Preparation Day

     A day was set-aside for the Israelites during the Old Testament time for them to prepare for the Sabbath day, and this tradition continues today. This was a day for cooking, cleaning and whatever needed to be completed before Jehovah's day of rest would begin. This time period is also a shadow for the human race, for our preparation for the kingdom of God yet to come, which will be a rest from the threat of death and the influence of Satan. "And it shall be in the day that Jehovah shall give you rest from your sorrow, and from your trouble, and from the hard bondage which was pressed on you." (Isaiah 14:3). Man's preparation day started when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, and preparation day will end when Christ returns a second time for those who made good use of the time that was given us to learn of Jehovah and His Son; for the converting of our hearts. Part of preparing for the weekly Sabbath day, the Israelite needed to prepare himself to be in the presence of God Almighty because they were to worshiped at the Temple, or wherever they were gathered to be in Jehovah's presence. An example of their need to prepare for His Sabbath day was presented while in the wilderness after leaving Egypt they were instructed to collect two days portions of the "manna" (food sent from Heaven) that was being delivered by God every morning as dew on the ground. Normally they would collect just enough to sustain them for that day and what anyone collected over that and saved for the next day, would be rotten by morning. However, on the day before the Sabbath, a double portion was to be gathered on their preparation day, the sixth day of the week, "You shall gather it six days, and on the seventh is a sabbath; in it none shall be found." (Exodus 16:26), this double portion did not spoil the next day, the Sabbath, and they ate both on Friday and on the Sabbath day, and this system of a food entitlement continued for forty years, until the Israelites entered the promise land.

      Much of the Israelite's walk to the promise land is an example given for every generation to follow, for those preparing to enter the Heavenly promise land. At the foot of Mount Sinai, instructions were given to the people by Moses for cleansing themselves because they were to be in the presence of God Almighty in two days, because He was to personally speak to the people with His covenant, the Ten Commandments, "and Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow. And let them wash their clothes, and be ready for the third day. For on the third day Jehovah will go down before the eyes of all the people on the mountain of Sinai." (Exodus 19:10,11). The Levites, who had charge of the temple of Jehovah, were also instructed to cleanse themselves before performing their duties in the temple. Therefore, we also need to cleanse ourselves to be in the presence of Jehovah, but our need is more of for a spiritual cleansing, a purification of our character to be in aligned with God's way, which has been presented in the covenant He gave from Mount Sinai and also through Moses, in the Mosaic laws. Just as Satan and his deceived angels were banned from Heaven for their sin, we need to cast out all our sins before we can enter into Jehovah's perfect and pure environment, God's kingdom, yet to be established for mankind.

     The Israelite's promise land was the land of Canaan; our promise land is God's kingdom. God's word is the treasure map to this Heavenly kingdom and His Book must be searched, understood, cherished and placed within our heart, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33), so each soul does not venture off Jehovah's correct path. Understanding God's way and walking within its guidelines, you might think that would be everyone's travel and their destination, but man is proving that this is not man's common path. Jesus said it would be a difficult road, "For narrow is the gate, and constricted (troubled) is the way that leads into life, and few are the ones who find it." (Matthew 7:14), meaning this path to God's salvation may be a lonely road and a challenging spiritual travel, but can you deny that the rewards are worth all the effort needed to complete the trip? However, in this preparation (cleansing) period that we are currently in, many have difficulty fighting off the temptations of the world's ways, made to look and feel rewarding and pleasurable, but they only lead to the "Lake of Fire", spoken of in Revelation, "And if anyone was not found having been written in the Scroll of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire." (Revelation 20:15). But the rewards God promises should not be taken lightly, for we only know of a few of God's wonderful plans awaiting us in His kingdom.

