Amen. Thank you, Daniel. Wonderful prayer indeed. Guys, welcome to our discussion on wolves while in the wilderness. Why am I doing this lesson? Well, I think for the obvious reasons. We need to understand not only what wolves are biblically, but we also need to understand that we ourselves as honest brothers and sisters have the potential of becoming one ourselves. So having said all of that, let’s jump into our discussion. When Yeshua warned us about wolves in sheep’s clothing, he wasn’t describing some imaginary threat or warning us about a danger that would only exist outside the fellowship. He was warning us about people who would come along within his own sheep. And Paul took that warning even further when he told the elders in Ephesus that

savage wolves would enter the flock and that even from among themselves men would arise speaking perverse things to draw disciples after themselves. So think about what that means. The danger isn’t always coming from outside the body. Sometimes it’s already sitting among us, fellowshipping with us, teaching among us, and presenting itself as one of us. And that’s exactly why we need to have this discussion. Who are these wolves? What makes someone a wolf? How do they operate? What does scripture tell us to look for? And perhaps most importantly, is it possible for someone to be functioning as a wolf without even recognizing what they’ve become? That is the question.

I think that the what you were raising earlier is a matter of perspective because I think that those leaders in the congregations that we were a part of maybe would have considered us as wolves. Yeah. is trying to take, you know, draw people away, which is ironic, right? Because here we are trying to discover the true paths of scripture, the ways, something that the Christian church doesn’t understand. And because the things that we embrace directly contradict their established doctrine, we are accused of being the wolves. I think that’s ironic because when you truly understand the heart of scripture, then you realize that not only are we

not the wolves, but the actual wolves are something entirely different. That’s a great point, David, to start us off with. So, first we need to understand that the warning about wolves did not originate with Yeshua or Paul in the New Testament. The foundation for their warnings was already established in the law and the prophets, particularly in Ezekiel, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah. In the Old Testament, wolves were not simply a picture of enemies attacking Israel from the outside. Again, as we’ve said, the image was also applied to corrupt leaders already operating among God’s own people. Ezekiel 22, the conspiracy of her prophets in her midst. These weren’t outside prophets. These were

young men who called themselves a a prophet while in the midst of Israel is like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured people. They have taken treasure and precious things. They have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have violated my law and profaneed my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy, and nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. They’ve hidden their eyes from my Sabbath, so that I am profained among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood, destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. So

here we see all the way back in the book of Ezekiel this idea of wolves amongst the body, wolves amongst the people under covenant. And they are in her midst. So as again as I’ve said already several times, these wolves were not foreigners invading Israel. They were princes in her midst, men who already held positions of authority among Yah’s people. After all, they were prophets or princes. And what does Ezekiel tell us about what characterized them? Well, it’s simple. They exploited their brothers. They destroyed lives. They pursued dishonest gain. Real quick, Tim, David, what does that look like in real life? I mean, think about these prophets in the midst

of Israel doing these things. Ezekiel says they’ve devoured people and destroyed lives, exploited their brothers. What does that look like in real life? Because I’ve got an idea myself, but I just wanted to get your two cents. And I think, you know, when you say destroy lives, maybe they’re talking when it comes to like their spiritual well-being, right? what they were teaching. Exploiting obviously situations where through maybe uh trying to force people to either give to the leaders, exploiting their position in order to gather wealth or other physical benefits. Mhm. Tim. Well, I mean, this touches on a lot of hot buttons for a lot of people, but what it looks like is if you can believe this or not, you know, as a leader, and

many of us are leaders or were leaders, we were required to go collect their tithes, if you can imagine that, we were basically using advice, which wasn’t advice. It turned into permission. And I know it’s something you’re very careful about now, Ed, but what I was thinking about was the practicality of what are we actually trying to do with people? Are we trying to control them or or are we allowing them to make their mistakes and guide them to the word? So my my feedback was that you’re just trying to be helpful. No, no, you’re actually crossing a line. I think advice can become permission. I think trying to

control someone’s uh you know, purity uh you know, you can’t date a certain person. This is a very common giving of tithes, things like this. These are the things that connotates for me. Yeah. Well, I think you’re both are dead on. what what I was thinking about when I read the problems the things that you said Tim the tithe you know taking from people calling it a tithe because they don’t understand that you can’t properly tithe biblically today because there is no temple there is no Levites but they called a tithe nonetheless because they saw that word in scripture and they didn’t just take a tenth they took a

20th a 30th a 40th a 50th and sometimes all of it in the name of whatever goal they had as a church. So the the the church the the establishments gets wealthy while the members are poor. And so yeah, everything that you guys said is is very true. So we understand what Ezekiel is talking about here when he says they’ve devoured people, right? They’ve they’ve taken treasure and precious things and in the process made many widows. That stuff still happens today. Zephaniah 3 says her princes and her midst are roaring lions. her judges, our evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. So here the wolves are specifically identified as judges and these people were entrusted with administering

justice yet they were exploiting those they were supposed to protect. And here’s another irony about this issue that we’re going to go more into later on in the lesson. When you take a picture of what Zephaniah is saying or Ezekiel is saying and apply it to modern-day Christianity, say from which most of us come from, most of us have stories about how these things happened to us. I certainly do. But I also have experience in being that judge, in being that prince back in the day when I served as an evangelist, church leader for my church. And we had these special contributions we call them where people were not just giving their tenth. They were giving they were saving up

thousands and thousands of dollars to give towards this one thing. And I was the prince there among them saving up my own thousands of dollars. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t stealing their money. I was saving up my own thousands of dollars, but building up this bankroll for, you know, preaching the gospel. And here’s the point that I wanted to make in that our intentions were good. The members intentions were good. I would say for the most part, none of them felt like they were being robbed, although I think some of them probably did. But although our intentions were good, we were still guilty of being this person. I was still guilty of being this person. Why?

Because I didn’t understand my Bible. Honestly, that’s the biggest issue. And I want to get more into, as I said here in a few minutes, this whole idea of uh people like me, teachers especially, who do things with good intention, but are misleading the flock or hurting the flock nonetheless. And then something else dawned on me as I was reading Deuteronomy 13 again for the thousandth time is that the father allows these wolves to exist for the purpose of testing. We see in Deuteronomy 13, if there arises among you. So again, he’s talking about a prophet or dreamer of dreams that rises from among you, not outside of you, not

some Johnny come lately into the crowd calling himself a prophet. I have a lot of memories of people trying to do this. Back in the days when I was leading a church, people would come from the world into or want to come into the body proclaiming themselves some spiritual guru. That’s not this. If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them. You shall not listen to the words of that prophet

or that dreamer of dreams. Stop. How difficult is that? because you have a brother who rises up among you or sister and they’re talking about signs and wonders. They’re talking about things that they believe to be coming to pass in the near future or, you know, and they sound spiritual. They sound just like you. They sound like they’re a member of the eklesia. And somehow either subtly or boldly they suggest that you do something else other than what is written i.e. let us go after other gods. And then the father says you shall not listen to the words of that prophet. So that’s difficult. Why?

