Satan and his Devices – Part 1/3

We are looking forward to sharing another new study. This is going to be another series we’re going to go over together. And something I also feel is important for us to examine, discover and practice as believers in Messiah Yahushua. We know that there’s something that, I don’t know how to put it, it’s it’s not easy put in words. Let me say this: sometimes brothers and sisters we just don’t realize, we’re not aware or we’re not aware enough that we as believers in the Most High, as servants of the King of kings, are in a war. We’re in a war.

And the war is not with flesh and blood. The war is with spiritual forces of wickedness in high places who happen to be influencing flesh and blood, but the war is not directly against flesh and blood itself. It’s more so against principalities and powers. And we know that with words, we know that with our brains, but we do, do we respond to that and in that way, and how we actually conduct our day-to-day affairs. That is where I’m kind of saying you know, rubber meets the road kind of a thing.

We talked, you know, recent weeks about the dangers of strife and arguing and all that, okay. And I’m against all the strife and arguing that’s carnal. But there is a spiritual battle we’ve got to be aware of, we’ve got to talk about its importance, and we’ve got to be aware of the enemy. And as believers in the Most High Yahushua, Yahweh, we know for a fact that every, every warrior, every general studies the enemy. So that he can know how to outflank, so that he can know how to do battle, how to become victorious, and cannot be ignorant of what devices the enemy may use.

And so, we’re going to talk today about Satan and his devices. And this is just part 1. And we have to be aware of it, not because I’m going to be afraid of Satan, not because I want to know all the ins and outs about Satan, and how, you know, how great he is or what, I’ve done of that stuff. I’m talking about knowing how evil he can be, so as not to be caught unawares, so that we can detect him when he’s operating, and so that we can defeat him soundly and completely.

What does the word “satan” actually mean? In Hebrew it’s not “satan” it’s “saw-tawn’” meaning adversary, adversary, one who withstands; an adversary, it can be any adversary it doesn’t have to be Satan, but the word in the Hebrew that means adversary is “saw-tawn’”. And it’s not always in reference to the being called Saw-tawn’ or Satan. But he is the Saw-tawn’, ha-Saw-tawn’, the enemy of our souls. And he withstands us and he is against us, he is constantly advocating against us. And we know he is our opponent, he is our enemy. And it’s basically, he’s the one that’s inspiring people to do wickedness.

Now, people can do wickedness on their own, just, just fine, they don’t have to have any help. But this enemy wants to help, wants to direct and provide himself as an alternative deity to be worshiped and venerated, and regarded, and feared. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says “The verb ‘ātan occurs six times in the Old Testament, often in participial forms” – I can’t even say it right – “for one who bears a grudge or cherishes animosity.” You see someone who bears grudges and just cherishes fighting and arguing, and just a scrapper. And I don’t mean just a scrapper, I mean a carnal scrapper, it is the embodiment of Satan himself.

And we spoke some in recent weeks about the dangers of strife and arguing and such. The Greek word diabolos meaning prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely, a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer; metaphorically applied to a man who by opposing the cause of Elohim, may be said to be act on the part of the devil or side with him. So, one can either follow the devil, and yield to his temptations, or get so bad that they’re actually imitating him and walking in his image, in his likeness.

And so, whenever there is arguing and fighting, accusing falsely is usually a part of that, slander is usually a part of that, I mean it’s the embodiment of Satan, really. Diabolos. Accuser.

Example of the word saw-tawn’ actually being used in the Scriptures, is psalm 109 verse 4 says – In return for my love they are my – saw-tawn’ – accusers, But I give myself to prayer. – Interesting. The Hebrew word saw-tawn’ simply meaning enemy, figuratively to accuse; when used as a personal name it’s referring to the fallen entity we know as Saw-tawn’ or the devil. He is our foe, he is our adversary, the one who accuses us, hounds us, seeks to cause us to stumble. And we cannot be complacent. And we cannot be unaware of his devices.

Scripture says in 1 Peter in chapter 5 verse 8 – Be sober, be vigilant; – vigilant – because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. – The enemy likes to put sufferings on us. And we have to resist him.

So, the antidote to being devoured according to this Scripture, if you don’t want to be devoured by this enemy, 2 things you’ve got to be: sober and vigilant. That’s the antidote to being devoured: sobriety and vigilance. Sobriety (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8) – Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
⁸ But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. – Halleluyah, blessed be the name of Yahweh!

Now, the word “vigilance” in the Greek, meaning to watch, to give strict attention to, be cautious, be active, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamities suddenly overtake one, be watchful and understand what’s really going on. And what’s really going on is not really what appears to be going on. And so, we have to be on guard because we know our adversary the devil is looking to devour wherever he goes. And he has various agents known as demons who try to trip us up and cause us to stumble.

Why did Yahweh allow this entity to exist? So that we would have equal choice. Yahweh is a force also in this world. Seeking to draw people, a spiritual force to draw people toward righteousness, to draw people towards love. And there’s another force, seeking to guide us away from love, guide us away and in toward selfishness.

We discussed the topic of judging a couple weeks ago, and actually judging ultimately leads people to making improper judgments, it’s called falsely accusing. We are judges. Scripture says that judgment begins at the household of Elohim. And the enemy wants to put his little thoughts into our judgments. And Satan also is trying to be a judge, accusing us falsely often. We know based on Scriptures the word diabolo means accuse, well, you have to judge if you’re going to accuse. And so, he’s trying to be a judge, and he’s speaking lies with his judgments. And that’s one of his traits.

And so, someone always wagging the finger, always pointing a finger, always trying to accuse the brethren, find fault, we have to be very careful that we are not imitating the spirit of diabolos. And that we are not being inspired to speak his words.

