Showing posts with label gematria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gematria. Show all posts

Monday, November 5, 2018

Traditions added to the Instructions of YHWH

Definition of "tradition" from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  1. An inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior
  2. A belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable
  3. The handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction
  4. Cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions
  5. Characteristic manner, method, or style
What we shall discover is that the established thoughts and behavior of the elders were handed down to the Pharisees as in Definition #3 and eventually became the religion we know of today as Judaism: a cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs and institutions (as are most religions). As we uncover the Hebrew origins of our faith, there are traditions we should not add to our spiritual awakening thinking we are pleasing Elohim.

Mark 7:5 The scribes and the Pharisees ask Y'shua, "Why don't your disciples walk according to the traditions of the elders? His short answer is: "You hypocrites... You have left the Commandment of Elohim and have embraced the tradition of men.  And you despise the Word of Elohim because of the tradition that you have handed down..."

Matthew 15:3 records the same... the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem ask Y'shua why his disciples transgress against the traditions of the elders. He asks them, "Why do you transgress the Commandments of Elohim because of your traditions?"

Written Torah was pitted against the oral traditions of the Pharisees who were nullifying the Word of YHWH by their traditions - he would not instruct his followers to do likewise.

YHWH did say this, through Isaiah. It is what had happened back then and has continued to happen throughout time, including today's world:

Beginning with Isaiah 1:11, Yah said: What need have I of all your sacrifices... I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, suet of fatlings, blood of bulls; and I have no delight in lambs and he-goats. Who asked that of you, that you would appear before me? Trample my courts no more; bringing oblations is futile, incense is offensive to Me. New moon and sabbath you proclaim solemnities in assemblies with wickedness, I cannot abide.  Your new moons and fixed seasons fill Me with loathing; they are become a burden to Me, I cannot endure them. And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you; though you pray at length, I will not listen. You hands are stained with crimes. -- Wash yourselves clean; put your evil doings away from My sight. Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wrongly accused. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow. Let us reach an understanding, says YHWH Elohim.

YHWH also lets us know, eventually:
Isaiah 66:23 And new moon after new moon, and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me.
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Traditions have been handed down and Satan has made it easy for us to overlook them in our excitement to obey our Creator. So I ask, are we doing something because we think it's right or because we know it's right? Are we pleasing ourselves or are we pleasing YHWH by obeying His Command? His Instructions in Righteous Living are not traditions. If we're not careful to see the difference between His original commands and what man has added, we will inadvertently begin to 'worship' the created thing instead of the Creator. If we do things our own way we are doubting the Word of Elohim and have fallen into the same trap set by Satan in the Garden. 
Romans 1:25 - They exchanged the truth of Elohim for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise...
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Following is part of the discussion that prompted the need for a better understanding of 'tradition' according to Scriptures. The original post was about YHWH no longer being happy with people who were not keeping His Set Apart times according to His Instructions. The hot spot became the keeping the 7th day sabbath. The discussion went the way of many a FB discussion: rapid fire posting and loss of context. The names have been changed and my comments begin with 'Corn'. My added after-the-fact notations are in italics. Spen's comment was in response to the original post referencing what Yah said in Isaiah 1:11.

Spen: But He was talking to the people who were keeping the biblical feast days and they were keeping all the biblical laws. They weren't keeping pagan holidays. They were keeping Passover, Shavuot, and Tabernacles. They were slaughtering animals. 

This is correct. They had been keeping His 'feast days' according to Torah, but as time went by, they started changing how they were doing things, falling short of Yah's Instructions.

Note: Spen now offers a quote from Isaiah 1: 11 overlooking that I had entered that same quote as my first response. These verses I have provided above.

Gard: "Your" not His.  ie. I hate "your" feast days, "your" new moon....  It makes it clear to me that He is talking to people that are not keeping "His" ways.

Note: He is talking to His people who have changed the way they keep His set times.