Well I mean think about right now. I love this fellowship with all of my heart and and I have been blessed to have all of you, many of you express your love and your loyalty to me as your teacher and I’m grateful for that. But I could be this guy and many of you have fondness for me. You love me. You love coming here. So think about the difficulty of making this decision when in in the course of uh a teaching you hear something that pricks your ears and you go, “Oh, is that right?” Well, first and foremost, you have the responsibility of searching that out yourself. But then secondly, you have a

responsibility of confronting me to make sure a yes I did actually teach that or yes I really do believe that or b give me the chance to make a mistake but let’s just say you did all that and I stood by this ungodly profession whatever it is then you have to make the difficult decision not to listen to that prophet or that dreamer of dreams i.e. me or anybody else that you listen to. So that’s difficult and I wanted to point that out. Sometimes we can read these verses and go, “Oh yeah, amen.” But when until you’re actually in a situation like that, you don’t realize the difficulty of it, the sentimentality that’s involved in the process.

Yeah. And there is it goes beyond the sentimentality. It’s actually these leaders actually many times when there is any type of opposing view, there’s a few type of things that you will hear. Number one, it is treated as disrespect. It can be treated as divisiveness. And in addition to that, you know, you’ll hear statements like trust the leaders, trust the process. And so basically, they’re creating this kind of environment where any type of testing is frowned upon. If anything, it is prohibited. These people were entrusted and put in a position and we just need to trust them blindly which again is not completely not biblical.

Yeah. Okay. So why why why are you not to listen to the words of this prophet or dreamer? Because the father is testing you. What does that tell us? That tells us that the father allowed the wolf to arise among us to know whether you love him with all of your heart, with all of your soul. You shall walk after Yah your Elohim and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. You shall serve him and hold fast to him. So I thought that you know again reading this verse for the thousandth time you realize that you realize that the only reason that this prophet could have arisen in the first place is because the father was going to

use it to test his people. He is testing you. So there’s something very curious about these verses. It appears that Yah actually allows false prophets to arise among his people for the purpose of testing them. He doesn’t prevent the deceiver from entering the congregation. He doesn’t prevent the deceiver from not just entering the congregation. He or she may have entered it innocently enough, but he also knew where they would arrive in their theology. He allows them to be confronted, Israel, to be confronted with deception to see whether they will remain faithful to him. In Deuteronomy 13, it says to know whether you love him with all of your

heart, with all of your soul, to know to see. And remember how I’ve taught us all of the importance of our responses while in the desert to these things. Deuteronomy 8, you shall remember that Yehovah, sorry for the typo, your Elohim led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and to test you. Now, this is a little sidetrack from our topic, but I felt it was important to talk about. Consider what Deuteronomy 8 is telling us. Consider what Deuteronomy 8 is telling us while remembering that the father allows the wolf to arise to test you to know you to see you in

how you will respond. So what does that mean? 40 years. Many of you may not realize that the trip from Egypt to the promised land is an 11-day journey. But he kept them there for 40 years going around and around the mountain. 40 years. What does that mean? That means half of their entire life span was spent in testing. Yah watched how his people responded to hunger, thirst, hardship, uncertainty, and even the people he allowed to rise up among them. Would they obey? We get depressed when we feel the weight of testing for a week. Sometimes we go through a period of testing for what feels like a week. Sometimes it feels

like a month. Sometimes it feels like a year. But what we don’t realize is that our every living moment in the desert, just like Israel, is a test. And the test isn’t always about what’s happening to us. Sometimes it’s about what comes out of us when it happens. That the father uses the wolf. He uses the false prophet, the dreamer of dreams, in the process of discovering your response, David, Tim, any thoughts on that? It just reminds me of Hebrews 12 verse 6 and 8. We have to endure hardship as discipline when things are hard and wolves are part of the the hardship and we’re supposed to reject them and test them and hold fast. But this is part of the process and everyone goes through it. And so Peter said, “Don’t consider

it strange. This is one of the types of suffering and it’s it’s necessary. We do it to our kids in some fashion, not like Yah does it to us, but it is a mandatory and you know regular part of of followership.” Okay, remember what I said about Deuteronomy 13 being curious that the prophet arises among you. The prophet arises among the covenant people. He’s not necessarily an obvious outsider. He may already be known to the people. They may trust him. May even even witnessed signs or wonders associated with his ministry which seem to confirm his wisdom. So, as I said a moment ago, imagine how much credibility Israel would have given this prophet and

you or I may have given this person who has risen up among us. And we hear the things that he or she says or shares or teaches. And as a result of the things that we hear them say and teach, we give them credibility. And yet the father says, “You shall not listen to the words of that prophet.” Because a person’s ability to speak convincingly about scripture does not mean that what he or she teaches is actually true. Case in point, in my own life, I remember growing up and hearing on TV back when I was a kid, we had five channels. One of them was TBNN. And you know, as you’re flipping through channels looking for something to watch and you stop on

TBN and say maybe it’s of Jimmy Swagger or some type of guy preaching fire and brimstone, it got my attention and I remember listening to someone like him or others like him and feeling convinced about certain things. Much of my young perception about who the father was was created by some of the things these men said. Here I am turning 60 yesterday. And it’s only in the last 10 years, well probably a little further back than that I can look back at those things and realize that even though I was convinced at the moment, I still know that he was wrong. But he was so convincing in the

way that he taught it, in the way that he presented it. He was so passionate about it that it left almost no room for you to disagree in your heart as you were listening to it. So I was allowing myself to be molded by the convictions of another even though they were wrong first and foremost because I again didn’t know myself the Bible. So here’s the curious thing. I’ve kept using this word and something that I want to pursue going forward. It says the prophet arises from among them. One of the flock, one of the guys, perhaps a trusted brother. So here’s my question. Do you think that he knew that he was a wolf? He’s a trusted brother.

He’s among the covenant people. He’s one of the fellas, one of the bros. And he’s saying things in such a way that are convincing. And yet the father says, “Don’t listen to that guy.” So my question is, do you think he knew that he was a wolf? The wolf unaware. Notice how the picture has changed. Now it’s no longer a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Now it’s a man slowly becoming a wolf. He is the wolf unaware. Does a wolf really know he’s a wolf? I think for some of them know it, but I would be willing to say that most of them don’t. Most of them don’t realize it. So, does a wolf know he’s a wolf? Or is it possible that a man who once walked faithfully with Yah

gradually becomes a wolf without ever recognizing what he’s become? I think we all assume that the prophet of Deuteronomy 13 has secretly always been evil. I I did. As often as I’ve read that, I’ve always assumed that he’s kind of always been the evil guy trying to sneak his way in to the body, which is possible. But I think we need to look at this from a different angle. 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse.” Deceiving and being deceived. Again, reading this verse a new with fresh eyes going through this study that stood out to me. Paul describes people who are simultaneously spreading deception while being deceived themselves.

