364 Who is your Elohim | nazareneisrael2house

Who is your Elohim?

Most people have come to believe that worship involves a public service, where hymns are sung, prayers are said and a sermon is given in worship of the Supreme Being, they call G-d[1]. A dictionary definition of the word worship is given as follows:‘the performance of devotional acts in honor of the Supreme Being’; or ‘submissive respect or admiring devotion of the Supreme Being’. The word worship comes from an old English word meaning ‘worth–ship’, meaning respect, reverence and worthiness directed towards Elohim. This means that when we worship Elohim, we show our appreciation of His worth. Yes, such outward religious practices as the singing of hymns, prayer services and Scriptural reading do symbolize worshipping of Elohim. However, how does YHVH the Elohim of Israel tell us to worship Him in The Scriptures?

We read from John 4: 21 – 24 where Yahshua spoke to the woman at the well in this regard, saying:“Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. (22) You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews[2]. (23) But an hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. (24) Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” What does it mean to worship YHVH in spirit and in truth? To begin with, it means that we do not worship Him for show, that is, to be seen by people. Yahshua gave His disciples a pattern for their prayers, in Matthew 6: 5 & 6, saying:‘And when you pray, you are not to be as hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (6) But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.’ Yahshua said that we should not pray just to be heard by others, so that they are impressed by our ‘righteousness.’ Rather, we should pray because we really want to communicate with YHVH our Elohim, and that is ideally done in private.

Next let us consider the Scriptural meaning of truth: Yahshua our Messiah explained the meaning of truth in the real ‘Master’s Prayer’ in John 17, addressing the Father in verse 17 saying: “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.”This is confirmed in Psalm 119: 160, in this way: ‘The sum of Thy word is truth, and every one of Thy righteous ordinances is ever-lasting.’ Do we truly believe that, or are there sections in the Word of Elohim, which we consider to be false? When Yahshua was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, He sharply rebuked him, according to Matthew 4: 10, saying: “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP YHVH YOUR ELOHIM, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Rav Shaul equated his worship of Elohim in Acts 24: 14, saying:“But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect (‘the sect of the Nazarenes’- see Acts 24: 5) I do serve the Elohim of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law (Torah), and that is written in the Prophets.” We know that at that time he was actually referring to the Tanach. But we also know that the word of Elohim is the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, including the books written by Rav Shaul as is confirmed by Rav Kepha in 2 Peter 3: 14 - 16, saying: ‘Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, (15) and regard the patience of our Master to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, (16) as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.’

YHVH wants us to worship Him in truth, and we do this by honoring Him, serving Him and obeying His instructions given in His word, The Scriptures. The way we worship YHVH our Elohim, should be reflected in the way we live our daily lives, as confirmed by Yahshua in Matthew 4: 4, where He said:: “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUNTH OF ELOHIM.’”. Our relationship with Elohim is a way of life. We read an example of how we should live in Acts 18: 25 & 26, as follows: ‘This man had been instructed in the way of YHVH; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Yahshua, being acquainted only with the immersion of John (the Immerser); (26) and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of Elohim more accurately.’ Worshipping Elohim is a mindset - a way of thinking, acting and living - it affects every aspect of our lives.

True worship of Elohim involves the inward transformation of the human heart, by faith in the name of Yahshua Messiah, what He taught and in His sacrifice. External worship practices alone, is not enough. YHVH is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit, from a converted heart. True worship is much more than praising YHVH in a public worship service. Putting it in the broader sense of the word, it is acknowledging Elohim’s nature, His attributes, and His ways and following the same in praise and thanksgiving, as per His direction. Yahshua our Messiah rebuked the religious leaders of His day because they distorted Elohim’s commandments and substituted the same with their own humanly concocted teachings. We read Yahshua’s own words in this regard in Matthew 15: 7 – 9, saying: “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, (8) ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. (9) BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” A second witness to this may be found in Mark 7: 7, where Yahshua cautioned that if we follow the commandments of men in the way we worship Elohim, we are mistaken. This includes following pagan practices such as Sunday worship, Xmas and Easter celebrations, but also applies to those who interpret the Scriptures, using external sources to determine the timing of the (weekly and) annual Sabbaths; thereby contradicting what is taught in the word of Elohim. Yahshua plainly stated that such worship is in vain. He reserved the harshest words of warning for those who profess to worship Elohim, but refuse to obey His word, as recorded in Matthew 7: 21: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”We should worship Elohim in the way that is acceptable to Him.

