So you think you’re prepped and ready to go. You may be prepared to survive a doomsday scenario by making sure you are stocked adequately with food and ammo, but that’s not actually the important prepping.
In reality, the essential prepping is for one to be prepared to do Yahweh’s work. This means you got a job to do, and if you are a teacher of Yahweh’s assemblies, it would be helpful if you knew what your job was.
Sad to say, based upon what’s being taught by the leaders of the various Sacred Name groups today, there just doesn’t seem to be many teachers who actually know what their job should be. Some think they are doing their job but, unfortunately, are not prepped with enough of Yahweh’s truth to get the job done.
Father Yahweh Is Coming!
As a teacher of Yahweh’s truth, one should recognize and understand the most critical message proclaimed throughout Scriptures. Simply put: Father Yahweh is coming!
To demonstrate, according to 2 Peter, toward the end of the approximate 1000-year Judgment Day:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. . . . BUT THE DAY OF YAHWEH WILL COME AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3: 4, 10)
Then comes the end, when he (Yahushua) delivers the kingdom to Yahweh the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)
It is generally recognized that Yahushua the messiah is a prophetic type of Yahweh the father. Concerning Yahushua’s coming, the scriptures state:
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3) when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: PREPARE THE WAY OF YAHWEH, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.” (Matthew 3:3)
Then it was Yahushua who said the same thing:
From that time Yahushua began to preach, saying, “REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.” (Matthew 4:17)
Preparing the Road
Would not Yahushua also be fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah by preparing the way of father Yahweh? Was that not the job of John the Baptist and Yahushua? Is that not the job of present-day teachers of Yahweh’s truth? Is that not also the job of the elect of the First Resurrection, and those of Yahweh’s Assembly of the Second Resurrection?
So it would seem to be a good thing to help prepare the road for father Yahweh to travel upon for his final destination, New Jerusalem.
Many see the road but do not realize that the king needs to travel on the road for their benefit. Therefore they do not see any reason to put forth any effort to prepare the road. There are also those who, in fact, hear the news that the king will be traveling the road and some of the reasons for not helping to prepare the road are disbelief, fear, confusion, stubbornness, laziness, procrastination, etc.
Indeed Yahweh expects one to do their job of preparing the road, but it seems that many do not even recognize the job assigned to them. Even after discovering what their job is, would it not be reasonable to know the minimum requirements to do the work effectively? The following provides a clue to an essential requirement:
. . . and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)
Acquiring Yahweh’s Truth
Needless to say, the answers to scriptural questions have to be grounded in Yahweh’s truth. Of course, the first thing one needs to do before attempting to do the work of Yahweh is to acquire the truth. Otherwise, how can you correctly perform your job?
For instance, some time ago, a noted elder of a prominent Sacred Name group had communicated his observation of the present situation regarding the lack of doctrinal unity among the various other Sacred Name groups. The logic expressed goes something like this: “No one has all of Yahweh’s truth, so if one uses the name Yahweh, keeps the Sabbath Day and strives to keep the festival days, even incorrectly, then father Yahweh will understand our hearts and forgive us of our ignorance.”
This elder then proceeded to expound that if one were to continue along this path of ignorance while seeking, there could be the possibility that the ruach (spirit) of Yahweh would reveal Yahweh’s truth to that person. But, if this didn’t happen, all one would have to do is exercise patience until Yahushua returns, when Yahweh’s truth would clearly be disclosed to everyone. Meanwhile, there is really nothing to worry about, for surely the intentions of our heart will put us in good standing with Yahweh.
Heart Is Deceitful
On the surface, this would seem to be a somewhat reasonable statement. Still, in all actuality, this statement is quite troublesome. First of all, Yahweh does in fact know our hearts and intentions.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
The point is, how can one rely upon their own heart to recognize the truth and where your heart will lead you? The truth is that Scriptures indicate you are making a grave mistake!
