To Seduce the Elect
Part 6 of 7
An in depth look at some of the falsehoods which have invaded the Christian world and the danger they pose to Christ and His church, with apologies to none.By Lt. Col. Gordon "Jack" Mohr AUS Ret.
I have spoken about some of the errors which have crept into the Roman Catholic and Judeo-Christian beliefs. It is only proper, that I take a close look at the Identity Movement, I adopted in 1980.
At this time I was a member of a Fundamentalist Baptist church. For twelve years I had worked as a well known "lay evangelist", speaking in some of the largest churches in the country, and welcome in schools such as Tennessee Temple, Bob Jones University and Pensacola Christian Academy. As a member of the American Opinion Speakers Bureau of the John Birch Society, and an evangelist, I had toured the country, speaking in all the states but Maine, five foreign countries, and over 3500 American communities, with the message that we MUST return in OBEDIENCE to God, before He could or would heal our land.
In 1980 I was a member of a Fundamentalist Baptist church on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. I believed the doctrines of the Judeo-Christian church, that the Jews were God's Chosen people and must not be criticized in any way; the error that Christ did away with the Law when He died on Calvary; the error of the Rapture of the church, and that "inter-racial marriage" was approved by God, as long as both members were Christians, ala Dr. Billy Graham.
My mind was so encased in "hardened Baptist denominational cement", that it took a traumatic experience, which I call the "dynamite of God", to shatter this cement and cause me to look at the truth in God's Word. I learned the personal lesson of John 8:32 - "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." If any man would have told me that I was a slave to the "brainwashing" of Judeo-Christianity, I would have laughed in his face.
I thought I knew the TRUTH, but in reality I knew what my Bible School educated pastor said was TRUTH. He was sincere all right, but taught what he had been told was TRUTH in Bible School, sometimes by Jewish professors, who were not even saved. I didn't realize it, but I was completely "brainwashed", as millions of Christians have been by the Jewish propaganda taught in our schools, the church, and by the media. Instead of listening to what our Savior taught in John 10:26, when He told the Jewish religious leaders: "But ye believe (Me) not, because ye are NOT OF MY SHEEP", which seems mighty plain to me now that I KNOW the truth, I accepted what my "brainwashed" pastor said, even though it contradicted my Savior.
During the Vietnam War I worked the College Lecture Circuit and came into sometimes violent contact with men such as Abbey Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, and their Communist Students for a Democratic Society (S.D.S.) which was tearing up our colleges, according to a blueprint which had been brought to the United States from Russia in 1937 and was taught at the Eugene Debs Labor School in Milwaukee. I was amazed to find that in 100% of the cases, the leaders of these radical groups were young Jews from wealthy families, usually their fathers were lawyers.
I became so intrigued with the Jewish attraction to Communism, that in the summer of 1980, I took off three months from a very busy schedule to try and find the reason. I went to Jewish sources for my answers, and was amazed that instead of denying this connection they reveled in it.
In the ASIAN MAGAZINE, March 1920, I read the following statement made by a Jewish leader: "In all Bolshevik institutions, the heads are Jewish. We look on Bolshevism as a Jewish affair. There is a great national fervor among Jews in the behalf of Communism; we believe that the promised time of victory for God's Elect (Jews) is now".
When Rabbi Stephen Wise, the top Jew in America was asked to comment on Communism, he said: "Some call it Communism; I say it's Judaism!"
The LONDON JEWISH CHRONICLE, Apr. 4, 1919 stated: "...there is much in the fact of Bolshevism, in the fact that the ideals of Bolshevism are consonant (in agreement) with the finest ideals of Judaism".
The AMERICAN HEBREW, the largest Jewish newspaper in the United States, in the summer of 1919 had a front page edition which declared: "What we (Jews) did in Russia through Jewish brains and money power, we will accomplish in the United States". This was at the time when Stalin was in the process of murdering millions of Russian Christians, most often under the supervision of Jewish Commissars. (For confirmation read history of this period written before 1950 when Jewish censorship of the truth began to go into effect.)
The Jewish author Marcus Eli Ravage, writing in the Jan 1928 issue of CENTURY MAGAZINE, stated: "We Jews are at the bottom of nearly all your wars and revolutions; not only of the Russian revolution, but every major revolution in history. (Compare with Jesus' words in Matt.23:34,35) We did it solely with the irresistible might of our Jewish spirit; with ideas and propaganda" -
This statement reflects one made many years earlier in 1856, by a Rabbi Reichorn, top Rabbi in France, when at the funeral of another Rabbi he was quoted as saying: "Wars are the Jews harvests. With them we kill off Christians and gain control of their gold. We have already killed 100-million of them, and the end is not yet".
