Putting Away Jezebel
(and her partners in crime)
Maria Merola styles herself a “watchman” appointed by God to deliver Jewish and Gentile believers from false Christian doctrines and nourish them in the truth. She calls her ministry “Double Portion Inheritance,” an empty claim and blasphemous title – in itself exposing a deluded and self-important woman. Those who agree and promote her whorish ways, such as the Grays, suffer the destruction of idolatry and spiritual fornication.
If you would like to skip reading the full correspondence, you may go directly to the salient points against Maria’s “watchman” ministry and teachings, as we list them here:
1)Worshipping the name “Yahuwshua”
3) Claiming Jesus Christ was in sinful flesh and had the same disposition as sinners
4) Defending her error about Christ being a sinner by nature and twisting our words
5) Wrongly assuming a position of authority over men
6) Teaching Christ’s holy blood was contained in unholy flesh
7) We expose the blasphemy and folly of Daryl and Natalia Gray
May 18, 2011 Update: We received a “Cease and Desist” notice from Daniel Merrick on behalf of Maria Merola. They demand retraction of, and an apology for, this posting. As you will see, our work continues. Click HERE to read the update.
Paul wrote to Maria Merola, in response to her website:
Hi Maria,
Uprooting false teachings? Try these foundational writings the Lord has given us (besides many others on our site):
Diabolical Doctrines
The True Marks of a Cult
And particularly applicable, here is what the Lord has taught us about using Hebrew Names for God.
But will you give His brethren, who unashamedly speak the Name of Christ, a hearing?
Maria sent a writing in reply. Click HERE to see it (minus her Hebrew sections and graphs). Paul’s reply:
Hi Maria,
We have appreciated several of the writings posted on your site, which contain some reasonable and valid explanations of the Scriptures. The writing you send me here, however, has much speculation, and its essential message is not in harmony with the Scriptures or the will of God.
Have you red the link I gave you, Hebrew Names for God? It would help if you red it very carefully and considered what is said there, because it refutes, by the Word of God, your doctrine. The paper you sent me doesn’t answer these refutations; rather they address your error. So I leave it to you to decide if you will hear what God has given us and consider its personal implications.
And if, after reading the writing, you wish to respond specifically to what is said in it, we will hear you out. If you have questions, we welcome those.
Meanwhile, I can say some specific things, about your writing, that are not mentioned in the link I gave you.
You write the following:
“Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
How can we be certain that Zechariah is being shown the Messiah rather than ‘Joshua the Son of Nun’ from the days of Moses?”
On what basis do you suggest that the Joshua of Zechariah could have anything to do with the Joshua who led Israel into Canaan? Just because they share the same name? Does that also mean he represents the Joshua Who is known as the Messiah and our Lord? There is no precedent of people being linked prophetically because they have the same name, so the argument that sharing a name means there must be a direct connection is a faulty one.
Furthermore, the verses you use to prove that the Joshua in Zechariah is the Messiah (or representative of Him), plainly proves he wasn’t.
I will use your Bible quote:
“Zechariah 3
1And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of YHWH, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2And YHWH said unto Satan, YHWH rebuke thee, O Satan; even YHWH that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3Now YHWShuA (Joshua) was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.”
1. Joshua, Yeshua HaMashiach, was never in filthy garments, never a brand needing to be plucked from the fire, and never one standing before, or subject to, any angel. You say that the filthy garments represent His flesh, but filthiness is linked here to corruption of the flesh – iniquity, rather than the flesh itself. We know that no sin was found in Messiah. He was perfectly able to perform His ministry and service as the Lamb of God without blemish or any “change of raiment,” because He was never defiled. And His sacrifice was perfectly acceptable to God, was it not?
All of this is well documented in the Gospels and confirmed in the epistles, of which I am sure you are well aware.
2. Joshua, the high priest of whom Zechariah spoke, was from the tribe of Levi. We know, however, that our Lord sprang from the tribe of Judah, representing another and higher priesthood (Melchizedek).
3. Joshua, the high priest of whom Zechariah spoke, had a peer and partner, Zerubbabel, who was from Judah, and who was equally involved in the raising of the Temple. But Joshua the Messiah had no partner in His coming. Those who represent His second coming as His Body – the Assembly of God – are those whom Joshua and Zerubbabel symbolized:
“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth” (Revelation 11:4 MKJV).
Zechariah 4:11-14 MKJV
(11) And I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?
(12) And I answered again and said to him, What are the two olive clusters beside the two golden pipes, emptying the golden oil from themselves?
(13) And he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord.
(14) And he said, These are the two sons of fresh oil who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
So we see two men in Zechariah, redeemed sinners, standing by the Lord of the whole earth, Yeshua HaMashiach, and performing His work.
Zechariah 12 speaks of Joshua (Yeshua) the Messiah as the One Whom we pierced and Whom we mourn over when we see Him (I quote from your writing):
“Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon ME (YHWH) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for HIM (Yahushua), as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
You conclude:
“So we see that it was YHWH (the Heavenly Father) who was being pierced and it was ‘Yahushua’ the Messiah (the Son) whose image that they will behold!”
Amen! Yeshua IS the Heavenly Father, just as Isaiah prophesied:
“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 MKJV).
So once again, Yeshua, Jesus Christ, was no ordinary man, but God in the flesh. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” – John 14:9.
(There is no need for the arcane and tortured reasoning you present about the “aleph-tav,” which reasoning overlooks the simple fact that the Hebrew word “et” is a sign of the definite direct object referring to God, used thousands of times in the Bible to perform a similar grammatical function.)
1)Worshipping the name “Yahuwshua”:
Now, we do not deny that Joshua does represent a facet of Christ, just as do many figures in the Scriptures. While Joshua was the high priest on earth, Jesus Christ is our High Priest in Heaven. But Zerubbabel represented Christ no less than Joshua, as he was the ruler on the throne of David who laid the foundation of the Temple and brought forth the headstone. You do not mention Zerubbabel as a figure of Christ because you choose to focus on Joshua in order to justify your worship of the name, as though the power of God resides in the letters and pronunciation of the Hebrew name of the Messiah. You are a practitioner of the magic arts, a sorceress, a high priestess of “The Name.”
After all the arguments you present, you say that people should not remain “stagnant” by continuing to use the name of Jesus. But if you are right that the name “Jesus” means “Hail Zeus,” then continuing to use that name would be sin to those who know and do so, would it not?
But if that report of “Hail Zeus” is an urban legend (and it is – google the names to see many proofs), then you are impugning sin to those who are not sinning, and this will become sin on your part, if you continue.
You write:
“Salvation has always been by grace through faith in the salvation of the Almighty. His very name doesn’t just mean salvation, it is salvation!”
Salvation is in the Messiah, our Lord and God, and not in a physical name. To declare His Name is salvation is making the name an idol. Our salvation does not come because we call out a certain name, but because we receive the Name of the living God, which is Him, His nature in us, Jesus Christ coming in the flesh. Messiah transforms us into God’s image by His Nature/Name. That is what salvation is.
Ironically, while fighting the traditions of men, you are fostering a new one by insisting on a particular linguistic interpretation and use of the Hebrew name of the Lord and Savior. While you have claimed a mandate from God to warn people “about false doctrines that have come into the church to deceive the masses,” which is a good thing, you bring more deception by foisting another one on them:
“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I confirm myself as a transgressor” (Galatians 2:18 MKJV).
This is not teaching “the doctrine which is according to godliness,” but striving over words:
1 Timothy 6:3-4 KJV
(3) If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
(4) He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.
I engage you here, Maria, not to prove we are right and you are wrong, but to fight for your soul and the souls of those who might be led astray by your false reasonings. You need to deny your glory, trash your ministry (which God is not in), take up the cross, and follow Him without the camp, without trying to set up your own.
Have you red Our Testimonies, particularly mine and Victor’s, regarding how God brought a Jew and Gentile together to do His work?
Maria’s reply:
Hello Paul,
I respectfully disagree with you and find that your article is not in harmony with the scriptures. We know that the prophets have identified who “the Branch” is:
Jeremiah 33:15
In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Paul’s reply:
Maria, as the object of your website and ministry, it is fitting that you tell us our website is not in harmony with your view of the Scriptures. It is obviously yourself you revere and follow, and not Yeshua HaMashiach, valuing your pronouncements above the Word of God.
We know Who the Branch is, because we know Him and are branches in Him. We speak His words that you can’t refute with the Scriptures, despite your exalted opinion of yourself and your knowledge.
“In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David….”
Yes, the Branch came from the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and now sits as a Priest upon His throne, just as I said to you in my letter. And Zechariah does not say the Branch is Joshua. That man was a priest while Zerubbabel was governor, but the Branch is both Priest and Governor.
So what is your point and problem?
Paul
Maria’s first reply:
Dear Paul,
It is obvious by reading this in context in Zechariah 2, that this is an end time prophecy about the “High Priest” Yehoshua (Jesus) who was always ministering in heaven after the order of Melchizedek (not Levi). The Zadok priesthood served together with the Levites in the days of King David and the same thing will occur during the Millennium when Messiah reigns. The earthly priesthood are the Levites, but the eternal and heavenly priesthood are after the order of Melchizedek (Zadok or Tzadik in Hebrew. Melchi means “King” in Hebrew and Tzadik or zedek means “righteous.” King of Righteousness is the literal meaning of Melchizedek. In Revelation, it says that the Millennium priesthood are both “kings and priests” indicating the order of Melchizedek. The kings come from the line of Judah, but the earthly priesthood comes from Levites. Melchizedek is the office of both king and priest together:
Hebrews 7:1For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Now, reading this in context we see that this is speaking of the latter days:
Zechariah 2
1I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
2Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
3And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,
4And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
5For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
7Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
8For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
9For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
10Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
11And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
12And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
13Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Now, we can see that Zechariah was being shown a heavenly vision of the High Priest Yehoshua (Jesus) standing before the Angel of YHWH:
Zechariah 3
1And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
7Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
9For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Maria’s second reply:
One more thing that I wanted to point out, Paul. As with all prophecy, there is usually a literal application as well as a metaphor or a “type and shadow” of a future fulfillment. While the High Priest Joshua really did exist, this is also a prophecy of the future Millennium with the High Priest Yehoshua (Jesus) as the type and shadow being shown to Zechariah in the vision.
When interpreting prophecy, we must see that there are usually 3 or 4 “layers” of understanding. God’s Torah teaches us to “love the Lord” with 4 aspects our being: “heart (spiritual), mind (intellectual), soul (emotional), strength (physical).”
In Jewish thought, these 4 layers of understanding apply to all 4 aspects our being.
Torah is divided into four levels of teaching. They are: P’shat, Drash, Remez and the Sod. Brief explanations are below:
1.)P’shat Level The P’shat level is the plain sense of the text. What does it actually say? Every word, phrase, and thought has a meaning, there is no word that is redundant or idle. Even if it appears to be, it is not. It is filled with meaning for us to learn. (Physical or literal application)
2.)Drash Level The Drash level is where truth and principle are presented. Truth can only be truth if it is confirmed. Confirmation as we know must come in the form of evidence and evidence must be at least two or three witnesses. (Intellectual, or rational)
3.)Remez Level The Remez level is the underlying theme or story that is told while speaking of other things. It is how prophecy is laid into the story of history. This level shows the plan for Yahushua’s redemption and restoration. (Emotional application or parables we can relate to)
4.)Sod Level The Sod level is the mysterious and coded level. This involves the understanding of numbers along with the meaning associated with certain numerical values. For example, the number 1 represents “Echad” or Oneness, “Two” represents struggle, division or witness, etc. This level also involves the meanings of names. (Spiritual application or metaphor, allegory)
Hence, we can see that the High Priest Joshua is both a literal priest in that day of Zechariah, but he was also shown a vision of the Heavenly High Priest Yahushua Messiah (after the order of Melchizedek).
Paul and Victor’s reply:
Maria, you write: “Now, we can see that Zechariah was being shown a heavenly vision of the High Priest Yehoshua (Jesus) standing before the Angel of YHWH.”
Applying kabbalah-type knowledge and other smokescreens does not change the facts. The Joshua in filthy clothes was not the sinless Joshua from above. The sinless Joshua is the One Who cleansed the filthy clad Joshua, because the sinless Joshua, Jesus Christ, is the Angel (Messenger/Messiah/Anointed One) of YHWH, the only One Who can cleanse men from their sins at any time. This we know, not by human artifice and reckoning, but as revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
2) Not answering documented points, but resorting to and reiterating carnal doctrine that is beside the point:
You haven’t recognized or answered even one of the points we have given you. Why? Because you don’t love the Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. You love yourself instead. That’s why you are so prominently pictured on your site. It is all about you, not the Lord. He is your vehicle to greatness. You glory in carnal knowledge, which has puffed you up. Your knowledge is not of faith. True godly knowledge comes from His faith and obedience to Him.
