Two Forms of Ignorance

There are two forms of ignorance:  remedial and willful.  One can be "ignorant" of a subject, but that ignorance can be resolved through study and education.  But when one chooses not to learn they have willfully chosen to remain ignorant.

Thus, "Willful" ignorance is the condition in which the individual chooses to remain ignorant, relying instead on false, incomplete, or prior knowledge which the individual never challenged.   For example, one might have heard, as a young person, the statement "the Earth is flat".  If that person grows up retaining the belief that the Earth is flat, despite the preponderance of evidence and facts to the contrary, that person remains willfully ignorant.

But "willful" ignorance today has, in my opinion, no grounds for existence because no one (and I mean no one) in any civilized society needs to remain ignorant!  Resources are at their fingertips!  Ignorance today is fully remedial! 

To remain ignorant therefore is a choice.   Many today, will refuse to believe something because they choose to retain only what they know (or think they know),  and will not take the time to remedy their lack of knowledge.   Evidence to dispel their ignorance may be all around them, but they simply will not make the effort to improve themselves.

Ignorance itself is not "bad".  We are all born "ignorant".  Ignorance is simply the lack of knowledge of a subject.  Ignorance is not a synonym of "stupid" and is nothing to be ashamed of!  Simply not knowing something does not make one "stupid"; rather, ignorance simply means the knowledge of the subject has not yet been obtained.

   

One can find willful ignorance all the time in both Christianity and Judaism. 

Christians, having grown up being exposed only to Christian theology and dogma, will deny that there is actually any obligation on their part to OBEY God which will help them retain their salvation.  They will deny there are instructions given to us by YHWH, our God, showing us how to live a sin-free life so we can remain holy for Him.  These instructions called "Torah" are rejected by almost all of Christianity today.   Christians accept the Messiah, but miss the all-important message of His Torah and obedience.  That may seem shocking but it is true!  Since Christians accept the Messiah, but deny His commandments, they have, in fact, denied God!  Consequently, they are blind to HIS truth due to the doctrine they hold dear, and therefore they remain ignorant. 

And this I say and testify by Master YHWH, that from now on you do not walk  as the other Gentiles who walk in the vanity of their mind:  And they are dark in their understandings and are alienated from the life of Elohim because there is not in them knowledge; and  because  of  the  blindness  of  their  heart.     They  have  cut  off  their  hope  and  have  given themselves over to lust and to the practice of all uncleanness in their greed.  But you have not learned this from the Mashiyach;  If you have truly heard him, and by him have learned as the truth is in Y’shua. (Ephesians 4:17-21, AENT)

Christians, when informed of Torah, will usually respond with one of two claims:  "Torah is written on our hearts," or "Torah was abolished at the cross."   (The latter is but one of the many mistaken interpretations of the misunderstood writings of Apostle Paul.)  Making either of those claims is in complete ignorance which can be resolved - yet they choose only to believe the claims, never attempting to come to any other understanding that would allow them to grow. 

Judaism, on the other hand, recognizes Torah as absolute but they deny that the Messiah has already come!  For the most part, Jews cannot see the Messiah in scripture.  For example, in Judaism, Isaiah 53 is about Israel and not the Messiah:  

Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed? For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him. In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. (Isaiah 53:1-5, CJB)

(Jews do believe in the Messiah; they just don't believe that "Jesus" was the Messiah.  They see the Torahless "Jesus" of Christianity as a "false god" - and believing in another god (rightfully so) is forbidden in Torah. In this they are, ironically, correct!  "Jesus", as espoused in most of Christianity is indeed a Torahless "god" who (according to Christian dogma) came to replace God the Father and "forgive" all sin, while at the same time “abolishing Torah at the cross.”  If only the content of the New Testament were not so twisted in so many biased translations, Messiah Yeshua (the real name of Jesus) would NEVER have been viewed as having "replaced" His Father,  or as abandoning Torah!  Indeed, Torah and Everlasting Life through Yeshua are intimately connected, yet most of Christianity abandons Torah on the false belief that "Jesus" did away with it!)  

Judaism refuses to see the true, Torah obedient Messiah in scripture because -- just as Christians will refuse to understand Torah, Jews will refuse to "give up" the idea that "Jesus is a false god" and they will simply not come out of their ignorance and learn the truth.  And most Jews simply will not go against the teachings of their rabbis so they never get exposed to the real Yeshua , preferring instead to deny "Jesus" based on long-held untruth. 

