Welcome to this new series of sermons, articles and devotionals which I have called Ge'Chizzayon which means 'Valley of Visions' as we in this ministry now shift our focus away from what we have doing the last decade and toward new spiritual terrain - the valley of visions. However, the valley itself is not the goal - it is but the means to the higher task, which is regaining access to the Yahweh's Mount of Assembly

In this life we are compelled by both people and circumstances to make choices we do not want to make - that is to say, we have no choice in the matter. We cannot choose where we are born, as children we cannot make up our own house rules at home, at work we must do things the way our boss wants them done even if we believe them to be fundamentally wrong, and we cannot to choose to live forever in a state of mortality. At my time of life I cannot choose to run a hundred yards in 10-11 seconds as once I could as a teen. We are all limited, more than we would perhaps care to admit. I can, of course, rebell but that can - and usually does - have negative consequences, as anyone who has tried not to pay Income Tax has discovered (to give a secular example).

In spite of our not having control over everything, and it not actually mattering too much to our well-being (like being upset with the cook for boiling instead of frying an egg), some choices are of the utmost importance. Yahweh has created rules in His Creation. The ethical and moral ones are built into our consciences - we enter this world having a basic knowledge of good and evil - and even though repeatedly ignoring the impulses to choose what is right and reject what is wrong deadens our conscience progressively over time, unless we have crossed that final line of rebellion (spoken of in Scripture as a "ripening in iniquity"), there is still the possibility of responding to conscience even if we have never come across the Bible or heard its message preached.

I don't want to talk about the minutae of Yahweh's torot (laws) today but to focus on the root mitzvah (commandment), which is the right to free choice, and in particular, in respect to choosing to believe Elohim (God) or not. Satan's root mitzvah (commandment) is, of course, the opposite. In his universe, were he ever to be sovereign, there would be no free choice at all. Everyone would be compelled in everything. His subjects would all become robotised human beings - automatons.

Any doctrine or teaching which tells you that you have no free choice is to acknowledge that we live by what the Arabs call kismet or 'fate', and which has been more-or-less taken onboard Islam wholesale. In the moral and ethical sphere we do have choice. An Iranian-Moslem student of mine in Oxford once parked his car illegally on a double-yellow 'No Parking' line. I pointed this out to him and said that he stood a good change of getting a parking ticket. He shrugged his shoulders, and replied quite matter-of-factly: 'If I do, then it is Allah's will'. In his mind, it would then become his unavoidable fate.

Without going into the philosophical contradictions of such a notion, the insanity of this position is obvious. He did not consider himself responsible for his choice but blamed something called 'Fate'. Without perhaps realising it, he was acknowledging the existence of a dark spiritual power that was controlling his mind, heart and actions. This spiritual entity actually has a name - in our English Bibles we translate it as "Destiny" and though many translations try to make this out to be a mere abstraction, it does actually refer to a pagan 'god' that goes by the name of Meni or Menitum which some believe might also be the better-known Ishtar, Aserath or 'Easter'.

Yahweh says:

"But you who forsake Yahweh,
who forget my qadosh (holy, set-apart) mountain,
who set a table for Fortune (Gad)
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny (Mene)
, I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in My eyes
and chose what I did not delight in" (Is.55:11-12, ESV).

You'll notive that 'Destiny' has a companion, 'Fortune', which translates the pagan deity called 'Gad' that is, regrettably, related to our English word 'God', also (almost as bad, the name of one of the tribes of Israel - Gen.30:9-11). They're together because, as is typical in demonic arrangements, demons often work together in 'good cop/bad cop' pairs in order to deflect attention, create artificial tensions and so cause maximum confusion. In the past I have illustrated this in depth with the demons Hecate and Lilith.

The reason that nearly all modern translations capitalise 'Destiny' and 'Fortune' (ESV, RSV, NRSV, NASB, NLT, etc.) is because the translators recognise that these are persons - supernatural beings, gods or demons. Whenever we say 'Good Luck' (from the Latin lucis, meaning 'light' - a name of Lucifer) we are invoking the demon 'Gad' who was worshipped extensively by the ancient Amorites, Canaanites and Phoenicians. Believers do not wish 'good luck' but pray 'Yahweh bless' or equivalent...ironic, really, when they say 'God bless' because it's almost the same pagan invocation. But, unfortunatately, our language is steeped in paganism, as the word 'unfortunately' reminds us.

