Query:  

2 Thessalonians 2:

¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them [a] strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ¹² that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Why are they sent a strong delusion?  And who are they?  They are the rejecters of God’s offer and have pleasure in unrighteousness – which means that they would rather have sin than goodness!

 

Response:

Daniel 7:25: 

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

We understand this verse identifies the great anti-Christ, the one who is in place of Christ, masquerading as Him, and yet who has a blasphemous message regarding the character of God.  Without going into too much detail concerning it do we agree that in the past it has, and in the future will, persecute God’s people, and that this particular period of persecution had a beginning and an end?  But is there more persecution to come?

And do we agree that while it was doing these things, it was also endeavouring to change God’s time in the law?  That it has substituted Sunday as the day of worship in the professed Christian world – which substitution is still very much with us and will be to the end of time?

Why is this so universally accepted?

God says:

Isaiah 66:4:

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

That’s why it is written:

2 Thessalonians 2:11:

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

Why?

Because they did not (would not) listen to Him.

Is it true that there is not a single verse in the entire Bible (God’s word) which says they should make Sunday a day of rest and worship?

So who were they listening to? 

The words of men!  The religious leaders of the time. 

And where did they get it?

No stronger evidence can be given of Satan's delusive power than that many who are thus led by him deceive themselves with the belief that they are in the service of God. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against the authority of Moses, they thought they were opposing only a human leader, a man like themselves (Numbers 16:3); and they came to believe that they were verily doing God service. But in rejecting God's chosen instrument they rejected Christ; they insulted the Spirit of God. So, in the days of Christ, the Jewish scribes and elders, who professed great zeal for the honour of God, crucified His Son. The same spirit still exists in the hearts of those who set themselves to follow their own will in opposition to the will of God.

And is this dangerous?  It certainly is.

Why?

Because the end result of rejecting God and listening to men is death – the second death of permanent separation from the God of life.  We can only live by listening to God’s words – every word which comes out of His mouth.  

That’s why it is written:

Deuteronomy 8:3:

³ [Moses told his people] And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.

Matthew 4:

⁴ [And Jesus backed it up when] He answered and said, It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’.

Are there many genuine Christians who have believed, and are believing, this delusion right now?  Did, or do, they have to give it up to be saved?  No!  They only have to do this in the very last days, for it is not a salvation doctrine at the moment.  Only when the Sunday laws are enacted (all five of them) and we are then asked to desecrate the Sabbath day by law will it become vital to choose between God’s words and man’s.

But will it be easier to make that choice if we have already practised listening to God on a daily basis now?  Yes indeed, for practise makes perfect! And how are we prepared for great trials? – By little ones – here a word, there a word etc.

Isaiah 28:10:

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

This is repeated with a little more information:

Isaiah 28:13:

But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken [be sorted out].

 

So what should we believe?  Only that which we read for ourselves.  Those who are accustomed to listen to men will accept the final delusion and be snared.

The fact that you are reading this tells me that you have not accepted the Sunday delusion, but could you be caught in any other?

You have all heard the story of how the blood of the lamb which they say represents Jesus, was caught in a bowl when a one of God’s people came to confess his sins, and this was then taken by the priest into the first room of the sanctuary and sprinkled on the ground in front of the first veil as evidence of forgiveness to await the Day of Atonement. 

It’s a nice comforting story – just a pity that it’s not true!!

There isn’t a single verse in Bible which says that! 

Never at any time did the blood of a lamb enter the sanctuary building.

So where did the story come from?  From the words of men!  From the religious leaders of today and recent yesteryears!  They are all under this delusion!  They have all accepted the words of the fathers in the Protestant churches, who, apparently, never read what God had to say on the matter.

What does He say?

Leviticus 4:

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin THROUGH IGNORANCE against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them . . .

 

²⁷ And if any one of THE COMMON PEOPLE sin through ignorance, while he does somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; ²⁸ or if his sin, which he has sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, A KID OF THE GOATS, A FEMALE WITHOUT BLEMISH, for his sin which he has sinned.

 

²⁹ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering [confessing that particular action, Leviticus 5:5], and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering [on the north side of the courtyard, Ezekiel 40:35-42].

 

³⁰ And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it UPON THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING, AND SHALL POUR OUT ALL THE BLOOD THEREOF AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ALTAR.

 

³¹ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the LORD [it is dangerous for humans to eat]; AND THE PRIEST SHALL MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR HIM, AND IT SHALL BE FORGIVEN HIM.

