The Deuteronomy 12 Test: Read at your own risk…
Published by Rob Skiba August 13, 2014 at 3:23 PM
The Deuteronomy 12 Test
This is something that I have become more and more passionate about. We learn in Deuteronomy 12 that we are not to worship YHWH the same way the heathens worship their false gods.
DEUTERONOMY 12:
28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.
29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
In numerous places throughout the Scriptures, we see similar instruction concerning not worshiping YHWH as the heathens do their gods…
EXODUS 32:
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord [YHWH].
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Notice what they did. They set something up and declared that the works of their hands was God — the One who brought them up from their slavery in Egypt. They worshiped a representation of a pagan deity, proclaiming that it “shall be a feast to the LORD!” The word “LORD” there in English is translated from the Hebrew word YHWH, which is the true name of God. Thus, they were doing as the heathen do —and doing it in the name of YHWH while claiming that He was the one they were thinking about as they brought gifts, ate, drank and made merry.
That is exactly what Christians all over the world are doing with Christmas. They are associating the Son of God with traditions that have always been attributed to the false sun gods of antiquity and participating in rituals that have nothing to do with the one true God of the Bible or His Son, Jesus Christ. If you keep reading that story in Exodus, you will see that God was extremely unhappy about that sort of thing. It didn’t matter what the people thought. Clearly it mattered more what He thought about it all.
Continuing through the Scriptures, we see…
1 KINGS 14:
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
2 KINGS 16: 4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
2 KINGS 17:
10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
Notice the repetition of phrases like “every green tree” and “as the heathens do”. The “green tree” refers to the evergreen, which was a phallic symbol that traces back to Nimrod/Baal and other gods. The heathen often placed gifts at the foot of the tree, which is also usually decorated. Sound familiar? We do the exact same thing today with the Christmas Tree. Just like the Israelites did with the golden calf, we also do this in the name of YHWH in celebration of His Son Yeshua. But these things have nothing to do with either!
Some reject that “erecting” a Christmas Tree in our homes is a form of worship, yet it being the center piece in most family living rooms and people bowing before it to present and receive gifts serves as pretty good evidence that it is. It’s simply become an accepted form of idolatry. Jeremiah warns against this practice:
JEREMIAH 10:
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
If that’s not the perfect description of a Christmas Tree, I don’t know what is! But how often have we heard people say, “We’re just getting into the spirit of Christmas…” or make similar statements? Well, have you ever wondered exactly what “spirit” it is that we are supposedly “getting into” when we say such things? We know from the Scriptures that Yeshua was not born on December 25th, and we know from history that lots of pagan sun gods are associated with that date. So, if it is not the Spirit of YHWH, what spirit is it? We should carefully consider such things because there is a rule in Biblical hermeneutics known as the “Law of First Mention” which may be defined as…
The law of first mention may be said to be the principle that requires one to go to that portion of the Scriptures where a word, doctrine, or concept is mentioned for the first time and to study the first occurrence of the same in order to get the fundamental inherent meaning of that word, doctrine or concept.
When we see repetitive references to “green tree” and worship of false gods as the heathen do, we should take notice of that and evaluate our own practices. The “spirit” behind such activity is always pagan idolatry, which is of the Fallen Ones and not of YHWH. Thus, in our “spirit man” it matters not what we call it. The inherent spirit of the matter still exists, whether we’ve slapped YWHW/Yeshua’s name on it or not. I once heard Dr. Michael Lake describe it as the desktop icons on our computers. I’m paraphrasing, but he basically said, “You can change the names of the icons, but it won’t change the programming they represent. So, changing the name of Microsoft Word to PacMan won’t change the coding that will come up when you click on that icon.” There are inherent meanings behind the various traditions—which unfortunately are practiced all too often in the Church today—that are not in any way, shape or form accepted by YHWH as being holy or representative of Him and/or His ways.
The warnings of Scripture continue…
2 KINGS 21:2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
ISAIAH 57:
4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
JEREMIAH 3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
JEREMIAH 3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
EZEKIEL 20:32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
Why is YHWH so concerned about this? Because He’s our Husband! He is jealous because He loves us. A few years ago, I drove this story home for people through a Facebook post. It came about from hearing Christians say, “But God knows my heart…” Thinking about that response, I posted the following question on my Facebook page on December 13, 2011:
If your spouse cheated on you with someone else, but you were gracious enough to woo him/her back (and did so at great personal cost) and then after coming back to you, they started to celebrate your birthday on the day the person they committed adultery with was born — while doing so in your name — how would that make you feel? Even if they said, “But I’m thinking of you. Honest. Oh come on, honey, you know my heart.” Would you be OK with that? Seriously?
I received over 150 responses! Before people realized what I was really asking, these were some of the responses and my interaction with them:
Male Friend A: This situation actually hurts to think of!Me: I think so too.
