The Way of YHVH vss. the Way of Man
By
Gary Primo
Aug. 16, 2011
I often speak about there only being two ways in this world, the Way of YHVH and the Way of HaSatan. The Way of man is generally the way of HaSatan anyway so I do not distinguish between the two. The purpose of this article is to draw out the incidents where YHVH has given man what he wanted, merely to teach him a lesson; and to show that organized religion was not the invention of YHVH, but, rather, of man. However, mankind has generally not learned from this lesson. YHVH has always given us choices. He has always hoped that we will make the right choices, however, that has rarely happened. Whenever mankind has made the right choice, they have been rewarded. When they made the wrong choice, they were punished. However, that punishment is not always readily apparent to man. It seems that YHVH has given them what they asked for, but is what they asked for the best thing for them?
Of course, it all started in the Garden of Eden. The first man and woman were given the choice of the fruit of two trees. They were told that eating the fruit of the tree of life would give them eternal life, but that eating the fruit of the forbidden tree would bring eternal death. Adam and Eve already knew what life was, but had no idea what death was; therefore, they did not fear it. When the serpent came along and tempted them into eating the forbidden fruit, they simply did not understand the consequences of their actions.
Many times we try to warn our children of the dangers attached to certain actions. Many times they do not listen and suffer the consequences. I, myself, was such a child. I never listened and always had to find things out for myself. It did teach me a lesson but, of course, I did not see the truth in many things until I was well into my adult life.
Adam would not realize the error of his ways until he was nearly 1,000 years old. We don’t know if Adam was the first to merely die from old age as opposed to being murdered, but he may have believed HaSatan’s lie up until that point, that he “Would not surely die”. He learned his lesson the hard way, but also set the president for all of mankind that followed. The sins of the fathers will be passed on to the sons, to the third and fourth generations. Since all have sinned, those sins have simply been passed on to generation after generation. And, of course, all have suffered death. Is man capable of ending this vicious cycle on his own? Almost 6,000 years of man’s history have proven that he is not. The only way to break the cycle is through total obedience to YHVH’s word for at least 4 generations, and only one being in the entire universe has been found to be totally without sin since he was created. That person, of course, is Yahshua HaMashiyack. Since his Father was YHVH, no sins were passed on though his genes.
Abraham also gave Cain a choice before he killed his brother, Abel.
Gen.4:6 - And YHVH said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 - If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
We all know the choice that Cain made. It was a wrong choice and for the first time, man was aware of his mortality. Afterword, in chapter 5, neither Cain nor Abel are mentioned in the genealogy of Adam, rather, it begins with the birth of Seth. Seth followed and gained favour from YHVH Cain was still alive, but he was banned from the family of YHVH and made to walk the earth in a similar fashion to HaSatan.
A succession of righteous men followed after Seth. Enoch was one who lived a life of righteousness and when others sought his life, YHVH removed him from his circumstance.
After Enoch we have Noah. His faith in YHVH was exceptional. He had to prophesy against the giants (sons of unions between angels and men) who were terrorizing the earth at the time. His life was in constant danger, but YHVH would not allow any harm to come to Noah. Instead He prophesied through Noah that He was going to send a great flood to kill off all life on the planet. Naturally no one believed him and all suffered the consequences. Only Noah, his family and all of the wildlife he gathered into the ark survived. Imagine, only one family on the entire earth was found worthy of saving. That is a sad situation for mankind and demonstrates how strong his carnal nature is, even when it comes to the One who created us.
After the flood, Noah was the oldest living human and became the king and high priest of the entire earth. Shem (Noah’s eldest son) took over as the king and high priest over the earth following the death of Noah. His chief adversary became Nimrod, the people’s choice. What was it that attracted the people to Nimrod, rather than Shem? It was that Nimrod offered them “security”. He built high walled cities to protect them and formed a human government with armies to fight for the people. He was a “god” they could see, feel and hear. And, thus, he came to be worshipped as a god, just like the “men of renown” that wandered the earth before the flood, and just like the present day Pope. Nimrod’s was the original design of the Babylonian Mystery Religion that the world still follows today. One might say that it was Nimrod who invented religion. It was not designed to draw anyone closer to YHVH but, rather, lead mankind away from our loving Father. Nimrod sought power and riches. He received both from the religious system and government he founded. All other religions on the earth were formed for exactly the same reasons.
