The House of El

In the Bethel Area
I’d just like to blog a small diary note I wrote about the Assemblies of Yahweh in the Bethel area: Missing a member of the Assemblies of Yahweh (Bethel) is a quite hard thing to do – the men grow their beards and the women their hair. Women also wear head coverings of their choice, which must cover the majority of the top part of their head. I met one family belonging to the Assemblies of Yahweh in Wal-Mart when doing some shopping. I can’t remember exactly how we began in a discussion, possibly by discussing the products on display at the time, but in a few seconds I found myself in a discussion about the Assemblies of Yahweh and their doctrines. I was invited to the Assemblies of Yahweh to join as a Messianic Israelite.

Well, it certainly was a quite persuasive discussion, but I have been around that long that I’d possibly just stick with Christianity. The Assemblies of Yahweh have a faith that can hardly be faulted. They can explain the discrepancy Christians have of counting 2 days instead of 3 and ½ days for the time Yahshua (Jesus) spent in the tomb, and why Christmas, Easter and other festivities are not mentioned in the Bible.

My Memory
I sure remember passing by the Assemblies of Yahweh campground a few years ago (possibly a decade ago), and seeing a large tent for the Assemblies of Yahweh convocation centre. A tent, I thought. Why on earth would anyone want to come to the Assemblies of Yahweh, travel hundreds to thousands of miles to get to Bethel, and find that you’re going to have to listen to services in a tent? Where wind flapping against its material can be heard while you’re trying to listen to sermon, where the rain beating against the tent makes it harder to hold up, and men are holding the sides of the tent to make sure it doesn’t blow everywhere. Back then there was no air conditioning in their meeting hall also, probably not so easy either when waking up to freezing cold temperatures where your water has already frozen to ice.

Those days are of course past, and now the Assemblies of Yahweh have a beautiful brick building to carry out services, their own wells for water, an efficient waste management program and their own radio station, never mind their own schools, Sacred Name Bible, literature and music. But those previous days I always tend to remember, and kind of cracks a smile on my face every time I think about it. These people must have a very strong faith – not everyone would be able to go through those experiences, I’m not sure even me. But then again the group is a team of survivors and they’ve done pretty well for themselves. They are a nice touch to the Bethel area and they have never caused any trouble for anyone…on the contrary however, many have tried to cause trouble for them.

Trouble from opponents
I’ll never forget the time when I heard about the fence which surrounds the Assemblies of Yahweh grounds being rammed in by a slightly insane person. Then we had another individual who smashed the Assemblies of Yahweh sign in with a golf club and prior to that, Jacob O. Meyers property being painted with swastikas (Jacob O. Meyer supports Jews). These things are very childish and possibly an act of jealousy against the Assemblies of Yahweh. I certainly cannot think of any other reason, none of these acts were carried out by members as best as my knowledge understands.

No home
But still the Assemblies of Yahweh members around the world have no place to call home besides Bethel. They aren’t considered by most people to be Christians because although they are a moral group, their morality comes from keeping the law of Yahweh. Speaking on their members, I know that some of them in distant countries such as the U.K, have to hold meetings in rented accommodations; in schools or centres which aren’t their own, which certainly is somewhat different from dressing up to Church round the block and sitting in a building which belongs to your denomination. It is almost a reminder of how the Apostolic Assembly had to live, who may have had to hold services in caves, empty houses, forests, hills and wherever they could find. They were rejected and persecuted by the Jewish authorities, so having a place to call home wasn’t apt to them either.

Governor: Jacob O. Meyer
Elder Jacob O. Meyer has earned an admiration within the Assemblies of Yahweh which would be hard to match for most faiths, simply because of the sacrifice he and his family were willing to do for the ministry. Meyer was nominated as constable of the Bethel area a couple of years ago too, so it is obvious his admiration has spread to the Bethel area also.

End
Well that’s enough of me babbling on about the Assemblies of Yahweh. Conclusions: A really nice group and one that has a lot of potential, but one that will require a whole lot of man power for them to fulfil their mission and to bring more Christians and non-Christians within. Hey, who knows? Perhaps one day I will be writing a blog on what it is like to be a member of the Assemblies of Yahweh, but we’ll see. Christianities comfort zone is one hard to let go of, even if Christianity’s teachings are inaccurate.