Last week we talked about the thorns. We had discussion on the topic of thorns. We are going to kinda dovetail on that discussion and go over we talked about thorns ok- but what are the thorns? What are they? Ok, we know its sin; but what is it about the thorns? What are the specific areas of our life today that
we are living where we see some of the snares in ancient Israel? One of the biggest of which was issue of idolatry and the worship of idols, statues and different things like that. But what would be the modern day equivalent of the snares, the thorns and pits and the traps that we get sometimes to involved in and find it difficult to get out of?
That is what we are going to be talking about today. I shared a study similar to this back in 2010. Were going to kinda expand on it a little bit and go over some more specific areas in a more practical sense. So today's study topic is entitled "Traps, Pits and Snares".
Now the purpose of a snare is to lure somebody into what would seem to be good;
but would ultimately end up harming him in some way. Now if you were to go hunting, you might set a snare, a pit,or trap of some kind to catch animals that are unwittingly going into the trap. So in order to do that you have to disguise the trap in some way. Maybe contains some kind of bait to lure the animal into the trap.
Now speaking figuratively the enemy is seeking to lure us in with some kind of bait into his snares, his traps that he would set out for us. Once we are in the traps, we can find it very difficult for us to get out. Just like the thorns that grew up. Now we know he was successful in his snaring Eve, actually her name was Chawah, in the Garden of Eden.
He used this desire for knowledge this lust of the flesh, pride of life, lust of the eyes; to lure her in to eating the fruit that Yahweh had forbidden her to eat. That is how he was able to be so successful. You know he uses the same tactics today, on men today same old story. The lust of the eyes, desires for more, curiosity being satisfied and those kind of things.
We live today, just as ancient Israel did, we do live in a land of traps, pits and snares. In Joshua 23 11, Joshua told them,
Joshua 23:11 - "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love YAHWEH your Elohim.
Joshua 23:12 - "Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations -- these that remain among you -- and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,
Joshua 23:13 - "know for certain that YAHWEH your Elohim will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which YAHWEH your Elohim has given you.
We see in the book of Judges what happened? Did they get rid of the wicked people of the land? Did they cleanse with the Fiery Sword of Yahweh the people of the land these thorns that were planted there? No. Judges Chapter 2 verse 1
Judges 2:1 - Then the Angel of YAHWEH came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, `I will never break My covenant with you.
Judges 2:2 - `And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?
Judges 2:3 - "Therefore I also said, `I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be [thorns] in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.'"
Judges 2:4 - So it was, when the Angel of YAHWEH spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Judges 2:5 - Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to YAHWEH.
So brothers we, we see a Spiritual application here. That we have to get the thorns, the traps, pits, and snares out of our dwelling place. The place where we have power over, which is our homes, which is our hearts. We may not be able to control what happens outside our property. We can control what goes on inside our property.
Inside our homes, inside our physical temple Yahweh has given us this temple. We can drive out the traps, pits, snares, from there from within. So how do we do it? So when you go to Walmart you are going to find traps, pits, snares and thorns. You're just going to find them. But you don’t have to bring things into your own property, and area in which you reside.
I find it to be a lot easier to minister to people when I invite them to my home. There, ok you are in my neck of the woods here. This is where I live and for some reason something positive almost always happens when people come to my house. So, for a visit, or for a meal, or relatives, or whatever.
Because we are more able to bring a positive influence on them when we are in our environment; than it is when we just go out to the worlds environments and try to bring just a little bit of Yahweh’s Spirit into that. In order to do that, and I’m not claiming my house is thorn and trap free. We are not perfect people by any stretch of the imagination.
We need to get these things out of our dwelling places so that we can have a good environment for ourselves and good environment for our children. Things to spiritually enrich and edify ourselves, to grow in Yahweh. So what are some of the ways that we bring? We can literally in a physical sense, but in a a spiritual sense.
We go out into the world and find ourselves a snare and even pay good money for a snare. Bring it to our house and set it in front of us. That snare a lot of times is a television set, or what you are watching right now, which is the internet. With television, with internet, with books, with media, and with things. We have to be very,very careful.
Not saying all TV is evil, not saying all internet is evil; otherwise would not be on it. But they become snares and traps and pits. Which it is very, very easy to fall into.
The internet is basically a place where some one can find knowledge of all kinds of things both good and evil, like a big, big tree . There is this knowledge of evil, knowledge of good. The desire for knowing what is good is very, very important. Nothing wrong with that.
We want to know the knowledge of good; but we have to be aware about learning the things that are evil. We are not called to learn all the ends and outs and different nuances of evil and why evil people do the evil things that they do. Sometimes we think we have to understand evil in order to avoid it.
But what I see in Scripture 1Corinthians Chapter 14 verse 20 is Paul admonishes the Corinthians
1Corinthians 14:20 - Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
Paul Now listen to this.
Jeremiah 10:2 - Thus says YAHWEH: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
Now, what is the difference? Well there is a certain amount of understanding, certain amount of discretion certain amount of discernment; were called to have. We need to have maturity in our discernment. It says, in terms of doing evil, be like little babies. You do not have to learn all the things of malice, all the things about evil.
So, don’t ever think we have to know about evil in order to avoid it. We do not have to know all the little things about evil. Sometimes we think we do, but we don’t. What we need brothers, is to be able to discern the evil in something without even have to dig our selves into it. Discern it and avoid it the moment we can discern its presence.
