In Romans 3:1-4 we find the Apostle Paul warning those in the Rome church about rejecting the “oracles of God”–His Holy Scriptures which, along with the writings of the New Testament apostles, form the foundation upon which the church has stood for over 2000 years (Eph. 2:20). Paul verbally carries the Jews in the church back in history to a time when, after being freed from Egyptian slavery, God (the Word Who came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth–Jn. 1:1-4,14) has gathered them at the foot of Mount Sinai. Having called Moses to talk with Him, the Lord tells him what the Israelites must do in order to become His chosen people. God’s message to the people was as follows: “… IF you will obey My voice (Words) INDEED (for sure), and KEEP (obey) My covenant, THEN you will be a PECULIAR TREASURE to Me of all of the world’s people …. You will be to Me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION.” He then instructs Moses to speak those words to the Israelites. Read The God of the Old Testament. Key word–Old.

Having returned to the people, Moses tells them what the Lord has spoken to Him. The people answer in unison: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Moses then returns to the Lord and delivers their message–they will accept the covenant He has offered them. In so saying they have agreed to keep their part of the covenant (obedience to Him). God, in turn, has promised to make them His chosen people. Over the next several days the Lord speaks with Moses who is in the dark cloud with Him on the top of Mount Sinai. While there He gives him His Ten Commandment Law by which He will govern the people, which includes “a mixed multitude” of Gentiles which came out of Egypt with them (Exo. 12:38). He then writes the commandments on stone tablets. The people’s part of the covenant is to obey what God has written on the stone tablets. Moses then writes by hand the finer points of the Law that they must obey. Having written everything in the form of a scroll, He would later place it beside the Ark of the Covenant that would contain the stone etched Ten Commandment Law.

Later, in order to emphasize the importance of His Sabbath, the Lord made a SEPARATE COVENANT with the people by which He would govern the activities that would take place on His weekly Holy Day relative to what they could and could not do on that Holy Day. The Lord had specifically chosen this day, blessed it (placed Himself in it) and sanctified it (set it aside from the other days of the week–Gen. 2:2,3). He would later greatly honor that day by saying: “The Sabbath is My Holy Day, the holy of the Lord” (Isa. 58:13), This commandment would be His “sign” that would signify His ownership of the Israelite people (Exo. 31:13-18). The Law, specifically the Sabbath, was to be in effect “throughout their generations,” meaning “forever” (vs 16,17). The Gentiles had become spiritual Israelites by agreeing to obey the Lord’s Ten Commandment Law. Nothing has changed.

In Exodus 32 we find that the people have grown impatient with the God Who had recently freed them from 400+ years of slavery. The Lord had performed a series of miracles in Egypt, opened the Red Sea so that they could escape the Egyptian army–which He then drowned in the sea–gave the Israelites water out of a rock, created food for them and promised them eternal oneness with Him. In spite of all He had done for them, the Israelites were now JUDGING HIS WORDS AND FINDING THEM DEFECTIVE. Having lost faith in Him as their God, they decided to make for themself another god, one more to their liking who would take them back to slavery in Egypt where they had plenty of food and drink and, more importantly, THEY COULD MAKE THEIR OWN RULES OF PERSONAL CONDUCT.

Though they did not return to Egypt physically, they did return to sin mentally and spiritually. As a result, God made them wander in the Sinai Desert for 40 years while that rebellious generation died off. A new generation was allowed to enter the land God had promised Abraham would be the inheritance of his descendants. The rest is history, and more often than not, a sordid, God-rejecting history which would end in their defeat, slaughter, enslavement and scattering throughout the world where they lost their Israelite identity. Their descendants are today known as Gentiles. Neither they nor their Gentile neighbors are aware of their Israelite ancestry. Numbering in the hundreds of millions, they remain unknown relative to their Israelite ancestry. Read Who and Where is Israel Today? Key word–Today. The Jews–the only Israelites to keep their Israelite identity–number approximately fifteen million world-wide. Approximately half of them live in the Middle Eastern nation known as Israel.

Not long after the founding of the New Testament Church on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. the people began to follow in the spiritual footsteps of their ancient ancestors. In the writings of the apostles we read about the constant war that was waged as God’s spiritual warriors battled the forces of evil which had entered the church and were leading people astray. Read Who Are God’s People? and “My People Who are Called by My Name.” Key words People and Called respectively.

The Lord’s apostles were constantly at war with the forces of evil which would eventually destroy God’s church. Their valiant efforts would eventually cost them their lives. In Galatians 1:6-9 Paul, writing to the churches located throughout the region known as Galatia, expressed his shock at how quickly they had abandoned the true Gospel that He had taught them and had embraced a perverted version of that Gospel. He told them that, no matter who taught them anything other than God’s pure Word, even if it was an angel, they were not to deviate from it. He also stated that those who were teaching the church anything other than God’s Truth would suffer a double curse from Him (vss 8,9). Some of the heathen doctrines and customs Satan’s false prophets have brought into the church over the centuries can be found on the home page of this website.

Satan’s “truths” continue to infect the church today. The central problem lies in the fact that religious people know only about 20% of God’s Word, believe little of what they know and obey little of what they believe. Having never heard His Truth, they are shocked when shown the other 80% of the Holy Scriptures. I have found that those in “the church” are familiar only with God’s “headlines” (promises) and know nothing about His “fine print” (conditions for receiving His promises). When brought to their attention, God’s “fine print,” is immediately rejected because, “That’s not what I was always taught” or, “I know I’m saved and that’s enough for me.” Knowing only the “what” (God’s promises) and nothing about the “how” (conditions for receiving His promises), church people are low-hanging fruit for the devil and his angels who have ruled so-called Christianity for generations. Read Revelation 3:14-20 for Christ’s description of the modern day (Laodicean) church system.

The underlying cause for the Institutional Church’s apostasy (falling away from God) is that her members have outgrown God, as did the ancient Israelites. And like them, modern churchman judges His Words and finds most of them (the “fine print”) too dictatorial, too God-centered. The church’s solution has been to replace God’s commands with smoother, more user-friendly suggestions and options. As the history of the church’s Israelite ancestors reveals, such a reaction to God’s Truth always brings on His wrath. The so-called Christian nations are at present feeling the effects of His anger. As Jesus warned would be the case, religious man is once again experiencing His wrath. And because as the church goes, so goes the nation, the so-called Christian nations are rotting from within, led by the Catholic/Protestant Religious System known as “the church.” As Jesus warned in Matthew 24:1-8, what we see taking place world-wide, specifically in the so-called Christian world, is merely the “beginning of sorrows.” Read The Lion Has Roared; Is Anyone Listening? and The “Voices” of God. Key words–Roared and Voices. L.J.