To do that I want to share what Yahweh showed to me earlier this week. Let's also be aware of the resources available to us to get back on track again when we both discover we have wandered away and have decided to come back home. There is hope. There is a Way.
The Man who Had It All
No one is so good, holy and righteous as not to be susceptible to sin, even serious sin. The weak and the mighty, the foolish and the wise, can fall alike. No one can ever lie back and convince himself that he has been so faithful and close to Yahweh all his life that he cannot possibly fall. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, Satan has something up his sleeve to tempt you with which no amount of spirituality or good conduct can protect you from other than to make a simple choice daily to stay true to Yahweh.
In the B'rit Chadashah Scriptures or New Testament we are told the story of the rich man who had been true to Torah all his life. He asked Yah'shua what he had to do to enter into eternal life. Yah'shua replied:
"'...if you want to enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.' [The rich man] said to Him, 'Which ones?' Yah'shua said, ''You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honour your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'' The young man said to Him, 'All these things I have kept from my youth'" (Matt.19:17-20, NKJV).
And he had. He really had. How many of us here can , with hands on our hearts, honestly say that we have faithfully kept the six commandments that Yah'shua listed here? This man had not killed anyone, he hadn't stolen from anyone, he hadn't born false witness, he hadn't dishonoured his parents, and he had apparently loved his neighbour as himself. That's a pretty remarkable achievement! How did he love his neighbour? I am sure he was helpful, kind and considerate. I am sure he had generously helped his neighbours out with money when they needed it, whether blood relatives or fellow Israelites. I think that's pretty amazing in a world where you won't find many people doing these things in either the churches or in society at large. But we have grown so accustomed to the low standards around us that we don't think twice about what's really going on. I only read the other day something I had heard was true in Norway but which is apparently - and not surprisingly - true in the United States and throughout the morally decadent West: that sexual promiscuity in the churches is no different from the standards in society in general. Then I heard Paul Washer preach the same thing. How, then, are Christians to enter into eternal life? How can they even call themselves 'Christians' without blushing for shame?!
Obviously, the answer to that question is to make a full repentance and start obeying the commandments. If we can't meet the standard of this man who obeyed these six commandments consistently from his youth (proving, incidentally, that it can be done), how on earth dare anyone claim to be in possession of "eternal life" when they are living lawless lives of rampant sinning?
There is this terrible lie that is practically ubiquitous in Christendom which basically goes like this: so long as you believe in Yah'shua everything's OK. That's not true because as we have seen now, time and time again, the measure of a true Christian is one who does what? Do you remember what we read in the Book of Revelation last week?
Remember the Two Songs
True, saved, born-again believers do two things and sing two songs. First, they sing the Song of Moses. Second, they sing the Song of the Lamb (Rev.15:3). How many Protestant evangelists have you heard teach that? Paul Washer pointed out that there is no such thing as a lawless Christian and reminded his audience that Yah'shua gave laws. But as a Southern Baptist he did not dare take that to its only logical and scriptural conclusion, namely, that that law is TORAH - all of it! I pray that he chooses to let the Ruach take him to this truth for I fear his fellow Baptists will reject this man with the heart of Elohim. He has found the end-time truth that the Ruach is giving to all men and women who truly love Yahweh.
So the redeemed sing two songs - but what does that mean practically? Are you singing those two songs? If you've never been told what this means, now is the time to find out, don't you think? I mean, I'm sure you'll agree that it's important not only knowing about eternal life but actually getting it. Isn't that why we're here? So what does this mean?
It means that they observe to do the Law of Moses and have the faith of Yah'shua! Right?
"Here are those who keep the commandments of Elohim and the faith of Yah'shua" (Rev.14:12, NKJV).
The Divine Duet
Yes, you know it, I know it, but nearly all of Christendom refuse to do this. They not only refuse to sing the Song of Moses but they actually sing a watered-down version of the Song of the Lamb because without the Song of Moses the Song of Yah'shua is complete. IT'S A DUET! The Song of the Lamb is a melody and the Song of Moses is its support. They are not two separate songs.
So what do we have here? We have a man who has been singing the Song of Moses all his life, and doing it magnificently. He's obedient! He observes Torah! He is blessed. But he lacks one thing. He is still carnally attached to something which is actually the means of both his downfall and the axe that will sever the connection between him and eternal life! Good grief! How can this be??
