The Error of Judaizing Part 2
We have a lot to cover here and it will be longer than the recent studies have been, but we should also be able to move fast and cover a lot for the time this takes. Click here for part 1 and listen 1st then come back here.
In part 1 of this study we talked about the eternal moral law of God and how God sought to incorporate that into Israel when He took Israel as a nation to be His people. Obviously that part of the law He gave to Israel was specific instruction in the law which all men were bound to up until that point and would always be bound by afterwards. That is why it is obvious that the moral law of God must carry over into Christianity and why Christians must be Jews inwardly (i.e. we should have the same heart of worship, the same subjection to God, and the same moral principles which a Jew under the Law of Moses should have also embraced). Psalm 119:142: “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”
We also looked at how sometimes the terms Jew and circumcision refer to those under the ceremonial Law of Moses, but at other times they refer to those who have a heart to worship God and to live by His truth. Obviously understanding the context of a passage is important- and it is usually not hard to do this.
Romans 2:28-29: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Philippians 3:2-3: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision (and that’s what we’re dealing with here! Look at how horribly Judaizing is spoken of). 3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
We also talked about how God always intended that the moral law should take precedence over the ceremonial law. Jesus kept the ceremonies of the Law of Moses, which we will see included keeping the Sabbath Day, but He didn’t let the ceremonial duty to rest on the Sabbath Day prevent Him from doing His moral duties on the Sabbath Day. This got Him into trouble with Israel’s religious leaders who tended (in wickedness) to value the ceremonial law over the moral law. They obviously abused the ceremonial law and saw it (to some measure anyways) as a substitute for moral law and a means of covering their disobedience to moral law. They obviously valued external ritual over inward purity and actual practical righteousness. And this is a key reason also why many Judaized in the 1st century even after God had commanded for the Judaizing of gentiles to cease; and this is a key reason why many Judaize today! And this has to do with why Judaizing is such a dangerous, damnable thing to practice as well as to comply with.
We saw also how God rebuked Israel frequently for their neglect to walk in His moral law while they yet still adhered to the ceremonial law. And by the way, this is the context of the often abused Isaiah 64:6:
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Just reading the verse in context makes this clear, even if you only read verses 5 to 7). We even see in the Gospels how Jesus commended a man for comprehending the lesson that moral law is greater than ceremonial law and doing the ceremonial never was something commendable to God without turning one’s heart to obey moral law.
Mark 12:28-34a: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (these are the very roots of true morality in God’s eyes!). 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34a And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”
So Jesus was as a Jew under the Law of Moses. To be the perfect Lamb of God He had to keep the entire Law of Moses 100 percent faithfully. He indeed did this and preached that others should keep the Law of Moses faithfully. His public preaching was almost 100 percent in regards to the moral Law of God because of the greater significance of moral law and because of how badly Israel’s leaders had led them astray in that regard and taught licenses for unrighteous living in God’s eyes. These supposed licenses for unrighteous living were often justified through the abuse of ceremonial law and the elevation of Jewish tradition (the Talmuds) to the point where it was considered binding in a practical way beyond even what was written in the Law of Moses. You see in the Gospels how Israel’s religious leaders who opposed Jesus would fear more to eat with unwashen hands than they’d fear to dishonor their parents in practical ways, something which Jesus rebuked them severely for.
Jesus did not correct like the Law of Moses like some erroneously teach, but rather upheld the Law and taught its true application, vindicating it from the abuses which Israel’s corrupt leaders had done to it. You can see this so clearly prophesied of in Malachi chapter 3. Anyone who teaches that Jesus’ rebukes in the Gospels were to those honoring the Law of Moses, as if He were bringing a higher standard than the Law itself, are at best unlearned. They need to study their Bibles closer and regard those they’ve been listening to much less. Those who teach such things are sometimes called Marcionites, since Marcion was a second century heretic who taught that the God of the Old Testament was the devil and the God of the New Testament is the true God. Marcion of course had to disregard the vast majority of the Bible to even attempt to say this, but modern Marcionites can seem more credible because they are not as consistent as Marcion. They will try to contrast Jesus to the Law of Moses sometimes while still trying to somehow say He is also the God of Moses and of the faithful men of the Old Testament. How they try such gymnastics is incredible but there are different ways this is attempted. Those who don’t think logically and look for consistency in those whom they hear teach Scripture can let such inconsistency slide. It happens a lot not only with this heresy, but also with most heresies.
Judaizers in many cases think that they are opposing the Marcionites and have the consistent solutions to the errors of those influenced by Marcionism. This again can seem like the case to those who listen to their arguments and swallow them without testing them to all of Scripture. The Judaizers can seem so wise and be vindicated in their own eyes since many professing Christians have errors in other directions. Many professing Christians rightly reject Judaizing and don’t see themselves as bound to the rituals of the ceremonial aspect of the Law of Moses, yet they are still often wrong because they don’t reject Judaizing on a Scriptural basis, so in avoiding being Judaized they fall prey to other errors that are about as equally bad. They often lump the moral aspect of Moses’ Law with the ceremonial and consider themselves bound by neither, so they have standards of living which are not consistent with Christianity and in many cases they have no definite standard of living at all! They think that the grace of God does away with binding to Law or think that the grace of God means that the only Law they’re under is the Law of Christ which they don’t see as the moral Law of God (like it really is!), but rather perhaps some mystic and indefinite leading attributed to the Holy Spirit which basically leaves every man to do anything that seems right in his own eyes. But they are in grave error. The Judaizers though are not likely any better. We ought to understand how and why this is all so in order to avoid all these false ways!