You know it was Israels failure in this particular area where they wanted to learn about the way of the Gentiles; that caused them to fall into that snare. We see this in Psalm 106 verse 35
Psalms 106:35 - But they mingled with the Gentiles And learned their works;
Psalms 106:36 - They served their idols, Which became a snare to them.
So we don’t have to learn the ways of the world; the ways that are not in accordance with the will of Yahweh we may eventually find ourselves being ensnared by it. Sometimes it is just our own old fashioned curiosity that gets us involved in trying to figure out why something is the way it is and we end up getting us ensnared by it.
So brothers, that is why we need to discern the truth.
We live in a land of pits, traps, thorns, and snares. We need to study this truth. Some of you may have heard this story about a man that was an expert at counterfeiting. Being able to detect counterfeit bills. Someone asked this individual, who worked for the government, this law enforcement expert in this. He said, "
How do you keep up with all the latest things that the thieves and robbers are doing to try to thwart the efforts to make a genuine bill and to try to copy a original? What do you do? Do you just keep studying the different ways and try to keep up with how they try to manufacture the different bills and the way they look and be ale to pick them out when you see them"?
The man involved in it said no. He spent almost no time in trying to figure out what, how they do whatever they do, they are trying to do. We spend almost all our time what we go to school for us to study out the original bill so you know every little detail about it. Even things that would not be known to others. Study out that original.
Then, when you come across a counterfeit bill, you will immediately recognize it. I think there is a very good point about that is: if we are going to be discerning men and discerning women in our age today; we need to concentrate our efforts, in learning the truth of Yahweh’s Word from Scripture. Studying Scriptures, studying goodness, studying wisdom, study truth.
So whenever something evil comes across our path- we will immediately recognize it; and don’t have to worry about finding out whether or not if we have to avoid it. See if we have been walking through a forest of goodness, we will be so acquainted with goodness, with holiness and purity and truth.
That when something comes in, you have been walking in this forest every day of your life, when all of sudden you see something out of place. These leaves over here, this pile of leaves was not normally here, this is foreign, what is this intrusion? And, you will recognize, something is out of something is not right, something fishy is going on here.
So when the enemy comes and sets that trap up; we are going to discern something different in the path ahead and we are going to be aware and are going to avoid it. And, it is when we go, Wonder if there really is something here, what is this? .. Ever hear the phrase curiosity killed the cat ? Curiosity killed many a believer also.
The enemy is running out of time, He is setting up these modern technological tools to harm the people upon the earth. Teaching them every evil thing there is to know, so they will be ensnared by it. You know we can use these things as a weapon against him, for the Glory of Yahweh.
To teach people about the good the glorious the awesome, ways of life, way of love, the way of righteousness. Teaching them to walk in that forest of goodness, holiness, and peace. So again, don’t ever think you have to find out all the things about the evil one in order to know enough to avoid it. We don’t necessarily have to do that.
We find ourselves loving, and studying and walking in the Truth and something foreign to the Spirit of Truth comes, we’ll say there it is. Don’t know what it is exactly, but something over there is contrary to to the Word of Yahweh. So, hopefully we will know what it is exactly. Sometimes we may, sometimes we may not.
Now all right, so what are some of the snares we are to look out for? I Timothy 6 v 6 says
1Timothy 6:6 - Now reverence with contentment is great gain.
1Timothy 6:7 - For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.
1Timothy 6:8 - And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
( * reverent means righteousness)
Can we do that? Just be content with our food and with our clothing; and don’t feel like we have to have much more than that.
1Timothy 6:9 - But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Timothy 6:10 - For the love of money is a root of all [kinds of] evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
So this desire to be rich can be a snare. What were called to do is to be content with the bare necessities of food and clothing. It is the lack of contentment that leads to an unholy desire and love for money and riches of this world. Yahushua has pointed out many times; many have fallen into that snare.
Brothers listen, we live in a very wealthy country. Most of us live like kings compared to people even 200 years ago. So, we have to be very, very on guard, very, very cautious about how our lifestyles are. Our money, things that we earn things we have, end up becoming the dominating force in our lives; and were not content with just having food and clothing.
We have to have so much more. We think things are actually needs when in reality they are just wants. So we have to be careful about that. There are so many things that we can buy with our money; that can cause us to get caught up into a snare. We have to be careful. Proverbs 22 verse 5 says
Proverbs 22:5 - Thorns [and] snares [are] in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.
Snares are in what? the way of the perverse.
So what does that mean? Were going to avoid these snares, these thorns? What does that mean to guard your soul? We’ll we have to set up some kind of safeguards. Not talking about adding to the Word of Yahweh and throwing bunch of extra commandments in it. Setting up safeguards is a biblical principal.
A really good practice is to sit down and just write out the things that you have been tempted by in your life. Things that cause you to disobey Yahweh. Write out these things and then come up with some ways in order for us to guard our soul from having falling into these same pits and snares again. For instance a man who has had a problem with alcohol.
Perhaps everyday he went into this bar on way home from work. He would pass by this street and go into this bar and be tempted and have too much to drink and come home and be drunk. For instance lets say this particular individual had repented. They no longer wanted to live that lifestyle; wanted to be a believer for Messiah Yahshua.
