Last year April, 2008 a moving van approached the suite next door to us and the men with the van started unloading the contents. We didn't know who they were (and really didn't care at the time) since we are in a strip mall in Priest River, ID and have a number of tenants nearby. This would be just another tenant as far as we were concerned.
It would not be until months later that we would find out who occupied the suite next door, since they had never opened their doors for business.
I had just finished a sermon series on the Biblical Family and had talked during the message about some abberations to the family that have happened since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, such as divorce, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, and etc., ending with the subject of polygamy when, after services, a "sometimes" visitor to the congregation asked me if I knew who leased the suite near us.
I said that I didn't.
She responded, "You need to know who it is."
So she took a few of us over to look into the windows (there was no lettering at the time identifying the business), since it was not open on Saturdays when we meet as a congregation.
At first when I looked into the windows I was excited as I saw garments with tzit-zit (fringes) on their corners and books with Hebrew lettering. I exclaimed, "They're 'Jewish'!"
She shook her head, "It's Yakov Levi."
As soon as I heard the name, my heart dropped. Then I asked myself, "What's he doing opening a business here? We're the only Messianic group in the area and he is moving right next door to us. Why?"
A sister in the Lord who comes to our congregation from time-to-time used to rent that suite. She said to me, "He could have found cheaper places in town to rent that that!"
Indeed, he certainly could have! But he wanted that one particular place! Right next door to our Congregational meeting place.
It turns out that his suite was set up as a "Jewish Learning Center" with a huge table surrounded by comfortable chairs that a sizeable number of people could sit around and discuss things. And since I knew what "things" he believed theologically and doctrinally ("Divisive Issues" - see below), I began to suspect why he moved next door and who he had in mind to come to his studies: the people of our congregation!
If he could get his "foot in the door" and establish himself as a Torah expert, then people in our congregation would be invited over to study Torah at his place next door! How convenient!
He writes on his Solomon's Porch website: "Solomon's Porch is a small 580 square foot outreach center for teaching (Torah- Bible) and immersing those seeking to enrich their Hebraic roots into Jewish culture and language. We are located in Priest River, Idaho with a population of 1,909 people. I am now online to reach the Torah (Bible) seeking web community. Priest River is a small town located one hour north of Spokane, Washington, USA. We're 35 minutes west of Sandpoint, Idaho; 40 minutes northwest of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho and 10 minutes east of Newport, Washington.
"This outreach is here to serve the local and web community by providing resources for understanding the Torah (Bible). This outreach is for everyone; whether you are Jewish, Christian, Moslem, or none of these faiths, you will find resources testifying to the truth of the existence of a Creator in the Universe and overwhelming evidence that His Words are written in the Torah. We offer much material to search out (Ivri - Hebrew) roots and learn the Torah (Bible) from a Jewish and/or Hebraic understanding. The outreach provides access to synagogue style (siddur - prayer books), key reference to books on Judaism that help understand the Bible from a Hebraic foundation. The outreach offers an opportunity to see if there really is a Creator in the universe from the vast resources of proven and sound teaching material available. Much of this teaching material has a basis in scientific, archaeological, astronomical, mathematical, statistical (Bible code), historical, prophetic and literary foundations with much evidence in the realm of being miraculous. I also have a (Sefer Torah - Book of Torah) for direct study of the Hebrew as laid out in a Torah scroll."
He is really a "wolf in sheeps clothing" as you shall soon see. What he really wants to do is to lure Christians and Messianic believers into his doors and take them away into his deception. We'll study that out more later in this article.
A brother in the Lord emailed me on the subject of the divisive doctrines that James promulgates: "I trust that the Lord will guide you to keep such nonsense out of your flock as it will surely destroy you and the brethren."
I agree.
A sister in the Lord who personally knows James from her past dealings with him emailed me: "When we first came into the messianic "faith", we were soooooo vulnerable to these "wolves in sheep's clothing" and we did not know the difference.....we just took everything as the gospel truth. Now we see how God was protecting us from it. We commend you for protecting your sheep."
That is what I intend to do. Lord willing.
The Apostle Sha'ul spoke in Acts 20:28-30 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them."
In the same vein, today we have wolves among us seeking to draw away disciples after them. James is one of them.
You see, James Aung (his real name) goes now by the name "Yakov Levi."
