Ash Wednesday
What does the Book of Truth (the Bible) say about Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent?
When I was fourteen years old I heard two ladies in the rural Methodist church in our community once discuss when Ash Wednesday was coming up and what they were going to do for Lent. I had never heard of Ash Wednesday before that day. I was hoping that they would explain what Ash Wednesday and Lent were but they did not. I asked one of them and they said that it was in the Book of Truth somewhere. I thought this was strange since my grandfather spent an hour each day reading the Book of Truth and he had never mentioned Ash Wednesday. He could however do things like tell you the genealogy of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) from memory because he had read it so many times over the last seventy years.
When I was dating my wife, she knew all about Lent and Ash Wednesday because she had grown up Lutheran. The Lutheran had some sort of special calendar and Lent was the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. During the forty days of Lent, people would give up something for the Man of Truth.
I had surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth by this time and that changed everything. Even though I really did not know much about Ash Wednesday or Lent it still sort of creeped me out when I went into her church in 1983 to discuss our up coming wedding ceremony and saw the decorations for Lent.
I never heard anyone speak about Ash Wednesday again until one of my co-workers brought it up in 2000. He was an Episcopalian and assumed that I observed Ash Wednesday like he did. I told him I did not. He thought that it was really strange that anyone who said they followed the Man of Truth did not observe Ash Wednesday and Lent.
After that I started attending a new congregation. In fact I started attending on their first day of service. During the first eight years I heard one or two people a year mention Ash Wednesday and Lent but that was all. Then we got a new pastor. After he had been there a year he began slowly introducing decorations and the like associated with Lent.
In our studies of the Book of Truth I began to challenge him to show me these things and some other things that he was teaching in the Book of Truth. One thing lead to another and I was put out of the congregation that I had helped pioneer eleven years earlier. Shortly there after that pastor left and the congregation merged with a congregation that it has spun off to form a new congregation.
For some reason, Ash Wednesday has became considerably more popular among the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) in America in recent years. This year I saw advertisements about it on the internet, heard about it on the radio and even heard it being discussed on television. We have friends who still go to the new congregation and they report that the congregation now has a full blown Ash Wednesday service where people use ashes to mark a cross on their heads and announce what they are giving up for Lent.
In order to understand why people use ashes to mark a cross on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday we must examine where Ash Wednesday came from.
Ash Wednesday, like so many holidays celebrated by congregations of the Children of Truth, came to those congregation from the False Church of Rome. Ash Wednesday is part of a larger system of holidays called the Lenten season. This season does actually not start with Ash Wednesday but rather with Fat Tuesday.
Fat Tuesday is better known as Mardi Gras in America. Mardi Gras is called Carnival in many other places, particularly Latin America. Carnival literally means "farewell to the flesh". Fat Tuesday is supposed to be like a good bye party for all of the desires of the flesh. It is a day when people are supposed to act out all of the desires of their flesh. They are encouraged to where masks, costumes and other disguises to hide their identity so they will be emboldened to carry out the desires of their flesh. So on Fat Tuesday people engage in drunkenness, fornication, adultery and whatever else their flesh desires until midnight. When midnight strikes Ash Wednesday starts and suddenly their drunken revelry stops.
On Ash Wednesday people repent for their sins that they committed on Fat Tuesday. They do this by having ashes placed on their heads. There is no exact formula but usually some combination of several options is used depending upon the local traditions. The ashes either come the burnt remains of the palm leaves used on Palms Sunday the previous year or they come from crosses made from those same branches. An administrator of the ashes then either strews ashes across the head of the participant or they smeared an ash mixture on the head of the participant in some manner. When the ashes are to be smeared they are either mixed with holy water or olive oil first. The ash mixture is then smeared in the sign of a cross on the forehead, has has become popular in America this year, or just smeared on in no particular pattern including covering the entire face. Then the administrator of the ashes typically says to the participant one of two expressions to bring them to repentance. The first one basically is an "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" expression that reminds the participant that they are mortal and therefore should repent. The second one is more straight forward and is "Believe the Gospel and repent.". The second one is the one that has become popular in America. Lastly the participant announces what they will be fasting from for Lent. It is typically related to one of the sins they confessed to committing on Fat Tuesday. For example, they may give up drinking alcohol if they got drunk on Fat Tuesday.
