Church of God & Messianic News

Jesuits infiltrated Masonic Lodges

2011-08-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Jesuits have infiltrated Masonic Lodges, cause havoc, and the "Masons" get the blame when things happen.

A Mason noticed this, and wrote "Proofs of a Conspiracy" by John Robinson. A pdf copy is available at http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/PROOFS_OF_A_CONSPIRACY_John_Robison.pdf

The Protocols of Zion also contains glowing references to the "moral teachings of the Catholic church" -- that no sane person, let alone a group of Jews would have written, that, it also becomes obvious that these were written by Jesuits. The plan is probably true and being followed by Jesuits and groups controlled by Jesuits.

Book: Paths of the Covenant by Rav David Pollina

2011-08-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

REUNITING THE COVENANT

Book: "Paths Of The Covenant" -

Written by Rav. DAVID POLLINA: Order at http://tushiyah.org/rtc.html#order

Review taken from Tushiyah.org:

- "Fascinating and challenging, one of the best Messianic or Christian theology books of the year."

- "Exceptionally well researched and argued, Rav. David Pollina unravels the tangled history of Christianity and Judaism, reconciling it with prophesied future reunification."

- "Forget what you thought you knew and prepare to prove your beliefs! Amazing, must read for every believer!!"

Christianity's Hebraic roots – it’s past, but also it's FUTURE! Over 1,200 Scripture references, ancient texts, and Hebrew / Greek word studies, point to a prophesied future unity of Messianic peace.

Christianity and Judaism were not always separate religions. In fact, Y'shua (Jesus' Hebrew Name) was a Jew, lived as a Jew, and taught Judaism... with Messianic fulfilment, not replacement. Join Rav. David Pollina on a life-changing journey of re-discovery, re-flection, & re-unification; examining the amazing history and foundations of 1st century Messianic Judeo-Christianity, the modern separations, and prophesied future of unity in both Faith and practice.

Have you ever felt that there is more to 'Christianity' than you've learned or been taught? Ever wonder why 'Torah', which the Father said was "eternal" is thought by many preachers to have been done away with by the death and resurrection of the Messiah? Could they be confusing 'Torah' with 'Traditions'? Paul wrote half the New Testament, but what did he truly teach? Perhaps you had better take a closer look at the REAL history of Christianity and Bible prophecy...

This remarkable book will shake the praxis of your beliefs, from an understanding that the Hebraic roots of Christianity are not just its past but also it's FUTURE! Well documented through over 1,200 Scripture references, ancient documents, and Hebrew / Greek word studies, these secrets of history are brought to light... REUNITING THE COVENANT.

Some of the subjects covered include:

History of the Covenant and Separations

Infallibility and Inspiration of the Bible

Is ALL the TORAH for EVERY Believer ?

What did Paul REALLY teach ?

Can Christmas & Easter be Holy?

Yahweh's calendar, TRUE Sabbaths, and days

"Reuniting The Covenant" also presents a remarkable new theory on the Lord's Passion! It documents the year, day and hour of His death and scientifically proves what day it was on our modern calendar system that He rose from the dead. The implications of this theory are causing many to revisit long-held views on first century Judaic culture.

Anders Breivik, Oslo Bomber, a Roman Stooge

2011-07-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Anders Breivik, the mass murderer and Oslo bomber wrote a manifesto before he committed mass murder. In the manifesto, he glorified the Knights Templars and fancied himself as one of them waring against Islam.

Few in the Church of God it seems have looked or read his manifesto, because it clearly supports the Roman Catholic church, and his belief that he was a Protestant is pretty weak. Most Protestants would not want to align themselves with the Roman Catholic church as he does.

Gerald Flurry's Philadelphia Trumpet gets it wrong. There is absolutely no real research into the background of Anders Breivik, nor have they read his manifesto. They have simply copied and pasted existing information from the Washington Times and other shallow media outlets.

The Philadelphia Trumpet writes in Massacre in Norway:

"Breivik is a self-described Christian fundamentalist with links to anti-Islamic establishments in both England and Norway. In a 1,500-page online manifesto titled 2083—A European Declaration of Independence, he railed against Islamic immigration and claimed that multiculturalism was sapping Europe of its Christian heritage. He also heaped praise on Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders and included quotes from Wilders in his manifesto.

This shallow research does not highlight Breivik's opinions on the Roman Catholic church, the only true church according to the Oslo bomber. I have long given up reading the Philadelphia Trumpet, it's reporting is so shallow.

In the 2083 the Declaration of Independence manifesto. A copy may be downloaded at http://www.kevinislaughter.com/wp-content/uploads/2083+-+A+European+Declaration+of+Independence.pdf

"This has resulted in a situation where a majority of Protestants, me included, have lost all respect for the Protestant church.
An increasing number of European Protestants are converting to Catholicism. Only by turning to Rome may Protestants be able to see some of the shortcomings of our espoused faith." (p.1130 emphasis added)

p.1132 -- "Only Rome is the true church, since only Rome can lay claim to apostolic succession...."

p.1308 -- "...I personally believe that the protestant Church in Europe should once again should reform to become Catholic (Nordic countries, the UK, Germany, Benelux etc)."

p.1403 -- "Regarding my personal relationship with God, I guess I’m not an excessively religious man. I am first and foremost a man of logic. However, I am a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe."

It is a mistake to call Anders Breivik a Protestant. He is a supporter of the Roman Catholic church and its ideals.

The article, Anders Breivik Is No Christian Fundamentalist makes these interesting observations:

"In fact, the document clearly indicates that Breivik rejects “Protestantism” in favor of Roman Catholicism (“Only Rome is the true church” according to him). This is hardly the view of a Christian Fundamentalist, especially if you have any idea of the historic relationship between Fundamentalism and Catholicism. But then again, this evil man who says he admires Catholicism advocates abortion “if the baby has mental or physical disabilities (page 1,179).”

Sorcery and Drugs Radio Broadcast

2011-07-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

A Chris White Broadcast with guest Dr.Future who presents us with a look into the ancient use of Drugs that can open up the Portal to the Spirit Realm. Many are unaware of the effects that certain drugs can have on the masses in our generation today.

The pineal gland is in between the eyes on the forehead which is a cone shape gland that can cause spiritual encounters if it is activated. The quickest way is to take certain drugs that will give hallucinations where people believe they are communicating with angelic beings. These beings have the capacity to "destroy" the victim, so it is very dangerous to take these drugs.

God has cut off access to the pineal gland, so mankind cannot discern spiritual matters. In this radio broadcast from Nowhere to Run, information about the use of drugs is discussed and their spiritual purpose. Whilst it may not be in the elite's interest to awaken the "pineal" gland of mankind since it would lead to a great spiritual awakening, the broadcaster contends this is the ultimate aim with the use of drugs and chemicals. On the other side, others contend the chemicals in the food and water cause mankind to go into a "spiritual sleep" --to dumb them down.

One of the drugs used to get into the spiritual world is DMT, dubbed the "Spirit Molecule". Rick Strassman wrote a book detailing research into the use of the drug. The book is DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences available at Amazon.com.

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Boykott Israel Rally, days before Norway Bomb

2011-07-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Eskil Pedersen, leader of the Labour's youth party movement gave an interview to the Dagbladet, Norway’s second largest tabloid newspaper, telling them in no uncertain times what he thought of the Jewish state, called Israel.

The story is covered by Veteranstoday.com. In the article, Was Norway Massacre a reaction to BDS Israeli Boycott? they write:

"In the course of the interview, Pedersen stated that he “believes the time has come for more drastic measures against Israel, and (that he) wants the Foreign Minister to impose an economic boycott against the country.”

Pederson went on to say, “The peace process goes nowhere, and though the whole world expect Israel to comply, they do not. We in Labour Youth will have a unilateral economic embargo of Israel from the Norwegian side.”"

Who really carried out the attack? Israel, the bankers, the Knights of Malta, Knights Templars (today's Freemasons), Jesuits, the Vatican, Mossad, FBI/CIA, MI5/6 or was it the act of a disgruntled man who wanted to get his political message across? If Israel carried out the attack, why did Behring Breivik harp on about the Knights Templars in his writings and video, praising the Catholic church for taking a stand against Islam?

For a Norwegian nationalist, he wrote in English and even had his facebook entirely in English, not his native language, as you would expect. Paperblog makes the comment, the manifesto was "written in almost perfect English with a smattering of 'excellent Latin'" (See: Paperblog article).

Maybe we are being deliberately deceived by those who carried out the attack into blaming the most obvious "suspects" - Israel. The events are very strange indeed. More research is needed.

Norway Accused of being Anti-Semitic

2011-07-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Israel and the Jews have accused Norway of being anti-semitic with the government doing little to prevent the anti Jewish sentiment in the country.

The article by liveleaks, Shocking Report on Norway's Anti-Semitism by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld lists the shocking tide of anti Jewishness sweeping the country.

A report highlighted 33% of Jewish children experienced bullying at school. Norway with an estimated 2000 Jews amongst a strong 5 million residents is a tiny minority in the country.

The article writes:

"A year later in an interview, Irene Levin, Professor of Social Work at Oslo University College said: “Some Jewish children were told they would not be allowed to attend a birthday party because of Israeli actions. When there were anti-Semitic incidents at school, Jewish parents discussed this with some school principals, who supported the aggression. One told a Jewish girl to remove her ‘provocative’ Magen David. These incidents are important, but at present remain exceptions.”

...In 2009, when Halvorsen was Minister of Finance, she announced that the Norwegian government had decided that the state pension plan should divest from the Israeli company Elbit because it was involved in the construction of Israel’s security barrier.This was considered incompatible with the so-called investment ethics which had been laid down for the pension fund. At the same time however, the fund continued to hold shares in companies in other countries involved in highly unethical activities.

In 2009 during the Cast Lead war in Gaza, Halvorsen was the only Western minister to participate in an anti-Israeli demonstration. She was photographed standing close to someone holding a poster saying: U.S. and Israel – the Axis of the Greatest Evil.At the demonstration, shouts of “Death to the Jews” could also be heard.

The tragedy in Norway has highlighted the problems the country has relating to Israel, anti semitism and the Jews. Norway is particularly a very isolated society which is proud of its independence. How the tragedy with the "mad man" will change Norway society, is yet to be seen.

Oslo Bomber a Freemason reports PRESS

2011-07-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Anders Breivik, the Oslo bomber and mass murderer who managed to kill over 80 people with a gun, no mean feat, especially if he had to reload several times. Is it even possible to kill so many in such a short period of time?

Nevertheless, Anders Breivik, is reported in the Australian press as being a FREEMASON.

The Australian writes in Slaughter cruel but necessary, says gunman Anders Breivik:

"Breivik had been a Freemason and a member of the right-wing Progress Party, which promptly disowned him on Saturday. Police say, however, that nothing links him to far-Right groups elsewhere in Scandinavia.

"He hasn't been on our radar, which he would have been if he had been active in neo-Nazi groups," said one police official.

Breivik's only criminal record was a traffic conviction 10 years ago, a Norwegian newspaper said.

He came from an affluent background, shared an Oslo flat with his wealthy mother and went to a middle-class secondary school in the city.

The BBC went out of their way in their reporting accusing him of being a Nazi, then a right wing fundamentalist Christian, but failed to mention his FREEMASON links, because it would tarnish the image of Masonry.

The bomber was not a true Christian, but a Freemason. Freemasonry has no place in true Christianity.

Anders Breivik uploaded a video just hours before embarking in a killing spree throughout Norway and wrote a manifesto. The video can be watched at LiveLeaks.com here.

Further Proof that Anders Behring Oslo Bomber suspect is a freemason

Tony Gosling on Russia Today exposes Anders Breivik as a Freemason.

Alex Jones on RT: Breivik's Masonic influences in the Oslo attacks 25/7/11

Norway and Israel - a Long History

2011-07-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

A right wing Christian, Anders Breivik, is accused of one of the worst crimes to hit the Norway country. A lone man allegedly went on a shooting spree in Oslo, and planted a bomb at a government building on a public holiday killing 91 people. This happened Friday, 22 July, 2011, just days after Israel reported Norway's support of a Palestinian State. Our sympathies go out to all the families of those affected by this tragedy.

Norway and Israel do have a long history. Our nation is very much in league with Israel and so is the United States (although that may change under Obama). All of these nations share intelligence and secretly work together. Jews need to wake up, their own government is just as rotten as the rest of them!

Oslo

Norway, particularly Oslo, is notorious for their peace making "pacts" between the Palestinians and Israel. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords. Oslo has a particular interest to world Jewry not fanatical right wing Christians (most of whom couldn't care less about Israel and preserving the Jews).

Norway's Support for Palestine

Norway is reported to back the Palestinian State in the Jerusalem Post, just days prior to the bombing:

Jerusalem Post, reports, 18 July 2011: Norway backs Palestinian path to UN statehood vote

Norway, host of the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli peace accords, said on Monday it was "perfectly legitimate" for Palestinians to take their case for statehood to the United Nations for voting in September.

"We will consider very carefully the proposed text that's to be put forward by the Palestinians in the coming weeks," said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas beside him at a press conference.

... "I don't think that any Palestinians or anybody around the world are in doubt that Norway supports Palestinians' right to statehood," he said. "That has to be accompanied by a process of negotiation, which at the moment is stalling."

He and Abbas signed a document upgrading the Palestinian Authority's representative in Norway to ambassadorial rank, as several other European nations have done.

Norway chairs a group of Palestinian donor nations, some of which have contributed to a funding crisis for Abbas by not fulfilling funding pledges. Stoere implored them to pay up.

Norway's Support for Former Israeli Scientist

Norway was also set to give a former Israeli scientist, Mordechai Vanunu a passport and protection from Israel.

About Mordechai Vanunu

Mordechai Vanunu is an Israeli former nuclear technical assistant who revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by an American woman (who was later determined to be a spy for Mossad) named Cheryl Bentov, drugged, and kidnapped by Israeli intelligence operatives. Mordechai Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement.

Reports the Nordic page, Norway Looks for Solution to Save Vanunu:

Afterward, the Norwegian government set on to grant Vanunu a passport. It will give the Israeli nuclear scientist to stay and protection. The Norwegian government was being criticized from their own ranks for not helping Vanunu.

One of Israel's Mossad's agents killed a Norwegian by mistake in 1973.

Reports Wikipedia:

On July 21, 1973, Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, was killed by Mossad agents while walking with his pregnant wife. He had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the leaders of Black September, the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich massacre, who had been given shelter in Norway. The Mossad agents had used fake Canadian passports, which angered the Canadian government. Six Mossad agents were arrested, and the incident became known as the Lillehammer affair. Israel subsequently paid compensation to Bouchiki's family.

Norway Suspends Funds to Greece

Norway also upset the banking elite by suspending a $42 million fund to Greece which was first reported on 20 May 2011. 63 days later, Norway experienced its worst tragedy.

Bloomberg, writes in Norway Suspends $42 Million in EEA Greek Development Funds:

"Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein froze payment of 235 million kroner ($42 million) in European Economic Area grants to Greece because the government didn’t meet the obligations linked to the funds.

“Greece had committed to paying 50 percent of each project. This was not followed up,” Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. “It’s also unclear whether the money already transferred to the Greek authorities was forwarded to the appropriate recipients.”

Norway to Pull out of Libya

Norway is set to end air support against Libya, two months before NATO's current expiry mandate.

The article, Norway to end air support for Libya mission on August 1 writes:

"Norway, which has sent six F-16 fighter jets to Libya, will withdraw from air operations on August 1, two months before the expiry of NATO's current mandate, the government said Friday."

Norway Disinvested from Israeli Arms Firm

Norway disinvested from a corrupt Israeli arms firm. God's so called chosen creating weapons of mass destruction to use on us?

Norway, a country with a few morals left, decided to pull out dealing with the Jews, much to the dismay of Israel.

From the Haaretz.com, article: Israel summons Norway envoy to protest divestment from arms firm:

"The director general of the Foreign Ministry, Yossi Gal ... summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Israel, Jakken Bjørn Lian, to protest Norway's decision to pull all of its investments from the Israeli arms firm Elbit.

Following the meeting, the Foreign Ministry relayed that, "Israel will consider further steps of protest in the future."

Norway's Ministry of Finance remarked: ""We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law," said the minister."

Isaiah 11:13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

Ephraim can represent all the lost ten tribes of Israel. The Jews (Judah) and House of Israel (ten lost tribes) will continue to war against each other, and be envious of each other's wealth, technology and power until Jesus Christ returns. Britain and America are currently working with Israel, but a time will come when this relationship will come to an end.

The history of Norway and Judah (nation of Israel) has been strained for some time. The Norwegian government is strongly independent causing it to be outside of the Masonic European Union which may cause many enemies from the Israeli-Anglo British-American alliance who are the setting up a New World Order behind our backs.

Whistleblower Sean Hoare found Dead

2011-07-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sean Hoare was a journalist with the News of the World who blew the whistle on News International, founded by Rupert Murdoch, who wire tapped people's telephone calls for stories.

Even the police have been involved in the scandal, caught receiving payments for information. Sir Paul Stephenson quits his position as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner for his dealings with the newspaper (source: BBC News)

Sean Hoare must have been blamed for opening his mouth in the first place. Sean Hoare was the first named journalist to allege that the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking carried out by his staff. The MET has a history of corruption, see the book, The Untouchables - History of Corruption in the Metropolitan Police by Michael Gillard (see the book at AMAZON.COM). They are known as the The Met. The word MET is a hebrew adjective which means "death".

Before Sean Hoare was found dead he told a friend and neighbour that he feared someone from the government was out to get him.

The article, Police say 'no-one else involved' in death of phone-hacking whistle blower who 'feared someone was out to get him' states:

A friend and neighbour claimed Mr Hoare, 47, had become increasingly reclusive and paranoid in recent weeks.

‘He would talk about someone from the Government coming to get him,' he said.
'He’d say to me, “If anyone comes by, don’t say I’m in”.

He died at the age of 47, the news media reporting "alcohol" related problems which may have contributed to his death --however this is "likely" stated to deflect our attentions away from what might have caused his death.

The Guardian Newspaper reported in Sean Hoare postmortem results confirm death not suspicious:

A postmortem into the death of the News of the World whistle blower Sean Hoare found no evidence of third-party involvement and confirmed that his death was non suspicious, the police have said.

...Hertfordshire police, which asked its major crime unit to investigate the death, also answered questions concerning their approach after the discovery of Hoare's body on Monday. He was found dead in the flat at 10.40am. Neighbours said police and an ambulance were at the site until about 3pm. It was not until after 9pm, two hours after TV and website reports of the whistle blower's death, that more uniformed and plainclothes police, including scientific officers, arrived at Hoare's flat.

Police said the "log detailing response activity in relation to the incident shows clearly that the initial response to this incident was correct".

They added: "Throughout the day the tragic incident was treated as an unexplained but non suspicious death. As an additional measure, following a routine review of the incident and in light of a clearer understanding of the former position of the person, officers returned to the property to make routine follow-up inquiries, which are now ongoing. The incident continues to be treated as non suspicious."

Hoare died on the day that a BBC documentary aired covering the scandal at 9 pm, but it seems his body was not removed straight away but remained in the flat for many hours. The Hertsfordshire Police had already determined that his death was not suspicious before even all of the facts could be established. His untimely death at a young age, during the worst scandal to hit the government, police and media seems more "convenient" than ever and a welcome relief to the corrupt cronies in power.

Mark Kennedy, a former police officer who infiltrated green environmental groups in the UK, then refused to give testimony in a court of Law fled the country in fear of his life.

In the Guardian article, Undercover police officer says he fears for his life

Mark Kennedy, a Metropolitan police officer who infiltrated green and anarchist groups under the alias Mark Stone and fled to America after his cover was blown, said he fears for his safety following threats from activists. The 41-year-old said he believed that his former police superiors were looking for him too.

"People like to think of things in terms of black and white. But the world of undercover policing is grey and murky. There is some bad stuff going on. Really bad stuff."

A former police man believes the MET (death) Police were looking for him after he turned against the police force.

A Conservative MP, Christopher Shale was also found dead shortly after he had embarrassed the government with his comments about the Conservative Party.

The Guardian newspaper wrote in Senior Tory Christopher Shale found dead at Glastonbury festival:

Christopher Shale, a senior Conservative who was discovered dead in a toilet at Glastonbury on Sunday morning may have died in the early afternoon of the previous day, according to a family friend who said he was briefed by medical staff.

The body of Shale, 56, a close political ally of David Cameron, was discovered on Sunday morning hours after he was quoted in a Conservative strategy document leaked to a Sunday newspaper, as saying the Tories had come across over the years as "graceless, voracious, crass, always on the take" and needed to radically change.

He was found sitting on the toilet and it thought to have died from a heart attack shortly after embarrassing the government.

David Cameron has two deaths under his watch (Sean Hoare and Christopher Shale). Both have embarrassed the government and both died shortly after. These are the undisputed FACTS. We have the message loud and clear: Embarrassing the government may lead to your untimely death.

May God have mercy on this nation because it has fallen into the hands of men of immense evil who do not value human life, "they plot and threaten the life of the king" for their own evil desires--their Great Plan will be destroyed when Jesus Christ returns. Thy Kingdom Come!

Whistleblower's Death: James Corbett on Murdoch scandal turning bloody

Hitler's Messianic Jews

2011-07-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Few realise that a vibrant community of Messianic Jews existed in Europe long before the Nazi's gained power in 1933. It is difficult to obtain reliable information about Messianic Judaism in Nazi Germany, at least information, can be difficult to obtain.

The article: Hitler, the Church and Messianic Jews from roshpinaproject.com writes:

"Arnold Frank’s Jerusalem Church in Hamburg was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942, his magazine Zions Freund was closed by the Nazis in 1936 with the last issue published that December. Messianic Jews and Missions to the Jews were seen as part of the Jewish threat to Aryan society and they were under Gestapo observation. Jewish Christians were being expelled from denominations and this led to the demand for a Hebrew Christian denomination to be set up for such people but never came to fruition

Frank, originally from an Orthodox Jewish background, was arrested by the Gestapo but released with British intervention and he fled to Britain. Many tens of thousands of Jewish Christians also perished in the Holocaust, when I made a mournful visit to Auschwitz many years ago there was a memorial to such victims with a Star of David with a cross inside it. The archive material of various Christian missionary societies active in pre-WWII Europe show very large number of Jewish disciples of Jesus, some commentators have even put the number as high as 225,000, most perished in the Holocaust."

Over 200,000 Messianic Jews are estimated to have perished in the Nazi Holocaust. Hitler wiped out vibrant communities of Messianic Jews. Few realise such communities existed and were also the victims of the holocaust. Hitler's hatred for the Jews extended to the Messianic Jewish communities. Yet this part of history is often ignored or written out. It would be interesting if anyone had more information about this topic.

Hebraic Roots Bible - Free PDF Download

2011-07-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Don Esposito from Congregation of YHWH Jerusalem has produced his own Hebraic version of the Bible, available for $30 including shipping or it can be downloaded FREE OF CHARGE HERE. The Hebraic Bible can be viewed on www.coyhwh.com/en/bible.php. The Bible contains 1431 pages including both Old and New Testaments. It would probably be cheaper to purchase a copy rather than printing out all of those pages. It is a useful resource.

Tim Hegg Launches Torah Institute

2011-07-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Tim Hegg, founder of TorahResource.com has launched a new initiative to train students in the Torah through his newly formed, Torah Institute with classes beginning in September 2011.

Writes Tim Hegg in his April 11 Newsletter:

We are happy to announce the launching of TorahResource Institute (TRI), with classes beginning in September, 2011. We are working on the TRI Catalog which will be available in May. In addition to laying out the perspective and goals of TRI, the catalog will also give the details regarding programs, classes, and admission requirements.

We hope that you will take a few minutes to visit the TRI website and help us get the word out about our school. Please take a few minutes to watch the short Introductory Video and explore the rest of the site.

On the website you'll also be able to sign up for our Friends & Supporters Network, which will keep you informed about the progress we're making at TRI. We hope that many of you will commit yourselves to pray for us, for we know that only as God confirms the work of our hands will we be successful in this endeavor.

Jesus born 11 September, 3 BC.

2011-07-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ernest Martin of Askelm.com wrote a book called The Star of Bethlehem which dated the birth of Jesus Christ with some accuracy to 11 September, 3BC.