 

So there you have it.  Christians remain in their ignorance of Torah, choosing instead to believe in a "Jesus" who "did away with His Father's instruction" to "give grace"; and Jews remain in their ignorance of the Messiah, choosing instead to remain steadfast in their denial that He has already come.

Remediation is possible in both cases.  There is no excuse today for the existence of these two opposing  positions.   All it takes is a little effort.

"From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half-truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Oh, Elohim of Truth, Deliver us."

-- Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

Why Honey is Kosher

We get asked many times, "Is honey kosher?  I mean, it's from a BEE and the bee is not kosher!"

It's a good question, but not to worry for honey is completely kosher, not violating any of the dietary restrictions found in scripture!

Honey bees convert nectar from flowers into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation.  Regurgitation may not sound kosher, but it is okay here.  Bees store the honey as a primary food source in wax honeycombs inside their beehive.  Humans extract the honey from the beehive and bottle it.

So let's look at the process in a bit more detail and see how the honey comes about.

Foraging bees land on flowers and use their long, tube-like tongues to suck nectar from the flowers. They swallow the nectar but store it in a "honey crop", a special type of stomach which comes before the actual digestive system stomach of the bee. The nectar never enters the bee's digestive system! The honey crop is more of "pouch" used to port nectar back to the hive and transfer it to worker bees. 

The worker bees "chew" the nectar for a period (about 30 minutes or so) during which time enzymes break complex sugars in the nectar into simple sugars.  This final form of nectar is then spread throughout the honeycomb which allows remaining water in the mass to evaporate. As the water evaporates, the nectar thickens and becomes honey.  Honey is more digestible to the bees than the nectar, and it is also protected from any bacteria.  At some point, the worker bees "assess" the thickness of the honey, and they seal off the end of the honeycomb with a cap of wax.  This keeps the honey in permanent storage until it is eaten by the bees - or as in our case - a beekeeper harvests the honey for us humans!

Honey consists of mostly fructose, glucose, and the water which did not evaporate. It also contains other sugars as well as trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids.  But most importantly, it is only converted nectar, not a product of the bee itself, and completely kosher consisting of nothing forbidden by our Creator!  

A word on obedience for ALL....

In this week’s Torah portion we see one of my favorite scriptures - Numbers 15:13-16, where YHWH says four times in a row there is NO difference between His people and anyone else who chooses to accept Him as their God.  ALL must obey His Torah.

Numbers 15:13 "'Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. 14 If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you. 15 For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves. 16 The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.'" (CJB)

Then He goes on to reiterate it further on in that same chapter:

Numbers 15:28 The cohen will make atonement before ADONAI for the person who makes a mistake by sinning inadvertently; he will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven - 29 no matter whether he is a citizen of Isra'el or a foreigner living with them. You are to have one law for whoever it is that does something wrong by mistake. (CJB)

YHWH never ever suggested that the Gentiles were to have different rules.  Even after Yeshua was “crucified” that never changed YHWH’s Torah/Instructions in Righteousness. He never said He would have different rules for His natural and adopted children!

Note that “deliberate” sinning is NOT forgiven. CHOSING to ignore YHWH's Divine Rules is a sin which can and will cause eternal separation from Him.  If you know the ELOHIM you serve and you have the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) living within, you are never supposed to commit intentional sin.  (If you do, you will be forcing YHWH to “sin” with you…Please think about that.)

Numbers 15:30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has had contempt for the word of ADONAI and has disobeyed his command, that person will be cut off completely; his offense will remain with him.'"  (CJB)

Hebrews 6: 4. But they who have once descended to immersion and have tasted the gift from heaven and have received the Ruach haKodesh 5. and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the power of the world to come, 6. cannot again sin and a second time be renewed to repentance; or a second time execute him on a stake and insult the Son of Elohim. 7. For the earth that drinks the rain which comes often upon it and produces the herb that is of use to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from Elohim. 8. But if it should put forth thorns and briers, it would be discarded and be approaching closely to a curse, and its end would be a conflagration. (AENT)

NOTE: Huge contrast between Aramaic and Greek. The Greek reads: "once having been enlightened..." This "enlightening" seems logical until we look at Aramaic: "But they who have once descended to immersion..." The difference is acute, since baptism is clearly a subject being introduced just two verses earlier. The reason for the Greek redaction to "enlightenment" may well have been due to early Gnostic influence that stressed Mashiyach's knowledge over his actual power and incarnation of Deity. See also Hebrews 10:32.