There are many people in the world who are totally disillusioned with traditional worship services. They start leaving the traditional churches to find more charismatic groups, but even after having been in such groups for a while, they again feel uneasy and continue searching some more. Some eventually start looking for their ‘so-called’ Hebrew roots. However, many are soon disillusioned when they discover some more confusion. This is very disconcerting and we need to assist these searchers of truth, by making sure that we teach them Elohim’s truth which can only be found in the Scriptures. Even so, we should not forget that Yahshua himself said in Matthew 15: 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This means that He came specifically for us the lost ten tribes of Israel, and not for our Jewish brothers, or any other groups of people for that matter. In addition we read in Romans 11 that YHVH himself blinded our Jewish Brothers to the identity of Yahshua, until the fullness of the Gentiles (those lost Israelites who presently still think that they are gentiles) have come in, then all Israel will be saved. Do we doubt Him? We see how our Jewish brothers, who will be sitting in their synagogues on Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) when Yahshua returns, will see Him whom we have pierced and will repent (including accepting Yahshua as their Savior) (see Zechariah 12: 10). This is when all Israel will be saved.Furthermore, if non-Israelites are prepared to give up their traditions and join themselves to YHVH, He will make them part of His people, as He says through Isaiah in Isaiah 56: 6 & 7, as follows: ‘Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHVH, to minister to Him, and to love the name of YHVH, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; (7) Even those I will bring to My set-apart mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.’

It is not important for us, at this time, to know how the Jews intercalate the Hebrew calendar. Scriptures tell us that they were entrusted with Elohim’s oracles, and for me that is enough; they are Elohim’s lawgiver (as He says in amongst other in Psalm 60: 7), meaning they have the truth or words of Elohim, regarding the Sabbath, the annual Feast Days of Elohim, Kosher Laws and the Hebrew language, even if some of them were not faithful. I only need to follow the Scriptures and do not have to be overly concerned with the interpretation of external sources, as to how Elohim should be worshipped. We read in Jeremiah 10 which is specifically addressing us the lost ten tribes of Israel, saying in verses 1 & 2: ‘Hear the word which YHVH speaks to you, O house of Israel. (2) Thus says YHVH, “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens although the nations are terrified by them.”’ We need only follow the word of Elohim and forget the things that scare the gentiles. The sun and moon was given to us for signs and seasons; we use the moon as well as the green ears of barley in Israel to confirm the calendar as calculated by our Jewish brothers, and not to determine our own calendar. They are according to the Scriptures responsible to determine the calendar and if it is not totally correct at this time, it is sure to be corrected by Yahshua at His return. When we come to understand the significance of true worship, it becomes supremely relevant to our lives and to our ultimate destiny. Elohim’s annual and weekly Sabbaths were never abolished or changed for anybody. It remains in force and is relevant to the lives of all human beings who want to serve and obey Him. True worship of Elohim honors His command concerning His Sabbaths; whereas Sunday worship does not have Elohim’s authority, neither has a Sabbath or annual Feast Day which starts at a different time to which He ordained. These have the authority of man and not that of Elohim. The question that must be answered, is whether Elohim accepts such worship when His clear commands regarding the timing of His Sabbaths are ignored?

May I at this point ask: Do you believe your minister of religion, or the word of Elohim? Who do you worship, or put differently: who is your Elohim?It brings to memory when Elijah showed the people of Israel that YHVH is Elohim, when he and the 450 prophets of Baal offered sacrifices to their respective Mighty Ones and YHVH the Elohim of Israel consumed Elijah’s sacrifice, even after he soaked it in water, whilst the non-existing Baal could not even start the fire for their sacrifice. My counsel for what it is worth: is to be led by the word of Elohim. Be careful of false prophets who are among us. We are warned about them in 2 Peter 2: 1 & 17 – 20, as follows: ‘But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying (from the Greek ‘arneomai’ – also meaning contradict) the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (17) These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. (18) For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, (19) promising them freedom they themselves are slaves of corruption (Satan’s); for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. (20) For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.’

False prophets contradict what YHVH says in His word. Those who say that there are two (YHVH)’s like many in the Churches of G-d, the Assemblies of YHVH and some Nazarene Israelite groups contradict YHVH when He tells us in Deuteronomy 4: 35 & 39 that He is One, as follows: “To You it was shown that you might know that YHVH, He is Elohim; there is no other besides Him. (39) Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that YHVH, He is Elohim in heaven above and on the earth below: there is no other.” The point is: Do we believe Him, or do we believe these people’s explanation regarding Him? But, I hear many asking: ‘But who or what is Yahshua then? Let’s turn to the Scriptures to get (YHVH)’s answer to this important question? We read His answer in Hosea 13: 4, where He says: ‘Yet I have been YHVH your Elohim since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me.” A second witness to this comes from Isaiah 43: 10 & 11, as follows: “You are My witnesses,”declares YHVH, “And My servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no Elohim formed, and there will be none after Me. (11) I, even I am YHVH; and there is no savior besides Me.”

