Resistance Is Essential
How can the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) prevent the world from squeezing them into its mold?
In "Star Trek" universe, there is an alien race called "The Borg", who are cybernetic organisms. The Borg are not a single species, but rather a collection of diverse species, who have been assimilated into the Borg. The Borg assimilate other species, by shooting them with nanoprobes. The nanoprobes begin changing the individuals from the inside, who have been shot, to conform to the needs of the Borg collective. The individuals change in appearance to look like Borgs. Once the individuals that are assimilated into the Borg, they lose all ability to think for themselves. People, who are assimilated into the Borg, are no longer human. Once they have been fully assimilated, there is no returning them to their former state, and they must be destroyed.
When the Borg attack a species to assimilate it, they start off by verbally intimating the species, by telling them, "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." However, the Federation decided that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated. So they fought back, and the Borg were eventually defeated.
The ideas of the Borg, like most things, are really a conglomeration of ideas that preceded them.
The form of the Borg is very similar to that of Lord Dredd, and the bio-dredds, that he creates, by assimilating humans into his culture. While this predated the first appearance of the Borg on Star Trek, The Next Generation, by a year, the whole concept of one culture absorbing other cultures into its culture, proceeded both Captain Power, and Star Trek, by more than two thousand years.
Like most of the story lines in science fiction, super hero stories, fantasy, and most other genres of fiction, their original inspiration was actual people, and events in history. There is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
The real inspiration for the Borg is the Greek Empire. After Alexander the Great died, the Greek Empire was split into four smaller, and competing Greek empires. The Greeks began an assimilation campaign across the four Greek Empires. They took measures to make everyone wear Greek clothes, speak Greek, eat Greek food, attend Greek plays, participate in Greek sports, study Greek history, live in Greek houses, adopt Greek customs, go by Greek names, and the like. This assimilation of other cultures into Greek culture was known as "Hellenization". As far as they were concerned, there were only two kinds of people in their empires: Those who were Greek and those who needed to become Greek.
The largest of these smaller Greek Empires was known as the Seleucid Empire. While the Greeks had been on their assimilation campaign, the one area where people were encouraged, but not forced to assimilate, was their religious practices. This all changed for the Jews, after Antiochus Epiphanes, became the emperor of the Seleucid Empire.
Many of the Jews had voluntarily became Hellenized, and even went so far as go through a painful process to remove their marks of circumcision, and disowned the entire Original Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament). The Hellenized Jews bribed Antiochus to appoint them to be the high priests, and subsequently killed each other to maintain, or regain their position. These Hellenized Jews began to fight with the Jews, who still obeyed the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), until the entire region of Judea was in a civil war. Finally, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, took the women and children captive, and pillaged the Temple, to ensure that his final choice for high priest, was who held the office.
When Antiochus Epiphanes saw that there were plenty of Jews, who wanted to be completely assimilated in Greek culture, including Greek religion, then he began taking steps to force the rest of the Jews, to completely assimilate into Greek culture, by taking steps to destroy their obedience to the Law of Truth. He made possessing the Law of Truth a death penalty crime, and destroyed all of the copies of it that he could find. He banned wearing tzitzits (fringes) on the corners of their garments, making the sacrifices required in the Law of Truth, resting on the Sabbath, and keeping the Feasts of Truth. Circumcision was outlawed, and mothers, who circumcised their infant sons, were killed, along with their entire families. Antiochus was certain, that he could completely assimilate the Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, because he had the mightiest army in the world, and the Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, were a minority, even among the Jews. He let these Jews know, that resistance was futile, and they would be assimilated.
The Jews, who observed the Law of Truth, decided, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated. So they began to fight back in various ways.
They would meet to study the Law of Truth in groups, with one or two standing watch. Whenever Greek soldiers would approach their location, the guards would tell the others, and then go out to talk to the Greek soldiers to buy time. The rest of them would quickly hide their scrolls, and then place piles of money in front of themselves, that they used for gambling, by spinning a four sided top, called a dreidel. When the Greek soldiers arrived, they would find that the Jews were only gambling, and not reading the Law of Truth, so they would leave them alone. So these Jews preserved the Original Covenant, because the Book of Truth is The Indestructible Book.
