One of my earliest recollections is climbing the outside steps on the
South-Eastern corner of the little white church where my dad was the pastor. These steps
terminated on a landing in front of a door which opened into a hallway behind
the sanctuary where the Sabbath-school rooms were. At the time I would have
been between two or three years old.
I vaguely remember memory snapshots of that little church, but I don’t remember
learning anything there. Every Sabbath I could recite the memory verse for that
week, and on the thirteenth Sabbath I could always recite all thirteen memory verse for
the quarter. I knew my dad talked about God, but I knew nothing more than that.
For as far back as I can remember God has always been a part of my life,
and I have interacted with God as I would with my parents. My mom and dad,
grand-parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins all recognized the reality of God in their
life too.
I attended “Church” school from 1st grade through 12th . Every year I was required to
take a bible class, and without much effort I always received an A grade; but for all the this
I didn’t know God. I was a leader in the Youth Sabbath school, and adult Sabbath school. I was
on a “Creation vs Evolution” debate team in the community college I attended. I represented the
“Creation” argument and our team prevailed over the
overconfident “Evolution” team.
Throughout my life God has always been real. I have prayed to Him, thanked Him
for my ‘daily bread’, asked Him for comfort and guidance; but I never knew
the whole truth about Him.
Almost twenty-four years ago I made a commitment to know the God who
had always been with me throughout my life. I prayed for wisdom, knowing that
only with true wisdom is one able to know the truth about God.

The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; the knowledge of the Holy One
– perception indeed! Proverbs 9:10 (JB)

In Bible class I had learned that Solomon, king of Israel, was a very wise
man, probably the wisest man who ever lived. I learned that his great wisdom had
made him famous worldwide; but his great wisdom also led to his downfall; he was
corrupted by worldly fame and fortune.
I had often wondered what it would be like to have great wisdom, and if I
were to have wisdom (like that of Solomon) would I use it prudently. The above verse in
Proverbs gave me an insight, that is that the first step toward wisdom is to honor the Lord and
show reverence and respect for the Holy One. I asked God to teach me and through
this process so I could gain true wisdom. My teacher is the Holy Spirit, and an
awesome and wonderful Teacher She is. That’s right, I said She. If you are sincere
about learning from God, be prepared to have every one of your paradigms
overturned.

* * * * *

I have found throughout the Bible that God stresses the importance of a
willingness to learn the truth about Elohim. Elohim is the plural of El, El meaning
a singular God, Elohim is plural. Both singular and plural usage are found in
the Bible. I make this point in consideration as to whether there is One God (singular
being), or Gods (more than one being); whether there is one being with three
personifications, or separate beings acting in unison (for a complete explanation of
Elohim see my article “Elohim” on this Word Press site).
On or around 1437 BCE Elohim appeared in a fire, in the wilderness, in an
area around mount Horeb, ‘The Mountain of Elohim’. Moses, who was on that mountain, had no
knowledge of Elohim, which is why he asked Them for Their name (see Exodus 3:13). Neither
Moses nor the Hebrews had much if any knowledge about the God/Elohim of their
progenitors. The only gods they were familiar with were the gods of Egypt. Elohim
heard the voiced distress of the Hebrews and remembered the Covenant made with
Abraham four hundred years earlier.
Elohim began the process that would ultimately fulfill this promise.
Elohim would follow a lawful course, which required Pharaoh to willingly release
his claim of ownership of the Hebrew slaves. If Elohim had taken these people without
permission They/Elohim would have been known as thieves by the other countries around the area.
The reason Elohim waited four hundred years to give the land of the promise to the
children of Abraham was because the land belonged to other nations. If Elohim
had taken it from them without due process of Law They would have been unlawfully in taking
these lands away from these nations (Genesis 15:16).
Elohim led the children of Israel into the wilderness after They took them our of Egypt
in order to show them the plan and the processes involved needed to accomplish this plan. The
method Elohim used was visual and participatory. The three great Feasts (Holy convocations) were
designed to keep the memory of what Elohim had done alive, and show Israel what They would do to
ultimately end the reign of the ruler of the world, and destroy the rebellion that began in Eden.
The Passover demonstrated how this process began. Pentecost is the promise that binds the
Covenant of the Kingdom to Elohim. Atonement is that which consecrates the
people of the Promise to Elohim, those that have successfully completed the all the demands of
righteousness. Upon the completion of the demands of righteousness these people have proven themselves
Holy, and enter the Kingdom of Elohim. The children of Israel were given the
Tabernacle/Temple services as a method of learning through participation. Unfortunately, they never
learned. The children of Israel viewed the rigid participation as the only requirement for salvation,
and never learned the spiritual connection necessary to complete the process of Sanctification.
The Passover is a good example of a lesson lost in practice.

