Issued: 6/22/23

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh of hosts [later Jesus] and Yahweh the Most High God, lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the One and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from God the Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

   Much of what we will talk about here has been discussed in previous essays.  As we approach world’s-end, the understanding of God may tip the scales in favor of redemption or condemnation; so let us give it another shot.

Summarizing Scripture in Athens

   When Paul was preaching to the Athenians, he noticed an altar with the inscription “To an Unknown God” (Acts 7:23).  He used that altar to begin preaching about Yahweh, the Most High God Who did not dwell in human temples (Acts 7:24↔Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:48); Who set limits to human longevity (Acts 7:26↔Hebrews 9:27); and Who had “set a day (Acts1:7) on which He will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed [and raised] from the dead” (Acts 17:31↔John 5:22; Acts 2:32).

   This ‘speech’ is a model of pithiness and comprehensive Judeo-Christian doctrine.  On the one hand, following Jesus’ lead, it focuses exclusively on the God Jesus preached; was Spokesman for [i.e., “Verb” (John 1:1,18, 12:49; 1Timothy 2:5; Revelation 19:13)]; and Who was Jesus’ own God (John 14:28; Revelation 3:12↔1Corinthians 15:24-28).  Although he knew that “man” to be Jesus, Paul refrained from identifying him by name, despite knowing Jesus to have been the Yahweh of hosts called by Abraham Judge of all Flesh (Genesis 18:25), as well as the proxy God of the Old Testament who had divested himself of divinity to become incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth (Philippians 2:5-8).

   Perhaps Paul did this to avoid the confusion that has become entrenched in Judeo-Christianity:  The inability—or unwillingness—to see God and Jesus as two distinct, unequal, and by nature different, beings; let alone the fact that each has powers and performs roles the other does not.  For example, God is All-Knowing but Jesus is not (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-7; Revelation 1:1); God appointed Jesus Judge of all Flesh (Acts 10:42) but He judges no one (John 5:22)—though on Judgment Day individual confessions will be directed at Him (Daniel 7:9; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11).  Then there is the matter of Father never having been seen or heard by men (John 5:37), as opposed to Son who has been seen and heard repeatedly in Old Testament narratives (Genesis 18:25, 21:17, 22:11,15, 32:24-30↔Hosea 12:4; Exodus 3:2-6, 24:10-11, 25:22, 30:6, 33:11,21-23, 34:8-10; Deuteronomy 4:12,33, 5:4).

   That the Most High Father and His Son share the name “Yahweh” is implied in Exodus 23:20-21 and stated outright in Isaiah 44:6:  “This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts, says: ‘I am the first, and I am the last; and besides Me there is no God.’”  Please note that although two Yahwehs are being named, the ‘Alpha and Omega’ declaration is spoken in the singular—i.e. “says,” which tells us that Yahweh King is doing the talking by virtue of outranking His appointed Ruler/Creator (Genesis 41:40,55; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2) and Messiah (Isaiah 54:5↔Mark 2:19),Yahweh Redeemer.  Because They are of the same mind and purpose, Jesus referred to Themselves as One (John 10:30); and since Jesus imitates what the Father has said and done (John 5:19), he too called himself ‘Alpha and Omega’ in Revelation 22:12-13.

   On the other hand Paul was telling his Athenian audience that despite temples housing Greek/non-Greek titular gods/goddesses, Yahweh the Most High did not inhabit man-made buildings (Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:48); which implied that all other  deities were suspect if not outright non-existent (Deuteronomy 32:39: Isaiah 44:8, 45:5; 1Timothy 6:14-16).¹  A further implication was that the Most High God had never  inhabited Moses’ Tabernacle, or First [Solomon’s] and Second Temples’ Holy of Holies.²  Scripture speaks about a ‘cloudy’ manifestation of ‘Yahweh’s glory’ filling up Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) and First Temple (1Kings 8:11), which points to the Angel whose presence within clouds had guided the Israelites since leaving Egypt (Exodus 14:19-20; Numbers 9:18-22).  That Angel was Yahweh of hosts; so that when Scripture refers to him as ‘Yahweh’s glory,’ we are being told that Father regards His only Son as His proudest creation (Genesis 1:3↔Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14; Psalms 2:7↔Hebrews 1:2-5).