The Judaizers will say that Jesus lived under the Mosaic ceremonies and upheld them in His teaching. They are right in that. Many of the Marcionites and those who teach many of the various lawless gospels out there might say Jesus abolished the ceremonial aspect of Moses’ Law when He died on the cross. In a way, they are right, but it is not so simple (and many of these will also say that Jesus abolished the moral Law when He died on the cross and of course they are surely deadly wrong about that!) The fact is that Jesus did fulfill the ceremonial aspects of the Law which pertained to atonement for sin when He died on the cross as well as shadows of this like the Feast of Passover. The things foreshadowed by the Feast of Pentecost were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost shortly afterwards, just as the things which the Feast of Passover foreshadowed were fulfilled when Jesus died during the Feast of Passover. The Feast of Tabernacles seems to foreshadow Jesus’ second coming, so obviously what that feast foreshadows hasn’t been fulfilled yet. Nevertheless it is not wrong to say that the ceremonial ordinances which God gave to the Jews, which distinguished them from gentiles, were in truth nailed to Jesus’ cross (see Ephesians 2:14-16 and Colossians 2:14-17). Though the ordinances in themselves foreshadowed Christ and symbolized eternal realities, the Jew under these ordinances needed atonement for their failure to perfectly keep them like we all need forgiveness at least for our failure to live up tho the standard of God’s moral Law. The key difference between these Mosaic ceremonies and the moral Law of God is that they had a limited shelf life. Jesus could (and can, as much as they still need fulfillment) provide the substance of what these things foreshadowed and pointed towards. But the moral Law of God can never be fulfilled as long as there are moral agents, except by being done by those same moral agents. And even the Jewish ceremonies with their limited shelf life were things that God did not immediately discard after Jesus had fulfilled them by His death (or at least set in motion the fulfillment of by His death). There was yet a due season for them being done in light of what Jesus had done and who He was declared to be through His resurrection.
For reasons known to God, but we can be sure at least to keep the church anchored on its righteous Hebrew foundations, God did not immediately after Jesus’ death and resurrection release His church from the practice of the Jewish ceremonies. And that is why for about 12 years after Pentecost (the exact amount of years may not be important, but it was surely several years) there had never been a convert to Christianity who had not either already been a practicing Jew or become a practicing Jew simultaneous with becoming a Christian. However, about 12 years after the Christian was founded (which we can date to the Day of Pentecost which occurred weeks after Jesus had risen from the dead) God chose to send the Apostle Peter to a centurion named Cornelius, a man who feared the true God, the God of the Jews, but yet for one reason or another had not become a Jew through circumcision (we saw in the last study how circumcision was basically the chief ceremonial law of Judaism which came to represent the entire package of the Jewish ceremonial laws). You can read in Acts chapters 10 and 11 how as Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and to those with him that the Holy Spirit fell on them in an unmistakable way. This shocked the Jewish Christians with Peter, and even Peter himself, because this had never happened before! Peter had them baptized by water immediately without simultaneously circumcising them. This was reported to the Christians at Jerusalem who thought such a baptism to be unthinkable until they heard Peter’s firsthand account of the entirety of that event. They (in general at least) accepted that their conversion was genuine and received this as proof that God had granted the gentiles repentance unto life (Acts 11:18). Then in the following verses in Acts chapter 11 you read about how there were Christians of Cyprus and Cyrene who had been living at Jerusalem, but were eventually scattered due to persecution that arose in relation to the death of Stephen (see Acts chs 6 & 7). These had been preaching the Gospel to none but Jews only, but they eventually spoke to Grecians (uncircumcised gentiles) at Antioch who believed on Christ. The church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to visit them. Barnabas witnessed the grace of God upon these gentiles; and this would obviously have been an absolute total shock to him and the church at Jerusalem except for what they had recently heard about regarding Cornelius and his household.
So the Judaizers are right that Jesus taught and practiced the Mosaic ceremonies! If they claim that the Apostles did the same, they are also right about that! But are they right to be Judaizing then? No! We know that following directions is very important to God. Mankind fell basically because Adam and Eve did not follow God’s directions. And God makes it clear to His church through Cornelius, and then those gentile Christian believers in Antioch, that He is now accepting people as Christians without conversion to Judaism (i.e. the Mosaic ceremonies). This would be a great test for the Jewish Christians. Would they accept God’s verdict and regard these gentile converts as brothers and sisters in Christ without seeking to bring them under Judaism? Will they let the Mosaic ceremonies serve in the place which God regards as proper or would they exalt them to a measure which God would find improper considering the verdict which He has just given about this? Would the gentile Christians accept this verdict about themselves even if they felt less spiritual for not having converted to Judaism? Would they perhaps seek the favor of the unbelieving Jews which disdained gentiles and/or the favor of the Jewish Christians which were contending with God’s verdict about accepting them without conversion to Judaism? Though these were especially issues in the 1st century, these questions still have relevance to our topic which applies today!
