Should the Congregation of Yehovah (Church of God) have a

Chapter 42, Part 2 Preview: Aside from the fact that the title Church of God” contains a word derived from the name of a pagan god, and another from a pagan goddess (“of” is OK); should your local congregation mandate doctrinal requirements beyond the Ten Commandments? To do so could turn that Assembly into a Church! Yet “The Church Is Not In God’s Plan”. I recommend that you preferably don’t go to Church, but rather consider The Anatomy of a Church, and if there is an Assembly of Disciples within driving distance—under Yehovah and not under hierarchy—congregate there! This is spelled out in How Does the Eternal Govern Through Humans?.

Some Revealing Things That Yeshua (Jesus) Said

While I do not feel that it is advantageous to list doctrinal beliefs, it is quite easy to point out the commonest beliefs of others that paradoxically have no Biblical basis. Most of the “basic beliefs” of traditional churches have nothing to do with the true Way! Once these very common misconceptions are dispelled, a tremendous void is created that will hopefully necessitate your search for factual answers.

There are a numerous instances where Yeshua said things that few believe today. The bullet points below mark Biblical quotations of Yeshua that have been almost universally disregarded.

• Yeshua gave only one sign to prove that He was the Messiah, that being the prediction that He would be dead and buried for exactly three days and three nights–72 hours. The “Good Friday” evening to “Easter Sunday” morning tradition suppresses the truth concerning that sign, as it accomplishes its main goal–replacing the Passover!

Matthew 12:38-40 Then some of the Torah teachers and Pharisees said to Him, “Sovereign, we want to see a miraculous sign from You.” 39 But He replied, “A wicked and unfaithful people demand a sign, but the only sign they’ll be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 Just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, in the same manner, the Human Son will be in the inner part of the earth for three days and three nights.—The Gabriel Bible

• Contrary to what the vast majority advocate, Yeshua did not come to do away with the Law (Torah).

Matthew 4:4 But He replied, “It’s written in the Scriptures, ‘People must not live on bread alone, but by every word that leaves Yehovah’s mouth.’

Matthew 5:17-20 Don’t ever suppose that I came to abolish or destroy the Torah or the Prophets, I haven’t come to destroy them, but to 'establish, illustrate, and explain' them [Commentary]. 18 I am certain that until Heaven and Earth go away [or arrive] not one point or the 'smallest detail' [4] from the Torah [5] will be 'done away with' until all of it is fulfilled [6]. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the smallest prescribed rules [7] and teaches it as doctrine to others will be called small in the Kingdom of the Heavens, but anyone who carries out and teaches them, will be called great in the Kingdom of the Heavens. 20 I assure you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses the Torah teachers and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of the Heavens.

[4] “Yod” is the smallest letter in both the Aramaic and Hebrew alphabets. “Biblical Greek” has no small letters. [5] “Point” is how the Etheridge version renders this, as in a vowel point, serif or even, as in this case a dot! [6] The primary meaning of “ginomai” means “to come into existence”, but it can also mean, “come to pass.” [7] According to the Hebrew Matthew this verse could include: “...that I teach, I will utterly destroy.”

• Yeshua never contradicted His Father, but rather spoke only what His Father told Him to say:

John 12:49-50I haven’t spoken on My own. The Father who sent Me instructed Me about what I should say and what I should reveal. 50 I know that His Commandments lead to eternal life. So the things I’m saying are what My Father told Me to say.”

John 14:23-24 Yeshua replied, “Anyone who loves Me obeys My teachings. My Father will love them, and WE WILL COME TO THEM [3] and make Our dwelling place with them! 24 Yet those who don’t love Me, don’t obey My teachings. The teachings that you hear aren’t Mine, but are from the Father who sent Me.

[3] Both the Father and the Son will come to the person who shows Them love by obeying Their Commandments.

• Many people think that Yeshua came to bring “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” Actually, Yeshua said that He did not come to bring peace—on the contrary He said just the opposite!

Matthew 10:33-36 But whoever disowns Me in public, I’ll also disown before My heavenly Father. 34 Don’t assume that I came to 'bring' world peace. I haven’t come to bring peace, but a sword [conflict]. 35 I came to alienate a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A person’s enemies will be the members of their own household.

• Rather than say that He was leading the way to heaven, and that Christians would all follow His lead when they die, Yeshua said that He would return to Earth, and that no one, other than Himself, had ever gone to heaven. The Bible refers to resurrections that will take place in the future, rather than of spirits drifting heavenward when someone dies.