Male Friend B: Where did you hear about this situation? Is this something you read, or based upon some folks you know?
Me: It was a disturbing situation I discovered that was happening to someone I love dearly.
Male Friend A: Oh gosh! I’m sorry to know that.
Male Friend C: I know that Person as well. I agree, very disturbing. [this person got it!]
Me: Me too. Yeah [Friend C], quite a few have heard about it. Most just don’t care. I appreciate your concern guys. Pray that the wayward spouse realizes what they are doing and has a change of heart. The other one doesn’t deserve this.
Female Friend A: That is just so wrongMe: I agree. How can someone do that? Especially to a spouse willing to love them so much!
Female Friend A: They only get away with what one lets them get away with.
Male Friend D: Do you think the spouse knows the correct day to celebrate and just chooses not to? Or do you think it’s unintentional? [this person got it!]
Male Friend E: It’s like your spouse knowing your day off but, takes her day off on her ex-lover’s day off. Hmm, Probably just a “bad habit.” What’s another word for habit? Oh yeah …. “tradition”… [this person got it!]
Female Friend B: Betrayal once is hard enough; betrayal twice is unacceptable; betrayal thrice(?), hmmm…Forgive and forget which would mean to forget the one who betrayed you, end the relationship, and move on…
Me: Well, when you’re married to someone, I would think you’d at least do them the courtesy of remembering their birthday. I mean, that’s almost as bad as saying someone else’s name while being intimate. Can’t be good.Thing is, this girl should know better. Her husband is truly an amazing guy. I know him. He’s crazy in love with her even though she constantly does things that hurt him. I asked him why he puts up with it. He said, “I just love her so much. More than my own life!” I was reading a story once that showed how far he went to woo her back. Wow. I mean it was insane how much he did to get her back. And she does this? It’s criminal. Yet he still wants to stay with her.Some people just don’t know what they’ve got.
Female Friend A: Sounds like a addiction, he needs to go cold turkey. Once a cheat always a cheat. They just get better at hiding it. Not to mention he is now making her a idol. And we know the commandment about idols.
Me: Yeah… I hear ya. How in love can someone be to take that kind of continual abuse? I know I couldn’t deal with it. My previous wife slept with someone else. Short of crucifixion, or a terminal illness, I don’t know if I can imagine anything more painful than that was. We ended up divorced. But if I took her back and she did that… wow. Game over. But he keeps pursuing her — to the ends of the universe if need be. I don’t think it’s idolatry though. It’s the best example of unconditional love I’ve ever seen — because he knows that she has a lot of damage from the physical and emotional abuse of her previous relationships. He’s willing to love her through it though.
Female Friend C: This is an awesome perspective… I wish more would see it this way. [this person got it!]
Female Friend A: But even God punished Israel for adultery!
Me: Yeah [Female Friend C], he tells me all the time that I have a lot to learn. In many ways I wish I could love like he does. What an amazing role model! I am so blessed to know him.Yes, He did [Female Friend A]… but He also pursues her even to this day. And one day Israel will turn back to Him because of it. My friend reminds me of that all the time.
Male Friend F: That’s an interesting scenario. Call it quits, but that’s my personal opinion. Adultery is biblical ground for divorce. The most disrespectful part is celebrating your birthday on the day they committed adultery. Maybe I misunderstood, but the day they chose to celebrate is not the spouse’s actual birthday right? Anyone that will commit adultery, then rub it in your face by making a celebration of it has not been “wooed” back. Cut your losses and move on. Sometimes people get in God’s way, and again, just my opinion, but it seems 100% clear that the cheating spouse was in a RELATIONSHIP with another person. There is a huge difference between a random sexual encounter and having two relationships going on in which special dates are remembered. If it was just cheating, I’d say, to each their own, but that scenario is way out of line. Cheating is forgivable, starting another relationship is not.
Female Friend A: Sorry, but your friend is a fool! As long as he takes it, she will do it.Me: Maybe so. But the Bible gives a great illustration of this whole scenario in the book of Hosea. God pursues and pursues His bride!
Female Friend A: But he also wants repentance!
Me: Indeed, He does.
Those were just a few highlights of the passionate responses that thread generated and my interaction with those Facebook friends. Similar responses continued for awhile until someone exposed what I was really saying.
A little over 3,000 years ago, the prophet Nathan used a similar parable to get King David’s attention. The results were the same in that Facebook thread as they were in that Old Testament story. People got emotional and drew from personal experiences (pain) to give their opinions — and then they realized that they were the ones being rebuked as the unfaithful spouse.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26,27)
Man was created in the physical appearance of God as well as in His likeness. At the realization that we are the bride who has confused our Groom’s birthday with that of His arch-enemy, this should give us pause to think about our usual defense of Christmas. If we feel this way as humans made in the image and likeness of God, why should we think that God does not feel the same way? In that light, “Oh, but you know my heart” just doesn’t seem to cut it, does it? If your spouse said that to you, would it work? No, and I don’t think it flies too well with our Heavenly Spouse either.
