Greater Than Moses is a tumblelog about Jesus; no muss, no fuss, no lies.

Deuteronomy 18:15: The Self Destruct Clause.

I had always understood that there was inserted into the Levitical law, the first “contract” Jehovah made with the people of Israel, that He inserted into it a clause which said that the messiah would come and buy it out, and institute a new contract.

From Deuteronomy 18:15-22,

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

And there it is. Here is Peter, in Acts, citing this prophecy/clause when speaking to a group of Jews.

From Acts 3:17-26,

“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.  Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

Moses, by saying a prophet like himself, refers to Christ, in the works of miracles Jehovah did through them, as well as that they are the two individuals through which God’s laws have been instituted.

In fact, and this is my opinion, should a messiah appear that modern Jews would accept, if he did not institute a new order and law from Jehovah, he is obviously a fake.

All that said, brothers and sisters, I am glad to share this with any of you who will appreciate it.

Here come the snake handlers!

I have this joke about people who seek out and employ these wild manifestations of “the Spirit of God.” Whenever I see a televangelist slaying people in the spirit, speaking in “tongues”, or going on and on about signs and wonders, I say, “Oh man, here come the snake handlers. I wonder when they’re gonna start doing backflips and roaring at each other.”

Let’s talk about being “slain in the spirit.”

There are one kind of falling down before Jehovah. In Genesis 17:3, Abraham falls on his face before Him. In Joshua 5:14, Joshua falls down on his face before the man from Jehovah who appeared to him; and who this man was is the topic of another blog. In Matthew 17, we see the disciples fall on their faces after they hear the voice of Jehovah.

And so on. I was also taught that when one put on sackcloth and ashes, they generally prostrated themselves on their face before Jehovah, such as when David prayed for his newborn child, he is sometimes depicted as laying on his stomach, face to the ground.

Also, in the Word, when ever the Holy Spirit comes on a person, they never lose  consciousness, convulse, or speak in a different language. Jesus never did it, David never did it, Elijah never did it, and Paul said he didn’t do it in front of other people, and you should keep it to yourself.

In The New Testament, when a follower of Christ laid hands on someone, they were healed, spiritually anointed, or ordained to some higher purpose in the church, but never did anyone have any kind of spiritual ecstasy, like any the “snake handlers” want to give you.

When Jesus healed, sometimes he laid a hand on someone, but most of the time, he just said “Be healed. I forgive your sins.” When disciples healed, they would lay on hands, or just say “In the name of Jesus Christ, be healed.” Again, they were healing, and not “slaying” anyone.

In fact, the only time I can find anyone even falling backward is in John 18:6, where the men who came to arrest Jesus fell backward when he told them who he was. I would say that it is indeed a sign of submission to Jehovah’s glory, though it was not the Holy Spirit that laid these men on their backs. Jesus did not lay hands on any of them, or forgive their sins, or say anything more to them to cause this other than his name.

We know very well the Holy Spirit is not a slayer, but it is a part of Jehovah’s plan to give us LIFE.

 So, where does this spirit that slays come from?

We know very well in the Bible it is told to us that Satan would enter our churches, and spread false teachings. And most people accept that this will happen in the end times, but don’t be fooled, brothers and sisters, we are IN THE END TIMES NOW. You know that the bible gives us many “red flags” regarding this; and I will cite a few references in the epistles.

My first is the entire second chapter of 2 Thessalonians. Verses 3 and 4:

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come unless there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

1 Timothy 4:1-4, and 2 Timothy 4: 3-5 describe individuals in the world and the church embracing false doctrines. And we know from observation of Christendom that “New Age” doctrines are seeping in, and, indeed, being heartily accepted by the apostate churches. Every major denomination has been split over the issue of homosexuality. And hardly anyone preaches the fullness of the gospel, and they insert into the holes in their theology secular teachings.

I won’t name any names.

We see churches entertaining idea about Yoga, particularly. Now we know Yoga is a spiritual practice of the Hindu religion, with it’s principles deeply rooted in their beliefs. How christians can practice it, I leave up to willful ignorance.

In a more insidious way, we can see that the Hindu practice of Shaktipat, where in one can lay hands on someone’s “third eye” to awaken them spiritually, i smuch like what these pastors do, and the recipients of which may act like those we see “slain in the spirit.”

I can find no good source for what is called “kriya”, which seems to be the actor in the process that causes one to convulses, cry, and otherwise be overcome with this spiritual, emotional outburst. I wanted to provide a video; but perhaps you should see it yourself on youtube, or any video site you prefer.

Now, I would find it easy to see that humans have in themselves a great amount of spiritual ability. And that Satan should be able to manipulate those who never experienced the real and true Holy Spirit, and dupe them into believing that this height of human emotion and spirit is from Jehovah, does not seem outside of his methods.

Now, when I say that humans have “spiritual ability,” I am not professing some great power we may have of our selves; in fact, Jesus has told us it is corrupted and useless, as far as achieving salvation, or doing any good thing. And we know that Jehovah’s glory far exceeds, and the Holy Spirit far out powers, anything we may encounter on this planet, or in this universe.

I will give you some personal testimony. When I was about 18, I started going to a new church in my hometown. I saw it as being an incredible place. We sang real hymns with modern arrangements, and not 7-11 music. There were real, bible-based teachings. I even got baptized there.

One particular sunday, the pastor had an altar call, and you could come up to have him and other elders lay hands on, and bless you. After watching about 10 people go up, and subsequently fall backwards, sobbing, convulsing, or mouthing words at the ceiling, I decided the Holy Spirit was at work, and I went down to be prayed over.

When it came to be my turn, two men stood behind me to catch me, and the pastor, a short man, then jammed his hand into my forehead incredibly hard. I laugh now, thinking about it. He pushed against my forehead, and prayed loudly. I felt myself going back just from the force, but a pained look came over my face, and I wouldn’t go down. He prayed for about 30 seconds, and in that time my toes were off the ground, and I was off-balance, but I would not go down. I didn’t feel a spiritual euphoria, I was not overcome with emotion. In my heart I asked the Lord, to bless me, to send me the spirit, if it were his will. I knew something wasn’t quite happening for me here.

So, the pastor finished, said “God bless you, son,” and moved to the next person. I just kind of wandered back to my seat, almost tripping over someone behind me, covered with a blue sheet.

I believe now the Holy Spirit did come to me, and held me up against this demonic act. The pastor probably didn’t know he was in the wrong; I think he felt he was earnest.

And just because your pastor, your church doesn’t have these outward signs of demonic infiltration, doesn’t mean you are in the clear. Infighting, backstabbing, and not keeping the entire Word of Jehovah are also signs of apostasy.

I will talk in the future about the other “signs of the spirit”, but I would like you to really study, and really ponder in your heart, “What spirit is this?” Even Lucifer can appear as an angel of light.

May Jehovah bless you, and bless your house.

An Introduction. Praise be to He Who Causes To Be!

Praise be to Jehovah, the Most High.

I am starting a new blog, to focus solely on teaching the Word to the Tumblr audience, that is, those that will follow this blog, so that they can be encouraged, edified, and even convicted, so that the Word will spread, and it’s followers be true to it.

I’m going to focus more on the heavier aspect of the gospel, but I will speak to the basics also, because the primary goal is to showcase Christ in ALL his glory, even the parts we don’t want to acknowledge in our human self.

In these last days and times, I have decided to finally stand up, so much as I can from my desk here, and preach in this format, and others. To let mt God-given light shine.

From Luke 8:16-18:

A Lamp on a Stand
16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

My prayer for this blog and for all of you is that we might have the Word, and the Spirit, and the Life, and that we will be given more.