Israeli Election Update 16:15 EST:  The right-wing bloc has a slight edge of 61 seats to 59 seats over the left-wing bloc.  At least 61 seats are needed to form a governing coalition.  Netanyahu, knowing it is not at all certain that he can form a governing coalition, is calling for a national unity government.

Official results are expected to be released on Wednesday morning.

The Central Elections Committee said throughout Tuesday that this election was more than likely to see the highest turn out since 1999, when ironically Netanyahu lost to then Labor leader Ehud Barak, bringing his first term as PM to an end.

NEWS:  Israeli voter turnout has beeen exceptionally high, especially from center and left wing strongholds; while the Likud voter turn out has been much lower than expected.  Likud/Beiteinu is expected to see a significant drop in its present 42 Knesset seats

.OUTREACH SITE:   The posts on the second half of Job have been put together for: Job Part Two

An update on the situation in Syria has also been posted:   Syria News Update

Passover Preparation:  I have received letters from several people about Passover this spring and I want to reassure everyone that I have been on a Passover preparation schedule since the Feast of Tabernacles.

The scriptures tell us that we must be worthy to partake of the Passover.  Paul is not talking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread here, he is talking about purging out the leaven of SIN, IN PREPARATION FOR TAKING THE PASSOVER!

1 Cor 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

To be worthy of taking the Passover and having Christ’s sacrifice applied to us:  We must be repentant of all sin; which is transgressions of any of God’s commandments, 1 John 3:4.

James 2:10   For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Christ’s sacrifice will ONLY be applied to the repentant, so that the repentant might be justified and reconciled to the Father

Romans 2:13   (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Proper preparation for Passover is a thorough self examination and repentance from all compromise and disobedience to the commandments of God.  It involves a re-commitment to our marriage vow of espousal to Christ which we made at our baptism.

Our commitment was to follow Christ wherever he goes and to obey him in all things; to keep all of his commandments with uncompromising zeal; and to follow his teachings to the fullest in our counduct and in our very minds, thinking on them and working to understand and apply them day and night.

We are to learn to Love him fully, as he loved and loves us, by doing what he commands and teaches; so that our worst nightmare is that would we would fail to please him.  We are to ABHOR and HATE the breaking of his Word and we should be “ALL THE WAY PEOPLE” and not half way compromisers, lacking zeal for the teachings of Christ.

Mat 4:4    But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God [the Father] .

1 Cor 11:27   Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily [without self examination and repentance], shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not [understanding that the Passover is for Israelites ONLY]  is discerning the Lord’s body.

Know this:  No uncircumcised person shall partake of the Passover!

As no physical person could partake of the Passover without circumcision; NO person in the SPIRITUAL sense can partake of the SPIRITUAL Passover without being circumcised of heart.

Jer 4:4  Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Ex 12: 48   And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

Col 2:9    For in him [Christ]  dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him [Christ] , which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision [of the heart; which is repentance from sin and the removal of that barrier that separates us from the Father by the application of the sacrifice of Christ TO THE REPENTANT] of Christ:

Repent and be baptised in a commitment to remain free of sin for an eternal future, and to love and obey our espoused Husband and his Father.

Luk 3:7   Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,  [before they could be baptised]

Acts 2:38   Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

1 Cor 11:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

A few days ago I published a letter from Roy Holladay to the elders recommending how they shuld prepare the brethren for Passover.  that letter was absolutely shocking!  Please go back and read it again.  Roy tells the elders to study the love of Christ and the Passover; and that is very good:   It is what he has left out that is shocking!

He left out all mention of REPENTANCE from commandment breaking, of self examination and proper  spiritual preparation to be WORTHY; through deep repentance and commitment to faithful loving obedience to our espoused spiritual Husband and his Father.

I began this process of Passover preparation right at the past Feast of Tabernacles, when I began to study the Psalms of David, a man after God’s own heart. Revealing how we also can be men after God’s own heart. psalm 119 in particular sums up how to become like God!

We must love God’s teachings and commandments with all our hearts, and DO them with all our strength and the strength that God will give us!  We must think on them day and night to lear the wisdom of god and how to do his will and please HIM!

Then I have studied through the Book of Job and tried to examine some of the deep wisdom contained there; while also revealing the problem of self justification;  in Job, in the church corporations and in ourselves personally; which is a sin against God!

I have not pulled any punches or held anything back; I am working very hard to help prepare a people for Passover.

Next I intend to cover Mark, Luke and John before Passover; not just the Passover events but the whole Books and the deeds and teachings of Christ.  I had also planned to  cover Proverbs, but I am thinking there will not be enough time, so I will leave Proverbs until after Passover.

