Author: bgoodnow74

Growing up in the Christian faith and attending numerous churches over my lifespan it was common to hear the following:

“We need to be more like Jesus”,
“Jesus is the ultimate example for our lives”,
“We need to be transformed by Jesus”,
“We need to live like Jesus”

I even remember wearing the WWJD bracelet for a time. It’s somewhat of a mantra, but do we really understand what this means? Do we really know who Jesus was and is?

The majority of us have grown up being influenced by pastors, authors, speakers, etc. but do we really know the biblical Jesus and do we really live like Him? Or is it possible that our lenses have been skewed by tradition?

Do we see Him as a long haired hippie who loves everyone and gives nothing but healing, grace and hugs? Was His sole focus casting out demons and healing every physical ailment he came across? Was he condemning legalism brought on by the Pharisees and telling us to do the same? Was His main goal on earth to die on a cross?

Until seven years ago, my picture of Jesus was molded and shaped by everything but scripture or so it would seem.

Just as I was challenged, I encourage everyone reading this post to really dig into scripture. As we do so, we will start seeing a different Jesus than we’re used to and it will become unnerving. I was recently part of a bible study group who took on the challenge of examining the book of Matthew, precept upon precept. As we progressed into the study, many of us were starting to say the same thing…this Jesus is different compared to what I’ve been taught in church.

So who is He really? It’s important we really know as we strive to live our lives for Him and like Him.

He is the Messiah spoken about in Torah (the Law) and prophets.
He is the Word of God
He is the blameless lamb of God
He was without sin
He called out the leaders/the Pharisees
He healed the sick
He came to redeem
His name in Hebrew is Yeshua (Savior)

You might say, duh, we know all of this so what are we missing? If we are to be like Him and He is without sin what did this look like? What did He do?

To be without sin, is to obey God’s commandments aka, the Torah. Yeshua kept the law of God and told others to do the same. He didn’t keep some and not others. He didn’t change a few to cater to the culture.

It’s important we understand that in order for Yeshua to be the true Messiah He was required to teach and keep the laws of God according to the prophets. He couldn’t add or take away ANY of God’s laws lest He would be considered a false Messiah. (To learn more about the prophetic requirements of Messiah, please read my post “Connecting the Dots Part 1 – The Truth About Messiah)

“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32)

Here is one of the most profound things Yeshua had to say and unfortunately it’s either been overlooked or cut up and taken out of context.

“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18‭-‬19) 

This passage is HUGE. Therefore, He kept the Sabbath, He kept the Feasts, He loved His neighbor, He kept the dietary laws, He upheld the sacrificial laws and He didn’t add or delete ANY of them per God’s (the Father’s) instructions. By this verse alone we clearly see that He emphatically tells us to do the same, keep and teach the commandments of God, aka the Law of Moses.

What about the sermon on the mount? Many are in the camp that we need only keep those commands. 

What were the commands given by Yeshua on the mount? In Matthew chapters 5-7, Yeshua speaks specifically on the following topics:

• Murder
• Adultery
• Sexual purity
• Divorce
• Oaths
• How to handle disputes
• How to love your neighbor
• Be charitable
• Fasting
• Praying
• Judging

Do these sound familiar and were they familiar to the people of His time? Yes and yes. He was teaching the law of Moses aka, the law of God the Father. James even calls it the “royal law”. Yeshua is often quoting from the Torah and Prophets. He challenges everyone to step it up a notch, to grow and mature in one’s faith. He summarizes everything He spoke about with this verse:

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) 

Many in the Christian community also argue that Yeshua taught that we only need to keep two commandments. 

To this I say, I completely and wholeheartedly agree, …..HOWEVER… there is more to these commands than meets the eye.

“Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37‭-‬40) 

Here is Mark’s take on the same encounter:

“Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is:  ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.” (Mark 12:28‭-‬34)

And last but not least, Luke’s account:

“And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? ” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:25‭-‬28) 

Do you notice a consistent pattern in all three accounts? These two commandments are from the law and prophets (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 18:5). The scribe/lawyer already knew the answer and Yeshua re-affirmed him. The ten commandments are based on these two pillars: The first four tell us how we are to love God and the last six tell us how we are to love our neighbor. The rest of the commands, all 613, go into more situations and detail but it’s important to remember they all hang on these two principles. He gives us the instructions on HOW to love God and our neighbor.

But some say keeping the law is legalism and this is why Yeshua chastised the Pharisees, right?

Before we begin to unpack this argument with scripture we need to understand the definition of legalism. Per the Merrian-Webster dictionary:

Definition of legalism

1: strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code // the institutionalized legalism that restricts free choice
2: a legal term or rule

Unfortunately this definition is commonly taught from the pulpit but in reality, this mindset couldn’t be further from the truth. There is nothing wrong with God’s laws/instructions. Of course we shouldn’t ever keep His laws to “BE” saved. Once we have faith we walk out our faith by being obedient to Him and His commands because we love Him. He gives us grace and mercy for the “oops” in life.

Let’s look at what scripture has to say about His relationship with many of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Keep in mind, they were supposed to be the shepherds leading and teaching the flock.

“He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?  Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” (Matthew 15:3‭, ‬7‭-‬9) 

“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. (Matthew 23:1‭-‬3) 

On several occasions we see Jesus asking the Pharisees and Sadducees “Have you not read….” and at one point He even says “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29)

As we can see, He was upset with them because they were NOT keeping God’s commands. They may have read from the Torah and Prophets, but they didn’t KNOW or UNDERSTAND them because they lacked faith. They were more worried about keeping their own man-made doctrines and traditions. They lead the people astray by these very things; time and time again Yeshua called them out. They looked the part but underneath it all they were complete hypocrites. And because of this, He called them blind guides leading themselves and others into a ditch. Unfortunately some things never change, we still see leaders following the same exact patterns today whether it’s intentional or unintentional. 

