LANDSLIDE (JUDGES 1)
THE LANDSLIDE OF SET-APARTNESS
AS WE START THE BOOK OF JUDGES WE’RE GOING TO SEE IS A RAPID (ONLY AROUND 10 YEAR) SLIDE OF YISHARAL FROM A PINNACLE OF SUCCESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT AND HARMONY WITH YAHUSHA INTO AN `EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF’ MENTALITY. AND KEEP IN MIND THAT BETWEEN THE TIME OF JOSHUA AND KING JOSIAH (WHO RULED OVER JUDAH FROM 640–609 B.C.) HARDLY ANY COPIES OF YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS (AS RECORDED BY MOSES) WERE CREATED, AND IF THEY WERE, THEY DEFINITELY DIDN’T WIND UP IN THE HANDS OF ANY ORDINARY CITIZEN. IN FACT IT APPEARS THAT BY THE TIME OF KING DAVID (AROUND 300-400 YEARS AFTER JOSHUA’S DEATH), THE DIVINE LAWS AND INSTRUCTIONS OF YAHUSHA’S TURAH WERE ALL BUT LOST AND WELL ON THEIR WAY TO BEING FORGOTTEN.
ONCE THE TRIBES DISPERSED AROUND CANAAN AND STARTED TO TAKE FIRMER HOLD IN THE ALLOTTED TERRITORIES, THE PRIESTHOOD STRUGGLED TO EXIST (LET ALONE HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE). THE ROLES OF THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITE TABERNACLE WORKERS BLURRED. ONLY A FEW OF THE 48 CITIES THAT THE LEVITES WERE PROMISED IN THE TRIBAL TERRITORIES WERE EVER ACTUALLY HANDED OVER! AND THE FUNDING THEY WERE TO RECEIVE FROM THOSE SAME TRIBES TO MAINTAIN THEMSELVES AND THOSE CITIES RARELY MADE ENDS MEET.
THE TABERNACLE (AT THE TIME OF CHAPTER 1 IN JUDGES) IS IN SHILOH, BUT IT WOULD STEADILY GO INTO DISREPAIR OVER THE DECADES. BY KING DAVID’S DAY IT WAS MOVED TO GIBEON. TENTS BY DEFINITION ARE TEMPORARY AND WEAR OUT RATHER QUICKLY COMPARED TO STONE HUTS. AND WHILE WE MIGHT ASK OURSELVES 'HOW MUCH COULD IT POSSIBLY COST TO MAINTAIN A TENT?' WE MUST REMEMBER THE ELABORATE NATURE OF THIS TABERNACLE, THE SUPER EXPENSIVE MATERIALS USED, AND THE NUMBER OF EXCEPTIONAL CRAFTSMEN REQUIRED TO MAKE IT ORIGINALLY.
SO WHEN KING DAVID CAME ALONG AND ASKED YAHUSHA IF HE COULD BUILD A TEMPLE FOR HIM (AND HIS SON SOLOMON FINALLY DID) IT WAS NOT ACTUALLY TO REPLACE THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE PER SE BECAUSE THE ANCIENT ONE HAD LONG SINCE BEEN ABANDONED DUE TO IT WEARING OUT AND APPARENTLY “””NO DESIRE TO REPAIR IT”””. . . RATHER IT WAS THAT THERE WAS NO PROPERLY BUILT SANCTUARY UNDER THE DIVINE `MT. SINAI SPECIFICATIONS AND PATTERN'. DAVID APPARENTLY BUILT SOME TYPE OF TENT TO HOUSE THE ARK, BUT DAVID ALSO TOOK IT UPON HIMSELF TO APPOINT LEVITES AND PRIESTS TO CERTAIN DUTIES, SO WE CAN ASSUME THAT THE ORDER OF SERVICE AND CAREFUL ATTENTION TO DETAIL SET OUT IN EXODUS AND LEVITICUS WAS NOT AT ALL FOLLOWED. AND THERE WERE ONLY A FEW PRIESTS WHO EVEN REMEMBERED JUST HOW TO PROPERLY OBSERVE THE RITUALS AND PROCEDURES!!