So then as we go on in Acts ch 11 we see that Barnabas goes to Tarsus to seek Saul (i.e. Paul) and he brings him to Antioch where they assemble for a whole year with the church there and teach the church. This obviously goes very well, as the disciples are first called Christians at Antioch. After Paul and Barnabas have a mission trip to Jerusalem to bring funds for the poor brethren at Jerusalem (recorded in Acts ch 12) they return to Antioch. They are soon then sent out on a long journey where they travel many miles and plant many churches in gentile cities, most or all of which start with Jewish converts from the local synagogues and local gentile converts as well. You can read about this in detail in Acts chapters 13 and 14. At the end of Acts chapter 14 then we see Paul and Barnabas back in Antioch declaring to the whole church what God had done with them on their mission trip and how He had opened the door of faith to the gentiles (Acts 14:27). There has now been a large mass of gentiles converted to Christ without conversion to Judaism.
And then as Acts chapter 15 begins we have a group from the church at Jerusalem visiting Antioch, but not representing the leadership of the Apostles, who say what the Judaizers are still saying today.
Acts 15:1: “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” They were obviously saying “They cannot be Christians whom God accepts unless they are brought under the Mosaic ceremonies”. In Acts 15:5 this will be evident. Did these not know about Cornelius and what the Apostles had learned through how God dealt with Cornelius? That seems hard to believe. But regardless, no one is going to have any excuse to Judaize gentiles after what unfolds in the rest of this chapter, so we will just read on.
Acts 15:2-32: “When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. 3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. 4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. 5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. 6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (i.e. the Jews in general had been over-scrupulous about the Mosaic ceremonies and saw exact adherence to them as near, or altogether, as a means of justification. In that way they were impossible to bear and I believe Peter is saying, What need is there to even expose the gentile Christians to this realm of problems in relation to the ceremonies when God has already accepted them apart from the Mosaic ceremonies? Consider how he continues here in 15:11) 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they (i.e. we Jewish Christians are not looking to these ceremonies for our justification before God, so there is no need to bring them under these ceremonies when God has clearly accepted them anyways through their living faith in Christ). 12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon (i.e. Peter) hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: (i.e. in context, Israel is under judgment and scattered among the nations, but God will bring a remnant back and restore His worship in Israel) 17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world (i.e. God intended to count physically uncircumcised gentiles among His faithful worshippers from the beginning of the world; He even intended to count them as such after He had taken Israel as His people and bound them under circumcision and all the Mosaic ceremonies since this quote from Amos came regarding such a time). 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (i.e. These are entrance requirements for baptism and church membership, not a summary of everything Christianity requires which they would need to be taught and discipled in after entering the Christian church. The thought is basically that while you don’t have to circumcise them and make them practicing Jews outwardly for them to be Christian church members, you do need to be absolutely sure that they have indeed broken off from idolatry, fornication, and eating blood- and eating blood would also include eating things strangled since that is a way in which heathen kill animals so they can be ate with all their blood in them). The gentile converts need very specific instruction and warning about how these things are not consistent with Christianity. And by the way, this is all still true today!) 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (i.e. The books of Moses included the Book of Genesis where eating of blood was forbidden; and the moral aspects of God’s Law are taught on throughout the books of Moses. This instruction about what faithful worship (i.e. being a Jew inwardly) must necessarily involve is already known in every city and can be known through the reading in the synagogues of every city. The lack of the need to circumcise them doesn’t relieve them of the need to follow this instruction. Their conversion to Christ rather enables them them to understand it better and to fulfill it!) 22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. 24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. 32 And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.”
So there you have it! The Apostles, through the obvious implications of what God had already done among them and the prophecy of Scripture itself foretelling God accepting gentiles without conversion to Judaism, decreed that imposing the Jewish ceremonies upon gentiles was to cease! But obviously their understanding of God’s grace is one where subjection to Law is necessary for one to be eligible for grace. Yet henceforth (and already at this point in Acts 15) gentiles could be Christians with subjection to moral law and Christian ordinances without also being subject to Jewish ordinances. God chose Peter’s interaction with Cornelius as the turning point to make this so. Since ceremonial laws are things which are only right and holy by God’s appointment, unlike moral laws which are inherently right and holy, then obviously God can in His own timing choose to cease causing ceremonial laws to be binding on whomever He sees fit. And that is obviously something which He could not and would not do with moral laws.