Matthew 24:3,27,30-31 As Yeshua sat on the Mount of Olives, His disciples approached, conversing among themselves and asked, “Tell us when will these things happen and what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age.” 4 Yeshua told them, “Be careful not to let anyone deceive you. 27 Like lightning coming out of the east and flashing into the west, that is how the coming of the Human Son will be... 30 Then the miraculous sign of the Human Son [6] will be seen in the sky, and then all the nations on earth will mourn when they see the Human Son coming on the clouds in the sky, with great power and splendor. 31 Then He’ll send out His spirit messengers with a loud shofar blast [7] and they’ll gather together His selected people from the four winds [north, south, east and west], from one farthermost bound of the horizon [heaven] to the other.

[6] Yeshua was alluding to Daniel 7:13 where “Daniel saw Someone like a Human Son coming with the clouds in the sky. So what is the sign—it will look like a human (son of man) descending from the sky! Immediately after Satan’s nearly unhindered seven year long rampage, everything begins to change in a day. Another entire set of prophecies will play out during the Year of Payback (Isaiah 34) [7] This link is a remarkable timetable that Ernest Martin calculated in 1989. He made many of the same asumptions as I had. Still a lot of good info. The passage of time necessitated the start of my countdown 2,000 years from Yeshua’s crucifixion rather than start from the beginning of His ministry. (otherwise the Great Tribulation would be well underway by now.)

Revelation 3:11 I AM COMING SUDDENLY! [6] Hold tightly onto what you have, so that no one takes your crown.

[6] John’s statement is from the perspective that all seven end time assemblies are a present reality. After all seven branches of the minorah are present, the end will follow suddenly! Of the prototypical seven ancient cities, Philadelphia was established last.

Revelation 5:9-10 They were singing a new song: “You deserve to take the book and to open its seals, because You were slain and have purchased us for Yehovah with Your own blood, out of every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and You made them kings and priests for Yehovah, and they’ll rule as kings on the earth.”

Revelation 22:7 Look, I’ll come quickly! Blessed is anyone who holds fast to the prophetic statements of this small book.”

Matthew 25:31-32 When the Human Son comes in His splendor, and all His spirit messengers with Him, He’ll sit on the throne of His splendor. 32 All the nations will be gathered in front of Him, and He’ll separate them from each other, just like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

John 3:13 NO ONE HAS GONE UP TO HEAVEN EXCEPT THE ONE WHO CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, the Human Son who is in Heaven. [Commentary]

Matthew 6:10 May Your Kingdom arrive, and Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

• Yeshua said that we would all perish, and not automatically continue living as an immortal being. It requires faith in Yeshua as well as being raised from the dead, to be given the gift of—not the birthright of—eternal life.

John 3:16 Yehovah loved the world so much that He gave His unique Son, so that whoever continues believing [present, active] [4] in Him would not be destroyed, but have eternal life.

[4] See shemitah link

John 3:5-7 Yeshua replied, “I tell you with absolute certainty that unless someone is born of water and the spirit they can’t enter Yehovah’s Kingdom. 6 Those born of flesh ARE composed of flesh, and those born of the spirit ARE composed of spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you that it is imperative that you be born again.

Luke 13:1-5 At that time, someone came and told Him about some Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their zebakim [sacrifices].” 2 Yeshua replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because this happened to them? 3 No, but I assure you that you will all be destroyed as well, unless you amend your ways. 4 Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed, do you think that they were worse sinners than anyone else living in Jerusalem? 5 No, but I assure you that unless you amend your ways you’ll die just as they did.” [1]

[1] The meaning is that if you are converted, your death is never an accident that takes Yehovah by surprise. All things work out fof good!

John 11:11-14 After Yeshua said these things, He told them, “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep. [1] But I’m going to wake him up!” 12 His disciples said, “Sovereign, if he’s sleeping, he’s recovering.” 13 But Yeshua had spoken metaphorically of his death, but they thought that He literally meant lying down sleeping. 14 Then Yeshua told them bluntly, “Lazarus is dead,

[1] Do souls sleep?

John 5:24-29 I tell you with absolute certainty that anyone who hears My Word, and believes in the One who sent Me has eternal life. They won’t come into condemnation, but have passed from death to life. 25 I tell you with absolute certainty that the time is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Yehovah, and those who 'respond' will live. 26 The Father has life in Himself, so He has also enabled the Son to have life in Himself, in the same way. 27 More importantly, He has also given Him the authority to judge everyone, because He is the Human Son.

Separate Resurrections

Continuing: 28 Don’t be amazed at this, because the time is coming when everyone in their graves will hear His voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things to a Resurrection resulting in life, and those who have committed evil to a Resurrection resulting in Condemnation [4].

[4] This statement alludes to Daniel’s Judgment Day statement (12:1-3). Judgment Day will occur during the most horrific time in world history. Yet “at that time your people [Israel] will be saved.”

• Yeshua told us not to address anyone as “Father” as a religious title; so millions of people address their local priest as “Father,” and the Pope as the “Holy Father,” in spite of Yeshua’s plain warning not to do it.