You are not right with God, Maria, not by a long shot. Thus you fail in P’shat, Drash, Remez, and Sod, all four levels. As Paul says and quotes Job:
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, ‘He takes the wise in their own craftiness’” (1 Corinthians 3:19 MKJV).
Of those who have met Joshua, the apostle Paul writes:
“But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the Word of God, but by the revelation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2 MKJV).
And he expressed a fear he had for the saints at Corinth: “But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity due to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3 MKJV).
Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach is the Way and Truth, Maria, not you or the path you entice others to take. In Him only is Life, Which He is.
Victor Hafichuk
Maria’s response:
Paul, you are the one not right with God by a long shot. You need to repent.
Victor and Paul’s reply:
Maria, you have now been rebuked and warned by the One you presume to worship and serve – Yeshua HaMashiach. Your beauty will fade soon enough, and you will realize your worship of Him has been in vain.
Victor and Paul
Maria’s first response:
You are not Yahu’shua the Messiah. You may think that you are him, but you are not. I rebuke your false prophecies against me and send them back to where they came from—the pit of Hell. The accuser of the brethren has been cast down.
Maria’s second response:
You Victor and Paul are now being warned and rebuked by the Holy Spirit. Your understanding of Messiah coming in human flesh is very faulty. 1st John 4:3 in KJV declares that every spirit that does not confess that Yahushua Messiah is come in the flesh (sarx) is from the Anti-Messiah. The Greek word for “flesh” in 1st John 4:3 is “sarx” which means “having a sensual nature.” Our Messiah never sinned because he was 100% Elohim (God) and 100% human at the same time. But his body was corruptible because his mother’s egg was fertilized by the Holy Spirit and his body was human. His blood however was sinless and spotless because it was the blood of his Heavenly Father. His blood could not have atoned for sin unless his blood was perfect and spotless. But his body became sin as he “put off the body of sins in the flesh” (Colossians 2:11) and put on a new incorruptible body at his resurrection.
The Roman Catholic Church denies that Messiah came in human flesh that was corruptible. They say that Mary/Miriam (the mother of Yahushua) was born without original sin, and hence they say that she was divine and sinless and that she passed on her sinless divine nature to Yahushua. Because of this blasphemy called “the Immaculate Conception” (not to be confused with the virgin birth), the RCC erroneously teaches that Messiah did not destroy the body of sins on the cross once and for all. That is why they teach in the Catholic Catechism “at every mass he must perform the function of the victim anew.” This is the basic premise for believing that he must be crucified over and over again at each Mass.
Now we can see why it is so important to believe that Yahushua Messiah came in human flesh (sarx, having a sensual nature). He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. This means that his human body was subject to all of the passions and desires that we have, but his spirit was incorruptible. He had a physical nature that was corruptible (human), but he had a spiritual nature that was incorruptible (divine) and that is why he was the perfect sacrifice.
If you deny that Messiah came with a sensual human nature, then you are from the Antichrist Spirit. The fact that he had a corruptible body and that he took sins upon that body and destroyed sin in the flesh, is what made him the perfect sacrifice. That is why Joshua the High Priest in Zechariah 3 had a filthy garment on. It is a prophetic picture of Messiah’s body becoming sin and that body of sins being destroyed in the flesh on the cross.
If you deny this, then you are of the Spirit of Antichrist.
Paul and Victor’s reply:
Maria, you are one confused person, which is the inescapable result of following men and your own carnal form of godliness.
You say that we are not “Yahu’shua the Messiah.” Yet you tell us that your words are a warning and rebuke from the Holy Spirit. In other words, you speak as “Yahu’shua the Messiah.” We don’t interpret, however, your claim to speak from God to mean that you believe you are literally Jesus Christ. That would be silly and wrong of us, just as it is silly and wrong of you to pin such a claim on us.
We have never declared to be Jesus Christ, though we readily confess that He has sent us, having made us bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. We are born again, raised up by Him to do His will, and we are not alone, as Jude so emphatically points out. Rejecting us, you are rejecting all of His saints and their holy words of Scripture. Above all, you are rejecting Him.
How can you be in the Spirit of Christ when you cannot hear what His brethren say, when you misinterpret and improperly divide the Scriptures, when you follow and promote the carnal notions, doctrines, and commandments of men?
You are confounded, even in the simplest of matters, not being able to identify with whom you are speaking or with how many, as when you write to us.
3) Claiming Jesus Christ was in sinful flesh and had the same disposition as sinners:
You use Colossians 2:11 to try to prove that Christ had a disposition to sin. Here are your exact words:
“But his body became sin as he ‘put off the body of sins in the flesh’ (Colossians 2:11) and put on a new incorruptible body at his resurrection…. This means that his human body was subject to all of the passions and desires that we have, but his spirit was incorruptible.”
But that’s not what the Scriptures say. Here is the verse you cite, in context:
Colossians 2:10-14 MKJV
(10) And you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality and power,
(11) in Whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,
(12) buried with Him in baptism, in Whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.
(13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
(14) blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.
It is we who put off the body of the sins of the flesh in this life through Christ, not He Who ever had to put off such a thing, because He was not corrupted and was without sin. If we can be without sin and corruption in this life, how much more our Lord and Master Who is God Almighty, when He came in the flesh?
Indeed, it was not only His blood that He gave for us, but also His flesh, and there are several witnesses who testify that He certainly said so.
“I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever. And truly the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51 MKJV).
John 6:53-56 MKJV
(53) Then Jesus says to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.
(54) Whoever partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
(55) For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
(56) He who partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me, and I in him.
“And He took bread and gave thanks, and He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup, after having dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is being poured out for you” (Luke 22:19-20 MKJV).
“And taking the cup, giving thanks, He gave to them. And they all drank out of it. And He said to them, This is My blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:23-24 MKJV).
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body. And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink all of it. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28 MKJV).
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 MKJV
(23) For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread;
(24) And giving thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.”
(25) In the same way He took the cup also, after supping, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; as often as you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.”
Is His blood clean that it could be given as a sinless sacrifice for us? Is His body any less when offered up together with His blood, as symbolized in the Passover meal?
What good would His flesh be as a holy sacrifice if it were corrupt? Having never known Him, you would naturally reject His flesh as corrupt, but we know Him, being born of His Spirit, and we know His flesh was not corrupt. Your arguments, borrowed of men and not even your own, are foolishness.
Furthermore, the Scriptures (which cannot be broken) say that Christ never saw corruption:
“For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalms 16:10 MKJV).
This applied pre-grave as well as in the grave and after.
For more proof of these truths and your error, read Could Jesus Christ Have Sinned?
Jesus Christ had a corruptible body only in the sense that it was the same physical substance as ours, which naturally ages and decays in death. But He overcame death, so He demonstrated His divine life and nature and made the way for us to live by His same power.
Jesus Christ, while taking on human flesh and nature, did not succumb to temptation because He was not sensual (meaning carnal or fleshly). While the first Adam fell to temptation, the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, did not and could not, because the second Man was the Lord from Heaven:
1 Corinthians 15:45-48 MKJV
(45) And so it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul,” the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.
(46) But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.
(47) The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven.
(48) Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones.
Also read: “Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God. For God is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one. But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death” (James 1:13-15 MKJV).
You write: “If you deny that Messiah came with a sensual human nature, then you are from the Antichrist Spirit.”
But we say that because you identify the Messiah with your corrupt flesh and sensual nature (rather than identifying with His spiritual and incorrupt nature), it is you who is antiChrist. (And that’s why you capitalize “Spirit of Antichrist,” because you honor yourself and your spirit as God, in place of the Lord Jesus Christ.)
You are among the mockers, the sensual who cause division:
Jude 1:17-19 HNV
(17) But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the emissaries of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
(18) They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.”
(19) These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
Being of antiChrist spirit, you naturally deny Him and His coming in us, who are of His Body, and are flesh by whom He comes.
We are not accusing you of these things, Maria. We are telling you the truth, which you cannot refute or deny. You know that we are right. And still, you will destroy yourself by choosing to preserve your image and person because you are proud and puffed up.
You have no love for the Truth, none at all. You blaspheme, proud daughter of Belial, but you will see what is from the pit of Hell and what is not, and who is the accuser of the brethren in Christ, which brethren we are.
Paul and Victor
Maria’s response:
No, I do not think you are “right” at all Paul or Victor. And it is YOU and Victor who are “confused.” You are confused and confounded and full of yourselves. Of course “WE” put off the body of sins in the flesh, but so did Messiah! Why did he come in the likeness of sinful flesh? How could his body take on sin and die on a cross if it was incorruptible?
He put off the corruptible body and put on a new body so that we might follow the same pattern as him!
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Wow, how ignorant you are! If you don’t understand this basic principle then how can you call yourself a teacher?
What you are teaching is from the spirit of Antichrist if you deny that Yahushua Messiah is come in human flesh.
I never said that Yahu’shua sinned! Never once did I state that he sinned! His spirit was incorruptible, but his body was corruptible. He was “tempted in every way as we are yet without sin.”
“God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man…” right? So if Yahushua is God in the flesh (and he is) then how could he be tempted to sin like us? Simple! He had a human body that was subject to all temptations and passions and sensual desires, yet he never acted on them because his spirit was God’s Spirit.
If you cannot grasp this simple concept, you must stop teaching right now!
Paul and Victor’s reply:
Maria,
4) Defending her error about Christ being a sinner by nature and twisting our words:
We certainly have not denied that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and do declare even now that He comes in the flesh. And where, oh where, do you find that we accused you of saying that Jesus sinned? Search our correspondence up and down and you will find no such things as you suppose are there. Why do you not read respectfully, carefully, and responsibly, in another word, godfully? We have certainly done so with your words, undertaking our responsibility in all solemnity.
Woman, is there no hope at all of godly reasoning with you, or are you set only on proving us right when we say you are a daughter of Belial (a totally unreasonable being)? Do prove us wrong on that count! There are so many things we could say here, but it comes down to this, Maria – you are not being attentive and truthful, or reading carefully and responsibly what we send you. For example, we wrote:
“Jesus Christ, while taking on human flesh and nature, did not succumb to temptation because He was not sensual (meaning carnal or fleshly).”
That’s why the Scripture says He came “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” rather than saying He came “in sinful flesh.”
If a judge decides to personally pay the penalty of a defendant before him who is convicted of a crime, it does not presuppose that the judge becomes that criminal. It only means he took the punishment as though he was that criminal. That is what the Scriptures teach of Jesus Christ, and not what you and so many others who err in them teach (that He became the criminal), which notion approaches blasphemy.
Re-read our letters and particularly read the writing we gave you in this last letter. Stop being stubborn and defensive, and start being responsible.
While our corruptible must put on incorruption, which it can do only by the power of His resurrection life, His body was not corruptible, even as the Scripture says by Peter:
“Seeing this beforehand, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor would His flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31 MKJV).
Had He been corruptible in any way, He would not have been able to raise His body from the dead. Had He been corruptible in any way, He would not have been able to save us. As for your remark that His body took on sins, you err. He, and not His body, took on the sins:
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 MKJV).
“It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63 MKJV).
The body is nothing of spiritual value. The sin is spiritual, and only Spirit could deal with it, yet the body is the beneficiary of that which the Spirit of God does for our sakes.
You need to read Could Jesus Christ Have Sinned? There you would find our statements clarified and would not put words in our mouths that are not there, falsely assuming and foolishly accusing. There you will also find explanation from the Scriptures and reasoning of God that would put away error.
But do you have a heart for that, Maria? It appears that your agenda is simply to defend your doctrinal position and do a “tit for tat” with us. Is that what the Lord wants of you? Is that how you best serve His interests, or even your own? We tell you this: If you refuse to hear, you will be exposed for all to see, and your latter end will be worse than it needed to be.
We also have a question for you: Do you now begin to recognize that you are giving yourself and your flesh the glory instead of the sinless Lord Jesus Christ?
Paul and Victor
Maria’s response #1:
1 John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
What does the word “flesh” mean here in the Greek Strong’s Concordance?
4561. sarx sarx probably from the base of 4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially), a human being (as such):–carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh(-ly).
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
How can a person be tempted unless they have a human carnal nature?
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But Yahushua Messiah is Elohim YHWH in human flesh. So how can he be tempted with evil? Because he possessed both natures at the same time!
His Spirit is the Spirit of YHWH, but his body was human and carnal (subject to temptations and passions).
