Leaving the Shaul Behind

There has been much strife within the body regarding certain matters. The Ruach ha’ Qodesh has placed some thoughts in my mind that I have the urging of the Ruach to share.

Please allow yourself to read this all the way through to the end. Hopefully, by the end, we will all learn how worldly things can be used for lead-ins into sharing the Word and, we will learn that we don’t possess full understanding of anything and that the Will of the Father is Love. It is lengthy and I hope it ends up being worth the time it took you to read it. I humbly share it with you all and of course I will be curious about your response to it. Okay, here we go… 

There must be some way out of here

Said the joker to the thief

There’s too much confusion,

I can’t get no relief

Businessmen, they drink my wine

Plowmen dig my earth

None of them along the line

Know what any of it is worth

No reason to get excited, the thief, he kindly spoke

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate

So let us not talk falsely now,

The hour is getting late

All along the watchtower,

Princes kept the view

While all the women came and went, barefoot servants too

 Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl

Two riders were approaching,

The wind began to howl

Some of you will recognize those words as lyrics to a song entitled “All Along the Watchtower”. Some of you may be confused as to why I, a blessed daughter of Yahuah, is using lyrics from a worldly songwriter as the introduction to a piece written with the love of my brothers and sisters in Mashiak in mind. There will be a connection to spiritual truth. Stay with me.

When I was walking in my worldly ways, music of all styles was a big part of my life. The song referenced above was a definite favorite. Although Bob Dylan wrote the lyrics, Jimi Hendrix brought it to life. Remember, stay with me.

When listening to Jimi’s version I remember the song resonating with me instantly. I too thought that “there must be some way out of here”. I did not understand nor feel comfortable in this world. I definitely felt the confusion and did not see nor find “relief” from it.

I thought of the “suits” taking the “fruits of the labor” of the working class with “none of them along the line know what any of it is worth”. They didn’t know the toil, the sweat, the time away from families, going without. They didn’t know the sacrifices made to have just a little. They didn’t know what it was like to earn something.

Sadly, I also related to the line “life is but a joke”. I saw the false way we would present ourselves. I didn’t understand the way we treated one another. People who claim to love you-hurt you. People lied a lot, spoke coarsely, did profane things, and talked about people behind their backs. Family homes with closets full of skeletons. It just seemed to be what we humans did. So relationally, it all seemed to be a “joke”.

Then the “joke” showed itself even more with school attendance. The indoctrination into a bunch of lies and nothingness all the way through to High School and beyond; when some really got their brains scrambled by going to college. So, then I saw the “joke” continuing with us getting caught up in jobs most didn’t seem to enjoy, giving 8 hours or more of our lives each day to a system that seeks to “steal, kill and destroy” our souls. Sprinkle in commutes, unhealthy working conditions, narcissistic employers, pay not equal to performance, taxes, taxes, taxes, working two jobs to survive, meaningless careers, low morale, exhaustion on all fronts and the worst of it-giving your “best” not to your loved ones but to one that takes it greedily with very little return on investment.

I saw families torn apart, homelessness, drug addiction, sweatshops, illnesses that can’t be cured, poisoned water, food and air-while so many “wave their hands like they just don’t care”. Children and babies experiencing cruelty and torment beyond our understanding. Food being thrown into dumpsters while people starved. Men and women living in their ivory towers looking down upon the little people. Folks striving to have an ivory tower of their own, delusional thinking that that is what life is all about.

Power, riches, and fame, life is but a game and whoever dies with the most toys wins. Yeah, I definitely resonated with this song. (stay with me…I’m getting there…)

There was a tiny set of people of influence who seemed to speak against wickedness, but nothing seemed to change on a large level. Most were not educated on the importance of knowing who you are. What your values are. What you believe and why. We were not strong in our understanding of consequences if we didn’t remain true to the “inner voice” reminding us of our values and beliefs. Who or what is that “inner voice”? We were weak in our understanding of self-how did we come to be? Why do we think the way we do and why it isn’t always good to “go with the flow”.

A reasonable voice was not often heard outside of one’s own mind. Nothing made sense.

I frequently would feel that “the hour is getting late”. I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly but I felt it was a call-a warning that things could not continue the way they were going. Destruction was on the horizon. A no turning back point was looming. I remember one night in the early to mid-2000s posting to my FB page the line “outside in the distance a wildcat did growl”. I thought that also to be a warning of sorts.

 So, why did I share how those lyrics made me think and feel? Partly to show how even a worldly song writer can see there is something not right with the systems of this world. How worldly lyrics can cause people to think about things on a deeper level. How it shows that seekers of meaning come in all varieties.

We were all seekers before coming into the Truth we now know and walk in. That’s partly how we found one another. We heard The call. His Voice resonated with us.

I see these Dylan lyrics and the lyrics to “Rich Men North of Richmond” in a similar fashion. Two songs written by men of this world that recognize there are thieves and oppressors among us. They both sought to not live in that existence. One stating “there must be some way out of here” and the other “wish I could just wake up and it not be true”. Those lyrics and feelings resonated with many. Stay with me, scripture ahead.

We can look at these songs as worldly and shut our eyes thinking that we are looking at evil or we can see that Yahuah gave us two songs that can be used as a conversation starter. A conversation that can lead into asking the person “have you ever felt that there’s just too much confusion and you just want a way out?” or “have you ever thought deeper about what that confusion stems from?” Let’s talk about it!

These questions can lead a lost person into The Light and The Way!

We can begin with scripture such as:

2 KORINTHIANS 11:13-14

“For such are false emissaries, deceptive workers, masquerading as emissaries of Mashiak. And no wonder! For shatan himself masquerades as a messenger of light.”

