It is sad, but many Believers do not even know the character
of YHWH. Many don't know, because they have not gotten into the word of YHWH.
They only know what they hear or are taught, without checking the Scriptures
for accuracy. You may not feel it necessary to check. After all, you might
think," These are Believers teaching YHWH’s
word. And if I can't trust them, who can I trust?" In I Thessalonians
It is our responsibility as Believers to verify if what is
being taught or told to us is the truth. Here's an example: What happened to EliYahu [Elijah]? Every believer I know, when I questioned
them, said that he was taken to Shamayim [the heavens]
in a fiery chariot. I have even been taught that from several pulpits. In II Melekiym [Kings] 2:1, "when
YHWH was about to take eliyahu up to the shamayim [heavens] in a whirlwind, eliyahu and eliysha` were on
their way from gilgal."
Verse 11, "as they were
walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of
fire appeared and separated the two of them, and eliyahu
went up to the shamayim [heavens] in a whirlwind." He was not taken in the chariot, but that is
what most believe, because that is what they heard and
they never checked it out and read it for themselves.
Here are some more examples. Here is a basic one. Most
believe it was an apple that Chawwah [Eve] ate. BUZZ-wrong. Bereshiyth [Genesis]
3:6, "when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good
for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining chokmah
[wisdom], she took some and ate it. she also gave some
to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." The fruit was not an apple. This scripture
also holds a correction of another myth. Chawwah did
not take the fruit to Adam to eat. He was standing beside her the whole time.
How about the one of YHWH creating
light. YeshaYahu [Isaiah]
45:7 it says, " 'i form the light
and create darkness, i bring prosperity and create
disaster; i, YHWH, do all these things.' " Now, in Yahuchanan
[John] 1 it states that Yahusha` was with YHWH in the
beginning (our beginning, not his); it further explains that he is the word and
the light. I Yahuhanan [John] I:5, "
'this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you, YHWH is light;
in him there is no darkness at all.' " Yahusha` himself said,
" 'i am the light of the world,' " in Yahuchanan
One last example: MaththiYahu
[Matthew] 1 and Luke 3 have two different genealogies of Yahusha`.
Most people dismiss the one in Luke and always refer to the one in MaththiYahu [Matthew]. Why the difference? I love
genealogies, so many mysteries are revealed. The one in MaththiYahu
is that of Yahusef [Joseph]. Yahusha`
is the son of YHWH and Miryam [Mary], not of Yahusef [Joseph]. This is the part I love - you could not
count that genealogy, even if you wanted to, in order to prove Yahusha`’s claim to the throne. The reason is
clear when you study the Scripture. In verse 11 of MaththiYahu
1, the king, Yashiyahu [Josiah] had a son named Yekonyahu [Jeconiah (Yahuyakiyn - Jehoiachin)]. In II Dibrey HaYamiym [Chronicles] 36,
you get a better picture. Yashiyahu [Josiah] dies and
his son, Yahuachaz [Jehoahaz]
becomes king at 23. After 3 months of reign, the king of Mitsrayim
[
That scripture nullifies Yahusha`’s
claim to the throne through Yahusef’s
[Josephs] - IF, you tried to count the MaththiYahu
[Matthew] genealogy as the Davidic line of kings. But, since
we can't use that genealogy for Yahusha` anyway,
because it's Yahusef’s [Joseph’s], how can Yahusha` claim kingship? Through
his mothers line. The genealogy in Luke is that of Miryam
[Mary]. Take a close look at the two. MaththiYahu’s
[Matthews] starts from Abraham and goes to Yahusef.
Luke’s, starts from Miryam’s [Mary’s] father and goes
to Abraham. Luke 3:23, " 'now yahusha` himself was about
thirty years old when he began his ministry. he was
the son, so it was thought, of yahusef,...' " Everything is the same in both accounts from
Abraham to Dawiyd. From there, the two part ways. Yahusef’s line goes with the obvious king line of Shlomoh [Solomon]. Miryam’s
[Mary’s] line is that of Shlomoh’s [Solomon’s]
younger brother Nathan Ben Dawiyd [son of David], the
king of Yahudah [Judah]. There is Yahusha`’s
true Davidic line.
I have said all that, just to point out, that we desperately
need to study YHWH's word so we will not be deceived.
Men are not perfect. We are flesh and we make mistakes. Sometimes it is as
simple as a typing error, sometimes ignorance, other times it is because a
person went to the word with a predetermined idea and looked for scriptures to
back up what he believed, not necessarily what Scripture, as a whole says.
Then, there are the sad cases of people who are deceived and those that deceive
intentionally. With all of this flesh floating around, would it not be wise to
test what is being said and taught?
II Timothy 2:15, " 'do your best to present yourself to YHWH as
one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth.' " The Greek word for "do your
best" is spoudazo ( spoudazw
), it means to make every effort, diligent, labor, and study. The Hebrew of the
Peshitta is sheqod which
means to watch, wake, be diligent. " 'and be diligent/zealous to
establish yourself perfectly before the
face of the elohiym, a workman without shame,
preaching rightly the word of truth.' " The Post Biblical Hebrew meaning is - was diligent, was zealous, preserved. Many believers would not be so lost or
confused if they only studied YHWH’s word and
meditated on it.