They would make small handkerchief sized tallits (garments with tzitzits on their four corners), and wear them underneath their Greek clothing. This practice continued for centuries, whenever Jews needed to hide their tzitzits. These were the handkerchiefs, among the cloaks, aprons, and handkerchiefs, that Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) made.
They would meet in secret, often in caves, on the Sabbath, and keep the Feasts of Truth, in secret. They would have the priests make sacrifices, in hidden locations, when they could no longer make them in the Temple. They would go on long trips, after the birth of their sons, then circumcise them out in the wilderness, and not return, until well after their sons had healed up from circumcision. They would even fashion coverings from sheep bladders, to slip over the circumcision, so that their infants appeared to be uncircumcised, upon casual observation.
Then Antiochus Epiphanes began taking things further, in his efforts to assimilate the Jews, who were obeying the Law of Truth, in stealth mode. He set up altars to Greek gods everywhere, and sacrificed animals that the Law of Truth said were unclean, like pigs, on them. Then he set a giant statue of Zeus, but with his own face on it, in the Temple, and had three pigs, and a dog, sacrificed on the brazen altar of the Temple. Finally, he began a campaign, to force all Jews to make sacrifices to Greek gods, or die. Once again, he was telling them, that resistance was futile, and they would be assimilated.
Eventually, the Jews of Modi'in were gathered, and each one was told to make a sacrifice to the Greek gods, but Mattathias the Priest refused to do so. When a Hellenized Jew stepped up to do so on his behalf, Mattathias grabbed a sword, and killed him. This began a revolt against the Greeks, and the Hellenized Jews, by the Jews, who clung to obeying the Law of Truth. They had made the decision, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated.
Mattathias and his sons headed to the hills, to start waging guerrilla warfare. Mattathias and his sons became known as the Maccabees, which means hammers, because the nickname of his son Judas (Judah aka Yahudah) was "the Hammer". This revolt went on for over three years, where these minority among the Jews, took on the mightiest army on Earth. As they began to win battles, many of the Hellenized Jews repented of their rejection of the Law of Truth, and joined the Maccabees. Eventually, the Maccabees so hammered the Greek army, that they regained control of Jerusalem. They then rededicated the Temple to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD), after the eight day period, that it took them to cleanse the Temple, from the desecration of abomination, committed by Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes gathered an even larger army to crush the rebellion, but died, before he could attack the Maccabees. His successor made peace with the Maccabees, and granted them complete religious freedom. They had not been assimilated, because they had understood, that resistance was essential.
This resistance had not been cheap or easy. In the revolt, that lead to regaining their religious freedom, and the subsequent wars to regain territory, where Jews were being killed by their Gentile neighbors, Mattathias, and three of his five sons, were killed. Many of the Maccabees, meaning those who joined Mattathias and his sons, died as well. The most famous was a woman, her seven sons, and their teacher, who became known as the martyrs of the Maccabees. Yet the Maccabees, still managed to beat the greatest army on earth, because they believed that resistance was essential, and they were not going to be assimilated.
Every year, the commemoration of their dedicating the Temple is celebrated, at Chanukah (Hanukkah). This is the Feast of Dedication that the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) celebrated in the winter at Jerusalem (John 10:22-23). (Chanukah means "dedication".) Chanukah is also called the Festival of Lights, because of the lighting of nine branch candelabra (eight lower candles plus one higher candle for lighting the others) called a Chanukiah.
The book of Maccabees is the history of the revolt, that lead to the celebration of Chanukah. It is a book of secular history, and not one of the missing books of the Bible, as some people suppose it to be. It tells of how the Feast of Chanukah lasts for eight days, because that is how long it took to clean up the Temple, from the desecration of Antioch Epiphanes. There is no mention of the oil lasting for eight days, and this story does not appear anywhere in Jewish literature, until about five hundred years after the Temple was rededicated. The so-called "miracle of the oil", is just another example of Rabbinic Distort. The real miracle is, that Maccabees resisted against the greatest army on Earth, and against all odds, prevented the Jewish people, from being completely assimilated into the Greek culture.
Why were the Maccabees so certain, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated?
The book of Daniel told the Chanukah story, almost three hundred years before Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power, and answers that question.
