Lack of Knowledge Destroys

Lack of Knowledge destroys ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,’ I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. – Hosea 4:6 ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ – Psalm 46:10 ‘The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.’ – Proverbs 9:10-11 Today, it is easy to acquire knowledge at our fingertips in an instant. One can resolve many factual discrepancies in a matter of minutes through a quick Google search and of course through libraries, which have not yet become mundane. Even though anyone can easily get quick facts, many are destroyed through the very lack of knowledge of the one true God. Especially God’s people who lack the knowledge of who God is and what God wishes from us. Sadly, many of God’s people prefer to continue believing lies from their past ancestors that have been passed down through the generations. The bible tells the people of God to be very wary of trusting the traditions of our ancestors because: ’Surely our fathers have inherited lies, Worthlessness and unprofitable things.’ – Jeremiah 16:19 One has to ask oneself, Where does all of these traditions come from? Are they from the Bible? Or are many of our traditions come from our ancestor’s pagan past? Does God like it when one mixes pagan worship with the worship of the one true God, Yahweh?

The truth about man’s traditions when mixed with the word of Yahweh is that it makes God look like He is incompetent, not real and definitely not trustworthy. Jesus said: ‘Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ – Matthew 15:6-9 Believers in Jesus as the Son of Yahweh are called to shine like stars to a desperate world that is in need of the truth. Who are the people of God if they do not stand firm to the truth? If followers of Messiah do not stand firm to the truth of Yahweh, Jesus’ God and Father, then Christians are not good witnesses for Yahweh. The world is against God’s word and the world is definitely quick to point out the contradictions that the followers of Messiah do that the bible does not say to do. Followers of Jesus and Yahweh show themselves to be hypocrites, just as Jesus said in Matthew 15.

Is learning about the one true Creator a lack of knowledge and wisdom? It says: ‘The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is

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understanding’ – Proverbs 9:10-11. All wisdom comes from Yahweh and it would be in ones best interest to understand and know this Awesome God. Yahweh created the heavens and the earth with wisdom. He created us in His infinite wisdom as bearers of His image. Nonetheless, when God says we shall not null, add nor subtract from His Word, God means what He says. God’s word when carried out in its entirety gives life to the believer, life to others and even to creation itself.

Lack of knowledge of the one true God and what His Word actually says destroys the very people of God it was meant to protect. When traditions of men are added to the words of Yahweh, many people, Christians and non-christians alike, raise their level of mistrust for the truth of God’s existence and even His word itself. In the academic world, there cannot be contradictions in one’s thesis in order to gain the respect and trust of other scholars. Even though academic scholars cannot be compared to God, the truth is of utmost importance especially when we deal with Yahweh the Creator of the universe. To not follow what the word says truthfully brings distrust to Yahweh. Faith is nonetheless a hope that is not seen (Romans 8:24) and all believers must give up some form of human logic that our human mind cannot comprehend. The truth is found in the Bible because there is absolutely no known theory that can give anyone a lasting form of peace.

Theories about our existence will always change, ‘but the word of our God stands forever" – Isaiah 40:8 and ‘For I am Yahweh, I do not change’ – Malachi 3:6. The people of God can find comfort knowing Yahweh will always be there.

More and more people whom claim faith in Jesus become upset when they hear that many traditional practices are found in other ancient pagan religions. Some act on their love for the God of the Bible and others decide to ignore the facts. Anyhow, those who are not Christian will be very quick to point out the very similarities found between ancient pagan religions and the Bible. Certain festivals such as Christmas and Easter are extremely pagan in origin and have absolutely no place in the Bible. Other practices such as the speaking in tongues have its origins in very ancient pagan religions: Hinduism and Voodoo speak in tongues where the language is far from a language but a babbling nonsense. Paul preached for the ability to understand the language being said in 1 Corinthians 14: 9-11 and Isaiah 28: 8-9 talks of the need for God’s people to understand His words. Speaking in babbling nonsense is contradictory to God’s Word and it very much Satanic because those who follow this nonsense must go into a trace like state and let got of all self-control to a spirit. The Bible also gives us a warning:’ do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world’ – 1 John 4:1. Anyhow, any sincere believer in Yahweh and Jesus must ask themselves these very important questions: can the Bible be reliable if so much of church practice is pagan in origin? Is the Bible real? Is God real? Those who are ignorant of the truth will either lose all faith in the God of the Bible or they will decide to ignore the facts and continue to be poor witnesses to the truth of Yahweh and the testimony of Jesus Christ. In either case, the people are destroyed for lack of knowledge of the one and only Most High God. The Bible says that Yahweh does not accept the mixing of pagan religion with the God of Israel. Believers are called to not add nor subtract from His Word: ‘Everything that I 2