Corn: Yah specifies Your new moons (months) and your fixed seasons (man's traditions and substitutes for Yah's moedim) fill Me with loathing - they have become a burden to Me, no longer a joy. ~ Those same people began to mix pagan traditions with His Instructions. The same happened with the church system when Constantine incorporated pagan traditions into Christianity. This really helps me to understand His building anger and the Day of Wrath to come. Now consider how many in this day and age who claim to be coming back to Torah, have taken His plain instructions for His set apart times and changed them to fit their idea of how they should be done. For example: today's months are according to the Gregorian calendar, not His way of keeping track by new moon reckoning. If we aren't starting the month on the right day then how can we keep the 7th day count set apart? Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot were to be kept in Jerusalem which was the last place He chose to attach His Name, so we shouldn't be trying to keep them anywhere we choose, turning His Set Apart times into our Fixed Seasons.

Corn: Over time, for example, Judaism has taken the simple instruction of keeping the seventh day set apart and turned it into 24 chapters. This is included in the Mishnah where Oral Law was finally being recorded. Oral Law is what Y'shua referred to when speaking against what the Pharisees promoted.

Quoted from the Jewish Virtual Library:
The Oral Law is a legal commentary on the Torah, explaining how its commandments are to be carried out.

Question: who can keep Sabbath according to His heart and not our own.

Corn: It can be done, but first we must remember the Sabbath day and keep it set apart. He must have known we were going to get so far off track that He had to tell us to 'remember''. We begin to 'remember' by reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the first 5 books of Scripture also known as Torah, Yah's Instructions for His creation.

Point brought up: oh, they didn't do it right then, but we're doing it right now?

Corn: As with most of His Instructions, adaptations need be done in these modern times. His Instructions have not changed, but the times we are living in are nothing like the good old days.  We do not substitute what we think is right. 

Gard: We can only obey to the best of our understanding. As we learn more it becomes easier.

Note: We do not stop learning or else we begin to stagnate on that part of His Path. By our patience we gain understanding as we continue to read His Word and grow in our faith.

Question: The Jews were so afraid of breaking the Sabbath they added extra laws. Didn't the Father know their heart?  I don't see how they did it wrong, now all the sudden we do it right.  I believe the Father was taking about something deeper.

Yahweh tests us to reveal what is in our heart. 
Deuteronomy 8: You shall faithfully observe all the Instruction that I enjoin upon you today, that you may thrive and increase and be able to posses the land that YHWH Elohim promised on oath to your fathers. Remember the long way that YHWH your Elohim has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, that He might test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep His commandments or not....Romans 2:5 - But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when Yah's righteous judgment will be revealed.
Corn: They weren't afraid. The 24 chapters I mentioned from the Mishnah are basically what the rabbis think should be done and how it should be done, adding their own ideas to Yah's instructions. They don't think we are smart enough to figure it out for ourselves. The religious leaders wanted to keep their power over the common folk which is one of the reasons Y'shua said to beware the leaven of the Pharisees (a little leaven affects the whole batch). It is about right or wrong - Many are Not doing it 'right' these days, adding the same traditions the Pharisees included. Many have mixed those traditions in with His Instructions and it started long ago.

Note: It becomes apparent that we three do not agree on the definition of 'tradition' which became a stumbling block toward a unified understanding.

Mark 7:5 ~ The scribes and the Pharisees ask Y'shua, "Why don't your disciples walk according to the traditions of the elders? His short answer is: "You hypocrites... You have left the Commandment of Elohim and you have embraced the tradition of men. ... And you despise the Word of Elohim because of the tradition that you have handed down..." 

Matthew 15:3 records the same... the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem ask Y'shua why his disciples transgress against the traditions of the elders. He asks them, 
"Why do you transgress the Commandments of Elohim because of your traditions?"

Note: In those verses we learn Y'shua is pointing out The Traditions of the Pharisees go against the Instructions of YHWH.  These traditions are woven into the religion of Judaism. This is the key I missed in trying to explain myself.

Questions: Which oral laws were so bad as to be sin? Which traditions are we not allowed to do on Sabbath?

