But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
I am reminded of people I have met that once went to a church then stopped because of the lack of spiritual nourishment. But yet they were compelled to give ten percent. But the real question is, do people know what it takes to enter Heaven in the afterlife? Today there's great deception of what happens after death and yet nobody has come back after death to tell us scientifically.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
In other words, a grand dog and pony show for a funeral doesn't get you to heaven. It just manipulated people's opinion. But in the end, a wicked church collected the inheritance.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
This reminds me of evangelists that have their own personal jets for travel. They give a grand message that makes people feel good without actually preparing them for spiritual battle. Converting from one opinion to another is twice the problem if they don't believe on Yahusha Hamashia as their Savior and Master.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is obligated. You fools and blind men! For which is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated. You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears both by the sanctuary and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Today we don't have the Temple tradition of the Jews. But we have other traditional practices that is just as bad or worse. People have started attending a church and have not been accepted as real friends. The bottom line is their traditional way of being excepted, being sanctified in the eyes of the church. Someone sanctified in the eyes of Yahuah Elohiym will be shut out in taking communion in church that demands their traditions.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
I like the way Yahusha says this. Today there's churches that demand little things done just to see if you follow their way of doing religion. But yet I am reminded of churches where members broke the law and it was overlooked. All you need to do is Google, "church pastor found guilty of."
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
The important thing in these verses is that Pastors and elders of the church can come clean. It's not by covering up what they did wrong, it's by confession to Yahuah Elohiym, the government and the people in the church.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. In this way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Encapsulation of wickedness doesn't make it go away. If a bottle of capsules that all looked the same, having a variety of drugs in them, all are considered dangerous because of the lack of integrity of the person in charge. Holiness is purity and set apart. Within ourselves, we should not place the wicked part of our lives in capsules that outwardly look the same as something good we did. Don't expect salvation by practicing Encapsulation. We must continue to purge wickedness from within us.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So you bear witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “On account of this, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Yahusha Hamashia's prophecy did come true. In 70 CE. Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Judea. The Apostle Steven was the first to be killed openly. Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and others was placed on a boat without oars, sail or rudder on the Mediterranean Sea to die unnoticed. As I write this, I felt like they were cast off a ship from Judea to Northern Africa. It probably wasn't intended for them to have the boat. But about 13 in all crowded onto one tiny boat. By the hand of Yahuah Elohiym, they arrived in southern France.
Today Judea already received their nation back along with most of Jerusalem. Soon a temple will be rebuilt. This is the final thing that they lost back in 70 CE. The problem with all this is that history repeats itself. Already Syria has been purged of Christians. Those who remain hide themselves.
As for the Church, it is guilty of the Inquisition. How could that happen? It's because of Constantine the Great who blended Paganism with Christianity for a government that isn't divided spiritually. The Inquisition was the maintaining of this religious system. Once again, history will repeat itself. It will be like the days of Noah and also Lot when it takes place.
