Rev. 7:10, 14, Salvation be to our Elohim, Who sits on the throne, and to

the Lamb ... and these are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

March-April 2021 Volume 43, No. 2

The Master Key is dedicated to opening the door to sound Bible understanding. The true names of the Heavenly Father, Yahweh, and His Son, Yahshua the Messiah, are restored in this publica-tion. The “lying pen of the scribes” (Jeremiah 8:8) and the “experts in the law” (Luke 11:52), as well as Bible translators, took away the key of knowledge by substituting titles—God, Lord, Adonai—for the true names. They also neglected other Bi-ble truths proclaimed in these pages. The Sacred Name is easily proved in most good encyclopedias and dictionaries under the heading “Yahweh,” “Jehovah,” “god” or “Tetragrammaton.” You may also request our free booklets, “The Heavenly Father’s Great Name,” and “The Missing J” for a wealth of well-known secular and religious sources that prove the Sacred Name in de-tail. The Master Key is published by Yahweh’s Assembly in Messi-ah, 401 N. Roby Farm Rd., Rocheport, MO 65279, (573) 698-4335, FAX (573) 698-3305. Although we offer a free, one-year subscription, your freewill donation is welcomed and will help spread the news of the coming Kingdom of Yahweh to the entire world. We sincerely thank you for your support!

Weekly Sabbath Services

Rocheport, Missouri: Pastor George Garner,

Yahweh’s Assembly in Messiah, (573) 698-4335, Services 1:00 pm

Bethel, Pennsylvania: Pastor Jacob C. Meyer

Yahweh’s Free Brethren, (717) 933-2281, Services 1:30 pm

Vicksburg, Mississippi: Pastor Robert L. Lewis, (318) 757-3714,

Services 11:00 am

Kenya: Bishop Peter Kihara, Messianic Assemblies of Yahweh,

PO Box 79007 (Code 00400), Nairobi, Kenya Africa, Phone 726-592-890

Editor in Chief Elder George Garner

Managing Editor Renette Burgett

Proofreaders

Alicia Barnard

Renette Burgett

Pat Fugate

Sarah Hubble YAIM Website www.yaim.org

Children’s Website www.yahwehschildren.org

Table of Contents

1—The Passover Cup Elder Ed Burgett

3—Passover & Unleavened Bread Invitation

4—Yahweh Lives in His Servants

5—Offer for Free Bible Course

6—Roadmap to Eternal Life

10—Letter from our Mailbox

11—Parable of the Ten Virgins Elder William Bodine

14—Yahshua vs. “Jesus” Elder Eliyah

15—Passover and Your Future

16—Greeting Card Fundraiser 17—Messiah Our Passover Sean Killian

BACK COVER— Free Booklet Offer

March-April 2021 Master Key Volume 43, No. 2

Cover photo: Spring Lambs © Lukas Gojda |

www.shutterstock.com

The Passover Cup

Why do we “lift up the cup” on Passover eve, the be-ginning of the fourteenth? In Exodus 12, we see the slaughtering of a lamb, its blood placed upon the door-post, and its flesh eaten, along with eating unleavened bread and bitter herbs. In keeping the first Passover, the Israelites were learning the meaning of “pasach,” which means “a hopping over or a covering” that was given to Israel when Yahweh struck the Egyptians so that they would set His people free. Going back into the Old Testament under the covenant of obedience, not only did Israel keep the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, but in addition, they were to wave a grain offering during Unleavened Bread to Yahweh—the day after the weekly Sabbath: When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest (Leviticus 23:10-16). The first grain harvest was barley. In the month of Abib, or “green ears,” Israel would begin looking for the first green shoots of bar-ley to determine the beginning of the new year. This was also to be determined by the new moon which does not correspond to man’s fixed calendar. So the Hebrew new year would have been determined by the sighting of the new moon in March or early April and green ears of barley would be seen. Once the new moon was seen in the month of green ears, the countdown to Passover began. On the tenth day of Abib, a lamb was selected, and on the fourteenth, it was slaughtered. At the first Passover, the Israelites were told, And thus you shall eat it, with a belt on your waist, your san-dals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste; it is Yahweh’s Passover (Exodus 12:11). Paul teaches in Colossians 2 that the feasts of Yahweh are a shadow of things to come, or a similitude of the Messiah, and we are to follow His example. Then Yahshua ...took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28; see also Hebrews 9). Yahshua’s sacrifice ...has made the first obsolete, so

that now, what is becoming obsolete and growing old, is ready to vanish away. The blood of bulls and goats was offered to wash away unintentional sins, but Yahshua’s shed blood was able to wash away all sins—intentional, as well as unintentional (see Hebrews 8:13; 1 John 1:7). No longer was just a lamb offered with un-leavened bread and bitter herbs. Now the “cup of salva-tion” had to be lifted up by those who desired deliver-ance from the bondage of sin. For indeed Messiah our Passover was sacrificed for us (Hebrews 5:7). Now, when Passover is kept, the cup is lifted up, with spiritual significance: ...this cup is the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in re-membrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Master’s death till He comes (1 Corinthians 11:24-26). At the time of Yahshua’s appearance, they failed to understand Who He was, and what His purpose was. They also failed to understand the divorce of Israel, the ten Northern tribes and that only the tribe of Judah re-turned to Yahweh, and then, only in “pretense.” These things were not understood at Yahshua’s first coming, and they are still misunderstood today. They neither see, nor understand the purpose of the Messiah (Acts 4:24-

27). But Israel must come to understand that which is written under the old agreement in the Old Testament: For My people have commit-ted two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13). [Israel] transgressed the laws, changed the ordi-nance, and broke the everlasting covenant (Isaiah 24:4-5). The covenant was broken through the inten-tional sin of idolatry (Jeremiah 3). The curse of the law had been placed upon them, and the death sentence pronounced. Israel chose death and evil, but Yahweh purposed a deliverance message (Ephesians, chapter 1; Jeremiah

18:1-18). Deuteronomy 30:15-16, See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I com-mand you today to love Yahweh your Mighty One, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and Yahweh your El will bless you in the land which you go to possess. Yahshua was “foolishness” to the Greek, and a “stumbling block” to those of Judah, but to those called, He was Messiah—the power and wisdom of Elohim. A remnant of Israel has attached themselves to Yahshua (Romans 9:21-29). They understand that the covenant between Israel and Yahweh was broken. Now, a differ-ent Mediator was needed to bring Israel back into the covenant. A better High Priest with a better sacrifice was needed to purge Israel of her intentional sin of idolatry (Hebrews 7 and 9).

