Perfect Prophecy vs Perfect Doctrine
Understanding prophecy and understanding doctrine face similar challenges, except that time proves certain prophecy interpretations wrong while bad doctrinal teachings can rarely be tested until we die and face judgment. Understanding Prophecy and understanding Doctrine both involve interpreting the Bible and the world around us with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Before judging someone for making a mistake on their interpretation of Prophecy consider the standard you use regarding understanding Prophecy may be applied to you regarding your understanding of all scripture and doctrinal conclusions.
“with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”
Few people agree on everything and therefore people are fragmented into many small groups. Most Christians believe that so long as you believe Jesus died for your sins and ask Him to save you then your sins will be forgiven, period, end of story. From this perspective all other doctrinal differences and misinterpretation of prophecy should be moot and fall under the category of “forgiven sins”.
Except many of these same people will teach that if you attempt to keep His Law, known as the Torah, then you have committed an unforgivable sin of adding to Jesus’ sacrifice and if you teach others to keep Torah then you are a dangerous false prophet headed to hell. Others say only “laws” mentioned in the New Testament are in effect, but even then they are treated mostly as suggestions rather than obligations. Even among those who teach Torah there are disputes about what exactly it means. For example, if people disagree about the day of the Sabbath, the start of the month, or the start of the year then by definition they will conclude others are not keeping Torah.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew 5:19
So whether we adopt the position that law has been eliminated or that you must keep the law as best you can, we have a major problem. Every single doctrinal difference implies that someone is breaking God’s law.
Not all those who say “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father in Heaven.
— Mat 7:22–23
So it seems that simply calling him Lord is not enough and that we must know and do His will, and His will is revealed to us through communication of his Holy Sprit, his Angels, and His word via the old testament prophets.
Where there is no vision (divine revelation), the people perish: but he that keeps Torah (the law, divine revelation), happy is he.
— Proverbs 29:18
“You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
— Leviticus 10:10
Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the sacred and the secular, neither have they taught people the difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. — Ezekiel 22:26
The reality is that there exists a “Perfect Doctrine of YHWH” and that we should all strive to discover it so that we can do it as best we can.
I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is without limit (in its perfection)
— Psalms 119:96
While we all strive to discover and understand, no one succeeds.
None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands;
no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.— Hebrews 3:11
Hebrews is quoting from Psalms and declares that No One Understands and No One Seeks, not even One.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
— Psalms 114:3
Who then can say that they Understand the Perfect Doctrine of YHWH? Who can say that they seek the truth or have found it?
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
— Luke 11:9
This verse is nice and all, but we just saw that the word of God declares that no one seeks; therefore, no one finds. So even if we are seeking in part, we are also failing to seek completely. And though we ask in part, we do not know what to ask for. And when we receive impart, we do not fully obey or understand that which we receive. And when the door opens we don’t always enter.
Then what becomes of our boasting (in our understanding and obedience)? It is excluded. By what kind of principle? By a principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (of the Jews). Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one — who will justify The Circumcision (Jews) by faith and The Uncircumcision (Gentiles) through faith. Do we then overthrow the law (of Moses) by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold/establish the law.
— Romans 3:27…
How can we “uphold” the law when not one person actually fully understands the “perfect law”? And even if one were to fully understand, then they would still fail to follow what they understand. How then can one brother condemn another when He cannot be certain that His understanding is accurate and he knows his obedience to his own understanding is imperfect.
Who can perceive or understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret unknown faults. — Psalms 19:12
We uphold the law of YHWH by first acknowledging that it exists and is expressed through the original writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The New Testament brings clarity to them.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill (uphold, establish) them. — Matthew 5:17
Even if we do not fully understand it, we can lift it up as the “vision” or “revelation” of his word that we should ask and seek for understanding thereof. If we close our eyes or deny the scriptures exist or are relevant or have meaning then we are throwing down the law and not lifting it up.
We are Color Blind
Consider for a moment the movie Shrek where Donkey is given instructions to find a “Blue Flower with Red Thorns”… this is like the original Hebrew scriptures complete with full knowledge of all the culture and idioms at the time they were written and the symbolic connections to all other scripture. We are like Donkey, mostly color blind, but trying our best to follow the instructions.
You could say that Donkey was attempting to follow Torah (instructions) even though he couldn’t see the flowers he was looking for right in front of his face. He did not dispute the need to find the blue flowers or that they have red thorns. He just didn’t have the perceptive abilities to know the meaning of blue and red! Likewise, we are color blind when it comes to perfectly understanding the meaning of his Law. Nevertheless, we can declare that his Law is perfect and good and the path to life.
