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The Pre-eminence of Christ

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May 12, 2011

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,… 2 Corinthians 10:5 New American Standard Bible

          The doctrines of hell, everlasting punishment and unending separation are lofty thoughts raised up against the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, His unfolding glory will completely correct all of men’s ideas about free will and election, and other such notions.

          Calvinists and Arminians unwittingly have in common this predominant characteristic: a stunted and dwarfish view of the Christ of the cosmos, from whom are all things, through whom are all things, and to whom are all things.

          Before the creation, the Son was in the Father and lived by the life of the Father. John 5:26 In creating, He created out of Himself. In the consummation all things will return into Him. Ephesians 1:10 All that will remain is His life–the zoe/divine nature of which all will have become partakers. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive. Not made alive with life that is indigenous to this realm, but with the unending divine life from the divine realm which was promised by God before age-times. And God will be all in all, not all in some or only a few.

          Christ is the beginning and at once is also the end. He WAS during ages before the ages, and will still BE after the ages of the ages. Behold the Christ whose power, plan and purpose were granted to us before eonian times! When He comes to have first place in everything, the Calvinists and the Arminians will meet together in peace and the traditions of men will no longer supplant the word of God.

          For He did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. He would be neither pre-eminent nor have first place in everything were the majority of mankind separated somewhere from Him in eternal punishment. Such lives would be destroyed, not saved.

          Moreover, His word has gone forth from His own mouth and will not turn back: “turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.”  Isaiah 45:21-23 He will not rest until He has safely restored the last lost sheep.

Blessed are you O Lord, our wonderful God.  Baruch haba b’shem Adonai.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

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The Manufacture of Evildoers

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April 24, 2011

The eyes of the LORD  [YHWH] are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.  The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  Psalm 34:15-16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.  1 Peter 3:12 NASB

          King David is the author of the 34th Psalm; Peter quoted King David in his first letter to the dispersed Israelites and Jews to whom Peter ministered.  In neither case did the respective authors use the phrase “the face of the Lord is against evildoers”–instead, these verses remain as examples of blatant translator bias, at the very least.  Worst of all, such a translation is a terrible libel against the nature and character, not to mention the wonderful plan, of God and against Christ Jesus as a co-conspirator. 

          Specifically, the verb translated “is against” is used often (literally, thousands of times) in the Old Testament, and never anywhere else as “is against”.  The translators of the King James version of the Bible rendered it so in the Psalm, then repeated it when they came to Peter’s reiteration.  Regrettably, nearly every translation and paraphrase have parroted this mis-translation in a stunning display of slavish unity.  See for yourself at www.biblegateway.com. 

          The Hebrew verb in question is ‘asah (Strong’s Concordance H6213).  It means to do, produce, accomplish and make.  It can also mean to deal with and to put in order.  In Exodus 31:4, the word was used to mean to work in gold and silver, to fashion it.  And to produce by labor, an altar in Genesis 13:4, and idols in Deuteronomy 4:16.  And to create, as in heaven and earth in Genesis 1:7.  And finally, to produce something from oneself,  as in Job 15:17.  A visit to Thayer’s Lexicon on this topic would be most helpful:    http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6213&t=KJV

          Does this mean that God has created evildoers?  Yes, and He created the evil that goes with them.  We know this instinctively, because God has created everything, and created it out of Himself; at the end, all things will be summed up in Him.  (Dear reader, we realize that this can boggle the mind, but understand that no one goes from the first floor to the second floor except step by step.)  And we know this by scripture:

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD  [YHWH] do all these things.  Isaiah 45:7 King James Version (KJV)

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD  [YHWH] hath not done it? Amos 3:6 KJV

          A bit more comparison, then we’ll be ready to see what meaning was actually intended by the authors.  Peter’s version was in Greek, so the word there used is epi, which simply means upon, as in “the eyes of the Lord are UPON”–same word.  The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses epi in place of ‘asah in the Psalm.  This means that Peter was trying to accurately quote the Psalm in Greek, and it helps us understand what the real meaning is.  So now we can, to use Peter’s words, say:  For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,…but the face of the Lord is upon the evildoers.  So far, we have 1) God created them, and 2) His face is “on” them, whatever that means.

          Not far from our home is the Hewlitt Packard campus that used to be the world headquarters of Compaq Computers.  Some of the brothers used to work there and reported that a select group of engineers had the authority to go to the shipping department, where products were kept for immediate shipping to customers, and select at random finished products that were ready for shipping.  The selected products were taken to a laboratory where the engineers “injected fault” into the computers and try to make the computers fail.  The purpose for the injection of fault was not to “damn them to hell forever” merely for the sake of watching the product fail, but to produce a more durable and satisfactory computer, not only in the one tested but all others of its kind!  Don’t you think your Father in heaven is at least as wise as the engineers at Compaq Computers?