Note: This is when I realized I needed to excuse myself from this discussion and proceed with Scriptures to find the answers that explained the difference between keeping Yah's Way His way or doing things the way we think is right and pleasing.  I refer back to Isaiah 1:11. Nadab and Abihu are good examples as well as Jeroboam.

Corn: A tradition we should not partake of is lighting candles, for example. It is not a matter of His allowing us to, it's just not part of His instruction pertaining to the 7th day shabbat.

Gard: At least their traditions are recognizable when you read the Bible. For instance, Christmas seems to not be biblically based whatsoever. I see no harm in lighting candles. I also don't see it as necessary. Is it a harmful tradition? I think it is a good way to get everyone's focus around the table. Is it necessary to drink or harmful to drink a cup of coffee on the Sabbath? A tradition we follow.

Note: Drinking coffee on the sabbath is not a tradition, it is customarily done by many people by habit, any day of the week. Although, if you only drank coffee on the 7th day because it was the sabbath, then you have created a tradition which is not according to Yah's instructions.  The mention of a candle on the table to get everyone focused is similar to how a seance is performed. I am NOT saying that is what you intend, but I AM trying to make you see what is tradition. We should live as close to His Word as possible so our deeds are not misleading to others. Yahweh's Instructions in Righteous Living are not traditions. They are laws, rules, teachings and commandments He has provided for us. His is the perfect governing system for our health and well being, not a burden.

Corn: I should have said, Lighting of Shabbat candles is a Jewish tradition added to the Word of God which is not necessary as part of the 7th day rest, and not to be confused with what we eat or drink. Also, Christmas is a tradition and you're right, it is not biblically based. Most of us have given up celebrating it yet we still hold onto other traditions. 

Here is what our Creator said in regards to keeping the 7th day rest:
Genesis 2:2- By the seventh day YHWH completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created. (He has set the pattern for us)
Exodus 35:2-For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Set Apart day, a sabbath of Complete Rest to Yahweh Elohim.... (this day is not for ourselves but to honor Him)
Leviticus 23:3- For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of Complete Rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to your Elohim, in all your dwellings.
Deuteronomy 5:12- Observe the sabbath day to keep it set apart as Yahweh your Elohim commanded you. (Keep the day of rest according to His Instructions)
As it is written in the Ten Commandments, we are told to remember:
Remember the sabbath day and keep it set apart. Six days you shall do all your work but the seventh day is a sabbath of Mine. You, your family, your hired hands or your work animals or the stranger who is visiting your town shall do no work. I made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them in six days and on the seventh I rested, therefore I blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.
Corn: Do we want to follow His Commandments or not? Are we lighting candles for ambiance, or because we live off grid, or are we trying to copy Jewish tradition?  Are we cooking full fledged meals this day or do we have enough left overs from the 6th day? Are we causing others to work on this day, or using our farm animals to work, or did we get it all done in the prior six days so everyone could rest on this day, just as our Creator has told us to do.

Exodus 16:23- Then he said to them, "This is what Yahweh meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, set apart to Him. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning." (get all your meals prepared the day before so you don't have to 'kindle a fire' on the sabbath to do any cooking) 35:2 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Set Apart day, a sabbath of Complete Rest to Yahweh Elohim. You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.

Note: Kindling a fire took a lot of time and was considered work back in the day. Many of us only need flip a switch or turn a knob to light the stove which is fine for reheating yesterday's leftovers. We prepare on the 6th day enough for two days.

Spen: Yahshua condemned the jews for lighting candles, or a fire? I don't understand. What is the definition of tradition. Maybe the traditions were something really awful and we haven't recognized it. What are the traditions that are so heinous in the eyes of the Father.

Everything has been written for our benefit so we would not make the same mistakes as they did. There is nothing new under the sun. Nothing is hidden that won't be revealed.  We have no excuse, only the choice: obey or don't obey our Creator.