By: Elder Ed Burgett

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Yahshua became a Kinsman who would redeem; a Husband who would possess the harlot Israel. Only through the death of a husband could Israel be set free so that she could go and be possessed by another (Romans 7:1-3). He has put all things under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that Yahweh may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:27-28). A curse is upon this earth and retribution is coming (Revelation 1:13-16; Malachi 4:6). Judgment will begin with the House of Israel (1 Peter 4:17). A cover-ing is needed today, just as it was at the original Passo-ver. Yahshua said concerning the cup at Passover: Drink from it, all of you, for this is My blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remis-sion of sins (Matthew 26:27-28). Yahshua has offered this “cup” to a dying world, a world that denies Him, and who would rather believe falsehood. Yahshua is coming as Yahweh’s righteous-ness to establish His Kingdom—the sovereignty of Yah-weh upon this earth, to Israel first, then to those of the nations who desire to attach themselves to Him. “Behold the days are coming,” says Yahweh “that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness; a king shall reign and prosper … Now this is His name by which He will be called, Yahweh our righteousness (Yahweh Tsid-kenu, Jeremiah 23:6). The cup is the heart of the reconciliation message (Hebrews 2:17). The Spirit of Eloah was in Messiah, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19; John 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:27-28). What shall I render to Yahweh for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of Yahweh. I will pay my vows to Yahweh now in the presence of all His people (Psalm 116:12-14). For the saints who lift up the cup on Abib 14, these words hold the truth: O death, where is your sting, O grave, where is your victory? Death is swallowed up in victory—Yahshua’s death and resurrection (1 Corin-thians 15:54-55)! Our faith insures us that the holy days (moedim) are a serious spiritual endeavor that needs our individual at-tention. Yahweh expects His called-out ones to under-stand this underlying message: Yahshua was foolishness to the nations, and many times to Israel, a stumbling block. To the nations, it was merely a religious exercise in futility; to the nation, Israel, a stumbling block, be-cause many have yet to understand what Yahweh’s commanded holy days truly teach us. In keeping these holy days, we gain the understanding Paul had when he wrote about the feast days being a shadow of things to come. By keeping Passover in the Old Testament, it meant receiving a covering, while the firstborn of Egypt were being struck down. Passover then was preparation for the coming out of bondage from Egypt. Staff in hand, sandals on their feet, Israel left their severe bondage in haste. For a believer today,

Unleavened Bread represents the removal of sin and false doctrine out of one’s life (Exodus 12; Matthew 16:6-12). Participating in the Passover gives us faith that the blood of Yahshua will cover us upon His return, when He will bring retribution upon this lawless earth. His saints (1 Corinthians 1:2), having lifted up His cup of salvation, will be spared (Revelation 19; Matthew 16:26-28). Partaking of the unleavened bread, spiritually speaking, should teach us: Purge out, therefore, the old lump, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened, for even Messiah, our Passover, is sacri-ficed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincer-ity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). In the Old Testament, removing the leavening ad-dressed the physical house; but in the New Testament, we take the leavening out of our physical house, as well as our spiritual house. In Hebrews 3, we read, And Mo-ses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spo-ken after; but Messiah, as a Son over His own house; whose house we are if we hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end … we are those spiritual houses. You are Elohim’s build-ing, you are the temple of El, that the Spirit of El dwells within you (1 Corinthians 3:9, 16). Peter emphasized this message by writing: Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies … as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. If so you have tasted that Yahshua is gracious. To Whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of El, and precious, you also as liv-ing stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Eloah by Yahshua the Messiah (1 Peter 2:1-5). After reading these scriptures, we can ascertain that we’ve been brought out of spiritual Egypt, and have been brought into a spiritual house having Yahshua as the principle Steward. Blessed be the Mighty One and Father of our Master Yahshua, Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in the Anointed … having predestinated (marked us out) unto the adoption of children by Yahshua to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will … that in the dispensation (household management stewardship) of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in the Messiah, both which are in heav-en, and which are on the earth, even in Him (Ephesians 1:3-10). We are a spiritual people who worship, not wood and stone, but Yahweh. We are a part of a spiritual house, lively stones that have helped build it up, yet erected by Yahshua, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yahshua the Messiah, He Himself being the chief cornerstone … in whom you also are built together for an habitation of Eloah through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

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The leavening in a person’s heart will bring desolation to his house and its occupants. Notice: It is the leavening of the heart. The preacher of wisdom wrote these words: My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:20-23). That which comes out of man, defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications … blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man (Mark 7:20-23). Jeremiah writes, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? Like the leavening in bread, so is sin within a man. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:6)? James gives wisdom which was imparted to him by Yahweh’s Holy Spirit as he taught: Be you doers of the word and not hearers only … For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 1:22 and 2:10). After becoming a part of the deliverance message through Yahshua, we need to address Paul’s teachings: And be not conformed to this world, but be trans-formed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of Elohim (Romans 12:2). For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life

and peace (Romans 8:6). For the law of the Spirit of life in Yahshua has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, Eloah, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, con-demned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4). The commandment instructs us to keep Unleavened Bread, but the spiritual application of Unleavened Bread would be to purge out any leavening in our hearts and minds. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in the newness of life by the power of the Spirit—the “Comforter” given to us by Yahshua (John 14:15-18). As unleavened bread draws near, seek the circumcision of the heart to love Yahweh (Deuteronomy 30:6). Cir-cumcise yourselves to Yahweh and take away the foreskins of your heart (Jeremiah 4:4). I, Yahweh, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:10; Luke 6:43-45). As Passover and Unleavened Bread approach, may each and every household prepare to lift up the cup, as we have, hopefully, removed the leavening from our hearts in preparation for Passover. May Yahweh bless and keep you. May His counte-nance shine upon you, and may the peace of our Messiah Yahshua be in your homes!

Celebrate the Spring Holy Days with us!

Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread will soon be here. We will be looking for the new moon of Abib on Sunday evening, March 14, 2021. If it is seen, we will be keeping the Passover memorial on Satur-day evening, March 27. Since this is a critical new moon, we are asking you to please call us at the YAIM office—573-698-4335, or 660-888-6299 or 573-239-5600 to report your sighting as soon as you see the new moon in your area. Please leave a message if no one answers your call. Green (young tender) ears of barley must be seen in Jerusalem to make this the first month of the year (Abib) according to Deut. 16:1. You can go on our website (www.yaim.org) Sunday night, March 14, and check “What’s Happening” at the top of the Home Page to see confirma-tion of the new moon of Abib. We are making plans to celebrate the entire eight days of Passover and Unleavened Bread with services, Bible studies, activities and fellowship meals each day. Please let us know if you plan to attend. We are looking forward to a wonderful Passover celebration with the family of Yahweh!

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YAHWEH

Lives in His

Servants

T his is a changing world with so many blessings from Yahweh, and yet evil also abounds. How can we know what is truth and what is error? The word

of Yahweh is a true and living word. So then, let us hear the facts. Yahweh speaks personally to you and to me. Listen: Isaiah 47:18, Ezekiel 14:16, 17:19 and 20:33 all say: “As surely as I live,” declares Yahweh… And to His children and servants He said, Seek Me and live, Amos 5:4.

Yahshua speaks and here are His words, Just as the Fa-ther is living and sent Me and I live because of the Fa-ther, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. Be reminded again, Yahweh lives! Praise be to Him. Yahweh knows His servants and He is able to rescue them out of any circumstances. He is all strength and has all power. He is our Mighty One. Therefore, we would do very well to trust in Him. Let me say this and take it to heart: Let us build up our faith and trust in Him. Whatev-er comes our way, He knows and strengthens us to bear it for His sake. This should be our prayer: “Father, build our faith in You. Make us strong, bold and courageous. You are our sureness—our surety!”

Set all your confidence in Him, as His child. If you be-come a servant of the Almighty, and He WILL bless you! For the eyes of Yahweh range throughout the earth and He strengthens those whose hearts are fully com-mitted to Him, 2 Chronicles 16:9.

So many times, we find this expression in the Scrip-tures—that He lives—and it is just this very expression that we are always to have in the forefront of our minds. In our daily lives, we must practice trusting in Him.

We have the facts before us that we have a living Father at our side, but we sometimes put Him in a corner and act as if He is not moving or seeing what we’re doing. He is now what He was from the beginning of all creation. He has the same sovereign power, and the same love toward those who love and serve Him. He will do for us now what He did for so many others thousands of years ago. He is the same—past, present, future. He is living and unchanging—forever the same. Be assured that if you walk with Him, and look to Him to provide your needs—whatever it is—He will never fail you! Just keep having faith in this: All things work together for good to those

who love Yahweh and to them who are called accord-ing to His purpose, Romans 8:28.

