You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.
Turn the clock back a little over 2,000 years and you would find Yeshua (Jesus) in the temple berating the church leaders of His time about their worship practices. He told them that the Prophet Isaiah talked about them long before they were even born saying they would be teaching their own rules and regulations as though they were from the Almighty. So what has changed in the past 2,000 years? Is the prophecy of Isaiah still valid today?
Nothing has changed and Isaiah is still calling it rightly! The church still teaches rules and regulations as though they were written in the Bible and spoken by our Creator. Oh yes, they will take small sound bites out of context just like our shady politicians do and with many words twist them into a doctrine that you must follow. They continue to lead blind followers down a path that leads to destruction and those awful, dreaded words that will be spoken to them by the very person they claim to follow, Jesus: “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”
That same lawlessness means those who make up commands and doctrine that was never spoken by our Creator will be told to depart from THE one who we are told to ‘Hear and Obey.’ Think about it using common sense. What does ‘lawlessness’ actually mean? The Greek word here in Matthew 7:23 is anomia or ‘a’ = without + ‘nomia’ = law. In the Hebrew the word is Torah, meaning without Torah.
Another way the church leaders fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah is to add to or take away from the words of our Creator. This is plainly condemned by the very Bible they are claiming to follow. In Deuteronomy 12:32 we read God (YHVH) Himself saying: “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.” I don’t think we can get any more plain than that. Again, if once is not enough is says in Proverbs 30:6: Do not add to His words lest he reprove you, and you be proved a liar. In plain English this means that if you add to God’s words you are a liar, thus our church leaders are liars. No my words, but the words of the Almighty.
How are our church leaders liars you ask? Show me in plain English where we are to worship on Sunday instead of the commanded Sabbath day? Show me even once where Jesus or the disciples kept Christmas or Easter? Show me one command the Jesus broke?
Nothing can be more frustrating than having a great conversation about the word of God when all of a sudden one party injects religion and doctrine into the conversation. Why is it that when our opinions about scripture gets exposed with scripture we turn to non-scripture known as doctrine? I think it is time we get back to our Creator’s words and stop following the words of the blind church leaders. Doesn’t Jesus say something about the blind leading the blind and both falling into the pit?
Time to examine your worship. Is your worship done in vain, leading you to the same pit as your blind leaders? Can you completely prove your doctrine using the word of God IN CONTEXT? Have you added to or taken away from the Law thus making you a lawless follower? What can you expect to hear from the very one you claim to be following?
Please answer the above questions in the comments section. Keep it constructive and clean. Are you worshiping in vain? What does the Bible have to say about your doctrine? Do they match? What do you think?
This is awesome. So refreshing to meet Kingdom mined bold speakers of Truth. I have been a serious student of Kingdom for about 5 years. Have you read Bruxy Cavey. The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus?
Thank you for your kind words. To answer your question, no I have not read the book. I do not spend too much time reading other books other than the Bible. Most of my time is spent in digging into the word meanings used to get a better understanding of what is being said and the weigh various traditions against the truth of what the Bible brings to the table. Thank you for the suggestion.
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