          The face of YHWH/Jesus is His full attention.  Evildoers are a work in progress, created out of Himself, who are being slowly and inexorably dealt with and put in order, fashioned into a precious metal although at first used in a disreputable way.  This use is viewed as unfair, if you are of the mindset that if one doesn’t “trust Jesus” he is doomed to hell forever; but if your view is of restoration, then you can see that God will restore all evildoers as the final product of the process which His face indicates.

          King David and Peter have announced the conciliation of God to man through the cross of YHWH/Jesus:  God is no longer angry with men, but intends a new covenant.  God has sworn by Himself, since there is no one higher:  Indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD [YHWH].  Numbers 14:21 NASB  Because of the harlotry of the Israelite people, God stated that He would indeed “hide His face”.  It was a dreadful prediction of the results of abandoning the true and living God in exchange for the false gods of the nations they were invading.

Now this people will proceed to go whoring after the gods of the foreigner of the land that they are entering in his midst, they will abandon me and violate my covenant that I have cut with them.  And my anger will flare up against them on that day.  I will abandon them and will conceal my face from them; (they) will be (ripe) for devouring, and there will befall them many and troubling ills.  And they will say on that day:  Was it not because God was not in my midst (that) there have befallen me these ills?  But I, I will conceal, yes, conceal my face on that day, because of all the ill that they have done, for they faced-about to other gods!  Deuteronomy 31:16-18 Schocken Bible

          Just as the concealment of God’s face was bad, so the focus of His face is benevolent and beneficial.  For God intends that the blessing which was commanded to be spoken over the children of Israel apply to all mankind:

The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.  Numbers 6:24-26 NASB

          In Messiah Jesus this has now been fulfilled.  See with new eyes:  God’s goal is change the evildoers and erase even the memory of all evil from the earth.  It has always been the plan of God and the purpose of Messiah.  God has the power to pull it off.  He has “injected fault” into mankind, not to destroy it, but to redeem it and to cut off the memory of evil from creation forever.

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderfuld God, for You will go forth like a warrior, You will arouse your zeal like a man of war.  Give voice to Your shout, yes, raise a war cry against evil, and prevail against Your enemies–transform them by Your holy love.  Baruch ata.

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When Yeast is Perfect But Faith is Not

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April 22, 2011

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?  Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1 Corinthians 5:6-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

          Today, we call “leaven” yeast.  Such a small amount of yeast, and yet does it not perfectly spread throughout the whole lump when it is active?  Anyone who has made bread or cinnamon rolls knows that a necessary ingredient is active yeast, and without it your cinnamon rolls are just not as good.  However, in the Bible leaven/yeast is definitely not a good thing as Paul the apostle, the author of the above verse, makes clear.

          Our post is about the following situation:  God raises up a ministry and blesses it with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Everyone, but those serving in ministry more than all others, knows that the blessing is from the Lord and not from the effort of man.  In the early stages, His presence is so powerful, lives are changed, and many miraculous things occur daily.  Literally, there are days of heaven on earth.  Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, things begin to change.  Personalities and egos begin to be seen and heard, where before such a thing was non-existent.  Soon, discord and division follow, and unity is only a memory.  Finally, either the whole thing collapses or it limps along in a form not even recognizable to those who were present at the start.  Those who serve in ministry are left shell-shocked, sick at heart, and wondering how they failed.  Surely they failed, somehow falling short in faith, otherwise God would have let the blessing continue forever, right? 

          Here is what happened:  the yeast worked perfectly, but the faith did not.  Before you go on the war-path to get rid of all the yeast (in others), you should understand first of all that it is in you also, dear reader.  If that is not bad enough, try this:  God put it in your “lump” on purpose, just the same way you put it in your cinnamon rolls!  Why?   After it is cooked, it simply tastes better to Him.  Once again, we apologize if we are offending your doctrines, but Father accepts full responsibility for what He does in, and to, His church.  Sometimes He likes His bread un-leavened, and sometimes He likes it with leaven.  Right now, dear reader, we happen to be living in an age when Father wants His bread to be leavened.  Lack of faith has precious little to do with it.

          This probably sounds strange to anyone who is not familiar with the feasts of the Lord.  The first feast is Passover, followed immediately by the feast of Un-leavened Bread (the day after the first sabbath following Passover–the day commonly called Easter).  The Israelites, and later the Jews, would actually scour their houses in an attempt to make certain THERE WAS NO LEAVEN ANYWHERE that would violate the command of YHWH/Jesus:

You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.  Exodus 34:25 NASB   

          The feast of Unleavened Bread occurred at the time of the barley harvest, and the Israelites were forbidden to eat these “first fruits” until the priest had waved (“heaved”, in the King James version of the Bible) them before YHWH.  The priest did not wave the bundle of barley from side to side; no, but from down, to up, then down again.  At the precise moment the high priest waved the barley up, Christ ascended to the Father–He is risen, just as He said!!

