Ask just about anyone who has gone to church at all, or ever watched the movie Ten Commandments, and they will tell you the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 430 years.
That is overwhelmingly the common answer to this question.

What if I told you that isn’t true?
Well, I make a habit of saying most of the things we’ve learned in church are not true, so why wouldn’t I question this?
LOL

Let’s take a look at it.
Exodus 12:40-41 tells us this:
⁴⁰ Now the time that Bnei-Yisrael lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ So it happened at the end of 430 years, to the very day, that all the armies of Adonai went out from the land of Egypt.

Well, there you go.
Case closed, right?
Nope.
This verse says they lived in Egypt for 430 years, not that they were enslaved for that long.
Minor technicality, right?
What if I told you they didn’t live in Egypt for 430 years either?
Why would I say such a thing, when scripture clearly states this to be fact?
Because this translation is incorrect.  That’s why.
Most translations say exactly this in Exodus 12 — 430 years.
However, the Septuagint says otherwise.

Septuagint Exodus 12:40
And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years.

Do you see the difference?
Most translations say they were in Egpyt for 430 years, while the Septuagint says they were in  Egypt and Canaan for 430 years.
So how do we figure out which is true?

All throughout scripture, we are given time markers.
So and so died at such and such an age.
So and so had a son at such and such an age.
If we go and find all the markers associated with this story, we can quickly figure out the truth.

For example, Kohath was the father of Amram who was the father of Moses.
Kohath lived to be 133 [Exodus 6:18], Amram lived to be 137 [Exodus 6:20], and Moses was 80 years old when he and Aharon  confronted Pharaoh at the time of the 10th plague. [Exodus 7:7]

Kohath was one of the Israelites to go to Egypt to live during the famine of the land. [Genesis 46:11]

Now, let’s look at this timeline that is established.
Let’s assume Kohath moved to Egypt the day he was born.
Let’s assume Amram was born to Kohath the day that Kohath died.
Let’s assume that Moses was born to Amram the day that Amram died.
This timeline would look like this:

This means that from the time the nation of Israel moved to Egypt until the time they left Egypt could be no longer than 350 years.
And this is worst case scenario!!
So Exodus 12:40 is already debunked, and shows that the Septuagint is the only version that can be correct.

Let’s assume that Kohath was an adult when he went to Egypt.
Let’s assume Amram was born earlier than Kohath’s death.
Let’s assume Moses was born earlier than Amram’s death.
With this more realistic timeline, we get this:

Based on time markers given in scripture, we can say that the Hebrews spent less than 350 years living in Egpyt.

Let’s move on to another time marker given in scripture.
Moving forward, all the way to the New Testament…
Really???
Yes. Paul is going to help us out here.
Galatians 3:16-17
¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your seed,” who is the Messiah. ¹⁷ What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective.

Paul tells us that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai 430 years after Yehova made His promise to Abraham.
Let’s look at some more time markers.

Abram was 75 years old when he received the promise and left Haran. [Genesis 12:4]
Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born. [Genesis 21:5]
Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born. [Genesis 25:26]
Jacob was 130 years old when he and the nation of Israel arrived in Egypt. [Genesis 47:9]

What can we learn from these time markers?

There are 430 years total from the promise to the law being given.
Subtract 25 years from the time Abram left Haran until Isaac is born.
Subtract 60 years from the time Isaac is born until Jacob is born.
Subtract 130 years from the time Jacob is born until he arrives in Egypt.

That leaves 215 years.
This means that the Hebrew nation resided in Egypt for 215 years, which fits into our timeline above, showing the duration had to be less than 350 years.

What do we know about this 215 years?
We know that some of this time was spent in peace, and some of this time was spent in captivity.

Let’s look for more time markers, shall we?
Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh. [Genesis 41:46]
There was seven years of abundance, which made him 37 years old.
Then began seven years of famine.
The Hebrew nation moved to Egypt two years into the famine, making Joseph 39 years old when his people arrived in Egypt. [Genesis 45:6]
Joseph died at the age of 110 years. [Genesis 50:26]

