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.