Sometimes we may be faced with sickness, financial problems, or frustrated plans and efforts, but Yahweh will give us the strength to overcome them all! Beloved, is there any entity greater than Yahweh? He alone can and will be our help in any circumstance—our encourage-ment, which will never fail. In the greatest of difficulties, in the heaviest of trials, in deepest poverty and necessity, Yahweh has never failed to provide for me. I was able, by His sufficient grace, to trust Him and He always appeared for my help. Sometimes, that help was different from my thinking—what I was expecting—but it was a help in-deed. Therefore, I do delight in speaking of Him as my Helper. I am joyful and thankful to know Him and have Him as my Guide and personal Adviser. It is a true state-ment written in Matt. 12:34-35: For out of the over-flowing of the heart, the mouth speaks.

What is in my heart brings me into a closer contact with the ever-living Father. He will preserve those who obey His commandments and those who will remain faithful, obedient and loyal. Worthy are You, our Sovereign and Elohim, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for You created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created, Revela-tion 4:11.

I know a brother in Yahshua who is very dear to me. Let me tell you what I have learned from him. He counted as his greatest spiritual asset his unwavering consciousness in the realization that Yahshua was actually present in his daily life! He was independent in his own feelings, but he knew and made sure that Yahshua’s presence was always evident in him. Whenever his mind was free from other matters, it would turn to his Master and Creator. He would talk to Yahshua as naturally as we would talk to a human friend. He was a peaceful man, so full of joy and love that everyone could see Yahweh’s spirit and Yahshua’s image shining from him! I would like to en-courage each one of us to make that our goal—allowing Yahshua to live and reign in our lives, even before His Kingdom is established on this earth!

Brethren, as children of the Most High, we must choose to live a righteous life. We should be experimenting with and exercising our faith, thereby producing a spirit-filled oneness and unity with our Heavenly Father and His be-loved Son.

In light of all that is happening in our nation, world, and in our own lives, do you find yourself trying to deal alone with adversities? Sometimes, in our inner beings, we want to control situations ourselves, but they could be resolved so much more effectively if we would allow Yahshua to act through us, speak for us, and rule in us as our Master. We must stand on His word and emulate His righteous character, and in so doing, He will, as He prom-ised, abide in us. That is our destiny—He in us and we in Him. Be a faithful bond servant to Yahshua now and He

March-April 2021 The Master Key Page 4

will make you kings and priests in the Kingdom to come.

“Yahweh, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me show love. Where there is injury, let me show pardon. Where there is doubt, let me show faith. Where there is despair, let me show hope. Where there is darkness, let me show light. Where there is sad-ness, let me show joy. Grant me that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life!”

My beloved brothers and sisters in the faith, do not despair . Yahweh is the Elohim of all hope if you will be committed to Him. And with spiritual eyes, we can see Him, even though He is invisible. Do not indulge in the passing pleasures of sin, but look to your reward for overcoming life’s adversities.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the con-viction of things not seen, and know that without

faith, it is impossible to please Yahweh, Heb. 10:35-39; Heb. 11:1-2, 6, 2 Cor. 4:17-18 and 1 John 2:3- 6. Yahweh reigns in sovereignty over all that may come against us. He will vindicate His own and will justly judge the unrighteous follower. Yahweh is omnipotent and knows His true servants. We need Him in our lives, our inner beings—in our actions, beliefs and obeying His commandments.

We need Yahshua, the Lamb of Yahweh, as our High Priest, to reconcile us to Yahweh our Father—the Giver of life. Instead of death, joy for sadness, strength for weakness and comfort for distress.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only Elohim our Savior, through Yahshua Messiah our Master, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, now, and forever (Jude 24 and 25)!

May we all be worthy to stand before Him, having been loyal to the end. HalleluYah!

Get on Course

Many people today do not understand life and why they are here. They live confused lives in pursuit of fleeting happiness. But an understand-ing of Biblical truth can change that. The Bible will give direction to one’s life because it was given by Yahweh Himself as an instruction book for man. A basic understanding of Scripture can give meaning to your life and put the world in proper perspective. Write for our Bible study course, or take it online. It is free and, most importantly, it can guide you toward the path of righteousness with study and prayer. Contact us today!

Yahweh’s Assembly in Messiah

401 N. Roby Farm Rd.

Rocheport, MO 65279

(573) 698-4335

officestaff@yaim.org

www.yaim.org

March-April 2021 The Master Key Page 5

There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it are the ways of death (Pro 14:12, 16:25). Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps (Jer 10:23).

In our daily lives, we always (or should) use directions of some sort in order to lead us to a desired outcome. In baking, we use a recipe. In science, mathematics, and engineering, we use experimental data and formu-las. In travel, we use a road map and direction signs. In seeking eternal life, we should use the directions given in the written word of our Creator to reach the desired goal—we need a road map to eternal life if we are to successfully navigate the pitfalls and mis-directions of life. Those who accept the volumes of evidence that the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures are the word of our Creator should then look there for the road map to that ultimate goal.

[For those who would like to see a more detailed dis-cussion of that evidence, consider studying Lesson #20, “Apologetics: A Logic Sequence on Metaphys-ics” of the “Bible Study Course” available on the YAIM website. Simply navigate to the Edification sec-tion at www.yaim.org and click on “Bible Study Course”. You can also request our entire correspond-ence course, which is free of charge, to be mailed to you.]

In the garden, our first father and mother were given the option of choosing to eat (ingest, take in) from the fruit of the Tree of Life, but they were forbidden to eat

of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of that command, we read: Yahweh Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17). Our first parents were given the option of eating of the tree of life, but they were commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, which option did they choose? Actually, there was no option given, only a generous permission and a stern, prohibition. So, once again, which way did they go? Which path did they follow? So silly of us to ask—they were human, too, and we are told by the wise man of the Proverbs, There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it are the ways of death (Pro 14:12, 16:25). And through the prophet Jeremiah, Yahweh reveals that the way [roadway, path] of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct [navigate] his [own] steps (Jer 10:23). So what is the right path that we are to navigate on our trip to eternal life? First we need to recognize that, inspired by the spirit of Yahweh, the Apostle Paul made clear that, ...a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by [trusting in] Yahshua, Messiah, even we have [trusted] in Yahshua, Messiah, that we might be [regarded as innocent] by [trusting in] Messiah, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be [regarded as innocent] (Gal 2:15-16). That is the same message of the free gift of forgiveness through Yahshua the Messiah revealed by the apostle whom Yahshua loved (Jn 21:7) when, in a soliloquy in his record of the life of the Messiah, he said: …whosoever trusts in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For [Yahweh] so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever trusts in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn 3:15-16). Yes, and in addition, we know that ...if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to [Yahweh] by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be delivered by His life (Rom 5:10). And we also know that ...the [free] gift of [Elohim] is eternal life, through Yahshua the Messiah our Master (Rom 6:23). And Paul was even more direct and precise in his letter to the Romans where he said, For all have sinned, and come short of the esteem of [Elohim]; being