Hebrews 10: 26 For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, or raging fire that will consume the enemies. (CJB)

The above Scripture is not referring to those unclean bondages that dwell in our flesh but to the “conscious” choices believers make. It refers not to our unintentional sins but to those we pursue knowingly and willingly!

How many of today's believers behave in a way they know is sinful and yet they go ahead and do what they feel like doing, anyway? That's because they mistakenly think Divine grace covers intentional sin. That is a huge misconception! Divine grace has made wonderful provision for unintentional sin. But there is no provision for intentional sin. The Bible tells us so.

2 Peter 2:17. These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, persons for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness.  18. For, while they utter astonishing vanity, they seduce with obscene lusts of the flesh, them who have almost abandoned these that walk in error.  19. And they promise them liberty while they themselves are the slaves of corruption: for, by whatever thing a man is vanquished, to that is he enslaved.  20. For if, when they have escaped the pollutions of the world by the knowledge of our Master and Redeemer Y’shua the Mashiyach, they become again involved in the same and are vanquished, their latter state is worse than the former.  21. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after having known (it), to turn back from the Set Apart Commandment that was delivered to them.  22. But the true proverb has happened to them: the dog returns to his vomit and the pig that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. (AENT)

Deliberate, premeditated sin is willful disobedience and rebellion against our ELOHIM. It results in severe punishment or even loss of our salvation.

Leviticus 26: 23 If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.  (CJB)

1 Corinthians 6: 9. Or don't you know, that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim?* Make no mistake! Neither sexual sinners, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the corrupt, nor men who lay down with other men, 10. Nor the oppressors, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE: Compare this to Matthew 5:17-20, where we are told that breaking the least commandment of Torah and teaching others to do the same makes a person "least in the kingdom" but they still get in. Y'shua implies that those with more serious sins won't make it in: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you"; but here, Rav Shaul gives a more specific list of what will keep them out.

1 Corinthians 6: 17. But he that joins himself to our Master (Y'shua), is with him one spirit. 18. Flee from sexual sin. For every (other) sin which a man commits, is external to his body*; but he that commits sexual sin, sins against his own body. (AENT)

FOOTNOTE:Actually the sexual sin goes deeper than the body, as the note on Romans 1:26 shows. But the other point is also that a sexual sinner brings sin upon himself rather than his partner, and vice versa, unless rape or abuse is involved.


It is not sin per se that causes a person who professes to be a believer to be eternally estranged from YHWH but, rather, it is our surrender to sin which causes our faith and faithfulness to dim or completely die out.

We flirt with spiritual disaster if we - by our thoughts, words, and conduct - deny Messiah, reject grace, spurn redemption, and push away the Holy Spirit.

Under the Old Covenant, YHWH put to death people who willingly disobeyed His commands or offered "strange fire" (Lev. 10:1-2). There was no atonement for intentional sin - and there still isn't. All of the sin offerings of the Levitical Law were for unintentional sin.

Case in point, Numbers 15:32-35 tells us: While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then YHWH said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp".

The man who sinned willingly was not deceived in any way. He was not driven by uncontrollable impulses. He simply decided to ignore what God had said about the Sabbath. His reward was death.

Leviticus 4: 27 If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty.  (CJB)

Since the death of Y'shua, people are no longer put to death for their sins.  However, as we see above, the ultimate consequences for DELIBERATE and CONTINUED sinning ultimately result in eternal death/separation from YHWH/Y'shua.

For more, please see our article on “deliberate sinning” ....

What Yeshua did when tempted by Satan....