By now I hope you are starting to see Yeshua in a different light. He was the walking example of how to live out God’s instructions. In my experience, it is completely foreign from what I’ve been taught. Unfortunately there aren’t many Christian churches today that will live the way Yeshua did according to the gospels. How many mainstream churches know, teach and keep the Sabbath or God’s feasts? Majority pick and choose what they want to adhere to. How many understand the importance of God’s laws and teach their flock to keep them? Traditions and many man-made doctrines are hard to break. They are all around us, in every denomination. It’s an up-hill battle but it can be done and I see many in the faith awakening to this truth over the past decade.

WE have to break the mold and be the change. WE have to bring these truths to our community, churches and pastors. It starts with us. WE need to dig into the WHOLE Word and be a true disciple, a student. WE need to examine scriptures (without traditional bias or man’s commentaries) like the Bereans did. WE need to read and understand God’s laws and the words of Yeshua.

When we really break it down, you will see for yourself Yeshua NEVER said or implied the following*:

• Some of the commands are for the Jewish people only
• Only the moral laws need to be kept. You can forget the Levitical laws
• Pork and shellfish are now on the menu as food. I changed the definition of what is to be considered food for you
• My commands are different from the Father and Moses
• After I die you don’t need to keep the Mosaic law aka, the law of God
• It is legalistic to keep my Father’s commands 
• It’s too hard to keep God’s laws so you shouldn’t even bother
• I am changing the weekly Sabbath to Sunday and calling it the Lord’s day
• I am bringing about a new covenant which doesn’t include the Father’s commands
• I am starting a new religion as I’m not continuing the existing one

^{*For more on these topics please read my series called “Connecting the Dots”}

Again, I think it’s important to reiterate Yeshua never contradicted the Father. He kept the Father’s commands, the same ones that were given to Moses to give the people. You will never find any scripture in the Gospels to say otherwise unless it is taken out of context. He came to fulfill the prophecies given in the entire Tanakh (Old Testament). If Yeshua had abolished or changed one jot or tittle of the law, He would have been a false Messiah.

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe me for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46)
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself…..These are my words that I spoke to you while I was with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:27, 44)

If we TRULY want to be like Yeshua then we should do as He instructed and did. We are to “do them and teach them” to others.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3)

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” (John 14:10‭, ‬23‭-‬24) 

“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17) 

I hope this teaching has helped you to see outside the veil. I pray you have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that understands. 

It is time to lift the veil!!

Ironically 2020 seemed to be filled with bubbles…..literally no joke…..bubbles. We’re all hanging out in bubbles these days. We recently had dinner in a protective bubble thanks to the infamous virus that stopped the world in its tracks. Despite the craziness, I have to admit sitting in a bubble with no one else to taint the moment was kind of nice and a little romantic. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s true. It felt somewhat like one of those beach dinners for two……but in a bubble and I didn’t have to pay extra. While the bubble was nice it did skew my view. It was hard to see clearly outside the bubble, I couldn’t even make out what the signs said. Everything was blurred. Sound familiar?

While I’m not going to be talking about physical bubbles in this blog, I will be talking about our mental and spiritual bubbles.

Have you ever wondered what this idiom means anyway?

Per the free dictionary, it means to disprove, ruin or eliminate someone’s illusion, delusion, fantasy, misbelief or recent happiness.

Most of the time people want to stay in their happy bubble no matter the cost. Even if they know something’s wrong or not quite right. Even if they can’t see the truth clearly. They don’t want anything or anyone to ruin their moment, tradition, happiness or sense of fantasy. They hold onto this bubble because it’s “a feel good” tradition, event, time, etc. and it makes us happy. Happiness is all that matters right?

Have you ever had a moment where you had to say something that would burst someone’s bubble? More than likely, it was a moment where you felt bad but they needed to hear the truth.

And what was the usual response? “Why do you have to burst my bubble?” “Why did you have to ruin my fun?” “You’re such a Debbie downer!” It’s not usually positive right? Most of the time the response is defense, anger or people look for ways to justify themselves.

Sadly, I see this response becoming more and more common in the community of believers. Especially when it comes to addressing truth vs. error. While we don’t need to agree on everything there are some big fallacies that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. There are some great delusions that have been around for thousands of years. These errors have not only deceived, they’ve fundamentally changed the way we as believers live and worship the most high. They’ve created walls of separation.

Thankfully, my bubble was burst about 7 years ago when I was traveling with my brothers and sister in Thailand. I had been to Thailand a few times beforehand helping a great ministry, but this time was different. I felt an oppression I’d never felt before. My senses seemed to be awakened to the principalities surrounding me. Thanks to my brother (sincerely), he was brave enough to “pop” my bubble. He started speaking the truth about a lot of things. At first, I didn’t know if I was ready to handle it, or if I even wanted to know more but thankfully God nudged my heart to stay open and it has completely changed me and my family’s life. God opened my ears….my eyes…my heart to the errors I grew up with. Many of them were for the sake of traditions. Lot’s of traditions that aren’t even based on God’s truth.

So what kind of errors am I talking about? There are many but the ones I want to focus on today are the holiday traditions. Mainly Easter, Christmas and Halloween.

Have you ever wondered about the origins of Christmas, Easter and Halloween? Have you ever asked yourself where Santa, elves, bunnies, eggs and trick-or-treating come from? They are not biblically commanded so why do we celebrate these man-made traditions?

These are some of the questions we as believers should be asking if we aren’t already. We shouldn’t be turning a blind eye. We shouldn’t be following the herd mindlessly. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my last Thailand trip is that EVERYTHING has a root to something. We are constantly bombarded with symbols, logos, events, traditions, etc. and the crazy thing is most of it is tied to the Babylonian system.