One way to set up safeguard for their soul; would be to choose a different route to take on the way home. So don’t pass by that particular bar, don’t get tempted. That would be way of guarding your soul from thorns and snare. There was another individual, guy I knew of; he would go into a particular convenient store. He had problem with pornography.
He would go into this convenience store and there would be these magazines and they were inappropriate. So way he set up safeguard for his soul;was to avoid going into that convenience store to buy anything. He chose different store to go into. Okay. So there are different things we can do.
If we have things that we find that are snare to us. Then we can set up safeguards and guard our souls from way of the perverse.
That’s were the thorns and snares are. There may be other things. Not trying to say we are going to do like the Scribes and Pharisees; and build this extra thing around the law and say it is a sin to go past the bar. It is not a sin to go past the bar. It is just not wise in light of the temptations that you have been faced with in the past..
Maybe the rule for you is not the same rule for everybody else. But a rule you can set up as a safeguard you can set up in your own mind, in your own life, to guard yourself against the ways of temptation. We pray Yahweh, lead us not into temptation, right? But then sometime we end up going into that way of temptation ourselves.
If you know there is particular area that is constantly being a trap to you, then set up a safeguard. Another snare we run into is quote "friends."
Scripture says:
Proverbs 22:24 - Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go,
Proverbs 22:25 - Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.
That’s a pretty serious warning. Never says in the Scripture anywhere " that shall not be friends with a man that has anger issues". Here we have a warning from a Proverb saying, "Don’t make friendship because what happens is you will finding yourself in a snare".
You see, one thing about anger, is when a man does not get what he wants, sometimes he will employ anger and end up getting what he wants. Anger is like a bulldozer. He can knock the trees down, the bulldozer, he is frustrated so he knocks down the trees through his bulldozer. Knock down everybody else, get everybody out of the way, intimidating everyone in his vision.
Thereby thinking he solved the problems. But violence, is basically the root of all his anger. Violence, while it might produce compliance by everyone else, does not really change anybody else perspective. It is just more of the bully mentality that says, you’re going to do what I say because I’m going to make you. Does not really change anybody’s heart.
So the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of Yahweh. When you look at someone having success; because they intimidate everyone with their anger. You may find it works, and think I’m going to try it myself because it works. But it is a sin, its a sin, to treat people that way. Its a snare to your soul, according to Scriptures..
Its a snare, a snare for your soul to be an angry person. Because the root of this anger is hate. And that is a snare. We are called to love and not to hate. That is one kind of friend we are told to avoid. Another kind of friend told to avoid, the flattering man.
Proverbs 29:6 - By transgression an evil man is snared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.
Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in YAHWEH shall be safe.
What happens with flattery is, because the person speaks well of you, they talk highly of you. Then you hear them badmouth everybody else. But you of course they speak very highly of; you begin to fear that person. The loss of that high opinion he has of you.
You begin to fear that this person may not have that high opinion of you next time if you do something contrary to what this particular person wants. By flattery that man can literally sometime control people like a puppet and make them do what he wants. Simply by, it's flattery, it's not sincere praise. It is actually an attempt to control. And by that get you to do what he wants you to do.
You can become his puppet, and in some cases, do wrong to you, do evil to you. That’s the net. So we have this snare, this flattery, which provokes the fear of man; which brings this snare. That’s how people that flatter are able to be so controlling. No one wants to have that person who spoke so well of them, change their mind.
Especially when that same person speaks so bad of everybody else and other people. Kind of doubles up that way. So avoid flattering lips, people who are flatterers. Because it just provokes fleshly things inside of our minds. Now it is okay for someone to offer a word of encouragement, to build you up in the Spirit.
But if it provokes the flesh seeking mans approval, for every little thing; then we end up being very vulnerable. So those are the kind of friends you have to be careful about. Proverbs 29 verse 6 it says
Proverbs 29:6 - By transgression an evil man is snared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.
Guess must have wrong reference there. Someone can look that up perhaps. It was actually verse 5 from previous instance.
That kind of appears to be related to that former verse about being content. The righteous sing and rejoices in what he has and gives praise to Yahweh in all circumstances.
But then others, they have to have more and more so they get involved in the transgressions and can't seem to find their way out of them . Now, another snare is harlotry. In Ecclesiastes 7 v 25 says,
Ecclesiastes 7:25 - I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason [of things], To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness [and] madness.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 - And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart [is] snares and nets, Whose hands [are] fetters. He who pleases Elohim shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
Another example Proverbs 23:27
Proverbs 23:27 - For a harlot [is] a deep pit, And a seductress [is] a narrow well.
Proverbs 23:28 - She also lies in wait as [for] a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.
Proverbs 22:14 - The mouth of an immoral woman [is] a deep pit; He who is abhorred by YAHWEH will fall there.
Now Yahushua taught us that one can engage in harlotry, simply by thinking it in their hearts. This is where the internet comes in. There are websites out there which are set up to entrap men to get them to engage in visual harlotry. So what do we do?
We are on the internet. What can we do to avoid traps pits and snares of harlot women who are parading themselves, and dressing them selves in such a way which is borderline sexual harassment? What can we do? We can set up safeguards. There is not a man on this planet that I know of, who is not at all vulnerable to this type of thing. We all are capable of falling into this kind of snare.