This can lead to discussion of how the adversary is currently the god of this world whose main goal is to lead us astray into a giant ball of confusion. Spinning lies and chaos in attempts to keep us from seeing the Truth. 

2 KORINTHIANS 4:4

“In whom the mighty one of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that the enlightening of the Besorah of the esteem of Mashiak, Who is the likeness of Yahuah, does not shine on them.” - What!?! That deceitful one uses tactics to keep me from seeing the meaning of this life??? Yep. Well, like the song says-” there must be some way out of here”! There is my friend, let’s take a look…  

1 JOHN 3:8

“The one doing sin is of the devil because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of Yahuah was manifested: to destroy the activity of the devil.”

Um, okay, cool. How is that the way out of here?

JOHN 10:9-15

“I am the door. Whoever enters through Me, he shall be delivered, and shall go in and shall go out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might possess life, and that they might possess it beyond measure. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. But the hireling, and not being a shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. Now the hireling flees because he is a hireling and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. And I know Mine, and Mine know Me, even as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Wow!!! That’s amazing!!! Yahusha is the way out of here!!!

The thief, the one masquerading as a messenger of light, places hirelings in our path speaking words that “tickle our ears” (2 TIM 4:3) and lead us into confusion, weakening our beings and when trouble (wolf) comes, the hireling flees. He cons us into trusting him and then leaves us in our times of trouble (sitting in his ivory tower).

Hireling: someone with a merely mercenary interest in the job for which he has been hired

Mercenary: inspired merely by a desire for gain

So, the thief tries to block my entrance to the door, right? Right. And the good shepherd is the door? Yes. And the good shepherd knows His and His knows Him? Yep. Alright man, you gotta tell me how I come to know the Way to the door! Scripture study begins…

What an amazing thought to think someone could come to know the Truth from a conversation about a worldly song.

 We do not know completely the workings and the secrets of our Father.

YashaYahu - Isaiah 55:9 “For as the shamayim are higher than the arets, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

King Jehu was not a true believer in Yahuah and yet he was anointed King of Israel through the Prophet Aliyahu as instructed by Yahuah. Yahuah used King Jehu to destroy temples and worshippers of Baal.

Then there is Paul, formerly known as Shaul. Shaul was a self-described prushim-a pharisee and one of Roman citizenship. He was present at the stoning of Stephanos who was “...a man filled with belief and the Ruach ha’ Qodesh…” (Acts 6:5) Shaul walked in blindness of Yahuah’s prophecy. Acts 8:2-3 states: “And dedicated men buried Stephanos, and made great lamentation over him. But Shaul was ravaging the assembly, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.” Shaul’s obsession with going after those he deemed unrighteous caused the imprisonment and death of many believers. It brought him an unhealthy focus to continue with his self-appointed mission to go after more believers of The Way-for he thought them to not be doing as he interpreted scripture states how we are to walk and believe.

Shaul was then met on the road to Damascus by Yahusha himself. “Shaul, Shaul, why do you persecute me?” After realizing who Yahusha is, Shaul asked Him what He wanted Him to do. Yahusha told him to “Arise and go into the city, and you shall be told what you have to do.” (Acts 9:6) We then learn that Yahusha has arranged for a “certain talmid, by name Kananyah” to seek Shaul out and lay his hands on him “so as to see again.” (Acts 9:12) Kananyah responded with what he has “heard from many about this man” (Acts 9:13)

Yahusha responded with “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before nations, sovereigns, and the children of Yisharal. For I shall show him how much he has to suffer for My Name.” (Acts 9:15-16)

We are not privy to what Shaul heard (“you shall be told what you have to do”) just as we are not privy to others' personal conversations and understandings with our Master.

Paul had a shocking past and was talked about by others yet used by Yahuah to bear His Name before many. The wonders and mysteries of the Creator abound. 

We sometimes become like Shaul. Convinced we know all about Yahuah and all about what walking in His Way looks like. We tend to look at how others are walking more than our own walk. 1 Timothy 4:16 states: “Pay attention to yourself and to the teachings. Continue in them, for in doing this you shall save both yourself and those who hear you.” Our walk is what we are to focus on, not the walk of others. Especially not on their past walk. If you think you’re seeing something in their current walk that is in step with their past, and it is concerning to you, first pray about it, then if you still feel unsettled, handle the matter privately as scripture instructs:

“And if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him, between you and him alone.If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” Matithyahu - Matthew 18:15

In this manner, you may learn things that shed a whole new light of clarification on what was a confusing matter.

In conclusion, I want to give everyone (myself included), something to think about. Although we are to be set-apart from this current world and its wicked ways, we are mixed up in it every day whether we want to be or not. If we find ourselves ready to judge another for their perceived association with an “abomination”, let us then be ready to give up our money for it bears pagan symbolism and is laundered by wicked men who use it for drugs, sex trafficking, illegal gain etc. Let us also be ready to give up our vehicles for most have pagan names and emblems. Let us be ready to give up our clothes since they are mainly produced by means of slave labor. Let us be ready to give up all forms of technology, pharmaceuticals, food…etc. Here’s how I put it recently-

“All of us working or non-working are in the Beast system. All of us receive and use money that has been laundered to fund child trafficking, drugs, pornography etc. Most of us work for the enemy disguised as some corporate name. That is just how it is until the Father’s fire purifies everything by burning it all away.” 

So, instead of allowing our ruachs to become upset over another person’s walk, let us pray for daily cleansing and keep 1 Kefa - Peter 4:7-8 at the forefront of our minds:

“But the end of all has drawn near. So, be sober-minded, and be attentive in the prayers. And above all have fervent love for one another, because love covers a great number of sins.”

HalleluYAH!!!

Shalom my brothers and sisters!

 Love in Mashiak, sister Shelly

 ps – for enjoyment I will soon be writing a spiritual analysis of the lyrics