If we subtract Joseph’s age (39) when the Hebrews arrived in Egypt from his age when he died (110), we get 71 years.
So we know that the Hebrews lived in Egypt for at least 71 years without being enslaved.
If we subtract that from the 215 years spent in Egypt, we get 144 years.
At some point after Joseph’s death, a new Pharoah made captives of the Hebrews, and we know the maximum amount of time this could be is 144 years (assuming it happened the day after Joseph’s death, which is not likely).
The Hebrew nation left Egypt when Moses was 80 years old, and we know from the details of the story that Israel was already enslaved when Moses was born. This makes the minimum time they were enslaved 80 years, assuming they were enslaved the day Moses was born.
So we have a minimum of 80 years in captivity, and a maximum of 144 years in captivity.
We can certainly say Israel was held as slaves in Egypt for approximately 90 to 135 years…

Absolutely not 430 years, as many teach.
The clues are all right in scripture.
It takes a bit of time and effort to find those clues and map them out, but this should not be a secret.
We should not be making mistakes like this!

So what’s the point of all this?
With just a little bit of effort, we can show that the things churches teach us are incorrect.
Worse yet, people just sit in church and listen, and they walk out believing whatever they are told.
This is not good!!
If our church doctrine gets something simple like this wrong, what if they get more important things wrong?
Not only can they, but scripture guarantees it…

Again, I’m referring to Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ Adonai, my strength, my stronghold,
        my refuge in the day of affliction,
    to You will the nations come
        from the ends of the earth and say:
    “Our fathers have inherited nothing
        but lies, futility and useless things.”
²⁰ Will man make gods for himself?
    Yet they are not gods.

Jeremiah tells us that everything we learn are lies.
That is not good.

So I ask you this:
Will you study your bible?
Or will you continue to listen to what some guy says about it for 45 minutes a week?

 

The story of Joseph is one of the most fascinating tales in all of scripture.  What an amazing story.
We see great detail brought forth about his life, and how it affects the Hebrew nation.
And then all of a sudden, we get this:

Exodus 1:8-11
⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the people of Bnei-Yisrael are too numerous and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or else they will grow even more numerous, so that if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.”
¹¹ So they set slave masters over them to afflict them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh.

Joseph was a hero in Mitsrayim (Egypt). He and his family were treated with honor.
Not long afterwards, after the passing of Jacob and Joseph, a new Pharaoh feared them and subjected them to slavery.
This is stated very matter-of-fact in scripture.
But why?  
Do we ever get an explanation as to why?
Is there a reason why Yehova would allow His chosen people to fall into the hands of the Egyptians?
Does any of this make sense?

The answer is provided for us, but it is easy to miss.
It was foretold.
Genesis 15:12-21
¹² When the sun was about to set and a deep sleep fell on Abram, behold, terror of great darkness was falling upon him! ¹³ Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. ¹⁴ But I am going to judge the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will go out with many possessions. ¹⁵ But you, you will come to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in the fourth generation they will return here—for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” ¹⁷ When the sun set and it became dark, behold, there was a smoking oven and a fiery torch that passed between these pieces.
¹⁸ On that day Adonai cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: ¹⁹ the Kenite, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Raphaites, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Did you catch it?
Did you see the reason for the time spent in Egypt?
Yehova states what is to happen in verse 13, and states the reason why in verse 16.
Here are the details to glean from verse 13:
1.  Strangers in land not their own
2.  Enslaved
3.  Oppressed
4.  …for 400 years

But why???
Here are the details from verse 16
1.  Abram will not inherit the promised land, but instead, his 4th generation would.
2.  for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

The 4th generation sets a duration, but what is this weird statement about the Amorites?
In further study of scripture, we see that the Amorites will be destroyed when the Hebrew nation enters the promised land.
Why wait for four generations to do so?
——because, their iniquity is not yet complete.
The delay gives this people group a time to repent.

Does that sound familiar?
It reminds me of these verses:
Genesis 6:3
³ Then Adonai said, “My Spirit will not remain with humankind forever, since they are flesh. So their days will be 120 years. 
Genesis 6:13
¹³ Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is coming before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.

We see in the account of Noah’s flood, that Yehova gave a 120 year warning. Some people believe that in verse 4 Yehova is simply changing the life span of people from hundreds of years to only 120 years.
That is not the case.
We see that Noah continued to live, and died at the ripe old age of 950!!
We see that Shem lived to be 600 years old, and Abraham lived to be 175 years old.
So, no, Genesis 6:3 is not setting a lifespan for men.
It is a warning.
It is how long mankind had to repent, prior to the flood.

This is the same mercy we see in Genesis 15:16
“for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
In this statement, Yehova acknowledges that the Amorites would continue to do evil, and would one day “complete their iniquity.”
But even though Yehova knew what would happen, He still gave them time to repent. He is a merciful God.
In the end, they did not repent, and they were destroyed.

