Cults

The word “apocalypsis” is the Greek name of the book of Revelation, from which we get our word apocalypse. Because the word is associated with the prophecies about the end of our age, many assume the word means “doom” or “destruction.”

But it does not. The word literally means “revelation” — a spiritual process where the Spirit opens our mind by dreams, direct contact, by meditation, visions, by whatever the Spirit finds best, to help us understand things we otherwise might not grasp. John the Apostle wrote:

The anointing, which you have received from Him, stays in you. And you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as the same anointing does teach you concerning all, and is true, and is not falsehood, and even as it has taught you, you stay in Him. And now, little children, stay in Him, so that when He appears, we might have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
From I John 2

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This Bible study series contains some very strong words for a special group of people symbolized by the Seven Lamps belonging to the one lampstand. Some translators of the Book of Revelation used “lampstand” or “candlestick” instead of “lamp” when translating this passage.

But a lamp in Greek is a vessel into which oil is poured, and it has a wick that brings the oil to the spout to burn and give light. It is not a candlestick, nor is the lamp the lampstand on which the lamps are placed.

Although some made a career of studying the Greek New Testament, it does have weaknesses, which most often show up in the translations. The use of the word candlestick or lampstand instead of lamp is one case. Greek is not a theological language, it is philosophical and forms a context for Western thought.

But these two chapters of Revelation can only be understood within the context of the Scriptures and Hebraic thought. Here is what I mean: The Law and the Prophets tell about the gold lampstand with its seven gold lamps:

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The last or seventh assembly of people has been called out to receive spiritual knowledge and to receive the promises for overcoming their dangerous situation. All of the messages to the seven assemblies are not only age transcending but also “end time” or, more exactly for our time: the end of the seventh age. These called-out people have existed in every generation from the time of Adam!

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The time is at hand during which all who are among the called-out ones must act quickly to change any of their unprofitable works into works of righteousness. This Bible study shows that this last assembly could apply to millions of people or to only thousands. These are the people of Laodicea.

Even though these are names of congregations found cities in Asia Minor during the time John was told to write down the words of the Book of Revelation, means little to us. The words spoken to each are far more important than any meaning applied to a name, except “Philadelphia ” (a love for the brothers), which seems to fit the works of the “loners.”

In the prior post in this Bible study series I referred to the “congregation of Satan” who said they were “Jews” but lied. The most fitting application of that turned out to be the followers of Herbert W. Armstrong who out of necessity created the Worldwide Church of God. It appears as though their intentions may have been “pure” in their own eyes, but their, works, particularly of the ministry, showed otherwise.

Does this group belong to any of the assemblies of Revelation chapters two and three?

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The last two assemblies or groups of called-out people are probably the most well-known and the least understood. In the previous posts on the promises to overcomers, I wrote how all the problems that threatened the people were spiritual and caused by religions.

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In this Bible study we will see those who remained unaffected by religion and those who created their own. Remember all groups or assemblies of people written about in chapters two and three of the Book of Revelation consist of people who had received the call. But again, “Many are called.”

Why someone would want to create their own religion is not a big mystery. The biggest reason is because they don’t want to have anything to do with the religions that afflicted the other groups. Their eyes may have been opened to the problems of the other groups. But instead of moving into truth, they adopted traditions and practices from sources unknown to the other groups or assemblies, and made those their own. To quote the SNL Church Lady, “How convenient!”

Looking around to see how others “worship” and adopting their ways has been and still is the biggest step to creating a nation doomed to spiritual failure. The Unites States and all of Western civilization are nations that have done that.

The most difficult task is to become humble as a person and as a nation and learn the truth by obtaining the spiritual connection with Elah [God] and Eyahuwah, the One called LORD in the scriptures. In other words, returning to the righteousness of our fathers, from Adam, through Enoch, Noah and his sons, the fathers of all who live today, and through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, if you can call them your fathers. Then you will learn the truth; your life will be changed; your future will be assured; and you will fear nothing. This is true for individuals. It is true for nations.

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Perhaps nothing can be more troublesome than finding our wishes and dreams betrayed by our own flesh. This is one of the most difficult trials of this life. We really want to live a spiritual life, but we find that our body and brain let us down. Is there a way to escape this conflict and come out the victor?

There are decisions we can make in life that start us on paths that are not good. This kind of living has made the news recently concerning both young and mature people living an “easy” and dangerous life. These are only prime examples of a kind of life that affects millions. They have money, friends, and can do what they want. This can lead to doing things that are anti-life. Drugs, alcohol abuse, out-of-control sex, and wild parties play a major role in bringing people down.

The Scriptures tell us to guard our path, to learn wisdom, and have understanding and knowledge and let them guide our way. But if we don’t follow this way, from a very early age, we can make mistakes from which we may never recover in this lifetime. Some may call this karma. It is more like what you sow, so shall you harvest.