Revelation 12 is used to determine the date, 3BC, as it describes a woman clothed with a child, this is attributed to the Sun being in Virgo. This happened during August 27 to September 15, 3BC.

The woman in Revelation 12:1 had the moon under her feet. This only happened, according to Ernest Martin,

"these two factors came to precise agreement for about an hour and a half, as observed from Palestine or Patmos, in the twilight period of September 11th The relationship began about 6:15 p.m. (sunset), and lasted until around 7:45 p.m. (moonset). This is the only day in the whole year that the astronomical phenomenon described in the twelfth chapter of Revelation could take place."

Ernest Martin is convinced the only time Jesus Christ could have been born is on 11 September, 3BC. He wrote:

"It was on September 11th. It could not have occurred at any other time of the year. Indeed, even one day before ― on September 10 ― the Moon would have been located above the Virgin’s feet with the crescent not visible, while one day farther ― on September 12 ― the Moon had moved too far beyond the feet of the Virgin, at least 25 diameters of the Moon east of her feet. Thus, only one day applies. That day was just after sunset on September 11th, 3 B.C.E."

The book can be read online or listen to it on mp3, by visiting the Star of Bethlehem webpage.

2012 and the Antichrist

2011-07-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Wade Cox, founder of the Christian Churches of God, believes heavily in the 2012 year of being significant to biblical prophecy. Certainly, by the year, 2025, it is all going to be over, according to Wade Cox.

2012, in my opinion, is the year, Satan is thrown out of the heavens and is limited to this earth. Though some already think Obama is the devil, especially amongst christian conservatives and some conspiracy theorists. Obama does have a part hebrew name, made up of "BAMA" and "BARACK". Strange for a black man to have a hebrew name, unless this is not his real name, but, has some type of "esoteric" meaning?

From Wade Cox's article, 2012 and the Antichrist:

2016 in the occult

These occult prophecies related to 2012 also have a date three and a half years later in 2016. Many speculate regarding the week of years in the last days. This position is of itself derived from a false prophecy or mistranslation of Daniel 9:25 used by Trinitarians especially in the US. The week of years in the last days will be used to express the period from Sabbath 2012 to the Sabbath Year of 2019. Others of the Trinitarian system try to tie the beginning in 2009 where the Antichrist system takes off quietly but as we see the Two Witnesses are not in Jerusalem. The Trinitarian Rapturists will try to claim that the Antichrist system was commenced in 2009. However, the execution of the duties of Elijah requires being misplaced to make sense of the sequence. Horn suggests that the three and a half days from 21 December 2012 and 25 December 2012 may be the death of the Witnesses where they are left for 3.5 days but that is not part of the sequence. It is more likely that the period covers the 42 months of the Beast Power and their power comes to an end at that time in the Middle East and Europe. The Trinitarian system can make no real sense of the dates and time frames and produce conflicting scenarios (cf. Horn, ibid., pp. 267ff.).

In order to tie the periods into place, the period of a generation, they allotted the seventy years of the life span to Matthew 24:34. However a generation has and is traditionally in prophecy 40 years and not 70 years. Horn canvasses this time frame on page 270. In that way the time frame is comprised of seventy years from 1948 at the foundation of Israel to 2018 which ends in the year 2019 at the Last day of Adar but that seems not to be understood (cf. Horn, ibid, p. 270). Thus some have canvassed the period 2012-2019 as the seven-year period in question. However, God usually brings about massive change in accordance with the Calendar and the laws and thus the Third year is usually the year in which he executes changes so that the law is not disrupted. However, the Flood was done in accordance with the Sabbatical cycles. The Third year of the next cycle is from 1 Abib 2015 to 1 Abib 2016. If the Witnesses commence from 2012 for the Third reading of the law then the 1263.5 days end in 2015/16. We would thus expect Messiah to cut the period short and be here by Trumpets 2015 or 16 or even as late as Abib 2017 depending when the Witnesses arrive, either at 1 Abib or Trumpets. This period will indeed be a massive tribulation.

The Kabbalist movie junk coming out of Hollywood is making noises about 2012 to 2018 as ending in judgment. However, long before that the period was being touted as ending in 2027 (at the jubilee). The real end of the period is in 2025 for the Treble Harvest for the Sabbath and Jubilee in 2026-2027. Seven years beforehand is in Abib 2018. Thus we expect Messiah by 2018 and the Two Witnesses in 2014 by Trumpets at latest if Revelation is literally correct. It certainly will be over by 2025.

HWA Rothschild Links

2011-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

Herbert W Armstrong promoted himself as an unofficial ambassador for world peace using this title to meet heads of state and important government leaders.

Armstrong had links with the Rothschild dynasty. Reports the Discernment Ministries:

The December 31, 1981 Ambassador Report published Herbert Armstrong's Nov. 27 letter to Plain Truth, which included his recent schedule of meetings with Zionist leaders: "A week ago yesterday, Thursday, November 19, I had a personal meeting with President Yitzak Navon of Israel in Jerusalem, and the night before I was guest of honor at the banquet hosted by Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem. Present also were former Mayor John Lindsay of New York City, and Jacob Rothschild of London." The May 30, 1983 Worldwide News reported that Armstrong's presence in Oxford, England. "While in England, HWA met with Leopold de Rothschild, Edmond de Rothschild, and other British royalty." [Ambassador Report, Sept. 1983]

The Rothschilds also sent letters of condolescenes at the death of Herbert W. Armstrong.

Reports the Ambassador Report:

The Worldwide News of Feb. 10, devoted entirely to HWA, contained letters of condolence from many leaders including President and Mrs. Reagan, California Attorney General John Van de Kamp, United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, Peter Tarnoff of the World Affairs Council, Otto von Habsburg, Leopold de Rothschild, Edmund Rothschild, and numerous leaders of the state of Israel.

Mr Armstrong was well received by the "leaders" of the world in sharp contrast to the saints of God who were and continue to be heavily persecuted by the world (Hebrews 11, Revelation 12). Armstrong was received by the famous Rothschild dynasty, due to his support of Israel and charitable work. In a twist of irony, some of Armstrong's flock today openly oppose the Rothschilds, Bilderbergers, Council of Foreign Relations and the United Nations. Such actions would have led to being disfellowshipped under Armstrong's tenure.

Herbert Armstrong equates to the number 1760 in the Hebrew numerical system. This is also a year. In 1760, Meyer Amschel Bauer changes his name to Rothschild and inherits the money banking business from his father. (Source: Modern History Project).

Armstrong's Rothschild links do not surprise me at all. Armstrong was a Zionist. His church was founded on Zionist principles--which to a large extent held back the power of Rome. Jewish Zionism with all of its faults prevented the Catholic church from regaining her power over the world until the time that its power would be "broken" by Jesuitism.

WCG- No Millennium

2011-07-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Worldwide Church of God was known for its doctrinal positions on Israel's future role in biblical prophecy for decades.

Since the Tkach Coup of the WCG it is now unrecognisable from the average church on the street corner. They have transformed the church not by truth, but by using deliberate lies and biblical deceptions. It is likely Joseph Tkach Snr, was a Catholic Jesuit, coming from Chicago where the Jesuits literally run the city. His son, Joseph Tkach Jnr, was rumoured not to like his own father, but with the promise of $$$$ seems to have no problem running the organisation into the ground, whilst ensuring his bank accounts do not suffer any deflation.

The latest doctrinal twist is that there apparently is no millennium nor future for Israel.

Writing to a reader of ExitsupportNetwork, the Tkach administration wrote:

"The Worldwide Church of God does not have a dogmatic stance on the issue of any role for the nation of Israel. To have an official stance would presuppose that our doctrinal committee and leadership have studied that specific issue in a sustained way, issued preliminary position papers, discussed and amended these after further thorough work, and so forth, finally issuing a position paper that represents our official stand."

"But the question of a 'millennium' itself is also unclear, so far as we are concerned. Our statement 'The Millennium' in our Statement of Beliefs offers some of the various ideas about this topic that are held by Christians, but comes to no conclusion. Hence, our position on a future Israel with national glory is that we have no dogmatic position."

Not only is there no more Good News--but the utopia the Bible describes as a reward for the "saved" just isn't going to happen - according to the latest WCG teaching. If that is true, Mr Tkach, can we have our tithes back??? There seems little point financially supporting a church which admits this is as good as it gets on the earth. Yet the worst thing is that the WCG promotes evolution in its flagship magazine.

Jesuit British Judge Joins European Court of Human Rights

2011-07-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

British Judge, Sir Nicolas Bratza, 66, has been appointed to a top job in the European Court of Human Rights. (see Daily Mail article)

Wikipedia writes about him:

Sir Nicolas was born on 3 March 1945 and educated at Wimbledon College, a state-maintained Jesuit school for boys.

Catholic trained Sir Bratza will now decide our human rights in Europe. We can see slowly how Catholics are being promoted to high office.

For Some Light Relief... For Souths Africans

2011-07-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have joined the club of ex-saffies, throughout the world, living in our own exile, at least, we can laugh at ourselves. Leon Schuster, South Africa's funny man, has done a good sketch, on the man, we love to hate, Julius Malema.

Geniet.

Julius Malema Song by Alfred Ntombela - Leon Schuster Movie

And this really made me laugh, I had to share it!

Schuks Tshabalala Snake Prank - Leon Schuster

So What do I Believe?

2011-07-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

People will wonder, who are you, and what do you believe anyway?

After leaving the Worldwide Church of God, I embarked with a group of other people to study the Bible, to find the truth. We held regular bible studies, reading and researching the "literature" available to us, before the days of the Internet.

We ended up studying ourselves out of the Churches of God, to the point that we had to stay at home, because there was not ONE organisation we could agree with!

Here are some of the points:

1. Bible Calendar

Today, I follow a calendar which is NON-POSTPONEMENT using the CONJUNCTION of the new moon to determine the first day of Abib. Although, now, I believe the Enoch calendar will be the "future" calendar in God's kingdom and will be restored by the Two Witnesses or by Jesus Christ Himself. Society will go back to a 360 day year. Until, that time, I have decided to keep with this calendar.

2. Two Resurrections

There are two resurrections in the Bible, not three (Revelation 20).

3. Baptism in Jesus Name ONLY

Jesus told His followers to use His name in baptism in Acts. The disciples always baptised in the name of Jesus Christ only (Acts 2:38, 8:16 etc). Matthew 28:19 has been proven (even Trinitarian scholars) to have been a corrupted text. After much research, I eventually found a minister willing to baptise me in Jesus name only.

4. Tithing

Tithing ceased when the Temple ended in 70 AD, this was done on agricultural produce to maintain the Levites. The Apostle Paul, pleaded for "offerings" but never tithes?? But, three holy day offering exist which is used to fund any work of God.

5. Satan's Fate

Satan will be changed to human form for the world to "see" and will be destroyed, he will never live forever. Angels can die. They have eternal life, not "immortal" life. The Book of Enoch lists the various angels and their punishments for their sins.

6. Tassels

These laws were never abolished by Jesus, as Zechariah 8:23 show, they will be worn in the Millennium. They reflect His 613 laws, with the blue cord, picturing the divine throne in Heaven. So, I wear tassels to fulfill the commandments in Numbers 15:38-39. We are good at claiming we keep the spirit of the law, but fail miserably when it comes to literally keeping it!

7. Mezuzah

A mezuzah is a case which contains a written parchment which is affixed on the doorposts. This should be affixed to our outside front and back door, to fulfill the command that requires us to write the commandments on our doorposts (Deut 6:9). This is also an outward sign of our faith in God and in His commandments. Perhaps we ought to write out the ten commandments, placing these inside the mezuzah, then affixing them to the doorpost? There is a mezuzah on my front and back door, fulfilling this law.

8. Circumcision

This is a complex issue. God will save people regardless of whether their skin is circumcised. The requirement for circumcision is necessary for anyone desiring to enter the physical Temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 44:7) and to partake of the Old Testament Passover with its sacrifices (Exodus 12:48).

9. Passover Meal

The Passover was a meal celebration where they would eat lamb. Today, this is changed into a Passover Seder which is eaten alongside a meal. The Passover symbols are written into this meal celebration, with the matzah turning into the broken body of Jesus Christ and the third cup of wine symbolising the blood of Jesus Christ. (See article: Meaning of Passover). There is debate whether the Lord's Supper is on a different day to the Passover, so some groups observe two days. I do not personally know enough to make any real assessment, so I continue to observe one day, the 14th, as the Passover Seder.

10. Quran, Book of Enoch

The Quran is a commentary on the Bible and mentions the Sabbath more times than the New Testament. We cannot dismiss any book off hand, but we must judge its contents in light of existing scriptures which conform to the Law and Testimony. Wade Cox of the Christian Churches of God does a good investigation into the Quran. Although, the Quran's focus is not to replace our scriptures, there are key concepts in there which can benefit and help our understanding. The Book of Enoch likewise, contains useful information on what is considered God's calendar system (according to Enoch). The idea of 66 books as a closed creed, is human invention, and God has never given us the precise number of books which we should have in our library.

11. Two Babylons

The Bible talks of two Babylons, two separate women, one in Revelation 17 and one in Revelation 18. The woman in Revelation 17 represents the false religious system today called the Catholic church. The woman in Revelation 18 is a nation, a merchandising kingdom. Today, this is represented by a super-power, which could only be the United States. Although this may change in the future, if America is financially bankrupted and destroyed economically, the economic super-power might be a nation in the Middle East. The Woman in Revelation 17 is destroyed by ten kings in Rev 17:16. The Woman in Revelation 18 is destroyed by an angel in Revelation 18:21.

Exit and Support Network: Christian Biblical Church of God

2011-07-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Exit and Support Network is a support group and source of information for those people wishing to leave the Worldwide Church of God and its many splinters.

The Exit and Support Network has done some interesting research into the Worldwide Church of God, much of it taken from the Ambassador Reports, Stanley Radars "Against the Gates of Hell" and other sources.

There is a letter written in about the Christian Biblical Church of God:

Something Very Wrong With Christian Biblical Church of God:

April 16, 2011

We've just been viewing your website. Very informative.

We met and were in married in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church 29 years ago. We left the SDA Church in 1985. In 1987 we joined the Worldwide Church of God and were members until 1995. After leaving WCG, we stopped going to church--that was sixteen years ago.

A few months ago we found Fred Coulter's website, "Church at Home." Although, he comes across as speaking truth, we've started to have many questions. There is definitely something very wrong with CBCG, but we hadn't been able to pinpoint it until now.

...At this point in time, we aren't attending any church. We've decided that right now we're just going to study God's word at home. That recent decision led us to [Truth or Fables website and William Hohmann's article on Discernment of Truth and Deceptions] and also the Exit and Support Network website.

You could say, that we are in a "deprogramming" phase. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for the continued healing of our hearts and minds. We love God with all our heart, and we know without a doubt that He loves us and will never leave us or forsake us.

Again thank you so much for your website. --Dale and Cathy, Washington

It is very rare than anyone writes about Fred Coulter and his Christian Biblical Church of God. The church generally does not attract much attention, those few members who do leave, do so, on doctrinal grounds.

Like, any church, not one of them will give perfect doctrine. Mr Fred Coulter is no different.

Major differences focus of prophecy, the mark of the beast, and timing of Jesus' return to the earth etc.

Mark of the Beast

Fred Coulter holds to the view that the "mark of the beast" is a microchip implant. He is probably right on this one.

America not Babylon, but is causing the Trouble

On prophecy, America is a key player in bringing in a NEW WORLD ORDER under front organisations like the Council of Foreign Relations, Bilderbergers etc. Though he refuses to acknowledge that America is Babylon, he states America is under the influence of Babylon.

He is right America is the leading nation, but fails to identify her as the woman described in Revelation 18.

Jesus takes a Year to get Here

Jesus Christ will return on a Feast of Pentecost, according to Fred Coulter, not Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets according to Coulter, refers to the blowing of the trumpets signaling the last seven trumpet plagues on the earth. Jesus will be seen in the heavens, but will gradually return to the earth, which will take a year. The resurrection would occur on a Pentecost, with the saints, meeting on a sea of glass, where they will witness the last seven plagues on the earth before they return to the earth.

These are interesting ideas, and I do not necessarily disagree with them but only time will tell if they are accurate.

Islam

Fred Coulter does not address issues of the Quran (which Wade Cox of the Christian Churches of God raise), nor does he address the Book of Enoch which Jude quotes from. The Quran mentions the Sabbath more than the New Testament, yet, this is seldom mentioned. The Quran upholds Saturday as the Sabbath, yet the New Testament is not so clear on this issue. CC Torey, wrote in 1933, the Jewish Foundation of Islam. Wade Cox, has some interesting research which shows the early true identity of Islam as a sect of Jewish Christianity, see the following research papers here. It would be actually nice to see some real scholarship coming from Fred Coulter on Islam.

Tassels

Another issue which Coulter needs to address are the tassels. He does not believe in them, but, Zechariah 8:23, clearly states the Jews will wear them in the Messianic age. Nations will grasp the "sleeve of a Jewish man" -which refer to the tassels. So, he has to explain why the tassels are required for Jews when Jesus returns, but his little group is somehow exempt, and this goes for most of the Churches of God?

Two Witnesses

The last point is his view the two Witnesses, one will be the Jewish High Priest, the other a Jewish Politician is simply laughable. The Jews have a history of resistance to anything considered Christian. Check your sources, Coulter, the Jews term Christianity, EDOM. (See: Origin of Edom). Throughout the history of the Prophets in the Bible, they have always been separate from the office of High Priest. A high ranking "masonic" leader in Israel, a witness of God? More chance of a camel going through the eye of a needle!

Conspiracy in Judah

2011-07-03T04:41:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah who had his life threatened by the Jews for telling them what God felt about there evil ways, speaks of a conspiracy.

"And the Lord said to me, "A CONSPIRACY has been found among the men of JUDAH and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 11:9).

Here, the conspiracy is linked to the numbers, 11,9 or 911. This is probably because 911 is connected to the Judgement of God (as Christ returns in Rev 19:11).

God's complaint against Judah was that they had "turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers" - that is worshipping the false pagan deities of the gentile nations.

Jeremiah brought God's stern warning, but in typical fashion, his life was threatened by the Jews (Jeremiah 11:19). Jesus remarked that a prophet does not have honour in his own country (Matthew 13:57; John 4:44).

The Worldwide Church of God, put the blame of Jerusalem's destruction on the Jews, even though the Roman's carried out the punishment.

In Tomorrow's World, November-December, 1970 (publication of the Worldwide Church of God), from the article: "It happened in Jerusalem 70AD on page 11, we read:

Outwardly the Jerusalem known by Jesus had reached the pinnacle of grandeur, wealth and architectural achievement. But under the surface were vices only too familiar to the urban America of 1970.

The country was wealthy, and the stakes were high enough that politicians surrendered to the dictates of greed. Herod‘s descendants pitted themselves against one another in a fratricidal power struggle that eroded all respect for royal authority. Successive Roman governors sent to administer the province of Judaea became bolder and bolder in their quest for personal power and wealth. Florus, under whom the Jewish War broke out, surpassed all his predecessors in out and-out legal brigandage. This governor, Josephus relates, plete communities, and virtually announced to the entire country that everyone might be a bandit if he chose, so long as {Florus} himself received a rake-off (The Jewish War, translated by G. A. Williamson, 11. 14.2).

In Jerusalem the people courageously sought to break the bonds of Roman oppression. And they quite understandably became desperate. Young hotheads grew restless. Rioting became a favorite pastime. In fact, unscrupulous government and civic leaders found it convenient to cover up their own crimes by inciting the mobs of the city to riot. The favorite scene for mob confrontations and riots was Jerusalem’s splendid Temple of God, where hundreds of thousands of worshippers congregated on religious festivals. It as, in fact, on the festivals-Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles - that civil strife reached its zenith (Wars, 11.1.3; 11.3.1 ). Violence finally became so common that armed guards were posted on permanent duty in the Temple during feasts “to forestall any rioting by the vast crowds” (ibid.,11.12.1). Even so, political, religious and professional agitators, gang leaders and revolutionaries still did their part. Oftentimes, the frustrated passions of an oppressed people became vented in a tragically self-destructive manner. To modern-day Americans these mob scenes would have a familiar ring.

But in the afternoon a number of men with revolutionary ideas collected, and began lamentations {complaints] of their own. . . piercing wails, weeping in chorus, and beating of breasts, that resounded throughout the whole city (ibid., 11.1.2).

Just to test the government’s sincerity, the mob began to make large demands : tax reduction, abolition of sales tax, and release of prisoners. In short, the Jerusalem of the first century A. D. enjoyed all the fruits of an intricate multifaceted urban civilization with which we are becoming too painfully familiar in our own day. There was violence, crime, racial conflicts among Samaritans, Jews and Greeks, arson, looting of stores and burning of credit records,raiding of armories, gang warfare and political assassination. Unscrupulous rulers blamed the riotous mobs in order to divert attention from their own crimes.

Finally, The revolutionary party in Jerusalem cast off all restraint. , . . Every scoundrel, surrounded by his own gang, stood out from his followers like a bandit chief or dictator and used his henchmen to rob respectable citizens (ibid., 11.14.1).
The end of this spree of licentious prosperity was the War of GG-70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed and the land of Judea turned into a wilderness. As Josephus commented, Of all the cities under Roman rule our own reached the highest summit of prosperity, and in turn fell into the lowest depths of misery.. . and for our misfortunes we have only ourselves to blame (ibid., pref., 4).

And what occurred in Jerusalem more than 1900 years ago has a particular significance for today. Not for the Jerusalem of today. But rather for the urban areas of the United States and British Commonwealth. In a direct prophecy to these peoples, the Prophet Ezekiel wrote, “The land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence” (Ezek. 7:23).

Especially American cities. But how many of us weep over America the way Jesus wept over Jerusalem?

Jeremiah attempted to bring this timely message to His people, to call them to repent of their sin, and to return back to the "Covenant of Israel" but his life was threatened and his message fell on deaf ears. The land of Israel was turned into a bandit of thieves under Judah's control, God finally had enough, and destroyed the nation from its foundation. Today, God, is calling Judah to repent, to once again return back to the Covenant and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Free Magazine: Straight Forward

2011-07-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

The Enduring Church of God is giving away free subscriptions to their magazine, Straight Forward. To receive a printed edition of the magazine, use this online form here.

Enduring Church of God is a splinter group of the Worldwide Church of God which holds to many of the foundational teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. The church was started by Charles Bryce who once attended the Global Church of God and then the Living Church of God (source: cogwriter)

Enoch Calendar

2011-07-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Enoch calendar is similar in many ways to the Hebrew calendar, in that they both attempt to align the calendar with the moon and sun.

The book of Enoch, was eventually written out of the historical cannon of scriptures. But, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be viewed as scripture. Every book must be weighed against the Law and Testimony.

Personally, I believe Enoch's calendar is God's true calendar. The Hebrew calendar tried its best to keep in line with Enoch's calendar--yet this is not widely believed in the church.

One interesting article worth reading is: A Study on the Calendar Prophesied in the Book of Enoch (it is a pdf file).

Ships of Ishtar not Tarshish!

2011-06-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

God showed me on the Sabbath a bible code hidden in THREE words. These are SHEBA, DEDAN and TARSHISH.

This comes from the verse in Ezekiel 38:13:

"Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, "Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?"

Notice how the words are hidden!

She ba D [e] dan Tar [sh] Ish
SHE BAD AND [SHE] ISHTAR

We have the following words hidden in Bible code: "She bad and she Ishtar" from the words, Sheba Dedan and Tarshish.

Now, let us rework these words into the scripture:

"She bad and she the merchants of Ishtar, and all their young lions ..."

This is referring to the merchandising power of Babylon (Revelation 18) which buys and trades throughout the world. Israel is currently under this power of Babylon, which uses buying and selling to control world population.

How plain! But you have to see it, to believe it!

Jesus Christ WILL return in MY lifetime!

2011-06-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Jesus Christ will return in MY lifetime. Using the Hebrew numerical system, my name equates to 1947. This is also the beginning of the nation of Israel, although officially recognised in 1948.

WHY 1947?

This is the year which began the END TIME GENERATION which would live into and see the return of Jesus Christ on the earth. Once, we add "70" years to the year, 1947,(since 70 is the number for a generation), we come up with the year, 2017. This year equates to a number 10. Jesus returns in Revelation 19, again, we see the number 10. It may be unlikely Jesus will return in the year, 2017, since so many events need to happen before first.