[Picture from Solomon's Porch website. Copyright 2009 Solomon's Porch]
He and his family (before he got his second wife) used to attend our congregation in Sandpoint when we led Beth Shalom Messianic Congregation there. We had helped them at times with food and money when they were in need - and actually, they were in a sense "neighbors" when my wife and I lived on Gleason McAbee Road in Priest River, ID and they lived a few miles past our house up there. I believe they still live up there.
They had also rarely attended (from time-to-time) Beth Yeshua when we were a little fellowship and met in a school in Newport some years ago.
On his Malkhut Yahweh Avodah website he says of himself:
"In consideration of the experiences and revelations my family and I have been through since the summer of 1999, I have learned that my family roots are of the Children of Menashe. Therefore, I'm going to share with you some information about the Lost Tribes of Israel. A remnant of the Tribe of Menashe is found today near the India/Burma border..."
Thus, he claims to be from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel that found its way after the Babylonian Captivity to the territory near the India/Burma border.
Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.
They are also Sacred Namers (believing that they know how the Sacred Name of God is pronounced) who pronounce the Name as "Yahuah," Lunar Sabbatarians (who believe that with every New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) the weekly day count to the seventh-day Sabbath resets), and "Patriarchal Marriage" adherents and practitioners, who believe it is biblical for men to have more than one wife. They teach that the United States of America has laws that prevent marriage and are thus the "doctrines of demons" (from Paul's writings in 1 Timothy 4:1-3):
" Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."
In short, they say that the United States was wrong when it enacted laws prohibiting a man from having more than one wife! This is definitely divisive!
Thus, we have problems with all three of these positions for that reason: These issues are extremely divisive!
The reason why this doctrine is so divisive is that even among Sacred Namers there is no agreement upon how to pronounce the Name, except that one must pronounce the Name or they may not even be saved ("Those who call upon the Name will be saved" - Romans 10:13). There are Sacred Namers who pronounce "anathema" upon those Sacred Namers who don't pronounce the Name as they do!
The point is: no one knows the pronounciation of the Name today. The original Hebrew had no vowel points to tell us how to pronounce it, and the last group of people who actually knew how to pronounce it were the Priests in the Temple in Jerusalem (before the Temple was destroyed by Titus in 70 C.E)!
Most Sacred Namers tell us that the "Lord told them how His Sacred Name was pronounced."
The problem with that is that the Sacred Namers, by their own admission, have many different pronunciations of the Name (see below - "RESTORATION OF THE SACRED NAME"), so if the Lord told one group it is pronounced, "Yahweh" and another group "Yahovah" and another "Yahveh" and to another some other sound ("James uses Yahuah"), we have a problem here.
It is either:
NONE of these explanations are good - especially the last one! Especially if the Namers teach that one is not saved unless they pronounce it correctly!
So, with over 200 ways to pronounce the Name in Hebrew, you can see why the subject is so divisive! We know of quite a few Messianic congregations that have split up over the Name issue!
Beyond that, there's the "Lunar Sabbath" issue!
Jonathan David Brown was the first sabbath keeper in this century to begin the practice of counting the Sabbath from the New Moon day rather than using the modern seven day week. He published a book in 1993 which explained the practice, and the Lunar Sabbath movement has grown among the Messianic, Armstrong/Church of God and Christian Identity movements. Today Arnold Bowen, Matthew Janzen, and Troy Miller carry on the mantle of Lunar Sabbatarianism, while Jonathan David Brown concentrates on his musical work.
If you would note in this article, Jonathan David Brown would not be a reputable person to seek truth from, since in 1992, Brown was sentenced to a Federal prison term for activities related to a white supremacist organization, which he calls his "Federal Sabbatical".
But beyond Brown's criminal past, the Lunar Sabbath issue is divisive because it has been the issue that has split several Messianic Congregations as well. Its' adherents push the issue on those who have come to the place of Sabbath observance in the Body of Christ and they call into question the biblical calendar.
This is not only a divisive issue outside of the Lunar Sabbath Movement, but is even divisive within their own movement: On the Lunar Sabbath Fellowships website, they write: "Lunar Sabbath Fellowships around the World. ... Please note that lunar sabbath fellowships may, and often do, differ in their understandings of the how the count works..."
In other words, this means that they cannot even agree amongst themselves as to which day the Sabbath really is! This means the issue is divisive even among themselves!
And worse! Since not keeping the Sabbath is penalized by the death penalty in the Torah (Exodus 31:14, 15; Exodus 35:2), then people not keeping the correct day of the Sabbath should be put to death! That would certainly cause a huge attrition rate among their group alone, since they obviously don't know when it is and can't observe it if they don't know when it is!
