- May 3, 2022
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When I was younger but unlearned, unfamiliar with Scripture, and totally dependent upon whoever was teaching for my knowledge of Scripture, I believed much I was "taught.". Not being familiar with false teachers and their methods of deception, the problems with English translations, what I was taught and believed made perfect sense to me because they taught it from the Bible, "Yeah, they showed the verses in the Bible." The idea that someone standing in a pulpit, giving a "sermon" and reading from the Bible, could be a false teacher and who would lie about what Scripture taught, was as foreign to me as that a man could jump across the Grand Canyon!
Under this delusion, I also believed, much about what has been believed before, what is believed now and will be believed until Jesus returns to resurrect the sheep unto eternal life. I believed these things because it "seemed" that the things taught came straight from the pages of the Bible.
There were some things that I never believed, despite what I was taught, despite how certain verses were phrased, the English words used, and the teaching. I never believed that God loved all people, that God's love is unconditional, and that believers are required to automatically forgive every wrong done against them, forgive all people who sinned against me, without distinction.
Some of the things I did believe were: God "wanted" all people to "git" saved, that "hell" was a literal place where people were doomed to suffer pain, agony, and punishment for all of eternity, that "demons" were real, that anybody who wanted to get saved, could choose to "git" saved, "The Sinners Prayer, (which I did pray once), the Roman's Road, and that believers were under the tithe.
Along with those, I also believed that Jesus started the "church," and that the Bible was two different books, the O.T. for the Jews, and the N.T. for the Gentiles. I was taught that the Jews and Gentiles were two distinct people and that there are two different faiths. Rather than the Gentiles seeking God through the Jews, as in the O.T., the Jews had to seek God and salvation through the "Gentile faith" as taught in the N.T. That instead of the Jews being a light to the Gentiles, God had made the Gentiles a light for the Jews. That Jesus, Paul, and the Apostles, while being physical Jews, were actually Gentiles on the inside and taught as Gentiles. The Jews had the Law, but Gentiles had grace. That there is no connection between O.T. theology and N.T. theology.
I could add more, but I want to focus on how false teaching has created a great divide between the Old and the New, and how much of the O.T. teaching is ignored or discounted in order to fit the made-up, lying N.T. "narrative" taught by Gentile Pharisees. A person's whole approach and perception of what Scripture teaches is based on their view of God. The purpose of this study is to give the correct view of God, as lined out in Scripture, found in the entirety of Scripture. The Evangelical/Christian world presents God only from what they say is taught from the N.T. They ignore so much of what the O.T. teaches about God. They present God in one of two ways, that the God of the O.T. is different from the God of the N.T., or, that how God thinks in the O.T. is different from how God thinks in the N.T. That the God of the O.T. was stern, demanding that the Jews OBEY Him, or else and that the God of the N.T. is soft, easy going, asks and hopes that believers will keep His word., God, in the O.T., dealt swiftly, harshly with no mercy with the Jews when they disobeyed, but, God in the N.T. does not react in the same way, choosing to show mercy and grace to those who disobey Him, they only need to ask for forgiveness and God is so quick to forgive. In the O.T., there were severe consequences for disobedience, but unlimited grace for disobedience in the N.T. In the O.T., there were sins that God would not forgive, but in the N.T., a "believer" can sin as much and as often as they can, but need not fear, because God's forgiveness is unlimited. The O.T. God is only about obedience, the N.T. God is all about love, love, love. It's as if God has a split personality, the O.T. God and the N.T. God, God is unbending in the O.T. and soft in the N.T.
The Gentile Pharisees teach that God is the dominant figure in the O.T., but Jesus the man is the dominant figure in the N.T. The deity of Jesus is toned down in the N.T., while his humanity is trumpeted and emphasized. But what has to be remembered is that while Jesus was a man while on earth, he also remained the God of the O.T.!
2Cor 11:13-15, "For such are false apostles (Gentile Pharisees), deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, and this shouldn't cause you to be amazed, for Satan himself is transformed (disguised) as an angel, (messenger) of light (Scripture truth.)
The one thing that has the most influence on how you understand all of what Scripture teaches is your perception of who and what God is.
2Cor 11:4, "...another(different)Jesus...another (different) spirit...another (different) gospel..."
This is what is being taught by the Gentile Pharisees, a different Jesus, a different Holy Spirit, a different gospel! Different, not in the sense of slightly altered, or a "little" off, from the true, but as different as night and day.
