Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Torah Portion Ki Tisa - Golden Calf, Shabbat, and Other Mixed Messages - February 27

27 Feb 2016  ~  18 Adar I 5776
Torah Parashah Ki Tisa ~ When you take
Sh’mot 30:11 - 34:35 p 72 RSTNE
Other mixed messes....



Mattityahu 25:1-13 p 701 RSTNE

          (The story of the 10 virgins and their oil lamps)


Mishle (Proverbs)  6:23  p 552 RSTNE
          “For the mitzvah is a lamp; and the Torah is light and reproofs of discipline are the derech of chayim.”


Koheleth (Ecclesiastes) 7:1 p 598 RSTNE
          “A tov name is better than precious oil;...”

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105  p 541 RSTNE

Mattityahu 5:14- 16  p 680 RSTNE



Maaseh Shlichim (Acts) 7:37-44  p 786 RSTNE

*
The Lamp

Lew White wrote:
“The lamp of the body is the eye.
          This implies there is ANOTHER kind of lamp, an inner lamp.”

“Long ago, Yahuah’s bride (Yisra’el) went after “strange Alahim” by adding false worship and customs to their ways.  They put the wrong oil into their “lamps”;  oil that does not last because it is of human origin.  WE must fill our inner lamp with oil that endures forever, and Yahuah’s Word is that oil.”


Wayiqra (Leviticus)  10:1-3 p 87 RSTNE (strange fire)

= We can’t invent our own methods of serving Yahuah, but diligently follow and live by every Word that proceeds from His mouth.

Mattityahu 24:35  p 700
          “Ha Shamayim and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”


The problem is - the oil that is stored in many many lamps.

-   So many people have been taught “instructions” that are not of Yahuah, it is not surprising that the “lamps” containing no lasting “oil” will be going out when they are called to meet Mashiach.


Let’s go to our Torah Parashah ...

YHWH is teaching Moshe how to serve Him...
Sh’mot 31:13-18  p 73


AND THEN....

Sh’mot 32:1-24 p 73 RSTNE

Think about where these people came from...

They were just doing what they knew!!

They were going to MIX their ways and YHWH’s ways.... and that never is okay with YHWH!!

= Similar to the 10 virgins
          10 thought they were in good shape ...but 5 didn’t fare so well.

 How is that similar to the story of the Golden Calf ??

They were doing what they KNEW!!
But we can’t take man’s traditions and “MIX” them up and expect to have YHWH’s approval!

*
More and more, one of the things that really seems a bigger problem to me is Shabbat.

Let’s go back and read again...
Sh’mot 31:13-18  p 73
Lew White wrote:
“Ha shatan, the adversary, hates the marriage Covenant, and Yisra’el.  This being attacks Yisra’el at every turn, and attempts to alter the Covenant, or make it seem unimportant.”

What is the SIGN of the eternal (everlasting)  covenant?

          = The Shabbat which is every 7th day!

Sh’mot 31:13-17

Yechezkel  (Ezekiel) 20:12-20 p 407 RSTNE

Ivrim (Hebrews) 4: 4-11 p 815 RSTNE


Yochanan 14:15 p 770 
“If you love Me, keep My mitzvoth.”

Yochanan Aleph (1 John) 3:4
          “anyone who commits sin violates Torah, for sin is the transgression of the Torah.”

**
To go along with all of this...

White says there is a new teaching going on ... and in my (Janet’s) words - it is a MESS....  but I want to bring it up because in learning about this - I learned something I wanted to know for a long time....

Anyway what is going on is the focus is on New Moons.

Now I have often said - we should really learn about the new moons...because we heard/read some things from different groups of believers - that they celebrate the New Moons - and well, I could never  manage it...

But this mess....
“They call their new understanding the “hidden manna”.  Some interpret “day” (yom)  and “night” (layelah) somewhat differently than others. 

Reading B’re’shiyt, some have come to believe that “creation” BEGAN WITH LIGHT, therefore the 24 hour period begins at SUNRISE.

 In contrast the END of the day which arrives at the moment the sun sets, beginning a new cycle of 24 hours, actually reflects the six creation days. 