          Just 50 days later, the second of the feasts occurred–Pentecost, called shavuot in Hebrew.  This feast coincided with the harvest of wheat.  How is it that just weeks after scouring their homes to make certain there was no leaven, even in their houses, that YHWH/Jesus commanded the priests to offer the Pentecost wheat first-fruits offering with leaven?  See for yourself:

You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine [wheat]  flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD [YHWH].  Leviticus 23:17 NASB    

          The short answer is YHWH/Jesus wanted leavened bread.  But why?  It is a prophecy of the plan of God for the period of time in which we live, even as the Passover feast was also a prophecy for a period of time in history (His story).  We highly recommend the teaching of Dr. Stephen Jones on the ages of mankind and the ages of the Church.   See Chapter One of Dr. Jones’s book, The Seven Churches, here:  http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/COLDFUSION/booklet.cfm?PID=17.  In short, since 33 A.D. God planned for ministry to Him to be offered with leaven, and whether you like it or not, would have planned it differently or not, or believe you can have enough faith to avoid the effects of the leaven, dear reader, it’s going to be offered with leaven–at least for now. 

          Do not despair!  There are more feasts/ages to come!    Next to come:  the grape harvest!  And those feasts have NO LEAVEN–and neither will His ministry,when Isaiah 61 is fulfilled:

1The Spirit of the Lord GOD [YHWH] is upon me, because the LORD [YHWH] has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted;  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;
    2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD [YHWH] and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,
    3To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD [YHWH], that He may be glorified.
    4Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
    5Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
    6But you will be called the priests of the LORD [YHWH]; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God–you will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
    7Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion–therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.
    8For I, the LORD [YHWH], love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.
    9Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples.  All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the LORD [YHWH] has blessed. Isaiah 61:1-9 NASB

          In those days, faith will be perfected, and the leaven won’t work!  Take heart, faithful servant, and remember that your labor is not in vain–He who holds tomorrow is faithful.

My precious bride, the day is nearing
When I’ll take you in My arms and hold you
I know there are so many things that you’ve been hearing
But you just hold on to what I have told you

For when I hear the praises start
My bride, I want to rain upon you
Blessings that will fill your heart
I see no stain upon you
Because you are My child, and you know Me
To me you’re only holy
Nothing that you’ve done will remain
Only what you do for me
–Keith Green, When I Hear The Praises Start

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful God.  With wisdom You have planned the ages, and with great lovingkindness/chesed You will draw all men to Yourself in mercy and compassion.  Be pleased with, and enjoy, Your bread, leavened and unleavened.  All men will praise You for the greatness of Your plan.
   

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More On Enemies

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April 18, 2011

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy (echthros–Strong’s G2190), but I (Jesus) say unto you, Love your enemies (echthros), bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;…  Matthew 5:43-44 King James’ Version (KJV)

For if, when we were enemies (echthros), we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  Romans 5:10 KJV

(For many walk, of whom I [Paul] have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies (echthros) of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)  Philippians 3:18-19 KJV

          The word translated “enemy” and “enemies” in the New Testament in most Bibles is echthros (Strong’s Concordance G2190).  It is a very common word in the New Testament and the above verses are only a small selection of its uses.  The word derives from the root verb echtho–to hate.  Literally, echthros  means those who hate, or who are hostile.

          Jesus said we are to love those who are hostile to us and do good to them.  God has set the example by conciliating us to Himself through the death of Jesus while we were haters of Him and hostile to Him.  And if those hostile to God are conciliated to Him through the death of Jesus, why is the “end” of some of them “destruction” and why is Paul weeping?

          The word “destruction” is apoleia (Strong’s Concordance G684), and in the active sense, means precisely that:  destruction.  However, in the passive sense, the word merely means waste, ruin, destructive thing or opinion.  In other words, NOT literal destruction.  Indeed, much of the Church does not think “destruction” in this case is literal.  Note this definition from Thayer’s Lexicon: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G684&t=KJV

b. in particular, the destruction which consists in the loss of eternal life, eternal misery, perdition, the lot of those excluded from the kingdom of God.

           Dear reader, do you see the irreconcilable conflict in the second and third verses we have quoted?  Either you are an enemy/hater of God and you are reconciled to God by the death of Christ upon the cross, or you are an enemy/hater of God and your eternal destination is destruction (if the Church is correct, eternal damnation).  But it cannot be both!  Set aside, if you can, the obvious hypocrisy of God for commanding us through Jesus to LOVE our enemies, while He DESTROYS His enemies. 

          Some apologists have come to God’s rescue and stated the opinion that the “destruction” must be literal; so according to this point of view, if you die a hater of God, you are simply annihilated, without the eternal damnation part.  Somehow, we are not very comforted by this “rescue.”

          Part of the problem is the very word “end”.  In the Greek language, there are seven or eight Greek words for “end”.  The first word is telos (Strong’s Concordance G5056), which simply means a termination point, always referring to the end of an act or state but not of the end of a period of time.  See for yourself in Thayer’s Lexicon:  http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5056&t=KJV.  Another word for end is synteleia (Strong’s Concordance G4930).  Synteleia means completion or consummation.  In other words, when the “end” in question is the “end” of life, the word to be used would be synteleia, because the sense of a completion or consummation is intended; when the “end” is of an act or state, the word to be used would properly be telos, meaning not the final end or complete end.   Here is the point:  In the phrase “whose end is destruction”, the Greek word for “end” is telos, NOT synteleia!

