Deuteronomy 11:26- See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
Deuteronomy 30:15- See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity. For I command you this day to love Yahweh your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His laws, and His rules, that you may thrive and increase, and that He may bless you... But if your heart turns away and you give no heed, and are lured into the worship and service of other gods, I declare to you this day that you shall certainly perish... I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Chose life by loving Yahweh Elohim, heeding His commands and holding fast to Him. For thereby you shall have life and shall long endure...
Deuteronomy 30:19- I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life if you and your offspring would live by loving Yahweh Elohim, heeding His commands, and holding fast to Him. For thereby you shall have life and long endure.
Exodus 15:26 - If you will diligently listen to the voice of YHWH your Elohim, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh, your healer.
Today means today for anyone in any day who reads this and chooses Life, and begins to obey the Instructions given by our Creator. The blessing or the curse is the result of our choice in this lifetime. People ask why there is so much pain and suffering in the world and why bad things seem to happen to good people. Read those above quoted Scripture verses again.
Hebrews 13:13- Look deeply into yourselves all the days, during the day which is called today; and let none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Our decision to follow the Instructions of YHWH begin today! If we think we're waiting for a future fulfillment, we will become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, by the various subtleties artfully dealt by Satan. Just as the apostles dropped what they were doing when Y'shua called to them, so too should we act without hesitation.
Most of us are suffering for one reason or another because, although we may Love YHWH with our entire being, and love our neighbor as our self, we are not keeping all His Commandments or properly applying His rules to our lives in today's world. His promise depends on our obedience.
Here's a couple of examples of how we are 'not following His Instructions':
We call the months and days by names of which some are the names of pagan gods. Not only are we "not to make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them," we aren't even suppose to utter the names of these no-gods: Exodus 23:13 "Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth."
We may have chosen the Blessing but we forgot the conditions of that choice. Then Satan who is so subtle slips in the names of those gods and they end up on the modern day Gregorian calendar, on tennis shoes and automobiles, constellations named after Roman gods, etc....
Another way we have not obeyed His commands is by scheduling the Seventh Day Rest on every sat-day on the Gregorian calendar. This practice does not line up with Yahweh's method of counting. According to what is written in Exodus 12, for example, Yah tells Moshe that the month they are to be set free from Pharaoh is the first month of the year, and on the 15th day is when they were set free.
A little later we read in Exodus 16 that the Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin on the 15th day of the 2nd month after they left Egypt (when did the new count of days begin?) This is where I made the connection of the moon with the month => Exodus 19: On the 3rd new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt... 19:16 On the 3rd day as morning dawned.
This reads as a count of days from the new moon, the 3rd new moon since Yah told Moshe when the first month was. Three Moons = 3 months. (He says the third new moon and then counts the 3rd day from that new moon....) If I have this right then there are many of us keeping the Sabbath on the wrong day. If we've got the beginning of the month wrong, then we have the Sabbath day of rest wrong.
If you were to look on a calendar today, you would see one of the days marked as the "new moon". Scientists today regard the new moon as "conjunction", which is the moment the moon is in between the sun and the earth, not yet visible. If we use that 'conjunction' symbol to relate to the beginning of the month and then count off seven days (sunset to sunset) we discover that the weekly Sabbath does not always fall on sat-day, the traditional day of rest. In fact the days vary, month to month.
It is no wonder there are good people struggling with rough times and many folks suffering much worse. We can change. It's not always easy to come out of Mystery Babylon but if we truly love YHWH our Elohim, and we do not wish to partake of her plagues, we will make every effort to obey our Father in heaven, now and in this lifetime.
