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(The heavenly dialogue that unleashed the test of sacrifice)

5.1 Maśṭêmâh asks to test Abraham

(The challenge to sacrifice Yitschâq).
Abraham had already involved himself in the affairs of the prince Maśṭêmâh, leader of all the demons.

Berēšhīṯh (Genesis) — Chapter 22: Verses 1, 2, 9–12:

“And it came to pass after these things, that ĔLÔHÎYM did tempt Abrâhâm, and said unto him, Abrâhâm: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now your son, your only son Yitschâq, whom you love, and get you into the land of Môrı̂yâh; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of. And they came to the place which ĔLÔHÎYM had told him of; and Abrâhâm built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Yitschâq his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And he said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you anything unto him: for now I know that you fear ĔLÔHÎYM, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.”

We all know the account of Abraham—or rather, we think we know it well—but only when we compare the account in the Book of Jubilees we can grasp the magnitude of what truly happened.

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 17: Verse 16:

“And the prince Mastêmâ came and said before Êlôhîym, behold, Abrâhâm loves Yitschâq his son, and he delights in him above all things else; bid him to offer him as a burnt offering on the altar, and you will see if he will do this command, and you will know if he is faithful in everything wherein you do try him.”

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 18: Verses 9–11:

“And I stood before him, and before the prince Mastêmâ, and Yahuah said, do not bid him to lay his hand on the lad, nor to do anything to him, for I have shown that he fears Yahuah. And I called to him from shâmayim, and said unto him: Abrâhâm, Abrâhâm; and he was terrified and said: Behold, here I am. And I said unto him: Do not lay your hand upon the lad, neither you do nothing to him; for now I have shown that you fear Yahuah, and have not withheld your son, your first born son, from me.”

Do we understand what truly happens behind the scenes? Maśṭêmâh is the one who asks to test Abraham, and Yahuah grants the request; and Abraham passes the test of the prince Maśṭêmâh and, by his act of faith, put Maśṭêmâh to ridicule and shame.
Let us pay close attention so our eyes may be opened to the truth and to the understanding that Yahuah sets before us.

5.2 Abraham blesses Yaqoob

(Yahuah’s promise of protection against the spirits of Maśṭêmâh)
When Abraham is pronouncing his blessing over Yaăqôb, he says this:

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 19: Verse 28:

“And the spirits of Mastêmâ shall not rule over you or over your seed to turn you from Yahuah, who is your Êlôhîym from henceforth forever.”

Abraham knows and recognizes who the commander of all the demons is. We are the ones who have lost that knowledge—or it has been kept hidden from us so that we would not know. What a beautiful and wise blessing. But this is not all; we continue with the exploits involving Maśṭêmâh.

5.3 Maśṭêmâh tries to kill Môsheh (Moses)

(The adversary in the shadow of the exodus).
I always wondered and never clearly understood what this passage meant; truth be told, I never grasped this event in the Scriptures until I read it in the Book of Jubilees.

Šhemōṯh (Exodus) — Chapter 4: Verses 24–26:

“And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that YAHUAH met him, and sought to kill him. Then Tsippôrâh took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, surely a bloody husband are you to me. So he let him go: then she said a bloody husband you are, because of the circumcision.”

How is it that Yahuah met him and sought to kill him? However, it was Yahuah himself who sent him to deliver His people. Then how is it that He would try to kill His emissary Môsheh? Exodus says that Yahuah met Môsheh and sought to kill him. Yet if Yahuah had wanted him dead, He would not have sent him, nor would He have rescued Môsheh from childhood. Something was always missing in this story; something was not right. Let us now read it in Jubilees.

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 48: Verses 2–4:

“And you yourself know what he spoke unto you on Mount Sı̂ynay, and what prince Mastêmâ desired to do with you when you were returning into Mitsrayim on the way when you did meet him at the lodging place. Did he not with all his power seek to slay you and deliver the Mitsrı̂y out of your hand when he saw that you were sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Mitsrı̂y? And I delivered you out of his hand, and you did perform the signs and wonders which you were sent to perform in Mitsrayim against Parôh, and against all his house, and against his servants and his people.”

Now everything makes sense; now I can truly understand what happened. Maśṭêmâh was commanding the Egyptians, and when he saw that Yahuah had sent Môsheh to deliver His people, he tried to kill Môsheh on the way in order to free Mitsrayim (Egypt).

5.4 Maśṭêmâh with the Egyptians

(The spirit of destruction that opposed Yâshârêl).
Understand that the people of Yâshârêl were slaves in Egypt, and that the prince Maśṭêmâh stood as leader of the Egyptians, working oppression through the Egyptians against Yâshârêl.

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 48: Verses 9–13:

“And the prince Mastêmâ stood up against you, and sought to cast you into the hands of Parôh, and he helped the Mitsrı̂y sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before you. The evils indeed we permitted them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be wrought by their hands. And Yahuah smote them with malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand, for we destroyed them so that they could not perform a single sign. And notwithstanding all these signs and wonders the prince Mastêmâ was not put to shame because he took courage and cried to the Mitsrı̂y to pursue after you with all the powers of the Mitsrı̂y, with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the hosts of the peoples of Mitsrayim. And I stood between the Mitsrı̂y and Yâshârêl, and we delivered Yâshârêl out of his hand, and out of the hand of his people, and Yahuah brought them through the midst of the sea as if it were dry land.”