Roadmap to

Eternal Life

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justified freely by His gift through the redemption that is in the Messiah Yahshua: Whom [Elohim] has set forth to be a propitiation [atoning victim] through trust [confidence] in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of [Elohim]; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Yahshua (Rom 3:23-26). But notice carefully the underlined clause. This gift of forgiveness, this trust we are to have, is confidence in the kindness Yahweh provides us in pardoning us and removing the death penalty incurred by our sins that are past. In that we now understand that sin is the breaking of the law (1 Jn 3:4), and that the wages of sin is death (Rom 3:23), we should now also know that to be free from that death penalty does not provide license to willfully put ourselves under the curse of the law again and again. The curse of the law that Paul wrote so frequently of is the curse detailed in Deuter-onomy chapter 28 where Yahweh, through Moses, laid before the Israelites the gifts and penalties inher-ent in the keeping or breaking of His righteous laws. But just exactly what is it that we are to believe that our Redeemer reveals to us that will put us on the path to eternal life? To trust in someone is to follow their directions and have confidence that they will provide the desired outcome—that they will lead us to our aspired goal, our teleological destination. So, too, it is in this case. Yahshua is recorded as teaching His students, And why do you call Me, Master, Master, and not do the things which I say (Lk 6:46)? So, too, His Father condemned physical Israel for a similar lack of recognition of His authority when he said, The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, My people do not consider (Is 1:3). He had told them the way of life, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live (Deu 30:19), and they, and we all, chose, and keep choosing the way of death. So then, our teacher Yahshua, tells us: ...he that hears My word, and believes in Him that sent Me, has ever-lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (Jn 6:24). And in praying to His Father on the night before He was mur-dered, He revealed to His students, And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true Elo-him, and Yahshua the Messiah, whom You have sent (Jn 17:1-3). Ah! So there it is. Our guide, our roadmap—the Scriptures—tell us that we must trust in, believe, and

obey our heavenly-sent Teacher, and one of the things He tells us will keep us on the path to eternal life is to “know” His heavenly Father as the only true [Elohim]. In addition, Yahshua responded to the very question we are now asking when, answering a man of His time, asking about what he must do to inherit eternal life, He said, ...if you will enter into life, keep the commandments (Mt 19:17). Perhaps we may rightly ask whether there are more signs on our roadmap beyond our trusting in the power of forgiveness through Yahshua the Messiah’s death to cancel the death penalty incurred by our past sins, acknowledging Yahweh as the only true Creator Being and keeping all their commandments. Shouldn’t we be doing something actively? Shouldn’t we have some over-arching activity to work on as we follow this road we have been put on? The hints are there in our roadmap, but to find the answer, it will be necessary to piece together a number of scriptures which only together indicate how we are to achieve our goal of a purposeful, eternal life. Christian theologians and their preacher peddlers of lawlessness warn us that we are not even permitted to ask such a question. Our salvation is based on faith alone, they say, and all other considerations lead down the slippery slope of works of the law, by which no man is justified (Gal 2:16). But is that so? Have we no right to ask? Do the Scriptures, our roadmap, not seem to indicate more? As Paul explained to the Galatians, For as many as are of the works of the law [that which the law works in us, which is death—Rom 7:5] are under the curse: for it is written, “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them” (Gal 3:10). So Paul is clearly saying here and elsewhere that the work, the product of the law, produces the curses detailed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, since all have sinned and come short of the esteem of [Elohim] (Rom 3:23). We have already read where our Teacher revealed to His inquisitor that to have eternal life, he (and we) must keep the commandments (Mt 19:17), and then making it clear that He was referencing at least half of the Ten Commandments. So let’s let Scriptures, not the professional interpreters of the Scriptures, with their own rebellious, anti-law ax to grind, lead us to the true conclusion. In one of his many life-long trips to Jerusalem and back from the region of Galilee, Yahshua stopped at a well for a drink. To the Samaritan woman He met there, He revealed to her (and us) that ...the hour is coming, when you shall neither in this mountain [Mount Gerizim, the high-place of Samaritan

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worship], nor yet at Jerusalem [the high-place of Jewish, ritual worship], worship the Father. You worship what you do not know: we [those following the Jewish, ritual religious observances] know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. [Elohim] is spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:21-24). The Jews knew (or at least believed that they knew) Father Yahweh, even though they refused to address Him by His revealed family name. They fulfilled the “knowing” the one true Elohim part of the requirements, but by their actions, they indicated that they missed out on the key purpose of it all. Yahshua reveals that to worship Father Yahweh, we must wor-ship Him two ways: 1) in spirit, and 2) in truth, and that He is actively seeking such a body of worshipers. But what does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? That sounds very formal, and very serious to us, but what exactly was our Teacher telling the Samaritan woman at the well, as well as us? Well, to worship in spirit certainly means to recognize that the Almighty Yahweh, our Father, is spirit, not matter—not a part of His creation. As we are warned in the first two of the Ten Commandments, we are not to represent, worship or even think of Him in any physical way. As the Apostle Paul told the Greek philosophers in Athens, For in Him [Yahweh] we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring. So then as we are the offspring of [Elohim], we ought not to think that the [Elohim-type] is similar to gold, or silver, or stone, sculptured by skill and man’s deliberation (Acts 17:28-29). We, and the entire universe exists because He exists to continually uphold and sustain it. So then we MUST worship Him as the supreme Creator spirit being that exists, and causes all to exist, as the very definition of His name, Yahweh, implies—see Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary definition for His name at H3068. But what also of worshiping Him in truth? What does that mean? Strong’s defines the Greek word, aletheia translated truth here as being from the Greek word, alethes, meaning not concealing, not hiding, and not without understanding, which is to say that we are to worship Him as the one true Elohim openly, without reservation, by name (in order to identify just who/what it is that we are worshiping), and in a knowing, revealed manner. It is to be true worship, not feigned worship. Our worship of Father Yahweh is to be not just ritual, not a rote performance according to the

sleight of men, cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive (Eph 4:14). No, our worship in truth must be the natural and open appreciation of the One in whom we live, and move, and have our being, in accordance only with His prescribed rituals. Next, our Teacher revealed to a crowd of astounded and offended followers that, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day … As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats Me, even he shall live by Me (Jn 6:54, 57). This statement, of course, shocked the listeners who only took what He said liter-ally. After all, even the common people with only a cursory knowledge of the Torah would have heard the often-repeated, stern prohibition not to eat (drink) blood (Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17, 7:26, 17:10-12, 17:14, 19:26; Deu 12:16, 12:23, 15:23), for the life of the flesh is in the blood (Gen 9:4, 17:10-12, 17:14; Deu 12:23). To do so would have been anathema to any pious Jewish believer of that time. But Yahshua was not indicating that they should be cannibals as they appeared to think (Jn 6:52). As He later explained in private to His students, It is the spirit that enlivens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, are spirit, and are life (Jn 6:63). He had been making a spiritual point, not a physical point, to the those chasing after Him looking for another free lunch. He was referencing back to His statement about worshiping in spirit and truth that He had revealed to the Samaritan woman at the well near Sychar. He was referencing back to the life-giving fruit of the Tree of Life in the garden, which our first parents sadly did not choose. But what does it mean, spiritually, to ingest His blood, His life’s being? On the night before He died, Yahshua told His closest students, I and My Father are one (Jn 10:30), and later prayed to His Heavenly Father to keep through Your own name those who You have given Me, that they may be one, as we are one (Jn 17:11). There is a saying that you are what you eat, which is reasonable and scientific, since we start as a speck of protoplasm within our mother, and grow from then on based only on what she and we eat from that moment of conception. To eat something is to take it in, to make it part of ourselves. So, too, it is in the spirit realm. Symbolically speaking, when we were told to eat His body and drink His blood in order to take in eternal life, our Teacher was telling us that we must absorb all of what He is, all of His character and nature, which is His life, if we are to have His eternal life within us. He was pointing out the remaining way markers, or signs, along our road to eternal life. He

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was one with His Father, Yahweh, Who is life-eternal, intrinsically. As He perfectly expressed His image, His nature, so we are also to do so. Paul, writing to his Hebrew brothers, elaborates on Yahshua’s manifestation of that heavenly nature when he writes, ...[Father Yahweh’s] Son … Who being the brightness of His majesty, and the express image of His person... (Heb 1:3). Strong’s Greek Dictionary expands on the Greek word here translat-ed into the English phrase, express image, stating:

G5481 χαρακτηρ charakter khar-ak-tar' From the same as G5482; a graver (the tool or the person), that is, (by implication) engraving ([“character”], the figure stamped, that is, an exact copy or [figuratively] representation).