Scripture says (Revelation 12:9-10) – So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; – deceives the whole world, deceives the whole world – he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
¹⁰ I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our Elohim, and the power of His Messiah have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been cast down.” – And he has a short time.

Job chapter 1 verse 9 says – So Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Does Job fear Elohim for nothing? – here comes the accusations –
¹⁰ “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
¹¹ “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” – Accuser. We know Satan, being a spirit being, would communicate also with our spirit and put things into our minds that are not from Yahweh the Father. In the same way we have Yahweh and His spirit dwelling in us, communicating His doctrines. We know that Satan has ways of putting thoughts into our minds also.

Listen. Not every thought that happens to enter your mind is actually your own. And sometimes the enemy likes to get you to think, “O, you thought this terrible thought, how could you be so evil, how could you think such a terrible thing”. Isn’t that something, he gets you thinking the wrong thing because he puts these thoughts in your mind, and then he condemns you for thinking them. It’s an old trick, and this entity has had 6,000 years of practice to deceive men. To take men away from the Most High, to deceive men and to lead them in paths of unrighteousness.

And so, even though you did not want this thought, even though you did not really even entertain the thought or act on the thought, then he’ll condemn you for thinking it. But you see, to have a temptation to do evil is not a sin. Satan has been creating temptations for men all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Up to the day of Yahushua the Messiah, as he tempted Yahushua in the desert, in the wilderness. And so, we also face temptations which are part of our walk here. It’s part of what we go through. And Satan has tried to create stumbling blocks to cause us to stumble ever since the very beginning. His tactics are sometimes exposed but a lot of times he’s very subtle. And if we recognize how subtle he is and how cunning he is, we’re going to be more aware of his devices. And so, the reason why we have to be aware and not ignorant of how the enemy operates.

And so, one of the things we’re going to do here is examine some of his tactics that he uses, so that we can recognize where he’s functioning and where he isn’t, and so that we can therefore, “O, okay this is the enemy we’re going to go in this mode, we’re going to battle right now.”

And so, we’re going to find out a lot of things he used actually in ancient times, he’s still using today, and it’s very much the same old thing. Let’s start with Genesis chapter 3 in verse 1 – Now the serpent – it says – was more cunning than any beast of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” – Now, in this one Scripture there’s actually quite a bit of information packed, in just this one Scripture. First of all the word cunning is defined in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, meaning can have positive meaning like in prudence and wisdom, and negative as in shrewdness. It may be contrasted with its positive synonym ‘ākal’ “to be skillful and wise”, which is always positive. Its cognates in Arabic, Aramaic and Syriac are negative in tone (“ill-natured, shrewd”). Greek terms mean “you’re ready to do anything”, usually in a bad sense of trickery and cunning behavior. Interesting.

Remember what Yahushua said (Matthew 10:16) – “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents – right? – and harmless as doves.“

And so, Satan, Saw-tawn’ is a crafty, skilled, shrewd, subtle deceiver. Scripture says so, I’m not bragging about him, I’m telling you the truth. We cannot be complacent, we can’t just bounce around along through life, unaware of the enemy and where he functions. He comes as a serpent, a snake in the grass, seeking to be under foot, unnoticed, hoping maybe nip us in the leg, and maybe even kill us with his venom.

Years ago we had a child playing out in the yard, who was bitten by a copperhead snake which is venomous. And this child, you know, came in the house, and I saw the blood coming out of the wound where the fangs had come into her foot, into her leg. And so, I went outside to look for the snake. Couldn’t find it. And I had a flashlight, it was getting kind of dusky dark, I have a flashlight, and I’m looking everywhere for this thing, I can’t find it. And here’s how I found it, I stepped over it, and it tried to strike me. It missed. But I didn’t even see it, it was that subtle, didn’t know where it was operating, even with a flashlight.

Now, the rest of the story is, we took her in to be examined, we prayed for her, we put activated charcoal on her, and we were sitting in the emergency room for a while, and realized she didn’t need it because there was no red marks, there was no evidence that the snake even bit her, because she had no symptoms. The only thing that was there was a puncture mark, and that was it. But while we were there, there was a witnessing opportunity. And so we ended up witnessing to this couple for a couple of hours actually. So.

Now, let me say this, praise Yahweh for that by the way. But the enemy hates it when we’re indifferent to him, like he hates not getting the attention in one way, at least when we know he’s there, he wants to get our attention, But he also hates being exposed, and he hates it when we’re aware of his tactics and we’re aware of his devices. In short, he wants to be hidden so that he can secretly work against us like a snake in the grass. But once we discover him he wants to be, you know, he hates it when we’re indifferent to what he has to offer us, ignoring him.

So, getting back to Genesis. First thing out of the enemy’s mouth is to create doubt. To create doubt in the Word of Yahweh. He is creating doubt here by saying, “Has Elohim indeed said?”, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Now, let me say this. Somewhere along the lines in Christian history Satan has come along, and said to somebody, “Has Elohim indeed said ‘The Sabbath is on the seventh day of the week?’”, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You shall keep His feast days?’”, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You should not eat unclean?’”. And created doubt in the Word of Yahweh. And just give you enough Scripture to create deception.

And so, what we have today in the modern traditional Church, is the Church that departed from those particular commandments, and other commands they hold on to such as the need to love your neighbor and so on, but other commands Satan has managed to create doubt about the Word of Yahweh, about whether or not certain commandments apply today.

In Judaism he used the same tactic to drive people away from Yahushua. Mark chapter 14:1 – After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. – cunning, deceiving.