At creation, it was first “DARK” and Alahim created water, Earth and the rules of physics. 

We know that
B’re’shiyt 1:2 says... “... and darkness was on the face of the deep mayim”

“BUT many believers believe creation began with LIGHT, therefore the periodic 24-hour night/day scheme is interpreted to be “day, then night” (light, then darkness), as opposed to “night, then day” (darkness and then light).” 

B’re’shiyt 1:5... “... And the evening and the morning were yom echad.”

          (Which is what keeps coming up for me when I hear persons talk about the day starting with the light!!)

Let’s look at
Nechemyah (Nehemiah) 13:19 p 626
          “And it came to pass, that when the gates of Yahrushalayim began to be dark before the Shabbat, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened until after the Shabbat.”

          (--Which you will note that the foot note in the RSTNE Bible says that Shabbat begins at sunrise!)

But White points out that “The interlinear Hebrew-English rendering of this text shows that before the Shabbat SHADOWED THE GATES of Yerushalayim, they were commanded to be shut.”

hmm...

And what about new moons??

Yeshayahu 47:12-14 p 330
         
In this text, these moon worshipers are equated with astrologers, stargazers, and witches. Both sun worshippers and moon worshippers  will be devoured by fire, which they so fervently honor. 

White says...
“The elect can be drawn away from the SIGN of the Everlasting Covenant and deceived into believing they have not been.
Certain texts of Scripture SEEM to be telling us that each new moon is a Shabbat, but it doesn’t actually state this in an absolute way - it’s only arrived at by extrapolating.   We read about directives to open gates and curtains, or to blow a shofar on a new moon;  however there is only ONE new moon spoken of on which no work is to be done. 
So yes, the is ONE new moon out of the year that is, in fact, a Shabbat of rest prescribed by Torah.”

Colossians 2:16  BYNV
          “Let no one therefore judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a festival or a new moon or Shabbats”

          RSTNE p 893
          “Let no individual man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a moed, or in the chodesh, or in the shabbat days”


What has happened is that many believers have decided that a new moon is the Shabbat - so they declare that the 7th day...and “reset” the pattern of the 7-day week each new moon. - so that means you can get a 7th day without even having the first 6 days!

“If the weekly Shabbat is set by the new moon, the arrangement of the week is under constant change.  During the week of creation, the moon was brought forth on the 4th day, and is simply called the “lesser light” to rule over the night.  It is also used to calculate the appointed times, or annual Shabbats, referred to as “High Shabbats”.  The greater light, the sun, is used to calculate day and night.”

He goes on to say -
“Those who ignore he Shabbat each week are cut off from Yisra'el, and death is proclaimed as their judgment.  If the moon were involved in such a vitally important operation as calculating the weekly Shabbat, it seems HE would have mentioned it somewhere in His torah!” 

White says these new moon thing is messed up because:

