The Light in the Wilderness:How Religion Has Led the World Astray

Whilst they were fallen at this time they were still in Heaven, but Metatron held a dislike for them, and had them cast out. In the extra-canonical text the Apocalypse of Abraham c. This is in reference to Genesis And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, "What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or drinks, nor is there upon them food for men?

But these all will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will destroy you. And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, for you have selected here, [and] become enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling on earth. Through you the all- evil spirit [was] a liar, and through you [come] wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously. The text also associates Azazel with the serpent and hell. In Chapter 23, verse 7, it is described as having seven heads, 14 faces, "hands and feet like a man's [and] on his back six wings on the right and six on the left.

Abraham says that the wicked will "putrefy in the belly of the crafty worm Azazel, and be burned by the fire of Azazel's tongue" Abr. Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who are with you" Abr. Here there is the idea that God's heritage the created world is largely under the dominion of evil — i.

The Mishnah Yoma 39a [15] follows the Hebrew Bible text; two goats were procured, similar in respect of appearance, height, cost, and time of selection. Having one of these on his right and the other on his left, the high priest, who was assisted in this rite by two subordinates, put both his hands into a wooden case, and took out two labels, one inscribed "for Yahweh " and the other "for Azazel". The high priest then laid his hands with the labels upon the two goats and said, "A sin-offering to Yahweh" thus speaking the Tetragrammaton ; and the two men accompanying him replied, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

I, my household, and the sons of Aaron Thy holy ones.

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O Lord, forgive the iniquities, transgressions, and sins that I, my household, and Aaron's children, Thy holy people, committed before Thee, as is written in the law of Moses, Thy servant, 'for on this day He will forgive you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord; ye shall be clean. This prayer was responded to by the congregation present.

A man was selected, preferably a priest, to take the goat to the precipice in the wilderness; and he was accompanied part of the way by the most eminent men of Jerusalem. Ten booths had been constructed at intervals along the road leading from Jerusalem to the steep mountain. At each one of these the man leading the goat was formally offered food and drink, which he, however, refused. When he reached the tenth booth those who accompanied him proceeded no further, but watched the ceremony from a distance.

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When he came to the precipice he divided the scarlet thread into two parts, one of which he tied to the rock and the other to the goat's horns, and then pushed the goat down Yoma vi. The cliff was so high and rugged that before the goat had traversed half the distance to the plain below, its limbs were utterly shattered. Men were stationed at intervals along the way, and as soon as the goat was thrown down the precipice, they signaled to one another by means of kerchiefs or flags, until the information reached the high priest, whereat he proceeded with the other parts of the ritual.

The scarlet thread is symbolically referenced in Isaiah 1. In later times the change to white was not invariable: The medieval scholar Nahmanides — identified the Hebrew text as also referring to a demon, and identified this "Azazel" with Samael. The very fact that the two goats were presented before God, before the one was sacrificed and the other sent into the wilderness, was proof that Azazel was not ranked alongside God, but regarded simply as the personification of wickedness in contrast with the righteous government of God.

The rite, resembling, on one hand, the sending off of the basket with the woman embodying wickedness to the land of Shinar in the vision of Zechariah 5: So would the crowd, called Babylonians or Alexandrians, pull the goat's hair to make it hasten forth, carrying the burden of sins away with it Yoma vi. Evidently the figure of Azazel was an object of general fear and awe rather than, as has been conjectured, a foreign product or the invention of a late lawgiver.

More as a demon of the desert, it seems to have been closely interwoven with the mountainous region of Jerusalem. The Vulgate contains no mention of "Azazel" but only of caper emissarius , or "emissary goat":. English versions, such as the King James version , followed the Septuagint and Vulgate in understanding the term as relating to a goat. The modern English Standard Version provides the footnote " Most scholars accept the indication of some kind of demon or deity, [18] however Judit M. Blair notes that this is an argument without supporting contemporary text evidence.

Ida Zatelli [20] has suggested that the Hebrew ritual parallels pagan practice of sending a scapegoat into the desert on the occasion of a royal wedding found in two ritual texts in archives at Ebla 24th C. A she-goat with a silver bracelet hung from her neck was driven forth into the wasteland of 'Alini' by the community. This is the only place that the Hebrew word is found in the whole Hebrew Old Testament. It says that the Book of Enoch, extra-biblical Jewish theological literature, dated around B. Cyril of Alexandria sees the apompaios sent-away one, scapegoat as a foretype of Christ.

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In what sense then is our Lord to be identified with the rock in the wilderness? I do not believe that we should go so far as to say that our Lord actually manifested Himself to Israel as a rock. There is a world of difference between our Lord standing by that rock and being that rock. Nevertheless, our Lord was closely associated with the rock, as Paul suggests. What we do need to understand is that Paul informs us that God was present with the Israelites in the person of His Son. Although the Israelites believed that the absence of water in the wilderness was sufficient evidence for them to conclude that God had abandoned them, Paul tells us that Christ Himself was present with them.

