The Impossible Economy

How did the economy of Israel become so strong after almost 1800 years of decline?

After the Romans took control of the land of Israel, they were amazed with wealth that was there.  The main sources of wealth throughout the Roman Empire were agriculture products, mining, and trade.  However, the people of Israel who lived in the land of Israel maintained a very robust economy, despite several hindrances.

First, the people of Israel took every seventh day off, while most of the Roman world worked seven days a week.  They not only did not farm on the Sabbath, but they generally did not do any work at all.

Second, the people of Israel effectively took off about six weeks each year from farming to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate three Feasts of Truth (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles) each year.  These festivals all occurred during the agricultural season, while most of the Roman world had festivals between the end of one agricultural season and the beginning of the next agricultural season.

Third, the people of Israel neither reap nor sowed eight years out of every fifty.  (Every seventh year, the year of release, for forty nine years, and then the year of Jubilee in the fiftieth year.)  In fact, they generally did no work at all, other than what was necessary to sustain life, during those eight years.

Fourth, the land of Israel generally lacked any notable mines.  Whatever metals that may have been present in the past had been mined out long before the Romans showed up.

So, considering that the people of Israel were only working about half as many days as possible at the first main source of wealth, and that the land of Israel lacked the second main source of wealth, poverty seemed certain.  Yet, the people of Israel had tremendous wealth in the land of Israel.

In fact, the land of Israel produced so much wealth that Herod the Great, and his descendants, were able to maintain building projects that rivaled those of Rome.  They built an entire miniature Rome, called Caesarea.  In fact, they built several of these miniature Romes in the land of Israel.  One of them, located on the Mediterranean coast, lacked any kind of natural harbor, so they built a large harbor for it.

They also built extensive fortresses, palaces, and resorts throughout the land of Israel.  They created one of the most comprehensive road systems in the entire Roman Empire.  They even beautified other cities outside of the land of Israel as an act of friendship to nearby Roman providences and client kingdoms.

Most impressive of all, were the efforts started by Herod the Great to expand and beautify the Temple in Jerusalem.  He had a giant retaining wall, using the largest corner stone ever used, to level and expand the Temple complex platform to over thirty five acres.  It was the largest religious complex ever erected, about twenty times larger than the Temple of Dianna in Ephesus.  Over 300,000 people could assemble in the outer court at one time.  This made it tie with the Circus Maximus in Rome as the largest assembly structure in history.

The walls of the Temple were decorated with some of the most costly stones in the world.  The Temple far surpassed anything else in the world for beauty and magnificence.  The Temple literally took the breath away of some people when they saw it for the first time, causing them to pass out.

Hundreds of thousands of people per year, including many foreigners, were constantly employed for almost a hundred years in these building projects.  All of this was financed by taxes laid upon the people of Israel in the land of Israel, and the Gentiles who lived among them.  These projects, that rivaled anything in Rome, were financed without the benefit of tributary, wealth seized in war, or taxes collected from other providences, that financed the building projects of Rome. These internally financed building projects were visual evidence of the tremendous power of the economy in the land of Israel under Herod the Great, and his successors.  There was no doubt that the land of Israel was a land of great wealth.

One reason was the location of the land of Israel was perfect for trade.  The coast on the Mediterranean Sea gave the people of Israel trade with most of the Roman Empire that encompassed this sea.  The position of it on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire gave them to access to the Parthian Empire to the east.  It were also the main connection between the Arabs to the southeast and the rest of the Roman Empire.  It also was connected the inland portions of the Roman Empire of Asia.  Lastly, it was connected to Egypt, which was connected to a large portion of Africa that was south of the Roman Empire.

Another reason was the tourist industry in Jerusalem.  The Temple brought in people from across the Roman Empire and far outside of it to Jerusalem for the three Feasts of Truth each year.  Jews and proselytes from as far away as China and southern Africa came to these festivals.  In fact, there was usually a higher influx in the years of release and the Year of Jubilee.  While Rome had a sizable tourist industry as well, almost all of the tourists were internal to the Roman Empire.  The providence of Judaea brought in far more wealth from external tourism than any other providence in the Roman Empire.

Lastly, the land of Israel produced an amazing amount of agricultural products, due to the rest that the Jews gave it during those eight years of out of every fifty years, when the land was not farmed.

However, all of that wealth began to evaporate when the Great Revolt began in 66 AD, since large scale war tends to be hard on agriculture, disruptive to trade, and bad for tourism.  When the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, it brought an end to most of the tourism.  The majority of tourists had been Jews making pilgrimage to worship at the Temple.

After the Great Revolt ended, there was still wealth created from agriculture and trade.  The land of Israel still produced abundantly.  It was still a convenient connecting point that was close to the geographical center of the Old World.  So, trade continued as long as peace prevailed.

This all changed when Bar Kochba began his revolt in Modi'in in 132 AD.  The infrastructure that facilitated trade was destroyed during the revolt.  When the Jews were expelled from Judaea in 135 AD, business connections between these Jews and Jews outside of the Roman Empire were severed.  The wealth from trade left the land of Israel with the people of Israel.

The land of Israel began a long and steady decline in agriculture at this time as well, particularly since it stopped receiving both the early and latter rain each year, that was vital for growing crops.  Agriculture was no longer a source of wealth in the land of Israel after the Jews were expelled in 135 AD.

The economy improved some after the Byzantine Empire took control of the land of Israel in 390 AD.  They allowed Jews to move back into the land of Israel, except for Jerusalem, and those Jews began to once again establish business connections with Jews to the east.  The land of Israel still produced enough agriculture products to sustain a fairly large population, so at least it was not a net food importer at this time.

The Byzantine Empire also created a booming "Holy Land" tourism business that partially replaced some of the income lost from the Temple pilgrimages.  Still, the economy of the land of Israel was no where near as wealthy as had been before Judaea was destroyed by the Romans.