What the world fails to realize in reading the first book of the Scriptures is that religion did not exist amongst the people of YHVH (Israel) until the time of Moses. That was in (approximately) 1500 BC. So, for the first 2500 years, the family of YHVH existed without any formal form of religion, nor any temple to worship in. They would have, of course, known about the Sabbath, because that was one of the first commandments given in the Scriptures. They likely were also aware of the Ten Commandments, since they would not have otherwise known that it was wrong to commit murder, theft, adultery, etc. You may be beginning to see what I am leading up to here. If there was no religious system or temple in existence among the children of YHVH for the first 2500 years of mans time on this earth, when and why did that become a requirement? Was it something that YHVH wanted, or did He initialize it to give the people what they wanted?
Next we have an ancestor who did make a series of right choices. Of course we are talking about Abraham. First he chose to obey YHVH when he was told to leave the Land of Ur and go to the Land of Canaan. The most difficult decision; however, was when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. It must have indeed been a heart wrenching decision, but Abraham believed in YHVH’s promises and knew that if all the descendants that YHVH promised him were to come from Isaac that he could not perish. He knew and trusted that YHVH had the power over death and was quite capable of resurrecting Isaac from the dead. YHVH had to know that Abraham’s heart was true. Abraham chose to obey YHVH and received the reward of obedience.
One thing we need to consider about Abraham is that there was no temple and no religious system in place such as would later be in the days of Moses. His was strictly a one on one relationship with YHVH – one which we are all meant to have with him. There was no big long set of laws, rituals, statutes, customs, traditions and doctrines. Abraham did not feel a need to stuff YHVH into a “box” where he could go and worship Him on one particular day of the week and do what he wanted for the other 6 days. He saw the entire universe as YHVH’s temple. Abraham saw the spirit of YHVH in every living thing, both animal and plant. With such insight one realizes that we are always in the presence of YHVH and have no need of a temple. Abraham prayed and meditated under the stars and taught the truth of YHVH from the door of his tent. YHVH blessed him and made him to prosper and become a well respected man in the land.
Three separate and very distinct religions evolved amongst the descendants of Abraham. How did such a simple form of worship turn into three complicated and confusing religions? Mankind is still no closer to YHVH, except in his overactive imagination, than when life first began. Clearly this was man’s choice, not YHVH’s. Again it was a wrong choice.
Two new concepts were introduced during the time of Abraham. One was that the future Messiah would have to die and be resurrected from the dead (symbolized by the sacrifice of Isaac). The other was the covenant between YHVH and man; and the symbol of that covenant – circumcision.
Gen. 22:15 - And the angel of YHVH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 - And said, By myself have I sworn, saith YHVH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 - That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 - And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Abraham’s reward was a result of obedience.
Gen. 17:1 - And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, YHVH appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty Elohim; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 - And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 - And Abram fell on his face: and Elohim talked with him, saying,
4 - As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5 - Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 - And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 - And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a Elohim unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 - And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their Elohim.
9 - And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 - This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 - And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 - And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 - He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 - And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
Some may be confused as to what exactly this covenant entailed, because it is not really clear. One has to think of it as a marriage contract for it to make sense. The covenant is the marriage itself and the symbol of the covenant is circumcision, the same as the ring in regards to marriage. People wear their wedding rings to remind them of their marriage to each other. Men are circumcised to remind them of their marriage to YHVH. Both the covenant and the symbol of it were ordained to be kept forever, by all generations. Naturally when the Christian faith was developing and seeking to separate themselves from Judah, they found cause in the judgment of the Counsel of Jerusalem to declare that circumcision was done away with. It was nothing more than a clever manipulation of words and facts. But the act of circumcision is not the topic of this article.