Did you ever notice that Yeshua didn't argue with satan while being "tempted?"  Instead of calling down legions of angels/messengers to have them dispose of ol" Ratface, guess what He did -  He quoted Torah and Psalms!  Take a look:

Matthew 4: 1. Then Y’shua was taken by the Ruach haKodesh to the desert to be tempted by the accuser.  2. And he fasted forty days and forty nights and after which he hungered.  3. And approached he that was tempting and said to him “if you are the son of Elohim, say to these rocks become bread,”  4. and he answered and said, It is written that the Son of man does not live by bread alone, but by all the Words[1]  that proceed from the mouth of YHWH.[2]   5. Then the accuser took him to the Set Apart city and raised him upon the edge of the temple,[3]   6. and said to him, “If you are the son of Elohim, cast yourself down for it is written that his Messengers he commands concerning you, and upon their hands they will bear you up that your foot should not strike upon a rock.”[4]  

7. Y’shua said to him, Again it is written that you will not test Master YHWH your Elohim.[5]   8. Again the accuser took him to (a) mountain that (was) very high and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,  9. and said to him, “These all I will give to you if you will fall (and) worship me.” 10.  Then Y’shua said to him Leave enemy, for it is written that you will worship Master YHWH your Elohim and Him alone you will serve.[6]   11. Then the accuser left him alone and behold, Messengers approached and were ministering to him. (AENT)

[1]  Y’shua declares that he himself, along with all of mankind, is required to live by the “Words” of YHWH, and that the Commandments Y’shua teaches are in fact YHWH’s Commandments from Torah. However, Greek/English translators inserted the title Kurios/Lord, for both YHWH and Y’shua, rather than using original Names.  Christian theologians then began teaching the fallacy that their “New Testaments” were the “new” Word, or new “Commandments of Y’shua” that replaced the original Word of YHWH, which is Torah.  See John 8:36 (47); 12:48-50; 13:34; 14:10-21; 1 John 2:3-8; 2 John 1:5,6.

[2]  Deuteronomy 8:3

[3]  A dark foreshadowing of the martyrdom of Ya’akov HaTsaddiq (James the Just) brother of Y’shua. Ya’akov, who routinely prayed at the Temple to ask YHWH’s forgiveness for the sins of his people, was highly regarded for his meekness, devotion and service to the Jewish people.  It was said that Ya’akov had camel’s knees because he very often prayed while on his knees.  He was ultimately thrown off the top of the Temple by demonized religious fanatics because of his allegiance to Y’shua Mashiyach. Ya’akov taught that Y’shua is the Arm of YHWH revealed, and he refused to renounce his belief in Y’shua Mashiyach.  Origen criticized Josephus for attributing the fall of Jerusalem to the martyrdom of Ya’akov, rather than to Y’shua.

[4]   Psalm 91:11, 12.

[5]  Deuteronomy 6:16

[6]   Deuteronomy 6:13

Don't jump on any "gossip bandwagons"

Social networks are teeming with “conspiracy theories – most of which were started by one person and keep being passed around by those who ignorantly believe them.   If America isn't "funding ISIS" then the Pope is "gay" or "chemtrails are the government's way of poisoning us!" or “we’ve been lied to by our governments, because the earth really IS flat!” or we need to "arm ourselves to the teeth because our own government is out to get us," or some other silly nonsense.  Unfortunately, when you try to tell some "conspiracy theorist" that it's just a rumor, they become fighting mad...

Scripture warns against spreading rumors and those who engage in gossip. Proverbs 20:19 says, “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.” Words are powerful. They can build up or destroy (Proverbs 18:21).
James 3:2–12 instructs YHWH's people to control our words, beginning with verse 5: 5. So likewise the tongue is a small member and it uplifts itself. Also a little fire inflames large forests.  6. Now the tongue is a fire, and the world of sin is like a forest. And this tongue, which is one among our members, corrupts our whole body; and it inflames the series of our generations that roll on like a wheel; and it is itself on fire.  (AENT)   

Spreading “harmless” rumors, then, can cause great destruction. YHWH desires that we use our words to praise Him (Psalm 34:1), to speak wisdom (Proverbs 10:13), and to encourage and edify each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Ephesians 4:29).

Scripture often includes gossip in lists of specific evils (i.e., 2 Corinthians 12:20; Romans 1:29). Spreading rumors is so repulsive in YHWH’s sight (Leviticus 19:16)! First Timothy 5:13 sternly warns against using idle time to spread slander, and Proverbs 17:4 implies that those who eagerly listen to gossip have low character....

Proverbs 26:22 “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.”

It's thrilling to our carnal natures to hear scandalous information about someone - and many fall for it!!  Please don’t be a follower of MAN!  Think for yourself.  Ask YHWH for discernment and THEN make up your own mind about the latest rumor.

Why is Paul so misunderstood? Because people take his writings out of context!

