The bible is replete with symbols, patterns, duality and examples. We find that what is revealed to us in Genesis (the beginning), is repeated and expounded upon throughout scripture and culminates in the book of Revelation (the end). Nothing is more exciting than understanding these mysteries, having their meanings unlocked to our understanding.
Take the concept of division, for instance. It is amazing how much understanding can be gleaned from this one revelation. Throughout the scriptures we are taught that there is to be a distinction between the children of God and those of the world at large. Yehovah hates mingling or mixing truth with error and gives us ample examples in his word.
In Genesis chapter 1, we see the first references to division. Gen 1:4 tells us that God divided light from darkness, and in verses 6-7 we see that God divided the waters, those above the firmament from those beneath. Although these are actual events, they allude to a spiritual reality that parallels that of nature. Our creator is indeed in the business of dividing light from darkness in the spiritual realm as well. He also reveals that his ways are higher than our ways as the heavens are higher than the earth.
Some of the many references to dividing I see within scripture are sheep and goats, wheat and tares, clean and unclean, holy and unholy. The list goes on and on. Once you become aware of it, you see the pattern everywhere.
Believers are called to be set-apart people. We are to learn how to make a distinction between holy and unholy. God tells us that we are to come out of spiritual Babylon and follow Him.
Israel's experience was a type or shadow picture of the spiritual walk of the believer.When God brought them out of Egypt, it was a foreshadow of believers coming out of sin and the bondage of Satan, personified by Pharoah. God led the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where He entered into covenant with them and taught them how to worship Him. Although many fell in the wilderness due to unbelief and disobedience, their offspring entered the Promised Land, where God again reiterated that they were live as a holy, set-apart nation before him. They were not to mingle with the other nations, not to intermarry with them, not to take on their forms of worship, not to bow down to their idols or pray to their gods.
The same applies to us today. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change. He desires the same separateness from us as He did from them. He wants us to stand out as light in a darkened world. It is not hard to see that the world is becoming more and more ungodly with each passing day. If we say that we are His children, then we have to leave our worldly ways behind and walk in newness of life. We need to live by the word of God and follow His teachings, which includes abstaining from mixing truth with error and calling it the worship of God.
As with ancient Israel, He has forbidden us from taking on the worship of pagan nations and attempting to reinvent them into our worship of Him. This definitely includes the holidays adopted by modern Christianity today, such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween.Christianity has adopted these pagan festivities and allowed them to infiltrate the Church of God, but He does not accept them. He gave His called-out ones annual festivals in which were embedded the ministry of Christ and pictured his redemptive plan of salvation. These pagan holidays are poor substitutes and counterfeits for God's true Holy Days.
Christianity has also abandoned God's Sabbath day and exchanged it for Sunday. It, too, is a shadow picture of the coming Sabbath rest awaiting God's people at the coming of Messiah. Those who honor Him by keeping that day holy, as He has instructed, will enter that rest. They will reign with him for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead will not be resurrected until the 1,000 years are finished, at which time they will stand before the judgment seat of God.
Some denominations dishonor Him with their graven images and prayers to angels and saints. Their leaders take the title of "father" and usurp Christ's role as the only intercessor between God and man. Their denomination forbids these priests to marry, in violation of scripture.
These things ought not be. Christianity, at large, is guilty of apostasy and true believers need to wake up and come out of her before the wrath of God is poured out. Knowledge is being assimilated at alarming speeds today and there is no excuse for ignorance. With the help of computers and the internet we can research each of these topics with the aid of online Bibles as well as historical accounts and commentaries. With a click of the mouse, we can type in words like "Christmas", "Easter" or "Halloween" and a myriad of websites will appear detailing their origins and how they wormed their way into modern Christianity. Don't allow widely accepted customs and traditions to rob you of your rightful position in the family of God. The things of the world are quickly passing away, but the Kingdom of God will reign forever.
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