Luke 20 verse 21 – Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, – well, there’s a first sign, right there, flattery – and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of Elohim in truth:
²² Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
²³ But He perceived their craftiness, – He was not unaware of Satan’s devices. One of them is to get you wanting that praise of men – and said to them, “Why do you test Me?” – Why do you test me, and we know the answer.

Also Luke 11:53-54 – And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things – They wanted to lie in wait, and try to catch Him in something He might say, that He might accuse them. Verse 54 it’s not on the screen.

But through his deception Satan wants to move us away from one of two things: the ministry of the Torah or the ministry of Yahushua. That’s his goal. He only has to get you to move away from one of them, and he’s got you. To either pull you away from the ministry of the Torah and the teaching of the truth and the way of love spoken in those words, or the ministry of Yahushua and get you condemning yourself when you’re not you’re supposed to be putting your faith in Yahushua. Both of them are manifestations of a failure to believe in the Word. Both of them are trying to pull you away from the Word. Either the Word given through the Torah, or the Word made flesh and dwelt among us in Messiah Yahushua. Either way he is trying to pull you away from the Word. The Word is at center stage brothers and sisters. The Word of Yahweh is at center stage, everything is about the word, and whose word we’re going to believe.

I have found that almost every human problem, maybe all human problems, psychological problems, whatever, can be traced back to the rejection of either one ministry or the other. Either a rejection of the Torah or rejection of what Yahushua has done, and wants to do for man, and in man. We need both ministries.

Christianity in its traditional form has abandoned certain commandments, that’s the evidence the enemy has been working in that religion overall. Judaism is lacking the ministry of the Messiah Yahushua, evidence that the enemy has been successful in pulling people away from the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us in Messiah Yahushua. Other ways today, a more modern sense, Satan is able to create doubt by causing someone to believe that Yahweh’s Word, known as the Bible, is even a reliable record to begin with. Evolutionists, atheists, followers of other religions, now even leaders of certain Christian colleges, have fallen prey to these kinds of deceptions. The Words of Yahweh are supposed to be a seed that’s sown in our hearts, bearing the fruits of His Spirit. But it’s a major problem we have today. And whenever there is missing the Word of Yahweh, something else is going to come in and take its place.

I remember years ago, a chat room, was pretty hop in place back in the day before there was social media, and it was interesting, there was a fellow, he just loved the broadcast. So, anyway this gentleman he joined the chat room, and he called him, you know, referred to himself with one who is kind of a dried out leather kind man, you know, just kind of washed out, you know, been through a lot, you know, and everything, and then he was real excited about the broadcast and the Word and everything was going on. And then this fellow come along and was trying to convince him that, secretly in private chats, that there was, you know, certain parts of Scripture that was not valid anymore, okay? And so, when I talked to this man about his doctrine, I said, well how do you know which Scripture you’re going to accept, what Scripture you’re not going to accept, because it’s just by the Holy Spirit. And to which I thought okay, you say that, but what you really mean is your spirit, what you say is the holy spirit. And this fellow that who was, you know, excited about the Word and everything, all of a sudden starting got sucked in. I actually paid him a personal visit and baptized him, out there at somewhere east coast, back in 2010. Baptized and everything.

And so, then all of a sudden this, I warned him, I warned him about this man, I said, “He is pulling you away from the Word, is no different than Satan the devil, it’s no different. Because that’s exactly what Satan is always trying to do, is pull you away from the Word, all the way back to the Garden of Eden.” To which he, you know, he kind of listened, he’s like yeah okay, he seemed like he was all right. A month later he was gone. And this fellow was was trying to pull people away into some kind of a commune somewhere in Alaska, I don’t know where it was. And we never heard from this man again. Sad story, really very sad story, but that’s what happens, people get pulled away from the Word, and they have no foundation.

Now, if we don’t have any document, any unifying document, you don’t really have anything to look to as being authoritative. If you take away the Scriptures then basically you take away your foundation. You take away everything that causes you to believe what you believe. And when you take that away something is going to take its place. And that’s what’s happened in our culture today. We have something now to take the place of Yahweh’s Word: we have science, we have liberal ideology taught in almost every university in America. These alternative doctrines, these alternative thoughts, these alternative ways, that are always of course presented as being moral, and the Bible being presented as being immoral.

So, therefore if the Bible is presented to be immoral, then what happens now? The one who would otherwise be convicted by the precepts of Scripture, now finds him in a place of in his own mind being morally superior to teachings of Scripture.

And so, here we are today. Billy Graham style revivals the 1950s, they won’t work anymore. Because back then most people did believe in the Bible, but now there’s a void left behind through not believing in the Scriptures, which opens the doors for lies to creep in to the hearts of men. And the biggest attack to the Word of Elohim today is actually the very field of study that ought to be rejoicing and standing in complete awe of the complexity and glory of the world Yahweh has created. And that’s science. When science looks at the things that are created, and just, how can they not just close their eyes, raise their hands, and say “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh” of how awesome it is. Like the 4 living creatures, in Revelation. They don’t know what to say except “Holy, holy, holy, awesome, amazing”. I mean how do you else do you describe Yahweh? He’s separate, He’s set apart, He’s far, far, far greater than we are. You can’t even put it more, look up in the sky at night, look at the stars, and the multitudes, and just go “Wow”, I mean, you got no words, except “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh”, you have nothing else to say except “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh”.

And I think of the work of Yahweh in my life, and I think “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh”. There’s no other way, there’s no other word, even kadosh doesn’t do it justice. Except the 4 living creatures just know He’s so far greater, so set apart, so holy, so what we aren’t.

