The Light in the Wilderness: How Religion Has Led the World Astray

By Norman Martin Wolk M.D.

Like a tangled web of myth, stupor, and confusion, "Religion", since the beginning of time, has contrived and conspired to enslave the mind and heart of all mankind, and lead the whole world astray. Appealing to man's inherent proclivity toward ego-driven autonomy, power, and hoped for immortality, "Religion" has made promises she cannot keep. The consequences of her defective doctrines and cleverly devised creeds have been far reaching, and devastating. Rather than being an effective antidote to the unbridled passions of men, "Religion", far too often, has been its murderous facilitator. Known as Babylon in the Scriptures, the "Religion" that began with the Adversary 'Satan', was successfully packaged, marketed, and disseminated over the entire earth. In the East, these Babylonian 'Chaldean Mysteries' appeared as Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Islam. And in the West, owing to their successful assimilation throughout the Roman Empire, a harlotous union of church and state "baptized" the Chaldean Mysteries, christened heathenism, wrapped it in the banner of "Christ", and gave the world Christianity. From Eden to Egypt, from Mecca to Rome, from Babylon to Jerusalem, all nations have drunk from the chalice of her lies, for a great counterfeit has been foisted upon the whole world. Now, at long last, comes a stunning and revealing account of this powerful religious system whose spiritual and political influence has deceived the nations and led the whole world astray. At this decisive juncture of human history, all humanity stands on the brink of a cataclysmic clash of religion and civilization. The alignment of opposing forces, so accurately predicted in prophecy, will surely draw this worldly system to its fated destruction. But to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness; to every one who seeks to escape the deception of "Religion" for the truth of Revelation, and to those who earnestly desire to leave the broad road for the narrow, The Light in the Wilderness can lead the way. It took all of human history to get us where we are. Now is the time to come out of the darkness, and into The Light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 2, 2007
• ISBN: 9781467804837

Norman Martin Wolk M.D.

Norman Martin Wolk, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Medicine and University of Colorado Medical Center, and has been a family physician since 1977.   For as long as he can remember, religion and revelation has held a special fascination for him, believing that man's wholeness and health cannot be separated from the "holiness", consecration, and purpose he is called to in obedient faith by the Author of Scripture Himself.   At the age of 29, Norman had a life changing "Damascus road experience", leading him to the Messiah of Israel, Who is "The Light in the Wilderness".   This is a wondrous journey of faith, courage, hope, and discovery.   It will change the way you see not only this world and its religions, but the Kingdom of the Redeemer, and 'the world to come'.

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Contents

Preface and Introduction

Prologue

Foreword

The Valley of Decision

Are We Lost?

Lexicon

PART I:

In His Image: Man

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

PART II:

The Redemption of Man

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

PART III:

Father and Son

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

PART IV:

The Torah’s Atonement

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

PART V:

The Messiah and The Passover

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

PART VI:

Revelation vs. Religion

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

PART VII:

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Epilogue:

The World to Come

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Appendix:

Meeting the Author

My Personal Journey:

A View from Above

The Story of the Clouds, Sunbeams, and Stars

I Heard The Call….and Obeyed

New Beginnings

Afterword

YAHOSHUA the MESSIAH,

This Book is dedicated to:

YAHUWEH Elohim, and

His Revealed and Written Word, the TORAH, and His Revealed and Living WORD, the Messiah of Israel, YAHOSHUA

"Thy WORD is a lamp unto my feet,

and a light unto my path."

[Psalm 119:105]

I know, O Yahuweh, that a man’s way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.

[Jeremiah 10:23]

Preface and Introduction

Our lives are played out on many stages, and in many roles: at home or at work, at school or at play, in our own country or abroad; and as parent or child, single or married, teacher or student, Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic, Hindu or Buddhist, Moslem or Sikh, atheist or agnostic, black or white or yellow or brown or red. The combinations and permutations of all of these and more are immeasureable. Now introduce the infinite number of differing ideas as a variable, and the possibilities become limitless.

To the enlightened and secular mind, such is the splendor of our civilization, the flower of an educational model largely founded on Greek and Roman thought, and almost universally perceived as the culmination of human achievement.

Yet, despite all of the awesome accomplishments humankind has attained since its beginning, man remains woefully ignorant of the answers to the essential questions of existence:

Why am I here?

Who am I?