I find this to be the reason why Israel, the Hebrew nation, had to wait to enter the promised land.
This is why they had to sojourn, and remain in Egypt to be enslaved and oppressed.

So the next question is this…
Why couldn’t they have lived peacefully during this wait?
Why did they have to be oppressed and enslaved?
Again, scripture gives us the answer.
Deuteronomy 15:12-15
¹² “If your fellow Hebrew—a man or woman—is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you are to set him free. ¹³ When you set him free, you are not to send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You are to surely provide for him from your flock and threshing floor and wine press. As Adonai your God has blessed you, you are to give to him. ¹⁵ You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you this thing today.

In this command, we see a reflection of what the Israelites experienced in Egypt…
They were oppressed and enslaved.
Yehova delivered them from oppression and slavery.
When they left Egypt, Yehova put it on the Egyptians hearts to give them their gold and silver.  Israel left Egypt as a wealthy nation.

In Deuteronomy 15, we see this history lesson used as an example of how to treat their servants:
They are told to remember they once were slaves, and to send their servants away with provisions.

As I hand-write the bible, I see all of these details, and they stick with me…
Every single word, every single sentence, every single concept in scripture has a reason behind it.

Based on study of scripture, these are the reasons I have found for the Hebrews being enslaved in Egypt:
1. Give the Amorites time to repent [which they did not]
2. Teach the nation of Israel a life lesson

 

Tracy and I are still hand writing the bible.
I have a Facebook group of the same name, with about 500 members around the world doing this project with us!!

Why do this?
I am finding that writing the scriptures, letter by letter, word by word, verse by verse — I am learning things I’ve missed for many years.  This experience is fascinating!!

Also, I’m a pen nerd, which you’ll be able to tell in the photos below.
But it does not matter if you use a fancy fountain pen or a Bic ball point.  Absorbing the scriptures in this way is amazing!!

Here is a link if you’d like to check it out or join us:
Hand Write The Bible

Here are a few progress photos!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hebrews 10:26-31
²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

When I started studying scripture in depth, this passage was a huge eye opener!!
I was taught the idea of “Once-Saved-Always-Saved” for thirty years. This one bit of scripture tells me that is not true, along with this one as well:
John 3:36
He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

This is serious business, right?
Once-saved-always-saved allows us to go about our business without  a great deal of concern [just as Satan wants it!!].
But these scriptures should cause us great concern!!
If we are paying attention, studying scripture, praying for understanding — we should understand these (and other) warnings.  And even more importantly, we should know if we are violating them or not.

I try to share these ideas with many friends in mainstream church. My rejection rate runs somewhere near 100%.
Should I walk away and give up?
Nope.
Not if I love my neighbor as myself.
So I keep trying.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at these tragic warnings.
If continued, willful sin means we can expect judgement instead of salvation, and that judgement will consist of fiery destruction, then we need to know what sin is.
No really.
We absolutely have to know what sin is!!
We cannot heed these warnings without this knowledge.

How should man define sin?
Is it up to us to define it, and then act accordingly, to the best of our ability? What if we decide what is sin, and what is not sin, and we get it wrong?  Do we run the risk of the consequences outlined in Hebrews 10:26-31?
If so, salvation is at stake.
I’m not willing to try to interpret what sin is, since my salvation is on the line. I’d rather let scripture define sin.
That way, I know I’ll understand properly, and can avoid the Hebrews 10:26-31 consequences of fiery judgement [not my words, but what scripture says].

1John 3:4
[TLV] Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness.

[NKJV] Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 

[KJV] Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

[ESV] Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; (M)sin is lawlessness. 

[CJB] Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah.

[ASV] Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 

[1599 Geneva] Whosoever commiteth sin, transgresseth also the Law: for sin is the transgression of the Law.

Various bible translations are in agreement.
Sin is the violation of the law given in Torah.
If we go about our lives, violating these concepts without concern, say hello to fiery indignation and destruction.

Really.
Not kidding.
Go back and read Hebrews 10:26-31 again.