The strongest man in the bible, Samson fell into this type of snare, the wisest man in the Bible Solomon, fell into the snare. The man after Yahweh’s own heart, David fell into this snare. So if the strongest, wisest and man after Yahweh’s own heart, can fall into these snare of this kind of activity, this kind of heart issue; then certainly all of are us are quite capable of falling into this.
So what can we do to set up safeguards for our souls? There is a number of things. Never have a computer that is in a area that is not visible to everybody else in the house. Put that computer in a open place where anybody can sneak up right behind you and see what it is you are watching on the screen.
Also install programs like X3watch , X watch its at xxxchurch.com; which reports any UN-seemly sites to your friends or wife or whatever. Another program called "Covenant Eyes" I think is better program, but it costs money. There are things we can do to be sure those in our household can say with degree of certainty; that yes, we are men of integrity in this area.
In a very minefield filled place such as the internet. We have to do what we can brothers, to avoid this kind of snares.
Do we love Yahweh so much, that not only do we want to avoid sin, but we also want to avoid snares that may cause us to be lead into temptation, cause us to stumble into that sin. I think Yahweh would be pleased if we loved Him so much; that not only do we want to avoid sin, but anything that may cause us to stumble.
Not be arrogant and say like Peter, and " say even if everyone else leaves you, I’ll never leave you I'll never deny you Yahshua ". Then in that boastful heart find ourselves caught up in it. Does not mean we have to walk in fear all the time. You are going to see enough just by going to Walmart. TO where we have to be disciplined in those areas.
We are called though, to not set wicked things before our eyes. Psalms 101 " We should set no wicked thing before our eyes "
Lots of times that wicked thing is going to be on a website. It is going to be on a television or on a movie. The same women who are going to be horrified if husband are watching pornography, have no problem watching an R rated film containing nudity and other things that are totally inappropriate. My point is brothers, let's be careful. Yahweh help us & have mercy on us.
Also I would mention; something I do,as programming. If you have Mozilla Firefox, there is a program called AdBlock Plus. AdBlock Plus, if you install it; only takes about five minutes, you will have it as part of your Firefox. Lots of times you know, I was really getting bothered by a lot of internet ads out there; a lot of them are very sleazy.
When I installed this AdBlock plus, I never see, I almost never see an Ad, very rarely. At least don’t notice it. Whenever I am at Face book, or I’m on Google, or wherever I am at, new sites; hardly ever see any advertising. That is great for me. So then don’t have to be constantly dodging my eves in the minefield, of pictures and visual images to avoid scams and whatever else is going on there.
We are sheep in the midst of wolves brothers. We have to be wise as serpent and harmless as doves. Because thorns and snares are in our paths. We have to be careful. Yashua said Matthew 10:16
Matthew 10:16 - "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
HalleluYah!
1Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1Peter 5:9 - Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
HalleluYah Yahweh help us. So we have to be sober, now sober is, means to have a clear mind. To be aware, to have a certain awareness. Not to think kind of loosely, or to take substances in your body that would cause you to think kinda loosely and not be on guard. Because the lack of sobriety is a major, major snare.
Sometimes even among those who claim to be brethren.
Proverbs 23:29 - Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Proverbs 23:30 - Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.
Proverbs 23:31 - Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, [When] it swirls around smoothly;
Proverbs 23:32 - At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:33 - Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.
Safeguard isnt it? Now it is not really a sin to have one drink or something, you know, for your stomach or whatever, cant say that it is a sin. But I will say, for my own self, not claiming that you have to do this. But my safeguard is to just not drink alcohol at all. Sort of like when we read earlier today in the book. I don’t need it.
Why endanger my soul with something that has ruined million and millions of lives and destroyed million and millions of families? We need to be in our right mind, we need to be sober. So that we can discern evil when it comes.
If we are having a couple of drinks or something, and our mind is not completely on tasks and our judgment of things; we are going to start loosing our edge on discernment. One of the dangers of alcohol is not so much that you cannot walk straight; but it affects your ability to judge properly.
Sometimes having one drink for some people; can get you to point where you don’t have the judgment to decide whether another drink is acceptable. So once you get to a certain point you lose that ability to discern and judge.
Pretty soon another drink then another. And those I know who have been caught up in alcoholism, that’s what happens they think just going to have one drink, then they loose judgment whether another one is good. So for me, why go down that road, why step in to a potential snare?
Because, number one, todays alcoholic drinks are not the same as what you had in ancient Israel. For instance sugar now is added to the wine in order to boost the amount of alcohol content. Anciently the alcoholic content was smaller; and what produced the alcohol in the wine was just the existing sugars that were in the fruit.
Even then, they would add more water to the wines so that wines would last longer and not be so concentrated. So the wines they had in those days are not quite the same as what we have today. What I have been told by some individuals on a wine makers forum; there guess was ancient wines had maybe a 4 - 5 % alcohol content. Interesting.
Our danger is in losing our sobriety;and now wine is not only thing. There is drugs. There is just an overall lack of caution in our minds. We are just not being sober whether to have a drink or not have a drink. We have to be careful whether you had a drink or not had a drink; that we do not lose our edge in discerning "that is evil over there, I need to avoid that".
We are called and actually warned by Yahushua the Messiah about this very same things. In the ends days get caught up in the eat drink and be merry mindset, the eat drink and be merry and be consumed mindset. Rather than a mindset of serving and pouring out.
Matthew 24:45 - "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
Matthew 24:46 - "Blessed [is] that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
Matthew 24:47 - "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
So we are not called to spend ours time in the drink. We need to be feeding others giving them food, Spiritual food.