          What does that all mean, you ask?  It means that the Church got it wrong both times–the “end” referred to is not the consummation or completion of one’s life, and that one isn’t “destroyed” when the termination point of his or her hostility to the cross or to God finally arrives.  Sadly, most translations and paraphrases of the Bible don’t convey the true meaning of Paul’s words, except for The Message, which clearly shows the sense of ruin when life is wasted upon “earthly things.”  See if you agree:

There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.  Philippians 3:18-20, The Message Bible

          Here is the waste:  The death of Jesus upon the cross conciliated God to all men, including those who hate Him, who oppose Him, and who are hostile to Him.  But as far as God is concerned, the hostilities are over–He is no longer angry with men and now intends to love them and do good to them, even as He has instructed us.  That some men hate the very means by which this was accomplished is sad, wasteful, unnecessary and ruinous beyond words.  This is why Paul wept. 

Blessed are You, O Lord.  Our wonderful God, there is no one like you, whose lovingkindness and mercy endureth forever.  Let all who hate you and who hate the cross be overwhelmed by Your love and be ashamed.

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When God Scatters His Enemies

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April 4, 2011

Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him.  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire,  so let the wicked perish before God.  But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness.  Psalm 68:1-3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

          POP QUIZ.  Question:  To know God is to love Him–true or false?  Answer:  True.  Question:  Then, where does God get His enemies?  Answer:  He makes them Himself (He creates men who do NOT know Him), and thereby assumes all legal responsibility for them. 

          God must create all His enemies; otherwise, He would have none.  To make it fair, He didn’t tie His hands behind His back; instead, He nailed them apart on a cross!  And for good measure, He nailed down His feet also.  All this after being mercilessly beaten and nearly flayed alive.  Yes, dear reader, that made it more than fair!  So if God creates His own enemies (by not letting them know Him), how does He become legally responsible for them?  The answer is in the Law of the Blind Servant and the Law of the Open Pit.

If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye.  And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.  Exodus 21:26 NASB

If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution (or, “restoration”); he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.  Exodus 21:33-34 NASB

          If God afflicts a person with spiritual blindness, or creates a situation in the world where a person falls into temptation (a pit), and thus become an enemy, God will set such a person free AND make restitution.  Notice how in the Law of the Open Pit “the dead animal shall become His.”  This action is taken by God, first, because He is just, and second, because His great love, mercy, and compassion is the central ingredient of His law.  These several words, collectively, are a weak attempt to describe one Hebrew word that is the essence of God and the essence of Christlikeness:  chesed (Strong’s Conconrdance H2617)  This is the word that is used 26 times in a row in Psalm 136:  His mercy (chesed) endureth forever.

          But the Psalm opening this post doesn’t sound too loving, merciful, or compassionate.  It sounds like His enemies get scattered, driven away like smoke, melted like wax, and perish–all this to the sounds of the glad rejoicing and exultation of the “righteous”, right?   Most of today’s Church, thinking themselves to be the “righteous” referred to, believes that God’s justice requires Him to give them (the enemies) what they’ve got coming.  And to give the Church its due, it has done a pretty good job of convincing the others, the “enemies”, that what is coming for them is not good.  The truth is that the Church, like the religious leaders of old, is mistaken and does not understand the Scriptures and does not understand the power of God.  Matthew 22:29  NASB   It does not understand the Laws we have discussed above, and does not understand what God, in fact, has planned for His enemies.

          Dear reader, go and learn what this means:  I desire compassion (chesed).  Matthew 9:16, Hosea 6:6  Here’s a hint:  God gets what He desires!  Then, take a closer look at Psalm 68.

          The word “scattered” in verse 1 of Psalm 68 means to be dispersed, in reference to a flock or in reference to a people, as for example in the following verse:

They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”  Genesis 11:4 NASB

          The word also can mean to overflow as in a literal reference to a fountain, and metaphorically, to abound or overflow with prosperity.  Note its use in the following verse:

Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD (YHWH) of hosts, “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”  Zechariah 1:17 NASB

          In short, the word “scattered”, in the Hebrew tense in which it was used in Psalm 68:1 means to “disperse” and to “overflow with prosperity”.  So far, so good.  Let’s skip down to “perish”–what does this word actually mean?  In Hebrew, it is ‘abad (Strong’s Concordance H6).  According to Genesius’ Lexicon, the first meaning of ‘abad is “to be lost, to lose oneself, and to wander, especially used of lost and wandering sheep”!  (See our post: For One Missing Sheep).  The word can be used to mean “perish”, but usually when it is used in this sense it means a metaphorical loss, as in Jeremiah 25:35:  Flight will perish from the shepherds–in other words, the shepherds will not be able to run.  Notice, it does NOT mean death or destruction.  Without question, there is metaphorical loss of well-being before God for the “wicked”, but in no sense can one imply temporal death or destruction, not to mention eternal death or destruction.  Nevertheless, the point of view chosen by this particular translation of the Bible (NASB) is grim and dark because of pre-existing ideas about God that are mistaken.  Most translations, if not all, adopt this same view.

