Paganism Part 3 (Ref.45) - 9 January 2018 (From the pen of Celia Joy Martins)
In Messiah's OWN WORDS:
John 4:23 "A time will come, however, indeed, it is already here, when the TRUE [GENUINE] WORSHIPERS will WORSHIP the Father in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH, for the Father is SEEKING just such people as these as His worshipers. :24 YHWH IS SPIRIT and those who WORSHIP Him, MUST worship Him in SPIRIT AND in TRUTH."
Isaiah 55:6 "SEEK, INQUIRE for, and REQUIRE YHWH while HE MIGHT BE FOUND [claiming Him by NECCESSITY and by RIGHT] CALL UPON Him WHILE HE IS NEAR."
Idolatry (Paganism) defined: (a Pagan is someone who observes a *polytheistic (*multiple gods/deities - a pantheon of gods) religion.
Pagan - comes from the Latin Word "paganus" meaning "country dweller" who are caught up in Paganism - a *polytheistic religion - the worshipping of more than one god.
HEDONISM: (part of PAGANISM)
The word HEDONISM comes from an ancient Greek word for "PLEASURE" and HEDONISM CLAIMS that ONLY PLEASURE is of VALUE - PLEASURE AT ALL COST.
A Pagan is also considered to be one who indulge in worldly delights and material possessions; someone who revels in SENSUAL PLEASURES (inclusive of PERVERTED SEXUAL pleasures); a HEDONISTIC - SELF-GRATIFYING, PLEASURE-SEEKING - SELF-INDULGENT PERSON.
This 'SELF' GRATIFYING person can also be riotous, evil, corrupted, wild, violent, disorderly, unruly, uncontrolled, lawless, shameless, ruined, debased, debauched, rebellious, anarchic, wicked, depraved, corrupt, dishonest, immoral, unscrupulous, ruthless, merciless, cruel, evil, corrupted, degraded.
NEO-PAGANISM:
Refers to some of the MODERN present-day forms of paganism such as: Wicca, Druidry and Gwyddon (ALL of Paganism is Satanism in disguise.)
These MODERN day PAGAN PRACTICES are SIMILAR to their ANCIENT COUNTERPARTS leaning heavily on HEDONISM as ABOVE where SENSUAL GRATIFICATION - SELF-INDULGENCE and PURSUIT OF (self)-HAPPINESS AND (self)-PLEASURE are HIGLY PRIORITIZED excluding everything (and anyone) ELSE - ALSO the PAIN and MISERY they CAUSE to OTHERS.
The SEXUAL IMMORAL PRACTICES of these PERVERTED RELIGIONS:
IDOLATRY and ADULTERY: You have LEFT YHWH for another:
Isaiah 57:7 "Upon a lofty and high mountain you have OPENLY and SHAMELESSLY set your [IDOLATROUS and ADULTEROUS] BED; even there you went up to OFFER SACRIFICE [in spiritual DISOBEDIENCT to your DIVINE HUSBAND]."
You have SET UP your (god)-SYMBOL of a PASSION INFLAMING IMAGE:
Isaiah 57:8 "Behind the DOOR and the DOORPOST YOU HAVE SET UP YOUR [IDOL (god)] SYMBOL [as a SUBSTITUDE for the SCRIPTURE TEXT YHWH ORDERED].
DESERTING Me, you have UNCOVERED and ASCENDED and ENLARGED your bed; and you have MADE
A FRESH BARGAIN for yourself with [the ADULTERERS] and you
LOVED THEIR bed, where you saw [a BECKONING HAND or a PASSION-INFLAMING IMAGE.]"
Worshiping other gods:
The idolatry - the gruesome practices of sacrifices of their children to their 'god' of the Canaan-ites INFILTRATED the nation of Israel time and again - leading them AWAY from YHWH and into the ARMS of "DEATH" and "DESTRUCTION".
Time and again YHWH sent HIS PROPHETS to WARN the Israelites to TURN to HIM - but they just FELL AWAY AGAIN AND AGAIN - ANGERING Him UNTIL HE DEPARTED from them and THEY WERE GIVEN OVER to the NATIONS in EXILE.
The prophet Isaiah, son of Amos warned the people of Judah and Israel repeatedly to TURN AWAY from the other gods, TURNING and RETURNING to YHWH - to REPENT of their sins and to be RENEWED. HIS MESSAGE of WARNING is A MESSAGE OF WARNING to US TODAY.
WORSHIPING YHWH:
To WORSHIP YHWH because of your LOVE for Him is PRIMARY and therefore, ONE of the GREATEST EVILS MAN can PRACTICE is WORSHIPING in FALSENESS - WORSHIPING WHILST THERE is OTHER gods in your life.