Yahweh's Perfection is Not Man's
Every one of us has idolatrous connections to either lawful or unlawful things. And yes, lawful things can be the cause of our downfall. This man's god was his wealth. He was, by all accounts, a good man. He wanted to bless others. He loved his neighbour. He honoured his mother and father. He was a faithful husband. He sought no man's life. And if I am not mistaken, he observed the rest of the Ten Commandments too. He had no other Elohim but Yahweh. He observed the Sabbath day. He did not covet his neighbour's property or wife because we know he loved his neighbour. He made no graven images to worship them. But are we to understand he did not qualify to enter into eternal life? Surely, if he obeyed the Ten Commandments he was - well- practically perfect?! Well Yah'shua said that he failed the test, didn't He? And are any of us going to disagree with the Master's conclusion? Besides, who wouldn't want a society full of such people? Imagine if your local village, town or city was filled with such men and women. Wouldn't it be marvellous?! Crime would vanish. We wouldn't have to worry about our children out on the streets. We wouldn't need to lock our doors. So what on earth is this man's problem that he won't enter eternal life?
Challenging Your Heart
What I have to say to you is going to shock you somewhat. If anything, I hope it will make you fear Yahweh and not be so flippant about your faith. The more I think about this incident the more awed I become. Because this one incident probably challenges the wickedness and arrogance of man's heart more than anything else. It should take your breath away because what Yah'shua is doing is revealing His real agenda and His real demands on us which are so at variance with the watered-down Christianity everywhere, all those 'other gospels' which are either sending souls to the lowest glory in heaven (Mt.5:19) or down to hell. So I ask again - what is Yah'shua demanding? Is His demand universal or just to one category of person? Let us see what He said next:
"Yah'shua said to him, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions" (Matt.19:21-22, NKJV).
If at this point you want to walk away from Yah'shua and from Christianity then I have to say this in all bluntness to you: you haven't been converted to the True Gospel yet. Yah'shua said: "If you want to be perfect...". Now most of the Christians I speak to about perfection point blank say: "Perfection is impossible, we can't do it, Yah'shua is perfect, I'm trusting in Him, He washes all my sins away no matter what I do, so that's something I don't have to worry about". Lies. All lies. If you believe that, you have been deceived, my friend, and you're calling the Saviour of Mankind a liar. Perfection is not an option - the man's desire was Yahweh's will but he would not do what was expected of him to be perfect. Are you shocked? If you are, that's good, because so were Yah'shua's disciples. Now I don't care what you've been taught in the pulpit, I don't care what you've read in Christian books or heard on Christian tapes, videos, DVDs or CDs, and I don't care what your church, denomination or assembly teaches, because if they don't square up with what Yah'shua said here they're worthless.
Shocking News
So let's be agreed. This is shocking news. That pious man want away "sorrowful" but not because he feared he would not enter eternal life but because "he had great possessions". He had, we suppose, invested a lifetime in building up his empire of wealth. What have you spent your lifetime doing? To what have you devoted your energies, time, passion and talents? But more of that in a moment. First, let us see what Yah'shua is telling us. This was not the first time he told His followers to be perfect. He once said:
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt.5:48, NKJV)
and even explained what He meant by that. And remember, perfection is not an option, it's a commandment. Why? Let's be perfectly clear what perfection means and entails:
"I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt.5:44-48, NKJV).
Torah commands us to love the brethren. Yah'shua commands us to love our enemies too. Torah commands us to love our neighbour. Yah'shua expanded that to reveal Torah's original intent, which included not only fellow Israelites but Samaritans and every living soul under the sun. Torah commands us to be perfect by obeying the mitzvot. Yah'shua commands us to let go of even those lawful or kosher things which might idolatrously take the place of Yahweh and so displace the heart of the Gospel which is in the Shema:
"'Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is echad (one)! You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today (the Torah - the Song of Moses) shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" (Deut.6:4-9, NKJV).
How can you receive the true Messiah is you are not singing the Song of Moses which was given by Yahweh, your Heavenly Father? How can you love the Son and not the Father?
There is a blasphemous division and wall of hostility that modern Christendom has erected between the Father and the Son. And this wall exists because of something evil that Satan has done - he has caused the bond between fathers and sons to be broken down. And the result of this spiritual orphanisation of boys and young men is that they instead turn to each other instead of to their fathers. Yah'shua cannot return on the "great and dreadful day of Yahweh" at the last Yom Kippur until this relationship is restored, even as it is written:
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Mal.4:5-6, NKJV).
Not only will there be no Second Coming until this is done within the Body of Messiah but Messiah Himself cannot dwell in your hearts until you are restored to the Father, Yahweh! And you can't be restored to the Father until you are singing the Song of Moses - until you are in love with the Torah and living it joyfully because the Torah is the HEART OF THE FATHER. Not only that, but remember Who it was who brought Torah to Moses - it was the angel or Messenger of Yahweh's Presence, the only one we are allowed to worship. And who is that? Yah'shua!