Reason #1. Torah doesn’t know about it. The Shabaths of Yahuah are listed at: Leviticus / Wayyyiqra 23:1-44
Deuteronomy / Debarim 16:1-18
These are listed carefully, and only ONE new moon is designated as being distinguished from the other common new moons as a day of resting from labor. No indication is given that any other new moon is qodesh, or set -apart as a day of rest in any way. Further, there is no hint that the weekly Shabbath is related in any way to the moon phases. This is entirely a mis- reading of the text at Yasha Yahu (Is.) 66:23. If Father Yahuah wanted us to know that every new moon was a Sabbath, all He had to do was say so. By the act of telling us that the 7th new moon was a Sabbath, He told us by deduction that the other new moons were not days of rest, and therefore He distinguished the 7th new moon for us.
Reason #2. There are examples of work done on the first day of the moons:
At Genesis 8:13, Noach removed the covering of the ark he spent 100 years building. It was the 1st day of the moon.
At Num. 1:1, on the 1st day of the 2nd moon, a census was taken of all Yisharal. How odd is that?
At Ezra 7:9, this prophet was journeying on two new moons.
Reason #3. The Sabbath is supposed to be the seventh day of each week, after 6 days’ work; but if you re-start each new moon with this Sabbath rest, then it becomes the seventh day of a new week, without having a previous six work days for that week. The seventh day begins each of their months somehow, and makes the second day of each moon the first day of their week. With an operation like this going on, you would think that our Father would have given at least a couple of sentences explaining the relationship of the moon to the week. But, He’s totally silent about this relationship. Again, these ideas don’t come directly from Torah, but are inferred from phrases embedded in sentences. He knows how easily confused we can be, so by not mentioning something this important, it would have to mean He is hoping to trick us. I don’t think He would do such a thing. Yahusha had criticisms about what was permitted on a Shabbat, but He never argued about the pattern. When it was Shabbat for Him, it was also the same pattern each week for the nation He was born within. So, He endorsed the weekly Sabbath pattern without “re-setting” the week each new moon. The adversary shifted the Sabbath to SUN-day each week in order to remove the Covenant Sign, so why would this fallen being do this if every 7th day were already an error?
Reason #4. The moon circles the Earth in a period of approximately 29.5 days. For thousands of years, the same side of the moon has faced the Earth, perfectly synchronized with its orbital period and rate of rotation. Scientists cannot explain this circumstance, and mathematicians will tell you that it is almost infinitely improbable to ever develop this way on any planetary system in the universe. And yet, the planet we all happen to live on has this bizarre, unlikely situation. If our Creator can do this, then He could have just as easily made the week fit into the moon’s orbit by division, and made the moon orbit in exactly 28 days. Then He could have also told us to watch for the new moons, and rest on each one. He could have also told us that each one of the new moons was also a 7th day of the week.
Reason #5. The manna was used to re-teach the Yisharalites when the seventh day was, not when the new moon arrived. During the captivity of the Yisharalites in Egypt, it is possible that no one on Earth had kept the record of days for the 7-day week. Yisharal had succumbed to the Pagan system, and lost it also. They had to be re-taught. This is why the 4th Commandment begins with the word “remember” - it had been forgotten. The manna was provided for 6 consecutive days without fail. There was no interruption in this cycle mentioned, nor did the new moon come into any references that pertained to the manna. A double-portion of manna coming before each new moon would surely have been a signal, and yet there is no record of this occurring. The new moons have no connection to the 7-day week.
Reason #6. The Yahudim (called Jews today) have kept the heartbeat of the 7-day week since they were among the Yisharalites being re-trained by the manna cycle in the wilderness. There is no record or any hint that a change in this pattern ever occurred. These are among the elect of Yahuah, and have preserved the Words of the Torah, prophets, and writings for us. They are also the direct recipients of the promises (Romans 9:4), and are of the lineage of Yahusha Himself. If I am going to trust any group to preserve this set-apart weekly cycle, I would lean heavily toward entrusting it to a group of orthodox “Jews” than a group / denomination that may shift on the sand of human counsel. Efraim is the Scriptural term used for Gentile-dispersed descendants of Yusef, and the other lost tribes. A major problem with Efraim is his arrogance, so the orthodox Yahudim will tell you.
“You are exhausted by your many counsels; let the astrologers, the stargazers, and those who prognosticate by the new moons stand up and save you from what is coming upon you.” Isaiah / Yasha Yahu 47:13
We certainly are seeing many new winds of doctrine these days. There are even those who feel that the FULL MOON is the new moon, which would mean that when the Yisharalites came out of Egypt, they had to travel in utter darkness. There is no end to the development of new winds of teaching. What is most important is that we listen to the advice of Ephesians 4, and not lose sight of our foundation.
SUMMING UP ON THE NEW MOON