WE GET SOME IDEA OF HOW POWERLESS AND USELESS THE PRIESTHOOD HAD BECOME WHEN WE LOOK AT THE STORY OF THE ARK BEING BROUGHT FROM SHEMESH TO KING DAVID AT HIS REQUEST, AND IT WAS PLACED UNCEREMONIOUSLY IN AN OX CART TO TRANSPORT IT (A BIG NO-NO REMEMBER - IT HAD TO BE CARRIED ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE PRIESTS). THEN A MAN TOUCHED THE ARK (ANOTHER BIG NO-NO) AND DIED FROM IT (REMEMBER THE RADIOACTIVE SET-APARTNESS?), WHICH (WHEN DAVID HEARD ABOUT IT) CAUSED DAVID TO GET PARANOID SO HE CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT HAVING THE ARK NEAR HIM AND HE ASKED AN OLD LEVITE (NOT A SET-APART PRIEST) NAMED OBED-EDOM TO KEEP THE ARK IN HIS HOME (ANOTHER SERIOUS INFRACTION). YET, FOR REASONS WE WON’T EXPLORE TODAY, WE ARE TOLD THAT YAHUSHA GREATLY BLESSED OBED-EDOM’S HOUSEHOLD AS A RESULT OF THE ARK BEING THERE, SO DAVID DECIDED IT WAS NOT ONLY SAFE BUT ALSO AN ADVANTAGE TO HIM (PERSONALLY) TO POSSESS THE ARK, SO HE CALLED FOR IT TO BE BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM AND THERE HE PREPARED A TENT TO HOUSE IT.
SO WE SEE FROM ALL THIS THAT THE PRIESTHOOD SIMPLY TOOK ORDERS, AND IT WAS BARELY FUNCTIONING (IF AT ALL), AND THAT EVEN THE MOST BASIC OF ALL RULES THAT NO ONE COULD EVER LOOK UPON THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT WITNESS AND TO TOUCH IT MEANT INSTANT DEATH HAD BEEN LOST TO HISTORY. SO WE’LL FIND A PHRASE REPEATED A NUMBER OF TIMES IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES WHICH IS REALLY A SUMMARY OF THE POWERFUL THOUGHT REFLECTED THROUGH THE WHOLE BOOK: “IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING OVER YISHARAL AND EVERY MAN DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”
JUDGES.1
After the death of Joshua, the Yisharalites asked Yahusha (PROB THRU THE URIM & THUMMIM STONES), “Which Tribe should attack the Canaanites first?”
“Send Judah first, and I’ll help them take the land.” Yahusha answered. So the people of Judah went to their brothers, the Tribe of Simeon, and said, “Look! Canaanites live in the land that Yahuah our Alahim gave us. You help us and we’ll help you fight them eh? Let’s drive them all outta this land!”
So Troops from Simeon came to help Judah and together they attacked an Army of ten thousand Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, and Yahusha helped Judah defeat them. During the battle, Judah’s Army found out where the King of Bezek was, and they attacked right there. King Bezek tried to escape (AS KINGS ALWAYS DO), but soldiers from Judah caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. “Bloody-hell, I’ve cut off the thumbs and big toes of seventy Kings and made them all crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Indeed karma is a bitch, and my alahim (A FALSE DEITY) is paying me back.” HE WAS REALLY RATHER PHILOSOPHICAL ABOUT THIS UNPLEASANT TURN OF EVENTS AS THIS IS A STATEMENT OF 'LEX TALIONIS', AN EYE OR AN EYE, THAT WAS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD AND PRACTICED AMONG ALL MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURES.