His blood was the Heavenly Father’s blood because the “life of the flesh is in the blood.”
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
But his physical body was human (the egg of his mother fertilized by the Holy Spirit).
He had a human nature “physically” that had to die on a cross! He destroyed the carnal nature on the cross!
He had a divine nature “spiritually” and hence this blood was perfect, sinless and spotless able to atone for sin!
He was 100% human (carnal) and 100% YHWH (spiritual) at the same time!
This is the reason why HE and ONLY HE could be the Messiah! Nobody else could’ve done it!
Maria’s response #2:
See Ron Wyatt’s Testimony about the Blood of Messiah not being Human Blood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtVSPfBTUJs
Victor and Paul’s reply:
“For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed” (John 6:55 MKJV).
Like we said, Maria, get responsible. You haven’t red our paper, to which we now refer for the third time, Could Jesus Christ Have Sinned? You are being quite irresponsible, stubborn, rude, and more. Is it because your life is on the line and pigs, unlike lambs, scream blue murder when butchered? Sure it is.
Read what we have given you, and you will have your questions answered instead of parroting them over and over again when we have already answered, respecting your right to questions, as foolish as they are. Either indicate to us that you have red our letters and paper or forever hold your peace. But that is asking far too much of one such as you, isn’t it?
You rightly require it of others. You criticized someone on MySpace as follows:
“What person reads a 10 page letter and skips to the 5th page and reads 2 lines from the letter and forms a conclusion from those 2 lines without reading the entire letter? No person in their right mind does this.”
You are condemned out of your own mouth, you hypocrite! Furthermore, the person you criticized gave you the truth, correctly interpreting the Scriptures, while you were in error, trying to justify your “ministry.”
5) Wrongly assuming a position of authority over men:
But who made you, a woman, a teacher and leader of men, as you claim to be on your site?:
“Maria Merola is called by Yahu’shua to teach and preach the message of the kingdom ‘to the Jew first, and then to the Greek (Gentile).’”
The fact is foundational that you, a woman, presume to teach men, contrary to the Scriptures and the way of God as recorded in many instances (Diabolical Doctrine: Women Are Ministers of God in Spiritual Authority over Men). We have first addressed you on your blasphemous doctrinal error, however, lest you should say we are jealous, legalistic, chauvinistic, have some kind of problem with women, or whatever other rational excuse or argument you might come up with in this matter. If God anoints anyone, they are given to speak the truth unmixed with lies, but you speak many lies, and you certainly have no right to do so. Now we confront you on your being out of order before the One you pretend to serve.
In your MySpace blog defense of a woman being a teacher/leader of men, you use a variety of bogus arguments. [Since we published this paper, Maria made her blog entry unavailable to the public. Contact us if you would like to read it.]
None of the women you list as examples of leaders after Christ came were leading men at all, in any way, shape, or form. That goes for Tabitha, Phoebe, Euodias, Syntyche, and Junia.
It is not even clear that Junia is a woman. But even if Junia were a woman, the Scripture doesn’t say she is an apostle, but rather is well known to the apostles.
This from John Hunwicke:
“M.H.Brurer and O.B. Wallace, who hail from the Lone Star State, argue the Junia was probably a female, but not an Apostle. This is how it goes. Romans 16.7 calls Andronicus and Junia ‘episemoi en tios apostolois – notable in/among the apostles.
Does this mean:
(a) notable members of the group of the apostles; or
(b) not apostles themselves but well known among (i.e. to) the apostles?
(a) is much the more fashionable translation at the moment. Of course, it has its problems. If Andronicus and Junia were ‘prominent’ members of the apostolic band it is odd that we hear nothing else about them; and odd that Paul, who is probably listing for the Roman Christians people who could put in a good word for him, didn’t give them a more prominent billing on the list. So ‘Apostles’ would have to mean a different, lesser category then the Twelve.
But this is not what Burer and Wallace discuss. They examine what in extant Greek literature (60,000,000 words) the usage episemos en… means And their conclusion is that (b) is right: in other words, Andronicus and Junia were not apostles but were a couple whom the Apostles (i.e. the leaders of the Jerusalem community) knew and – Paul implies – approved of. If Paul had wanted to say ‘notable members of the group of the Apostles’ he would have used a different construction: episemos with the genitive case: ‘episemoi ton apostolon‘ – well-know of the apostles.
So, oops-a-daisy, there wasn’t a woman apostle after all!”
Furthermore, there is no second or third witness of there ever being any female apostles, which witnesses are required by the Law of God.
Getting back to the point that none of these women were leading men – because they were helpers to the apostles, ministering to them, does not mean they were leading the apostles or other men. Here is such an example of women ministering without leading:
Luke 8:1-3 MKJV
(1) And it happened afterwards, He traveled in every city and village, proclaiming and announcing the gospel of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve were with Him,
(2) and also certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons,
(3) and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to Him of their possessions.
Their service would also have been spiritual, including the gifts of the Spirit, as women who received His Spirit after the Lord’s ascension and return also ministered to the men God appointed as leaders (as did Philip’s daughters, who prophesied when Paul came to Caesarea). That still does not put women in positions of leadership.
If the Lord wanted women to be leaders, why did He appoint twelve men as apostles?
You conclude your justification for taking on a leadership role with the following argument:
“In the kingdom of heaven, the Body of Messiah is a female role and the Bridegroom is a male role. We are the entire same ‘female’ role in the kingdom in relationship to the bridegroom. But in the marriage relationship it is different because that marriage relationship exemplifies that of Messiah and his Bride. That is the only relationship where the distinction of male and female are still unique in function.”
Again, how do you explain twelve male apostles, deacons, and bishops, none female, serving in the Body of Messiah? Was Jesus old-fashioned? Was Paul a misogynist? Is the Word of God outdated?
You have confused speaking and witnessing with leadership because you are an independent rebel, a lawless Jezebel. Carnal and blind, you interpret Jezebel’s sin to be teaching physical fornication, whereas the Lord was speaking of her teaching His people to abandon and betray Him and the true faith for idolatrous teachings that cater to the pride of the flesh and foster destruction – exactly the things you do.
Here is one such example of your wicked fruit, from Michelle Sirmans Emanuel on MySpace:
“Thanks Maria for addressing this issue. It is one that I have struggled with for many years. I was taught that woman should not minister in the church but we had obviously missed something in regards to Paul addressing how woman should be when praying or prophesying. Obviously from that point of view, women were certainly speaking and not being made to be silent.
So for years even after I began to accept the role of womans leadership in the church I still questioned the authority and validity of it.
I have come to believe that in the beginning before the fall women (eve) were given the authority and dominion same as the man, but lost it because of sin. But once we have been redeemed by the blood of Yeshua then were are rightfully restored to that place of co-dominion as long as we are submitted to our husbands, fathers, or pastors.
It is just that it has been so ingrained in me, and it is very hard to unlearn things you have been taught are true for nearly 25 years. I almost wish I could go back all those years and start over with the teaching I am under now. It would be so much easier.”
“There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25 HNV).
You don’t supply the necessary witnesses, according to the Law, while teaching women to lead men, also contrary to the Law. You show yourself once again to be the consummate hypocrite, appealing to the Law as valid while you are trashing it. You condemn a man on your MySpace blog [blog removed] for not honoring the Law according to your invalid and illegal interpretation:
“It is obvious brother, that you have no understanding of what the New Covenant is all about. If the law were no longer valid for the New Covenant, then why is the law now written on the heart?”
So why don’t you uphold the Law, except that it isn’t written on your heart?
Getting back to your argument for holy blood in unholy flesh, we are amazed that you believe and call on Ron Wyatt as your star witness, that SDA-Ellen G. White dupe, publicity seeker, liar, and delusional fool! It only further proves what sort of unreasonableness we are dealing with.
6) Teaching Christ’s holy blood was contained in unholy flesh:
Holy blood in an unholy vessel of sinful flesh, you say? Shame on you for such heresy in His Name! Have you known God to ever instruct the Levitical priests to do anything even close to such a foolish and ungodly notion? Shall you pour fresh milk into a bedpan? Will you eat out of a toilet bowl?
Haggai 2:11-13 KJV
(11) Thus says the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the Law, saying,
(12) If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
(13) Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Again, just as the Lord’s blood was clean and holy, so was His flesh. If this were not so, then He was a liar to tell us otherwise, and we would be unclean according to the Word of God. But we know who the liar is here.
You are a Jezebel. She called herself a prophetess just as you call yourself a minister of God. Like her you teach and seduce God’s servants to commit spiritual fornication, giving them to eat that which you sacrifice to your idols. You are an impudent harlot, Maria, yet not as the harlots who will enter the Kingdom along with drunkards before the religious wicked, because you are among the religious wicked, an express member of Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots.
You are one in a long line of offenders, whose time of judgment has now come:
Ezekiel 13:17-23 HNV
(17) You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy you against them,
(18) and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and save souls alive for yourselves?
(19) You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.
(20) Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make them fly.
(21) Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am the LORD.
(22) Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive:
(23) Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver My people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the LORD.
Victor Hafichuk
Maria’s last reply to us:
Do not send me anymore emails because you are blocked, and your email will be considered spam from here on out.
Paul now wrote to Daryl and Natalia Gray, sending them our conversation with Maria:
Greetings Daryl and Natalia,
We ran across Maria Merola’s site on your blog [blog removed]. Her claim to be a messenger of God sent to uproot false teachings caught my eye, as did her focus on external and artificial Hebrew roots. I sent the following note, which started a chain of correspondence (included):
Hi Maria,
Uprooting false teachings? Try these foundational writings the Lord has given us (besides many others on our site):
Diabolical Doctrines
The True Marks of a Cult
And particularly applicable, here is what the Lord has taught us about using Hebrew Names for God.
But will you give His brethren who unashamedly speak the Name of Christ a hearing?
The Grays’ reply (sent also to Maria):
Paul the amount of information on Maria’s “mistakes” you’ve sent us is to large and would take to long to go through. It might be your assignment to focus on exposing false teachings and errors in another ministers walk, but our assignment is to focus on learning truth and delivering it to others. We have already waisted more than half our lives wandering in confused Christian doctrine and theory and do NOT have any desire for public La’shon Hara against our sister. That’s NOT what Torah teaches us. Torah teaches the Kingdom’s Culture and It’s manners…It does teach us how to present ourselves as a SET APART Nation, His special Segullah and to NOT profane His Most Holy Name, Blessed be He. We should not walk as pagans! Torah teaches dignity and proper conduct. We should STOP fighting one another; rather we should focus on delivering YHVH’s Message to the lost ones. It’s time to quit with this heretic exposed garbage and deal in love with each other individually. What you are doing seems cowardly and lazy. This face book thing is a tremendous opportunity to voice truth to those that will hear. Unfortunately it has it’s misuse by those who lack the knowledge, wisdom and understanding gained from Torah to discern truth from lie. We find it rather ironic that all of the truth we have heard of late is from folks on your heretic list. We are certain we would be honored to join them on this “list”. We also find it disconcerting that many of the so called Christian church fathers were later declared heretics yet their sick doctrines still raise their ugly heads in churches today. Marcion was a self emasculating charismatic speaker that invented the two God theory…..this thing is still out there in a disguised form.
We don’t publish anything we don’t agree with…we always carefully sift everything we hear. As for Maria’s articles you saw on our blog, we found NO error in them! No we are not familiar with ALL Maria’s teachings. Maria may say something that does not line up with the Word. However, WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES! ..do we not?! The winner is the one who admits and corrects the mistakes. Like Rico Cortes likes to say “Do not believe a thing I say – you may agree or disagree…but keep searching and studying…verify everything”. We understand that there is a possibility that we might get on your list of “heretics” tomorrow, but that would NOT keep us from pursuing truth..
At this point we would like to leave the conversation. You might take note that Torah teaches ”when an enemy raises its head the person being attacked is about to enter their next season” and that usually means a promotion and or fame. We would expect that what you are doing will prove beneficial for all those being attacked and let the TRUTH go forward…Amen!
Shalom to ALL!
Daryl & Natalia.
Maria’s reply:
To Daryl & Natalia,
Thank you for reproving these persecutors of those of us who love the name of the Heavenly Father (YaHuWaH) and his son, the Messiah of Y’isael (YaHuWShuWA). I am attaching an article that I wrote that reveals that indeed women are called by Elohim to teach and preach the message of the kingdom. Please find two articles below that I have attached. One such article reveals the characteristics of the Spirit of Jezebel and that she teaches the servants of YHWH to commit spiritual fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols (two characteristics that are diametrically opposed to this ministry and what I teach). In sharp contrast, my ministry is to expose the SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL OPERATING THROUGH SUCH MEN AS PAUL COHEN AND VICTOR HAFICHUK. They oppose the truth and stone the prophets of YHWH. They are clearly doing the work of Satan. The ministry that YHWH has called me to is the ministry of the prophet Elijah (EliYahu) to expose the prophets of Ba’al such as these men who oppose the true name of our heavenly Father YHWH.
