His good doctrine the Torah
(Romans 3:31).
Sin is still “the transgression of the law (Torah)” (1
John 3:4); so repent and quit sinning; stop breaking the Torah of God! Turn back to His old paths (His Sabbath, His Festivals, His feasts
that are to be kept at His appointed
times – Leviticus 23). Stop excusing
yourself and leave the lies of your fathers (Jeremiah 16:16-19).
The New Testament is not a “new covenant” it is
still the everlasting one; and if read and understood properly does not make
void at all even one “jot or tiddle” (Mat.5:18) of the Torah. If you have read something or have been taught
that Yeshua (Jesus) came to take away the law, you have been lied to.
For that matter, the Koran does not take the place
of the Torah or its ordinance either, and does not replace the everlasting
covenant as the only way to be redeemed by YHVH. Its not good enough to be either keeping the
Torah without the everlasting covenant; or supposing you have entered into that
covenant with them keeping His Torah and ordinances.
How
can I boldly claim that? Start this
article over again and see “the reason” that Yeshua is coming back to judge us? If any teachers teach differently, their
words do not line up with what YHVH has already told us regarding the reason He
comes back to judge, period.
Here
is patience of the saints; here are they that keep on keeping the commandments
of God, and the faith of Yeshua.
Revelation 14:12
Note the ones mentioned in this passage are not the
ones thrown into the “lake of fire” because they both; first kept YHVH’s
commandments, and secondly entered into the covenant of faith with Yeshua as
their Savior.
Conclusion
and Plea:
There is no time to argue “doctrines” especially in
the face of such clear Scriptures as Isaiah 24 (also Isaiah 66), so let’s quit
trying to defend bad doctrine of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; rather than
repent that we ourselves did go astray, and if any of us are teachers, we may
have also lead others astray as well.
Repent teachers while it is still today!
Any that call themselves teachers in these last days
and are not directing all mankind to enter into covenant with Yeshua the
Messiah by sacrifice; and then instructing them in the proper keeping of His
Torah and His ordinances is not a teacher of YHVH at all, but a last-days false
teacher. Yeshua Himself said if a
teacher even taught others to loosen even the least of His commandments that that teacher would be considered least in
the Kingdom (read Matthew 5:17-20).
The
people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, and honoreth me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me. But in
vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. Matthew 15:8
Let us be done with commandments of men! Repent, turn to Yeshua as Savior and Lord,
and then obey all His commandments given as His Torah and His ordinances in
Scripture.
If you are in a Scripture study that doesn’t build
all doctrines off first teaching the foundations of YHVH’s Torah and
ordinances, you are wasting your time!
If you are a teacher and you are not instructing
people in the keeping of the Torah and ordinance of YHVH, and also pointing
them to His everlasting covenant, you are not preparing them for the judgment
of God that is upon us in these last days.
I ask you especially to repent and stop teaching your own doctrines,
doctrines of men, doctrines of denominations; doctrines of demons, and rather
teach His good doctrine “forsake ye not my Torah” Proverbs 4:2.