Jesus is pictured returning in Revelation 19:11. Here, we typically see 9111 making a perfect 12 or a 1011 making a number 3.

I have often wondered if some chapter numbers used in the book of Revelation may correspond to years. This would make Revelation 19, in our era, correspond to the year, 2019. If this is the case, the beginning of the last 7 years of human history must begin in the year, 2012. The tribulation would begin some time in the year, 2015.

And it would mean, the beginning of the persecution against the church begins in 2012 causing the church eventually to flee into the wilderness (Rev 12) and Satan is cast down to the earth also in 2012.

Will it begin in 2012? I cannot believe it myself, but time will tell. One thing is for sure, those born in the end time generation of 1947, if they survive perilous times, will live to see the return of Jesus Christ. We really are that close, let's hope we all get our lives in order before the time of "probation" ends!

Feast of Tabernacle Finder

2011-06-28T15:45:00.001-07:00

The Feast of Tabernacles is a feast mentioned in Leviticus 23 and this Biblical feast has been faithfully observed by the Worldwide Church of God for over 50 years.

The Feast is a highlight of the year for church members, where we meet people from all around the world at designated sites.

For a comprehensive list of Feast of Tabernacles sites' from around the world, go to the Feast of Tabernacles 2011 page provided by the 7th day Sabbath Churches of God.

Some of the feast sites will require you to register before hand, whilst others may have an open door policy. Please check with the group before attending.

Messianic FOT: Oklahoma, 13-22 October

2011-06-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Join Monte Judah for the Feast of Tabernacles, camping out in Chandler, Oklahoma, from the 13 to 22 October 2011. Monte Judah, is founder of Lion and Lamb Ministries.

From Monte Judah:

Dear Friends and Brethren,

Lion and Lamb Ministries invites you to join us for our 15th annual Feast of Tabernacles beginning October 13, 2011. Once again, we will assemble at Bell Cow Lake campground in the small community of Chandler, Oklahoma. Our celebration will continue to October 22 concluding with Simchat Torah (the rejoicing of the Torah). Our theme this year is “Return of the Remnant.” Besides special music and dance, we have invited Eddie Chumney, Rico Cortes, and Oswald Garagorry to share from the Word. Bring the entire family and plan to rejoice before the Lord!

Given the world events that have happened since last year, and in particular President Obama's call for the dividing of the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (returning to the 1967 borders), we are watching the words of the prophets of Israel happen before our very eyes. All nations have now come against Jerusalem including the United States.

For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ... Zechariah 14:2

This is not a time to be separate from other brethren. Instead, this is a time to prepare for the greater exodus. Recently, we have seen the disappointment of others hoping for the “quick escape” by rapture and it has emboldened unbelievers to open mockery. They don't realize that they have fulfilled one of the important prophecies of the end.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 3:3-4

Even non-religious people are preparing for the end of the world. Whether it be concerns over the value of the shrinking dollar, world debt, or physical disasters, the average citizen of the world senses ominous changes coming. There are others clamoring over 2012 predictions of the Mayan Calendar and its cessation in December of that year. We know that a strong delusion is prophesied by God that will be an important part of the end-time scenario.

And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

So, how are we to sort out the truth from the nonsense of our days? The answer is simple. We need to understand God's plan for the end of the ages. Sukkot is part of that plan. At Sukkot, we are commanded to remember how God delivered His people out of Egypt (Mitzrayim: trials and tribulations). We are to learn how God will deliver us from the trials and tribulations coming upon the world at the end of the ages. Just as the Apostle Paul warned us...

Now these things happened to them [in the exodus] as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11

How many more practice sessions (observing Sukkot) do we have before the Great Tribulation comes? I am not positive of the answer but I believe it is less than the fingers on one hand. I would not treat this matter lightly.

There are two ways you can join us for Tabernacles. First, as a full-time camper where you are able to take advantage of all of our programs and activities for the entire family. If you are unable to do that this year, then join us for the weekend pass which is Thursday, October 13 through Sunday, October 16. To attend Tabernacles 2011 you MUST register. Our camp is closed to the public.

We ask that EACH household complete their own registration form. There is a $25 non-refundable registration fee. Please register as early as you can; this helps us in our planning and preparation. All registration forms and full payment must be received no later than September 28, 2011. Any registration received after that date will be assessed a $50 late processing fee. A registration is confirmed once all fees are paid in full.

If you are camping with us, we will assign your camping location on a first-come, first-served basis after your registration is confirmed. You may request to camp near certain families or individuals and we will attempt to meet your requests once all parties are confirmed. If you are staying in a local motel, you will want to make your reservations as soon as possible with the motel directly. Information for that is included in our Tabernacles Planning Page.

By registering for Tabernacles 2011 you agree to comply with all of our camp rules and safety requirements, that your photo may be used in Sukkot materials, and that you will volunteer in some capacity to be a full participant in the camp. A description for the various areas of service can be found on our Planning Page which follows this letter. The Planning Page details information including local motels, the age requirements for various programs, early arrival/late departure, and financial assistance. Please review these materials carefully and plan accordingly.

Pet owners, please note the following policy change: NO pets are allowed in the main campground, Area C, this year. This includes pets kept in your RV. If your registration indicates you are bringing your pet to Tabernacles, you will be assigned a campsite in Area A. Area A is located 3½ miles from the main campground and you are responsible for your own transportation to and from A and C. We have designated Area A as the only pet-permissible area that we offer. At no time will pets be allowed in Area C.

We know that it is a major decision to take time away from work and school, and that there is an expense to travel and join us in the camp to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Keeping this feast is worth it and is a life-changing experience. If you have any sense of the days we are living in, then you MUST plan to come. Do not delay. Make the decision today and ask the LORD to help you to come.

More Information:

Go to the Planning Page for more details about the Festival including details on registering for the festival.

Celebrate Sukkot With Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship

2011-06-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sukkot Conference

Dates: October 18th (Tuesday) - October 23rd (Sunday)
Location: Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship
Address: 828 3rd. Street; Hudson, WI 54016
Contact: Shayna Michael
Phone: 800-775-4807
Web: http://bethimmanuel.org

Directions: Take I-94 to 35, just east of the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. Head north on 35 through downtown Hudson. 35 becomes 2nd Street. Turn right on Orange Street and follow it for one block. Beth Immanuel is on the right, on the corner of Orange Street and 3rd Street.

About the Conference:

The Afterlife: Heaven and Hell from a Messianic Jewish Perspective
“For we know that if the earthly sukkah which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

Christian views of heaven, hell, and the afterlife vary widely. “Going to heaven” and “going to hell” are rarely considered from an apostolic-era, Jewish perspective. Take a peek into the afterlife, the Messianic Era, and the World to Come this fall with First Fruits of Zion. Join us for the festival of Sukkot at Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship in beautiful, Hudson, Wisconsin. Space is limited so register early for this challenging and exciting event.

Come celebrate and close out Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles) with concerts, Sabbath meals, festive banquets, liturgical Hoshana Rabbah, Simchat Torah, Sabbath synagogue services, and great teachings.

These topics and more will be covered throughout the four-day event:

•The Afterlife: State of the Soul
•Gehenna: Eternal Judgment or Purgation?
•Paradise: Gan Eden and Abraham’s Lap
•Resurrection of the Dead: Reward & Punishment
•The Messianic Age & World to Come
•Final Judgment
•Hosanna Raba / Simchat Torah
For more information, visit FFOZ.org.

Concerts by: Troy Mitchell and Roman & Alaina

Additional Events: Breakout and evening Beit Midrash studies, children’s programs, women’s discussions, and great times of fellowship.

Firstfruits of Zion: Israel Study Tour 2011

2011-06-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Israel Study Tour 2011

Cost: $4,250.00
Tour Duration: October 30 - November 14, 2011

The Trip of a Lifetime

Travel to Israel on an intensive, Bible study tour. Fourteen days in the land, with on-site Torah and Gospel teaching. Get to know the land, its people and history. This is the trip of a lifetime.

14 Days in the Land

4 Star Hotels and Accommodations
Shabbats in Jerusalem and Galilee
Inspirational, in-depth teaching
Jewish Roots
On Site Torah and Gospel Teaching
Biblical History and Geography
Real Archaeology
Maps and Advanced Study Materials

Your Tour Guides:

The Bible study tour will be led by the brothers Professor Steven Lancaster (PHD[abd]) of Biblical Backgrounds, and Daniel Thomas Lancaster, HaYesod teacher and Educational Director of FFOZ.

Steven is a professional educator in the fields of biblical geography, archaeology, history and languages and a well-seasoned Israel tour leader.

Daniel is the author of First Fruits of Zion's Torah Club programs and several books.

Application information: Call First Fruits at 1-800-775-4807 or contact us by email at www.ffoz.org/contact

For more information go to their Events webpage.

World Government by Brian Knowles

2011-06-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

WORLD GOVERNMENT
How will it come into Being?

The Book of Revelation seems to predict the advent of a malevolent world government in the end times. Is an authoritarian global state imminent, or will it be a long time in development? This article speculates on how it might come into being.

by Brian Knowles

Throughout the history of the Church, the Book of Revelation has been interpreted in four different ways. Depending upon which way one chooses to interpret the book, the expository outcome is different. The four approaches are as follows:

Preterist

The word preterist is from the Latin praeteritus, which means “gone by” or “past.” Preterists believe that the events described in the Book of Revelation have already occurred early in the history of the Church. (Some in the Jerusalem School may be leaning in this direction.) Preterists hold the view that the major prophecies of this book were fulfilled either in the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD, or in the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Yet as Robert Mounce explains in his commentary on Revelation, “The major problem with the preterist position is that the decisive victory portrayed in the latter chapters of the Apocalypse was never achieved. It is difficult to believe that John envisioned anything less than the complete overthrow of Satan, the final destruction of evil, and the eternal reign of God. If this is not to be, then either the Seer was essentially wrong in the major thrust of his message or his work is so hopelessly ambiguous that its first recipients were all led astray” (Mounce, p. 42).

This notwithstanding, the preterist view is the most commonly held view today.

Historical

Those who take the historical view see the book as portraying the whole panorama of history from the days of John until the end of time. Major proponents of this system do not agree among themselves. This is because of the subjectivity of this approach.

In their Introduction to the New Testament, Carson, Moo and Morris write of this approach: “Several movements in the Middle Ages grew up in the conviction that the millennium was about to dawn. To buttress their beliefs, they found in the Revelation a sketch of history from the time of Christ to their own day. This approach (the kirchengeshichtlich) was popular with the Reformers also, enabling them to identify the beast in the Revelation with the papacy” (Introduction, p. 482).

Idealist

Idealists believe that Revelation pictures the great drama that is constantly unfolding here below, without reference to actual events. An advocate of this viewpoint was the late William Milligan whom in his commentary on Revelation wrote that the book teaches us “…the action of great principles and not special incidents” (Milligan, p. 153).

Idealists see the book as timeless and symbolic. They often take an allegorical approach to interpreting Revelation. This approach was popular during the medieval period and it is still in style among those who seek to minimize the historical character of the coming consummation (see Mounce, p. 43).

As Mounce writes, “Its [the idealist] weakness lies in the fact that it denies to the book any specific historical fulfillment. From the idealist’s point of view the symbols portray an ever present conflict: there exists no necessary consummation of the historical process” (Mounce, p. 43). This approach is not only contrary to the plain wording of Revelation itself, but it also runs contrary to other passages of Scripture which portray a definite end to the present age.

Futurist

Futurists view most of Revelation as yet unfulfilled. Only the first three chapters may be said to be historical. Conservatives and Evangelicals, along with many of the Christian cults of personality, take a futurist view. For the purposes of this article, we share that viewpoint.

At the same time, it must be said that each of the four approaches has at least some merit, and each does contribute to the understanding of Revelation. For instance, as Mounce writes, “It is vitally important to see with the preterist that the book must be interpreted in light of the immediate historical crisis in which the first-century church found itself” (Mounce p. 43).

The book is full of symbolic and veiled references that must be viewed in the context of the historical background against which John wrote. These references must have had meaning to the original recipients – the seven churches on the Asia Minor mail route.

Having said all this, we must realize that the main thrust of the book is the future climax of history in which Satan and his demonic armies will be vanquished and God and his righteous ones will be forever vindicated. The book is full of predictions that, if taken literally, have not yet been fulfilled. It is on this presumption that we proceed in this article.

For our purposes, we will bring the focus down on Revelation 13 and the as yet unfulfilled prediction of a coming world government.

World Government Prophesied

The apostle John, in vision, saw the following:

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

“And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

“If any man have an ear, let him hear” (Revelation 13:1-9 KJV, emphasis mine).

Who is the dragon?

The empowering entity in this prophetic scenario is the “dragon.” Who is this dragon? He has already been identified for us in chapter 12 as “the devil,” “that ancient serpent” and “Satan” (Revelation 12:9). We also know from 12:9 that Satan is the leader of hosts of fallen angels known biblically as “demons.” These are the spiritual legions or armies that do the work of ha Satan – the Adversary – in the world. They are organized into ranks, territories and responsibilities (Ephesians 6:12). Like Satan himself, they seduce, accuse and destroy. These fallen angels have exercised their free moral agency by choosing to rebel against God and side with the arch-rebel, Satan. Ultimately, they, and he, are doomed, but that’s another story.

Satan can and does use human beings who have, for whatever reasons, chosen to rebel against God. Two such individuals appear as “beasts” in this vision. One is clearly a military/political leader who will ultimately emerge as a world dictator. The other will preside over a world religion, and over the global economy. The former will dominate the latter, but both will be empowered by Satan.

Sooner or later, these two malevolent individuals will emerge on the world scene. They will arise atop an ultimately authoritarian global political system. Militarily, the political leader will be humanly invincible (verse 4b).

This man appears to be the final Anti-Christ. He will blaspheme the God of the Bible and even lash out against Heaven itself – all under the influence of the devil that possesses him (Revelation 16:13). He will be the sworn enemy of God and all of God’s people, whether they are Jews or Christians (verses 6 & 7). He will persecute both with relentless cruelty. The people of God who are not divinely protected (Luke 21:36) will be severely tested during this period. Many will sacrifice their lives in martyrdom.

Those who do not worship the God of Israel will worship the devil and his representative, the first “beast” (verse 8). The second “beast” – the great religious/economic leader, will facilitate this blasphemous idolatry (verse 12).

The three and one-half years during which these two demonized monsters wield power will be a time of great miracles and spiritual deceptions (Revelation 13: 9,13). Millions will be deceived into believing that God is at work in these lying wonders. Some will even believe that the powerful world leader is the Messiah. Jesus appears to have been speaking of the same time period when he said,

“…Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away” (Luke 21:8-9, NIV).

Jesus then spoke of a time of frequent international warfare. This could be a reference to the clash of cultures that will prefigure the painful formation of the coming world state. Some nations will apparently resist giving up their sovereignty to the emerging global system. It may be that they will be forcefully subdued.

In the wake of these wars there will be famines and disease epidemics (Luke 21:11). Millions of hapless refugees will wander the earth seeking food, water and shelter. The horror pictures that now emerge out of the sub-Sahara region of Africa will become globally commonplace. Starvation will be rampant. It will be the most horrendous three and one-half years in human history. Massive earthquakes will rattle the earth’s tectonic plates like the teeth of a weakling in the hands of a bully. There will be “…fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11).

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

A Rabbinic Perspective

It is interesting that the Jewish Rabbis also taught that “…there will be ‘the travail of the Messiah,’ i.e. his coming will be attended by pangs of suffering in the same manner that a child is born at the cost of much pain to its mother. On the principle that the night is darkest before the dawn, they taught that the world would show signs of utter demoralization before his arrival and the conditions of life prove well-nigh unbearable” (Everyman’s Talmud, by A. Cohen, p. 349).

During the period preceding the arrival of Messiah, the rabbis predicted drought, famine and deaths among the righteous (ibid. pp.349-350). They also spoke of “voices from heaven” during this period, which they believed would last for seven years. Writes Cohen, “The time of his [Messiah’s] advent will be particularly marked by political unrest, culminating in bitter warfare” (Cohen, p.350). Cohen then quotes the Talmud, “If you see the kingdoms contending with each other, look for the foot of the Messiah” (Gen. xiv).

The three and one-half year period during which the Satanically empowered tyrants rule the earth will be a period of unprecedented upheaval and human suffering. It will also be a period of supernatural signs and wonders. It will be a short but deadly Dark Age before the dawning of the glorious Messianic Age.

World Government in Formation

We do not know exactly how the final global political/military system will emerge, or precisely what shape it will ultimately take. We do know that it will come, and that it will be an iron-fisted tyranny. That could mean either a Communist type of government, or a Nazi form – or a hybrid of both. In either case, it will be in some sense socialist. The World Government, with the two “beasts” at its head, and Satan behind it, will function collectively as God to the people who accept that system. All who fail to submit will become the “offscouring of the earth” (to borrow a phrase from the apostle Paul). They will be persecuted, driven from pillar to post, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Yet in so doing, they will gain their eternal life.

Who is Promoting World Government?

At the moment, the most powerful promoter of world government is the United Nations and its affiliates. Other agencies, and their members, also seek to facilitate the emergence of a global government run by an elite and utilizing socialistic Big Brother techniques to control the population. Global government is actively promoted by a growing number of non-government organizations (NGO’s) including the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International World Court, the World Federalist Association (WFA) and the State of the World Forum, to list only a few. The last listed organization is an invention of former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. It promotes the notion that world peace is only possible if a “Federal Republic of Earth” replaces autonomous states. It promotes “planetary patriotism.”

World government advocates seek to “deconstruct” the Western Christian worldview whenever, and wherever, possible. They seek to transfer the “best of the wisdom traditions” into an amalgamation of religions, ideas and beliefs that would in essence become a world religion. In this view, Biblical Christianity and Orthodox Judaism would not welcome, except perhaps in a much watered down, merely nominal, form. The focus of these groups is often on promoting “planetary citizenship,” their version of human rights, and “environmental justice.” Ted Turner, who recently gave the United Nations a billion dollars, is one of the leading lights(?) in this drive to create a non-Biblical world religion. In his public utterances he has been vociferously anti-Christian and pro-pagan.

The Nine Civilizations

The reality of post Cold War geopolitics is that the world is being configured along cultural lines. As Samuel P. Huntington writes, “…culture and cultural identities, which at the broadest level are civilization identities, are shaping the patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the post-Cold War world” (The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, by Samuel P. Huntington, p. 20). Huntington points out that in our present world, countries tend to group themselves around the lead or core states in their civilizations. He continues, “People define themselves in terms of ancestry, religion, language, history, values, customs, and institutions. They identify with cultural groups, tribes, ethnic groups, religious communities, nations, and, at the broadest level, civilizations” (Huntington, p. 21).

When we think of the world in this way, we can see that it is divided among nine major civilizations:

1. Western (Judaeo-Christian)
2. Latin American (Catholic)
3. African
4. Islamic
5. Sinic (Chinese Communist)
6. Hindu
7. Orthodox
8. Buddhist
9. Japanese

It is important to note that these civilizations are mainly religiously or ideologically based. Consequently, the clash of civilizations is often the clash of religions. It is at the places where these competing civilizations meet that conflict often arises. As Huntington writes, “The local conflicts most likely to escalate into broader wars are those between groups and states from different civilizations” (Huntington, p. 29).

Each civilization tends to have a lead nation that others in the region seek to either “bandwagon” or “balance.” Those that bandwagon accept the dominance of the lead nation and allow it to call the shots. They are generally supportive and inclined to appeasement. Those that seek to balance usually represent competing nations that seek to remain independent of the culture’s lead nation. They seek to form alliances that will offset the power of the dominant nation. It is this attempt to balance power that creates many of the tensions in the modern world.

As powerful cultures seek to impose their will upon other cultures that they regard as inferior, civilizational wars will burst forth. It is interesting, for example, that Islamic civilization traditionally divides the world into only two parts: Dar al-Islam (the abode of peace) and Dar al-Harb (the abode of war). The abode of peace is the Islamic world. The abode of war represents all others. All non-Moslems are seen as “infidels” and are therefore subject to eventual conquest.

Communists believe that the world would be a better place if all were brought under the godless tenets of Marxism.

Europe is aggressively seeking superpower status. It has recently added a multitude of nations to the current fifteen of the European Union.

Japan is getting nervous as China emerges as the next world superpower. It is making “balancing” noises, including its own threat to “go nuclear” if necessary.

The United States and Britain are fighting what seems to be a losing battle as the world’s policemen. Britain is soon to be sucked into the European maw at which time it may cease to be America’s strongest and most loyal ally. (The alternative is for the UK to reject full participation in the EU and throw in its lot with the US. This would be preferable, but not likely to happen.)

As cultural power blocs emerge, and nations chose sides, the battles of the 21st century are shaping up. Each vies for dominance. All cannot win. As was the last, this century promises to be another century of blood. The United Nations seeks to bring all of its member nations under one roof. It seeks to create a world federation of nations led by a central government.

Huntington speaks to this trend toward a global state when he writes, “While states remain the primary actors in world affairs, they are also suffering losses in sovereignty, functions, and power. International institutions now assert the right to judge and to constrain what states do in their own territory. In some cases, most notably in Europe, international institutions have assumed important functions previously performed by states, and powerful international bureaucracies have been created which operate directly on individual citizens” (Huntington, p. 35).

The recently created World Court is an example of just such an institution. It is perhaps one of the most ominous developments to date.

At a more subtle level, we are seeing even the most democratic states move incrementally to more socialistic approaches to government. Creeping socialism is a global megatrend. Of Europe’s 15 nations, all but one have leftist governments. Some, like Sweden, are outright welfare states. (Recently however, a rightward trend has been noted in Europe.)

Over the years since the Roosevelt Administration, the US has become progressively more socialistic. Canada is even farther down the road to full-on socialism. The United Kingdom has moved far to the Left since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

More and more of the democratic nations are implementing the leftist idea of gun control leading to eventual gun confiscation. It is of course much easier for authoritarian governments to control unarmed populations.

The whole world is drifting either to the authoritarian left, or to the authoritarian right, as in third world and Islamic dictatorships. The global Superstate that eventually emerges will undoubtedly be strongly authoritarian in nature.

But the global state will not emerge peacefully. It will be birthed in conflict. Many civilizations will seek to retain civilizational sovereignty and identity. Jesus predicted that those of us who live in the end time generation would see “wars and rumors of wars…but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6).

In the wake of war, famines and disease epidemics will ravage the human population (Matthew 24:7). These will represent only the beginning of a sorrowful time in the human chronicle (verse 8). At some point, a world government will emerge and continue for a period of 3 ½ years. It will be a horrendous time in human history.

The Biblical Worldview

In the Biblical worldview, God is engaged in an invisible war with Satan and his forces. Behind many of the governments of the world are demonic, or angelic, forces. The world is divided into territories over which spirits preside. (The book God at War by Boyd is helpful in explaining this Biblical worldview.)

At stake is the redemption of mankind. Satan seeks to thwart God’s purposes through whatever human instruments he can use. The more corrupted a human leader is, the more pliable an instrument he or she is in Satanic hands. Monsters like Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Saddam are examples of the kind of people who can be, and have been, used. Behind the obvious human political scene is a spirit world that operates as a shadow government. Ha Satan – the Adversary – is depicted in the Bible as the archon or ruler of this world (John 14:30). The mind of the tyrant is the mind of Satan.

In today’s post-Enlightenment world, it is difficult to comprehend a universe full of competing, even murderous, spiritual forces. According to the tenets of scientific materialism, there is no reason to believe that which cannot be detected by the tools of science should even exist. The realm of spirit is outside of the grasp of science. It is revealed in the Bible and in human experience. If we as Christians don’t accept the Biblical worldview, then we do not accept the view of our leader Jesus Christ, or those of the apostles Peter, John and Paul. If the Bible is not generally true, then we have no basis for our Christian faith.

The Bible is true. It reveals to us a world of spirit that is more real than our own material world. It preceded the material world, and it will continue long after it has gone. In the meantime, dark spiritual forces are at work to undermine the plan of God. They will work through whichever human instruments prove most pliable. They seek to gather all of mankind together to oppose the coming of Messiah.