To all of those who are copied on this email, I have attached the teaching about women’s roles in the body of Messiah.
Shalom to all of you in the name of our Messiah Yahushua, Maria Merola
http://www.DoublePortionInheritance.com
The Grays’ reply:
Bless you Maria. Like we told your persecutors we believe this is announcing your next season…and we suspect it will be wonderful! You have been a blessing to us and to many. It is good to stand with a person willing to take a stand. Shalom
Daryl & Natalia
Paul and Victor’s reply to everyone:
7) We expose the blasphemy and folly of Daryl and Natalia Gray:
“If one answers a matter before he hears, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13 MKJV).
Daryl and Natalia Gray say of us, “What you are doing seems cowardly and lazy.” This was after saying, “It might be your assignment to focus on exposing false teachings and errors in another ministers walk….”
Let’s look at the facts: We took the time to write Maria several letters spelling out the specifics of her errors in detail, which she could not refute and has never addressed, responding only with general and unproven accusations and arguments. We then brought these things forth publicly before her supporters, the Grays, who respond: “The amount of information on Maria’s ‘mistakes’ you’ve sent us is to large and would take to long to go through…” and, “At this point we would like to leave the conversation.”
So we see by the admission of their lips just who is cowardly and lazy. In all of the Grays’ and Merola’s accusations against us, they are guilty of whatever they have projected back on us as we have held the mirror of Truth up to them.
And as with all false accusers and liars, the Grays’ own words turn on them and condemn them – “we always carefully sift everything we hear.”
They say of their alleged calling of God, “our assignment is to focus on learning truth and delivering it to others.”
How is it truthful to condemn what they have not red and do not even know what it is they condemn?
They say: “We have already waisted more than half our lives wandering in confused Christian doctrine and theory…”
And we don’t preach confused Christian doctrine or theory, so what is their point? Do these people know absolutely nothing, while acting as if they know it all? Don’t they know that God requires they prove their insinuations and allegations? We originally sent Maria The True Marks of a Cult and Diabolical Doctrines, two substantial refutations of confused Christian doctrine and theories, which neither she nor the Grays have bothered to look at or consider. They are too set on defending themselves and their confused doctrines and theories to be willing to hear any truth that contradicts them.
They continue: “…and do NOT have any desire for public La’shon Hara against our sister.”
OK, here we go with the Jewish terms. We have nothing against the Hebrew language. I, Paul Cohen, am a Jew, by physical and spiritual birth, whereas the Grays and Merola are neither. Of course, being a physical Jew or speaking Hebrew gives a person no favor with God, but I bring this up to show everyone that these people are proud of their knowledge of things Jewish, yet those things are mixed with the carnal commandments of men, and confusion reigns because they don’t know what they are talking about.
Lashon Hara is not a term from the Torah or the Tenach. It is a perverted concept invented by religious Jews who didn’t know God or understand Him or His Holy Scriptures. Here is their basic definition of the term:
“Lashon Hara is any derogatory or damaging statement against an individual. In Hilchot Deot 7:5, Maimonides supplies a litmus test for determining whether something is or isn’t Lashon Hara:
Anything which, if it would be publicized, would cause the subject physical or monetary damage, or would cause him anguish or fear, is Lashon Hara.” (Source)
This is a diabolical, man-centric precept, which offers no compass because it is not grounded in the Truth. According to this concept, Joshua son of Nun was wrong to separate out Achan for his sin at Jericho, causing the man and his family a lot more than loss of money, accompanied by fear and anguish.
According to this concept, Joshua the Son of God was wrong to confront the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and scribes on their sins and errors. Any righteous judge or rebuker of evil may, according to the carnal and corrupt eye of the beholder, be accused of Lashon Hara by the wicked, just as the Grays unjustly accuse us of sinning against Merola.
The Scripture that is cited as the underlying foundation for the rabbinical concept of Lashon Hara, is Leviticus 19:16:
“You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people; neither shall you stand against the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.”
Those who betray the confidence of others, divulging things they ought not to, are indeed disobedient, wicked souls. But is that what the Lord and His servants have been doing from the beginning, by exposing the leaven of the wicked and rebuking their ways? Is that what we have done with Maria Merola? The very next verse justifies the children of light who speak the truth and condemns the children of darkness who twist the Scripture to conceal their sins:
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him” (Leviticus 19:17 HNV).
We are fulfilling verse 17 in our rebuke of the wicked, also supplying the requisite multiple witnesses that testify against their evil, while Grays and Merola fulfill the judgment of verse 16, standing against the life of their neighbor, which is Jesus Christ in us, Who comes to testify against them and their ways.
How is it that these wannabe Jews take their spiritual guidance and proof sources from those who crucified the Lord? They do it because they are brothers and sisters to His murderers, the synagogue of Satan. Here’s what will happen to all who are joined in this antiChrist spirit and false Judaism:
“Behold, I give out of those of the synagogue of Satan, those saying themselves to be Jews and are not, but lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you” (Revelation 3:9 MKJV).
The Grays write: “Torah teaches dignity and proper conduct. We should STOP fighting one another; rather we should focus on delivering YHVH’s Message to the lost ones.”
Any implication that this is a family feud is in error. These people are not our brothers and sisters. They do not have YHWH’s Message to deliver because they are the lost ones. They preach another gospel and another Yeshua, which the Lord and His apostles warned against. That is what we have been pointing out from the beginning, with holy evidence from, and the authority of, YHWH.
So when the Grays say, “It’s time to quit with this heretic exposed garbage,” we reply, then why are you still clinging to it, fighting to retain your toxic sludge as if it is your lifeline and savior?
Ignorance bolstered with bravado is their chosen deathstyle:
“As for Maria’s articles you saw on our blog, we found NO error in them! No we are not familiar with ALL Maria’s teachings. Maria may say something that does not line up with the Word. However, WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES! ..do we not?! The winner is the one who admits and corrects the mistakes.”
We have found plenty of error in Maria’s teachings, which, in our laziness, we have provided in detail for the Grays, but they, in their industriousness, find it too much work to read. They have discovered that the best way not to admit and correct their mistakes is to reject the Light that exposes them:
“And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20 MKJV).
Maria has also ignored the ungodliness and many errors of her doctrine and stance that we have pointed out to her. She cannot answer those things, so she brings up false arguments that we have either already answered in the writings and letters, or are irrelevant or easily answered.
For example, she presents everyone with the straw man argument that the only Scriptural injunction the “misinformed” use against women in authority over men is “one isolated passage of scripture from 1st Timothy 2:12.” (This is an obviously false argument, as we have given her several Scriptural witnesses.) She proceeds to try to topple this straw man by contending that the Greek word translated as “woman” in this verse actually means “wife”:
“But I do not allow a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:12 MKJV).
However, Paul starts out this segment using the same word for “woman,” and it is clear that he, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is referring to all women, and not only wives:
“In the same way also, I desire that women adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and sensibleness, not adorned with braiding, or gold, or pearls, or costly clothing, but with good works, which becomes women professing godliness” (1 Timothy 2:9-10 MKJV).
And if anyone is in doubt that the Greek word used on both these occasions indicates “woman” as in “female,” then what will you do with this verse, that uses the same word?
“The wife and the virgin are different. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34 MKJV).
According to Maria, this phrase means the “unmarried wife.” Of course, that is nonsense. We have established by two witnesses that the word means “woman.” It doesn’t mean that to Maria because she isn’t married and this is her way to justify her lawless power grab and self-glorification.
Maria says she has blocked our emails, considering them spam, yet reserves the right to condemn us before others and include us in these mailings. Is this not contradiction and hypocrisy? How can these vipers escape the condemnation of hell?
How can they know and represent the Truth, when they flee from the Light? Grays offer this advice:
“Like Rico Cortes likes to say ‘Do not believe a thing I say – you may agree or disagree…but keep searching and studying…verify everything’.”
The saying is to verify “everything,” however, not just “some things.” Daryl and Natalia Gray and Maria Merola have shown themselves to be totally irresponsible in their knee-jerk responses, though even if they were to read our writings and letters, they still couldn’t comprehend the Truth because they don’t have Yeshua HaMashiach:
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are the ones witnessing of Me, and you will not come to Me that you might have life” (John 5:39-40 MKJV).
Are their companions deceived because these self-promoters come preaching in His Name (whatever version they support), saying that He is Christ?
“And He said, Take heed that you are not deceived, for many shall come in My Name, saying, I AM! Also, The time has come! Do not go after them” (Luke 21:8 MKJV).
The apostle also warned of these lawless circumcisers:
“But the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned, from which some, having swerved, have turned aside to foolish talking, desiring to be teachers of the Law, neither understanding what they say nor that which they affirm” (1 Timothy 1:5-7 MKJV).
The Grays end with more Torah-twisting:
“You might take note that Torah teaches ‘when an enemy raises its head the person being attacked is about to enter their next season’ and that usually means a promotion and or fame. We would expect that what you are doing will prove beneficial for all those being attacked and let the TRUTH go forward…Amen!”
Besides the fact that this isn’t in the Torah, it also isn’t true. Mark our words, it will not go well for these people. Maria will suffer the fate of the prophets of Baal whom Elijah slew. So will the Grays, because they have chosen the fornication of Jezebel. (We see what you have done to your son, making him a fat brat and twice the child of hell that you are, destroying him with your false religion.)
The One Who raises His Head against you is God, because you have come against Him, touching the apple of His eye. Watch and see.
Paul and Victor
May 18, 2011 Update:
On April 27, 2011, we received the following notice from Daniel W. Merrick, on behalf of Maria Merola:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE
From: <faith@penn.com>
To: ask@thepathoftruth.com
CC: hollenbecklaw@yahoo.com, doubleportion888@aol.com
Date: 4/27/2011 8:30 PM
RE: https://www.thepathoftruth.com/false-teachers/maria-merola.htm
CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE:
To Paul Cohen and ThePathoftruth.com; ET AL
You are hereby given notice that a law suit was filed in the offices of Mark Hollenbeck Attorney for the purpose of removal of the act of defamation and slander on behalf of the copyrighted name Maria Merola and associated non profit ministries in the United State of America. Further more a request to the FBI has been filed for international criminal activities of your site.
Under international law, you are not permitted to use the copyrighted material, name, trademarks, and items in any form in connection with Maria Merola and or Double Portion Inheritance ministries.
REF: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92appii.html
Under Title 17 of the US INTERNATIONAL CODE OF LAW, you are in violation by:
Posting the name Maria Merola and Double Portion Inheritance Ministries which is the copyrighted property of CYMG, Maria Merola, and or other associated parties; See The Class in the action filed April 27th for the International Court of the Bern Convention.
The class in this action for relief has filed suit to remove any and all references, defamation, cyber bully posting, and materials to include all links and references to Maria Merola and or any associated ministries from you site.
Mr. Cohen, you have reported lies about Mrs. Merola and have violated the laws concerning personal attacks on the internet concerning US laws. Further more you have not been granted permission to use and personal communications,emails, or copyrighted materials from Mrs. Merola.
Posting these things is unethical and against the law. Should you agree to sign the enclosed document and remove all references to Maria or her ministry from you web sites, to include all links or otherwise. Then we will agree to not go forward in filing this suit and criminal complaints against you and your associated ministry.
If we don’t get a response from you in 30 days, then we will instruct our lawyer to take the following actions:
1. File warrants for your arrest and the arrest of any member of your ministry listed on your site for criminal activities against the US Freedom of Religion Act requirements of protections of rights of religious groups;
2. File suit and damages for defamation and for copyright violations under international laws under the berne convention.
3. File Criminal complaints with the Canadian and US government for legal action and extradition of you and your members to stand trial in US COURTS for Cyber Bully activities against a US Registered non-profit ministry and the person of Maria Merola.
4. File action under FCC Code and privacy act for the unlawful posting of private communications and emails which is illegal in the USA.