But they don’t do that. They have their professors, theories, evolution, widely accepted today and wildly accepted today. And stated very matter-of-factly. And Yahweh is reduced to some tribal war god back in the, you know, first millennium BC. And it’s taught that way in government schools, secular colleges, in spite of the amount of this abundant amount of information and evidence against it. Any evidence found against evolution is dismissed, thrown aside, ignored.

But you know, Satan does not always have to completely convince us. He only needs to cause enough doubt, just enough doubt, that we wonder “Could it be, could it be”. And that really is all he a lot of times needs, to kind of pull us into his ways. And a lot of children they grew up hearing these things, evolution and things like that. They don’t necessarily completely buy into it, but as they get into their later teenage years and twenties, and all the glory that the world has to offer, the sensuality, the things that the world has, it creates just enough doubt to where they figure, “Well, maybe the whole thing this isn’t even true, and here I am trying to fight all these temptations and everything, and I’m just going to forget it”. So just enough doubt, just enough doubt. And sometimes that’s all it takes for someone to go down the wrong path. He just wants to confuse you.

And people want a sign, some kind of proof, some kind of supernatural experience they can lean on. I think it’s kind of a set up, because this whole thing is a set up, because almost the whole area of Europe now are humanists and secularists, and other nations are following suit. And the United States is on their way there too. And with evolution kind of being this driving engine to drive people away from the Scriptures, and treat Yahweh’s Word as some cute little religion coming out of Mesopotamia, whereas the Scriptures, based on the Book of Revelation, we know Scripture says this was going to happen. There will be men professing to be wise, but they are fools. Is that why they call themselves professors? I don’t know, interesting.

But we know in the Book of Revelation there will be a lot of supernatural things occurring, quite a bit of supernatural events. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 – The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders, – How about that. Power, signs, lying wonders. Power, signs, lying wonders. So, whenever the enemy shows himself as one capable of demonstrating supernatural power, supernatural signs, and supernatural wonders, can’t you see what’s happening? Scientists say, “O, show us, show us He’s real, and we’ll follow, we’ll follow the evidence, we’ll follow the evidence”. Well, when this coming of working of Satan comes along, and he shows these signs and lying wonders, they’re going to say, “There’s the evidence, evidence we’re looking for of a supernatural entity”. –
¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. – You have to love the truth in order for you to be saved, you have to love the truth. If you don’t love the truth you’re going to do what? You’re going to receive something else, you’re going to receive something called a strong delusion. –
¹¹ … strong delusion – so that you will believe a lie. Not actually a lie but actually the lie. What’s the lie? There’s like lies and then there’s the lie. Interesting, what could it be? –
¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

If we have pleasure in unrighteousness here’s what’s going to happen. If we choose to practice this pleasure in unrighteousness we are susceptible to believing the lie. See the connection between pleasure and unrighteousness, and then unrighteous deception, and then not receiving, not receiving this love of the truth. So having a love for the truth is the key to not believing Satan’s lie here, especially in the coming age, but even now.

And believing in the truth and having pleasure in unrighteousness are seen here as opposites. See that? Did not believe the truth but instead of believing the truth they had pleasure in unrighteousness, okay. And that is what happens over and over and over again.

And so this whole thing we’re looking at here with this humanist secularist demanding of signs, and demanding of wonders, demanding Yahweh show Himself, that when the enemy shows himself there’s going to be, “O, there’s the god, there’s the god”, there’s the supernatural thing they’re looking for, here’s the proof, and they’ll flock to him, and then Satan can teach them whatever he wants. Whatever philosophy or doctrine he wants to teach them, they’ll buy into it hook, line, and sinker, because they have been without any form of religion.

And now we’re going to be learning this new religion that people are going to have a hard time not believing because, you know, what’s this old antiquated Bible versus this entity, this being right here in front of us, teaching us these wonderful ways in their mind, allowing them of course to engage in their sensual conduct. Whereas this old dusty Bible, and the people that follow it, “O, they’re just old, they’re just old, you know, following old paths.”

And so, the enemy is going to have his way with a lot of people. But there will be some of us who will cleave to the Word of Yahweh to be our guide. And we will not be persuaded, we will not not be deceived into thinking this entity is the true Elohim. Actually we’re going to see his appearance as the very manifestation of fulfilled prophecy Scripture already talked about.

And so, this is why brothers and sisters, it is so important that we get grounded in the Word, and we know the Scriptures backwards and forwards, and forwards and backwards. Very important. We are in a time of plenty. Anyone who has one of these little things in their lives has a Bible that, I mean, this this cell phone will read you the Bible anytime you want it to. Download a program called “Blue Letter Bible”, it’ll read you the Scriptures any old time. And you can read so many different translations, you can go back and read Gesenius’ lexicon which is a rare thing to find. Gesenius’ lexicon, the Brown Driver Briggs lexicon, Thayer’s lexicon, Strong’s lexicon. You can dig into Greek and Hebrew and get the verb tenses. It’ll parse the verbs for you. We’ve got no excuse in this generation. None.

The truth is Yahweh’s Word is reliable. What we call the Bible as we know it today, containing 66 books written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different authors, living on three different continents, they simply wrote down what they saw and what they heard. They’re eyewitnesses of what took place. If you’re in a court of law one of the things you’re going to look for is facts. Let’s say there’s a whodunit crime. Who done a crime appearing before a judge, and one of the most important things necessary are eyewitnesses, bring witnesses to the witness stand to determine what happened in the past.

What we have in the Holy Scriptures are a series of eyewitnesses who all amazingly agree with each other. Not just on the surface but to depths, amazing depths of agreement, and harmony. We also have very ancient documents been demonstrated to be clearly and accurately transcribed from one generation to the next.

