Feast: It Can Only Be One Way - Choose!
#FT22-06b
Kim Myers (1947-2023)
Given 15-Oct-22; 45 minutes
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transcript:
Since this is a Deuteronomy year, or a Deuteronomy feast, I will go through most of the chapters in Deuteronomy, but I will skip some of them. I am just going to pick out some of the highlights of what is in each chapter of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy means repetition, or doubling of the law. I do not like the word law, because it sounds harsh, and God's laws are not harsh. God's laws are about His judgments, His statutes, and His commandments. God is telling the people how the nation is to operate, and how the people are to conduct their lives.
Moses repeatedly tells the people to be obedient. I do not like the word obedient. If the word obedient is used properly, it is a good word; it is used properly in the Bible. Yet, it does not really explain what God is telling the people through Moses. God is telling the Israelites that on Planet Earth, where we all live, there are only two ways of life.
The first way you and I have to be called to, or men have to be called to it, or they do not get [understand] it. Period. We cannot understand the first way of life unless God opens our minds. This way of life brings peace, happiness, abundance, health, good marriages, obedient children, huge crops, and long life.
The second way of life, which most of the world, and the people in it have always lived by, brings many sorrows, wars, divorce, rebellious children, sickness, famine, pestilence, and untimely death. This is what God is talking about with the two mountains brethren—the two mountains are put before them: Mount Gerazim, which represents God's way of life, and all the blessings the Israelites would be given if they would live God's way of life.
The other mountain, Mount Ebal, represents Satan's way of life, and all the cursing that would come upon the Israelites if they did not obey God's laws.
Now we in God's church though, think there must be a third ways of life—three ways of life on Planet Earth: 1) God's way mixed with bits and pieces of Satan's world and Satan's children. We bring that into the church all the time. We in God's church think there are three ways to live.
Like I said, Moses repeats the things the people did in their 40 years in the wilderness. Moses shows them the absolute necessity of fearing God, loving God, and obeying God. Moses exhorts the Israelites to love God with all their hearts, and promises them that God will bless them if they will put Him and His way first. It is really simple. Moses tells the people about their mothers, and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and their murmurings and the rebellion from the very day they left Egypt right up to their deaths in the wilderness.
Let us turn to Deuteronomy 1:5. I am just going to ad-lib this: Moses, in this verse, is starting to make clear or fully explain God's laws to the people. In this chapter, Moses is also telling the people how the country would work, and how they should govern themselves.
In chapters 2 and 3, Moses goes into how God did not want them to meddle with Esau’s descendants nor to distress Moab. And then chapter 4 should be taken to heart by all God's people. This chapter is an exhortation to obedience, again—an exhortation to live God's way. Nothing is to be added or taken away from God's laws and commandments. The people are exhorted to remember how God had destroyed the ungodly among them, and how God had preserved those people who were faithful. Moses tells the Israelites how no other country in the world had such laws and statutes and judgments as Israel had. What a blessing, brethren! They had all this if they would only be obedient and not mix the ways of Satan's world with what God has opened our minds to. But we do it.
A young girl that I went to church with for a number of years, and watched grow up within the church, rejected God's laws and God's way of life; it did not happen overnight. It took time; it is a process. She became a complete party animal.
Now my youngest daughter, Nicole, and one of her friends, went to visit this young lady who lives in a halfway house, or some mental institution. It is a nuthouse. That is what it is.
When Nikki came home from visiting her, she said, “Dad, you won’t believe the condition of this young lady! She's 47 years old. That’s all. She’s not old. And, she’s in a mental institution.” She gets almost no visitors. She fried her brain with alcohol, and lots of it. With the party life, with carousing around at the bars, this girl lived to get drunk, go to the bars, line dance, meet all kinds of men.
Now she has a daughter out of wedlock. She has never been married. Nikki said that she cannot walk except with the walker; looks like she is 80 years old, and is super skinny. Her one and only daughter will have absolutely nothing to do with her. When Nikki talked to her, Nikki said it was like talking to someone with dementia. This girl is only 47 years old, and her life is virtually over. She is virtually dead, but she is alive.
She chose the way of Mount Ebal, and all that means and brings—the life of the world because the world's way and Satan’s ways are very exciting to most of us. They are intriguing. We think they are fun; they are very alluring, and Satan deceives us into thinking that his way of life is cool, fun, and exciting. That is what we see out in the world.
Chapter 5 talks about God's covenant with the people. It talks about a repetition of the Ten Commandments. In this chapter, the people beseech Moses to be their mediator because the people are filled with fear at the terrible majesty of God. And then the people are exhorted again to obedience. It is over and over again in Deuteronomy—the ways of God. That is what he is exhorting them to.