      What does God's word say about how to recognize this way and how to stay on the correct path? One major point I want to stress before I present more from God's word: It is up to you, personally to read God's word for yourself, because one cannot develop a complete trust in God if you read or listen to another person's explanation of what the scriptures say or mean, your pure confidence in Jehovah can only come from experiencing God's word first hand during these last days, unless you can't read or you are blind. It is your efforts in consuming His words that promotes God and His Son to reward you for your personal commitment with correct understanding of His life giving words. There are many writers and many speakers that profess to know the Bible, but most all disagree on many points, because they inject their opinions and agendas, even without them realizing. You need to know all of God's word for yourself in order to attempt to recognize what is not Biblical, and to walk only in God's way, according to your observations, and hopefully according to Christ's supplied understandings. You will be judged on God's word and not on any of man's expressed understandings of God's word, including any church doctrines or post Christ prophets. Each man's own desired unrighteousness will be judged by God, but man's righteous acts need no judgment, "Truly, truly, I say to you, The one who hears My word, and believes the One who has sent Me, has everlasting life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24) "The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has that judging him: the word which I spoke, that will judge him in the last days." (John 12:48). The most important part of these verses is that we should believe God's words, the One God who gave them to Jesus, to give to us. I found nothing in God's word that claims that judgment would be set on a curve, only righteous and just judgment, "Justice and righteousness are Your thrones foundation; mercy and truth go before Your face." (Psalm 89:14). "I, Jehovah, search the heart; I tie the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruits of His doings." (Jeremiah 17:10) and a verse from the New Testament, "For not the hearers of the law are just with God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." (Romans 2:13) and there are many more such verses.

     Preparation Day, in our current time, is to prepare one self to be acceptable in the presence of God Almighty, the One sitting on the throne, Jehovah. Since Adam and Eve were cast out of The Garden of Eden, visual awareness of God Almighty was terminated for man, "And He said, You are not able to see My face; for no man sees me and lives." (Exodus 33:20), Moses was only allowed to see His back, but this standard is about to change, and being face to face with the Almighty Creator will be our unimaginable joy. Also, after the Garden of Eden, personal audible communication was denied to man, with just a very few exceptions: Noah, Jacob, Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon and a few other kings; I don't know if the various prophets were given instruction by God's voice or inspiration. All other human communication with God was done through His prophets or seers, they were Jehovah's designated mediators between man and God during the Old Testament times, but once Christ was introduced, He became our only Mediator to God, "For God is one, also there is one Mediator of God and of man, the Man Christ Jesus." (I Timothy 2:5) and after He ascended to be with His Father, communication is conducted through Christ's spirit. We are not called to go to or through a prophet for communication with God, we are to use prayer to the Father Jehovah, in the name of Jesus, and Christ, being our only Mediator will deliver Jehovah's messages and His understandings to us, by a variety of methods and according to His timing. There is now no voice used, but there was one recorded exception where Christ spoke to man after His ascension, when Saul was on His way to Damascus, Christ used His voice to speak to him and changed Saul's direction in life and later his name was changed to Paul.

      John saw many visions while on the Island of Patmos by way of an angel, "...And He signified by sending through His angel to His slave, John." (Revelation 1:1). Our line of communication with God is by our prayers to Him and reading God's word. Answers to our questions and directions are generally within these pages, but Christ may use life examples, memories, visions and dreams, "And it shall be afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophecy; your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions." (Joel 2:28). But I need to warn you, just because someone prophecies, that doesn't make him a prophet of Jehovah, king Saul prophesied but was not a recognized prophet, "And it happened, all who knew him from yesterday and the third day, and saw him, even behold, he prophesied with prophets. And the people said, each one to his neighbor. What is this happening to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" (I Samuel 10:11). Christ, He is now our only Mediator, "But now He has gotten a more excellent ministry, also by so much as He is a Mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises." (Hebrews 8:6), prophets are not needed any longer with Christ as our Mediator. Prophets are mentioned as being part of the church body, but as we consider the translation when Paul spoke of those that are to be part of the church, Strong's # 4396 prophetes from a compound of 4253 and 4346; a foreteller ("prophet"); by anal. an inspired speaker; by extends. a poet: - prophet. You decide how it should be translated. Do we need more prophets; did Christ forget to include anything by His inspirations to the many Bible writers? Inspired speaker would be a better choice, since this ability was not mentioned in Paul's list of abilities for the church in light of Christ being our only Mediator through His spirit, which He will speak with any sincere caller of His spirit, and not through a prophet or seer.