After four emperors ruled the Persian Empire, then Alexander the Great overran the Persian Empire, to create the Greek Empire (Daniel 11:1-3). Not long after Alexander the Great created the Greek Empire, he died, his heirs were killed, and the Greek Empire split into four smaller empires, each ruled by one on his generals (Daniel 11:4). Then two of the those empires, the Ptolemaic Empire, whose capital was south of Jerusalem and the Seleucid Empire, whose capital was north of Jerusalem, fought back and forth to control the Promised Land for generations, with the Ptolemaic Empire maintaining control of the Promised Land (Daniel 11:5-12). Then an emperor of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus Philopater, managed to take the Promised Land from the Ptolemaic Empire, and utterly destroyed much of the Promised Land, but greatly beautified the Temple with many gifts, until he was assassinated on his way home, from Jerusalem, by Heliodorus (Daniel 11:13-19). Heliodorus, took the throne, and sought to raise taxes considerably, to increase the splendor of the capital, but died suddenly, without violence (Daniel 11:20).
Then the younger brother of Seleucus Philopater, Antiochus Epiphanes, took the throne by flattery, bribes, and deceit, while arranging the assassination of Onias the High Priest, who resisted assimilation, where it contracted the Law of Truth (Daniel 11:21-24). Then Antiochus Epiphanes went to war with the Ptolemaic Empire, and overthrew most of it, by bribing the officials of Ptolemy the Sixth, the emperor of the Ptolemaic Empire (Daniel 11:25-26). Then Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy the Sixth made a treaty, but each intended to break the treaty, as soon as it was advantageous to do so (Daniel 11:27). When Antiochus Epiphanes returned through Judea, he found it in a civil war, between those Jews who wanted total assimilation into Greek culture, and those Jew who wanted to obey the Law of Truth, which he thought was a revolt against his rule, so he slaughtered many of the Jews, and appointed Menelaus, who wanted the Jews to totally assimilate into Greek culture, to be the high priest, before returning to his capital (Daniel 11:28). Then Antiochus Epiphanes attacked the Ptolemaic Empire again, but lost all control of it (Daniel 11:29).
Ptolemy the Sixth had persuaded the Romans to help him fight Antiochus Epiphanes, which greatly angered him, so Antiochus Epiphanes took out his anger upon those Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, but showed favor to those Jews, who sought to totally assimilate into Greek culture (Daniel 11:30). Antiochus Epiphanes then desecrated the Temple, offering three pigs and a dog on the Holy Altar, took away the daily sacrifice, and caused it to be desolate of all who obeyed the Law of Truth, when he set up an image of Zeus with his own face in it (Daniel 11:31). The majority of Jews were willing to totally assimilate into Greek culture to gain his favor, but the Maccabees waged a war against Antiochus Epiphanes, because they knew the Father of Truth (Daniel 11:32). Se even though Antiochus Epiphanes continued to oppress those who obeyed the Law of Truth, and sought to destroy the Law of Truth completely, the Maccabees eventually prevailed, even though it was very costly, and rededicated the Temple, as a place, where those who obeyed the Law of Truth, could meet in, to worship the Father of Truth, and were given an autonomous kingdom (Daniel 11:33-35).
So the lesson from the Chanukah story, is that the certainty, that resistance is essential, and the Children of Truth will not be assimilated, comes from knowing the Father of Truth.
For you see, the Children of Truth are still commanded this day, to not be squeezed into the mode of the world around them, but to resist the world with the Word of Truth, so that they will not be assimilated (Romans 12:2). It is by considering what the the Man of Truth did on this Earth, that gives them the strength, to resist doing what the world around them does, in order to obey the Father of Truth (Hebrews 12:1-3). They can resist the pressure of the world, to disobey the Law of Truth, even to the point of suffering, because they are the children of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 12:4-6). They refuse to be assimilated, because they know that those who are assimilated, become the enemies of the Father of Truth, and He will destroy them, while giving strength to those, who refuse to be assimilated (James 4:4-6). Therefore, they resist the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil), by submitting themselves to the Father of Truth, even though it will bring them sadness for a while, but eventually the Father of Lies will flee before them, and they will not be assimilated, rather will be given an everlasting kingdom (James 4:7-10). They are willing to resist to the point of death, like the Maccabees, because they are looking for the return of the Man of Truth, to rule this Earth (James 5:6-8). They resist the Father of Lies, because they have confidence in what the Father of Truth has said, and know that their suffering for refusing to be assimilated, is making them to be more like the Man of Truth (1 Peter 5:8-10). Their confidence that the Father of Lies will be defeated, causes them to overcome being assimilated, by resisting, even to the point of death, being squeezed into the mode of the world around them, through telling other people, about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Revelation 12:9-11).