There IS a subtle difference: "Polygamy" can be defined as any "form of marriage in which a person [has] more than one spouse." Polygamy is by definition where any person (male or female) can have more than one spouse. A man could have more than one wife, but polygamy is ALSO where a woman could have more than one husband! " Polygany" is where a man has more than one recognized female sexual partner or wife at the one time.
The reason why the Patriarchal Marriage folks do not like the term, "Polygamy" is that it already has a negative stigma, due to the Mormon faith of the 1800's where polygamy was practiced.
In fact, they would rather use the term "Patriarchal Marriage" because most Americans would not recognize the term at all!
The bottom line: Patriarchal Marriage is where a man has more than one wife.
How this can happen in the United States of America amazes people when they begin to become acquainted with these adherents. I direct you to a site which will explain it to you. It is from the Christian Polygamy site, so you are getting it from the "horse's mouth" so to speak.
Here's how it works from the Christian Polymgamy.com website:
"CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IS LEGAL! You heard it right! Christian Polygamy is legal! You can have many wives in Christian Polygamy simply by marrying one at a time in the traditional manner. You get a marriage license, and then civilly marry her. You then civilly divorce her. You then get another marriage license for the next wife, and then civilly marry her. You then civilly divorce her. You then continue to do this with each additional wife. If you do not provide any of these civilly divorced wives with a Bill of Divorcement, which is required by the Bible to be divorced, then the "civil" divorce will have no affect on your marital status. You will still be married to each of them according to the Bible. Divorcing a woman civilly but remaining married to her in the eyes of God is NOT a sin. How could it be? You have not divorced her for you have been clear before divorcing her civilly that the civil divorce did not equal a Bill of Divorcement. To make it even more clear you could put a statement to that effect in the civil divorce itself such as; "this civil divorce shall not be construed as a Bill of Divorcement." So what you've done is you've simply removed the civil government from any claim of authority that it might make over your marriage. The benefit is that you will have had a public ceremony and celebration. And although the civil authorities will not consider you married, you will be married to each of them according to the Bible and therefore according to God. This is the way of Christian Polygamy. It should be the way of all marriages. There is no reason to allow the government to interject themselves into our Christian marriages."
What I am showing by the quote above is how Christian polygamists could legally have more than 1 "wife."
Now, I do not know if this is what James Aung has done with his wives, nevertheless, he does promote polygany and writes about it in his newsletter!
But this I DO know: that James Aung, "YakovLevi" was actively seeking "sister-wives," as can be evidenced the Yahoo Groups website:
YahooGroups (Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:25 pm):
My wife and I have agreed to include two sister-wives in our family of six. We have 4 kids, 16, 3, 1 and a new-born.
We have 5 acres in Northern Idaho and are trying to find a rental home in Spokane, Washington to hold regular employment to support our living on the 5 acres. We hope the 5 acres will become the main home for the whole family.
We're looking for sister-wives who are committed to Heavenly Father, husband and family. We hope for a wonderful family that is lead by Heavenly Father's principles.
As the spiritual husband, I expect the whole family to be productive in order to support each other. Northern Idaho / Eastern Washington is a beautiful area with lakes, streams, forests, towns, amusement parks, etc.
We keep the 4th Commandment, Sabbath and Feast Days and know the time and seasons we are in, in respect to Bible prophecy. We hope to find two sister-wives who can be "equally yoked" with their husband.
If you are interested or know of anyone, please reply to the e-mail address directly (YakovLevi@...) (See my Group Member Profile for e-mail address) and I will provide a home phone number to call. Please provide your phone number when replying as I we will prefer to talk to you directly.
We are hoping for two sister-wives to join this family immediately and can help with arrangements for moving to Spokane, Washington / Northern Idaho.
Please allow at least a week or two for a reply with a phone number you can call. Once we are in touch by phone, I hope the arrangements to meet and join the family can go quickly.
That he apparently has found one sister-wife in addition to his first wife Judy can be seen on his Solomon's Porch website. You will see two women on this page, his first wife Judy and his sister-wife Yochana. Note that both wives have a testimony that states: "I support Yakov in the teaching of Torah (Biblical) Timekeeping; Torah (Biblical) Marriage; and Sabbaths and Feast Days" (Judy) and "I support Yakov in the teaching of Torah (Biblical) Timekeeping; Torah (Biblical) Marriage; Sabbaths and Feast Days and additional insight on events leading to Moshiach's redemption of all Yisrael from exile." (Yochana) [Boldface Mine]
In the event that he closes down this web page after seeing this, I have copied the page and uploaded it to this website: Solomons Porch.tv.
