Using a metaphor involving a rock, Yahshua promised that there would always be faithful believers who follow and proclaim His ways and teachings. He said in Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my assembly; and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.” The “rock” was Peter’s confession that Yahshua is the Messiah.
There has never been a time when Yahweh did not have His covenant people worshiping Him somewhere on earth.
Yahshua’s assembly didn’t die with those True Believers in Yahshua’s day. The true Body lived on through history, and notably to our day, to us modern EliYahs. Amazingly, what happened in both testaments is still alive and active 2,000 years later. Yahweh never deviates from His salvational plan.
Even during the Great Tribulation when the assembly is taken into wilderness protection for 3½ years, there will still be two witnesses given great, supernatural powers standing on the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming Yahweh’s Name and Truth, Revelation 11.
Just as He had Moses and Aaron and many prophets standing firm against the opposing tide, Yahweh’s representatives will stand against Satan and the Man of Sin.
Being that Yahweh has always had His people somewhere on earth throughout history means no one can use the excuse that the Truth wasn’t here. Ours is to find it and follow it. “Seek first the Kingdom of Yahweh, and His righteousness,” Yahshua said in Matthew 6:33.
The Bible student is aware of the many references to Yahshua’s Second Coming in the New Testament. To be exact, 318 New Testament prophecies relate to the Messiah’s return. In His Olivet prophecy of Matthew 24, Yahshua says in the last days wars will increase as well as famines, diseases, massive earthquakes, and possibly meteor strikes. These events will prove the veracity of the Bible.
He then zeroes in on the character and temperament of modern people, which is the most revealing sign of the end. The moral underpinnings that make a safe and flourishing society are disappearing. Natural restraints that hold back bad behavior are also fading so that we are becoming a culture of unchecked anger, open hostility, and spiritual decay. What we witness now is prophesied in the Word. Christianity is also in a freefall and unable to turn society back to the Scriptures.
It’s All About Self Today
The Apostle Paul warned in 2Timothy 3:2: “This know also, that in the last days perilous [distressing] times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves [“fond of self” in the Greek], covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection [inhuman behavior], trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of Elohim.”
People are turning inward; satisfying self is top priority today. In politics they look only for the candidate who says he will give them what they want – gain with no pain.
Sin is at the root of every evil, every crime, all that is immoral, all heartache and suffering, all maliciousness, every hateful attitude, self-obsessions, and all that destroys lives. What we suffer today stems from sin in the human heart. If this doesn’t validate the prophecies of the Bible, what does?
We believers find ourselves standing in the gap, holding to the Scriptures and its fundamental morality that our world needs like oxygen. It is no accident that our message dovetails with end-time prophecy.
Yahshua said in Matthew 24:14:
“And this good news of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” That the truth of the sacred Name has come to the forefront in the last 40 years also verifies that we are in the last days.
In 2008 the pope banned Catholics from using Yahweh’s Name in liturgy, songs, and prayers. That’s ironic because Yahweh’s Name appears abundantly in the Roman Catholic Jerusalem Bible! No doubt the growing popularity of the Name taught and expounded by True Believers instigated the pope’s censorship action.
Of the many who contact YRM, few question the veracity of Yahweh’s Name. That wasn’t the case only a few decades ago when Yahweh’s Name wasn’t so well known. The outreach of the Sacred Name groups had a big part in taking the Name truth worldwide.
Our nationwide outreach through Discover the Truth TV program in conjunction with one of the largest religious websites on the Internet, in addition to videos exceeding 2 million views worldwide – all have made a significant impact. Also influential are many believers proclaiming the EliYah message “my El is Yah” on social media. We must never give up preaching and teaching the Word, both when convenient and when not, 2Timothy 4:2.
It is not only the holy Names that set us apart from nominal teachings, but also the many truths we follow in the Word.
Jude 1:3 encourages the believer. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Why would Jude bring it up if churchianity were faithfully teaching New Covenant truths? He continues in v. 5, telling how Israel apostatized; how even some angels apostatized, and how Sodom and Gomorrah went off the rails morally. Why would he tell us to go back to the original teachings once delivered if those doctrines were faithfully being carried forward?
Jude says that salvation hinges on the original truths, the faith once delivered. And that is what Yahweh’s people must stand on and proclaim.