          We respectfully submit an entirely different point of view, one that does not view Father God as angry, vengeful, vindictive or destructive.  When King David, God’s anointed, said in Psalm 23 that He (God) prepared a table before him (David) “in the presence of my (David’s) enemies”, David meant that the enemies–now reconciled to God, and thus also to David–were invited to the feast also!  YHWH is the preparer of this table!

          As an alternate rendering, we offer the following:

Let God have the ascendency and disperse His enemies and overflow them with prosperity–under His personal supervision, let them who hate Him go quickly!  As smoke is driven by the wind, send them into all the world.  As wax complies with the fire, so let the wicked lose their independence before God, accomplishing His purposes for them.  And let the righteous be glad about this, and let them exult before the merciful God.  Yes, let them rejoice with gladness at His never-failing love!

          This is how God treats His enemies–exactly as He taught us to:  with love, mercy and never-failing compassion.  And so we come to the prophetic fulfillment of this psalm of King David.  There is coming a day, when all who are angry at Father will be put to shame by His righteousness and strength.  They will see the wisdom of His plan, and all–from the least to the greatest–will bow and praise Him.

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.  I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.  They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength’.  Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.  Isaiah 45:22-24 

          When this occurs, His “enemies” will disperse throughout the world with a message.  They will say:  I was an enemy of God, and angry at Him; but I was wrong and I see now that He is true and His ways are right–all men should know without a doubt, that the discipline of God is beneficial and for our benefit, and should turn to Him! 

           Those who have understood this plan of God, and have agreed with Him and trusted Him are already rejoicing, and it hasn’t even yet occurred.  This is my God and I will ever praise Him!

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, for you are the savior of all men, especially of believers.  There is none like you.

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The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

Filed Under: Love of God by admin — Comments Off on The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
March 20, 2011

           We are indebted to Dr. Stephen Jones for much of the topic of this post.  Read his teaching at  http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/COLDFUSION/booklet.cfm?PID=20  Because some of the statements here may be considered controversial, we will try to attribute to each concept the supporting scripture.  The groom in the new covenant marriage is Jesus, the long-awaited messiah; his bride is Israel–but do not think that “Israel” the bride is limited to those who are physically descended from Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.  Likewise, “Israel” does not exclude the physical descendants either.  It certainly does not mean the current Jewish state which has unlawfully taken the name from the sons of Joseph, but it does not necessarily exclude individuals living therein.  The true identity of this bride will surprise you, dear reader, but that is not for this post.  The new covenant is best understood as a marriage covenant.  This subject of this post is the telling of a love story and it is the most beautiful love story ever told!

Jesus is YHWH of the Old Testament, the Torah (the “Law”), the songs (“Psalms”), and the Prophets (the “T’fillim”); in fact, the entirety of scripture is about him.

The LORD (YHWH) is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation (Hebrew, “yeshua”, Strong’s Concordance H3444); This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.  Exodus 15:2 New American Standard Bible (“NASB”) (nearly all translations use LORD in place of the actual Hebrew word, YHWH)

          Moses said it first:  YHWH has become my Yeshua, the Hebrew pronunciation of “Jesus”.  When Mary called her first-born son to dinner, the name she called was “Yeshua.”  This is my God, and I will praise Him!  Jesus himself said of Moses, “He wrote about me.”  John 5:46  (In Greek, “peri”, Strong’s Concordance G4012–from which we get our words, perimeter, periscope–can you see that a 360-degree view is intended?)  In Hebrew, “yeshua” means “salvation,” but that in no way leads to the conclusion that Moses did NOT mean Jesus, for Jesus said Moses wrote about Him! 

          Isaiah said it again, in Isaiah 12:2-3, thus fulfilling the Law of the Double Witness.  Many have said he was merely repeating the statements of Moses; we cannot say that he was not quoting Moses; however, we can definitely say that Isaiah did not attribute his statement to Moses:

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD (Hebrew, “YHWH”) is my strength and song,  And He has become my salvation (Hebrew, “yeshua”).”  Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.  Isaiah 12:2-3 NASB

          In actuality, the above statement is attributed by Isaiah directly to YHWH, as a direct quote that begins all the way back in Chapter 7, verse 11.  Therefore, we believe that Isaiah was not quoting Moses, but providing a second witness by which every matter is established.  Deuteronomy 19:15.  Grasping this very important truth about YHWH is a key to understanding the effect and scope of the new covenant marriage by Jesus at the wedding supper of the Lamb.

YHWH married Israel at Mount Sinai on the first Pentecost, precisely 50 days after leaving Egypt.

          If you read carefully, you will see that conditional vows were exchanged between YHWH and the people of Israel.  Because these vows were conditional (meaning, if YOU do this and that, then I will do such and such), we can easily see that the marriage was an Old Covenant marriage, the same kind that we all see at every wedding any of us have ever attended.  In this kind of marriage, the preacher solemnly intones, “Do you promise to…etc., etc.?” and the groom responds, “I do.”  Then the process is repeated for the bride, who also says, “I do.”