The Children of Truth prevent the world from squeezing them into its mold, when they become like the Maccabees. They start overcoming evil with good, when they decide, that resistance is essential, and they will not be assimilated.
Although the fight may be long, they will endure hardship from those around them, and persevere in resisting doing what the people around them are doing, because they believe that they will be rewarded, for obeying the Father of Truth (2 Timothy 2:3-5). They not love the things of the world, that are contrary to the Law of Truth, because those things are from the Father of Lies, and those who are assimilated into the world will be destroyed, while those who obey the Father of Truth, will continue forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know the Father of Truth who gave them the Law of Truth. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know that the Man of Truth is the Messiah of Israel. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they believe the Book of Truth contains the Incorruptible Word. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because the Spirit of Truth is living in them, and even producing the sound of power. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they are eating the breakfast of champions, that strengthens their resolve. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know that walking in truth in every area of life, is the only way to successfully resist being assimilated. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will refuse to exercise the nuclear option, when things get tough in their marriage. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will find the path of true love, even in the most difficult of marriages. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not become serial killers, through participating in abortion. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not be silent about laws, that let people live like they are married in Sodom. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not be persuaded to tolerate what the Father of Truth calls intolerable, by scripture that is taken out of context. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not go along with the lie, that every wicked thing that anyone does, is because, "My DNA made me do it". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not pretend, that those who do these things, are anything other than sick and twisted. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not obey laws, that are contrary to the Law of Truth, but will be like the Maccabees, who recognized that there is a time for civil disobedience. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will start keeping the Feasts of Truth, that form the Greatest Play ever, so they can see things, in the same way as the Father of Truth. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not let themselves be distracted, from keeping the weightier matters of the Law, by endless arguments, over how to keep the lessor matters of the Law. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not get into pointless fights with each other, over the details of keeping the Feasts of Truth, because they understand, that they are playing with broken toys, until the Man of Truth returns to rule this Earth. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not want anything to do with Halloween, because it encourages people to surrender to the monster within. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will have nothing to do with holidays like Ash Wednesday, that came from the Father of Lies. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will say "Happy Firstfruits", to each other, when they participate in the Feasts of Truth, instead of rehearsing the worship of a fertility goddess, named "Easter". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will even find they themselves escaping the Christmas Trap. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will start keeping the Sabbath, once they realized who changed the Sabbath. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will keep the Sabbath as the Father of Truth intended, so they do not end up being asked by Him, "Whose Sabbath are you keeping?". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will find that they are never bored on the Sabbath, when they keep it in the way that He intended. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will realize that bringing other people into the House of Truth, is all that really matters. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will not be guilty of putting the cart before the horse. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will understand that people are saved by faith, but grow by knowledge. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will understand that there are two kinds of knowledge, and no one can get heart knowledge, until the Spirit of Truth opens their understanding. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, have heeded the warning of the Man of Truth, of "People Get Ready!", by focusing on carrying out the Great Commission. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
The truth is that all people, have been infected with sin, like being shot with a nanoprobe of the Borg (Romans 5:12-14). Sin will take over their lives from the inside, until they are fully assimilated (James 1:14-16). Once they have been fully assimilated, then there is no hope of saving them, and they will have to be destroyed (Revelation 22:11-15).
The Good News is, that the Man of Truth made it possible, for people to come into the House of Truth, and have their sin removed (John 1:29). People come into the House of Truth, when they surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe that the Father of Truth, raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When people come into the House of Truth, is like joining the Maccabees, in not being assimilated, because they realize, that resistance is essential (1 John 1:6-9).
Come into the House of Truth!
In "Star Trek" universe, there is an alien race called "The Borg", who are cybernetic organisms. The Borg are not a single species, but rather a collection of diverse species, who have been assimilated into the Borg. The Borg assimilate other species, by shooting them with nanoprobes. The nanoprobes begin changing the individuals from the inside, who have been shot, to conform to the needs of the Borg collective. The individuals change in appearance to look like Borgs. Once the individuals that are assimilated into the Borg, they lose all ability to think for themselves. People, who are assimilated into the Borg, are no longer human. Once they have been fully assimilated, there is no returning them to their former state, and they must be destroyed.
When the Borg attack a species to assimilate it, they start off by verbally intimating the species, by telling them, "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." However, the Federation decided that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated. So they fought back, and the Borg were eventually defeated.
The ideas of the Borg, like most things, are really a conglomeration of ideas that preceded them.
The form of the Borg is very similar to that of Lord Dredd, and the bio-dredds, that he creates, by assimilating humans into his culture. While this predated the first appearance of the Borg on Star Trek, The Next Generation, by a year, the whole concept of one culture absorbing other cultures into its culture, proceeded both Captain Power, and Star Trek, by more than two thousand years.
Like most of the story lines in science fiction, super hero stories, fantasy, and most other genres of fiction, their original inspiration was actual people, and events in history. There is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
The real inspiration for the Borg is the Greek Empire. After Alexander the Great died, the Greek Empire was split into four smaller, and competing Greek empires. The Greeks began an assimilation campaign across the four Greek Empires. They took measures to make everyone wear Greek clothes, speak Greek, eat Greek food, attend Greek plays, participate in Greek sports, study Greek history, live in Greek houses, adopt Greek customs, go by Greek names, and the like. This assimilation of other cultures into Greek culture was known as "Hellenization". As far as they were concerned, there were only two kinds of people in their empires: Those who were Greek and those who needed to become Greek.
The largest of these smaller Greek Empires was known as the Seleucid Empire. While the Greeks had been on their assimilation campaign, the one area where people were encouraged, but not forced to assimilate, was their religious practices. This all changed for the Jews, after Antiochus Epiphanes, became the emperor of the Seleucid Empire.
Many of the Jews had voluntarily became Hellenized, and even went so far as go through a painful process to remove their marks of circumcision, and disowned the entire Original Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament). The Hellenized Jews bribed Antiochus to appoint them to be the high priests, and subsequently killed each other to maintain, or regain their position. These Hellenized Jews began to fight with the Jews, who still obeyed the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), until the entire region of Judea was in a civil war. Finally, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, took the women and children captive, and pillaged the Temple, to ensure that his final choice for high priest, was who held the office.
When Antiochus Epiphanes saw that there were plenty of Jews, who wanted to be completely assimilated in Greek culture, including Greek religion, then he began taking steps to force the rest of the Jews, to completely assimilate into Greek culture, by taking steps to destroy their obedience to the Law of Truth. He made possessing the Law of Truth a death penalty crime, and destroyed all of the copies of it that he could find. He banned wearing tzitzits (fringes) on the corners of their garments, making the sacrifices required in the Law of Truth, resting on the Sabbath, and keeping the Feasts of Truth. Circumcision was outlawed, and mothers, who circumcised their infant sons, were killed, along with their entire families. Antiochus was certain, that he could completely assimilate the Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, because he had the mightiest army in the world, and the Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, were a minority, even among the Jews. He let these Jews know, that resistance was futile, and they would be assimilated.
The Jews, who observed the Law of Truth, decided, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated. So they began to fight back in various ways.
They would meet to study the Law of Truth in groups, with one or two standing watch. Whenever Greek soldiers would approach their location, the guards would tell the others, and then go out to talk to the Greek soldiers to buy time. The rest of them would quickly hide their scrolls, and then place piles of money in front of themselves, that they used for gambling, by spinning a four sided top, called a dreidel. When the Greek soldiers arrived, they would find that the Jews were only gambling, and not reading the Law of Truth, so they would leave them alone. So these Jews preserved the Original Covenant, because the Book of Truth is The Indestructible Book.
They would make small handkerchief sized tallits (garments with tzitzits on their four corners), and wear them underneath their Greek clothing. This practice continued for centuries, whenever Jews needed to hide their tzitzits. These were the handkerchiefs, among the cloaks, aprons, and handkerchiefs, that Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) made.
