Revelation 14:1 - Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads.
What does that mean? What does it mean to have His name and His Father's name written on our foreheads? Many have thought, or sought, or claim to be the 144,000. Denominations are built and so on, making claims to be among them.
Who really are the 144,000? There's many different interpretations and ideas and thoughts of who these might be. I can tell you this. We can go according to what scripture says and find that they had certain attributes that we need to emulate.
They are the elect. They are the select chosen of the Lamb. What are their characteristics? What are their attributes? The first thing it says is they have His name--that's the name of the Lamb--and His Father's name written on their foreheads.
I think we can be pretty sure that you're not going to find the name Jesus written on their foreheads, and you're not going to find the Lord written on their foreheads. You're going to find the name of the heavenly Father, Yahweh, and the name of the Son, Yahushua, written on their foreheads.
This attribute, I think, clearly demonstrates that a name must be important to Yahweh. It could be understood that it's written on their minds, and that makes sense, that the name of Yahweh and Yahushua are written, and it's in their minds, something they have in their minds that they are focused on. They're sealed with the Holy Spirit.
We want to make sure that what we have in our hearts is that we have the name of the Father and the name of the Son and make sure that we are not calling on alternative names.
If we want to be among the 144,000, even if you think we can't be, for some reason--maybe you interpret it a certain way--these are still worthy attributes to have.
Revelation 14:2 - And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
Revelation 14:3 - They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
Revelation 14:4 - These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to YAHWEH and to the Lamb.
They are not defiled with women. All throughout Revelation we see that women are symbolically representing a religious group of some kind. Sometimes it is a false group like the Babylon, and other times it is the true people of Yahweh.
The harlot women represent the false religions and systems of the world. The true bride of Messiah, though, is not defiled. The 144,000 are pure and are not tainted with the world and the false religions of the world.
If we seek to be among the 144,000, we make sure the roots of our worship are founded completely in scripture and not on some other kind of religion.
For instance, we can be sure the 144,000 would not observe festivals rooted in idolatry like Christmas or Easter. In fact, the word "Easter" itself comes from the word Astarte, which is the name of a goddess.
The 144,000 have nothing to do with false religions. They are pure, undefiled, and they are purged of all idolatrous works of darkness. We notice it also says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
That must mean that they walk as He walked. In other words, they do the things He did.
1John 2:3 - Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
1John 2:4 - He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1John 2:5 - But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of YAHWEH is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
1John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
We say that we abide in the Messiah, then we must walk as He walked. How did Yahushua walk? Many claim to follow the Lamb, but who is willing to walk as He walked? We know that Yahushua kept the commandments of Yahweh, every single one of them.
He kept the Torah to utter perfection. Those who follow Him, because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, are going to do the things that He did. Those who follow Him will know His voice.
John 10:27 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 - And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 - My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Yahushua gives eternal life to those who know Him and to those who know his voice. We want to be among those who know Him. That's what we read earlier:
1John 2:3 - Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
And if we know His voice. "My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me." So Yahushua gives eternal life. Do we realize He is the living Torah, the living Word of Yahweh made flesh?
John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Those who love Yahushua are also going to love His Word. Those who love His Word will know and love His voice, because He is the Word. He is the voice of the Torah, the law of Yahweh in living form. He's not just the Word in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He's also the Word in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Exodus. He's the Word.
Knowing this, we ought to know His voice. He is the voice of the Torah. He is the voice of the prophets. Yes, He's the voice in what is called the New Testament, as well.
We who know His voice, we who seek to follow His voice are His sheep. Those who are among the 144,000 are going to be those who know and follow His voice, because they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. If we are among the people who follow Him wherever He goes, first we have to hear His voice.
Many today tend to ignore His voice and few today are willing to walk as He did, keeping the commandments of Yahweh. We need to be aware of hirelings, hirelings who seek to draw us away from His voice, the voice of the Shepherd and the overseer of our souls.
We need to be aware that when we hear and enjoy His Word, that somehow we think we've done the needful thing. It does not say that they listened to the Lamb and that's it. It says that they follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
James 1:22 - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
When we immerse ourselves in His Word, and we learn marvelous truths, what do we do with what we hear? That's an important question. There's a tendency in our human nature, we hear it, and we think, "I really needed to hear that one. I really needed to hear that one." And then nothing yields from our hearing.
We need to be willing to hear and to follow. The more we hear and the more we follow, the more we will recognize when the voice of a stranger speaks. A lot of times people have a tendency to spend their times listening to strangers, that may spend their time listening to hirelings.