Lent was originally forty days of fasting that started on Ash Wednesday and ended on the day before Easter Sunday. People would fast Wednesday through Saturday the first week and then Monday through Saturday for next six weeks as penance for their sins they committed, especially those committed on Fat Tuesday. Since Sunday was a feast day every week they would typically gluttonize on Sunday each week.
In modern times, people give up something other than food for forty days during Lent. They can still indulge on what ever they give up on Sundays since Sundays are not counted as part of the forty days. For example, if they gave watching television they could still watch television on Sunday each week while refraining from doing so during the other days of the week.
I have looked diligently in the Book of Truth and there is nothing called Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, or Lent in the Book of Truth. However, the Book of Truth does have plenty to say about the entire Lenten season. The Book of Truth tells the truth about everything.
The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) in no way gave instructions for His Children to engage in the desires of their flesh on Fat Tuesday or any other day of the year. His commandment is for His Children to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). In fact, He added the commandment for His Children to wear tzitzits on the corners of their garments in the wilderness so they would remember to be holy by always obeying His commandments (Numbers 15:38-40). (This is why Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) made cloaks, aprons and handkerchiefs.) The Father of Truth has not changed His mind and He still commands His Children to live holy lives so they can be holy like Him (1 Peter 1:14-16). His Children are still those who obey His commandments because they love Him (1 John 5:1-3).
The Children of Truth are not supposed to make any provision for carrying out the desires of their flesh on Fat Tuesday or any other day of the year (Romans 13:14). The Children of Truth are to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The Children of Truth are to be careful when restoring others from their sin so they do not fall into sin themselves (Galatians 6:1). The Children of Truth are to live out their lives with fear of sinning against the Father of Truth (1 Peter 1:17). After all, the Children of Truth were redeemed from sin by the blood of the Man of Truth (1 Peter 1:18-20). The Children of Truth are to be on guard against sin at all times because the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) wants to use sin to devour them like a lion devours an antelope (1 Peter 5:8). So The Children of Truth are not even to lie so they can avoid falling into condemnation (James 5:12). The Children of Truth avoid sin because they know that committing sin makes them the children of the Father of Lies (1 John 3:8).
So Fat Tuesday is not from the Father of Truth. Now we shall examine what the Book of Truth says about Ash Wednesday and its rituals.
It was the ashes of a red heifer, not palm leaves, that was provided to make people clean, so they could enter into the Tabernacle to experience the presence of the Father of Truth (Numbers 19:9). The ashes of the red heifer were to be mixed with water, and sprinkled upon the entire body of an unclean person, not just smeared on their forehead, and everything that belonged to them, so they could be made clean (Numbers 19:16-18).
A Prophet of Truth used ashes to disguise his face, when he told a parable from the Father of Truth to the king (1 Kings 20:38-40). He washed the ashes off of his face, so the king would know that the message was from the Father of Truth (1 Kings 20:41-43).
Mordecai and the rest of the Children of Truth covered themselves in sackcloth and ashes, not just marked themselves with an ash mixture, when they cried out to the Father of Truth, to deliver them from the disaster, that Haman sought to bring upon them (Esther 4:1-3). In like manner, those in Judah wallowed in ashes, when the Babylonians brought disaster upon them (Jeremiah 6:26). When the Father of Truth brings disaster upon all who hate Him, when the Man of Truth returns to rule this Earth, then all of their leaders will wallow in ashes (Jeremiah 25:32-36). Those who came upon Tyre, when it was brought to disaster by the Father of Truth, also wallowed in ashes (Ezekiel 27:29-32).