/Complaint:
Domain Name: THEPATHOFTRUTH.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
Name Server: NS51.HOSTGATOR.COM
Name Server: NS52.HOSTGATOR.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 10-jun-2010
Creation Date: 08-aug-2005
Expiration Date: 08-aug-2014
Defendant did post private communications in violation of the FCC Code and International laws concerning private emails and or electronic communications for the purpose of calling the reputation of the plaintiff into question in a defaming manor using the word "Jezebel" on the web site www.thepathoftruth.com falsely reporting her personal and religious beliefs in violation of the Freedom of Religion act and subsequent acts and treaties under international law. Defendant did violate the international Berne Convention Law concerning copyrighted names, trademarks, and material and Plaintiff petitions the court for damages and requests the immediate court order to remove the site pages containing the plaintiff’s name, ministry, and all links or references thereto; /
Harassment and postings on the internet of this criminal nature are not allowed under international laws Mr. Cohen. Further more you have reported many inaccurate accounts of Mrs. Merola’s communications with you. Should you refuse to remove these posts we will sue you and everyone associated with your ministry. Mrs. Merola is on National Radio and TV internationally coming this fall and I am sure you do not want to escalate this matter because you will loose in court and the court of public opinion. If we do not here from you in 30 days we will file legal actions and criminal complaints with US and Canadian authorities.
Sincerely,
Investigations Division
RDJC Inc.
COPY FURNISHED ATTORNEY MARK HOLLENBECK
ATTACHMENTS:
RETRACTION STATEMENT AND AGREEMENT IN LUE OF SUIT AND LEGAL ACTION
I Paul Cohen hereby publicly apologize for actions taken by my web site in connection with Maria Merola and Double Portion Inheritance Ministries. I agree to remove all materials and web pages, statements and writings about her personally or her ministry. I repent of having used copyrighted material and agree to stop attacking her in any way shape or form. I acknowledge that Mrs. Merola believes in the Bible, attests to the Messiah is YHWH in the flesh, sinless, and that she is not related to any cult, commune or in violation of any law concerning the legal operation of ministries and non profit organizations. We sincerely apologize for our actions and ask that she extend us mercy concerning our criminal acts toward her.
____________________________________
Paul Cohen
<<<<<<<
Please sign and notarize the above statement and remove all posts and web pages within 30 days or we shall take legal action.
Sincerely,
D.W. Merrick
Special Investigation Division
RDJC, Inc.
814-887-5224
Paul and Victor’s reply, sent May 18, 2011:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE
From: Paul Cohen <paul@thepathoftruth.com>
To: faith@penn.com
CC: hollenbecklaw@yahoo.com, doubleportion888@aol.com, "Victor Hafichuk" <victor@thepathoftruth.com>
Date: 5/18/2011 5:56 PM
To: D.W. Merrick
Cc: Maria Merola, Hollenbeck Law
Re: Cease and Desist Letter
Mr. Merrick, this is a response to the “cease and desist” letter you sent us on April 27th, 2011.
Your letter presents two claims, each with its own set of considerations necessary to determine legitimacy. One claim is that you have a legal case against The Path of Truth on behalf of Maria Merola. Since neither of us is a lawyer, and knowing that lawyers themselves have much debate regarding the legal precedents and statutes you cite, especially regarding their application in any given case, let’s set this matter aside for the courts to determine.
The other more important and pertinent claim is that Ms. Merola has a moral or spiritual case against The Path of Truth. You say we are in the wrong by posting our correspondence with Maria. If you are right about this, we can thankfully say that you don’t need to threaten us with legal action in order for us to remedy the situation. We will gladly fix, retract, and apologize wherever and to whomever such is due, with thanks to you for bringing it to our attention and to the Lord Who corrects us in His mercy.
But you will need to prove we are wrong, which your letter doesn’t do. Bring forth the two or three witnesses required by God’s Law to establish each of your points. Our sole desire is to speak and represent the Truth, nothing more, nothing less.
The Law of God and His will transcend and determine all things, including the laws of the land. God’s Law, by faith, should be honoured at all costs by those who believe, in this matter and all others. I think you would agree, in principle.
I think we can also agree that if you and Maria, as those professing the Father of Spirits and One and Only Lawgiver, the Lord Jesus Christ (or Yeshua HaMashiach), don’t have a solid moral or spiritual case against The Path of Truth, then there is no call or justification for you to initiate a lawsuit against us. And if we are in the right in what we do, then you are automatically found to be in the wrong in your accusations, coming against God Himself (if not against the laws of the land – frivolous litigation could apply).
In fact, in the sight of God, you are already in the wrong by initiating a lawsuit, even if you were right in your accusations. I say this, not as my own opinion or interpretation of the Scriptures, but according to the Word of God that makes the matter clear and without dispute:
“Do any of you dare, when you have a matter against another, to go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1 MKJV)
Ms. Merola has never approached us on the charges you have made, providing opportunity for us to consider and reason together before the Lord and other believers in order to determine the validity of her complaint. And there is no cause for her to fear we might disagree to discuss this matter, as it is well proven on our site that we, by God’s grace, are reasonable people in this regard. On The Path of Truth, one can readily see the many opportunities we give false teachers and those in error to make their case in full and to have all their complaints answered.
We demonstrate the same here by answering your threats and ultimatum with reason and entreaty, not returning the same in kind.
Whether we are reasonable people or not, however, according to the Scriptures and holy counsel of God, your threat of legal action and of reporting us to the respective federal law enforcement agencies of our countries shows that you are on the wrong side of God’s commandment.
Are you two not preaching obedience to God? Can you see and admit that you are in error here? If not, how reasonable are you, Dan?
Don’t you know that it’s for your good to hear and know God’s commandments, repenting when found in contradiction to them? Are you not cognizant that breaking His Law brings consequences?
Have you considered that the many things we have said and published on our site are for your good? Have you even heard the truth that we preach? Conversely, the truth we preach is for your evil if you judge it to be evil, whether you’ve heard it or not.
One of your moral/spiritual complaints is that we have defamed Ms. Merola by calling her “Jezebel.” But isn’t Maria doing to us exactly what Jezebel did when she was incensed against Elijah for killing the false prophets of Baal? She threatened him with the arm of flesh, the power of the government, to perform her evil intent against the man of God.
Elijah didn’t do that. He fled for his life, but God sustained and kept him, and also performed His Words against Jezebel that Elijah prophesied, without Elijah lifting a finger against her.
Which of the two do you and Maria resemble? And how do you compare to Christ, Whom you both claim to love and serve?
“Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23 KJV).
You and Maria do the opposite of the Lord Jesus Christ – you threaten those who speak in His Name. Even if we were doing evil, the commandment and example of the Lord is not to threaten or revile. Consider this carefully, Dan, and what it means about where you will end up, should you continue on your erring course.
And have we even reviled Maria? In truth, and without prejudice or malice, we have accurately portrayed her. She has exposed herself by the expression of her own words (which have not been manipulated or taken out of context) and by her own actions (which also speak for themselves). The case has been made on our site, and you haven’t given us any proof otherwise. Neither do you give us the least indication that you have honestly, responsibly examined the materials.
Are Maria’s works and words a private and not a public matter, as you complain? You bring up her status as a “US Registered non-profit ministry.” Is that not public? Being registered as a religious minister or organization under the government qualifies as being a public entity with commensurate responsibilities. And as Maria presents herself as a servant of God with government approval for tax-exempt privileges, her claims and actions concern the tax-paying citizenry, her target audience and potential supporters.
She can’t have it both ways. If Maria wants to be a public figure, putting the word out at large about herself and her “US Registered non-profit ministry,” then she also needs to be willing to be accountable, questioned and examined on her publicly espoused doctrine and beliefs that are the supposed foundation of her ministry. Indeed, one would think she would be forward to have it so, especially when she is representing herself in her own unaltered words.
Our published correspondence is solely concerned with Maria’s claim and position as a supposed minister of Christ, wherein we address the error she represents and teaches in His Name. It is no private matter, even as her actions, and not only her words, prove.
Furthermore, we are not threatening or challenging Maria’s legal status as a non-profit organization, as you imply. We are only challenging her publicly proclaimed status as a servant of God.
It certainly is in the interests of all that her ministry is subjected to fair scrutiny; it’s also in the interest of the government that licensed her ministry, which is founded on the principle of freedom of speech and conscience.
It is no small irony that you, a citizen of the United States, a country founded on the right of its citizens to question the spiritual authority of tyrants like the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, the Puritans, and other incipient tyrants, seek to quench this right in the name of the United States’ legal/law enforcement institutions, while supposedly serving the King of kings, Lord of Heaven and earth. If that isn’t chutzpah, what is?
You propose to use the taxpayer-funded court system, their time and money, to shut down those who practice the taxpayers’ right to free speech (both to speak and to hear it) – doing so in the name of serving God as you expressly disobey Him. If that isn’t contradiction and hypocrisy, what is?
Tell us, where in the Scriptures do you find men or women of God ever taking their persecutors or opponents to court before earthly authorities? There is not one example. On the other hand, the Bible is replete with testimonies of the enemies of God and of Christ and His disciples angrily and cunningly using earthly authority and law to still their mouths.
You stand in contradiction and in conflict with both God and man.
But here is God’s way for His saints to deal with these matters:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty by God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 EMTV).
If you and Maria were in the right and were walking in God’s ways, you wouldn’t resort to the warfare and threats of Jezebel, but would avail yourself of the power and faith of Elijah. You plainly can’t because you don’t have it. Yet Maria claims to have it:
“The ministry that YHWH has called me to is the ministry of the prophet Elijah (EliYahu) to expose the prophets of Ba’al such as these men who oppose the true name of our heavenly Father YHWH.”
So does she presume to expose us by suing us? What will that prove, and to whom? Anti-Christ judgments are made in the courts every day in every nation. Maria isn’t opposing us in the Name of God, but in the name of unregenerate man (the US government) and his unjust courts. (Did Elijah do that, or did he register as a religious minister or organization under the government?)
If Maria continues in this contradiction, not repenting of the presumption and deception she perpetrates on the public she presents herself before as an angel of light, isn’t it only reasonable and right that everyone has an opportunity to know that her claims are fraudulent? Should God not say anything when men and women use His Name to do their own works in their own names? Give us the rationale for defending your actions, Dan.
If the United States government were to abdicate its constitutional precepts by finding in your favor, choosing to desecrate the blood of those who laid down their lives to fight the tyranny you represent here, that is their business. Our business is to do what’s right before God for the sake of all, even if all men disagree:
“And Peter and the apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29 MKJV).
“But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right before God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20 MKJV).
Returning to the specifics of your moral case against us, you accuse us of misrepresenting Maria’s letters:
“Further more you have reported many inaccurate accounts of Mrs. Merola’s communications with you.”
Show us where and how. Give us the specifics. We know of no such incidents. We never claimed that Maria doesn’t profess to believe in God or that she claims Christ isn’t God in the flesh, Who committed no sin. Regarding the sinlessness of the Lord in body and spirit, however, we differ with her claim that Jesus came in corrupted flesh and “put off the body of sins in the flesh” at the resurrection.
What’s wrong with disagreeing? Are we not allowed to? Maria publicly teaches what she teaches; don’t we have the right to publicly address what we perceive as her error? What is she afraid of?
You call pointing out Maria’s errors “cyber bullying,” which is absurd. Here is the definition of that term from cyberbullying.org:
“The use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.”
And here’s a more extensive description from Wikipedia:
“Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels (i.e., hate speech), ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation.
Cyber-bullies may disclose victims’ personal data (e.g. real name, address, or workplace/schools) at websites or forums or may pose as the identity of a victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames or ridicules them. Some cyber-bullies may also send threatening and harassing emails and instant messages to the victims, while other post rumors or gossip and instigate others to dislike and gang up on the target.”
None of that applies to our communications. We aren’t harassing, ganging up, chasing, or using deceit and lies to instigate persecution against Maria. You have no evidence of such activities because none exists. We have only spoken the truth to Maria’s face, in an open two-way correspondence, pointing out her error and presumption in the Name of God in order that she might repent.
Here is what I wrote to her about what God would have her do, for her sake:
“I engage you here, Maria, not to prove we are right and you are wrong, but to fight for your soul and the souls of those who might be led astray by your false reasonings. You need to deny your glory, trash your ministry (which God is not in), take up the cross, and follow Him without the camp, without trying to set up your own.”
Seeing how she refused correction and maintained her position as a false teacher of Christ, we published the proof of Maria’s error before the public to whom she presents her deception.
We haven’t used pejorative labels as hate speech, either. A label that fits is factual and accurate, not hateful. What we have done isn’t the same at all as ranting on someone with profanities or name-calling out of personal animosity.
“Jezebel,” for example, is a Scriptural term and precise example that can be defined. We have shown how it applies to Maria, and her present behavior confirms what we have shown. In her hate, she has now incited you, as Jezebel did with Ahab, to do her dirty work.