   The gist of Paul’s comment regarding human longevity was that men could only strive for salvation while alive.  There were no re-incarnations; no karma to be atoned for in another lifetime; no disembodied rides in ‘weary-go-round’ wheels of life;³ so what today is known as ‘past-life regressions’ with all their ‘verifiable facts’ should raise red flags to all of us.  These teachings are recorded in Scripture to warn us about Satan’s arsenal of deceptive “fiery darts” (Ephesians 6:16).

   Most importantly, repentance was the pre-requisite for admission in God’s school of hard knocks:  Everybody—even Jesus himself (John 18:11; Hebrews 5:8)—had to submit to disciplinary actions, because having sinned either in ignorance or willingly—or in Jesus’ case, by human contamination (Isaiah 53:5-6,10)—called for different degrees of unavoidable punishment (Leviticus 26:41-43; 2Samuel 7:14; Job 5:17↔Proverbs 3:11-12; Psalms 119:75; Jeremiah 46:28↔Nahum 1:3; Micah 7:9; Luke 12:47-48; Hebrews 12:5-7; James 1:12; Revelation 3:19).

   It has become commonplace to believe that repentance before kicking the bucket—if it is ‘sincere enough’—will result in automatic forgiveness; but delaying repentance until one cannot party anymore smacks of premeditation and hypocrisy.  However comforting and convenient such ‘cliff-hanger rescues’ may sound to the unenlightened, we should know better, remembering God does not extend special privileges to any human being (Deuteronomy 10:17; 2Chronicles 19:7; Colossians 3:25); and whatever we sow in life—be it to our advantage or disadvantage—He makes sure we reap in kind whilst in the flesh (Galatians 6:7).  Make-up tests to improve one’s brownie points can be had during our lifetimes—not when we are about to breathe our last or in some after-death purgatory.  Dues must be paid or one fails to earn legitimacy as one of God’s own (Hebrews 12:8).

The One and Only Temple

   Let us talk a bit about the Temple the Most High does inhabit literally and figuratively:  His Son’s body.

   The one paramount mystery in Scripture is the nature of God:  What is He?  Jesus tells us He is Spirit (John 4:24)—in an ‘invisible’ sense (Hebrews 11:27; 1Timothy 1:17), or like the Holy Spirit, Himself a disembodied Entity?  Are They One and the Same—a Spirit within a Spirit?  Well, yes and no.  Yes in the sense that God and Holy Spirit are a Dyadic Entity, parts of one undefined and indefinable Being.  The best we can do is to conceive of God as ‘body’ and Holy Spirit as ‘God’s soul’—what human beings made in His image basically are.  No in terms of consciousness and hierarchy, for God calls the shots while the Holy Spirit obeys them (John 16:13).  In terms of synergy, as Paul explains it, Holy Spirit determines men’s spiritual needs and implores God to supply them at His discretion (Romans 8:26-27).  Thus we have Two Minds working in tandem with one common objective; so that Jesus’ observation in John 10:30 holds true for Them as well.

   Now we come to Jesus, third party in God’s unfolding plan of salvation; but outranked in terms of hierarchy (John 7:33, 14:28), reverence (Matthew 12:31-32) and substance:  Jesus was created while Father and Spirit pre-existed him (Genesis 1:1-3↔Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14).  Thus Jesus—the former Yahweh of hosts—was never ‘co-substantial’ with the other Two; and to drive that distinction home, Scripture pointed to the fact that Jesus died while Father alone was immortal (Luke 23:46↔Revelation 1:18; 1Timothy 6:16; Revelation 10:6).  In point of fact had not Father resuscitated Son (Acts 13:30; Romans 8:11), Jesus would not be with us today; for following death-and-resurrection protocols, upon expiring on the cross Jesus’ soul left his body (John 19:30)—i.e., the self-aware embryo implanted in Mary’s womb who as an adult could claim pre-existence (John 8:58, 17:5); and returned to God in a state of inert oblivion (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 12:7).