If we spend our time listening to all these strangers, are we going to know the familiar voice of the Shepherd? A lot of times we have a tendency to sit back and let somebody else interpret the Word for us and ourselves we don't really read the scriptures that much. We let other people do it for us.
There's a real danger in that, because we may end up finding ourselves listening to strangers and to hirelings. A hireling is someone who gets paid to be a shepherd. There's plenty of hirelings out there today, brethren.
If we spend our time listening to hirelings, we may not know that familiar voice of the Shepherd. Especially when troublesome times come, we may find ourselves lost. But what we want to do is we want to seek the voice of the Good Shepherd.
John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:12 - But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:13 - The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
There are many hirelings today. A pastor is a shepherd, often a hired shepherd, hired by various denominations to teach denominational doctrines, but hirelings don't always care for the sheep.
We have a problem because the wolf came many centuries ago, brethren, and the hirelings are trying to keep things as is. If the hirelings start to teach from the voice of the Shepherd, they're so used to hearing the voice of the stranger, they don't know what to do, and they find another hireling that will keep the voice of the real Shepherd out.
The true sheep will hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.
John 10:4 - And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
John 10:5 - And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
We don't have to study the voice ways, brothers, to see if we're walking in the truth. That's the voice of strangers. We only need to study the truth and seek to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, and then the false ways will be evident, because the stranger will speak, and we'll perceive it's a stranger's voice.
Because we've spent our time listening to the Shepherd's voice, the voice of the Shepherd will also be heard in our own words and the things that we say.
Revelation 14:4 - These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to YAHWEH and to the Lamb.
Revelation 14:5 - And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of YAHWEH.
There's no deceit in their mouth, no guile, no falsehood, nothing but truth proceeding out of their mouth. They know so well the voice of the Shepherd that their words have become as His.
1Peter 4:11 - If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of YAHWEH. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which YAHWEH supplies, that in all things YAHWEH may be glorified through Yahushua the Messiah, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
A lot of times people end up ignoring the oracles of Yahweh and creating their own oracles and ministering out of their own abilities, and so they get glorified. But if we speak as the oracles of Yahweh with the ability Yahweh supplies, Yahweh is glorified.
We're called to be ministers of the Word, so the Word of Yahweh will be magnified. If we focus on the voice of the Shepherd within us, then Yahweh will be glorified as we let His voice flow out of us, as His voice flows into us.
If we seek to be among the 144,000, are our words without guile, without deceit, without falsehood? Do we fail to speak according to the words of the Good Shepherd, or is the voice of strangers often within?
Proverbs 13:3 - He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
A lot of times it's our speaking that gets us into a lot of trouble.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 - For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
Proverbs 15:2 - The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of YAHWEH are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 15:4 - A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
We need to be careful, if we're a person that talks a lot, then we may find ourselves getting into a lot of trouble. We're called to be slow to speak for good reason, because the more we talk, the more we have to answer for, and the more careless we can be sometimes.
If we desire life, we need to be keepers of our tongue. We need to keep our mouth so that we can keep our life.
Proverbs 13:3 - He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
He that keeps his mouth keeps his life. Again it's mentioned in Psalm 34:12-14.
Psalms 34:12 - What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
Psalms 34:13 - Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psalms 34:14 - Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Our tongue, our mouth has a lot to do with our life. If we really seek perfection in Yahweh, we have to bridle the tongue. We have to.
James 3:1 - My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
James 3:2 - For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
If we can control our tongue, we can control the whole body, a perfect man like the 144,000.
Revelation 14:5 - And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of YAHWEH.
We know that James was writing to the 12 tribes. It says James:
James 1:1 - James, a bondservant of YAHWEH and of the Master Yahushua the Messiah, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: greetings.
There's the 12 tribes of Israel. The tribes of Israel within the 144,000 will tame their tongue.
James 3:2 - For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
James 3:3 - Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
James 3:4 - Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
James 3:5 - Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
Did you notice the statement there?
James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
In the same way, if we're able to bridle the tongue, we can bridle the whole body, but the tongue is so set that it has the capability of defiling the whole body. That's a pretty powerful instrument that we have.
Proverbs 16:27 - A worthless man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
Right along the lines of what James is teaching us here.
James 3:7 - For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
James 3:8 - But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:9 - With it we bless YAHWEH our Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of YAHWEH.
