New Moon 1/4/30/120
Dear Friends
Today is the New Moon of the Month named after the god that caused Israel to
sin and is featured in the paper The
Ascents of Moses (No. 70). It is examined also in the paper The
Golden Calf (No. 222) and in Mysticism B7_3. The name Tammuz is derived
from the northern form of Dumuzi. This paper is now on the History of Religion
web site (http://www.history-of-religion.org/).
The site has been extensively worked and is still under construction in some
areas. It was the practice of baking these cakes for the god that was the basis
of the Easter Bun baked now under the term Hot Cross Bun (see the paper The
Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)).
The site History of Nations (http://www.historyofnations.org) has been constructed also and will be worked on as we complete the other areas. The Children’s site is being added to with quizzes and games as well as the extensive Children’s Bible Study facilities on the CCG site.
The structure of the History of Religion site is designed to show the division of the religious systems of the world from the beginning and how the structure has been continuously corrupted. It shows the two clear and distinct paths that religions followed.
This month is traditionally a month of testing and Israel has been dealt with on the ninth and tenth day of the next month, which is the Fifth Month called Ab, when a number of calamities have struck the corrupted systems of Judah. The Church has nothing to fear over this time provided it is performing as required. Sometimes God uses this time to deal with those who would corrupt or attack it. Have nothing to do with such people.
Our task is to get our relationship right with God and keep it that way.
It was from Pentecost that the Law was given and the Holy Spirit was placed in the Church. This month is the second in the progress of that journey to Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. It marks in the individual the journey of the Church to the coming of the Messiah and the millennial reign of Christ.
God gave through Christ the Law that established the process of justice and righteousness for Israel. There was to be one Law for all. Judges were required to be just and the Law was not to be treated as trivial. Some people have to be taken before magistrates because they simply behave contrary to the laws of both God and man. But the law by and large should not be concerned with trivialities. The world watched with puzzled amazement this week when it was reported that a migrant Korean family were sued for 66 million because they allegedly lost a pair of suit trousers in their Dry Cleaning business in the US. What made it even more bizarre was that the person bringing the plaint was himself a judge. God’s Law is concerned with proportionality. Restoration has to do with the damage caused or the loss sustained. For that reason there are specific punishments and fines for theft and damages.
Justice and Righteousness are the same word in Hebrew, tzedek, hence the name Zadok meaning Righteousness.
One cannot be righteous without being just. We must all remember that fact in our progress in the Faith.
We are all being trained in this life for the next phase of the Creation. Those that do not learn the lessons in this life will face the Second Resurrection and learn them there (see the paper Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143)).
Life is a training camp. The Second Resurrection is another boot camp of tighter controls. There the living will not be able to lie and cheat and defraud and defame their brethren. They will come under judgment and the elect will judge them. It is for that reason we are allowed to be exposed to many situations in this life to prepare us as leaders in the next.
For that reason we are also given repentance and the Holy Spirit to get us through the period and to learn from each instance or trial. We are helped to repent of sin. We are able to forgive others and we learn to love one another over many trials.
Those who cause offence are helped to see the error of their ways and to come to repentance. God is merciful in the way he deals with us. However, He also upholds the Church and His Laws and His System.
As we progress as people in the modern world and the more affluent we become it seems the more we want. I was amused this week seeing a US rabbi ranting about the kids going to summer camp in airplanes at a cost of $8000 a ticket where the whole plane was chartered and served children’s food. That was done to save the kids a three-hour bus ride. I did not hear one word over the cause of the problem and the fact that the US does not provide enough holidays for the parents to spend time with their children and of the necessity to keep God’s Calendar with three feast seasons and all the New Moons and Sabbaths and how it is made impossible to do that in the US by the calendar in use there and the limit on the number of holidays given to employees.
People’s values are becoming completely distorted the more we advance in this world. It is our task to retain our perspective and keep to the Faith once delivered.
Do not be discouraged and remember that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us.
All things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The last part of the text is often omitted by those who do not understand His purpose.
This month will see a number of changes and trials in many lives. Let us all
strive to see things through and let God’s will be done here as it is in Heaven.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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