Matthew 24:48 - "But if that evil servant says in his heart, `My master is delaying his coming,'
Matthew 24:49 - "and begins to beat [his] fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
Matthew 24:50 - "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for [him] and at an hour that he is not aware of,
Matthew 24:51 - "and will cut him in two and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Day of Yahweh is going to come and people are not going to be aware and it will come as a snare on the whole world.
We will get to that later.
We need to be careful we are not caught up in consuming this worlds goods but rather, hearing the Words of Yahweh and providing spiritual food for others. Now other ways we can be ensnared, the words of our own mouth can cause us to fall into snares.
According to,
Proverbs 12:13 - The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of [his] lips, But the righteous will come through trouble.
Proverbs 18:7 - A fool's mouth [is] his destruction, And his lips [are] the snare of his soul.
That is a very common one, Yahshua, He faced these kinds of things; people tried to ensnare Him with His words.
Luke 11:53 - And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail [Him] vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,
Luke 11:54 - lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
To catch means to ensnare or to entrap, or entangle someone into something, is to ensnare them. So,
Matthew 22:15 - Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in [His] talk.
Matthew 22:16 - And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of Elohim in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
Matthew 22:17 - "Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"
Flattery, right? This is a snare.
Matthew 22:18 - But Yahushua perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, [you] hypocrites?
Matthew 22:19 - "Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius.
Matthew 22:20 - And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription [is] this?"
Matthew 22:21 - They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to Elohim the things that are Elohim's."
So, you see just as a fools mouth can be a snare to his own self; the Words of Wisdom here, in this case delivered Yahushua from these snares. See it was Yahweh’s Truth, Yahweh's Wisdom; that discernment that Yahushua had. Discernment #1 These men are not here because they like me; they are here because they want to ensnare me.
He says why do you trick Me you hypocrites? And exposed them for what they were doing. Now it was Yahweh’s Truth that was the Shield Yahushua used..
Psalms 91:2 - I will say of YAHWEH, "[He is] my refuge and my fortress; My Elohim, in Him I will trust."
Psalms 91:3 - Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler [And] from the perilous pestilence.
Psalms 91:4 - He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth [shall be your] shield and buckler.
So Yahweh, and His Truth, will be our shield and protect us from the snares of the enemy and deliver us with His Wisdom, with His Words; just as He delivered Yahushua from these things. Now Yahushua's the one who is trusting In Yahweh. But it was leaders of Yahushua's day that were putting their trust in man, and focusing on fear of men.
And its for that reason they were not fit to be leaders. He said He spoke the parable to them, "can the blind lead the blind, will they not both fall into a ditch?"
Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in YAHWEH shall be safe.
Luke 6:39 - And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?
Now one of the signs you are going to look for in a leader is: does he focus on man, is he man centered and concerned about what man is going to say? If so he is in snare himself; he will say come over to where I am at. And where does he lead you? Into that same condition, that same pit.
So we have to be careful that people we are choosing to lead us, are not focused on the fear of man. It was Yahweh who rejected King Saul, because of that very thing. In 1Samuel 15:24 Saul said when he recognized he did something wrong. He said,
1Samuel 15:24 - Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of YAHWEH and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
talking to the people.. So, that is the reason why Saul was actually rejected from being King over Israel. He was trapped in the fear of men and would have lead all of Israel into that same ditch. Now David, He didn’t care what people thought about him, he danced around, he did whatever. He didn’t really care.
He said sure I'll be humiliated, doesn't really bother me one bit; because in the eyes of Yahweh He sees me, all that matters. That is our attitude, that is what we need to have, all of us as believers, not just leaders.
Here is an example of where Yahushua was able to expose the Scribes and Pharisees and those being those who feared man rather than Elohim.
Matthew 21:23 - Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"
Matthew 21:24 - But Yahushua answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
Matthew 21:25 - "The baptism of John -- where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, `From heaven,' He will say to us, `Why then did you not believe him?'
Matthew 21:26 - "But if we say, `From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."
Matthew 21:27 - So they answered Yahushua and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Matthew 21:28 - "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, `Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'
Matthew 21:29 - "He answered and said, `I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.
Matthew 21:30 - "Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, `I [go], sir,' but he did not go.
Matthew 21:31 - "Which of the two did the will of [his] father?" They said to Him, "The first." Yahushua said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of Elohim before you.
Matthew 21:32 - "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw [it], you did not afterward relent and believe him.
Why didn't they relent?
They were to prideful; ashamed to say they were wrong to begin with, and they knew Him. That’s one problem in denominationalism. When we bring the truth of Yahweh to a pastor or the people in a congregation; as we understand it. For instance, the Sabbath.. Sometimes the pastor will say Oohhh I’ve taught people all these years, but not that way.
Then try to rebuke you. Trying, even though they may recognize your point. When actually down deep in their hearts they believe you.. This denominational mindset keeps everybody right where there at. They can’t repent and come back and say I was wrong.
They come into this mindset with, they think they already have the truth, already arrived, come to us, we have it all. Therefore that closes their mind to anything contrary to what has already happened, even if that thing is true. This we talked about a little bit recently.
Isaiah 42:21 - YAHWEH is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make [it] honorable.
Isaiah 42:22 - But this [is] a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!"
Talking about the Messiah...