James 3:10 - Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:11 - Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
James 3:12 - Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
James 3:13 - Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct [that] his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
James 3:14 - But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
James 3:15 - This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
James 3:16 - For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
James 3:17 - But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 - Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
In context, there is a certain danger that exists for those who are teachers of the Word of Yahweh, as well as all of Yahweh's servants. We must speak the wisdom from above, if we choose to speak. Speech arising out of fleshly matters are corrupt.
When we do speak and share the Word of Yahweh with others--and I'm sure all of us do this when we talk to others--we need to be sure that the wisdom we're sharing is from above.
It's not earthly, not sensual, not envy, not self-seeking, but rather it's meekness of wisdom that's pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, no partiality and no hypocrisy. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Yahweh help us. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of Elohim.
James 3:18 - Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
When we sow the words of Elohim in the hearts of others, it must be sown in shalom, in peace, and not through fleshly ways. We are told that we cannot tame the tongue. No man can tame the tongue. Since that's the case, why do we even try? Why bother taming the tongue?
The truth is, brethren, that Yahweh can tame our tongue. We can speak His wisdom. We can speak His wisdom from above the more we focus on His words.
For Him to live in us, this means the words we speak are going to be His words. We're going to reckon the flesh to be dead and not let anything we speak come out of the flesh, but let the things we speak come out of the wisdom from above, from the spirit.
Matthew 12:35 - A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Matthew 12:36 - But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:37 - For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
That's a really powerful saying. The words we speak have the potential to determine our salvation, whether we are condemned or whether we are justified. Do we realize this? If anything gets our attention, I hope it's this one, because we have to find a way, brethren, to let Yahweh bridle the tongue.
We have to find a way, because by our words we are justified and by our words we are condemned. How many times have we spoken things we ought not? Yahweh help us.
I've never been able to bridle my tongue, brethren. In fact, nobody can. We cannot tame it, but Yahweh can. What do you think about James 1:26?
James 1:26 - If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion [is] useless.
Useless! If we cannot bridle our tongue, our religion is useless, by our words we're condemned, and we don't keep our life, because he that keeps his words keeps his life. Is our tongue bridled, or is our walk in Yahweh useless? The tongue so many times is a snare.
Proverbs 12:13 - The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
Psalms 39:1 - I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Psalms 39:2 - I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
Psalms 39:3 - My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
Psalms 39:4 - YAHWEH, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
We often need these reminders, brethren. Yahushua knew this wisdom.
Isaiah 53:7 - He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Fulfillment here.
Luke 23:8 - And when Herod saw Yahushua, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
Luke 23:9 - Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
So Yahushua knew when not to speak. There's a time to speak and a time not to speak. This was a time not to speak. Sometimes we wonder, "What words should I say? What should I say in response to this situation?"
Sometimes the right thing to say is nothing, nothing at all. Don't say a word, especially when accusers are before you, because they will take anything you say and use it against you.
Maybe that's why the Miranda rights say, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you."
If you read the book of Proverbs, you know it leaves a very strong imprint in your mind as to the sad and dangerous state of someone who is called a fool. Many times it compares a wise man to a foolish man. You see the sad condition of the fool.
Yet, in this same book, there are at least two types of men who are in a worse condition than the fool. The first one is in Proverbs 26:12.
Proverbs 26:12 - Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
If we are wise in our own conceit, our own pride, there's more hope for a fool than of us. The second type of man who is worse off than a fool:
Proverbs 29:20 - Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
Of all the times that the word "fool" occurs in the scriptures, 55% of them are in the book of Proverbs. Admonitions and warnings are given numerous times; yet there's more hope for a fool than someone who is hasty in his words or wise in his own conceit. Even a fool has more hope. Look closely now at James 1:26. We quoted it earlier.
James 1:26 - If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion [is] useless.
The Greek Lexicon, if you look at this passage, the first occurrence of the word "religious" in this passage means to fear Yahweh. The word "religion" in the latter part of this verse is a different word. It means religious discipline or worship.
A possible translation would be "If anyone among you seem to be Yahweh-fearing, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's worship is vain or useless."
This reminds me of Yahushua's words in Mark 7:7:
Mark 7:7 - Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctines the commandments of men.
I think there's a connection here. The words that proceed from our tongue need to be according to the words of Yahweh, or our religion and our teaching is vain. Our worship is vain.
In Mark 7:7 he's describing a people who have decided to teach the doctrines and commandments of men, rather than the doctrines and commandments of Yahweh, so in vain they worship Him.