If we refuse to research or acknowledge these things, we are still in the bubble of delusion. More than likely we are conforming, assimilating and synchronizing with Babylon. While we can’t escape Babylon completely there are many things we can control by the decisions we make. 

God calls His people to be holy, set apart from this world. We need to recognize Babylon and “Come out of her my people!” (Rev 18:10)

Who cares? Does it matter to God? What would Jesus do? 

Rather than trying to justify it by saying “well this is what I grew up with” shouldn’t we test everything like Paul says? Before checking with our pastors, commentators or scholars, we should always check with our almighty God, our creator who loves us. Man’s opinion will always be flawed if it doesn’t use all of scripture to discern a matter and unfortunately there’s alot of bad theology out there.

He is the ultimate authority and His words are the most important source for our lives. 

He didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves, he gave us guidance and instructions. We just have to take the time to read them and follow them. I’m not talking about daily skimming, it takes real studying on our part. We are to be disciples (pupils) of the Word. With that being said, let’s go check out God’s Word aka His Truth to find out how He feels about these holidays. 

(If you haven’t already please look up the origins of these holidays before proceeding. Simply Google the origins of Easter, Christmas, and Halloween. Once you start to search you WILL see they are all pagan in every way. In short, Christmas is about the sun god, Easter is about the goddess of fertility and Halloween is about the dead and evil spirits.)

Ok so the holidays are pagan and we’ve been in a bubble – a fantasy, a delusion, caught in a powerful lie or deception. 

Isaiah 41:29 – they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind

Jeremiah 10:14-15 & 51:18……every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12…..because they refused to love the truth and so be saved…therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false….in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth…”

Did you see the consistency? The delusion seems to be connected to pagan idols and their traditions.. 

So how does God feel about anything pagan no matter how harmless it seems?

“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,” Exodus 20:3‭-‬5 

“Take care that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” Deuteronomy 12:30‭-‬32 

“And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord .” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” Exodus 32:5‭-‬6

It was a feast to the Lord so why did God get soooo angry at His people? After all, it WAS all about Him. He commanded it to the Pharaoh before they left Egypt. It was festive and happy. Their hearts were sincere. It included a cow, so what? It’s just a cute little cow decorated in gold. I mean God made cows for us to enjoy so it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? Uhhh, not quite. Scriptures state He wanted to destroy them but Moses interceded on their behalf. Exodus 32:10-14

So why would it be any different with a tree cut down from the forest brought into our homes and decorated with gold and silver? It’s just a tree right? Well there’s one small problem (with both scenarios)…..this tree, brought inside once a year isn’t just a cute innocent tree. This act or tradition, at this time of year is directly tied to sun god worship. The greenery put inside the homes symbolizes something. It is about the death and rebirth of the sun….(Sol Invictus. Saturnalia. Yule). Same goes with the calf, what did it symbolize? 

Never mind the stockings hanging up for Santa….Oy Vey!! That’s another can of pagan worms.

We could give more examples about the goddess of fertility (Easter)….her bunnies, her eggs…and what those symbols represent… Same with Halloween..I could spend hours on this but I won’t in this post. If you’d like more information please read my posts “Why Easter? Why Not Passover?” & “The Truth About Christmas “One of the Golden-Sacred Cows”.

Whether we realize it or not, we’ve all been “Hellenized” with these holiday traditions. This was an issue before Yeshua and after. Not only did Paul and the apostles have to fight against hellenism, we do too. The point is we as believers shouldn’t be mixing the holy with the profane period. God defines and gives the standards to us so that we can know and discern both. He reminds us over and over and over again. It never has nor will it ever be accepted by God almighty. Sorry, but your bubble has burst!!

Once we know the truth about a matter we have a duty, an obligation to stand for truth. We are now accountable to it and will have to give an account for the knowledge given. One cannot just simply say “oh that’s cool” and move on without changing anything. There’s no “well that’s your truth not mine.” Truth is truth. It cannot contradict itself. These types of responses remind of the serpent in the garden, the spirit of lawlessness that says “Did God actually say????…….” Gen 3:1. Always questioning because one doesn’t want to submit to God’s instructions.

Knowing the truth requires a shift, a change in direction even if we don’t fully understand the why. God is faithful and He blesses our obedience.

Yeshua/Jesus speaks of what is required of God’s servants once they have the knowledge of God’s truth. Luke 12:43-48

1. The Faithful Servant – they have the knowledge of God’s ways and act upon it. They keep God’s instructions and teach others to do so. They will be blessed. God will set him over all His possessions. 
2. The Rebellious Servant – Vs 45-46 – They have the knowledge but yet continue to sin anyway. They willfully disrespect God’s ways. He will be cut into pieces and put with the unfaithful. (also (2 Tim 3:5, Heb 10:26-28)
3. The Lackadaisical Servant- Vs 47 – This servant KNEW God’s will but didn’t act on the knowledge given to him. He will receive a severe beating. 
4. The Blind Servant – This servant DID NOT KNOW. They didn’t have the knowledge. They will receive a light beating. Why? God gave them the tools to seek and know the truth.

“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”

The truth will set one free from the delusion aka bubble one is under. As we grow in our faith, God will reveal more through His Word and Spirit. We will really start to see and understand what it means to be on the narrow road, especially in our culture today. As we start to shed the scales of lies, deception and delusion we need to make sure we not only let it transform our lives but that we also make it a point to share what we’ve learned!