So Yahshua, being one with His Father, perfectly illustrated Father Yahweh’s nature, His attitude, His character—what the Scriptures refer to as the Kodesh Spirit. So He said, I and My Father are one (Jn 10:30). Notice even the pronunciation of the Greek word used here is khar-ak-tar. It is the root from which the English word character is derived, imply-ing an intrinsic attitude or nature—that which makes a person an individual. So, too, the believer on the path to eternal life must also take in the nature, the character, the Kodesh Spirit of the Eternal One if he is to also have that eternal life within. Yahshua prayed, Keep through Your own name those who You have given Me, that they may be one, as we are one (Jn 17:11). That is our guide, our sign-post along the path to eternal life—taking in (ingesting) and exhibiting the very character of Fa-ther Yahweh every day of our lives. Paul illustrates this oneness even more intimately when he quotes from Genesis 2:24, which says, For this, a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. The mystery is great, but I speak as to the Messiah and as to the assembly (Eph 5:31). The two shall become one, but what is the goal of such a oneness with our Teacher and His Heavenly Father? Paul adds the concluding piece of the puzzle in his letter to the believers in Rome when he wrote, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against [Elohim]: for it is not subject to the law of [Elohim], neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please [Elohim]. But you are not in the

flesh, but in the spirit, if so it is that the spirit of [Elohim] dwells in you. Now if any man does not have the spirit of the Messiah, he is none of His. And if the Messiah is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of Him that raised up Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He that raised up the Messiah from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwells in you (Rom 8:5-11). So, if we allow that oneness of nature and character with the Father, made possible by the work of Messiah Yahshua, to abide within us, we are told we will reach our goal of eternal life, for, as it says in the underlined verse above, ...if the spirit of Him that raised up Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He that raised up the Messiah from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies by His spirit that dwells in you.” Yahshua revealed to His students that if you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Fa-ther, and He shall give you another comforter, that He [it] may abide with you for ever; the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him [it] not, neither knows him [it]: but you know him [it]; for he [it] dwells with you, and shall be in you (Jn 14:15-17). In another place he prayed, ...that they all may be one; as You, Father, in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in us (Jn 17:21). This is the promise we have that leads to eter-nal life, being one with the One Who made us, hav-ing His nature within, the nature that cannot die. But that kodesh nature is not natural to us, for we have a human nature. We are but little claymation creatures stuck in time, viewing the heavenly things only through the window of our Guide and Teacher, Yahshua. With time, however, by the gift of Yahweh, we, too, will come to manifest the express image of our Heavenly Father, for our Teacher is continually working (Jn 5:17) to make us one with Him and His Father (Jn 17:11, 21, 22). Through Paul he tells us, For whom He [Father Yahweh] did foreknow, He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). Then again to the Corinthians He explained, But we all, with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the esteem of the Master, are changed into the same image from esteem to esteem, even as by the Master, the spirit (1 Cor 3:18). So, in His mercy and foreknowledge, Father Yahweh has determined that His chosen ones, justified by the Messiah’s spilled blood, remain kodesh by the keep-ing of His laws, and so allows His spirit, His charac-ter traits, and His nature, to dwell within us. That is

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the spirit which He has promised that will enable our resurrection to eternal life! That is the key, that is the roadmap to eternal life that He reveals to us through His Son. We must be conformed to His image, taking in His nature, and His character traits every moment of every day. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trust-worthiness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). In doing so, we will hold on to His eternal life with-in. Seek to see Him every day so you, too, with an unveiled face, can see His image every time you look into a mirror. That is not blasphemous. It is the promise He has made to us through the work of His Son, our Master, Yahshua. It is the command of our Teacher Who commanded, ...be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Mt 5:48).

... [Elohim] Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for esteem and honor and immortality, eternal life (Rom 2:7). But now being made free from sin, and becoming servants to [Elohim], you have your fruit [of the Tree of Life] bringing about spiritu-al dedication, and the end [telos, goal, the destination on our road map] everlasting life (Rom 6:22). And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life (1Jn 2:25).

HalleluYah!

From Our Mailbox Shalom. I just wanted to give some feedback on the 2020 November-December Master Key. I want to con-

gratulate Brother Mertely for the “Schism” article, and commend YAIM for printing it. His work was well

researched and insightful. It is also timely, and highly relevant to what can be noticed among Torah-keeping

followers of Messiah (whether Sacred Name, Hebrew Roots, or Messianic). We could be divided over how

to keep specific parts of Torah in Messiah, or we could coalesce around the fact that we agree that we should

be doing our best (with the power of the Holy Spirit) to guard and promote Torah in Messiah. Sadly, I have

witnessed a lot of division over minor issues, and many times, the attitudes I saw were less than loving

(likely carnal or sinful). I like how Brother Mertely assured us that we could be united in purpose and still

disagree on certain matters, in a spirit of kindness. I also really like the concept of historical waypoints that

we can use to anchor ourselves to a community and its standards, while staying open-minded to improve-

ments as discoveries are carefully and thoughtfully made. It is important for us, as different as we are from

mainstream Christianity, to remember the people who paved the way for us to see things the way we do and

to see how much we still hold in common. Our dear brothers and sisters are not wrong about everything. In

fact, they have so much to contribute, even when they don’t see an issue as we do. If we can show a more

united front, and can agree better (with more civility), we may do better at convincing others of the truth we

hold about Yahweh’s name, appointed times, and other covenant commandments. Please encourage the

brother and affirm the editors for printing this article. Thank you for this contribution. Hope more people in

the SN, HR, and Messianic communities will read the “Schism” article. Yahweh bless! Brother Steve

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The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), is a parable of which many have discussed with no settled satisfaction. What I wish to do is to present some scriptural observations regarding this parable. There are some things that we must take notice of, and that is, the time to which it is dealing, as to the coming of the Kingdom, and the meeting with the Bridegroom, which is obviously a future event.

There are two classes of people mentioned in the parable—five are wise and five are foolish, but all ten are virgins, and they are waiting for the bridegroom’s return. They all took their lamps with them. The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps, but the fool-ish virgins took no oil with their lamps, Matthew 25:1-4. And while they all slumbered and slept, there was a cry at midnight, Behold the bridegroom cometh, verse 6. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, verse 7. The foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out, verse 8. And the wise answered and said, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves, verse 9. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. And afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Master, Master, open to us. The answer was, I know you not, verses 9-12.

We have heard numerous discussions on what the oil is thought to be. Some teach it to be the Holy Spir-it. I want to bring you an example given in Acts 8:17-20, where Peter and John laid their hands on the be-lievers, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy

Spirit. But Peter’s rebuke was, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of Yahweh may be purchased with money. These verses prove you cannot buy the Holy Spirit. There-fore the oil is not the Holy Spirit. If we teach that the oil is the Holy Spirit, and as the parable goes, the wise virgins told the foolish virgins to go and buy oil (the Holy Spirit); then the wise virgins were encouraging the foolish virgins to do the very thing that Peter re-buked Simon for. Peter said unto Simon, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of Yahweh. Repent therefore of thy wickedness, and pray Yahweh, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitter-ness, and in the bond of iniquity, verses 21-23.

In Proverbs 23:23, we are told to buy the truth and sell it not. So the truth can be bought.

In Psalms 119:105, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Then it says in verse 130, The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple. We have found the lamp to be the Word of Yahweh. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yahweh, Matthew 4:4. His Word gives light; for it is a lamp. In the para-ble, the virgins had vessels with their lamps. I do not believe they were merely carrying a common lamp around, with a vessel of oil, for it has much greater meaning than that.