And yet, both in the 1st century and up until today, many do not accept this God-ordained verdict! And there are reasons- very bad reasons! And this is what the Book of Galatians is dealing with. It is ultimately, if you read it all the way through, an instruction on how the ceremonies of the Jewish Law are not an alternative form of justification to the faith of Abraham, how they were never such at all when understood rightly, and how that to take them as such is to preach another gospel, and to Judaize is indeed to elevate the Jewish ceremonies to the point where they are a form of justification through ritualistic works that are in actuality a substitute for a living faith in Christ. The book is ultimately an exhortation to walk in the Spirit by faith in order to fulfill the Law of Christ and not walk according to the flesh (which is the same as fulfilling the moral law of God). The Judaizers did not value this then and they do not today! For if they valued it sufficiently, they would see no need to Judaize! And like was mentioned in last week’s study, look at most of what the Judaizers talk about. It’s not righteous Christian living. It is preoccupation with ceremony and ritual. And whenever there is such, especially when it is ceremony and ritual which God didn’t even ordain (like any and all Pagan ceremonies that some might try to mix into Christianity) or ritual which God has ordained for a time but eventually commanded to stop, then you will have an alternate justification system and a devaluation of a living faith and practical righteousness before God. And no one who devalues such is going to enter and faithfully endure on the narrow way that leads to eternal life!
So as we continue in the timeline of the Book of Acts, in Acts ch 16 we see the Apostle Paul going on a second missionary journey and giving this Apostolic decree to the churches he had founded on his first missionary journey. On that journey he recruits Timothy to join him and he circumcises him because of the Jews in the area they were in. Perhaps he did this because Timothy should have been circumcised before. He had obviously had a Jewish mother and more of a Jewish upbringing though his father was a Greek. Even though the Jews crucified Christ despite His perfect keeping of the Mosaic ceremonies, and even though God intends Christ as a stumbling-block to the Jews who don’t heed the entirety of their own Scriptures, Paul obviously saw something about Timothy’s case that made his lack of being circumcised an unnecessary stumbling-block to the Jews. It is obvious that at least for some reason this was an exceptional case and not a matter of Paul compromising or violating the decree of the Apostles which he had been delivering to the churches.
Eventually in Acts chapter 21 Paul again visits the Christians in Jerusalem and meets with the Christian leadership there. They have been informed that he has been telling the Jews in the churches he has planted to forsake the Mosaic ceremonies. This was a false accusation! The leadership in Jerusalem had stuck to its decree and Paul had abode by the decree. A LOT of people think that Paul was being deceptive in the passage we’re about to read, but he wasn’t at all. The Jewish Christians, including Paul, had continued to practice the Jewish ceremonies. They could do this for the right reasons since God hadn’t released them from them yet. Something would happen approximately a decade later to change this, but for the time this was the case.
Acts 21:17-26: “And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. 23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. 25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.”
So that means what it says. No deceit there at all. Paul was acting totally consistent with how God led the Christians through the church at Jerusalem and he had acted consistent with his own writings. 1 Corinthians 7:18: “Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.” Many Judaizers actually claim that Paul was a false Apostle and that his epistles are not God’s inspired word! That is so ridiculous. They don’t take into account Paul’s unity with the other Apostles and how the same Apostles he was in unity with also wrote the Gospels! To pit the Gospels against the epistles and/or pit Paul against the other Apostles is insanity!
The passage from Acts 21 happened around AD 60, maybe a year or a few years before. We know that Biblical Judaism centered around the Temple at Jerusalem. And then in AD 70 the Temple was destroyed by the Romans. The Jewish Christians had already escaped Jerusalem and left Israel altogether at that point. That obviously made the practice of Biblical Judaism as a whole impossible , as the vast majority of the Jewish ceremonies required the Temple, or at least the Tabernacle which had become incorporated into the Temple, as well as a functioning Levitical Priesthood, to faithfully perform. The Temple has never been rebuilt to this day despite many plans to do so over the last 1,950 years! And the Jewish genealogy records have been destroyed, making a Scriptural Jewish Priesthood impossible to have since we know that God ordained that only men of the tribe of Levi who were sons of Moses’ brother Aaron were to be Priests for the Jewish nation. And that is how the Jewish Christians were also practically released from keeping the Mosaic ceremonies. In most ways, righteously doing so became impossible with the destruction of the Temple and the destruction of the Jewish genealogical records! And to this day, God’s present rejection of the practice of Judaism and the validity of Christianity is testified by the fact that Scriptural Judaism is impossible to practice while Biblical Christianity, in its fullness, which includes having local church, baptism, and communion (the Christian ordinances, basically the simplified ceremonial law of Christianity) IS possible to practice in any nation on earth! But even here it should said, that it is better to not even do such things than to do them improperly (i.e. don’t compromise truth to join or start a church or to take communion, don’t get baptized when you are unrepentant and not submitted to the Lord- but rather repent and submit to the Lord so you can get baptized in righteousness; and then do whatever is reasonably in your power to be faithfully in communion with a local church that you can be part of without violating the light of Scripture that you have).