Question - What is the harm of copying a tradition unless it is anti-biblical? It is an American tradition to salute the flag. Where does it forbid lighting candles.

Where does it tells us to light two candles on the sabbath? It doesn't. It is an added tradition. Anti-biblical? That means anti-Elohim, doesn't it? Do we want to go there?  Celebrating the 4th of July is tradition, celebrating Chanukkah is tradition, celebrating birthdays year after year is tradition. All of these are man made holidays, not required by our Maker to keep or observe. They are distractions from His Truth. Most of us have been brainwashed from birth with all this 'american' fanfare and thanks be to Elohim we are seeing the truth in all things.

Spen: I don't know. I don't think it is a sin. But we keep saying they kept the Sabbath wrong with their traditions, so what we're they?

Corn: Traditions of man that have been added to His Instructions is what I'm trying to point out.... (which is why I am doing this study)

Gard: Misunderstanding tradition - Okay, stay isolated from everyone! You just might copy one of their traditions? I am sorry but I am I am aggravated. Are you saying that if anything is a tradition it is wrong?

Never said nor intended that and never meant to aggravate anyone .... once again another reason I left the discussion to regroup with Scriptures.

Question - which ones where added? He said don't add or take away from the word, so clearly the scribes did.  So what was added? And what was taken away? I'm not saying any of those traditions are a sin. I'm asking is there some great sin we are missing?

Corn: OK.... I am seriously being misunderstood here so give me a moment to see if I can regroup and make sense. (I left the discussion last night and have been working on this study.)

Admission of how chaotic this discussion had become:
Gard: I am just not grasping this sorry. I do see that we need to question traditions or maybe I am think habits or culture? Are we to isolate on the Sabbath so that we don't fall into traditions? Are we just to read scripture, argue if the earth is flat and go home? A gathering without any kind of traditions would just suck!

Whew!
"A gathering without traditions would suck."
Best go back and read some of our Creator's advice about copying other peoples traditions and why He instructed them to tear down the altars, posts, idols and destroy other areas of pagan worship, removing them from the land He was giving them. There you will find that even then they disobeyed Him and kept some of the people, the animals, the traditions, etc... look where it has gotten us today: Folks still want to embrace 'tradition'. No wonder He has stored up His anger for that coming Day of Wrath.  I don't want to be part of His anger and hope my prayers are received as a pleasing aroma to Him. Let's all stay on the straight path that leads to the narrow gate.

Now let me present what is written about tradition in Scriptures so that we may understand why we need not incorporated Jewish Tradition into the clear Instructions given us by our Creator. Yahweh once asked how long we would spurn Him.  How many times does Yahshua have to point out that the traditions of the elders which have been passed on to the Pharisees is transgression against the Father's Instructions?

Matthew 15:3 Y'shua is speaking to the Pharisees:
Y'shua answered them and said, Why do you transgress against the Commandments of Elohim because of your traditions?

Mark 7:1
The Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Y'shua. They saw some of his disciples who were eating without washing their hands first. All Yehudeans and the Pharisees, if they do not carefully wash their hands they would not eat because they hold to the traditions of the elders. And there are many other traditions that they have been taught in washing of cups and pots and brass vessels and of beds. (Jewish traditional kosher laws which have been added to YHWH's instructions concerning dietary laws)

Colossians 2:8
Beware, or else any man make you naked by philosophy and by vain deception, according to the doctrines of men, according to the rudiments of the world and not according to Y'shua Messiah.

Matthew 15:6 ~ Y'shua is speaking to the Pharisees:
Thus you nullify the word of Elohim for the sake of your tradition.