First I need to complete Mathew which I covered up to Passover last year, just before Passover, and then I will get right into Mark.

This spring the church organization will be observing Passover on the wrong date, a few days early. In a few more weeks I will be posting a Passover service model to help those brethren who are forced to take Passover at home.

You need not fear being alone with God; he will be very pleased that you are doing your best to please him by keeping your appointment with HIM; while so many others are missing their meeting with God by not being there on the day God has appointed.

Job Conclusion

The Book of Job has very definite applications to the church today, however we must not neglect the fact that Job is also about our personal relationship with God.

At he beginning God declared Job to be perfect before God and Satan could not dispute that, so he fell back on the:  “He is doing this only for a reward” position.  However even during his affliction Job did not attack God and sin with his lips as his own wife advised;  instead Job accepted what God gave to him.

This has all the appearance of righteousness and faithful loyalty to God, yet there was an issue.  Job sought to justify himself against God by continually declaring his own righteousness; instead of asking God to teach him God’s righteousness!

Even though he was perfect before God, Job was justifying the self, he was self righteous.  He did not admit that his righteousness had its source in God.  Like Solomon he began to trust in HIS OWN righteousness and in HIS OWN wisdom.  He began to believe that he was equal to God in righteousness; as our organizations do today.  Oh, they deny that, but it is true nontheless, or they would be obeying God and not standing on the false traditions of men.

Rev 3:17    Because thou sayest, I am rich [n physical AND spiritual things], and increased with goods, and have need of nothing [I know it all, needing no spiritual thing] ; and knowest not that thou art [spiritually]  wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked [totally lacking the righteousness of God in your self justification and self righteousness]:

Jesus Christ himself told us that this attitude of self justification; which is  saying that we know it all and that nobody, not even Christ; can teach us anything more,  would be extant in the latter day!

Organizationally and in many cases personally; we [or our group] are filled with the attitude that we know it all.  We justify ourselves like Job, and we reject anything that is contrary to our traditions.

In truth Job was far more righteous than us, because he was perfect BEFORE his trial.  It was during his TESTING that iniquity was found in him; yet we sin often and justify our sin by claiming that we are to obey some man or organization instead of God.

Yes we are very wicked, while Job was righteous. until he began to justify himself against God during his sorrows.

Job was TESTED and he was found lacking in the TEST, yet he LEARNED through that TEST and quickly repented before God.

In our case, we are being TESTED NOW!  TESTED as to whether we will accept and obey the teachings of Christ, or stand on false tradition; and it is because we are failing this TEST that we shall be rejected by the Christ that we have already rejected by our refusal to obey HIM!

We are right in our own eyes, and that has blinded us to our iniquities!  We are self righteous and self justifying; which has blinded us to the sins which have separated us from our Lord,

Is 59:1   Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

It is very important that we all examine ourselves in true humility before the Word of God, and that we are willing to DO what God requires of us, instead of justifying our traditions, leaders, organizations and our sins.

If we do not remove the veil of sin which separates us from God, through sincere repentance and teh seeking of Christ’s sacrifice; there is NO more sacrifice for our sins; and we are separated from, and rejected by;  Christ and  the Father; until such tme as we do sincerely repent.

If we do not honestly examine ourselves and sincerely repent asking Christ and the Father to reveal and expunge anything that would separate us from them; we remain in unrepented sin and take the Passover unworthily.

Yes, the Passover is all about the love of God!  But that is only half the story!  We are to reciprocate that love, and please God! by KEEPING all of his commandments after sincerely repenting of having broken them.  We are NOT to justify ourselves; instead we are to have the sincere attitude that: “Not my will but the Father’s will be done”.

The majority are so full of themselves, justifying everything that is done; that we are blind to how we really appear to our God!

There is no zeal for DOING the commandments of God!  There is only zeal for doing our own thing our own way!

We NEED to sincerely repent of that attitude of self justification and RUN back to our God in deep sincere repentance.

A precious few are doing that now and many more will wake up during the coming correction!

I have learned so very much in this study through Job and I hope it has been helpful to our visitors as well.

Whether we are full of sin, or whether we are as perfect as Job;  we MUST NOT engage in self justification!

We MUST be humble and honest before the Word of God, and be zealous in doing his will, through the dedicated enthusiastic KEEPING of all God’s commandments, in good times and in the hard times.

I hope that, especially as this Passover approaches,  the remaining good shepherds will contiue to exhort the brethren to self examination, sincere repentance and enthusiastic zeal for the teachings and commandments of God.

May the Father and the Son bless all those who sincerely repent of sins past; and who work diligently to internalze the nature of God, through deep honest study and the the dedicated KEEPING of all the teachings and commandments of God!

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