We are going to skip chapter 6 and go on to chapter 7. God tells the people in this chapter to marry within the nation, or the twelve tribes of Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.”
But we intermarry in the church all the time with people that are not in the faith. That is pretty normal in the church now. A woman that I know in Oregon, who goes to one of the other groups, comes over to J. B’s (my son) quite often. Her daughter just married outside of the faith—nope, she is not married yet. She is living with him, I am sorry. And she already did not keep the last holy day, the Day of Atonement, and she does not go to church, and she is not going to the feast now. This happened fairly quickly.
Chapter 8 is an exhortation to obedience again. From a consideration of God's past mercies Moses tells the people that man is not supposed to live by bread or food alone, but by every word of God. Moses reminds them how God took care of them in the wilderness. Moses also tells them how God chastened them, that they might be obedient again. Obedient—just live God's way. It is really not hard. God does the same for us—for you and me, Moses also tells the people not to attribute their prosperity to themselves, but to God.
Now we Americans attribute this great country, which is such a great blessing to us, to our smarts. We are the smartest people on the face of the planet! We are Americans! It is not about promises given Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We did it all; we are Americans; we are great! Ask your neighbor. They will tell you.
Chapter 9, the people are now getting ready to cross the Jordan River. The Israelites are cautioned not to think that they are righteous, and that is the reason God is giving them the land. We were not given this country because we are righteous, brethren. This is a blessing. The people are told to think about all their sins in the wilderness, especially at Horeb.
Deuteronomy 9:7-12 "Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.
When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Then the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.'”
Now the Israelites had started to mix Satan's way and Satan's world in with God's way of life. They were not even in the Promised Land yet, Verse 13:
Deuteronomy 9:13-14 Furthermore the Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen these people and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they.’”
You and I have also made a covenant with God at baptism, each and every one of us. How are we doing with that covenant? We agreed to live God's way of life, and not to mix bits and pieces of Satan's world into God's way of life. But we do, we do it in the church all the time. A lot of the churches still celebrate birthdays. Birthdays are as pagan as they come. My 17-year-old grandson still gets invited to birthdays, and every year the people that invite him tell him we do not celebrate birthdays, and yet every year they invite him.
Some date outside of the church, like I said. Some are into pornography; we cheat on our taxes; we lie; we gossip; we do all kinds of things that are the ways of the world.
Let us turn to Exodus 32. This is talking about the Israelites:
Exodus 32:6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
What was going on here was that the Israelites were so happy to become like the nations around them with a golden calf, a god that they could see, touch, and bow down to. They were happy.
The way of Satan is very exciting, and these people were excited. They were eating, and drinking, and carousing around with one another; they got up to dance and sing. That is how happy they were. These people looked at the Golden Calf, and they were happy, and excited, and it was all fun to them. This is how Satan works, brethren; this is how he gets ahold of us, just like that young girl. He got ahold of her, and he destroyed her life. Her life is over at 47 years old. Satan’s ways seem to be exciting, alluring, fun, and very cool to be involved in. The Israelites were mixing God's way of life with Satan's way of life.
Now, there are really only two ways of life for all humans, not three (yet we act as though there is): God's way, which produces well-being, or Satan's way which produces discontent, unhappiness, and tons of problems.
The problem seems to be that God's way of life is not exciting, it is not alluring, it is not cool, and it is not fun. Sadly, human beings love excitement, we love intrigue, and what we think is fun. Satan’s world offers all kinds of things that we humans look for as exciting, alluring, fun, cool, and full of intrigue.
A young man that I went to an apprenticeship school with when I was 19, asked me a question, and told me about his life. He was never in the church. Apprenticeship School was three hours a night, Tuesdays and Thursdays. After an hour and a half, they had a 15 minute smoke break, and you could use the bathroom, and get a drink of water. Most of us went outside, and I was standing outside, and this apprentice came up to me, and started a conversation with me.
He asked me, “Are you married?” And I said, “Yes, I am.” And he said, “How can you stand to be married to one woman? There are millions and millions of women on the planet and I want to be with as many of them as I possibly can.” He said, “I love them all—the tall ones, the fat ones, the short ones, and the skinny ones.” He loved them all. And then he went on to say, “I spend as much time every day as I possibly can, pursuing women, being with different women for two or three days.” And he said, “It’s exciting!” He said, “It’s fun and it’s the coolest thing ever.” Then he said, “I’ll never get married.”
You see this man had bought into Satan's world, hook, line, and sinker. He thought that was the way to live. He thought that was great, and I thought “nuts,” you know. He thought it was great.