To this, I want to add that the Gentile Pharisees are teaching another God, a different God, a god not found in Scripture. Their "god" is the exact duplicate of the "good God," having all the positive attributes but nothing like the "mean, unbending, punitive God" of the O.T. This does not describe God in the O.T., but it is the subconscious picture of God that is strongly implied by the Gentile Pharisees. Their "god" is all about love, mercy, grace, kindness, patience, and forgiveness and wouldn't hurt a fly, the god of the second chance, but is never angry, wrathful, vengeful, or would ever send evil, sickness, disease or kill. How many times is it said, "God is not angry with you," "God is on your side," God loves you," "God is your biggest fan," "God is so in love with you," and "God has a wonderful plan for your life," etc.?
God gave us the O.T., as well as the N.T. God never commanded that Gentile believers were not to read or believe the O.T. God didn't split His word into two "books," man did that. If Scripture was spoken by God, and what God said was written down by His chosen vessels, His tools, and what was written down was what God had purposed to have written down, means not that it is there to be read, if one so desires, but is meant to be read! Everything that God purposed for His sheep to know about Him was written down! Any believer can read and learn for themselves what God deems necessary for His sheep to know and believe. It is right there in black and white, no need for God to give personal revelation to each individual sheep. Everything about God, that God chose to make known, is written down in Scripture. It is not a secret. It is there for anyone to read. The Gentile Pharisees are always talking about how we need to "know God, know Jesus," The best place to start is to read what has already been written down! It is not about "knowing God, knowing Jesus," it is all about "knowing about God, knowing about Jesus," knowing what God has revealed about Himself through the written word.
The storyline, the plot, and the events in the O.T. are not just there to present history, where the things are shown and said about God are meant to be looked at as mere "anecdotes" about God. When we read that all of the firstborns, man and animals, in Egypt died, Ex 12:29, It is not written to merely show a historical event in the history of the Jewish people. If this were the case, the verse would have been written to say, "At midnight, all of the firstborns of the Egyptians and their animals died." But, how is the verse written? "And it was at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt..." So, it was not only written as a part of the storyline, it was written to show that it was the Lord who struck down all of the firstborn! This event happened thousands of years ago, but a sheep in 2022 can open up this part of Scripture and understand that it was God who struck down, killed, all of the firstborns of the Egyptians and their livestock! God didn't hide this fact! He proposed that it be known to one and all!
Ex 14:8, "The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites..."
Ex 14:25-26, "...the Lord looked at the host of the Egyptians...and threw the Egyptian camp into confusion...and took off the wheels of their chariots..."
Psalm 105:24-26, "And God increased the number of His people greatly and made them more numerous than the Egyptians, (Ex 1:9-11), GOD TURNED THEIR (The Egyptians) THEIR HEART TO HATE HIS PEOPLE...
Pro 21:1, The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water, He (God) turns it whichever way he purposes.
Rev 17:17, For God had put it into their hearts, to fulfill His will, to agree with and to give their kingdom unto the beast.
We know that God drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, not Moses. I don't make up Scripture, I show you what Scripture says. People will argue with me, will say I am wrong, but none of those matters. In the end you, and all people, have to deal with what Scripture says. You can't argue with Scripture nor can you say that Scripture is "wrong!"
Deut 29:29, The secret things (of God) belong to the LORD, but those things that are revealed, belong to us and our children for ever...
God hasn't revealed everything to us. You will hear the G.P., say that God created man because "He was lonely," "He had to share His love," or "God wanted to fellowship with others," Yet, God has never stated in Scripture His reason to create man, it is a secret with God. But that which is not secret to God, He has revealed to His sheep and all of their generations to come. It's written down in Scripture, open for anyone to read.
There are also things not written down, but at times, there are things that are needed to be known and God will reveal it to those who need to know it.
Amos 3:7, Surely the Lord will not do anything without revealing it to His servants and prophets (first).
Dan 2:19, "Then was the secret (Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the meaning) unto Daniel in a night vision..."
In both of these verses, the things revealed were not the things God purposed to keep unknown. Despite what many, many people claim, God is not appearing to people today in dreams and visions, with "new revelation." That ship sailed a long time ago! Just because somebody "claims" something doesn't make it true! God has already revealed to His sheep everything the sheep need to know.
According to Scripture, which is always good enough for me, man cannot comprehend God. We only know what God has revealed to us. But as far as how God thinks, why He does the things He does that don't make sense to us, what is God's motivation, and what makes God "tick," is unknown and unknowable to man.
