The Two Seeds

We are told in Isa 46:10 that God declares the end from (out of) the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

In the beginning, we are told, God created the heavens and the earth, Gen 1:1. We then see in verse 11 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."

Gen 1:21 "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:24 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so."

Gen 1:26 "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."

We see from these verses that all living things produce and multiply after their own kind. This pattern is repeated throughout scripture in agricultural concepts that we can relate to; seeds, trees, gardens, vineyards, wheat, weeds, vines.  Once we understand the principles hidden in these simple, natural things, we begin to recognize them throughout our Bibles and our minds are opened to truths we never before could have imagined. The scriptures come to life in new and exciting ways.

When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His likeness, after the God kind.  Gen 2:8 "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Gen 1:29 "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. Gen 2:9 "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

This introduction to a tree of life and a tree of knowledge of good and evil will be a recurring theme throughout scriptures and that which influences man's days on this earth. You see, we are taught in the very beginning that there are two seeds and ultimately two ideologies that man must choose between as a way of life. There is God and there is an enemy, Satan the devil. God's seed is imbedded in a tree that produces life, while Satan's produces mixed seed resulting in death.

After Adam and Eve disobey God and partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they create a separation between themselves and their Creator and the mixed seed that is now inside them will multiply through their offspring, as like kind produces like kind. Our first parents now have both good seed and bad seed within themselves, and throughout man's history on earth we see the battle lines drawn between these two seeds.

To the serpent, representative of Satan, who beguiled Adam and Eve to partake of his tree, God says in Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

As time moves on, we see these seeds multiplying in Adam and Eve's offspring, in Abel and Cain, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, on down throughout history.

Jesus (Yeshua) teaches the principle of the seed in his parable of the wheat and the tares. When he confronts the Pharisees regarding their rejection of God's Torah and replacing it with man-made religion, he tells them in John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."

Paul clearly explains the principle of the two seeds in Romans 11. He uses the analogy of two trees; a natural olive tree and a wild olive tree. The natural olive tree is representative of the spiritual seed of Abraham, the father of faith. Gal 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  The wild olive tree contains the seed of the evil one and his offspring.

Most of humanity are the branches of the wild olive tree, influenced by the god of this world, Satan the devil, who has deceived the whole world (II Cor 4:4, Rev 12:9). This tree cannot produce good fruit. One must be grafted into the natural tree in order to produce good fruit. In John 15, Yeshua tells us He is the true vine, we are the branches. If we abide in Him, we will produce much fruit, but without Him we can do nothing. If we do not abide in Him, we are an unfruitful branch that is destined to be cast out and burned in the fire.

Modern Christianity today worships Jesus (Yeshua) and sincerely believe they are obedient and faithful followers of their Messiah. That said, most have no concept of the lengths Satan has gone to in corrupting the worship of God and replacing His Torah with the trappings of ancient pagan, sun god worship. Believers in Messiah have unwittingly accepted a form of worship that is diametrically opposite of what was handed down by Yeshua and the first century apostles. In 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine of Rome made Christianity the official religion of the Holy Roman Empire, but also merged it with the symbols, customs and traditions of sun-god worship, which God calls an abomination. We are the recipients of that hybrid religion, unaware of it's dangers. It contains mixed seed, which God hates, and will not accept.

Today, the two pillars of the Christian faith are Christmas and Easter. Both embody the seed of ancient paganism. Christians are misled into thinking they are worshipping God in the celebration of these two "Holy" seasons, but they are not the ways in which our Creator has revealed (out of the beginning) the way in which He wants us to worship him. Many know the origins of these two festivals, but say "That's not what they mean to me." What's important, though, is what they mean to Him.

We needn't guess. He tells us plainly in His word, if we will accept it. When God brought the children of Israel into the promised land, He knew they would be surrounded by the sun-god worshippers of the land. He therefore warned them in Deut 12:30 "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." In Jer 10:2, he tells us not to learn the way of the heathen. We can take these ancient customs and traditions and replace them with new meanings. We can recycle them into the worship of God and believe that He will accept them. He will not. They are an abomination to Him.

