And the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us -- John 1:14.

In order for YEHOVAH to set His tabernacle -- Yeshua the Messiah -- over us, we must keep the Sabbaths He created, which are scheduled by the Moon not by the Babylonian Sacred Hebdomad:

"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD." (Leviticus 26: 2) "If ye walk in my set-time ordinances, and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will set my tabernacle among you: and my spirit shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your Elohim, and ye shall be my people (Leviticus 26:11 and 12).

All who go into the presence of YEHOVAH, i.e. into the Holy of Holies/Oracle (Hebrew debir found in 1 Kings 6:16, comes from dabar) must pass through the veil -- the flesh of Yeshua the Messiah, the Word:

Hebrews 10:20 "So now my brethren, the blood of Jesus makes us free to enter boldly into the sanctuary by the new, living way which he has opened for us through the veil, that is to say, through His flesh."

Thus as we enter into the Dabar Land -- the Book Land -- the Land of the Word -- the Oracle -- the Debir -- The Holy of Holies -- the Body of Yeshua the Messiah into the presence of YEHOVAH God, we must follow all of the Torah instructions as given by YEHOVAH to Israel in Deuteronomy 7:1-5:

When the LORD thy Elohim shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee,....

And when the LORD thy Elohim shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

This is how you shall deal with them: you must destroy their altars (places of worship), break down their sacred pillars (of Baal), cut down their sacred poles (poles of Asherah, by which they set Baal's pagan feasts), and burn their idols with fire.

We are to be bold in the spirit and proclaim the truth, fearing not the giants of the land for YEHOVAH God is with us. Be just like Joshua and Caleb when they returned from spying out the Land of Dabar. "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it" (Numbers 13: 30). If we do not follow YEHOVAH's Torah instructions YEHOVAH will not allow us to dwell in the land. We will be removed just like ancient Israel as found in 2 Kings 17:6-19:

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria....

For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their Elohim, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had worshipped other gods.

They walked in the set time ordinances of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel, and in the set-time ordinances that the kings of Israel had introduced.

The people of Israel secretly did things that were not right against the LORD their Elohim. They built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city;

They set up for themselves sacred pillars and sacred poles (Asherah) on every high hill and under every green tree;

The image that represented this goddess Asherah or Astarte in pagan worship was a straight, perpendicular wooden pole, which was used to set the times of pagan feasts.

There they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. There, they performed great evil, provoking the LORD to anger;

They served idols, of which the LORD had said to them 'You must not do this.'

And though YEHOVAH warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer saying, 'Turn from your evil ways, and keep My Mitsvot (Commandments) and My set-time ordinances in accordance with all the Torah which I commanded your fathers and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.'

They would not listen but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their Elohim.

They rejected His set-time ordinances, and His covenant that He made with their fathers. They rejected the warnings that He sent them. They went after false idols and became vain; they followed the nations that were around them, which YEHOVAH God had forbidden them to do.

"Set-time ordinance" is usually translated into English as "statutes," but comes from one of two Hebrew words choq (2706 in Strong's Concordance) and chuqqah (2708). Choq is defined as an enactment; hence, AN APPOINTMENT of time, space, quantity, labor or usage; an ordinance. Chuqqah is the feminine of choq.

The Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis defines choq as a work, task, obligation, SPECIFIC TIME, boundary, limit. Thus, translating it as "statutes" really doesn't give us a clear understanding in the English Language. It is an ordinance that involves a specific obligation -- a specific task to be done at a specific set time.

Forsaking every Mitzvah (commandment) of the LORD their Elohim, they made themselves images -- two molten calves and a sacred pole (Asherah). They bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshipped Baal (the worship of the Sacred Hebdomad -- the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets as found in 2 kings 23:5.)_..

As the old saying goes, "history does repeat itself." This is just a repeat of Mount Sinai, when Israel had Aaron make them an image of Apis, the golden calf of Memphis (another name for Osiris/Nimrod). Israel declared that this idol was the god that brought them out of Egypt and immediately set up a false feast. Apis wore a headdress of the crescent moon with the image of the sun above.

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel (the House of Israel -- the Northern Kingom), and removed them out of his sight; only the tribe of Judah (the House of Judah -- the Southern Kingdom) was left.

Judah (the House of Judah -- the Southern Kingdom) also did not keep the mitzvot (com- mandments) of the LORD their Elohim but walked in the set-time ordinances that Israel had introduced/made (the false feasts they set by the Asherah sacred pole to worship Baal and the Sacred Hebdomad).