Mark 7:6 ~ Y'shua was saying this to the Pharisees and scribes:
And he said to them: Isaiah the prophet did well prophesy about you hypocrites! As it is written, This people honor me with their lips. But their hearts are very distant from Me. And vainly they fear Me while they are teaching the doctrines of the commandments of men. For you have left the Commandment of Elohim and embraced the tradition of the sons of men: the washing of cups and pots and many others that are like these. You have rejected the Commandment of Elohim that you might establish your tradition. (Jewish Tradition still practiced to this day)

1 Peter 1:15 ~ But you be Set Apart in all your conduct, as he is Set Apart who called you. Because it is written: "Be you Kadosh even as I am Kadosh."  And you are thus, you call on the Father .... who judges everyone according to his deeds, since you know that neither with perishable silver nor with gold were you redeemed from your vain doings which you had by tradition handed down from your fathers.
Esther 9:20 - Mordecai recorded these events and sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus charging them to observe the 14th and 15th days of Adar every year... to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking and sending gifts to one another and giving presents to the poor. The Jews made a tradition out of what they had begun to do which Mordecai prescribed for them. 
Esther 9:27 - ... the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselves and their descendants, and all who might join them, to observe these two days in the manner prescribed at the proper time each year.* 
*This Jewish Tradition is known as Purim. It is not one of Yah's moedim as it was instigated by Mordecai and supported by Esther who made the people obligated to them, just as they had assumed for themselves the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations (fast days in commemoration of national calamities).
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What are the traditions of the elders passed down to the Pharisees that found there way into the religion of Judaism and copied by the Messianic Hebrew Roots people?  Many of them were picked up during the Babylonian exile and brought back to Jerusalem after those seventy years.  The names of the months and names of the days, for example, were learned in Babylon.  Our Creator did not name them, but had numbered them.  If you really want the answer about 'traditions of men' and will use Scriptures as your foundation, then take a look at the Jewish Virtual Library and do a key word search.  Most every doctrine of Judaism has been heavily tainted with traditions handed down by the elders to the Pharisees to the rabbis. They do not simply rely on the written Word found in Torah, but have added the Mishnah, Talmud and Kabbalah. Rabbis believed without an oral tradition, some of the Torah's laws would be incomprehensible. This simply is not true.  Mysticism is an integral part of Chasidic Judaism, for example, and passages from kabbalistic sources are routinely included in traditional prayer books. The mystical school of thought came to be known as Kabbalah, meaning "to receive, to accept." The word is usually translated as "tradition." 

It is not just the Jews that Yah is angry with; His wrath is against all teachers who lead others astray regardless of nationality or heritage.  Read Scriptures and let His Spirit open your eyes to the Truth.

Here is another example: Making fringes on the corners of a garment and adding a blue cord is the command. The knotting and wrapping of strings is tradition.
Tradition has turned "fringes" into ornamental tzitzits complete with mystic overtones by wrapping and knotting them, denoting numbers and applying the system of gematria, which is numerology, which is from pagan traditions. That is one of the 'traditions' I am pointing out. I do not deny the command or that Set Apart believers, including Y'shua, wore garments with fringed corners, but they were not knotted, beaded, braided or color coordinated clip-ons.

We are most capable of understanding the instructions left for us by our Creator and without the temptation of discovering deeper meanings. He does expect us to make an effort, such as reading Scriptures and studying in fellowship with other Set Apart believers. When we show Him our intent and abide by His Instructions, best we can in this day and age, He gives us understanding as we are comforted with the truth revealed to us by His Spirit. Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, rabbis, preachers and all the church fathers lose their perceived power, importance, money and control over the common folk when the common folk start reading Torah, and all of Scriptures, for themselves.

We have successfully peeled back the layers of Christian deceptions and religious traditions and found our place in Torah. Now lets peel back the next few layers of tradition and leave Babylon behind us.


Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Codes vs Yahweh

Romans 2:8 - 
But for those who are self-seeking 
and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, 
there will be wrath and anger.
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Folks who think it's OK to delve into numerology in order to prove "God" are dabbling in pagan traditions we've all been warned about.  Those people are promoting the discovery of 'Bible/Torah Codes'.  This is no different from relying on science to prove the existence of an Intelligent Being; God or the 'god particle'.  If they had Faith in the Creator they wouldn't need mysticism to prove His existence. Numerology is the study of the occult significance of numbers.
As an element of astrology and fortune-telling, numerology has long been employed to predict future events. Numerology has also been used to interpret personality; in particular, numerologists may assign numbers to each letter of a person's name and use the resulting figures, along with the person's date of birth, as a guide to his or her character.
Allowing ourselves to experiment with mysticism opens a portal for demons to enter. We are called to come out of this world system just as His People were called to come out of Egypt (they had a choice). We are called to come out of Babylon, this same old hot bed of paganism.