Then there are the questions of: How does one seek truth? How does one recognize the truth? What does one do after finding Yahweh’s truth? To arrive at the proper answers, it would initially be wise for one not to trust the intentions of their heart.
Truth and Passover
Let’s make it simple. Here is how it breaks down with the following illustration. Almost every Sacred Name group observes the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread differently. Scriptures dictate that there can be only one truth regarding the correct observance.
Therefore if the observance of Passover and Unleavened Bread of every Sacred Name group differs in some way, there is one of two conclusions that can be deduced: 1. One group is right. 2. All groups are wrong.
Now here comes a part of a conundrum. If one group is right, then why aren’t the others finding the truth from that one? One line of reasoning mentioned above would be that since no one has all of Yahweh’s truth, then it would be acceptable to keep doing it your way, and then somehow, in the future, you would receive some sort of divine revelation. Your heart would know if the revelation is true or not.
It then would follow, if the true revelation required a change on the individual’s part, then one would just change to the correct method. (By the way, if you adhere to this line of logic, you are heading for some big trouble.)
The other part of the conundrum is the conjecture that so far, one cannot find Yahweh’s truth regarding the matter; therefore, everyone is wrong. Therefore, everyone is basically off the hook, so to speak, until Yahweh’s truth arrives when all adjustments toward the truth will be made.
Let’s say we break it down a little more.
Keeping Festivals Correctly
What do you think are father Yahweh’s minimum expectations for anyone proclaiming to be following Yahweh regarding the observance of the festival days? Yahweh would not only expect one to keep them but also to keep them correctly, right? Notably, the festival days are commanded statutes of Yahweh.
THREE TIMES in the year you shall keep a feast to me (Yahweh). You shall keep the FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the FEAST OF HARVEST, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the FEAST OF INGATHERING at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. (Exodus 23:14-16)
Abraham was under the Torah of Trust and kept the statutes of the festival days, and was considered righteous by Yahweh. No doubt, he kept them correctly.
Because Abraham obeyed my (Yahweh’s) voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my STATUTES, and my laws. (Genesis 26:5)
Yahushua Our Benchmark For Truth
To assist us in the quest for truth, we might look for the last person we know for certain who kept Yahweh’s statutes correctly. Without hesitation, we can fast forward from Abraham to Yahushua the messiah. Surely and without doubt, Yahushua is our benchmark for truth.
We also know that something peculiar was going on during the time of Yahushua’s last Passover observance. Scriptures clearly demonstrate that the Pharisees ate the Passover meal a day after the Passover meal of Yahushua!
In addition, the Pharisees kept an 8-day Festival of Unleavened Bread as opposed to a 7-day Festival of Unleavened Bread that Yahushua kept. In other words, unleavened bread was eaten for 8 days, which included the day the Passover sacrifice was killed (Abib 14).
Even Josephus, a Pharisee, acknowledged the different Passover/Unleavened Bread observance.
Whence it is that, in memory of the want we were then in, WE KEEP A FEAST FOR EIGHT DAYS, which is called the feast of unleavened bread. (Josephus, Antiquities, 2.15.1)
After considering Yahushua’s attitude toward the Pharisaic religious practices, it would be reasonable and prudent not to keep the Festival of Passover/Unleavened Bread per the eight days of the Pharisees.
It also has to be recognized that even the majority practice of the Festival by many of today’s Sacred Name groups which observe a Passover memorial day with unleavened bread plus seven more days of unleavened bread constitutes a total of eight days for the observance (Abib 14-21).
No matter how one tries to view it, whether the first day of Unleavened Bread is Abib 14 or Abib 15, if one eats unleavened bread with the Passover meal on the 14th and continues eating unleavened bread through Abib 21, that makes a total of eight days of eating unleavened bread. One is keeping eight days of Unleavened Bread without a doubt and not seven days as commanded in Scriptures. This is a cold hard fact!