      Until Christ's second advent, we have been given this time, a lifetime for each of us to prepare ourselves to be in the presence of God Almighty, in Jehovah's pure and righteous kingdom, where no sin is allowed, nor anyone cherishing or holding onto a sin. We were all born into this world, which Satan has been given dominion for a period of time, and his influence in this world is powerful beyond man's resistance, and his deceptions are unperceivable without Christ help. Satan and the angels he deceived were banned from God's presence, "And the great dragon was cast out - the old serpent being called Devil, and Satan, he deceiving the whole inhabitable world - was cast out onto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9), and to those not knowing God's word are sure to be tricked into believing Satan's lies. This may also include our understanding of the many words presented by men, claming to be following Jesus. Can we know if we are being deceived, without knowing all the Book Christ gave us? Our sure hope is to consume God's word and petition our Father Jehovah to deliver correct understand to us through His spirit and His Son's spirit, to align and conform our beliefs with God's word by His intended meanings. This should be an ongoing activity because we can and do forget, we also can easily remember incorrectly, being only human. Preparation Day is for us to discard anything that is contrary to God's way, to grasp and understand the perfection and truth of the scriptures, for purifying our heart, being born again in the spirit. Our acts of righteousness are our responsibility and never a barrowed trait from anyone, as some teach that Christ's righteousness is ours. Christ is our example of righteousness and we are to follow Him, and walk as He walked perfectly according to God's laws, during His human state at His first advent, this is how Christ's righteousness becomes ours, "but we do see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, who on account of suffering of death was made a little less then the angels, so that by the grace of God He might taste of death for every son." (Hebrews 2:9), in order to qualify Himself as the, "Lamb of God", "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and let him bear the cross, and let him follow Me." (Matthew 16:24). We are to qualify ourselves to be in the presence of Almighty God, "So then, my beloved, even as you always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12). It is our personal heart that needs purification, which is in our grasp and our responsibility.

     

     This the end of intended basic message is finished, but I need to include a warning, the Old Testament history shows that man continually forgets his God and ventured to other gods and disregards Jehovah's perfect ways, "Oh that you had listened to My commands! Then your peace would have been like the river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." (Isaiah 48:18), the idols of old have been improved and less obvious, "But I commanded them this thing, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. Also, Walk in all My ways that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you." (Jeremiah 7:23) also, "... And this shall be, if you will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God." (Zechariah 6:15), which is presented in the commands of Jehovah. The Israelites have also ignored His Sabbath day, "Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; keeping sabbath, from defiling it; and keeping his hand from doing every evil." ((Isaiah 56:2). "But the sons rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and they did not keep My judgments, to do them, which if a man does them, he shall live by them. They profaned My sabbaths. Then I said, I would pour out My fury on them, to fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness." (Ezekiel 20:21). The Israelites lost their way many times, having been captured and enslaved over ten times, the last was Babylon, and they remained under foreign rule until the Roman's destroyed Jerusalem and God's temple. Every time was because they didn't follow God's word and went after their own desires, "because you have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched." (II Kings 22:17) and, "Then they will answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshiped other gods, and served them." (Jeremiah 22:9). There are hundreds of verses relating Israel's departure from Jehovah God, and all are examples for us to understand the results of man's departure from God's righteous ways. Knowing that God does not change, "For I am Jehovah, I change not. Because of this, you sons of Jacob are not destroyed." (Malachi 3:6), and His justice is pure, the Old Testament is for our education and our guidance. Today's idols are anyone or any thing that replace the worshiping of God Almighty; "Jehovah" is His name, the One and only God, "To you it was revealed, so that you might know that Jehovah is God, and no one else besides Him." (Deuteronomy 4:39), and, "And let them know, Your name is Jehovah, that You alone are the Most High over all the earth." (Psalm 83:18).