On the Sabbath: Keeping the Sabbath is the only one of the Ten commandments not repeated in the New Testament. The Ten commandments are basically a list of some key points regarding God’s moral law which are specifically localized in relation to Israel. The point about the Sabbath is only applicable to all people at all times in that it teaches in principle that we should honor the ceremonial requirements of the covenant with God that we are offered in the time which we live in. The Sabbath itself was a matter of the ceremonial law between God and Israel. Ezekiel 20:12 says “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” If you read Exodus chapter 16 you’ll see how the Sabbath was introduced here (just a very short time before God spoke the Ten commandments in Exodus 20). You can see here that the Sabbath was new to Israel and that God did not judge the Israelites severely who disobeyed His command about it in their ignorance and confusion. Sometime later in Numbers chapter 15, after there was no confusion and the commandment was clear as day to the whole nation, God ordered that a man be put to death who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath Day (and He used this as an opportunity to teach us that there is no blood atonement that can be offered so that the presumptuous sinner can find mercy). So since the Sabbath was specific to Israel, it would obviously be included in the ceremonial law and the obligation to keep it would thus end in being released from the Mosaic ceremonies. Look at the things which the Sabbath days are categorized among in this passage. Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
And I also wanted to talk proper observance of the feasts and prove how that would be impossible to properly do without the tabernacle in the land of Israel and the Levitical Priesthood in place, but Jimmy has a great article about that on his website already (which I had no involvement in writing) which I am confident he posted below this teaching. That article proves this well and I think it better to just refer the listeners to that.
So when people cling to a shadow when they could instead embrace the substance they prove that they don’t think that having the substance is enough- or perhaps they don’t want the substance at all! Though the Judaizers will deny this, that is what they are doing. Beware of their error and cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart! Receive the exhortations of His Word and don’t let any form of ritualism or anything at all be a shallow replacement or imitation of that! For those who want further reading on the subject, the book of Galatians deals directly with the error of Judaizing and the book of Colossians deals much with the practical dangers related to Judaizing, as well any form of unnecessary ritualism that can have an appearance of sanctity (such as what is practiced by the Roman Catholic Church). And note especially as you read these books the spiritual goals which the things they rebuke are opposed to. Whether you are in danger of being Judaized or not, the main reason for avoiding error is so you can reach the goals which the error would prevent you from reaching if you were to come under its influence. Failing to meet the goals is spiritual destruction, no matter the reason(s) for that.
Colossians 1:18-29: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”
Should Christians Keep the Feasts? Judaizer?
If this is not your goal, then you have been deceived and are not speaking the Truth in love as you have been carried about by a wind of doctrine.
Can true doctrine be known? Can we know God’s will for His church?
People cherry pick scriptures to their destruction. They glance over the totality of the bible and pick out their “pet” verses having no clue what they truly mean, in context. Most don’t have enough bible savvy to know what the scripture truly means thus they are rejected for lack of knowledge.
Israel was a nation of Priests (where doctrine flowed to the world). The world at the time had to come into covenant with the truth preached from the nation of Israel to be saved by God. The nation of Israel was ultimately rejected as the avenue and channel of truth to the world as they rejected the truth (Law) of God and rejected their privileged position. God does not fool around:
Hosea 4:6 “My people (Israel) are DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: because THOU HAST REJECTED KNOWLEDGE, I (GOD) WILL ALSO REJECT THEE, that THOU SHALL BE NO PRIEST TO ME: seeing THOU HAST FORGOTTEN THE LAW OF THY GOD, I will also forget thy children.”
99% of professing “Christians” could be at a debate and not know which side is telling the truth. There are a lot of people bouncing around on doctrine where they think they need to keep the Jewish feasts. How about if you are born a Jew today, can you keep the feasts?
An Overview of the Feasts
Leviticus 23:1-22 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.”
The Sabbath
Leviticus 23:3 “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.”
The Passover (THURSDAY NIGHT)
Leviticus 23:4-8 “These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth day (CRUCIFIXION) of the first month (Nissan) at even is the LORD’S passover (goes back to Egypt – blood on doorpost and the angel “passed over”). 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.”
The Feast of Firstfruits (ABOUT THE RESURRECTION – THE 3RD DAY)
Leviticus 23:9-14 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest UNTO THE PRIEST: 11 And HE shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath THE PRIEST SHALL WAIVE IT. 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. 13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks (50TH – FEAST OF PENTECOST – POURING OUT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT) THESE HAVE ALL BEEN FULFILLED
Leviticus 23:15-22 “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. 18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. 19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And THE PRIEST shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. “
DID YOU NOTICE THE PRIESTS WERE NEEDED FOR THESE FEASTS
Numbers 1:48-54 “For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, 49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: 50 But thou shalt appoint THE LEVITES over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and THEY SHALL MINISTER UNTO IT, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle setteth forward, THE LEVITES shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, THE LEVITES shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. 53 But THE LEVITES shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and THE LEVITES shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. 54 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.”
Numbers 3:5-10 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9 And thou shalt give THE LEVITES UNTO AARON AND TO HIS SONS: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 10 And THOU SHALL APPOINT AARON AND HIS SONS, and they shall wait ON THEIR PRIEST’S OFFICE: and THE STRANGER THAT COMETH NIGH SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH.”
Numbers 3:38-39 “But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and THE STRANGER (ONE THAT IS NOT PROSELYTIZED/CONVERTED TO A JEW) THAT COMETH NIGH SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH. 39 All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.”
Numbers 16:3 “And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?”
Numbers 16:39-40 “And Eleazar THE PRIEST took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, THAT NO STRANGE, WHICH IS NOT OF THE SEED OF ABRAHAM, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.”