Those who have publicly turned their backs on Messiah Yeshua take many NT passages out of context.  That is because they focus only on a sentence or two while ignoring the REST of the passage; and, consequently, they are missing the bigger picture.  One such Messiah denier has made a video to prove that Paul “removes the Creator from various verses and gives them to Jesus.”  (These people never use the Name “Yeshua” because its meaning kicks them squarely where they sit, because His Name means “YAH is Salvation!”  Yeshua is the ONLY “heavenly entity” who has the name of YHWH within his own name!) 

Well, if this poor, deluded soul had only read the CONTEXT of his supposed “proof texts”, he might have been very surprised to learn that YHWH gave us a “rest of the story” that extends outside the Tanach (OT)!  This person used Romans 14:10-12 and Philippians 2:10 to “prove” that Paul totally detracted from Isaiah 45:22-24, which says:

Iasiah 45:22 Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God; there is no other. 23 In the name of myself I have sworn, from my mouth has rightly gone out, a word that will not return - that to me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear 24 about me that only in ADONAI are justice and strength." All who rage against him will come to him ashamed, (CJB)

So, let’s take a look at the CONTEXT of those verses – a context that reveals that Yeshua, as the “ARM OF YHWH” – Isaiah 53:1) is ONE with His Father; not some “new god” or some idol who came to usurp YHWH’s power:

Romans 10: 8. Because if we live, to our Master (Y’shua) it is we live; or if we die, to our Master it is we die. Whether we live, therefore, or whether we die, we are our Master’s.  9. Moreover, for this cause Mashiyach died and revived and arose; that he might be Master YHWH of the dead and of the living.[1]  10. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or, why do you despise your brother? For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Mashiyach!  11. As it is written: As I live, says Master YHWH, to me every knee will bow; and to me every tongue will give praise.  12. So then, every one of us must give account of himself to Elohim.  (AENT)

Footnote:   By rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, Y’shua becomes the Word that is with Elohim and is Elohim (John 1:1-5).  Y’shua is the exact reflection of YHWH’s nature (Hebrews 1:1-5) and will bear the name, “Word of Elohim” when he comes out of heaven again at the second coming (Revelation 19:13).

Philippians 2: 5. And think you so in yourselves, as Y’shua the Mashiyach also thought;  6. who, as he was in the likeness of Elohim, did not regard it sinful to be the coequal[1] of Elohim;  7. yet disinherited himself and assumed the likeness of a servant, and was in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man;[2]  8. and he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the stake.  9. Wherefore, also, Elohim has highly exalted him and given him a name[3] which is more excellent than all names;  10.  that at the name of Y’shua every knee should bow, of (beings) in heaven and on earth and under the earth;  11. and that every tongue should confess that Y’shua the Mashiyach is YHWH,[4] to the glory of Elohim his Father.  (AENT)

[1]  For a comparative analysis of the Greek translation and Tanakh insights see Coequal of Elohim in AENT Appendix. (Note from Carmen: If you don’t have an AENT, I highly recommend you get one because it’s truly amazing!)

[2]  Khabouris Codex reproduces the first four letters of the next word, and for the fifth letter, substitutes the kaph for a beyt, which are similar looking letters. The word reproduced is "and in the form of."

[3]  More that his literal birth name Y’shua (which was and is a common Hebrew name), and more than the perfect reputation that his name represents. Y’shua bears the Name of YHWH, the “name above all names”!  Y’shua has the Name and reputation of the Father YHWH in him (John 17:11) and the name means “YHWH is Salvation” (Matthew 1:21).

[4]  See Mashiyach Y’shua is YHWH in Appendix.  Also see Philippians 2:6-11.)

The world has gone nuts!

Shalom, everyone!  The news media keeps bringing up the “inappropriate touching” events of Josh Duggar when he was 14 years old.  For those who don’t know who Josh Duggar is, he is one of the 19 children of the conservative Christian Duggar family who have a “reality show” called “19 Kids and Counting.”  (And no, my husband and I don’t watch any “reality shows” as most of them are too stupid for words, catering to depraved mindsets and people who are totally enmeshed in “the world.”)

