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Mark the waters, that they flow together, and sweep along stones, trees, sand; but if they are divided into many streams, the earth sucks them up, and they become of no account. So also shall you be if you be divided. Divide not yourselves into two heads, for everything which the Lord made has but one head; He gave two shoulders, hands, feet, but all the members are subject unto the one head.
I have learned by the writing of my fathers, that in the last days you will depart from the Lord, and be divided in Israel, and you will follow two kings, and will work every abomination, and every idol will you worship, and your enemies shall lead you captive, and you shall dwell among the nations with all infirmities and tribulations and anguish of soul. And after these things you will remember the Lord, and will repent, and He will lead you back; for He is merciful and full of compassion, not imputing evil to the sons of men, because they are flesh, and the spirits of error deceive them in all their doings.
And after these things shall the Lord Himself arise to you, the Light of righteousness, and healing and compassion shall be upon His wings. He shall redeem all captivity of the sons of men from Beliar, and every spirit of error shall be trodden down. And He shall bring back all the nations to zeal for Him, and you shall see God in the fashion of a man whom the Lord shall choose, Jerusalem is His name. And again with the wickedness of your words will you provoke Him to anger, and you shall be cast away, even unto the time of consummation.
-Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs 6:9
Here we see that the ancient Hebrews knew of that old Latin military axiom:
"Divide et impera."
Yet there view was a much more comprehensive one as they rightly understood that you cannot successfully have two heads ruling without disaster occuring, they went further in their assesment and showed that this division comes about through the spirit of error. When one observes the many forms of government we see that attempts to have more than one head making decisions has resulted in much disaster, and while history has many stories of evil and tyrannical kings and queens we can trace back their evil to the spirit of error which came about by having their minds divided in two. In reality this is no different from Lucifer who was cast out for having a double mind and tongue, and it is this same error of double-mindedness which brought about the fall of Adam and Eve.
So then when a man is divided from God then all types of errors may be introduced into his mind, yet many people are foolish and think that because they still see the main road that there is no problem. What do the ancients have to say on this?
"You are in danger of falling into a bad way if you wander and choose the wrong path, for the slightest error in judgment can have grave consequences, especially in this way."
-Water Scroll, Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
To get back onto the True Way and avoid the False Way we must heed the wise words of our Lord:
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: and no one comes to the Father but through Me."
We must also understand that this military axiom was never meant to be used against the Light but, rather the darkness. And this is implied in the words of Yeshua once again:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; your worst enemies will be the members of your own family. “Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it."
-Matthew 10:34-39 GNTD
What grave and heavy words have been spoken by our Lord and Savior and King! When walking The Way of Truth which is Christ we will naturally form enemies because those not walking this way are contrary to it, their awareness of it is irrelevant as well as our understanding of this truth. Those not used to the idea of discipline will at first find this very difficult, but as you continue to walk in this way it will become easier with time.
So, how does one handle rejection and gain acceptance?
"Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”
-Genesis 4:6-7 GNTD
We aren't given much detail on the rejection of Cain's offering but, it is implied in the text that the offering of sacrifces unto God isn't just what we physcially present but it includes our heart and motives. This was understood by the Israelites even during the times of king Ptolemy II Philadelphus:
"He seemed to me to have made a good defense on all the points; for in reference also to the calves and rams and goats which are offered, he said that it was necessary to take them from the herds and flocks, and sacrifice tame animals and offer nothing wild, that the offerers of the sacrifices might understand the symbolic meaning of the lawgiver and not be under the influence of an arrogant self-consciousness. For he, who offers a sacrifice makes an offering also of his own soul in all its moods."
-Letter of Aristeas
In closing all of these wise words are good for us to remember and practice for God not only looks at the outward appearance but examines the heart and all its secrets to see if the heart and body are in one accord with Him. If we divide ourselves from evil we can master ourselves, and if we divide evil then we can rule over it. If we unite ourselves with evil then we will be divided from God and fall, and be ruled by sin. Though we might be rejected by the world we will be accepted by God if we do what is right by Him.
I have learned by the writing of my fathers, that in the last days you will depart from the Lord, and be divided in Israel, and you will follow two kings, and will work every abomination, and every idol will you worship, and your enemies shall lead you captive, and you shall dwell among the nations with all infirmities and tribulations and anguish of soul. And after these things you will remember the Lord, and will repent, and He will lead you back; for He is merciful and full of compassion, not imputing evil to the sons of men, because they are flesh, and the spirits of error deceive them in all their doings.
And after these things shall the Lord Himself arise to you, the Light of righteousness, and healing and compassion shall be upon His wings. He shall redeem all captivity of the sons of men from Beliar, and every spirit of error shall be trodden down. And He shall bring back all the nations to zeal for Him, and you shall see God in the fashion of a man whom the Lord shall choose, Jerusalem is His name. And again with the wickedness of your words will you provoke Him to anger, and you shall be cast away, even unto the time of consummation.
-Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs 6:9
Here we see that the ancient Hebrews knew of that old Latin military axiom:
"Divide et impera."
Yet there view was a much more comprehensive one as they rightly understood that you cannot successfully have two heads ruling without disaster occuring, they went further in their assesment and showed that this division comes about through the spirit of error. When one observes the many forms of government we see that attempts to have more than one head making decisions has resulted in much disaster, and while history has many stories of evil and tyrannical kings and queens we can trace back their evil to the spirit of error which came about by having their minds divided in two. In reality this is no different from Lucifer who was cast out for having a double mind and tongue, and it is this same error of double-mindedness which brought about the fall of Adam and Eve.
So then when a man is divided from God then all types of errors may be introduced into his mind, yet many people are foolish and think that because they still see the main road that there is no problem. What do the ancients have to say on this?
"You are in danger of falling into a bad way if you wander and choose the wrong path, for the slightest error in judgment can have grave consequences, especially in this way."
-Water Scroll, Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
To get back onto the True Way and avoid the False Way we must heed the wise words of our Lord:
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: and no one comes to the Father but through Me."
We must also understand that this military axiom was never meant to be used against the Light but, rather the darkness. And this is implied in the words of Yeshua once again:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; your worst enemies will be the members of your own family. “Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it."
-Matthew 10:34-39 GNTD
What grave and heavy words have been spoken by our Lord and Savior and King! When walking The Way of Truth which is Christ we will naturally form enemies because those not walking this way are contrary to it, their awareness of it is irrelevant as well as our understanding of this truth. Those not used to the idea of discipline will at first find this very difficult, but as you continue to walk in this way it will become easier with time.
So, how does one handle rejection and gain acceptance?
"Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”
-Genesis 4:6-7 GNTD
We aren't given much detail on the rejection of Cain's offering but, it is implied in the text that the offering of sacrifces unto God isn't just what we physcially present but it includes our heart and motives. This was understood by the Israelites even during the times of king Ptolemy II Philadelphus:
"He seemed to me to have made a good defense on all the points; for in reference also to the calves and rams and goats which are offered, he said that it was necessary to take them from the herds and flocks, and sacrifice tame animals and offer nothing wild, that the offerers of the sacrifices might understand the symbolic meaning of the lawgiver and not be under the influence of an arrogant self-consciousness. For he, who offers a sacrifice makes an offering also of his own soul in all its moods."
-Letter of Aristeas
In closing all of these wise words are good for us to remember and practice for God not only looks at the outward appearance but examines the heart and all its secrets to see if the heart and body are in one accord with Him. If we divide ourselves from evil we can master ourselves, and if we divide evil then we can rule over it. If we unite ourselves with evil then we will be divided from God and fall, and be ruled by sin. Though we might be rejected by the world we will be accepted by God if we do what is right by Him.