By the way, that is precisely what Josephus states regarding the Pharisaic practice. Keep in mind that nowhere in Scriptures is there proclaimed an eight-day Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Ignorance No Excuse
The bottom line is this. If Yahweh gave us statutes to keep, he expects us to keep them without error. Therefore, reason dictates that he has not allowed the truth to be lost. The information has to be contained in Scriptures in a form where anyone seeking the truth of the matter can find it. Importantly, ignorance of the truth is not an excuse.
Simply put, if all the teachers of the Sacred Name groups were to come together in one room and were presented with the evidence from Scriptures regarding Passover and Unleavened Bread, they should all come to the truth of the matter in unity. But this is impossible unless the following prerequisite is in place as noted in the Book of Daniel:
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you SET YOUR HEART (MIND) TO UNDERSTAND AND HUMBLED YOURSELF before your eloahi, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 10:12)
If one cannot set his heart or mind to want to understand in humility, then Yahweh’s truth will elude you, and there can be no unity. How does one become humble in order to understand? This task continues to be a difficult ordeal for many. Even so, it is required by Yahweh that you clear your mind of any preconceived ideas and be willing to admit you are wrong.
One must admit that the answers do not emanate from within oneself and truth only comes from outside yourself. A person must recognize that the source of all truth is Yahweh. He or she must also acknowledge that they are ignorant (stupid) of knowing truth without the help of Yahweh. Yahweh’s word is concise and direct when it comes to his commands. Yahweh’s truth is not confusing, for Yahweh is not the author of confusion.
For Yahweh is not a deity of confusion but of peace. As in all the assemblies of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:33)
Yahweh’s Truth Attainable
For those who have determined that Yahweh’s truth regarding the festival days is not attainable at the present time, let us project ahead and consider a possible scenario at which time a prophet of Yahweh appears on the scene. Surely a true prophet of Yahweh would know and proclaim the truth.
Let us say that this true prophet of Yahweh instructed all teachers of Yahweh’s assemblies that the teachers were to assemble at a particular location during the following scriptural year on the last day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
The prophet then proceeds to inform the teachers that he will be announcing some crucial information from Yahweh at that time. Because of specific seating arrangements, all teachers would have to pre-register for their seating assignments by filling out a form that required submitting the time and date they would appear.
It is stressed by the prophet that the correct information must be listed on the form. Once the form was submitted, there could be no modifications. If any errors were detected, then the teacher could not attend. All forms would have to be submitted by Abib 1 of the following year.
After giving the instructions and handing out the forms, the prophet of Yahweh then asks if there are any questions. Many hands go up, and someone asks if the prophet could provide the date on which the last day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread occurred the next year, just to be safe. The prophet replies that he has explicitly been commanded only to give the previously worded instructions.
The prophet then assures those who are concerned that it really shouldn’t be a problem since all the relevant criteria for determining the date are clearly set forth in Scriptures. For those who are still not sure of the date, the prophet points out that there is almost a full year, plenty of time, to figure it out.
The prophet then tells everyone that he has a very busy schedule and is looking forward to seeing them next year at the designated place and time.
If you were one of those who the prophet of Yahweh was speaking to, what information would you enter on the form?
Suppose you are not quite sure that the information you might provide is correct. In that case, it could prove to be beneficial for you to check out the publication by Qadesh La Yahweh Press titled “The Festivals and Sacred Days of Yahweh.”
Yahweh’s Expectation
The bottom line is that there is an expectation by Yahweh for teachers of Yahweh’s assemblies to know and understand the truth regarding his commanded statutes.
Yahweh has not hidden the instructions or provided confusing information for his followers who are seeking the truth.
If one cannot attain the truth regarding Yahweh’s commandments, laws, and statutes, how can one teach or do his job correctly?
On the other hand, for those who do, in fact, attain to Yahweh’s truth pertaining to required doctrinal issues, they can take correct and true action by doing the job of preparing the road for father Yahweh.
Now that’s what Yahweh Prepping is all about!