NUMBERS 17 HE HAD AARON’S ROD BUDDED. GOD HAS SPECIAL BUSINESS FOR SPECIAL PEOPLE. OTHERS MUST STAY IN THEIR OWN LANE.
Aaron’s Staff Buds
“Numbers 17:1-13 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 17:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.
Num 17:3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
Num 17:4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
Num 17:5 And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
Num 17:6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
Num 17:7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
Num 17:8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
Num 17:9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
Num 17:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
Num 17:11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
Num 17:12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
Num 17:13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?”
THE PRIESTS MINISTER TO THE LORD, THE REST OF THE CONGREGATION MINISTERS TO THE PRIEST’S (WHO MADE THE OFFERINGS IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES).
Numbers 18:1-2 “And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.”
Num 18:1-32 “And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Num 18:2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
Num 18:8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
Num 18:9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
Num 18:10 In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
Num 18:11 And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
Num 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
Num 18:13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
Num 18:14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
Num 18:15 Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
Num 18:16 And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
Num 18:17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
Num 18:18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.
Num 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
Num 18:20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
Num 18:21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
Num 18:23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
Num 18:24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
Num 18:25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 18:26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
Num 18:27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
Num 18:28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest.
Num 18:29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
Num 18:30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.
Num 18:31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.”
Deuteronomy 10:8 “At that time the LORD separated THE TRIBE OF LEVI, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.”
Deuteronomy 18:5-7 “For the LORD thy GOD HATH CHOSEN HIM out of all thy tribes, to stand TO MINISTER in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. 6 And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose; 7 Then HE SHALL MINISTER in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren THE LEVITES DO, which stand there before the LORD.”
Hebrews 5:1-4 “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. 4 And NO MAN TAKETH THIS HONOR UNTO HIMSELF, BUT HE THAT IS CALLED, as was AARON.”
IT’S ABUNDANTLY CLEAR FROM THESE SCRIPTURES THAT GOD HAS A SPECIFIC PLAN AND APPOINTED PROPER ADMINISTRATORS.
THERE IS ALSO THE ISSUE OF THE RIGHT PLACE AS CLEARLY STATED BELOW:
Deuteronomy 12:14 “But in the place WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.”
Deuteronomy 12:18 “But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD THY GOD SHALL CHOOSE, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the LEVITE that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.”
Deuteronomy 14:23 “And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, IN THE PLACE WHICH HE SHALL CHOOSE to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.”
Deuteronomy 15:20 “Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE, thou and thy household.”
Deuteronomy 16:2 “Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE to place his name there.”
Deuteronomy 16:7 “Deu 16:7 And thou shalt roast and eat it IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD THY GOD SHALL CHOOSE: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.”
Deuteronomy 16:11 “Deu 16:11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH CHOSEN n to place his name there.”
Deuteronomy 16:15 “Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.”
Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God IN THE PLACE WHICH HE SHALL CHOOSE; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:”
Deuteronomy 31:11 “When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God IN THE PLACE WHICH HE SHALL CHOOSE, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.”
YOU MUST DO IT “IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE”. WE FIND THE APOSTLE PAUL IN ACTS 18:21 HE BADE THEM FAREWELL SAYING:
Acts 18:21 “I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.” (WHY? BECAUSE THAT’S THE PLACE GOD CHOOSE).
ONE MUST ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT HEART. YOU WILL SEE HERE GOD HATED EVEN THE “APPOINTED FEASTS”. WHY? NOT THE RIGHT HEART! THEY WERE NOT FOLLOWING THE WAY GOD SAID IT AND FOR THE PROPER PURPOSES. IT’S LAWLESSNESS. YOU MUST HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE, PLACE, ADMINISTRATORS AND THE RIGHT HEART.
Isaiah 1:13-14 “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, EVEN THE SOLEMN MEETING. 14 YOUR NEW MOONS AND APPOINTED FEASTS MY SOUL HATETH: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.”
WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT PEOPLE VIOLATING HIS ORDER? BUT WHAT IF ONE MEANS WELL? LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SONS OF AARON. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT INCENSE BUT NOT THE RIGHT HEART. THEY DID NOT DO IT THE RIGHT WAY.
Leviticus 10:1-2 “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and OFFERED STRANGE FIRE before the LORD, WHICH HE COMMANDED THEM NOT. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and DEVOURED THEM, and THEY DIED BEFORE LORD.”
WE KNOW THAT GOD USES JUDGMENTS FROM THE PAST, LIKE SODOM AND GOMORRAH, SET A PRECEDENT FOR THINGS OF TODAY. ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA (LIARS) WERE KILLED. HIS FEELINGS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS NEVER CHANGE ABOUT SIN. WHEN ONE DOES CONTRARY TO HIS COMMANDMENTS, HE STILL FEELS THE SAME WAY. WHEN THEY WERE BRINGING THE ARK TO JERUSALEM ON AN OX CART, THEY WERE SINCERE WITH A RIGHT HEART AND RIGHT SPIRIT, DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND WHEN A LEVITE STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND AND TOUCHED THE ARK. HE WAS STRUCK DEAD IMMEDIATELY.