There is a cultivated blindness amongst end-time Christians to this truth. Whether they care to admit it or not, they still believe the Gnostic lie that somehow Yah'shua is more 'enlightened' - much 'kinder' - more 'loving' than the Father. And this has led to what you might call 'Filiolatry' whereby the Son is exalted above the Father! It's a wicked and perverse heresy that can never have a place amongst us. It's a hideous lie because even as Yah'shua Himself testified:
"My Father [Yahweh] is greater than I" (John 14:28, NKJV).
And I am 'sorry' if this upsets Trinitarian sensitivities. What are you going to believe? The words of the Bible or the intellectual gymnastics of neo-Platonic Catholics under pressure from a sun-worshipping, anti-Semitic Roman 'Christian' Emperor (Constantine) who wished to consolidate his own political power? When you stamp out the Song of Moses and only allow the Song of Yah'shua (or add other unlawful songs like the 'Song of Mary' or the 'Song of the One and Only True Church') then you are trampling both the Father and the Son. Is it lawful or kosher to Sing the Song of the Lamb? Absolutely! It's commanded. But Yahweh did not give you or I the authority to ban the Song of Moses and then accuse those of singing it as being 'legalists'! He did not! The Father and the Son are echad or one. And so are the Songs of Moses and Yah'shua. They are echad. And do we ever fight an uphill message to get this truth accepted by those who claim to be 'Christians'! They hate it because it exposes their lawlessness. Worse, it exposes a demonic spirit that is anti-Elijah - it is against the hearts of the fathers and sons being turned back to each other because it is the anti-patriarchal spirit of this evil age.
What Will You Do?
Now are you still liking what I am telling you today? If your heart is up in arms then beware! Because if it is, Yahweh wants to reveal to you a dark secret of your heart, if you will hear it. My only plea is that you don't do what that rich man did and walk away because to do so means to walk away from eternal life. And, oh yes, Satan is standing ready in the wings - pretending to be Elohim - to offer you a false, easier religion that makes less demands of you that more closely resembles the corruption of your fallen heart - I guarantee it! He has a false, lawless 'Song of the Lamb' all composed and practised. Or he will conceal himself and offer you the atheistic ticket of no responsibility, no guilt and a licence to do what ever you want, and to especially "live life" in whatever way your sinful heart wants to choose. "Heck, if the majority of Christians are living sexually promiscuous lives, then that's OK for me to do too!" is no doubt what Satan would love to hear you recite to yourself and by that means lead you to destruction and a life of bitterness and regret afterwards when the lights go out and the disco music goes silent and you find yourself surrounded by the flames of a burning, seared conscience.
If your heart is appalled at this, then you have two choices - to be humble, repent and ask Yahweh how you can enter eternal life or you can rebel and take the roller coaster to spiritual death. Let's see what the disciples' reaction was to Yah'shua's words to the rich man who left the scene with a heavy heart:
Though Yah'shua is principally talking about money here (the love of which, Paul says, is the "root of all evil" - 1 Tim.6:10) there is no doubt that the spiritual sense of self-sufficiency is also intended to be understood. When a person gets a lot of money, it can profoundly alter his attitudes, behaviour and relationship with Yahweh precisely because it places power into the hands of the recipient. That is why it is such a corrupting influence. In this world, money talks. In this world, money can buy you anything which is why the world pursues it like lemmings running toward a cliff.
Yah'shua does not use the metaphorical absurdity of trying to thread a rope into the eye of a needle idly. He is not kidding when He says it is tough getting into the Kingdom of Heaven if you have a lot of money, not because money is itself evil, but our reliance on it to meet our needs instead of Yahweh Himself is. And you don't have to be superrich to fall into this trap. Just a modest increase in wealth can corrupt the heart completely. And the next thing you know is that you are focussed on getting more of it so that you can, as you suppose, get the freedom to do more of what you want so that you can live more 'life'. Then your whole lifestyle changes - money becomes the object to maintain the 'rich' lifestyle you have suddenly got a taste of and have started liking. Oh, you'll get more 'life' in following this road, but the question is, what kind of 'life' is it that you want to pursue?
What Are You Actually Looking For?
At this point Yah'shua challenges you - just as he did the rich man - to examine what's really important in your life, and what it is you're seeking for. A lot of believers get the shock of their lives when they discover they're using Yah'shua as a kind of vending machine for their personal desires instead of truly giving their lives to Him. They discover that what they really wanted was not the zoë life of the Ruach haQodesh but the carnal life of the psyche! They discover that they didn't give their lives to Yah'shua at all except in words, but to themselves! That is what the rich man discovered - what really mattered to him was his money! His whole religious observance and belief was propped up by his love of money! Yes, of course, he saw the benefits and advantages of the spiritual life. He saw what obeying the commandments brought him in terms of a happy married life, peace with his neighbour, a good relationship with his parents, and so forth - one woman I know converted to Christianity because she saw all the advantages that a Christian lifestyle brought to family life - the stability, peace and happiness - but when it became clear just what following Yah'shua entailed, she abandoned Him and became an occultist New Ager and now lives a life of misery and virtual seclusion. Now she worships all gods and accepts all religions in order, I suppose, to be pleasing to, accepted and loved by everyone. She is not happy. For her religion was a tool and not the end.