On this page, James comments: "My sister, Yochana below has brought me new insights on Torah (Biblical) marriage issues and prophetic insights in regards to Moshiach's redemption of Yisrael from exile. She stands strong in her walk in Torah and is very well studied. Yochana has immensely supported me in my walk in Torah since (Yom Teruah - Feast of Trumpets) in 2006. Her and I share an extremely close understanding of Torah although we led separate lives before meeting on Yom Teruah."
"Judy has also brought me new insights on Torah (Biblical) marriage issues since (Yom Teruah - Feast of Trumpets) in 2006. She stands strong in the high principles of Torah and has stood besides me for over 18 years through good times and bad. Her greatest quality has been her loyalty and submission to the shepherd of the family in many ways as the Matriarchs of the Torah had done."
A second advertisement from YakovLevi on YahooGroups:
Yahoo Groups (posted Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:27 am):
"If anyone is interested please contact by e-mail and we can talk more about
the details."
If you want my honest opinion, I have enough to take care of one wife: but THREE!!! oy!
I have tried to communicate with James numerous times to be open about his plural marriage and he has always been evasive in answering me - not wishing that these details be made known. However, several friends and aquaintances who are Sacred Namer, Lunar Sabbatarians have informed me that indeed he has another wife in addition to Judy, his first wife.
I am going to close for now. If any new information comes on all this, I will incorporate it into this webpage.
To help you study out these things, I am adding links to websites (both pro and con) on these subjects, including James' websites that you can see that I am speaking the truth herein.
We have it on very good authority (James' website itself) that the Center shall be closing on March 31, 2009. He writes:
"As of March 31st, 2009 the center in Priest River, Idaho is closed. I am no longer maintaining a facility due to the expense and maintenance involved. All furnishings from my original centers in Spokane and Priest River are preserved for such a time as E-l-ohim allows its re-use. I still keep and maintain all resources from the center's library and much of that information is available here online.
"It would have only taken 100 individuals who say they follow (E-l-ohim - G-d) of (Avraham - Abraham), (Yitzhak - Isaac) and (Ya'acov - Jacob) to donate $50 each to keep the outreach in Priest River open. Yet, among the potential thousands possibly reached by the fundraising effort from January through March 2009, only $990 less $30 in minor transaction costs was received. I needed a total of $7,052.80.
"This closing occurred during the prophetic season of Purim, and right before Pesach. Our Exodus from the suite in Priest River symbolically parallels the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and Israel's fight for life against the wicked Haman during the season of Purim. Interestingly enough, we were forced to leave one month earlier than our planned date at the end of April 2009 which is after Passover. If insufficient funds were received, it was my plan to close the center at the end of April 2009. This forced Exodus was on a short notice and to my great surprise. It created unnecessary pressure to move quickly and I had to drastically change my planning.
"Although our lease was paid through April 2009 when it ends, the owner forced us out of the suite because the March payment was approximately 10 days later than the final due date. It was paid in the middle of the month as usual. The owner, in a very aggressive, forceful and threatening manner determined that I had to move out by March 31st. When I signed the lease, I made a first and last month rental payment in addition to a security deposit.
"The course of business conducted with the property manager, an agent for the owner, was such that I usually paid towards the middle of the month. The payment was always accepted without any complaint or past due fines although the payments were technically, approximately 10 days later than the final due date. It is usual and customary practice by banks, landlords, insurance companies, financial institutions, etc. to allow a customer to pay past the due date, but often will charge a minimal fine. As long as the customer shows a willingness and ability to pay, there are no additional penalties.
"The unusual case here in March was that the owner used this late payment instance as a technical reason to force us out and made him feel justified and righteous. He made threats to move our furnishings out forcefully if I didn't comply. Obviously this would have caused additional expense and damage to our property and this owner knew that. I strongly saw Abba's hand in this event. It was a picture of Haman and Pharaoh going after Israel to kill unjustly, although both Haman and Pharaoh, in their own minds, legally justified themselves. History has proven time and again, that those committing crimes against others, often justify themselves according to the legal standards they use to feel righteous. Seeing the Will of Ya-h-uah E-l-ohim, I responded quickly to move out.