If we love our fellow brothers and sisters we need to say something! We need to be courageous enough to pop the bubble! Yes that’s right, we need to speak the truth (always in love of course). It is ok to burst the bubble and there’s nothing wrong with it. The prophets, Yeshua, and apostles did it all the time. Believe me, it’s not easy at all. Ask Yeshua and Paul. Yeshua tells us the sword of truth divides. (Matt 10:34-36, Heb 4:12). Paul says speaking truth will make you an enemy. (Gal 4:16)

Did you know we are actually called to be watchmen? Once we have the knowledge of truth God requires us to watch, to be vigilant. This includes warning the people we love and those in the community of believers…. even the wicked.

“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he SEES the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and WARNS the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 

But if the watchman SEES the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are NOT WARNED, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you DO NOT SPEAK to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you WARN the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.” Ezekiel 33:2‭-‬9 

Paul quoted this very verse. He tried to bring truth and many in the community of believers opposed him. They didn’t want their bubble burst so what did he do afterwards? He simply shook off the dust and told them the blood was on their own heads. Acts 18:6. God’s truth was spoken, they had been warned and it was time to move on.

Yeshua also encourages the disciples to do the same as He sends them off to spread the good news, to teach God’s truth. Matt 10:11-15. 

“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.  Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Matthew 10:14‭-‬15 

Again, speak God’s truth IN LOVE. Bear with one another IN LOVE. Let Him work on their hearts. There will also be times when you may need to shake off the dust and walk away. Although speaking truth is out of our comfort zone we must sound our trumpet to help others out of the lies. We can’t let the lies and deception have their way among the body of believers. Don’t let fear or laziness get in the way. God wants to use you for His kingdom.

It’s time to speak up like John the Immerser, like Yeshua, like the apostles. Rock the boat, burst the bubble. The kingdom of God is coming!

It is amazing to me how many people of faith don’t want to be bothered. They want to live in their bubble at all costs. They don’t want to know the truth because they don’t want to change the way they live and what or how they celebrate. They’d rather believe a lie than follow truth.

I follow many social media pages just to see how believers respond to each other when it comes to the Sabbath, holidays, etc. IT. IS. CRAZY. I can see why many are afraid to speak God’s truth. If you dare to burst someone’s bubble the gloves come off. As I mentioned before, the first response is defense and anger. Legalism is always tossed around to try to silence the person speaking truth. (BTW legalism is nowhere to be found in the scriptures)

Many times there’s no respect and people are really mean which is sad. So do we give up then? Not at all! We continue to speak truth in love, to be respectful no matter the disrespect received. Once the bubble is burst and the truth is out there, they need to wrestle with it. It may take time but hopefully they will respond to God’s calling.

It’s time to burst the bubble so the veil may be lifted!

When one has questions or is looking to defend ones stance on a particular subject in the Bible where do most turn 9 times out 10? My guess would be Paul’s letters. They seem to be the “go to” for many of us today.

Generally speaking, Christians and churches today tend to revolve most of their belief system & theology around Paul’s letters. Sometimes even by-passing what Yeshua (Jesus) and God  said about the commands and the new covenant. Who is the ultimate authority? Putting all of your stock into Paul’s letters can be very detrimental if you don’t understand Paul correctly. Especially when it comes to God’s laws. Paul is definitely hard to understand sometimes, so much so, that even Peter said,

“…just as our beloved Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures.” 2 Peter 3:15-16

As we’ve discussed in Part 1, Yeshua (Jesus) was our living example of how to keep and teach God’s laws. We also discussed that the commandments of God are the same commandments Yeshua spoke about. There’s nothing different.

So how DID the apostles live while Yeshua was here on Earth and after his ascension? After all, every believer is now under the new covenant. Does this mean the old testament laws and temple system were done away with?

Can Paul and the apostles add or contradict God’s commands? If one thinks the answer is yes, then logically speaking the apostles would fall into the category of false teachers & prophets.

Today we are going to focus on the most common misunderstandings of Paul’s letters:

1. God’s laws of the OT were nailed to the tree
2. There were no sacrifices needed anymore as Yeshua was the once for all sacrifice
3. The old covenant was made obsolete so that means the OT laws are also negated
4. There is no need for the OT laws since we now have Christ and are under the new covenant.

If we truly understand and research scripture, we will be able to ask and answer the following questions and clear up any misunderstandings:

• Did Yeshua or the Father say His laws were done away or negated because of Yeshua and the new covenant? NO.
• Did Yeshua or the Father say to stop offering sacrifices/offerings now that Yeshua is on scene? NO.
• Does Yeshua continue to encourage the sacrifice/offerings while on Earth? YES
• Did the apostles continue to keep God’s OT laws given to Moses and endorse others to do the same? YES
• Did the apostles keep the Biblical Feasts and Sabbath? YES
• Do we see the apostles still bringing sacrifices to the temple? YES

Here are a few scriptural examples which describe how they lived and what they taught:

Regarding Sabbath:
– Acts 13:14-15, 27, 42-44; 15:21; 16:13;18:4

Regarding the God’s Feasts:
– Acts 2:1; 8:21; 20:6, 16; 27:9
– 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8; 16:8

Regarding Sacrifices aka Offerings:
– Acts 21:23-24, 26 – Nazarite vow; 24:11-12, 17-18
– 1 Corinthians 9:13; 10:18

Regarding God’s Laws/Commandments:
– Acts 22:3; 24:14
– Romans 2:13; 3:31; 7:12, 22
– 1 Corinthians 7:19, 39; 9:9; 14:21
– Ephesians 6:2
– Titus 1:3
– 1 John 2:3-4, 7; 3:24; 4:21; 5:2-3
– 2 John 1:4-6
– Hebrews 10:28
– 2 Peter 2:21
– Revelation 12:17; 14:12

Again, I can’t stress enough that NO apostle or teacher has the authority to add, take away or contradict God’s instructions. God warns his people about this on many occasions:

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it” Deuteronomy 12:32

“Do not add to His words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:6

“if any one adds to them, God will add to him plagues described in the book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city.” Revelation 22:18-19

I don’t know about you but I take these scriptures very seriously. This is why we are to know God’s Word (like the Bereans) and stay vigilant so we know how to discern.