In what? In holes. See Yahushua has exalted the Law and made it Honorable, but people in denominations are robbed and plundered, snared, in holes and ditches and prison houses. So we need to be the ones out there to say, "lets restore, lets get back to the 10 Commandments". But, instead the blind are leading the blind.
Both are falling into this snare, this prison house. Now this is a danger of course, I put myself in. As teacher of Yahweh’s Word, if I am blind to something; maybe I am leading somebody into the same ditch that I happen to be in. That is why in Scriptures it says in James
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.
All I can say is,"pray for me". I’ve spoken many words. I am just trying to present the Word of Yahweh and I try to put a lot of Scriptures in my studies because I believe really the Word of Yahweh is a far better teacher than I am.
So if I can collectively gather and present them to you; hopefully those Words from Scripture they can encourage you and build you up to a more upright walk, even as they do myself.
Actually a lot of my studies I’ve shared are things I’ve learned out of failure, so may continue to fail at time to time, so...
Yahweh help us all. Scripture says,
Proverbs 13:14 - The law of the wise [is] a fountain of life, To turn [one] away from the snares of death.
So what is the thing that is going to turn us away from these snares? It is Yahweh's law, Yahweh's words. His wisdom that is going to keep us away from these snares.
2Timothy 2:24 - And a servant of YAHWEH must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
2Timothy 2:25 - in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if Elohim perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
2Timothy 2:26 - and [that] they may come to their senses [and escape] the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to [do] his will.
That is interesting. We here recently, last night we were discussing the calendar issue the topic. The topic is an issue of a debate, a argument sometimes. But I praise Yahweh, we were able to have a really nice conversation. The way it should be.
And escape what? The snare of the devil. So we can brothers, as believers, we can speak words, humbly and in a gentle way; correct those that are in opposition. So they can come out of those snares, come out of those prison houses. Whether it be walls of the church walls of the bar, or within the frame of the television set, internet screen.
Whatever snare has got a hold of somebody. Internet games, time wasters, what ever.. The Words of Yahweh, if we use it rightly can deliver others from these kinds of snares. Now the leaders of Yahushua's day; when they were approached even in gentle ways, would not respond, they would not repent. They were to focused on the fear of men.
But the fear of Yahweh, that is where we need to be.
Proverbs 14:27 - The fear of YAHWEH [is] a fountain of life, To turn [one] away from the snares of death.
Not a snare. Because, if we are too focused on what men say about us, what people think of us, we find ourselves ensnared. If we are putting Yahweh first, saying what would Yahweh think about, do about this? what would Yahweh say? Only way we can really know what Yahweh would say, is by divine revelation and reading the Scriptures.
If we love Yahweh, we will want to read Scriptures. If we don’t love Yahweh we wont really care what the Scriptures have to say or pursue His wisdom. We need to be lovers of His Word. If we are lovers of His Word we are lovers of Him. Why do we visit one another? Why do we go talk to our friend down the street?
Because we like to know what he has to say, we love fellow shipping with our friends, we love Yahweh, we are going to want to know what He has to say. We are going to want to have that fellowship with Him. When it comes down to it and we are faced with these difficult decisions; it is our relationship with Yahweh that we need to be concerned about.
If I did something wrong to my friend; to satisfy another friends request, that would be wrong. Might lose that friendship with the other friend to make the other friend happy. But if I tell this other friend, look I just can’t do that. That would be wrong to do that to my friend. That friend is going to say "that is nice to know I have someone to be looking out for me too".
Based on circumstances like that we actually end up having even more friends.
What about Yahweh? Why don’t we see Yahweh in that way? Do we put Yahweh, on the back burner for now to satisfy our friends? That is a snare. But if we fear Yahweh; it will turn us away from the snares. Yahweh has to be First. Why? Because, He is already there, He is already in first place.
You just have to live your life in recognition that He is #1 in first place. If we live our life in recognition that He is #1 in first place; than we will not going to fall into these snares. These men did not seek the Wisdom.
They erred in false doctrine the men in first century Judaism. We see these Words here in Isaiah actually about that Isaiah 28 7-18.
Isaiah 28:7 - But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble [in] judgment.
Isaiah 28:8 - For all tables are full of vomit [and] filth; No place [is clean].
See how the intoxicating drinks cause us to err and stumble in our judgment?
Isaiah 28:9 - "Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those [just] weaned from milk? Those [just] drawn from the breasts?
Isaiah 28:10 - For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little."
Isaiah 28:11 - For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
What is he talking about here? Have you ever heard people quote this verse and say yeah we need to go into Scriptures. Line here line there read here read there? We need to keep reading this because it is real interesting.
This is the gifts of tongues being spoken of here. Actually Paul quotes this verse in I Cor 14 21. The Word of Yahweh is what?
Isaiah 28:12 - To whom He said, "This [is] the rest [with which] You may cause the weary to rest," And, "This [is] the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
Isaiah 28:13 - But the word of YAHWEH was to them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little," That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.
Very interesting if this is what the Word of Yahweh is to you- just precept, precept, line, line here a little there a little. If that is what it is to you, what is going to happen? You are going to fall backward and be broken and snared and caught Why? because you are pulling verses out of context , rather than reading through.
Now, if that is your habit, just to pull verses out of context all the time. That is all you do and you do not read it through and look at the context of the verse. Then the Word of Yahweh is to you, this little precept this little line this line, that line, you can start putting lines together and come up with all kinds of strange doctrines.