A Jewish Celebration
"As a result of a sequence of events that occurred, it is my testimony that Ya-h-uah E-l-ohim allowed the center to be closed. I was blessed with an additional inheritance just at the right time from Ya-h-uah E-l-ohim, not from any donations, to bear the expenses of moving. I believe He gave me a picture that His people rejected what He had made available for them to bless them. It was a one year testimony spoken by the mere presence of the Torah outreach center. The subsequent consequences of this only Abba knows, and I await eagerly to find out.
"Since June 2007, I used blessings, an inheritance I received from Ya-h-uah E-l-ohim to start this outreach. Approximately $28,000 was used to begin this outreach. The objective of the fundraising was to put a cap on using non-community funds to keep the outreach open.
"In principle, a Torah outreach center has to be supported by a community of people. In this case, locally and/or the online community. The fundraising from January through March 2009 is the first time I reached out to those who say they follow the E-l-ohim of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaacov for support. From this point on, I will be depending on individual donations and fundraising to keep this outreach in operation."
Sacred Name
SACRED NAME MOVEMENT ERRORS [Non-Sacred Name site]
THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS GREEK [Non-Sacred Name site]
"This movement began in the 1930's. Most of the men who started it were one time members of the Church of God (Seventh Day). It became their belief that God's people must call him only by his Old Testament name in Hebrew. This is most often pronounced, "Yahweh." They also came to believe Jesus cannot be called Jesus. He must be called by a Hebrew name, Yahshua. (Pronunciations of both names differ within the movement.)
"It is generally taught that salvation is dependent upon pronouncing these names properly and exactly. However, it is no easy matter to find two groups in the movement which pronounce the names the same way. (I have documented several. There are more.)
"By this, we can see that the movement is very fractured. Most groups declare anathema upon any who do not agree with them about the pronunciation of the names."
RESTORATION OF THE SACRED NAME (Pro-Sacred Name Site)
See how confusing this can get? Excerpt:
"The following transliterated versions of the Sacred Names which are in use by various Sacred name groups, are therefore acknowledged:
"YHVH YHWH Yahweh Yahveh Yaveh Yaweh Jehova Jehovah Jahova Jahovah Yahova Yahovah Yahowah Jahowa Jahowah Yahavah Jahavah Yahowe Yahoweh Jahaveh Jahaweh Yahaveh Yahaweh Jahuweh Yahuweh Jahuwah Yahuwah Yahuah Yah Jah Yahu Yahoo Yaohu Jahu Yahvah Jahvah Jahve Jahveh Yahve Yahwe Yauhu Yawhu Iahu Iahou Iahoo Iahueh
"Jeshua, Yeshua, Yeshuah, Yehshua, Yehshuah, Yeshouah, Y'shua, Y'shuah, Jeshu, Yeshu, Yehoshua, Yehoshuah, YHVHShua, YHVHShuah, Yhvhshua, Yhwhshua, YHWHShua, YHWHShuah, Yhvhshuah, Yhwhshuah, Yahvehshua, Yahwehshua, Yahvehshuah, Yahwehshuah, Yawhushua,Yahawshua, Jahshua, Jahshuah, Jahshuwah, Jahoshua, Jahoshuah, Jashua, Jashuah, Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Yashua, Yashuah, Yahshua, Yahshuah, Yahushua, Yahushuah, Yahuahshua, Yahuahshuah, Yahoshua, Yahoshuah, Yaohushua, Yaohushuah, Yauhushua, Iahoshua, Iahoshuah, Iahushua, Iahushuah, YAHO-hoshu-WAH"
Lunar Sabbath
Lunar Sabbath.org (Pro Lunar Sabbath)
Lunar Sabbath / Shabbat Mathematically Proven False (Against Lunar Sabbath)
Lew White's Comment on the Lunar Sabbath [NOTE: I am not really into Lew White, since he has some extreme's in his teachings. Nevertheless, he is a Sacred Namer, yet thinks that the Lunar Sabbath doctrine is FALSE doctrine!]
Christian Polygamy/Patriarchal Marriage/et al
Christian Polygamy.com [Pro site]
Christian Polygamy.info [Pro site]
Polygamists and Other False Teachers [Anti site]
4the family.us Introductions [Pro site] This is one of the sites that James (YakovLevi) advertised in seeking "the right woman to join the family." [Note: In this advertisement he uses the Admin@BeitLechem.org email address. If you go to James' BeitLechem.org website (below) you will see this is him.]
James Aung (Yakov Levi)
James Aung's (Yakov Levi's) BeitLechem.org website.
James Aung's (Yakov Levi's) Malkhut Yahweh Avodah website.
James Aung's (Yakov Levi's) SolomonsPorch.tv website