Lets revisit the lesson of the two trees and reason together. We might find that we are trying to graft Yeshua into the wild olive tree rather than allowing Him to graft us into the natural tree. Only the natural tree produces good fruit, because Yeshua is the root of that tree. If we truly want to follow Him, we need to leave the wild olive tree with it's adoption of pagan worship and move into the natural olive tree, which is the tree of life.

What Is Truth?

The world is filled with religion. Everyone has a belief system that defines their thoughts and ideas, customs and traditions, and basically  their way of life. Webster's defines religion as 1. Service and worship of God 2. Set or system of religious beliefs.

Could we be any more vague? We take an abstract word and define it with an abstract idea. Typical Western, Gentile mentality! Okay, let's take the service and worship of God. First, we know that people around the world believe in a god, but not necessarily the Creator God. This has been the case since the dawn of time. Ancient Israel encountered mass idol worship and the worship of Ba'al amongst the nations occupying the promised land when they arrived and, sadly, adopted many of their ways despite the instructions of Yehovah to separate themselves from such.

Let's focus on the two religions that do worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Bible, Christianity and Judaism. Today in America, there is no shortage of churches and synagogues, as well as a multitude of various beliefs and ideologies  within each. Believers in America are divided into so many pieces, we rarely find any two to agree on anything. Many in the Christian denominations shun those of others, each thinking theirs is the only "true church". Christianity shuns Judaism and vice versa. Catholic is against Protestant, most are against Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon. If one watches Sunday morning religious programming, they hear the gospel message through the eyes of the presenter, who is teaching his or her own brand of religion, adding to the confusion. No wonder so many today avoid any form of religion, never attend church or read the Bible. Remember the story of the tower of Babel? Babel means confusion.

Speaking of an end-time Babylon, Yeshua's message to believers in Rev. 18:4 is to come out of her that we not partake of her sins nor receive of her plagues. That begs the question, are believers in Messiah presently in Babylon? If we are in this world, then yes we are! This entire world is in chaos, confusion and deception through the god of this world, Satan.

How do we come out of her? By dying? No, by living! Living by the instructions of our Creator and abandoning the ways of this world. John 17:17 tells us God's word is truth. King David tells us throughout the Psalms that God's word is His Torah and His Torah is truth. Yeshua tells us in John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Yehovah has given us instructions in his written word, as well as through the Word, made flesh, Yeshua our Messiah. Truth can only be found in Him. Man-made religions often reject the direct teachings of the Bible and, therefore, cannot lead us to truth, no matter how sincere they may be. Many priests and pastors leading the main-stream denominations today, teach that God's Torah (instructions) are no longer valid or not for believers today, that His commandments have been done away with, that we no longer have to follow His festivals or His dietary laws, that we are a "New Testament" church. Is that what we read in our Bible, if we dare open the book at all?

Isa 8:20 To the law (Torah) and to the testimony (witness): if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isa 9:16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err (lead them astray); and they that are led of them are destroyed.

Isa 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws (Torot), changed the ordinance (law), broken the everlasting covenant.

Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord (Yehovah) said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept (command) of men:

Isa 30:8-10 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be (a witness) for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law (Torah) of the LORD (Yehovah):  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Isa 43:27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers (interpreters) have transgressed against me.

Jer 2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD (Yehovah)? and they that handle the law (Torah) knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets (shepherds) prophesied by Baal, and walked after things (matters) that do not profit.

Jer 5:13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

Jer 6:17, 19 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet (shophar). But they said, We will not hearken. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened (listened) unto my words, nor to my law (Torah), but rejected it.

Jer 10:21 For the pastors (shepherds) are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD (Yehovah) : therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

Jer 12:10 Many pastors (shepherds) have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

Jer 14:14 Then the LORD (Yehovah) said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies (falsehood) in my Name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded  them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

Jer 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors (shepherds) that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD (Yehovah).

Jer 23:16 Thus saith the LORD (Yehovah) of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD (Yehovah).

Jer 23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my Words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

Jer 23:32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD (Yehovah), and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness (reckless boasting); yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD (Yehovah).

Is all this too "Old Testament" for you? Let's look at the New Testament.

Mt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

1John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Re 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.