WHY CUT OFF HIS THUMBS AND BIG TOES? BECAUSE BY DOING SO SUCH A MAN BECAME USELESS IN BATTLE. WITHOUT THUMBS HE COULD NOT HOLD A SWORD, SHOOT A BOW, BE EFFECTIVE IN HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT OR EVEN DRIVE A CHARIOT. AND WITHOUT HIS BIG TOES HE LOST ANY REAL MOBILITY. SURE HE COULD WALK WITH CARE BUT HE COULDN’T RUN, OR FLEE FROM DANGER. SO EVEN IF THIS CAPTURED KING EVENTUALLY ESCAPED FROM JUDAH, HIS LACK OF THUMBS AND BIG TOES MEANT HIS DAYS OF LEADERSHIP WERE OVER.
Then the Army of Judah took the King of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died. And they attacked Jerusalem, captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and placed it all under the ban, burning it to the ground.
UNFORTUNATELY YISHARAL WOULD ONLY HOLD ON TO JERUSALEM FOR A SHORT TIME AS IT WAS NOT IN EITHER JUDAH’S OR SIMEON’S TERRITORY, BUT RATHER BENJAMIN’S. SO WHAT WE FIND LATER IN VERSE IS THAT AFTER ITS CAPTURE IT WAS QUICKLY TURNED OVER TO BENJAMIN. BUT BENJAMIN EITHER HAD LITTLE INTEREST IN HOLDING IT OR WAS JUST INCAPABLE AND LOST IT BACK TO THE JEBUSITES UNTIL THE TIME OF DAVID.
WHAT TENDED TO HAPPEN AT THIS POINT IN HISTORY WAS THAT A TRIBE OF YISHARAL WOULD CAPTURE A CANAANITE CITY BUT WOULD OFTEN ALLOW THE INHABITANTS TO STAY AS SUBJECTS AND SERVANTS THAT WOULD PAY TRIBUTE (TAXES) TO THE VICTORIOUS HEBREWS. IT DIDN’T ALWAYS WORK OUT SO WELL, AND JERUSALEM WAS ONE OF THOSE INSTANCES. JUDAH AND SIMEON FOUGHT FOR IT AND TOOK IT; THEY (PROPERLY) GAVE IT TO BENJAMIN, AND BENJAMIN ALLOWED THE JEBUSITES TO REMAIN. THUS THE FEW BENJAMITES WHO DID SETTLE IN JERUSALEM SOON FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE MINORITY TO A MORE DOMINANT JEBUSITE KING. THIS STORY WOULD BE REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THE LAND OF CANAAN.
Judah’s Army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west and after that, they attacked the Canaanites who lived at Hebron, defeating the three clans called Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
Then from Hebron, Judah’s Army went to attack Debir, and Caleb told his Troops, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”
Caleb’s nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz. And right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he ought to ask her father for a field. So she went to see her father, and while she was getting down from her donkey, Caleb asked, “What’s up my girl, something bothering you?”
“I need your help” she said, “The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so I really need some spring-fed ponds for a water supply.” So Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds, named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.
IT IS PRETTY INTERESTING TO UNDERSTAND THAT CALEB (AND OTHNIEL, A CLOSE FAMILY MEMBER) ACTUALLY CAME FOR EDOMITE HERITAGE (EDOMITES WERE DESCENDED FROM ESAU). SOMEHOW CALEB’S ANCESTORS BECAME PART OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AND EVEN BECAME THE MOST POWERFUL CLAN WITHIN JUDAH. THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD NOT FORGET BECAUSE IT DEMONSTRATES JUST HOW EARLY THE YISHARALITE PEOPLE BECAME A DIVERSE AND GENEALOGICALLY MIXED NATION.
The people who belonged to the Kenite clan were the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses. They left Jericho with the people of Judah and settled near Arad in the Southern Desert of Judah not far from the Amalekites.
THE KENITES WERE A CLAN OF THE TRIBE OF MIDIAN (THEY LIVED WHERE THE MOUNTAIN OF THE BURNING BUSH WAS). MOSES’ WIFE’S SIDE OF THE FAMILY MIGRATED UNDER THE PROTECTION OF JUDAH AND SIMEON TO AN AREA CALLED THE CITY OF DATE PALMS (SOMEWHERE NEAR JERICHO) AND SETTLED THERE.