YHVH instituted His Feast Days as a means to determine who the ones who truly serve Him are. He tells us in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16, when and how we should worship Him. He does not want us to work out our own ways in which to worship Him, but most of all He does not want us to worship Him the way the Gentiles worship their gods, as he tells us through Moses in Leviticus 18: 3, saying: ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.’ If we call YHVH our Master and Elohim, then He should be the one telling us what and how to do it, since He specified in His Torah exactly how to worship Him. If you do not regard Him as your Master and Elohim, and you decide to worship Him on any other day, you are simply fooling yourself. The Catholic Church instituted Sunday worship and no matter which Church you belong to, if you keep Sunday, your Master is simply the Pope.

That is why it is so important to keep Elohim’s Sabbath’s (weekly and annual) since that is the only sign between YHVH and His people, as He told Moses in Exodus 31: 13 – 17, saying: “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHVH who sanctifies you (or sets you apart). (14)Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it that person shall be cut off from among his people. (15)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, set-apart to YHVH; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. (16)So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (17)It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days YHVH made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed”. In addition we keep the Feast Days of Elohim so that we may learn to fear and serve only YHVH our Elohim, as testified in Deuteronomy 14: 22 & 23, where we read: “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. (23) And you shall eat it in the presence of YHVH your Elohim, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear YHVH your Elohim always.”

Satan is the master counterfeiter; he changed every command that YHVH gave us, by teaching just the opposite through his agents in the world. These agents are not only the churches of the world, but also those amongst us who are contradicting everything we read in the word of Elohim. The environmentalists are concerned with the condition of our planet, and try everything in their power to correct the problems of the past. But have they ever ask themselves why everything is in the condition it is today? We read the answer from Elohim’s word in Isaiah 24: 4 - 6, as follows: ‘The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. (5)The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.(6)Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.’ Yes, in the end our lack of disobedience to YHVH our Elohim will result in a destruction that will leave only a few people alive. By changing the Sabbath to Friday or Sunday is breaking the everlasting covenant. But so is starting the Sabbath at 12 pm or at sunrise in the morning.

However, even though we have all fallen away from the way of Elohim, He personally prophesied that a remnant of us will in the latter days return to His ways in Deuteronomy 4: 25 – 30, in this way:‘When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of YHVH your Elohim so as to provoke Him to anger, (26)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you shall surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but shall be utterly destroyed. (27)And YHVH will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where YHVH shall drive you. (28)And there you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. (29)But from there you will seek YHVH your Elohim, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. (30)When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days, you will return to YHVH your Elohim and listen to His voice ‘. We read further about this time when we will again return to YHVH in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten in Jeremiah 50: 4 – 5, as follows:‘In those days and at that time, declares YHVH, the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be YHVH their Elohim they will seek. (5)They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to YHVH in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’

People we should not be detracted by anybody from preaching what we do in these last days. It is our duty as watchmen to warn fellow Israelites in South Africa and the western world about their sins, as we are told in Isaiah 58: 1 in this way: “CRY loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.” If we are persecuted for that, then we know that we are about our Father’s business, as Yahshua told His disciples in John 15: 20, saying: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Yes, we are going to be persecuted for believing what we do. Many will attack us personally for believing in YHVH the only true Elohim, but it is as He told Samuel when the nation of Israel asked him for a king, saying in first Samuel 8: 7, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”

To conclude, let’s answer the question asked at the beginning. Who is your Elohim? Do you worship YHVH the Elohim of all Israel by obeying what He taught in His word, or are you deciding when and where to worship Him? That should tell you who you worship as your Master and Elohim! Is it YHVH the Elohim of Israel, or is it a god of your own design?Selah.

[1] The Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition) clearly testifies to the pagan origin of the term “god:” GOD—the common Teutonic word for a personal object of religious worship…applied to all those superhuman beings of the heathen (pagan) mythologies. The word “god” on the conversion of the Teutonic races to Christianity was adopted as the name of the Supreme Being. Knowing this and in obedience to Exodus 23: 13, we do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouths. Hence, we do not write out the pagan title as used in pagan mythology.

[2] This means: (a) That Yahshua our Messiah was born a Jew and that He is our salvation; and (b) the Rabbinical Jews of today are still Elohim’s Law givers, and if we obey those laws exactly according to The Scriptures, we will reap the blessings of the Law. However, working out our own Feast Days and Sabbaths is not honoring the name of YHVH and will reap the curse spoken about in Malachi 2: 1-8.