The leaders of the world government, under the influence of Satan, will “…make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

“And he said unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:14-15).

It is futile to oppose the King of kings. The outcome of the final battle has been predetermined. Satan and his forces lose, Jesus Christ and his win, but the road to victory will be paved with the bodies of God’s martyrs. Between now and then, Satan will marshal his forces for one last effort to defeat Christ and those of us who are faithful to God. The Lord warns though the visions given to John, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12).

The wrath of Satan is nothing compared to the wrath of God. Jesus will come to judge the world, and to mete out its just punishment. He will fulfill the second part of the Messianic prophecy he avoided quoting, and didn’t fulfill, the first time around. This will be Jesus “baptism with fire” spoke of by John the Baptist. The fires of judgment will finally cleanse the earth of the effects of millennia of sin and evil.

A time of personal decision

It is time for Christians everywhere to decide whether or not they believe the Bible, Jesus Christ and the original apostles. It is time to determine for oneself whether or not the Biblical worldview represents an accurate depiction of reality. If it does, and if the futurist approach to the Book of Revelation is the correct one to take, a world government is even now in formation. That government will be the final instrument in the hands of the devil to attack God’s people everywhere on Planet Earth. The idealistic leftist utopians who are actively aiding and abetting the creation of such a global state have no idea what they are unleashing on the world, or who is behind it. They would view an article like this one as the rantings of a “religious fanatic.”

For true followers of Jesus the Messiah, it is time to take his words seriously: “…fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna]” (Matthew 10:28).

Each believer must come to the place where he or she can say with the writer of Hebrews who admonished us: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’

“So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV).

We must have confidence that our Lord himself will see us through the difficult times ahead. The apostle Paul in a prophecy described the conditions of the end time in his second letter to Timothy (II Timothy 3:1-5). In this prophecy, Paul discussed those who would have a “form of godliness” but who would “deny its power” (verse 5). It is one thing to be religious, it is quite another to be spiritual. A spiritual person walks in the leading and power of the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8) for, “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power” (I Corinthians 4:20).

Each believer, especially in these times, owes it to himself or herself to seek the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit of the living God in daily life. In a world of heightened demonic activity, Jesus’ followers need to provide the antidote – and that is the power of God.

Appropriating the blood

Among other things, Satan is “the accuser of the brethren.” He first tempts or seduces us into sin, then he accuses us, curses us, and rubs our noses in our guilt, and finally, if God allows, he destroys us. John describes in the past tense those who will successfully nullify Satan’s efforts to destroy them: “…they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).

It is the blood of Christ that eradicates our guilt. When Jesus hung on that bloody instrument of torture and death called the cross, he bore our guilt and cancelled out the “note of debt” that required of us our very lives (Colossians 2:14). In doing so, he “…spoiled [disarmed] principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). Jesus, on the cross, cancelled out the malevolent work of Satan and his demonic hordes. For those of us who appropriate the sacrifice of Christ, the curse of Torah – its death penalty – becomes null and void.

It is through the shed blood of Christ that we as believers defeat ha Satan – the Adversary. Now, as Paul wrote, …whether we live or whether we die, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

No matter what Paul said about his day, it is clear to those who have the Spirit of God that the spirit of anti-Christ is active in the world today. Whether the attacks come from communist regimes, fanatical fundamentalist Islam, or the political Left, genuine Biblical faith and authentic Judaism are again under siege. The hallowed halls of Academia resound with vicious and relentless attacks on the Bible itself and on “the religious Right.” Moral relativism and civil legalism have replaced the Bible as the source of moral authority in Western culture. The World Court seeks to become the authority on global legal matters – that is to eclipse national constitutions and sovereignties wherever possible. Watch this development closely. The time could come when American presidents, secretaries of defense and secretaries of state are called to account before this court for “war crimes.” The more the United States looks to the UN for approval in dealing with the life-threatening monsters of the world, the less the US Constitution and American sovereignty means. All UN power is gained at the expense of national power.

When a terrorist sponsoring nation like Syria can find its way onto the UN Security Council, every thinking person should smell a rat. What possible integrity can there be in such a council? The UN is a morally bankrupt organization in which tin pot tyrants have as much clout as major civilized powers. We cannot expect such an organization to serve the interests of the United States and its Constitution. We can expect it to work against them.

Just as the United Kingdom is facing the dilemma of being absorbed into a smothering European Union and forsaking its long-standing relationship with the United States, so the US is incrementally giving up pieces of its sovereignty to the UN. The trend is not healthy. We could be seeing the beginnings of the formation of a global state. Cultural, economic and political power blocs are being formed all over the world. Eventually, they may coalesce into one massive, monolithic world State. Before entrainment, there will be much shunting, banging, conflict and warfare. Today’s utopian idealists may find that the power that drives them is something less than benevolent.

(For more articles from Brian Knowles, visit, Godward.org.)

John Pilger: Truth And Lies In The War On Terror

2011-06-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

John Pilger is a journalist that deals with tough issues, often going against the conventional media, exposing the "deceit" few people are really willing to admit to.

Why do we observe the Sabbath? Is it because we want to follow "truth" and abhor evil and falsehood? Yet, at the same time, we willingly accept information given to us by our media, by our church publications and by slick politicians. We do not even blink an eye lid anymore, yet your responsibility before GOD is to follow TRUTH, wherever it LEADS you.

It is for this reason that you should watch these series of videos. Discover the other side of the war on terror.

I was not put on this earth to follow the crowd into the "path of destruction", but was put here, to examine, to study, to prove beyond any reasonable doubt, what is really going on in this world. What about you??

John Pilger - Breaking the Silence - Truth And Lies In The War On Terror 1/4

John Pilger - Breaking the Silence - Truth And Lies In The War On Terror 2/4

John Pilger - Breaking the Silence - Truth And Lies In The War On Terror 3/4

John Pilger - Breaking the Silence - Truth And Lies In The War On Terror 4/4

Brad Scott Conferences 2011

2011-06-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Brad Scott, is founder of Wild Branch Ministries, a Messianic outreach bringing people back to the original teachings of the scriptures.

This is about his ministry from the website:

This ministry is based upon Romans Chapter 11. YHWH has reached out to the nations and grafted wild branches from among the nations into the natural olive tree. The natural olive tree is the covenant people of YHWH, beginning with the seed of the woman in Bere'shiyt (Genesis) 3:15. The natural and wild branches share a common root and both take their nutrition and sustenance from this very old natural tree. We, as wild branches, have been grafted in, contrary to our nature, a nature that has been mixed with the ways of the nations.

The organized Christian church has, for two millennia, cut herself off from her roots. The modern church has, instead, planted an entirely new tree. This tree has rejected the fruit of YHWH's feasts, His Shabbat, His Torah, His dietary laws, and even His Name.

The WildBranch focus is to restore the ways of our Creator to His people by teaching the Old and New Testaments from the language and culture of the people who penned them. The New Testament is crammed full of idioms, phrases, and concepts known to the observant Jew (Yehudim) living in the time of Yeshua's ministry, but unfamiliar to modern readers. The Scriptures must be read through the eyes and minds of the culture in which it was written.

Those people who are interested to listen to Scott Brad, will be able to find him speaking at the following conferences. For further information go to his special conference page on his website:

Lancaster, CA
8 July 2011

Lucerne Valley, CA
9-10 July 2011

Oakhurst, CA
10-15 July 2011
Messiah West Coast Youth Camp

Portland, OR
15-17 July 2011
Love for Israel Conference

Canby, OR
17-22 July 2011
Youth for Yeshua' Camp

Bridgeton, MO
29-30 July 2011
St. Louis vacinity

Cookeville, TN
2-3 August 2011

Branson, MO
4-7 August 2011
Branson Prophecy Conference

Lancaster, PA
17 September 2011
The Second Annual Restoration Event

Orosi, CA
12-21 October 2011
Sukkot

South Africa
November 2011
Cape Town, Jo'berg, Blomfontein ...

Mexican Riviera Teaching Cruise
15-22 January 2012
Join Rico Cortes, Bill Cloud and Brad Scott for this teaching cruise.

New Book from Netivyah Ministries

2011-06-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

New Book: Planted in the House of the Lord

From the website:

This book is a must-read for all thinking believers who have ever asked themselves questions like the following: Who are God’s people? Are the Jews still the chosen people, and if so, what is the Church? What are the spiritual callings of Israel and the Church, and have they been fulfilled yet? How does monotheism work out with the Trinity? Where can one find grace and truth in the Torah, and what did Yeshua (Jesus) say about the Written and Oral Law?

These pages investigate these questions and many others. Written from the unique perspective of Israeli Messianic Jews, it faces these old-age debates armed with the truth of the Bible and its Jewish context. It addresses the Jewish task of bringing monotheism to the world, the importance of Jerusalem, and the interconnected relationships between G0d, Israel, and the Church. Along the way we discover vital biblical models for identity, community, election, and lives of faith and good deeds. Planted in the House of the Lord is a reader-friendly book that explores the relationships God has with his people and their complementary roles in his great plan to redeem creation from idolatry and sin and to restore his kingdom to earth.

The book costs $14.99, to order a copy go to Netivyah.

* note, posted after the Sabbath.

Messianic Feast of Tabernacles - Ozarks 2011

2011-06-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Come Join Us in Celebrating the 2011 Feast of Tabernacles in Central Missouri at the beautifulLake of the Ozarks!

Wednesday Evening, October 12 thru Thursday Evening, October 20

Enjoy the fall Festival of Succot at our "Hebrew Roots" feast site as we spend eight days learning and studying the ways and walk of our Father and His Son, Yeshua - our Messiah, and the meaning of this very special time of year referred to by some ancient Jewish sages as "the Season of Our JOY. Along with the numerous opportunities to hear from a number of gifted teachers, there will be daily Messianic praise and worship along with Davidic dancing and hearty fellowship - all intended to bring us closer to the true meaning of the festival. Evenings are packed with activities for the whole family, including a Hamburger Cookout, a Fun Show, and Hebraic Dance Classes for teens and adults (including classes for beginners).

For more information go to the Season of Joy website.

Bible Code: Mount Seir

2011-06-25T04:15:00.000-07:00

God has written into the King James Version of the Bible, including the Hebrew versions, bible codes. If only people could see them, it would help their understanding.

Edom is clearly identified with Rome. Yet, this is refuted amongst many in our church whom claim, it is Turkey or an Islamic tribe.

In Psalm 137:7, we read:

"Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem, who said, "Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation!""

The ancient Romans destroyed God's Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD. The Psalms attributes these Romans as the sons of Edom. Judaism believes the Romans are the spiritual Edomites. Because of the diabolical way, the Catholic church behaved throughout the centuries, radical Jews' teach "Christianity" is the religion of Edom. But, this is unfair because Roman Christianity is not true Christianity, the Romans dress up ancient paganism in a garb of Christianity. (See the source: Origin of Edom, Babylon, Christianity)

The ancient Edomite kingdom covered the area south and east of the dead sea and was known as Seir. (source: aboutbibleprophecy)

In the book of Ezekiel, (chapter 35), we find the fate of these people.

"Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, I will stretch out My hand against you and make you most desolate. I shall lay your cities waste and you shall be desolate, Then you shall know that I am the Lord." (verses: 3-4).

The fate of Edom is sheer desolation, this is the same fate that awaits the two "harlots" described in Revelation 17 and 18.

The word, "O Mount Seir" is used, but this is a code word. It actually means one of the following:

IS NOT ROME U?

TO. ROME, U SIN

Likewise, "MOunt sEiR" can be "Isnt Rome U"?

Two of the codes allude to the fact that it is Rome, that will one day be made "desolate" through the Judgements of God on the earth. Bible prophecy indicates "ten kings" possibly through Freemasonry, will end the reign of the Catholic church and make her desolate (Rev 17:16).

The other code, TO Rome U SIN, is referring to "Christian" (T) Rome, revealing to the reader that Roman Christianity is sin in God's eyes. This could also be that God attributes the blame of the persecution of His saints on a great false church.

We should not be in any doubt, that Mount Seir refers to Rome, and that Edom are today's Romans.

Mario Draghi may head European Central Bank

2011-06-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mario Draghi is thought to be the candidate to replace Jean-Claude Trichet as the new Governor of the European Central Bank.

Mario Draghi, is a Roman Catholic (source: nndb).

Writes the Philadelphia Trumpet:

While Germany’s hopes for the success of its strategy were boosted following the reelection of the pro-Weber Jean Claude Juncker as head of the eurozone group of finance ministers, Italy’s contender for the top ecb job has one other powerful supporter: the Vatican. Being a Jesuit-educated devout son of the Roman Catholic Church gives Draghi great favor with the Vatican. Torn between supporting his fellow countryman or a son of the church, the German Pope Benedict would naturally place his largely behind-the-scenes yet influential voice behind Draghi.

The decision is expected shortly.

See article: Draghi awaits EU leaders' nod to head ECB

Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler and Beltane

2011-06-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Few will realise that Osama Bin Laden's death was announced on the 1st May, 2011, which is the occult holiday, Beltane. Yet, even more surprising was that Adolf Hitler died on the 30 April, 1945 but his death was also announced on the 1st May, some 66 years earlier.

From the Time.com:

"On May 1, 1945, Germany announced that Adolf Hitler was dead, leading to the end of the allied campaign in Europe during World War II. That same date 66 years later, President Obama announced the death of the al-Qaeda leader and international terrorist."

The 1st May is the occult holiday known as Beltane. The day has immense occult significance, marking the midpoint of the Sun, between the summer and spring equinox celebrated by bon fires, fertility rites and maypole dancing.

The Bible warns us not to have anything to do with the occult. Those who engage in these activities put themselves at risk of being possessed by evil spirits which will ultimately destroy them. If you are under occult bondage, burn all your occult items, and pray to Jesus Christ for deliverance, asking the Holy Spirt to help and guide you!

Learn more about the occult holidays verses God's holy days, by downloading a digital copy of the book, Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? by Fred Coulter of the Christian Biblical Church of God.

Syrian Plan in 2001

2011-06-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

The plan to destabilise Syria goes back to a plan that was first discussed in 2001 in the US Pentagon.

From Globalresearch:

"In "Winning Modern Wars" (page 130) General Wesley Clark states the following:

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

...He said it with reproach--with disbelief, almost--at the breadth of the vision. I moved the conversation away, for this was not something I wanted to hear. And it was not something I wanted to see moving forward, either. ...I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned."

The objective is to destabilize the Syrian State and implement "regime change" through the covert support of an armed insurgency, integrated by Islamist militia. The reports on civilian deaths are used to provide a pretext and a justification for humanitarian intervention under the principle "Responsibility to Protect"."

The two wars with Libya and Syria, are for control of the oil and gas supplies routes. The change of regime in Syria would secure gas supply routes for the EU, Israel and Washington cutting these off to China. The oil in Libya is also a vital resource for the US and Europe. An interesting article to read is: Is a Mideast War Brewing over Natural Gas Find? by Gal Luft.

Somalia is also on the list of "targeted" nations. Interestingly, the BBC featured a Panorama programme on Somalia's forgotten war with the Islamists. Are we being conditioned to accept intervention in Somalia next? This is something to look out for.

Syrian Unrest, Is it Over Gas Lines?

2011-06-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

There has been something bugging me about the Syrian conflict in the Middle East. Why is it in the US and Britain's interest to see a change in the regime by giving moral support to the predominately Islamic majority in the region?

Is it really about democracy, yet that old chestnut has been used so many times, it is as stale as a loaf of bread. I mean, does anyone buy it anymore? Are we so superior to other nations, that we must interfere in their geopolitics? But, perhaps it is the location of strategic gas lines.

Reports The Prophecy Blog:

"Syria is the central piece of two important energy corridors. The first links Turkey and the Caspian to Israel and the Red Sea and the second links Iraq to the Mediterranean. The surrender of Syria would mean that Washington and its allies would control these energy routes. It would also mean that the large natural gas fields off the Lebanese and Syrian coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean would be out of reach for China and instead go to the E.U., Israel, and Washington.

The Eastern Mediterranean gas fields have been the subject of negotiations between the E.U., Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Aside from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, the existence of the Levantine natural gas fields is also the reason why the Kremlin has created a military foothold in Syria for the Russian Federation. This has been done by upgrading Soviet-era naval facilities in Syria. Moreover, it has been Iran that has agreed to explore and help develop these natural gas fields off the Levantine coast for Beirut and Damascus.

See also the article: The plan to destabilize Syria from the Voltairenet website.

Who are the Two Witnesses?

2011-06-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

One of Christian's most favoured google is "who are the two witnesses?" along with "who is the Antichrist?".

Our appetite to know the unknown, or to have secret information about what is going on in the world is great. We all want to know who the real power brokers are in the world. Sadly, most information remains secret for a reason. It just isn't time to know.

But if we look at Revelation 11:1 and Zechariah 4:3, we can see the numbers, 111 and 4 and 3. Has God intentionally told us ahead of time, that His witnesses will have these numbers in their name? Will the name of Israel and Judah also be present somewhere, numerically or by hidden by a sequence of letters?

The reason, 111 is chosen, is because it represents 10, 10, 10. A number which was considered to represent the "divine" judgement since God gave Egypt ten plagues. God wrote ten commandments. The most powerful office in the United Kingdom is represented by the number, 10 (10 Downing Street). The number was not chosen for its randomness, but even the astrologers and ancient occultists, considered the number 10 powerful. The Worldwide Church of God continually used, 111 in its post office address, another sequence of 10,10,10. They did not choose this number by chance.

If we analyse Revelation 11:1, we see the concept of the tree and street. The two witnesses represent the Olive Trees.

"These are the TWO OLIVE TREES and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth." (Rev 11:4)

Here, the two witnesses are addressed as the two olive trees. We see the symbolism that they represent the tree, or the tree of life to the nations.

This is repeated in Zechariah 4:3.

"Two Olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left."

The two witnesses represent the two pillars outside of Solomon's Temple, one represents, "mercy", the other, "severity". Otherwise known, as "Jachin" and "Boaz".

We could separate the word OLIVE TREE to the following: O! Live! TR EE. Could it be, God has given us the initials of the Two Witnesses? This would mean, the initials of Two Witnesses could represent the word tree. The same initials can also be found in the word, street.

"And their dead bodies will lie in the STREET of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:8)

In the word street, we can again see, TR and EE which may indicate the initials of the surname and first names of Two Witnesses. The remaining initials, T and S may actually refer to the middle name of the Witnesses. It could be, through Bible code, God has actually revealed not only will the bodies of the Two Witnesses lie in the street, but their initials actually make up the word. So there is a testimony to the world, yet they are unable to recognise it.

The use of the tree symbol may be a reference to the Garden of Eden returning to the earth. The olive tree, a particularly bitter fruit, marks the bitterness of the ministry of the Two Witnesses, one marked with conflict.

The Two Witnesses are probably alive right now, but, and even, if they could be identified, they certainly do not have any power until the last three and half years of this earth.

We, all want to know who they are, but one day, God will reveal their identities to the world. No doubt, they will be the least likely of persons, but they will be a powerful witness to the world.

Two Babylons

2011-06-19T04:29:00.001-07:00

One of the misconceptions in the Churches of God is that a soon coming EUROPEAN BEAST POWER will rule, attack the United States and all the lost tribes of Israel, then be destroyed by Christ's imminent return.

The Bible pictures at least two Babylons, not one. There are "two beasts" in Revelation 13. There are two women, one pictured in Revelation 17 and one in Revelation 18. Many have falsely assumed, through the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, that the two women are one and the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Revelation 17:16:

"And the TEN HORNS which you saw on the beast, these will HATE THE HARLOT (Catholic church), make HER DESOLATE, and NAKED, EAT HER FLESH AND BURN HER WITH FIRE."

The first woman described in Revelation 17 is described as a "harlot" who will be destroyed by TEN HORNS. These "ten horns" are ten kings (Rev 17:12).

It is interesting to note, that 1716 (Rev 17:16), is the year which began the process of establishing the United Grand Lodge in England which is said to have taken place in 1717.

From the Masonic Dictionary:

In 1716 representatives of some four or five old Lodges, and Probably after discussions with other Lodges not represented, decided to set up a Body in which each Lodge could be a member, and which would be a central meeting place and at the same time could bring the Lodges into a unity of work and practice. This they called a Grand ( or chief) Lodge; and in 1717 they erected it by official action, and put Anthony Sayer in the Chair as Grand Master.

It is my understanding that these TEN HORNS may well be ten kings who are involved in freemasonry. God might have given us bible-codes to help in our understanding.

The ten kings destroy the harlot but then give their power over to the beast. The beast system continues even though the harlot has been destroyed. Yet the harlot in Revelation 18 is destroyed again in verse 21. Here, the scriptures point to two separate harlots or systems which are destroyed at different times (Rev 17:17, Rev 18:21).

"For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give THEIR KINGDOM TO THE BEAST, until the words of God are fulfilled." (Revelation 17:17).

In the disaster movie, 2012, the Catholic church is depicted as being destroyed by an earthquake. But, much of Catholicism, has already been loosing her power, particularly with all the scandals in the church. If the Catholic church truly controlled the media as many claim, would they really want to feature these scandals on the television and in the media? They would be creating their own demise. It is possible, there may be a FINAL RESURRECTION of the Roman Empire under the control of the Catholic church -- but this will only be temporary and not the final "beast" power.

The harlot in Revelation 17 is a spiritual church. The harlot in Revelation 18 is a "merchandising kingdom" which also reigns over the kings of the earth (Rev 18:9-16). The only nation today that is a world power is the United States. It could be this "Babylon" in the future is transferred to another nation or power in the Middle East, but presently, the only nation that fits this description is the United States and her Protestant allies.

The Babylon in Revelation 18 is a nation that is a great economic power on the earth and her destruction comes when an angel throws a great millstone in the sea.

"Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore." (Rev 18:21).

It could be this is referring to nuclear war or a giant Star or Planet from outer space that comes hurling into the sea. Whichever it is, the nation will be suddenly destroyed.

The first Babylon is pictured in Revelation 13:1-10) which is generally understood to be the Roman Empire, however, this beast is a conglomeration of all the previous world-ruling Empires (there is the leopard, the bear, and lion -verse 2). The second Babylon can be seen in Revelation 13:11-18). Often, this is used to refer to the United States, a lamb like nation (since it is regarded as a Christian nation) who talks like a dragon (the nature of the country soon changes).

Even though there may be Israelites in the United States and all Protestant nations, these people are under Babylonian control. God commands us to "come out of her".

Once the Catholic church is devoured by ten kings, what form will this new government take? The plain answer is, we cannot know for sure. Some speculate it will be a Luciferian society based on Freemasonry, others are convinced it will be a Jewish led world government, yet others insist the beast is Islam. There are valid arguments for all three possibilities, but, one thing we do know for certain, it will not tolerate Christianity.

Once the Catholic church is destroyed by these ten kings, do not be deceived, by what replaces it. Jesus warns us that if possible, the very elect would be deceived (Matthew 24:24), this could only happen if it looked like Christ's kingdom on the earth with a Temple in Jerusalem and the Jews offering up animal sacrifices.

UCG Crisis Analysis

2011-06-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

Anthony from Equipping the Saints site has produced a document, over 400 pages long of detailed analysis of the crisis of the United Church of God. The document may be downloaded here. This was first mentioned on the Shinning Light blog, featuring news of the Churches of God having more time than I do to monitor these events.

The United Church of God approved of a day centre staying open during the beginning of the Sabbath, which started its troubles. It has got worst ever since, with splits and firings over authority issues. The church never seems to deal with its doctrinal issues, but just sweeps them under the carpet. Doctrinal errors which Armstrong allowed are never addressed.

There are doctrinal errors in many of these Churches of God. Yet few will have the courage to say so openly.

Palestinians are Jews?

2011-06-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

One of the startling claims to come out of the Israeli media is that some Rabbi's are convinced some of the Palestinians are genetically Jewish. Some in Palestine even secretly practice Judaism. Yet our own media is silent about this.

Most of the Palestinians are Jews? (Part 1)

Most of the Palestinians are Jews? (part 2)

Christians under Threat in Syria

2011-06-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Israel Today magazine believes that Christians are under threat in Syria, who up to now have been protected by the Alawite minority.

The article states:

"In Syria, another country ruled by a minority, this time a pro-Iranian 10% Alawite minority, another volcano is about to explode.