During this study period I was able to obtain eight books of the 63 volume Babylonian Talmud, which Jewish sources say is the "heart blood of Judaism". I was amazed and horrified at the hatred expressed there for Jesus Christ and all Christians and where we are consigned to spend eternity in hell, standing up to our necks in boiling excrement. These books constantly refer to our Savior an "illegitimate bastard born to a Jewish whore named Mary and conceived during menstruation".
By the end of the summer, studying from Jewish sources, history and the Scriptures, I was convinced that the people we call Jews cannot possibly be the Chosen People of the Bible, in spite of what my pastor said. I began to contrast what he said, with what my Savior said, as recorded in the Bible. In John 10:26, speaking to the Jewish leaders, He said: "But ye believe (Me) not; because ye are NOT OF MY SHEEP". This seemed mighty plain to me. Then as confirmation He went further to say: "Ye (Jews) believe Me not, because ye are NOT OF MY SHEEP. My sheep hear My voice and follow Me..." In Matt 23:15 He accused the Pharisees of crossing sea and land to make converts, only to turn them into "two fold more children of hell than yourself", hardly Chosen People material. And the Apostle Paul, an Israelite; raised as a Jew, and before his conversion a Pharisee, said of them in 1 Thess. 2:15 - "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us (the Christian church), and they please not God, and are contrary to all men".
In Matthew 24:33 and elsewhere, our Lord called the Jews a "generation bloodline) of serpents and vipers (poisonous snakes)", and asked the rhetorical question: "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
Yet when I went to my pastor with all this proof, he became furious, and when I finally told him that I MUST accept the testimony of my Savior, over what he taught, that was the end. Within two weeks he had spread the word across the State of Mississippi, that Jack Mohr was an apostate, to the this evaluation in vs 2 when he says: "much every way, for unto them were committed the oracles. (Utterances) of God". There is no scriptural record that these oracles were ever given to a people called Jews. There just aren't any, in spite of what Jewish apologists like Jack Van Impe, and Peter La Londe say to the contrary.
As I studied deeper I found over and over again where God had ordained "true Israel" to be a servant people, before they could "rule and reign with Him," (see Is. 41:8; 43:10; 48:20; Matt. 10:24; 12:18; 20-26, 27; Rev. 2:26, and 3:21). The Jews on the other hand teach that "When Messiah comes, every Jew will have 2,000 goyim (non-Jew animal) slaves." (Brother, sister, they are speaking of you and I). This is their present, oft repeated plan for their New World Order.
We have somewhat of a similar problem within the Identity Movement, where some misled folks have become RACIAL SUPREMISTS, teaching the false message that the ARYAN Race is superior to all and was ordained by God to rule the world. They are not taught the fact that it was only one small family of the ARYAN/ADAMIC race that was chosen by God. He did not pick them because of their mental superiority, or their goodness, but because of the OBEDIENCE and FAITHFULNESS of their Father Abraham. They were to rule, only as they first learned to serve. Most RACIAL SUPREMISTS, don't want to go through the "serving stage". Our King said very clearly in Matt. 23:11, 12 - "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth him-self shall be exalted".
I'm not surprised by the action of the Jews, for they are angry at me, not for lying about them, but for telling the truth. This they cannot afford for our people to know. I am surprised by the reaction of Christian leaders, from whom I receive much more "flack". They are upset because I expose the hypocrisy of their "Jews chosen people" theory. I just can't understand supporting those enemies who are trying to destroy everything we stand for, although I did it in blindness for fifty years.
As early as 1289, the principle Rabbi of France, issued a Protocol to the Jews under his control. It said:
1 - Make of your sons merchants, that little by little we may despoil the Christians of their possessions;The naivete of the Christian world is reflected in the contemptuous statement made recently by a high ranking Israeli official, when he said: "We Jews have the best Congress money can buy!" and he is not far from wrong, for there are 70 out of 100 Senators, who continually vote the "straight Israeli ticket". In all honesty, the United States has been under Zionist control since 1913, when a Traitorous President and Congress handed the economic policy of this nation into the hands of the Federal Reservists. Many of you know that this organization is not Federal and is made up of eight privately owned banks, all owned and controlled by International Jewish bankers. These have rightfully said: "Give us control of the economics of a country, and we care not who makes her laws". We have become a ZOG (ZIONIST OCCUPIED GOVERNMENT), which is taking us at a gallop into the slavery of the One World Plantation.2- Make of your sons doctors and apothecaries. So we may take away Christian lives;
3- Make of your sons clerics and canons, so we may destroy the Christian church from within;
4 - Arrange for your sons to become lawyers and judges, and see that they mix themselves in the affairs of state, in order that by putting Christians under our yoke, you may dominate the world, and be avenged on them. (This has been the Zionist Plan from the beginning, with their target date for takeover in the year 2000.)