Job 5:9, 9:10,11:7,26:14.
Psa 145:3.
Ecc 3:11, 7:24, 8:1.
Isa 40:13-15, 28, 55:8-9.
Jer 23:18.
Rom 11:33-34.
1Cor 2:1.
However, many of the G.P.s act as if they are not just "holier than thou," but as if they are close personal friends of God, a part of God's inner circle that the rest of us can never achieve. In some way, they and God talk on a regular basis, even in the middle of a sermon, and God has "bared His soul" to them and has revealed His innermost self to them. How do I know this? Because the G.P.s are constantly saying that "God wants to..." "God wants to bless you...," "God wants to make your dreams come true...," "God wants you to have all of the blessings He has for you..." "God wants to work in your life, only if you let him." God wants you to be the person He made you to be." Nope! Scripture has never taught that "God wants to...." rather Scripture teaches that God does exactly what He "wants" to do. No person can stop God nor does God need or seek man's permission to act! They are very fond of saying that "God never acts against man's will. That is not only unbiblical, it is flat out super ridiculous! The fantasy that man's "will" is stronger than God's will is to say that a sand flea can withstand a tank! Rom 9:19, "...for who hath resisted His will?"
Ok, on to the results of the study. I understand that there are those who are uncomfortable with some of the things that God did in the O.T. I was that way when I began to study. But the more I learned, the more I discovered why God did these things. When God seems harsh to us or has "gone too far," is because people have lowered God from his lofty, untouchable status, and made Him more like a human. People think and say, "Well, if I was God, I wouldn't have done that, or done it that way,"(I wish I could express my sarcasm fully within that quote). His ways are not our ways! He does all things as He sees fit, He doesn't act within "human" guidelines or rules! Everything God does is righteous, Deut 19:2, 32:4, Psa 145:17, Rom 3:26. God created everything; God is sovereign. God made the rules. God works according to His own standards! God does not have to explain Himself to us. We are not allowed to question what God does or how He does it! Job 9:12, 33:12-13, 40:2, Isa 40:13-14, 45:9-11, Acts 1:7, Rom 9:18-21
GOD DOESN'T CHANGE!
What does this mean? It means that the God of the O.T. is the same God of the N.T. As God is before He created anything, He will always be! Just because God doesn't do the same things in the N.T. as He did in the O.T. doesn't mean God changed from the O.T. to the N.T. We must let Scripture teach us about God, not what anyone says.
Psa 102:26-27.
Mal 3:6.
Heb 1:12, 13:8.
James 1:17.
End of part 1.
Under this delusion, I also believed, much about what has been believed before, what is believed now and will be believed until Jesus returns to resurrect the sheep unto eternal life. I believed these things because it "seemed" that the things taught came straight from the pages of the Bible.
There were some things that I never believed, despite what I was taught, despite how certain verses were phrased, the English words used, and the teaching. I never believed that God loved all people, that God's love is unconditional, and that believers are required to automatically forgive every wrong done against them, forgive all people who sinned against me, without distinction.
Some of the things I did believe were: God "wanted" all people to "git" saved, that "hell" was a literal place where people were doomed to suffer pain, agony, and punishment for all of eternity, that "demons" were real, that anybody who wanted to get saved, could choose to "git" saved, "The Sinners Prayer, (which I did pray once), the Roman's Road, and that believers were under the tithe.
Along with those, I also believed that Jesus started the "church," and that the Bible was two different books, the O.T. for the Jews, and the N.T. for the Gentiles. I was taught that the Jews and Gentiles were two distinct people and that there are two different faiths. Rather than the Gentiles seeking God through the Jews, as in the O.T., the Jews had to seek God and salvation through the "Gentile faith" as taught in the N.T. That instead of the Jews being a light to the Gentiles, God had made the Gentiles a light for the Jews. That Jesus, Paul, and the Apostles, while being physical Jews, were actually Gentiles on the inside and taught as Gentiles. The Jews had the Law, but Gentiles had grace. That there is no connection between O.T. theology and N.T. theology.