command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it’ -Deuteronomy 12:32. Throughout Israel’s History, the Israelites have proven that God will destroy those who mix paganism with the worship of Yahweh. Since God does not change, why would God now accept paganism in His Church? It says: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple.’ Jeremiah 10:2-4 This passage can quite easily fit the modern day Christmas tree. God says to not learn of the way of the Gentiles or pagans. Those who believe in God’s word must take heed to these words for God is a jealous God: ‘for you shall worship no other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God’ – Exodus 34:14. When the word of God is followed in it’s entirety, Yahweh can give a lasting peace to all believers, however, the facts are evident. It does not take much to look at how Christmas can destroy families financially and sheds light on the fact that many families divorce during or immediately after the Christmas season. There are even suicides connected to the financial burden that Christmas toils out on believers. When true believers focus their trust in Yahweh and the work of His Son, believers can take the following passage to heart: ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’- Matthew 11:28-30. God does not want us to be burdened down by the world and the pagan philosophies that go with it. Truly lack of knowledge, destroys the people of God: ‘Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet’ – Proverbs 19:2.

Another phenomenon that is sweeping many Christians and non-christians away is the desire to place tattoos on the body. When the summer sun comes one can immediately see the lusts of the flesh that war against the soul (Galatians 5:17). Tattoos no matter how one looks at it are contrary to God’s Word. God delights in mankind for it says: ‘And my delight was with the sons of men’ – Proverbs 8:31. It also says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made: ‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well’ – Psalms 139:14.

What wonderful words! However, many Christians refuse to take heed to God’s commandment to not make idols to oneself (Exodus 20:4-7) and tattoos are a form of self-gratification and worship of oneself. God’s word says not to make marks in the flesh: ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am Yahweh’ – Leviticus 19:28. Even though it is apparently clear that believers in the God of Israel are not to make tattoos, many do so anyway. Many wish to desecrate their wonderfully made bodies with man-made flesh marks. A God who has ‘inscribed’ all humans on the palms of His hands as cherished created beings, does 3

not wish that believers place marks on their bodies. (Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands... – Isaiah 49:16.)

When tattoos are placed on the flesh, even the most intentionally sincere person wishes to show off to others who they are through symbols. The desire to be tattooed turns into an addiction because how can an image truly show who one is as a person. Many who receive one tattoo wish to have another tattoo because the original image was not exactly what they wanted. People change and their eyes are never satisfied as it says in proverbs 27:20. The true desires of the heart must always be on guard because the true desire of oneself comes from the heart (Proverbs 4:23; Mark 7:20-23). As believers in Messiah Jesus and Jesus’ God Yahweh, believers are called to a higher standard. As Paul states: ‘do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body’ – 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20. (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Everyone’s body is not their own and when one is reborn, the Holy Spirit of God indwells fully. Tattoos are the worship of self and all humility is thrown out the window. Believers are called to be Holy: as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy’ – 1 Peter 1: 14-16. Truly, lack of knowledge destroys and it destroys a believers capacity to stand firm for Yahweh’s truth and one’s capacity to truthfully witness for Yahweh and His Son Jesus.

The church for centuries has claimed that the dietary laws had been abolished based on misunderstandings of certain New Testament scriptures that will not be discussed at this time. The fact is that God has never abolished the dietary laws; they are still in effect today for all who call upon Yahweh and follow His Son Jesus. Noah kept the dietary laws in the ark when he took seven of every clean male and female animal and two of each of the unclean animals (Genesis 7:2). After the flood, Noah made sacrifices to Yahweh of clean animals and not of unclean animals (Genesis 8:20). The significance of Noah is the fact that he followed the law of the clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11) before the giving of the official Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and Covenant (Ceremonial Requirements of the law) with the Hebrews on Mount Sinai with Moses. Noah followed the laws prior to Moses, which is very significant because Noah was not necessarily a Hebrew who had covenant status as one of the chosen people of God. One could say that Noah was a Gentile. Now, when one considers the reasons behind why God would say some animals are clean and others are not clean is understandable for the most part. Most animals that God considers to be unclean are animals that clean up the garbage. These animals are extremely important for cleaning up God’s creation, but they also as a result, carry the most diseases and pollution. God loves His people and He cares that everyone lives long healthy and fulfilled lives because God knows that those who truly worship Him will not be able to give God praise when they are dead. ‘For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?’ Psalm 6:5. God’s people must stand fast to the truth of God’s Word and stop making excuses. Jesus did not come to create a whole new religion, for Jesus said that he did not come to abolish anything: 4

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven – Matthew 5:17-19. Believers must hold fast to what is good and test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Believers must be separated from the world: Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. – 2 Corinthians 6:17 Jesus Christ is our firm foundation on solid rock (1 Corinthians 3:11). If our foundation is not on God’s word, the ravenous wolves of the world will slaughter the Jesus’ lambs (Matthew 10:16).