A man can teach something he sincerely believes to be true, persuade others to believe it, and never recognize that he is actually leading people away from the truth. He may not consider himself to be rebellious. He may genuinely believe he is helping people understand scripture. And the more people accept his teaching, the more convinced he may become that he is right. What do we call that? confirmation bias. He is being deceived and thus deceiving through confirmation bias. How is he being deceived? Well, because he listened to somebody else that wasn’t quite right. And then he takes what he learned from that person and passes it

1. And the more he does that and the more the people that listen to him say, “Yeah, that sounds right.” It just bolsters his position. And the scripture says that this will grow worse and worse. When does it grow worse and worse? Now, we’re in those days that Paul was warning Timothy about. We are in those days where this problem will become worse and worse. So, I asked the question, how how does this happen? What does it look like? If it’s growing worse and worse among us, then what does it look like? Well, the truth is most of us have already done this, have already been this. If you come from

a Christian background, chances are you’ve been guilty of this yourself. I was. And to be intellectually honest, I have to remain open to the possibility that today, even in my new understanding, I can still commit this error. How many of us were absolutely convinced that what we believed back in the day was the absolute truth? So convinced that we not only lived by those beliefs, but we taught them to others. That’s a classic example of being deceived and thus deceiving others that Paul says is going to get worse and worse and we have to entertain the possibility if we’re honest before the father. Do you think this can’t happen? Now, you see, one of the greatest mistakes that I believe the contemporary Christian

church has made across the board, regardless of which denomination you are a part of, is that you, your understanding of scripture, because now you quote unquote have the spirit, you’re no longer subject to the errors that you see in scripture. You’ve risen above that ability. You’ve risen above that weakness. So now everything that you see in scripture and everything that you convey or teach from scripture is just pure as the driven snow because you have the spirit. You couldn’t possibly have left the ancient path. I make this argument in my book. That’s the greatest error of the Christian church when they look at some of the things that you and I are

always trying to tell them. That spirit lives inside their hearts. But you know what? It could also live inside of ours. How? We’ve come to an understanding of the ways of the Lord. Our lives have been radically changed as a result of it. Our eyes have been opened. We have been awakened. But for you to take the position that what I’m talking about here and now can’t happen to you either through you or to you, then you’re falling into the evil one’s trap once again because it can. And it does. How does someone get to that point? That’s a good question, Ed. I don’t believe that we should assume that everyone who eventually becomes a wolf

began with the intention of deceiving Yah’s people. So consider this possible progression. A man begins his walk generally seeking Yah. Studies scripture, obeys what he understands, fellowships with other believers. Over time, he encounters a teaching that sounds reasonable, but doesn’t quite agree with scripture. Instead of rejecting it, he entertains it, if even a little bit. Eventually, he begins interpreting other passages through the lens of that teaching. What began as a questionable interpretation becomes something he is personally convinced is true. keywords personally convinced. Years pass. He teaches these ideas to others. People begin looking to him for answers. And because he has taught these things for so long, questioning them becomes increasingly difficult. The question is

this. At what point did this man or woman stop allowing scripture to correct his or her beliefs and begin to use scripture instead to defend them. Two huge differences. There’s a great chasm between these two. You either a continually allow scripture to correct your beliefs or you begin using the very same scripture to defend your error. Proverbs 14, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. That there is one of the scariest verses to me in all of the Bible because when something seems right to me, it’s really hard to move off of it. Even when someone flops a Bible into our face and says, “Ed, David, Tim, read

those words.” What does it say? That’s still really hard for a lot of people for whatever reason. We’ve got our heart attached to this issue, to this doctrine, to this belief. We’ve been taught this belief by a wellrespected man of God in our estimation. And certainly he can’t be wrong. And so in because of these things this way, whatever it is, man, it just seems right. But in the end it leads to death. That’s why it’s such a scary verse. The person’s confidence in the matter doesn’t change where the path leads. And sometimes I think this is why the scriptures tell us there’s going to be nashing of teeth in that day because so

many people are going to hold or they did hold to these ways that were ending in death to their dying days. They believed in him so passionately, so fervently, nothing would ever move them off of it, even actual scripture. And now they’re facing eternity and realizing that they’re not getting in and it’s because of this and they are going to be angered and infuriated beyond all reason and they’re going to be nashing their teeth. I think that uh what you’re referring to also is in uh in Matthew 7 when people say you know Lord Lord have we not done all these things in your name and he will say I

never knew you away from me you lawb breakakers or you’re people of lawlessness right uh another thing that comes to mind when it comes when it uh when you mention about whether they do this intentionally or not a couple of things in uh John 16:1 it says says, “These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble.” Be made to stumble. Okay? They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. People are going to do things to other people out of a sincere belief that they’re

actually following God and what he commanded them. And it says here, “And and these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me.” And I think that’s the underlying thing is that you do these things because you don’t truly know the father. You don’t truly know the scripture. And so that’s why you’re acting in this particular way because of your limited understanding of who God is or based on what you have read or what you know someone has taught you. M yeah. Amen. Tim, did you want to share something? I just wanted to say that Yeshua about 38 years or so after he was raised from the dead, you know, he came back in in

the book of Revelation chapter 2 and three and five out of those seven churches were seriously rebuked or seriously threatened for their lampstands to be removed and they were called to repentance. And three of them dealt with wolves pretty substantially. And there was a point in Ephesus, there was a a point where even the congregation was was challenged. They were rebuked for for allowing it. So it’s not just the leader, but we as a ley, the followers, we were commanded it as well, not just, you know, the churches. So I just wanted to make the point that Revelation that it’s pretty clear as well. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. 2 Timothy 4 3-4.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but gosh, we’re certainly in the midst of that right now. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap from themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Now, let me just say something here that’s difficult to say, but I know it’s true nonetheless. In some ways, we are all guilty of this today. Let me explain. Just like all of you, I have certain teachers that I’m drawn to and others I’m not. Not necessarily because those I’m not drawn to are teaching something wrong.

I just don’t like their teaching style, their whatever, you know, their way delivery, their presentation, whatever. So, for me, I like the Douglas Hamps, I like the Jim Staleies, I love the Michael RDS, but there’s others that I just pass on. And that’s that’s sometimes can be dangerous because the people that I’m passing on could have something really deep that I need to understand. And in that sense, I’m guilty of it. But I could also be guilty of making this error, choosing the Douglas Hamps, the Michael RDES, the Jim Staleies, because they line up with my perception of scripture. Exactly. That’s the bigger issue. And that’s the thing that Paul’s talking about here to Timothy.

The thing that lines up in my mind could very well be fable. So it’s a constant trap that we as students of scripture must avoid. We have to constantly be stepping over those traps. To elaborate on that and and also the point that Tim made, it’s our personal responsibility to be doing this thing on a regular basis, right? It’s our responsibility to know God, to know his scriptures on our own, right? It is our responsibility to grow in our understanding and and knowledge of who Yvai is. And it’s our that we’ve been instructed to test these things. This is something that each and every one of us should be testing. When we sit in a lesson, when we listen to a sermon, when we’re wherever we’re at

gathering, we should test this like the Bereans did against the scriptures. Yeah. The problem is that unfortunately I know at least in our congregation we use that scripture quite a bit to challenge other people and as I say you need to be a bereian you need to go study these things out and hope that they will see what we see right but the truth is that they have you know at some point stopped using it stopped testing number one and so they don’t do that today they believe that they’ve arrived which is again something that is contrary to what the scripture says because the scripture encourages es us to continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding.

But also the other thing that people don’t realize is the Bereans were testing everything against this only scriptures that were available at the time, which is the Hebrew Bible, right? Yeah. Okay. The wolf desires an audience. Acts 20. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage savage wolves will come in again among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. That word perverse is diastropho

directly. It means perverted. It means to make crooked. It means to distort. Consider the image on the screen. You have two rulers. One is slightly distorted. If you look at the ruler, it’s interesting because if you use the distorted ruler, going to be just short of its true length because of what’s been twisted in the middle. And that’s significant. The wolf is not someone that will teach something that’s completely and utterly false. He’s someone who will take what is true and distort it slightly in the middle. And again, Paul doesn’t say these men will speak outright lies. He says they will speak things that have been twisted away from what is right. The distorted ruler still looks like a ruler. It has the

same metal, same markings, same intended purpose. Something’s happened to it. It’s no longer straight. And here’s the problem. If you use the distorted ruler as your standard, everything you measure with it is affected. So that’s an important thing for us to give thought to. When we have an important doctrine, and you can just pick one for the sake of discussion. If it’s subtly distorted, then you will measure everything against that distortion that that distorted measure. Well, what does this look like in real life? Well, we see it in Matthew 4. A perfect example is the enemy, Satan, using scripture. He says to Yeshua, “If you are the son of man, throw yourself down. For it’s written, he shall give his angels charge

over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” So here we see the enemy, Satan, using the word, using what is written in order to get Yeshua to make a fatal mistake. Satan quoted scripture. He took scripture, attempted to use it to persuade Yeshua to act in a way that was contrary to his father’s will. A teacher can quote scripture accurately, someone like me, and still use it to teach something scripture does not support. Unlike Satan, someone within the body can gradually move away from sound doctrine, begin speaking distorted things, and eventually become one of the wolves Paul warned about in Acts 20.

And that’s my greatest fear as a teacher. One of the things I think I’ve shared this with you before, one of the things I do anytime someone comes to me with advice on a certain scripture or a certain belief or and I get them many times a day. I get your emails. I get your texts. I get your phone calls. You’re all in one way or another asking a question about this verse or that verse or this doctrine or that doctrine or my uncle said and what do you think? You know what I mean? Every single time before I even read your email, I am

praying in my heart to the father, please give me wisdom. Please give me understanding. Why? Well, because I can become this person. All of these verses that we’ve looked at thus far, all of them are talking about leaders, brothers, overseers, shepherds, teachers, prophets that rise up among the flock. That would be me more than you. And I take that very seriously and we all need to take that very seriously that we don’t want to be that person that is slowly but surely morphing into the wolf that we are being warned about in scripture. We have to resist it. He starts that entire section of scripture

with very strong words. Take heed to yourselves. Who is he talking to? The elders, the leaders. He’s not talking to the flock. Take heed to yourselves. Before Paul warns these elders about wolves among the flock, he warns them to examine themselves. Why? Because you can’t protect others from becoming wolves if you’re becoming one. Person who becomes a wolf may not begin by outright rejecting scripture. He may begin by altering its meaning, justifying his interpretation, ignoring passages that contradict him, and eventually teaching others to believe what he has come to believe. And like I said in the previous slide, someone like that wants an audience. Why? So that he’s not alone in what he believes. And brothers and sisters, while we’re in the desert, this is a monumental trap. It is a huge trap.

None of us has perfect understanding when it comes to scripture. And we will not fully understand until Yeshua returns. So, how do we avoid the monumental trap of slowly becoming the wolf? Well, here’s something that I realized. wandering off the ancient path is the same as becoming the wolf. So, in as much as some of these verses are directed to someone like me, it’s important for us all to understand that when we veer off the ancient path, that is the beginning of the metamorphosis, if you will, of becoming this wolf. So, what’s the solution? How can we avoid this trap? And I know some of you are going to say, “Well, that’s pretty basic. That’s pretty simple.” But guys, you have no idea.

The answer to this question is more difficult than you realize and when fully practiced will become the greatest spiritual discipline of your life. What am I talking about? the same thing I’ve been talking about for months. I don’t think many of us, maybe most, realize the difficulty of actually holding to what is written. When you take sentimentality and throw it in the mix. When you take feelings and throw it in the mix. When you take beloved friends and family and throw them in the mix. Your favorite teacher, pastor, reverend, evangelist, throw that in the mix. And then ask yourself how easy it is to actually hold to what is written. In my estimation,

this is the only solution with the help of the Holy Spirit of Christ and holding one another accountable. But this key among them all is for you just to hold to what is actually written and not to be in love with your opinion about what’s written because they are not the same. Don’t confuse your conclusions with Yah’s words. And again, huge huge especially for someone like me. We can look at say Acts 20:29 and make some declarations and tell people this is what I think this means, but the trap is confusing your conclusions about any said verse with what he actually says. We read a passage. We develop an interpretation.

And let me stop you right there and reiterate something that I’ve said a few times in recent history, but I want to declare it again here. Anytime you pick up your Bible and read a verse, look at Acts 20:29 right now on the screen, when you read that verse, you are interpreting. You go, “No, I’m not. I’m just reading it wrong.” Because when you read it, you’re reading it through the baggage of your past, your understanding, your glasses, your perception. That’s how you read it. That’s how we all read it. We read a passage, we develop an interpretation, and eventually become so convinced of that interpretation that we no longer recognize the difference between Yah’s

actual words and our explanation of it. 1 Corinthians 4. Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes. Why? That you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written. That none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. Why is he saying this? Well, when you go back to the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1, what is he saying? Some follow Apollos, some follow Paul, some follow Yeshua. It’s talking about this personality worship. And Paul’s concerned about that and he’s saying I hope that in us and I say as ad doss I hope that in me I may help you learn

to not think beyond what is written bey based on what I say. I am just a man a weak man with his own sin his own issues just like you. Yeah I can talk. Yeah I can be long-winded. Yeah, I can be convincing. None of that means squat. I want you to learn in this group not to think beyond what is written because of Ed Doss or David Baronson or Tim Snow. Because when you do that, Paul says, you get puffed up based on personalities. In context, Paul is addressing pride, divisions, and the tendency to exalt one teacher over another. How should we understand this? Our judgments must be governed by what Yah has revealed rather than by our own inflated opinions.

And I’ll be the first to admit right here and right now that as convincing as Ed Doss can be in my ability to teach, at the end of the day, it’s my inflated opinion. Because what I have and what I’m telling you is my opinion on his absolute truth. This doesn’t mean that scripture prohibits reasoning or drawing conclusions because Yeshua and the apostles regularly reasoned from scripture. But as again, as I said, there’s a huge difference between drawing a conclusion from what is written and treating that conclusion as though itself were written because it’s not. And we can’t allow our opinions about teachers and their authority or their importance to exceed what scripture actually says.

Neither Paul nor Apollos nor Ed Doss or Jim Staley or Michael RDE or Douglas Hamp or whoever you listen to is anywhere close to being the standard by which truth should be measured. And all these things I’m talking to you about are things that we have to be concerned with especially now since we are in the desert. Let me end with this thought. Keeping to what is written hard. It’s difficult because it requires us to remain willing to be wrong to unlearn. It requires us to question what we’ve been taught to reconsider what we’ve believed. and sometimes correct what we ourselves have taught others. And if we’re unwilling to do that, then at some point we stop

allowing scripture to correct us and begin using scripture to defend us. And that’s how a person can slowly move away from the truth while remaining absolutely convinced that he or she is walking in it. Paul is teaching us that there must always be a distinction between what Yah has said and what we believe Yah meant. The moment we erase that distinction, our interpretation begins to carry the authority scripture itself. Once that happens, we can no longer tell the difference in our minds and in our hearts between defending his word and defending our own beliefs. And as a result, we have become the wolf. I don’t want any of you to be good at defending your beliefs. What I want you to be good at is defending his word.

When I say something to someone and he or she says, ‘ Ed, do you mean to say that A B C D? What I’ll tell them is, well, wait a minute, so and so. All I want you to do is look down and tell me what the scripture says. And that’s what we must do instead of working so hard at defending your beliefs. because as soon as you do that, it’s a slippery slope of becoming the wolf. So those are my thoughts and now I want to open it up to you for your sharing to listen to you to correct me, rebuke me if you think I’m wrong. You know, I’m always open to that. So it looks like

Samuel’s the first one up. Do we get to see your happy face, bro? Or just the painting? Shabbat shalom. Shabbat shalom. How are you, brother Ed? I’m fine. How are you? I’m doing well, brother. Wonderful lesson. Um, I will give you one little reproof. I disagree with you on the tithe. On time. I think No, the the tithe. I think Oh, the tithe. Yeah, I think the tenth is still required because it it the the the tithe isn’t tied to the temple. Um, because Abraham isn’t the only one who tithed. You know, we see Abraham tithing in in Genesis or Beerit to MelkiseDc, but we

also see um YaKob um making a covenant or making a vow to Yah that if he was allowed to u make it into prosper that he would commit a tenth of what he received um to the most high. So So I disagree. I the tithe isn’t tied to the temple. is tied to to Elohim and it’s tied to the work um of his kingdom. But that’s another story. Amen. But but but but I love I I loved um what you shared. I I I will add this piece of caution when it comes to reading the word because you have various translations and we tend to read with the eyes that

we’ve been given through the various school systems and indoctrination. So when we’re looking at things, it’s it’s always good to have more than one and not to lean heavily on one translation as opposed to having several to compare. Because if you look at um let’s say for example the KGV, which I love because it’s very poetic. It’s close to the poetry that I think is is expressed within um within the Hebrew. It comes close when it comes to the English. But but you will see things in there with respect to and and and thus Yeshua declared all foods clean when it talks about the the um the account of what

happens when Messiah goes and his disciples don’t wash their hands in the ritualistic washing. So that was inserted. So somebody will read that and if they’re only going off of that translation and they say, “Well, I’m only going by what I’m reading.” How do you defend against that if you don’t have other translations where that isn’t inserted or if you haven’t done the necessary study to look underneath the hood and to see that no Messiah isn’t going to tell you that all foods are clean because then that would mean that he’s not walking in alignment to the Torah and he was without sin. So, you know, I’m I’m I know a lot of brothers say solos script Torah. I’m primoscript Torah because I think that

there there is space for different research when you test it against Torah that it it will help you better understand what’s happening. So I would say get yourself a couple of good translations and make certain not a translation of a translation because sometimes you can get a translation which is nothing more than just a reiteration of the KGV but with more modern English. That doesn’t help you. you you you have to really be careful with that. It’s very important. Um the interesting thing about the wolves is that sometimes the wolves are are are feeding off the flock just for a filthy lucer. At other times they’re feeding

their ego because what they want is the agilation. So how do you tell when when the praise comes into you? Who do you point to? Do you you accept it for yourself and and and start embracing yourself as being the messenger or do you say give the praises to Yah, he gets the praise, not me. Yeah. Um it’s interesting that that you know you mentioned um the Apostle Paul because even Paul spoke of the thorn that was placed in his flesh in order to keep him humble because he knew with the gifts that he had it was e easy for him to get puffed up. He was educated by one of the best.

He was educated under the feet of of Gamaliel. He was a doctor of Torah and then he he was brought into the knowledge of the truth of Messiah. So if anyone with the especially with his gifts of being able to speak in tongues, if anyone was was able to get puffed up, it would have been Paul and yet he was able to subdue himself and continue his work in earnest. Um, just to just to get to um to to support everything that you said, if you want to see the wolves in action in in the scripture, meaning that they take a bribe or they are subject to flattery

and that turns their heart. If you want to if you want to find it, if you go into the Tanakh, you can see it with with respect to to Balum and the the fornication and the the adultery um with the strange women um that infected the camp and caused the plague to to infest them. So, Balum is one of the the first times you have a false prophet that comes out there and he’s doing it for for gain. He’s doing it because of Bailac. You can also see it in 1 Samuel. You see it with the sons of Eli and Eli not willing to actually confront them and the Most High passing judgment on

Eli because his sons who were also priests were taking advantage of the people and they’re taken from the tithe and not giving properly to the Most High and they were sleeping with the women who were coming with the tithe. You see it with even King David because he acted as a wolf when he took Bath Sheba. and arranged the murder of of um of Uriah. You see it with the prophet Samuel. He became a wolf. Um you see it in 2 Chronicles. King Josiah started out well under the priesthood of Jehoa. But once Jehooda died when the when the princes of Judah came to him and it says in certain scriptures gave obedience meaning that they bowed low before him. They

flattered him. They convinced him to turn against the Most High. A lot of the reforms that he had put in place were rescended at that point once Jehoya died. And then what do you have? You have the son of Jehoa who was also a priest and a prophet Zachchariah being stoned to death when he spoke up against it. And then when you want to move into the brick kadeshaw, the new testament, you see that with respect to Simon the sorcerer who wanted to learn these things and get his hands on the anointing so then he could use it for his own gain. This is the filthy Lucer.

And then you see it mentioned in and it’s it’s interesting that that brother Tim brought up Revelation because Revelation talks about it directly with respect to the nickelans and you see that within different hierarchical systems especially within the church. Um so it’s it’s a mismanagement of the funds. It’s taking all of the attention and the worship for yourself. You’re right. When you veer from the ancient path, that’s when you become subject to these things. I think the most important piece to to Deuteronomy 13. When we talk about the arising of false prophets, the most important point of that is that they are teaching something contrary to Torah.

They are teaching another Elohim. And this is also what you see is addressed within the epistles of the the apostles, a different gospel. Yeah. Exactly right. a a different gospel other than the one that was being preached. So, you know, when you when you have people come and they’re telling you about, hey, I’ve seen this book and, you know, it’s saying that, you know, in reality, Adam and Eve had intimacy with the serpent and that’s what happened. Right now, they’re veering off. Or when you see someone talking about how Messiah was molested when he went into Shol, right? Well, where are you getting this from? Where you and you call yourself a prophet. When you have so-called prophets and prophetesses talking about um I saw certain

celebrities in in hell, where are you getting this from? Where is it coming from? From scripture, right? Yeah. So, and I think that the the the key thing is for anybody who who is who is called to to teach, called to be an overseer, even those who are called to be apostles, apostles or prophets, is not just are you reading the word. The question is, are you living it? Y are you walking it out in fear and trembling and humility before Yah. That’s the real test for every person because the deception is a selfdeception. when you think that now you are on par with the prophets of old

and now suddenly you can’t be questioned and the key to contesting that for anybody who calls themselves a teacher because the the order is laid out within within the Tanakh and you say it again within the New Testament or the brick kadesha two or more witnesses so if you have someone who’s operating in the function of an elder or a teacher and they go off they go off site you you approach them first. If they don’t listen, you bring a second witness. If they don’t listen, then now you go back and you bring the matter before the assembly. This is how you check it. It cannot be done with us operating in isolation. It has to be done in fellowship and disciplehip. If you don’t

have that and everybody just reduces this walk to coming together to hear a teaching or to read scripture on the Shabbat, then you are failing miserably. These are principles of life that are to be applied every day. This is just an opportunity to come together in the presence of the most high with his set aart spirit and each other as family to be edified by teaching and by sharing. So I appreciate you allowing me to speak, brother Ed. Shabb. Amen, brother. Of course. always appreciate your thoughts. Okay, brother Sloan, you’re up, man. Uh, good morning. I just wanted to uh you gave me some food for thought. I didn’t think of the false prophet or the

wolf as being someone who could actually organically come from within. I usually thought about it as being someone outside that would then come in, use subversion and deception, and then uh pull the wool over people’s eyes. No pun intended. Um but another another thing I wanted to say uh also is do we have an instance in the Bible where a false prophet is ever recorded to have repented uh from his fallacy and from his conviction that he was right and to where he repented and God allowed him to live because I mean pretty much the death penalty was on a false prophet because they were speaking God’s words when God had not commanded them to speak.

That’s a very interesting question. I love questions like that because when you think about the people say that Samuel just rattled off and you and you think about Simon the sorcerer in the New Testament, we see that he gets rebuked. We don’t see that he left the fellowship. I don’t think maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. You think about um um Balum and the things that he did. To my knowledge, we don’t see the ultimate reality of what happened to Balum. Although the Bible has much to say about him later, even Paul might be an example. Saul Paul. Yeah, I think Paul’s probably secret things and then when things have revealed to him and obviously he turned around.

Yeah, I think I think David’s right. I think Paul’s probably the greatest example of that. Yeah, that that that makes sense. And one more thing before I let someone else speak. I wanted to also say how helpful it was to get on the new website and a shout out to Sean Renoud for all his work that he did. Finding the slides being able to go and find that one verse that I couldn’t remember in the hundreds of words that you would say during a particular teaching is really helpful. So thanks to all who were involved in that. Amen. Brother, are you are you telling are you telling me I’m longwinded?

Hundreds of words. Is that what you’re just trying to eat away saying? I need to shut up. Uh, and not just Sean, by the way. Michael Pinter as well. The two of them have done masterful things. Shout out to all of them. It’s very user friendly. We appreciate that. Yeah. Amen. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh, let’s see who else. Go ahead. Zoom user. This is Nicole from Georgia. I didn’t enhance my didn’t rename myself there. But I think I didn’t really even think about it being internal people that would be a wolf. And I think about how hard terrible it would have been for

Paul. I mean he proclaimed to be dual citizenship knew everything that the Torah said and and then he even held the was it he held the cloaks of people that he stoned and killed. I mean, I can’t imagine it’s I’m struggling and learning lies and how hard it must have been for him to repent and learn liarn lies and be grieved and still be used for the glory of God. That’s just all I wanted to say is that Paul and even like just teachings like that we’ve heard that I’ve listened to this week, you know, about your salvation and losing your salvation and or can it be lost? And I and I think back to pastors that I had

that I love dearly and I’m having to rethink why why would he teach me this? And I don’t think he knew he was a wolf. And we have to think about where we are on our journey. Um unlearning lies and not becoming wolves and seeing truth and being open to the Holy Spirit changing these people and praying for them that they don’t be the wolves internally. I mean, I was like the other gentleman who thought, “Oh, those terrible wolves coming in trying to deceive the people.” But it’s the very people that God wants to use that are doing that sometimes. Anyway, that’s all I had to say.

Amen. Nicole, thank you so much. I appreciate you. Okay, brother Jim, you’re up. Make sure your microphone’s turned on, brother. You always forget that. Sorry about that. I think it’s a a marriage thing. My wife is always turning off my microphone. I I have sometimes when I go to mute the TV, I point it to my wife and say, “It doesn’t work on you.” I need one of those. I need a clicker for my wife. She She has one for me. I don’t get it. No, I I I um don’t know that I have any like strong conclusion from your message, but I guess I was thinking of well, several things. I’ll

just kind of start blurting them out. I was thinking one of the relationship or the difference in the relationship between a fisherman and his fish and a wolf and his sheep. You know, we are we are called to be fishers of men. We are called to put something on a hook, cast it out into the water, and pray for good results versus a wolf who’s actually praying on the flock. That was one thing that was kind of going through my mind as we were talking and I don’t know if that will spur any kind of thoughts and maybe in your mind because there there is an element of appetite and predation that is in the fishermen and Yeshua does call us to be fishers of men. I’m going to teach you

how to be fishers of men. I’m going to teach you how to lure people out of darkness and to bring them into light. And you know even though the the the the language of a lure you know I mean that you know where does that fit in our message you know is that something that involves predation on the part of the fisherman you know these are tough questions that that you know I I was wrestling with as you were speaking you know and then then I was lured out of the Sunday Easter Christmas church because of appetite you know that I had an appetite in me for something that just wasn’t being fulfilled or satisfied in in the assembly that the many assemblies that I had wandered through.

And so here I’ve been lured out into the wilderness with my own appetite. You know, there was an appetite in me for something that I wasn’t getting. And and and you you think about the beastlike nature of appetite. Appetite has always messed up humanity. It messed up the first couple. They had appetite for something that wasn’t on the menu. And so, you know, these are very complex things. I don’t know that I have a strong conclusion on any of this. It’s like this is a tough message, Ed, because you’re saying, “Yes, I’ve been gifted as a teacher. I have something to say. Yet, you’re challenging us to weigh very carefully the words by scripture.”

And yet, we lack scriptural understanding to even measure your words. I mean, we’re we’re in um a a state of coming to the light from a realm of darkness that um had staged itself and framed itself as the light. And and so we’re in this very weird stage of development right now. And I don’t know, I I think I feel like I’m babbling right now, but I I just want to put that into your your thoughts and maybe the people that are out there listening to to respond to. Yeah. I that’s all I got right now. I I I think prayer is is one of our major tools that we can use being in the scripture want

to harmonize or or sync up with what Samuel was saying uh and and what you and you Ed were saying. I I would also include what we have access to beyond translations or now we have access as lay people to the original languages. You know there are so many good tools online right now um that bring greater understanding to us. So that’s something that we can do. We can actually go to the Hebrew, we can go to the Greek. There are so many great uh resources available to us right now. So these are all tools that are in our tool belt uh so that we can stay on the on the path. Um but other than that, Shabbat shalom everyone. Um consider

very prayerfully where we are in our journey and cry out to God. Well, amen brother. Appreciate you as always and even your uh rambling musings are welcome. So I appreciate all of it. Good brother. Can I can I can I speak to one thing that brother Jim asked? Sure. Okay. So So brother Jim, the difference between the fishes of men and the wolves is this. With the fishes of men, the the whole idea of the bodies of water that represents people that represents the nations. Number one, the fishes of men are not doing it for themselves. They’re doing it on behalf of of the master. So it’s

not for their edification. the the wolves are pred are their predation is based on them consuming for themselves. That’s the distinction that has to be made. Now also within the same prophecy that that drew on fishes of men that also are hunters of men and you see that with respect to the apostle Paul at first he was a hunter of men then he turned into a fisher of men. He became that which was righteous in terms of seeking out the lost sheep of of Israel. So that that’s the distinction to be drawn, brother. I just wanted to share that. Thank you for allowing me to share that.

Just just just to that point. I mean, and we have to be careful and again this is the the point that Ed was bringing up earlier with respect to people becoming wolves and not really aware of that. People going in wanting to be, you know, with great hearts to be fishers of men, but then ultimately starting to count how many people they have studied with, how many people they have baptized. And that was very prevalent within our organization, right? That in our previous church, right? And you have to be careful that you don’t kind of sway in that direction. Start with great hearts and then eventually evolve into,

you know, someone who’s doing it for themselves, right? So, again, self- glorification. All right. Thank you. Let me let me uh contribute one additional thing. Um, thank you Samuel for that. And as you were saying that, I was thinking of there’s a step involved between the fisherman, the lure, and the fish versus the wolf and the sheep. The wolf is directly going to aggressively come after the sheep. In the fisherman situation, it seems that maybe the fish has an element of choice. You know, it can choose to come out after that lure or it can just stay hidden in its little its little realm. So, I just want to

throw that in there, too, that maybe that’s something we need to think on is are we allowing the people that we’re reaching out to free will. So, that’s all I’m done. Move on. Okay, I’ll Oh, good stuff. Love it. Love it. Love it. Okay, Daria, you’re up. It looked like Luke was up first, but he took his hand down. So, go ahead, Daria. Uh, I have a one thing that I need to address or I have a question. If uh you your teachings are so clear now I think about Yeshua being God. Okay. If you teach that Yeshua is God and we know that this is a salvation issue and if

somebody in your group does not agree with that but creates his own group where he teaches that he is not God and even other things. I ask if it’s okay and I ask if somebody does not believe with you or with your teachings that are biblical uh why those people don’t leave you and don’t just create their own group and stay there. That’s my question because I know that there are people among us who don’t believe that Yeshua is God. I mean yes that’s their uh that’s there I mean I don’t I don’t judge anyone I don’t um I love everybody but I know this is

salvation issue and this is important because what you shared about the issue of bingot is clear and I I agree with that but if somebody doesn’t agree with that and then creates his own group where people coming to this group like their ears like to be tickled because they believe the same thing then I think this is not okay and we should address it and uh there should be a plumblide drone to say okay I know there are people that are still searching and they uh you know and they might come to the conclusion they were they were wrong but of course this is about humility about

uh accepting or saying yes I might be wrong but there are things in our group I don’t like I share it publicly. I don’t like it that you know we have such a people there. Uh and uh I just uh it grips my heart that this is happening because because this I think this is wrong having been in your group and then creating their own group just to you know to speak about things they don’t agree with you. I think that is bad. That’s what I wanted to say. Thank you. Okay, let me address this real quickly. It’s kind of off topic, but it kind of fits us a little bit in in our topic today. But let me say this

first and foremost. What we have here in this little group is not a church. I am not your pastor. You are not my flock. It I can’t be You can’t be my flock because we’re literally all over the world. And because we’re all over the world, I can’t be your pastor that watches over you as a pastor could locally. I am a face on YouTube who wants to use his talents of teaching, his God-given talents of teaching to do my best to teach what’s written. You have the ultimate freedom of coming or not coming, of being a supporter or not a supporter. You all have the freedom to wholly and agree with everything that I teach or to wholly

disagree and reject everything or anything that I teach. That is your freedom. If one of you doesn’t agree with A, B, or C, I am not going to judge you. You are not going to hear me tell you that you must see things my way or you’re out the door. The only way anyone in this group gets kicked out is if he or she is obviously demeaning, obviously hurtful, has no interest in protecting each other, just wants his opinion or her opinion to be heard, not listening to anything that you have to say, or is flat out heretical, that person probably won’t last long. I want to be a place where you can come where your perceptions, your thoughts,

your beliefs maybe may be a little bit different than mine on A, B, or C. I I want you to be here because again, you’ve heard me say a thousand times, Paul says there must be factions among you. So, we have to have these subtle differences. We have to have these subtle, even if you think they’re huge differences, like Daria said, believing in the in who Yeshua is, that’s in some of your minds a huge difference. I I want to welcome even that, right? Why I would be a hypocrite if after a lesson like I just taught then turned around and say that sister or that brother is not welcome because he sees this differently than me.

I’m not going to be that hypocrite. I’m going to love that brother. I’m going to love that sister. And if he or she wants to create his own group or her own group, that’s none of my business. They have freedom on YouTube and that’s not I can’t have I can’t control that. If some people in this group want to go over to that group because they lean more towards his or her perspective or perception on this or that topic, I can’t control that. normal. I try because I’m not your pastor. All I can do is be on here and teach the best I can based on what I see in scripture

and let you guys figure out what you’re going to do with that. If you think Ed’s a wacko and I’m not going to listen to him, more power to you. Amen. You’re not going to hear me judge you. You’re not going to hear me get mad at you. If you think I’m right most of the time, more power to you. If you think I’m right all the time, I’m concerned about you. I try to be right all the time. But I’m I’m not going to be. I’m a man. So, having said that, I want you guys to understand my position. Some of you believe in doing wearing hats, the women wearing hats. You’re never going to hear me judge you for

that. We can talk about it. We can teach about it, but I’m never going to say you’re not welcome because you wear a beard and your wife wears a hat or you have long tassels or you don’t have any tassels at. We’re here to learn what the truth is and then individually change according to what we see in scripture. But I am not going to mandate that you change to be a part of this group because again this is not my church. This is not a church. Can’t be. David, do you have any thoughts in that regard? Am I on the right track here? Okay. Uh let’s see now. Having said all that,

let’s put that issue to rest. any any more uh comments uh based on the lesson would be super helpful. Jeff, yeah, thank you. Uh I always thought the same as uh some of the guys mentioned about the wolf being evil, but uh your lesson made me realize when I was in the Christian church, I was one of the wolves. That’s what brought me back to the ancient path was trying to convince a guy who was part of a cult. But trying to convince him that, you know, the Old Testament didn’t apply to his his salvation. And when having to research argue with him, that’s what brought me to the path. And uh I’m grateful for you

and your teaching. And I don’t agree with everything, but I like that. That’s my favorite part is that you accept people that don’t agree with every single thing. God bless you, sir. Amen. Jeeoff, thank you, brother. Appreciate that. Okay, Christine, you’re up next. Yeah, I’m sorry I wasn’t on camera today. As you know, I’m we’re in Seattle with our grandbabies and so we’re not alone here in the house, but um I really appreciated this lesson, Eddie. And um I would just say that thinking about the wolf, you know, the the a powerful point that you made that sometimes they don’t realize that they are a wolf or even can

pinpoint when they became one or when that process started. But I would suggest that, you know, they at the very least began with strong convictions, not unlike all of us here and all everybody expressing their concern verbally and also on chat. it’s because we have strong spiritual convictions. And I don’t I don’t think there’s danger um is not necessarily in having those strong convictions, but I do think that we we can begin to become wolves if we allow our convictions to become judgments about another person’s heart, about their sincerity, about their spiritual maturity, and even their relationship with Yhovah. Mhm. So, I think that we have to be really careful to not be too opinionated

about another person’s beliefs and where they’re at at the current time because that is the start of becoming a wolf is when we start that judgmental path where we’re looking at people heavier than we should be. Um, that’s all I wanted to add there. Okay. Thank you. All right, Amy, you’re going to be our last voice because we’re running late, but go ahead. Go ahead and share. Hi, Shabbat. Shalom. Um, actually, I just want to um second what Christine just said. It was basically my whole thought this whole time. Um, listening. And yeah, I mean, I would even say um I mean, I’m not sure if she’s referencing, you know, Christians um or

just people in the movement, but um because I believe that there there are wolves in the Messianic movement. Um kind of like the Torah police, I would say, right? um when I think of wolves I think that um but yeah I mean just to reiterate what she said I think 100% um we have to be careful we have to be careful not to be so puffed up that we know everything and judge other people because we’re all on this journey and we’re all getting you know from one place to another you know um as long as we allow the Lord to um consistently grow us right It may look different to

some, but um you know, he is so faithful and if we’re faithful to him, whatever that looks like, he’s going to get us to where we need to go. So, I just think you know uh we have to be mindful not to be so judgmental. Um, some people are further in the faith than we are and some people are behind us. And, you know, just be loving and gentle and cautious and not be, you know, so puffed up that you can’t see, you know, past what your own understanding is. Amen. Thank you, sister. Okay, guys. I appreciate all of your uh your your thoughts, your input. Um, I would I

would amend Amy’s wonderful comment by saying one thing, and it’s a little thing, but uh I need to say it. I don’t believe what we’re seeing around the world is a movement. And I know that you don’t mean to be it to sound that way, Ammy. Amy, I don’t think what we’re seeing is a movement. I think what we’re seeing is an awakening done by Yeah, definitely. Sorry, wrong wording. Yes. by the Holy Spirit around the world, not of ourselves, not of men and women’s strength or power. I think it’s the father opening eyes. And what Amy said is true and what Christine said is true. We are all at different levels, different levels of maturity in that awakening process.

And so we have to be really sensitive about letting everybody be who they are where they are until they themselves come to maturity. And guess whose responsibility that is? Not yours. It’s the spirits. It’s the Holy Spirit that we’re promised that he will get us to where we want to be right spiritually. That’s the promise. The Holy Spirit working inside of us is going to get us where he wants us to be. Now, does that mean we can’t help each other? Of course, we can. I’m not saying that. Disciplehip is absolutely necessary. But judgmental judgmentalism is not. And there’s a fine line between helping one another in love and disciplehip and judging one another

with, you know, talking down to them or looking down to them because they haven’t quite seen things the way you do because you’re so spiritual and you have all this knowledge. No, the more knowledge and wisdom you have, the more patience and love and care you should have towards your brothers and sisters. So guys, thanks for being here at this Shabbat. Thanks for putting up with the um technical difficulties. I’ll have to edit all that stuff out. Um looking forward to seeing you on YouTube this week if that’s who you are. Next week we’ll come back with talking about what not to do while we’re in the desert. But I love you all. Thank you so much for coming. Have a wonderful Shabbat. Have a

great weekend and we’ll see you next week. Shalom. Thank you. Shalom. Shalom. Shalom. Shabbat. Shalom. Shalom. Fantastic teaching. Shalom. Shalom. Shabbat. Shalom. Take care. Shabbat. Shalom. Shabbat. Shalom.