I could add more, but I want to focus on how false teaching has created a great divide between the Old and the New, and how much of the O.T. teaching is ignored or discounted in order to fit the made-up, lying N.T. "narrative" taught by Gentile Pharisees. A person's whole approach and perception of what Scripture teaches is based on their view of God. The purpose of this study is to give the correct view of God, as lined out in Scripture, found in the entirety of Scripture. The Evangelical/Christian world presents God only from what they say is taught from the N.T. They ignore so much of what the O.T. teaches about God. They present God in one of two ways, that the God of the O.T. is different from the God of the N.T., or, that how God thinks in the O.T. is different from how God thinks in the N.T. That the God of the O.T. was stern, demanding that the Jews OBEY Him, or else and that the God of the N.T. is soft, easy going, asks and hopes that believers will keep His word., God, in the O.T., dealt swiftly, harshly with no mercy with the Jews when they disobeyed, but, God in the N.T. does not react in the same way, choosing to show mercy and grace to those who disobey Him, they only need to ask for forgiveness and God is so quick to forgive. In the O.T., there were severe consequences for disobedience, but unlimited grace for disobedience in the N.T. In the O.T., there were sins that God would not forgive, but in the N.T., a "believer" can sin as much and as often as they can, but need not fear, because God's forgiveness is unlimited. The O.T. God is only about obedience, the N.T. God is all about love, love, love. It's as if God has a split personality, the O.T. God and the N.T. God, God is unbending in the O.T. and soft in the N.T.
The Gentile Pharisees teach that God is the dominant figure in the O.T., but Jesus the man is the dominant figure in the N.T. The deity of Jesus is toned down in the N.T., while his humanity is trumpeted and emphasized. But what has to be remembered is that while Jesus was a man while on earth, he also remained the God of the O.T.!
2Cor 11:13-15, "For such are false apostles (Gentile Pharisees), deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, and this shouldn't cause you to be amazed, for Satan himself is transformed (disguised) as an angel, (messenger) of light (Scripture truth.)
The one thing that has the most influence on how you understand all of what Scripture teaches is your perception of who and what God is.
2Cor 11:4, "...another(different)Jesus...another (different) spirit...another (different) gospel..."
This is what is being taught by the Gentile Pharisees, a different Jesus, a different Holy Spirit, a different gospel! Different, not in the sense of slightly altered, or a "little" off, from the true, but as different as night and day.
To this, I want to add that the Gentile Pharisees are teaching another God, a different God, a god not found in Scripture. Their "god" is the exact duplicate of the "good God," having all the positive attributes but nothing like the "mean, unbending, punitive God" of the O.T. This does not describe God in the O.T., but it is the subconscious picture of God that is strongly implied by the Gentile Pharisees. Their "god" is all about love, mercy, grace, kindness, patience, and forgiveness and wouldn't hurt a fly, the god of the second chance, but is never angry, wrathful, vengeful, or would ever send evil, sickness, disease or kill. How many times is it said, "God is not angry with you," "God is on your side," God loves you," "God is your biggest fan," "God is so in love with you," and "God has a wonderful plan for your life," etc.?
God gave us the O.T., as well as the N.T. God never commanded that Gentile believers were not to read or believe the O.T. God didn't split His word into two "books," man did that. If Scripture was spoken by God, and what God said was written down by His chosen vessels, His tools, and what was written down was what God had purposed to have written down, means not that it is there to be read, if one so desires, but is meant to be read! Everything that God purposed for His sheep to know about Him was written down! Any believer can read and learn for themselves what God deems necessary for His sheep to know and believe. It is right there in black and white, no need for God to give personal revelation to each individual sheep. Everything about God, that God chose to make known, is written down in Scripture. It is not a secret. It is there for anyone to read. The Gentile Pharisees are always talking about how we need to "know God, know Jesus," The best place to start is to read what has already been written down! It is not about "knowing God, knowing Jesus," it is all about "knowing about God, knowing about Jesus," knowing what God has revealed about Himself through the written word.
The storyline, the plot, and the events in the O.T. are not just there to present history, where the things are shown and said about God are meant to be looked at as mere "anecdotes" about God. When we read that all of the firstborns, man and animals, in Egypt died, Ex 12:29, It is not written to merely show a historical event in the history of the Jewish people. If this were the case, the verse would have been written to say, "At midnight, all of the firstborns of the Egyptians and their animals died." But, how is the verse written? "And it was at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt..." So, it was not only written as a part of the storyline, it was written to show that it was the Lord who struck down all of the firstborn! This event happened thousands of years ago, but a sheep in 2022 can open up this part of Scripture and understand that it was God who struck down, killed, all of the firstborns of the Egyptians and their livestock! God didn't hide this fact! He proposed that it be known to one and all!
Ex 14:8, "The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites..."
Ex 14:25-26, "...the Lord looked at the host of the Egyptians...and threw the Egyptian camp into confusion...and took off the wheels of their chariots..."