Our Faith is our Trust in the Living Elohim, we trust His Instructions. We should not let our pride and arrogance get in the way of His Truth. If He says 'do not eat lobster', I will not eat lobster. I do not need a scientific reason to obey the One who created me. 

There are places we just aren't suppose to go. Take that tower they tried to build in Babylon. Those folks wanted to make a name for themselves. It was because of their pride and arrogance that Yahweh scattered them. If He gave us commandments not to do certain things, things that the pagans did, why on earth would we think it was O.K. to experiment with 'new age' old world mysticism now?  Are we letting pride and arrogance get in the way?

There is nothing new under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes)


Yahweh our Elohim has warned, more than once, not to 'mix or mingle' with non-believers and traditions of men.  It is up to us to choose to believe, to act in Faith and not by the dictates of science or the philosophies of man. His Spirit cannot be quantified by science - He is beyond our total understanding because we are still separated from the spiritual by physical realm.  Using secret codes is akin to man trying to build a tower to reach the heavens because of his pride and arrogance. 

Who is the Master of Confusion? Who is so subtle as to make one question the Word of Yahweh Elohim? Doubt is a device expertly used by Satan to turn us from our Creator. As we patiently wait for the return of His Son we must continue to withdraw from those who walk wickedly.

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I paraphrase assumptions and discussions that led up to this study:
...so herbs and essential oils were used by all pagan cultures. But we use them today, because our God made them right? So, these "eastern" cultures have used body flow meridians to see where the body is lacking, I know for a fact that God made these things. Yes people have perverted it, but it does not make it pagan. I think we give the enemy too much credit, Yah created these things. So I don't like to jump into the everything is pagan because in reality we would be in a lot of trouble....Yes Yah heals, the blessings and curses are also spoken about the promised land, so I don't believe we get the completion of these blessings until we are there. Yah heals, but maybe he gave a doctor the knowledge to repair your clogged arteries before you had another heart attack. I've come to find there is nothing that Yah is not in, he's not in a box.

and... 
Have you guys heard of chakras? Yeah those weird things hippies talk about huh? Well...they are light within the body, guess what? Same up and down light points as the menorah, because guess what? We truly are the light of the world. 
and then this:
Yah said the knowledge would increase in the end days, I think that's what is happening. There are many "thinkers" and people that are more on the science side of things, I believe he allowing these things to come about. He is science, he is math, he is quantum physics. He is the maker of heaven and earth

We should never underestimate the power of the Adversary
It was Satan who caused Eve to doubt the Instruction of Yahweh, 
which is why we are where we are today.

Trees are part of Yah's creation, a good thing, but it's the pagan tradition of cutting them down, bringing them indoors and decorating them that is an abomination to Yahweh. We can grow trees, take a walk in the woods etc... but we are not to turn them into idols of worship. Likewise, herbs, honey, oils and vinegar are good things as long as we are use them for food and healing, but not in an attempt to connect with the spiritual realm. 

Here's a thought: Is the Ouija Board an innocent game or a tool to tempt one into divination or calling up the dead, even if that wasn't one's intentions. 

Excuses to dabble in mysticism I see as a problem that has resulted from many a Hebrew Roots assembly.  Once we realize that Torah is for Everyone in Yah's Creation, we should realistically move beyond the discovery of our Hebrew heritage and come face to face with Faith, which was never about religion.  But many "go Jewish" and are sidelined by another religion complete with man made doctrines, opinions and mysticism (Talmud and Kabbalah).  The example I quoted above was in regards to using Yoga and 'body flow meridians' for 'health' reasons.  But the subject matter is the same as one who wants to use numerology (gematria) to expand their understanding of God.

