For a while I was attending a small bible study group at our church where we were going through the book of John. We came to the story of Jesus and the woman at the well, and it raised a few questions for me.
When I have studied the lives and culture of that era, a couple of things did not make sense to me. What would have caused the leaders of the church to listen to a woman, much less an adulterous. So I went on a "search", and now have found more questions that answers.
I brought this up in the bible study and as is usual when I ask questions like this, I get cut off and disregarded, therefore I have not gone back.
In reading about the Samaritians, they were Jews who had incorporated pagan traditions into their faith by virtue of their time of being cut off from the "body". Thus the basis for the "battle" between the Jews and the Samaritans, the Jews felt they had corrupted the faith of god. Jesus told her you do not have one huband, you have five husbands, but the one you are living with is not your husband"
She seemed to know right away that He was talking symbolicaly of the church. The Samaritans had incorporated gods of Assyria into their faith and as a result had drifted far from Yahweh, causing them to no longer worship HIM. (they were no longer living with their God)
What is interesting is that she "left her jar of water". John writes this to show us her immediate response to the words of Christ. Just as the disciples dropped everything to follow HIM, so did she. She saw what needed to be done, and she did it. When you read, because of her testimony, many came to meet Jesus, and many lives were changed.
Well, this got me thinking even more. I look at the holy days the church honors today, Christmas and Easter being the two "high holy" days. BUT, Christmas was incorporated into the church but was not celebrated by the early church, to the contrary, it was celebrated long before the birth of Christ (which history and life in Israel tells us was more likely in the spring.) Most of the research I have done indicates that this was a Winter Soltice celebration (pagan) another teaches it is the celebration of the fire god Saturn...how can we honor GOD by incorporation pagan beliefs?
So many cry out "Keep Christ in Christmas"...but he was never there. The destroyer, the one who devours children, the god of this world, satan is the author of this day. So when we worship on this day, who do we worship?
Easter...the most common traditon I found was the celebration of Estra, a fertility godess...thus the reason for rabbits and easter eggs. How does this honor and follow God. Isn't this what the Samaritans did?
II Kings 17:33: “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.” We see here that Israel served their own gods while Fearing the Lord. It seems to me that we are doing exactly the same thing!
When I research some of the other days we set aside (ie mothers day, birthdays, etc) I find they all seem to have pagan origins. Even now, the slow acclimation to a high pagan day of halloween is being incorporated into our churches under the guise of evangelism and "harvest festival"...does sticking another name on it change what it is?
So this lead me to another question. In studies of Leviticus and the HOLY DAYS, God says "keep these forever", not Keep these until Jesus comes. So why do we choose to ignore God's Holy days, and honor man made pagan traditions and call them holy? Please excuse my confusion here. But I don't get it!
My oldest came to me and asked a question I cannot answer. One of God's 10 commandments that we diligently instruct our children to learn "Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy" (Holy meaning set apart) Yet Sabbath was on what we call Saturday, not Sunday. Where did God change His mind and tell us to keep Sunday holy?
Jesus warns us not to harm the children(is this what we are doing if we teach them to follow lies?) , we are warned not to add to or change the bible:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.
So...what do I do with this? Where is God leading my heart? I am not sure today, so I will keep praying, and studying.
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