2nd Samuel 6:6-7 “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”
DAVID SAID “WE SAW HIM NOT AFTER THE DUE ORDER”.
1st Chronicles 15:13 “For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.”
King Uzziah’s Pride and Punishment (for what?). HE BURNED INCENSE TO GOD IN THE WRONG PLACE! A SIN IS A SIN IS A SIN.
2nd Chronicles 26:16-23 “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: 18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, TO BURN INCENSE unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God. 19 Then Uzziah WAS WROTH, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the LEPROST even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had SMITTEN HIM. 21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.”
JEROBOAM HAD 10 TRIBES – REHOBOAM HAD 2 TRIBES – JEROBOAM SAID IF ALL THESE PEOPLE GO UP TO THE RIGHT PLACE AND THE SONS OF AARON TO JERUSALEM TO WORSHIP, THEIR HEART WILL TURN BACK TO REHOBOAM AND THEN THEY WILL KILL ME AND THE NATION WILL BE REUNITED. SO, OUT OF NECESSITY (WHAT’S BEST FOR THE PEOPLE OF COURSE – SARCASTIC) WE’RE GOING TO SET UP PLACES TO WORSHIP OTHER THAN JERUSALEM AND I AM GOING TO ORDAIN SOME PRIESTS (OF COURSE THE LEVITES WILL NOT GO ALONG WITH THIS BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE LAW) SO I HAVE TO GET SOME OTHER PEOPLE WHO WILL WORK WITH ME AND WE’RE GOING TO SET UP SOME OTHER PLACES TO WORSHIP AND WE’RE GOING TO GO BACK TO SOME “OLDE TIME RELIGION” (GOLDEN CALVES), “EVEN AARON DID THAT SO THAT SHOULD BE FINE” (SARCASTIC), WE’LL GET SOME GOLDEN CALVES AND SET THE UP AND WE WILL BE WORSHIPING JEHOVAH!
HOW MANY TIMES IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SAY “JEROBOAM CAUSED ISRAEL TO SIN”? MANY! WE WILL NOT LIST THEM ALL HERE, BUT FOR EXAMPLE:
1st Kings 14:16 “And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, AND WHO MADE ISRAEL TO SIN.”
Rehoboam’s Folly
1Ki 12:1-33 “And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
1Ki 12:2 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;)
1Ki 12:3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
1Ki 12:4 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.
1Ki 12:5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
1Ki 12:6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
1Ki 12:7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
1Ki 12:8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
1Ki 12:9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
1Ki 12:10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.
1Ki 12:11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
1Ki 12:12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
1Ki 12:13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him;
1Ki 12:14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
1Ki 12:15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
The Kingdom Divided
1Ki 12:16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
1Ki 12:17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
1Ki 12:18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
1Ki 12:19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
1Ki 12:20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
1Ki 12:21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
1Ki 12:22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
1Ki 12:23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
1Ki 12:24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
Jeroboam’s Golden Calves
1Ki 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.”
SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE OBSERVING GOD’S FEASTS? (PENTECOSTALS, CHARISMATICS, WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD, HEBREW ROOTS, ETC)…
THEY SAY “HEY, WE CAN BLOW TRUMPETS (SHOFAR) ON THE 1ST DAY OF THE 7TH MONTH”, ETC, ETC… NOW WAIT! WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BLOW THE TRUMPETS? AM I SUPPOSED TO BLOW THEM? THE APPOINTED PRIESTS.
Numbers 10:8-10 “And the sons of Aaron, THE PRIESTS, SHALL BLOW with THE TRUMPETS; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. 9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.”
WHERE ARE THE “SONS OF AARON TODAY”… NOBODY KNOWS… THE GENEALOGIES WERE DESTROYED WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED WHEN JERUSALEM WAS DESTROYED. IN THE DAYS OF JESUS THEY COULD TRACE THEIR GENEALOGIES, AFTER A.D. 70, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE. WHEN NEHEMIAH AND EZRA CAME BACK FROM BABYLON BEFORE THEY COULD START THE TEMPLE WORSHIP THEY HAD TO CHECK ALL THE GENEALOGIES AND ANYBODY THAT COULD NOT PROVE IN THEIR GENEALOGIES THAT THEY WERE THE SON OF AARON OR A LEVITE, THEY WERE PUT OUT AS POLLUTED! IT DIDN’T MATTER WHAT THEY SAID OF IF THEIR FEELINGS WERE HURT, IF THEY COULD NOT PROVE IN THE GENEALOGIES THAT THEY WERE A SON OF AARON. WELL, THEY COULD NOT DO IT. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH UNDERSTOOD IT HAD TO BE DONE ONE AND ONLY WAY. GOD’S WAY.
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS IS CALLED Rosh Hashanah (MEANING “THE HEAD OF THE YEAR”). IT’S THE 1ST DAY OF THE JEWISH CIVIL YEAR. NISSAN IS THE 1ST MONTH OF THEIR RELIGIOUS YEAR. GOD SAYS THE SHOFAR IS GOING TO SOUND BY THE SONS OF AARON AND THEN ON THE 10TH DAY WE HAVE YOM KIPPUR (MEANING “THE DAY OF ATONEMENT). THE FALL FEASTS WERE ON THE 1ST, THE 10TH AND THE 15TH OF THE 7TH MONTH.