Then the Arab Caliphates took control in 636 AD.  The Jews began evacuating the land of Israel to move to places like Khazaria, severely damaging trade. The "Holy Land" business also came to a grinding halt.

So in 691 AD, the Arab Caliphate built the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount during the Second Fitna, to bring an end to unrest caused by Arabs being radicalized after going to Mecca for the Haj.  This did not bring in near as much tourism from Arabs as had been hoped, so the Arab Caliphates went back to allowing Christians back into the Holy Land for pilgrimages.  This brought in much more business than the Dome of the Rock pilgrimages, but was still below that of the Byzantines.  They also eased up on the Jews to put end to the continual downward trend in trade that came from lost business relationships as Jews left the land of Israel.  Still, the economy was never near as good as it had been under the Byzantines.

Then around 1000 AD, there came a large increase in violence against the Christian pilgrims.  Needless to say, this really hurt the "Holy Land" tourism business and the economy went down further.

Finally, the Crusaders took control of the land of Israel in 1099 AD to restore the "Holy Land" business, killing virtually everyone they found, including Jews and other Christians.  This caused almost all of the remaining Jews to leave the land of Israel.  They did much more damage to the land of Israel with their scorched earth policy. So, the land of Israel became dependent upon the import of agricultural products in order for people to live there.  There was also the constant problem of continual warfare with the Arab Caliphates and Ayyubid Sultanate that pretty much blockaded trade from anywhere other than Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

However, the Crusaders did manage to bring the "Holy Land" tourism business to new highs, even though they brought a complete end to the "Dome of the Rock" tourism business.  Still, the economy of the land of Israel never reached back to the levels that it had enjoyed under the Arab Caliphates.

Then the Ayyubid Sultanate filled the land with destruction when they invaded in 1187 AD.  This brought about an end to the "Holy Land" tourism business, but restored the "Dome of the Rock" tourism business.  It also brought an end to trade with Europe, which had became the main source of trade for the land Israel.  However, it did revive part of the trade with the east, the Arabs, and Egypt.  So the economy in the land of Israel reached even lower levels than it had experienced under the Crusaders.

Then the Mamluk Sultanate invaded in 1260 AD and engaged in a war of conquest that lasted for more than thirty years.  Needless to say, this disrupted the "Dome of the Rock" tourism business and trade.  It also increased the amount of net imports of the agricultural products into the land of Israel as this war devastated farms across the land.  Even after the conquest was over, the damage remained for centuries.  So the economy of the land of Israel became even worse than it had been under the care of the Ayyubid Sultanate.

When the Ottoman Empire took control of the land of Israel in 1517 AD, they found that the economy of the land of Israel was a constant drain on their own economy.

So they attempted to re-establish the "Holy Land" tourism business by allowing Christian religious professionals to operate various holy sites, mostly in Jerusalem.  They hoped that this would offset the downturn in the "Dome of the Rock" tourism business that resulted from their possession of Jerusalem.  They made immigration into the land of Israel more open to Sephardic Jews, especially Spanish Jews who sought to move there after being expelled from Spain in 1492.  They hoped that this Jews would turn the land of Israel into the center of trade among Jews throughout the world, so they could tax the profits.  They encourage Arabs to move in and become sharecroppers, known as "fellahs", while they retained ownership of the land of Israel.

Despite their best efforts, the economy of the land of Israel only grew worse.  They found it increasingly difficult to find fellahs willing to farm most of the land of Israel, since the farms often did not even produce enough to keep the family of a fellah fed.  The Christians in Europe had largely lost interest in "Holy Land" tours and were more interested in exploring the New World.  The Jews who moved into the land of Israel were often cut off from other Jews, and so were not able to create any business connections in the land of Israel.  They also were often retired, and came to live out their last days there.

In fact, the economy of the land of Israel became so bad, the Ottoman Empire could get almost no one to live there.  The land of Israel eventually became a 99% food importer, had virtually no trade, since it was bypassed by traders going to Arabia to connect to Egypt by ships, and almost no tourists for either the "Holy Land" or the "Dome of the Rock" tourist businesses.

The mostly Sephardic Jews who had been coming into the land of Israel, had only been able to remain there due to halukka sent by external Jewish groups.  Halukka was charitable gifts collected for the express purpose of maintaining a Jewish prescence in the land of Israel.  This halukka, and similar money sent to Christian and Muslim religious professionals, who maintained the various holy sites, became the sole positive economic active in the land of Israel.  In essence, the land of Israel had a negative GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for almost six hundred years.

However, the first seeds of economic improvement were planted by Christian Zionist missionaries after their arrival in 1840 AD.  Since most of their support came from England and the United States, the ships that brought them support were at the mercy of the weather.  There was also the unpredictability of donations, since their donors were subject to the economy of the nation that they lived in.

So perhaps out of necessity, they began creating small farms in the Galilee near streams and the Sea of Galilee that used modern irrigation techniques.  This allowed them to not be completely dependent upon charitable donations to remain in the land to continue their work.  These farms were the first real improvement in the agricultural business of the land of Israel in about 1200 years.

This was the state of the economy when Mark Twain visited Jerusalem in 1867 AD.

Then in 1870 AD, the Ashkenazi Jews began returning to the land of Israel.  Their inspiration to bring about Jewish economic self-dependence in the land of Israel was boosted by the limited success of the Christian Zionist missionaries in self-sustaining farms.  So that same year, Mikveh Israel was opened to teach arriving Ashkenazi Jews how to create self-sustaining farms throughout the land of Israel.  Then in 1881 AD, Hovevei Zion was established to teach arriving Ashkenazi Jews how to create self-sustaining farming communities.  The next year, Rishon LeZion was founded as the first such community.