Thus the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel; he punished them and gave them into the hands of plunderers and finally flung them out from His presence.

And Elohim said, 'Let there be lights/menorahs 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 verse of scripture has been so mistranslated and misunderstood by the religions of today. The average Bible student has no conception as to what YEHOVAH God is relating in this verse, because of our modern understanding of such words as "signs, seasons, days, and years." If they are interpreted as seen through the eyes of the Jew instead of the eyes of the Greek, the verse is clarified and shown to contain YEHOVAH's creation calendar of time. YEHOVAH's set-time ordinances were so important, He included them in His creation where man could not reach up and change them.

Avi Ben Mordechai clarifies the Jewish understanding of these words in his book Signs in the Heavens. As stated on pages 36 - 38:

"At first glance, the tendency is to look at these opening verses of Bereshith (Genesis 1:14-18) from a Hellenistic (Greek) viewpoint, and say, "Okay, G-d made the sun, the moon and the stars and put them there as signs in the heavens to generally tell us about our seasons, days and years." But the biblical Jewish view is different and the stars and setting them in their place was to make specific periods of Jewish TIME as opposed to general periods of non-Jewish time. G-d made the sun, the moon and the stars for all people, but their presence and movement was given to the Jewish people so they could accurately keep His festivals and SHABBATS and thus become a light to the nations."

"Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as SIGNS for the SET TIMES, the days and years." I call this the divine APPOINTMENT SCHEDULE...His Jewish alarm clock in the sky!

The Israelites are to observe the SABBATH, celebrating it for the generations to come as lasting covenant. It will be a SIGN between me and the Israelites FOREVER, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.

If the Sabbaths of YEHOVAH God were considered to be the "signs" of heaven, there has to be a light in heaven that controls the Sabbaths. The only light that fits this bill is the phases of the moon. There is ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER.

Mordechai continues with:

"SET TIMES" was also a Hebrew way of referring to the SHABBAT and the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) as it is written: These are the LORD's appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their {set times} appointed times...

"Days" was a Hebrew idiom referring to the BEGINNING OF THE MONTHS which starts with the sighting of the New Moon as it is explained in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbinic work dealing with Jewish Oral Law.

Finally, "Years" was a Hebrew idiom that means the sanctification or setting apart of the seven-year sabbatical (Sh'mittah) and 49-year jubilee cycles of years. This also relates to the annual public announcement of the new year called Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets, by the proper authorities in the Sanhedrin_."

Clement of Alexandria, under the subject of the Creation Sabbath, "The Fourth Commandment," (Volume 2 Ante-Nicene -- Page 512 and 513), connects weeks and Sabbaths with the phases of the moon:

And the fourth word (i.e. the fourth commandment) is that which intimates that the world was created by God, and that He gave us the seventh day as a rest, on account of the trouble that there is in life. For God is incapable of weariness, and suffering, and want. But we who bear flesh need rest. The seventh day, therefore, is proclaimed a rest..... And in periods of seven days the moon undergoes its changes. In the first week she be comes half moon; in the second (week), full moon; and in the third (week), in her wane, again half moon; and in the fourth (week) she disappears. Further, as Seleucus the mathematician lays down, she has seven phases. First, from being invisible she becomes crescent-shaped, then half moon, then gibbous and full; and in her wane again gibbous, and in like manner half moon and crescent-shaped.

How much plainer can it be! YEHOVAH God's entire calendar -- all of His appointed times for meeting with Him were set in the lights of heaven on the fourth day of creation.

Hallelu-Yah! Praise YEHOVAH from the heavens; give praise in the heights.

Praise him, all you angels; give praise, all you hosts.

Praise him, SUN and MOON; give praise, all you STARS of light.

Praise him, highest heavens, you waters above the heavens.

Let them ALL praise YEHOVAH's name (His authority); for YEHOVAH commanded and THEY WERE CREATED.

He assigned them duties forever; He gave them SET-TIME ORDINANCES that will never change. Psalms 148.

Indeed YEHOVAH God did create the sun and the moon and the stars to keep His set-time ordinances and that will never change.

It is virtually impossible to meet with anyone unless you have previously set an exact time and place to meet. One could journey forever through this world and never meet an individual without setting up an appointment. YEHOVAH is emphatic about His times of meeting with his people. Amos 3:1-3 explains why it is necessary to meet by appointment:

Hear this word that Jahwah has spoken against you, O people of Israel, over the whole family that I brought up out of Egypt:

"You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

"(How) can two people walk together/united except/unless they have agreed to meet at a SET TIME?"