          See for yourself how the people responded, after the giving of the Ten Commandments and the law:  “All the words which the LORD (YHWH) has spoken we will do!”  Exodus 24:3  Sadly, as is the case with too many Old Covenant marriages (and this one set the pattern for all that have followed), one party was not able to keep their promises/vows.  The problem then, as it is now with such cases, was that Israel had no heart to know YHWH’s love.  Deuteronomy 29:4

Israel’s hard heart is personified by Hagar, the Egyptian princess/bride of Abraham.  Genesis 16:1

          Actually, Hagar and Sarah, the two wives of Abraham are personal, prophetic patterns of the two covenants, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, respectively.  Hagar represents the bond, or slave, woman and the old covenant; Sarah represents the free woman and the new covenant.  Galatians 4:24  (Sarah’s identification as the free woman is monumentally important, as we shall see below.)  Hagar was Pharoah’s daughter by a concubine, according to the historical book of Jasher 15:31-32.  Her father was not the pharoah at the time of the Exodus, but one ruling much earlier when Abraham first went to Egypt.

          Although scripture does not say so, Hagar’s heart was probably hardened when she realized that her son, Ishmael–the first son born to Abraham, was not going to be the inheritor of the birthright, which instead was going to be given to Isaac who was born much later.  Her anger over this situation probably influenced Ishmael to the point that he toyed with killing Isaac by pointing a bow and arrow at him.  Ultimately, she and her son were cast out of Abraham’s camp and sent into the wilderness.  This iniquity was visited upon “Hagar”/Israel, who also hardened their hearts in the wilderness, contrary to the vows they had made to do all that YHWH had spoken.  Hebrews 3:7-9

But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.  Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.  But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.  Galatians 4:23-2 NASB

          Paul gives an allegory that is as startling nearly 2000 years later as it was when he first created it:  The relationship God created with Israel at Mt. Sinai is as much a master/slave relationship as the relationship between Abraham and Hagar:  she was never more than a slave woman, and her children were never more than slaves and were ultimately cast out.  In fact those children were born to be slaves.  God, like Abraham, intends to “cast out” the Hagar slave relationship.  In its place He intends to inaugurate a Sarah-relationship, a second covenant, and one that is free of slavery but instead consists of promise.  The children of this relationship will be born ” through the promise” and their mother shall be free and they will also born to be free.  How this change takes place has been a great mystery.

At the outset of the marriage, Israel’s heart was hardened during the master/slave old covenant marriage relationship.  Before long, Israel was committing adultery, meaning that Israel gave its affections to pagan gods that were really not even gods at all.

          Within just a few hundred years of arriving in the land of Canaan, during the reigns of the kings, YHWH sent Israel out of God’s house (the land of Palestine) with a writ of divorce “for all the adulteries” she had committed.  2 Kings 17:7-13  Jeremiah clearly states that YHWH divorced Israel for her adulteries, and even though it was witnessed by Judah, Judah was even MORE treacherous.  Jeremiah 3:6-8  (By this time, after the death of Solomon and the split of the nation into two groups (Israel–consisting of 10 northern tribes) and (Judah–consisting of Judah and Benjamin, in the south and in Jerusalem), each group had its own kings.)  Even after the divorce, YHWH was willing to take Israel back in marriage, but SHE refused.  Jeremiah 3:14  This led to the final pronouncement according to the Law of Divorce:

Contend with your mother,  contend,  for she is not my wife,  and I am not her husband; and let her put  away  her harlotry  from her face  and her adultery  from between her breasts,… Hosea 2:2 NASB

          Although the divorce removed the barriers to adultery and harlotry, it led to an even greater problem:  now Israel was free to re-marry any of her false gods, and so she did.  Hosea prophesied that Israel would grow tired of the false gods that she followed so passionately, and would want to return.  Sure enough, Israel later repented, and decided to return to worship YHWH:

She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say,  ‘I will go  back  to my first  husband, For it was better  for me then  than  now!’  Hosea 2:7  NASB

          But once remarried, God’s law prohibited re-marriage to YHWH even if Israel wanted to re-marry YHWH.  The God-fearing rabbis knew this, and knew what a pickle Israel was in.  But they didn’t know the half of it.

The Problem of the Law of Divorce and Remarriage

          According to God’s Law of Divorce and Remarriage found in Deuteronomy 24, once a woman was lawfully divorced she could lawfully remarry another man, but once remarried, she could not return to her first husband.  Deuteronomy 24:4  Jeremiah addressed this problem and said if a single woman tries to re-marry her first husband, it would completely pollute the entire land.  Jeremiah 3:1  Imagine the pollution of an entire people who tried to return to YHWH!

God says, “If a husband divorces his wife and she goes from him and belongs to another man, will he still return to her?
Will not that land be completely polluted?  But you are a harlot with many lovers; yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD.   Jeremiah 3:1  NASB

YHWH increases the tension by PROMISING Remarriage!