How then can we judge our color blind brothers and sisters who, for what ever reason, are unable to discern the shape of the earth or the proper day of the Sabbath or even what food is clean to eat? If we cannot agree on a clear meaning on some big, and seemingly obvious, issues, how will we discern the spec in other people’s eye?
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs (the unrepentant lost sheep) what is holy (his wisdom), and do not throw your pearls (wisdom of Kingdom of Heaven) before pigs (the unclean nations), lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
— Matthew 7
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. — Matthew 13:45
As an earring of gold and a bright pearl, so is he that reproves the wise, and the obedient ear. — Proverbs 25:12 (Douay-Rheims Bible)
In other words, we should share our understanding and wisdom only with the wise who welcome it, even if they disagree with it. Attacking and condemning those sharing their understanding, however wrong you believe it to be, would not be wise. It is the behavior of pigs. This is not to say that we should tolerate all opinions and behavior as being equal and approved by Yah.
You must Seek
You will not find what you do not search for. If you are content with your current understanding and unwilling to investigate further then you are potentially guilty of willful ignorance. Are you not afraid that you have misunderstood His law? Or do you not care if you misunderstand and say to yourself “it is pointless to try”?
The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom (sound doctrine).
If you cannot articulate the position of those who disagree with your conclusions then you have not fully understood their position, which may be right. Until you fully understand someone else’s position, you are unable to help them see the error of their way nor discover the potential error in your own way. Once both parties understand and can articulate the position of the opposing party in a manner the opposing party agrees with, then and only then is it reasonable to agree to disagree and both parties can be satisfied that the other party has sought the truth with all of their heart, mind, and soul.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. — Phil 2:3
Going along with the crowd without testing everything is the attitude of someone who doesn’t care about the “right answer” but only about “fitting in”. Such a person is not asking, seeking, and knocking.
That said, one need only look at the flat earth discussion to see that not all people are equally capable of applying logic and reason in the pursuit of truth. There are some people that are unable to read, or unable to do math, and/or unable to apply abstract thinking. They will never comprehend the full meaning of YHWH’s word and creation without divine intervention.
But before your pride kicks in that you are smarter than people who cannot understand the shape of the earth, we should humble ourselves that our ability to understand the perfection of his Law is little different than theirs. On a scale from 1 to 1000, those who misunderstand the shape of the earth are 1 and those who understand the shape of the earth are 2 and the full knowledge of Yah’s perfect law is 1000. You may be twice as smart but still only understand a fraction of a percent of what there is to know.
If you don’t know Hebrew and Greek then you have a handicap. And if you do know Hebrew then you have a different handicap of false familiarity and tradition that will color your investigation into the meaning.
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” — Mat 18:3
Children are ignorant and naive, but when raised well they are obedient as best they understand because they love their parents and their parents love them for it. A rebellious child does not care to understand their parents request or to follow through to the best of their ability. They skip school and deny the rules. In arrogance they presume to know better than their parents. I would like to suggest that “becoming like children” means we must realize we are “children” and not “know-it-all rebellious teens” when it comes to the details of his law.
Why Bother Trying?
If we cannot know his law then why bother trying to know it? Why attempt to obey something that could be entirely wrong?
“You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” — Mat 22:37
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. — 1 John 5:3
Put together it becomes:
You shall keep His commandments with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the first and great commandment.
Like the pearl of great value, you should put all your effort into acquiring it. Anything less than giving it your all is idolatry, putting something else above loving Him. So if your doctrine is that “nothing is expected” or “required” beyond a simple prayer for salvation then you may be in danger of not giving Him everything and thereby breaking the greatest commandment: seek and obey him with everything you have.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (law), and all these things (everything you need) will be added to you. — Mat 6:33
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. — Matthew 16:24
I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue — those liars who say they are [grafted into Jewish nation] but are not — to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love. — Revelation 3:8
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
— 1 John 2:4
“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. — Revelation 3:10
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Genesis/Torah); or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. — Revelation 2:2
Conclusion
We should encourage everyone to study and discuss their findings without condemning those who reach different conclusions. Listen to everyone and hold fast to what is good and true. If anyone who attacks you for sharing your conclusions on doctrine or prophecy, then do not engage with that person any further as that would be throwing Pearls of Wisdom before swine. However, if they will hear you out then engage peacefully with them and hear them out and maybe Yah will open both your eyes.
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,c encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
— 1 Thes 5:12…