In 1981, I joined a group of dedicated Christians, most of whom had come out from the Judeo-Christian churches and were looking for a God ordained means of saving America. 75 years ago, we would have been looked on as Patriotic heroes, to day under the urging of the Jewish controlled media, we are scorned as "right-wing-patriot-extremists; neo-Nazis; anti-Semitic hate mongers".
Yet in spite of this, we are the only branch of Christianity who is willing to preach the "whole counsel of God's Word. We are clearly told in Jer. 23:22 that "If the preachers of Israel, had stood in God's counsel, and had caused His people to hear His words; then they should have turned from their wicked ways, and from the evil of their doing." Yet in America today, with 50-million "born again" Christians, we are headed for hell faster than at any time in our history. Could it be that the church has become the "salt" Jesus mentioned in Matt. 7:13, that has lost. it's "savor" (it's ability to act as salt and hold back corruption). The King says when this happens, it is good for nothing but the garbage heap.
My purpose in this book is to feed Christians with some "strong meat" to counter the "spiritual pablum" they receive. in their church.
My purpose in the remainder of this book is to discuss some of the aspects of Christianity which I believe are harming her overall message. Many of you will disagree with me, and some will even get angry with my analysis. I stand on what the Word teaches.
In this section of the book I am going to analyze some of the unusual aspects of Christian Identity which set us apart from Judeo-Christianity and Roman Catholicism.
It appears to me that we are beginning to see a deliberate effort on the part of some who want to destroy the effectiveness of Identity by Judaizing it. They are doing the same thing the Jews did in Acts 15, when they infiltered the Christian church in Antioch, teaching that a man had to be circumcised before he could be saved. This caused such a furor, that a Church Council meeting was called in Jerusalem in which the Apostle Peter told them: "Now why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the believers which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (not the act of circumcision) we shall be saved..."
This same idea is being carried to extremes in several areas of Christian Identity. I surmise that most of it has it's origin with the ASSEMBLY OF YAHWEH CHURCH, pastored by the Jew Jacob Myers from Pennsylvania. These people insist that folks in Christian Identity MUST use the old Hebrew names of YAHWEH and YASHUAH, when speaking of the Creator and His Son our Savior. Some of my best friends teach this, although for the life of me, I can't see where they get their Scriptural authority for it. I have no argument with the use of the old Hebrew words as long as they are not carried to excess, but when a man tells me: "The Almighty will not listen to your prayers unless you address Him as Yahweh!" I have a tendency to laugh in his face. God has been hearing and answering my prayers for many years, and I have always addressed Him as God. I was saved in the name of His precious Son Jesus Christ, not by some Hebrew deity named Yashuah. Millions of Israelites have addressed Him as God, not "GAWD", as some Yahwites like to pronounce it, and have been blessed by His Son. If He was displeased with the use of these English names, I sincerely doubt He would have so blessed. I use them myself at times when I am with people who understand them, but I sincerely doubt that one Israelite in a thousand knows what you mean when you use these Hebrew words. I am in full agreement with the Apostle Paul when he says, 1 Cor. 14:9 -"So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air... Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian to me
I understand that under God's New Covenant with Israel, she would have a new land, not in old Palestine, and a new language. I happen to believe this is English, universally understood by all the Israel nations of Christendom. I have no objection to you using the old Hebrew words, but please don't attempt to cram them down my throat, and break fellowship with me as some have, because I will not do as I they desire.
I agree with the following from all article written by I. Preston Eby, titled HALLOWED BE THY NAME! I'm pretty much in agreement with what he writes about this subject:
Let's shine the light of God's truth on this matter, so that confusion and error may be dispelled. We speak of the Lord God; we speak of Jesus, our Savior and Lord - all are wonderful words that spring out of the depths of our hearts and speak volumes of the intimate love and reverence we have for our Heavenly Father and His most precious Son.
God's name is important! But must we, as some claim, use only the old Hebrew names when speaking of the Father and the Son? Is salvation, or true reverence based on a correct pronunciation of God's name in a certain language, or a certain set of sounds? (If so, the YAHWEHITES would rim into problems, for there is much discussion among them as to how these Hebrew words are to be written and pronounced -Mohr).
The notion that we must use the Hebrew spelling and pronunciation of God's name was not used in the early church, or by the great men of God down through Church history. Every great revival preached in modern times has been preached using the names of God and Jesus Christ. It was not until the late 1930's that proponents of this idea began to claim that it was a gross sin to say the name of Jesus Christ or God, in English, or any language other than Hebrew.
They said the correct use of these words is a pre-requisite for entry into God's Kingdom, although for the life of me, I can see no Scriptural backing for this premise. They claimed that the proper name for God was YAHWEH, and for His Son, our Savior, YASHUAH! They also say the word ELOHIM, must be used in the place of our English equivalent for God.