So we have to read through and understand; its okay to quote a Scripture verse. I mean read Paul's letters, read Peters letter, read Yahushua's sermons. He always pulled verses out here there and everywhere. That not bad as long as they are in within context.
A lot of times, yeah, that's what happen people don't read the context and they end up, find themselves in trouble. So, they wanted to catch Yahushua in a snare and the way they wanted to do it was with His Words. This is how they eventually were able to bring Yahushua down and able to ensnare Him in His Words. But His Words were actually the Words of Truth.
Now in Matthew 26:59-66 it says
Matthew 26:59 - Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Yahushua to put Him to death,
Matthew 26:60 - but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward
Matthew 26:61 - and said, "This [fellow] said, `I am able to destroy the temple of Elohim and to build it in three days.'"
He knew they were going to try to ensnare Him with the words of His mouth. What happened? The High Priest placed Yahushua, the High Priest is man of authority, put Yahshua under oath. He said,
Matthew 29:62 -
Matthew 29:63 -
So he placed Yahushua under an oath. Yahushua had to answer. He said,
Matthew 26:64 - Yahushua said to him, "[It is as] you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Matthew 26:65 - Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
Matthew 26:66 - "What do you think?" They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."
So, it was by Yahushua's Words; same thing Stephen said when he was martyred. They falsely accused Him of being blasphemous. But Psalms chapter 110 actually says the very same thing. That Yahweh said to My Master sit at My right hand. So what is going to happen to those who try to ensnare others? What is going to happen?
This is something we have to be careful about brother. We can end up being snares, being stumbling blocks to other people to where they falling into a pit.
Proverbs 26:27 - Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
Another example:
Psalms 7:14 - Behold, [the wicked] brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
Psalms 7:15 - He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch [which] he made.
Psalms 7:16 - His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
Yahushua He speaks here through Psalms 69 verse 21 He says,
Psalms 69:21 - They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psalms 69:22 - Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.
Psalms 69:23 - Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually.
Psalms 69:24 - Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
See Yahushua's talking about those Scribes and Pharisees and Sanhedrin that did these things.
Psalms 69:25 - Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents.
Psalms 69:26 - For they persecute the [ones] You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
Psalms 69:27 - Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness.
See Yahushua basically cursed them in this Psalm here. That those who were wicked men who were not going to repent, not talking about those who were deceived or ignorant. Talking about those who willfully knew He was the the Messiah and crucified Him anyway. They became cursed. So that they would not come to Yahweh's righteousness.
And Yahweh's righteousness, the only way we can get Yahweh's righteousness is through The Messiah; that is how we become righteous. So what happened? The Jewish people the leaders anyway, the Jewish leaders, many of them, fell into that, they were in that path of wickedness and they did not come to Messiah.
For that reason they taught other men to do the same. This was predicted also in Isaiah 8 14 talking about the Messiah.
Isaiah 8:14 - He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 8:15 - And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken."
He is talking about Israel here. They basically fell into there own pit. They wanted a Messiah, the Messiah came and they crucified and killed Him. That very thing that they had done to Him, is the thing they stumbled over. How could the Messiah been crucified?, I cant believe that guy was the Messiah.
The very pit they laid for Messiah is the very pit they fell into; to prevent them from ever receiving Him. Romans 11 tells us that Israel was not cast out forever.
Israel has not obtained what it sought. What? Righteousness. Romans 11:7-11
Romans 11:7 - What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Blind was leading the blind; they both fell into the ditch.
Romans 11:8 - Just as it is written: "Elohim has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day."
Romans 11:9 - And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
That's what I read earlier to you.
Romans 11:10 - Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always."
Romans 11:11 - I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation [has come] to the Gentiles.
so Yahweh turned what was a snare to the Jews into salvation for the Gentiles. Which is very interesting. Now speaking of this, there is going to be a day when the entire earth will be ensnared by a Great Tribulation. A future time in our day today There will be a great tribulation and it will come as a snare upon the whole earth.
Isaiah 24:17 - Fear and the pit and the snare [Are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
Isaiah 24:18 - And it shall be [That] he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Isaiah 24:19 - The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly.
Isaiah 24:20 - The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again.
Isaiah 24:21 - It shall come to pass in that day [That] YAHWEH will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth.
He will punish the wicked how?
Isaiah 24:22 - They will be gathered together, [As] prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished.
Isaiah 24:23 - Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For YAHWEH of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.
So brothers, this world is full of pits, and traps and snares. So what's going to happen, is Yahweh will make it so they fall into that great snare. Just as He did in Babylon. Just as He always does. The very pit the wicked few try to give us to fall into, we sometimes end up falling into will be the pit they fall into. So we are warned about this coming Tribulation.
In luke 21:33 it says:
Luke 21:33 - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Luke 21:34 - "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
The thorns. What day, what day are we talking about?
Luke 21:35 - "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luke 21:36 - "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Tribulation.
So the Tribulation that is predicted to be in our future brothers; is going to come as a snare upon the whole earth. So we are warned; not to let our hearts get weighed down with the cares of this life; and the temporal riches that do not stand. And to pray that Yahweh will count us worthy to escape these things.
