Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com. I'm Pastor Greg, and I welcome you to our 11th Israel and the Jews series study, beginning in Acts chapter seven, verses 42 and 43, titled The Star of Rimfan. All right, we're going to talk about the Star of Rimfan. Just to give you an idea, this is one of the accusations against the Jews and Israel to claim that they're a godless, satanic counterfeit and that we shouldn't support them. And we've already dealt with a number of the things they say and we've debunked them biblically. But in this 11th installment of our study, our series, Israel and the Jews, we're going to consider claims about the Star of David. You'll see right there, onliners can't see it, but it's the same flag you just saw William bring it on up there, that one right there, minus the couple of pictures and graphics. The star in the middle there, it's called the Star of David. We're going to talk about it. First we're going to look at the text that is used to teach the false teaching that the star on that flag, the Star of David, is somehow this star mentioned in our text. So let's read, I'll read 42 and you join me in 43. 42 says, Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. As it is written in the Book of the Prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness. Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God, Rimphan, figures which ye made to worship them. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Amen? So, right there in verse 42, we see the context, and we see it above this, that Stephen is pointing us to Mount Sinai, and the golden calf image produced by Aaron, and this is What happened in verse 40, saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us, et cetera, et cetera. And then Stephen refers to that same time and denounces the fact that the Israelites of old, he's showing that over and over Israel commits apostasy. And back then, one of the things they did was turn to Moloch, which meant they threw their children on the arms of Moloch and aborted their babies in that way, just like abortion here in this country. So we go to the next verse, and the question is, what exactly is this star of your God, Rimfan, in verse 43? We see, Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God, Rimfan. Note it says, figures which ye made to worship them. That's a key here, is regardless of what this star was, it was used for worship. And that's something to keep in the back of your mind as we continue. So Stephen, who's about to be martyred, you recall, these are some of his last words before he's killed. He's referring to Moloch and Rimfan, who are different gods, but they're actually devils. Deuteronomy 32.7, they sacrificed unto devils, not to God. to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. So everybody offering incense, prayers, or literal sacrifices of some sort to a statue of Mary, or one of the saints, or one of the angels, or to that black rock in Mecca, or one of the Buddha dolls, or one of the Hindu gods, small g, They're all worshipping devils. The sacrifices are being received by devils. That's a pretty sad thing when you think of, right here in the United States of America, how many people are worshipping devils. Stephen was paraphrasing the words of the prophet Amos when he referred to the star of your God, Ramphans. Let's look at that. Go back to Amos. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Chapter 5 and verse 26. And you see that Stephen is basically quoting Amos here in verse 26. And he says, but ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chayin your images. The star of your God, which you made yourselves." Well, like most of the gods, they have more than one name. It's according to the language and the context. What is worshipped as Mary today, but it's a false Mary, it's not the Mary of the Bible, and she's called Queen of Heaven. Go read in Jeremiah, we're going to see it in our Sunday school studies in Jeremiah, that God condemns the worship of the Queen of Heaven. and they brazenly call Mary Queen of Heaven when God in His Word says it's an abominable thing. Well, in other countries she's been known as Isis, and Diana, and Semiramis, and there's all kinds of different names. It's all the same thing. It's a woman with a child in every instance. And this Cayun is the same as Rimfan, And the star of Rimfan is the star symbol of the Egyptian god, Khayun, which then later was known in Babylon as Rifan, and a derivative of that is Rimfan. So you can see the connections there, and by the way, we've got a book, should have a book in here, called The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop that goes into a lot of that and gives you the connections. Now the star images used in Egyptian worship are found in various but similar forms. Here's one of them. Now that doesn't look like the Star of David. Here's another one. Doesn't look like the Star of David. But, and that one really doesn't either. There are also star images used in the Babylonian worship of Rephan, which is where the Rephan name comes from. Here's some of the examples of that. There's another one. And that one. And you'll see that a lot of these resemble stars that we see in all kinds of things, like sheriff's badges, seals on cities and everything. The rabid anti-Jew, anti-Israel accuser claims that this is the star of Rephan. Based on what? Based on just wishful thinking. They hate Israel and they want to be able to claim that it's the Star of Rimfan. This is called the Star of David, also known as the Megan David or Shield of David. And there is no factual basis for claiming that the Star of David is actually the Star of Rimfan. Now the problem is, there are a lot of people who can be shown a picture and told something and they're like, oh wow, that proves it. No it doesn't. You have to go and check to see if what they're telling you about that picture is true. Anybody can show you a picture and say it means something, how do you know they're telling you the truth? And if they're telling you the truth, they should tell you where they got