Lawbreaking Produces Sin
A key that unlocks what we are about and the message we teach is found in the prophet named EliYah through what he represented and what his mission was. Our ministry today directly mirrors his mission.
Today’s nominal teachings have missed the simplest of truths.
To prove this, ask the person on the street what sin is, according to the Scriptures. What you’ll get are such bromides as sin is:
• not living right
• wrongdoing
• unbelief
• darkness not light
• a falling away
Such generalities don’t help anyone to identify and overcome sin. They are just platitudes and clichés that nibble around the edges, but don’t get to the core of what sin actually is. For most, sin is whatever they decide it is. As a wise general once said, “If you don’t know your enemy you can’t defeat him.”
Yahweh made sure that the enemy sin is very simple to recognize and understand so that we will know exactly how to overcome and avoid it. His straightforward description is found in 1John 3:4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Only seven words are needed to tell us plainly that sin is lawbreaking. Romans 3:23 and 5:12 say everyone has sinned by lawbreaking.
But the law was abolished at the cross, many say. Here’s the paradox: how can every person be a sinner if the standard that defines sin doesn’t exist? If there are no traffic laws I can drive any way I want and not be arrested.
In the Bible’s definition of sin we find truth. We learn how to come to salvation. It tells us to walk in Yahshua’s footsteps and follow His example. It all hinges on our obedience to the Word.
We find in 1John 3:5 that Yahshua had no sin. That means He was a perfect lawkeeper. “But my minister tells me He nailed the law to the cross,” they will say. That is another contradiction as Matthew 5:17 quotes Yahshua saying emphatically: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Fulfill does not mean to abolish. Why? Read the next sentence: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Talk about hyperbolic proof. So long as heaven and earth exist, even the most minute part of the law will still be in full force. What bigger proof can there be?
What is misinterpreted is Colossians 2:14, which says it was the handwriting of ordinances that was nailed to the stake. “Handwriting” of ordinances refers to the statutes written by man; it is from the Greek dogma. It is not describing any commandment of Yahweh.
The Most Violated Commandment
The commandment broken far more often than any other is the very first one: “Thou shalt have no other mighty ones before me.”
“What do you mean?” you ask. “I don’t worship idols.” You don’t have to bow to Buddah, visit Vishnu, or cash in for Kris Kringle – any time you put ANYTHING before Yahweh, you idolize a priority. That includes your job, family, finances, a hobby, entertainment, or an obsession. Any of these can take precedence over living for Yahweh in your life.
Most anything can be an idol. The commandment says not to serve these things. Serve is abad, and as a verb can mean to enslave. We are not to be enslaved by anything that takes us away from serving Yahweh. By anything that robs our time in worshiping Him.
In so many different ways the first commandment is broken every day and many times a day. Every other commandment you violate also breaks the first one. When you break one you really break two because every sin you commit takes you away from Yahweh and puts something in place of your obedience to Him.
EliYah Preparing the Way Today
Let’s return to the prophet and his message. EliYah was the first major prophet to the northern Kingdom of Israel. Those 10 tribes were constantly going off the rails. Every king they had was bad. EliYah (incorrectly, Elijah) is a Hebrew name that means, “my El is Yah.” His name embodies the first commandment and so did his most memorable action.
The EliYah message to be proclaimed at the end of the age is, “Yahweh” is the Mighty One of this universe. He has a personal Name packed full of salvational meaning. He doesn’t have “many names.”
Another crystal clear statement just like the scriptural definition of sin, is in Isaiah 42:8: “I am Yahweh: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” You cannot mistake that simple declaration; you cannot shoe-horn another name or title into Yahweh’s plain, simple, clear, declarative statement: I am Yahweh, that is my Name.
Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry has dozens of scholarly reference books in our library that verify His Name Yahweh. In my research I have never come across a variant like Yah-havah, Yahovah, Yehovah, Yahoveh, or any other proxy some use for His Name.
To know exactly how YRM fits into the EliYah message, let’s look at the focus of EliYah’s mission. In 1Kings 18:21 the prophet engages false worship at Mt. Carmel.
Israel was playing both sides. Our prophet asks Israel: “How long are you going to vascillate? If Yahweh is Elohim, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him.” Find out the true One and stick with Him.
We see a direct parallel today with those who mix Yahweh’s Name with common titles.