The Sunni population of 80% is seeking "democracy" or rule of the majority of the people. The Christian population is about 10%, and until now has been protected by the Alawites. But if Bashar Assad and his regime fall from power, the Sunnis, led by the same Moslem Brotherhood as in Egypt, will decimate both the Alawites and the Christians, thus terminating the Christian presence in Syria, and by extension the Christians in Lebanon as well."

Gaddafi is a Jew, but is this enough for him to survive?

2011-06-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Jewish refugees blog believes Gaddafi is halachically Jewish since his grandmother has Jewish roots. Writes, the blog:

Rachel Saada and Guita Brown are related to Muamar Gaddafi. Guita's grandmother was the sister of Gaddafi's grandmother. She, a Jewess, had left her husband for a Libyan sheikh. They had a daughter: Gaddafi's mother. That makes Gaddafi halachically Jewish.

It looks like Gaddafi is not a practicing Jew, but, his Jewish roots has not saved him from America and Britain, both nations supporting, if not, secretly arming these "islamic" rebels to get rid of him. Certainly the rebels have obtained French missiles supplied to them by Qatar. (Source: The Guardian). The West supports Islamic interests in countries when it suits their purposes (see the research: Emperors-Clothes).

Israel sent 50,000 African mercenaries to help Gaddafi stay in power. Israel cannot afford more instability in the region. (source: World War 4 Report)

Libya and Egypt will be overthrown by the King of the North (Daniel 11:43). In Ezekiel 30:5, the fate of Libya is stated:

"Ethiopia, Libya. Lydia, all the mingled people Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword."

Anciently it was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon who defeated Egypt and Libya. America is the modern equivalent of King Babylon is the secret power behind these uprisings. God has determined the fate of Libya, even if He is using the battle-axe of the United States (Jeremiah 49,50).

For an interesting history between the United States and Libya, this video details some history. It is somewhat biased in favour of the United States, and her economic interests.

Gaddafi - Our Best Enemy (FULL)

Japan Invents Water Powered Vehicle

2011-06-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Japan is a leader in the use of "water powered" vehicles, and these inventions can be viewed on the internet. But this invention has been around a lot longer, but anyone who works on these projects for the betterment of the human race, soon, find themselves fighting against "evil" powers in high places. (See: waterpoweredcar.com)

I can imagine Japan's use of this type of technology, has not gone down very well with the the Oil companies, who seem determined to stay in control. Japan is also not on Israel's favourite list of nations. Japan gave over 10 million dollars to Palestinean causes through the UN in January 2011 (Source: UNRWA).

Our energy industry is based on a fraud. If the energy companies put solar panels in Africa covered perhaps two or three (I forget which it is) football stadiums, one expert said, it would provide enough energy for the whole world. It seems those people who rule, do so in their own financial interest, not in the interest of the planet or the human race.

Water Car Inventor Murdered

JAPANESE WATER POWERED CAR!!

Herbert W. Armstrong and Me!

2011-06-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

What does Herbert W. Armstrong and me have in common? We both share the number 1 in our full names, according to the hebrew numerical value system.

Let us break down the name of Herbert W. Armstrong.

H - 5
R - 200
B - 2
R - 200
T - 400
total: 807 = 15

W - 6
total: 6

R - 200
M - 40
S - 60
T - 400
R - 200
N - 50
G - 3
total: 953 = 17
Grand total: 1766

The numbers 15, 6 and 17 add up to 38 or is an 11 or 1766 which breaks down to 20. We see the overall number of Herbert W Armstrong refers to the date, 1766. Armstrong did not have a "W" in his original name. So, really his name refers to the date, 1760, this is the year, George III ascended the Royal Throne in England. 1760, was also the year, the Jewish Board of Deputies was founded. It was also the year, the book, "A Master Key to Freemasonry" was published exposing masonry. The year also gave birth to Pope Leo XII, in Italy who persecuted the Jews, Bible Societies, and Masons. Britain was also at war during this time, which would lead to the Independence of the United States on 4th July 1776.

Now, comes my full name, which is Robert Thomas Taylor. The name Robert means, "bright with fame", Thomas, "the Twin" and Taylor, "clothing". It seems God has given me a name with some special meaning, that you will see later.

Robert
R - 200
B - 2
R - 200
T - 400
total: 802 = 10

Thomas
T - 400
H - 5
M - 40
S - 60
total: 505 = 10

Taylor
T - 400
Y - 10
L - 30
R - 200
total: 640 = 10

My first, middle and surname all equal exactly the number 10, giving it the number 30, sharing the numerical value, 1, with Herbert W. Armstrong. The first and surname equate to 20, identical to Herbert W. Armstrong's overall numerical value. What is more surprising is that the grand total (802 + 505 + 640) equals the date, 1947. This is the date, on 29th November 1947, that the UN resolution gave legitimacy to the Jewish nation (through the Partition Plan).

It is also interesting to note that there are exactly 4 letters in each of my three names, making a perfect 12.

There is a lamppost outside my house with the number 10 on it. Last year, I went back to Cape Town for a holiday on the 14/11/2010 which also came to the number 10. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened. But I find it interesting, how the number 10 has followed me around. Sadly my house number and post code both equate to an 8 or 88, not a 10.

When adding up my day, month and year of birth, it equates to 1991, the exact year, that I entered the Worldwide Church of God. Even this, can be seen as two tens (19 and 91) in my birthdate.

The name TEN is in my street name as well, but you have to have a trained eye to see it. When you learn a bit of hebrew, you learn to read backwards from right to left and now, I often will analyse words from both directions. You will see the word ten, if you read my street name backwards.

The hebrew letters in my name mean, "head consciousness, house, truth torah redemption, divinity, water spirit, ladder completeness, God greatness through humility, learning heart under wisdom".

The Kabbalists believed the hebrew letters in a person's name defined their character, so a S in the middle of the name would signify a moderate temperament (eg, YeSHua or MoSeS), but a S at the end of the name, meant a bad temperament. So it looks like, I get my anger from ThomaS. Well, I guess I couldn't have everything.

Syrian and Israel - War Three Times

2011-06-14T10:26:00.001-07:00

The Syrians have attacked the Jewish State of Israel three times in 1948, 1967 and in 1973. In 1948, the Syrians joined with other Arab nations to prevent the Jewish Independence in Israel. Again, in 1966 tensions grew which led to the famous, 6 day war with Syria in 1967. On Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the Syrians attacked alongside the Egyptians in 1973. Between the years, 1982-1984, the Syrians fought the Israelis in Lebanon. (Source: HistoryGuy)

Amos 1:3-5 deals with these transgressions of Syria against the Jewish nation of Israel.

"For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because the have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven., and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden, The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir." Says the Lord.

God warns us that the Syrian people will go into captivity for their part in attacking the Jewish nation. The city of Damascus will one day be a heap of ruins (Isaiah 17:1).

Jews Built Up Hollywood, admits Jew

2011-06-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

Neal Gabler, a Jew, admits in his book, "An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood".

We have all known for some time about Jewish influence in Hollywood, yet we are often intimidated by the ADL for admitting the blatantly obvious. In the book, Neal Gabler details the tales of poor Jews from Eastern Europe who came to the United States, and through either sheer good fortune or intrigue (you decide), built up Hollywood, into what it is today.

On the Barry Chamish show, an outspoken Orthodox Jew, who believes the Leadership of Israel are selling their own people out for shekels and power, one of his guests, a right wing Jewish Film Director, spoke how the leftist Jews refused to fund his film because it was considered "too right wing". Even Jews get discriminated against in Hollywood. Barry Chamish is a righteous Jew who is willing to expose corruption at the Knesset in Israel. Though it has financially ruined him and barely makes a living. There are righteous Jews out there who strive to do what is right and follow God and live by the Torah (these are the good figs). Most Jews just want to live their life in peace with their neighbours, we seldom here of these good honest people.

Actually a little research will also indicate Jews were also instrumental in developing the television, though sources attribute Jews and Gentiles. Is it a strange quirk of history, the word, "television" actually consists of two words: levite and sion. One could argue, they even named the invention after themselves.

The Jewish influence in the media is a strong element in our Protestant nations. Interestingly, a Jewish journalist, Philip Weiss, on his blog (article: Do Jews Dominate in American Media? And So What If We Do?), details all of the Jewish influence in the media that he personally had experience with. His long list of Jewish friends and acquaintances in the media is really an eye-opener. We have long shyed away from exposing this terrible bias in our media because we feel uncomfortable with criticising Jewish interests. But is Jewish interests, really a concern to us in the Church of God, the true House of Israel?

Those who know their history, will realise the Jews were always at war with the House of Israel (just read the book of Kings and Chronicles to account the wars that existed between the House of Judah and the House of Israel). So we shouldn't be surprised if today we find ourselves engaged in spiritual wars with the bad figs.

Our faith in Yeshua is a stumbling stone to most Jews. One former Worldwide Church of God member recounted how he joined a Reformed Synagogue once discovering he had Jewish roots. He said that he could not keep silent about his faith in Yeshua, and was thrown out of the Reformed Synagogue and told not to return. Yet this would never make the news headlines in our world. Those who strive to live by the Torah (good figs) whether Jew, Gentile, Christian or Messianic will end up persecuted.

The television enables us to watch the latest news, events and allowed millions to view The World Tomorrow programme. Millions have heard the message of Herbert W. Armstrong in the 1980s on their television screens. The invention enabled God's truth to reach truly a worldwide audience fulfilling the Great Commission of the church. Many of us would not have known God's truth had it not been for the television, radio or printing press. Thank God for these inventions.

Syrian Conflict

2011-06-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Media, particularly the BBC has been lying to us about the Syrian conflict. The rebels are "Muslims" and they have the backing of the "Muslim Brotherhood" Video testimony exists on youtube from former rebels who claim Islamic clerics in Syria gave financial aid and weapons to them to attack Syrian police and security.

See the following video for a testimonial of a rebel. There is an agenda to radicalise the middle East with fundamentalist Islam.

Whilst the Media is claiming the Syrian government is brutally attacking its own people, they fail to admit the government is acting in self-defence from radical Islamic extremists that wish to destroy the secular state of Syria, turning it into another Islamic country.

Restored Israel Website

2009-08-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

Restored Israel is one of the few ministries in the Messianic community that does not use the Hebrew calendar to calculate the holy days.

The website doesn't give away much detail about the calendar except that they believe the astronomical new moon is the correct one to use. Their calendar is determined by using the first astronomical new moon after the vernal equinox. This is used to determine the first day of Abib. (See the picture for the moon phases).

For those not familiar with what I am going on about. The astronomical new moon occurs at the conjunction with earth and sun. This is called the dark moon or astronomical new moon. The crescent moon is a thin sliver of light that occurs anything up to two days after the conjunction. This means holy day calculations will vary depending on whether the conjunction or crescent moon is used.

Most Messianic ministries continued to use the Hebrew calendar, or have some variation using the sightings of the visible crescent moons or may sight barley in Jerusalem. The website gives us little information on who they really are, where they are from and what their doctrinal statement of beliefs are.

They write on the new moon:

The first New Moon (black, cannot be seen) after the VERNAL EQUINOX is the beginning of the FIRST MONTH of the year, the new year. Rosh Hashanah, the 'beginning of months' (or 'the head of the year')

Aramaic Language of the Koran?

2009-08-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Gabriel Sawma is an International Law Specialist, mainly the European Union Law, the Middle East Laws and the Islamic Shariaa Law.

He is a professor of Aramaic and a recognised authority on Islam and the Qur'an. He reads, and writes Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. Authored many articles on the Aramaic language and its influence in Biblical Hebrew and the Qur'an. His website is: www.syriacaramaicquran.com.

Some of his articles are published by international newspapers and magazines.

He is author of the book, The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an.

According to the Amazon website, the book "is written to show that the language of the Qur'an is Aramaic, not Arabic. Aramaic renders interpretations that are totally different from those rendered my Muslim commentators in the last fourteen centuries. There are similarities between the Qur'an and the Old Testament, but those similarities were undermined by Muslim commentators by giving erroneous interpretations to their Holy Book."

His website states:

The problem lies in the fact the Muslim commentators do not understand the language in which the Quran was written. The language of the Quran has always been Aramaic. Aramaic renders interpretations that are totally different from those rendered by Muslim commentators throughout the last fourteen centuries.

The Quran states that its language is Arabic, but Arab speaking people have difficulty understanding its language. The difficulty stems from the fact that the language of the Quran has always been and still is Aramaic. In the seventh century, the written language of the Near East was Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, not Arabic. The classical Arabic is a distorted form of Aramaic. The Palmyrene and Nabataean inscriptions in Syria and Transjordan indicates that these two Arab kingdoms had their literature written in Aramaic, Greek and some Latin. None of these inscriptions were written in the "classical Arabic".

The book can be obtained at Amazon.

Similar ideas are propagated by Christoph Luxenberg. Wikipedia states that he also believes the koran written in Aramaic form:

"... is a trace of the pre-Islamic, Christian past of certain Arab communities, who were amongst the first Christians. It was not meant to start a new religion, but a legacy of an older one.[9] It is accepted by scholars and orientalists internationally that the word "qur'an" (without the article l-) is derived from the Arabic root word "qara'a", which means reading. Luxenbergs Aramaic "qeryan" (without the article -a) is also derived from the same, shared Semitic root Q-R-' "reading", as is obvious from the translation "lectionary", "a text for reading".

Christoph Luxenberg is author of the controversial book, The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Koran.

Will the ONE TRUE Koran Please Stand UP?

2009-08-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Some fanatical muslims are pretty smug on youtube, they like to point out the errors of Christianity and Judaism claiming their faith is the final revelation of Allah, with the Koran, the infallible word.

Yet, how many are you are aware that there are different versions of the Koran?

Which one is right?

The discovery of an ancient text of the Koran known as "The Sana'a manuscripts, found in Yemen in 1972, are considered by some to be the oldest existent version of the Qur'an.[1] Although the text has been dated to the first two decades of the eighth century carbon 14 tests indicate that some of the parchments in this collection date back to the 7th and 8th centuries." (Source: Wikipedia)

From the article: ANCIENT QUR’ANIC MANUSCRIPTS OF SANA’A AND DIVINE DOWNFALL:

"Muslims often say that both Old Testament and New Testament are corrupted and seriously changed. They say, for a Holy Scripture to be authoritative, it has to be preserved without any changes at all, and point to their Qur’an, which claims to have been revealed word by word and letter by letter to Muhammad by Allah. Qur’an claims, ‘no change there can be in the words of God‘ (10:64) and, ‘there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of God‘ (6:34).

...The devastating truth is that a large number of ancient Qur’anic manuscripts, dating from first century of Hijra were discovered in the Great Mosque of Sana’a (Yemen) which significantly differs from the present standard one. Carbon dating system confirmed that these Qur’ans are not forged ones by religious rivalries. Moreover these Qur’ans were discovered by Muslims, not infidels.

Probably this is the most embarrassing event in Islamic history of 14 centuries.

The Great Mosque of Sana’a is one of the oldest Mosques in Islamic history. The date of building goes back to 6th year of Hijrah when Muhammad entrusted one of his companions to build a Mosque at Yemen, which was extended and enlarged by Islamic rulers from time to time.

In 1972, during the restoration of this Great Mosque (heavy rain had caused the west wall of the Mosque to collapse), laborers working in a crown space between the structure’s inner and outer roofs, stumbled across a amazing grave site, which they did not realize at that time because of ignorance. Mosques do not accommodate graves, and this site contained no gravestone, no human remains and no funeral relics. It contained nothing more, in fact, apparently looking an unappealing mountain of old parchment and paper documents, damaged books and individual pages of Arabic text, fused together by rain and dampness for over a thousand year.

...In 1984, the House of Manuscripts (Dar al Makhtutat) was founded close to the Great Mosque, as part of a cooperation project between Yemeni and German authorities. An enormous endeavor began to restore the Qur’anic fragments. Between 1983 and 1996, approximately 15,000 out of 40,000 pages were restored, specifically 12,000 fragments on parchment and manuscripts dating back to the seventh and eighth centuries.

...It scattered the orthodox Muslim belief that the Qur’an as it has reached us today is quite simply “the perfect, timeless, and unchanging Word of God”. It means Qur’an has been distorted, perverted, revised, modified and corrected, and textual alterations had taken place over the years purely by Human hands."

Barack O Bama, the Antichrist?

2009-08-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

RaptureReady is a site for Christians convinced they will be beamed up into the heavens before the great tribulation and the arrival of the Antichrist.

Life is simple for these folks. They believe in Jesus and in the rapture. What else is there to believe in?

They probably never even heard of the terms "sabbath, tithing, festivals, fasting, authority, family church government, world tomorrow" -- and those terms that drive us all crazy.

Their world is probably endless speculation on who the coming Antichrist will be, thanking Jesus that they are the few chosen ones to be saved out of the coming calamity to hit the earth. Goodness me, sounds, a lot like Armstrongism, but, without the Jesus stuff.

RaptureReady links to the article, Did Jesus actually reveal name of the 'Antichrist'? showing in no uncertain terms, that the Anticrhist is the dark horse, Barack O Bama. The article features a video which incidentally proves the point.

With all the speculation on the christian forums on the coming solar eclipse due to happen July 11, 2010 (1st of Av in the Hebrew calendar), it appears many are bracing themselves for Jesus' return and the great tribulation.

Now, haven't we been here before?

VIRAL VIDEO - INADVERTENTLY CONFIRMED BY RABBI! Did Jesus Reveal The Antichrist?

Book Review: Anti-Judaism in the New Testament

2009-08-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the New Testament there are two schools of thought.

Most Messianics accept the New Testament and go to great lengths to prove the authenticity of the apostle Paul as a first century Rabbi, follower of Yeshua that advocated observance of the Torah. This is the majority opinion within Messianic Judaism and the books of the New Testament are accepted as part of God's inspired scriptures but interpreted from a Hebraic perspective.

People identifying themselves as "netzarim" do not endorse fully the contents of the New Testament. They have their own copy of the book of Matthew from Hebraic sources. Some may accept the book of Revelation, others consider it to be part of hellenised Greek culture popularised by Constantine's Christianity. They consider the New Testament for the most part, to be a work of fiction, part of the fraud they consider to be Christianity. They consider the New Testament (except the books they believe in) to be a classic anti Semitic work put together by early church fathers seeking some sort of authority for their new religion.

Within these two perspectives there are going to be degrees of people who may fall into one of these categories, or may accept more of the New Testament but exclude Paul's writings.

One such book that only adds fuel to the fire of the Netzarim (whether officially recognised as netzarim or part of a similar group) is Anti-Judaism in the New Testament by Gerald Sigal. The book may be purchased at Xlibris.

The following is the review of the book, Anti-Judaism in the New Testament from the website which typifies the attitudes of the netzarim very well towards the New Testament:

This volume is a systematic critique of the anti-Jewishness of the New Testament. Its primary purpose is to delineate what the New Testament authors intended to convey to their respective audiences concerning the Jewish people. That is, this volume is concerned with the initial meaning intended by the New Testament authors and how this intended meaning directly and with forethought contributed to Christian anti-Judaic1 thought and action. We will investigate how and why the New Testament authors created this anti-Judaic climate. Analysis of the Gospel stories demonstrates that anti-Judaism is woven into the fabric of a significant part of the New Testament narrative. This narrative has provoked bitter condemnation and persecution of Jews. The Jewish people were cast in the role of a dark satanic force as a systematic denigration and demonization of the Jews took place. It is to its harsh and bitter polemic against the entire Jewish people that one must ascribe the accusations of the Jews being Christ-killers and children of Satan and the later embellishments of Jews as host desecrators, ritual murders, and well-poisoners. Post-New Testament developments of Christian anti-Judaism are not central to this study. In pursuing our investigation we will make a distinction between what was originally intended by the New Testament authors and the usage made of their works to meet the anti-Judaic needs of the subsequent church.

Conclusions reached by later interpreters that have often been attributed to the authors of the Gospels are not our primary concern. It is not a question of how, or to what extent, the New Testament passages concerning Jews and Judaism were misused or misread in later centuries, but of what they were meant to mean in the first place. Thus, our focus will be on what the authors meant to convey to their respective contemporary audiences about the Jews.

What would the New Testament’s audience have understood from the information its various authors provided? What meaning would a reader derive from a particular text? Is the New Testament anti-Jewish or is it merely an accurate report of events as they took place? Answers can only come through an examination of the relevant passages in their specific literary contexts, as well as in the context of the struggles, aspirations, and theologies of the early church. Special attention must be paid to the relationship between the church and the Roman authorities, on the one hand, and the synagogue, on the other hand, at the time the various books of the New Testament were written and to polemics within the early church community.

The New Testament was not written solely to condemn the Jews. But, in the process of developing the several story lines that evolved into the four respective canonical Gospels, the early church adopted a decidedly anti-Judaic stance. Consequently, in its final form, instances of anti-Judaic sentiment are found in much of the New Testament, the Gospels in particular. This animosity has to do as much with politics as with theological doctrine, relations with the Roman imperial authorities as with displacing Jews and Judaism. If pre-Gospel traditions already included anti-Judaic elements, they were now systematically exploited. There was a growing need to explain why Israel, God’s chosen people, had rejected Jesus and the message of his disciples. How could this be reconciled with God’s will? In presenting Jesus as the Messiah and Christianity as superseding Judaism, Paul and the authors of the Gospels and Acts, in particular, indict the Jewish people for the death of Jesus and spread antipathy of Jews and Judaism as part of a program to achieve Christian ascendancy. The historicized core myths that provide the basis for the New Testament missionary program were shaped and reshaped to show that the church possessed full authenticity and validity contra Jews and Judaism.

The New Testament authors strive to obscure the dividing line between fact and fiction. Nevertheless, it is clearly a work broadly touched by the craft of fiction. Besides fabrication ex nihilo, the editorial process of creating the Gospels and other books of the New Testament resulted in modification or transformation of the very meaning of the pre-Gospel materials. Whether or not the New Testament represents the view of Jesus’ earliest followers, or even those of Jesus himself, is not our primary concern. What is important is that whatever the origin of the material comprising its contents this is what was incorporated into the text and this is the literary material with which we must work.

The Gospels encourage their readers to develop a negative view of the Jews. This is accomplished through specific statements made throughout their respective narratives. Examples are found in the description of the alleged plot to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18, Matthew 26:3-4, Luke 20:20, John 11:48-53), the emphasis on the supposed “wicked” nature of the Jews themselves (Matthew 23, John 8), and on the moral responsibility of the Jews for the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:25). Thus, the Jews are identified as being evil, guilty of murder, and unrepentant. In contrast, Jesus is identified as the “Christ” and the “Son of God.” He is depicted as good-hearted, interested only in the welfare of others, and innocent of any wrongdoing.

If we let the New Testament speak for itself, we find two themes dominate the New Testament’s concept of the Jews. The first of these concerns a claim to a common biblical heritage for Jews and for the followers of Jesus. Acknowledging the distinctive status of ancient Israel, the New Testament authors claim continuity for Christianity with that biblical faith of Israel. From this perspective, they postulate that prior to the coming of Jesus, Jews had an exclusive claim to spiritual legitimacy-- that in a sense, Christianity and Judaism were one. The second theme declares the Jewish fall from grace and the resulting Christian spiritual monopoly. It is alleged that Christianity has become the legitimate inheritor of the true faith and of God’s promises to Israel. Essential to this theme is an enumeration of those acts and events through which Jews are shown to have lost their spiritual prerogative. This second perspective disposes of the unique position of the Jews in God’s providence. It provides an image of Jews as renegades from the true faith, cruel persecutors of the faithful, and the very crucifiers of Jesus, God’s anointed son; it leaves Christianity as the only surviving heir to spiritual legitimacy.

