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In the article entitled "The Only Credentials You Need", I present a variety of Scriptures which reveal exactly what kind of people it is whom the Lord chooses as His servants. As shown in that article, contrary to what some people might expect, God is not the least bit impressed by worldly wisdom. Nowhere does the Bible instruct us to study the teachings of the ancient philosophers, or to waste years of our lives in some place of higher learning such as at a university or at a theological seminary. In many instances, such study serves more to destroy a person's faith in God and His Holy Word, than to strengthen and build upon it. It is for this very reason that the Apostle Paul gave us a very stern warning in the following words:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."


Paul's use of the word "spoil" in the previous verse is very interesting. According to Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, it is derived from the Koine Greek word "sulagogeo". As you can see by the following definitions, it conveys the seriousness of being deceived by such secular knowledge:

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1. To carry off booty
    a. to carry one off as a captive (and slave)
    b. to lead away from the truth and subject to one's sway

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How fitting indeed! Those people who study such things can truly be led away from the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although they may not realize it at the time, they are in fact slowly being placed under bondage as the slaves or captives of the Devil. Not in a physical sense mind you, but rather in a mental and spiritual sense. Through a slow subtle indoctrination process, their foundation of faith is being utterly destroyed.

Following his excellent chapter regarding the subject of faith and works, the Apostle James warns us of the dangers of our tongue. In discussing the sharp difference between godly wisdom and knowledge which builds up and edifies, and worldly wisdom which only seeks to knock down and criticize, James makes the following interesting comments:

"This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."


The first two verses describe the very same kind of worldly wisdom that the ancient Jewish religious leaders had. Sadly, it is this same kind of wisdom that many people continue to cherish today as well. The Jews prided themselves in their rabbinical teachings, and the traditions of their fathers. But just as the Gospels teach us, it was that same devilish wisdom which caused them to criticize and ultimately attempt to "destroy" Jesus, as we can plainly see by the following set of verses. If anyone ever tries to convince you that the unbelieving Jews did not murder Jesus, here is Scriptural proof that they actually did. It was NOT just the Romans:

"Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."


"But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus."


"Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people."


"And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."


"After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him . . . Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? . . . Then said some of them of Jerusalem, is not this he, whom they seek to kill?"


"I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


"Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar."


". . . My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the jJews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."


"And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree."


Jesus clearly recognized the wicked source of His accusers' wisdom; and their dead, dry, spiritless religion. It is for this very reason that He said such things as the following to them regarding how through their man-made traditions, they sought to nullify the very commandments of God:

"But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"


"For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do . . . And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition . . . Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."


If you read the four Gospels and the Book of Acts slowly and carefully, you will begin to understand that the real battle was not happening in the physical realm. It was happening in the spiritual realm; because it was a war of words, just as the Apostle James pointed out in the previous verses. It was a war of opposing ideas and theologies between the Wisdom of God -- which was manifested through Jesus who is the Living Word of God -- and the earthy, devilish wisdom of the Devil, as spoken through the mouths of the Jewish religious leaders who sought to preserve the status quo. The words, wisdom and traditions of the Jewish religionists were thus the ways of death, while the words of Jesus Christ were, and are to this day, the way to Eternal Life. Consider the following verse:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."


Sadly, even in this modern day, the unbelieving Jews continue along this very same deceitful path by exalting -- indeed, in fact worshipping -- the misguided words of their philosophers and rabbis, as found in the Mishnah and the Gemara of their holy book, the Babylonian Talmud. Such is likewise the case with the twelfth century Spanish-born Jewish physician and philosopher, Maimonides. The teachings of this man, as well as others like him, are highly esteemed within Judaism, and are quoted extensively. Meanwhile the words of Jesus Christ are trampled to the ground and ignored.

Another clear example of the exaltation of Jewish law and tradition above the true Spirit of God can be found in the Book of Jubilees. This work came into being in the second century before Christ, during the reign of the Maccabees. Written by a devout Pharisee of unknown identity, the book is basically a rewrite of the Creation account and ancient Jewish history into which the author liberally incorporates the Levitical Code, even though the priestly order of the Levites did not even exist until the time of Moses and Aaron over one thousand years later.

Because of this fact, certain Biblical events which have been preserved in the Christian Old Testament, are either totally omitted from the Book of Jubilees, or else they are distorted, because they were contrary to the Levitical Code which was given to Moses centuries later. Furthermore, while the very legalistic spirit of the written Law reigns supreme throughout the pages of the Book of Jubilees, at the same time, the true spirit of prophecy is heavily suppressed and discouraged. In fact, as I explain in other articles, during the same period that this manuscript was written, exercising the gift of prophecy was punishable by excommunication from the synagogue or temple. The Jewish religionists simply did not want to hear the real voice of God, just as occurred when they stoned Stephen in the Book of Acts. Consider the following verses:

"Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul."


To give you another example, some of these ancient Jews were so deluded by their own works of humanistic reasoning and earthly wisdom, that they believed that prince, prophet and priest John Hyrcanus was the promised messiah. They were so blinded to the truth, that they expected him to usher in the messianic kingdom, in which the Jews would overcome all of their enemies, men would live to be a thousand years old, and the Earth would slowly and physically be transformed into a new earth.

Of course, as we know today, the Lord shook them up terribly when their expectations failed to materialize. Instead, they soon found themselves the victims of cruel Roman oppression and domination. Ironically, when their actual Messiah did arrive on the scene less than one hundred years later, these very same Jews who considered themselves to be so wise in their own conceit, soundly rejected Him, and accused Him of being possessed by the Devil; as we can determine by the following group of verses:

"But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."


"And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils."


As I explain in other articles, part of the reason why this legalistic attitude existed at this time in Jewish history, is because the ancient Jewish religious hierarchy totally rejected the Lord's true Prophets, whom in His mercy, He had sent to them one after the other. As an example, consider what Jesus said in one of His most forceful exposés against the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees who were filled with themselves, their own wisdom, and with their own ways:

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."


Following are some additional verses which are found in both the Old and the New Testaments, which clearly reveal how the true Prophets of the Lord were rejected by the people they were sent to warn"

"Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD."


"I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me."


"And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."


"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."


As I point out in such articles as the series "The Fruits of Disobedience", the Israelites -- and by extension, the Jews themselves, who were one of the original Twelve Tribes of Israel -- have an extremely long history -- thousands of years, in fact -- of ignoring the Lord's warnings, and going their own way. This sad truth becomes evident in verses such as the following:

"Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:"


"Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way."


"And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."


"Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel."


"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works."


"Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest."


"They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand."


"For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."


"O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return."


"Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it."


"And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination."


"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth."


"But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction."


"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD."


"And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them . . . And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction."


"Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered."


"And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not."


"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods."


"Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations."


"They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD."


"Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt."


"Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD."


"But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts."


Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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