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"FOR I WOULD THAT YOU KNEW what
great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea,
and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit
together [united] in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
In whom are hid all the treasures [truth in its fullness]
of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any
man should beguile you with enticing words" (Col
2:1-4). The apostle Paul is warning the called
disciples to test the argument and claims of false
teachers. Note verse 8, Paul is giving a two fold
warning against false philosophy and teachings.
"Beware, lest any man spoil [corrupt] you through
philosophy [doctrine] and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, [human beliefs] after the rudiments
[elements] of the world, and not after Christ
[according to Christ]" (Col 2 :8).
The context of this verse suggests that this
philosophy had to do with the traditions of men and
mans materialistic habits and view points! Today
there are teachers counterfeiting and camouflaging
God's truth? All of us should have no problem or
difficulty recognizing the misleading teachings of the
churches on our street corner, with its steeples, statues,
crosses, bells and stained glass windows, all of which
are idol worship - give away's!
The wares of any deceptions should be
compared with the doctrines of the master teacher
Christ! The creator and the sustainer, who is the
measuring rod of all true knowledge. "Now therefore
hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes [law] and unto the
judgments,[ruling] which I teach you, for to do them,
that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which
the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall
not add unto the word which I command you, neither
shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you" (Deut 4:1-2). If a doctrinal teaching
does not come from God's word, like the teaching ITS
OK to "Postpone God's annual Holy Day Sabbath," it
is a false teaching because it is not found in the
Bible! "For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are written in this book: And if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book
of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things
which are written in this book" (Rev 22:18-19)!
Remember what Jesus Christ prayed to His Father in
Heaven " Sanctify them [disciples] through Thy truth:
Thy word is truth"(John 17:17).
In the book of Mark , Christ reminds the
pharisees and scribes of what Isaiah said about those
who practice and teach oral Judaism. "Well Has Isaiah
prophesied of you hypocrites," [Christ is referring to
Isa 29:13]. "He [Jesus Christ] answered and said unto
them, Well has Esaias [Isaiah] prophesied of you
hypocrites, as it is written, This people honor Me with
their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in
vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. For laying aside the
commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as
the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like
things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject
the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition. Making the word of God of none effect
through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and
many such like things do ye" (Mark 7:6-9, 13).
These people were hypocrites! Their worship
consisted of rituals, and oral traditions devoid of God's
truth.
Christ condemned these self righteous scribes
and pharisees for worshiping Him in vain, by
practicing and teaching their own oral traditions!
Their traditions are camouflaged and counterfeited to
look like God's teachings, even God's elect were told
in Matt 24:24, they could be fooled. "For there shall
arise false christ's, and false prophets, And shall shew
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Paul continues the Lords thought on false
teachers: "For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15). These
false teachers are going to appear as righteous, their
camouflaged, counterfeit teachings are going to be
very convincing to those God has called to serve Him!
Camouflage means: 1). concealment--by means
of disguise; 2). behavior designed to deceive or hide
something. Counterfeit means: 1). to imitate; 2). make
an imitation of something else with intent to deceive;
3). something marked by false pretense; 4). Something
likely to be mistaken for something of higher value. A
synonym for counterfeit is: imposter.
Satan, the great imposter has already polluted
God's church with the oral counterfeit Hebrew
calendar. Meaning, God's called have already been
fooled and are now breaking the 4th commandment-
the only one God says to remember! ?Why?
"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the
Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their
generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign
between Me and the children of Israel for ever" (Exo
31:16-17). "Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it,
that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD
your God which I command you" (Deut 4:2).
We learn from Paul's writings, "And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers
also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor
11:14-15). Satan is never more satanic than when he
carries a Bible, this is the thought in verse 15.
False teachers pose as ministers of
righteousness and profess to be God's ministers of His
word, but they are agents of the evil one. Satan has
deceived them in their Bible study. Example: Satan
already has most people God has called- convinced
that the oral Hebrew Calendar, some times called
God's sacred calendar- is God inspired by the reasons
given next!
There are basically three reasons why the
churches of God leaders give for following the present
day contaminated oral Hebrew calendar. One is found
in Roman's chapter 3: that speaks of-the oracles of
God. Two: is in Matthew 23: where it says the
scribes and pharisees sit in Moses seat. And three:
Matthew 18: giving the church power to bind and
loose whatever it wants!
Before looking at these inexcusable excuses,
we will for your record, note the postponement rules,
called four "Dehioth."
[Postponements]
1 When the Molad Tishri occurs on a Sunday,
Wednesday or Friday, Rosh Hashanah is
postponed to the following day.