The earliest written Christian polemic against the Jews is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15. There, Paul declares that “the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men.” It is the Jews, as a nation, that Paul condemns as murderers of both Jesus and the prophets, and as his persecutors. Consequently, God rejects them. The underlying bitterness Paul shows toward the Jews in this passage is unparalleled even in Paul’s other writings. It is also the sole reference in Paul’s letters to the allegation that the Jews were guilty of killing Jesus.3 Paul provides the basis for the recurrent New Testament theme that the Jews, as a nation, are alone responsible for the execution of Jesus. In this earliest known “Christ-killer” polemic to be found in Christian literature, Paul identifies the Jewish national rejection and slaying of Jesus as an endemic trait that had earlier precedent in their killing of the prophets. The Jewish people as a nation is characterized as the archetypal persecutor of God’s messengers be they Jesus, the prophets, or the Christian preachers. This was followed in time by the Gospel of Mark, which introduced the anti-Jewish theme that was later adopted by the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. To these was added the Gospel of John, with its intense anti-Jewish viciousness.4

Some readers may feel that this work is overly critical of the New Testament and its authors. Nevertheless, biblical and non-biblical documentation and even the New Testament attest to these facts. One need only investigate the post-New Testament presentation of certain themes—such as the central role of the Jews in the trial of Jesus (Matthew 27:25), the portrayal of the Jews as the devil’s children (John 8:44), the popular meaning attached to the word “Pharisee,”5 and the labeling of Judaism as legalism6--for proof that the New Testament authors achieved their anti-Jewish objectives.

There are some Christians who without examining the question of whether the New Testament itself contains anti-Judaic passages see the anti-Judaic roots of Christianity as stemming, not from that document, but from Christianity’s teachings of its own traditions.7 There are other Christians who, although they know better, would rather keep silent concerning the New Testament’s role in creating the hostile climate in which persecution and degradation of the Jews are perfectly acceptable. They devise stratagems to avoid acknowledging exactly what it is that they know. That is why it is all the more commendable that there are some Christians who admit to the injustice done the Jewish people by the New Testament.8 Nevertheless, there is still great resistance by the majority of Christian theologians, clergymen, and laymen to acknowledging the presence of anti-Jewish passages in the New Testament and the repudiation of those verses.9 It is hoped that with time, honesty will prevail.10

A ray of hope

It should be noted, however, that although the New Testament prepared the way for centuries of persecution of those Jews who did not accept Jesus and church leaders of all denominations of Christendom consistently reiterated its anti-Jewish themes one cannot infer that all Christians hate or persecute Jews. Many are truly embarrassed by the vicious anti-Jewish contents of the New Testament and its results. Many have risked their lives and many have even died protesting against anti-Jewish persecution. It is to their everlasting credit that they were able to resist adherence to the anti-Jewish aspects of the New Testament.

Mystical Kabbalah Influencing Messianic Ministries

2009-08-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

For the last few months, it seems, Tim Hegg of Torah Resources.com has been warning of the subtle influence of the mystical teachings of the kabbalah influencing such ministries as Firstfruits of Zion and the reliance on the authority of the "oral" tradition as espoused through the writings of Mark Kinzer who is a scholar involved in Messianic Jewish Theological Institute.

The rebuttals from Hegg come as a result from a recent article written by Mark Kinzer entitled, •Mark Kinzer, Scripture As Inspired, Canonical Tradition. The article is not free, one must subscribe to the one of their packages to read their online material. Far from wanting to pay any money for the privilege of reading the material just for this blog, one can get a sense of the article by reading the criticisms of Tim Hegg in the paper, Are the Scriptures Alone our Sure Foundation or Do We Need Something More?.

According to the Hegg's article: "Mark Kinzer, a major voice in the UMJC, openly denies the sufficiency of Scripture as the means by which we may know God and obey His commandments.1 He boldly affirms that in addition to the Scriptures, we must also rely upon the cumulative teachings of the Rabbis (the Oral Torah) as a necessary partner to the Scriptures."

Tim Hegg objects to Firstfruits of Zion endorsing Paul Philip Levertoff’s Love and the Messianic Age especially when the book attempts to "demonstrate how the mystical approach of Kabbalah is well suited to properly interpret the Scriptures as well to provide a deeper spiritual experience for believers in Yeshua."

We wouldn't need an "oral" tradition if the Bible contained all the answers would we? The Bible gives us the rules but fails on many ocassions to interpret them for us.

Examples:

1. The Bible does not define the term "work"- exactly what is forbidden on the Sabbath? The result no clear consensus on this issue from the thousands of groups who keep the Sabbath.

2. The Bible does not mention the inculated postponement rules in the hebrew calendar or any hebrew calendar for that matter. The result plenty of groups keep their own calendar.

2. The beginning of the new moon is not defined. Does it begin at the young crescent or dark moon or astronomical conjunction? The result a handful of groups calculate the dates based on the astronomical conjunction or dark moon.

3, The scriptures do not define how we are to tie our tassels or the creature used to create the blue dye for the tassels. The result we have different types of tying the tassels.

4. Exactly what words and type of scroll is to be used in the mezuzah? Should the writing on the mezuzah be the SHEMA or the Ten Commandments?

5. The wearing of the kippah is not a mandated rule in the scriptures. The result some groups insist the wearing of the kippah is from babylon.

6. The dimensions of the mikvah are not in the scriptures.

7. Only the beginning of the day of Atonement is legally defined from its beginning and end. The beginning of the Sabbath is not defined causing all types of combinations of observance from lunar sabbaths, sunrise and sunset observance either in 12 hour or 24 hour segments. [Note a careful reading reveals God creating light or morning appeared first (Gen 1:3) then it became dark (Gen 1:5)then it was morning again (Gen 1:5)]. This led two scholars to speculate that the days actually began during sunrise (with the exception of Atonement which is a fasting day), which is backed up by Jewish scholar Solomon Zeitlin, but it should be noted his is a minority opinion.

In the absence of a holy writ that contains all of the answers to our questions, giving precise details on application and interpretation, we have no other choice but to rely on some degree on the "oral" traditions.

In fact we are already relying on the "oral" tradition as a form of interpretation for some of our practices.

The only oral traditions we accept are those rules that are in harmony with the "Law and the Prophets".

Some method has to be used to interpret the scriptures. Whose method should we use? The Bible doesn't exactly say unless we include the verse to do and observe what the Pharisees teach? (Matthew 23:2-3) Then, the argument gets complicated because is Rabbinical Judaism a descendant of yesterday's Pharisees? Plenty believe so. The Bible should interpret the Bible but as my examples clearly show, the interpretation is far from autonomous.

Aramaic New Testament for $65

2009-08-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Aent.org sells copies of the New Testament in English/Aramaic "Compiled, Edited & Translated with consultation to both Ancient and Modern Authorities including: The Khabouris Codex and the 1905 Edition of the Syriac New Testament by the British and Foreign Bible Society." A single copy can be purchased from $65 from their online store.

Author Andrew Gabriel Roth, producer of the AENT, is a mature Netzari Jewish scholar who is one of the world's foremost Aramaic Primacists. Roth has never been on the payroll of any religious institution, nor has he demonstrated a propensity to bolster either religious tradition or institutions. As an independent Netzari scholar he works closely with Paul Younan, Raphael Lataster, and many others to scrutinize every verse – indeed every word – within its original context and meaning. Roth has invested over a decade into the production of this AENT which clearly reveals the Netzari Faith to an English speaking audience.

What Would Jesus Eat?

2009-08-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

We have all thought about what would Jesus do? But, have we considered what would Jesus eat?

Don Colbert, M.D. has not only considered the question but written a book on the subject making a compelling case for "Christians to use the blueprint of this appetizing spin on traditional faith-based diet books to develop a healthier lifestyle using foods available today."

The book is available at Amazon. Parts of the book may be read at Google Books.

Reviewer Cindy Crosby pens:

"If you truly want to follow Jesus in every area of your life, you cannot ignore your eating habits," postulates Colbert. He examines America's alarming addiction to fast food, explores Old Testament Jewish dietary laws, and takes a comprehensive look at foods mentioned in the Bible, from herbs to bread to meat. To this information Colbert adds a healthy serving of Scripture references, mixes in a few anecdotes, and finishes the book with an easy-to-follow weekly eating guide. Colbert also tackles the subject of drinking red wine as part of a healthy lifestyle, something often ignored in Christian-based health books. Readers looking for spiritual reasons to make dietary changes will discover excellent justification here to take the plunge.

From Publishers Weekly

After the goose has been gobbled and the cookies consumed, Americans' thoughts turn toward their ever-expanding waistlines. 'Tis the season for diet books, especially in the Christian market. Thomas Nelson, capitalizing on the What Would Jesus Do? phenomenon, presents What Would Jesus Eat?: The Ultimate Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great, and Living Longer. Author Don Colbert, a family physician, urges readers to examine and emulate Jesus' simple diet. The nutritional information, overall, is quite sound: Colbert encourages the consumption of fish, the use of olive oil in cooking and an exercise regimen of daily walking. He discusses the "hidden dangers" of pork, condemns refined white flour and warns against the excessive consumption of red meat. This "all-natural diet from biblical times" promises readers fitness and longevity. Although it should be recalled that longevity was not exactly a hallmark of many biblical characters after the early chapters of Genesis, this is a solid addition to the Christian diet shelves.

"Ha Gesher" "The Bridge" Isaiah 46:10

2009-08-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

PaulGem123 presents this informative video encouraging us to look beyond the label that we call ourselves. Study everything!

"Ha Gesher" "The Bridge" Isaiah 46:10

How are We to View Herbert W. Armstrong?

2009-08-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

In the Messianic world, how are we suppose to view the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)?

There are many former WCG members who are involved in Messianic Judaism and the Sacred Name Movement. We will all have different stories and testimonies to tell, each one unique in its own right. But, the question is often asked, how are we to view Herbert W. Armstrong? Was he called by God? Was he a false prophet as some claim?

We realise that the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong is very different to Messianic Judaism. Herbert W. Armstrong claimed to have restored "first century" Christianity, whereas we claim, Jesus did not leave Judaism. We view the movement of Christianity as the creation of the Roman Empire and not something instigated by Jesus.

Essentially, the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong grew at a phenomenal rate because his message was different and he was a dynamic speaker which captivated the listener. He turned people's world upside down, challenging their ideas about religion and politics.

God called Herbert W. Armstrong to promote the Sabbath and Holy Days and in my opinion, to restore the Jewish roots of the faith. Unfortunately, Herbert Armstrong did not restore the Jewish roots of the faith, that part of the mission was never accomplished. Today, there are hundreds if not a few thousand groups involved in establishing the Jewish roots of the Jesus movement. Yet, only a few decades ago, Messianic Judaism would not have been so widely known. As one movement was declining, another one was being raised up, as if the baton was being passed to the last phase of God's work!

The Worldwide Church of God focused too much attention on issues that were not relevant to salvation (eg. forbidding medicine, birthdays, voting, make up etc) which caused problems in the lives of members.

As one movement began to decline in disarray, another one was beginning to flourish with new excitement and joy. At last people could begin to understand the message of the gospels living out a truly Hebraic lifestyle. Rather than pay lip service to the Torah, people began to experience living it.

The legacy of Herbert W. Armstrong will forever linger. He brought us a foundation, establishing the Sabbath and Holy Days in our hearts. Along the way, we have had to shed some excess baggage, but, we are thankful that he created the spark within us.
He was not perfect, but then, neither is anyone of us!

Temple Institute to Build Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'av

2009-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

From Israel National News:

The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av, a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago.

The sacrificial altar was located in the center of the Temple, and upon it the Kohanim (priests) offered the numerous voluntary and obligatory sacrifices commanded in the Bible.

The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m.

“Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt."

[Check out more multimedia coverage of Tisha B'av by clicking here]

Even a minimum size altar will work out to be approximately 2 meters tall, 3 meters long, and 3 meters wide. Workers have collected around 10 cubic meters of rocks weighing several tons already.

The rocks were gathered from the Dead Sea area and wrapped individually to assure they remain whole and are not touched by metal, as the Bible requires.

“The Torah says that no iron tools should be used on the altar’s stones,” Glick explained. “The altar represents a connection to life and to the creation of the world. Iron is the opposite – it is used to build tools of war, death, and destruction.”

The stones will be cemented together with a mixture of sand, clay, tar, and asphalt. Researchers from the Temple Institute visited the Finish glass factory near Yerucham to learn how to create a mixture which would remain as cool as possible under the altar’s unremitting fires and protect the Kohanim, who always worked in the Temple barefoot.

Glick said that Tisha B’av, a day associated with mourning, is really the ideal time to begin to build the Temple. “People mistakenly think Tisha B’av is only a day to cry,” he explained. “It also has to be a day of action. We have the ability in our era to begin the construction of the Temple."

“There are many positive developments recently with regard to the Temple,” Glick added. “Hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount this week, and more and more continue to come, after undergoing the requisite ritual immersion.”

The Temple Institute is searching for donations to help build the altar, which will cost around NIS 100,000 (approximately $26,000). More information is available at http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm.

Messianic Teaching Series on Genesis

2009-08-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship has made available a new series on the book of Genesis covering 32 chapters.

The Genesis Presentation Series.

UK Church of God Feast Sites

2009-08-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

The Journal has released a list of Feast of Tabernacle sites for the Church of God community for 2009.

For the international listing, go their website.

United Kingdom--Chatsworth, Peak District, England: Global Church of God, E-mail: bgofderby@compuserve.com. www.eternalgod.org/feast/fot/2009/uk/

Kendall, Lake District, England: Seventh Day Christians, www.feastgoer.org.

Poole, Dorset, England: Church of God Farnborough, www.feastgoer.org.

South Molton, Devon, England: RCG, P.O. Box 23295, Wadsworth, Ohio 44282, (330) 334-2266, www.rcg.org.

Portrush, Antrim, Northern Ireland: Christian Biblical Church of God, P.O. Box 1442, Hollister, Calif. 95024, USA, (831) 637-1875, www.cbcg.org.

Llandudno, North Wales: UCG, (513) 576-9796, www.ucg.org/feast.

Llangollen, North Wales: LCG, www.cogl.org.

Giant Sea Monster Washed Ashore!

2009-07-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Pravda, a Russian online newsmedia with a staff of former communists, features some of the weirdest and interesting news stories guaranteed some light entertainment after a stressful week.

They report that "a strange ugly sea monster was cast ashore in Guinea". Now who said sea monsters do not exist? Our Prophecy Flash Dankebring has been on the money on this one!

See the pictures for yourself HERE.

So Mark - The RFID Tattoo

2009-07-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

SoMark releases the "RFID-like tattoo unique to the industry. Unlike conventional RFID, our product is chipless and features electronic ink for identification. We have competitive advantage with a lower price point, increased retention, easy application and reliable reading. What’s more, injection of our product is short and simple. No shaving is required and the process takes less than two seconds."

The rfid technology is claimed to be passive which means that it currently cannot be tracked by GPS.

GET £500 TO SPY ON NEIGHBOURS

2009-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

The following news appeared on the End Times News Forum. For audio updates, they appear on the EndtimeDelusion1 youtube account.

People are encouraged to spy on their neighbours for cash!

From Daily Express:

SNOOPING residents are being offered rewards of up to £500 to spy on their neighbours.

Taxpayers’ money is being used to pay “covert human intelligence sources” who report bad conduct to authorities.

Anyone who photographs dog fouling, litter being dropped, graffiti crime or fly tipping which result in prosecution will receive a cash reward.

The amount is staggered, according to how far the prosecution is taken.

Judaism, Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls

2009-07-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Professor Lawrence Schiffman discusses the discovery of the scrolls, the archaeology of Qumran where the scrolls were unearthed, the nature of the library, and its significance for the study of Judaism, Christianity and their common destiny.

Judaism, Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Mithraism Link on David Hulme's Vision.org

2009-07-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Imagine my surprise when visiting the Vision.org website, to find links in First Followers to Mithraism and Christianity.

On the Mithraism and Christianity website, they advertise the book, The Jesus Mysteries - Was the Original Jesus a Pagan God?

The website informs us: "It was in Tarsus that the Mysteries of Mithras had originated, so it would have been unthinkable that Paul would have been unaware of the remarkable similarities we have already explored between Christian doctrines and the teachings of Mithraism. [Footnote:] Tarsus was the capital of Cilicia, where, according to Plutarch [46-125CE], the Mithraic Mysteries were being practiced as early as 67BCE"
"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy [more info], p199.

This website is not for the faint hearted. Some people may be taken in by information contained on the website and leave the faith in Yeshua (Jesus). Heaven, knows the confusion and damage being exposed to "mithraism" may cause? It definately should come with a warning!

Polygamy Will Return When Jesus Does!

2009-07-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Polygamy will return when Jesus does is the conclusion of the article, Polygamy, published by Worldwide Church of God splinter group, Bible Research.org.

The only group to my knowledge, unless someone can correct me, of an Armstrongite group that agrees with the practice of Polygamy. The article states that the Bible does not "outlaw" nor regard polygamy to be a sinful practice.

The article writes:

POLYGAMY AND PROPHECY

The prophet Isaiah recorded many things that would occur before and after Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. One of the things that he recorded shows that polygamous marriages will be practiced after Christ's return:

"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach" (Isa 4:1 KJV).

Prophecies show that, before Christ returns, the earth's population will be greatly reduced. Isaiah's prophecy shows that there will be a tremendous imbalance between the numbers of men and women able and willing to marry. The number of women who desire marriage will far exceed the number of eligible men. These women will want children, companionship, and a sexual relationship, so they will be willing to be a part of a plural marriage to fulfil these natural human desires.

Bible Research departed from the Worldwide Church of God during the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong. They are one of the few groups that do not teach tithing.

Jesus Genealogy Through Jeconiah

2009-07-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

The Church of the Great God wrote an article about a man that believed Jesus could not have been the Messiah because Matthew traces His geneology back to Jeconiah.

So what was the problem, I thought? Not running into this issue before.

The man stated in the article that Jeremiah 22:30 "clearly prohibits any descendant of Coniah (also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin) from "sitting on the throne of David." Matthew legitimately lists Jeconiah as part of Jesus' geneology (Mat 1:12).

This argument is resolved using two different approaches. The one argument is that the curse was temporary being lifted when Zerubbabel found favour in God's eyes (Haggai 2:23). The other argument which incidentally is used by the article is that Matthew 1 is tracing the genealogy of Joseph not Christ. The argument goes that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirt, not literally from the seed of Joseph.

To complicate matters, Torahresources in the article, The Virgin Birth, writes: "Indeed, it is the purpose of Matthew to trace the lineage of Yeshua through Joseph." (page 8).

This means that the only likely explanation is that the curse of Jeconiah was temporary and was later removed.

Jews for Jesus do an excellent article on the subject entitled, The Problem of the Curse on Jeconiah in Relation to the Genealogy of Jesus which is worth investigating.

They provide compelling evidence from rabbinic sources which show that God reversed the curse on Jeconiah.

It seems then that this is the most likely explanation.

The Shabbat Crash Course

2009-07-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Teachittome.com has a "Shabbath Crash Course", audio presentations covering the 39 prohibited forms of creative labour forbidden on Shabbat. The course covers basic laws and is intended for Orthodox Jews, but the information will be beneficial to have an understanding of Jewish law.

For more audio presentations by Jewish Rabbis on the Torah go to this directory of links. Torahsearch has a good list of audios. But if you cannot wait or have time to go through lists to find the answers to your questions, turn to AskMoses.com. An online Jewish scholar will answer your questions on Judaism. Could you imagine if we had askjesus or askherbert? Alas, we do have justaskjesus.com, but don't expect them to come up with the answers your looking for!

Sabbath Roots in Africa.

2009-07-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sabbath Roots -- The African Connection
by Richard Nickels
www.giveshare.org

Black Africans have a unique proclivity toward accepting the seventh-day Sabbath. Historically, Ethiopia, and many other parts of black Africa have been bastions of Sabbatarianism. Their isolation, for centuries, from the corrupting influence of Rome has allowed Africans to maintain much spiritual independence. Today, Christianity in general, and Sabbath-keeping in particular, is exploding in sub-Saharan Africa.

Charles E. Bradford, author of Sabbath Roots: The African Connection, brings to light many surprising historical facts. Those of us who have been schooled in European civilization may be shocked to realize the existence and widespread nature of unvarnished Christianity in black Africa, for centuries. About 340 million Africans profess Christianity. According to reliable estimates, Africa has the world's largest concentration of Sabbath-keepers, some 20 million people, of which only about three million are Seventh Day Adventists. The Sabbath is natural to black Africans. God is doing a work in Africa!

Ethiopia Equals Sabbath-Keeping

Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is a nation defined throughout its existence by its fidelity to the seventh-day Sabbath. Today, the numbers of Sabbath-keepers are exploding in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Gabon, Congo, and elsewhere. Why? Because of the work of missionaries in the 1800s? No! The Sabbath is thriving in Africa because the Sabbath roots of Africa run deep, both in Scripture, and historical practice.
Psalm 68, the Pentecost Psalm, we read, "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God," verse 31. And, she has, and is, responding to the Almighty. "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt," Hosea 11:1. "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring Mine offering, Zephaniah 3:10. (Zephaniah may have been of African descent, because he was the son of Cushi, a code name for a descendant of Cush, son of Ham.) "Also the sons of the stranger . . . every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer," Isaiah 56:6-7.

African-American preachers have long emphasized the importance of Ethiopia in the plan and purpose of God. For them, the Abyssinian Church is the Church in the Wilderness through which God had maintained for Himself a witness down through the centuries. Egypt is mentioned in Scripture 611 times; Ethiopia 20 times. Egypt figures prominently in the plan and purpose of God, Isaiah 19:24-25. Ethiopia and Egypt are representative of the entire African continent. For the Ashanti (Akan) of Ghana, Saturday has been the traditional holy day, a day of worship of God. Among the Yorubas of Nigeria, the seventh day of the week has been a day when no work, no marriage, no festivities, should be performed. There is no record at any time in the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that they have officially given up the Sabbath. Another group of Ethiopians, the Falasha, or "Black Jews," hold to a form of Old Testament religion that was dominant in Solomon's days.

There is a natural God-consciousness among Africans, both in Africa and in the "diaspora," or dispersed. With its theme of deliverance from slavery, justice, and righteousness, the Old Testament looms large in African thinking. Modern white, liberal, theology is foreign to the black mind, which usually take the Bible literally, and religious beliefs seriously. One does not go to Africa only to preach the Gospel; he goes to learn about the Almighty.

Racial Origins: One Source, One Place

What is the origin of the races? While some aspects may be shrouded in mystery, Bradford argues for a monogenetic (single source, single place) origin of mankind and the races, in Africa. Assyria in Mesopotamia, understood to be a northeast extension of Africa, is called in the Bible, "the Land of Nimrod [son of Cush],". In the "Table of Nations" of Genesis 10, Ham's progeny are given more space than any of the other sons of Noah. Of Ham's four sons, Mizraim went to Egypt, Cush to Ethiopia, Phut to Libya, and Canaan to Palestine. Whatever the origin of the racial differences of mankind, Bradford argues for their common origin, and common access to Yahweh's covenant, Genesis 9:8-19. The Sabbath is the great common denominator of that covenant. No one is excluded.

The so-called "curse of Ham" of Genesis 9:20-27 was not on Ham, but Canaan. The startling occurrence of Hebrew words in West African languages, especially in Yoruba, is evidence that covenant people descended from Ham have long permeated the African continent. Far from being pariahs from God, the Eternal has a heart for the African people: "Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance," Isaiah 19:25.

Church of Ethiopia

Sabbath Roots gives much fascinating information about the history of the Church of Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba was from Ethiopia, and bore a son from King Solomon. Falashas continued the Old Testament religion. In Acts 8:26-40, we are given the account of the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia, with the conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer (eunuch) by Philip. The treasurer returned to Candace's court, and as a result, Ethiopia became the first Christian nation. The influence of Ethiopia on the rest of Africa was enormous. Ethiopia has been the model nation of Africa for 2,000 or more years. The Bible uses the name, Ethiopia, to mean all of sub-Sahara Africa.

While Europeans (and especially Romans) have continually been uncomfortable with Jewish things, Africans are typically pro-Jewish. That is why we see the Europeans abandoning the Sabbath for Sunday, while many Africans continued to revere the Sabbath. Europeans adopted pagan Greece as their cultural model, while Africans leaned toward Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Although European history is steeped in portraying Africa as the deep black hole of humanity, Africa actually became a model for the rest of the world, albeit not always known to be so.

Conflict With Islam

Islam arose 600 years after Christ due to the failure of western European Christiandom to live up to, and spread, the true Gospel message. Muhammad and his cohorts sought to reclaim the faith of Abraham, which Europeans had abandoned. Islam nearly defeated Europe, and severely endangered Ethiopia. Yet when Islam swept North Africa and the Middle East, Moslems created a shield for Africa from the corrupting influence of the Roman Church. The Ethiopian Church continued independent for centuries, until at last the Jesuits encroached under the guise of helping Ethiopia resist Moslem invaders.