In Acts 9:15-16, Yahshua was speaking to Anani-as, and said unto him, Go thy way: for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear My NAME before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him great things he must suffer for my NAME’S SAKE. Paul is the vessel, and he bears

The Parable of the

Ten Virgins By: Elder William Bodine

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the Name. We find that what Paul bears is found in the Song of Solomon l:3, Because of thy savour of thy good ointments, thy NAME is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Paul was this vessel, and YAHSHUA’S NAME was in this vessel. It was the oil that he poured forth among the Gentiles.

The lamps (word) of the foolish virgins lost their light, because they had no oil. They went to buy a substitute oil (name), which was worthless, as they arrived too late for it to provide the true light, the en-trance of His Word. But the wise virgins had oil (the true name) in their vessels, and had light when the bridegroom arrived.

So the question to you is: Do you have the real oil in your vessel, or a substitute? We must all ponder upon that question. The name of Yahweh is a strong tower, and the righteous runneth into it, and is safe, Proverbs 18:10. His Name is a tower, a safe place toward which the righteous run. And when the door was shut, the foolish virgins could not get in, Matthew 25:10.

Psalm 91:2-10, I will say of Yahweh, He is my refuge and my fortress: my El; in Him will I trust ... He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wing shalt thou trust. In verses 5-6, there are four things of which one shall not be afraid: When destruction shall come at noonday, a thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee ... because thou hast made Yahweh, which is my refuge, even the host high, thy habitation; Then shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. There must be a reason for this protection. In verses 14 and 15, it says: Because He has set His love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My NAME. We have a promise of deliverance from the plagues because we know His name.

Let us consider Revelation 9:1-4, When the fifth angel sounds, a star will fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key to the bottom-less pit. And he opened the bottomless pit: and there arose a smoke out of the pit ... and out of this smoke came locusts upon the earth: power was giv-en them as the scorpions of the earth have power: and it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but ONLY THOSE MEN WHICH HAVE NOT THE SEAL OF YAHWEH IN THEIR FOREHEADS.

In Revelation 9:20, we find plagues poured out of which men did not repent. In Psalms 91:10, we are told that no plague shall come near our dwellings, be-

cause we know His Name. It is a fact that we are sealed with His Name. And this we do hope to prove. As I have stated already, the ten virgins, the five wise and the five foolish, are waiting the return of the bridegroom, which must be a latter-day parable.

In Revelation 3:7-22, we have two assemblies dis-cussed, which seems to fit the wise and the foolish virgins. Quoting from verses 7-10, To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write, These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth: “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word [lamp], and hast not denied my NAME [oil]. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” In these four verses the assembly in Philadel-phia (verse 7) has kept His Word, and has not denied His Name. Verses 8-9 show that He loves the ones that love His Name.

The titles of Lord and God are not His name, never were, nor ever will be. The prophet said: My people shall know my NAME, Isaiah 52:6.

Revelation 3:10 reveals that there is to be a time of temptation that comes upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Also it was spoken of in Psalms 91, and in Revelation 9. Verses 1-12 in that chapter speak of the coming of the bridegroom, Behold I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that over-cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My El, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My El, and the name of the city of My El, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My El: and I will write upon him My new name.

The man of wisdom shall see thy name, Micah 6:9. Yes, the wise virgins shall see His Name, but the foolish virgins are not prepared, for they will not hear the law of Yahweh: which say to the seers, “See not;” and to the prophets, “Prophesy unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophe-sy deceits,” Isaiah 30:9-10. Brethren, we are living in a time, just as it was in Isaiah’s day.

Remember that Yahweh is not deceived or mocked, Galatians 6:7. Satan has deceived those who reject the truth of His Name. A minister once said to

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me, “The name is right, but it is Hebrew.” Those who keep the first day, Sunday, as the Sabbath say, “Yes, Saturday is the Sabbath, but it is Jewish or Hebrew.” How are your beliefs better than the first-day keepers if you don’t have His Name in your forehead? I am inclined to believe that too many ministers are bought with a price.

In Revelation 3:14-19, we have a picture of the foolish virgins, And unto the angel of the assembly of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the first, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of El, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold or hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” (Yes, we must be honest and set our hearts on fire for Yahweh’s truth, or be shut outside of the bridechamber altogether). So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Yes, they were all called vir-gins. Sure, there were two kinds of virgins, the wise and the foolish. They all waited, and they all slum-bered and slept, but five were ready, with their lamps full of oil, and five were not. Which class are we in?

Because thou sayest, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” and know-est not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, [in the dark, their light has gone out], and naked [no wedding garment] (Matthew 22:11). Revelation 3:17 is not talking about material things. It is talking about spiritual things, such as the truth, regardless of what it is, as in verse 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich: and white raiment, that thou may-est be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness does not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. Remember: The man of wisdom shall see thy name, Micah. 6:9.

Back to Revelation 3:20, Behold I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

We have seen in verse 12, which deals with the Philadelphia assembly, a picture of the wise virgins at the coming of our Savior. Now notice verses 7-8, which set forth the same ideas as in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. See Matthew 25:10-13. Consider this scenario: the foolish were rich, as those spoken of in Revelation 3:17. They thought they did not need Yahweh’s name. They thought using the ti-tles Lord and God was good enough. But their lamps had no light, for they had no oil. See Song of Solo-mon 1:3, and notice also Matthew 25:8.

Let us get more proof in Revelation 7:1-4. Here are four angels holding the four winds, or four powers of the earth. Winds symbolize the earth, in Daniel

7:17, the people in Ezekiel 17:24, and the waters in Revelation 17:15, …peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. In Revelation 7:2, we have a fulfillment of this symbol, I saw another angel as-cending from the east, having the seal of the living Elohim: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels [see verse 1], to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of El in their foreheads” ... and there were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel, verses 3-4. Again, we see a great multitude from every nation, These are they that came out of great tribulation, verses 9-14.

In Revelation 9:1-4, we are told of locusts coming out of the smoke from the bottomless pit. They were given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. It was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of Yahweh in their foreheads. They were not to kill them, but to tor-ment them five months, verse 5. We can see Psalm 91 being fulfilled: and these are plagues as is stated in Revelation 9:20.

Now what is the seal? And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with Him an hun-dred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s Name written in their foreheads, Revelation 14:1. This is the seal of Revelation 9:4. These are the vir-gins that have not denied His Name, Revelation 3:8. They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes, Reve-lations 14:4.

The Goodspeed Translation translates Revelation 14:1 as follows: I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, with Him an 144,000 people who had His Name and His Father’s Name written on their foreheads.

We have our choice. We can know the truth or reject it, and we can lightly esteem the truth about the Name; but remember, we shall give an account in that day as to why it is not in our foreheads. Many lightly esteem the seventh-day Sabbath, and yet it is in the Ten Commandments, as is honoring His Name, which is set forth in the first three commandments.

Revelation 22:4 states: And they shall see His face and His Name shall be in their foreheads. Will you have a substitute such as “Lord” or “God” there, instead of Yahweh, and His Son’s Name, Yahshua? Yahshua means Yah is salvation. How easily we can actually be unworthy of eternal life! We can be our own judges, Acts 13:46. Paul testified that Yahshua spoke to him in the Hebrew tongue, and asked him why he was persecuting Him, Acts 26:14. We know that the word “Jesus” is a manmade hybrid of Greek

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and Latin. Do you believe that Yahshua’s Hebrew mother would give Yahshua a Greek name, when He came from the line of Judah? See Hebrews 7:14; John 4:9. Salvation is of the Jews, verse 22. Those who use the name of “Jesus” want salvation and they want a Savior, but they want to give the Hebrew Savior a Greek name.