2. When the Molad Tishri occurs at noon (18h) or
later, Rosh Hashanah is postponed to the next
day. (Or if this day is a Sunday, Wednesday or
Friday, to Monday, Thursday or Sabbath
because of Dihiah 1.)
3. When the Molad Tishri of a common year falls
on Tuesday, 204 parts after 3 A.M., 3d 9h 204p
or later Rosh Hashanah is postponed to
Wednesday and because of Dehiah 1, further
postponed to Thursday.
4. When, in a common year succeeding a leap
year, the Molad Tishri occurs on Monday morning 589
parts after 9 A.M. ie., 2d 15h 589 p or later, Rosh
Hashanah is postponed to the next day.
These rules are taken from "The
Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar" page 15. Page 10
we are told they are Simplistic. "NOTE" NOT ONE
OF THOSE INTERCALATED POSTPONEMENT
RULES ARE FOUND IN THE BIBLE!! Does
Deuterronomy 4:2 come to mind? "Ye shall not add
unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye
diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you."
Lets now examine the three inexcusable
excuses the ministry and their layman use for keeping
the postponement rules. We will begin looking at
Roman's chapter 3 first, "What advantage then has the
Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much
every way: chiefly, because that unto them were
committed the oracles of God" (Rom 3:1-2).
Two things must be understood when reading
these two verses. One- man has put the chapter breaks
in the Bible. Two- the oracles of God simply means:
God's utterances, God's sayings, His thoughts and
written laws, statutes and judgments in the Old
Testament scriptures! The Apostle Paul, like others
New Testament writers and even Jesus Christ Himself,
regarded the Old Testament divinely inspired. "If any
man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;
[all service should be performed so that God gets the
credit] if any man minister, let him do it as of the
ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be
glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11).
Read what our Lord said to the Pharisees
regarding, God's oracles. "Therefore say I unto you,
The kingdom of God [the authority of God, - the
oracles of God ] shall be taken from you, [Judah] and
given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And
when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His
parables, they perceived that He spake of them" (Matt
21:43, 45). This was fulfilled at Pentecost when the
Kingdom was transferred to spiritual Israel, at the
assembly of God's called - to receive the gift of His
Holy Spirit .
Paul having the Holy Spirit helps clear up the
two verses in Roman 3:1-2, which belong with
Romans chapter 2: verse 25 - 29, that is addressing
circumcision. Circumcision is spoken of 6 times and
Un-circumcision is mentioned 4 times within these
same 7 verses. Romans chapter 2: verses 25 thru 29
go hand and hand with Romans chapter 3: verses 1 and
2, that ends with the [logia] oracles of God, the
utterances of God are the words of God, not Judaism
that still teach's physical circumcision, not spiritual
circumcision. Yet there are people in the churches of
God that teach we should get back to the Jewish roots!
Romans 3: 1-2, has nothing to do with God
establishing the heavenly bodies as regulator agents for
His annual Holy Day Sabbath calendar. The Hebrew
oral calendar is not God taught from His oracles,
[utterances].
The second reason the Churches of God keep
the oral Hebrew calendar is found in a statement,
Matthew 23 verses 1 to 3 said. "Then spake Jesus to
the multitude, and to His disciples, saying, the scribes
and the pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do."
Does this mean we should obey and follow what ever
the rabbis say or do? Remember, they are the ones that
added oral laws to all Sabbath keeping! Remember,
they are the ones God took His government away from
in Matthew 21: 43. And did not our Lord condemn
them for their traditional doctrines? They are the ones
who intercalated postponement rules to God's annual
Holy Day dates-appointed times. And did not the
pharisees reject Jesus Christ as their Messiah?
Wouldn't that mean we should reject their oral
teachings also?
Jesus compared everything they said and say
with the Bible, and when it disagreed with God's
word-His word, He rejected it This is what we have
to do with their oral rules and traditions! Notice John
9:16, where Jesus was accused of violating the
Sabbath for healing a blind man. "Therefore said some
of the pharisees, this man is not of God, because He
keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man
that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a
division among them" (John 9:16). Jesus Christ
obviously rejected the pharisees interpretation on how
to observe the Sabbath Commandment.
Another example is found in Matthew 15:
"Then came to Jesus scribes and pharisees, which were
of Jerusalem, saying, why do your disciples transgress
the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their
hands when they eat bread. But He answered and said
unto them, why do you also transgress the
Commandment of God by your tradition?" (Matt
15:1-3). Thinking back on Matthew 23:, What did
Jesus mean when He said, "The scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: Therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do" (Matt 23:2-3).