It’s not just Christmas. It’s also exchanging the Sabbath for SUNday. It’s Valentine’s Day. It’s Easter and so many other practices that utterly fail the Deuteronomy 12 Test. Church, the call of the Last Days is to come out of Babylon!
REVELATION 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her [Babylon], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Swine Flu is not a coincidence. I believe many of the plagues we currently suffer and will suffer in the near future will come as a direct result of the very things we do that are contrary to YHWH’s Torah. In essence, if we choose to remain in disobedience, we will get what we want/deserve in spades. I like bacon as much as the next guy, but the health risks and plagues that come from disobedience to Torah are just not worth it. As for me and my house, we will serve YHWH and test all things by His Torah.
One more thing concerning pagan holidays: Like many, I used to “celebrate Easter.” Think about that for a moment. If you have never searched out this matter, I encourage you to do so now. Easter traces back to Ishtar/ Isis/Semiramis. Do we really want to “celebrate Ishtar” in the name of our Savior? I think not. Yet, for most of my life, I did. I even wrote, directed and played Jesus in Passion Plays on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. How we get “three days and three nights” dead and in the grave from Friday to Sunday, I will never know, but we all played the game. Go back and study the 40 days of Lent, which trace back to the practice of “weaping for Tammuz” and consider what the prophet Ezekiel has to say concerning this matter:
EZEKIEL 8:
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.{probably an obelisk}
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. {in God’s house!}
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Learn the origins of our various “holiday” practices and you will see we are still doing many of the same things today! The 40 days of Lent traces back to the practice of weeping for Tammuz. Easter traces back to Ishtar. Sunday traces to sun god worship. And we eat the “Easter ham” (an unclean animal we are forbidden by Torah to eat) in celebration of killing the animal, which killed the false god Tammuz!
Something else that caught my attention as I looked into all of this is the story of Matthew 12, when the Pharisees demanded a sign to prove His Messiahship. Note the one sign Yeshua gave:
MATTHEW 12:
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
We see a reference to three days and three nights, which equates to a total of 72 hours. The problem is, you do not have three days and three nights between Friday and Sunday. So, if that is the sign that shall be given, to “celebrate Easter (Ishtar) Sunday” and say that He died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday is to actually deny Him as the Messiah! How crafty it was of the Serpent to get us to believe such non-sense.
So, was YHWH pleased with me as I played the part of Jesus on Good Friday and Easter in all of those plays I wrote and directed? I don’t know. I suppose there is grace for that which we’ve done in ignorance. But I am ignorant no longer. Once we know the truth, we have a decision to make.
I’ve tried to share these truths in many ways with many people. Some accept it, but many do not. To the latter, I cannot help but wonder if this is what Yeshua would say…
MARK 7:
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
People often ask me if God is honored by our worship of Him on Christmas and Easter. They will cite how many come to Christ on those days because of the SUNday worship services done in His name. Indeed, I’ve seen many people come to salvation on Sundays. I’ve seen many people come to salvation as a result of the Christmas, Good Friday and Easter plays we produced too. But do the ends justify the means? Can we call evil good?
ISAIAH 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
I tell people all the time, not to believe me, but to spend the time and look into these matters for themselves. I believe it is critically important that we do this! As I said before, plagues are coming. If we refuse to “come out of Babylon” then the wrath that is not appointed to fall on us, will. If we heed not the warnings, we’ll get what is not meant for us.
EZEKIEL 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
REVELATION 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her [Babylon], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
I’m not interested in getting into another marathon thread of debates with this one. I’ve got wayyyyy too much other things I need to accomplish. I merely put this stuff out for your consideration. If you agree, take it. If you disagree, so be it. No one will have to answer to me anyway. Take it up with YHWH in prayer. I just think these are certainly things worth considering—so much the more as we see the day of Yeshua’s return approaching.
– Rob Skiba
Right on Brother. Now we (those of us who have left sun worship) must be very careful not to fall into moon worship. 887 warning verses in the O.T. and 60% of them fall into moon worship and 40% sun worship. In Torah, the moon (h3394) is mentioned only 4 times. The first mention is prophetic in Joseph’s dreams. The last mention is an agricultural reference. The two middle verses are warnings not to look at the sun, the MOON and the stars as the pagans did. Four major religions today: Judaism, Islam, Hindu/Buddist and Christianity…..3 out of the 4, moon worshipers. What are all hebrew roots, calendar people doing every month going out and looking for the moon. This needs to be looked into for the good of the body and you are the only one who has the guts to do it.
blessing
(just becky)