If what I’m presenting here is foreign to you, and isn’t what you’ve been taught your whole life, I get it.
I also was taught other things my whole life.
But now I study scripture.
I will not trust my salvation to a guy who went to college and learned what other men teach about the bible.
I will be responsible for myself.
I will be responsible for understanding salvation in scripture.
I encourage you to do the same.
If you are wondering why I might doubt our educated religious leaders, here are a couple of good reasons:

Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

Matthew 23 (Yeshua Messiah speaking to the educated religious leaders of His day):
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
23 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ² saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. ⁴ For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵ But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. ⁶ They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ ⁸ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹ But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies^[d] the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰ Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier mattersof the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ³⁴ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 

I’ve been writing this blog for nearly 1 1/2 years now.
Why do I do it?

When I first began studying scripture in depth, I quickly came to the realization that the typical mainstream church doctrine does not match what I see in scripture.
I can certainly find bits and pieces of scripture that support the mainstream doctrine, but it requires too much other scripture to be untrue. It requires Yehova to change His mind about things, and scripture says Yehova does not change His mind. It requires some things Yeshua Messiah said to be null and void after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
Is that possible? Can the things He said no longer be valid?
Not if we believe all scripture . There are too many blatant statements in scripture saying that the Word does not change, that God does not change, that God does not lie, that Messiah does not change, etc, etc…

I found anomalies and problems.
Instead of ignoring them, I started researching them.
The more I studied these ideas over the last 16 months, the more convinced I’ve become that mainstream doctrine is, in fact, incorrect. Actually, I should not have been surprised.  Jeremiah told us all about it.

Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ Adonai, my strength, my stronghold,
        my refuge in the day of affliction,
    to You will the nations come
        from the ends of the earth and say:
    “Our fathers have inherited nothing
        but lies, futility and useless things.”
²⁰ Will man make gods for himself?
    Yet they are not gods.

These two short verses are powerful and tragic.
Jeremiah says that at end times Gentiles will realize they have learned nothing but lies, inherited from their fathers, which makes it generational – not just a sign of the times.
Jeremiah says that man will make up non-existent gods.  Can a non-existent god grant salvation? Nope. This is serious.

Do you believe this scripture in Jeremiah to be true? Do you believe that Jeremiah spoke the inspired words of Yehova?

Jeremiah 1:4-9
⁴ The word of Adonai came to me, saying:
⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
    and before you were born, I set you apart—
    I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
⁶ Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim!
    Look, I don’t know how to speak!
    For I’m still a boy!”
⁷ But Adonai answered me,
    “Do not say ‘I’m only a boy!’
    For to everyone I send you, you will go,
    and all I command you, you will speak.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them!
    For I am with you to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
⁹ Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”

We don’t have to wonder about the validity of these statements.
God Himself says that He placed His words into Jeremiah’s mouth.
If Jeremiah said that the Gentiles will have learned nothing but lies, we have to take it seriously.
If Jeremiah said that the Gentiles will have made up their own gods who are not gods, we have to take it seriously.
Not only should we believe it is possible for these things to be true, we have to proceed KNOWING that it is true, because it is the Word of Yehova put into Jeremiah’s mouth.

If we believe these things to be true, then we have to evaluate mainstream church doctrine. We need to find out if mainstream doctrine is the worthless and unprofitable lies that Jeremiah is referring to.
It is a messy, thankless task.
But it is important. It is eternally important.

This idea causes me a great deal of concern, as it should.
I care about others who have not studied these things in detail.
I care about family, friends, total strangers, the whole world, really.
That is why I spend valuable time researching, studying, praying about, and writing these blog entries.
If only one person engages and learns from this, then it will be well worth it.

I have an app on my phone that tells me when someone has unfriended or blocked me on Facebook.
It is interesting to see how many times I get unfriended or blocked after a particular blog post. I get to see which articles strike a nerve, and not in a good way.

Please understand this…
I write these articles to help.
I study the warnings given in scripture, and I try to share those warnings with anyone who will listen.
I share these warnings with love, not criticism.
I do not sugar-coat my findings.
I do not point out the warnings, and then say, “Everything is going to be just fine.”
Everything is not going to be just fine if you don’t understand the whole of scripture.

Luke 6:46-49 [Warning from Messiah]
⁴⁶ “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood came, the torrent burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.
⁴⁹ “But the one who hears yet does not do is like a man who built a house upon land without a foundation. When the torrent burst against it, immediately it collapsed—and the destruction of that house was great!”