They say it is wrong to translate the names of Deity into English or any other language. In other words, we are free to read and discuss Scripture as translated into English, in all aspects except the names of God and His Son. This seems like childish thinking to me.
It's all right to say "Mary", when you talk about Christ's mother, although there are some in Identity who have gone so deep into this Hebrewization of Scripture that they use Hebrew names for all proper names. Ysrael instead of Israel; Yousef instead of Joseph; Yerusalem instead of Jerusalem. But then they say if we use the Anglicized word for God and His Son, it will deny us salvation, with no Scriptural backing. (One extremist group in the Mid-West, and I hesitate to call them Identity, have gone so far as to print the Ten Commandments in the frames of their eyeglasses, in an imitation of the phylacteries worn by the ancient Pharisees. Jesus mentions this in His condemnation of them in Matt. 23:5 "...they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments". This particular group insists that their men folks have blue fringes on their shorts, as this was the color worn by the Levites in the tabernacle worship -Mohr)
Are Hebrew names the only one's acceptable to God? Is He insulted when we Anglicize them? He has shown no disapproval for almost 2,000 years. Why the sudden rush to return to the old names?
The word YAHWEH does not convey to us the same meaning that it did to the ancient Hebrews. We can be sure of that! When I heard it for the first time I was not impressed.
The word GOD has a much deeper meaning to me, as do the words ETERNAL and FATHER, and when I hear the word GOD, or when I even think the word, it brings to mind the Great Creator of the Universe. It means THE ALMIGHTY ONE! The Father of my Savior!
I can kneel in the presence of my Heavenly Father and say: "Mv Father, my God!" for as the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:14 - "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For we have not received the spirit of fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we can cry ABBA FATHER! (My Father!)". I just don't get this feeling of exaltation when I say YAHWEH! - MOHR
When I pray "My Father and my God, I pray with a depth of emotion that would be missing if I prayed "Yahweh, my Elohim!". Something deep and personal would be missing!
I do not find fault with those who prefer to use the old Hebrew words, but if your mind works like mine, the English terms express more deeply my feeling than some long dead language. What was appropriate for Moses, as far as language is concerned may not be appropriate now, thousands of years later.
There are actually three basic assumptions behind the use of the Sacred Name idea. The first is that Hebrew is God's language; that it is especially special and holy. The second is that the New Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramic and that the originals were not contaminated by Greecian paganism. The final assumption (the act of taking something for granted), is that the correct pronunciation of YHWH has not been lost in the mists of time, although as I mentioned there is much argument about the correct spelling and pronunciation.
Most Yahwites believe that Hebrew is a special language, the language of God, although as I mentioned Israel was promised a new language. These people believe it is a sin to translate God's name into other languages, for they say "This paganizes it!"
Yet Isaiah called Hebrew the language of Canaan and in Isaiah 19:18 said: "In that day shall five nations in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to YAHWEH of hosts".
(What is the meaning of the phrase, "in that day?" It is speaking of the day when "there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof". Some Bible scholars believe this refers to the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, which they believe was built by Enoch before the flood - MOHR).
Hebrew was called the language of Canaan, because with only minor dialectical changes, it was spoken in Phonecia, Tyre, Sidon, Gegal, and by the Canaanites in the land of Canaan itself, as well as by other nations living in this area. The Moabites living east of the Dead Sea understood it with out the need of interpreters.
You can see by reading your Bible that from the beginning of Israel's conquest of Canaan, there was never a problem of communications with the "cursed inhabitants of the land".
One of the common Hebrew words in the Old Testament, representing God, was FL. This name was in use by the pagan Canaanites long before Moses penned the words in his Penteteuch. (The first five books of the Old Testament -Mohr).
In cuneiform tablets found at Ras Shamra, an ancient Canaanite city north of Israel, "EL the bull", was described as the "head of the pantheon of gods worshiped by these pagan people".
If it is a sin for Christian Israelites to use the name of GOD and JESUS, because these names had been used by heathen. Then in like manner it would be a sin to use the word ELOHIM, since this word is used 240 times in the Old Testament referring to pagan, heathen idols.
This usage by the Holy Spirit Himself shows us that it is just as permissible to use the English words GOD and JESUS for both our Heavenly Father and His Son, even though they may have been used for heathen purposes. It is the meaning that is important, not the language, spelling, or pronunciation.
The Holy Name avoidance of the word LORD is very curious, since the Old Testament, which Yahwites use in preference to the New, calls YAHWEH LORD on several occasions. In Ezekiel 2:4 the words YAHWEH and ADONAI (LORD) are used together to form one name, the title LORD YAHWEH! Since the Old Testament uses the word EL for GOD, and ADONAI for LORD, and these words are of human origin and ancient, and were used by pagans, how can it be wrong to use the English equivalent today? The words GOD and LORD are full of meaning to English speaking people whereas the Hebrew words are not.