More of this story is given in Michael Geddes' book, The Church History of Ethiopia, available as a 148-page reprint for $12.50 from the BSA. The battle between Islam and Sabbath-keepers continues today in Nigeria, where the northern part of the country and the central government are dominated by Moslems, and the eastern and southern portions are predominately Christian.

Black African Openness to God

Charles Bradford takes us on a fascinating tour of Africa, visiting Sabbath-keepers from coast to coast, and sharing tidbits of their remarkable history. Today, Sabbath-keeping is so prevalent in Africa, that in some places, like the Kisii District of Kenya, the government cannot hold elections on Saturdays. Sabbath Roots is truly a remarkable and inspiring history.

It has often been said that Africans twist and distort Christianity, so that when western missionaries leave, the jungle grows back quickly. Sometimes, this has been the case. However, people are generally the same, regardless of the color of their skin. At least Africans did not change the Sabbath to Sunday, and create the Inquisition and Albigensian Crusades against those who believed the Bible. Catholic Europeans did this and more to distort the Gospel. There has long been an openness to God in black Africa. In their honest zeal, Africans often put western civilization to shame.

A King with Ten Sons

An illustration of the African mind's skill to put the Bible text into a format uniquely African is given by this story told by a young African lad. The purpose is to illustrate how the original Sabbath was changed by the European ecclesiastical establishment. It is a story Africans, and anybody, can relate to.
"Once upon a time, there was a great king who had ten sons. Then one day, the king decided to go on a journey. He called his ten sons before him. He also called for the Prime Minister. He embraced each of his sons, one by one, saying 'Oh, my son.' The king then turned to the Prime Minister and said, 'While I am away, take care of my sons.'

"Soon after the king was gone, the Prime Minister called the sons and lined them up before him for inspection. When he came to son number four, the Prime Minister said, 'You do not look like a royal son.' He took him out of the lineup and sent the boy into the fields to work with the slaves. Then the Prime Minister took his own son and put him in the place of the king"s son.

"But the king came back one day, and called the Prime Minister to give an account of how he had taken care of his sons. The Prime Minister said, 'O king live forever. I have done as you have commanded.' He told the king that his sons were well.
"Then the king said, 'Bring in my sons.' As he had done at the first, he embraced them all until he came to the fourth son. Then he said, 'You are not my son. You must be an imposter.' The king turned to the Prime Minister and said, 'Who is this?'
"The Prime Minister replied, 'Your Majesty, your son did not look like a royal son, and so I removed him from the lineup and put my son in his place.'

"'Who gave you permission to do that?'the king demanded. The Prime Minister was speechless. 'But where is my son?'

"The Prime Minister responded, 'He is in the fields, Your Majesty, working with the slaves.'This made the king very angry. He banished the Prime Minister and his son from the realm and restored his own son to his proper place in the lineup."

When the story is over, the usual response from the African audience is, "Tell us, what is the meaning of the story?" The lad would answer: "The king is God, and the ten sons are the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment is the commandment that says 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Prime Minister is the church, the one He left in charge of the commandments. But the church changed God's day of rest and put another day in its place, a day it chose. But the King is coming back!"

My African Friends

My first exposure to African Sabbath-keepers came shortly after I began Giving & Sharing in 1978. Through my book, History of the Seventh Day Church of God, I became acquainted with Sabbath-keepers in Nigeria and Kenya. Over the years, we have sent them many Bibles, concordances, books, and articles. One African elder, John I. Ajalli, began to contribute Bible Study articles, which we reprinted and sent to our mailing list. See two of John's excellent articles, Study No. 100, "I Believe in Jesus Christ, What's it all about?" and 102, "Worship Not the Beast With 666," on the www.giveshare.org BibleStudy website.

Although I never met him, John and I became spiritual brothers through frequent correspondence. His untimely death around the late 1980s temporarily halted our relationship, which I hope to renew in the Kingdom of God.

I will never forget the episode in which the Ajalli family endangered their freedom to worship God on the Sabbath day. As related by Mrs. Ajalli, she was in her garden hoeing weeds one day, when a group of snake worshippers were passing by. They were shouting and worshipping a snake (which was their "god"). The snake was allowed to go where it willed, and the worshippers followed chanting and singing. The serpent strayed from the road into the Ajalli garden, and Mrs. Ajalli warned the pagans that if they didn't get their snake out of her garden, they would be sorry. They refused to listen to her, so she killed the snake with her hoe. Well, this "sacrilegious" act caused a great uproar in the community, because she had killed their god. The local chieftan made it rough on the Ajalli family, and it was thereafter difficult to conduct Sabbath services in their compound.

John Ajalli and his wife had courage and faith. While many Nigerians begged for money, and we suspected that some sold the free Bibles we sent them, John was different. He once wrote that he appreciated the Bibles and literature we sent him, but if we couldn't or wouldn't do so, he and other Africans would still continue the work of God. John was a trustworthy servant of the Almighty.

Two Nigerians have visited our home. The first, James Obi, is a short, effervescent man, with a sparkling personality. He worked for Shell Oil Company in Nigeria, a leading oil producer. He visited us once for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and delivered interesting Bible Studies. James introduced me to Nigerian Christian music, which I like very much. When I was helping James unload his luggage, I noticed a fishy smell. He had brought some dried fish on a stick. He coaxed me into eating some of it with him. First, he made a kind of paste with some dried greens he called "bitter leaves." Then, we dipped the fish in the bitter leaf paste. It tasted, well, unique! We assured him that we did not eat pork, but he persisted in asking us, meal after meal, if there was any pork in the food, as he did not eat it either. We thoroughly enjoyed James' brief visit.

Another Nigerian, Christian Nwakafor, stayed at our home for a while, when we lived in Washington State. He had a different personality than James, was shy and reserved. Christian came from Ibo country, the "bush" portion of eastern Nigeria. The Ibos are most receptive to Christianity, and elders have told me that anyone who is a polygamist is not allowed in their Church. As he was not accustomed to indoor plumbing, I had to literally get into the shower with Christian to show him how to use it. Christian was a fine young man.

Nigerians Proclaim Sabbaths

Africans may be low on funds, but they tend to be high with fervent energy. My friends, the Nigerian Sabbath-keepers, are my kind of people. I have been amazed at how zealous many of them are for God's Truth. Sure, there are impostors and charlatans there, as in other parts of the world. But, there are also zealous, dedicated workers who faithfully persevere, in spite of the financial difficulties and hardships of living in a Moslem-dominated country that is hostile to Christianity.

How the Nigerian Church of God keeps the festivals puts many American Sabbath-keepers to shame. Even during the spring festivals, they have hours of daily Bible Studies each day of the Feast, recreational activities, evangelistic meetings, and festive meals. They plan long in advance, and every festival has some time devoted to proclaiming God's Sabbaths to others. We are called to be servants of others, not spiritual hermits and isolationists. Our faith should result in action, a life well-lived, not just a creed of belief. May true believers everywhere exhibit these zealous characteristics.

Sabbath Roots by Charles E. Bradford, is not just a book for black people, but for all of God's children. We all have, or should have, Sabbath Roots in Africa.
Sabbath Roots: The African Connection, by Charles E. Bradford. Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1999, 234 pp. Available from: Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette,WY 82718, $15 plus $2 postage.
TSS

UCG Booklet: Evolution or Creation

2009-07-26T04:11:00.000-07:00

The United Church of God is giving away a FREE copy of their booklet, Creation or Evolution. The offer is working its way around a few antagonistic blogs so they are guaranteed to fly off the shelves!

Need to put your atheist friend in his place? This booklet will give you all the answers you need. The best thing, it is FREE of charge. Order your copy today!

About the book from the website:

Why has the Bible come to be viewed with such hostility? What has changed?

Only a few generations ago laws prevented the teaching of the theory of evolution in some communities and regions in the United States. The Bible was commonly accepted as true and a reliable account of our origins. But now almost the opposite is true.

The Bible is banned from classrooms in American schools, and serious discussion of the biblical view of the creation of our universe—and our human origins—is forbidden. At the same time, criticism of the theory of evolution is at times ruthlessly suppressed in academic and scientific circles.

In this FREE booklet, Creation or Evolution—Does It Really Matter What You Believe?, we examine the foundational premises of evolution. We consider the evidence evolutionists cite to support the theory. Perhaps most important, we look at the scientific facts evolutionists don't discuss in public—for reasons that will become clear. You can know whether evolution is true. What you believe does matter. Request your free copy today!

Jewish school requirements ‘racist,’ British court rules

2009-07-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Source: Jewish Tribune

TORONTO-LONDON – Orthodox Jewish schools in Britain are facing unprecedented difficulty following a recent British court ruling, which said that rejecting children on the grounds of ancestry or Jewish legal requirements for conversion would be considered racial discrimination. The ruling by the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier judgment that supported the decision of the Jewish Free School (JFS) in London, Britain’s oldest and largest Jewish high school, to deny admission a student whose conversion did not meet Orthodox Jewish standards. By ruling that JFS was in violation of Britain’s Race Relations Act by not accepting diverse students, “a law intended to protect Jews from racism has now been used against them,” declared Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, who recently was appointed to the House of Lords.

Rabbi Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, called this situation “one of the great ironies of our time.”

In an official statement, the spiritual leader asserted: “We extend Jewish education to Jews, that is, those born of Jewish mothers or those who have converted according to the standards of the religious authority to which the school belongs. This is a religious, not a racial, test and it applies to all Jewish schools, orthodox and non-orthodox alike.

“Now, an English court has declared this rule racist and since this is an essential element of Jewish law, it is in effect declaring Judaism racist. In seeking to compel a Jewish school to admit a child that it does not consider to be Jewish, the courts are in effect using the power of civil law to force a Jewish school to change its religious character.”

“The ruling has major ramifications for all Jewish schools…across all denominations,” Atalia Cadranel, director, PR and Communications, Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the Jewish Tribune. “Whereas the main criteria for entry has always been based on halacha [Jewish law], admissions criteria will no longer be allowed to ask for halachic proof, as this is deemed in contravention of the Race Relations Act of 1976 and is therefore an ethnically inspired criteria. In the UK, Jews are defined both as an ethnic and a religious group. Instead, to gain entrance into schools, families will now have to undergo an observance practice test. The conundrum is, of course, how does one determine a scientific practice test?”

“Once this is established in law for schools, it could be quoted as precedent for all sorts of other Jewish programs, institutions and ceremonies,” warned award-winning educator Paul Shaviv, headmaster of the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, who hails from London.

“Could it happen in Canada?” he mused. “I am not a lawyer. I would only point out that the UK community also was under the illusion that somehow, religious institutions were immune from the law.

“It was a ticking time bomb,” he added. “In 1976, the Jewish community fought to get religious discrimination included in the scope of Britain’s first Race Relations Act. However, the Act defined discrimination based on birth as illegal. English law does not recognize the unique concept of ‘inherited faith status’ of Judaism. It recognizes religion only as a matter of faith or practice.

“The second complication arises from the centralized and historic Orthodox authority in Britain’s Jewish community through the [Orthodox] United Synagogue and its chief rabbinate, which has historically upheld rigourously Orthodox criteria of Jewish status for entry into schools under its jurisdiction, even when those schools have broad community entry.

“The admission policy has been challenged before,” Shaviv said. “The result of this exclusionary policy, which is puzzling given the program of the school, is that a new, ‘community’ high school will open in London in September, along the lines of community schools in North America.”

Latest Key of David

2009-07-25T04:26:00.000-07:00

The latest Key of David is out, The Prophetic Beast by Gerald Flurry. The set may have changed but not our Gerry.

I captured this image of Gerry at 10:58 straight after he says, "they worship the devil". The theme of the programme, the prophetic beast of Revelation, the revival of the European beast power. In fairness, to Gerry, there is not much of the content we can fault except his insistence in using his hands to convey signs.

If you think I may be hard on Gerry, having watched Richard Ames or Roderick Meredith in Tomorrow's World, I have never seen them make unusual gestures with their hands from the few programmes I have viewed.

Gerald Flurry, is head of the Philadelphia Church of God, a splinter group of the Worldwide Church of God.

Democrats not upset Sotomayor a Catholic

2009-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

Sotomayor joining the Supreme Court will make it 66% Catholic ruling over a population of which only 25% are Catholic. That is not diversity at all! The Catholic infiltration into Protestant America continues.

Democrats not upset Sotomayor a Catholic

Liberal Bob gives his two cents worth on Sotomayor.

Judge Sotomayor's 'reverse empathy'

The Sabbath in Islam

2009-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Wade Cox of the Christian Churches of God examines the Sabbath in the Koran. Wade Cox believes Islam has some Christian Jewish heritage that we should not be dismissing the Koran but it is an authoritative commentary on the Bible. The Koran teaches Sabbath observance, believe it or not! Listen to it here.

The paper Christ and the Koran may also be of interest. Modern Islam is not historical Islam but is also a counterfeit of the original teachings of the Prophet. Determining the true historical record of Islam will not be easy nor will it prove popular.

Some of Wade Cox's known comments on Islam:

"The Introduction to the Commentary on Islam also provides the details of the early religious affiliations of Abu Qasim.

The Koran is a commentary on the Bible and shows extensive religious knowledge of Sabbatarian Christianity and is properly an apology for it.

The history of the Byzantine Empire shows that the Paulicians were used by it as a buffer against Islam and the Northern tribes. Often the Paulicians were persectuted by the Byzantines. On a couple of occasions the emperor was himself a Unitarian Iconaclastic Paulician.

We do accept that Abu Qazim was sent to the Arabs and was later termed Muhammed as were the others of the Church and the Church itself in Arabia.

The Qur'an is misrepresented by the Hadith and those who use it."

Hyam Maccoby on Paul

2009-07-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hyam Maccoby, author of The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity talks about Paul and his role within Judaism and Christianity. It is noteworthy, that the Maccoby thinks Paul believed that his new religion still remained within the context of Judaism. Maccoby believes that Paul's religion was a separation from Judaism. Some quotations of Hyam Maccoby from the Mythmaker book may be found at here.

Ο ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΠΑΥΛΟΣ ΔΕΝ ΗΤΑΝ ΕΒΡΑΙΟΣ

New World Currency Coming

2009-07-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

A new world currency is coming and Bloomberg tells us in advance that it is on its way. They link to the United World Currency Program that is dedicated in making the one world currency a reality. No, it's not a conspiracy, its a coming reality. The new coin will be called "Unity in Diversity" a fitting tribute to the current plans to destroy national boundaries replacing them with bureaucratic nightmares.

According to Bloomberg:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a “united future world currency.”

“Here it is,” Medvedev told reporters today in L’Aquila, Italy, after a summit of the Group of Eight nations. “You can see it and touch it.”

The coin, which bears the words “unity in diversity,” was minted in Belgium and presented to the heads of G-8 delegations, Medvedev said.

The question of a supranational currency “concerns everyone now, even the mints,” Medvedev said. The test coin “means they’re getting ready. I think it’s a good sign that we understand how interdependent we are.”

THE NEW "WORLD" CURRENCY (PT 1)

THE NEW "WORLD" CURRENCY (PT.2)

What's in your fish n chips?

2009-07-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

A recent news item has highlighted that some fish and chip shops are using catfish rather than cod but are labelling their fish as cod.

Catfish is cheaper than cod but it is not kosher. Catfish for the most part do not have scales making it "unclean" or unfit for human consumption.

Lev. 11: 9-12: But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water--they are an abomination for you and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses.

Rhodes University, South Africa, Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science says: "Some catfish are armoured with heavy scales but most are scaleless."

Some chip shops may serve up catfish instead of cod because the colour and texture is similar and few people will question the difference in the taste. Always go to a reputable source when purchasing fish and chips and enquire about the source of the fish.

World in Union : Kiri te Kanawa

2009-07-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

An all time favourite that takes me back to my early days was found on youtube. Kiri te Kanawa, singing World in Union. The song stayed with me as I attended the WCG in the early 90's, for me, it pictured, HWA's World Tomorrow--it was and still is a great song of hope.

Kiri Te Kanawa - World In Union

Ask Rabbi Nydle: New Testament Reliability

2009-07-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Nydle from Bnai Avraham Nazarene Yisrael Synagogue answers a visitor's question on the reliability of the New Testament text. He does a good job in explaining many of the details. He is right to assert that the original copies of the New Testament text were written either in Hebrew or Aramaic and we have a translation into the Greek language preserved. This translation has lost meanings in the text. Rabbi Nydle's audios on Paul Convert or Critic reconciles Paul as a faithful torah observing Messianic.

Rabbi Nydle writes:

"The Greek translation lost many of the Hebraic word plays and poetic parallelisms. It also shows a lack of understanding of the Hebrew prayers, liturgy, and doxolologies used in Rav Shaul’s letters. If there slips or errors, they are only carelessness and inattentiveness on the part of the Greek translators and not the original Hebrew text7.

· “From earliest times, the Christian community believed that Matthew was written in Hebrew/Aramaic and translated into Greek.” George Howard, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew ,pg.233

· “The versions translated from the Semitic languages into Greek and Latin were subject to constant revisions Learned men who copied them introduced changes, trying to simplify obscurities and ambiguities which were due to the work of the first translators.” George Lamsa, Introduction, Holy Bible pg.vi

· “The Israelites never wrote their sacred literature in a language but Aramaic and Hebrew, which are sister languages. The Septuagint was made in the 3rd century BCE, for the Alexandrian Jews. This version was never officially read by the Jews of Palestine who spoke Aramaic and read Hebrew…Evidently Y’shua and his disciples used a text which came from an older Hebrew original. This is apparent because Y’shua’s quotations from the OT agree with the Peshitta text but do not agree with the Greek text.” George Lamsa,op.cit.pg.ix

The problem is that without Hebraic translation notes and references, the Jewish Messiah gets lost in the translations and commentaries of the Church. This leads the reader into error and disconnects him from the Hebraic roots of the Brit Chadasha. The translators have to be well versed in Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek, and also have to immerse himself in the culture, history, and the library of relevant writings and thought of that time period. This would include all the Jewish writings that were known and used by the writers of the Brit Chadasha, such as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. A lack of education results in misinterpretations of the Hebraic Scriptures and the teachings of Yahshua.

· “Early Christian literature thus reflects the world of the Sages at an earlier stage than its reflection in the Jewish sources.” David Flusser,Jewish Sources of Early Christianity,pg.10

The brilliant Jewish scholar David Flusser also wrote:
· “From ancient Jewish writings we could easily construct a whole Gospel without using a single word that originated with Y’shua.” David Flusser, Jesus, Herder & Herder,1969,1968,72

Also, Dr. Joseph Klausner, one of the Jewish pioneers in the study of the texts concerning the Brit Chadasha concluded in his studies the following:

· “Of course, Paul did not study in the schools of the Greek philosophers, and it cannot be possible that he consciously accepted the doctrines of the pagan mystery religions.Moreover, there is nothing in the teachings of Paul, and there is nothing in the teachings of Y’shua, which is not grounded on the TaNaK or the Apocryphal, Pseudepigaphical, and Tannaitic literature of his time.” Joseph Klausner, From Jesus to Paul, N.Y.;McMillan,1943) 482

· “However, Y’shua himself did not deliver a single word with intent to found a new religion or a new religious community...” Dr.Joseph Klausner, op.cit.pg.260

Conclusion

We may conclude from the above that the Brit Chadasha is a reliable document that was written originally in Hebrew or Aramaic and then translated into the Greek. It is true these Greek manuscripts may differ in a few verses, but still there is a great consitency. Since the Roman Church was not in control until around 325CE, they could not have had the Hebrew manuscripts to tamper with as many claim. By 325 CE there were too many Greek translation circulating the world to accuse them of tampering with all of them in existence at that time.

The objection raised in your question could be said about the TaNaK also since the Masoretic text varies from the LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls literally hundreds of times.

It is worthwhile reading the whole article.

Pope Calls for World Political Order

2009-07-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

While many people have been caught up in the death of Michael Jackson, the Catholic Pope on 7 July, calls on the governments in the world to establish a world political authority.

Forerunner Chronicles with Adventist leanings, presents the Michael Jackson Coverup detailing the Pope's new world political order to bring stability to the economy and world order.

THE MICHAEL JACKSON COVER-UP (PT 1)

THE MICHAEL JACKSON COVER-UP (PT 2)

Who Killed Jesus ?

2009-07-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Who really killed Jesus? Popular opinion including certain texts in the New Testament point the finger at the "Jews" but history shows a different side to Pilate and the Romans than what we read.

For once, a thought provoking documentary on Channel 5 in the UK comes close to the truth. That the bible writers at the time sought to win the "approval" of Rome to prevent as much as possible the persecution of the new faith. Christianity emerged as a new religion with Jesus at its helm. Jesus never intended to start a new religion but sought to reform the existing Jewish practices in His day. This is made clear by Jesus' statements in Matthew 5:17-19 where He expected His followers to remain within the current framework of the Jewish Torah. Jesus' teachings over-rule Paul's teachings, when, or if there is any doubt -- we then have to examine Paul's teachings in light of what Jesus said.

The emerging church came about over time when the new religion wanted to assert its own identity. There weren't any Jewish Christians in the first century--only Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus that maintained Jewish practices (we would call them Nazarenes, Ebionites or Messianic Jews). Christians first emerged as Roman and pagan converts. Only in recent times have we coined the phrase "Jewish Christians" to describe a group of people not fully emerged in Jewish or Christian thought. The Churches of God have failed to grasped the true identity of Jesus as a Jew and His early followers as adherents to first century Judaism participating in temple and synagogue worship.

Instead the Churches of God christianise Jesus and His movement into their own form of Jewish Christianity which never really existed at all. Much of this is to try to reconcile Paul's writings with the rest of the Bible -- but for the most part, not understood from a Hebraic perspective. No wonder why many of us who study the Bible are confused by the "armstrong" movement. The misunderstanding has caused the Armstrong movement to depart from eating a proper kosher diet, failing to observe the Sabbath correctly, caused it to reject the wearing of tassels, circumcision, placing the commandments on the doorposts (mezuzah), redeeming the firstborn, participating in the passover seder as Jesus did and many other biblical commands.

The documentary clearly labels the death of Jesus at the hands of the Romans and not the Jews. The final segment is presented here featuring James Tabor.

Who Really Killed Jesus? ( 5 of 5 )

Reliability of the New Testament Text

2009-07-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

Alpha and Omega Ministries presents Reliability of the New Testament Text examining the ideas of Bart Ehrman. This presentation looks into the other side of the argument. Christians/Messianics need to know about textual variations because these arguments are usually aimed at converting people away from any faith in Jesus Christ.

Reliability of the New Testament Text

New Testament Reliability: Part 1 of 4 - "Early Manuscripts"

Codex Sinaiticus Bible

2009-07-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

It would be remiss of me not to mention Codex Sinaiticus, a copy of the oldest bible dating back to the fourth century is now online for everyone to read.

A member of the Living Church of God blogged:

"It is not really the most accurate, however, compared to the majority of texts we have, and it has seen significant revision and editing in its day. The stories behind the Sinaiticus and its “sister” the Codex Vaticanus are part of the reason I prefer the New King James translation of the Bible to the more popular New International Version and others (though no translation is perfect)"

The Codex Sinaiticus may be unreliable in places but the significant thing is that it contains the books considered to be the bible - with a few additional books. It is likely that this bible was used to support the ruling Christianity founded by Constantine so we will not get any great insights into the Jewish roots of the early Christian sects.

A BBC radio broadcast in 1998. Part three is interesting.

The Oldest Bible 1/3 [Audio]

The Oldest Bible 2/3 [Audio]

The Oldest Bible 3/3 [Audio]

1,050 New Testament Commands

2009-07-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, someone has counted and compiled a list of all the New Testament commands, all 1,050 of them! In the Old Testament there are 613 laws with an estimation of 170 being applicable today, by one person's reckoning. Making a whooping total of 1,220 commands that a Sabbatarian Christian needs to observe on a daily basis.

The 1,050 New Testament commands list is available at Christian Assemblies International.

The next time someone states the Torah is abolished by Jesus, just ask them how many of the 1,050 commands they are actually observing in the New Testament!

Hey, That is Not in the Bible!