Where am I going?

How should I live?

What does all this mean?

Great minds throughout history have attempted to answer these. While psychology, philosophy, social theory, and political science have offered up their conclusions, it is in the world of religion that the most definitive answers may be found. And it is in this domain, which has gathered unto itself billions of faithful adherents throughout the centuries and who embrace a particular existential view, that seemingly right and satisfying answers reside.

But on closer scrutiny, the teachings and doctrines of all of these (religions), simply do not provide the ultimate truth we would seek. Indeed, their ideas and principles, like those who propose them, are fragmented and broken; and it is delusion to believe otherwise.

Today, as the curtain is lifted on the stage of the 21st century, the world is bearing witness to a violent clash of world views, based on religious civilizations founded and perpetuated by sincere and earnest men; a conflict that has the potential to bring utter and complete destruction to all the earth.

How could it be that such exalted ideas, and noble thoughts, articulated by the best and the brightest among us, have brought us to this?

********

There is an answer; and it can overwhelm (us), for it challenges our instinctive, elemental view of our place in the universe.

In order to seriously entertain such an answer, we must divest ourselves of our selfs, cast off the muddled identities that we claim, shed our stained egos. and take on the role of contrite and humbled servants.

Although the most ascendant members of the human race have given us the best of their gifts, the source of these contributions was found ultimately within themselves. And herein lies the fatal flaw; even the greatest human thoughts are fruits of a poison tree; for mankind is broken physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Our lives, though often blessed with times of joy, and hope, and fulfillment, are marred by sorrow, frustration, confusion, anger, bitterness, and despair, as we stumble relentlessly toward our earthly destiny and ego’s extinction: death and the grave.

So, where then do we go to find the Answer to the essential questions of our existence.

The genuine seeker may take comfort in knowing that there is such a source……. a source not based on human reasoning, experience, or imagination; but on revelation.

This revealed Answer is given to us in a written record known as The Scripture, and in a Living Record, known as the Messiah and Eternal One, the pure and perfect Source of existence itself.

********

This Living Redeemer, sinless and perfect Eternal Teacher, through His Word, is The Light in the Wilderness Who will lead us out of the darkness.

********

There are some today who believe that we are living in the last days of human history.

No one can know with certainty whether or not this is true, but even the most jaded among us recognize that there is something disturbingly different about these times.

Indeed, there is a distressing sense that even the best intentions, exercised by our greatest minds, will not be enough to thwart our blind rush to mutual and self annihilation.

We live today on the edge of the wilderness.

Still, it is not inevitable that all will end in destruction.

Indeed, it is a certainty that all history will end starkly, stunningly, and splendidly otherwise.

You are humbly and graciously invited to journey now beyond the edge of this wilderness, to a place where Truth, and Righteousness, and Goodness, and Life will reign eternally; to a civilization founded on, and ruled by the Eternal Creator and Redeemer, as we follow The Light in the Wilderness.

Prologue

For more than 2000 years, a seemingly insurmountable wall of partition has separated the two great Abrahamic monotheistic faiths: Judaism and Christianity.

It all began with a humble Jewish rabbi, the son of a carpenter, an itinerant in the land of Israel, who preached a message of repentance, obedient faith, and a redeemed creation and humanity alive for ever in a majestic and hopeful new world tomorrow.

In fulfillment of prophecy, and precisely as God had intended, amongst some of His Jewish co-religionists, His Messianic message and mission was met by misunderstanding, disappointment or rejection.

However, there was a significant and zealous number of Jews who truly gave ear, heeding His words and His call. They became the seeds of a seminal Torah-observant Messianic faith community. In Him, they beheld the fulfillment of the Hope of Israel and the nations.

Tragically, but predictably, history was not to be generous or kind to this persecuted remnant; for in a relatively few short years they would be almost completely extinguished by the powerful forces of Roman politics, Gentile military might, pagan doctrines, (Greek) Hellenism, anti-Semitism, sinister compromises, countless concessions, and antinomianism (rejection of the Torah or Law as in the ‘Law of God’).

Ultimately, the historical truth of Israel’s Torah and Israel’s Messiah would be sacrificed on the altar of expedience.

********

Historian Will Durant, in his book, The Story of Civilization, would write:

"Christianity….grew by the absorption of pagan faith and ritual; it became a triumphant Church by inheriting the organizing patterns and genius of Rome….

