O Say Can You See

When The Most High writes what is basically His Ketubah (marriage contract) with the Children of Israel in stone, with His own finger, it’s evident it was not meant to be changed by anyone.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when people are trying to come up with an idea (be it prose, arithmetic, or a drawing), they’ll write it with a pencil and paper first? It’s because they know they’re still in the drafting phase and that it will likely change or they may discard it and start over. When they get closer to the final version, they may use a pen and write on higher quality paper.

The more important something is, the more people personalize it and use more durable materials (e.g. the paper used for books is different than regular notebook paper). Wedding invitations are sometimes done in calligraphy on special paper, but the date and time can still change. Anyone who planned a wedding after March of 2020 can attest to that.

However, a wedding contract or ketubah, is unlikely to change after the marriage has taken place unless there is a divorce. And therefore, it’s not something that’s typically written in pencil. You wouldn’t want your spouse to arbitrarily go back and make changes to it without your consent.

How would you capture a really important and binding contract, something you don’t want erased or changed? You could have it engraved if it’s short. If you wanted to personalize it, you could write in your own handwriting, thus providing proof that you wrote it.


Did you know that Kings of Israel were required to write out a copy of the Torah in their own handwriting? (Deut. 17:18)


So, when The Most High writes what is basically His ketubah (marriage contract) with the Children of Israel (His bride) in stone with His own finger, it’s evident He did not want the words to be changed by anyone, not even to “honor” Him or His son.

But yet, many people blindly accept the notion that the first century apostles and followers of the Jewish Messiah did exactly that—they started breaking the fourth commandment to honor the Messiah. And if they did it (or at least someone convinces you they did it), then it must be okay. Did your parents ever lecture you about blindly following your friends? Yeshua said:

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” – Matthew 15:13-14

Am I calling the disciples of Yeshua and the Apostle Paul blind guides? No. But if you automatically accept someone else’s explanation or interpretation of scripture and you:

  • Never use a concordance and tools to study the original text (Greek or Hebrew),
  • Don’t investigate the scriptures that people used to justify breaking the fourth commandment,
  • Ignore the historical and political context of a state-adopted religion
  • Ignore the culture of the early pagan converts who were being courted and the culture of the Jews who were being persecuted

Then you are spiritually impaired.

If the Most High writes something on stone with His finger, who are people to erase and then re-write something He wrote? Think about that. Really think about that. And then go back and study the scriptures for yourself.

I think anyone who’s attended a religious service, a funeral or even a conference has heard a speaker go over his or her allotted time. If you grew up in certain Christian denominations, you may have spent all day in church, gone home to eat dinner and then come back. Just because the Apostle Paul often taught and preached on Saturday evening after the Sabbath ended (technically referred to as the first day of the week in Jewish culture) and into the wee hours of the night, that does not mean that he did not keep the Sabbath. It’s a GALACTIC leap to make that claim.

Furthermore, the gospels say that Mary and Martha visited Yeshua’s tomb on Sunday morning and that it was empty. Nowhere in the bible does it say that Yeshua rose from the dead on Sunday morning. It could have happened Saturday evening before sunset (seventh day) or right after sunset (first day) or sometime before midnight (first day). The point is that we don’t actually know on what day Yeshua was resurrected. We only know what day it was that someone observed that his tomb was empty.

What’s the optical Rx for spiritual impairment? The bible also exhorts the followers of the Messiah to:

  • Be Bereans and “[search] the Scriptures daily” – Acts 17:11
  • “Study to show [yourself] approved” — 2 Timothy 2:15
  • “Rightly [divide] the word of truth” — 2 Timothy 2:15

Many followers of the Jewish Messiah have blindly followed and still follow the politically-inspired, anti-Semitic teachings of converted Pagan “bible authorities.” Many continue to follow lazy, blind or spineless theologians who followed them by upholding the transgression of G-d’s law and reinforcing this false teaching.