Let scripture interpret scripture.

So hopefully with all of the scriptures provided, we now know Yeshua, the one true Messiah, and the apostles continued the story of our creator, keeping and teaching God’s laws. We also know they did not change or do away with the laws. So, one must conclude that Paul has been misunderstood by the body and their leaders. You can’t have it both ways.

It’s also important to remember that Paul was a Pharisee (aka a teacher of God’s laws). He grew up surrounded by Pharisees and studied under one of the most influential and respected teachers of his time. He was well equipped to understand that even through Messiah the laws were not done away. He knew the true Messiah had to abide by the ultimate authority, God. He knew the penalty of sin, the law about sin was death. This is what was nailed on the tree; the penalty, death, the old man, the carnal man, the one born of flesh.

We are slowly unpacking the truth with truth but there’s still a lot to resolve regarding the new covenant, the sacrifices/offerings and how the Gentiles fit in. I am sure there are still many questions running through your mind like what is the new covenant and how is it different from the old; Were the temple services made void after Yeshua (Jesus); Are the OT laws only for the Jews to keep? We will answer those questions in the next few blogs but I hope for now you are starting to connect the dots.

This series was inspired by the following scripture:
“ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” II Timothy 3:16
“But test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
“They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11

Ask any Christian what their purpose in life is, and most if not all, would say I want to live my life like Yeshua (Jesus) did. After all he is the ultimate example of what it means to be set apart for God. But are we really living like he did?

After years of studying of God’s Word extensively, I’ve come to realize we are very far from living the way Yeshua and the apostles did. Unbeknownst to the majority, (for approximately 1,800 years) our faith has been disconnected at the seams. We’ve segregated God’s holy Word. Many scholars, teachers, leaders, etc, have added, replaced and changed so much of God’s Word that we don’t have the whole truth anymore, therefore we don’t live it they way we should. Ironically, Yeshua and the apostles warned about this.
“Take heed that no one deceives you.” Matt 24:4
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit…according to human tradition.. Colos 2:8 & Eph 5:6….”Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge”, for by professing it some have swerved from the faith” 1 Tim 6:20

I hate to say it but much of our American-Protestant-Christian faith today is a by-product of empty deceit, false knowledge and human tradition. It’ a recipe of truth mixed with a lot of error. We no longer cling to sound doctrine, the doctrine of God’s Word alone. As sheep, we’ve lost our critical thinking and it’s time to take it back! We’ve trusted in the things famous speakers, authors and pastors say. We’ve taken everything they’ve said as complete and accurate truth. Am I right? I know I did, my parents did, and so on and so forth.

“It is and isn’t their fault”

It’s not their fault because the system is broken. I would dare to say most pastors, leaders, authors in the church today have no biblical training and for those that do we have to wonder what’s being taught in the seminaries? Many of the programs focus mostly on how to be a pastor, how to preach, how to run a church. Theology seems to be heavily weighted towards man’s commentaries – scholars, philosopher and theologians of today and the past. These two sections alone make up over 60% of the required hours. Only 20% of the required hours are spent studying the Word and probably not much of it. Even less is required for the Hebrew/Greek languages.

It is their fault because we are called to study the Word, ALL of it. Not just sections. Scripture should be interpreted by Scripture. We can’t just blame the shepherds either; both the sheep and the shepherds need to be disciples aka, students of God’s Word. How can we know how to live our lives for God if we don’t read the instruction manual or we only read parts of it?

Where we are at today reminds me of the game we use to play as kids in which players form a line, and the first player comes up with a message and whispers it in the ear of the second person in the line. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. The last person standing in line attempts to guess what the original message was. It was pretty fun to see how the original message changed drastically and we wondered where it started falling off the tracks. Majority of the time the original message was unrecognizable.

The Good News

The good news is each and everyone of us can understand the original message and its meaning. It’s not too far from us. If you truly seek, you will truly find. This is why it’s so important as believers to check everything you read or listen to against one thing, the Word of God. This definitely takes time as many of us haven’t really studied the word like we should have or we’ve never been taught how all the pieces fit together. It is been siloed and made to be two different puzzles or stories when it’s really only one.

After studying the Word inside and out, trying to find all of the themes that fit together, I’ve come to realize God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. His love, mercy, grace, spirit and commands were there in the beginning. They were there in the time of Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles, they are here today and they will be there tomorrow.

This series is dedicated to helping you start your journey into connecting the broken pieces. To realize we’ve been deceived unknowingly for many generations about our Messiah, the apostles and more.

The Truth About Messiah

It’s time to strip away everything you’ve been taught and put on your thinking hats.

Many believers today have been taught falsely about Yeshua the Messiah. Here are the most common errors that we will discuss in this series:

• Yeshua (Jesus) took away the law, and/or
• Yeshua established his own laws different than the commands God gave to Moses at Sinai,
• As believers under the new covenant, we are no longer under the law
• The new covenant did away with God’s laws and is completely different that than the first covenant
• Gentiles don’t need to keep the laws, they were only meant for Israel
• The Holy spirit is different in the New Testament compared to the Old Testament
• The God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament

In this blog we will cover the first two bullet points. Can these mindsets or beliefs logically work with the requirements given to us in scripture about the one true Messiah? Can Yeshua be the true Messiah and forsake or change the Father’s commands? Who has the ultimate authority?