 

 

Acts 5:1-11
Ananias and Sapphira Lie to the Ruach

5 On the other hand, a man named Ananias together with his wife, Sapphira, sold a property. ² He kept back some of the proceeds, with his wife’s full knowledge, and brought part of it and set it at the feet of the emissaries.
³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Ruach ha-Kodesh [Holy Spirit] and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, it was your own, wasn’t it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? How did this deed get into your heart? You haven’t lied to men but to God.”
⁵ As soon as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and died. Great fear came upon all who heard about it. ⁶ The young men got up and wrapped him in a shroud, then carried him out and buried him.
⁷ After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter responded to her, “Tell me if you sold the land for this much.”
She said, “Yes, for that much.”
⁹ Then Peter said to her, “How did you agree to test the Ruach Adonai?Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door—they will carry you out, too!”
¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came back in, they found her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And great fear came over the whole community and all who heard these things.

It is easy to read this story in scripture and decide that Ananias and Sapphira were knuckleheads.
But what is so different about them and ourselves?
Have I ever lied? Yes, absolutely.
Have you ever lied?
This married couple was in the midst of doing a good thing.
They sold property and donated some of the proceeds to help others, their collective new church.
So where did they go wrong?
While doing good, they committed evil. They lied about how much money they received for the property.  They kept some of the proceeds, but lied about donating all of it.
Sapphira followed the same deceit as Ananias, and paid the same price for it. They could have openly admitted to holding some back, and donating the rest.  It belonged to them, and they were not obligated to do this good thing.
They chose not to give all, but they wanted others to think they had.

Have we ever deceived anyone?
Have we ever kept a secret, and given a false impression to others?
Have we ever tried to make ourselves look good in front of other men and women through deceit?
I know I have.
I did not pay for this mistake with my life, though.
And I am grateful for it!!
Are you grateful?
Do you thank Messiah for the things He has forgiven in your life?
Maybe even things you don’t recall, because there are too many to remember?

Here are a few scriptures to keep in mind…
Leviticus 19:11
¹¹ “You are not to steal. You are not to lie. You are not to deceive one another.

Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are detestable to Yehova,
but those who act faithfully are His delight.

Proverbs 13:5
A righteous person hates lying,
but the wicked acts in shameful disgrace.

Colossians 3:9-10
Do not lie to one another. After all, you have taken off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self that is being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of the One who created him.

And this one is a big deal, because it tells us who is not in the Kingdom:
Revelation 22:15
Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices a lie.

Here is the thing to remember, though…
You may think you are just lying to other people.
But every lie and every deceit is a crime against the esteem and glory of Yehova…

 

Are you ready to think a little?
Let’s get some biblical exercise!

Consider these words of Yeshua Messiah:
Matthew 23:13
 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

Do you recognize what Messiah is saying to the educated religious leaders of His time?
1.  Woe to you…  [this is never good in scripture]
2.  You are not going into the kingdom of heaven
3.  Those you teach are also not going into the kingdom of heaven

WOW.  
Double WOW.
This is a big deal.
This statement has eternal consequences, not just for the religious teachers, but for their students (the masses) as well.

Am I right about this?
Or am I just mistaken about what Yeshua is saying?
Check out Matthew 23 verse 33—
^” Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”
Nope, I don’t have it wrong.
He really is saying they are not going to heaven.

But why would our Savior say such a harsh thing, with such harsh consequences?
Check out His admonishment in Matthew 15
Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

He is angry with the Pharisees for teaching the traditions of men, as though it is the word of Yehova [when it is not].
And a detailed reading of Matthew 23 indicates many evil crimes against Yehova, even though they fake a righteous outward appearance.

So far, we have established that Messiah was very displeased with the educated religious leaders of His time.  He point blank tells them they will not be in heaven, nor will their followers.

What does any of this have to do with 2018?
Well, this is what it has to do with today’s time, and today’s people. Pay particular attention to the first and last verses I’ve quoted:
Ecclesiastes 1
⁴ One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.
⁵ The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.
⁶ The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.
⁷ All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.
⁸ All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.
⁹ That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.

What was will be again.
If Messiah was angry and displeased with the religious leaders during His time on earth, is there any chance He might be angry and displeased with today’s religious systems, and the men and women who operate within those systems?