Don’t be fooled

If someone with a fancy degree from a seminary could find scriptures to convince you that it’s okay to worship a graven image or commit adultery would you believe them?  Why is it okay to break some of the “Ten Commandments” but not others? If God told you to do something a certain way, why would you not believe him? Why would you listen to someone else who contradicts or distorts what God told you? Have you learned nothing from Eve and the Serpent?

I’m Not Buying What You’re Selling

How barbaric, disgusting, revolting and just plain weird would it be if people walked around with miniature guillotines on their necks and had replicas of them built on the tops of religious buildings? What if it was a noose or electric chair instead?

It’s 2020 and we’ve reached the point where you can buy almost anything imaginable. For instance, I found the pendant below for sale online.

Guillotine pendant for sale online

And it’s not even the creepiest one. On Etsy you can buy a similar pendant that appears to be functional. I’m trying to imagine why someone would want to display a guillotine around their neck. But yet, people all over the world wear something similar around their necks proudly, as symbols of their faith.

I used to be one of those people. I thought wearing an execution stake or cross was a way to declare my belief sand silently share my faith. Instead I was party to a horrendous misunderstanding and a collective misuse of an object that has continued unquestioned for centuries.


Did you know that crosses were used for religious worship around the world long before Christianity existed?

Read more about the history of crosses


The Golden Calf Incident

Even if you can overlook its pagan origins and how it became a symbol of oppression and exploitation for thousands of years, you can’t deny that wearing an execution stake contradicts the word of G-d.

You remember what happened in the book of Shemot (Exodus) after the Lord delivered the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, right? They were hanging out at the base of Mt. Sinai waiting for Moshe to come down with the Torah. He’d been gone for over a month and they got impatient. So, they asked Aaron to make a tangible object for them to worship—a golden calf. Not unlike the one pictured below in New York City, but that’s another blog post.

Charging Bull, sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway just north of Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City.

Some people think the mixed multitude had completely forgotten about G-d and returned to their Egyptian-style of worship. I think they just wanted something close to them that they could touch and feel, something to remind them of G-d who seemed far off. They were trying to worship G-d indirectly via a tangible object. But then, of course, things got out of control and their worship devolved into pagan debauchery.

Well, the execution stake (a.k.a. cross) is nothing more than a miniature golden calf. Instead of praying to the Father in the name of the Yeshua as they’re instructed, followers of the Jewish Messiah pray to a graven image that they claim represents him. But they are really just bowing, praying, kissing, kneeling in front of, lauding and worshiping a graven image.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:4

And what is a cross anyway? It’s a weapon for state-sanctioned killing (a.k.a. an execution stake). How barbaric, disgusting, revolting and just plain weird would it be if people walked around with miniature guillotines on their necks and had replicas of them built on the tops of religious buildings? What if it was a noose or electric chair instead?

If the Messiah were here in person, would he be pleased? The idea of dying on an execution stake caused him to sweat literal drops of blood. And yet, people are worshiping the weapon used to kill him.

Everything Yeshua did was to bring honor and glory to his Father. Does wearing an execution stake honor Yeshua or his Father? Absolutely not. People are breaking the second commandment in an insanely backwards, illogical attempt to show their love for the Messiah and the Father.

Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my commands.” I don’t think he’d be any happier about people breaking the second commandment to honor him than he would about people breaking the fourth commandment to celebrate his resurrection. But that, too, is a blog post for another day. 😊

13865290 – marble with ten commandments, jerusalem, israel

Final Thoughts

The ten commandments are still in effect (all of them). The Most High wrote them in stone (and later in our hearts) because they were meant to be permanent. They were not meant to be changed by us. As Bereans, we should examine all of our traditions under the light of G-d’s word.

In summary, don’t let your traditions lead you into a ditch. It’s time to ditch the golden calf hanging from your neck and decorating your houses of worship. They are not adding anything to your faith (See Romans 10:17). And they are probably hurting your efforts to be salt and light. The same thing goes for the little fish symbol, too. 

!חג שמח

Happy Pentecost!