Psalm 105:24-26, "And God increased the number of His people greatly and made them more numerous than the Egyptians, (Ex 1:9-11), GOD TURNED THEIR (The Egyptians) THEIR HEART TO HATE HIS PEOPLE...
Pro 21:1, The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water, He (God) turns it whichever way he purposes.
Rev 17:17, For God had put it into their hearts, to fulfill His will, to agree with and to give their kingdom unto the beast.
We know that God drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, not Moses. I don't make up Scripture, I show you what Scripture says. People will argue with me, will say I am wrong, but none of those matters. In the end you, and all people, have to deal with what Scripture says. You can't argue with Scripture nor can you say that Scripture is "wrong!"
Deut 29:29, The secret things (of God) belong to the LORD, but those things that are revealed, belong to us and our children for ever...
God hasn't revealed everything to us. You will hear the G.P., say that God created man because "He was lonely," "He had to share His love," or "God wanted to fellowship with others," Yet, God has never stated in Scripture His reason to create man, it is a secret with God. But that which is not secret to God, He has revealed to His sheep and all of their generations to come. It's written down in Scripture, open for anyone to read.
There are also things not written down, but at times, there are things that are needed to be known and God will reveal it to those who need to know it.
Amos 3:7, Surely the Lord will not do anything without revealing it to His servants and prophets (first).
Dan 2:19, "Then was the secret (Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the meaning) unto Daniel in a night vision..."
In both of these verses, the things revealed were not the things God purposed to keep unknown. Despite what many, many people claim, God is not appearing to people today in dreams and visions, with "new revelation." That ship sailed a long time ago! Just because somebody "claims" something doesn't make it true! God has already revealed to His sheep everything the sheep need to know.
According to Scripture, which is always good enough for me, man cannot comprehend God. We only know what God has revealed to us. But as far as how God thinks, why He does the things He does that don't make sense to us, what is God's motivation, and what makes God "tick," is unknown and unknowable to man.
Job 5:9, 9:10,11:7,26:14.
Psa 145:3.
Ecc 3:11, 7:24, 8:1.
Isa 40:13-15, 28, 55:8-9.
Jer 23:18.
Rom 11:33-34.
1Cor 2:1.
However, many of the G.P.s act as if they are not just "holier than thou," but as if they are close personal friends of God, a part of God's inner circle that the rest of us can never achieve. In some way, they and God talk on a regular basis, even in the middle of a sermon, and God has "bared His soul" to them and has revealed His innermost self to them. How do I know this? Because the G.P.s are constantly saying that "God wants to..." "God wants to bless you...," "God wants to make your dreams come true...," "God wants you to have all of the blessings He has for you..." "God wants to work in your life, only if you let him." God wants you to be the person He made you to be." Nope! Scripture has never taught that "God wants to...." rather Scripture teaches that God does exactly what He "wants" to do. No person can stop God nor does God need or seek man's permission to act! They are very fond of saying that "God never acts against man's will. That is not only unbiblical, it is flat out super ridiculous! The fantasy that man's "will" is stronger than God's will is to say that a sand flea can withstand a tank! Rom 9:19, "...for who hath resisted His will?"
Ok, on to the results of the study. I understand that there are those who are uncomfortable with some of the things that God did in the O.T. I was that way when I began to study. But the more I learned, the more I discovered why God did these things. When God seems harsh to us or has "gone too far," is because people have lowered God from his lofty, untouchable status, and made Him more like a human. People think and say, "Well, if I was God, I wouldn't have done that, or done it that way,"(I wish I could express my sarcasm fully within that quote). His ways are not our ways! He does all things as He sees fit, He doesn't act within "human" guidelines or rules! Everything God does is righteous, Deut 19:2, 32:4, Psa 145:17, Rom 3:26. God created everything; God is sovereign. God made the rules. God works according to His own standards! God does not have to explain Himself to us. We are not allowed to question what God does or how He does it! Job 9:12, 33:12-13, 40:2, Isa 40:13-14, 45:9-11, Acts 1:7, Rom 9:18-21
GOD DOESN'T CHANGE!
What does this mean? It means that the God of the O.T. is the same God of the N.T. As God is before He created anything, He will always be! Just because God doesn't do the same things in the N.T. as He did in the O.T. doesn't mean God changed from the O.T. to the N.T. We must let Scripture teach us about God, not what anyone says.
Psa 102:26-27.
Mal 3:6.
Heb 1:12, 13:8.
James 1:17.
End of part 1.