They would meet in secret, often in caves, on the Sabbath, and keep the Feasts of Truth, in secret. They would have the priests make sacrifices, in hidden locations, when they could no longer make them in the Temple. They would go on long trips, after the birth of their sons, then circumcise them out in the wilderness, and not return, until well after their sons had healed up from circumcision. They would even fashion coverings from sheep bladders, to slip over the circumcision, so that their infants appeared to be uncircumcised, upon casual observation.
Then Antiochus Epiphanes began taking things further, in his efforts to assimilate the Jews, who were obeying the Law of Truth, in stealth mode. He set up altars to Greek gods everywhere, and sacrificed animals that the Law of Truth said were unclean, like pigs, on them. Then he set a giant statue of Zeus, but with his own face on it, in the Temple, and had three pigs, and a dog, sacrificed on the brazen altar of the Temple. Finally, he began a campaign, to force all Jews to make sacrifices to Greek gods, or die. Once again, he was telling them, that resistance was futile, and they would be assimilated.
Eventually, the Jews of Modi'in were gathered, and each one was told to make a sacrifice to the Greek gods, but Mattathias the Priest refused to do so. When a Hellenized Jew stepped up to do so on his behalf, Mattathias grabbed a sword, and killed him. This began a revolt against the Greeks, and the Hellenized Jews, by the Jews, who clung to obeying the Law of Truth. They had made the decision, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated.
Mattathias and his sons headed to the hills, to start waging guerrilla warfare. Mattathias and his sons became known as the Maccabees, which means hammers, because the nickname of his son Judas (Judah aka Yahudah) was "the Hammer". This revolt went on for over three years, where these minority among the Jews, took on the mightiest army on Earth. As they began to win battles, many of the Hellenized Jews repented of their rejection of the Law of Truth, and joined the Maccabees. Eventually, the Maccabees so hammered the Greek army, that they regained control of Jerusalem. They then rededicated the Temple to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD), after the eight day period, that it took them to cleanse the Temple, from the desecration of abomination, committed by Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes gathered an even larger army to crush the rebellion, but died, before he could attack the Maccabees. His successor made peace with the Maccabees, and granted them complete religious freedom. They had not been assimilated, because they had understood, that resistance was essential.
This resistance had not been cheap or easy. In the revolt, that lead to regaining their religious freedom, and the subsequent wars to regain territory, where Jews were being killed by their Gentile neighbors, Mattathias, and three of his five sons, were killed. Many of the Maccabees, meaning those who joined Mattathias and his sons, died as well. The most famous was a woman, her seven sons, and their teacher, who became known as the martyrs of the Maccabees. Yet the Maccabees, still managed to beat the greatest army on earth, because they believed that resistance was essential, and they were not going to be assimilated.
Every year, the commemoration of their dedicating the Temple is celebrated, at Chanukah (Hanukkah). This is the Feast of Dedication that the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) celebrated in the winter at Jerusalem (John 10:22-23). (Chanukah means "dedication".) Chanukah is also called the Festival of Lights, because of the lighting of nine branch candelabra (eight lower candles plus one higher candle for lighting the others) called a Chanukiah.
The book of Maccabees is the history of the revolt, that lead to the celebration of Chanukah. It is a book of secular history, and not one of the missing books of the Bible, as some people suppose it to be. It tells of how the Feast of Chanukah lasts for eight days, because that is how long it took to clean up the Temple, from the desecration of Antioch Epiphanes. There is no mention of the oil lasting for eight days, and this story does not appear anywhere in Jewish literature, until about five hundred years after the Temple was rededicated. The so-called "miracle of the oil", is just another example of Rabbinic Distort. The real miracle is, that Maccabees resisted against the greatest army on Earth, and against all odds, prevented the Jewish people, from being completely assimilated into the Greek culture.
Why were the Maccabees so certain, that resistance was essential, and they would not be assimilated?
The book of Daniel told the Chanukah story, almost three hundred years before Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power, and answers that question.