   This is why on resurrection Sunday—the first day of the week (John 20:1) and not the seventh day Sabbath of the Commandment (Exodus 20:10-11, 31:13-17↔Ezekiel 20:11-12), he told Mary Magdalene not to touch him, “for I have not yet ascended to My Father” (John 20:17.  According to Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 12:7, Jesus’ soul had gone to God in an unconscious state.  Only after God returned Jesus’ soul to his then immortal body (Colossians 1:18) did awareness of time and action were again possible for Jesus—the exact methodology to be replayed during the resurrection of the righteous; to wit, no awareness of the passing of time in death and the return with Jesus of souls ‘asleep’ in God (Job 19:26-27; Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1Corinthians 15:50-53; 1Thessalonians 4:14).

   Irrespective of his subordinate position with regards to Father and Spirit, Jesus performs roles specific and entrusted solely to him.  The very reason why Father appointed Son co-ruler—as Pharaoh did with Joseph over Egypt (Genesis 41:40,44,55)—was to delegate every-day, human affairs to a subordinate.  Hence the Scriptural notion of ‘stewardship’ as explained in Isaiah 22:15-24, both as it pertains to Jesus [Eliakim/David↔Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:18) and to Shebna [Satan/peg securely fastened but to be cut off↔Luke 4:6; John 14:30]—an arrangement the resurrected Jesus was to replicate with respect to his subordinates (Matthew 25:21; Luke 12:42-48↔Colossians 3:23-24; 1Peter 4:10).  Consequently, in God’s plan Jesus acts as a ‘way station’:  He relays God’s messages to men (1Timothy 2:5) and channels the Holy Spirit to teach/guide them (John 16:13; 1John 2:27).  To put it simplistically, Jesus directs communications between Heaven and men; but his role is more nuanced and crucial than this:  His person is Father’s and Spirit’s provisional Temple.

   In the literal sense—as Jesus hinted in John 2:18-21, the Holy Spirit indwelled Jesus’ mortal body [shadow]:  He credited the Father ‘living in him’ with the miracles he was able to do.  We should not conclude Jesus meant the Sovereign living beyond the human realm (1Timothy 6:15-16); for all practical purposes God and Spirit are One Person, yet Spirit acts through Jesus as instructed by God (John 16:13).  Jesus is the conduit for the Two; so that while God’s gifts of grace (James 1:17), as requested by Holy Spirit, are given to Jesus for apportionment per individuals’ needs (Ephesians 4:7), such gifts are ultimately distributed to men by the Holy Spirit.

   In the figurative sense, Jesus’ ‘body’ (Ephesians 5:23-32) is a mystical construct:  The Church composed of all tried, tested, and purified Judeo-Christian believers (Zechariah 13:8-9↔1 Peter 1:7).  This ‘body-Church’ is the Temple [substance] Jesus alluded to in John 2:18-21, which he would begin ‘building’ following his resurrection.  It was Jesus, not the apostate Solomon (1Kings 11:11-13), whose kingdom would be eternal (2Samuel 7:12-13); and the symbolic Temple he would construct for God would be no run-of-the-mill edifice, but a spiritual Holy of Holies in men’s hearts once Jesus managed to unite all things in “one God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).

   This symbolic ‘house’ would laboriously be built over the centuries, Jesus himself being the cornerstone and Simon Peter—the first repository of the Holy Spirit’s ‘hidden wisdom’ (1Corinthians 2:10)—the second foundational stone (Matthew 16:17-18).  On both of them further converts were ‘human-bricks’ cemented atop each other, so that as Paul (Ephesians 2:19-22) and Peter (1Peter 2:5) put it, building God’s house became a multigenerational, collective effort stretching up to Jesus’ second coming.  Since “in Christ [the heavenly man] all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9), God Himself can be accessed through the ‘veil’ of Jesus’ flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20), just as in Tabernacle and First/Second Temples there was a veil between the Holy of Holies, wherein Yahweh dwelt, and the Holy Place where high priests officiated (Hebrews 9:2-3).  In Jesus’ ‘body’ that separation no longer exists, because with his cleansing blood, Jesus as High Priest over God’s house—which house we are (Hebrews 3:6)—has opened a new and living way for us to petition God personally through prayer (Hebrews 10:19-22). 