     Is there any difference with the acts of today's Christians? Are we following the same path as Israel and Judah? I'm hoping that some will recognize the obvious, that the majority of today's Christians do not keep the Fourth Commandment as it is presented, keeping the seventh day holy by not working during that 24-hour period. Worshiping on the first day of the week, Sunday is acceptable, because we can and should worship God Jehovah any and every day, however, if one is not keeping the seventh day as a special (holy) day, departing from the ways of the world and our daily duties, then praising God is not complete, and maybe not acceptable if we ignore any commandment of God. Another departure from God's way less recognizable is that the overall Christian community worships a god not ever mentioned in all of God's words, "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." (Deuteronomy 6:4), and Jesus quotes this verse to a scribe and his response was, "And the scribe said to Him, You say well Teacher. You have spoken according to truth, that God is one, and there is no other besides Him." (Mark 12:32). This triune god, called a Trinity, adopted into the church during the fourth century, has become a strong tradition in Christianity, but it's not presented anywhere within God's word as a description of the Almighty God. Search all the pages of your Bible and you won't find any mention of a triune god, by any name or implication. Only if you add your own words to God's words will you be able to consider a suggestion of a three-part god. However, you will find over a hundred verses claiming God to be only "one" and about a third of theses verses designate the name "Jehovah" to our sovereign God, by using the Hebrew text. This introduces another error found in the common Bibles, that has replaced God's personal name with a title, "Lord" or "God". This alteration, man has done by his own authority 6742 times in the Old Testament translations (KJV). I cannot comment on the New Testament, since there are no originals or copies of the originals available to the public that I know of, but considering through logic, Greek was not what the many Hebrew writers wrote or spoke with other Hebrew speaking Jews. Logically they did not speak Greek, nor would they have written in Greek, except for Paul, who sometimes traveled in Greece and other countries, he, possessing the ability to speak several languages, because of his education. Taking "Jehovah" out of the third Commandment is a most vain treatment of our God and His name, "You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7). Why is this not obvious the theologians, pastors and their congregations?

     Mentioned so far, man has transgressed, the first, third and the fourth Commandments. Yes, the Christian community honors Jesus as God, but in reality Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, not possessing the sovereign authority of Jehovah God, except when some authority was given to Him by His Father. Are these or any transgressions of God's commands acceptable to Jehovah? Are they acceptable to Jesus? Are they acceptable to you? God answers that Himself, "I am Jehovah, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to engraved images." (Isaiah 42:8). Christ never said, "I am God". He did say He is the "Son of God" or the "Son of man". Christian pastors and theologians, plus the multitude of Christian writers will dispute anything other then a triune god, but are they your authority or is Jehovah's pure word your authority, which was inspired to all the Bible writers by the Word of God, our Savior Christ Jesus?

     God forsook Israel and Judah because of their many departures from His word, His laws and His commands. Those following in the Israelite's footsteps have a future in the "Lake of Fire" with Satan and the false prophets. We need we seek God and His word in truth and spirit, "God is a spirit, and the ones worshiping Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24), and to follow Jesus to the promise land. "For narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads to life, and few are the ones who find it." (Matthew 7:14). Are you one of the few heading for the narrow gate, or are you following a pastor or another leader, and not Christ Himself, our Shepherd, who is the "way" our "Mediator" to the Father, Jehovah, God Almighty? We have all the instructions needed, provided in His word and every detail is of some importance, and to find the treasure, Jehovah's kingdom, we need to follow the map Christ has given us, and the closest to the original as possible of God's word is the purest and the surest way to our future home. Follow the Leader, Christ only, not anyone that claims to know the way or professes to be following Jesus, but follow only Christ and the gate to Jehovah's kingdom will be opened to you.