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End-time
Heresies?
As we speed on toward the end of this millennium, it appears more and more likely that we are approaching the end
of the age that Yahshua spoke of on numerous occasions. The signs that He gave in Matthew 24 and other places are
beginning to come to pass.
I want to comment on one of those signs, found in Matthew 24:11. Yahshua said that "many false prophets shall
arise and shall deceive many." Although we have always had false prophets (teachers), they seem to be increasing
as time goes on.
When I was in my previous religious affiliation, we were discouraged from reading "outside" literature,
and so were not exposed to very much heresy coming from within the Commandment-keeping community. Most of the heresy
we knew about was within the Christian community itself, i.e., the traditional churches and denominations. We did
not even realize that there were others who held the same (or nearly the same) doctrines and beliefs that we held.
But after leaving that organization, I became aware that there are hundreds if not thousands of small-to-midsize
groups who keep the basic tenets of the Bible. I would include in this group Seventh-day Sabbath keepers, users
of the Holy Names, Feast keepers, those who keep the clean-food laws, those who accept Yahshua's death as their
Passover sacrifice, and look to His return for their eternal salvation (by a resurrection).
However, that is about as far as unity goes. Most groups, and even individuals within groups, have their own peculiar
doctrines and beliefs that differ substantially from each other. I began to learn of strange doctrines such as
"floating Sabbaths," days begin at dawn instead of evening, days are only 12 hours long (nights don't
count), the new moon is actually the full moon instead of the small sliver we see in the western sky once a month.
In addition, there is confusion about the true calendar that Yahweh gave us; whether we should keep Passover on
the 14th or 15th, and which is the Holy Day that begins Unleavened Bread. Some even argue that we need not fast
on the Day of Atonement, despite several Scriptures that say plainly otherwise.
These on-going man-made controversies are mostly taught and promoted by sincere people who think they have a special
understanding of Scripture that few others have. Of course, I understand that I am saying the same thing about
them, that most traditional "Bible believers" say about me. "Who gives him the right to be right?"
some have no doubt asked. Well, the truth is, I am not always right, and neither is anyone else. Only Yahshua knew
all truth. Even the Apostle Paul confessed that he did not understand everything.
1 Cor 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall
I know even as also I am known.
Paul said to follow him, even as he followed the Messiah. That should be our aim. But often we let our previous
erroneous understandings sway us, or we let a new idea enter our minds and adopt it without properly checking it
against the Scriptures. It is easy to read anything into the Scriptures we want to see, if we are not diligent
to guard against it. We do not always "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim. 215).
What I am saying is, that not everyone who comes to you with a false doctrine is an intentional deceiver. I believe
that by far most of them are sincere, though sincerely wrong. They themselves are deceived.
After having spent the past 14 years investigating many of these diverse doctrines and comparing them with the
Scriptures, I have come to the conclusion that we ARE to fast on Atonement; we ARE to observe the days from dusk
to dusk (as opposed to midnight or dawn); a complete "day" is 24 hours long, from dusk of one day to
dusk of the next day; the new moon IS the small sliver and not the FULL GROWN moon; and in a sense the Passover
is on BOTH the 14th and the 15th. It was killed on the afternoon of the 14th, roasted, then eaten that night, the
beginning of the 15th. Israel began their departure from Egypt the next morning. Did not Yahshua the Messiah, our
Passover (1 Cor 5:7), die about 3 PM on Passover day? Yes, He did! See Luke 23:44-46 (the sixth hour was noon,
and the ninth hour was 3 PM).
Further, Sabbaths do not "float." The seven-day cycle began at creation, and has not been changed or
altered since. Though the beginning of years have been altered and the months have been changed numerous times,
the weekly cycle abides today just as it was given 6,000 years ago. Man has named the days of the week. Thus the
day we call Sunday is the first day, and Saturday is the seventh (see your wall calendar for confirmation).
The result of accepting a "floating Sabbath" is to break this cycle of seven. Whether you "float"
it each month, as some do (beginning a new cycle of seven with the new moon as day one), or each year, as some
do (beginning the new year as day one of a new week), the result is the same - you have broken Yahweh's long-established
cycle of seven days.
One of the heresies mentioned above that is gaining support from the unwary is the claim that the new moon is the
full moon. I have recently received a paper promoting this idea from a brother in Canada.
I implore those who have adopted these doctrines, to reconsider your position and do some more research. In line
with that, I am offering a study done by another brother in Canada, entitled, "Does the Full Moon Start the
Biblical Month?" This article shows from the Scriptures and from extra-biblical sources that the new moon
is indeed that small sliver seen once every 29 or 30 days in the western sky, and that the full moon is an old
moon, ready to go into decline and finally "die" (disappear) before being re-born "new" once
again a few days later.
I just recently received this article, and have the author's permission to reprint it or offer it to anyone wanting
to study it. Since it is seven pages long, I have opted to offer it to those who are interested instead of taking
up that much space in the newsletter.
If you would like a copy, write to me, or directly to Silveer Maes at: Timely Leaves of Truth, 34 Rambler Drive,
Apt. 502, Brampton, Ontario, L6W 1E3, Canada.
For information concerning any of the other topics mentioned in the "heresy" category above, write me.
I have been chided for not printing articles written by those who are promoting some of the above mentioned topics,
and others. I have been told that, even if I personally do not believe it, I should print it and let people make
up their own minds. The only way I could, in good conscience, print material I know to be in error, would be to
print excerpts from it, and then explain why I think it is in error. I have done this in some past articles, and
will continue to do so from time to time. But I will not print an article that I believe to be contrary to the
Scriptures, and risk leading someone astray. Teaching others is an awesome responsibility (James 3:1). <>
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