John 6:47-57 (NASB)  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.  
I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  
This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  
I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;
and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”  Then the Jews began
to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”  So Jesus said to
them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,
you have no life in yourselves.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and
I will raise him up on the last day.  For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living
Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
 This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats
this bread will live forever.”

At His baptism the Son of Elohim was presented by John the Baptist as the
“Lamb of Elohim”. Would the Jews have understood this statement, or did they understand?
The understanding comes from following the process from darkness to light, sin to righteousness,
lies to truth. The plan began when Elohim separated for themselves a people from the kingdom of
the world. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, and Elohim purchased them from the world
to make Them their kingdom.
The death decree was issued for all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, every firstborn
of the household, flock, and herd would be put to death by order of Elohim. The only way to avert
the execution of this order was either to pay this debt of death with their own life, or by
substituting the life of a perfect lamb, the Passover lamb. This lamb was to be put to death at
twilight on the 14th day of the first month. The blood of this lamb was to be placed on the door
post and lintel of the house, then the death angel would Passover that
household and the firstborn would not be executed. The flesh of this lamb was to be roasted
and eaten by all in the household, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The day before
the Passover the houses were to be “purified” of all yeast and corruption. Eating the flesh of
the unblemished lamb was to impart purity to body and spirit. When those in the house left Egypt
to follow Elohim into the wilderness they passed through the blood placed on the doorway that
ratified a blood covenant with Elohim, to love and obey Them, just as their progenitor Abraham
had done (see Genesis 15:7-21).

For centuries after this great exodus the children of Israel kept the Passover, but the
purpose that this Holy Convocation was foretelling was lost in translation.

‘Sir,’ They said ‘give us that bread always.’ Jesus answered: ‘I am the bread of life. He who

comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst. But, as I have told you,
you can see me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and
whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away; because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will,
but to do the will of the one who sent me. John 6:34-38 (JB)

“I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is
the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread
which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that

I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” John 6:49-51 (JB)

In the midst of His teaching He referred to a statement in Isaiah saying this:

It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the
Father, and learn from it, is to come to me. John 6:45 (JB)

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us
his flesh to eat? They said. Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do
not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life
in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and
I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is
real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in
him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from
heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who
eats this bread will live for ever.’ Jesus was aware that His followers
(disciples) were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if
you should wee the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? ‘It is the spirit
that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you
are spirit and they are life. John 6:48-63 (JB)

Obviously, the Son of Elohim was using metaphorical words. The first and best
clue to this is verse 57; “As I Myself draw life from the Father, whoever “eats Me”
will draw life from Me. Death and dead is the main point in this teaching. We are
all under the death decree, as were all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Fully following
the Passover instructions allowed the firstborn to have life (continue
living) and not be executed. The Passover participants were required to eat the
flesh of the Passover Lamb, in essence to draw life from it as an example of what
the actual Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, would do for all who listened to His
teaching (words/testimony). The Son of Elohim was not commanding His
followers to literally eat His flesh, but to eat His words, for His words are spirit
and they are life. His disciples continued to have serious questions about the teaching of their
Teacher. If the disciples and the Jews had fully understood the meaning
of the great Feast of Passover they would have recognized the connection to
this teaching, as given by of the Son of the Elohim.
The whole world is in complete darkness. The lies fabricated by Satan are being
taught from pulpit and classroom. These lies are like fine wine to the believer, who with
dulled senses and a feeling of euphoria, swoon into the comforting arms of their faith. Truth,
the believer says, left this earth when Jesus went back to heaven.