The House of Israel rebelled against YEHOVAH God in the wilderness and abolished His Sabbaths. Before we study Ezekiel's discourse on this subject, let's take a look at the words "SIGN", and "GREATLY POLLUTED" as translated in the King James version of the Scriptures.

"Sign" comes from the Hebrew word "owth," and as previously stated denotes Sabbaths through the understanding of the Jew. "Owth" (Strong's #226) means "EVIDENCE" or "MARK" and comes from "uwth" (#225) and is defined as "assent" or "consent." Thus these "signs" are "marks of assent, consent, and agreement."

"Greatly" is used to translate the Hebrew word meod (#3966) and is defined in Strong's Concordance as "quickly" and "utterly." "Polluted" is used to translate the Hebrew word, "challal." The English word "polluted" does not give us the full understanding of this scripture. Strong's Concordance defines "challal" (#2490) as meaning "to DISSOLVE."

Now that we have a clearer understanding of these words let us read Ezekiel 20:10-24:

I brought Israel out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.

Then I gave them MY SET-TIME ORDINANCES thus making known to them My Divine Law, which everyone MUST OBSERVE TO HAVE LIFE.

Yea, I gave Israel My Sabbaths to be a MARK/SIGN (of ASSENT/AGREEMENT) between Me and them, so that they would acknowledge/comprehend/have respect that it is YEHOVAH that purifies them.

In ancient time, the Sabbath was a type of Atonement Day; thus keeping the Sabbath was to be a sign that Israel acknowledged that it was indeed YEHOVAH God that purified them and no one else.

But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They walked/marched/ traveled NOT in MY SET-TIME ORDINANCES, because they despised My Divine Law that brings life to those who keep it. They QUICKLY AND UTTERLY DISSOLVED MY SABBATHS; then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them.

How much plainer can it be? The House of Israel very quickly and speedily threw away YEHOVAH's Sabbaths. Going on in Ezekiel:

I am the LORD Your Elohim; Walk in MY SET-TIME ORDINANCES...

Thus keep/sanctify/hallow MY SABBATHS THEN they will be the mark/sign of assent between Me and you so that you will have respect/so that you will understand/comprehend/acknowledge/perceive that the LORD is your Elohim (and not the gods of the Sacred Hebdomad.)

But the children rebelled against Me and walked NOT in MY SET-TIME ORDINANCES..._

They despised MY SET-TIME ORDINANCES and DISSOLVED MY SABBATHS....

Therefore, I gave them SET-TIME ORDINANCES that were NO GOOD and judgments that LEAD TO DEATH.

YEHOVAH God very plainly states due to the fact that the House of Israel dissolved His Sabbaths and set-time ordinances, He deliberately gave them set-time ordinances that would lead them to death and not to life. There are many, many people in religious Babylon that will utterly rebel against this scripture. They will immediately throw it out. They will stop up their ears and cry "tell us what we want to hear." Speak to us nothing but smooth things!

Do the Wicked Have Any Right to Set YEHOVAH's Appointments?

In Psalms 50, YEHOVAH asks what right do the wicked have to declare His set-time ordinances, as they hate any correction that comes from Him. They just throw his words in the trash.

YEHOVAH calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people...

The heavens declare his righteousness for Elohim himself is judge.

Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am Elohim, your Elohim....

Call on me in the DAY OF TROUBLE; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.

But to the wicked Elohim says: 'What right have you to declare/reckon/number my set- time ordinances or bring forth My covenant from your mouth?

For you hate instruction/correction and you cast my words out of your sight....

Now consider this, ye that forget Eloah, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

"Eloah" is the title used when there is a contrast being made between YEHOVAH God and false gods or idols. "Eloah" denotes "the living Elohim" in contrast to dead idols.

What was involved in the stoning of Stephen?

Many will be surprised to read that one of the accusations Stephen brought against the people of Israel -- just before they stoned him -- was the worship of the planet SATURN, as found in the seventh chapter of Acts:

v.39 (Stephen is speaking before the high priest and the council.) "Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

v.40 saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will be our leaders. As for that Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

v. 41 So they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands."

Stephen once again reminds them of Israel's worship of Apis, the golden calf at Mount Sinai, when they set up a false feast and dedicated it to YEHOVAH. Apis was none other than an image of Osiris/Nimrod.

v. 42 "Then God turned and handed them over to worship THE HOST OF HEAVEN (the Sacred Hebdomad -- the sun, the moon, and the five planets)......"

v. 43 "....You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan (i.e. the PLANET SATURN) -- the idols you made for yourselves to worship; thus I will remove/exile you upon those parts of Babel."

NOTE: "Upon those parts" is translated in most Bibles as "beyond." In Strong's Concordance it is from the Greek word "epekeina" (1900) that can also mean "upon those parts."

Taking the phrase in the context that YEHOVAH gave them over to the worship of the Host of Heaven, -- the worship of the Sacred Hebdomad that originated at the Tower of Babel -- this verse would make better sense to say He delivered them to those parts of Babel that they were worshipping.

Stephen declares them to be a stiff-necked people just like their fathers. A people that will not listen and follow the instructions of YEHOVAH God:

v. 51 You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the ruwach ha'qodesh. You are just like your fathers.....

v. 54 As the members of the Council listened to Stephen they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger.

v. 57 They covered their ears and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

v. 58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Israel of old wouldn't listen and only a few of modern Israel will hear and obey these Words of truth. The majority will stop their ears so they can not hear.

Keeping the lunar weekly Sabbath is a difficult road to tread. The religious groups will condemn you. The circular world will in no way understand. Try and explain to your boss that one month you have to take Fridays off and another month Mondays, etc. They will brand you as crazy and of unsound mind. Your family will separate from you. You will indeed be a "peculiar" people separated unto YEHOVAH.

As it says in Matthew 7:13 and 14 only a few will find this narrow gate:

Enter through the NARROW GATE: for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.

For the gate is NARROW and the road is hard that leads to life, and THERE ARE (BUT) A FEW WHO FIND IT.

Will you be like Israel and not listen? Will you be a stiff-necked people and cover your ears so you can not hear what YEHOVAH God is saying to His Israel of today? Listen to YEHOVAH as He gives warning to His People:

Those who put their trust in an image, and say to idols, 'You are our gods,' will be turned away in shame.

Hear, you deaf; look up, you blind, and see!

And who is blind, but my servants? And deaf, but they that rule over them? Yea, the servants of YEHOVAH have been MADE BLIND.

You see many things, without taking heed. Your ears are open, but YOU DO NOT HEAR.....

Who among you will give ear to this? Who will pay close attention from now on? (Isaiah 42:17-23)

But they refused to listen; they stubbornly turned their backs and stopped up their ears SO AS NOT TO HEAR.

They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the Torah instructions or to the words that YEHOVAH Sebaoth had sent by his Spirit through the prophets of old.

Then YEHOVAH Sebaoth in great wrath said: 'Since they did not listen when I called, so I WOULD NOT LISTEN WHEN THEY CALLED.' Zechariah 7:11-13)

Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, but will not see; they have ears to hear, but will not hear, because they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 12:2)

Go to this people and say: 'You may listen and listen, but YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND; you may look and look, but YOU WILL NEVER SEE.

For your mind has become dull; your ears don't listen and you have closed your eyes against understanding; For you don't want to see and hear and understand and turn to me for healing. (Acts 28:26)

The time is here!!! Modern day Israel gathers around only teachers who will teach what they want to hear. Paul warned of this time in 2 Timothy 4:3:

The time will come when men WILL NOT LISTEN to TRUE DOCTRINE. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them more and more teachers who WILL TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR.

v. 4 They will no longer listen to the truth, but will turn/follow after man-made myths/fables/doctrine.

YEHOVAH God again and again declares the importance of keeping His Sabbaths and set-time ordinances. As Exodus 16:4 declares, they are a test that YEHOVAH gives us to see whether or not we will be true to him and obey His Torah, i.e. follow him wherever He leads. He is at this very moment leading His people across the Jordan unto His Dabar Land, where He will erect His tabernacle/mischan over them and dwell with them.

Worship in the Mysteries of Babel still exists this very day. YEHOVAH continues to command His people, Israel, to depart from these false practices. Modern day Israel, Christians and Jews alike, are still committing the same old abominations. They participate in the set-time ordinances of the world and Babel rather than being separated and keeping YEHOVAH's set-time ordinances, which make them a peculiar people sanctified and set apart from the world.

Just as YEHOVAH God judged Israel of old, He will also judge His Israel of today. He is making the same call today saying:

Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the LORD hath remembered her iniquities. She must be paid double for her deeds. Give her a cup twice as strong as the one she mixed! -- Revelation 18:4.

If we will flee Babylon -- stop keeping the Babylonian false sabbaths -- He will set his tabernacle/mischan over us and we will be His people. In the closing chapters of Revelation, YEHOVAH God gives us this promise:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of the LORD is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people, and YEHOVAH God Himself shall be with them, and be their Elohim. (Revelation 21:3)

 

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of Yehovah God and His Messiah!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

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