          No sooner did Hosea finish quoting YHWH as saying, “It’s too late, I’m no longer your husband!”,  he followed with YHWH’s promise of re-marriage.  The rabbis of the day, aware of the law, could not believe it!  Here is the quote; read it for yourself:

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her… 
 16“It will come about in that day,” declares the LORD, “That you will call Me Ishi (my husband) and will no longer call Me Baali (my master)…      19“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, 
20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.   Then you will know the LORD.   Hosea 2: 14, 16, 19-20 NASB

          Isaiah, a more-or-less contemporary of Hosea, compounded the tension by quoting the Lord as saying Israel’s husband was her “Maker”, but not to worry, she (the nation of Israel) would forget her widow-hood.  By now the rabbis were in a fit–what?  now the Maker is going to die?  How does God die, exactly, and why?  Do you see, dear reader, that the rabbis did not understand how or why God would die.  Even when Jesus ministered on earth, the religious leaders did not understand the scripture that the Son of Man must suffer and be put to death, nor the reason for it.  Acts 3:17

Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;  But you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.  For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; Isaiah 54:4-5 NASB

          But you know how–Jesus, whom Himself was God, did precisely that.   You know that He died on the Cross, and you know that it was for the forgiveness of sin.  Dear reader, do you see His mighty love at work:  you will not be put to shame or feel humiliated?  Israel had plenty to be ashamed of (as do we all), and yet the loving husband who has no guilt whatsoever says, “My love will cause you to forget the shame of your youth.”  In this case, it can truly be said that the husband has given his life for his beloved spouse.  The question is, What does His death have to do with Israel’s re-marriage?  Paul explains it in Romans 7:1-3.  The death of the first husband releases the woman from the Law of Divorce and Remarriage:

 1Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?  2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.  3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.  Romans 7:1-3 NASB

          In other words, the death of first husband YHWH/Jesus frees Israel from the laws of divorce and remarriage.  She is now the free woman–get it?   Now she is free to enter into a marriage covenant, not like the “Hagar” slave-covenant with legal vows she cannot keep, but the “Sarah” free-woman new covenant based upon a promise.  So the bride is ready–now all we need is a groom and a promise.

The Resurrection of YHWH/Jesus as a New Creation Allows Remarriage to Israel–But This Time Things Will Be Different!

          Yes, this time around, God intends to have a bride for YHWH/Jesus that will love Him from her heart.  To assist in that endeavor, He intends to give her a new heart:

 19“And I will give them (meaning, Israel) one heart, and put a new spirit within them and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,  20that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them.   Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.  Ezekiel 11:19 NASB

          Hagar and the old covenant she personifies will be cast out.  The new covenant will take its place.  It is based upon a single promise:  I will take out the heart of stone and put in its place a heart of flesh.  This means that it will be entirely done by YHWH/Jesus–it is his wedding promise to replace the “stone” heart with one that desires and agrees with Him.  In other words, His wish shall become her command. 

          The new covenant will not be based upon mutual conditional covenants, as was the prior “Hagar” marriage relationship.  Instead, it will be based upon a better promise, and one that originates only from the groom’s side.  God has given His word; this time, it is not conditional.  It is based upon the promise of God, not the promises of men.  Here is how it is stated in The Message Bible:

20-22The old priesthood of Aaron perpetuated itself automatically, father to son, without explicit confirmation by God. But then God intervened and called this new, permanent priesthood into being with an added promise:    God gave his word; he won’t take it back:   “You’re the permanent priest.” This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God—one that really works! A new covenant.  Hebrews 7:20-22 The Message Bible

          By this means, God will restore all things.  Acts 3:21  Jeremiah is the first witness to this promise of a new covenant, one that will hold the marriage together.  God will write His law within the hearts of Israel.

33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  Jeremiah 31:33

          King David is a second witness, affirming that doing God’s will shall be a delight!  Not an external duty, a bother, an opportunity for failure or legalistic observance.  Instead, it will become an internalized joy and a success!  For Israel, so used to failure, it will be a success driven by returning the love of Jesus to Him. 

 6Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.  8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:6-8 NASB

          Our final witness is the writer of the book of Hebrews, quoting Father that ALL will know Him, and all of their sins will be forgotten!

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord:  I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.  And I will be their God and they shall be my people.  And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyon his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them.  For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”  When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first (covenant) obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.  Hebrews 8:8-13 NASB

          YHWH/Jesus is going to fulfill all the vows–all that remains for the bride to say is, “Amen”, or “let it be so”.  At this time, the Ten Commandments will have become the Ten Promises (together with all of His laws):

          You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not steal. You shall not carry My name in vain, and you shall love Me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all of your mind.  And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  It can’t get any plainer than this–He does it all!

And who, exactly, is this woman “Israel”?