Pretend you had a Delorean, (without the 80’s gear) and you went back in time to Jerusalem, before Yeshua (Jesus) arrived on scene. What were you being taught in church every Sabbath? You were being taught about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) from the Torah, Prophets and Psalms. You learned how to love God and how to love others. You did your best to live it out. You read about the things to come, the prophecy of the end of days and that a Messiah was coming, one who would someday become King. Everyone longed for this Messiah to come and make all things right as times were tough. The oppression seems to be never ending.

(The term for Messiah in Hebrew is “Mashiach” which literally means “the anointed one,” and refers to the ancient practice of anointing kings with oil when they took the throne. The Mashiach is the one who will be anointed as king in the End of Days.)

You keep your eyes peeled for this Mashiach to arrive but wonder how you will know or discern who it will be? I am sure there were a lot of fakes out there. Where does your confidence come from? It comes by way of studying the Word of God inside and out, night and day. This allows you to be vigilant, to stay awake so no one deceives you.

So what were the biblical requirements or checklist of how to discern the true Messiah:

1. He will descend from King David and be king (Jeremiah 23:5; Zech 14:9)
2. He will be well-versed in the laws of God, and observant of the commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5, Micah 4:2)
3. He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example (Isaiah 42)
4. He will come lowly on a donkey. (Zech 9:9)
5. He will suffer for us. (Isaiah 53)
6. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel. (Isaiah, Ezekiel 38, 39; Zech 14)
7. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15)
8. He will bring about the spiritual redemption of His people by bringing us all back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12, 59:16-20; Jeremiah 23:3, 8; 30:3; 33:7-8; Hosea 3:4-5, Ezekiel 37:12, 39:25-28; Zeph 3:9).
9. He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Israel and the nations (Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:6-7,11:10; 42:1).
10. He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18; Zech 6:12-13; Ezekiel 40-48).
11. He will restore justice and establish His law as the law of the land (Isaiah 2:3)

This is a long list of identifiers. Someone has some big shoes to fill. Now Yeshua (Jesus) who claims to be the one true Messiah, enters the scene and how does he compare to this list?

1. He is from the line of David and will be king. (Luke 1:27,32-33; 3:23-37) √
2. He came lowly on a donkey (Matt 21:1-5) √
3. He was well versed in God’s laws and taught so: Murder, Adultery, Marriage, Divorce, Oaths, Justice, Fasting, Stealing, False Witness, Honor Father & Mother (Matt 5-7, 19:18, Mark 10:19; ) √
4. He kept the Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28; 3; 6; Luke 6:6; 13:10; John 9:14) √
5. He kept the Feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Tabernacles, Chanukah. (John 4:45; 5:1; 6:4; 7: 2-14, 37; 10:22;) √
6. He taught these commands given by God are not abolished but that he is the living example of how these commands should be lived out. (Matt 5:17) √
7. He affirmed that we should keep them and teach others to do so. (Matt 5:19; 23:2-3)√
8. He affirmed the two sections of the 10 commandments – Loving God (1st 4 of 10) and Loving Others (last 5 of 10). (Matt 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-34; Luke 10:26-27) √
9. He affirmed his words were not his own, that everything he said was from God, the Father and is consistent with what was spoken of beforehand. (John 14:10, 24) √
10. He encouraged the keeping of the offerings in God’s holy temple. (Matt 5:23-24, 8:4; Mark 1:44; Luke 5:14) √

Now there are still some requirements (6-11) that haven’t been fulfilled yet but we know it’s a two-part mission and the rest will be fulfilled as mentioned in the Gospels.

The suffering servant will return in his glory as the warrior king to fulfill the rest. Hopefully some day soon in our lifetime!

There arise some major problems if one believes the mindset that Yeshua (Jesus) “took away the law” or “established His own law different than God’s”. Or, if one believes that we are under the new covenant, and are no longer subject to God’s law. If one believes this then that would make Yeshua (Jesus) a liar and a false Messiah. He would be in direct conflict and contradiction with the ultimate authority, God the Father.

As you can see from the scriptures mentioned above:

• He never took away the laws, he lived and taught them to anyone who would listen. He even amplified some of them. (challenging one to go from milk to meat).
• He never said to keep different commandments than what the Father had already given at Mt. Sinai.
• He never said now that your under the new covenant you don’t need to keep God’s commands.
• He encouraged many to keep the sacrifices/offerings.

I honestly believe most of these errors in belief stem from the the misunderstanding of Paul & his letters as well as from the original Roman Catholic Church (the official Christian church/Constantine & Council of Nicea). We will discuss these misunderstandings of Paul in Part 2.

To ensure our understanding is correct it’s important that we refer back to our perfect example Yeshua (Jesus) and the Old Testament where the rock foundation was laid. They are continuous in nature.

For more on this subject please read my blog entitled “What Does It Mean to Be More Like Him?” https://liftingtheveil942782802.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/what-does-it-mean-to-be-more-like-him/?preview=true

God has been sending signs over the years, have you missed them?

As most of the world acknowledges this week as a holy week many don’t realize the significance or the history of what or why they celebrate the things they do.

I want to talk about the significance and history of these traditions/holidays as I believe it’s important for ALL believers in the Messiah to understand why they do what they do. We are called to be vigilant and to stay awake so we are not deceived.

As many prepare for “Good Friday” I prepare my house for Passover tonight. The meal is celebrated in the evening and the day is spent preparing for the meal. Scripture refers to it as the preparation day. After the lambs were slain in the late afternoon, they would be roasted for the Passover meal. This holy day also intertwines with the First Day of Unleavened Bread which is a high Sabbath and starts the same evening.

What is Good Friday and where did it come from? Why is it always on a Friday?