Is this a contradiction of what we have been talking
about ? No! Jesus taught His disciples to disobey the
traditions of the scribes and pharisees when it
contradicted His word. In Matthew 23, verses 13 - 29
Jesus Christ called them hypocrites 7 times. Jesus
knew them as living a lie.
So now, "What does sitting in Moses seat
mean?" Moses had a different function than Aaron in
ancient Israel. Moses was in charge of the civil
government. Exo 18:13-23 -- Num 11: 11-17 -- Deut
1: 9 -18 and Deut 17:8-13. Aaron was of the
ordained Levitical priesthood, not Moses! Moses was
not a priest, his brother Aaron and sons were! Exo
28:1-4 -- Exo 4: 14-17 --- Heb 7: 11.
Moses seat simply means- God put Moses over the
tribes of Israel. He was their physical leader, to settle
disputes among them and to teach them God's laws
and ordinances with authority. Exodus18, is the
chapter where Jethro, Moses father in law saw the
tremendous task that fell to Moses in judging the
people. "Hearken now unto my voice, I will give you
counsel, and God shall be with you: be you for the
people to God-ward, that you may bring the causes
unto God: and you shalt teach them ordinances and
laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must
walk, and the work that they must do" (Ex 18:19-20).
This was the civil government seat God chose for
Moses to sit on! This is the same seat the scribes and
pharisees were sitting on during the time of Jesus
Christ! Matthew 23:1-3, is clearly referring to the
authority of civil government not the spiritual religious
government Aaron's family was over. Judaism
today, has no authority or laws over God's Word nor
His annual Holy Day Sabbath dates!
Lets now address the third inexcusable
excuse the churches uses for keeping the oral
Hebrew calendar. We will look at Matthew 18:18
and Matthew 16:19, both are scriptures used for their
authority! First, Matt 18:18. "Whatsoever you shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." Now Matt 16:19, where a little more detail
is given to Peters responsibility. "And I will give unto
you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: and
whatsoever you shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever you shalt loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven."
Does this mean that Jesus gave the church
leaders a spiritual key with the power and authority to
rewrite God's laws, statutes and judgments? NO!
Only a blind novice would believe that! So what was
Jesus talking to Peter about here when He said, "I will
give to you (Peter) the keys of heaven?"
What does a key do? A key can unlock or lock
something - like a door or some type of closure. A key
gives you access to something! A key is a means of
gaining or preventing entrance to some thing. A key
can provide a solution to a problem. What Christ is
saying to Peter is, "I will give unto you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven." Christ is referring to the
knowledge of salvation. The key of knowledge is
understanding, wisdom and truth.
What did Christ say to the pharisees, scribes
and lawyers about this knowledge? Luke 11, we read
they were hindering the knowledge of salvation, just
as they were hindering or shutting up the kingdom of
God to people. "Woe unto you, lawyers! For you
have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered
not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you
hindered. And as He said these things unto them, the
scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose Him
vehemently, and to provoke Him to speak of many
things" (Luke 11:52-53). These lawyers were experts
in the traditions of Jewish oral laws.
Christ had more to say to them in Matt 23:13,
"But woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!
For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men:
for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you
them that are entering to go in." Satan seems to have
no problem finding leaders to pollute God's truth, by
mixing truth with error which is called syncretism.
Many today are perverting God's Sabbaths by
postponing God's annual Holy Day Sabbaths! These
ordained leaders cause people to think, they have
power and authority to do what ever they want to bind
and loose from the Bible on Earth, and God will honor
them.
The King James Bible has put the wrong
meaning to Matt 18:18 and Matt 16:19. When
searching these verses out you will find in the original
translation, it does not contradict the rest of God's
inspired word. Example: When Reading Matthew 16:
19 from other Bibles translations we will see a deeper
correct study was done.
The Interlinear Bible,
"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall occur
having been Bound in heaven, and what ever you loose
on earth shall be Having been loosed in heaven."
In the Amplified Bible,
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and
whatever you bind (that is declared to be improper and
unlawful) on earth must already be bound in heaven
and whatever you loose on earth (declared lawful)
must be what Is already bound in heaven."
In the Williams Bible,
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
And whatever you forbid on earth must be what is
already forbidden in heaven and whatever you permit
on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven."
In the New American Standard Bible,
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
And whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been
boundIn heaven and whatever you shall loose on earth
shall Have been loosed in heaven."
All four of these translations literally mean in
plain English- Whatever you bind on earth shall
have been bound in heaven (already)! And
whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed
in heaven (already)" The meaning is: God's church
on earth will require only what God in heaven requires
and will prohibit only what God in heaven prohibits!
Christ said in Matthew 7, "Not every one that
saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name? And in Your name have cast out devils? And in
Your name done many wonderful works? And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: Depart
from Me, you that work iniquity [lawlessness]" (Matt
7:21-23).