II Timothy 4:2-4, " 'preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season;
correct, rebuke and encourage, with
great patience and careful instruction. for the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. they
will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.' " How can we possibly preach, teach,
correct, rebuke or encourage if we don't diligently study the word? How can we tell the false teachers from the
true unless we study and learn what the truth is? I heard a story about the training of bank
tellers in spotting counterfeits. They do not show them counterfeits. They
train them in the real bills, the look, the feel, so that they know the
real thing. When a fake crosses their path, they can easily spot it because
they know the real thing. The same is true of Scripture; know the truth and you
can spot the fakes.
II Kepha [Peter] 2:1, " 'but
there were also false nebiyiym [prophets] among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among you. they
will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the adonay YHWH who bought them, bringing swift destruction on
themselves. many will follow their shameful ways and
will bring the way of truth into disrepute.' " We are ambassadors of Mashiyach
(II Corinthians
I Timothy 6:3-5, " 'if anyone teaches false doctrines and does not
agree to the sound instruction of our adonai
yahusha` hamashiyach and to
righteous teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. he has an
unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in
envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men
of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that holiness
is a means to financial gain.' " It is sad, but I can easily picture Yahusha`
with a whip of cords, at the assembly book and tape tables or worse, at the
Christian bookstores. Having worked in two different Christian stores, I know
about greed, excessive profit, lies, illegal sales, corruption... I preferred to work in worldly businesses than
those stores. Granted, not all Qehilloth [assemblies]
or stores are greedy for gain, but those are few and far between. Looking in a
religious bookstore or catalog, you can see the trouble that the Qehillah [assembly] is in because they are not studying the
word to see what YHWH says on a subject, instead they are writing a multitude
of self help, inspirational books. Ibriym [Hebrews] 13:9, " 'do
not be carried away by all kinds of teachings.' "
Ephesians 4:14-16, " 'then we will no longer be infants, tossed back
and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and
by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. instead, speaking
the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that
is, mashiyach [messiah]. from him the whole
body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.' "
There is a direct relationship
with studying and maturity in Mashiyach. Who of you,
being natural parents, would want your infant to grow in years and body, but
remain as an infant? Who would want to be feeding bottles of milk to a child
for 10, 20, 30 years? How about the diaper changes and cleaning up after them?
YHWH does not desire infants in Mashiyach to remain
infants, but to grow, mature and become children, then sons, then fathers in
the word. He wants a kingdom of kohaniym [priests] ( I Kepha[Peter] 2:5,9; Revelation
1:6,
Ibriym [Hebrews] 5:11-14, 6:1-2, " 'we have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. look, you ought to be teachers, because of the great time by you in learning; however, now again you need to learn those which are the ancient writings of the beginning words of elohiym; and you were made to have need for milk, and not for solid food. but all whose food is milk is not a person of understanding in the righteous word, because he is a baby. however, solid food is for the mature; who on account of their senses being trained, studying to distinguish between good and the evil. therefore, let us leave the first word of the mashiyach, and let us come to completeness. or is there again laid another laying of a foundation for returning from dead works, and for faith in elohiym, and for the teaching of the tebiylah [Post Biblical Hebrew use for immersion, which was called miqweh in the Tanak], and of smiykah [laying on of the hand], and for the rising up from between the dead, and for the eternal judgment?' "
Shaul [Paul] lists these things as being
elemental, basic, primary, yet how many believers could pick two of them and
fully explain them using only Scripture, not emotions or feelings. And those
are the milk.
Do you know how veal is raised? They take a calf and pen it
up so it can not run around. This way the muscles do not become hard and strengthened.
The muscle of an animal is the meat. Then they feed it only milk. This way the
meat will be very tender. On a diet of only milk, the calf becomes anemic and
lethargic. He develops diarrhea because the milk is not supplying all the
nutrients the growing body needs. This further deteriorates the
calve's health. They
cannot stand after awhile. If they did not slaughter the calf at a certain
point, the calf would die. Do you, as believers want to be veal or grow up and
become a mature son and father in YHWH’s kingdom? The
choice and responsibility is yours. Either study ( bread
and solid food) or keep drinking only milk and be slaughtered.
It is very important to study YHWH’s
word, it is life and health to us. But, just as in the
physical, don't forget, that gluttony is not good. You must exercise your faith
with deeds. Yaaqob [James] 1:22-25, " 'do
not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. do
what it says. anyone, who listens to the word but does
not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after
looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. but
the man who looks intently into the perfect thorah
[law] that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has
heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does.' " Ephesians 4:11-13, "
'it was he who gave some to be sheliychiym [emmissaries, apostles], some to be nebiiym
[prophets], some to be basariym [evangelists], and
some to be roiiym [pastors-shepherds] and soferiym [teachers], to prepare YHWH's
people for works of service, so that the body of mashiyach
may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of ben YHWH [son of YHWH] and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of mashiyach.' "
My prayer for those of you reading this,
will be that you realize the wisdom and riches of YHWH’s
word and are filled with an unquenchable desire to find them. Kathryn