 

³² And if he bring A LAMB FOR A SIN OFFERING, HE SHALL [still] BRING IT A FEMALE without blemish. ³³ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.

 

³⁴ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar: ³⁵ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD:

 

and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

As you have just read, the sin offering for the common person was FEMALE whether goat or lamb, and the lamb was a SECOND choice.  In either case, the blood which represented the death of the animal (and the offerer) was used on the horns of the brass altar in the courtyard and the surplus was thrown down the drain at its foot.  None of it went into the building.

Why a female? 

Because primarily the animal represents the sinning Christian who by this action admits their dependence on the Son of God, and asks for forgiveness as an erring “wife”.  Only in a secondary sense does it represent Christ on the cross.

If you see this correctly, it changes the whole dynamic of sin confession! 

If we come to Him acknowledging that we have sinned against His protection; if we say that we have CHOSEN to do this or that in preference to His “way out” He can do something with us.  A general statement such as “I have sinned” without the details of the sin is of no use because we are not showing that we realise what we have done.

And if we keep on saying that we did our best, or that we couldn’t help it, then that leaves Him with no remedy (and no forgiveness for us) for we don’t understand what is entailed in this procedure!  The old delusion of us doing our best and Him making up for our deficiency does not apply here!  That is for when we have overcome the latest temptation, but not yet facing the next one.

Does it REALLY matter if we do not do or think the right thing when we come asking for forgiveness so long as we mean it?  Of course, not for God is a forgiving Person and He will always forgive His “wife”, but not having the right understanding is a great loss to us.  He will just shake His head and sigh that we don’t have enough love to ask Him what pleases Him.

So far we have been told about sins of ignorance which can be confessed as they come to our notice, but what about deliberate sins?  Yes, some Christians commit deliberate sins!!  But we can look into that at another time.

What we have read tells us what happened to the blood and the fat, but what about the body of the sacrifice?

Leviticus 6:

²⁴ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁵ Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering:

 

In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy [very dangerous, being contaminated].

 

²⁶ THE PRIEST THAT OFFERS IT FOR SIN SHALL EAT IT:

in the [a] holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation [there were kitchens and dining rooms in the temple courtyard although not described to us in the sanctuary layout.  Ezekiel 40:17].

 

²⁷ Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, you shall wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the [a] holy place. ²⁸ But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden [boiled] shall be broken: and if it be sodden [cooked] in a brazen [brass] pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.

 

²⁹ All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.

 

³⁰ AND NO SIN OFFERING, WHEREOF ANY OF THE BLOOD IS BROUGHT INTO THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION TO RECONCILE WITHAL IN THE HOLY PLACE, SHALL BE EATEN: IT SHALL BE BURNT IN THE FIRE. [There was blood from some sacrifices (not lambs) which came into the building, but the bodies of those animals had no further value in the ritual.]

In another ceremony which we will deal with shortly, we are told WHERE the body was burnt.  In the meantime, it is written:

Leviticus 4:12

Even the [body of the] whole bullock shall he [a priest] carry forth without the camp to a clean place, where the ashes [from the daily altar] are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

Hebrews 13:11

For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 

All this is ritual, but with a very specific purpose – to teach us what God does with the death (separation from life) brought on by sin actions.  A portion of the body of the sacrificed goat MUST BE EATEN BY THE PRIEST who assists in the confession ritual, but after that any priest may eat of the remainder of it, for obviously he could not eat the whole body. 

The EFFECT in the offerer’s mind is that NOW the priest is carrying the consequence (the death) of his confessed sin.

You may have noticed that the LORD did NOT say that only males were to confess their sins!!  Consider that thought.

But what happens if you are an elder in the church?

Let’s see:

Leviticus 4:

¹  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin THROUGH IGNORANCE against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them . . .

 

²² When a ruler has sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty; ²³ or if his sin, wherein he has sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, A KID OF THE GOATS, A MALE WITHOUT BLEMISH: ²⁴ and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering.

 

²⁵ And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.

 

²⁶ And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

As you can see there is very little practical difference in the ritual, except that the animal is a MALE but still a GOAT.  That’s because the elder has a greater responsibility not to continue in sin, and this should be reflected in his understanding of the animal required and in his confession.

Why a goat?  As a species goats are more independent than sheep – so by using this we are declaring that we did our own thing when we sinned.  As Christians we were NOT coerced, or forced into sin, for in the marriage gift we are given the ability to choose.

How about a whole congregation (which includes men AND women)?  What can they do if they discover that they have been sinning?