As Judea had given Christianity ethics, and Greece had given it theology, so now Rome gave it organization; all these with a dozen absorbed and rival faiths, entered into the Christian synthesis."

(Volume 5, Durant pp. 575, 618-619)

********

This early syncretic union of alien, disparate, anti-Jewish and anti-Torah movements and ideas became the foundation of ‘orthodox’ historical Christian belief and progenitor of Roman and Byzantine, Greek and Coptic, Catholic and Protestant Christianity.

Neither Rome and her Roman Catholicism, nor Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, France, Scandinavia, England or Scotland, and their Reformation Protestantism, have been fully faithful to the Teaching that is Torah (commonly known as the Old Testament) and the Redeemer Messiah revealed within its pages.

To those ignorant of Hebrew Scriptures, and the numerous Jewish prophecies pointing over and over again to a suffering and servant Messiah, and to those who would not or could not believe in His atoning death and resurrection, it would appear that this rabbi Who came to reconcile humanity to their Creator and to one another, had missed the mark, and failed [in] His mission.

But appearance is rarely substance. Ultimately, that Messianic mission will wondrously succeed, and be made fully and supernaturally real.

As for His awesome greatness and singular distinction, the Messiah has been variably called deceiver, pretender, liar, lunatic, or legend by some; and Lord and Savior by others.

Among the vast multitudes that claim Him as Redeemer and very ‘God’ Himself, powerful religions have been founded in His Name, with divisions and denominations numbering in the thousands.

It is then both shocking and amazing, that over these last two millenia, not one of these (religions) have taught the full truth of the Messiah, or His revealed Scriptural path to a meaningful and authentic mortal life, and the radical transforming way to attain future immortality.

Only by way of the WHOLE of Scripture, comprised of the Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings [known as Torah or Tanach or Old Testament], and the Messianic Scriptures [known asNew Testament] can the full Plan of Redemption be known and lived out.

When one surveys without prejudice or parochialism, but with honest scholarship and intellectual integrity, the origins and development of Christianity and Christendom’s hold on the mind and heart of vast multitudes of humanity throughout the ages, that very conclusion becomes inescapable.

In the present day, during these times of extreme turbulence and worldly unrest, this ancient pure and untainted message, proclaimed and embraced by the Messiah, the Torah, and the first faith communities, has never been more urgently relevant or essential.

Bridging that wall of separation between Judaism and Christianity will not come about by glossing over differences, or sentimental slogans about co-existence, tolerance, and common shared beliefs.

Rather, out of this complex web of religious doctrines, born of ignorance, fear, compromise, concession, and human contrivance, concepts and ideas that are radically new and transforming must spring forth so as to shake the very foundations of institutionalized Christianity and Judaism.

******************

The Light in the Wilderness is a collection of essays of insight, interpretation, and wisdom, inviting the reader to consider life’s largest questions, and to re-examine traditional religion’s answers.

Along the way, personal creeds, customs, traditions, and beliefs will be met, challenged, and confronted.

At the conclusion of this journey of thought and spirit, it is hoped the reader might be bathed in the light of the Key to Truth.

For all who witness this wilderness light, their vision and world view will be forever changed; but especially for those called and the chosen, the Precious Key will open the door to eternity, inviting the elect to join that great cloud of witnesses, and [to] enter, humbly and repentantly, into His Everlasting Kingdom.

Foreword

The amazing truth about the religions of the world is that all of them share the common belief that MAN IS IMMORTAL; that there is something within man, namely his soul, that already possesses eternal life. Upon that premise, the grand edifices of theology and doctrine have been built over the vast expanses of time. Such a foundational belief is the bedrock on which the great faiths of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and countless other religions rest.

Yet even more amazing is that this premise, this foundational belief, is utterly and completely false.

The truth is stunningly different; and almost entirely unknown to most of mankind. Shocking to the religious mind, but glaringly obvious to the rational, is the plain and simple truth that MAN IS MORTAL, destined to live for a comparatively few short years, born, as it were, only to die.

Only man’s designer and creator, the Almighty YHWH ELOHIM is eternal.* (1Timothy 6:16)

The creature, and present creation itself, has its beginning and its end.

The Eternal Creator, Alone, is without beginning and without end.