EliYah cries to them as well: stop straddling the fence. If you claim to worship Yahweh, the Mighty One of the universe, then worship Him, all the way. Don’t equivocate. You don’t honor Him by heathen titles.
When you mix in a title as if it’s His Name, you demean Him. You degrade the holiest Name in the universe. When you use another name or title in worship, you invoke a different worship that identifies with that name. I am Yahweh, He thunders, and I will not honor any other name.
Those who are enlightened swim against the current. That’s to be expected. So did Yahshua. Always remember that salvation is what we are living for and not the approval of the unenlightened majority.
G-O-D represents a category, a class, a molten image, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Paul said in 1Cor. 8:5: “For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many)…” but he adds in verse 6: “But to us there is but one Elohim, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Master, Yahshua, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
Our Savior Yahshua promised that just as John the Baptist came in the power and strength of EliYah, another would come much like John before the Savior’s return to this earth. His message will be the same: Yahweh is the true Mighty One. Call on Him; Be called by Him. And then follow Him. We have no other choice if salvation is our goal.
The EliYah message is summed up in the meaning of the name EliYah: “my Mighty One is Yah.” His message comprises the fact that His people are called by His Name Yahweh.
“If My people which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,” 2Chronicles 7:14.
Being called by His Name we turn from sin and obey Him. How many deeply honor His Name, use it, and don’t deny its importance no matter what the circumstances? How many take it to the next level and submit in everything to Him in preparation for rulership in the coming millennial Kingdom? Sadly, most are stuck at step one.
A Coming Restoration of all Things
Yahshua told the multitude in Matthew 11:14 that if they would just accept John the Baptist, he would be the EliYah prophesied to come. Later, in Matthew 14:3-10, we read that Herod had John beheaded.
The people did not repent at the preaching of John the Baptist but rejected him as well as his message of repentance and obedience. Yahshua said in Matthew 3:3: “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Yahweh, make his paths straight.” John was “crying out” because few were listening.
Yahshua said that John came just as EliYah did, preaching repentance, meaning turn your life around and obey the true Mighty One.
But they failed. He said in Matthew 11:18 that John the Baptist didn’t come eating or drinking, i.e. fellowshiping with others, so they concluded that he must have a demon. The Son of man comes eating and drinking and their accusation was he’s a glutton and a drunk.
Most don’t understand our message either. But Yahshua concluded that the results will ultimately decide: “wisdom is justified of her children.” Wisdom will be justified by its deeds.
After John’s death, Yahshua explained to the gathered disciples, “EliYah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them,” Mathew 17:12.
Problem no. 2 is that they rejected Yahshua as the Messiah. But wait. There will yet come another EliYah at the end of the age, our age. Note what Yahshua further said in verse 11 about the important mission of this coming prophet revisited, “EliYah truly shall first come, and restore all things.” This was after the death of John the Baptist.
The only possible explanation is that there will be a third EliYah like John the Baptist, preparing the way for Yahshua’s Second Coming, as John did for Yahshua’s first appearance.
Now let’s connect some dots by going to Malachi 4:4-6, a key passage that speaks of us, you and me, as we bring truth to the world in these latter days. First note the context in verse 4:
“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.”
Just as Eliyah cried out to repent and turn to the true Father in heaven, and as John the Baptist preached repentance, which means to turn from sin and obey the statutes of Yahweh, the prophet Malachi again, at the end time, reminds us of Yahweh’s statutes and judgments handed down at Sinai.
With this in mind, note how Malachi then follows up his warning to obey: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh.” Yahshua agrees with Malachi. Another EliYah is clearly defined by both. And what is the mission of this latter-day EliYah?
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Here comes a third EliYah, preparing the way of Yahshua the second time, just as John the Baptist, a prototype of EliYah, prepared the people for Yahshua’s first coming by preaching repentance and obedience. Same message we have.
The whole context of this 4th chapter of Malachi is about turning back the people in obedience at the end of the age. The prophet begins in verse 1 of this chapter by telling the people to honor the law, the statutes, and judgments given at Sinai. That is pivotal, not only because it is central to the two EliYah messages, but also because obedience to Yahweh’s statutes is the springboard from which he introduces this new EliYah in the latter days.