The covenant was simple, like any marriage contract. Both parties were to love and respect one another, just as two married people are to do. This was an invitation to become “one” with the father, just as a wife is to become one with her husband. The old wedding vows used to read “love, honour and obey”, which typified Man’s relationship with YHVH. The movement these days to remove the word “obey” from the marriage vows equally represents man’s growing refusal to obey YHVH. Refusing to regard the husband as the head of the family is akin to refusing to recognize and honour YHVH as Elohim and the Creator of the universe. The contract is doomed from the start. We are to walk with YHVH and be perfect. Perfection is measured by obedience. The command to circumcise is the test of one’s willingness to walk with YHVH, obey Him and seek perfection.
In the case of the covenant, the contract and the symbol of it are intertwined. The one does not work without the other. If one believes in and fears YHVH, but refuses to take the symbol upon one’s self, the whole agreement is useless and visa versa. It is like everyone wearing wedding rings without being married ; or like being married and not wearing a ring so that one can carry on like a single person. The custom used to be that only the bride wore the ring and the men generally did carry on as if they were single. This is not the case with YHVH. He demonstrates perfectly how a man is to relate to his wife via the wedding contract without the need of a symbol to remind Him of His vows. YHVH’s heart is true, no matter what.
How does all this relate to religion? The terms of the covenant were simple, ‘be circumcised and obey my voice and I will lead you on the narrow path that leads to eternal life as a resurrected son of Elohim. Religion adds to these original simple terms in the form of doctrines, rituals, traditions, customs and statutes. Abraham needed none of these things. When YHVH spoke to him, he merely obeyed and was rewarded. Abraham, of course, was a type of the coming Messiah. He did not need a religious system or a temple, yet he was favoured most highly by YHVH. He did not attend a religious college, nor was he ordained by man to preach the word. His was the same one on one relationship that Yahshua enjoyed with the Father throughout his existence. It is the same relationship we are to all have, individually, with the Father. The sons of Abraham (through Isaac) all followed in their father’s footsteps.
When the children of Israel later were removed to Egypt and suffered over 400 years of slavery, they were introduced to the Egyptian form of religion with all its pomp and pageantry. Perhaps they were greatly impressed by the way the Egyptians supposedly “honoured” their gods. They failed to recognize that the Egyptian gods were false and all the pomp and pageantry was all smoke and mirrors – to give a form of godliness where none existed. That is exactly what religion is all about – all you need to do, think, believe and say in one perfectly put together package. Gone is your free will and all desire to seek out all truth. You are part of a group now and there is comfort in numbers. You have put all your trust and faith in the man behind the pulpit and are fully convinced that your salvation hinges upon every word that comes out of his mouth.
There is only one mouth that speaks the truth (YHVH’s), which He does through His son, the Great Prince. We have no need of any man to interpret what He says. It is all in black and white for each and every one of us to read; and if your experience is anything like mine, you will clearly “hear” YHVH speak to you while you read His word. And each conversation is geared specifically for our personal spiritual needs.
The corruptibility of man has proven to be the norm throughout man’s history. There has never been a religious or political system, EVER, that has not been corrupted. Only one being under heaven has proven himself beyond corruption – Yahshua HaMashiyack. His are the only words we need to heed. And he has opened the door that allows us direct access to the Father. We must believe that and have the faith to walk through that door.
Religion also gives an individual something to hide behind, or, at least, many seem to have that impression. “Let the minister/priest/rabbi do all the work for us and all we have to do is pretend to pay attention to him for 1 ½ hours a week and we will be saved”. How easy is that? Christians fail to seek out the sin in their lives and remove it, because they all believe the lie that the law (which is the word of YHVH) has been done away with. Since sin is the transgression of the law by literal interpretation, none are seeking the word of YHVH and; therefore, none are seeking to put sin out of their lives. And, sadly, none are going to see salvation. The hope of salvation that religion is offering them is a mirage. There is no substance to it. They have been brain washed into believing that once they give their hearts to “Jesus” they are already saved. The reality is that their messiah is none other than Tammuz made over. He is a false messiah and all his promises are therefore false as well.
What possible reason could YHVH have had in setting the children of Israel up in a formal type of religion? The answer is simple. It is what they wanted. Previously there was a priesthood that was formed after the heavenly pattern. In heaven Yahshua is the high priest. The righteous angels are the lesser priests. On earth, the oldest living human was the high priest. The oldest living family member was the priest over each individual family. This system was known as the Order of Melchizadek. This is the system which the people rejected in favour of organized religion.