Pagans do not make something 'pagan' by using it, but their established actions, lifestyle and the 'gods' they worship etc... are what define them as being pagans. They are heathens who do not accept Yahweh or His Instructions; they attempt to mix some of Yahweh in with their gods just as leaders would blend paganism with Christianity to bring more into the Church system. If healing is promoted by relating it to spiritualism or enlightenment, then we need beware of the implications of copying them. Do not forget that the Divine Beings who left their station in heaven taught things to humans that were not supposed to be shared. And later, when Yah's people entered the promised land they were told not to adopt the ways of those they had dispersed. The land of Canaan was permeated with pagan traditions.

I rely on Yahweh's Instructions for all things, search His Word for answers and seek His guidance in making decisions. This is where we can 'be still' and let His Set Apart Spirit direct us. Remember how subtle Satan is in his desire to be 'god' - he will say anything to get us to turn our backs on the Creator. 

Yes, Yahweh is our Creator, but who is the Deceiver? Who has a counterfeit for almost everything Elohim put forth? Don't forget that time when Yah regretted He created man and sent a Flood to wash them off the face of the earth. 

We must be very careful when choosing something that sounds good but underneath is destructive to our soul. This is why we are instructed to read Scripture every day, study our Creator's Instructions day in and day out, teach it to our children, remember where we came from and where we want to go. We are called to come out of Mystery Babylon so as not to partake of her sins nor her plagues. Babylon was a hot bed of paganism so it should be no mystery as to why we are being called to come out of today's world system. It is no different for us now as it was for them. Everything was pretty much under the influence of paganism in the Land of Canaan.
Leviticus 18:3 - You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived: and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; neither shall you walk in their statutes.
Leviticus 20:23 - You are not to live by the customs of the nations, whom I've cast away right in front of you. Because they did all of these things, I detested them.
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Colossians 2:8 - Beware lest any man rob you by philosophy, or by empty deception, according to the teaching of men and according to the principles of the world and not according to Yahshua the Mashiyach.
Psalm 49:13 - This is the destiny of fools, and of those who approve of their philosophy.
Definition of "Philosophy":
  • pursuit of wisdom 
  • a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means 
  • an analysis of the grounds of and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs 
(it's a Greek kind of thing....)

Yahweh tells us not to be taken in by those who teach by speculation, who hand out empty deceptions concocted by men according to worldly desires; who ignore the teachings of Yahshua, son of Elohim. 

We are to rejoice and be glad because our reward in heaven is great. Just as folks persecuted the prophets of old for speaking the Word of Elohim, we too, shall be persecuted for our faith and following the perfect example set by His Son. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Because we follow the Instructions of the Father our behavior- our light -shines in view of all people. We become the 'light of the world' by example. That example is evidenced by our lifestyle, which is according to the Instructions given us by our Creator and not by some mystic light show happening within our bodies. 
John 8:12 - Once again, Yahshua spoke to the people and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.
So, now I'll get back to Bible Codes.

Quote: (*I Do Not Agree with everything on this site but offer it for your further research, study and understanding of this topic of codes. I do not recommend the KJV to anyone)
The one who ignited this spate of new books on hidden Bible codes is J.R. Church and his ministry is called ‘Prophecy in the News’ out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1993, Rev. Church published a book entitled ‘The Mystery of the Menorah and the Hebrew Alphabet.’ ... Since then he has published two more books by Yacov Rambsel, a Hebrew-Christian who wrote about his fascinating discovery that God had encoded the Hebrew name of Jesus (Yeshua) throughout the Hebrew Old Testament.... All this hidden secret Bible code business is a great deceiving by Satan designed to mislead and divert people from the truth. It will cause all sort of misuse and trashing of God’s Word, preserved in the English language."