Jesus Christ further states in Matthew 28,
"Spake unto them, saying, all Power is given unto
Me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
Have commanded you: and, lo I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matt 28:18-20). God is saying to His disciples to observe and teach
all the laws and statutes that I, Christ have
commanded, NOT what the anti-christ Judaism
teaches!
We will address one more subject found in
Gen 1:1 - 5, what God calls the first day, Strong's
number 3117. This word day is used 13 times
between Gen 1:1 and Gen 2: 3, completing a creation
week of 7 days. Over the past 20 years the "Church of
God, in Truth" has collected many calendar articles
from a variety of churches that teach their people to
keep Hillel II oral postponed Hebrew calendar dates.
They are all quick to start their oral Hebrew calendar
articles with Gen 1:14 that reads, "And God said, let
there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
This is the verse the oral Hebrew calendar
starts their count of days from-for their holidays. Most
churches of God follow their dates for keeping their
Bible Holy Days. By following their example and
using today's calendar names they are counting from
a Wednesday, the middle of the week, when the day
the crescent moon became visible to start their Holy
Day's count from.
Let me read you a quote from Rabbi Nathan
Bushwick's book titled, "Understanding the Jewish
Calendar." On page 71 he writes, "As the moon
moves around the Earth, there is one moment that it is
exactly between the Earth and the sun. at that moment
the earth faces the dark side of the moon. Already for
about a day before this moment the moon has not been
visible from any point on the Earth and it will remain
invisible for about a day more. This moment is called
the molad, the birth of the new moon. We use the
molad as the official beginning and end point of the
cycle of the moon." Page 79, "In the time of the
Sanhedrin, a new month began only after it was
possible to actually see the new moon [crescent],
which we know is many hours, after the molad. That
is because there is a period of about two days between
the last possible sighting of the old moon and the first
possible sighting of the new [crescent] moon. The
molad is roughly in the middle of this period during
which the moon is not visible." The sighting of the
crescent moon is on the fourth day according to Gen
1:14.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol.5 C-DH, page
45, titled, "The true and the mean molad, owing to
inequalities in the rate of both the solar and the lunar
motion in longitude, the mean conjunction may
preceded or be preceded by the true conjunction
[moon with the earth]. Approximately 14 hours is the
maximum interval from the true conjunction to the
mean conjunction. At the autumnal equinox the
minimum interval from the true conjunction to the
phases is approximately20 hours, while maximum is
close to 72 hours, with the minimum of approximately
18 hours shortly before the vernal equinox."
Hillel II, oral Hebrew calendar counts dates
from the crescent moon, which God tells us not to
worship-- Deut 4:19. "And lest you lift up your eyes
unto heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon,
and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be
driven to worship them, and serve them, which the
Lord your God has divided unto all nations under the
whole heaven." The worship of the heavenly bodies
is a snare which Judaism, the religion of anti-christ has
followed from early times. How long did Moses
inspired advice last? "The vision of Isaiah the son of
Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah. When ye come to appear
before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to
tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations;
incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons
and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away
with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your
new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth:
they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine
eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will
not hear: your hands are full of blood" ( Isa 1:12-15).
Moslems also worship the same crescent moon,
calling it allah--the crescent moon god.
My question for you -- is Gen 1:14 where
God's starts His calendar? NO! God starts his
creation calendar with Gen 1:1-5, where He begins
naming His days. Day 1- day 2- day 3- day 4- day
5- day 6 and ends with day 7, God's Sabbath day!
Day - 1 - is where the "Church of God, in Truth"
begin their count for God's Holy Days, not from Gen
1:14 the fourth day, the day the crescent moon
becomes visible.
Notice Luke 6, Christ is speaking to those
showing loyalty to His teachings, "Blessed are you,
when men shall despise you, and when they shall
separate you from their company, and shall reproach
you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of
man's sake. Rejoice you in that day, and leap for joy:
for, behold, your reward is great in heaven" (Luke
6:22-23).
It is clear God loves us and wants us in His
utopian Kingdom!
Prove all things and don't let some mis-guided
teacher steal away your eternal crown by encouraging
you to following syncretism!
James Russell
Deut 12:32
"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it:
thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."
Deut 4:1-2
"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and
unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them,
that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which
the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not
add unto the word which I command you, neither shall
ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you."
Deut 4:5
"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments,
even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye
should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it."
Prov 30:5-6
"Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them
that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His
words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."
Rev 22:17-19
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are written in this book: And if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book
of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things
which are written in this book."
Teach Calendar Rules Only, From God's Word!