Judah’s Army helped Simeon’s Army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath and they completely destroyed the town, placing it under the ban and renamed it Hormah.
Then Yahusha helped the Army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country, but the people who lived in the valleys had iron chariots, so Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.
CHARIOTS NEEDED RELATIVELY FLAT GROUND TO OPERATE UPON. THEY WERE NEAR USELESS ON STEEP HILLS OR ROCKY PLACES. THEREFORE THE CANAANITES COULDN’T USE THEIR MOST FEARED WEAPON PLATFORMS (CHARIOTS) IN THE HILLS AND THUS LOST THEIR ADVANTAGE TO JUDAH. THE AREA OF THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS WAS ANOTHER MATTER ALTOGETHER, AND THE FEARSOME CHARIOTS ENABLED THE CANAANITES TO HANG ON TO THE ENORMOUS FERTILE VALLEYS.
The Tribe of Judah gave the town of Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had told them to do and Caleb defeated the three Anakim clans and took over the town as he confidently said he would.
But the Jebusites were living in Jerusalem, and the Benjamin Tribe did not defeat them or capture the town and that’s why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Benjamin to this day. EPIC FAIL!
SOMETHING WE NEED TO PLANT FIRMLY IN OUR MEMORIES FOR FUTURE REFERENCE IS THIS EXPANDING CONTRAST BETWEEN THE TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN. HERE WE FIND JUDAH IN VICTORY AFTER VICTORY, AND WE ARE TOLD THAT THE REASON FOR THEIR SUCCESS WAS THAT YAHUSHA WAS WITH THEM. ON THE OTHER HAND THERE'S BENJAMIN, WHOSE LOT IS FAILURE. JUDAH WINS JERUSALEM, BENJAMIN LOSES IT. KING SAUL, 1ST KING OF YISHARAL, WAS OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN (AND WE’RE ALL AWARE OF HIS TRAGIC CHARACTER AND FAILURES), THE 2ND KING WAS DAVID OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AND WE’RE EQUALLY AWARE OF HIS CLOSE-TO-YAHUSHA’S-HEART CHARACTER AND STUNNING VICTORIES.
And the House of Joseph (The Tribes of Ephraim and Menassah) were getting ready to attack Bethel, and Yahusha helped them when they sent spies to find out as much as they could about the place. While the spies were watching the town, the Watchman came out, and they told him, “If you show us how our Army can get into the town, we’ll make sure that you aren’t harmed.” And the Watchman showed them how to get in, and the two Yisharalite Tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, killing everyone except the Watchman and his family. Ephraim and Menassah made the man and his family leave, so they went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.
Canaanites lived in the all the towns and villages surrounding Yisharal and they were determined to stay, so the Tribes of Ephraim, Menassah Zebulun, Asher and Naphtail let them stay, however later on as some of the Tribes (especially Ephraim and Menassah) grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor. And the Amorites were strong enough to keep the Tribe of Dan from settling in the valleys, so Dan had to stay in the hill country.
YISHARAL SAW NOTHING WRONG IN THEIR APPROACH TO SETTLING CANAAN OR THEIR APPROACH TO BATTLE, FOR THEIR NEW GOAL WAS MAKING PEACE WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS. SO THEY PARTICIPATED IN THEIR NEIGHBORS’ FESTIVALS AND CUSTOMS, GAVE RESPECT TO THEIR FORMER ENEMIES’ BELIEFS AND EVEN TO THEIR FALSE IDOLS, AND AS A RESULT ENJOYED A MEASURE OF REST AND FRUITFULNESS THAT WAS MOSTLY MAN-MADE, AND THUS BORE LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO WHAT YAHUSHA'S REST, PEACE AND FRUITFULNESS LOOKS LIKE.