There’s no reason to say when I read something in Scripture, “Has Elohim indeed said?” I don’t believe for a minute Yahweh would allow His Word to be so corrupted to the point where we would not be able to find the righteous path ahead. Or not be able to come to faith in Messiah Yahushua for forgiveness of sin. Yahweh knows Satan’s tool, he likes to use to create doubt in the Word of Yahweh. And so, He’s going to preserve it. If we know the Word is at center stage. Look, the Holy Scriptures, Yahushua said in the first century, cannot be broken. He quoted it to back up what He had to say. Paul, the apostles, all quoted to back up what they had to say.

Now, that Old Testament was in the hands of pagan? We don’t talk about pagan. I mean, downright Baal worshiping Jews that forsook Yahweh, went to Babylon, huge mess. And yet somehow the Word of Yahweh was intact. It still stood. And the canon was understood because of the words of the men who wrote them. Moshe, David and others, prophets.

And so, in spite of the New Testament being in the hands of people that really didn’t follow that New Testament, that’s why they’re trying to hide the Bible from people, that’s why the Catholic Church didn’t want people to read the Bible because it condemned their conduct and condemned their teachings. But in spite of that Yahweh has preserved a canon of Scripture we can count on. And look, you can be, if you’re just going to decide what your own canon is going to be, then just have it your way like Burger King, you know, pick your religion, smorgasbord religion is no different than any other religion in the world.

So, here’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to allow the Word of Yahweh to convict us and lead us and guide us. Rather than having pleasure in unrighteousness. Because there is truth. John 17:17 Yahushua said that His Word, Yahweh’s Word is truth.

And there are lies. And the lies would be anything that’s contrary to the Word of truth. But there are people who want to be the alternative Bible to you. Professors of one religion or another, whether it be humanism, whether it be whatever religion it might be, (Romans 1:22-23) – They professed to be wise, they became fools,
²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible Elohim into an image made like corruptible man – And that’s the point. Evolution is just another religion suggesting creation created me. Every religion says creation creates me. Idol worship, creation created me. One major problem is: dead matter can’t create living matter. I don’t care how much you mix it together, you can’t give it life. And so, what we see in creation is that life begets life. Life begets life. Life gave life. Praise Yahweh.

Now, there’s a 5-part study on the reliability of Scripture. I’ve only touched the surface because it’s important but there’s a whole lot more depth to this topic. If you turn to http://www.eliyah.com/transcripts and write down those dates (8/19/17, 8/26/17, 1/6/18, 1/13/18, 2/3/18), I have a full study on why the Bible, 66 books of Scripture we have in our hands, we read from every day, are indeed reliable. And we can look to them and trust that Yahweh’s Word is indeed in our Scriptures, and indeed they are truth. Because the enemy wants to say, “Did Elohim really say this?”, “Did He really say that?”, “Did He really say?”. I know, and I’ve seen it over and over again. Where every religion in the world today, they all have an alternative Bible. Every single one of them have one thing in common, and that is they reject some part of Scripture. All of them do it. Judaism does it, Islam does it, Christianity does it in its traditional form. They all have one thing in common, and that’s the rejection of some part of Scripture. There you go. It’s all the same, really.

So, I’m putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak, and that is Yahweh’s Word is truth. The Scriptures cannot be broken. The Scriptures are truth. And then, what if it so happens I face Yahweh on that final day of judgment. And what if He actually did allow it to happen, what if He really did allow a certain Scripture to be corrupted or something like that, and I didn’t know, and I followed it? Well, at least then my heart wasn’t rebellious, you know. And I don’t believe He would fault me for following the Scriptures. That’s what Yahushua did, that’s what made Him perfect. The fact that He did not sin, He did not transgress Yahweh’s law. And so, how can I be faulted for following Yahweh’s law. And so, that’s where I’m putting my hope and expectation. And if someone wants to put their hope and expectations somewhere else, well we’ll see you on the other side, and see how it turns out for you. Yahweh willing I’ll stand till I draw my last breath.

Back to Genesis. (Genesis 3:2-3) – And the woman said to the serpent, – and she basically says here it is written or it is spoken – “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
³ “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” – Now, some people take this thing here ‘nor shall you touch it, lest you die’, as if Eve added to Yahweh’s Word. Because originally Yahweh said, “Don’t eat it.” But she added, “don’t touch it.” But we don’t know if the Book of Genesis writes down everything that Yahweh had to say. He may have said later or added to that, said, “Don’t touch it either”, okay? So I’m not going to accuse Eve of already sinning, otherwise this would be the sin that caused the fall of mankind as she added to Yahweh’s Word. Where she lied about something Yahweh had said. I don’t believe it was a lie, I believe she spoke the truth, okay?

But she used the sword of Yahweh’s Word in her fight against Satan’s attempt to create doubt. She stood on the Word of Yahweh. And so, she did not just with that one attempt to create doubt, and throw some shade on Yahweh’s Word as if it wasn’t true, “Did He really say that?” And she says a matter of fact He did, and this is what He said. So it was good.

Same thing Yahushua did in Luke chapter four (Luke 4:5-8) – Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
⁶ And the devil said to Him. “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
⁸ And Yahushua answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Yahweh your Elohim, and Him only you shall serve.’” – He used a sword, and was victorious and defeated the enemy by His faith in the Word of Yahweh, using the sword which is the only offensive piece of armor we have, by the way. He attacked the enemy of Yahweh and used the Word of Yahweh wisely. And that’s why it’s so important we believe in the Words of Scripture, and the reliability of Scripture. Without that we have no sword.