Sacred Name believers cite Hosea 2:16,17, as proof that it is an abomination to use the word LORD: "And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me ISHI; and shall no more call me BAALI (my LORD). For I will take away the name of Baalim out of her (Israel's) mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name". This passage clearly states that in that day the Lord's people no longer call Him "Baali", they call Him "Ishi". Yet I have never heard a Yawhite call God ISHI. Those who insist we use the words YAHWEH and YASHUA do not use the word ISHI. They do not pray to ISHI, or heal the sick in the name of ISHI. This is an intimate Hebrew word which could have been translated HUSBAND. BAAL in English is not LORD, it is BAAL. In Hebrew, this name has many compound meanings and the fact that none of 3 these compound forms of BAAL, used by Israel in their heathen worship are used by us today, is proof that God did exactly what He said He would do. "He has taken the names of BAALIM out of our mouths."
Though the past majority of the Old Testament was inspired in the Hebrew language, Daniel and Ezra wrote portions of their books in Aramic or Syriac, which was the prevalent language of the Persian Empire at that time. It had replaced Hebrew as the common language of the Jews. When these men referred to the Creator in the Aramic passages, did they use the old Hebrew words, or translate them into Aramic? Nowhere in the Aramic passages can you find the Hebrew word YAHWEH used. Those who have examined the old passages say that in dozens of places the name GOD was translated from YAHWEH into ELAH, which is proof, I believe, that the Holy Spirit approves translation of the Hebrew words into languages being presently spoken by the Israelite people.
The original inspired language of the New Testament was Greek. It was the universal language at the time of Christ, much as English is today in the countries of Christendom. It was understood both by Jews, and those they called Gentiles.
When Paul wrote to those Christians who spoke Greek, he did not pause in mid-sentence to switch from Greek to Hebrew and write YAHWEH or YASHUAH. He invariably used the Greek word for GOD, THEOS, and the word for LORD, KURlOS. He used the Greek name for Jesus IESOUS. And so did the other writers of the New Testament. In 665 places in the New Testament, the apostles translated the Hebrew word YHWH into the Greek KURIOS. You cannot find one New Testament Greek manuscript with the names of God written in Hebrew.
In the face of these FACTS, the Sacred Name proponents have no choice but to deny that the New Testament was originally written in Greek. They assert - wrongly - that the whole of the New Testament was originally written in Aramic; some even say in Hebrew, and that it was later translated into Greek. At the time of this alleged translation, they claim, the Hebrew words for God and Jesus were translated into Greek. The only copies of the New Testament available today are all in Greek.
Furthermore, there is no doubt that the Greek of the New Testament is inspired of God, for it is perfect in every way, including numerically. Therefore when the Greek word KURIOS is used in the New Testament, quoting from the Old, it demonstrates that without a doubt it is perfectly right and proper to translate the names and titles of God from one language to another. (I do not have room to go into detail regarding numerical inspiration, which is most interesting Mohr).
I contend that the name of the Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior is far more important in it's meaning to us, than in how it is spelled or pronounced.
It is difficult for me to understand Sacred Name people who insist we MUST use the old Hebrew names, or they will break fellowship with us, yet I have seen it happen. Some go to the extremes of saying that if you don't agree with them and "practice what they preach", you will be left out of the Kingdom. They have no Scripture to fall back on for this teaching, but it has unfortunately become a divisive weapon used by the enemy against Christian Identity.
Another issue has entered Identity that is causing much more "heat" than "light". This is the issue of "Which day is the Sabbath?" Does it really matter whether we worship God on the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday or on the Lord's Day of Sunday? Some in Identity even make this an issue of salvation, although I can find nothing in the Book that backs this up. We are not saved by what day we worship on, or the name we use when speaking of or to God.
My personal opinion which unfortunately may step on some Identity toes, is that this issue is another subtle attempt by the enemy to "drive a wedge" into our ranks and thus weaken us for the fight that lies ahead. These Judaizers have been extremely successful in their efforts to Judaize the JudeoChristian church, and other branches of Christianity.
Much of the reasoning I will use was taken from Dr. Howard Rand, of Destiny Publishing Company, who in my opinion was the "prince of Identity preachers".
If you are honest in your evaluation of his reasoning, you will see the "bankruptcy" of those who hold to the Sabbatarian contention that Sunday worship violates the 4th Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy!"
In a pamphlet titled THE LORD'S DAY - THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH!, Dr. Rand states: "It is confirmed that the week of Joshua's long day was a period of 168 hours. That is seven days times 24 hours, therefore a complete week according to hourly reckonings. The first day of the week following would then have become the seventh, computed by sunsets, in an even order of weeks unbroken from Eden.
