From Eliyahu

Hello friends,

Our study portion in Tsiyon Academy this week brings us to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Here, Messiah has reserved important warnings for the end of this teaching. He tells us to beware!

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves."  Matthew 7:15

Today, false prophets are everywhere. YouTube, for example, is a veritable showcase of false prophets. Some mega church pastors and televangelists also come to mind. Just look around when you are checking out at the grocery store and you are likely to see the latest false prophecies emblazoned as headlines across the front pages of the popular rags that so many people apparently lap up like candy. There is no problem finding false prophets - the more difficult task these days is finding the true ones.

False prophets are liars, but they are worse than mere liars. They pretend to speak in the Name of the Lord to add His authority to their lies. So doing, they cloth themselves in a pretension of righteousness, to be received as righteous by the righteous. Yet, underneath that external veneer they are anything but righteous. They are killers of men's souls. They are parasites. They are agents of the devil bent on destroying your soul for their own perceived gain. Do not underestimate the danger of false prophets! Their methods and their intent are lethal.

A wolf in sheep's clothing looks like a sheep. The truth is, such a wolf doesn't look anything like the picture we are using to illustrate this concept. In an instant you know that the wolf in the picture is a wolf. If we used a picture that would be more realistic all you would see is a sheep! It would look just like any other sheep. Therein is the danger. A wolf has made its way into the midst of the flock, accepted as one of the flock. For what purpose? To destroy the sheep, of course!

A few years back we had a wolf like this who managed to make his way into our Tsiyon headquarters. Frankly, I had no idea he was not for real. I really liked him, most everybody did. However, as time went by some disturbing tendencies began to surface. Backbiting and undermining of others probably being the most alarming. I really don't know how many people he ended up driving away from the ministry back then, because most of this was kept from me at the time. Self-promotion became evident. For example, he became close to certain sisters back then, who began to promote him. They said that he was one of the two witnesses of Revelation. It was implied that I should lay hands on him and anoint him for that ministry - which, of course, I never did.

So, there were problems. However, I believe we should give brothers the benefit of the doubt, and keep working with them as long as there is hope. So that's what I did. In the end of it, it was the Lord who exposed the truth and brought it to a conclusion. He told me that I needed to tell this man he had to move off of the Tsiyon property. I was reluctant, because I still didn't see the scope of the problem, but I did my duty and obeyed. I told him he needed to move off the property, and he would not.

Instead, he began creating a following to attempt to make trouble for me. Soon, I received a Skype message from "Three witnesses of YHWH!"  It begins; "YHWH has released me this day to bring .. charges that He has against you." The charges are that I had violated the copyright of "Honest John Peterson" by pirating his software, that I had rigged the electrical power on the Tsiyon property to defraud the power company, and that I had defrauded the water company. I was further informed that "criminal charges [were] filed with the FBI" and all this was also reported to the local Sheriff department.

Not one word of these charges was true. The "three witnesses" went down to the power company and "reported" the supposed "fraud" and the power company sent a man right out to check on our system. All of us were gathered at the power pole as he checked and said "everything is as it should be." As for Honest John, I bought his software and still had a receipt - no pirating there. As for the water company, well, they considered the claim so ridicules they didn't even bother coming out. Neither did I ever even hear from the FBI or the Sheriff about any of these frivolous charges.

More of this same sort of nonsense followed, all claimed to be in the name of YHWH and all equally in error, until finally the move off of the property was enforced, and peace was restored.

The hassle was annoying but the really troubling thing about this was that these lies were presented as coming from YHWH. This is the essence of what a false prophet actually is. Further, there is a serious penalty for speaking falsely in His name.

"But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”  Deuteronomy 18:20

Frankly, I was afraid that this would happen, and it did. I had hoped there would be repentance, while there was still time, but time ran out. This man died just a couple of years after these events.

In this move of YHWH His name must be respected. He will not tolerate using His Name for one's own purposes. We serve Him - not the other way around. I share this true story, to make it clear that the Torah is in force among His people right now. He will not endure false prophets, and rightly so. A word to the wolves - this is not a safe place for you. Do yourself a favor and move on down the line.   

Shalom, Eliyahu
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