Now if we know Yah'shua as we claim to do, then we know several things. First, He never asks us to do the impossible. Second, what He ask us to do is always to our advantage. Thirdly, He enables us to do what He asks us to do if we'll trust Him. Let us see the disciples' reaction and His promise:
"When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Yah'shua looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with Elohim all things are possible'" (Matt.19:25-26, NKJV).
The Kosher gods
Now we're talking plain 'evangelical Christianity', aren't we? Or are we? There is no evangelical who will not repeat the mantra that we can't do anything of ourselves because "Christ has to do it all" but at the same time he refuses to accept that they must do anything, let alone something as terrible as singing the Song of Moses and obeying the mitzvot of the Torah! Oooooo! Be careful not to tell them they have to obey anything or do something to enter eternal life. Don't tell them that they're lost if they refuse to obey the Ten Commandments or must strive to be perfect. Yet that is what Yah'shua told the rich man to do, didn't He? Can you deny it? The rich man refused.
You see, he was just too rich. He decided, after all, that he wanted to hang onto his false god. He chose to remain in idolatrous attachment to his kosher god - money or Mammon (Mt.6:24; Lk.16:13). What's your kosher god? Being nice to people? Where do you get your sufficiency from? Your family? Your friends? Your independence? Your skills? Oh believe me, Yahweh wants to show you some kosher gods and He will precisely do so by demanding that you put those gods aside. So maybe the wealthy man was, after all, in disobedience to one of the Ten Commandments:
"You shall have no other gods before Me (Yahweh)" (Ex.20:3, NKJV).
And which commandment is that? The First! The most important! All the other commandments flow out of it. Now think about that for a moment. The other nine commandments flow out of the first one to have no other elohim but Yahweh-Elohim. Is it possible, do you think, to be living all the other 9 commandments whilst having a different elohim - a different god? There are some moral people out there (though they are becoming fewer and fewer) who do not worship Yahweh as their only Elohim but who have other 'elohim' too. So, yes, it is possible to be living 9 of the commandments and be worshipping a false god. The rich man was worshipping Mammon, the god of money. He loved it. He loved being rich. And even if you don't have a ton of money in the bank, you can be 'rich' in other ways. You may worship beauty, success, a charismatic personality, sexual prowess, intellectual ability, observe the 9 commandments and be a pagan even if you claim to be a 'Christian' or 'Messianic'. It's where your heart is that determines what you are and who you worship.
The Critical Preface
So Yahweh says: "You shall have no other gods before Me". But that's not all. He doesn't leave it at that. There are millions out there who worship 'Yahweh', 'Adonai', 'Jehovah', 'the LORD' or 'God' who claim to be Bible-believing Christians or Torah-obedient Jews. All of them would claim that they have no other gods but the Elohim of the Bible. And if indeed the first commandment was just "You shall have no other gods before Me" we might possibly be forced to agree with them. But the first commandment doesn't stand alone. It has a PREFACE and it's a critical one. Do any of you remember what that preface is? Let's remind ourselves:
"I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex.20:2, NKJV).
Are you getting this? He is saying that He was the one who delivered you at your own personal Pesach or Passover when you trusted, relied on and clung to the shed blood of His Son, Yah'shua the Messiah! He's saying: You trusted Me - you experienced salvation and deliverance. You were delivered from slavery to the world system and its demonic religion, THEREFORE 'you shall have no other gods before Me' in order to remain delivered. Yah'shua is here totally dismantling the 'O.S.A.S heresy' - the 'once saved, always saved' lie of millions of evangelicals. He's saying:
"Look, I saved you at Pesach (Passover) but there are still idolatrous tendencies that have to be wiped out of your heart which is why you have to continue on and get the leaven of sin out of your life by daily searching and removing (Chag haMatzah/Unleavened Bread), you have to commit yourself irrevocably in baptism before witnesses to be a follower (Yom haBikkurim/Firstfruits), you have to covenant to obey Torah and receive the anointing of the Ruach haQodesh to enable you to do this and learn to sing the Song of Moses (Shavu'ot/Pentecost), you have to be tested in your obedience and be summonsed at Yom Teruah (Trumpets) and be judged at Yom Kippur (Day of Judgement) and then - and only then - will I call you as my Bride and feast with you at Sukkot (Tabernacles) where the Song of the Lamb is additionally sung! Because you're not the Bride until you do this! But beware. Satan will tempt you and try to lure you back to Egypt again and again just like he did your ancestors. He will show you lying wonders. He will try to deceive the very elect if that were possible. He will foment rebellion through Korah's. He will entice you to whoredom through Balaam's and seduce you with pagan religion as he did at Sinai because your prophet (Moses) and Husband - Me - was absent for a while to see if you would be true. So don't stop singing the Song of Moses because if you do you'll stop singing the Song of the Lamb too once you're back in Egypt and then you'll scorn the Passover Lamb too. So repent! Surrender your idols and worship only Me".