"It is also evident that if Eden's geographical site could be located, with succeeding days of the week whole, moving east or west from that site would place the traveler out of step with the order of days at the point of departure.
"The entire concept of the Sabbatarians collapses when the Fourth Commandment is analyzed and its required observance fully recognized. They imply, or actually add three words to this verse to sustain their position; words which would abrogate correctly the observing requirements of the Fourth Commandment. These words are OF THE WEEK, which cannot be found in any translation of the Bible, and were never given as instructions for complying with the terms of this Commandment.
"The mutilation of the Word of the Lord is a very serious offense as well as contributing to factors in today's increasing Sabbath desecration. It would be well for these folks to follow Solomon's advice in Proverbs 30:6- "Add thou not unto God's words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar".
We have every reason to believe, that from the beginning of time, before the world's were formed, God in His omniscience, knew what would happen down through the ages. He timed His historical clock so that it would be in synchronization with important historical events. Which is something our finite minds cannot comprehend.
The idea is so vast and complicated that we turn away from the thought that before Jesus rose from the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in that Jerusalem garden, God had moved to memorialize that day, which the Christian world now calls Easter. (Because the Jewish influence in America has turned it into a day of "money making", where instead of honoring the risen Savior they give homage to a rabbit that lays colored eggs, and because at one time this was a heathen holiday some in Identity say Christians should not observe it, even though it is the most important day in world's history. I find this a bit difficult to accept).
Without the resurrection, Christ's death on the cross would have no meaning, and as the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19,20 - "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep".
God brought that Resurrection Day into harmony and synchronization with the Sabbatical count and order of sevens, and by His Holy Spirit, sanctified this day as the Sabbath of the Christian world.
It is difficult for the most brilliant mind to comprehend that all of the countless heavenly bodies move according to the Divine Plan and purpose of God, and that there is a definite life span, set up by God, for both heaven and earth.
Isaiah tells us that the hosts of heaven, the countless planets, shall one day be dissolved, and the heavens will be "rolled back like a scroll", (Is. 34:4). This will occur when God in His righteous anger, rises up to defeat and destroy the Anti-Christ and his armies, (see Is. 34:2,3). The Apostle Peter mentions this in 2 Peter 3:10, and John emphasizes it in Rev. 6:14.
The schedule of these events were set in motion before this world was created.
One historical date that casts the lie on Sabbath worship was the incident recorded in Joshua 10:11, which has become known as "Joshua's long day". This was the day God cast down great stones from heaven on Israel's enemies, so that more died from the stones, than from the swords of the Israelites.
This incident took place when a mighty confederation of the Ammonites came against Israel at Gibea, and Joshua called on God for help.
God's answer was to send an astronomical storm against the enemy. (This is predicted to happen again, in God's end time battle against the anti-Christ in Rev. 16:21). Consider this for a moment, in connection with the movement of the planets. Thousands of years before this event took place, God's plans were put into operation for this act to succor His people. The very thought takes your breath away.
These were no ordinary hailstones, and I have seen them in the Dakotas as large as baseballs, which would knock a steer or a man senseless if they were not under cover. This was no doubt a shower of meteorites, which indicated that the earth's path had been crossed by a celestial visitor, from which fragments of these stones came. It is even more phenomenal when we realize that these meteorites fell only on the Ammonites, they did not hit Israel who was on the same battlefield.
It evidently exerted such a tremendous influence on the earth, that this planet actually "turned over" and produced an unnaturally long day. The Bible says in Joshua 10:14 -"And there was not a day like that before or since".
Joshua did not want the enemy to escape under cover of darkness so he prayed to God and ordered the sun to stand still until the battle was over. In vs 13 we read: "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jasher, 'So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down for ABOUT a whole day"'?
The word ABOUT is very important in this verse as we shall see. There are no doubt some skeptics who read this book who will sneeringly say: "That story is nothing but a Jewish fable". But it couldn't be Jewish, for there were no people anywhere on earth at this time known as Jews, and this event has been proven by modern science.
Our modern Space Program has proven that this so-called "long day" actually took place, somewhere in the dim past. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company of Baltimore and a consultant for the Space Program relates the following incident that took place a few years ago: "I think one of the most interesting things God has for 'us today happened to our astronauts and scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland", he said. "They were checking the position of the sun, moon and planets in outer space, where they would be 100,000 years from now. They must know this so that we don't send a satellite up and in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing doesn't come down."