These Ashkenazi Jews brought with them business connections as well.  Many of them had connections with prominent Jewish families, like the Rothschilds, who helped them establish trade with European and American businesses.  More importantly, they had an little known champion of their cause in America named William Blackstone.

In 1891 AD, William Blackstone presented a petition to the president of the United States for America to give support to the Ashkenazi Jews immigrating into the land of Israel called the Blackstone Memorial.  Prominent Christian Zionist business men like J. D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Cyrus McCormick, and others were among those who signed this petition.

When the president refused to grant the request of the petition, these American business men began working with Jewish business men and Jewish organizations in America to help Ashkenazi Jews become economically self-sufficient in the land of Israel.  Christian Zionist business men in America were instrumental in helping Ashkenazi Jews in the land of Israel create a strong economy.  They helped these Ashkenazi Jews expand their trade to include not just Europe, but also America.  They also helped these Ashkenazi Jews create a new infrastructure in the land of Israel to expand trade into new markets with new exports beyond agricultural products.

Their efforts helped establish the first bank in the land of Israel in 1902 AD.  They also sought to give grants, lend loans, and make investments to help create industries in the land of Israel.

However, the Ottoman Empire soon made industrialization in the land of Israel almost impossible.  This empire began to put up roadblocks to expansion of the economy in the land of Israel.  The land of Israel was largely limited to having an agriculture based economy.

So, as new Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants moved in, the first kibbutz was established in 1909 AD, which brought about crops raised mainly for export.

Then the British gained control of the land of Israel in 1918 AD, and the industrial revolution came to the land of Israel.

In 1920 AD, Ashkenazi Jews began creating the first factories in the land of Israel.  They also created the first labor union in the land of Israel that same year.

In 1921 AD, new Mizrahi Jewish immigrants created the first Moshav for growing even more agricultural products for export.  Around this time, the agricultural sector of the economy grew so strong that the land of Israel became a net food exporter.  This growth was only diminished when the British Mandate in 1923 AD restricted how much land that new immigrants could buy from Arabs for farming.

So many of the Jews turned to living in cities and working in factories, which raised their earnings.  That same year, the first electric company was founded in Jaffa by an Ashkenazi Jew, Pinhas Rutenberg, with help from Winston Churchill, another Christian Zionist.  So in 1924 AD, the first trade fair was held in Tel-Aviv.  The economy in the land of Israel had gained a new segment - manufacturing.

The Great Depression did not stop this revolution.

In 1930 AD, Moshe Novomeyski, an Ashkenazi Jew, started mining potash from the Dead Sea, thanks to the help of Thomas Tulloch, who came from a long line of Christian Zionists.  This was the first known mining operation in the land of Israel since before the Roman Empire.  The mining segment of the economy was back from the dead.

The first textile plant in the land of Israel was established in 1934 AD. This soon lead to more than eighty other factories in the textile industry developing within three years time.

In 1935 AD, the first stock exchange began operations.  In 1937 AD, the first commercial airline began regular flights.  The financial and services segments of the economy were growing as well.

Then the nation of Israel was born again in 1948 AD, and all of the foreign restrictions on economic growth were lifted.  By this time, Israel had shifted from an agriculture based economy to a manufacturing based economy, with more than 250 Jewish owned factories operating in the land of Israel.

When the nation of Israel regained control of the city of Jerusalem in 1967 AD, they were finally able to revive the "Holy Land" tourism business by providing a safer environment for tourists.  They were also able to facilitate significant growth in the "Dome of the Rock" tourism business through a policy of religious tolerance.  Finally, they were able to grow a new "Diaspora" tourism business that targeted Jews living in the Diaspora.

The nation of Israel then signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1978 AD, and revitalized trade with Africa through Egypt for the first time since 1882 AD.  Israel also signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994 AD, that reopened trade with much of the east again.

Today, the economy of Israel is one of the twenty strongest in the world.  It is ranked as the most durable economy in the world.  It has a standard of living on par with countries like Australia.  It has achieved the "Very Highly Developed" status, the highest status available, in the UN Human Development Index, and is the only country in the Middle East to have reached this status.  It is also the only country entirely in the Middle East that is a member of the OECD.  It has signed free trade agreements with every country in Europe, and North America, along with Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey.

Israel fills the markets of the world with its agricultural products.  It is the worlds largest exporter of cut diamonds.  It is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. It is a supplier to most major retailers in America.

Israel has one of the most robust real estate markets on Earth.  It has one of the strongest financial sectors on Earth.  It is also a world leader in the medical sector and in pharmaceuticals.  It is a top exporter of military equipment.  It has a promising future in alternative energy sources.  It ranks first in supply of skilled labor.
 
Israel has progressed to a technology based service economy from a manufacturing based economy, like the United States.  It has the second most innovative economy in the world.  It has the second most prosperous Information Technology hub in the world, the Silicon Wadi, that is second only to the Silicon Valley of the United States.  Intel, Apple, Microsoft, and Google all have major research centers in Israel.  It is number one in the world for research and development investments.  It is also second only to the US in venture capital for technology investments.

The TASE (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) has had the third highest number of Initial Public Offerings (IPO).  Israel is the foreign country with the second highest prescence in the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).  It is the number one foreign investment country for US billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Donald Trump.

The economy of Israel has been taken off life support and returned as one of the strongest economies in the world.

The impossible has happened.

How could have all of this happened?

This is the work of the Greatest Zionist.

The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) has caused the economy of Israel to grow strong after about 1800 years of decline (Isaiah 60:17).  He has caused Israel to become so wealthy that the nations around it will invade Israel to gain that wealth (Ezekiel 38:8-13).

The Father of Truth has been causing the Jews to have plenty in the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 30:9).  He has been bringing the Jews into a wealthy place after their years of affliction living among the Gentiles (Psalm 66:10-12).  He has caused the wealth that the Jews created while they were scattered among the Gentiles to return to the land of Israel with them (Isaiah 60:8-9).