2009-07-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Extra-Biblical Literature: Introduction and Utilization

From Firstfruits of Zion:

Does the Talmud, Mishnah, Gemara, Midrash, Targum, Tosefta, Rambam and Rum-pa-pum leave you scratching your head? Do you find it difficult to find the book of Enoch, the book of First Maccabees or the Gospel of Peter in your Bible? YES? Well, this is the resource your need to help you sort out your extra-biblical resources.

Drawing on his introductory material for Torah Club Volume Four, D. Thomas Lancaster takes you on a crash-course tour of extra-biblical literature that will help you make sense of the various sources surrounding the sacred text.

"Hey, That's Not in the Bible!" Extra-Biblical Literature: Introduction and Utilization, tells the story of the evolution of Jewish literature from the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, through the Apostolic Period and up to the close of the Talmudic era. Torah luminaries like Rashi and Rambam are also given their place, as well as comments on the esoteric texts of Jewish mysticism. This is the resource you need for sorting out your resources.

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part1

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part2

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part3

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part4

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part5

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part6

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part7

"Hey That's Not In My Bible" Part8

Grace and Truth Came Through Jesus

2009-07-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17).

The implication in this verse is that the Law that came through Moses was bad and needed to be replaced by Jesus Christ. It appears to the reader that the Law did not contain grace or truth. Jesus Christ arrived on the scene to give us "grace" and "truth".

Mind you Jesus did not preach "grace" while His was on the earth but the concept evolved into church theology through the writings of Paul in the New Testament. Jesus made no statements on grace during His ministry. It is very unusual considering such a key element of Christianity is missing from the sayings of Jesus.

Instead, listeners were told, "...if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Matthew 19:17). It has always struck me as very strange why Jesus didn't say to the poor man that if He only had faith, he would be saved. The man had observed the commandments from birth (verses 20-21 note: there is no commandment to give all of one's possessions to the poor) so why was it important for this man to fulfill an obligation that is not in the written Torah? It must have been a test of obedience or belief. On another occasion Jesus told Martha she only had to "believe" in Him to be saved (John 11:25) yet no indication is given here that Mary need to observe the commandments unless she was already observing them? The sayings of Jesus seem to hover between "belief", "obedience", and "faith". The belief of salvation by grace through faith alone was never taught by Jesus - He taught obedience, belief and faith. E.P Sanders believes Judaism has always maintained justification (entering into the covenant of Israel) through grace and possibility this is one reason why Jesus never taught something that was so widely known and understood. Paul capitalised on salvation by grace alone through faith to the extent that Jewish believers thought he was abolishing the Torah. If the doctrine of grace alone was so well known in Jewish circles in the first century, why did Paul's teachings stir up so much opposition in his lifetime?

What is this grace talked about in John?

"THE BIBLICAL USE OF THE TERM "GRACE." The word "grace" is not always used in the same sense in Scripture, but has a variety of meanings. In the Old Testament we have the word chen (adj. chanun), from the root chanan. The noun may denote gracefulness or beauty, Prov. 22:11; 31:30, but most generally means favour or good-will." (Source: Bible Researcher)

Grace is favour. Jesus Christ found "grace" in the sight of God and His teachings brought "truth" -- another dimension to the existing Jewish thought of the day. Only a personal being like God could grant "favour" or mercy. Moses handed down written instructions that are incapable of granting us favour or mercy. Only God can do this! The Torah leads us to the Teacher (Jesus Christ) that would explain its meaning in its fullness becoming an example of obedience for us, that we may follow in His footsteps.

Swimming on the Sabbath: Is it Permissible?

2009-07-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

William Dankenbring of Triumph Prophetic Ministries writes an interesting piece on whether or not it is permissible to swim on the Sabbath.

In How To Keep the Sabbath Holy!, William Dankenbring writes:

"... a person would not be breaking the Sabbath if they took a bath or shower on that day, or -- if they have a jacuzzi or swimming pool at their home, it would not be wrong for them to relax in the jacuzzi or pool, or even take a "quiet" swim on the Sabbath, so long as they did not overdo it. The principle to remember is that the Sabbath is a day of rest, a day to spend glorifying God. We used to have a swimming pool at our home in Altadena, which was shaped somewhat like a lake or lagoon, nestled in a beautiful setting with the San Gabriel mountains in the background, a beautiful pine tree nearby, a fir tree, and lush, beautiful vegetation. It was a lovely garden setting.

"Sometimes, during the summer, I would go out to the pool on the Sabbath day, and float, watching the clouds drift by in the sky, and enjoy the pastoral setting. To me, it was a wonderful blessing from God that we had a pool, at that point in our lives, and that I could relax and rest on the Sabbath by lying around the pool, or cooling off in it. It was a wonderful time for meditation, communion with God, and prayer.

Please note, however, that this was a private affair. I'm not talking about a "swimming party," or having guests over for recreational swimming, games, or racing. That would be a violation of the principle of the Sabbath. God wants us to get our balance on these matters, and not go to any extremes."

The majority opinion is that physical activities such as swimming is general not permissible on the Sabbath, so it was a surprise to learn that William Dankenbring allowed the activity.

The Jewish perspective states: "In addition to the Torah restrictions on the Sabbath, the Rabbis forbade many other activities. Some examples are playing musical instruments, shopping, swimming, horseback riding, taking long hikes, and taking certain medications. (Obviously, one should consult his rabbi regarding practical questions.)" (Torah.org).

Even though Judaism does not allow a Jew to swim on the Sabbath, the Rabbis permit immersion into the ritual mikvah on the Sabbath as form of purification.

R’ Yechiel Michel Epstein, Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 326:10

A person may immerse in a Mikvah on Shabbat morning, though; this is especially true for a person who ordinarily immerses after exposure to keri. This would not be an act of mending; the sages annulled the requirement for this type of immersion. There are those who argue against immersion in a Mikvah on Shabbat, but people have not been concerned for that; this custom has spread in all the reaches of Israel. People should take care not to wring out hair, and not to make the Mikvah too hot; that would involve a full-fledged prohibition against bathing in hot water. The water should be cold or lukewarm. It would be appropriate for an unlearned layman to abstain from immersion; he could easily violate the law in wringing out his hair, as I have seen happen with my own eyes.

Getting into the water is not a violation on the Sabbath for the purpose of sanctifying the Shabbat in a mikvah.

AskMoses says: " The sages prohibited swimming in a river or lake on Shabbat since it could lead to repairing a raft (which would fall under the forbidden labor of “Makeh B’Patish” “administering the final hammer blow."

The Seventh Day Adventists also wrestled with this. One Seventh day Adventist recalled how the church allowed hiking on the Sabbath but swimming was not permissible ( Article, John Brunt, Phd).

Guidelines for Sabbath Day Observance by the Adventist church are much more stringent than the average Armstrong church. For one, the Seventh Day Adventists do not allow members to purchase food or go to restaurants on the Sabbath. The Armstrong churches permit going to restaurants which means members are engaging in financial transactions on the Sabbath that according to Nehemiah is not permissible. Even though the Armstrong churches do not see that it is wrong to engage in financial transactions on the Sabbath, they teach that taking a dip in the swimming pool on the Sabbath in one's back yard is a violation of the Sabbath.

William Dankenbring is possibly right on this issue. There may well be nothing wrong with bathing in the swimming pool for a short time on the Sabbath as long as the activity does not take over the meaning of the day. I fail to see how hiking is permissible on the Sabbath but bathing in water is somehow sinful (when Jewish law permits bathing in a mikvah)considering hiking or walking is more physically tiring. The prominent view within Messianic Judaism is not to allow swimming on the Sabbath. Each person must make up their own mind in this situation.

Emmet Sweeney

2009-07-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine in the United Church of God has contended with me for ages that biblical chronology understood by the church is in error suggesting that the books by Emmet Sweeney (particularly: The Pyramid Age), highlight this very well. He has also suggested reading the book Genesis and Israel by the same author.

The basis of the arguments have come from the Pyramid Age:

"The chronology of ancient Egypt and Babylonia is wrong to a dramatic degree, with some major historical events mis-dated almost two thousand years before they actually occurred, according historian Emmet Sweeney. Sweeney argues that the pyramids, for instance, were not built around 2350 BC, as is currently thought, but only around 800 BC. The dating of ancient history is often much more tenuous than most people realize and is not based on science but on venerated literary tradition. This chronology had already been established by the third century BC, when Jewish historians utilizing the "History of Egypt" by the Hellenistic author Manetho sought to link Egypt's history with that of the Bible. The pyramids were partly constructed of hard granite and display in their design a knowledge of Pythagorean geometry, yet in 2350 BC the Egyptians only had copper and flint tools and such principles of mathematics had yet to be formulated. This mystery has led to all sorts of weird and wonderful theorizing - not least the idea that the pyramids were built by aliens or Atlanteans. But revise the date of the pyramids' construction to around 800 BC, when steel tools were available and more sophisticated principles of geometry were widely understood, and the mystery is solved. Sweeney's conclusions are revolutionary but they are in line with a growing number of academics who acknowledge that there may be something radically wrong with ancient chronology. Wolfgang Helck, Germany's foremost Egyptologist, recently admitted that work on chronology "has clearly arrived at a crisis."

The Pyramid Age is part of an originally-researched reconstruction, "Ages in Alignment", which begins with the start of literate civilization and ends with the conquest of Alexander. The current volume will be followed by Ramessides, Medes and the Persians. Inspired by Velikovsky's 1952 series "Ages in Chaos," this series seeks to complete the work which Velikovsky commenced, identifying the problems he could not solve and bringing forward a great body of evidence which supports his claims, including the identification of Hatshepsut with the Queen of Sheba. For decades now scholars have attempted to solve the enigma. Yet the answer was stunningly simple, and in front of us all the time."

From Wikibin.org:

... claims is the idea that Old Testament chronology is completely distorted; and it was the application of Old Testament dates to the history of Egypt which in turn made a nonsense of Egyptian history. He suggests, for example, that Imhotep, the great architect and vizier of pharaoh Djoser (circa 2700 BC), is identical to the biblical Patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob (supposedly circa 1700 BC), and that both characters should, in reality, be placed around 950 BC. In the same vein, he regards the Abraham migration from Mesopotamia to Egypt as recalling a real event, and equates it with the Mesopotamian immigration into Egypt which archaeologists have dated to just before the start of the First Dynasty. According to Sweeney however this occurred around 1100 BC, rather than 3200 BC, as the textbooks state. Although the migration was real, he does not regard Abraham as a historical character, but sees him as an euhemerization of the phallic god Min or Hermes/Thoth. In general, he accepts Gunnar Heinsohn's revised chronology, which eqautes the so-called Sumerians with the Chaldaeans and the Akkadians, who conquered them, with the Empire Assyrians. The conquerors of the Akkadians, the so-called Mitanni, whose kings bear Indo-Iranian names, are equated with the Medes, conquerors of the Assyrians in the seventh century BC. Sweeney however differs from Heinsohn in seeing the Hittites as the historical Lydians, and in holding onto most of Velikovsky's character identifications as outlined in Ages in Chaos. And so for example he equates Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty with the biblical Queen of Sheba, but places her in the early seventh century, rather than the tenth, as Velikovsky did. This means, essentially, that Sweeney agrees with the chronology outlined by Velikovsky in Ages in Chaos, with the proviso that he brings the Eighteenth Dynasty a further two centuries down the timescale to join up with the Nineteenth Dynasty, which, in agreement with Velikovsky, he leaves in the sixth century.

These are some of the arguments my friend uses to convince me that the chronology of the bible is wrong. Not too many people have actually taken the time to read these books so his ideas are not well known or understood.

Bible chronology is yet another one of those hot potato's so often contended and disputed amongst the researchers that the average believer will never come close to understanding where the truth lies. Although it seems to be a major issue of trust for my UCG friend, for me, the important issue is in the words pertaining to salvation and not necessarily in historical dates and details.

Atheist Reads the Bible and Finds Inconsistencies

2009-06-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

An atheist read the Bible and found inconsistencies on the accounts of Jesus' resurrection. At first glance, there does appear to be different accounts on the details. One records seeing one angel in the tomb, another sees two angels.

If you believe the Bible contains no inconsistencies, this poses many interesting questions when cross-examining the scriptures. One has to believe the scribes copying the text from manuscripts have never made a mistake intentional or unintentional.

My personal view is that the Bible contains inconsistencies because the details have been altered in part by a false church system and through the carelessness of scribes copying manuscripts. (Hyam Maccoby shares a similar view), but God has maintained enough of the essential information that will lead a person to eternal life. Jesus predicted that people would alter and change His word (Revelation 22:18-19).If we contend Jesus would never allow such a thing, why bother to warn anyone? The warning is given because Jesus knew in advance some changes would happen. We can argue over the extent of those changes.

Scholars have known textual corruptions have occurred with many casting doubt on Matthew 28:19, to name one. Our Bible's today are living proof that textual corruption has happened because they contain texts that should not be in there. The Jehovah Witnesses cite 20,000 corrections they have made in the New World Translation.

It is unbelievable to think throughout the passage of time with a corrupt government and religious power in office, that we have the 100% unblemished record of the New Testament. We have a version of the New Testament that will enable us to obtain salvation, but that is not to say that there are not some historical details that have not been conveniently changed and important books pertaining to the Jewish Christians omitted from the canon or deliberately destroyed.

An Atheist Reads the Bible - 8 - The Empty Tomb

Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson dies at the age of 50. He entertained generations with his music and dancing. Many of us grew up listening to some of his music so his death will come as a shock because he was an iconic figure of our generation.

Some of the songs may remind us of better days, or childhood memories when life was much more simple.

He was one of those artists in the 1980s with his classic hits making the charts during my early childhood. Looking back at it now, the television production of Thriller was quite scary for me in those days.

Life moves on at an even quicker pace these days, soon, we will be in 2010. At times, I think we must be living out a play on this earth being watched by those people in the future. They are watching us right now, as though our lives are being displayed on a giant projection screen. The other day, somebody commented on a video that we are living in the age of pisces--we are in the final remnants of the old order before the final age of aquarius.

It is a shame we only have one attempt in this life to make a success of it because as Christians/Messianics everything is against us. With all the world's temptations, Satan's army of demons, major challenges on the authority of scripture coupled with the promotion of textual inconsistencies, a Greek worldview that makes Torah seem outdated and unequal, is it any wonder so many of us feel like giving up the race? Not to mention the perceived inequalities of our own lives compared to non believers. We are "marked" from day one when we accept Jesus Christ and strive to obey the Torah. Be prepared for the toughest challenge of your life. Satan wants you to eventually "curse" God and give up the race. Demons want to deceive, discourage and destroy true believers in Jesus Christ. If we didn't have doubts or were discouraged at some point, we just wouldn't be human! Some times it may feel that we are always living on the edge, just waiting for the next obstacle.

Michael Jackson did not come into any great knowledge of God's truth. His death will open up a new beginning for him. He will have the opportunity to learn and to grow in an entirely different world. A world free of Satan's influence. We just cannot imagine how different the world will be.

Good News Magazine comments on the lessons we can learn from Michael Jackson's life.

43 cents, not enough for a face lift!

2009-06-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

To be financially transparent, we have earned 43 cents from the sale of two items at Amazon.

Good grief, don't spend it all at once, you might think.

The blog was not set up to earn money but every cent helps because one day I am hoping to give my website a much needed face lift to bring it into the 21st century. More likely Jesus will return before earning enough money through sponsored Amazon links to pay for a much needed face lift (for the website).

Such is life.

The Curse of Ham

2009-06-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

In Genesis 9:20-25, Noah got drunk one night and Ham is said to uncover his nakedness. This resulted in a curse being placed on Ham's youngest son, Canaan, the originator of the black races.

The so-called curse of the black races did not originate in Christian theology, but had its origin within Judaism. The Jewish Rabbi's attributed a curse on the black people. The curse was later used to justify slavery and other forms of discrimination against black people. Even today, we are faced with a bewildering dilemma, do we accept at face value these historical texts, or do we dismiss them, or do we study them to find the right meaning?

Racism can clearly be distinguished in the Bible. God, is the originator of the races, and dispersed them into different cultures and languages at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9).

In the Worldwide Church of God we adopted a culture of racism. We did not define racism as a sin, because our interpretations were based on the bible. Our interpretations came close to the teachings of the White Christian Identity Movement. The major difference being the Serpent's Seed Doctrine and the origin of the Jewish race. Christian Identity believes the Jewish race is cursed forming part of the serpent's offspring. Satan had sex with Eve giving rise to offspring (Dankenbring refers to them as the giants), while Christian Identity teaches them to be today's Jews. This was rejected by Herbert W. Armstrong, teaching that the Jews were from the tribe of Judah, only part of Israel. We believed it to be a sin to marry interracially and for the most part, a policy of "separation" between black and white was encouraged. The United Church of God have now abandoned this teaching, see the study paper. They write:

"As the brethren of the Church, we are to take our lead from God and treat people of all races and cultures with dignity, civility and honor. To disrespect or practice any form of prejudice based upon race or ethnicity is to dishonor God and His creation.

The Bible does not speak for or against marriage between the races, nor does it
imply the practice is a sin. The Scriptures however do exhort an individual to seek one in the faith to marry, and they do condemn interreligious marriage (Ezra 10:18-19; 2 Corinthians 6:14)."

The United Church of God teaches the bible is referring to "inter-religious" marriage, not inter-racial marriage. We all know that this is a welcome change from the original dogmatic teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.

Bob Thiel writes on the position of the Living Church of God towards interracial marriage:

Roger Waite correctly writes,

In the October 28, 1996 "In Transition" Dr Meredith was quoted as saying, "we discourage interracial dating and marriage NOT as a capital sin, but as something that brings a great deal of trouble, frustration, unhappiness and sorrow". He says interracial marriage is not a sin...There is no specific command that says "thou shalt not marry someone of a different race" in the Bible. You can look from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find one. There are many scriptures where God forbade Israel from marrying Gentiles but those commands are primarily religious in nature to prevent them from straying from God’s ways.

Interracial marriage was allowed, but discouraged, in WCG under HWA's leadership. There is no change in practice in LCG compared to the old WCG.

Bob Thiel is not being honest about the WCG's history of intolerance towards interracial marriage. Dare we mention the sermon, The Sin of Interracial Marriage dated 1982 on it, HWA accuses the blacks of undermining him, suggesting the next big attack on the church would be interracial marriage, later advocating "apartheid" style separation at Ambassador College. How can one downplay such vile racism, from a man who claims to be God's Ambassador on the earth? And why don't the modern day splinters follow his example by implementing racial policies in the churches or are they afraid to admit the truth? Obviously the leaders know there is a potential loss of income should they reintroduce HWA's racial policies!

Race was important in the Old Testament because Jesus had to be born of the tribe of Judah. Theological arguments now remain whether race continues or ceases to be an issue this side of the cross. It is likely the curse of Ham ended at the cross and is not applicable in today's world. Either God's law changed at some point or God has made contradictory statements in the Torah because the Israelites were allowed to take pagan women as wives as part of the spoils of battle without even questioning their religious observances (Deuteronomy 21:10-14). Moses married a black Cushite woman, a stranger to the covenant of Israel (Numbers 12). Both Old and New Testaments are riddled with inconsistencies on the issue of inter faith and interracial marriage. Neither side can be fully supported!

One Black Messianic explains the Jewish origins of the curse of Ham.

The "Curse of Ham" (1 of 2)

The Rabbinic origins of the "Curse of Ham" (2 of 2)

Obama Lies and Deception

2009-06-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

President Obama is playing down the right of the Jewish people to live in their own land, acknowledging the tolerance of Islam. Well, the only tolerant Islam is within Western nations which is NOT legitimate Islam.

In the Western nations we have a moderate form of Islam which is generally tolerant towards most religions. However, this is not the case in Islamic countries where Christianity is not tolerated at all. An Internet search on Christian persecution will highlight the problems faced by people acknowledging the name of Jesus in most Islamic countries. Sadly, their plight is forgotten by the Western nations and the media where anything outside of the "politically correct" box is not featured on the news. In the UK, the BBC is a left think tank that is generally anti Christian, pro gay, anti Israel, the news is propaganda because it seldom if ever features anything on Europe where most decisions are now being made. The media in the United States is more right wing with varying degrees of news which is censored by the BBC. For instance, Islamic nations wanting to bring in a new law at the United Nations bringing in penalties to criticise Islam was never featured on the BBC, but was in the United States.

In this age, the three major religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have been hijacked by leaders determined to water down original teachings, to progress the faiths towards one single unitary position where ultimately a one world religious system acceptable to the majority will be proclaimed. An interesting development was the Conservative Rabbi in the UK promoting a covenant of Europe, also finding himself on many interfaith groups. The Orthodox Jews have remained true to Judaism by snubbing these backward Christian attempts to bring them into Ecumenicalism. Christians have 2000 years of persecution of Jews, let's just say, their record is a blemished record. The Christian Interfaith groups continue to label some Christian groups cults, particularly those groups that do not accept the Trinity, Nicean Creed or the authority of Constantine, yet have audacity to promote interfaith tolerance towards Jews and Muslims!

The majority of people will accept the new religion because it will bring a temporary respite of conflict, bring in a new understanding of peace and co-operation between the faiths. Churches Together and the Ecumenical movement are attempts to bring the divisions within Christianity to an end under the banner of co-operation and peace inside the body of Christ.

These are deceptive tactics bent on destroying dogma and any resemblance of truth. With the introuduction of the Ecumenical Movement, it has brought yoga classes to Church of England parishes, women priests, gay clergy, eco churches, abandonment of theology, Palestinian rights, Israeli disinvestment, political antagonism towards Israel, interfaith dialog with Muslims, acceptance of environment matters and the green agenda into the church. Church of England leaders now recommend Councils send their employees on a Muslim Diversity Course including a visit to a local mosque, for a staggering price of 130 pounds per person. The pagan priests at the Church of England snub the Jewish roots of the faith. The Church of England are pagan idol worshippers, promoting a false Jesus, the organisation was set up to support the King of England not DOCTRINAL TRUTH. It is a political organisation whose only goal is to support the government in our country, they wear a garb of religion to dupe the masses! True Bible Christians are NOT in the Church of England, they fled years ago. Anyway, enough of me ranting, to get, back to the subject at hand.

On June 4, 2009, President Barack H. Obama delivered a speech in Cairo, Egypt, that contained a distorted view of the Jewish people's historical ties to the land of their forefathers, the land of Israel.

This video is a response by the Temple Institute.

Eddie Chumney on Economics and Prophecy

2009-06-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Eddie Chumney from Hebraic Heritage Ministries, presents the audio presentation, Economics and Prophecy Part 1 & 2.

The presentations focus on biblical prophecy, the false prophet, one world government and Antichrist system implementation through the use of economics.

It is rare to find any Messianic presentations devoted to prophecy and end time events. Some useful information, but, for those of us who follow Fred Coulter's Christian Biblical Church of God's economic audio series will find some similarities.

Download the audios at Ami Yisrael.

Watch Video Presentations of Eddie Chumney on the Prophecy Club

Salvation in Jewish Thought

2009-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Rebbe-Dr Les Aron Gosling from the International Community of Faith delves into the Jewish thought of salvation.

The Christian church presents a Babylonian message of confusion of Christmas trees, Sunday worship and Easter worship. Jews are presented with a message opposite of what they believe, yet, are expected to give up their rich heritage in the Torah to accept this pagan mystery religion.

No wonder so few Jews become Christian! A pagan form of Christianity has taken over and how many Jews really know that there is an alternative form of Yeshua worship out there?

Listen to the Salvation in Jewish Thought Audio.

Lashon Hara (Gossip) - Audio Series

2009-06-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Daniel Lancaster, of Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship, a favourite of many Messianics has uploaded a new audio series on lashon hara - the prohibition in Jewish law of reciting gossip. He is the author of many articles, some of which have been published in previous editions of the Firstfruits of Zion magazine.

Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship is raising funds to build a mikvah. For more information about the project, visit the website.

The Lashon Hara Audio Series Page.

Free Teaching of Zion Magazine Download - May 09

2009-06-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Netivyah.org, a Messianic teaching ministry based in Israel sends out the Teaching of Zion magazine. They send it in the post and you can download a copy from the website.

This is the ministry of Joseph Shulam that has produced many detailed and scholarly books on Galatians and Romans. See the book list.

Download May 2009 Teaching of Zion Magazine.