Naturally, in times of ignorance, Yahweh does not hold us to account. When we know the emet (truth), however, then we are held to account. We are held to a higher standard than ignorant believers and ignorant unbelievers. That is why I don't go judging anyone who does not know the Divine Names or who accidentally invoke demons. My goodness, when I was growing up, I used all kinds of language whose meaning I had no idea about which I supposed was entirely innocent because 'decent' people I knew used it all the time. 'By Jove (Jupiter)', 'Gad' or 'Gadzooks', 'Gosh' and other words all invoked demons without my knowing it. Because I never used the 'F' and other obscene words, even as an unbeliever (because I thought them indecent), I assumed I was being moral.

Now I am not here telling you these things because I want to be picky or because I have suddenly become a legalist. I know how Yahweh views my heart and how He has done so in times past in the days of my greater ignorance. But the Enemy is not so kind. Once you start invoking demons, even ignorantly, you are opening doors to influence and deception even if only subliminally. We have altogether far too many voices within whispering deceptive and sometimes threatening lies to us which I personally would rather do without. We are told that we are going to be judged by every word we say! So we need to clean out our speech, repent of past usages, close any doors (just to be on the safe side) and leave Yah'shua (Jesus) to take care of the rest. It's worth it.

This is not a popular subject - it irritates a lot of people and even provokes some to anger. Ask yourself, why? "The simple believes every word" (Prov.14:15, NKJV). Are we supposed to believe every word we hear? Obviously not. What is our speech conduct supposed to be like then, and why?

"Every word of Elohim (God) is flawless;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him" (Prov.30:5, NIV).

Why is that important?

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Elohim (God)" (Matt.4:4, NKJV).

When Satantists, occultists, Wiccans and others summonse demonic spirits, they use words. Words are powerful. Now obviously the way a spoken word connects to our heart will define its substance and strength. There are many people who use the 'F' word without so much a second thought, giving it little life, whereas others will use it with passion because they are cursing one another, and infuse much dark energy into it. Obviously the latter is the greater evil. Nevertheless, no believer should need to cuss at all, should he? If we're not supposed to take the Name of Yahweh in vain, then it follows we should be treating His images - humans - with the same kind of respect, however undeserving we may think them to be because of their bad choices and concomittant bad behaviour.

Why am I saying all of this? Because what I am trying to sensitise you to today is the thought that you may have been cursing yourself (and others), causing you (and them) difficulties, without your realising it. Yahweh demands purity because He is pure. True, we cannot generate it out of our flesh but only through having Messiah IN us through emunah (faith). While some branches of occultism pursue 'purity', it is flesh-generated and isn't Yahweh's purity...remotely, because it seeks as its source of empowerment the "god of forces" (Dan.11:38), not the Creator-Elohim (God) of Israel.

But I digress. I say all of this to make you aware that there is a 'spirit' which denies free-choice in religion that runs counter to the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) which absolutely upholds free-choice. When, for example, someone is converted to Elohim (God) or to Messiah (Christ) against his will, as has happened historically (when pagan Russia was offered Orthodox Christianity or the sword, Moslem-fashion, for example), aside from not being truly converted in their hearts (and still therefore, spiritually-speaking, unbelievers, even though they are nominal, ritual or symbolic believers) - by accepting such forced Jihad-like conversion, they are admitting a dark spirit of coercision into their souls which is then passed down from generation to generation until it is broken by renunciation in prayer. And that is why so-called 'Christian' believers can sometimes turn nasty.

Now consider this dimension. Let us say that you have been raised in a Christian home, one that has been Christian generation after generation since the time of forced conversion (as the Bosnian Serbs were to Islam under the Ottoman-Turkish terror, or the Idumean pagans to Judaism under the hasmoneans). Let us say I am born into such a home and adopt the faith of my parents and ancestors. Let us say (as indeed happened to me when I left the Anglican Church, the religion of which was imposed on a lusty England by King Henry VIII), I come to Messiah all on my own (as indeed happened to me in 1977), does this mean I have inherited generationally this 'spirit of compulsion'? Yes! And it must be renounced. You can't be 'born' into emunah (faith), you have to be reborn of the Ruach (Spirit)! You have to be born again.

Let me give you another example, the doctrine of the Trinity. In orthodox Christianity (Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox), to reject the Trinity (even though it is an extra-Biblical credal statement written by Catholics at the behest of a sun-worshipping, nominally 'Christian' Roman Emperor), is to be labelled a heretic and excluded. It doesn't even obey (for Protestants) the Sola Scriptura or 'Scripture Alone' dogma, for to be a Protestant you must accept the Trinitarian Creeds!

