The Two-Hundred-Seventy-Eighth (Revealing)

I don’t know about you, but I’m noticing a shift in the world and it needs to be discussed within the framework of scripture and everything we’ve learned from scripture throughout our studies.  There are some political aspects to this shift, but also religious aspects and they’re both connected.  The common thread though, is the spiritual influences at work behind the scenes.  

We won’t go into detail on any “conspiracy theories,” political movements, news talking points, or social media trends that are a part of this shift in the world.  However, we will mention some things that have happened over the past year or so that will give an indication of what this shift is.  The ultimate goal is to see how they all tie together, how that tie applies to what we’ve learned in scripture, and what it all means for us as believers.

To recount some major events, we saw a high profile political candidate get elected with a lot of conservatives, and especially conservative Christians, having high hopes of him fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.  If you recall his previous term as president, there was a notable trend of people pointing out that he was always right and that he made good on every promise he made.  This term however, is a wildly different story, with a war continuing that he said he’d end the first day he was in office, military strikes against other countries despite calling himself the president of peace, a border wall that hasn’t been finished, and an economy that has not improved significantly since last year.  In fact, in his last address, he stated that inflation has stopped when the prices of key necessities like food and energy continue to rise.

To continue with recounting political aspects of this shift in the world, we’ve seen a much greater trend in people talking about which politicians have taken money from a certain political influence group that’s associated with a certain country in the Middle East, the aforementioned president included.  Now, those kinds of things have been talked about in the past, mainly by one political party trying to cast aspersions on someone of the opposite party, but the difference today is that the discussion is not party-centric.  Both sides of the aisle are being called out for not only taking that country’s money but also going on trips to that country, all expenses paid by that country itself.  These trips are not exclusive to the national political stage either, as recently a conference included state government representatives.  I wonder what state-associated governmental business could possibly have anything to do with that country.

Whereas previously these kinds of things were mentioned and questions about them were brought up semi-randomly, now we are seeing continued discussion and it has transitioned into questioning how much influence that middle eastern country has, not only in our nation’s politics but in everything else that’s going on in our country.  From news to movies and television to national responses to “emergencies,” people are looking in to who is at the top making the decisions and where their loyalties lie.  People have figured out that things presented as truth in the past were actually lies, the same things they lived their life by, and they’re trying to figure out who decided to tell the lies and why.    

Again, continuing with touching on major events over the past year or so, we saw a man assassinated who was highly influential with the younger generation.  Shortly before his assassination, he, too, was questioning the intentions and motivations of this certain Middle Eastern country, especially with their efforts in Gaza, as well as questioning their influence in our nation.  Almost in parallel with that, while he always talked about his faith in his debates and interviews, he had recently started talking about following YHWH’s commandments, including observing Shabbat.  

What’s interesting about that is not necessarily that he had begun speaking more and more about the importance of observing the Sabbath but the fact that after his death this topic has turned into a sort of dividing line.  We see posts on social media talking about how the Sabbath is Jewish, and that Christians should never be observing it.  The belief that we should observe the Sabbath has even been called heresy.  Remember this particular point as we continue on and start tying things together.

To close out the politically-associated events over the past year, we are seeing more and more independent political commentators becoming prominent as well.  This was one of the results of the pandemic of 2019-2020, which was, in my opinion, when all of this truth-seeking by the general public began.  This was the time where a video circulated that showed dozens of local news anchors across the country saying the exact same words, in the exact same tone, about the pandemic.  However, with every commentator that gained in popularity, it seemed the same turned out to be “in on it” with the party line, so to speak.    

These independent commentators just included a little bit of outrage and opposition to keep ahold of their followers that were questioning the narrative, while avoiding the actual truth behind it all.  If you don’t know the term “controlled opposition,” you should look it up.  Even long-time “kooks” like Alex Jones seem to have been in this category.  They may talk about some truth and bring up some valid questions about things that are happening in the country and the world, but when it comes down to it they never actually get to the root truth of it all.  

Outside of the political aspects of the past year, we’ve also seen a supposed alien craft entering our solar system.  It hasn’t been consistent headline news really, as far as I have seen, but every once in awhile it will pop up again.  You have to wonder why, and in general, we should always be questioning things like this where there’s only a select few organizations or individuals that can provide information about a topic.  It’s just too easy to control not only the source data but also the interpretation of it.  And there we have a theme starting to form…so remember that as well!

While this next item has been politicized as well, we’ve also seen a growing trend of health and medicine “facts” being overturned and truth coming out about the medical establishment, their motivations, and how those have affected our lives.  Not only that, but the organizations that were supposedly there to ensure our safety when it comes to medicine and food were not actually fulfilling that duty.  Studies revealing the harmful effects of medicines and vaccines were suppressed, guidelines for healthy eating were created to sell more of certain food products rather than help people be healthy, all due to these organizations being influenced by industries and companies rather than maintaining their independence and seeking the truth about what is best for people.

So, what is the theme here?  What is the common thread?  How do all these things tie together and what does it mean for us as believers?

There certainly is an underlying theme of deception throughout all the things we’ve mentioned, and we’ve noted this in previous week’s studies.  This is a theme that has existed ever since the events in the Garden of Eden, so it’s nothing new (Genesis 3:4).  However, the greater theme that is becoming more and more prominent now is that these deceptions are being exposed and more and more people are being made aware of them.  Some actually accept the truth and change their lives because of it, but some refuse and choose to remain in the deception.  

That is the thing that we as believers need to be mindful of, but there is something else that goes along with that.  The other aspect of the things we’re seeing in the world lately is a common theme of distraction.  A new political commentator here, a corruption in a government organization exposed there, an ingredient or vaccine banned based on its harmful effects elsewhere, if we try and keep up on all of these things or take time trying to figure out if the new thing is just a new lie, the question becomes where is our focus?

