Is that in the Bible?
When I was a boy, my family belonged
to a large church denomination. I went faithfully with them to church every
Sunday.
In Sunday school class we studied church
history and church doctrines. We were not encouraged to go very deeply into the
Scriptures, but were expected to be content with the accepted church literature
and the 20-minute sermon each week.
Yet, even at the young age of 12 there were
questions that truly puzzled me. One that especially bothered me was this: how
could the Savior be in the grave three days and three nights, as He promised in
Matthew 12:40, if he were buried late Friday afternoon only to rise the
following Sunday morning? I never was given a satisfactory answer.
My sister was contending with another
problem. If Sunday is the Sabbath (Biblically the 7th), as the church taught,
then why did her wall calendar show that Sunday is the first day of the week?
My parents had been struggling with these
and other inconsistencies between what the denomination was teaching and what
the Bible plainly said. They brought these questions to the minister at
Wednesday night Bible studies. He no doubt was hoping they would stop raising
all these discrepancies that he was having such a difficult time explaining.
We eventually left the church and finally
found the answers to our questions after a long search and thorough study of
the Scriptures.
Maybe you, too, are bothered by certain
teachings that just don’t harmonize with Scripture, or even contradict what you
read in the Bible. No one you ask seems to have the answers. Your minister’s
best responses seem only half right and difficult to prove from the Word. You
are left with nagging doubts.
Rest assured that you aren’t alone. Many
serious seekers of truth are wrestling with the same dilemma. Much of what is
passed off as Scriptural is, in fact, a gradual development from centuries of
human tradition and not what the Bible teaches at all. The Apostles, not to
mention the Savior Himself, would be shocked to see how their clear statements
have been twisted to fit false conclusions.
The "faith
once delivered to the saints," spoken of in Jude 3, is quite different
from what is preached today. Jude speaks of a small number returning to the true faith in these latter days. If the
majority of churches had been teaching correct doctrine, then this prophetic
verse would be unnecessary! Yet the Scripture says the true faith would be
taught and established again just before the Second Coming of the Messiah
Yahshua.
The reasons these right teachings of the
Bible have not been proclaimed as the Savior and His disciples taught them is a
fascinating study in itself.
Call on His Name
Take the Savior’s Name, for instance. You
probably were never taught that "Yahshua" was the actual Name the
angel Gabriel gave to the Savior’s Hebrew parents, Joseph (Yowceph) and Mary (Miriam), Matthew 1:21. The angel
instructed them to name the newly born Messiah "Yahshua."
"Yahshua" reflects the Savior’s Hebrew heritage. But translators
changed His Name.
You are likely familiar with the Hebrew
expression, "halleluYah," meaning "Praise you Yah." Even
more important is the Hebrew Name Yahshua, which is tied to salvation
(literally meaning, "Yah is salvation"). His Name Yahshua comes from
His Father’s Name, Yahweh. Perhaps you have heard ministers and priests use
"Yahweh" occasionally. Most of them know that Yahweh is the true Name
of the Heavenly Father, yet few will call on Him exclusively by this vital,
saving Name.
The Father’s Name Yahweh is easily
verifiable in Bible encyclopedias, Bible dictionaries, secular encyclopedias
and dictionaries, and prefaces of many Bibles. That His Name is Yahweh is
taught in seminaries worldwide and is found in Bible versions like the
scholarly Anchor Bible and the
Catholic Jerusalem Bible, among
others. It is found in ancient manuscripts, including the famous Dead Sea
Scrolls.
The Only Name for Salvation
Anciently, names carried important meaning.
Philippians 2:9 tells us that the Father has highly exalted the Son, and given
Him a name which is above every name. The Father and Son don’t have many
different names as pagan deities do. Yahshua said He came in His Father’s Name,
John 5:43, and the people would not receive Him in that Name. Little has
changed in the past 2,000 years.
Acts 4:12 tells us there is salvation in no
other Name. That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it, now that you know the
important meaning of the Savior’s
divinely given Name! The form "Jesus" simply has no such meaning as
it is Latinized-Greek and came much later.
The fact that Yahshua came in His Heavenly
Father’s Name is intriguing. Some will tell you that this means that He came in
and through His Father’s authority. That’s true, but that’s only half the
truth. The point completely ignores the importance of the family Name.
The beauty of this family Name lies in the
fact that Yahshua’s Name is in His Father’s Name, Yahweh/Yahshua. He is
the representative of the Father’s power and authority on earth.
At this point you may be asking, If
"Yahweh" is His Name, why don’t we use it? Good question! The Third
Commandment tells us not to take His Name in vain, which in the Hebrew means to
falsify and to allow to come to nothing, which is exactly what has happened.
His true, personal Name has become as "nothing" as it can be!
Why does man accept substitutes like God
and Lord that are only titles, and inferior ones at that? (Did you know that
even Satan is referred to as "the
god of this world" ? See 2Cor. 4:4. "Lord" is simply Old
English for "keeper of the loaf.")