After four emperors ruled the Persian Empire, then Alexander the Great overran the Persian Empire, to create the Greek Empire (Daniel 11:1-3). Not long after Alexander the Great created the Greek Empire, he died, his heirs were killed, and the Greek Empire split into four smaller empires, each ruled by one on his generals (Daniel 11:4). Then two of the those empires, the Ptolemaic Empire, whose capital was south of Jerusalem and the Seleucid Empire, whose capital was north of Jerusalem, fought back and forth to control the Promised Land for generations, with the Ptolemaic Empire maintaining control of the Promised Land (Daniel 11:5-12). Then an emperor of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus Philopater, managed to take the Promised Land from the Ptolemaic Empire, and utterly destroyed much of the Promised Land, but greatly beautified the Temple with many gifts, until he was assassinated on his way home, from Jerusalem, by Heliodorus (Daniel 11:13-19). Heliodorus, took the throne, and sought to raise taxes considerably, to increase the splendor of the capital, but died suddenly, without violence (Daniel 11:20).
Then the younger brother of Seleucus Philopater, Antiochus Epiphanes, took the throne by flattery, bribes, and deceit, while arranging the assassination of Onias the High Priest, who resisted assimilation, where it contracted the Law of Truth (Daniel 11:21-24). Then Antiochus Epiphanes went to war with the Ptolemaic Empire, and overthrew most of it, by bribing the officials of Ptolemy the Sixth, the emperor of the Ptolemaic Empire (Daniel 11:25-26). Then Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy the Sixth made a treaty, but each intended to break the treaty, as soon as it was advantageous to do so (Daniel 11:27). When Antiochus Epiphanes returned through Judea, he found it in a civil war, between those Jews who wanted total assimilation into Greek culture, and those Jew who wanted to obey the Law of Truth, which he thought was a revolt against his rule, so he slaughtered many of the Jews, and appointed Menelaus, who wanted the Jews to totally assimilate into Greek culture, to be the high priest, before returning to his capital (Daniel 11:28). Then Antiochus Epiphanes attacked the Ptolemaic Empire again, but lost all control of it (Daniel 11:29).
Ptolemy the Sixth had persuaded the Romans to help him fight Antiochus Epiphanes, which greatly angered him, so Antiochus Epiphanes took out his anger upon those Jews, who obeyed the Law of Truth, but showed favor to those Jews, who sought to totally assimilate into Greek culture (Daniel 11:30). Antiochus Epiphanes then desecrated the Temple, offering three pigs and a dog on the Holy Altar, took away the daily sacrifice, and caused it to be desolate of all who obeyed the Law of Truth, when he set up an image of Zeus with his own face in it (Daniel 11:31). The majority of Jews were willing to totally assimilate into Greek culture to gain his favor, but the Maccabees waged a war against Antiochus Epiphanes, because they knew the Father of Truth (Daniel 11:32). Se even though Antiochus Epiphanes continued to oppress those who obeyed the Law of Truth, and sought to destroy the Law of Truth completely, the Maccabees eventually prevailed, even though it was very costly, and rededicated the Temple, as a place, where those who obeyed the Law of Truth, could meet in, to worship the Father of Truth, and were given an autonomous kingdom (Daniel 11:33-35).
So the lesson from the Chanukah story, is that the certainty, that resistance is essential, and the Children of Truth will not be assimilated, comes from knowing the Father of Truth.
For you see, the Children of Truth are still commanded this day, to not be squeezed into the mode of the world around them, but to resist the world with the Word of Truth, so that they will not be assimilated (Romans 12:2). It is by considering what the the Man of Truth did on this Earth, that gives them the strength, to resist doing what the world around them does, in order to obey the Father of Truth (Hebrews 12:1-3). They can resist the pressure of the world, to disobey the Law of Truth, even to the point of suffering, because they are the children of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 12:4-6). They refuse to be assimilated, because they know that those who are assimilated, become the enemies of the Father of Truth, and He will destroy them, while giving strength to those, who refuse to be assimilated (James 4:4-6). Therefore, they resist the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil), by submitting themselves to the Father of Truth, even though it will bring them sadness for a while, but eventually the Father of Lies will flee before them, and they will not be assimilated, rather will be given an everlasting kingdom (James 4:7-10). They are willing to resist to the point of death, like the Maccabees, because they are looking for the return of the Man of Truth, to rule this Earth (James 5:6-8). They resist the Father of Lies, because they have confidence in what the Father of Truth has said, and know that their suffering for refusing to be assimilated, is making them to be more like the Man of Truth (1 Peter 5:8-10). Their confidence that the Father of Lies will be defeated, causes them to overcome being assimilated, by resisting, even to the point of death, being squeezed into the mode of the world around them, through telling other people, about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Revelation 12:9-11).