INTER-MARRIAGE BETWEEN CANAANITES AND HEBREWS BECAME AN EVERYDAY AFFAIR WITH LITTLE RESISTANCE OR THOUGHT, AND MOST AND BOTH SIDES SAW IT AS A GOOD THING. YISHARAL WAS BLIND TO THEIR CONDITION AND WOULD NOT ACCEPT THAT THEY HAD BROKEN COVENANT WITH THEIR ALAHIM BECAUSE THEY FELT SO GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR ABILITY TO CONTRIVE THEIR OWN MORALITY WITHOUT THE DIRECTION OF YAHUSHA . . . AND HE WAS NOT PLEASED !!
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AT YAHUSHA'S RETURN IS BUT THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE SET-APART WAR FOR THE PROMISED LAND (BUT IS IT STILL CANAAN?) THE LEADERS WHO FOLLOWED JOSHUA, THEN DAVID, THEN SOLOMON, ALL DECIDED THIS BATTLE WAS NOT WORTH FIGHTING. THE IDOLATRY OF THE NATIONS WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM, SO YAHUSHA EVENTUALY DIVORCED AND SCATTERED THEM, THEN AT HIS DEATH, RE-MARRIED AND RENEWED THE SAME BLOOD-COVENANT ONCE AGAIN THROUGH HIS OWN PERFECT BLOOD, OPENING THE DOOR FOR ALL THE NATIONS TO PARTAKE AND ENGRAFT INTO YISHARAL THROUGH INTIMACY AND OBEDIENCE TO HIS LIVING INSTRUCTIONS.
CAN YOU CONNECT THE SAME MESSIAH WHO SUFFERED AND DIED AS A MEEK LAMB TO DELIVER US FROM EVIL, WITH THE MIGHTY WARRIOR WHO WILL BE LEADING THIS FINAL BATTLE FOR THE POSSESSION OF HIS REIGN? YAHUSHA WILL BE AS RUTHLESS AS HE EXPECTED JOSHUA AND THOSE WHO FOLLOWED HIM TO BE, AND NOT ONE PERSON WHO WITHHOLDS THEIR ALLEGIANCE TO THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL WILL REMAIN ALIVE ON THE FACE OF THIS PLANET WHEN YAHUSHA FINALLY LAYS DOWN HIS SWORD OF VENGEANCE.
THE CONQUEST FOR THE PROMISED LAND ISN’T OVER, IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES; THE INTER-DIMENSIONAL WAR FOR SET-APART PROPERTY, THAT HOUSES THE DIVINE PORTALS AND THE NEW CREATIONS THAT WILL BE TRANSFORMED AND BIRTHED VERY SOON.
DID YAHUSHA APPROVE OF YISHARAL HAVING A KING?
THERE IS AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES THAT IS ALMOST UNIVERSALLY MISSED; AND IT IS THAT YAHUSHA WAS DEMONSTRATING THE NEED FOR A KING OVER YISHARAL. MANY HAVE DECLARED THAT WITH SAMUEL’S ANOINTING OF KING SAUL, YAHUSHA GAVE YISHARAL SOMETHING THAT HE DID NOT WANT THEM TO HAVE . . . A KING. BUT AN HONEST READING OF JUDGES SHOWS US SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
IN REALITY YAHUSHA WAS TEACHING YISHARAL THAT THEY COULD NOT FUNCTION WITHOUT A KING, NOR COULD THEY FOLLOW YAHUSHA’S DIVINE LAWS AND INSTRUCTIONS WITHOUT A KING. JOSHUA WASN’T OFFICIALLY A KING, BUT IN MANY WAYS THAT WAS HIS ROLE; HE WAS YAHUSHA’S DEFINITION OF A KING THAT IS COMPLETELY OPPOSED TO MAN’S DEFINITION OF A KING. JOSHUA WAS THE EXAMPLE OF IDEAL LEADERSHIP FOR YISHARAL, ONE THEY FAILED TO FOLLOW. ONE THAT WON’T COME AGAIN UNTIL MESSIAH RETURNS.