According to Yahushua, the words and teachings of the scribes and Pharisees were not of Yahweh, and so their worship was vain. They apparently had not bridled their tongue and began to follow their own words and the words of their fathers, the traditions of the elders rather than the words of Yahweh.
There is a cause for concern, brethren, when the focus is on teachers and preachers of the Word, the quality of their words and the eloquence thereof. What needs to be the focus is the Word of Yahweh, because it's the focus on the words of men that led to the traditions of the elders being more important than the commandments of Yahweh.
It's the same thing today. It's the same thing. When I was in Israel, I had a chance to look at Judaism, more of a close-up look at it, and we entered a school of young children, young school children, and we watched them actually read from the Torah. They read from the Torah.
It was from the book of Leviticus, and they read from the Torah in the Hebrew language, and they actually almost sort of sang it in a way. At first I was kind of impressed. Here are some young Israeli school children, young Jewish children reading from the Torah, and that's the focus in their classroom.
But then I learned later that the school children who read from these words in the Torah, this will be one of the few times in their life they'll actually read from the Torah. Even then, they didn't understand it. What the people relied on--I don't mean they didn't read from the Torah during synagogue service. Don't get me wrong.
But what they relied on was the teachings of the rabbis to tell them what the Torah meant, what the Torah taught, what the Torah said. The stronger focus was on the Talmud more so than the Torah itself, which I found to be interesting.
They have justification for that belief that says the judges of the land, you shall listen to what they say and do what they tell you to do. It's sort of similar to Catholicism in a sense, because the focus is on the words of men.
Catholicism says, "Whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven, whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven, because we have the apostolic succession from Peter the first pope," in their mind.
So both religions, both Judaism and Catholicism, put emphasis on the words of men more so than the words of Yahweh. In that sense, they're both very similar religions. One claims to be following the Old Testament, but in reality and actual practice, the words of the rabbis trump the Old Testament and the Tanakh.
The other religion, Catholicism, claims to be following the New Testament, but in reality the words in the Catechisms and the words and traditions of doctrines of men trump the scriptures.
The same thing was taking place in Yahushua's day. They were worshiping Him in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. If we want to find truth, we need to be aware of these things.
Sometimes even the Protestant daughters put more emphasis on the latest preacher, the latest teacher, rather than the words and teachings of Yahweh in scripture.
Let's focus on Yahweh, His words, so that the voice of the Shepherd may speak.
Proverbs 10:19 - In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Another version says, "In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking."
Too often, brethren, what comes in the mind just goes right out the mouth, but there needs to be a filter. We need to put a filter on our mouth. A lot of us on the internet might hear about the internet filter which filters out all the garbage on the internet so that it doesn't go into your computer.
What we need to have is a filter that whatever ugly thoughts might happen to be in our mind don't come out our mouth. The way you ultimately are going to control that is to reject the thoughts that are not of Yahweh. That's where the real filter needs to be.
We need to make sure that what comes into the mind doesn't just go out the mouth. There needs to be some kind of a stop mechanism in our hearts. The things coming into our minds needs to be the words of Yahweh, so that when we speak, we speak as the oracles of Yahweh.
1Peter 4:11 - If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of YAHWEH. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which YAHWEH supplies, that in all things YAHWEH may be glorified through Yahushua the Messiah, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
If we speak from the flesh, evil things will come out and defile us. If we speak from the spiritual, good things will come out. It's going to take some time. There is a time mechanism here for us to sort out which thoughts are from Elohim and which thoughts are not from Elohim. Because of that:
James 1:19 - So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
Because we process things, we filter things, we ought to be a kind of people who are slow to speak and especially slow to wrath. I've heard it said that Yahweh gave us two ears and one mouth. Maybe He was trying to tell us something, to maybe use it in that proportion.
Proverbs 10:20 - The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
See how the tongue and the heart are connected. What's in the heart comes out the mouth, because out of the heart the mouth speaks.
Proverbs 10:21 - The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Yahweh is not saying don't use our tongue. He's not saying avoid all speaking, speak nothing. He's saying let your lips feed others in righteousness. Let the tongue be just as choice silver.
Proverbs 25:11 - A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Our words, as dangerous as it might be for us to speak the other words, there can be a blessing when we speak righteous words. Some say it's just a word. You ever heard that phrase? It's just a word. Remember in childhood the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
How many of us have heard that before? But it's not true! It's not true. Words are powerful.
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Realize this: death and life are in the power of the tongue. By our words, we're justified. By our words, we're condemned. A lot of serious, serious things being said here in scripture about words.