Start picking and choosing, what’s going to happen? If Satan can come along, start picking you apart when you put doubt more and more into this word, more and more into that word. Don’t go there, put your faith in the Word of Yahweh. Scriptures are true.

Now, Satan is successful in creating just a little bit of doubt. He then is going to try to feed us his doctrines, his beliefs, his lies. And that’s what the serpent said next to Eve. He said to the woman, “O, you will not surely die”. Look at that. The very first lie in the Bible, right here. “You will not surely die”, actually is a lie about Yahweh’s grace. In other words, you can disobey Yahweh’s Word, and everything will be all right. You won’t die, you’ll be all right. Does this sound familiar?

Now, when Yahweh speaks we’ll hear the Word of truth coming from Him. But when Satan speaks he’s going to speak some kind of a lie or some kind of lie mixed with the truth. And those who walk in the image of Satan actually become Satan’s children, rather than Yahweh’s children when they believe his doctrines, and his words, and his lies over the Words of Yahweh. That’s demonstrated here in John chapter 8 verse 44 – “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. – He said. – He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
⁴⁵ But because I tell – you – the truth, you do not believe Me.

Once again, the Word of Yahweh is at center stage. Will men believe in Yahweh’s Words or will they believe in Satan’s lies. Same old stuff happening yet again. No different, same conflict, same problem. Will we believe in Yahweh’s Words or we believe in Satan’s lies, okay? Same thing, no different.

Now, you might wonder why I said he mixes truths with lies. What he does is give you half truths. The reality is the half truth is a whole lie. They’re just more hidden, and therefore more susceptive, and therefore more dangerous.

One of Satan’s biggest lies is this, “You will not surely die”, it’s the same doctrine of demons that Satan is using today to create havoc on mankind. And it’s very prevalent today. This kind of deception has produced the ‘once saved always saved’ doctrine, in the sense that once you come to faith in the Messiah it’s impossible for you to ever fall away. It is impossible for you to be judged as a sinner, and worthy of the lake of fire in that final day. Once you’ve made that profession of faith, it’s over. You’re His and no one can take you away, and there’s no way you can be unsaved from that point forward.

Well, this kind of deception, “We can do what we want and still be saved,” the same deception is basically the same thing Satan was trying to pull there in the Garden of Eden. The same doctrine he was feeding Eve, “You can do these things, you can disobey, and you will not surely die, you’re not going to die”. The same thing is going on today—people are taught they can still sin, they can lay there and just wallow in the mud, like a pig in the mud, and you will not surely die. You will not face judgment of Yahweh so, “O, you’ve got to believe in His grace, He’s gracious, He’s kind, He’s loving, He would never send you to the lake of fire.”

In case you believe in Yahweh, and what he says is not really true, “You will not surely die”, look, Yahushua did predict there’s a lot of people who are going to follow that deception.

He said (Matthew 7:19-21) – Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. – If you don’t bear good fruit as a believer in Messiah Yahushua, you’re cut down, you’re thrown in the fire. –
²⁰ “By the fruits – you’re going to know those who are His and those who aren’t. –
^{21 “}Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will – but he who does the will – of My Father in heaven. – You have to have works demonstrating your faith. –
²² Many will say to Me that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice –Torahlessness – lawlessness!

Interesting. These people who are many will not enter in because they’re practicing lawlessness. Could lawlessness mean there’s no law? It’s been done away with? Just throwing that out there. And it’s pretty important, and if Yahweh said, “do this”, and you say “don’t have to”, what voice is that? I mean, can it not be that same old sly voice that we heard in the Garden of Eden? “O, hath Elohim said?”, “Hath Elohim said?”

So what’s this word “lawlessness” actually mean in the lexicon? The Thayer’s lexicon says: the condition without law; contempt and – what – violation of law; iniquity; wickedness. The Strong’s lexicon has: illegality; violation of law.

Many are concerned today that we might be legalists. Based on this definition, I think I’d be a little more concerned if I was an illegalist. Today the origins of this law has been abolished as a satanic doctrine of demons, that is not to be followed, and is not to be obeyed. Don’t listen to the alternative law, this doctrine of demons. The enemy will say ‘Do not do the will of your Father in heaven. Do not do the will of your Father in heaven, and still call Him your Master.’ Yahushua said ‘Not everyone call me Master will enter in, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. And I don’t care what your signs and your wonders are, prophesying, wonders and signs, and whatever, doesn’t matter. If you practice lawlessness, you will not enter in.’

Now, I am not trying to condemn everyone who is following traditional Christianity. As I traced this word back to the Hebrew, what I found, it wasn’t just lawlessness, it was a rebellious lawlessness, a willful lawlessness, having to do with a willful heart willing to intentionally disobey Yahweh, okay? So I’m not saying if you don’t know about the need to keep the Shabbat or the need to eat clean or these other things, that you’re going to hell. I am saying if you know and you don’t do, then you’re not repenting, and that’s when you fall into danger.

So I’m not condemning anybody, I’m not. I’m just saying here’s the origins of this doctrine: “I can do what I want and I will not surely die; I can disobey commandments and I will not surely die.” So here’s the half truth I want to talk to you about. In verse 5 – ⁴ Then the serpent said the woman, “You will not surely die.
⁵ “For Elohim knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” – Well, I mean that was true, her eyes would be opened, and she would be like Elohim, knowing good and evil, that part was true. But it was half truth here because the way it’s being presented. Very subtle temptation, very sly and crafty temptation. Oh well, the only reason why Eve, that Yahweh doesn’t want you to eat that, is because He doesn’t want you to become a God like Him. He doesn’t want you to become a Mighty One like Him. And so He’s keeping this back from you Eve. And so, He’s holding you back.