The Father of Truth has been causing the agricultural segment of the economy to increase again (Psalm 85:12).

The Father of Truth has been creating a robust real estate market in a land where nobody wanted to live in (Jeremiah 32:44).  He has been causing prosperity to return to the land of Israel (Jeremiah 33:7-9).  He has been bringing prosperity to the land of Israel so the Jews could rebuild their ancient cities (Zechariah 1:17).  He has been bringing prosperity to the land of Israel, so the Jews can live there (Zechariah 8:11-15).

The Father of Truth does not just want to make the impossible happen concerning the prosperity of Israel, but He wants to make the impossible happen concerning your prosperity.  He wants you to come into the House of Truth, and learn to be prosperous.

Like the economy of Israel, the Father of Truth wants you to learn how to keep His commandments so you can prosper (Deuteronomy 29:9).  He wants you to learn how to carry out the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) in the way He intended, so you can have good success in everything (Joshua 1:7-8).  He wants you to walk in all of His ways, so you can prosper in everything that you do (1 Kings 2:3).  Doing what He commands is the key to prosperity (1 Chronicles 22:13).

Like the economy of Israel, the Father of Truth wants you to ask Him for advice, so you can prosper (Judges 18:5).  He wants you to believe what He has spoken through the Prophets, so you can prosper (2 Chronicles 20:20).  He wants you to delight in keeping His commandments, so you can prosper (Psalm 1:1-3).  He wants you to seek Him for the peace of Jerusalem, so you can prosper (Psalm 122:6-8).

Like the economy of Israel, the Father of Truth is delighted to prosper those who serve Him (Psalm 35:27).  He wants you to come into the House of Truth and prosper (3 John 1:2-4).

Like the economy of Israel, the Father of Truth gives those who come into the House of Truth the power to gain wealth, so His covenant can be established in the Earth (Deuteronomy 8:18).  He wants to teach you how to profit (Isaiah 48:17).  He alone can cause you to gain a profit every time (James 4:13-15).

Like the Apostles of Truth, the Father of Truth wants you to have something better than silver or gold, so His covenant can be established in the Earth (Acts 3:6-26).  The Father of Truth gave something much greater than silver or gold - the precious blood of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) - so you could come into the House of Truth (1 Peter 1:18-19).

The Man of Truth became poor so you could become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).  He is the means for you to come into the House of Truth, so the Father of Truth can take care of your every need (Philippians 4:19).

The Father of Truth does not mind you having riches as long as you put your trust in Him, instead of your riches (1 Timothy 6:17)  He wants you to come into the House of Truth to have true riches, and not just temporary riches that you will one day either lose or leave behind (Revelation 3:17-19)..  

For it is impossible for those who put their trust in riches to come into the House of Truth (Mark 10:23-25).  So, the Father of Truth does not want riches to deceive you from remaining in the House of Truth (Matthew 13:22).  Loving money will cause you to leave the House of Truth (1 Timothy 6:10).

What good would it do you to be the richest person on Earth, if you lose your life in the Chamber of Horrors for eternity (Matthew 16:26)?

So, you only need to be rich enough to carry out will of the Father of Truth for your life (Proverbs 30:7-9).  This is true prosperity (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

You come into the House of Truth by putting the Man of Truth in charge of everything in your life, including your money, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised Him from the dead, to experience true prosperity (Romans 10:9).  You will never be deceived into leaving the House of Truth, if you will put your trust in the Father of Truth, because He raised the Man of Truth from the dead (1 Peter 1:20-21).  The Father of Truth has unspeakable riches stored up for those who remain in the House of Truth (Revelation 21:18-27).

Come into the House of Truth!

Giving To Get

What doe the Bible actually say about prosperity?

In the 1970s a new movement among church goers grew out of the Healing Revivals of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s that is commonly called "the Word of Faith" movement.  The religious professionals who lead the Word of Faith movement are for the most part non-denominational and independent of each other.

There is no governing body or umbrella organization for these religious professionals to answer to.  These religious professionals say that they get their authority from the Father of Truth (Yahoveh aka Yahweh aka God aka THE LORD) and do not need to answer to anyone else.  This means that there is no one to hinder them from leading others into what He has told them to do but it also means that there is no one to rein them in if they should be wrong about anything either.  So this model is wonderful when they are right about something but is terrible when they are wrong about anything.

One of the main things they teach is that the Father of Truth wants all of His children to prosper.  Now in all fairness, they do not all agree on exactly what prospering means.  On one extreme some teach that the Children of Truth (those who obey the Father of Truth because they love Him) prospering means that they should have more material wealth than any of the Children of Lies so that they are ruling over them.  On the other extreme some teach that prospering means the Children of Truth having just what is needed to accomplish His will for their lives.  There are also many definitions of prosperity that fall between these two extremes.  This teaching, in all of its forms, is called "Prosperity Theology".

Many of the Word of Faith churches teaching Prosperity Theology grew into mega-churches that had most of largest congregations in the US by the end of the 1990s. (Whose leaders sometimes ended up with proportionally large paychecks, but NOT ALWAYS as some of them have maintained a modest paycheck regardless of the size of their congregation.) This soon lead to many pastors in denominational churches to likewise begin to teaching some flavor of Prosperity Theology as well.  Some of those congregations also grew into mega-churches.  Even some of the religious professionals in the False Church of Rome started teaching Prosperity Theology and grew their congregations into mega-churches.  So now, you can find someone teaching some form of Prosperity Theology from just about any organization that claims to be teaching people how to follow the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).

At the heart of Prosperity Theology is a core idea that if you give to religious organizations who pay the paycheck of the religious professionals who carry out the ministry of the Gospel as well as take care of the needs of the poor then the Father of Truth will prosper you.  This idea of giving to Him so you can get things from Him could be summarized as "giving to get".