their information. The Star of David is basically called a hexagram. Now I looked this up just to see if the Jews would agree with that, and they do. The Times of Israel says, while the six-pointed star is a contemporary Jewish symbol, it only became so in the past few centuries. The famed Jewish mysticism scholar Gershom Scholem noted in a 1949 essay that, quote, until the middle of the 19th century, We're in the 21st, so that's not too long ago. It did not occur to any scholar or Kabbalist practitioner of the Jewish mystical tradition, which is occult, to inquire into the secret of its Jewish meaning, and it is not mentioned in the books of the devout or in all of Hasidic literature. In other words, making a connection between the Star of David today and what is back here in B.C. Day's Star of Remphit, there is no connection. There's no historical connection. And guilt by association is something that a fool does. You don't accuse someone being guilty just by their association, meaning that, oh, they look the same. That was the kind of thing that went. The reasoning was you should never go to a movie, because even though you went to a G-rated movie, if there's an R-rated movie, people might think you went to the R-rated movie. So that's a sin. You should never go to the movies. And you should never shop at a grocery store that sold booze because coming out of there, no one knows whether or not you bought booze while you're in there. And if you go to a restaurant that sells booze, people might think you're in there drinking a beer with your steak. And some of you know you went to churches like that at some point. Yeah. And it's ridiculous. It's dumb. It's unbiblical. The six-pointed hexagram appears sporadically in Jewish context from the late antiquity period, which is the 3rd to 6th centuries AD, that's this side of the resurrection. The oldest securely dated Jewish artifact bearing the shape of a hexagram is the 6th century AD. Now that's More than about 2,000 years. Well, it's right at 1,000 or 1,100 years since the Babylonian captivity at that point. So there's no direct connection. You have 1,000 years where there's no connection. That was on the floor of a synagogue in Israel, be it Alpha. A hexagram is a six-pointed geometric shape. It's not satanic unless it's used in a satanic manner. It's geometry. It's math. It's part of engineering. Here's a couple of the examples. That looks more like the flag of the nation of Israel today, but that's a hexagram there. There's one there. This one here, that's Aleister Crowley's cult of Thelema. That's the same one without the circle around it. Yeah. Most of the time they're just decorative. And then there are some that have stars because they're veterans. And then, I can't remember, is it? Eastern Star. Oh, then there is the Eastern Star for, but not on barns as much. It's usually decorative. You see them on houses. Jim, what is it, what kind, they have a star for if you've lost a loved one? Gold Star. Gold Star. That's why they call them Gold Star Moms and that kind of thing. So if you see a Gold Star, it means they lost a family member. Yeah. And that's the thing is stars are used, we're going to see some more, but they're used all the time. You have to ask the question, what's the context? Stars and stripes forever. Yeah. And you know there are goofballs out there that teach that the American flag is satanic. I've had people write in, they can't really see it most of the time except during our music, but the old, oh the old building. I mean because we had the different US armed force flags and all kinds of, and those people just lost their stuff over that, man. Crazy. By the 12th and 13th centuries, the hexagram was used as a decorative motif on manuscripts, seals, and architectural elements in Ashkenazi communities. Go back and watch Who are the Jews? We talked about the Ashkenazis in Europe. Their DNA is Jewish. It began to acquire a communal identity in the late medieval period, especially in central Europe. Of course, that would be about 2,000 years removed from the Babylonian captivity. Now, there are images similar to the Megan David, Star of David, found in ancient Egyptian sources. And this is one they'll always show you. If you see up there in the left-hand corner, it's zooming in there. And it's a little fuzzy, but you probably see there's, you count them, there's six pointed stars. But it doesn't look like that. This, you know, why it's got a Saturn, an image of Saturn in the middle of it. See? Similarity is not sameness. And that's what they do. They find anything similar. And if it's in, especially if it's in a pagan context. And then they, you know, try to make that comparison. And additionally, use of symbols is only forbidden when used as aids to worship. It's a key phrase. A lot of people think if they call something aids to worship, that means it's no longer a sin. Now, anything that's aids to worship, worshiping a statue, an image, or anything like that, then that's forbidden in Scripture. But remember what I'm about to say. We're going to read something. Don't stop until you come to the period. Amen? English teacher, isn't that very important? Punctuation matters, amen? Go back to the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20 in verse 4. Now, hopefully you're very familiar with this. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything. You see that? Alright, well, read it with me. Begin verse 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. The end, right? It's not a period, is it? Well, somebody put two periods in mind. What's that called, teacher? It's a colon, not the anatomy version. So that means don't stop. It's kind of like a yield sign. And just in case some of you don't know this, a yield sign is not a stop sign. So when you go to these roundabouts and you come to a yield sign, you're not supposed to stop unless something's coming. That's just some free information there because a lot of people in this town don't seem to know that. They only work if people don't stop at yield signs. That's why they're not working very well yet. Anyway, keep moving. What's it say after that? Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." Period. That's the period right there. Now because we try to memorize the Ten Commandments, and there's a lot of abbreviating going on, and people put the second commandment here to say, Thou shalt not make graven images. They'll say, Thou shalt not make graven images. Or maybe they'll say the whole thing there, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. And then they stop there. So people just think that's the commandment. And I'm sorry, but if you're going to memorize the Ten Commandments, you ought to memorize the Ten Commandments and not abbreviate them. And that's not the commandment. The commandment isn't, thou shalt not make graven images. You're not supposed to add to or take away from God's Word. And everyone who teaches that graven images are a sin, sorry Amish people, you're committing the same sin Satan committed in the garden. You're making something a sin, which isn't a sin. It's not a sin to make graven images. You realize every photo, drawing, and painting is a graven image. Well, you're jumping ahead of me. I told you not to read my notes before I get up here. Example of this, just about stopping at the period. If I wrote this to you, do not enter the church building. If you stop there, you're just not gonna come in the building, right? But that's not the end of my sentence. Until 6.30 p.m., right? Makes a big difference, doesn't it? And that's what people are doing to the Bible when they say it's a sin to make graven images. No, it's not. It's a sin to make graven images and then bow yourself down before them and worship them. That's when it's a sin. God actually commanded images and symbols be added to the temple. Amen, Jenny? Look at 1 Kings. She can't help it. She knows her Bible. First Kings 7. All right, verse 13 is where I'm looking. And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. This is where the Freemasons get their Hiram Abiph, which is total malarkey. But that's the Hebrew term. But Hiram is a biblical character, but not Hiram Abiph. Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son and the Masons use that and they greet each other and they walk in and say, is there any rest for the widow's son? That's a Mason greeting. Then it goes on to say he was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to King Solomon and wrought all his works. So there is another example of God honoring those of us who are half-breeds. I don't know if anybody in here, I don't think anybody in here is a full breed, but there's your proof that God will use you. He's a half-breed. Half Naphtali, half Tyre, half Jew, half non-Jew. Verse 15. For he cast two pillars of brass of eighteen cubits high apiece, and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about. And he made two chapters of molten brass to set upon the tops of the pillars. This is where you gotta just skip, right? No, keep reading. Verse 17, I did skip a little bit there, but verse 17, and nets of checkerwork and wreaths of chain work for the chapters which were upon the top of the pillars, seven for the one chapter and seven for the other chapter, Goes on to say, verse 18, read that. And he made the pillars and two rows round about upon the one network to cover the chapters that were upon the top. Pomegranates? Man, what kind of cult is this? A pomegranate cult. There you go. There's your first image in the temple, pomegranate. And that's an artistic rendering from the Temple Mount Institute on top of the two Boaz and Jacob. This is a carved pomegranate that dates back to the 8th century. So that's 2,800 years old. Now look at verses 23 through 26. It gets even worse. 23 says, and he made a molten sea, that's a big tub of water, 10 cubits from the one brim to the other. It was round all about, and his height was 5 cubits, and a line of 30 cubits did compass it round about. And under the brim of it round about, there were knops compassing it, 10 and a cubit, compassing the sea round about. I always have trouble with that word compass and compassing. The sea round about, the knops were cast in two rows when it was cast. Read verse 25 with me. What? Twelve oxen? What a graven image that must have been. 12 of them, and he was even concerned about modesty and appropriateness here. Look what it says, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east, and the sea was set above upon them, and what? All their... He made sure that they didn't have to look at the rear end of the animal. And so, well, let me show you, this is the artistic rendering. See how their hinder parts all were in the middle part. So you didn't have to look at it. But that's, I mean, you talk about a graven image. I mean, that's even, what's amazing about this is it's close to what probably the golden calf looked like when Aaron made the golden calf. And God commanded it in his temple. And there were lions, oxen, and cherubim, look at 27-29, and he made ten bases of brass, four cubits was the length of one base and four cubits the breadth of the other and three cubits the height of it. And the work of the bases was in this manner. They had borders, and the borders were between the ledges. Read 29 with me. And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims. And upon the ledges there was a base above, and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made. So, all kinds of graven images, but none of them were a part of the worship. They were decorative. And so there's nothing wrong with statues. But you better be careful. You put a statue out in the yard and people start showing up and burn incense to it and stuff, you better run them off. Yeah, remember I showed that? It was a concrete highway thing, but because it had a phallic look to it. I mean, think of that. They worship statues of the male organ. That's how wicked and evil people are. There are other images including cherubim in God's temple, but they serve for symbolism and decor, not for any purpose of worship. And God is not opposed to the use of stars for the purpose of illustration