There is a Price
Now Yah'shua did not try to minimise the cost of discipleship. He told His followers quite openly that following Him would cost them everything they had. He made no bones about that. He didn't try to conceal it. We read:
"Then Peter answered and said to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?' So Yah'shua said to them, 'Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first" (Matt.19:27-30, NKJV)
Eternal Life: Present and Future
Did you hear that? Those who do these things are those who "inherit eternal life". Those who don't but deceive themselves into thinking that they're out ahead and in the lead may find themselves at the bottom of the ladder of glory in the end if they don't watch out. The first will be last, and the last, first. We are given the power of eternal life now to enable us in the here and now but to inherit that - receive it as a permanent possession after this life - means that you must give up all and follow the Messiah. And to do that, you must do what? Sing the Song of Moses, obey the commandments, sing the Song of the Lamb and cling for dear life to the Saviour and Redeemer.
This is the whole counsel of scripture. It's the whole truth. Anything else that would diminish these words, reduce them, dilute them, whitewash them, water them down, or change them in any way, is falsehood. All I am doing is repeating what Yah'shua said.
There are some of you out there who are pretty lost. You have made some disastrous choices and want to get back on the Way that leads to eternal life rather than punishment (Mt.25:46). I know. Yahweh has shown your struggles to me in many visions. To do that you have to retrace some steps and find out what it was that took you out of the way. Are you willing to do that?
The Two Suns
During the night and into the morning of last Yom Revee (Wednesday) Yahweh showed me numerous things about one of the principal demons of the age - the one I have already mentioned. In particular, He showed me how Satan masquerades as Yahweh to the elect. He showed me numerous visions and prophetic dreams. In one vision I saw two suns, right next to one another, of equal brilliance.
Power, Signs, Wonders and Wisdom
They looked identical and I was astonished. One represented Yahweh-Elohim and the other was a counterfeit - Satan himself. I thought to myself: "If the imitation is so good, how can we discern between the two? What are the signs to distinguish them?" The scriptures speak of many wonders and signs. Firstly, apostolic:
"Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds" (2 Cor.12:12, NKJV).
Yahweh Himself, it is written, gives "signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Ruach haQodesh" (Heb.2:4, NKJV) and as we know the exodus from Egypt was accompanied by these, as those who leave Babylon and are born again are accompanied by the same. But the problems come afterwards - after the signs - when Yahweh says to continue to walk by faith and not to rely on so many signs because the original ones were adequate. The problem is we forget. And we forget when we wander out of Yah'shua and into the flesh. Then we want more signs. Yahweh says: "You've had them already". So Satan steps in. And what do we read that he does?
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thess.2:9-10, NKJV).
Here we have our problem. Carnal people, who may believe in the truth but not embrace it, are looking for one of two things as represented by these two national 'dispositions' in Yah'shua's day:
"Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom" (1 Cor.1:22, NIV)
Amongst believers there are those who seek solutions to their problems through sign-seeking and there are those who seek it through gnosis. Isn't that true? What is it you look for when trouble comes? What are you asking for when you have lost the way? Signs or wisdom? Do you go to 'miracle-workers' or to those who seem to possess 'wisdom'? Which of these is your spiritual vice? However, godly signs only come to those who already believe and godly wisdom only comes to those who are walking in the Way of Truth. So what happens when we seek ungodly "signs and ... wisdom"? Paul knew well enough:
"Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Messiah crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Cor.1:22-23, NIV).