We have always read that Yahuah hardened Pharaoh’s heart to display His power; however, Jubilees shows us the full panorama, how the prince Maśṭêmâh is behind the Egyptians, and Yahuah uses their pride to harden the heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in order to display His marvelous power.

5.5 Maśṭêmâh bound and the people delivered

(Judgment upon the adversary during the redemption of Yâshârêl).
The influence of Maśṭêmâh was so great over the people who serve Maśṭêmâh (Egypt) that it was necessary to bind Maśṭêmâh to free the people of Yâshârêl.

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 48: Verses 15–18:

“And on the fourteenth day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the seventeenth and on the eighteenth the prince Mastêmâ was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Yâshârêl that he might not accuse them. And on the nineteenth we let them loose that they might help the Mitsrı̂y and pursue the children of Yâshârêl. And he hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device was devised by Yahuah our Êlôhîym that he might smite the Mitsrı̂y and cast them into the sea. And on the fourteenth we bound him that he might not accuse the children of Yâshârêl on the day when they asked the Mitsrı̂y for vessels and garments, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze, in order to despoil the Mitsrı̂y in return for the bondage in which they had forced them to serve.”

5.6 Maśṭêmâh kills all the firstborn of Egypt

(The execution of final judgment upon the enemies of Yahuah).
But the greatest test had not yet passed. We have read how Yahuah struck all the firstborn of Egypt. And Exodus tells us that Yahuah would pass through striking them, but that He would not allow the destroyer to enter the houses of Yâshârêl. Thus we understand and know, and are 100% clear that Yahuah is not the destroyer—this destroyer has his name.

Šhemōṯh (Exodus) — Chapter 12: Verses 23, 29:

“And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For YAHUAH will pass through to smite the Mitsrayim; and when he sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, YAHUAH will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”

Now we can clearly see who executed the order to kill all the firstborn in Egypt.

Yôbêl (Jubilees) — Chapter 49: Verse 2:

“For on this night, the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy, you were eating the Pesach in Mitsrayim, when all the powers of Mastêmâ had been let loose to slay all the first born in the land of Mitsrayim, from the first born of Parôh to the first born of the captive maidservant in the mill, and to the cattle.”

We can say with clarity and certainty that the executioners behind the death of the firstborn were Maśṭêmâh and his henchmen.

5.7 “Satan”: the nonexistent… and imposed enemy

(The great invention that hid the identity of the true adversary.)
We still lack clarity regarding the role or identity of the figure Maśṭêmâh. Let us analyze one of the best-told lies in humanity.
Throughout history we have been taught many things, and one of them is that there exists a supposed enemy or arch-enemy of Yahuah and of the people of Yahuah, whom we must fear, rebuke, and so forth. But let us look at reality now.

The Hebrew term is śâṭân (שָׂטָן): it means “adversary,” “opponent,” or “accuser,” and that is how it is used in the Scriptures—except in places where its meaning was distorted to confuse humanity, presenting it as an “arch-enemy” of Yahuah.
But Yahuah has no such enemy, because nothing and no one can oppose Him.

You can read each of these verses, and if you read the Hebrew you will notice that the term used is the same, but here it was translated as it truly is—adversary—and not as an unreal proper name. (Numbers 22:22; 1 Samuel 29:4; 1 Kings 5:4; 1 Kings 11:14, 23 & 25).
However, in each of these other verses it has been translated as a proper name—erroneously or knowingly—trying to create a figure that in reality does not exist. (1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Job 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7; Psalms 19:6; Zechariah 3:1 & 2).

Let us look at some of the verses in the book of Job, where most often it has been rendered as a proper name instead of the real term “adversary.” Since we are using the Dâbâr Yahuah – Yahuah Scriptures version, it has the correct term, so let us pay attention.

Îyôb (Job) — Chapter 1: Verses 6–7:

“Now there was a day when the sons of ĔLÔHÎYM came to present themselves before YAHUAH, and the Adversary came also among them. And YAHUAH said unto the Adversary, Whence come you? Then the Adversary answered YAHUAH, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

We will read only the first two verses, since we know the story well, though you may read the entire chapter for better understanding.
Among the sons of Êlôhîym—understand, the angels—there comes a specific figure: the adversary. If you see this story and compare it with that of Abraham, you will better understand and realize we are speaking about the same figure—the adversary—who comes into the presence of Yahuah.

Remember: he is not a Watcher angel, nor did he corrupt himself with the women. All the Watcher angels who corrupted themselves are confined in eternal prisons, and from the moment of their sin they could no longer speak with Yahuah, nor present themselves before Yahuah, nor ascend to the shamayim. This is the same one we have already seen in the lives of Abraham, Môsheh, and now in Îyôb (Job), testing the faithful servant of Yahuah.

And the most important part you must always keep in mind is that this adversary—better known as Maśṭêmâh, whom they have wrongly called “satan”—his true name is Maśṭêmâh. He has been present since ancient times, and part of his task has been to test the followers of Yahuah to see whether they will fall into his snares or remain faithful to Yahuah.

This same adversary can be seen throughout the history of humanity and we shall see him later in the New Testament as well, for his work, role, or office will be fulfilled at the end of days. In the meantime, he is an angel inhabiting the earth who has access to the throne of Yahuah, and who can be in only one place at a time; thus, in whatever nation he is found, he is there in bodily presence.

To clarify for better understanding: the one they have called “satan” throughout the centuries—that is not his name, since the term only means adversary. However, the true Adversary is named Maśṭêmâh.