On the other hand, Maria calls us “prophets of Baal,” who come in the “spirit of Jezebel” doing the “work of Satan,” all without damning evidence. These are pejorative labels with malicious intent, because there is nothing to back or prove them. It is a spiritual tit-for-tat, mocking the truth of what we say without understanding the spirit or substance of our words because she doesn’t want to understand.
That’s why we haven’t responded to these accusations. They are disembodied from truth and reality, which makes them “slander” to men and “bearing false witness” to God.
We have nothing personal against Maria, but God certainly has something against the way she conducts herself. His will and commandment to us is to expose the one who presumes to preach in His Name (not that we take her to court), as she walks in unlawful behavior and spreads false teachings:
“And have no partnership with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things being done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light” (Ephesians 5:11-13 EMTV).
Doesn’t Maria say she is doing the same with us?
“The ministry that YHWH has called me to is the ministry of the prophet Elijah (EliYahu) to expose the prophets of Ba’al such as these men who oppose the true name of our heavenly Father YHWH.”
If her ministry is to expose false teachers, why does she complain when we do it? And why doesn’t she do it herself, for real? After all, it isn’t on Maria’s site that one finds her description of us, but the following words (with her capitalization) are published on our site, as part of our correspondence:
“In sharp contrast, my ministry is to expose the SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL OPERATING THROUGH SUCH MEN AS PAUL COHEN AND VICTOR HAFICHUK. They oppose the truth and stone the prophets of YHWH. They are clearly doing the work of Satan.”
So why isn’t Maria doing her job? Because she is lying, whether consciously or not; it isn’t her job to expose others.
But we’re doing it because it is our job, given by God, by Whom we came to Maria and spoke the truth, as recorded on our site. Why would we take down His words of life? Maria couldn’t refute what He gave us to say, but rejected it because she despises Him, the Truth Who exposes her lies.
Now she has you to do her bidding, fetching the worldly authorities to put away our testimony in Christ, just as the Pharisees did to Him, because they couldn’t answer His Words. They were also confounded and condemned by their own thoughts and ways, which they loved more than the Truth.
We haven’t sought to publicly humiliate or embarrass Maria, as cyber bullies do. Maria has done that to herself, by her own words, pictures, and deeds. We have merely shone the Light on her, to her shame.
If you two were in the right, you wouldn’t complain about the publication of our correspondence or claim copyright protection. You would know that Yeshua HaMashiach doesn’t approve of your thinking or actions. He said this about the words one speaks:
“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things. But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned” (Matthew 12:35-37 MKJV).
“For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad” (Luke 8:17 KJV).
Where is Maria’s copyright protection from the Lord? Will He not judge her words before all, and shouldn’t she want that, if they justify her?
If Maria speaks the truth, which, as the light that dispels darkness, is far more powerful than lies, then why would she try to repress her own words and forbid them to be heard by those to whom she is supposedly sent by God to preach the truth? If we are liars, and she is the truth-teller, why does she fear the publication of all her words and ours? Would she not be confident that we have made fools of ourselves before all by differing with her and with her God? But she is fearful and hateful, and therefore resorts to force. Isn’t that so, Dan?
Has God copyrighted the Bible? It is written therein that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Has any of His testimony been copyrighted outside of the Bible? Who would withhold what God freely gives? Who has the right to do that? And who will take it upon himself to repress what God has given? Woe to that person!
The same goes for distortions:
“For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book. And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book” (Revelation 22:18-19 MKJV).
Consider, Dan: If you were in the right, you would gladly welcome any publicity for the cause of Christ. We do. Google our names and see how many publicize us with evil intent and falsified reports. We are blessed and thankful, as the Lord declares:
Luke 6:22-28 MKJV
(22) Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
(23) Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in Heaven. For so their fathers did according to these things to the prophets.
(24) But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.
(25) Woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.
(26) Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For so their fathers did to the false prophets.
(27) But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
(28) bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.
Our enemies are done in by their own passions and desires, because, by publicizing their evil thoughts, they draw attention to the Light that shines on them and their darkness, for all to see. They expose themselves as liars.
For this we heartily thank God, as do all who love the truth. The Scriptures report that the apostle Paul welcomed whatever brought approval to the ministry of Christ, including evil reports:
2 Corinthians 6:4-8 KJV
(4) But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
(5) In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
(6) By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
(7) By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
(8) By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.
Here is yet another occasion where darkness comes against the Light, because God will glorify His Name. And to that we say, Amen, praise the Lord! Blessed be His Name, forever and ever! Yes, come, Lord Yeshua!
Paul Cohen
Victor Hafichuk
Victor also replied to Dan Merrick:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Examination of Fruits According to the Scriptures and Some Questions
From: Victor Hafichuk <victor@thepathoftruth.com>
To: faith@penn.com
CC: "Paul Cohen" <paul@thepathoftruth.com>, hollenbecklaw@yahoo.com, doubleportion888@aol.com
Date: 5/23/2011 6:25 PM
Mr. Merrick, Victor Hafichuk here from ThePathofTruth.com.
On May 12th, my wife and I witnessed an event at an intersection with a traffic light. A driver who had the green right of way sped toward a young couple walking through the red light while preoccupied in their conversation. The car gave a long blare of the horn, barely, if at all, diverted from the straight path towards the couple, and did not slow down. The couple jumped out of the way just in time. The driver’s attitude seemed to be, “I’m in the right, you’re in the wrong, so I’m exercising my right and if you don’t get out of the way, you’re dead.”
Immediately, I was reminded of the stance that you and Maria Merola have taken, threatening us with a lawsuit. Yes, you may technically take the high road, applying the letter of the law as you interpret it, not as we understand the letter, never mind its spirit and intent, and try to destroy us. But would it have been right for that driver to spread blood and gore all over the road because he had the right of way? Would his crime have not been immensely greater than theirs, though sanctioned by law, if sanctioned?
This is assuming you have the right of way to begin with; we aren’t making that assumption. The spirit of the law certainly isn’t on your side, at least not in harmony with the constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and speech.
You demand that we retract our public spiritual arguments and debates with Maria Merola. We, as Kingdom sons, don’t threaten to sue you at law, as it is our duty to yield “our coats to you as you take away our tunics.” But are we required to withdraw words of truth spoken to reprove the works of darkness and to warn spiritual sojourners of the deception prevalent everywhere on the net? We find this situation remarkable. Let’s review each of our positions, chief claims, and declarations.
Maria declares she comes in the ministry of the prophet Elijah:
“In sharp contrast, my ministry is to expose the SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL OPERATING THROUGH SUCH MEN AS PAUL COHEN AND VICTOR HAFICHUK. They oppose the truth and stone the prophets of YHWH. They are clearly doing the work of Satan. The ministry that YHWH has called me to is the ministry of the prophet Elijah (EliYahu) to expose the prophets of Ba’al such as these men who oppose the true name of our heavenly Father YHWH.”
On the other hand, we have declared that she walks in the spirit and works of Jezebel. It is apparent that we are at an impasse as to who speaks the truth. As well as seeking to hear from Yeshua personally, let’s examine the fruits and determine by the Scriptures who is speaking the truth.
But before we do, I would like to ask you some simple questions, Daniel, some of which we have already asked, and which you refuse to answer:
Have you honestly and earnestly acquainted yourself with the details of our correspondence with Maria Merola? It most certainly seems otherwise, or, you are blinded and influenced beyond reason.
Have you enquired of Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ as to whether or not Maria Merola loves Him, serves Him, and walks in the ministry of Elijah? Have you personally heard from God?
Do you know beyond any doubt whom we truly represent, and whether or not we walk with Yeshua and serve Him, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth? As a soldier, would you be willing to stake your life on your understanding?
Have you asked God/YHWH if He approves of you suing anyone in the Name of YHWH for speech made in His Name?
Have you received direction from Him to initiate a lawsuit against us on behalf of Merola?
Now, back to comparing our situation to the example of Elijah and Jezebel:
Elijah said to Ahab the king of Israel, Jezebel’s husband:
1 Kings 18:19-21 MKJV
(19) And now send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.
Ahab cooperated:
(20) And Ahab sent to all the sons of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel.
(21) And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long are you limping over two opinions? If YHWH is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
As the story goes, Elijah slew those 450 prophets of Baal who ate at Jezebel’s table. He shed much blood that day when God answered him by fire and accepted his sacrifice, but rejected the sacrifice of the prophets of Baal.
Jezebel didn’t like that:
1 Kings 19:1-3 MKJV
(1) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all that he killed, all the prophets with the sword.
(2) And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
(3) And he saw, he rose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba of Judah, and left his servant there.
Elijah didn’t rely on the power of the earthly government to achieve his mission and perform his will, but Jezebel did.
We have not sought, and under God we haven’t needed to bring, the power of the law of the land on Merola or anyone else; we have only spoken of her fruits, as God has revealed them to us. But she and you obviously seek to bring the power of the law of the land against us.
While Elijah was strong in his condemnation of false prophets defiling Israel, to the point of putting the sword to them, his strength was in YHWH and in Him alone, Who backed him all the way.
Is it wrong of us to warn of, and protect the public from, false ministries? We have spoken by YHWH and know He is with us.
Why can’t Maria Merola rely on YHWH’s judgment against us, instead of her own or man’s (the arm of flesh)?
After Elijah killed the prophets who ate at her table, Jezebel was angry with him and vengefully sought his life, while Elijah was not retaliatory, vengeful, or seeking to defend his spiritual status.
You and Merola seek our lives, even as Jezebel sought Elijah’s. Yes, you are after our blood – what else is such a lawsuit all about?
Is that the spirit of Elijah or the spirit of Jezebel operating in you and Merola?
Do prophets and saints of God sue those who criticize them, whether privately or publicly? Do they use the law of the land to protect their ministries? Don’t they simply speak the Word and leave the judgment in God’s hands, as we do? Which of the prophets of YHWH or apostles of Jesus Christ took others before the law of the land, to Babylonian, Persian, or Roman courts in their day?
Any correspondence we have posted has included Maria’s own defense. She has her full say. We left nothing out and altered not a word, contrary to your accusations. We even published the defamatory things she said of us. We aren’t moved by them. What is she afraid of, losing earthly gain and glory?
It seems that while lies don’t bother us, truth bothers Maria. You have to ask why.
Elijah was not defending his citizenship rights of the land, if he had any, but Jezebel used the law against him for her selfish purposes.
While Elijah fled for his life, God protected him. He even lived to be translated. He didn’t have to sue Jezebel. But we all know what happened to her: The dogs devoured her, according to the Word of the Lord. With her painted face and ways, she wasn’t able to seduce the one God sent to bring His justice:
2 Kings 9:30-33 MKJV
(30) And Jehu had come to Jezreel. And Jezebel heard, and had painted her face and adorned her head, and looked out at a window.
Her defense was a “good” offense, a moral road with accusation:
(31) And Jehu came to the gate. And she said, Was it peace to Zimri the slayer of his lord?
It didn’t work:
(32) And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is with me? Who? And two or three eunuchs looked out at him.
(33) And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down. And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. And he trampled her.
I will confess that when I first saw Maria Merola’s picture at her site, she was immediately sexually attractive and tempting to me. There she was, the foxy lady with a seductive look in her eye, as if to say, “Come, and let us make love!” (Proverbs 7:18). I soon understood to beware and to diligently keep myself unspotted from the world, not only in act, but also in spirit and thought.
It seems you have been seduced, Dan, not heeding the warning of the Scriptures:
Proverbs 6:23-25 MKJV
(23) For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life;
(24) to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
(25) Do not lust after her beauty in your heart; nor let her take you with her eyelids.
This has happened because your heart hasn’t been right with God in the keeping of His commandments and ways, as you seem to think. Instead of bringing you before the thrones of men, we call on you to repent before the throne of God.
Jezebel painted her face to seduce Jehu. On the other hand, of Elijah it is recorded:
“And they answered him, He was a hairy man and was bound with a girdle of leather around his loins. And he said, He is Elijah the Tishbite” (2 Kings 1:8 MKJV).
Did he make the effort to beautify himself to attract people? Centuries later, John the Immerser came in the spirit of Elijah, “neither eating nor drinking,” having been raised up in the wilderness, dressed similarly to Elijah (Matthew 3:3-4) and paying no mind to the opinions and machinations of men against him. He was anything but attractive to the flesh. The ministries of Elijah and John the Baptist were of God and not of themselves.
According to our understanding of Yeshua HaMashiach and of the Scriptures, as well as what we have witnessed of Maria Merola, we declare that Maria walks in the spirit of the Jezebel of old, Ahab’s wife, and of the one of whom our Lord and Savior speaks to His assembly at Thyatira, who taught the Lord’s servants false doctrine and worship, the ways of the flesh and of the world (spiritual fornication):
“But I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel to teach, she saying herself to be a prophetess, and to cause My servants to go astray, and to commit fornication, and to eat idol-sacrifices” (Revelation 2:20 MKJV).