If you have been born again and got lost - if you have tasted eternal life but thrown it away for carnal pleasure or 'life' as you suppose - then Yahweh will neither give you signs nor wisdom because He has already given them to you in the past. You already have your witness! You've already had signs. You've already been given wisdom. What you need now is neither 'signs' nor 'wisdom' but repentance! He is not going to feed your carnal appetite for the very reason that you would consume both upon your lusts, viewing your former wisdom with contempt, regarding it as foolishness. Indeed if you're already doing that you have already forsaken Yahweh and have received the heart of the demons within you who 'demand' these signs as 'proof' of Elohim, just as Satan tried to tempt Yah'shua in the Judean wilderness. Well, Yahweh is not a circus artist. He is not going to perform miracles or give you signs to entertain your lusts. Rather, if you're sincere about coming back home to Him, He will bring your iniquities and sins to remembrance (Ezek.21:23) so that you have a contrast between the glory of what once was and the awful state that you are now in, to enable you to repent. And if you do not want to repent, it is because you have adopted the ways of your demonic guests who know only pride, anger and defiance. If you want to repent, there is good news, though:
"But the Comforter ("as one whom his mother comforts, so will comfort you..." - Is.66:13) the Ruach haQodesh, whom My Father will send in My Name, will teach you everything and will remind you of that which I tell you" (Jn.14:26, HRV).
The Ruach, as you repent, will "remind you" of what you knew before you fell into transgression. That is a promise Yah'shua gives. Indeed, that is one of the functions of the Ruach - to remind us of the signs and wisdom which Yahweh gave us before, so that we may know once again "that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb.11:6, NKJV). But that will only happen as you yield once again, as you surrender your self-will back to Yahweh and humble yourself. We are in no position to demand anything, less so the sinner.
The Demonic Power of This Age
I said that I saw two suns. Then, in a series of visions and dreams, Yahweh showed me how Satan seeks to destroy Christian women and why there is such a backlash from the wives of husbands seeking the Kingdom these days. For the sons of Elohim are waking up and Satan is striking where it hurts them the most - in the home - by leaving them not only comfortless but oppressed. And because man hates to be alone - the reason why Yahweh made a companion for Adam - he will invariably fall into the trap that Adam did by following his fallen wife into sin. Rather than remain alone in Paradise, Adam chose to eat of the forbidden fruit of gnosis along with Eve and follow her out into the harsh world outside. Not only must the elect not do this, they must resist and stay with Yahweh. He will provide for those who remain true!
To woman has been given many gifts that man needs, and these gifts give her power over him, whether she chooses to use or abuse it, to bless or curse him. Man, likewise, has gifts that woman needs from him, and he to can use or abuse it, bless or curse her. Yahweh wishes men and women to use their gifts to bless, Satan to abuse their gifts to snare and imprison. Men and women - husbands and wives - are given power over each other. How we use that power determines the way we will live life and what the end of our mortal probation will be.
I was shown in vision a woman who had drawn a man to herself. She, however, did not wish to submit to Him according to Yahweh's Torah, but to manage and control him. In this unnatural arrangement man is torn in two directions. The one part of him wants to please his wife (1 Cor.7:32-33) but the other wants to please Yahweh and to be what Yahweh made him to be. The two, however, are totally incompatible, and the man becomes a dancing bear whom the woman both loves and hates. She hates him because he will not stand up to her and be the man Yahweh made him to be but 'loves' him because she has him under her control to please her carnal desires. What results is a relationship steered by demonic powers with a perverse Yin-Yang set-up. The relationship can only survive by balancing the 'love' and the hate but it produces no lasting satisfaction. (Of course it's Tree of Knowledge 'good' and evil and not real, Tree of Life, good or love). So in the end the woman seeks another man. Half of her wants to retain the first husband but the other half wants the new one. So for a while she tries to keep the two but because the arrangement is unnatural (polyandrous - the opposite of Yah'shua the single Bridegroom and His Bride, the many who are saved), she is forced, at some point, to choose between the two. Women were made to be monogamous just as mankind was made to have only one Cosmic Bridegroom, Yah'shua. When we try to have two we are forced, in the end, to choose between the one or the other. Always:
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other" (Matt.6:24, NKJV).
There can be no peace until the mind is single to its loyalty. But even that is not enough, because if you choose the wrong master - if you choose to be mastered by the Tree of Knowledge (which pretends to be the Tree of Life) instead of the Tree of Life - you'll have no peace anyway. Yahweh does not justify adultery ever, whether in the spiritual or marriage realm. Sin never brings happiness.
I saw this woman, as I said, try to draw in this second man, and in the vision I was placed in the rôle of that second man so that I could relate this to you. The woman had great power - as I bathed in the counterfeit sun it all seemed 'natural' and I found myself being drawn into the relationship. Then I would stop and be horrified. My heart was deceived momentarily but my mind knew my Torah. Therefore I renounced this spirit that was at work and declared for the truth. I renounced the counterfeit which appeared to be like the real thing in spite of the fact the deeds or actions of it were lawless, adulterous and evil. When the spell was broken, my eyes 'opened' and Yahweh continued showing me more. I had been allowed to immerse myself in that evil power for a short while and experience what those who are seduced by it are drawn into, and why. And I saw that the only power that could break such a spell was the power of pure unadulterated TORAH TRUTH! I declared for the truth in Yah'shua's Name and the next thing I knew that the Ruach was with me again and I could 'see' as I normally did.