MAN’S DEFINITION OF A KING IS AS PRIVILEGED ROYALTY WHO IS SERVED BY HIS SUBJECTS WHO USUALLY HAVE NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER.
YAHUSHA’S DEFINITION OF A KING IS AS A SHEPHERD WHO IS A KIND OF SERVANT TO THOSE WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO FOLLOW HIM. MAN’S KINGS USED HUMAN SHIELDS CONSISTING OF THOUSANDS OF MEN WHO WOULD LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE KING. BUT YAHUSHA’S KING WOULD LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE. THE PROBLEM WITH YISHARAL WAS THAT EVENTUALLY THEY WANTED THEIR (AND THEIR NEIGHBORS’) DEFINITION OF A KING TO RULE THEM,SO YAHUSHA GAVE IT TO THEM. IT WAS THE TYPE OF KING, NOT THE IDEA OF BEING RULED BY A KING THAT WOULD BECOME THE ISSUE.
R e i g n
HEBREW UNDERSTANDING : to ascend the throne; to induct into royalty, to take counsel, to establish a king or queen. A dominion, kingdom, kingly, realm, reign, a rule, an empire . . . royal.
SCRIPTURE UNDERSTANDING:
"Don't you know My reign's not of this world? Cause if it was My servants would rise up and fight, making sure I dont get handed over to the authorities! Just know that for now, My reign is not from here." JOHN 18 BRS
"You've drawn near to Mount Zion, the city of the living Yahusha, (not the earthly Jerusalem, but the higher one), to myriads of messengers, to the entire gathering and assembly of the firstborn, having been enrolled in the coming reign, and to Yahusha the judge of all and the mediator of a renewed Blood-Covenant, and to the Spirits of obedient men made perfect". HEBREWS 12 BRS
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation and a people for a treasured possession. So proclaim the praises of Yahusha, Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. Don't forget that you never used to be a people, but now you're the people of the only living Alahim, who never used to have compassion for you, but now He does". 1 PETER 2 BRS
I N D U C T E D I N T O R O Y A L T Y .
It's easy to see by the Hebrew word "REIGN" that we have been made kings and queens of Yahusha's royal nation, who are all surrounding and watching us. They are amazed at how Yahusha calls us and changes us,.
This invisible company (peering through the invisible fabric of dimensions) is watching a spectacular conversion of wickedness and evil, (i.e. us,) being made into a new creation of purity. They are watching as we respond through His Spirit and His Living Words.
Yahusha opens a portal in our newly circumcised hearts, and injects a portion of His Spirit power within us. This power-portion gives us strength to overcome all the powers of the enemy, just as Yahusha did Himself. Truly through this process we are becoming a whole new creation, being born of His spirit, but, there is a "BUT" !!!
And the `but' is: WE ARE CALLED TO PRESENT A CERTAIN TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR TO THE WORLD, JUST AS YAHUSHA HIMSELF DID.
Religious carpet-baggers are stopping new generations from entering the knowledge of how to behave before Yahusha, and the host of His invisible Reign. Here are some more instructions:
"To sum up, let all of you be like-minded, sympathetic, loving as brothers and sisters, tender-hearted, humble-minded, not returning evil for evil or hatred for hatred, but instead bless each other blessing, knowing that you were CALLED to this, in order to inherit a blessing. For he who wishes to love life and see good days, should keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it. Because the eyes of Yahusha are on those who are obedient to His Instructions, and His ears are wide open when they communicate with Him. But His face is against those who behave evil". 1 PETER 3:8-11
Yahusha wants us to by-pass all carpet-bagging doctrines trying to convince us of another behaviour. If we are to pass the test for eternal life set before us, we become a completely New Creation as the Bridal family of Yahusha, who tells us we shall even judge the angels.
We are told on the news that it will take 6 years for 75% of the global population to be inoculated for covid before the world can see a semblance of coming back to normal. If we look at this comparing it to the prophecy of the end times, we can see that the time is very close. For those moving along this path, being persecuted for doing good brings favour with Yahusha, so be strong and run your race.