The Feast of Trumpets
Lev 23:23-32 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. (BY THE SONS OF AARON)
Lev 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.”
The Day of Atonement
Lev 23:26 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Lev 23:29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
Lev 23:30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Lev 23:31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.”
The Feast of Booths
Lev 23:33-37 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles FOR SEVEN DAYS (WHO DOES THIS TODAY)?? unto the LORD.
Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, EVERY THING UPON HIS DAY:”
SO, YOU NEED THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT PEOPLE, THE RIGHT ADMINISTRATION AND THE RIGHT HEART. THE QUESTION IS, CAN WE CELEBRATE THESE FEASTS TODAY IN OUR OWN MANNER? CAN WE ROAST A SEDER SUPPER WITH ROASTED CHICKEN AND PASSOVER LIKE THE JEWS DO? I DON’T THINK GOD WOULD HAVE ANY PROBLEM GETTING TOGETHER AND HAVING A SOLEMN DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, FASTING, TEACHING THEIR CHILDREN WHAT THEY USED TO BE ABLE TO DO, ETC. BUT IN A.D. 70, THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD, THE TEMPLE, THE PLACE THAT GOD ORDAINED WAS GONE. GOD HAS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO BIBLICALLY KEEP THESE FEASTS. SO THE JEWS TODAY SURELY CAN NOT OBSERVE THESE FEASTS BIBLICALLY.
WERE THE GENTILES EVER INVITED TO KEEP THE FEASTS? WAS AN UNCIRCUMCISED GENTILE EVERY INVITED TO KEEP THESE FEASTS? THE ANSWER IS A RESOUNDING NO! IS IT OK TO OBSERVE THESE FEASTS WITHOUT THE SACRIFICES? IS IT OK TO OBSERVE THESE FEASTS WITHOUT LEVITES AND PRIESTS? ABSOLUTELY, UNEQUIVOCALLY…NO! IS IT OK TO OBSERVE THESE FEASTS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE? NO! WAS IT EVER OK FOR THE GENTILES TO OBSERVE THESE FEASTS? IN THE OT, CIRCUMCISION WAS A DOOR TO BECOMING A JEW.
Exodus 12:43-51 “And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
Exo 12:44 But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
Exo 12:45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
Exo 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Exo 12:47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
Exo 12:48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Exo 12:49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exo 12:50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Exo 12:51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. “
IN GALATIANS 4:8, THE JUDAIZERS ARE HARASSING THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS IN GALATIA. THEY WERE TELLING THEM IF YOU ARE GOING TO SERVE THE ONE TRUE GOD, YOU MUST OBEY THE CEREMONIAL LAW. PAUL REBUKES THESE FILTHY LIES:
Gal 4:8-11 “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.”
PLAYING AROUND WITH DOCTRINE IS DEADLY. THOSE WHO SAY “LET’S PLAY JEW” ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE! “BUT I MAY BE A SMALL % JEWISH”… OK, SO, ARE YOU GOING TO GO TO JERUSALEM TO WORSHIP AT THE TEMPLE.. AHH, NOPE. THERE IS NOT ONE THERE. IS THERE AN ALTER THERE AT A PLACE WHERE GOD CHOOSE? NOPE. CAN YOU PROVE YOUR BLOODLINE AS A “SON OF AARON”? ABSOLUTELY NOT. ARE THE SONS OF AARON EMPLOYED BY GOD AN OPERATING? NOPE. YOU GOING TO PERFORM ALL THE SACRIFICES? NOPE. WHO IS GOING TO BLOW YOUR SHOFAR? RIGHT, NO ONE. STOP PLAYING GAMES, YOUR VERY SOUL IS ON THE LINE. REMEMBER, IT TAKES JUST ONE WILLFUL SIN (REBELLION) TO GET SMITTEN BY GOD, FOREVER.
DO NOT OFFER STRANGE FIRE BEFORE THE LORD. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A TEACHING MOMENT, LET’S SAY, OF THINGS DONE IN DAYS PAST, THAT MAY BE OK. HOWEVER, KEEPING THE FEASTS “RELIGIOUSLY” WILL GET YOU A TICKET TO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR SURE.
John 15:1-17 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit (GOD’S FRUIT) he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through THE WORD (NOT FEASTS) which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10 IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
DO YOU HAVE A STRONG DELUSION (JUDIAZER)?
2Th 2:10-17 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause GOD SHALL SEND THEM A STRONG DELUSION, that they should BELIEVE A LIE:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
2Th 2:14 Whereunto he called you BY OUR GOSPEL, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Th 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and HOLD THE TRADITIONS YE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT (LORD’S SUPPER, WATER BAPTISM, PROPER CHURCH ORDER, LORD’S DAY – SUNDAY, ETC), whether by word, or our epistle. (THE RIGHT PEOPLE, THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT HEART, ETC)
2Th 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
2Th 2:17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”
DON’T BE A JUDAIZER.