First of all, we know this about Yeshua Messiah.
Hebrews 13:8
⁸ Yeshua Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The things that made Him angry 2000 years ago will certainly make Him angry today. He does not change.
So the next question — do educated religious leaders of the 21st century teach the traditions of men, instead of the Word of Yehova?
If they do, then this 2000 year old statement applies to them, just as it applied to the Pharisees:
“But woe to you, pastors-priests-ministers-bishops-popes-cardinals-reverends [scribes and Pharisees], hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

If men (and women) today are teaching the traditions of men instead of the truth of scripture, they will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven, and sadly, their followers will also be excluded.
Is there any scripture that indicates this might happen?
What if I show you not only that it could happen, but that it absolutely is happening?

Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

Wow.
Double Wow.
Scripture says that in end times, the Gentiles will realize they have been taught nothing but lies.
Lies that have been inherited.
Generation after generation of worthless lies.

Is this possible?
Not only is it possible, it is guaranteed.
Scripture says so.

Not only will we realize we’ve been taught lies, but check out the consequences of those lies.
Men will make up gods who are not gods.
If these made up gods are not gods, can they grant salvation?
That would be a resounding NO!!
[Refer again to Matthew 23 — ^” Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”]

Am I sure about this?
Check out Ezekiel Chapter 22
Ezekiel 22:25-28
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing prey. They have devoured lives, they take wealth and valuables, they multiply widows in her midst. ²⁶ Her kohanim [priests] have violated My Torah [the law] and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, nor have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean. They shut their eyes to My Shabbatot. So I am profaned among them. ²⁷ Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing at prey, spilling blood and destroying lives for dishonest gain. ²⁸ Her prophets have plastered them with whitewash, seeing false visions and predicting lies to them, saying ‘Thus says Elohim,’ when Elohim has not spoken.

Could this be describing our church system today?
Our churches collectively take in billions and billions of dollars each year.  They demand it. They tell people to tithe, even though they reject the Old Testament law, which is where tithing comes from.
They teach that the parts of the law they don’t like are done away with, but the tithing benefits them, so they teach it is still applicable and necessary.
Hypocrites.
What did Yeshua say about hypocrites in Matthew 23?

What do churches do with all these billions and billions of dollars?
Well, there is no such thing as hunger in our world.
There is no such thing as homelessness.
There is no such thing as poverty.
It sounds like the church has used all this money to solve the ills of our society, right?
Nope.
They use this money to purchase [collectively] trillions of dollars worth of commercial properties. They fill those properties with carpet, and padded chairs, and coffee kiosks, and sanctuaries, and sound systems, and offices, and on and on and on.
And then, they fill these properties with employees.
That is where nearly all of the money goes.
Is that biblical?
I’ve searched my bible. I’m having trouble finding the part where we are commanded to purchase property and hire people to maintain and work in those properties.

Do our modern churches profane the Torah (the law)?
Absolutely and completely.
They teach against it.
Do churches teach clean and unclean concepts?
Nope.
In fact, I’ve been to church pig roasts.
So, yeah, they fail this badly.
Do our modern churches honor the Sabbath?
Nope.
Really?  Do you know that honoring the Sabbath is the 4th of the 10 Commandments?  And our churches teach against it.
They’ve replaced the biblical Sabbath with Sunday worship.
Not only did they change the day, but the concepts are lost as well.
Our modern churches profane the Sabbath.  God says anyone who profanes the Sabbath will surely die. Not good…

Yeah, this passage in Ezekiel is pretty spot on with regard to our modern day churches. I’m not talking about the obviously corrupt tv evangelists. I’m talking about the entire system of 40,000 plus denominations.

How about this one:
2Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Does this statement describe the modern church system?
I could spend hours on this…
But I won’t.
I’ll leave you with this simple test, given in scripture.
I’ll let you decide if our church system passes these tests (one from the Old Testament, and the same test given again in the New Testament):

Deuteronomy 13:3-5
for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

And the same test, still applicable after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of our Messiah:
1John 2:3-6
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

What do you think?
Do our 21st Century educated religious leaders pass this test?
Do the millions upon millions of people in their congregations pass this test?

Matthew 23:13
 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves,nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

I don’t study and write these articles in order to criticize or exclude anyone, not that I would have the authority to do so anyway.
I study and I write these things because I have a heart for people.
Family, friends, total strangers.
It does not matter.
I see a whole world of people violating the warnings we are given in scripture [I was one of them for 30 years].
Not understanding, or even ignoring, these warnings has harsh consequences.
I fear for the masses.
I spend my time studying, praying, and attempting to reveal these pitfalls to anyone who will listen.

Messiah said this for a reason, and He is not a liar:
Matthew 7:13-14
¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”