Paul Washer said that your best friend - the one who loves you the most - is the one who tells you the most truth. Sadly, the flesh marks as an enemy the one who exposes it with truth when the truth is in actuality your friend. That is why they persecuted and crucified Yah'shua. That is why both believers and unbelievers alike reject Yahweh-Elohim and make up their own gods to titillate their flesh. They either make up their own 'Yah'shua' or 'Jesus', or make atheism their god.
This was but the first of many lessons during that night. I saw that this demon operates in two different modes. Next I was shown the grandmother of the first woman. I could see that she was in the same bondage but I could not see how because she was a professing (though antinomian) Christian. Then I remembered a vision of her daughter which I had seen the evening before and she had been wearing a Muslim woman's head-dress. I was astonished because she too was not only a Christian but a Messianic. As I prayed I saw and understood. I saw that unlike the first woman who was domineering, the second was 'submissive' but in such a manipulative way, the purpose of which was to gain the same control as the other woman! The first was active demonic control and the latter was passive. She had the same demon only the second was 'acting the rôle'. She was being what she thought Scripture required of her but without actually changing her heart. She was obeying Torah much in the same way that a Muslim woman submits to the Koran and Sharia law.
Now I am not saying that men don't do the same thing. They absolutely do. There are those men who 'play' at being patriarchal but whose heart is anything but the spirit of true Christian patriarchy. Their 'patriarchy' is of the domineering, cruel kind which often manifests in violent behaviour. It is not the patriarchy or paternal love of Yahweh. It is rule by naked force rather than by the attractive power of love. I then saw that a man married to either of these types of women - whether the aggressive or the passive types - attempts to please both by either becoming the submissive partner to the domineering woman (the dancing bear) or by matching the passive counterfeit female with a similar counterfeit male. Everyone ends up acting, subject to the whims of demonic forces. And nothing works or lasts.
I am attempting here to summarise the things I saw and learned over about six hours. There was much more. The first kind is the Jezebel-Ahab spirit - the female controls, despises and eventually discards. Whole family lines can be cursed by this generational spirit. The second is much harder to pinpoint because it consists of numerous smokescreens and illusions that are constantly changing. It's like two people on a stage performing and yet it's real life. They engage in a kind of dance but never meet. And this need not just be in marriage. It happens in all walks and spheres of life. Politicians are adept at this dance, trying to 'please' the electorate in order to retain power. In their heart if hearts, though, what they really want is dictatorship, so they get what they want by a series of pretences. Democracy is an 'unfortunate' limitation that must be tolerated to please (and fool) the masses. In the process of time such people can get so totally lost that they come to believe that the act is the real thing because it's either all they know or all they have come to remember. And yes, we can 'act' out being 'Christian' or 'Messianic' only to find out that at the last day we're not. That's is a frightening thought - to think you have lived your life out trying to please Yahweh, wearing all the correct outer clothing, saying all the correct things, doing all the correct deeds of charity, to then discover that what one really was was a complete sham - a fraud. I have certainly met far too many people who turned out to be just this and each time I have been appalled, promising myself that I would never be shocked again, and yet each time experiencing both profound dismay and disbelief at what the human heart turns out to be. And at such moments I almost become a Calvinist. Yet a hope remains - it must - and because of only one thing: the cross of our Messiah.
David and Solomon
And, strange though it may seem, it is King David who gives me that hope - not just because of what he did but because of what Yahweh did for him. If such an irresponsible, blind, biased, adulterous and murderous believer could still remain the friend of Yahweh, then there is indeed hope. But first we must understand why. I must understand why. You must too. What we need to discover is the essential difference between himself and his foolish son who went past the line of no return to remain, we suppose, forever cut off from hope and salvation. Solomon went too far, he tempted Providence beyond its limits of grace, as is the tendency of the carnal man, thinking that we can get away with sin for just a little bit longer without there being any serious consequences for our souls or for the souls of those whom we have real power over. But it is precisely because of the latter - our dependants - that Yahweh must draw a line and say: "No further! If you go beyond this line you will fall into the abyss." We read:
"When Solomon was old ... his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to Yahweh his Elohim, as was the heart of his father David" (1 Kings 11:4, NKJV).
This is the difference between David and Solomon - David abandoned his senses and his loyalty to a faithful servant, Uriah - David showed favouritism to his family and put them above his subjects - David did many foolish things. But David demonstrated his loyalty to Yahweh by repenting in deep contrition and in tears. Solomon was disloyal to Yahweh - he abandoned the truth and followed after the ways of demons. That was the difference between the two. Solomon returned to Egypt big time! For we read:
"For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not fully follow Yahweh, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods" (1 Kings 11:5-8, NKJV).