"They ran the computer measurement back and forth, over the centuries and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and sent up a "red signal" which meant something was wrong, either with the information being fed into it, or the machine itself. They called the Service Department who checked the computer and said: 'Everything's okay. It's running as it should'. The I.B.M. Head of Operations said: 'What's wrong?' and they said: 'Well we have found a whole day missing in space in lapsed time.' They could not come up with an answer. Then a man on the crew who was a Christian said: 'I remember a Bible story about a man named Joshua, who commanded the sun to stand still for a day, and God allowed it to happen'. They said: 'We don't believe that'. So he opened his Bible to the book of Joshua and showed them where it said so. The technicians said: 'There's our missing and fed the info into the computer. The "red light" still remained on, and they said the computer says it's close but not close enough. We are still missing 40 minutes, so they read Joshua 10:12, 13 again and Lo and behold it said: "The sun stood still for ABOUT one day."
They were confused as to what happened to the other forty minutes. Then this Christian fellow remembered another Bible story in 2 Kings 20, about a King named Hezekiah who thought he was dying. God's prophet told him he would live and he asked for a sign from God. The prophet said should the shadow on your sun dial advance ten degrees and the king said, that would not be unusual, have it back up. So this is what happened. Ten degrees is 40 minutes in our time. So there in God's Word, you have an account of this lost day; 23 hours and 20 minutes in Joshua 10, and forty minutes in 2 Kings 20. Our Lord really rubbed the nose of the skeptics in this chapter.
An even mightier plan that began before the worlds were formed, was God's plan for the redemption of His people. Do you really believe that at the beginning of time, that an omniscient (all knowing) God would neglect to provide the physical details for this mighty event to take place on a specific day? Did God fail in His plan to have His Son's resurrection take place on a certain day of the week, and make sure His followers who were called Christians, would worship on that day, and would not be violating His 4th Commandment? Our God does not make mistakes like that!
Before we go any further, and to avoid misunderstanding, I believe the 4th Commandment MUST be obeyed by Christians, as MUST all the Laws contained in the Commandments and Statutes. Our salvation does not depend on this, but most surely our spiritual welfare does. But I believe that over zealous men, operating under their own self-will, and for their own interests, will "twist God's Word", to try and make it conform to what they teach, which may very well be not what is taught in the Bible.
As I write this, I have before me a pamphlet written by a so-called Identity preacher, in which he rather boastingly states: "We (his special following) observe all the 759 Biblical Common Laws as our way of life. (According to the Apostle Peter, in Acts 15:10, this is impossible). If the priests and ministers were practicing the Law themselves, they would be teaching the Law and it's penalties and benefits. Instead they teach GRACE, (since this is the only means of salvation; it does not come by trying to keep an un-keepable Law Mohr)
RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, and CRIME, all in the name of Jesus, as He foretold in Matt. 24:4,5." Only Christ never spoke about the Law in this scripture. He did warn His followers "...take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many". Any man or woman who teaches outside the saving GRACE of Jesus Christ, is an anti-Christ deceiver. If I was a betting man, which I'm not, I'd wager that this Identity leader and his followers do not keep all the 759 Mosaic Laws, for it is impossible for the natural man or woman to keep them. They were a "schoolmaster to bring us to Christ", as Paul points out in Gal 3:24,25. When we look at these 759 laws, we KNOW it is impossible for us to keep them, and knowing that disobedience brings death. ("The soul that sinneth it shall die", and "sin is the transgression of the Law", 1 John 3:4), we scurry to find a way out of our fatal predicament. This bring us face to face with the only way to salvation, which is through GRACE of Jesus Christ, as Peter stated in Acts 4:12 - "Neither is there salvation in any other (or through any other); for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST (or can be) saved!"
You don't have a choice. It's either God's way through Jesus Christ, or eternal disaster. In Acts fifteen we find the Apostles rebuffing those who were trying to Judaize the early church. Jesus had criticized the Pharisees for this same kind of religious narrowness in Matt. 23:4, when He said - "For they (the Pharisees) bind heavy burdens, and grievances to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers".
The Apostle James, who evidently headed this church council, went on to state that they were not to trouble the "Gentiles", (the "gentilized" Israelite Christians, in Asia.
I have noticed that almost without fail, when a religious leader attempts to twist the Word around, and lay unnecessary burdens on the shoulders of his people, it is done as a means of controlling them. A good example was the tragedy of Jim Jones in Gayana.
These "gentiles" in Asia Minor were Israelites who had been called out of the obscurity of Assyrian captivity where they had lost their Identity and were now known by the Jews as Gentiles. Today, the Jews call us "goyim", which is a Yiddish word of contempt meaning: "Non-Jew animal".
A delegation headed by Judas (not Iscariot) and Silas, men who had put their life on the line for Jesus Christ, were sent to Asia Minor with a message which said: "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things," and he outlined some things the Council believed were necessary. Read about them in Acts 15.