1. It’s important to remember we are on a Roman based calendar (was Julian, now Gregorian) and we use the Roman clock vs the Biblical calendar and clock. Most of the holidays celebrated by mainstream Christianity also stem from the Roman Catholic Church. While I won’t get into a lot of the details here, there are few points you should consider and look into.
   1. Jan-Dec are all Roman based and many times tied to a god. Biblical calendar starts with Nissan – 1st month which is around April every year.
   2. Clock – 12am starts a new day which is also Roman. Biblical time is evening to evening. Once it gets dark a new day starts.
2. The earliest known use of “guode friday” is found in The South English Legendary, a text from around 1290, according to the dictionary. According to the Baltimore Catechism – the standard US Catholic school text from 1885 to the 1960s, Good Friday is good because Christ “showed His great love for man, and purchased for him every blessing”. The Catholic Encyclopedia, first published in 1907, states that the term’s origins are not clear. It says some sources see its origins in the term “God’s Friday” or Gottes Freitag, while others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag. It notes that the day was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons and is referred to as such in modern Danish.
3. It’s always on Friday because it’s tied to Easter and Easter is always on a Sunday.
4. It’s not because Yeshua (Jesus) died on a Friday. Doesn’t work out.

Most people use Good Friday to remember what Yeshua (Jesus) did on the cross, that he was the sacrificial lamb…..the Passover lamb as described by Paul.

We should be celebrating Passover instead of Good Friday. After all, it was set in stone by God. It sounds like Good Friday was made by man.

Two days after Good Friday, you have Easter morning. Meanwhile, we celebrate the Biblical holidays of First Fruits and Unleavened Bread. In scripture it is also known as Passover week.

Why Easter instead of First Fruits?

Easter Sunday is where most celebrate Yeshua’s resurrection but should it really be called Easter Sunday? Before we get to Easter and the origins let’s touch on what many call “Resurrection Sunday”. Now if you look at scripture Yeshua (Jesus) rose on the first day of the week sometime before dawn. The first day of the week is Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. Many don’t realize this same Sunday is the appointed time of First Fruits mentioned in the Torah (the first 5 books of OT). Check out Leviticus 23 and Numbers for reference.

How does First Fruits haven anything to do with Yeshua or his resurrection? In one word, EVERYTHING. First fruits is to be celebrated after Passover, after the weekly Sabbath (7th day) which would make it the 1st day of the week, Sunday. I won’t get into the parallels of this holiday in this post, but it goes so much deeper. So what is Yeshua the First Fruit of? Resurrection. This is mentioned several times in the NT: 1 Corinthians 15:20, Revelation 14:4. First fruits is also about a new creation – Romans 11:16, James 1:18, Romans 8:23, 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

So from a biblical perspective Resurrection Sunday is really First Fruits. As you can see from scripture, this is what the apostles celebrated and taught others.

What happened to the Feast of Unleavened Bread? It doesn’t seem to be celebrated by mainstream Christianity.

Another Biblical Feast tied to Passover every year is the Feast of Unleavened Bread (ULB) which lasts for 7 days. Many believers are not aware of this feast and its significance to Yeshua and to us as believers. Feast of Unleavened Bread is also explained in Leviticus 23. As you will see in the Torah, ULB ALWAYS falls after the Passover meal. It is important to understand the timing since our bibles haven’t been interpreted correctly.

What does leaven represent anyway? Leaven is what causes dough to rise and puff up. If you’ve never made bread, try it! You will see after some time, the dough expands. If left unchecked it gets out of control! In many scriptures we see people, kings, etc. who exalted themselves over God. They became puffed up and arrogant. Out of control. Yeshua and the prophets talk about what happened and what will happen to those who exalt themselves over God.

Paul explains it the best when he says “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore, celebrate the feast not with old leaven – the leaven of malice and evil but with the Unleavened bread of – sincerity and truth.

As part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread we are commanded to remove the Old leaven from our homes for a week. The cleaning out of our physical home is meant to teach us something spiritual about our hearts. Paul reiterates the importance as to why we do this….to cleanse out our pride, our malice, our sin.

Now to the big one “Easter”

Why do we as believers insist on celebrating Easter vs Passover? This has been a question on my mind for a long time. I believe its the herd mentality. The ecumenical mindset which believes if it’s universal it must be right. This is the wide path, not the narrow one.

1. Easter and Passover are on different schedules… Easter is tied to the spring equinox/Roman catholic calendar. Passover is tied to the biblical calendar.
2. What is the spring equinox about? Fertility and the fertility gods. Just google search it (there are many). Easter’s origins are pagan to the very core and should of never have been paired to Christ in any way. Biggest mistake made.
3. Bunnies and eggs are all tied to fertility gods and the eggs represent a gruesome ritual.
4. Where, who, how, why did Easter become the holiday instead of Passover, First Fruits and Unleavened Bread?
   1. It wasn’t the apostles as we see they did keep the feasts and they taught the churches to do the same (mentioned above).
   2. It was after the apostles died…325 CE. The “Christian Church” (aka Roman Catholic Church) changed everything. Research Council of Nicaea & Constantine. They would also change Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday and add another pagan holiday to the mix…. Christmas.
   3. What does the serpent do? He changes, manipulates, covers up. Daniel spoke about the times (calendar, clock), seasons (holidays), and laws (God’s divine law) being changed….Hmmmm. Have the wheels started turning yet? I hope so.
      1. “The Pope has the power to change times, to abrogate laws and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ. The Pope has the authority and often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ”                                                                                                                          – Decretal de Translate Episcop (The Pope can modify divine law) Ferraris Ecclesiastical Dictionary
   4. How do you spot a counterfeit? A false teacher/doctrine? It always contradicts God’s instructions. He is the ultimate authority. His words stand above any man. This is why it is SOOO important to understand scripture. If we don’t know scripture like the back of our hand, we won’t know if, where or how to test the authenticity.