A key to putting all this together is in the transfiguration of Matt. 17:2, where Yahshua takes Peter, James, and John into a high mountain. There they see a vision (v. 9) of both Moses and Eliyah talking with Yahshua about His coming death. But according to Luke 9:31, Peter, James, and John were so tired that they fell asleep.
When Peter wakes up and sees the vision of Yahshua with Moses and Eliyah, and not knowing what had occurred while he was sleeping, he in typical Peter-esque fashion spouts off the first thing that comes to mind, “It was sure good to have been here, let’s make three tabernacles for Yahshua, Moses, and EliYah.”
This vision with the three individuals validates the unity between Yahshua’s New Testament message with the Law and prophets of the Old Testament.
Yahshua said that there would be an EliYah in these last days preaching and teaching a return to the laws and statutes once delivered to the saints at Sinai, as we read in Jude 1:3.
Malachi 3:1 says this messenger, this EliYah, will prepare the way for the Messiah.
Going Back to the Fathers
So this end-time EliYah, which is clearly those who bring the message of repentance and obedience, will change hearts by returning to the precepts of the fathers, the Old Testament patriarchs, that the children will also honor as their example is given to the descendants by this EliYah.
If this does not happen, the earth itself will be cursed with total destruction.
Obedience is the only path to salvation, and disobedience is the sure route to destruction. Yahshua said if it weren’t for the elect, the world would be toast. Yahweh is giving us a chance to finish the work we must do as His covenant people—to teach the world the Truth first given to the patriarchs. Forget Roman traditions. Turn to the truth first presented by the patriarchs of old. And when things get hot, we can trust Yahweh to step in and save His elect.
The last book of the Old Testament emphasizes that EliYah (and specifically the message of honoring and calling on the true Yahweh) would precede the Second Coming.
We at YRM are fulfilling the EliYah mission. We are the third EliYah that Yahshua spoke of in Matthew 17:11. “And Yahshua answered and said unto them, Eliyah truly shall first come, and restore all things.” This third EliYah will bring back the truth of the Covenant that all must become a part of with all its stipulations. They will accept Yahshua and teach the laws He lived and taught, Revelation 12:17, 14:12, and 22:14: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” (Rev 22:14).
The EliYah at the end of the age and those with him who resist the Beast and his system will also face persecution, as did the first EliYah with Ahab and Jezebel. And as did John the Baptist, the second EliYah, murdered by Herod. Yahshua said that His saints would “be hated of all men for My name’s sake; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved,” Mark 13:13, Luke 21:17.
In these last days there must be bold teachings of Yahweh’s laws and His weekly and annual Sabbaths—His way of Life. If not, the rocks would cry out, Luke 19:40. Proclaiming the truth of Yahweh’s Word before the Messiah returns will turn those who are called by Yahweh to seek His ways and completely submit to Him.
The final chapters of the Bible, Revelation 12:17, 14:12, and 22:14, say we must have both Yahshua and obey Yahweh for salvation. They come as a package. Faith and obedience are not mutually exclusive. We will go nowhere without obedience. Yahshua obeyed, and He is our example. He is the key. We do what He did, taught, and lived. Revelation tells us that Yahweh’s people will be sealed with His Name and given protection once they have accepted His sovereignty and taken hold of His Covenant.
Traits of the Modern EliYahs
How does the true worshiper fit the role of the EliYah who is to come?
• Nearly unknown by the world, EliYah suddenly emerged almost covertly as a prophet to steer Israel from the brink of disaster. The believer is relatively unknown to the vast world of Bible believers.
• This man of Yahweh stood alone against 450 prophets of Baal. True teachings stand against many Bible-challenged church traditions.
• The altar that EliYah used had been broken down and abandoned and had to be rebuilt, symbolizing the abandonment of truth and the task the faithful have of re-teaching the faith once delivered.
• EliYah’s challenge to the worshipers of Baal: How long limp you between two different worship practices? 1Kings 18:21. Modern EliYahs ask, how long will compromise with the world be acceptable?
• The transfiguration represented unity among Yahshua, the law, and the Old Testament prophecy (Matt. 17:2). Moses typifies the law and EliYah represents the prophets. We see unity with Yahshua, the law, and the Old Testament, and not His abolishment of it.
Be a rock. Don’t let trials small or great pull you away from Yahweh. He will never leave or forsake His faithful.