The danger with all these things is falling into the trap of spending too much time on them and not enough time with YHWH and what He’s trying to teach us.  I believe that’s what YHWH has been showing me lately.  

I believe that with everything mentioned above, and everything else we’ve been seeing lately that we didn’t take time to mention, that we are in at least a season of revealing (Ecclesiastes 12:14) if this isn’t actually a preparation for the Truth Himself to return (John 14:6).  He told His disciples that everything will be exposed for what it is at some point (Luke 8:16-17, Mark 4:21-22), and He associated that exposing with light.  John also wrote that in order for us to be in fellowship with YHWH, who is light, we cannot be in darkness (1 John 1:5-6).  

The question for us as believers is what that darkness is, and once we know that, how do we stay out of it?  In John’s letter, he goes on to talk about sin (1 John 1:8-10), so is that what the darkness is?  If we look in the words of Isaiah, we find some very graphic talk about darkness, and what does he associate it with?

Isaiah writes of people hoping for light, but being stuck in darkness and gloom (Isaiah 59:9).  He mentions groping like the blind, stumbling in midday, and he associates this with a lack of justice and righteousness, which ultimately is a result of our sin (Isaiah 59:9-12).  If we look elsewhere in this chapter we can also see that a lack of truth is a part of this darkness (Isaiah 59:3, 14-15).

These obviously aren’t the only places in scripture where we find darkness talked about.  Paul also wrote about it, saying we need to cast off the works of darkness, again indicating a reference to sin, and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12).  In his letter to the church in Ephesus, he wrote about the world being in darkness because of the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12).  

There is an even more interesting quote by Paul that we’ll get to in a moment, but we also find John writing about how Yeshua is the light shining in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:1-5).  This correlates with Paul’s words about evil spiritual forces and their work in the world.  We see also that Yeshua connected the actions of the chief priests, temple officers, and Jewish elders leading up to and during His crucifixion, which came as a result of the Pharisees and scribes speaking against Yeshua’s teaching, challenging Him, and their authority being threatened by Him, with the “power of darkness,” alluding to these evil spiritual forces at work (Luke 22:53).

There’s no clearer words than Yeshua’s about what the darkness is as the ones He spoke to Paul when he was traveling to Damascus and was converted (Acts 26:18).  He said darkness is the power of Satan.  Even His statement to Paul was a reference to the writings of Isaiah though, which is likely one of the things that convinced Paul that He is the Messiah.  Yeshua was referencing the chapter of Isaiah that talks about the Messiah and that He would turn darkness into light before the people (Isaiah 42:16).  

As we can see, in scripture, referencing darkness means talking about sin, including deception and lack of truth, which ultimately comes from Satan and his evil forces in the world.  Staying out of the darkness means keeping our focus off of the world and keeping it on YHWH and Yeshua who are Light.  The world operates in darkness, and it’s meant to distract us from Them, trying to convince us that what is right is actually wrong and what is wrong is actually right.  

Yeshua fought against darkness during His ministry, and the focal point of that fight was the false teachings of the Pharisees and the man-made oral traditions, some of which broke YHWH’s commandments (Matthew 15:3).  Many, if not all, of those are still followed by Jews today.  He called those scribes and Pharisees that touted these oral laws a brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34), which was another reference to the chapter of Isaiah we looked at earlier.  In it, we find that sinful people are associated with laying eggs of vipers (Isaiah 59:5).

Today, we find that mainstream Christianity has been largely infiltrated by darkness.  While it’s not an infiltration of the burdensome legalism like Yeshua taught against during His ministry, it’s still an infiltration of man-made ideas, beliefs, and traditions.  As we’ve mentioned in previous weeks’ studies, we’re seeing believers come to the realization of this and start seeking the truth for themselves in scripture, and I believe this is all a part of the revealing that’s occurring throughout the world.

The bottom line is that this revealing of the truth is happening supernaturally, and rather than get caught up in every little thing that’s being revealed and trying to find a person “in the know” that we can trust in order to get the truth behind things, we need to keep our focus on Yeshua, YHWH, and His Word.  While believers have had the ability to use the power of Yeshua since His death and resurrection to bring about this revealing ourselves, the power of darkness was apparently still too great for us to keep from getting deceived by it.  What we’re seeing today is not one individual, or even a group of individuals, and the only explanation is that there is a spiritual force at work causing the truth to come out in nearly every aspect of the world.  

I promised you an interesting quote by Paul, didn’t I?  Well, I can’t say whether or not this is what we’re seeing today, but Paul wrote that Yeshua would, at the appointed time, bring to light what was hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men’s hearts, and he associates this with Yeshua’s return (1 Corinthians 4:5).  We have to remember that Paul wrote this before the events surrounding the Jewish rebellion against Rome that resulted in the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem and the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews, so he could have been predicting that (I believe those events were a “coming in the clouds”-type return, which is always associated in scripture with judgment).  However, as we’ve seen throughout our studies, YHWH works in patterns, so even if Paul’s words referred to the events around 70AD, they could also be a pattern helping us identify the precursor of Yeshua’s physical return.

Whatever it is we’re seeing, we need to make sure we’re reading His Word and having a relationship with Him rather than getting distracted.  That way, when we do find truth, we will be able to recognize it and change how we live, if the truth calls for it.  

We hope you have a great week!  Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!  

-Rob and Sara Gene

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The Gospel

We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)

The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)

Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)

His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life

(1 Corinthians 15:17-18, John 3:16)