Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees!

YESHUA said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matt. 16:6 ESV)

I believe that the warnings that YESHUA gave to HIS listeners about the Leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees is still very applicable in our time, in fact possibly more so due to the far reaching world wide diaspora we find ourselves in today - Matt. 16:11-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1.

I would surely be amiss if I did not caution those who have been led, or are in the process of being led by the Ruach from the formalised church system back to the Marriage Covenant, back to the so called Messianic/Hebrew Roots/Nazarene Movement (we seem to have many names for this Move of the Ruach) to beware of the Judaic Flavour so prevelant and enticing.

In my experience the overwhelming majority of those coming back to the Shabbat, Feasts and all that the Torah (Covenant) entails were members of Christian influenced denominations and were re-born through faith in Jesus Christ and through the Sovereign Work of the Spirit (Ruach) came to a Hebraic Biblical relationship with Messiah Yeshua and a deeper understanding of Who HE is.  

All those I have been involved with, myself included, were all hungry and thirsty for the Undiluted Fresh Milk when they crossed the "Jordan" in desperation so to speak, and as is the revealed case in the natural, we gulped down the water and gorged ourselves with the food without much discernment being exercised because of the gnawing pangs of hunger and thirst for True Spiritual Food.  We were adamant however that we had been called out and were determined not go back to the denominations, but we were babes in the wilderness and totally dependant on the Ruach HaKodesh to pick us up and carry us.  This HE has so graciously and gently done, but like the babies that we were, we put things into our mouths which were not always beneficial and nutritious, but we did it and learned out of these experiences as well.  Praise YHWH, our Father, King and Shepherd!  He will never loose HIS Sheep, and HE does go back for the lost one!  

I am reminded of how a very dear brother in Messiah once described this whole process to me.  He put it like this: We came out of a church system dependant on rules, regulations and religion and we jumped right into the ditch dug by the Judaists full of their rules, regulations and religion.  

I agree with him and am best able to describe this initial "coming out period" through a phenomina that we so often saw when I was still in the Police.  We had wives/women  come to us who had been sorely abused and mistreated and generally one of two things happened to them.  These women either went back to their husbands, or on the off chance that they made that determined effort to leave the abusive partner they would go out and choose another partner just as abusive but in other ways.

Dear reader wearing a kippah or yarmulke does not make you a better person.   Donning a pray-shawl  does not make you more holy; lighting candles on Erev Shabbat I do not believe makes your Shabbat meal more acceptable to YHWH.  These are just a few of the rituals that we are faced with when we come back to the Covenant, and not one of them, and there are many others, are based on any obvious Scripture - yes some may be good traditions (Zanja and I sometimes practice some of them ourselves if we felt led to) BUT THEY ARE NOT SCRIPTURALLY MANDATED SO DO NOT LET ANYBODY FORCE THEM ONTO YOU:  AND PLEASE, DO NOT FORCE THEM ONTO ANYBODY ELSE - DO NOT MAKE A RELIGION OUT OF THEM!   They are all Rabbinical and can add to the yoke Yeshua and the Apostles warned against.

Please remember that by grace we have been saved through faith, and it was not of ourselves; our salvation is a free gift from Elohim not earned by any works that we have done so that we can never boast (Eph. 2:8-9 paraphrased by me).  WE ARE REDEEMED, WE ARE JUSTIFIED, WE ARE RECONCILED WITH ABBA YHWH THROUGH ACCEPTANCE AND ADOPTION OF THE PERFECT SACRIFICE OF MESSIAH YESHUA FOR EACH ONE OF US PERSONALLY - PERIOD!  It is not a churchy group sort of thing - it is personal One on one between  you and YHWH - No conditions, just come when called!

It does not matter what we do, but it does matter with what HEART we do it.  Messiah Yeshua does not want religion; HE wants a relationship, a Marriage Covenant Relationship as defined in The Torah and exhibited perfectly by YESHUA, AS LED BY THE RUACH, when HE was on Earth Matt. 5:17!

