“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
_____________
#####
Eventually, All Hypocrites will be Exposed
I took the picture below in 2014 in the Wohl Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem. The museum is in the Jewish Quarter near Hurva Synagogue.
The object in the picture is a household idol named “Asherah”. Asherah is called the mother goddess and the wife of god. The Asherah idol in this picture was unearthed during excavations of a priestly dwelling that existed at the time of the Messiah. The dwelling was large and lavish. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, and excavation didn’t begin until after the Six Day War in 1967. That means the idol was hidden for about 1,900 years.
The person who owned the house in which this household idol was found was an ultra-Orthodox Jew. He was a very religious man with high status. He was one of the rulers of the people of Judea. He was probably alive while the Messiah was here in Person, and he was probably a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious court that convicted the Messiah and sentenced Him to death. Again, this idol was found in his house.
The person who owned the house was breaking the religious law (Halacha, a.k.a. the Oral Law and the traditions of the Jews) simply by having this household idol in his possession. Halacha is the same law that was used to convict the Messiah and sentence Him to death.
After the Romans burned the house, they covered it with dirt and sealed it for future generations to discover. Ashes from the fire that destroyed the house are still there today. They were sealed for posterity, too. You can see them. They are under glass for protection.
We don’t know the name of the man who owned the house, but we know a lot about him because of where he lived and the way he lived. In Matthew 23, the Messiah told us a lot about people like him:
Then Yeshua said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So, you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.”
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.”
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by Elohim’s throne and by the One who sits on it.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So, you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.”
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Yahweh.’” (Matthew 23:1-39)
You can rest assured that the man who owned the house in which this Asherah idol was found thought he would never be found out. He was wrong. As I said, his name is the only thing that we don’t know about him, but Yahweh knows who he is. He was a hypocrite, a law breaker, but he enforced Halacha on the Jewish people of Judea. He was exactly the kind of person that the Messiah talked about in Matthew 23. You can see his house in the video below. It rivals modern homes in many ways. It was a virtual palace.
Eventually, all hypocrites will be exposed. These is no way to avoid it because Yahweh will make sure it happens. When that day comes, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and those in positions of authority, especially religious leaders, will suffer most.
Preachers beware. In Matthew 23, the Messiah was talking about religious leaders. What they say and do matters a lot to Him.
#####
_____________
#####
#####
_____________
#####
“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