The Bible Code

In 1994, Doron Witztum, Eliyahu Rips, and Yoav Rosenberg published the paper, "Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis", in the scientific journal Statistical Science. In their paper, the authors set out to prove that the names of famous rabbis could be found with the Book of Genesis in close proximity to the dates of their births and deaths in such a way that chance alone could not explain... The process relied upon "Equidistant Letter Sequencing (ELS)," whereby researchers take a single letter, skip ahead a certain number of spaces to a second letter, and then repeat the process using the same numeric interval.
Isopsephia (aka Gematria)
Georges Contenau cites evidence that isopsephia (the Greek word for gematria) was widely used in Mesopotamia. In this case numerical values were assigned to the characters in their syllabary, and the numerical values of names were computed. (This also fits in with the general Mesopotamian reverence for numbers: all the Gods had numbers, which Simo Parpola has shown to be numerically related by the Assyrian Tree of Life.)
The next datable source for gematria I know about comes from David Fideler's Jesus Christ: Sun of God. He argues that the standard spellings of the Gods' names were formulated according to isopsephic principles under the influence of the Pythagorean League c. 500 BCE . So for example, Zeus is the Geometric Mean of Hermes and Apollo. He further argues that many Greek temples, such as the Parthenon (447 BC) and Apollo's temple at Didyma (300 BC), were constructed isopsephically.  Given the early use of gematria in Babylonia (by the eigth century) and its apparent use in Greece (by the fifth), the general idea must have been widely known around the Mediterranean from an early date. Nevertheless it seems that the Hebrew gematria known to us now came from the Greeks.
Each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet is correlated with a specific number. Gematria is the computation of individual letters, words or entire sentences utilizing their numerical equivalence. Some people believe that the words and ideas in the Torah may be connected with or understood from the numerical values and relationships. It is alleged that the numerical word-value is not unintentional, but rather prearranged. This study was first introduced amongst Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah in the 2nd century AD.  Many believe there are secret codes to be uncovered by interpreting the numerical values of the letters in the Bible. The kabbalists employ gematria to decipher the Torah and everyday events. Gematria is also used to interpret the Midrash and Talmud. There are many Jews, however, that believe one must be of stable mind to partake in the study of gematria, so as to not go fanatical.
Quote:
The original manuscripts did not contain the chapter and verse divisions in the numbered form familiar to modern readers. Some portions of the original texts were logically divided into parts following the Hebrew alphabet; for instance, the earliest known copies of the book of Isaiah use Hebrew letters for paragraph divisions. There are other divisions from various sources which are different from what we use today.
The Old Testament began to be put into sections before the Babylonian Captivity (586 BC) with the five books of Moses being put into a 154-section reading program to be used in a three-year cycle.
By the time of the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, the New Testament had been divided into paragraphs, although the divisions were different from the modern Bible.

An important canon of the New Testament was proclaimed by Pope Damasus I in the Roman synod of 374. Pope Damasus also induced Jerome, a priest from Antioch, to undertake his famous translation of the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire at the time. This translation is known as the Vulgate. The Church continued to finance the very expensive process of copying and providing copies of the Bible to local churches and communities from that point up to and beyond the invention of the printing press.
Churchmen Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro determined different schemas for systematic division of the Bible in the early 13th century. It is the system of Archbishop Langton on which the modern chapter divisions are based. 
The first person to divide New Testament chapters into verses was Italian Dominican biblical scholar Santi Pagnini (1470–1541), but his system was never widely adopted. Robert Estienne created an alternate numbering in his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament. The first English New Testament to use the verse divisions was a 1557 translation by William Whittingham (c. 1524-1579). The first Bible in English to use both chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible published shortly afterwards in 1560. These verse divisions soon gained acceptance as a standard way to notate verses, and have since been used in nearly all English Bibles.
So man added the chapters and verse numbers to Scriptures. How can one honestly believe gematria (numerology) has anything to do with confirming the authority of Yahweh Elohim? He did not put division by numbers into His Word. 

Who is the author of division?
could it be.... Satan?
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