   The Temple referred to in Revelation 7:15 is the one now existing in Heaven, the model from which Moses got his specs for the desert Tabernacle (Exodus 26:30; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5).  It is there that God sits on His throne surrounded by the celestial court (Revelation 4); and it is there that the altar containing the souls of martyrs is to be found (Revelation 6:9-11, 8:3).  But even this Temple will no longer exist in the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:22), for by then God will live and be worshipped by all the redeemed within themselves.

Earthly Counterparts

   What then is the purpose of earthly places of worship?

   Paul’s argument in Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that human synagogues and churches are not places where people access God.  This may be the Judeo-Christian consensus but all of us, Jews and Christians, are wrong.  Even Solomon knew that his Temple was a ‘halfway’ house to petition the Most High in Heaven:  He was never expected to be physically present in it (1Kings 8:27,30,32,34,36,39,43,49).  On the other hand, Jesus was agreeable to that notion:  “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20); though ‘there’ could be mountaintops, caves, beaches, prison cells, amongst lepers or the poorest of the poor, not necessarily mainstream places of worship.  Jesus’ presence depended on the congregants’ degree of faith and obedience, because Father would turn a deaf ear to those breaking His rules (Proverbs 28:8; John 9:31).  For those wanting their cake and eat it too, their prayers stunk like the foulest miasma, unlike the pleasing aroma of the righteous’ incense (Revelation 5:8, 8:4↔Genesis 8:21).

   As was the original model (Acts 4:32-35), places of worship were intended for people of faith to gather, exhort, help and support one another.  They are not social clubs, or indoor venues for musical events, or political arenas, or launching pads for a variety of fun-and-game activities sprinkled with fake piety.  Congregants are enjoined to renounce worldly priorities so as to be spiritually reborn in Jesus by imitating him (John 13:15; 1John 2:6).  As Jesus rejected human concerns (Matthew 6:31-33; Luke 14:26-27), so are his followers expected to do; which does not necessarily mean non-stop gloom and doom:  Jesus partook of the occasional relaxation (Luke 5:29; John 2:2, 12:2), but always as an adjunct to his ministry—more in the spirit of fringe benefits than objective.

   Another thing synagogues and churches should not be are pulpits for self-appointed instructors:  Jesus is the only Teacher, and his teaching Aide is the Holy Spirit he ‘anoints’ each congregant with (Matthew 23:8; John 16:13).  Like Jesus said, everyone will be taught by God (John 6:45)—no humans need apply (1John 2:27).   

   The whole point behind the Levitical priesthood was to show subsequent generations men could not be trusted to follow divine instructions.  If told not to add or take away anything from God’s words (Proverbs 30:6; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Matthew 5:19; Revelation 22:18-19), they fudged God’s words (Jeremiah 8:8); catered to human demands to keep congregants happy (Exodus 32:1-4,25; Isaiah 30:9-10); betrayed their commission either for lucre or peer acclaim (Ezekiel 34:2-3,8-10; Matthew 23:5-7); taught dogmas and changed holy days other than those prescribed by God (Ezekiel 22:26; Daniel 7:25; Malachi 2:7-8).  Jesus put an end to all that (Luke 16:16):  On earth or from Heaven, he gave notice to ‘tenured doctrinaires’ to instate the Spirit of truth in their stead (John 16:13).

   There would be a role for preachers to play, but as compasses pointing converts in the right direction, as for example, Paul’s work amongst the Ephesians (Acts 19:1-6).  Their custom up to that point had been reading the Scriptures, but their interpretation, the ‘hidden wisdom’ they contained, could only be revealed by the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 2:10); hence Paul’s laying of hands—the same way he had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17).  Paul himself gave credit to the Holy Spirit for all he knew without the aid of human resources (1Corinthians 2:10; Galatians 1:1,11-12,16-17, 2:2; Ephesians 3:3; 1Timothy 4:1↔John  16:13).

