Hi Mike,

I have three questions:
1) The annual “Easter celebration” in the Christian church now looks to me like the worship of Tammuz, referred to in Eze 8:14 which the Ampl Bible says was a Babylonian god who supposedly died and was resurrected yearly. Am I right in thinking this?
2) I have removed all crosses in my home, but what is your opinion on a stone with “Jehovah Jireh” printed on it? Is that also an image and therefore violating the 2nd command? Also, is it OK to have scriptures on one’s wall?
3) I have been wondering about all this true knowledge of the scripture; has it just always been passed on as people have been illuminated by the Spirit ever since the apostles or has the knowledge ever been “lost” and then somehow regained over time. Although I understand everything, I would never have figured it out myself without reading the teachings of others. Does the fact that I heard it from another person(s) make it less of a revelation, or is this how it’s always worked, one person with the spirit of Christ revealing it to the next?

Yours in Christ,
U____

Hi U____,

Thank you for your questions. Your first question concerns the observing of the Pagan holiday known as Easter. Your understanding that Easter is the worship of Tammuz is exactly right. Here is a link to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia which explains the origins of this Pagan holiday.
http:// www. searchgodsword. org/ enc/ isb/ view. cgi? number= T8597
Orthodox Christianity has appropriated this pagan holiday to worship Christ, in direct opposition to what God tells us He hates.

Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [ Pagans], after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

When we teach the lies of paganism to our children, like telling them that rabbits lay eggs, we are doing nothing short of sacrificing our children to these “idols of our hearts” (Eze 14:1-9), and ‘burning our children in the fire to our own false gods’.
It seems so harmless and innocent as we tell lies to our children and defile our own consciences in doing so. There is no such thing as ‘gray areas’ or ‘white lies’. All lies are lies, and you and I are considered to be bad for standing with our Lord for the Truth of His Word.
Your second question asks if it is alright to have the name Jehovah Jireh printed on a stone? Having Jehovah Jireh printed on a stone is no different than having it printed on the paper in your Bible. The same is true for scriptures printed and displayed on the walls of your home.
Here is the second commandment:

Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Verse four is not “the sum of God’s Word in this commandment. Verse five is also there giving us the point of this commandment. There is nothing wrong with any statue in the world, as long as you and I do not “bow down thyself to them, nor serve them”. I don’t know where they are now, but for many years I had a set of onyx horse head book ends. The thought of bowing down to worship those onyx book ends never once crossed my mind.
So no, it is not a violation of the second commandment to have scripture verses framed on your wall or have the name Jehovah Jireh written on a stone in your home.
Let me make it clear that the ‘sacred name’ doctrine has nothing to do with what the scriptures call “the name of God”. What blasphemes the true ‘name of God’ is for you and me to live lives in hypocrisy, while speaking and spreading lies and false doctrines, all the while claiming to be the disciples of Christ.
A man whose central doctrine is to make it known that there is no ‘J’ in the Hebrew or Greek alphabets, while living an immoral life and speaking and spreading false doctrines is just as capable of “blaspheming the name of God among the Gentiles” as any orthodox Christian who calls Yahweh, ‘God’ and Iesous, ‘Jesus’.

Rom 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

So how we verbally voice the name of God is of absolutely no consequence. We can call Him God, Theos, or Dios, according to the language we speak. The name Yahweh is not in the Greek. The Greek word for God is ‘Theos’, and God Himself has seen fit to preserve the gospel in that language. What is of great consequence is whether our lives are lived by the words of our Lord. That is how we exalt the name of God. That is how we love both God and our brothers. We obey God and keep His commandments. When we do that we will not be blaspheming His name among the Gentiles.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Your last question is:

Has [ this knowledge] just always been passed on as people have been illuminated by the Spirit ever since the apostles or has the knowledge ever been “lost” and then somehow regained over time.
Does the fact that I heard it from another person(s) make it less of a revelation, or is this how it’s always worked, one person with the spirit of Christ revealing it to the next?

Here is the Biblical answer to that question:

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The word ‘hell’ here is the Greek word ‘Hades’ or the grave. It is not ‘gehenna’, the lake of fire. In other words, the Words of Christ have never died out. It is, and always has been, rejected by the entire Babylonian church system “wherein our Lord was crucified” and wherein our own bodies ‘lie dead in the street of that great city’ in every generation since Christ.

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

But all those “with ears to hear” have heard and known the voice of the true shepherd in every generation since Christ. So no, it has not died out; it has always been granted to God’s few elect in every generation since Christ to know the mind and the voice of the true shepherd and the true God, and ‘the gates of Hades have never prevailed against Christ’s church’.
It is not necessary to be able to trace the history of those who have known Christ in every generation, all that is necessary is to have faith in Christ’s words that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church”.
So yes, these words are communicated “by the church” in every generation”, and no, it is no less a revelation to have the Truths of God’s word explained to you. That is the very function of the body of Christ.

Act 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
2Co 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Never allow any false prophet to quote this verse to you and tell you that you do not need teachers in the church:

1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The word ‘man’ here in 1Jn 2:27 has the connotation of a man of this world and of Babylon, whereas the word ‘man’ in Act 8:30 is speaking of a man of God. Always defer to “the sum of thy word” which declares that it is God who has placed teachers in His church:

1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Having said that, let me make it clear that if your relationship with Christ is not a personal relationship based on knowing Him and His voice, then you do not know Christ. I tell everyone that if iswasandwillbe. com is their gospel and they are not “searching the scriptures to see whether these things are so”, then they do not know Christ.

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

On the other hand, if you do “search the scriptures”, the revelations you receive are directly from Christ via “His body which is the church.”

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

I hope this has answered your questions.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike