Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in
the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines (teachings) of devils (demons).
1 Timothy 4:1 (Parentheses, mine)
These are strange times we're living in...
the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines (teachings) of devils (demons).
1 Timothy 4:1 (Parentheses, mine)
These are strange times we're living in...
Within recent weeks, for instance, two friends, one on the West Coast and the other in New Jersey, told me about fellow Christians who have taken an unexpected interest in the Kabbalah.
The Kabbalah, according to Webster's New College Dictionary (Third Edition), is a collection of "mystical teachings of rabbinical origin" and is based on an "esoteric interpretation" of the Hebrew Scriptures. However, I am personally convinced these writings are occultic in nature, with their origins going back to ancient Babylon. They are not at all inspired by God.
In any event, my friend from the West Coast told me that the messianic rabbi and pastor who leads her congregation has been "getting into" the Kabbalah more and more. This greatly alarmed her and was a major reason for her eventually leaving the fellowship. While my second friend, who attends a well-established messianic congregation in New Jersey, told me of a former Bible teacher who, once he began to delve deeper into the Kabbalah, ended up falling away from his former belief as a Jew who believed in Jesus as his Messiah.
It is of course puzzling to me why such an obviously unbiblical religious system could so easily snag and deceive those who were apparently once well-grounded in the Scriptures. In fact, both these apostates were so well versed in the Bible that one is a pastor, while the other was an approved teacher in his congregation who had been instructing fellow believers for many years.
Yes, these are strange times indeed. We have to be very careful. We must "test the spirits" to make sure that what is being taught lines up with the Word of God. Jewish mysticism, I believe, has no place in the church, or anywhere. As the apostle John states in one of his letters to the church, "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (2 John 1:7).
Christians, be watchful.
D.B.
The Kabbalah, according to Webster's New College Dictionary (Third Edition), is a collection of "mystical teachings of rabbinical origin" and is based on an "esoteric interpretation" of the Hebrew Scriptures. However, I am personally convinced these writings are occultic in nature, with their origins going back to ancient Babylon. They are not at all inspired by God.
In any event, my friend from the West Coast told me that the messianic rabbi and pastor who leads her congregation has been "getting into" the Kabbalah more and more. This greatly alarmed her and was a major reason for her eventually leaving the fellowship. While my second friend, who attends a well-established messianic congregation in New Jersey, told me of a former Bible teacher who, once he began to delve deeper into the Kabbalah, ended up falling away from his former belief as a Jew who believed in Jesus as his Messiah.
It is of course puzzling to me why such an obviously unbiblical religious system could so easily snag and deceive those who were apparently once well-grounded in the Scriptures. In fact, both these apostates were so well versed in the Bible that one is a pastor, while the other was an approved teacher in his congregation who had been instructing fellow believers for many years.
Yes, these are strange times indeed. We have to be very careful. We must "test the spirits" to make sure that what is being taught lines up with the Word of God. Jewish mysticism, I believe, has no place in the church, or anywhere. As the apostle John states in one of his letters to the church, "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (2 John 1:7).
Christians, be watchful.
D.B.