Notwithstanding all of this sobering news, the ultimate hope and destiny of mortal man is to escape the prison of his mortality, and ATTAIN ETERNAL LIFE. Indeed, to achieve this transcendent goal is the great purpose of life here on earth.

How to achieve it is the reason for the MOSHIACH* (Messiah) and the Teaching of our Heavenly Father known as TORAH.

As we embark upon this journey that leads to eternal life, you will face scriptural truths that will challenge most, if not all of what you have been taught. Whether you are Jewish, Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, animist, deist, secularist, rationalist, or any other of the numerous faiths of mankind; even if you have no traditional faith at all, calling yourself atheist or agnostic, this book is for you.

Take comfort in the assurance that the Gates of the Kingdom, the portal to eternal life, are always open to those of humble heart, contrite spirit, and open mind. And although its road is narrow, it can be found!

And once you have found it, there is absolutely nothing that can keep you from reaching that wonderful destination; for it is at this moment that the goal of man is at one with (atoned with) the purposes of Heaven. (Romans 8:33-39).

Transformed from mortality to immortality, from corruptibility to incorruptibility, this NEW LIFE is the crown that AWAITS, through Messiah, the OBEDIENT and FAITHFUL servant sons and daughters of The King of the Universe.(1Corinthians 15:50-58)

This is the life of true holiness, the life set apart!

It is the life chosen before the foundations of the earth, while yet in its mother’s womb, selected for and by YHWH ELOHIM, so that His elect may enter into His Eternal Kingdom, and the ‘World to Come’; a world that is truly without end.

Will you travel on this exciting, and life-changing journey?

If and when you do, along the way you may discover the abundantly satisfying nourishment that The Almighty YHWH Elohim has always intended for His children.

This is His Way to eternal life.

This is the KOSHER Way!

It is the daily path in the authentic and abundant life of Torah; and nothing less than living the greatest life possible through the atoning, redeeming, and ETERNAL -LIFE GIVING MOSHIACH[Messiah]!

********

It can be painfully hard to give up what you have earnestly sought and fiercely conserved all your life; but unless you do, you may never know the heavenly reward that might have been. (Matthew 19:28-30)

Remember, dear reader, whatever you may think you are giving up, (it) is nothing compared to the richest blessings that are promised to you in your faithfulness to Him and to His Word.

And that, friend, is a promise, that is eternal!

********

*Terms and their Meaning

Throughout this book, (The Light in the Wilderness), many words and expressions that are either new and/or unfamiliar will appear. While there is a chapter devoted to their explanations, in a Lexicon, definitions and explanations may also appear in the body of the text or at the end of the chapter in which these words are found.

YHWH: the Proper Hebrew Name of the Almighty, traditionally the unspoken and unpronounced ‘tetragrammaton’ (name of four Hebrew letters; ‘yod, hey, vav, hey’)[Exodus 3:13-15] It is variably transcribed as Yahweh, Yahveh, Yahuweh. Since there is no J sound in Hebrew, the proper name of the Creator should neither be written nor pronounced as Jehovah.

Elohim:the Hebrew title of the Creator of the Universe, appearing in that role in the opening verse of the Torah (Genesis 1:1) It is the plural form of Elohay, but is most certainly a designation of a singular entity, noting that the singular form of the Hebrew verb on which Elohim acts is always used. It may convey a unity that is not absolute and indivisible, as would be by the Hebrew word ‘yachid’, but compound, as would be and IS conveyed by the Hebrew word ‘echad’as in: Shema Yisrael YHWH Eloheinu YHWH ECHAD, meaning Hear O’Israel, YHWH is our Almighty, YHWH is one(or YHWH alone).

(Unfortunately, such a conceptualization of compound unity has given rise to the false and paganly derived doctrine of the trinity.) When the Unity of the Almighty is properly understood in the light of the Hebrew revelation, the absolute integrity of monotheism is uncompromisingly upheld and the essential nature of Elohim is more clearly illuminated. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 4:35,39)

HaShem: literally translated as The Name, used as a substitute for YHWH when referring to the Almighty, so as not to take His Proper Name in vain. The title HaShem, while not His Name, is, nevertheless, afforded the honor and respect and awe that is His due. The title Adonai is also typically said in Jewish worship and religious discourse, instead of pronouncing YHWH, which is never spoken (in contemporary Jewish conversation).

Torah: Hebrew for Teaching or Instruction, commonly defined as ‘Law’.