I only went to apprenticeship school with this man for one year, so I have no idea how life worked out for him, but make no mistake about it. Satan had a firm grip on him already, and we were only 19 or 20 years old; we were young.
Chapter 10. In this chapter God tells the Israelites to fear, love, and serve Him because of all He had done for them, their mothers, and their fathers. In the book of Deuteronomy, God keeps telling the Israelites to be obedient, and to love God, and to keep His laws, His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments. This is what the whole book of Deuteronomy is about—His way of life, and us living it. It is about obedience to God's way of life, and it is God telling them how to live God's way of life correctly.
God knew the Israelites would fail. He knew that, and that they would go Satan's way, the way of the world. God knows that mankind is weak, and God knows that Satan's way looks exciting, intriguing, and fun. That is why God gave mankind the Holy Spirit at Christ’s coming. That is why He gave it to us.
We now have the help we need to live righteous, prosperous, and good lives. We now have what we need to become firstfruits in the Kingdom of God, and that is what God wants for all of us. But we fight it because the world's ways look great, and they look like fun—and we like fun.
Chapter 11, the people are again exhorted to obedience. God's laws were to be laid up in their hearts and taught to their children. How diligent are we about teaching God's way to our children? Do you talk to your children every day about God? Do you pray with them? Do you have Bible study with them? That is what God wants us to do. Teach them His way of life, not Satan's way, because if Satan gets a chance at them, he will teach them the ways of this world.
We are going to skip chapters 12, 13, and 14, so we are going to chapter 15.
God tells the Israelites about the year of release, and the manner in which the release shall take place. This year is a year of release, and usually something takes place that is significant in this year.
Now I have not seen anything that is really significant yet, but maybe it was the new king of England. I am just throwing that out there, because he is a Gaian, and he wants to cut the population of the earth by 90%. He wants to kill 90% of us or he would like to. He has got huge influence in Europe. So we will just have to see how that all goes.
Chapter 16. This chapter talks about the month of Abib, Passover, and the first Day of Unleavened Bread; the Feast of Tabernacles, and how all the males are to appear before God three times in a year and not to come empty. Each is to give according to his ability.
Now think about this: The children of Satan do none of this. Satan's got them right where he wants them, but their minds have not been opened either, but ours have. And we tend to mix in Satan's ways with God's ways.
Let us go on to chapter 17. God tells the king he shall write a copy of the law for his own use and read and study it all of his life so that his heart will not be lifted above his brother. Could you imagine if our president did this? Could you? America would be a whole different place to live in. Our government is about them. It is not about any of you, trust me; it is about them.
Chapter 18, God tells the people their children were not to pass through the fire, or use any kind of divination, or enchantments, or witchcraft. But we (the nation) do this through abortion. We take our kids through the fire, brethren, and Satan loves it, because Satan wants to kill all of humanity, even his children. He did not create them. God did. But right now they are his children. They are under his influence. They are not God's children.
Chapter 19, one witness is not sufficient to convict a man in this chapter. It took at least two to put someone to death. That is why there will be Two Witnesses at the end of the age. It takes two witnesses, and a lot of people are going to die, and it is coming.
Chapter 20. This chapter talks about going to war, and how that was to be handled. Even in war God had rules for His people to follow. They were not to be cruel. God even had rules in that for Israel.
In chapter 21 Moses tells the people the law concerning the stubborn or rebellious son, who when convicted is to be stoned to death.
Now I am going to tell you a story about a very rebellious young man.
This man went to church when he was little. He went to Ambassador College. He was baptized, and I really liked this guy. I really liked him. A friend of mine and myself owned an HVAC company at that time, and I hired this young man to work for us. He was a good worker. This young man got a little older and he went to Ambassador College.
In the meantime, I gave my heating business to my partner lock, stock, and barrel; all the tools, the vehicles, everything because we were only making wages. And I told my partner, we have no benefits, and we are getting older, so you can have the company. I am going back into the union. When I went back to the union they sent me to Denver, Colorado for three years. And this young man and I lost track of each other.
After three years, my family and I moved back to Portland, Oregon. And when I started attending church again in Portland, everybody told me this young man was now a homosexual. He had become a queer.
It was about another 6 to 8 years later that this young man had come home to Portland, Oregon. He had been living in Hawaii all that time. He was in the hospital with AIDS. He was dying. I told my wife Debbie that I was going to go visit him in the hospital after work one evening (and to make dinner an hour and a half later, because we always ate at 5:00 pm and we ate as a family. That was one of my rules.)