So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him, ‘Are you the
king of the Jews?’ he asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own
accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a
Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to
me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world;
if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my
being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind (lit. from
here).’ ‘So you are a king then?’ Said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered
Jesus. ‘Yes I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to
bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my
voice.’ Truth? Said Pilate ‘What is that?’ John 18:33-38 (JB)

The only reliable source of truth is the testimony of the Son of Man/Son of
the Elohim, as written by His eyewitness disciples Matthew and John. Mark was
not one of the twelve, but he was associated with them afterward. The writing that
bears his name agrees with Matthew and John, and thus may be considered
trustworthy. When the Son of Man came to earth He was the light which came into
complete darkness, this light was the truth. The darkness hates the light, His light,
and tried to dismiss it as nonsense. The theologians told the people that Jesus had no
authority to teach. Even some His disciples continued to have serious doubts about Him on
the final day at Galilee where He would leave them and return to His Father.

Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus
had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him,
though some hesitated. Matthew 28:16-17 (JB)

“If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and
make our home with him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own; it is the word of the one who sent me. I have said
these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind
you of all I have said to you.” John 14:23-26 (JB)

Think about this; If the reason for the Son of the Elohim
coming to earth was to testify to the truth, then why is His testimony not the
foundation of Christian belief, and the Christian church? The foundation of Christian
belief is based upon the teaching of Saul/Paul. Saul/Paul gives only one reason for the
purpose for Christ, it was to die and be resurrected so salvation could be opened to
Gentiles as well as the Jews. This, like all of Pauline teaching, is a blasphemous lie
because salvation has always been open to Gentiles from the very beginning. Paul’s
words are the bad seeds planted in the field where the Son of Man planted His good seed.
They have been allowed to grow together until the harvest. The harvest is the time of judgment;
When the judgment comes upon the world what words do you want to be in you? The words of
life spoken by the Son of the Elohim, or the words of death from Satan as give through
Paul. Paul’s protégé Luke was not a disciple of the Son of Man. He did not hear the testimony
of Jesus first hand, and therefore Luke was not familiar the teaching of Jesus. Luke was a convert
of Paul, and Luke’s writings support and uphold Pauline teaching. Neither Paul nor Luke, or any of
Paul’s converts knew Elohim or the truth; lies in support of lies.
John the Baptist appeared out of nowhere. He was not a priest, theologian, or
religious teacher. He had some knowledge of the Law and prophets, but apparently
only that which he personally researched, because of an experience he had had.

The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the
Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of
when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he
existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to
Israel that I came baptizing with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit
coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not
know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me,
“The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is
going to baptize with the Holy Spirit”. Yes I have seen and I am the witness
that he is the Chosen One of God.’ John 1:29-34 (JB)

Here John the Baptist twice states, “I did not know Him myself”. Is it any
wonder that John the Baptist did not know what he was to say to “prepare the
way”. When he was asked if he was the promised Elijah, or “the Prophet”, or the Messiah
he answered no to all. Yet the Messiah told His disciples that John the Baptist was
the promised Elijah, if they were willing to accept it (see Matthew 17:12-13).
The Son of the Elohim foretells of another Elijah type prophet who will
come, he will make sure that everything is as it should be (restore all things). This
future prophet must know the Elohim. It stands to reason that this person will not
come from the theological establishment. The religious authorities today are in the
same condition as those at the time of the coming of the Messiah; Practicing the
long-held traditions of men. Paul’s spurious gospel of grace has overwhelmed the
testimony of the Son of Man.
I have heard many people question why Elohim has not come yet; what are
They waiting for, or are They coming back at all? The Elohim are waiting for the same
reason they have been waiting throughout their long history of interaction with
humanity; that is, People who have studied the words of truth They have sent through Their
servants the prophets and the testimony of their Son Emanuel. These are people who will
learn and how the truth, and also promise to keep the Covenant of the Kingdom of the Heavens,
who will honor the “great commission” from their King, the mandate to go to all nations and
instruct the people to obey all that the Son of Elohim commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).

Rick Sterling