I guess numerology will have to wait another week, because tonight is about traditions! As I have said from the beginning of these newsletters, everyone must study His Word and be convicted of what he or she believes. If this is not done, the person does not truly believe and will waiver when presented even the slightest contradiction (or seeming contradiction). We are told to stand fast in the faith and be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13), however we are also told not to be wise in our own eyes (Proverbs 3:7) and to be humble in order to receive wisdom (Proverbs 11:2). So I start this newsletter by asking which beliefs do you hold that you are not convicted of? That you have not dug into the scripture for? These are not written on your heart. Beliefs that come from man vice Yehovah? These are mere traditions. Not truths or commandments from the Almighty.
There are many traditions that exist today which are not founded in scripture. I can't write a newsletter to include them all, so I'll go through some that you might know and some that you might not. I ask that as you read these you study them for yourself. Whatever belief the Holy Spirit moves you to, maybe you will find a truth you did not know before. At the very least, you'll be more convicted of the beliefs you have. I then ask that you review all your beliefs to ensure they are firmly founded in scripture and in your heart.
Biblical Interpretations
There are many that I could include here, but I'll only list two for now. Both were brought to my attention while reading E. W. Bullinger's How to Enjoy the Bible and they really spoke to me how much we just accept because we heard it in church or see pictures people make.
The Crucifixion: I think we've all seen pictures of the three wooden crosses, and Randy Travis even sang a song about them! However, the truth of the matter is there were in fact four other individuals crucified with Jesus, not two. To see this we turn to Mark 15:27 where he writes of two thieves (dyo lestes), and Luke 23:32 where he writes of two malefactors (dyo kakourgos). What's the difference? I'm glad you asked! A malefactor is an evil doer while a thief is someone who steals. But what's the point? If they're pretty much interchangeable, why do we care whether Luke or Mark (or Matthew, who uses the same word as Mark) use two different words? Well, Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 say they both reviled Jesus, however Luke 23:39 specifies only one did, and it was one of the malefactors. This seems like a discrepancy if we hold fast to tradition (and pictures) and continue to believe that only two others were crucified with Him. Looking back at Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27, we see the two thieves crucified with Christ, however this occurred after Jesus' garments had been divided between those that crucified Him. The two malefactors were crucified at the same time as Jesus (Luke 23:33). To further confirm there were four others with Christ, we look to John's account. Chapter 19, verse 18, states (in the KJV) "...two other with him on either side one..." The phrase in the Greek is dyo allos meta autos enteuthen kai enteuthen, which should have been translated "two others ... on either side," as John himself wrote in Revelation 22:2. The same phrase enteuthen kai enteuthen was translated there "on either side," not "on either side one."
Creation: It's common tradition that Yehovah created the universe and right away formed the earth and everything in it. However, if we take a look at scripture it tells us something different. Genesis 1:2 was translated, "And the earth was without form..." using the word "was" for the Hebrew hayah. The more accurate translation for this word is "became," telling us the earth existed for a time prior to the seven days of creation. This is further confirmed in Genesis 2:7, 4:14, 9:15, 19:26, where this word was correctly translated as became/become. Not convinced? Take a look at Isaiah 45:18. In this verse, he writes "...He created it not in vain..." where the Hebrew tohuw is translated "it not in vain." However, this is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 to mean "without form." How can Genesis 1:2 and Isaiah 45:18 both be true if Yehovah didn't create the earth with form and then it became without form right before the seven days of creation? Additionally, if this is not what truly happened, 2 Peter 3:4-7 wouldn't make sense. No, verse 6 is not talking about the Flood, because if that were the case "the heavens AND the earth, which are now" (verse 7) would be different than the heavens and earth of Noah and there's nothing written in the account of the Flood to indicate this (kind of a big deal, so it would have been mentioned!). Perhaps the time before the seven days of creation accounts for the discrepancy between geology and scripture!
Traditions of men
This leads me slightly away from scripture to make a point on science and man's trust in it. As the body of Christ, we can agree on certain major topics that science has gotten wrong, like evolution. However, I caution you to be skeptical of any so-called "settled science," and never just take what they say as truth. There are many deceptions that are given by the devil, and I believe many of them fall under what some may call harmless theories. We all know evolution is a false account of how life was made on earth, and now science is starting to figure that out. They now know that all humans came from two individuals (albeit their timeline is a bit off) and animals (at least 9 out of 10 of them) came from two as well. Additionally, the crust of the earth has a different structure than they previously determined, and there's actually more layers that include mountains and plains. If these "facts" of "settled science," which have been around for hundreds of years (Isaac Newton came up with earth layers in the 1700s and Darwin came up with evolution in 1859), what about current "facts?" I know it's a hot topic, but how then can we trust the "facts" of mRNA vaccines, for example, when they've only been studied starting from 2005?! Especially since it works by reprogramming our cells to look like the virus it's vaccinating so our immune response will attack them! If we knew exactly how every minute detail of every part of our body worked we'd have no issues completely healing all sicknesses (since we'd know how our body fought sicknesses and we'd just make it do that better!), so we simply can't know all the details of how these things completely affect our bodies. Another example is humpback whales. They've been studied for decades, but now there's abnormal activity with their breeding success. In the linked article, they attribute it to climate change, however between 2004 and 2018 (the years they chose to analyze) ocean temperatures only rose about 0.13 degrees Celsius (0.234 degrees Fahrenheit). The truth is, man likes to pretend like they've figured everything out, but we're not even close! Ever thought about Luke 19:40? The stones would cry out? He wasn't speaking in a parable, this was a straight, non-allegorical statement.
I'm going to keep the rest of these short, as this one's getting a bit long!
Sunday of rest: Yehovah gave us the Sabbath as our day of rest (Exodus 20:8-11), and man decided it should be the day of the Roman sun god instead. And this decree continues to be justified and rationalized today. Who are we to change His law?!
"Paperwork pastors": Man has decided that only those that have been to seminary school are "qualified" to preach/teach rather than relying on the Holy Spirit and discernment and study of scripture (1 John 2:27). Acts is full of apostles preaching and teaching, none of which went to seminary but they all had the Holy Spirit!
Religion: Man has become so hardened of heart that we can't come to worship the Almighty unless we all have the exact same beliefs. I agree there was a situation in Acts 15:37-39 where Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement and they went their own way, however this was not a matter of differing scriptural beliefs. Jesus taught love and acceptance, not discord and disunity, for the body of Christ.
I know I stepped outside of scripture for a bit there, and I hope you'll forgive me for that. I only wish to ensure everyone is truly convicted of their beliefs, and if not you take the time to study and become convicted. I believe there are days coming soon where our faith and convictions will be tested (Mark 13:11). Be strong in the Lord!
Shabbat Shalom and God bless you!
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