Leviticus 4:

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin THROUGH IGNORANCE against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them . . .

 

¹³ And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; ¹⁴ when the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer A YOUNG BULLOCK FOR THE SIN, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.

 

¹⁵ And the elders of the congregation [as representatives] shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD [confessing THAT sin]: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.

 

¹⁶ And the priest that is anointed [one of those on duty] shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation [the first apartment]: ¹⁷ and the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail [on the ground].

 

¹⁸ And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the [golden] altar which is before the LORD [the incense/prayer altar], that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the [brass] altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [out in the courtyard].

 

¹⁹ And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.

²⁰ And he shall do with the [body of the] bullock as he did with the [body of the] bullock for a sin offering [for a priest], so shall he do with this:

 

and the priest shall make an atonement for them [the church congregation], and it shall be forgiven them.

 

²¹ And he shall carry forth the [body of the] bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.

This time a young BULL is required as a sacrifice to show the greater responsibility of the group to be right in the sight of the LORD.  For the first time we hear of the blood (the evidence of death) being used in the building.  Just a small amount is required and the remainder is disposed of in the usual manner, down the drain out in the courtyard.  However, because the blood has been used in the building the body is burnt outside the camp.  The fat is burnt on the altar even though the body is not eaten, for the LORD warns us regarding the use of too much fat in the diet.

It’s the same for the priest who has sinned – whether for his own personal transgression or those of the common folk which he bears.

Leviticus 4: 

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin THROUGH IGNORANCE against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:

 

³ If the priest that is anointed [a working priest] do sin according to the sin of the people [or if he is bearing sins for his clients]; then let him bring for his sin [which became his when he ate a portion of the animal], which he has sinned, a young bullock without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering. [He would do this at the end of his shift.]

 

⁴ And he shall bring the bullock to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head [and confess ALL the sins he is bearing as if they were his own], and kill the bullock before the LORD.

 

⁵ And the priest that is anointed [another “clean” one who is on duty] shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation: ⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.

 

⁷ And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation [the first room]; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [in the courtyard].

 

⁸ And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, ⁹ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away, ¹⁰ as it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.

 

¹¹ And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,¹² even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

To sum up:  the ONLY blood (the evidence of death) that is used for forgiveness in the building is that of a strong BULL!  (This DOES represent the Son of God in His strength – not the blood of a baby lamb.)  And it is the result of a priest’s (or whole congregation’s) confession.  It is THAT evidence which must be moved into the second room on the Day of Atonement/Judgment Day, but we can leave that for another time.

Now we can read the New Testament book of the Law correctly:

Hebrews 9:

11 But Christ being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this [earth’s] building; 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves [bullocks], but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place [the first room], having obtained eternal redemption for us.

 

13 For if THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND OF GOATS, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean [a separate ceremony we don’t hear much about], sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh [works on earth]: 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

15 And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of [His] death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

There is no “death” or “blood” used in the heavenly sanctuary, so the Son of God was teaching the angels and the people of the universe through the earthly sanctuary what is happening in Him, for the heavenly building represents His mind and body!  It is a place which He has used since the beginning to explain His thoughts and feelings to His creatures.

Conclusion:

What has God been telling us in these rituals?  That when we confess our sins today we should be asking for forgiveness on the basis of our relationship with Him, and admitting that we are an erring “wife”.  And that others around us may be aware of what we have done, and condemn us for them.  Because of His love for us as individuals, He will forgive us and take the penalty of their criticism upon Himself (as the bull).

Then He needs to place the “death” into the depths of His heart and carry on with His work in the universe. 

But one day it (and all the others He bears) will have to be dealt with publicly before the people of the village (the universe) who will then accept us into heaven as true citizens.  We call this the Judgment.

 

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Who wants to add (or subtract!) from these thoughts? I won't argue as I have stated,

but I will publish your Scriptures so that we may review all the words of God on the subject.

 

Next query. To be discussed from December 1st 2013,

Next query

Leviticus 23:

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts [My special days].

  

³ Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the [weekly] Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 

 

⁴ These are the [annual] feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. 

 

⁵ In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.

⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread [from the 15^th to the 21^st of the month].

 

⁷ In the first day you shall have a holy convocation [like the weekly Sabbath]: you shall do no servile [ordinary] work therein. ⁸ But you shall offer an [extra] offering made by fire to the LORD [on each of those] seven days: in the seventh day is an[other] holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein [either].  

 

What is so special about the Passover?  And why was it followed by a seven day period of eating flat bread?

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