   For all his command of Scripture, evangelist Apollos had to be given remedial instruction (Acts 18:24-28).  He may have learned a few pointers, but we are never told that he channeled the Holy Spirit.  Given Paul’s unbending stance on the issue of women teaching doctrine to men (1Timothy 2:12), we are at a loss to explain Priscilla’s role in Apollos’ instruction, though Paul thought her and husband Aquila valuable collaborators (Romans 16:3).  With respect to Apollos, Paul lamented Corinthian preferences between his and Apollos’ preaching styles (1Corinthians 3:2-9); perhaps because, as Peter later admitted (2Peter 3:15-16), Paul’s teaching was more Holy Spirit-infused and so harder to grasp than the rudimentary doctrine Apollos may have taught.  Something along those lines must have taken place, because in 1Corinthians 3:2 Paul makes reference to the ‘milk vs. solid food’ comparison he later used to chide the Jews (Hebrews 5:12-14), the implication being that the Corinthians, despite Apollos’ teaching, had not ‘matured’ enough to be privy to God’s ‘hidden wisdom’—which is imparted by the Holy Spirit and not men (1Corinthians 2:10).

  Paul knew enough not to thwart Apollos’ preaching; however lacking in ‘meat’ it may have been, Apollos was furthering Jesus’ cause.  For as Jesus had taught regarding a similar situation, “whoever is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50).  Let them be—which as history shows, Satan never did.
Sources of Error

   In short if anyone wants to know what Scripture conceals, one needs to get the scoop straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth—in this case Jesus, from whose mouth protrudes God’s sword, the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:17↔Matthew 10:34; Revelation 1:16↔Hebrews 4:12).  And since God sends the Teaching Spirit, then appeals for tutoring must be initially addressed to Him:  “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and hidden things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3↔James 1:5).  Which things?  Those He has encrypted for His people within narratives, parables, and symbols so that they can see and understand what transgressors do not (Deuteronomy 29:29; Mark 4:11-12) and cannot (Isaiah 29:10-14↔1Corinthians 1:20).

   This brings us to the crux of our discussion:  God remains still unknown because rabbis, pastors, priests, and evangelists have usurped Jesus’ role as ‘communications director’ between Divine Instructor, Teaching Aide and men, resulting in the following:  “These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a human commandment learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13); though “they call Me the Most High, none at all truly exalts Me” (Hosea 11:7).  To which we must add Yahweh of hosts’/Jesus’ personal accusation:   “Woe to them, for they have fled from me!  Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against me!  Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me” (Hosea 7:13).

   As we saw in Isaiah 44:6 the Redeemer is Yahweh of hosts, entrusted with that commission by his God (Revelation 3:12), Yahweh King of Israel.  We know Yahweh of hosts to be the pre-existent Jesus of Nazareth (Isaiah 54:5), God’s appointed Creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2); and as husband/groom of the Church (Matthew 9:15; Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 21:2,9)—the Most High does not marry anybody.  So what is the Holy Spirit through Hosea (2Peter 1:20-21) telling us?  That Judeo-Christians continue to be in big trouble.

Judaism’s Dilemma

   However much Jews boast of being the ‘chosen race,’ God’s choice had to do less with their moral qualities than the fact Israelites—at that time—were the most insignificant and weakest of nations (Deuteronomy 7:7); the objective being they would nonetheless prevail over more powerful enemies as long as they obeyed God’s laws.  Then there was the promise, from which God would not back down, made to Abraham, the Patriarchs and their spiritual progeny throughout the ages (Deuteronomy 9:5; Hebrews 6:17-18↔Numbers 23:19).  And in case Israelites indulged in ego-tripping, God told them in no uncertain terms that they were stiff-necked [i.e., stubborn, obstinate], and by no means paragons of righteousness when compared to other peoples (Deuteronomy 9:5-6).