When used in its narrowest sense, it refers only to the first Five Books of Moses of the Hebrew Scriptures. In its broadest sense, Torah is all teaching given by YHWH Elohim [HaShem], either actually, as in His spoken Word to Moses, or by inspiration, through His proclaimers and messengers, the prophets.

In its most expansive, and most authentic sense, Torah is most perfectly revealed and taught by the Moshiach.

[Orthodox and Traditional Judaism count as Torah the written and oral traditions, including the Revelation at Sinai, the Prophets, the Writings, and the full body of ‘sacred’ manuscripts penned by the rabbis and sages throughout the ages; such as, but not limited to, the Talmud (the Oral Law), Shulchan Aruch (The Set Table-a compendium of Jewish observance), Mishnei Torah of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (The Rambam or Maimonides), and Pirkei Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers).]

Moshiach: Hebrew for Messiah, Anointed.

The Moshiach is the promised Deliverer and Savior, the Hope of Israel, first declared in the Hebrew Scriptures, perfectly and completely revealed in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) in the Person of Yahoshua (Yahshua, Yashua, Joshua).*

*[The Messiah is named ‘Jesus Christ’ in Christian doctrine, a paganly derived, non-Hebrew personality, who, as this book will show, has led the whole world astray.

(Matthew 24:23,24; Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 7:15,16; 2Corinthians 11:3,4; Galatians 1:6,7)]

The Valley of Decision

Are We Lost?

Some Thoughts on Language, Words, and Meaning

We are all familiar with the saying, It loses something in the translation.

In secular and casual conversation such loss is usually inconsequential. But when we try to communicate the essential elements of eternal significance, like the nature of man, his purpose and his destiny, his responsibility to himself, to others, and to his Creator, any loss in translation is of serious import. Over time, seemingly minor differences in meaning may ‘morph’ into profoundly different perceptions altogether.

More than two thousand years ago, the ancient Jewish sages lamented that the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Septuagint, was a great tragedy for the Jewish nation and the world. Why was this so?

It was because the pure, distinctive, set-apart language, (the ‘lashon ha-kadosh’), spoken by The Eternal to Moses and the chosen nation of Israel was Hebrew, and only Hebrew. As the chosen language to His elect, it conveyed perfectly the meaning of the Almighty’s message to His messenger Israel, and to mankind.

Greek, (and for that matter Latin, Arabic, or any other language), on the other hand, was a secular tongue, never spoken or used by the Almighty to His chosen messenger(s). Most significantly, Greek, (and all other languages), carried the weight of pagan custom, belief, and deception in their references to matters of religious import.

For all these centuries, we have complacently embraced such a dubious inheritance. Virtually all of the words that have become the ‘lingua franca’ of spiritual matters are glaringly suspect; words like ‘holy’, ‘church’, ‘cross’, ‘hallowed’, ‘sacred’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘sanctify’, ‘glory’, ‘divine’, ‘theology’, ‘bible’, ‘Christ’, "Jesus’, ‘Lord’, ‘amen’, and even ‘GOD’!!

All find their origin in pagan, non-Hebrew, unchosen and alien cultures, strangers to the Truth as it was authentically and originally revealed by the Eternal in Hebrew, the lashon ha-kadosh, the language (tongue) set-apart.

All can be traced back to ancient astral Babylonian sun worship, revived and restored through Rome, the second Babylon, as attested to by the early church fathers, rabbinical writers, and reformers.

The Greek and Latin language, as the foundation of this powerful and pervasive religious system, has profoundly altered the meaning and the message of the Hebrew (and Aramaic) Scriptures and their Heavenly Author, leading to false teachings, untenable doctrines, and pagan beliefs.

*********

Our own English has given us these familiar sayings:

Words have power; and

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Indeed, few swords have been more powerful than those written in other non-Hebrew words, claiming to be His Word. These (well) intentioned manuscripts, over the centuries, have visited a great and masterful deception upon the nations.

There are literally thousands of sects and denominations extant among ‘Christian’ and ‘non-Christian’ religions today. Each have their own customs, traditions, and beliefs; and while they may intesect in some places on principles, practices, and doctrines, each stands firmly in the confident conviction that they alone have the truth.

Sadly, few things could be farther from the Truth!

From the very first, Israel was warned not to learn the ways of the nations, but she did. From