IDOLATRY is A SERIOUS PROBLEM:
Idolatry (worshiping other gods) is and was always a SERIOUS PROBLEM - not only for the Israelites but ALSO for US in TODAY'S MODERN TIMES.
In 1 John 5:21 the apostle John warns us against idolatry. "... KEEP YOURSELVES from IDOLS (false gods) - [from ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that would OCCUPY the PLACE IN YOUR HEART DUE to YHWH, from ANY SORT OF SUBSTITUTE (replacement) for Him that would take the first place in your life]."
THE DANGER - IDOLATRY INVOLVES WORSHIPING DEMONS:
Idolatry INVOLVES the WORSHIP of DEMONS - even Satan himself - and we can do it THINKING THAT WE ARE WORSHIPING YHWH.
1 Cor. 10:20 "... I am suggesting that what the PAGANS SACRIFICE
they OFFER [IN EFFECT] to DEMONS
(to EVIL SPIRITUAL POWERS) and
NOT to YHWH [AT ALL].
I DO NOT WANT you to FELLOWSHIP and be PARNERS
WITH DIABOLICAL SPIRITS [by eating at their feasts].
:21 You CANNOT DRINK YHWH'S CUP
and the DEMONS' CUP.
You CANNOT PARTAKE of YHWH'S TABLE
and the DEMONS' TABLE.
:22 Shall we thus PROVOKE YHWH to JEALOUSY
and ANGER and INDIGNATION (righteous anger)?
Are we stronger than He [that we should defy (challenge, disobey, confront) Him?]."
ISRAEL TURNED AWAY from YHWH - sacrificing to DEMONS - EVEN when they were still in the wilderness:
Deut. 32:15-17 "But Israel grew fat and kicked. You BECAME FAT and GREW THICK, you were GORGED AND SLEEK! THEN he (Israel) FORSOOK YHWH Who made him and FORSOOK AND DISPISED the ROCK of SALVATION. They PROVOKED Him to JEALOUSY with STRANGE gods, with ABOMINATIONS they PROVOKED Him to ANGER. They SACRIFICED to DEMONS, not to YHWH ..."
Ex. 32:8 "They (Israel) had TURNED ASIDE QUICKLY OUT of the WAY which I COMMANDED THEM; they have MADE them a molten calf and have WORSHIPED it and SACRIFICED to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
AHAZ - KING OF JUDAH - WALKED IN EVILNESS - LED to the the DOWNFALL of the KINGDOM of JUDAH as well:
2 Kings 16:1-2 "In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, AHAZ SON of JOTHAM KING of JUDAH BECAME KING. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began his sixteen-year reign in Jerusalem. HE DID NOT DO RIGHT in the sight of YHWH his YAH like David [his forefather]."
BURNED HIS SON in SACRIFICE:
2 Kings 16:3 "AHAZ WALKED in the WAYS of ISRAEL'S KINGS, ... and MADE HIS SON PASS THROUGH the FIRE OFFERING HIM as a SACRIFICE in AGREEMENT with the ABOMINABLE [repulsive, horrible, vile, dreadful, horrendous] IDOLATROUS [worshiping of false gods] PRACTICES of the PAGAN NATIONS whom YHWH DROVE OUT before the Israelites."
:4 He SACRIFICED and BURNED INCENSE IN the HIGH PLACES (pagan) ON the HILLS (pagan), and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE (pagan)."
A MIXTURE: PAGAN & GODLY
AHAZ HAD AN ALTAR BUILT - a REPLICA OF A PAGAN ALTAR - to sacrifice on - keeping the old altar to "INQUIRE" of YHWH!
2 Kings 16:11 "King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, AND SAW there a PAGAN ALTAR. King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a MODEL of the ALTAR AND AN EXACT PATTERN for ITS CONSTRUCTION. So Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, finishing it before king Ahaz returned.
AHAZ' NEW ALTAR PLEASING in his SIGHT:
:12-13 When the king came from Damascus, he looked at the altar and OFFERED ON IT. King Ahaz BURNED his burnt offering and his cereal offering, poured his drink offering, and dashed the blood of his peace offering upon the altar.
AHAZ REMOVED the BRONZE ALTAR OF YAHWEH:
:14 The BRONZE ALTAR which was BEFORE YHWH he REMOVED from the front of the house, from between his [NEW] ALTAR and the house of YHWH, and PUT it on the north side of his altar.