By our words, with our mouth we call upon the name of Yahweh for salvation.
Romans 10:10 - For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
It's written that there's one name, one word under heaven, one person through which we have access to the throne. Some say, "Oh, well, it's just a word. You're getting caught up in words, and names, and you guys are just all messed up over there. You focus on these things."
But that seemed to be important in the first century. Paul was about ready to open his mouth in his defense.
Acts 18:14 - And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
Acts 18:15 - But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.
Acts 18:16 - And he drave them from the judgment seat.
Words and names were an issue in the first century, and the Torah was an issue. We have a similar issue today: names, words, and the Torah. How many times do we end up talking to others and that end up being the conversation because we're different?
Some think it doesn't matter. Words are not valued today. That's why Yahweh's Word is not valued today. Some might even think that they're free to change the Word of Yahweh. Most Bibles do that. They take out one of the most important words in all the scripture, if not the most important word: Yahweh's name.
One of the first things, when you meet somebody, what's one of the first things you find out? What's their name?
And yet Yahweh in most Bibles is nameless. The words of men have replaced the words of Yahweh. They took out the name of Yahweh and put their own words in there, Adonai instead of Yahweh, the Lord instead of Yahweh, God instead of Yahweh, and they'll have to answer for that.
But we want to speak as the oracles of Yahweh, and so the words that we speak will include the name of Yahweh. Did we catch that? If we want to speak as the oracles of Yahweh, then the words we speak must include the name of Yahweh, just as the words in scripture over 7,000 times include the name of Yahweh.
The 144,000 who have His name on their foreheads will not participate in these changes to the Word, but pure truth will speak from the mouth of them. No deceit, no falsehood, no vanity, no vainness.
For us to avoid the deceit and the falsehood, we must hate every false way. If we read Jesus in the English Bible, let's restore His name to Yahushua when we read it and when we quote it so that we might return to the truth. Let's return to the truth, because we want our words to be as the words of Elohim. That's our goal.
Since we want our words to be as the oracles of Elohim, we don't want to change the oracles of Elohim to fit our traditions. We need to change our words to conform with the oracles of Elohim.
When we read the LORD in the English Bible--all capital letters--LORD--let's restore His name to Yahweh, not Lord, when we read it, when we quote it, when we speak it.
Psalms 119:103 - How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalms 119:104 - Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:105 - Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
We're going to hate every false way, including the replacement of Yahweh's name, which is not from Yahweh. Yahweh did not author that. Yahweh put His name in scripture 7,000 times, and man takes it out 7,000 times. It's not right.
Psalms 1:2 - But his delight is in the law of YAHWEH; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
So our delight must be in Yahweh's words. When we desire after that which is sweeter than honey, when we meditate on it day and night, then His Word is just going to come forth. His words are just naturally going to flow out of us. In John 6:63, this is Yahushua speaking.
John 6:63 - It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
When Yahushua spoke, His words were spirit. The words He spoke, He said they are spirit, and they are life. The Hebrew word translated spirit is ruach, and it means breath. It literally means breath. With our breath, we speak. It forms words, our breath working in conjunction with our tongue, our mouth.
The question must be what kind of spirit are we forming? Are they according to the Spirit of Yahweh, so that they might bring life? Or are our words according to the spirit of Yahweh's enemy, the unclean spirit, the corrupt spirit that does not give life?
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart favor to the hearers.
What kind of spirit do we listen to? If you turn on the television or radio, you're going to hear all kinds of wrong spirits, all kinds of unclean spirits. The words of the unclean are going to come forth.
If we read the scriptures, the words that give life will come forth and enter our ears. What kind of words do we want to enter our ears? What kind of spirit do we want to have going into our hearts, into our minds? What we listen to has a lot to do with what we become.
You ever notice that when you hang around a certain group, they have certain sayings. There was a particular man I used to hang around a lot, and he used to say, "man" a lot. "Hey, man. Yeah, man." Before long, I was doing the same thing. It's just the way things are, because the things you hear affects what comes out of your mouth.
So we need to be careful that the things we hear don't affect us negatively, so that they come into our heart, take root, and they come out of our mouth as corrupt words. The way we prevent corrupt words from coming out of our mouth is to first recognize corrupt thoughts.
Then we must reject the corrupt thoughts, in the name of Yahushua. You might need to battle away the corrupt thoughts that seek to enter in. Corrupt thoughts will lead to corrupt speech. We need to harden our hearts to the sinful and corrupt.