or symbolism. And for sake of time, let's just look at it real quick. Genesis 1.16, And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. Why? Why did he make the stars and other heavenly lights? Verse 14 says, and God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night. Let them be for signs. So God made stars that were signs. Well that's what these symbols and things that we see in the temple, they were symbolic. That's why there's nothing wrong with having a cross. But if you are, and I've seen it, they have crosses in churches and people come up to the so-called altar, which you're not supposed to have in a church anyway, and then they look up and they pray toward that cross. I'm not talking about the Catholic folks. I'm talking about evangelicals and Protestants. It's wrong. Is the cross wrong? No. But if you use anything as an aid to worship and no hippo yawning, No aids to worship. It doesn't matter what it is. I mean, if I saw people start bowing down to these scripture banners and everything, we'd take them down if you couldn't handle it. It doesn't matter what it is. And God used the stars to represent the eventual multiplication of the seed of Abraham, which is who? Genesis 22, 17, that in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the what? Stars of the heaven. So he's using the stars, you look up at the stars, if you're a Jew especially, you look up at the stars and think about that promise God gave you. God refers to a star to represent the coming Israel's Messiah, Jesus. Numbers 24, 17, I shall see him but not now, I shall behold him but not nigh, there shall come a star out of Jacob. Some nut could come along and say that's also the star of Ramphan and our whole religion is based on paganism. Wouldn't surprise me one bit. Jesus is called a star in more than one context. Star of Jacob, yes. What about this in 2 Peter 1, 19? We have also a more sure word of prophecy, where unto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. That's Jesus. So, on and on it goes. Oh, by the way, we mentioned this, I think, last week, but that's not true in the New Virgins who, they take Lucifer out and turn him into the day star in Isaiah 14, 12. So, those are satanic Bibles. But again, Revelation 22, 16, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. But I'll say this in closing. After all that we've talked about everything, I don't think there's any basis for believing that the Star of David is the Star of Rimfan. But even if the Star of David was proven to be the Star of Rimfan, that would only further prove the point of our fifth study in this series. The Jews are regathered in unbelief. It's not supposed to surprise us that they don't have a cross on their flag. The Bible says, folks, that in the last days they're in the land of unbelief, and that's why they're under the judgment of God and the persecution of the Antichrist. And it's only at the end when the Lord returns and all Israel shall be saved. So God's Word remains true. The Jews are chosen. The Jews are the nation of Israel. Amen, amen. Father, we thank you, Lord, for what you taught us from your word and what you continue to teach us, especially in these days where the wheat and the chaff are being separated. We can see the goats and the sheep, and the goats are all turning against Israel. And we just pray, Lord, that those who have ears to hear and eyes to see will receive the truth and not fall into the trap of turning against Israel. We can criticize them when due, and we should never endorse the things that are going on in Israel when they go against your word. And yet we should always support Israel's right to exist write to their land and warn everyone. They'll be cursed for cursing them, but also blessed for blessing them. Their punishment and their chastisement is in your hands, not in ours. And we should leave all those things, all those things that we see in the book of Revelation, they're all in your hands. We're just going to read, believe, and teach the truth of your Word in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Stand if you can. The Lord bless thee. The Lord bless thee. And keep thee. And keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance on thee, and give thee peace. The Lord bless thee. Amen! God's people Israel calls to the wind But God promised to raise them up And drive off the land again But God, He is worthy yeah yeah When Jesus runs for Blessings on His way, O God, all things are ready Trembling Yeah. It's a wicked, wicked, wicked, wicked world that we live in Filled with wicked people raising wicked little kids People marching in parades declaring pride and sin Lee's the only wandering when the end begins When the loving, just and holy King of righteousness returns The righteous will be taken and all the wicked burned Justice will be meted and the just receive reward At the end of this wicked, wicked world There's a devil, devil, devil, devil walking to and fro His minions work against you no matter where you go But Satan is defeated, the fallen Lucifer His destiny's destruction and his judgment is assured When the loving, just, and holy King of Righteousness returns The righteous will be taken and all the wicked burned Justice will be meted and the just receive reward At the end of this wicked, wicked world It's an evil, evil, evil, evil time to be alive Just before unleashing Revelation chapter 5 The vials, seals, and trumpets are ready to unfold But it's a happy ending and the ending is foretold When the loving, just and holy King of righteousness returns The righteous will be taken and all the wicked burned Justice will be meted and the just receive reward At the end of this wicked, wicked world When? At the end of this wicked, wicked world Amen, amen Oh, they tell me of a home far beyond the sky. Oh, they tell me of a home far away. Oh, they tell me of an unproudest day Oh, they tell me of a king in his prime Where the saints on the throng with fire and snow In the city that is made of gold Oh, the land of proudest gain Oh, the land of an unclouded sky they tell me Oh Oh I'm proud today