I have, over the years, had some very unpleasant experiences with Christian Trinitarians because I refuse to accept the Catholic creeds as scripture - which is what they ammount to - creeds which are a heavy mixture of Scripture and neoplatonic (pagan Greek) philosophy. I have no problem people arriving at an honest conclusion for themselves individually concerning the Trinity doctrine and even though I don't agree with its every formulation, I don't mind holding fellowship with orthodox Trinitarian Christians provided my non-acceptance is not used to judge me as a 'heretic' or an unbeliever. Since the Catholic Creeds are exra-Scriptural, then like any doctrine that is based on a human extrapolation of the Scriptures, it should be treated with tolerance and charity. Interestingly, I know few orthodox Christians who know what is actually in the Trinitarian Creeds, let alone who are able to scripturally justify them sentence by sentence. Whereas they are prepared to justify other doctrines out of the Scriptures of which there are multiple interpretations by different groups, the Catholic Creeds are a 'no-go' area - one must accept them, for the most part, in blind faith. This is the same spirit of coercision or which I have spoken.

Over the years Messianic Evangelicals have developped a minimalist Elohimhead (Godhead) doctrine - the one actually subscribed to by the first believers - which was the acceptance that Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was Elohim (God) - period. They did not have an elabourate Trinitarian-type theology of the Elohimhead (Godhead). This we call Prototrinitarianism. For Messianic Evangelicals, if you have been born-again and accept that Yah'shua (Jesus) is Divine, like the Father, we consider you to be a fellow-believer. Indeed, we do accept one of the 'orthodox' creeds - the Apostles Creed, in common with Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, because this is absolutely and totally scriptural.

I have encountered Evangelicals who were otherwise charitable, kind and benevolent people shift into a dark barely-controlled rage when you mention that you don't, for example, accept the the Trinitarian Creeds: the Nicaean, Chalcedonian or Athanasian (Quicumque vult). All ahavah (love) flees from them and they treat you as the devil-incarnate (even though you're not denying the Divinity of Christ). This is a sign of a Compulsive, Coercive Spirit and it's demonic. It is an ancestral spirit that goes all the way back to 325 AD (and maybe earlier) when the Nicaean Creed was imposed on believers as a condition of fellowship. Those who rejected it were excommunicated and usually persecuted.

The irony is that its main opposer was Arianism (named after its founder, Arius), itself having a false Elohimhead (Godhead) belief, for they denied the Deity of Messiah as modern-day Arians (like the Jehovah's Witnesses and some Messianics) continue to do so (the JWs call Him a 'god' with a small 'g'). So this clash was, frankly, a choice between Good-Cop and Bad-Cop, a double-bind, for there was (and still is) good and bad in both orthodox and Arian Christianity. (Trinitarian Christianity has been responsible for a tremendous amount of bloodshed because of the spirit of compulsion in it, unlike that or Arianism, which was historically pacifist). The devil had his foot in both doors. Of course, the Trinitarians largely persecuted the Arians to death, the latter only really having a re-emergence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Again, I repeat, NCAY is not Arian).

This essay isn't really even about theology. My concern is with the demonic Spirit of Compulsion in matters of emunah (faith) and how to deal with it. Even if your theology were 100 per cent correct, and you tried to impose it on others, you would be no less guilty than any other Christian or Messianic group with wrong theology for doing the same. That's one thing. The other, is that the Remnant has to break loose of the spirits behind all false systems from the past, especially that which has been imposed generationally. It can never be purified, free and happy otherwise.

You see this dark geberational legacy sometimes in the state's attitude toward fellowships like ourselves. In Switzerland, for example, there are only two state-sanctioned religions - Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism. Everything else is classified as a 'sect'. The same is true in neighbouring Austria where the Baptists couldn't (the last I heard) register. In Russia it is similar, only with the Russian Orthodox Church having the hegemony. This tends to happen whenever a state identifies with a branch of Christianity, though good can come of this too, as I discuss in other essays.

If your congregation, church or group comes out of a tradition involving compulsory religion, you need to renounce it, expelling the spirits of compulsion in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name. If you believe in its teachings, then you can re-embrace it of your own free will. Above all, get out that dark, intolerant and (sometimes) murderous spirit, for it will otherwise defile you and spoil your relationship with Yahweh. I have seen it stirred up in so many otherwise rational, loving born-again believers when some pet doctrine (like Trinitarianism), imposed with the threat of violence or excommunication by some external human authority, is challenged. We don't need to angrily or threateningly defend the emet (truth).