Lack of knowledge in the One true God Yahweh lead to the destruction of Israel as they were taken into captivity in Babylon. The Israelites continued to worship idols and mixed Yahweh with paganism. As a result, the Israelites went into captivity in Babylon: ‘Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge’ Isaiah 5:13. Yahweh does not want believers to be ignorant and He wants His believers to learn and comprehend what past ancestors believed as well. ‘For inquire, please, of the former age, And consider the things discovered by their fathers; For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow’ – Job 8:8-9.

This does not mean that one can add or subtract to Yahweh’s commands, but Yahweh desires that all believers become knowledgeable of Him and His truth because ‘lack of knowledge destroys.’ Yahweh wants believers to understand the past in order to understand fully that there is only one true God and one lord. If one is knowledgeable of the past, one can fully serve Yahweh as it says: ‘It is Yahweh your God you shall fear.

Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear’ – Deuteronomy 6:13.

Yahweh is said to be invisible and that no man has ever seen Him. (John 1:18; 5:37; 1 John 4:12; John 14:9; Colossians 1:15; Exodus 33:20). Is it possible through our propensity to sin to be able to understand and know this God who is ultimately in control?

‘It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.’ – Isaiah 40:22-23 God has nonetheless made Himself known and He will be made known throughout all the earth. We are so small compared to Yahweh because we are as grass, but the word of our God stands forever! – Isaiah 40:6-8. Yahweh calls the generations to Him because He is truly the ‘existing one’ the I AM.

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Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘ I, Yahweh, am the first; And with the last I am He.’” – Isaiah 41:4 When we all die, God continues because He is the existing One that can never die. He calls us out of the shadows and into the light. God has made Himself known to us believers by various means: ‘At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our time, the final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages’ – Hebrews 1:1-2.

He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel – Psalm 103:7.

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law’ – Deuteronomy 29:29.

Through the sacrifice of God’s Son, all us lowly grasshoppers can draw near to God through Jesus’ mediation on our behalf for our sins. We have been reconciled now to God in order to have life (2 Corinthians 5:18). Christ is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Through Christ, we all can learn and understand more fully than ever before what was truly God’s plan from the beginning of time. Christ is not God but Christ made God known to us who are in our sins. ‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved’ – John 3:17. Jesus ‘is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” – John 6:29.

Our sins had truly separated us from God: But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear – Isaiah 59:2.

Mankind desperately needed God’s true light to be shone which was accomplished through Jesus. Jesus magnified God’s true light and showed us how to worship God in Spirit and in Truth and as a result we are called to follow Christ’s example and walk in Christ’s footsteps (1 Peter 2:21). Christ’s example allows believers to not become further separated from God. As we follow Christ’s example, we learn more about Yahweh and His desires for us. The more we learn and grow in the knowledge of the truth, the more we realize how a lack of knowledge of Yahweh’s truth destroys.

Through the strengthening of God’s holy spirit, we are called to expose the darkness (Ephesians 5:11). We can now walk as children of the light (Ephesians 5:8) and adopted through Jesus to be ‘sons’ of God (Ephesians 1:5). As we kneel for the Father, the God of Jesus, let us remember to stand fast to the truth and test all things (2 Thessalonians 5:21) so that we will not be destroyed for lack of knowledge of the only 6

true God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent (John 17:3).

We must: Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, - Isaiah 46:9 May Yahweh bless you through Messiah Jesus in all your endeavors to know Yahweh and the lord Jesus Christ. May we: Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For Yahweh is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. – 1 Samuel 2:3 °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Hebrews 10:27-28

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Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

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Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh; Though they join forces,[a] none will go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:5 3

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. Proverbs 8:13

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For (A)from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet. Proverbs 19:2 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 7

4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:1-5 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrew 11:6

22 “ For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding.

They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”

Jeremiah 4:22 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55:6 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel Psalm 103:7 29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

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