What does the Book of Truth teach about prosperity?  The best way to answer this question is by examining the different ideas that make up Prosperity Theology one at a time to clearly see the answer to that question.

The first thing to consider is the claim by some of those who teach Prosperity Theology (but certainly not all) that they get things directly from the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) and therefore no one should dare question anything that they are teaching.

Does the Spirit of Truth speak to people with messages for other people to hear?

The Spirit of Truth does give messages directly from the Man of Truth to the Children of Truth (John 16:13-15).  It is normal for some of the Children of Truth to speak those messages when they are assembled together so that others may benefit as well (1 Corinthians 14:3-5).  Those who are in touch with the Spirit of Truth acknowledge that this is the commandment of the Father of Truth (1 Corinthians 14:36-37).  So the Children of Truth are to desire to be used like this in an orderly fashion (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).  So no one is to quench the Spirit of Truth by stopping people, especially those who have been called to preach, from giving these messages to the Children of Truth (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20).

Are we to accept every message that people give in a meeting as being from from the Spirit of Truth?

NO! We are to test every message and only heed those that are good so that we can void all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). We are not to believe every message that someone says is from the Spirit of Truth because they might actually be a Minister of Lies (1 John 4:1).

Should we not believe a message that comes from someone who has demonstrated by the power of the Spirit of Truth that they are a Minister of Truth?

Consider Balaam.  He was a real Prophet of Truth who only spoke the Word of Truth (Numbers 22:38).  The Father of Truth put His Word in his mouth (Numbers 23:5).  He saw visions that were given to him by the Spirit of Truth (Numbers 24:2-4).  He even prophesied that the Man of Truth would rule over Israel and avenge her against her enemies in the future (Numbers 24:15-19).  Yet he left off teaching sound doctrine in order to get unjust gain (2 Peter 2:15-16).  He went into error because he desired money more than truth (Jude 1:11).  He finally taught things contrary to the Word of Truth after spending many years as a Prophet of Truth (Revelation 2:14).  So Balaam went from being one of the Ministers of Truth to being one of the Ministers of Lies.

Even Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka the Apostle Paul) would have became a castaway after he has spent a lifetime preaching the Word of Truth if he also allowed his flesh to gain control over him (1 Corinthians 9:27).  Even the Minister of Truths can shipwreck their faith if they do not continue in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:18-19).

So how can we tell if a message really is from the Spirit of Truth?

We are to keep the Word of Truth in our mouth by speaking it to ourselves all the time (Joshua 1:8). [The Hebrew word translated "meditate" literally means "to mutter to oneself".]  We are to hide the Word of Truth in our heart (Psalm 119:11). We are to be like the Bereans were more noble than others because they did not take the word of Paul the Jew on face value but studied the Book of Truth to see if his message agreed with it (Acts 17:10-12).  (This is why I include links to every scripture so that you can do the same thing.)  Paul the Jew said that we were not accept any message that was contrary to the one given in the Book of Truth even if he or an angel were to give it (Galatians 1:6-8).  We are to stop being lazy and to study the Book of Truth for ourselves so that we can know if a message is from the Spirit of Truth or not (2 Timothy 2:15).  We are to make the Word of Truth a part of our being so that we can discern whether or not a message is from the Spirit of Truth (Hebrews 5:12-14).

How can you tell is someone is simply wrong about something or if they are actually a Minister of Lies?

The Man of Truth says that the Ministers of Lies can be told apart from those who are simply wrong about something by examining the fruit of their lives (Matthew 7:15-17).  The Ministers of Lies cannot live a life that is consistent with the Book of Truth and will even tell you to not examine the fruit of people so you can know who are Ministers of Lies (Matthew 7:18-20)!  Even though the Spirit of Truth worked supernaturally through them in times past they do not know the Man of Truth because they do not do the will of His Father (Matthew 7:21-23).  They have heard the Word of Truth but they have not put it into practice (Matthew 7:24-27).  They will not repent of teaching and doing things contrary what to the Man of Truth taught when others point out their mistakes but instead point to financial gain as proof that His Father has blessed what they are teaching (1 Timothy 6:3-5).  They live a corrupt life that is always falling into adultery and other sins because they have endless desire for getting bigger, better, newer things (2 Peter 2:12-14).  They were once Ministers of Truth but have left off living in the House of Truth (2 Peter 2:20-22).

Now that we have examined what the Book of Truth says about those who do not want anyone to question whether or not what they teach is from the Spirit of Truth we will examine what the Book of Truth actually says about prosperity.

Does the Father of Truth really want the Children of Truth to prosper?

Yes, He does.  He wants to work when they can and save what they can for retirement (Proverbs 6:6-8).  He wants them to avoid laziness so they will not be overtaken by poverty (Proverbs 6:9-11).  He wants them to work hard so they can gain wealth (Proverbs 10:3-5).  He wants them to be diligent so that they will rule over the lazy (Proverbs 12:24).  He wants them to leave an inheritance to their children and grandchildren (Proverbs 13:22).  He wants them to handle matters wisely (Proverbs 16:20).  He wants them to avoid borrowing money if at all possible (Proverbs 22:7).  He wants them to work with all of their ability (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  He wants them not to be slothful in their business (Romans 12:11).  He wants them to save back for the needs of their children (2 Corinthians 12:14).  He wants them to do all they can to provide for their own children (1 Timothy 5:8).  He wants them above all things to prosper and be in health even as their soul prospers (3 John 1:2)!

Does the Father of Truth promise to give to those who take care of the poor?

He has promised to bless those who take care of the poor (Proverbs 11:23-25).  The Children of Truth will never lack if they give what they have to take care of those who are poorer than themselves (Proverbs 28:27).   They will be given whatever they need if they will show mercy by giving to those who ask for help without judging whether or not those who are asking deserve to be helped (Luke 6:36-38).  Those who give abundantly to others will receive abundantly from the Father of Truth (2 Corinthians 9:6).

