Month 6:28, Week 4:6 (Sheshi/Kippur), Year 5935:170 AM
Teshuvah 29/40
Gregorian Calendar: Monday 26 September 2011
Pharisee Disguises
How to Spot Them in Time
Modern day Pharisees do not, needless to say, call themselves 'Pharisees' any longer. Indeed, except for some ultra-messianics, they - along with the early Torah-teachers or 'Scribes' - have little in common with the religious sect that Yah'shua (Jesus) so roundly condemned in His day.
The Pharisees of Yah'shua (Jesus') day had some very good disguises that made them look like bona fide ministers of Yahweh. Amongst other things they were:
- 1. Zealous soul-winners (Mt.23:15);
- 2. They paid tithes (Lk.11:42);
- 3. They prayed a lot (Mt.23:14);
- 4. They fasted a lot (Mt.6:16); and
- 5. They studied the Scriptures a lot - up to 12 hours a day (Jn.5:39-40)
On the outside, they must have looked like the most spiritual people on the earth! And aren't there a lot like that today? Keen evangelists, deeply studious, praying and fasting much. But the important thing to realise here is that hours of scripture study will not give you right discernment, fasting a lot will not still the flesh and enable you to hear Yahweh, praying a lot won't necessarily mean communion with Yahweh, paying tithes won't necessarily open up the windows of heaven, and zealously converting people won't necessarily mean you you are either bringing them into the Kingdom of Heaven or that you are in it yourself if your lev (heart) is not right with Elohim (God). The Pharisees of Yah'shua's (Jesus') day did all of these things and they thought that the Master was demonised! They were full of evil suspicion, not the ahavah (love) of Yahweh! And these same people would stone righteous Steven (Zephanaiah) to death with the same rage and hatred as they condemned the Saviour to the Roman execution stake.
So what was the difference between the Pharisees and those like them, and true believers? They - the highest religious leaders of the day - lacked the two fundamental things that mark a genuine born-again believer, things that humble shamash (deacon) Steven unquestionably had when they murdered him:
"Stephen, full of emunah (faith) and power, did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8, NKJV).
It was this "emunah (faith) and power" that so enraged the Pharisees, especially when Stephen cut to the core of their sin issues:
"You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in lev (heart) and ears! You always resist the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit); as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7:51, NKJV).
They were playing or acting at being 'religious' since they didn't have the real thing - the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) but operated out of their flesh-nature. It was a charade because their levim (hearts) were all wrong. Their rage was so devilish that they would have devoured Stephen like wild animals if they could have:
"They gnashed at him with (ground) their teeth" (Acts 7:54, NKJV).
How right John Calvin was when he said:
The Pharisees were tyrants alright, just as so many religious leaders are today. Both John the Baptist and Yah'shua (Jesus) reserved their strongest condemnation for this kind of person - an atheist, if he is not murderous in his lev (heart), will fare better than this kind of liar and murderer in the final Yom Kippur.
We are today in the season of Teshuvah (Repentance) and we must start in our own house, the Messianic Community, and purge it of all evil, until the evil within refuses to relent and repent and true believers as a whole must finally leave the churches and messianic assemblies and go to Yahweh's final gathering places.
We must all now examine our levim (hearts) honestly now to make sure that what we do in the Name of Yah'shua (Jesus) is truly in substance and not merely in word - and especially not a false word that conceals a deceitful and murderous demonic agenda. A lot of people are going to be in for a lot of shocks as the many wolves in sheep's clothing are masked in the end times, and when those who have been falsely accused of such are shown to be of the authentic flock through their emunah (faith) and spiritual power. Remember the key to a true talmid (disciple) - EMUNAH (FAITH, TRUSTING) AND POWER!
This evening is the final Sabbath before Yom Teruah - the Feast of Trumpets, the day on which we announce the Return of Yah'shua (Jesus) to come and judge the world. He may not - and probably won't be - be returning this year but you had better believe that He will be pronouncing judgments this Yom Kippur, not just on the Body of Messiah as a whole but on the world too. So be prepared!
Continued in Part 2
Acknowledgements
[1] K.D.Anderholm, Beware of Men: Exposing the Spirit of the Modern Pharisee (True Light Publications, Costa Mesa, California: 1996)
Further Reading
[1] The Seven Pharisees: Recognising False Ministers
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