The Children of Truth prevent the world from squeezing them into its mold, when they become like the Maccabees. They start overcoming evil with good, when they decide, that resistance is essential, and they will not be assimilated.
Although the fight may be long, they will endure hardship from those around them, and persevere in resisting doing what the people around them are doing, because they believe that they will be rewarded, for obeying the Father of Truth (2 Timothy 2:3-5). They not love the things of the world, that are contrary to the Law of Truth, because those things are from the Father of Lies, and those who are assimilated into the world will be destroyed, while those who obey the Father of Truth, will continue forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know the Father of Truth who gave them the Law of Truth. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know that the Man of Truth is the Messiah of Israel. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they believe the Book of Truth contains the Incorruptible Word. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because the Spirit of Truth is living in them, and even producing the sound of power. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they are eating the breakfast of champions, that strengthens their resolve. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, do so because they know that walking in truth in every area of life, is the only way to successfully resist being assimilated. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will refuse to exercise the nuclear option, when things get tough in their marriage. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will find the path of true love, even in the most difficult of marriages. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not become serial killers, through participating in abortion. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not be silent about laws, that let people live like they are married in Sodom. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not be persuaded to tolerate what the Father of Truth calls intolerable, by scripture that is taken out of context. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not go along with the lie, that every wicked thing that anyone does, is because, "My DNA made me do it". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not pretend, that those who do these things, are anything other than sick and twisted. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated, will not obey laws, that are contrary to the Law of Truth, but will be like the Maccabees, who recognized that there is a time for civil disobedience. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will start keeping the Feasts of Truth, that form the Greatest Play ever, so they can see things, in the same way as the Father of Truth. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not let themselves be distracted, from keeping the weightier matters of the Law, by endless arguments, over how to keep the lessor matters of the Law. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not get into pointless fights with each other, over the details of keeping the Feasts of Truth, because they understand, that they are playing with broken toys, until the Man of Truth returns to rule this Earth. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will not want anything to do with Halloween, because it encourages people to surrender to the monster within. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will have nothing to do with holidays like Ash Wednesday, that came from the Father of Lies. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will say "Happy Firstfruits", to each other, when they participate in the Feasts of Truth, instead of rehearsing the worship of a fertility goddess, named "Easter". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will even find they themselves escaping the Christmas Trap. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will start keeping the Sabbath, once they realized who changed the Sabbath. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will keep the Sabbath as the Father of Truth intended, so they do not end up being asked by Him, "Whose Sabbath are you keeping?". Those who persist in resisting being assimilated long enough, will find that they are never bored on the Sabbath, when they keep it in the way that He intended. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will realize that bringing other people into the House of Truth, is all that really matters. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will not be guilty of putting the cart before the horse. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will understand that people are saved by faith, but grow by knowledge. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, will understand that there are two kinds of knowledge, and no one can get heart knowledge, until the Spirit of Truth opens their understanding. Those who persist in resisting being assimilated until the end, have heeded the warning of the Man of Truth, of "People Get Ready!", by focusing on carrying out the Great Commission. Those who will not be assimilated, understand that resistance is essential!
The truth is that all people, have been infected with sin, like being shot with a nanoprobe of the Borg (Romans 5:12-14). Sin will take over their lives from the inside, until they are fully assimilated (James 1:14-16). Once they have been fully assimilated, then there is no hope of saving them, and they will have to be destroyed (Revelation 22:11-15).
The Good News is, that the Man of Truth made it possible, for people to come into the House of Truth, and have their sin removed (John 1:29). People come into the House of Truth, when they surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe that the Father of Truth, raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When people come into the House of Truth, is like joining the Maccabees, in not being assimilated, because they realize, that resistance is essential (1 John 1:6-9).
Come into the House of Truth!
Labels: Assimilation, Chanukah, Resistance, Sanctification, Science Fiction
posted by The House Of Truth @ December 06, 2015
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