"Behold,
I have told you in advance."
Chapter 17:
Social Preparedness
“How can a person be socially prepared for the tribulation?”
The Scripture teaches that Avraham was a friend of YHWH. This is probably the highest compliment that the Scripture could give to a person. Avraham was so close to YHWH, that YHWH would come and tell him what He was going to do. That is the type of friendship that is possible for any person who is willing to seek after it.
John 15:13-15
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his master does; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
A person can be the friend of YHWH, if he is willing to obey Him. This is the only requirement to be His friend. The first duty of being obedient is to believe on Yeshua and be saved. This is done by confessing your sins to YHWH and asking forgiveness. Once this relationship is established, then the disciple has the responsibility to cultivate this friendship to its fullest. This is done by listening to YHWH and doing what He commands. Some of these commandments are found in Torah. The rest consist of hearing and obeying His Voice. If a person is not willing to do this, he cannot be a friend of YHWH.
The friendship one has with YHWH is the only relationship that will ensure eternal life. Doing what a church denomination commands will not. Doing what a preacher commands will not. Doing what a government commands will not. Doing what any other person commands will not. While each of these things may have a place in a person’s life, especially when they agree with YHWH, only doing what YHWH has commanded will ensure eternal life. This is not suggesting that salvation is by works, but rather that works are by salvation. As Martin Luther said, “It is not against works which we contend, but against trust in works.”
In conjunction with one’s friendship with YHWH is one’s friendship with His people. The cultivation of these two relationships is vital to being able to endure to the end.
John 15:12
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
This commandment that Yeshua gives to all who would follow Him and be His friend is that he is to love those who are a part of the body of Messiah. If a person is unwilling to love the person who has confessed Yeshua as YHWH, then he cannot be His friend. Each individual who has become a disciple in Messiah must cultivate his friendship with YHWH and His people (Israel). This will have a direct bearing on one’s ability to endure. If one is a friend of YHWH, then he will have many friends in Messiah. Being able to recognize these friends may be crucial to one’s survival during the tribulation. Therefore, knowing His own now becomes even more important.
Furthermore, when one chooses to observe holidays that are pagan in origin, then what suffers is the truth. Moreover, without truth there can be no true spiritual fellowship. In addition, what takes its place is something that is a counterfeit and is only on the surface. John 4:23 states, that we must worship the Father in spirit and in truth. In addition, 1 John 1:6-7, teaches us that the only true fellowship exists when the truth is practiced (walking in the light). He further states, that when this is not done, then one becomes a liar and is in darkness.
True fellowship with the Father and with one another always involves truth. There can be no fellowship without it. Truth is hard to hear at times, but His truth must be heard and obeyed if it is to bring one into eternity.