   Those negative assessments echo throughout the ‘times of ignorance’ allotted to the Jews (Isaiah 1:2-6; Jeremiah 2:8, 4:22, 5:7; Ezekiel 2:5-7; Hosea 13:6; Zephaniah 3:3-4; Matthew 23:2-3↔Matthew 16:12, Mark 8:15, Luke 12:1; John 8:31-37).  The term ‘times of ignorance’ appears in Acts 17:30 to differentiate them from the ‘times of the Gentiles,’ which started with Jesus’ crucifixion and would extend to end-times (Luke 21:24).  The distinction between the two is of the outmost significance:  Though the arguments proving Yahweh of hosts and Jesus of Nazareth to be the same entity appear in the Old Testament, Jews never ‘got it,’ indeed never were meant to ‘get it’ if we go by Peter’s arguments in 1Peter 1:10-12:  Old Testament prophets sought “to know [implying they did not know] what person or time the [Holy Spirit sent by Jesus] within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”  This suggests that even angels get the ‘scoop’ at the same time men do.

   Although we find evidence of Holy Spirit activities through judges like Othniel, Gideon, and Samson (Judges 3:10, 6:7, 14:19, 15:14, respectively); kings like Saul and David (1Samuel 11:6, 16:13); and assorted prophets (Nehemiah 9:30↔Jeremiah 7:24-26; Ezekiel 3:14), nowhere is there mention that Israelites at large received that endowment.  We must then ponder the true meaning of Deuteronomy 29:29:  Did it address pre-crucifixion Jews, or post-crucifixion Judeo-Christians?  If we consider Moses to have been a stand-in for Jesus as Leader, Law-Giver, Judge of Israel, and intermediary between Heaven and religious leaders (Exodus 7:1; Deuteronomy 18:15), Deuteronomy 29:29 may very well be one of those Scriptural ‘windows’ into future events meant for us; since only following Jesus’ ascent into Heaven, and not before (Matthew 16:17↔John 16:7,13), was he able to ‘anoint’ his followers with the Holy Spirit (1John 2:27).

   Thus Old Testament times were truly ‘times of ignorance’:  Israelites could not make heads of tails of Scripture, let alone the fact they refused any type of instruction God sent them through His prophets (Jeremiah 29:19).  Neither would the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, who eventually re-invented themselves as the Rabbinical Jews surviving to this day.  Despite the brilliance and Scriptural command informing the writings of their so-called ‘sages,’ fact remains they still cannot see in Jesus the Yahweh of hosts they so piously worship; nor understand that believing the latter to the Israel’s One True God, they fail to focus on the Highest God Jesus never claimed to be.  Thus Hosea 7:13 and 11:7 applies to them:  They see Yahweh King and Yahweh Redeemer as one Being rather than Master and Steward.

Christianity’s Dilemma

   What, then, is our excuse for following in Judaism’s footsteps?  We also believe in Jesus as the Most High God—and worse:  Instead of a Dyadic God, we have come up with a Trinitarian mish-mash.  In antiquity triune gods were more numerous than fleas on mangy dogs; so when the so-called ‘fathers of the church’—Christianity’s variant of Judaism’s ‘sages’—believed Jesus should be elevated to God’s and Holy Spirit’s statuses, they seized on Trinitarian dogma by dismissed the very graphic illustrations that Son sat on a different throne than Father to his left (Acts 7:55); and that God’s Lamb was re-instated by Father as proxy God over creation (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 5:1-7).  None of this smacks of equality or sameness; Christianity would not exist without the resurrected Jesus (1Corinthians 15:14); nor would Jesus boast of having died yet alive forever following his resurrection (Revelation 1:18).  Oh, and stating to have been called into being by a God who has neither beginning nor end (Genesis 1:3↔Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14).

   Christians worship Jesus as the Most High God, though he specifically told us that the Father was greater than him (John 14:28).  So in this sense, we suffer from the same spiritual myopia that Jews do—which makes us equally guilty of Hosea 7:13 and 11:7: By worshipping Jesus as the Most High, the Father is not worshipped; and by believing Jesus to be the Father, we are telling falsehoods about Jesus.  It should not be this way, since we are guaranteed the instruction of the Holy Spirit that Jews never had, which makes our obstinacy and spiritual blindness worse than theirs.