Matthew 23:9 Don’t call yourselves Father on earth, because there is only One spiritual Father—the Heavenly One.

• Yeshua is not the Master (Lord) of the “Lord’s Day”, (allegedly Sunday), but rather He is the Master of the (seventh-day) Sabbath.

Matthew 12:8 The Human Son is Sovereign of the Sabbath!&rdquo

Mark 2:27 He told them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.”

Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth where He had been raised, and He went into the synagogue as usual on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

• There will be religious leadership and religious followers, who are not pure in heart, who do not do the things that Yeshua said that we must do. Yeshua, much to their astonishment, will reject them.

Matthew 4:15-22 “The land of Zebulon, the land of Naphthali, the highway by the sea, the ford of Jordan, Galilee of many ethnicities [Gr. ethnos], 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen great light, and for those who sat near the shadow of death, light has dawned.” 17 From that time on, Yeshua began to proclaim, “Amend your ways, because the royal power of the Kingdom of the Heavens is near.”

18 As He walked on the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Cephas andrew his brother who were throwing a dragnet into the sea, because they were fishermen. 19 Yeshua told them, “Follow Me and I’ll have you fishing for people.” 20 So they immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 As He went on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in a boat with Zebedee their father, as they were mending their nets. Yeshua called them too. 22 They too immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Mark 7:6-9 He told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you pretenders. As the Scriptures say, ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their minds are very far from Me. 7 Their 'reverence' of Me is pointless because they teach human rules as doctrines.’ 8 You abandon the Commandments of Yehovah and hang onto human traditions, washing cups and pots and other things like that.” 9 He added, “Despite your pretenses, you reject the Commandments of Yehovah in order to establish your own traditions!

Luke 6:46 Why do you call Me, “Sovereign, Sovereign”, without doing what I say to do?

Things People Believe That Are Not Biblical

Here is a list of some of the religious tenets that people believe that aren’t taught in the Bible. The explanations for these notions don’t necessarily accompany the statements, but many of the true Biblical perspectives are examined elsewhere on this web site.

1. “God has already determined whether He will “call” you, and whether you will choose to follow Him and have eternal life, or that you will choose to reject Him and suffer the penalty. It’s all been predestined from the foundation of the world, so you can’t do anything about it. You have no choice in your own salvation.”

2. “Jesus was born on December 25, died on Good Friday and was resurrected on Easter Sunday.” See Christmas is Pagan

3. “Jesus kept the Sabbath, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Passover, and the Days of Unleavened Bread etc. only because He happened to be Jewish.”

4. “Three kings visited Jesus in a manger.”

5. “Baptizing infants and babies fulfills a Scriptural requirement, that ‘saves’ the baby’s soul.”

6. “Sprinkling and pouring are acceptable forms of baptism.”

7. Or, “Baptism is a ritual that is not really necessary any more.”

8. “If you ‘confess Jesus’, then you are saved.”

9. “God is one Being, comprised of three separate personages. Or, God is one Being, Who can sometimes manifest Himself as a Father, at other times as a Son, and at other times as a Holy Spirit.”

10. “The Kingdom of God is the church.”

11. Or, “The Kingdom of God refers to when we go to Heaven.”

12. Or, “The Kingdom of God is something set up in people’s hearts.”

13. “We have immortal souls that continue to exist independent of our bodies after our death.”

14.“The resurrection is when Jesus comes down from heaven, with all of the worthy immortal souls following Him from heaven, to be reunited with their mortal bodies again.”

15. “Satan and the demons are immortal.”

16. “We either go to heaven or hell when we die.” See: Are the “Unsaved” Lost?

17. Or, “the resurrection is when Jesus comes down from heaven, resurrect the saints, and then they all go right back up to heaven again.”

18. “God is one—so that would exclude Jesus”. See: The Nature Of Jesus Christ

19. “It doesn’t matter if ‘the church’ has adopted some of their beliefs and customs from paganism. These rites and rituals have been “cleansed” by assigning them Christian names and by the passage of centuries, so they aren’t really pagan any more. God doesn’t really care how we worship Him, as long as we’re sincere.”

20. “Jesus will return and rapture the church away to heaven.”

21. “Dietary laws were for ancient Israel, not for believers today.”

22. “If you don’t become a true Christian in this life, then you are eternally doomed.” Again, see: Are the “Unsaved” Lost?

23. “Lucifer is another name for Satan.” See: The Name “Lucifer”

24. “Only Christians are capable of having ‘agape love’”.

25. “When Jesus returns, and Judgment Day begins, He will destroy everyone who hadn’t already accepted Him as their Savior.” See “The Last Day”—Judgment Day

26. “Judgment Day doesn’t really come until after the millennium.” Again, “The Last Day”—Judgment Day

Chapter 43 is Does Father (God) Travel in Time?