Really, this was enough for her to believe this ancient version of another gospel. Actually it’s not a gospel being presented here. This other gospel is: disobedience is okay, you don’t have to repent. That’s the other gospel. And that’s why in the Book of Galatians it says (Galatians 1:8) – But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. – Even if it’s an angel from heaven because, you know, there are fallen angels, right? But just stating that was not enough for Eve, there was something else that was necessary.

(Genesis 3) – ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Now, this is interesting. There was the pull of disobedience, the temptation of the unknown, to do something that had never been tried before. And just have to trust that Yahweh’s Word was actually true, and she shouldn’t do this. And it was enough for her to believe another gospel, essentially, another message, a message that did not require obedience, did not require repentance, did not require her to live right. And so there are today deceitful workers presenting this alternative gospel. Easy greasy grace, carnal Christianity.

Now a lot of Christianity does actually talk about obedience but not fully, not full obedience to all of Yahweh’s commands. But within Christianity there is this segment of the Christian population, and in people that even go to church every week, who think they can continue to live the way they’re living, to be sexually immoral, live in fornication, shack up together with their girlfriend or whoever, pleasure one another, and everything be all right.

Here’s what Paul had to say (2 Corinthians 11:3-4) – What I do – I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Messiah.
⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Yahushua whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted– you may well put up with it!

(2 Corinthians 11:12-15) – But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. – they’re looking for praise of men –
¹³ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Messiah.
¹⁴ And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

And so there are people presenting another gospel that does not involve repentance, sincere repentance. Much has said about what Yahushua has done for man, but not much about what Yahushua wants to do in man. And that’s direct man toward the true ways of love, true ways of righteousness seen in the Scriptures.

And so those who are actually proclaiming the law’s done away with are actually echoing what the enemy taught Eve in the garden. And whether they know it or not they are deceitful workers.

Now I’m not saying all of them are unsaved, or they, may just ignorance. I mean, what if I don’t know something, is Yahweh holding me accountable? John 9:41 says – If you are blind you have no sin, – okay? But point being, they’re echoing what the enemy was doing in the Garden of Eden.

Now, here’s something else I want to point out to you. It wasn’t enough to present this alternative gospel, this alternative way of living. There had to be something else known as the pull and the lust of the flesh. And also notice, her husband’s just sitting there watching the whole thing, because she also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Apparently Adam is failing to, you know, do his job here, what he should have said was, “Eve let’s get out of here, we don’t want to go there.”

But we’ll see it sometimes in marital relationships, brothers and sisters. Well, you know, the man wouldn’t actually do it but if the woman’s like, “Well, won’t we go this way, let’s go that way.” He can kind of somewhat blame her in his mind, “Okay, well, the wife told me, you know.” And it’s no different, and that’s actually what Adam’s response was when Yahweh confronted him, “Well, this woman that You gave me, I mean she just gave me this fruit and I ate it, you know, I mean.” Ah, pfff. Didn’t work brothers, didn’t work. Doesn’t work.

Now, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was actually in the midst of the garden, and so was the tree of life. And so every day they had a choice: life or death. Yahweh’s Word was directing them towards the way of life. Satan’s word was directing them towards death, that’s why he’s a murderer from the beginning. And so do we have this equal choice. But first he knew he had to create doubt, he had to deceive, he had to lie. Just as man say, “O, we’re saved by grace, we’re saved by grace, don’t worry about it.”

She fell for Satan’s deception, but in the kicker was the fact that she saw the tree was good for food. She saw that the tree was good for food. In other words: it could go in your body. That was her perception anyway, it was good for food. And I’ve had people today scoff at the idea that Yahweh still has commandments for us regulating our diet. In that, pork and shellfish, “Hey, they taste good”, they say, and “It’s good for food.” And they scoff at the idea that I would choose to check ingredients and go through all this hard work sometimes to find out whether or not my food is clean or unclean. And they think, “Well, Yahushua freed you from all that bondage.” Well it’s not bondage, not bondage at all. But that’s what Satan wants you to believe. And the world makes it tough because they don’t care what’s in their food. And since we care we have to go through the ingredients.

Of course, these same people, if their doctor told them, “Don’t eat fat, don’t eat this, don’t eat that”, boy they’d be running through the ingredients list. If the doctor told them, “O, that’s okay, that’s not legalism”, but if we do it for righteousness sake, we’re a bunch of legalists. But listen. No matter how tasty that shrimp may seem, or how great you think that sausage, or bacon, or pepperoni pizza may taste, don’t assume it’s good for food. And if you think it’s good for food just because you can chew it and put in your body, does not mean Yahweh approves it.

You see brothers, we still have that taste today, that test today, tasty test, taste test, we’ve got a taste test today brothers and sisters, each one of us. Will we let Yahweh govern our stomach, or does he give us free reign to eat whatever we want: rats, cats, bats, whatever.

Then there’s a second temptation here, not just the temptation of the god of the belly, but also pride. She was told that she could be like Elohim. Get out from Yahweh’s rule, and be your own ruler. As if Yahweh was telling her not to eat the tree so that you couldn’t become like him. As if Eve had the ability if she wanted to, to become a goddess by eating from that fruit. Let me say, the same temptation exists for a woman today, just as I said, man’s just sitting there, going along with stuff, kind of being this, you know, aw shucks kind of a guy, you know, scraping his foot against the ground, that’s kind of mousy, and letting his wife run everything.