The Scriptures use farming as an example of life. A sower can plant good seed and look forward to a good harvest. But if someone comes along and sows bad seed and weeds, then the harvest can be destroyed or overcome by the weeds. When that happens in life, a harvest of evil can mature later.

For they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. Hosea 8:7

You have ploughed wrongness, you have reaped unrighteousness. You have eaten the fruit of deception. Hosea 10:13

Where can we find good seed to sow in our life? And how can we recover from the evil after it had been sown? These are tough questions and require tough answers.

I wrote in another post about how all killing will be placed upon the religions we follow that came out of Babylon. “In her was found the blood of the prophets and of the set-apart ones, and all who have been killed on the earth.” Revelation 18:24. That is a very serious indictment, but when understood, it is very true.

The Christian religion, taking its cues from Paul, no longer takes the Law or Torah seriously. Rarely have they spent sufficient prayer and meditation in the Law to learn what it really does say. I have even heard preachers on the radio, TV and on the Internet tell the people that all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled and we should only read what Paul wrote. Absolute and deadly nonsense.

When we understand the Law, what it says and to whom it applies, suddenly the mind is open to what a righteous life is all about. But too often cults or sects arise and lacking understanding they try to impose their interpretation of the Law when they have absolutely no authority to do so.

The Law is not designed for only a select few people in some religious way. It applies to all who live and breathe. That includes everyone from the chief rulers of nations to the poorest person alive. There are Laws for rulers and for personal relationships. There are Laws for priests (Levites), too, and if we are not priests or Levites, these are not for us, except we can learn the spiritual meaning of these laws.

And that is where the problem is. Religion would not find a place in the Law, because the people were to be taught and helped by “Kings and Priests.” If these fail in their responsibilities, then all the rest of the populations suffers. And what makes the end result worse is when the duties of the priests are supplanted by the misguidings of religion.

“And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you do not hear and if you do not take it to heart, to give honor and respect to My Name,” says Eyahuwah of hosts, “I shall send a curse upon you, and I shall curse your blessings. And indeed, I have cursed them, because you do not take it to heart. See, I shall rebuke your seed and scatter dung before your faces, the dung of your festivals. And you shall be taken away with it.

“And you shall know that I have sent this command to you so that My covenant with Levi might continue,” says Eyahuwah of hosts. “My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him, to fear. And he feared Me and stood in awe of My Name.

“The Torah (Law) of truth was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace, and turned many away from crookedness. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and they seek the Torah from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Eyahuwah of hosts.”

“But you, you have turned from the way. You have caused many to stumble in the Torah. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Eyahuwah of hosts, “and I also, I shall make you despised and low before all the people, because you are not guarding My ways, and are showing partiality in the Torah.” Malachi 2:1-9

“What are we to do? Where are the priests? Where are those who can show us the way?”

Exactly!

The days of punishment are coming. The days of reckoning are at hand. Let [my people] know this. Because of the greatness of your your crookedness, the prophet is considered a fool, the ‘man of the Spirit’ is [thought] ‘mad,’ and great is the enmity. Elahim’s watchman over you, Ephraim [the Western Nations], is the prophet, but [you set] a trapper’s snare in all his paths. Enmity and hatred is against the House of his Elahim. They have deeply corrupted themselves. Hosea 9:7-9

We suffered in the past, suffer now, and will suffer in the future because of three things:

1. The priests (Levites) abdicated their duties and their covenant with Eyahuwah.
2. Religions, sects, and cults sprung up and taught the people another way and, in trying to hold on to the people, millions have been killed by them and their way.
3. We do not listen to the instruction and help available in the Scriptures.

I received some horrific news a short time ago that a young man, a friend, had taken his own life. He was not a evil person. He was a genuine person who wanted to do right, but he made some mistakes that led him to try to solve his situation by stopping his life. He was troubled by this conflict of spirit against flesh.

My friend sought comfort and help from drugs, including Xanax, and the drugs took control. He could not escape the cravings of his own body. He wanted to do right, but he did not have the strength. The flesh was weak.

I don’t blame my friend for taking his life. It is sad, troubling, and not to be forgotten. The questions “Why?” and “What could we have done to prevent this?” cannot be answered by the “wisdom” of this world, because this world, sadly, does not know the Way!

My friend, like so many others, could no longer stomach this world and how his life and actions worked within it. His problems were pitted against the solutions he formulated in his mind. Perhaps he only saw that he could not overcome the weaknesses of his own flesh, and so he felt helpless. Instead of continually bringing frustration and anguish to those he loved, he felt that the only rational solution was to cut off the “offending member,” which in this case he felt was him. Whether this was an act courage or depression only he could say.