Job covered himself in dust and ashes, not just strewn some ashes on his head, when he repented of speaking foolishly against the Father of Truth (Job 42:3-6). When Daniel understood that the seventy years of captivity were over he covered himself with sackcloth and ashes as he repented for the Jews bringing disaster upon themselves by rejecting the commandments of the Father of Truth (Daniel 9:2-15). So also the people of Nineveh repented by wearing sackcloth and sitting in ashes (Jonah 3:5-8). The Man of Truth said the people of Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if he had went to them (Matthew 11:21).
So there is absolutely nothing in the Book of Truth that even hints of the rituals of Ash Wednesday being from the Father of Truth. In fact the Father of Truth has commanded that the Children of Truth to not mark their flesh with anything because such markings come from idolatry just like people cutting themselves for the dead (Leviticus 19:28). The Man of Truth said that the Children of Truth were not to mark themselves as fasting in any fashion whatsoever (Matthew 6:16-18).
So where did the rituals of Ash Wednesday come from?
They came from the rituals of idolatry that started in Babylon. When people would cut down a tree to make an idol, they would then use whatever part that was left over to burn the sacrifice and then they would eat some of the ashes to mark themselves as being under the protection of the idol (Isaiah 44:14-20).
In like manner, Lent came from the forty days of mourning for Tammuz each year when people gave up something in this life so Tammuz could enjoy it in the afterlife (Ezekiel 8:14).
The Father of Truth does not want His Children worshiping him in the same manner that pagans worship their idols but instead to destroy everything that comes from idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). The Children of Truth are not mix in the rituals of idol worship when worshiping Him like the Jews did when they were in rebellion to Him (Ezekiel 8:3-14). The False Church of Rome has taken these practices from Babylonian sun god worship just like the Jews did when they mixed the rituals of idol worship with worshiping Him (Ezekiel 8:15-16).
It should be plainly evident that Ash Wednesday and the entire Lenten season is not from the Father of Truth. The Children of Truth are to have nothing to do with these pagan rituals and should do away with them like the Mensch who killed Christmas. They should seek to clean their house of these pagan practices like they were cleaning up the Christmas mess. The Children of Truth in America have forgotten that these practices were made illegal by the founding fathers who started the colonies to get away from the influence of the False Church of Rome.
There is nothing wrong with people having fun and celebrating holidays. That is why the Father of Truth has provided His own holidays for His Children. It's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate the holidays that He has provided for all of His Children.
The Father of Truth does not desire people to mark themselves with ashes to show repentance but to treat other people justly (Isaiah 58:2-7). He wants all people to show that they have repented with their actions (Luke 3:8).
The Children of Truth do not need Fat Tuesday or any other day as a safety vent for the desires of their flesh. They do not need Ash Wednesday to repent of sin. They do not need to give up anything for Lent. The only thing they need to give up is the observance of pagan holidays. If any of the Children of Truth have done these things in ignorance then they need to repent of these things now that they know better (Acts 17:29-31).
The Father of Truth has replaced their stony heart with a new heart so they can keep His commandments (Ezekiel 11:19-20). He has given them the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) so they can keep His commandments in the way he always intended (Ezekiel 36:26-27). They will be able to keep His commandments because they are relying on the Spirit of Truth instead of their own efforts (Romans 8:3-5). His Children have His words written on their heart so that is plain to everyone (2 Corinthians 3:2-4). His Children are able to keep His commandments because the Father of Truth is working in them to give them both the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). When His commandments are written on their hearts then the Children of Truth do not find those commandments hard to keep.
The Children of Truth can only keep His commandments with the help of the Spirit of Truth. This is why the Man of Truth said that people can only come into the House of Truth by being born again through the Spirit of Truth (John 3:3-7). People come into the House of Truth when they surrender everything to the Man of Truth because they believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you come into the House of Truth then the Spirit of Truth will put a clean heart in you and you will be born again from the Word of Truth that you heard (1 Peter 1:21-25).
Come into the House of Truth.