After the flood, Noah was the oldest living human on the earth and was; therefore, the king and high priest of the entire earth. When he died, his eldest son, Shem, took his place. Shem’s life overlapped Abraham’s by some 111 years and; therefore, it could only have been Shem that Abraham met (after Lot’s rescue) and paid a tithe to, as he would have been the only one on the earth that would have been addressed as the high priest before YHVH. Therefore, Shem and Melchizadek are one and the same. Shem was his personal name and Melchizadek was the designation for his office. We can read of a similar title of a later holder of this office in Joshua 10.
Josh. 10:1 - Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;
2 - That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
3 - Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
4 - Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
Both Melchizadek and Adonizedek were kings of Salem (Jerusalem). The titles of both end with “zedek”. The change in the first part of the title might be a clue that some form of corruption had occurred to pollute this priestly system. There can be no doubt that YHVH saw some reason to change from that system to the temple system later bestowed upon the nation of Israel. It is similar to when YHVH would even later allow Israel to have a king over them. It was not YHVH’s will but theirs. He gave them what they wanted, only with His rules, which still made them different from the rest of the world. They would end up rejecting this system of worship as well because it still set them apart from the rest of the world.
Following the exodus, the people of Israel, were soon imitating the Egyptians in demanding a golden calf to worship. Since that was the type of system they wanted, that is exactly what YHVH gave them (without the golden calf, of course). Was it any less corrupt that the previous system? No it was not. Perhaps it was even worse. But that’s what the people wanted and that is what the people got. They now had their own religion. Soon they would have their own king.
When Israel demanded a king to rule over them, they definitely did not realize what they were letting themselves in for. Up until that time YHVH had insured their safety and except for when they sinned, they were usually victorious. A great number of those victories were achieved by miraculous means. Even though they may have been hated by their neighbours, I believe that they were envied at the same time. The world, it seems (according to secular literature of the day) did recognize the fact that Israel had YHVH (or at least some supernatural power) on its side. YHVH warned them through the prophet and judge, Samuel, what their lives would be like under a king, but they scoffed at His warnings and demanded a king anyway. Once again, YHVH gave them what they wanted to teach them a lesson.
Israel, it seems, did not want to be separate from the rest of the world. They did not want to be set apart for special service and favour for YHVH. They wanted to be just like their neighbours. They got what they asked for and soon corruption abounded. It was all about power, control and, of course, greed. The leaders convinced the people that they needed these things because they desired to have all this power to themselves. They wished to be honoured as gods, as the kings of their neighbouring states were. Even though YHVH had a proven track record of bountiful blessings for obedience and had brought them decisive and miraculous victories over their enemies, the children of Israel still desired to be just like all the rest of the people on earth – without any hope of salvation.
Very few of the kings of Israel were deemed righteous by YHVH. The trend appeared to be that, once in power, these kings would become jealous of the people’s loyalty towards YHVH and seek to divert their attention away from YHVH and towards the king. He would; therefore,, bring strange customs and traditions into the existing worship system and test the people as to who they would remain loyal to. If they practiced the strange customs, they were loyal to the king. If they rejected these new customs, they remained loyal to YHVH and became enemies of the king.
Eventually the kings of Israel pushed YHVH too far and the boom fell. The northern nation of Israel fell and entered into captivity in the 8th century BC. The nation of Judah followed suit approximately three centuries later. The northern nation became known as the Lost Ten Tribes, because they were assimilated into all the other nations of the world and lost their identity. However, YHVH knows who they are and will call them back to Him in the end days. In fact, these are primarily the people to whom the gospel message was sent to. The Gentiles who were being called into the faith were quite likely (for the most part) descendants of these lost ten tribes. Remember, no one can come to YHVH unless He calls them.
The southern nation of Judah went into captivity in Babylon, but 70 years later, a remnant, loyal to YHVH, were allowed to return and rebuild Jerusalem and later the temple. They remained there until shortly after the crucifixion of our Messiah. They started off with the most honourable of intentions and did well for a time. However, corruption soon reared its ugly head once again. By the time Yahshua arrived on the scene, there were three political parties within the religious system vying for supreme power – the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin. All were about personal power rather than servitude to YHVH. Yahshua saw their corruption when he came and condemned them, taking a small child on his knee and proclaiming that if any of them were going to see the kingdom of heaven, they had to become like that small child – vulnerable and ready to mold.