David showed favouritism, committed adultery and even murder, but what redeemed him in the end after he had repented of this gross wickedness was that he "fully followed Yahweh". He did not compromise his religion. He did not abandon the Torah, even if he broke it, but was true. Like us all, he wrestled against the flesh and succumbed to it. He is a warning of the dangers of it. But unlike Solomon he did not compromise his worship. He never once turned to a foreign god or a demon to worship it or seek help from it. Not once! And neither did Abraham, and for this reason Abraham was also a friend of Yahweh:
"And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed Elohim, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of Elohim. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:23-24, NKJV).
The ultimate measure of your faithfulness - the ultimate test, if you like - is whether you turn to other gods or not and whether you stay true to Torah or not. In the next breath, James is telling us:
"Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?" (James 2:25, NKJV).
Do you see this? James is placing Abraham and Rahab the prostitute side by side. They are counted as equal before Yahweh! Why? Because both, when they converted from their heathenism, remained single to Yahweh. They were counted righteous because of that faith! Rahab converted, married a Hebrew, obeyed Torah and was true. And through her Yah'shua the Messiah was born. Rahab was greater than Solomon. If you can understand why, then you have understood the mystery of true faith. And what is that mystery? LOYALTY! For what are we told of Solomon? "...his heart was not loyal to Yahweh his Elohim, as was the heart of his father David".
Loyalty. Loyalty is the key to salvation here. Scripture does not say that Solomon became an out and out Satanist or heathen. It says that he "did not fully follow Yahweh, as did his father David". It says that his heart was DIVIDED. Yah'shua said:
"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls" (Luke 11:17, NKJV).
Solomon played a double game - he lived two lives. He followed Yahweh and Torah on the one hand and on the other sacrificed to demons. He became "a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8, NKJV) and fell - irrecoverably. He is no different from your carnally-minded Christian who lives two lives.
Christians seem to have this naïve and foolish notion that so long as part of you is Christian you're going to make it. That is a lie. They think that so long as you don't become an out and out son of Perdition as Judas did that everything will be OK. That is a lie. The only thing that matters as far as the eternal welfare of your soul is concerned is whether you give yourself wholly to Yahweh or not and don't break the first commandment not to worship any other gods. The only thing that matters is that, in spite of our foolishness and tendency to sin - a disposition we yield too far more often then we would care to admit - is whether we remain loyal to Yahweh or not. And a pretty good indication of whether we are going to be true to Yahweh or not is the way we treat our spouses - whether we are loyal to them too ... or not. In our choice of spouse we indicate whether we will be true to our heavenly, allegorical Spouse or not. David chose wives loyal to the Covenant of Yahweh - Solomon did not. Solomon made choices that served his carnal disposition. He made the safety of his kingdom a function of making worldly-wise political alliances by marrying pagan women instead of trusting in Yahweh his Elohim as David did. Where David was choosing loyal and faithful wives like Abigail, Solomon was marrying the daughter of Pharaoh whom he favouritised and the daughters of others pagan kings. The seeds of Solomon's destruction were sown early on in his career. He leaned on the arm of flesh and placed his security in worldly politics. He hedged his bets in worldly-wisdom. David did not. Solomon had pagan wives as his security. David had Yahweh. What is your worldly security?
If you look at the list of those justified by faith in the writings of the apostles you will see that they all had one thing in common, even if they had failings: they devoted themselves wholeheartedly to Yahweh and to His Torah. They passionately loved His commandments and thereby demonstrated their love for Him. Solomon fell in love with his own beauty and wisdom. He fell in love with himself. That was why he fell.
Conclusion
Next week I will continue with this theme and tell you what Yahweh showed me about David and how he came to the edge of destruction and what it was that saved him. We will see the processes that lead to sin which are identical for everyone. What is important is to get our loyalties fixed in this life and not to be double-minded because Scripture makes it perfectly clear that the double-minded simply don't make it. Yahweh wants all your loyalty. Without it, you'll fall.
May Yahweh bless you and keep you and cause you to soberly reflect on these words is my prayer in Yah'shua's Name, Amen.
Endnotes
1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8
2
Also Mark 10:25. In the Aramaic gamla can mean either a 'large rope' or a 'camel'. The Greek translators incorrectly chose 'camel' (which has no meaning in this context) leaving commentators to come up with all sorts of peculiar explanations (e.g. a fictitious gate in Jerusalem called 'the eye of the needle'). The correct word is "rope" used by Yah'shua as an outrageous contrast to a needle-pulling thread to indicate the total impossibility of a rich person entering heaven.
Author: Lev-Tsiyon