We say that is what Maria Merola is doing today, as expressed in our posting with which you take issue. Your lawsuit serves to confirm our position.
Should either or both of you repent and change your ways, turning to the Lord with all your heart to worship Him in spirit and in truth, we will be delighted to post that very good news for all to hear.
God bless Elijah! In his day, he fled for his life from Jezebel. Today, by the grace of YHWH/Yeshua HaMashiach/the Lord Jesus Christ and His grace only, we will not flee. We will stand. Our confidence is in Him, Whom we serve and Whom you claim to serve, but do not. Come what may, God is Judge here, as sure as the sun rises and sets. We look forward to see Him answer.
Victor Hafichuk
Paul Cohen
Merrick replied to the former letter on May 18th:
—– Original Message —–
From: faith@penn.com
To: Paul Cohen ; hollenbecklaw@yahoo.com ; doubleportion888@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 11:37 PM
Subject: Re: CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE
Dear Mr. Cohen:
You did not follow Matthew Chapter 18 in any way, presentation, or with witnesses before posting your lies against Maria Merola. You just took private communications, altered the content, and added her to your list of smear campaign members against anyone you disagree with in doctrine.
"Ms. Merola has never approached us on the charges you have made, providing opportunity for us to consider and reason together before the Lord and other believers in order to determine the validity of her complaint. And there is no cause for her to fear we might disagree to discuss this matter, as it is well proven on our site that we, by God’s grace, are reasonable people in this regard. On The Path of Truth, one can readily see the many opportunities we give false teachers and those in error to make their case in full and to have all their complaints answered."
You by your own words have admitted your error in the scriptures. YOU NEVER PRESENTED TWO OR THREE WITNESSES AGAINST HER IN A PUBLIC FORUM BEFORE THE BODY OF BELIEVERS IN ANY AUTHORITY WHAT SO EVER. Even in your sentence above you say you always give "False Teachers" assumes that the context of the teachings of Mrs. Merola are false. Mrs. Merola does not want her name on your site what so ever. She refuses to argue with liars who have a preconceived mindset that refuses the Holy Spirit’s leading and teaching us all truth. What you have done is slander and defamation and is illegal.
1. Mrs. Merola has never agreed with the doctrine that you state on your site about the Messiah or his divinity.
2. Mrs. Merola has never made any charges against you or your group or ministry publicly other than to say you have posted incorrect doctrine and statements about her that are untrue.
3. From the list of people you are attacking on your site, I wonder how you could make any claim of being a minister of Messiah at all, you are to busy tearing down the kingdom to be able to build anything of the Messiah, as your small numbers show, you are not preaching the Bible.
4. Ministry should reach out and save the lost and allow YHWH to deal with the false prophets and ministers of Satan. It is better to show by scripture the false doctrine by addressing the doctrine with scripture rather than resorting to personal attacks.
5. As I can see in your response, you think of yourself more highly than you ought, and think that you can slander who you wish without any recourse of your actions. You are in grave error there.
6. Your calling names like Jezebel on your site may have a spiritual meaning to you and your members, but in the commonly accepted understanding it means a woman is a whore that sells her body for sex. This kind of attack is not becoming a so called minister, rabbi, or what ever you call your self.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Besides you ignoring the Bible where we as believers are instructed to reserve our communication to the words of our Messiah, you further heap judgment of YAH GOD on yourself by continuing in twisting things to puff up your misconceptions and extreme self righteous contempt for the truth.
Quite Frankly, I have no dog in this race, could really care less what you think, and would love to take you to court so I could expose your tactics as what it is, cyber terrorist activities and the work of Satan to destroy anyone who is in disagreement with your doctrine. You are not the final authority on what is truth, the Bible is as interpreted by YHWH.
Further more, Mrs. Merola IS NOT A MEMBER of YOUR GROUP, CONGREGATION, OR under any of your affiliations or authorities. >From what I gather from your site, you appear to be a commune group with no standing or authority over you in any way. So your claim against me or my use of legal recourse on behalf of Mrs. Merola is without merit in that you have no one to take before with witnesses in accordance with Matthew Chapter 18 to resolve this issue. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I found no address or license, ordination or Affiliation on your web site to even send a letter to.
So what your purpose is in attacking large numbers of people who are not members of your group is beyond me. When I attack false doctrine, I take the Bible and show where it is false doctrine line upon line, precept upon precept. I may state the "Mormons", "Catholics", or the overseeing authority or group name, but not a person by name for the sole purpose of attacking them. You should be ashamed of yourself and repent from what you are doing. You should be witnessing to the truth and sharing the plan of salvation in these last days rather than spending all your web space to attack everyone.
So I suggest the following since you are NOT under any BIBLICAL AUTHORITY or willing to hear any reason concerning your false accusations against Mrs. Merola:
The MIA (Messianic Israel Alliance) has an oversight group that is designed to resolve conflicts in the Messianic Community in the United State and Canada. They oversee ministries and review disputes that arise between groups when all the parties involved agree in writing to resolve issues which could result in legal action or cause harm to Messianic groups, ministries, and cause harm to the purpose of Messiah and the message of salvation in his name. If you are truly in agreement that we should build the body of Messiah and not tear it down, then you will agree to have your actions reviewed for the purpose of resolving this dispute between you two.
If you and your group would be willing to sign and notarize and agreement for arbitration to go before this neutral third party with the understanding that you would remove your postings against Maria if this board of Messianic Pastors arbitrates that you do such when you are proven wrong, I will see if Mrs. Merola will suspend the law suite in lue of arbitration.
I do not expect any messianic group to agree with all doctrine of other groups. But I see no purpose in what your site does when the time could be better spent in seeking out and saving the lost souls who are trapped in sin sick lives.
It is further beyond me why there are so many people like you in the Messianic groups who are chasing people away from salvation by creating arguments and divisions that the unsaved look on an see, then walk away shaking there heads in disgust rather than being convicted of their sins and repenting.
And please in your next communication to me, do preach your garbage attacks against me, you don’t know me and do not want to tango with me. That is not a threat, that is a promise. So leave me out of your little cult attacking network and your serpent tongue Lashaon hara. Because I won’t just sue you, I will pursue you.
And by the way you site says "Merola, Maria: Putting Away Jezebel (and her partners in crime) Maria’s Writing in Response to Paul" which has PRIVATE EMAILS on the site posted there which are a clear violation of US FEDERAL LAWS in disclosing PRIVATE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. So before you falsely call someone a criminal on your site, you had best stop breaking the law yourself you hypocrite liar. But even though that is my opinion of you, you won’t see me posting it on my website. And if I am wrong, then tell me what CRIME Maria is guilty of and what authority you took her before WITH WITNESSES in accordance with MATTHEW CHAPTER 18 ? With over 100 so called false teachers exposed on your smear site, how many were brought before the pastors, rabbis, or what ever authority you would except to be judge according the the BIBLE as to if they should be attacked in this way or thrown out of the Body of Messiah?
Sincerely,
Captain Daniel W. Merrick, PH.D.
RDJC, INC. PRESIDENT
USA RETIRED DAV
CYMG UCCMA MIA
Paul and Victor’s reply:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: CEASE AND DESIST NOTICE
From: Paul Cohen <paul@thepathoftruth.com>
To: faith@penn.com
CC: hollenbecklaw@yahoo.com, doubleportion888@aol.com, "Victor Hafichuk" <victor@thepathoftruth.com>
Date: 5/28/2011 8:19 AM
Dan, Paul here.
Matthew 18 isn’t applicable to our situation. The words you refer to are:
Matthew 18:15-17 MKJV
(15) But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
(16) But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
(17) And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.
Maria isn’t our sister, and she hadn’t trespassed against us. We confronted her on her false teachings and untrue/unlawful claim of having been sent by God to minister in the spirit of Elijah, much as the Lord Jesus Christ confronted the religious of His day. Then she trespassed, as did Jezebel.
Consider: Did Jesus privately confront the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and scribes, then before two or three witnesses, and finally before the whole congregation of believers? No. The Lord (and His servants after they received His Spirit) publicly confronted the false religious whenever the opportunity arose to shine the light in darkness. Stephen’s martyrdom is a perfect example.
We did, however, pose 1 Corinthians 6:1 to you and Maria:
“Do any of you dare, when you have a matter against another, to go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1 MKJV)
This is the prescription for how the saints of God are to behave amongst themselves. We gave this to you to show that you are behaving as the world does, not as God’s people do.
If you wish to turn the tables and say that we aren’t brethren in Christ, and therefore going before the saints doesn’t apply to us, we can answer that, too (and already have). Where do you see Christ and His ministers running to the authorities to prosecute their persecutors? Nowhere. But you do see Christ and His ministers constantly publicly rebuking those who misrepresent God. And when those who were rebuked turned on the Lord and His saints to persecute them, the saints continued to testify of God against their ways, as we do with you.
What other reason is there that you and Maria, as presumed teachers of Christ, do what He didn’t, and don’t do what He did, except that you are imposters who are not His servants?
Your responses to our letter and your attitudes in general remind me of a bumper sticker: “If you don’t like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk!”
You may think that what you demand is legal, but it isn’t right or lawful before God.
Let’s look a little closer at your protests (many recycled), in which you don’t answer anything we have said thus far:
You say we “assume that the context of the teachings of Mrs. Merola are false.” There are no assumptions, because we have proven, to the satisfaction of the Scriptures and those who honor the Word of God, that Ms. Merola’s teachings are false. It is presumptuous of you, however, to overlook these proofs and to speak as if they don’t exist.
“Mrs. Merola does not want her name on your site what so ever.”
Why not? Doesn’t she want publicity for her cause? Is she ashamed of her words, which are reported in full? These are issues addressed in our first letter, which you haven’t answered.
“She refuses to argue with liars who have a preconceived mindset that refuses the Holy Spirit’s leading and teaching us all truth. What you have done is slander and defamation and is illegal.”
If she refuses to argue, why did she argue? And if she argued well, by the Holy Spirit Who leads into all truth, why would she want those arguments removed from public view? But if she didn’t argue well, and the Truth exposed her and her error, then we are no liars and she is the slanderer.
We have made the case and leave her judgment to God, as believers are enjoined to do, and not to look to the arm of flesh to exact vengeance or justice:
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19 EMTV).
Again, all covered in our first letter. Now onto some further points you make:
“1. Mrs. Merola has never agreed with the doctrine that you state on your site about the Messiah or his divinity.”
So what? Isn’t that part of the point, that people need to hear the truth that counters false teaching?
“2. Mrs. Merola has never made any charges against you or your group or ministry publicly other than to say you have posted incorrect doctrine and statements about her that are untrue.”
So what? According to her own self-proclaimed mandate from God, she has been remiss in her duties to publish. This matter has also been covered.
“3. From the list of people you are attacking on your site, I wonder how you could make any claim of being a minister of Messiah at all, you are to busy tearing down the kingdom to be able to build anything of the Messiah, as your small numbers show, you are not preaching the Bible.”
Don’t you know the old must be torn down before the new can be built up? Don’t you know that the Messiah said He wouldn’t find faith on earth in the Day of His judgment, which He likened to the days of Noah? According to you, Noah couldn’t have been a preacher of righteousness, because of his small numbers, but he was:
“And He did not spare the old world, but saved Noah the eighth one, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5 MKJV).
“4. Ministry should reach out and save the lost and allow YHWH to deal with the false prophets and ministers of Satan. It is better to show by scripture the false doctrine by addressing the doctrine with scripture rather than resorting to personal attacks.”
Say what? Personal attacks are exactly what you are doing, threatening us with a lawsuit and intimating you will physically assault us. How much more devoid of your senses could you possibly be? And what of Maria’s words that she is sent by God to expose the prophets of Baal? Have you lectured her about this?
As for using the Scriptures to address her diabolical doctrines, we have done that from the beginning and are still awaiting your response (or whoever you can find that is willing to respond), but we are not depriving ourselves of oxygen as we wait.
“5. As I can see in your response, you think of yourself more highly than you ought, and think that you can slander who you wish without any recourse of your actions. You are in grave error there.”
You can see nothing at all in our response, as demonstrated throughout your letters. You speak from the darkness of your grave.
“6. Your calling names like Jezebel on your site may have a spiritual meaning to you and your members, but in the commonly accepted understanding it means a woman is a whore that sells her body for sex. This kind of attack is not becoming a so called minister, rabbi, or what ever you call your self.”