Does the Father of Truth promise to give to those who take care of the Ministers of Truth?

The Children of Truth are to give offerings to build and maintain the place where they assemble to meet the Father of Truth (Exodus 25:2-8).  The Children of Truth are to give one tenth of their income to take care of those who the Father of Truth has placed in the ministry (Numbers 18:23-24).  Whoever does not give to take of the assembly place and the Ministers of Truth is robbing the Father of Truth but He will bless those who do these things by making their hard work pay off (Malachi 3:8-11).

Does this promise still apply to the Ministers of Truth?

The Ministers of Truth still need to be free to focus on the work of the ministry (1 Corinthians 9:4-6).  They still should not have to work to pay the expenses of their services to the Children of Truth (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).  The Children of Truth should still pay their expenses because they are the ones benefiting from the services of the Ministers of Truth (1 Corinthians 9:11-14).

Does the Man of Truth promise to give back 100 times the money that people give to these causes?

NO!  He only said that there was a hundred fold return of homes or families for those who lost their home or families for following him (Matthew 19:29).  He promised that this hundred fold return would come with persecutions (Mark 10:29-30).

Does the Man of Truth say that he came to give the Children of Truth an abundance of bigger, better, newer stuff?

NO!  He said that life does not consist of an abundance of bigger, better, newer stuff (Luke 12:15).  He said that he came to give them a more abundant life (John 10:10).  Those with the abundant life he gives are content whether they have a lot of stuff or next to nothing (Philippians 4:11-13).

Is it wrong for people to expect a reward for doing what the Father of Truth commands?

He promised to reward Abraham (Abram) for doing what he commanded (Genesis 12:1-3).  He promised to reward Isaac (Yitzhak) for doing what he commanded (Genesis 26:2-5).  He promised to reward the nation of Israel for doing what he commanded (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).  The Man of Truth promised to reward the twelve original Apostles of Truth for doing what His Father commanded (Matthew 19:27-29).  The Man of Truth promises to reward all who obey the commandments of His Father when he rules on the Earth (Revelation 22:12-14).

The Father of Truth promise to reward all who do not despise the Word of Truth but instead fear to break His commandments (Proverbs 13:13).  It right to expect a reward for doing what the Father of Truth commands because this shows faith in what He said (Hebrews 11:6).

So if the Father of Truth has promised to bless our work when we give to His causes as a reward for obeying His commandments, then what is wrong with giving to get?

Giving to get is based on greed and coveting.  Giving to get puts the focus of the giver on getting things which leads to the endless pursuit of Bigger, Better, Newer.  Giving to get takes the focus of the giver off of saving people which is All That Really Matters.

It does not matter how much people give to the purposes of the Father of Truth unless they are giving because they are concerned with the long term good of other people (1 Corinthians 13:3).  When people give to take care of the needs of the Ministers of Truth then the Father of Truth only promises to take care of their needs - not their greed (Philippians 4:19-20).  When people are giving to get then they end up not getting what they asked for in prayer because they are asking to fulfill their endless desire for bigger, better, newer stuff instead of desiring to take care of other people (James 4:3). 

When people are giving to get then they are not giving out of concern for other people. So they are not operating in faith because faith works by love (Galatians 5:6).   When people have have genuine faith in the Man of Truth then they also have genuine love for other people (Ephesians 3:17).  Faith always works with love in those who love the Man of Truth (Ephesians 6:23-24).  The same Father of Truth who commands us to have faith in the Man of Truth also commands us to love other people (1 John 3:23). 

So why does the Father of Truth want to prosper the Children of Truth?

The Father of Truth prospered Abraham so he could save the human race though the Man of Truth (Genesis 12:2-3).  He prospered Isaac so he could save the human race though the Man of Truth (Genesis 26:3-4).  He promised to give the Land of Israel to the descendants of Israel so He could save the human race though the Man of Truth (Genesis 28:13-14).  He gives the Children of Truth the ability to prosper so that His covenants to save the human race through the Man of Truth can be fulfilled (Deuteronomy 8:18).  All of His promises to prosper the Children of Truth are so that His promises to save the human race through the Man of Truth can be fulfilled (Galatians 3:16).

So the Children of Truth should be "getting to give" instead of "giving to get".  That is the way of love.

What is getting to give?

The Man of Truth wants people to use whatever His Father gave them for His purposes (Matthew 25:14-30).  The Children of Truth are getting to give because they know that their treasure is in heaven instead on Earth (Luke 12:32-34).  The Children of Truth have all been called to do their part in saving the human race by either working as one of the Ministers of Truth or by giving what they can to help the Ministers of Truth (Romans 10:13-17).  Some of the Children of Truth have been given a gift by the Spirit of Truth of giving beyond human ability (Romans 12:6-8).  They give more than is reasonable so they can be counted as if they were actually doing the work of the Ministers of Truth (2 Corinthians 8:3-4).  The Children of Truth are happy to give whatever they can to the causes of the Father of Truth (2 Corinthians 9:5-7).  The Children of Truth work hard at their jobs so they can prosper to give to the purposes of the Man of Truth (Colossians 3:22-24).  The Children of Truth are seeking to prosper so they can help in saving the human race through faith in the Man of Truth (3 John 1:5-8).

Is there ever a right way of giving to get?

The Father of Truth so loved the human race that He gave His Only Begotten Son to get people to come into the House of Truth (John 3:16).  The Man of Truth gave his life away on the cross to get people to come into the House of Truth (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Those who want the greatest reward when the Man of Truth rules the Earth will also give their lives away for the sake of other people (Mark 10:42-45).  The Children of Truth are to give their lives away to get people to come into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).