ALL the SACRIFES (AND THE BLOOD) on the NEW ALTAR - the OLD ONE to INQUIRE of YHWH:
:15 And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest: 'Upon the principle the new altar, burn the morning burnt offering, the evening cereal offering, the king's burnt sacrifice and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering and cereal offering and drink offering of all the people of the land; and dash upon the NEW ALTAR ALL the BLOOD of the BURNT OFFERING AND THE SACRIFICES.
BUT the OLD BRONZE ALTAR SHALL BE KEPT for ME TO USE TO INQUIRY BY, of YHWH."
KING HOSHEA of ISRAEL: (2 Kings 17)
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea began his nine-year reign in Samaria over Israel. He did evil in the sight of YHWH. Against him came Shalmaneser king of Assyria and Hoshea became his servant bringing him tribute. But treasury was found in Hoshea and the king of Assyria shut him up in prison.
ISRAELITES CARRIED AWAY INTO EXILE:
The Assyrian king then invaded all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and CARRIED the ISRAELITES AWAY INTO ASSYRIA.
ISRAEL DID WICKEDLY:
This happened because the ISRAELITES HAD SINNED AGAINST YHWH their YAH. They walked in the CUSTOMS (TRADITIONS and RELIGION) of the PAGAN NATIONS - and SECRETLY DID THINGS that were NOT RIGHT.
In ALL THEIR TOWNS they BUILT THEMSELVES HIGH PLACES and SET UP PILLARS AND ASHERIM - SYMBOLS of the GODDESS ASHERAH - on EVERY HIGH HILL and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE. (2 Kings 17:7-10)
THEY BURNED THEIR CHILDREN:
They BURNED INCENCE ON ALL the HIGH PLACES, as DID the NATIONS around them whom YHWH carried away before them, and they DID WICKED THINGS PROVOKING YHWH'S ANGER of BURNING their CHILDREN to the pagan-god/s.
THEY DID AS THE "WORLD" DID:
They SERVED the pagan-gods of which YHWH told them to NOT DO this thing. (2 Kings 17:12) and did what the nations around them did.
YHWH WARNED THEM THROUGH HIS PROPHETS:
2 Kings 17:13 "Yet, YHWH WARNED Israel AND JUDAH through ALL His PROPHETS and ALL the SEERS, saying, TURN FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY STATUTES, according to all the Law in which I COMMANDED your fathers and which I sent to you by My SERVANTS the prophets.
:14 Yet, they WOULD NOT HEAR, but HARDENED their NECKS as DID their FATHERS WHO DID NOT BELIEVE (TRUST IN, RELY ON, REMAIN STEADFAST to) YHWH their Yah.
:15 They DESPISED and REJECTED HIS STATUTES and HIS COVENANT which He made with their fathers and His WARNINGS to them, and they FOLLOWED VANITY (false gods, falsehood, emptiness, and futility) AND
[THEY THEMSELVES
AND THEIR PRAYERS]
BECAME FALSE (EMPTY, FUTILE).
They went after the PAGANS round about them ... and
THEY FORSOOK ALL the COMMANDMENTS of YHWH their Yah and
MADE for THEMSELVES molten images,
even TWO CALVES, and made an
ASHERAH (a phallic symbol [erected manhood] - to do with Nimrod/Tammuz/Baal - Molech - Saturn - Jupiter - Dagon - etc. the fire god - the Sun-god - the Son-sun-god - ALSO the FERTILITY god and Semiramis/Ishtar/Astoreth/Easter - moon goddess, mother earth etc. the fertility goddess) and
WORSHIPED ALL the STARRY HOSTS of the HEAVENS and
SERVED BAAL.
:17 They caused their SONS AND their DAUGHTERS to PASS
THROUGH the FIRE [BURNED THEM ALIVE in the FIRE to BAAL (Satan and Satanism in disguise)] and
USED DIVINATION AND ENCHANTMENT (OCCULT PRACTICES and WITCHCRAFT) and
SOLD THEMSELVES to do EVIL in the sight of YHWH,
PROVOKING HIM to ANGER.
:18 Therefore YHWH was VERY ANGRY with
ISRAEL AND REMOVED THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT.
NONE WAS LEFT BUT the TRIBE of JUDAH.
:19 JUDAH ALSO did NOT KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of YHWH their Yah, but
WALKED in the TRADITIONS and RELIGION (CUSTOMS) which
ISRAEL INTRODUCED.
:20 YHWH REJECTED ALL the DESCENDENTS of Israel and
AFFLICTED THEM and
DELIVERED THEM into the
HANDS of SPOILERS, UNTIL
HE HAD CAST THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT.