In reading the gospel accounts of the life of Yahshua, one cannot help but notice that he rarely spoke in the temple. He was more often found ministering to the people out in the open – on a mountain side or by the sea. Yahshua recognized one simple fact, that one does not need a temple to be in the presence of YHVH and the miracles he performed while teaching in these areas are proof of that. Also, part of Yahshua’s purpose was to restore the Order of Melchizadek and become the one true High Priest who was beyond corruption. Therefore, he had no need of a temple. He demonstrated his contempt for the temple system when he threw the money changers out. Yahshua was well aware of the degree to which the leaders had corrupted the temple system and was disgusted by it.
Yahshua is our model of perfection. He had no need for pomp and pageantry. He merely spoke to the people as one friend would speak to another. He proved how one true child of YHVH could change the world and the future events of history. He had no need of a lot of fancy rituals to invoke the favour of YHVH. He was of one mind with YHVH to the extent that his thoughts and YHVH’s were the same. When he willed the healing of an individual, Yahshua already knew that YHVH would honour his request. This was because he had ALL faith in YHVH. YHVH had filled Yahshua with His spirit from the day he was created and they enjoyed a very unique relationship of having existed together, one on one, for some time before the rest of the creation was created. Yahshua maintained this one on one relationship with YHVH throughout his existence, never wavering. In his final prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Yahshua prayed that all of his true followers seek out this same one on one relationship with the Father that he had. He would not have prayed for such a thing if it were impossible to achieve. Therefore, we must assume that it is possible to achieve this oneness with the Father. We can achieve it by following perfectly in the footsteps of the Messiah.
Yahshua picked an unlikely bunch to be his disciples, while on the earth. Not one of them was a priest. Not one of them was a rabbi. However, Yahshua knew their hearts, even Judas’, before he chose them. No, they were not perfect and stumbled and fell on numerous occasions, but they always got back up and persisted in their quest. Following the crucifixion, they all lost their faith and returned to their previous occupation. If Yahshua had not of appeared to them in his resurrected form, they might have been lost to history altogether. Actually seeing the resurrected Messiah in the flesh was a tremendous boost to their faith and from that point on their faith never wavered again. They, perhaps, enjoyed the highest degree of the same oneness with YHVH that Yahshua held of anyone since that time. They truly emptied their vessel and allowed the spirit of YHVH to fully indwell them; and it was because of this feat that they were able to perform many of the same miracles that Yahshua did. I have heard ministers say the “God” does not work that way anymore – that the apostles were given special powers because they were eye witnesses to the reality of the Messiah. The truth is that YHVH certainly does still work that way and that their faith was simply stronger than anyone’s since. True faith has been so watered down because of religion that it is practically non-existent.
The way of Yahshua equaled the Way of YHVH. The way of the Judaic priesthood was enmity towards YHVH. Yahshua proved this point over and over again. The Jews had proven, by hundreds of years of experience, that they were incapable of resisting corruption. Therefore, YHVH, through Yahshua, restored the Order of Melchizadek, only this time the high priest is one that is beyond corruption. That means that the eldest member of every family today is hypothetically considered a priest before YHVH. Most are not aware of that duty and do not even seek to perform it. However, this is the priestly order of the day. This order is fashioned after the heavenly model. Therefore, it is perfect, or, at least, will be once all that is corruptible is destroyed forever.
Rev. 21:22 - And I saw no temple therein: for YHVH Elohim Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23 - And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of Elohim did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 - And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Following the final victory of YHVH over all sin, John gives us a vision of the future, heavenly Jerusalem. Surprise! There is no temple. Neither will there be a religious system. All living will be of one mind with the Father. We will no longer need someone to make intersession for us. We will have free access to YHVH and He will be dwelling right there with us. Where YHVH’s glory in the past only illuminated the temple itself, then it will illuminate the entire earth, for there will be no more sun or moon to light it. The entire earth will be the temple of YHVH. This is the way we are to look at the earth today – as the temple of YHVH. There is no dark corner where we can hide from YHVH. His spirit is all around us no matter where we are. We may not be able to see it as we will be able to in the future, but we must believe that it is constantly with us.