The Children of Truth should be consumed with a desire to get people to come into the House of Truth because they are wise enough to know that people are the only thing that they can take with them when they die (Proverbs 11:30).  They know that they brought nothing into this world when they were born and they are not taking any bigger, better, newer stuff out of this world when they die (1 Timothy 6:7).

So whoever counts themselves as a follower of the Man of Truth should be giving their lives away so they can get people to come into the House of Truth.  This is giving to get in the right way.

Are you ready to start giving to get in the right way?

Perhaps you realize that you have only been giving to get bigger, better, newer things instead of giving to get people to come into the House of Truth.  You need to repent of this idolatry that you may have been deceived into by religious professionals (Colossians 3:5).  If you will admit that you have been sucked into this idolatry and renounce it then you will come back into the House of Truth (1 John 1:8-10).

Perhaps you have yet to come into the House of Truth because you have seen through the Ministers of Lies who promise to make everyone rich who gives to them and thought that they actually represented the Man of Truth.  You can know the Man of Truth for yourself if you will come into the House of Truth.  You come into the House of Truth when you give control of your life to the Man of Truth because you believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).

Come into the House of Truth.

All That Really Matters

Do you know what really matters?

Not long ago I was faced with the prospects of two jobs after a year of unemployment.  One job was at a large bank doing the kind of work that I love to do.  This job offered excellent benefits and long term stability.  The other job was doing the kind of work that I had not done in five years and that I did not wish to return to doing.  This job was a short term contract position with limited benefits.  On the surface, it seemed like an easy decision to make but I was not at all certain which job was the right job for me.

You see things like long term stability, higher wages and excellent benefits are not the most important things to me.  I learned a long time ago that it is always better to be doing what the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) wants than looking a company to take care of me.  He is the one that takes care of me and doing His will is all that really matters.

I brought this up to my congregation when they asked for prayer requests.  I was not well at the time and every time I tried to get quiet so I could clearly hear from the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) I would end up falling asleep.   I thought I knew what to do but I was not 100% sure.  I told the congregation how I had pursued the first job and was on the short list to get it.  In fact, they had advertised for months to find someone with my skills and I was the only candidate they had interviewed that actually had the experience they were looking for.  This other job came about because a recruiter kept calling me and I reluctantly agreed to interview with her company because I believed that would put an end to her pursuits.  After all, five years is a long time to have not worked in a technology.  Still I wanted the will of the Father of Truth more than I wanted my own will because that is all that really matters.

In a short time His will became known.  The first job simply vaporized.  In fact, a friend I have that worked in the information technology department of the bank told me that the entire department was being reorganized.  At the same time I had an interview with the client company and gave a mediocre interview even though I was doing my best.  Within two hours, the recruiter called me back with a counter offer from the client company.  I accepted with the understanding that I might get a better offer from the bank.  I'm not sure what I would have done if I had been given a better offer because for me doing His will is all that really matters.

I started the next Monday and things were less than stellar.  I was still recovering from another illness that I got from a mosquito bite and my daughter was in the hospital.  I learned that I would not even be working for the man that hired me but for another manager in a technology that I had never even heard of.  I was not given my own workspace but instead we were placed around a table to work.  I had worked from home for eight of the last ten years and had always been given a cube in the corner with a lovely view when I worked in an office.  I found it quite distracting to be working so close to other people.  On top of that we had no coding to do at first but rather spent out time setting up our development environment and learning about their project management methodology.  I was able to accomplish setting up my environment much quicker than everyone else and it was obvious to me that the project management methodology used by the company would not produce solid results as quickly as the way I was used to working.  On top of that, there were long periods of time where we were told to sit tight while they figured out what we should do next.  If people could actually die of boredom then I think I would have.  I was not at all happy with the way things were going but I remembered that I had asked for the Father of Truth for His will instead of my will because that was all that really matters.

However, this turmoil and trouble was no indication of being out of His will.  I always enjoyed helping people so I started helping them set up their development environments.  Then we began to talk about things that were unrelated to work since we had nothing else to do and we were sitting around a table by ourselves.  Most of them were from India and I had always had a fascination with India ever since I had heard stories from Miss Luther about her adventures there as a missionary when I went to vacation Bible school as a young man.  So I asked them all kinds of questions about India and told them all kinds of things that I knew about India.  They told me that they were not all Hindus but one was Muslim and one was a Knanaya which were a branch of Nasrani (Saint Thomas Christians) that immigrated to India from Edessa (just north of Syria in Turkey) in 345 AD.  Soon they began to ask me questions as well and in particular about what I believed.  That is when I began to tell them about all that really matters.

We often ate together in the office and I agreed to leave the office to eat lunch with them once a week.  As time went on we became great friends particularly Reddy, Shamira and I.  We were an unlikely trio, a Hindu, a Muslim and a Child of Truth (one who obeys the Father of Truth because they love him) but we came to love each other as our own souls.  They were not just my friends but my family opened up our home to them for the holidays, family barbeques and the like.  They met my daughter Savannah who the Man of Truth had saved from death in a miraculous way on three different occasions.  They loved to discuss and laugh with Miranda about my quirks. Shamira even wants us to come to India for her upcoming wedding.  They became like family to us because we included them in our lives to show them all that really matters.

They began to see for themselves that there was a difference between their religions and being part of the family of the Father of Truth.  One day, Reddy asked me if he could go with me when I met with my congregation and has been attending every since.  You see it was being isolated from the rest of the company on the top floor with people that were interested in hearing about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) and not having enough to do that allowed me to talk about all that really matters.