When I got to the hospital, a nurse took me to his room. You could not go to the room by yourself. On the door of the room was a big skull and crossbones. And outside the room was a cart with gowns, booties, gloves, and little funny doctor's hats on a cart. This nurse told me that she had to watch me gown up and put all that stuff on. Then she said that the door must be shut tight when I went into the room. And when I left the room, make sure the door was closed tight. She said to take off all the clothes, the little booties, and the doctor's funny little hat and put them in the laundry basket that was in the hall.
I went into the room and pulled up a chair and sat next to my friend who was in bed, and we started talking. Pretty soon he said to me, I want you (before I tell you this, I want you all listen to what he said,) he said I do not want to feel sorry for me. He said do not feel sorry at all for me. He said he would live his life over just as he did. He said he had this older man (he was his lover), and that he lived in Hawaii. He got to live in Hawaii, and this older man was rich, and this older man bought him whatever he wanted, and he said it was the greatest life. He said I would do it all over again, every bit of it, every bit of it.
Now this man is a predecessor of the very people at the end of the age. I did not say anything to this man about him being a homosexual. He must have seen it on my face, and that is why he said all the things he said to me.
Now, he looked like he was in a lot of pain to me. He had sores all over his body. Some were as big as a 50 cent piece, some were as small as a pea. They were all oozing. He had dark circles under his eyes. He was extremely skinny, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain to me. But there was no repentance in him. None. He would do this all over again. Satan had him. He had a hold on him, and he was not letting go of him.
This man died, I do not know, two or three weeks later. And his older homosexual partner also died. And I was thinking about that, and thinking about my friend, and I thought, this was your partner who was out playing around with other homosexuals, and now came home and gave you AIDS, and now you are both dying. So I was thinking (tongue in cheek), good relationship.
You know, this is the way of the world. They are not going to repent, brethren.
Let us turn to Revelation 9 (my friend is a predecessor of these people at the end of the age):
Revelation 9:20-21 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
No repentance in these people at the end of the age. After all they have seen according to the book of Revelation, they are still not going to repent! That is how Satan can get ahold of us, each and every one of us if we allow it. If we drag things into the church and into our lives from the world, in time it will get the best of us.
These people are just like my friend. They were so swallowed up by life in the ways of this world that they were not going to repent, no matter what. Their minds have been so corrupted that they could not think correctly. They were ready to fight Christ, if we can imagine that.
God cautions the people against wickedness in Deuteronomy 23 when they go forth against their enemies. There shall be no prostitutes or sodomites in the nation. All vows must be diligently paid. We must pay our debts, brethren.
Deuteronomy 23:17-18 "There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.”
Now we will skip the remainder of chapter 23 will go on to 24.
Parents and children will not be put to death for each other's sins. That is a huge blessing for us. If you have a rebellious son or a rebellious daughter who goes out and kills somebody or something, you and I will not be held responsible like they will be. We will not be be held responsible for their sins. And God goes through this in this chapter.
Chapter 25 includes teaching about false weights and measures. It also talks about women who act indecently in attracting their husbands. God does not want women to show a lot of skin and a lot of leg to get a man; he wants us to act decently. But does the world do that? Are you kidding?
Chapter 27. Again, Moses exhorts the Israelites to obedience. Obedience never quits in the book of Deuteronomy; obedience to God's way of life. Moses is telling the Israelites over and over again that there are two ways to live: God's way or Satan's way. There is not a third way to live by mixing bits and pieces of Satan's world and Satan's way into God's way of life and God's church. The obedience that Moses is talking about is God's way in every aspect, not a mixture of Satan's ways and the ways of this world with God’s way.
Chapter 28, God pronounces the blessing to be had on the obedient. There is a blessing for keeping God's laws and living correctly. The problem with God's people today is we are not obedient completely. We mix up Satan’s way with God's way in our lives. The curses to befall the ungodly are smitten with pestilence, consumption, fever, drought, bareness, defeat by their enemies, afflicted with the boils, tumors of Egypt; they shall be disappointed in all their projects; deprived of all their possessions; afflicted in all their members, and finally go into captivity. Brethren, the captivity is coming upon us, and upon this nation. Not on us, per se, or hopefully, but on the nation itself.
Chapter 29. The people are exhorted to obedience again, and God is cautioning the Israelites against trying to pry too curiously into the secrets of the of the divine providence and to be content with what God has revealed to them and to us.
Deuteronomy 29:9 “Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”
Do we not want to prosper? I love to prosper. I want to prosper. I do not always prosper because I mix ways of this world into my life too. I am no different than you guys.
Let me ask you all a question: why is it that whatever our friends (who are not called by God) are into, whether alcohol, drugs, pornography, adultery, or whatever, they always try to get us involved in what they are doing? Always! And whatever ways of the world they are into, whatever they are involved in, they want us involved in.