And then the same temptation exists for a woman in the sense that, “Hey, I can be my own head, I don’t need the headship Yahweh gave me, the man being my head, I can take over as leader, I can put myself in the place of Yahweh by being his leader”. You see, Scripture said, “Yahushua is the head of man, Yahweh is the head of Yahushua”, not woman.

And so, the same temptation exists in marital relationships, brothers and sisters. The men to be an Ahab and the woman to be a Jezebel. Ahab was weak kneed, wimpy, and wouldn’t stand for righteousness. And let his wife run over him. And when she suggested, “Go ahead and take that, don’t worry about this, o you poor Ahab, o you poor baby, I’ll go over here and take care, and you’ll get this beautiful vineyard for yourself”. Food. “Don’t worry Adam, I’ll get this fruit for you, here you go, you have some too”.

Same old trick over and over again, and it’s happening in marital relationships today. Women want to rule the man, and thereby be in the place of Elohim. Whereas Elohim says, “I am the head of man, not woman”. Same thing going on today as what’s happening in the Garden of Eden, in marriage relationships every day. Happens all the time

But we have something here called carnal desires. We all have this brothers and sisters, a fleshly tendency to go after the things that are pleasant to the eyes, that feeds this carnal nature that we would have apart from Messiah. And partake of things are forbidden.

And therefore Yahweh tells us (1 John 2:15-17) – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. – Period. Period. Why? –
¹⁶ For all that is in the world– the lust of the flesh, – that’s what happened to Eve – the lust of the eyes, – that’s what happened to Eve – and the pride of life– – that’s what happened to Eve – is not of the Father but is of the world. – And it happened to Adam too. It’s just he went through woman to get it. And people are going to women to get it today, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
¹⁷ And the world is passing away – all these lusts are passing away, and the lust will be gone, the world will be gone, but there’s one that will stand forever and abide forever and that is – he who does the will of Elohim will abide forever.

Halleluyah. So, what’s the important thing here? The Word. It’s all about the Word. Whether you’re doing the Word or not doing the Word. Same thing thousands of years later going on the first century no different, same thing today. Same thing. 6,000 year-old problem, brothers and sisters, 6,000 year-old problem. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Same problem.

And Satan knows it. He knows that this is what man has, this is his weakness, and so he’s always looking for the weak chink in the armor, somewhere he can attack to draw you into his doctrines, in his belief systems, in his theology. His theology is he’s the deity, he’s in rebellion against the Most High. And so what we see happening in the Garden of Eden is happening today, to you, to me. And we have the choice whether we will follow Satan the devil, who offers us all that’s in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Or whether we will follow Yahweh. And what we love has a lot to do with where we are, what direction we go. We are commanded: “Do not love the world, and do not love the things in the world. Otherwise Yahweh’s love is not in you.” Period.

So, all the things that the world seeks, the things that are being presented to you in our culture today that are worldly, that’s not from Yahweh the Father. These are from Satan himself, having success in working in directing people toward his ways. So, which tree are we going to eat from? Yahweh wants to know. He’s presented the tree of life to us. And the enemy has presented all this other knowledge, evil and good. We have this knowledge of evil and good today. We have the knowledge, what are we gonna do with it, that’s the question.

And I have much more to say, but we are running out of time. Let’s pray.

O Yahweh, in name of Yahushua ha-Mashiach, thank You for Your Word. Thank You that today we can read, and we can hear, and we can know, and we can proclaim Your Word to this whole lost and dying world that we live in. And that we Father Yahweh have such free access to Your principles, the ways of righteousness, the ways of truth, the ways of love, the ways of holiness, the ways of purity, uprightness, and goodness.

Father You are the most awesome, awesome power in the universe. We look at creation, and we say, “Wow, how awesome, awesome You are”. The heavens declare Your glory, the earth declares Your glory.

And Father we want to be aware, we want to know, and not be ignorant of the enemy’s devices. Because we don’t want to turn away from You Father, we don’t want to be deceived. We want to be in Your loving presence for all eternity. And there’s nothing worth losing our soul, nothing on earth is worth losing our soul. Father teach us to be sober, teach us to be vigilant, teach us to be aware, not just bounce along through life, ignorant, tossed like a ship on an ocean, we want the anchor of Your Word. We don’t want to walk as the enemy walks, with accusing spirits, strife, arguing and fighting, hatred.

We want to be wise. We want to be skilled in using our sword wisely. Alert us to where the enemy might be a snake in the grass ahead. And let us not be deceived Father. We want to follow Your ways, all the days of our life. Teach us Your Word. Instruct us in Your way, that we might be cleansed of our own wayward ways, and be more like Yahushua, the One that we adore, the One who truly manifested Your image, that true image of love, a true image of righteousness.

Abba Yahweh, alert us to any man or any woman who may choose to pull us away from Your Word. And while we know what spirit may be operating in them, we walk with awareness, but we also walk with wisdom, and we walk in such a way that we don’t harm the person who happens to be ensnared by the devil to do his will. But that we alert them to Your Word and Your truth, in love and sow to them in their hearts Your Word of truth in peace.

Teach us Father Yahweh how to walk out the way that we were created from the beginning: man protecting his wife, standing for righteousness; and wife remembering the place in which she was created, and appreciating and loving her position to be under headship, and not try to subvert it and take Your place.

Father we want to love You, we don’t want to love the world or the things in the world. Guard us Father against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, which are not of You but are of the world. We praise You, we thank You, we want to be Your children all the days of our lives. Because we know and we are sure Yours is the kingdom, and Yours is the power, and Yours is the glory forever and ever and ever. Great is Your faithfulness, oh Yahweh. In Yahushua’s great name we pray, amein.