We can't always avoid corrupt thoughts, but we can avoid them taking root in our hearts. All you have to do is walk down the street, and you'll probably hear some corrupt thoughts, or go into a restaurant, and the guy sitting next to you is saying corrupt words.
We must harden our hearts to those things. Be aware of what enters our ears or through our eyes, the things which are corrupt: televisions, radios, things we read on websites, music, magazines, newspapers, friends, relatives, coworkers, the words of men.
We must keep up our guard, because he that keeps his tongue keeps his life. We must first keep our hearts and let not our guard down for a moment. Don't let any corrupt thought influence us, and do battle if necessary.
2Corinthians 10:4 - for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
2Corinthians 10:5 - Destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of YAHWEH, taking every thought captive to the obedience of the Messiah,
We can, by war, take captive every thought and bring it under subjection to the Messiah, rejecting every false way, every thought contrary to the Spirit of Yahweh. If our thoughts are not in accordance with obedience to Yahweh, then the battle is Yahweh's, and we can pray He will cast it away and destroy the enemy.
With the prayer of faith, He will do it, as we reject those thoughts, in Yahushua's name. These thoughts that are not of Yahweh are Yahweh's enemy. He doesn't want it in your heart either, and He wants you to call upon Him in the day of trouble, and He will deliver you, and we can glorify Him in that.
If our heart is pure, then our speech will be pure, because the thoughts that inspire our words will be in accordance to the oracles of Yahweh, and then we will be Israelites indeed.
John 1:46 - And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
John 1:47 - Yahushua saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Yahushua recognized Nathaniel as one of the blessed ones, one without guile, an Israelite indeed. We are called to be Israelites in deed, in action, not just in hearing, but in doing.
Are we among the blessed ones?
Ephesians 5:3 - But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
Ephesians 5:4 - neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Foolish talking and coarse jesting are pretty popular today. Have you ever seen a joke towards somebody that really wasn't a joke? It's a joke, but it's pretty clear the speaker felt there was some truth to it. Scripture calls such a man a madman.
Pro 26:18-19, New King James version:
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, "I was only joking!"
"Am I not in sport? I'm just joking around--didn't really mean it." Every idle word. How many times have we heard such things, an insult passed off as a joke? Let no corrupt word come out of our mouth, but only that which is good for necessary edification.
Our words can be arrows that wound.
Psalms 64:1 - Hear my voice, O Elohim, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Psalms 64:2 - Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Psalms 64:3 - Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
Psalms 64:4 - That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
We need to be careful that our words that we speak are not arrows, bitter words. We see here scripture speaks of bitter words being arrows that create wounds. If there's someone we may be bitter toward, the words we speak to them may continually wound them.
Our words we need to be careful are not rooted in bitterness. What is today? It's Shabbat. HalleluYah.
Isaiah 58:13 - If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of YAHWEH, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Another translation has "idle words." The Hebrew in that verse is dabar, dabar--words, words, words, words.
Isaiah 58:14 - Then shalt thou delight thyself in YAHWEH; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of YAHWEH hath spoken it.
That's a promise. Let's keep the Sabbath day, cease from speaking thine own words, especially on His holy day. May Yahweh let our words be as His words, spiritual food like choice silver, refined seven times.
Psalms 12:6 - The words of YAHWEH are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Awesome. The tongue of the just is as that choice silver.
Proverbs 10:20 - The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
Let's remember Ecclesiastes 12:14:
Ecclesiastes 12:14 - For Elohim shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. .
May our thoughts in the secret place be pure, so that our destiny will be an eternal life. I've heard it said, "Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
Psalms 19:14 - Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O YAHWEH, my strength, and my redeemer.
Yahweh wants to be our strength in all of our meditations. We need to let Him and His words fill all the empty spaces. Make the time to fill our minds with the words of Yahweh and let His law be our meditation day and night, enjoying our time with Him.
May our lives be as such that we are so filled with the things of Yahweh that there is no want of any other thing. There is no desire for any other thing but Him. Those who are in such a state are blessed and at peace.
So, brethren, as we hear the words of men often, let's filter it through the things that Yahweh teaches us.
1Thessalonians 5:21 - Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Thessalonians 5:23 - And the very Elohim of peace separate you wholly; so that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Master Yahushua the Messiah.
1Thessalonians 5:24 - Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Indeed, Yahweh will do it if we love Him with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our strength. Then our whole spirit, soul, body will be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Master Yahushua. May Yahweh bless you, and may He have mercy on us all.