I worked with a guy named Dave, and we are still good friends. We still talk a lot. We worked for a company for a long time and Dave went to the pub every night after work; he could not wait to get there. He would drink for an hour and a half or two hours. He knew everybody in the pub. And he got lit, not so drunk he could not drive home, but he was feeling no pain. And he asked me time and time again, “Kim, come with me to the pub!” He said, “You’ll love it! It’s exciting. You’ll feel good. You’ll sleep better at night; get a buzz going.”
Well, he finally ended up getting a divorce, and his life is okay today, but I would not call it good.
Now let me ask you a question. Do you ever tell your unconverted friends like this guy always trying to get me to do what he was doing, “Come with me to church on Saturday”? Did you ever tell them that? “It's cool! You get to sing songs; you get to hear a sermonette! You get to hear a sermon! And often after all that fun stuff, you get to have coffee and crumpets, and sit around and talk about the messages you just heard; about what is going on in the world and about prophecy. Going to church with me is the most fun you will ever have!” Did you ever tell them that? It is the most fun you will ever have?
Now, I have never in my 52 years in the church said that to anyone, but all my friends want me to do what they are doing. They want me to participate in the ways of Satan's world. Whatever it is, they want me involved in it.
Let us turn to chapter or chapter 31. Moses, being 120 years old and about to die, calls the people together and exhorts them to courage and obedience once again. Moses also delivers the law to the priests with a solemn charge that they should read it every seven years at the feast of Tabernacles to the people. This is a Deuteronomy year, brethren.
Moses also predicts the people's rebellions in the future. He knew they would rebel, that they would mix Satan's ways in with the ways of God. God knew that Satan's exciting, alluring, intriguing, and fun world would get the best of them.
Now let us move on to the “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Think of this, brethren. It says many are called, but it is not really many as we think of many. It is not billions of people. It is a small group; you and I are a small group of people that have been called out of this world and given God's way of life to live. But few of us are chosen because we have to endure to the end, God says. And we cannot mix the ways of this world into God's way of life. We have got to get rid of that.
Deuteronomy 31:10-11 And Moses commanded them, saying: "At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.”
We are the only church (and I am not patting us on the back) that keeps the Deuteronomy Feast. Most of the other churches, and I have lots of friends in the other churches, and I talk to them, do not even know what you are talking about when you mention the Deuteronomy Feast. I mentioned it to a number of people because this is the Deuteronomy year and they do not know what I am talking about. And I explained it to them, and they go, “Oh, okay.”
Deuteronomy 31:12 “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law.”
Do not mix up this law with the ways of the world. Do not do it!
Chapter 32. This chapter talks about the character of God, the corruption of the people; and Moses again exhorts the people to obedience. Obedience never goes away in the book of Deuteronomy.
Chapter 33. God proclaims His special providence over and care for Israel, and the glorious privilege that He gives to His people if we would just be obedient—just live God's way. The blessings are tremendous for all of us.
Chapter 34. Moses dies and was buried by the Eternal where he could not be found. God buried him where he could not be found.
The book of Deuteronomy has three main teachings, brethren. Number one: God's way of life, or Satan’s way of life—the ways of this world. The people in this world cannot understand that. We can because our minds have been opened.
Number two: Obey the law of God, and remember the miracles God has worked in our minds regarding His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes.
Number three: Remember all God did for Israel with all His wonderful blessings and miracles that He can perform for the people.
Now, I want you to think of something because it is going on now in the whole world. The new King of England wants to cut the population in the world by 90%; all the elitists of the world want to cut the population in the world. That is what they want to do.
Satan is doing cartwheels! He wants to kill the whole population in the world. He does not love his children at all and he sure does not love us. He wants to destroy us, like the two people that I talked about, my friend and the girl in the church. If he can destroy you, that is what he wants. Do you know why? Because as he goes to and fro on this earth, he sees people and they are made in the image of God. He is not. He is a beautiful being, but he is not made in the image of God. So it makes him crazy with himself, because he wants to be God. He wants to kill all of humanity. He does not love his children any more than he loves us; and he really hates us.
Brethren, if we would live God's way fully in our lives—which we do not, because Satan's ways look so alluring, so exciting, and like such fun—our blessings would be tremendous. We fall short of the mark.
Choose Mount Gerzaim and all the blessings that God says He would give to us, if we would read it. Think about it, it is wonderful.
Or you can choose Mount Ebal, Satan's way of life and the ways of this world and all the misery that brings. It is up to us.
KM/rwu/drm