The entire great controversy between Yahushua and Satan, at its most basic level, is over the issue of worship. The day upon which you choose to worship, reveals which Deity/deity you are worshiping.
From Genesis to Revelation, this is a recurring theme. In the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, there is a very interesting passage explaining the reason for Satan's fall:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of El: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High (verses 12-14.)
It was in aspiring to be "like the most High" that Lucifer broke the first and greatest commandment: "Thou shalt love Yahuwah thy Eloah with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matt. 22:37 & 38.) Lucifer did not want to simply be like Yahuwah in character; if that had been his desire, he would never have rebelled. Instead, he coveted the honor and worship that were due to the Creator alone.
The statement: "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation" is very revealing. The word here translated "congregation" is mo'ed.
Mo'ed means "appointed place of meeting." . . . The word mo'ed keeps its basic meaning of "appointed," but varies as to what is agreed upon or appointed according to the context: the time, the place or the meeting itself . . . The meaning of mo'ed is fixed within the context of Israel's religion (The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words.)
Mo'ed often designates a determined time or place without any regard for the purpose. Since the Jewish festivals occurred at regular intervals, this word becomes closely identified with them . . . Mo'ed is used in a broad sense for all religious assemblies. It was closely associated with the tabernacle itself. [Yahuwah] met Israel there at specific times for the purpose of revealing His will. It is a common term for the worshiping assembly of [Yahuwah's] people (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, "Lexical Aids to the Old Testament," 1626, emphasis supplied.)
Satan is saying, in Isaiah 14, that he will be like the Most High because he will sit on the mount of the congregation – the mountain of mo'ed. He will establish when to worship, and by virtue of exercising that power, usurp the right to be worshiped.
The first time that mo'ed appears in the Bible is in Genesis 1:14: "And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."
The word translated "seasons" is mo'ed. Right in the middle of Creation week, Holy Scripture records that one of the purposes of the lights in the heavens was for determining mo'ed – when the appointed time for worship should be. This is affirmed in Psalm 104:19 – "He appointed the moon for seasons."
Again, the word "seasons" is mo'ed while the word "appointed" means to do, make or create. Yahuwah created the moon for the express purpose of establishing the times of worship.Which times of worship? They are all listed in Leviticus 23. Most of the chapter is taken up with listing the yearly feasts: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles. However, the very first feast listed is the seventh-day Sabbath:
And Yahuwah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of Yahuwah, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of Yahuwah in all your dwellings (Leviticus 23:1-3.)The word here translated "feasts" is, again, mo'ed.
Satan, in his efforts to usurp Yahuwah's authority has not only thought to change times and laws – he has done it. He has masterfully diverted the attention of all those who sincerely desire to keep the true Sabbath. The focus has been on a Saturday versus Sunday confrontation. No one has seen that it is much larger than that.
This battle over worship will continue to grow and spread. Every person on earth must make a decision to worship Yahuwah on His true Sabbath, as a sign of loyalty to Him, or else to simply shrug the duty aside as not relevant to today's needs. Many will decide that as long as you worship on any day of the week, it is as good as the seventh-day Sabbath. To secure material security, they will accept a spurious sabbath.
Many, though, will choose to stand steadfast and loyal to their Creator, worshiping Him on the day which His calendar in the sky dictates. The controversy will escalate until it reaches the point warned about in Revelation 16:13, 14 & 16:
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of Yahuwah Almighty . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
A great deal of speculation has arisen from the word "Armageddon" which is used only once in the entire Bible. Hollywood film writers have incorporated it into many apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenarios. The word itself is curious because, while Revelation was written in Greek, "Armageddon" is actually a combination of two Hebrew words. The first is har (#2022) which simply means "mountain."
Scholars are divided as to the second word in the combination. Some believe it is #4023: Megiddo, which was a place in Palestine. The problem with this interpretation is that when one goes to where Megiddo was there is no mountain there! In fact, there is just a valley: "the Valley of Megiddo" (See 2 Chronicles 35:22.)
The other option is #4150: mo'ed. What Rev. 16:16 is referring to is the Mountain of the Mo'eds. In the scriptures, mountains are symbols of governments. (See Daniel 2, specifically, verses 34-35 and 44.) This is the same mountain referred to in Isaiah 14 where Lucifer was telling his intention of sitting on the Mount of the Congregation: he was stating his purpose to assume control of the government of Heaven and the right to be worshiped.
The lengthy controversy between good and evil has been a conflict between two different governments: a Government of Love versus a Government of Evil; a Government which gives its citizens complete freedom of choice versus a government that enslaves the wills of its citizens. Your day of worship reveals to which government you are pledging allegiance.
The battle of Armageddon is the final confrontation in the war. It is a battle between two different governments and their differing times of worship. Armageddon is the deciding battle because Yahuwah will finally have a group of people willing to obey His law at any cost to themselves. This fight will be played out on the battlefield of the mo'eds.
Satan has spent the last 6,000 years constructing his mountain – his government, his system of counterfeit worship. Yahuwah, also, has a system of worship: true, holy worship. Each system has its own feast days. The sign of loyalty is the day on which you choose to worship because that is governed by either the true calendar established by Yahuwah at Creation, or a counterfeit calendar, divorced from the moon which was created for the very purpose of revealing the times for worship.
During creation week when the moon was created for calendation (see Ps. 104:19), another role was assigned it: "And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."
Owth means "sign; mark." This word represents something by which a person or group is characteristically marked . . . [it is used] to represent a military banner . . . The word means "sign" as a reminder of one's duty . . .
(The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
The true Sabbath is all of this, and more. The Sabbath, as calculated by the moon, is a reminder of our duty, our privilege to worship our Creator on His mo'ed. It is a mark that distinguishes those who worship Yahuwah by the luni-solar calendar. In the final battle between good and evil, the mo'ed you keep is the military banner which designates on which side you stand.
The practical result of worshiping Yahuwah on the true Sabbath is stepping out and being separate from all the rest of the world. It is not easy, comfortable or popular. The natural human heart rises up in rebellion against anything so "weird."
The final generation is described in Revelation 14:4 as a special group: "These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth." To follow the Lamb anywhere He leads requires a complete surrender of the will. Only those who have first surrendered their will to the point of being willing to obey if it is true will recognize truth in an unpopular doctrine.
May Yahuwah grant to each one a willingness to be made willing to obey.
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