Well, lo and behold, that illustrious “all roads lead to God”  bastion of virtue, Oprah (who is all into “tolerance” for “gay marriage” and other things YHWH considers SIN), got wind of the fact that Josh Duggar (now in his late twenties) has a past history of “inappropriate touching” (which Josh, as a young teen, had confessed to his parents and for which they ultimately got him professional help), and she immediately launched her own investigation – which, of course, led to a media frenzy and headlines such as this one that didn’t accurately reflect the actual events. 

Okay, before I go on, please know that as a sexually abused baby, child and teenager myself, I am certainly not condoning what Josh Duggar did – but come on!  What teenager (a time of life when hormones are raging!) hasn’t become obsessed with sex, with wanting to know what the opposite sex “looks and feels” like?  Not all of them go on to actually “touch” someone, but I challenge everyone reading this to think back at some of your own behaviors when you were teenagers!  Would YOU want Oprah to launch an investigation into YOUR past?

The fact is, back then the Duggars DID report it to the police AND got their son professional help, when he confessed to having “sinned”; and hey, how is it that a “closed juvenile police record” of someone who was guilty of “groping” was allowed to be leaked to the MEDIA?  What kind of a world are we living in?  

Well, so all the holier-than-thou hypocrites (most of whom wouldn’t know God if they fell on Him!) have now crawled out of the woodwork to judge the Duggars and make disparaging comments and are voicing their “intellectual armchair opinions” about what the Duggars SHOULD or SHOULD NOT have done.  And they ALL want to see Josh crucified!

HYPOCRITES!

I hate that public “stars” like Oprah will tolerate anything EXCEPT Christians who have dealt with a wayward son through the power of God and proper legal channels. These “stars” and other loudmouths of the world will applaud people like Bruce Jenner and his sex change and insist it’s awesome and perfectly normal, and they’re anxiously waiting for his upcoming “reality show” – but hey, let’s make an example and public spectacle out of some Christians who are using biblical principles to deal with the trials in their lives!

And of course, secular psychiatrists are all over this, saying all kinds of nonsensical things, such as Robi Ludwig (who is clearly trying to rip people who attempt to live by godly principles) who said on World News Now that the Duggar family’s Christian environment may have played a role. Her exact words were: "If you live in an environment where you're an adolescent and somehow taught or led to believe that your sexual impulses are bad or animalistic, what do you do with those impulses?  I think that's exactly what happened with Josh."  (See transcript here.)

SIGH!

I would have loved to have included the "woman at the well story" in John 8, where Yeshua supposedly said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  But unfortunately, this story is nonexistent in the Peshitta and does not appear in the four earliest Greek manuscripts of John.  So I will leave you with these:

Psalm 50: 16 But to the wicked God says: "What right do you have to proclaim my laws or take my covenant on your lips, 17 when you so hate to receive instruction and fling my words behind you? 18 When you see a thief, you join up with him, you throw in your lot with adulterers, 19 you give your mouth free rein for evil and harness your tongue to deceit; 20 you sit and speak against your kinsman, you slander your own mother's son. 21 When you do such things, should I stay silent? You may have thought I was just like you; but I will rebuke and indict you to your face. 22 Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to save you. 23 "Whoever offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me; and to him who goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."  (CJB)

Romans 2: 1. There is therefore no excuse for you, O man, who judges your neighbor; for by judging your neighbor, you condemn yourself; for you that judges, do practice the same things.  2. And we know that the judgment of Elohim is in accordance with truth, in regard to those who practice these things.  3. And what thinks you, O man, who judges those who practice these things, while practicing them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of Elohim?  4. Or will you abuse the riches of his benevolence, and his long suffering, and the opportunity which he gives you? And do you not know that the benevolence of Elohim should bring you to repentance?  5. But, because of the hardness of your un-repenting heart, you are treasuring up a store of wrath against the day of wrath, and against the revelation of the righteous judgment of Elohim:  6. Who will recompense to every man, according to his deeds. (AENT)

Romans 3: 9. What then, have we the superiority when we have before decided as to both Jews and Gentiles,  that all of them are under sin?  10. As it is written: There is none righteous; no, not one:  11. And none that understands, nor that seeks after Elohim. (AENT)

Matthew 7: 3. And why do you see the twig that is in the eye of your brother, and you not observe the beam that is in your eye?  (AENT)

1 Corinthians 4: 5. Therefore pronounce not judgments before the time, (or) until Master YHWH comes, who will pour light upon the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the thoughts of (men’s) hearts: and then will each one have (due) praise from Elohim.  (AENT)