But there is good news!

According to the promises, he will be raised from the dead and given a new clean body and a fresh start on life. So will many other people who died as a result of the failure of those whose job was to “turn many away from crookedness.”

The great message of the gospel is the good news that people, like my friend, will be saved from the evil in this world. He will not be condemned and “sent to hell” as the Christian religions think fitting. Instead he will stand on his feet, in his next waking moment, and someone will be there to embrace him and tell him to come. He will be told that his suffering is over. His torment has passed. He can then enter into the Kingdom of his spiritual Father on earth. There he will find Kings and Priests who will help him to understand Life. He can build his own house, and no one will take it from him. He will plant vegetables, fruit trees, and flowers in his own gardens that he will enjoy and no thief will steal from him. He will be at peace. He will see his daughter and all the people he loved. He will live a very long and happy life. His joy will be greater than his sorrow ever was.

That is true not only for him, but for all. When we know the truth, it will set us free.

What can we do now?

We must make straight paths for our feet and not let ourselves be turned out of the Way. We must purify our bodies, and turn from anything that would destroy our hope. We must exercise wisdom in everything we do. We must seek for understanding and good knowledge that will provide clarity for all the decisions that we must make in this life. And we must look forward to our future with hope and assurance that the One who made the promises through our fathers and through the prophets will do exactly as He said He would. All of these things are available NOW from the Source of our Life.

But if we scoff and turn away from truth during this life, we face uncertainty in this life, frustration, suffering and trouble. NOT because there is a “mean” God someplace that wants to inflict pain and suffering, but rather because our own actions bring this on us. The Scriptures provide warnings and instructions that could save us now, if we listen and take action combined with fasting, prayer and meditation.

Wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the broad places. At the head of the noisy streets she cries out, “How long, you simple ones, would you love simplicity, and scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

“Turn at my reproof. See, I pour out my spirit on you. I make my words known to you. Because I called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one inclined, and you spurned all my counsel and would not yield to my reproof.

“Let me also laugh at your calamity and mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then let them call on me, but I will not answer. Let them seek me, but not find me.

“Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of Eyahuwah, they did not accept my counsel. They despised my reproof; therefore, let them eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own counsels. For the turning away of the simple slays them, and the complacency of fools destroys them.

“But whoever listens to me dwells safely and is at ease from the dread of evil.” Proverbs 1:20-33

There are a number of pages on the Internet regarding speculation that the “Rapture” may happen in 2008. Is this for real? What is behind this notion? Can it be supported by Scripture?

[Post published on May 14, 2007]

If you have been reading the posts in this blog you should have picked up on the fact that both Christianity and Judaism are heavily influenced by teachings and practices that came from Babylon.

From the time shortly after the flood Babylon was founded as a great spiritual and political empire. Although when we look at Iraq today, we do not get that impression. Nor should we. The physical greatness that was once Babylon has been destroyed. In fact, the city of Babylon is a ruin.

The spiritual influence of the once great Babylon and Babylonian Empire lives on today in nearly every religion on earth!

What does that mean for us?

As I explained in earlier posts, the people of Judah were taken captive and transported to Babylon where they lived for seventy years before they were allowed to return. That is a couple of generations.

Very few of the original captives lived long enough to be among those who returned.

However, what happened to the people of Judah while they were there has to this day affected both those who call themselves Christians and those who adhere to the traditions of Judaism.

During that time a group of lay men formed the sect of the Pharisees. This was an intellectual group who actually were influential enough to coerce the people to follow them, their view of the law, and to relegate the Levites and Priests to a token position having little or no teaching influence on the people.

The Pharisees developed a program of teaching new converts to Phariseeism and wrote a five and one half million word document called the Babylonian Talmud upon which they based their religion.

They also adopted the Babylonian calender as their own imposing the feasts and set apart days upon it instead of the solar calendar. They even kept the Babylonian names of the months.

What does all this have to do with a supposed “[pre-tribulation] Rapture?”

The assumption that the Christian religion was a departure from the sect of the Pharisees is only partly true. The Christian religion did reject the Talmuds, but a more deadly plot was hatched against the followers of Jesus: infiltration by a Pharisee whose primary task was to destroy the followers of Jesus by torture and death.

But on his way to carry out his mission he had a new idea. His plot included injecting his own interpretations (a Pharisee trick) and replacing the teachings of Jesus and the apostles with rituals, practices, and traditions that were “less burdensome.” This, of course, is Saul Paulus, one of the most highly trained Pharisees of his day. A brilliant man who brought in deadly heresies that resulted in the creation of new religion that drew followers to him and away from Jesus and the apostles.

From overly zealous revival preachers in the 1800s, comes the idea of the “Rapture.” This idea was never a part of Christianity prior to that time.

The Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Enoch, the book of Revelation, and Jesus’ prophecies and teachings only tell about the resurrection. These all refer to the people coming back to life in new mortal bodies or in immortal bodies.

Ezekiel prophesied about the resurrection of the “Whole House of Israel.” This includes the descendants of all of the sons of Jacob, who were not Jews, but Israelites. But those from Jacob’s son Judah, later called Jews, will be raised with their cousins from Reuben, Joseph, Dan, and all the other tribes associated with them.

These will be raised from the dead because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to the Nations of Israel through Eyahuwah, Moses, and the Prophets, and in regard to the promises given to the whole world because of the part the Israelites will play in the next ages.

But Christians want to believe in the rapture so badly that they are willing to risk anything to hold on to this doctrine.

Paul formed a supercult. Embedded in his teaching is an “us-versus-them” mentality that is easily picked up from his letters. Included in those are icons. He made the Greek name “Jesus Christ” an icon. He also made his letters an icon, and there is evidence that Paul played a large role in wresting the Aramaic and Hebrew documents away from the apostles and replaced them with his own Greek versions creating the icon of the Greek New Testament.

The book of Acts is not the “Acts of the Apostles.” It is the “Acts of Paul” wherein he even made himself an icon. His followers to this day view everything through Paul’s special dark glasses. Nearly all worship services or Bible studies include references to Paul, and this is tragic!

Those who concentrate on Paul’s letters and stories usually have no idea what the Prophets can teach us. They also lack the great truths contained in the Law.

They build churches based on rules (Phariseeism) and condemn others who do not think as they do. Rather than opening their hearts to understanding and wisdom, they hang on to fables and conceive falsehoods.

They claim that if they had lived during the time of Jesus, they would not have condemned him as the Pharisees did, and by saying this they testify against themselves that they are the offspring of those who killed the prophets.

The idea that a “rapture” would come in 2007 was based on speculation that something must happen after 40 years elapsed since the Jews took control of Jerusalem and the Temple mount in 1967. The conclusion that many made is that the event must be the supposed “rapture.” Now after that time passed, the next theory was that a “rapture” will happen on the Jewish Feast of Trumpets on the Jewish Calendar in September of 2007. That time also passed with no “catching away” causing an epidemic of automobile and plane crashes as drivers and pilots suddenly get swept off to heaven.

There is a tragic misreading of Jesus’ statements that two working in a field and one is taken and the other left. And two would be working at a mill and one is taken and the other left. Which one in these two incidents lives and which dies? This is from Matthew 24:40-41. They speculate that the one that is “taken” is “raptured” away. And they conveniently ignore the statements just prior to these verses that set up these comments:

And as the days of Noah, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. [This they assume to be the time of their supposed rapture].

For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:37-39!

So who died?

The ones who were taken away.

Who lived?

Those that were left!

Noah knew what was happening. He understood the prophecies and he testified to that by building a large barge on dry land to hold his family and a select group of creatures. Noah and his family were the only ones left alive. The flood took all the others away.

Will a “rapture” come in 2008, or 2009, or any year prior to the first day of the Eighth Age?

Nope.

The “rapture” is defined as “A Theological term not used in the Bible.”

But “Resurrection,” “raise up out of their graves,” “stand on their feet,” “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth wake up” are found in the Scriptures. So rather than doting upon a non-scriptural Theological notion, learn what this means:

Blessed is he [or she] who is waiting earnestly, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty five days.

This is reference to the time at the end of this age and into the beginning of the next age. It covers the three and one-half years of the great tribulation, and ends in the Eighth age on a very special Feast and High Day!

Those who cling to the notion of a “pre-tribulation rapture” will not know until the end comes and takes them all away.

Other than the resurrection of the two witnesses, there is only one end of the age resurrection prophesied in the Scriptures.

Protection is promised for those whose “names are written in the book” and those who receive the seal from Elahim, and those who are victorious during the time of tribulation. Belonging to a religion, sect, cult, or whatever offers only tribulation until one knows and acts on the truth that will set him or her free.

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Master Eyahushuah, the Messiah, but were eyewitnesses of his superbness. For when he received respect and esteem from Elah, the Father, such a voice came to him the Excellent Esteem, “This is My Son, the Beloved in whom I delight.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the set-apart mountain.

And we have the prophetic word made more certain, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture came to be of one’s own interpretation, for prophecy never came by the desire of man, but men of Elahim spoke being moved by the set-apart Spirit. 2 Peter 1:16-21 The Scriptures

See also: RAPTURE: Still Here? Why Nothing Happened!

P.S. For more information on this and other important prophecies and spiritual subjects, Read: Prophecy Unsealed! .”