This was what Sha'ul (Paul) was faced with.  This is what he was continually fighting against - WORKS OF TORAH OR MAN ORDAINED WORKS (PROSELYTISATION) DID NOT GET YOU SAVED - IT WAS FAITH IN YESHUA OUR MESSIAH! That is what Sha'ul preached to the Corinthians, nothing else 1 Corth. 2:1-2.   The other things (if they are required by TORAH) come later - genuine rebirth with the accompaning fruit and Shabbat teaching of the TORAH was the way to go - end of story, and that is what the first Jerusalem Council decreed in Acts 15:19-21 reinforced by Acts 21:17-26 NB: vs 21, 24(b), 25 (see here and here although this writer points out that the Jerusalem Council used "Rabbinical teachings, these teachings still originated in the Torah and thus grounded on Scripture - see Ex. 34:15-17; Lev. 17:3-9; Lev. 18:6-23; Lev. 17:10-16).

I will not go into any great detail because doing that will lead us down a rabbit hole and we will not see the light of day for a long time - the rabbit hole will be explored, ABBA willing, piece by piece as and when directed and led by the Ruach HaKodesh.

Please just be advised that both the RCC/Christian Church and the Rabbinical Orthodox Judaists created their own religions in opposition to the Covenant which Messiah Yeshua came to present and which was given to Moshe and Israel at Mount Sinai!

Both these "religions" are controlling; rebellious; lusting for power over the congregants; mixed with humans as well as spiritual works; adulterous and idolatrous seeking other gods; leading the true believer away from the True Torah (Instructions) of the word and more; therefore, in my opinion, these are all characteristics of the wife of HaSatan, JEZEBEL  (The Eliyahu Company) - the Great Whore, the Mystery of Babylon of Rev. 17.

Jezebel wants, nay, needs to be the "head of the house" instead of Messiah:  She has many other lovers including the Muslims, Hindus, and with the Rabbinic Jews and all other sects will become the NWO One World Religion more than likely headed by the RCC and their pope.

This demonic spirit in the guise of the religion of Judaism and via politics worked against the early believers as we see with the death of Yochanan the immerser by Herod and our MESSIAH HIMSELF via The High Priest Kaiaphas, not to mention all of the  Apostles.

We see the early believers being persecuted by the demonic spirit of Jezebel through the Early Church Fathers and later by the emerging RCC and her daughters once they married Constantine (Mithras, the sun god).  And this perseution has never let up to this day and BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY WE WILL HAVE THE SAME PERSECUTION FROM THE NWO CHURCH THAT OUR FORE-FATHERS AND THE APOSTLES HAD IN THE 1st CENTUARY and the remnant has had throughout History!  

The dividing line, as I believe I have been shown by The RUACH, will be between the keeping of the Sabbath and the Sunday - The sign of the C/covenants - how and when this will come about I do not know yet, but the Biblical 7th day Sabbath is crucial.

So please, please dear reader DO NOT JUST ACCEPT ANYTHING BECAUSE IT LOOKS GOOD, FEELS GOOD OR BECAUSE IT HAS MANY, MANY CENTURIES OF SEEMINGLY ESTABLISHED RELIGION - THAT IS WHAT EVE DID IN THE GARDEN - SHE USED HER SENSES WITHOUT THE LEADING OF THE RUACH!  

I have a maxim which goes something like this "WE ARE WALKING A PATH THAT HAS NOT BEEN GENERALLY TRODDEN FOR ALMOST 2 MILLENNIA AND WE HAVE NOBODY TO REALLY SHOW US!"

Dear brother and sister in Messiah, we do not have recognised Universities and Seminaries; we do not have massive Mission Ministries; we do not involve ourselves with NGO's or Government projects; we are not loaded with cash.  BUT we are however totally dependant on YHWH and HIS leading into ALL TRUTH & RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HIS Grace in sufficient for all our needs.  Hallelujah  and Amein!

We have been bought by YESHUA and are being taught by the Ruach HaKodesh.  No man, except YESHUA YHWH HIMSELF, has ever led anybody into any Truth and Righteousness, only the Ruach can do that.  At best man, if walking in the Spirit, can be a confirmation of what the Spirit has already stirred within Living Spiritual Stones of The Temple of Yeshua our Messiah, The Eternal High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.

Shalom and blessings in Messiah Yeshua.

Bo'az.