Conclusion
The Way of YHVH is quite simple. We empty ourselves of all the ways of this world that lead to corruption and allow YHVH to indwell us through His set apart spirit, so that we can learn how to be incorruptible. The measuring stick that determines if one is corruptible or incorruptible is the Law of YHVH. These Laws are those that stand whether there is a temple or not. If there is no temple, the laws pertaining to the temple cannot stand. Since Yahshua’s sacrifice replaced animal sacrifice, there is no need for animal sacrifice any longer and any laws pertaining to that custom no longer apply. That leaves only the laws pertaining to our relationship with YHVH and with our fellow man. These are the laws that remain intact today. These are the laws by which we judge righteousness from unrighteousness and corruption from incorruption. The Scriptures plainly tell us that corruption (anything that is corruptible) cannot inherit the Kingdom of YHVH. Therefore, we must learn to be incorruptible. That might be an easy task if not for our carnal spirit constantly warring with YHVH’s spirit, but, just the same, we must never stop trying.
Along with our carnal spirit we have all of our life’s experiences that have taught us to distrust, be skeptical, be suspicious and not to believe anything until it is fully proven. It is difficult to prevent these natural dispositions from spilling over into our relationship with YHVH. Time after time we have given our hearts wholly to someone or some thing/cause, only to be disappointed in the end. Each time we learn to be a little less trusting and tend to hold back on giving our love blindly to another. We set up barriers around our hearts which we are (most times) totally unaware of. To have absolute faith, one has to trust in the other person WITHOUT ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER.
Our first love is for our parents. That love is strongest when we are children. Then, as we grow up, and enter into our rebellious teenage years and all of a sudden we respect the views of our peers over those of our parents. Then we meet the love of our lives, marry and have children and they become the love of our lives. Then, at last, we begin to see life as our parents did and that we return to our first love.
This can be compared to man’s relationship with YHVH. The first man, Adam, was like a new born child. His falling for HaSatan’s deception was like Adam entering into his rebellious teenage years. Later in his life he returned to YHVH, his first love. All of mankind followed in his footsteps. The entire history of mankind can be seen as one long rebellious teenage period.
In the end, man will return to his first love. However, first he must learn the lesson that YHVH has been trying to teach us all along – to trust in Him explicitly. We have to work on developing a full knowledge and understanding of YHVH before we can develop trust and faith in Him. He has provided us with His set apart Scriptures as a guide for getting to know Him. As we begin to seek YHVH out and ask for his help in our daily lives and He answers those requests, we start to trust in Him more and more. Yet we have to constantly ask ourselves, “Have we yet emptied ourselves of all distrust? Have we torn down all the barriers that we have erected over our lifetimes so that we can allow YHVH to fully indwell us? Do we truly trust YHVH enough to let down our barriers? The answer is found in the “fruits of the spirit”. If we are not displaying the fruits of the spirit, such as Yahshua and his apostles did, then we are lacking in some area of spirituality.
Yahshua once asked, “When the son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth?” With so many religions on the earth, this seems like a strange question. After all does not every Christian have faith? Does not every Muslim have faith? Apparently they do not – at least not in the true God and His plan for mankind. Faith is the root of any true relationship with YHVH. Without faith, there can be no relationship. The degree of our relationship with YHVH is equal to our degree of faith. Yahshua had a full measure of faith. He was fully indwelled by the Father. They were of one mind. Therefore, he was able to do all the marvelous things that he did, fully knowing that the Father living inside of him would perform his desire – for they both desired the same thing. If we had the faith in YHVH that Yahshua had, we would be able to walk though a hospital, without hesitation or doubt and heal everyone in it. We would be able to walk on water, calm the seas and raise the dead. Yahshua was only able to do these things because he was filled with faith. I have no idea if the Apostles were filled with the same degree of faith as Yahshua, but the fruits of the spirit that they displayed would certainly lead one to believe that they did. What happened since then?