When I was fourteen years old I heard two ladies in the rural Methodist church in our community once discuss when Ash Wednesday was coming up and what they were going to do for Lent. I had never heard of Ash Wednesday before that day. I was hoping that they would explain what Ash Wednesday and Lent were but they did not. I asked one of them and they said that it was in the Book of Truth somewhere. I thought this was strange since my grandfather spent an hour each day reading the Book of Truth and he had never mentioned Ash Wednesday. He could however do things like tell you the genealogy of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) from memory because he had read it so many times over the last seventy years.
When I was dating my wife, she knew all about Lent and Ash Wednesday because she had grown up Lutheran. The Lutheran had some sort of special calendar and Lent was the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. During the forty days of Lent, people would give up something for the Man of Truth.
I had surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth by this time and that changed everything. Even though I really did not know much about Ash Wednesday or Lent it still sort of creeped me out when I went into her church in 1983 to discuss our up coming wedding ceremony and saw the decorations for Lent.
I never heard anyone speak about Ash Wednesday again until one of my co-workers brought it up in 2000. He was an Episcopalian and assumed that I observed Ash Wednesday like he did. I told him I did not. He thought that it was really strange that anyone who said they followed the Man of Truth did not observe Ash Wednesday and Lent.
After that I started attending a new congregation. In fact I started attending on their first day of service. During the first eight years I heard one or two people a year mention Ash Wednesday and Lent but that was all. Then we got a new pastor. After he had been there a year he began slowly introducing decorations and the like associated with Lent.
In our studies of the Book of Truth I began to challenge him to show me these things and some other things that he was teaching in the Book of Truth. One thing lead to another and I was put out of the congregation that I had helped pioneer eleven years earlier. Shortly there after that pastor left and the congregation merged with a congregation that it has spun off to form a new congregation.
For some reason, Ash Wednesday has became considerably more popular among the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) in America in recent years. This year I saw advertisements about it on the internet, heard about it on the radio and even heard it being discussed on television. We have friends who still go to the new congregation and they report that the congregation now has a full blown Ash Wednesday service where people use ashes to mark a cross on their heads and announce what they are giving up for Lent.
In order to understand why people use ashes to mark a cross on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday we must examine where Ash Wednesday came from.
Ash Wednesday, like so many holidays celebrated by congregations of the Children of Truth, came to those congregation from the False Church of Rome. Ash Wednesday is part of a larger system of holidays called the Lenten season. This season does actually not start with Ash Wednesday but rather with Fat Tuesday.
Fat Tuesday is better known as Mardi Gras in America. Mardi Gras is called Carnival in many other places, particularly Latin America. Carnival literally means "farewell to the flesh". Fat Tuesday is supposed to be like a good bye party for all of the desires of the flesh. It is a day when people are supposed to act out all of the desires of their flesh. They are encouraged to where masks, costumes and other disguises to hide their identity so they will be emboldened to carry out the desires of their flesh. So on Fat Tuesday people engage in drunkenness, fornication, adultery and whatever else their flesh desires until midnight. When midnight strikes Ash Wednesday starts and suddenly their drunken revelry stops.
On Ash Wednesday people repent for their sins that they committed on Fat Tuesday. They do this by having ashes placed on their heads. There is no exact formula but usually some combination of several options is used depending upon the local traditions. The ashes either come the burnt remains of the palm leaves used on Palms Sunday the previous year or they come from crosses made from those same branches. An administrator of the ashes then either strews ashes across the head of the participant or they smeared an ash mixture on the head of the participant in some manner. When the ashes are to be smeared they are either mixed with holy water or olive oil first. The ash mixture is then smeared in the sign of a cross on the forehead, has has become popular in America this year, or just smeared on in no particular pattern including covering the entire face. Then the administrator of the ashes typically says to the participant one of two expressions to bring them to repentance. The first one basically is an "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" expression that reminds the participant that they are mortal and therefore should repent. The second one is more straight forward and is "Believe the Gospel and repent.". The second one is the one that has become popular in America. Lastly the participant announces what they will be fasting from for Lent. It is typically related to one of the sins they confessed to committing on Fat Tuesday. For example, they may give up drinking alcohol if they got drunk on Fat Tuesday.