We have made it clear what kind of spirit and person we are talking about. It would be far better for Maria to be the outright whore you describe, one who sells her body, than the Scriptural Jezebel we have described, who sells herself to do evil in the Name of God. A whore sells her body in an upfront transaction, but Jezebel deceives her buyers, who think they are getting God when, instead, they are serving a corrupt woman’s lust for glory, at the cost of their own lives.
Maria shames the Name she professes to adore. How deceitful is the heart! Honest whores blush and rise up in protest being compared to this Jezebel, who styles herself an intercessor and prophetess of God. It is a smear on their profession; how much more on His Holy Name?
You go on in absolute meaningless religious gibberish:
“Besides you ignoring the Bible where we as believers are instructed to reserve our communication to the words of our Messiah, you further heap judgment of YAH GOD on yourself by continuing in twisting things to puff up your misconceptions and extreme self righteous contempt for the truth.”
You are a mocker, Dan, answering our substance with pretend knowledge and piety. Your emptiness is now exposed. You stand in all contradiction to the truth and to yourself.
And where in the Bible does it say we are to “reserve our communication to the words of our Messiah”? Are you suggesting we should be parroters of the Bible, without our own oil before God, and not testifying of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of prophecy? You really know nothing at all of the Lord or His ways. Why not stop your complaining and start listening to learn something about Him for the first time in your life?
You say:
“Quite Frankly, I have no dog in this race, could really care less what you think, and would love to take you to court so I could expose your tactics as what it is, cyber terrorist activities and the work of Satan to destroy anyone who is in disagreement with your doctrine. You are not the final authority on what is truth, the Bible is as interpreted by YHWH.”
If you had no dog in this race, you wouldn’t be threatening to sue us; it’s that simple. But here’s the canine aphorism that applies to you:
“He who passes by enraging himself over strife not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears” (Proverbs 26:17 MKJV).
And how is it the work of Satan when we refute the false teachings of others, but it’s not the Devil’s work when Maria does it? It says on her site (did Maria write these words in the third person to give herself credibility?):
“Maria has been called to uproot false teaching in the church.”
“Maria is especially called to help people in identifying the differences between the false ‘Doctrine of the Nicolaitanes’ (Revelation 2:6) which Jesus/Yahu’shua said that he ‘hates’ and the pure doctrine of the 1st Century Jewish Apostles.”
“[Maria’s ministry is] to call and to exhort the Christian Church out of the pagan ‘Traditions of Men’ which only serve to hinder the word of God in the life of the believer. Maria believes that Jesus/Yahu’shua is calling the Christian Church out of MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS. Her exhortation to the modern day Christian Church is to obey the call of Yehoshua in Revelation 18:4 ‘…Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’”
How is Maria’s interpretation more accurate and true than ours? What makes Maria and you the final authorities on truth, especially when both of you contradict what’s in the Word of God, as we have shown? Are you not the arrogant and hypocritical ones who need some uprooting?
The apostles of the Lord not only addressed the error, but they named those who walked independently of Christ and taught error in His Name. Who are the “Nicolaitanes” today? Who represents Mystery, Babylon the Great? People need to know. The Lord sends His servants to teach the right way from the wrong – to identify those who do wrong, so that those who come to Him can know what to come out of and what to avoid.
Why don’t you know these things, Dan? Why do you condemn the ongoing illuminating work of Christ, which is built on the foundation laid by His apostles? Because you are named among the hypocrites who are exposed, who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.
You write: “Further more, Mrs. Merola IS NOT A MEMBER of YOUR GROUP, CONGREGATION, OR under any of your affiliations or authorities.”
You’re right that Ms. Merola isn’t a member of our group, because there is no such group as you conceive. We are part of that heavenly assembly described in Hebrews, which you and Merola know nothing of:
Hebrews 12:22-24 MKJV
(22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
(23) to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
(24) and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Why do you speak in terms of being members of an identifiable organization with the licenses and ordinations of men, when Maria claims she is here in the Name of Yeshua to call His people out of such? Why do you call the works of men “Biblical authorities”? Are you not familiar with The True Marks of a Cult? As I said, you have the talk, but not the walk. You know nothing of the Lord or His ways in His assembly, the Body of Christ.
We are under the Lord Jesus Christ, not any organization of men, thank God! We are not “Messianics,” we are “Messiah’s,” a profound difference. The Messianic Israel Movement is just another corrupt work of men, a new spin on old things, looking to the discarded shell and not to the living Substance, the risen Messiah.
The MIA totally misses Him, even according to their mission statement:
“All that we do is focused on one point – preparing the way for Messiah’s return. Therefore our mission is:
To equip YHWH’s people for the restoration of all things. (Acts 3:21)
Scripture is clear that Messiah will not return until all things spoken by the prophets come to pass. This is a huge undertaking, and one that will not be accomplished until His people rise up and accept their calling and role in His Kingdom. Our mission is to equip Believers for this mighty work.”
Messiah is here, now!
“Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities” (Acts 3:26 MKJV).
And it’s His work, not man’s, to usher in the Kingdom of God, individual by individual. The Kingdom comes from within. This group doesn’t comprehend the reality because they don’t have it, within. They haven’t met or received the returned King, so how can they minister His Kingdom to others?
They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Regarding the faith of Christ, they are living up to their acronym, “missing in action.” One of their “Shepherd’s Council” members is posted on our site: Daniel Botkin – Gates of Hell Parading as the Gates of Eden.
Nevertheless, if you want to share our correspondence with them, without any signed papers, and they have something to say, we are willing to listen. We will hear them out just like we have with you in your letters, answering accordingly. If they have something constructive to say, we will gladly hear it and take counsel. If they need judgment regarding their stance, we will gladly provide that too. It is our honor and the grace of God that we receive and speak the truth.
You make one persistent complaint that is ignorant and untrue in all aspects:
“You should be witnessing to the truth and sharing the plan of salvation in these last days rather than spending all your web space to attack everyone.”
“But I see no purpose in what your site does when the time could be better spent in seeking out and saving the lost souls who are trapped in sin sick lives.”
“It is further beyond me why there are so many people like you in the Messianic groups who are chasing people away from salvation by creating arguments and divisions that the unsaved look on an see, then walk away shaking there heads in disgust rather than being convicted of their sins and repenting.”
We are preaching the true Gospel of Christ that brings salvation in all of our words and writings, whether they have to do with a false teacher or a variety of subjects (we have much more than false teachers posted on our site). The light shines brightest against a backdrop of darkness.
Furthermore, you know nothing of how we spend our time or the communications we have with many people, the vast majority of which are not posted on our site. And you don’t know the outcome of any of our communications. You see and know nothing but speak as if you know everything. That’s not good, Dan.
As an example of how off base you are – here is a letter that came in as I began to write this reply, which blows the lid off your “stinkin’ thinkin’” that despises God’s goodness in exposing falsehood and false teachers:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: THANK YOU!
From: Kelly
To: ask@thepathoftruth.com
Date: 5/24/2011 3:49 PM
I would like to tell you how blessed I am about the exposure to falsehood that you have addressed.
It seems to so stealthfully gain traction in the hearts and minds of those that are not grounded in The Word of God.
I am finding that those who are not studying and reading the Scriptures are those who will follow blindly anyone who "seems" righteous.
They then state, "We are not to Judge."
Oh, but Scripture demands that we judge all things for discernment.
Thank you again for going against the wolves in sheep’s clothing and those that blindly follow.
You are a true blessing!
I have learned much, especially when railed against and how you handle that as well…with The Word of God!
Many blessings to you and yours from our Almighty Savior!
Kelly in Dallas Texas
If you want to publish us on your site, regarding the “garbage attacks” on our “smear site,” naming us as “hypocrite liars” with “serpent tongues,” you have our permission. And why shouldn’t you warn others about dangerous men like us?
Meanwhile, anyone whose senses have been awakened and are alert to your carnal claims in the Name of Christ might want to check out who these dangerous guys are that religious self-promoters find so threatening.
Unlike you and your inciter to evil, we experience the fullness of these words of our Lord and Savior:
“Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward in Heaven is great. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12 MKJV).
According to you and Ms. Merola, those words read more like:
“Offended and miserable are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Retaliate and be exceedingly indignant, for your opportunity and reward in the courts of your land are great. For so shall you prosecute the false prophets who come against you.”
Is that how your translation of the Scriptures read, Daniel, or is it simply your interpretation? Or do you care at all what the Lord you claim to serve says?
As for your physical (as well as legal) threat against us, that’s just another proof of how far removed you are from the Spirit of Christ and the behavior befitting His saints. Even Saul of Tarsus in his pre-conversion days didn’t physically threaten those whom he felt slandered him. He went after those he believed blasphemed God. You are not near his level of integrity. For you, Dan, it’s all about you. You can’t get any further from God than that.
Dan, Victor here,
I marvel at how you and Maria Merola presume to be true servants of YHWH, yet are afraid to have your words posted. If you speak the truth, what is there to fear? If our words are lies, how can they stand up to your truth? Is this saying not true of you?
“The wicked flee when no man pursues; but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1 MKJV).
Post our words, in context, with your arguments, all you like. We know in Whom we have believed. We know Whom we serve, and He knows us. We speak the truth and are eager to have it heard. Contrary to your false charges, which you don’t back up with evidence (because there is none), you’ll not find any postings of correspondences on our site that are incomplete or distorted or that don’t give opportunity for our enemies to speak. By Yeshua’s grace, we aren’t afraid of their words.
Why are you afraid of others hearing our words, or afraid of others hearing what you have to say? What kind of impotent god is it that you serve in YHWH’s Name that you should rely on force to shut us up? Is this not an amazing thing, Daniel? Have you never red the Scriptures? Have you never met the One Whom you claim to serve with all your heart? Those are obviously rhetorical questions.
You write, “So I suggest the following since you are NOT under any BIBLICAL AUTHORITY or willing to hear any reason concerning your false accusations against Mrs. Merola”
In that one statement alone, you have no less than three falsehoods:
Falsehood number one – We are indeed “under Biblical Authority,” and not just any, but the Author of the Bible Himself. He sends us to speak. Can I ask you under whose Biblical authority was Moses, or Jeremiah, or Elijah, or John the Baptist, or so many other men of God?
Falsehood number two – It is a lie to say we aren’t willing to hear any reason. And we have even tolerated your unreasonable arguments, while you have deliberately ignored our statements, questions, and requests for substance for your false accusations of us.
Falsehood number three – We have made no false accusations against Maria Merola. Indeed, by these measures you have threatened, she certainly serves to confirm our charges.
Concerning your proposition that we have the MIA judge this matter, you write: “The MIA (Messianic Israel Alliance) has an oversight group that is designed to resolve conflicts in the Messianic Community in the United State and Canada.”
One, we are not a part of any Messianic Community, so what do they have to do with us or we with them?
Two, by whose authority do they judge matters, if not by men’s authority, which is not God’s authority?
Three, when Yeshua sent Peter and John to speak, it was the authorities of the land that tried to shut Peter and John up (Acts 5:27-29). (Apparently the apostles were also “in clear violation of [their nation’s] law.”) Do you think that those apostles should have submitted their positions and enemies’ disputations before a Sanhedrin or committee to judge between them when Yeshua has already determined what they ought to do and speak?
Are you threatened as were the religious rulers of their day? And do you not threaten us even as they threatened the apostles? And tell us, whom did Peter and John or any of Yeshua’s disciples threaten at any time? But wisdom is justified by all her children.
Four, if the MIA includes you and Maria Merola in its association, how should we have any confidence that they can judge anything properly in God’s sight?
Could it be they need to be judged by us? We think so.
You mention numbers and public opinion, as though we should regard them. If numbers are right, join the Catholic Church, Daniel, (1.3 billion strong and 1700 years old), if you aren’t already a member. Do numbers represent validity before God? How about the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Muslims? Remember Yeshua’s words and take them to heart:
“Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 MKJV).
You warn that public opinion would be against us with your powers of publicity on the air and the net. Do you think men of God should fear public opinion? If you wish to speak the truth about us, go for it. If you wish to speak your lies about us, go for it. We will both soon see what God does and who will be vindicated, not by men and their faulty judgments, but by Him and His perfect judgment.
Is it not apparent that your understanding of true servants of Yeshua/YHWH is vastly different from ours and from the testimony of Scripture? Public opinion be damned, Daniel. Should we regard what men have to say, we’ll be damned. That’s what all the prophets said and that’s what we say. They spoke, and the people slew them (not realizing they had destroyed themselves).
Acts 5:27-29 MKJV
(27) And bringing them, they stood in the Sanhedrin. And the high priest asked them,
(28) saying, Did we not strictly command you that you not teach in this Name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us.
(29) And Peter and the apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Paul Cohen
Victor Hafichuk