There is no doubt that many of the laws followed by the people in Judea at the time of Christ, had not come from Moses or God, but had been imposed on them by the Edomite Pharisees, again for the purpose of controlling them. In Rev. 2:6 and 15, we read "Thou hast hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which also I hate." The word in Greek means "to control the people", and I believe was a warning of the Catholic priesthood which was to come shortly thereafter. Dr. Rand maintained, and I most certainly agree that contrary to the Sabbatarian opposition, Christian worship on Sunday was programmed by God from the very beginning, as the "Lord's Special Day", and worship of God on that day is not a violation of His 4th Commandment.
The Sabbatariaris love to argue that it was the Roman Catholic church who decreed that Sunday was to be the Christian Sabbath, and that prior to the time of Emperor Constantine (306-377 A.D.) the church worshiped on Saturday. Yet an early church father, Justin the Martyr, who lived 150 years before the time of Constantine and who was well known as a Christian apologist, wrote his famous APOLOGY FOR THE CHRISTIANS in A.D. 140. In this work, this learned church leader sets for the fact that Sunday was the Christian Sabbath, He said: "On Sunday we held our joint meeting, for the first day is that on which having removed darkness and made the world, Jesus Christ rose from the dead".
It is false to say that Sunday worship was first instituted by the Roman Catholic church. The Apostle John died about A.D. 100, 50 it was within 40 years of his death, that we find Christians worshiping on Sunday and believe it was practiced while John was still alive. Remember his account in Rev. 1:10 ,when he received his revelation from God. He said: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day!"
The Sabbatarians say that Sunday was the day the heathen worshiped the Son, but are careful not to tell us that Saturday was the day when the heathen worshiped SATURN, the Hebrew STUR, the Babylonian SATUR, and the Roman SAT-URN.
Why should Christians relinquish the Christian Sabbath, the Lord's Day on which our Savior rose from the dead, in favor of the Jewish Saturday Sabbath which occurs oh the day honoring the god Saturn?
While it is true that the Roman Catholic church confirmed the Christian Sabbath as being on Sunday, it merely confirmed what had been practiced for over a hundred years.
God gave Isaiah a guide to follow in Sabbath worship in Isaiah 58:13, 14, which I have seen followed by few Sabbatarians, other Identity people, or by Judeo Christians for that matter. While most Judeo Christians boast about being New Testament Christians, who aren't required to obey God's Law, these words of Isaiah were written to both Old and New Testament believers: "If thou turn thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable: and shall honor Him, not doing thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; Then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Israel) thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it".
My foster parents came the closest to keeping this verse of any Christians I have ever known. I guess you would have called them Judeo-Christians. They belonged to the old Evangelical Church, before it joined with the Methodists. My father was a farmer, and many a time I have seen him allow new mown hay lay in the field over Sunday, and get rained oh, rather than hauling it into the barn as most local church members were doing. On Sunday we did only the minimum of chores necessary on the farm, such as feeding the stock and milking the cows. Mother did her baking and most of the Sunday cooking on Saturday, and only a few chores on Sunday. We went to church twice on Sunday, often driving four miles in a buggy, or during the winter on a horse drawn sleigh. I was not allowed to play baseball or go swimming with the other church children, and fishing was out of the question. Of course I resented it, but looking back can see where it was a great lesson in proper Sabbath worship. The majority of Christians today, go to church and "fizz for an hour or so" on Sunday morning, then go home to a big meal, and an afternoon of "doing there own thing". It might be sleeping, mowing the lawn, washing the car, going fishing, or watching a ball game on TV. Everything but honoring God! And we wonder why we are not being blessed!
With the exception of the Greek Christians, who were mostly Israelites although they, as many today did not know it, were hindered in the beginning by their Judaic background. Not that Christianity was Jewish by any stretch of the imagination, for it did not come from this sordid source, and Jesus repudiated the very idea. But they were taught erroneously then, as they are now, that Jesus was a Jew and they often failed to detach Christ completely from the Cabalist religion of Talmudic Judaism. The early church, like the Judeo-Christian church of 1999, was endangered by Jews who deliberately infiltrated the church with the idea of destroying it from within. This caused the Apostle Paul to warn Christians in Asia Minor, in Titus 1:10 - about "many unruly, and vain talkers, especially they of the circumcision (Jews), whose mouths must be stopped, because they subvert whole families, for the sake of making money. (Tel-evangelists please take note!)
When the Pilgrim Fathers landed in America, Sunday was strictly considered the Lord's Day, and was strictly observed until the middle of the nineteenth century. Most businesses and stores closed on this day, and events such as elections were never held.
God blessed the observance of the Sunday Sabbath among His Israel people for almost 2,000 years now. Why should we suddenly go back to the "weak and beggardly elements" of the Jewish Sabbath? Why should we allow God's enemies to dictate to His people the day oh which we MUST worship?