As Scripture directs, and the Yahudim have observed it, the weekly Shabbat is an event that is not lunar-directed as the 7 annual "high" Shabbats are. There are many today being influenced by this new teaching that uses the new moon to "re-set" the week. But, the moon itself was created on the 4th day of the first week, and each successive week that followed that first week had it's own "7th day", and this is not effected by the moon's position. The new moon re-sets the "month", but the weeks are not in the sky for us to measure them. Some seem to think so, but their mathematics is fuzzy.
If the new moon were involved in setting the weekly Sabbath, or was a Sabbath, it would have been listed at Lev. 23 or Deut. 16 -- but it is not (except the 7th new moon day). If the first "Shabbat" (during creation week) were a new moon, then there might be something to it, but the phase of the moon is not given to us for the first week at all. The days and the moons are not geared together in any way. The weekly 7 days are found in every culture on Earth, so even if the claim is made that the “Jews” changed sometime in the past for themselves, how could they have effected a change for all the rest of the cultures? Until recently, no one on the planet has ever heard of such a thing as the moon “re-setting” the week each month.
The annual "seasons" or moedim (appointed times) are established by the position of the moon, which is why the directions make it so simple at Lev. 23. The first appointment is the weekly Shabbat, and no "moon" or day of the moon is involved; next follows the other "high" Shabbats, which do involve the moon. The 29.5 day lunar cycle is not divisible by seven. The Sabbaths and appointed times are "shadows" of things to come -- it is best to not be- come too severe with one another over them, but show kindness to those who believe other- wise. We must remember to not "add" or "take away" from YAHUAH's Torah, His teachings, His Commandments.
So What Happened??...
Records from the period show that Constantine and his “company” combined or absorbed the Messianic faith into the Pagan format in place, and that the new “Jesus” was thought of as the sun deity in their understanding of him.
Constantine continued to mint coins for years after Nicaea which honored Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun. This is truly a case of “another Yahusha” being proclaimed, and done so according to a formerly Pagan format.
As Emperor, Constantine inherited all the Mithraic titles of his position. The Kaisar’s title was Pontifex Maximus (highest priest, of Janus), and he was assisted by his council of Pagan priests, Cardinals, which made up the Curia. The faith was in fact absorbed into the Pagan organism, so the faith became Paganized.
The faith did not eliminate the Paganism, but the faith became Paganized. All the behavior and symbols of the former Paganism were retained and “revised” (revisionism), leaving out the behavior and symbols of the true, pure, original faith of Abraham, especially the sect of the Natsarim.
They never even moved their corporate headquarters; it’s still at Rome! (Rev. 17:9). The early “Church fathers” wrote many words against both the Yahudim and the sect of the Natsarim, because they were rabidly Judeo-phobic and anti-Semitic. For almost 1,000 years following Nicaea, this organism called Catholicism (universalism) hunted-down and killed Natsarim, calling them “heretics” because they would not submit to the authority of the State religion by ceasing to observe “Jewish” behavior.
These Natsarim kept the faith, and observed the Torah because it was written on their hearts. By their existence, they exposed the errors of the Pagan traditions, which would eventually become a threat to the authority of the Catholic institution. Catholicism intentionally kept “literacy” to a minimum, and those who could read and write were termed “clergy” - a word meaning “literate one”. The Greek clericos, and the Latin clericus both mean “literate”, and so we see this carried over in other words such as cleric, clerical, and clerk.
Constantine brought in the change of the Sabbath to the Pagan SUN-DAY in 321 CE, and established the universal observance of EASTER, one of several formerly Pagan festivals they revised. He renounced all “rituals” (like circumcision), unleavened bread, Sabbaths and High Sabbaths (the real ones), clean/unclean food distinction, and Torah scrolls. The “nicolaitan” behavior of conquering the people (which Rabbi Yahusha hates) became even more empowered than ever.
Catholicism  promotes to the world that the only means a person can obtain favor (grace) with Yahuah is through the “dispensing” activities of your priesthood, and the seven sacraments. You know in your heart that you cannot change bread or wine into the living body of Yahusha - and you probably have suspected why this concept is promoted to the simple sheep led to believe it (about a billion people alive today). Not only is your own salvation at risk, but the greater loss is the damage to those you directly contact. Yahusha told us that stumbling blocks would come, but WOE to those THROUGH WHOM they come. Test everything, and ask questions; do personal study, and be delivered from the mystery religion you are embedded in. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and authorities, against the world-rulers of darkness of this age, and spiritual matters of wickedness in the spiritual realm.
***
So after looking at the 10 virgins and their oil lamps....
and looking at the Torah Parashah... which is about worshiping YHWH as HE says....  and keeping Shabbat....
I invite you to step back and consider are you keeping the Torah as YHWH says to do that???
AND - what - if anything is in your lamp??
Amein.

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