:21 ... they made JEROBEAM son of Nebat KING. And
JEROBEAM DREW and DROVE
ISRAEL AWAY from FOLLOWING YHWH and
MADE THEM SIN a GREAT SIN.
:22 For the ISRAELITES WALKED IN ALL the
SINS JEROBEAM COMMITTED; they
DEPARTED NOT FROM THEM.
:23 ... So ISRAEL WAS CARRIED AWAY from their
OWN LAND to Assyria TO THIS DAY.
:24 The king of Assyria BROUGHT MEN FROM BABYLON,
CUTHAH, AVVA, HAMATH, and SEPHARVAIM and
PLACED THEM in the CITIES of SAMARIA INSTEAD of the Israelites.
THEY POSSESSED SAMARIA and DWELT IN ITS CITIES.
:25 At the beginning of their dwelling there, they DID NOT FEAR and REVERE YHWH. Therefore YHWH SENT LIONS AMONG THEM, which KILLED SOME of them. :27 Then they king of Assyria commanded, Take to Samaria ONE of the PRIESTS you brought from there, and LET HIM [and HIS HELPERS] GO AN LIVE THERE AND LET him TEACH the people the LAW of the God of the land.
:28 So one of the priests that they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in bethel and taught them how they should FEAR and REVERE YHWH. But EVERY NATIONALITY STILL made gods of their OWN and PUT THEM in the SHRINES of the HIGH PLACES which the Samaritans had made, every nationality in the city in which they dwelt.
:30-31 The men of BABYLON ... [... WORSHIPED their DEITY] SUCCOTH-BENOTH, the men of CUTH ... NERGAL, the men of HAMATH .. ASHIMA, The AVV-ITES ... NIBHAZ and TARTAK, and the SEPHARV-ITES BURNED THEIR CHILDREN in the FIRE to ADAM-MELECH and ANAM-MELOCH the gods of Sepharvaim.
:32 So they FEARED YHWH, YET APPOINTED FROM AMONG THEMSELVES, whether high or low, PRIESTS OF THE HIGH PLACES, who SACRIFICED FRO THEM in the SHRINES of the HIGH PLACES.
:33 THEY FEARED YHWH, YET SERVED THEIR OWN gods, as DID the NATIONS from among whom they had been carried away.
:34 Unto THIS DAY they DO AFTER THEIR FORMER CUSTOM (TRADITION AND RELIGION); they did NOT FEAR YHWH [as YHWH SEES IT] neither do they OBEY the STATUTES or the ORDINANCES or the LAW AND COMMANDMENT which YHWH COMMANDED the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
:35 With WHOM YHWH HAD MADE A COVENANT and
COMMANDED THEM,
YOU SHALL NOT FEAR other GODS or
BOW YOURSELVES to them or
SERVE THEM or
SACRIFICE to them.
:36 But you shall [REVERENTLY] FEAR
BOW YOURSELVES to, and
SACRIFICE to YHWH,
Who BROUGHT you out of the land of Egypt
with GREAT POWER and an OUTSTRETCHED ARM.
:37 And the STATUTES,
ORDINANCES,
LAW, and
COMMANDMENT which He WROTE for you, you
SHALL OBSERVE and DO FOREVERMORE;
you SHALL NOT FEAR other gods.
:38 And the COVENANT that I HAVE MADE with you,
you SHALL NOT FORGET;
you SHALL NOT FEAR other gods.
:39 But YHWH your YAH you SHALL [REVERENTLY] FEAR;
then
HE WILL DELIVER YOU OUT OF THE HANDS of ALL your ENEMIES.
:40 However, they DID NOT LISTEN,
but they DID AS THEY HAD DONE FORMERLY.
O ABBA, HELP US to COME CLEAN - POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT OF TRUTH upon us - Help us to be EMPTIED of the SELF - the SELF-PLEASURES - the WORLDLY THINGS - let us be EMPTIED VESSELS that can be FILLED WITH NEW WINE. Give us NEW EYES to SEE and NEW EARS to HEAR - COMPLETELY RENEW OUR HEARTS and LET US BE WILLFULL VESSELS - who WANT TO BE CLEANSED AND SANCTIFIED. HELP US O OUR WONDERFUL KING to MAKE OURSELVES READY for YOUR RETURN. O how terrible it would be if we would THINK that we are ready and we ARE REJECTED when You come to fetch Your bride!
If You would say to us - "GO AWAY - I KNOW YOU NOT!" Help us O YAHSHUA to be ACCEPTABLE - to be CLEANSED - to be SANCTIFIED - to be WELL-PLEASING to You. In YOUR NAME. Amen.
Celia Joy Martins