Here is the irony of the passage. At the very time when the Israelites are inclined to doubt or at least dispute the presence of God, the text informs us that God was very present, and the New Testament goes so far as to tell us that Christ was present as well. Was God among them? More so than they could have dreamed! The issue is this: I would suggest that we, like the Jewish religious leaders of old, tend to look primarily at external appearances—success, popularity, a life free from struggles, suffering and sorrow.

It is no wonder that our church leaders are so often chosen from the upper echelons of the socio-economic strata. Most often, we look at the size of the church, its staff, and its budget. This is why we find it very difficult to believe that God is present when things are not going well. We find it hard to believe that God would lead His people or His church into times and circumstances of difficulty. But when we think this way, we are no different from the Israelites.

We fail to understand the necessity and importance of the school of discipline through which God puts all of His children even including His Son, cf. Here is where the two major themes of our text converge, giving us a principle by which we can face the adversities of life with faith, rather than with fear, and by which we can trust God, rather than test Him: This principle is a reflection of the two principle themes of our text: Let me briefly outline some of the assurances Christians have of the presence of God in their midst, especially in times of adversity:. When our Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth as a babe in a manger, we are told the meaning of His name: And when the Lord Jesus presented Himself at the outset of His ministry, He revealed Himself as the fulfillment of this prophetic passage: Thus, we are where God wants us to be, even when we are in danger or distress.

We read in Exodus In the place to which He leads us, God will be with us. He brought you water out of hard rock. Thus the psalmist can say,. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees Psalm It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees Ps. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. I would like to suggest that while we do not look forward to those times of adversity and testing God testing us, that is , these are often the times when God becomes most present and most precious to us. A great deal of divine discipleship is worked out in the quiet and lonely solitude of our own wilderness situations, when we perceive that apart from divine intervention and provision, we would perish.

We like to think of discipleship as intimate fellowship and sharing with other Christians, and so, in part, it is. Discipleship is the process of being disciplined, so that we are learners and followers of Christ. Generally speaking, we come to our greatest levels of trust and of faith when God pulls out all else on which we rely and leaves us only with Himself.

Discipleship is not a comfortable process. And thus we should expect difficulties to come our way, and at the very same time, expect our Lord to be as near or nearer than He has ever been. Is it possible that you are in a kind of wilderness, my friend, even as you read the words of this chapter? Then I would suggest that God may have purposed this so that you could come to know Him, in a much more intimate way than you have previously known Him. Perhaps you have never yet come to know Christ as your personal Savior. God may have pulled out all the props of your life, as He did with Israel, so that you could come to the point where you have no one but a gracious and loving God in whom to trust—first for your salvation—and then for your sanctification your growth in His grace.

If you are a Christian and you have entered into a wilderness experience, I urge you to trust and obey God, to look for Him in a way that you have not yet known Him. Ask God to reveal Himself to you in a new and fresh way, and He will do it. The first is Wadi Feiran which leads up to Mount Sinai.

Desert Lessons: 7 Things We Can Learn from the Israelites' Wandering Years

Others have identified it with Wadi Refayid. Baker Book House, , p. This account features the spirit of rebellion in the people. The third account Num. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, , I, p.

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It will change the way you see not only this world and its religions, but the Kingdom of the Redeemer, and 'the world to come'. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Like a tangled web of myth, stupor, and confusion, "Religion", since the beginning of time, has contrived and conspired to enslave the mind and heart of all mankind, and lead the whole world astray. Appealing to man's inherent proclivity toward ego-driven autonomy, power, and hoped for immortality, "Religion" has made promises she cannot keep.

The consequences of her defective doctrines and cleverly devised creeds have been far reaching, and devastating.

Rather than being an effective antidote to the unbridled passions of men, "Religion", far too often, has been its murderous facilitator. Known as Babylon in the Scriptures, the "Religion" that began with the Adversary 'Satan', was successfully packaged, marketed, and disseminated over the entire earth. And in the West, owing to their successful assimilation throughout the Roman Empire, a harlotous union of church and state "baptized" the Chaldean Mysteries, christened heathenism, wrapped it in the banner of "Christ", and gave the world Christianity. From Eden to Egypt, from Mecca to Rome, from Babylon to Jerusalem, all nations have drunk from the chalice of her lies, for a great counterfeit has been foisted upon the whole world.

Now, at long last, comes a stunning and revealing account of this powerful religious system whose spiritual and political influence has deceived the nations and led the whole world astray. At this decisive juncture of human history, all humanity stands on the brink of a cataclysmic clash of religion and civilization. The alignment of opposing forces, so accurately predicted in prophecy, will surely draw this worldly system to its fated destruction.

But to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness; to every one who seeks to escape the deception of "Religion" for the truth of Revelation, and to those who earnestly desire to leave the broad road for the narrow, The Light in the Wilder. Read more Read less. Here's how restrictions apply.