Lent was originally forty days of fasting that started on Ash Wednesday and ended on the day before Easter Sunday. People would fast Wednesday through Saturday the first week and then Monday through Saturday for next six weeks as penance for their sins they committed, especially those committed on Fat Tuesday. Since Sunday was a feast day every week they would typically gluttonize on Sunday each week.
In modern times, people give up something other than food for forty days during Lent. They can still indulge on what ever they give up on Sundays since Sundays are not counted as part of the forty days. For example, if they gave watching television they could still watch television on Sunday each week while refraining from doing so during the other days of the week.
I have looked diligently in the Book of Truth and there is nothing called Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, or Lent in the Book of Truth. However, the Book of Truth does have plenty to say about the entire Lenten season. The Book of Truth tells the truth about everything.
The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) in no way gave instructions for His Children to engage in the desires of their flesh on Fat Tuesday or any other day of the year. His commandment is for His Children to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). In fact, He added the commandment for His Children to wear tzitzits on the corners of their garments in the wilderness so they would remember to be holy by always obeying His commandments (Numbers 15:38-40). (This is why Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) made cloaks, aprons and handkerchiefs.) The Father of Truth has not changed His mind and He still commands His Children to live holy lives so they can be holy like Him (1 Peter 1:14-16). His Children are still those who obey His commandments because they love Him (1 John 5:1-3).
The Children of Truth are not supposed to make any provision for carrying out the desires of their flesh on Fat Tuesday or any other day of the year (Romans 13:14). The Children of Truth are to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The Children of Truth are to be careful when restoring others from their sin so they do not fall into sin themselves (Galatians 6:1). The Children of Truth are to live out their lives with fear of sinning against the Father of Truth (1 Peter 1:17). After all, the Children of Truth were redeemed from sin by the blood of the Man of Truth (1 Peter 1:18-20). The Children of Truth are to be on guard against sin at all times because the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) wants to use sin to devour them like a lion devours an antelope (1 Peter 5:8). So The Children of Truth are not even to lie so they can avoid falling into condemnation (James 5:12). The Children of Truth avoid sin because they know that committing sin makes them the children of the Father of Lies (1 John 3:8).
So Fat Tuesday is not from the Father of Truth. Now we shall examine what the Book of Truth says about Ash Wednesday and its rituals.
It was the ashes of a red heifer, not palm leaves, that was provided to make people clean, so they could enter into the Tabernacle to experience the presence of the Father of Truth (Numbers 19:9). The ashes of the red heifer were to be mixed with water, and sprinkled upon the entire body of an unclean person, not just smeared on their forehead, and everything that belonged to them, so they could be made clean (Numbers 19:16-18).
A Prophet of Truth used ashes to disguise his face, when he told a parable from the Father of Truth to the king (1 Kings 20:38-40). He washed the ashes off of his face, so the king would know that the message was from the Father of Truth (1 Kings 20:41-43).
Mordecai and the rest of the Children of Truth covered themselves in sackcloth and ashes, not just marked themselves with an ash mixture, when they cried out to the Father of Truth, to deliver them from the disaster, that Haman sought to bring upon them (Esther 4:1-3). In like manner, those in Judah wallowed in ashes, when the Babylonians brought disaster upon them (Jeremiah 6:26). When the Father of Truth brings disaster upon all who hate Him, when the Man of Truth returns to rule this Earth, then all of their leaders will wallow in ashes (Jeremiah 25:32-36). Those who came upon Tyre, when it was brought to disaster by the Father of Truth, also wallowed in ashes (Ezekiel 27:29-32).
Job covered himself in dust and ashes, not just strewn some ashes on his head, when he repented of speaking foolishly against the Father of Truth (Job 42:3-6). When Daniel understood that the seventy years of captivity were over he covered himself with sackcloth and ashes as he repented for the Jews bringing disaster upon themselves by rejecting the commandments of the Father of Truth (Daniel 9:2-15). So also the people of Nineveh repented by wearing sackcloth and sitting in ashes (Jonah 3:5-8). The Man of Truth said the people of Tyre and Sidon would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if he had went to them (Matthew 11:21).
So there is absolutely nothing in the Book of Truth that even hints of the rituals of Ash Wednesday being from the Father of Truth. In fact the Father of Truth has commanded that the Children of Truth to not mark their flesh with anything because such markings come from idolatry just like people cutting themselves for the dead (Leviticus 19:28). The Man of Truth said that the Children of Truth were not to mark themselves as fasting in any fashion whatsoever (Matthew 6:16-18).
So where did the rituals of Ash Wednesday come from?
They came from the rituals of idolatry that started in Babylon. When people would cut down a tree to make an idol, they would then use whatever part that was left over to burn the sacrifice and then they would eat some of the ashes to mark themselves as being under the protection of the idol (Isaiah 44:14-20).
In like manner, Lent came from the forty days of mourning for Tammuz each year when people gave up something in this life so Tammuz could enjoy it in the afterlife (Ezekiel 8:14).
The Father of Truth does not want His Children worshiping him in the same manner that pagans worship their idols but instead to destroy everything that comes from idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). The Children of Truth are not mix in the rituals of idol worship when worshiping Him like the Jews did when they were in rebellion to Him (Ezekiel 8:3-14). The False Church of Rome has taken these practices from Babylonian sun god worship just like the Jews did when they mixed the rituals of idol worship with worshiping Him (Ezekiel 8:15-16).
It should be plainly evident that Ash Wednesday and the entire Lenten season is not from the Father of Truth. The Children of Truth are to have nothing to do with these pagan rituals and should do away with them like the Mensch who killed Christmas. They should seek to clean their house of these pagan practices like they were cleaning up the Christmas mess. The Children of Truth in America have forgotten that these practices were made illegal by the founding fathers who started the colonies to get away from the influence of the False Church of Rome.
There is nothing wrong with people having fun and celebrating holidays. That is why the Father of Truth has provided His own holidays for His Children. It's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate the holidays that He has provided for all of His Children.
The Father of Truth does not desire people to mark themselves with ashes to show repentance but to treat other people justly (Isaiah 58:2-7). He wants all people to show that they have repented with their actions (Luke 3:8).
The Children of Truth do not need Fat Tuesday or any other day as a safety vent for the desires of their flesh. They do not need Ash Wednesday to repent of sin. They do not need to give up anything for Lent. The only thing they need to give up is the observance of pagan holidays. If any of the Children of Truth have done these things in ignorance then they need to repent of these things now that they know better (Acts 17:29-31).
The Father of Truth has replaced their stony heart with a new heart so they can keep His commandments (Ezekiel 11:19-20). He has given them the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) so they can keep His commandments in the way he always intended (Ezekiel 36:26-27). They will be able to keep His commandments because they are relying on the Spirit of Truth instead of their own efforts (Romans 8:3-5). His Children have His words written on their heart so that is plain to everyone (2 Corinthians 3:2-4). His Children are able to keep His commandments because the Father of Truth is working in them to give them both the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). When His commandments are written on their hearts then the Children of Truth do not find those commandments hard to keep.
The Children of Truth can only keep His commandments with the help of the Spirit of Truth. This is why the Man of Truth said that people can only come into the House of Truth by being born again through the Spirit of Truth (John 3:3-7). People come into the House of Truth when they surrender everything to the Man of Truth because they believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you come into the House of Truth then the Spirit of Truth will put a clean heart in you and you will be born again from the Word of Truth that you heard (1 Peter 1:21-25).
Come into the House of Truth.
Labels: America, Ash Wednesday, Carnival, Easter, Fat Tuesday, Holidays, Lent, Mardi Gras
posted by The House Of Truth @ February 22, 2015
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