Aren’t names important? Isn’t your name
important to you? The sacred Name is far more important to the Heavenly Father
and Son. You can find the sacred Name nearly 7,000 times in ancient Bible
manuscripts from which are derived today’s versions. Yet copyists and
translators deliberately hid His Name in our translations, mostly out of
superstitious fear.
From now on, as you read the Scriptures,
notice the countless times you come across verses referring to His Name. You
will be amazed to see how very important His Name actually is, and how many
promises and acts are through His Name!
But does it really make a difference
whether you call on His Name? Here’s a challenge. The next time you face a
trial, sickness, temptation or other crisis, instead of praying in a title,
call on the Name Yahweh. Petition Him through the Savior’s Name Yahshua. See
whether He will not answer you if you pray in His Name. "If you shall ask anything in my Name I will do it," Yahshua promises in John 14:14.
A Quest for Biblical Truth
We at Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua believe
and practice the teachings of Yahshua and the Apostles. Our members have come
from a broad spectrum of church denominations. One thing we all had in common
was a thirst for truth and a willingness to live by the truth wherever we found
it. We hadn’t found it in our former affiliations. What we found was an
adherence to church tradition and man-made doctrines that were favored over
Scripture. "Howbeit in vain do they
worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," Mark 7:7.
The Savior asked the Scribes and Pharisees
this pertinent question, "Why do you
also transgress the commandment of Yahweh by your tradition?" Matthew
15:3. He is still asking that question today.
We have learned that the Bible harmonizes
from Genesis through Revelation into a beautiful plan of salvation for the man
and woman who are willing to take part in it (Isa. 8:20).
We discovered that special yearly
observances that Almighty Yahweh set forth in the Bible to be kept by His
people FOREVER have been virtually ignored through the millennia. Man-made
holidays and traditions have completely taken their place.
Yet He says that His annual Feast days will
be reinstituted worldwide when the coming Kingdom is established by Yahshua on
this earth, Isaiah 66:23, Zechariah 14:16-19. Our question was, if Yahweh’s
special days are so important, shouldn’t we be observing them now? Obviously,
we should!
"Aren’t Churches All the Same?"
How can you know where the "true
church" is? Certainly all the hundreds of denominations and organizations
with all their conflicting doctrines can’t all be right. Yet, we know that True
Worship does exist. Paul wrote, "There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your
calling; one Master, one faith [doctrine]; one baptism," Ephesians 4:4-5.
Here is how the Bible itself defines those
True Worshipers who are truly following Almighty Yahweh and His ways:
•First, the true Assembly would not deny
His Name but in fact would be called by His Name, 2Chronicles 7:14, Daniel
9:19, Revelation 3:8.
•Second, His true people would work in
these end times to find and restore the bedrock, forgotten truths. Jude tells
us that for salvation we "should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints," verse 3.
•Third, His True Worshipers would not be a
huge denomination with millions of members. "Yahweh
did not set His love upon you, because you were more in number than any other
people; for you were the fewest of all people," Deuteronomy 7:7, Acts
7:38; Matthew 7:14. "...the world
knows us not because it knew Him not," 1John 3:1.
•Fourth, those who sincerely follow in all
truth will be obedient to His laws. In a day when law is something scorned and
ridiculed, Yahweh’s own Assembly will be advocating obedience as a sign of
their love for Him. "For this is the
love of Yahweh, that we keep His commandments:
and His commandments are not
grievous," 1John 5:3.
•Fifth, His people will have love for one
another. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you
have love one to another," Yahshua said in John 13:35.
•Sixth, the True Assembly will accept ALL
the Bible, Old and New Testaments, as the inspired Word. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Yahshua the Messiah Himself being the chief corner stone," Ephesians
2:20. We are told to "search the
Scriptures..." meaning both Old and New Testaments, John 5:39. ("To the law [Old Testament] and to the testimony [New Testament], if they speak not according to this Word, it
is because there is no light in them," Isa. 8:20.)
•Seventh, Yahweh’s true Worshipers are
expressed by the Hebrew word kahal, meaning the called-out ones.
In the Greek the word is ekklesia, a gathering of called-out
ones. Yahweh’s people will not find pleasure in the riches or glory of this
world, but have their eye on a much greater Kingdom to come to this earth. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth...but in heaven," Matthew 6:19-20. We are called out of
this world, just as Abraham, Moses, Yahshua, and all the disciples were called
out for a special purpose.
Finally, notice the traits of the one,
true, end-time Philadelphia Assembly found in Revelation 3:8: "I know your works: behold I have set
before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little
strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied my Name."
If you would like more Biblical truths,
write us. We offer a bimonthly magazine, booklets, and media packed with the
meat of the Word for those searching for more than the usual fare.
© 2007 Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua
2963 County Road 233, Kingdom City, Missouri 65262
View us online at: www.YAIY.org
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