Sunday keepers reject the seventh-day Sabbath be-cause they say that it was only given to the Hebrew people. They call it a Jewish Sabbath. But what did Yahweh say? Yahweh instituted it as a memorial at cre-ation, Genesis 2:3. There were no Hebrew or Jewish people for thousands of years after creation!

The nations reject the Name because it, too, came through the Hebrew people. Yahweh also said His Name is a memorial in Exodus 3:15. Yahweh said His Name was in Him, Exodus 23:21. This was Yahshua—who is Yah’s Salvation. Truly He came in His Father’s Name, John 5:43. Yahshua’s prayer was for His Father to keep, through His own Name, those whom He had given Him, that they might be one, as Yahshua and Yahweh are one, John 17:11.

Deep down in your heart, honestly, do you believe that a common English noun—“God”—was and is His Name? And if so, what part did “God” have in “Jesus”? Was His name in Him? Certainly not!

Paul said that he bowed his knees unto the Father of our Master, Yahshua the Messiah, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, Ephesians 3:14-15, If my people which are called by my Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land, 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Peter said that there was salvation in no other Name whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12. Brother and sis-ter, if there is NO OTHER NAME, you surely will want to find out what that name is! Substitutes have been added to the Word, and the true Name, or oil, has been diminished from the Word. Israel was to hearken and was commanded NOT to add unto or take from the Word, Deuteronomy 4:2. Those who take Yahweh’s Name from the Word, and substitute “Lord” or “God” instead, will not be held guiltless.

Think on this message and see which of the virgins we might be. Are we wise or foolish? Again, The man of wisdom shall see thy Name, Micah 6:9. Sing to Elohim, sing praises to His Name. Raise up a high-way for Him Who rides through the deserts, by His Name Yah, and exult before Him, Psalms 68:4. HALLELUYAH! (Praise you Yah!)

Yahshua vs. “Jesus”

By: Elder Eliyah Cassidy

There is a major misunderstanding that exists out in the world today; not only in the world, but it is creep-ing into the Assemblies as well. The erroneous teach-ing is this: “The name of Yahshua and Jesus belong to the same person—they are the same thing. There’s no difference between them. One of them comes from an ancient language, one of them comes from a more modern language. One is in Hebrew, one is in Greek, but they are both the same, and belong to the same individual.” I am here today to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth! Most of the Christian religions in the world have two things in common. They claim that their religion or church is founded on biblical standards found in the Scriptures. Yet, they all mold the Scriptures to fit their needs and their desires. The Name of the Savior is not any dif-ferent.

So, what does “Jesus” actually mean? I know what “Yahshua” means, but what does “Jesus” mean? Christians say that it means “salvation.” My studies have shown that the word for “salvation” in Greek is “soter.” I cannot find anything that resembles “soter” in the word “Jesus.” Some theologians say it comes from “hail Zeus,” which is worshipping a pagan dei-ty. The dictionary says the “sus” on the end is refer-ring to a female pig—a sow. Some say it comes from “healing Zeus,” but nobody actually knows positive-ly what it means. So where did it come from, and how did that erroneous name ever come into being? I have yet to find any evidence telling me exactly what it means. But I can tell you, undeniably, what the name “Yahshua” means. “Yah” is the poetic short form of the name “Yahweh” and “shua” means “salvation.” Together, “Yahshua” means, “Yahweh is salvation,” or “Yahweh our salvation.” Isaiah 42:8, I am Yahweh, that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. I believe that Yahshua predicted the coming of “Jesus!” Is it possible that the anti-messiah is already in the world? It’s a great deception and if it were pos-sible, even the very elect would be deceived. We must be sure that our faith and convictions are based on truth—in the very Word of Yahweh! You may read this entire article by requesting our FREE booklet: Yahshua vs. Jesus!

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Passover

and

Your Future

Passover is a monumental event that took place in Egypt long ago when the Israelites were being op-pressed by slave masters. It foreshadows a yet future event that has very similar circumstances. Yahshua the Messiah spoke of a coming fulfillment of the Passover. Passover is a culmination of the 10 plagues Yahweh brought on Egypt. Moses was sent to deliver the chil-dren of Israel to a land flowing with milk and honey. Pharaoh repeatedly refused to allow the Israelites to leave. Yahweh brought increasingly severe plagues, of which the Passover was the most severe.

Progressive Severity of the Plagues The first plague was turning the water into blood. This was an inconvenience, as the Egyptians could find water by digging wells. Next came a plague of frogs, which was rather more of a nuisance than a calamity. This was followed by a plague of lice or sand fleas, then flies. When the plague struck the cattle, the Egyp-tians began to worry. Later the Egyptians received body boils. Next, their crops were ruined by hail, wiping out the spring har-vest. A plague of locusts ate the remaining crops. The ninth plague was three days of total darkness. The Egyptians were not able to leave their houses. All in-dustry and commerce stopped. The tenth plague was the Passover. At the fourth plague, Yahweh distinguished His people Israel from the Egyptians. The Israelites living in the land of Goshen were spared any future plagues. Yahweh told His people what they must do to avoid the terrible judgment that was coming upon the Egyp-tian nation. He passed over His obedient people, but sent judgment on the Egyptians living about them. Moses related to Pharaoh what was about to hap-pen. All the first-born of both humans and cattle were to die, from those of Pharaoh down to the slaves, Exo-dus 11:4. Yahweh’s people were to identify themselves by killing a lamb and taking the blood and applying it to

their doorposts and lintel. They were then to roast the lamb with bitter herbs and eat it that night, making sure that which was left over was burned the next morning. If a household was too small to consume the entire lamb, two families were to keep Passover together. At Passover, Yahweh executed judgment against the false religions of the Egyptians. Yahweh was showing that He in in complete control and that His worship is distinctly different from the pagan deities of Egypt, Exodus12:12. (Most of the plagues in some way upbraided an Egyptian deity. For instance, they worshiped the Nile, frogs, cattle and insects.) Passover was to be observed by entire families. It is to teach us and our children that His judgment will soon come upon this world’s false religions. The word Passover refers to Yahweh’s “passing over” those homes that had been marked with blood. The people were eating the lamb in fear of Yahweh’s warning that they should stay inside for protection. Many today do not believe that Yahweh would smite with death, animals and people. They picture Him as a kindly, doting grandfather who puts up with the whims of His spoiled children and does nothing to punish them. The truth is, Yahweh punished even be-lievers with sickness and death for careless observance of the Passover, 1 Corinthians 11:29-32. It is most probable that Yahshua was taken captive at about the same night the ancient Passover took place. His doom was sealed from that time until He was impaled the following afternoon. He was as good as dead from the time He was apprehended.