So, we need to be sure that we are among those that are doing things we need to do in in order to deliver ourselves and others from the snares and pits. So if we are part of the problem rather than instead of the solution; then we need to fall into the very snares we made for others. Proverbs 28 says.
Proverbs 28:10 - Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, He himself will fall into his own pit; But the blameless will inherit good.
So what happens? Just as satan the devil has sought to cause us to go astray; where is he going to go to? the the bottomless pit.
Revelation 20:1 - Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2 - He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is [the] Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
Revelation 20:3 - and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
There is a bottomless pit called the abyss. This is a place the demons begged Yahushua not to send them. In Luke chapter 8 v 31, they begged that He would not command them to go into the abyss. If you trace this word "abyss" back to the Hebrew; it has to do with the depths of the sea. Interestingly, the demons who were cast out, where did they go?
Luke 8:33 - Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
The lake. So the lake these demons and devils are going to go into, it is a lake, not a lake they might want to go into though. Because it is a lake of fire, the abyss.
Revelation 20:10 - The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [are]. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:11 - Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
They were stumbling blocks; they were snares
Revelation 20:12 - And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before Elohim, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Revelation 20:13 - The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Revelation 20:14 - Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:15 - And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
So we need to heed these warnings! We need to be careful that we are not conducting ourselves in such a way that we are not a snare for somebody else. For instance, a woman, if she is dressed immodestly, and becomes a snare for another person. We do not want to be contributors to the problem.
We want to be contributors to the solution. That is why a woman should wear modest clothing. Or the men, anger of men, for members of the household then in turn become angry people and set snares for their children. There is all kinds of things we can do to become a snare for other people.
So...
Hebrews 12:1 - Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares [us], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:2 - looking unto Yahushua, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.
Hebrews 12:3 - For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12:4 - You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
You know we think we have done battle! We haven't done battle my brothers! Until we have resisted the bloodshed in our strife against sin! This is what we must be willing to do, day after day, because the day may come, sooner or later, probably sooner rather than later; when men will seek to shed your blood.
Because they are thorny men, they cause blood to be shed. They will seek to shed our blood; because we want to be obedient to the Father. Were going to have to not be caught up in the fear of mans snare and focus more on the fear of Yahweh. Which is not a snare, but is life, and freedom and hope.
So, in order to prepare ourselves for the future; and we don't know when that time will come, if in our lifetime if it will, tend to think it will. Don't know, I am not a prophet. We need to prepare ourselves and use this time of plenty, when the Word of Yahweh is in abundance and store up in our hearts His Word.
So that when we come across something foreign to the Spirit of Truth; number one, we will recognize it. Because there is some very, very deceptive thing coming down the pipes. If possible, even the elect would be deceived.
So, we have to focus on that forest of goodness, to walk down that forest of goodness and shut our eyes from wickedness and the hearing of bloodshed as we shared last week.
The hearing of wicked things and turning away from things that are not according to the Spirit of Yahweh. When we fill our minds and our hearts with His Word, during this time of plenty. Just like Joseph seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. You have to have enough in your tank to get you through.
The day may come when they rip the bible out of your hand, the only thing you are going to have is what the Spirit of Yahweh wrote on your hearts, the things you have read the things that Yahweh has inspired in His Words. They can take the word of Yahweh; they can take the Bible from us, but they can't take it out of our hearts. They can't touch that.
Unless we sit listening to them and there words and all the thorns start growing up in our hearts and we don't have the Word of Yahweh there.. So the pinnacle of our faith, brothers, the pinnacle of our faith, which is to walk as Yahushua walked; is to be willing to take the steps that He did. Let it not only be that we Speak the truth.
But, because we speak the truth; even now today, we die to self, and allow ourselves to be humiliated because we are willing to wear the tassels, because were willing to keep the Sabbath. Because, we are not willing to compromise our faith in Him because we don't care what men say. They are not going to be our judges in the final day.
They are not going to be standing there saying, "I think so and so..." Yahweh, and Yahweh alone, because in the end that is all that matters. In the end it is only you and Him and advocate Yahushua next to him. We cant deny Him or His ways or He will deny us. Lets be sober, lets be vigilant.
Because the world has chosen a roaring lion and a devouring lion to be thier ruler..
Proverbs 28:15 - [Like] a roaring lion and a charging bear [Is] a wicked ruler over poor people.
Proverbs 28:16 - A ruler who lacks understanding [is] a great oppressor, [But] he who hates covetousness will prolong [his] days.
Do we hate covetousness? Do we set aside the riches of this age and put value in the spiritual riches more so than the physical riches this world has to offer? Are we storing up treasures for ourselves in the age to come? Do we have a retirement program in the spiritual realm?
Proverbs 28:17 - A man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit; Let no one help him.
Because the roaring lion wants to commit bloodshed against the people of Yahweh; of course he will fall into a bottomless pit himself. So lets flee from the perverse things in this world and diligently guard our soul from the thorns of the world that choke out Yahweh's Word and guard our soul.
Proverbs 22:18 - For [it is] a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
Because there are many my brothers especially in this age; who are the most filthy, disgusting things from Hollywood and very easily fill your living rooms with this garbage. We have to be on guard. Yahweh help us all. And as we seek to walk in the upright ways.
The ways of purity, and focus our minds on what is good, what is pure what is lovely, what is of good report, what is praise worthy and we meditate on those things my brothers... May Yahweh help us and may Yahweh bless you and have mercy upon us all.
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