Eventually, space became available in the main part of the office.  I was working from home on that day but Reddy and Shamira made sure that I had a cube that was next to their cubes. We continued to help each other in so many ways.  I figured out what was important to our manager and helped them to make sure that we made her look good to her boss.  I helped them become better programmers while they helped me improve my people skills.  It turns out that working alone for years on end had caused me to lose many of my people skills.  I loved being around people but it had been necessary to work from home to take care of Savannah.  I needed to regain my people skills because I need to communicate with people all that really matters.

Of course by this time we had gotten quite used to eating together at lunch and talking about whatever was on our minds.  Sometimes we would go back to the top floor but other times when we were shorter on time we spend a few minutes eating together in one of our cubes.  One day, a Jewish man (by religion) that was in the cube next to Reddy let me know that he found our conversations entertaining and interesting.  I had been explaining to Reddy how the Man of Truth had fulfilled all that the Prophets of Truth had written about him and apparently he had overheard.  My voice carries and apparently other people had been hearing me talk about all that really matters.

A new developer joined our team named Jonathan and it soon became apparent that he too was a Child of Truth.  I had been surrounded with people that went to church on the weekend but they would never dare talk about the Man of Truth or anything like that to their co-workers - even when they were out of the office on their lunch hour.  They were simply more afraid of losing their jobs than their co-workers losing their souls.  It was so refreshing to find someone else that was not ashamed of the Man of Truth.  So we began to include him in our lunchtime discussions of all that really matters.

Then suddenly, without any warning, our manager, who had became fond of us, told us that the company had decided to get rid of all contractors.  She was very upset and explained that the company was really ran by stockholders and analysts.  While our division had been very profitable the other divisions had not performed as well as expected.  So the executives had decided to break faith with all of their contractors across the company to make their end of year report look better to the stockholders.  Just like that it was over even though our manager stressed that she had been pleased with our performance.  I am so glad that I took this job and that I did not wasted my opportunity to talk about all that really matters.

You see the story does not end there.  Reddy wants to stay in Tulsa and continue to learn about the Man of Truth with me each weekend.  Even though Shamira wants to stay in Tulsa she is going to move to where her fiancée lives so that she can get married.  They are like family to me so this is really hard for me because I have no assurance that I will ever see them again.  I want them to be part of His forever family then I know I will see them in eternity.  That is all that really matters.

How about you?  Do you spend your life in pursuit of temporary things that you will either one day lose or leave behind?  Will you put His will in front of your will?  Are you ready to trade in the boredom of living for temporary things to gain the joy that comes from living for all that really matters?

A lot of subjects are covered in the weekly posts of this blog. None of them are meaningless for each post provides answers from the Book of Truth (The Bible) to important life questions.  However, that does not mean that they are all of equal importance.  The answer to the question of what you are doing with your life is all that really matters.

People are the only thing that you can take with you when you leave this Earth and the eternal well being of other people is the only thing really worth pursuing (Proverbs 11:30).  If you spend your life seeking security by storing up treasure on this Earth then one day you will die and realize that you have been a fool (Luke 12:19-21).   At the end of life it will not matter how much you earned or accumulated because you are not taking any of it with you (1 Timothy 6:7).  People are the only thing that you can take with you and they are all that really matters.

Do not get me wrong.  I am in no way advocating that you should become a "holy loafer" and not work to earn money.  The Father of Truth wants you to gain wealth so that His covenant can be established in the Earth and the human race can be saved (Deuteronomy 8:18).  He wants you to be diligent in your work so you can prosper (Proverbs 10:4).   He wants you to be diligent so that you can be put into a leadership role (Proverbs 12:24).  He wants you to be diligent in your business so that you can influence those in power (Proverbs 22:29).  He just does not want you to accumulate wealth for the sake of accumulating wealth but to give into His hands by using it to bring people into His kingdom so that your treasure is in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).  He wants you to gain wealth so that you can help send others to reach people that you could never reach (Romans 10:13-15).  If the Father of Truth has placed wealth in your hands then He did it so you could use it to help bring other people to know the Man of Truth because that is all that really matters (Hebrews 11:24-26).

The great work that the Man of Truth has given to every Child of Truth is to tell other people the Good News because they are living in a burning house (Mark 16:15-16).  However you will face opposition if you decide to live like you are not are not ashamed of his name (Luke 21:16-17).  Do not let this discourage you for the Man of Truth has already overcame everything that the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan aka The Devil) can throw at you (John 16:33).   He laid down his life for you so now you need to lay down your life for him (Romans 12:1).   So whether you are out in the workforce in a regular job or a religious professional you need to make every day count (Ephesians 5:15-17). You need to use every opportunity to rescue people from the burning house that they are living in because that is all that really matters (Colossians 4:5-6).

If you are a Child of Truth then you must be more concerned with doing the will of the Father of Truth than your own comfort or safety (Matthew 7:21).  If you do not proclaim the name of the Man of Truth to others then he will not proclaim your name to His Father (Matthew 10:32-33).  If you do not confess him before those you work with then it is because you love their praise more than you love His praise (John 12:42-43).  If you love the Man of Truth then you will remain in the House of Truth by obeying him to the best of your ability and understanding (John 14:21-23).  If your love for him is not deep enough to obey him then you will be put out of the House of Truth because that is all that really matters (Revelation 3:15-16).

Perhaps you have yet to come into the House of Truth because no one has had the courage to tell you the truth until now.  The truth is that you must come into the House of Truth by surrendering everything to the Man of Truth because that is the only way for you to come to know the Father of Truth (Matthew 11:27).  He is pleading with you to come into the House of Truth and let go of your heavy burden of sin (Matthew 11:28-30).  You can only come into the House of Truth to meet His Father by obeying the Man of Truth (John 14:6-7).  The truth is that you must come into the House of Truth by making the Man of Truth your boss in every area of your life because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-11).  You must come into the House of Truth so that your name will be in the Book of Life and you will not suffer in the Lake of Fire for all eternity because that is all that really matters (Revelation 20:15).

Come into the House of Truth.