(Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
This is God speaking. It is not the opinion of some man. It is a statement of fact and truth, from the mouth of God.
(Amos 8:4-8) Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
There are two main characteristics God attributes to and evil heart. It is "deceitful" and "desperately wicked".
(Hosea 2:10-11) Being deceitful is like a magician who uses misdirection to take one’s focus off of one thing where all the action is occurring. In this regard, The Sabbath is the distraction to shift your focus off of what the evil heart is doing – evil, taking undue advantage of others, all the while giving an air uprightness and piety by keeping the Sabbath (and new moons). It is cloaking one’s evil and evil heart with the Sabbath.
And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
If you examine the context here, God is stripping everything away from Israel that He provided, due to her evil lewdness. The holy days wherein Israel celebrated their position in relation to God is to be no more. He is going to take away these things, including the Sabbath. It will be no more.
It is a concept anathema to Adventists and other Sabbatarian sister organizations, for they have equated the Sabbath as something that cannot pass away, any more than can marriage; claiming both were established at the same time at Creation. Yet, here we are… God stripped away the Sabbath and other sacred observances, unmasking and removing the cloaks they used to disguise their evil hearts with their feigned “obedience” to those things.
(1 Samuel 16:7) But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
Man looks and judges according to the outward appearance, in this case people keeping the Sabbath, while ignoring the heart and behaviors; the evils that emanate from it.
This reveals the magician’s tricks; his MO or “method of operation” whereby he deceives and distracts, using the Sabbath. Look to his “obedience” and not his heart; his deceitful and desperately wicked heart where he readily ignores and rejects what even God has to say on the Subject.
By removing the veil used to cover the wicked heart, the heart is exposed for what it is, and what it does in defense of its evil, wicked, deceitful nature. It is a deceitful heart that ultimately deceives the self. The Sabbath, as well as the rest of the law, is but a cover; an alibi; an excuse. “I keep the law (Decalogue), I keep a version of the Sabbath; pay no attention or heed to the inner man hiding behind this curtain of the law and Sabbath. Pay no attention to the heart – look only to the outward appearance of keeping the law and Sabbath and my obedience to God.”
They persecute those who do not conform to their imagery of Sabbath keeping; those whose righteousness is derived through the Spirit and not physical rites and rituals. People who do not match the description of those referenced to in Amos chapter 8, cited above; Sabbath keepers who are impatient for the Sabbath to end so they can go back to work, cheating others, practicing their evils; sating their evil hearts and desires, where the Sabbath is just a means to an end; look good on the outside, so as to further disarm those they deal with by giving off an aura of legitimacy through religious conviction in relation to the works of the law.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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