   Why does this continue to be the case?  First because of Solomon’s historical ‘loop’ (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11):  Men may die, but the schemes they conceive are enacted and reenacted throughout history, egged on by satanic ‘influencers’ reserved for Armageddon for one purpose:  To deprive the Most High of His rightful worship.  If Satan could not oust Son from his position, or prevail against Father in any shape or form, then he would concentrate on outwitting the weakest link in the chain:  Men.  When Paul talks about men teaching doctrines of demons (1Timothy 4:1) or offering sacrifices to demons (1Corinthians 10:20), he is giving witness to that nefarious influence (Ephesians 2:2).  And not because men cannot oppose Satan (Genesis 4:7↔James 4:7), but because evildoing is what festers in their hearts (Ecclesiastes 7:29, 8:11; John 8:44).

  Thus the simple reason that God still remains unknown to Judeo-Christians is that Satan ‘detours’ our path to Him with false dogmas, spurious cults, and pious bromides pleasing to pipe-dream on, but not conducive to knowing Him.  Consider Marian apparitions, the Christian revival of the reviled Jewish cult to a heavenly queen (Jeremiah 44:17-27):  The Most High is MIA; ‘Mom’ stands next to Son’s throne fire-walling the wrath Son would unleash against humanity for failing to honor her.  And what does she demand of worshippers?  Idols and shrines in high places where Scripture teaches us Baal and Ashera were worshipped (Deuteronomy 12:2-3; 2Kings 18:4, 21:3; 2Chroniclers 31:1; Ezekiel 20:28-29↔Psalms 78:58).  Do such places still exist?  Yes, most notably—but not exclusively—at Lourdes, Fátima, and Medjugorje.

   This late in the game nothing is going to change.  It would be presumptuous in the extreme to believe this essay will improve on what Jesus, the Apostles and their followers thus far have accomplished.  Except for the 144,000 who follow instructions to the letter, the rest of the redeemed will be saved by grace thanks to Redeemer Son:  “Unless Yahweh of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9).

   Thus only after Redeemer Son returns power to the Most High (1Corinthians 15:24-28) will Jews and Christians fully know (Hebrews 8:11), fully channel (Ephesians 4:6), and fully worship (Isaiah 66:23) our mutual God in His Heavenly City (Revelation 3:12, 21:3).

¹ In regards to gods in modern mainstream or assorted religions, the same principle still applies.  Please also note that in his Timothy quote, Paul is differentiating between Lord Jesus Christ and Most High Sovereign Deity.  Paul also alludes to the timetable only the Most High is privy to, unknown to Jesus himself, angels, and men (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7); which further illustrates Jesus and the Most High God are not equally All-Knowing.

² It is doubtful that any divinity indwelled Herod’s Second Temple upgrade.  If the beloved David could not build his God a house because he had shed much human blood (1Chronicles 22:8-10), how could Yahweh have anything to do with the homicidal Herod the Great?  It was to destroy the newborn Jesus that Herod ordered the massacre of the innocents (Matthew 2:16). What does this tell us about the spiritual ‘awareness’ of priests officiating at said Temple?

   It is not without significance that Yahweh of hosts, the proxy God who did dwell in human buildings, was to be found inside the embryo the Holy Spirit had implanted in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:31-35); which suggests no divine presence inhabited Herod’s Holy of Holies during Jesus’ gestation and birth; and certainly not throughout the 33 years of his life.

³ Buddhism does not view souls like monotheistic religions do.  To Buddhists, there is a spiritual ‘something’ in human beings not bound with bodily processes.  This contradicts teachings like Luke 8:49-55, where Jesus commands the soul of the dead girl to return, whereupon her body re-awakens and is fed food.  This shows a direct relationship between flesh and soul, not only in terms of living (Matthew 4:4; John 6:63), but also in terms of the enmity between body cravings and spirituality (Galatians 5:17).  As Jesus put it (Matthew 26:41) and Paul bemoaned (Romans 7:21-24), the body is no passive receptacle for the soul:  Its processes/demands conspire against the spiritual self, so that of itself it can be instrumental in damning souls.