Such faith is paramount to being of one mind with the Father. We must fully believe that this is what YHVH desires for us and is eagerly waiting for us to develop this degree of faith in our lives. Like any parent, YHVH desires for us to become all that we can be – all that He has purposed for us from the beginning. That purpose is for us to follow in our eldest brother’s footsteps in being reborn into the Kingdom of YHVH. We are to become entirely new creatures, just as Yahshua did, and to fully become sons (and daughters) of YHVH.
Our relationship with YHVH is a very personal thing. Belonging to the “right’ church or listening to the “right” minister has nothing to do with this relationship. It is what we do individually that matters. NO ONE can develop this relationship for us. We must each blow the dust off our Book of Scriptures and seek YHVH out and open up our hearts on an up close and personal level. Let NO MAN tell you that you cannot do this on your own. The fact is that it is the ONLY way any of us CAN achieve this degree of intimacy with the Father is from a personal level.
I once had one of my former ministers in the WCG tell me that I was not qualified to interpret Scripture. I believe that I have proven that man a liar. If we take the time to read YHVH’s word for ourselves, while praying for understanding, He WILL answer our prayers and make His word plain and simple to understand.
The purpose of all religions is to confuse the individual’s relationship with YHVH. They are more concerned about power, money and control than our spiritual development and welfare. The passing around of the collection plate benefits only whichever religious organization one belongs to. One cannot BUY their way into the Kingdom of YHVH. If you are concerned about tithing, give it directly to the poor widow around the corner with 7 kids to feed. Once when I was down and out I went to a Catholic church for help and was begrudgingly given a whole five dollars for my wife and I to buy groceries. It was a humiliating experience to begin with, but to walk away with only $5 was a real slap in the face.
You may think that giving money to a charitable organization is a good way to distribute your tithes. I did my college placements for such organizations. You should know that only about 30% of your money goes to help those that it is purposed for. The rest goes to create jobs for social workers and payout very healthy 6 figure salaries to the administrators. I can tell you from personal experience that non-profit organizations are the biggest scam going. You are much better off giving your money directly to those in need rather than through any charitable organization.
For a time I was involved with “living room churches”, where a group of believers meet in one of the member’s living rooms. It was great as long as everyone believed the same thing. However, eventually doctrinal disputes arose and the groups dispersed. For me it was when I learned the truth concerning the origin of Yahshua (as a created being rather than having always existed beside the Father). I just could not convince the others of this fact, and one member got unreasonably angry with me. Another member who’s opinion I respected the most, and was dedicated to seeking out the truth, all of a sudden joined up with the Vineyard church (a Sunday worshipping, Trinitarian group) in which individual members would break out making animal like noises, talking gibberish and flopping on the floor like a fish out of water. I attended one of their services as a courtesy to my friend, but it scared the bejeepers out of me and I never went back.
The only source of truth we can totally rely on is the written word of YHVH. All other sources are tainted by private interpretation. Having a “set in stone” set of doctrines is the most damaging mindset to searching out all truth. As we search and learn new truths, our beliefs will change. That is what is so wonderful about seeking YHVH’s truth. We are ever learning and growing spiritually. Having “set in stone” doctrines puts an abrupt stop to that learning process. It is like dropping out of school. We must keep our minds open to learning ALL truth. The main gist of the all the 7 letters to the 7 churches of Revelation 2 and 3 is that we must be found in the perpetual state of personally OVERCOMING all deception right up until the end of our physical lives. We do not graduate from this school until we are resurrected from the grave.
The way of YHVH and the way of man will continue to be at odds until HaMashiyack returns. The Way of YHVH will win out in the end. The path is indeed narrow that leads to the Kingdom; and it is interconnected with countless trails leading away from it. Our only true guide is the written word of YHVH. We must judge everything else that we hear and experience in this life by that word. YHVH desires that we all succeed and He will help us as any loving parent would. We must believe this with our whole heart and tear down all our psychological defenses so that we may put all of our trust, confidence and faith in YHVH alone. And, hopefully, when Yahshua returns, he WILL find some degree of faith on the Earth.
Do not allow yourself to be caught in the trappings of the way of man. Seek out and follow the Way of YHVH instead and your reward will be waiting for you at the end.
YHVH Bless
G.P.