Questions Most Asked About Passover Following is a sample of the most commonly asked questions about Passover and the Bible’s command to observe it. Why do you teach that Passover is to be kept once a year? The Passover and feast days are all listed in Leviti-cus 23. These are annual observances to be kept as a statute forever, according to Yahweh’s Word. Ezekiel 45:21 tells us the Passover will be kept on the 14th of the first month. This chapter begins with a new divid-ing of the land, with a special section for the temple. Therefore, we know this is a time yet future because the divisions of the land are not the same as they were under Joshua. We also know from Zechariah 14, verses 16 to the end of the chapter, that the Feast of Tabernacles, an

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annual observance, will be kept. Isaiah 66:23 tells us that all mankind will come to worship Yahweh on His Sabbaths. Notice that “Sabbath” is plural. It means more than merely the weekly Sabbath and includes all of the other annual Sabbaths, as well. Yahshua Himself said in the New Testament that He would be keeping the Passover again in the Kingdom. This can be found in Matthew 26:28-29; Mark 14:25; and Luke 22:15-18. It is obvious from both the Old and New Testa-ments that the Passover will be kept when the Messiah returns to rule. And it will be kept with a new and deep-er understanding. Why cannot we wait to learn from Yahshua Himself exactly how to keep these times so we do it absolutely correctly? There is no place in Scripture telling us to sit and wait for perfect instruction. There are many places, however, admonishing us to prepare ourselves and be-come righteous to be accounted worthy of that first res-urrection. Scriptures like 2 Corinthians 11:1-2 and Revelation 19:8-9 admonish the bride to prepare her-self for the marriage. Her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints. Ephesians 5:26-27 commands us to be converted and motivated by Yahweh’s Word so that we might become a glorious assembly, having neither spot nor wrinkle, holy and without blemish. Does the Passover have any significance for us today? The plagues brought upon the Egyptians are similar to those mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 16 significantly points out the similarities of the

plagues in Egypt with those that will be brought upon the earth. Just as the Egyptian plagues were directed at pagan deities, so the plagues ahead of us will be di-rected against false worship. Colossians 2:16-17 tells us the Sabbaths are a shadow of things yet to come. Do you have any proof that the Passover in Egypt por-trays one that is future? The verses in 1 Peter 1:13-21 speak of exactly this. Verse 19, especially, says that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Romans 5 also brings this fact to our attention, especially in verse 9: Much more then, being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Here again, it is the blood of the greater Lamb that will save us from Yahweh’s anger. Revelation 18:4-5 alludes to this greater Passover. Note: And I heard an-other voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her My people that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven and Yahweh has remembered her iniquities.” Only after you realize the necessity of observing Yahweh’s commanded days, like Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, casting off the false worship of modern Egypt, will Yahweh’s blessings and protection come to you, just as they did for the Israelites thou-sands of years before.

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Messiah our Passover is offered for us: therefore let us guard the Feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor. 5:7-8).

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “sincere” means: 1 a: free of dissimulation: HONEST … b: free from adulteration: PURE, a sincere doctrine. 2: marked by genu-ineness: TRUE—synonyms SINCERE, WHOLEHEART-ED, HEARTFELT, HEARTY, UNFEIGNED, genuine in feeling.

SINCERE stresses the absence of hypocrisy, feigning, or any falsifying embellishment or exaggeration. WHOLEHEARTED suggests sincerity and earnest devo-tion without reservation or misgiving, promised our whole-hearted support.

HEARTFELT suggests depth of genuine feeling outwardly expressed, expresses our heartfelt gratitude. HEARTY suggests honest, warmth, and exuberance in displaying feeling, received a hearty welcome.

UNFEIGNED stresses spontaneity and absence of pre-tense, her unfeigned delight at receiving the award. So, if Messiah is our Passover, then we must guard the feast with our conduct, which should accord with these things.

According to Fausset’s Bible Dictionary, the Passover in Egypt “was a kind of sacrament, uniting the nation to YHWH on the ground of [His favor] to them ... The unleav-ened loaves, called ‘bread of affliction’ (Deut. 16:3) as re-minding them of past affliction, symbolized the new life cleansed from the leaven of the old [Egypt]-like nature (1 Cor. 5:8). of which the deliverance from the external [Egyptians] was a pledge to the [faithful]. The sacrifice (for YHWH) calls it ‘My sacrifice’ (Ex. 23:15-18; 34:27) came first; then on the ground of that, they walked in the strength of the pure bread of a new life, in fellowship with YHWH.”

It is important to realize that the "Mitsri" represents any-thing which is holding you back, limitation (self-imposed), oppressors, and whatever is keeping you from meeting your potential. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Mitsrayim (mits-rah'-yim); dual of OT:4693; Mitsrayim i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt: Egypt, matsowr (maw-tsore); the same as OT:4692 in the sense of a limit; Egypt (as the bor-der of Palestine), besieged places, defence, fenced, fortress, siege, strong (hold), tower, tsuwr (tsoor); a primitive root; to cramp, i.e. confine (in many applications, literally and fig-uratively, formative or hostile): adversary, assault, beset, besiege, bind (up), cast, distress, fashion, fortify, enclose, lay siege, put up in bags. This is the root word from which Mitsrayim comes. It means to be held back or confined. It’s a picture of re-striction. This is a pattern for us (l Cor. 10:11), And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand still, and see the Sal-vation of YHWH, which He will work for you today. For

the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again” (Ex. 14:13).

This act is identified for us as “the salvation of YHWH.” And, while there are many Scriptures which speak about salvation (164 times in the KJV)), this is the first time in The Script where we see this salvation specifically identified as of YHWH. In the Passover account, Moses tells the people to stand still and see “the salvation of YHWH.” Here he actually gives the definition of Messiah’s Name. This is composed of (shua, “salvation”) and Yah, representing “YHWH”). This is how Moses defines the deliverance from the Egyptians, and he does it with the components of Messiah’s Name—Yahshua. Our Heavenly Father also describes His means of redeem-ing us at Passover. He says He does it by stretching out His Arm (Ex. 6:6); as His chosen means of redeeming His peo-ple (Deut. 5:15, 7:19, 11:2, 27:8).

Now, I want you to picture someone Who was stretched out, to redeem us, becoming our salvation. And I then want you to answer the question posed by the prophet Isaiah: Who has believed our report? And to whom has the Arm of YHWH been revealed (Is. 53:1)?

Here are more attributes of this Arm as predicted in The Scriptures: The Arm of YHWH achieves salvation (Ps. 98:1); rules for Him (Is. 48:12-16); wounds the Dragon (Is. 51:9); made the heavens and the earth (Jer. 32:17); will gather us from all nations (Ezek. 20:33-35); and it may fall asleep (a pic-ture of death) and need to wake up (Is. 51:9-10). Has your arm ever fallen asleep? When it says the Arm of YHWH would fall asleep and have to wake, it has nothing to do with pins and needles! This is talking about resurrection! Our Master was stretched out on the stake almost 2,000 years ago for us, to redeem us, and to show us that this world has no real power over us. In this, He showed us the love of YHWH which is able to restore us and make us whole. And, He commands us to do likewise: This is My command: that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends (Jn. 15:12-13). Remember how Israel left Egypt together at this time. It was a new start, just as Messiah taught in Matt. 26:28, This is the Renewed Cove-nant in My blood.

As we sit down this year at the Passover table, let us con-sider how blessed we are and thankful for all of the gifts our Heavenly Father has given to us—most importantly, the gift of eternal life with Him. He gives this gift to all who are sin-cerely seeking it. And let us take hold of this truth, that, as we sit and feast with one another, it is awe-inspiring to think about and honor the One Who will be sitting with us!

By: Sean Killian

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CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

We are striving to observe Yahweh’s Holy Days as perfectly as possible, even in the face of so many er-rors in biblical translations. By the time the New Testament was translated, the translators had lost touch with Yahweh’s Holy Days. Not understanding the distinctions made in the Hebrew text concerning Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they merged the two in several places. In addition, some of our English translations show words being added that are not in the ancient texts. These errors have led some astray in their understanding of the sepa-rateness of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This booklet explains the difference scriptur-ally. No matter what arguments are made about Passo-ver from the New Testament, if those arguments do not harmonize with the Law in the Old Testament, it is not truth. Numbers 28:17 distinctly says that the 14th is Passover, and the 15th is the Feast of Unleav-ened Bread. They are not the same observance. Let us all strive to do Yahweh’s will as He intend-ed. Request our free booklet, “Why Passover Is on the 14th of Abib, Not the 15th!”

Email: officestaff@yaim.org Website: www.yaim.org

Call: (573) 698-4335 Or write to us: YAIM 401 N Roby Farm Rd Rocheport, MO 65279