I’ve briefly touched on this subject but it is very clear to me that we’ve been lied to and because of the lies, we’ve missed out on so much more. Idol worship has assimilated into the Christian faith for thousands of years and now its so hard to strip it out. It’s the same trap Israel repeatedly fell into.

Unfortunately when you really boil down to it…..Protestants still hold onto many doctrines and traditions of the ROMAN Catholic Church (which is the first official church of Christianity)

I bring this up because majority of believers do not understand the biblical feasts and furthermore don’t really understand that these feasts revolve around Yeshua. He is fulfilling them on schedule and there is soo much meaning and significance to them. Not only that but the fall feast have yet to be fulfilled and I don’t want anyone to miss out!! It’s definitely a treasure that has been hidden for way too long.

So why is tonight significant this year – 2020?

After all of the research and testing against scripture this Passover is very special on so many levels. Wednesday night is the Passover meal and the start of ULB. We eat of the lamb that was slain for our redemption. We bless the unleavened bread and drink of the vine in remembrance of ALL that God has done for us, from Egypt to Yeshua.

2000 years ago, Yeshua died on the cross in the afternoon. He was quickly moved to the tomb before the evening of Passover/ULB. He was in the belly of tomb for 3 days AND 3 nights. This year matches the 3 days and 3 nights. He rose before daylight hit the ground on Sunday. (Many believe he rose at twilight after sabbath)

Another few significant moments this year – A Supermoon, the biggest one of the year falls on Passover, not Easter, not Good Friday. There is also a virus that is affecting most of the world. Everything seems to be at a standstill. The Israelites were told to place the blood over the door, stay inside for a while until the plague of death passed over. It’s interesting that we will be doing the same this year (minus the blood -just a red table cloth). And don’t forget the blood moons that fell on Passover and Feast of Tabernacles 2 years in a row back in 2014 & 2015!

All this to say, many will miss these significant and meaningful signs because they are tied to the Roman based calendar vs the Biblical calendar. They will miss the significance of how this Passover lines up with the time of Yeshua as they are tied to the Roman calendar, clock and holidays.

I hope this post has started you thinking about why you do what you do. Whatever we “do” or cling too, we are binding it or loosing it. We are putting a stamp of approval on it. Think about that.

I pray this will start you on your journey to seeking it out for yourself. Strip away the biases of what you’ve grown up with. Look at it historically and biblically (no commentaries). Then and only then you will start to see things in a new light.

Don’t miss out anymore! It’s time to get back on the biblical calendar and holidays.

I pray that you will lift the veil!!

Have you ever wondered how Passover became Easter? After all, Yeshua and the apostles celebrated Passover not Easter.

The more research you do, the more you will find and unpack this great deception, the blinding. It’s time for God’s people to awaken and to shed this strong delusion.

Ultimately the roots of Easter boil down to Babylon…. no matter the offshoot.

The root and fruit never change.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”
(Revelation 18:4)

“Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of the Lord!” (Jeremiah 51:45)

Check out the following article:
https://www.historicmysteries.com/pagan-easter/

Did you know: “Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. This is a formula set in 325 CE by the Council of Nicaea, which established many points of doctrine for the early Christian church.”

So who changed it? (Hint is above)

Constantine and the Council of Nicaea “the early Christian Church” changed Passover to Easter. This has tainted and corrupted the faith over thousands of years. It is amazing to me how most of our life we go with the flow and don’t stop to consider or ask questions. I was one of them until 7 years ago.

“It is obvious from Constantine’s edicts that the believers of that time were still attempting to keep the Passover. He makes a strong case against the practice saying, “it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews… Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd.” – Constantine’s Nicene Letter, 325 C.E.

“No bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any other member of the clergy is to share in Jewish fast or feast, or to receive from them unleavened bread or other material for a feast.” Apostolic Canon 69, 4th Century At the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325,

The bishops of the Catholic Church decreed that: “All the brethren in the East who formerly celebrated Easter [Passover] WITH THE JEWS, will henceforth keep it at the SAME TIME AS THE ROMANS, with us and with all those who from ancient times have celebrated the feast at the same time with us.” By 364 A.D., at the Council of Laodicea, both the Passover and the Sabbath were completely abolished by the Roman state. The new state religion, a bizarre blending and amalgamation of paganism and Christianity, devoid of any remaining “Jewish” influences, became the dominant religious power in Europe for over one thousand years. The Anti-Semitism of that time was strong as seen by one example – “The idea of going from a church to a synagogue is blasphemous; and to attend the Jewish Passover is to insult the Messiah” John Chrysostom, Sermons II and III, 387 C.E.” https://en.wikibooks.org/…/Hebre…/Holy_Days/Passover/History

God’s people are called to be holy, “set apart” from the nations, a light, and a royal priesthood. If this is true, then how and why do we mix traditions and doctrines of man by assimilating into the worldly, pagan culture? This makes us no different from the rest. Yeshua warned about this very thing time and time again.

“He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matthew 15:3‭, ‬7‭-‬9)

It’s time for us to really dig into why we believe and do what we do. Once you start digging into history you will realize your still part of Babylon.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you from being priest for Me…” (Hosea 4:6)

It is time to shed the doctrines-traditions of man and go back to sound doctrine, to God’s wise council. It’s time to stop mixing the holy with the profane. Yeshua, Paul, Timothy and Titus warned about these things.

As Peter once said, we ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)

The Passover feast is not only God’s appointed time with His people but it also points to our Messiah. In fact all of God’s feasts do! This is why Yeshua said:

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)

“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore CELEBRATE THE FESTIVAL, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7‭-‬8)

Brothers and sisters, it’s time to lift the veil!