          We know from Romans 2, that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and neither is circumcision that which is in the flesh.  Rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart.  In the same way, he is not an Israelite by the flesh and “chosen-ness” is not by being physically descended from Jacob.  Rather, he is an Israelite who is “ruled by God”, which is what the name “Israel” means.  He is an Israelite according to God who wants God’s laws to be written upon his heart and upon his mind, so that he can be in agreement with the One who gave Himself to set him free.  If this is your heart’s desire, dear reader, then hearken and come along–there is room for all, and sooner or later, all will come:

17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come ” And let the one who hears say, “Come ” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.  Revelation 22:17 NASB

Even so, let it be, Lord Jesus, and come.  Baruch ata.

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Consider the Lilies

Filed Under: Restoration by admin — Comments Off on Consider the Lilies
February 13, 2011

          Tuesday was Ralph’s birthday; he would have been 57.  While reflecting on our time with him, the Lord Spirit said, “Consider the lilies.”

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.   But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you (today and “tomorrow”)?  You men of little faith!  Luke 12:26-28 New American Standard Bible (parenthetic remark added)

          Regrettably, the modern church associates being “thrown into the furnace” with judgment and hell-fire, but this interpretation completely misses the Lord’s point.  The worry of men is for little things that they cannot control, such as what they shall eat and what they shall wear “today”.  The Lord’s point is:  if you cannot control even these little things for “today”, why worry about them?  And “tomorrow”, meaning the hereafter, after this life is over–as it is for Ralph–our worry is equally pointless.  Nevertheless, on what does the modern church focus its “turn or burn” message?  The modern church says, “Heed our warnings, and do what we tell you, or you risk being thrown into the furnace!”   Once again, the modern church confuses Father God with Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient Babylonian emperor, who dictated that all bow down to his golden statue or be thrown into the fiery furnace.  Read the story for yourself in Daniel 3, and note who it is that actually dies.

          Recall the evangelistic encounters/confrontations/arguments which, while seeking to convert some lost soul, begin with the question:  Do you KNOW where you will spend eternity?  The well-meaning believers who use this approach would be much more successful in converting lost souls if they listened to Jesus, and taught as He taught.  If instead of sowing worry about “tomorrow”, they asked, “How much more will He clothe you, you men of little faith?” they would find men drawn to the irresistible love of God and His never-failing mercy!  The Lord’s question deals with the hereafter, “tomorrow”, after this life is over, and is the subject of this post.

          How much more will God clothe Ralph, and you, dear reader, when “tomorrow” comes to  you or vice versa?  And what exactly do lilies have to do with it?  First, how a lily grows is not by effort or hard work.  A lily does not create its beauty by itself, or to say it another way, God is responsible for how it grows and how it “looks”.  King Solomon, the richest king ever to walk the face of the earth, and presumably the best-dressed king ever, had to exert some effort to luxuriously clothe himself.  Not so with the lily–someone else (God) exerted the effort, and the lily is the recipient.

          The lily is a picture, a prophecy–in theology-talk, a type–of something to come.  Lilies were put on the earth for this sole purpose:  to reflect in a pleasing and beautiful way what God has in store for men.  It is God that makes men “white” by the blood of Jesus, not men themselves by their own efforts.  Lilies bloom around Easter, the time of the resurrection of Christ Jesus.  In our area, they grow out of the water, reflecting the newness of life after one’s missing the mark (hamartano) is washed away.  Coming to faith in Jesus is cleansing of a lifetime of wrongdoing, literally a new creation, clean and spotless.  And the aroma?  A single lily is quite aromatic, but try to imagine the smell and the sight of a whole field of lilies!

          Now, what about this furnace?  First, do you imagine that blooming lilies or green grass burn very well?  No.  So initially it should be noted that we are not talking about “today”, but instead afterwards when the lily and the grass have lost the clothing initially given to them by God.  At that point, the initial “clothing” is no longer needed and is disposed of–the same as a dead body.  How much more will God clothe men of little faith, men of great faith, men of some faith, men of no faith, men of right faith, and men of wrong faith?  Dear reader, DO NOT WORRY! God will, according to the word of Jesus, clothe them quite a bit more!

          We believe there will be at least two resurrections, meaning two occasions when previously deceased  persons are roused from whatever condition they are in after death to stand alive before God and before Jesus, our Lord.  (See Revelation 20:4-6)  On the second of these occasions, there will be discipline and correction (punishment, if you prefer, but punishment to correct and not to destroy) in accordance with perfect justice and superceding love.  What happens when the discipline is completed?   Here is where the clothing comes in!

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and  before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”  I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  Revelation 7:9-14, New American Standard Bible

           Some will say, “Aha!  They washed their robes, so it’s not all God’s doing!”  We will not argue the point.  Instead, we note that the Greek word for “washed” in the passage above is used only this once in the New Testament.  It is “plyno”  (Strong’s Concordance G4150).  In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, plyno was consistently used in place of the Hebrew word “kavas” (Strong’s Concordance H3526).  Kavas is used frequently, so by looking at the Hebrew uses, we may better understand the single Greek use in Revelation 7:14.  Kavas (and plyno) always refer to washing an inanimate object–never oneself, like washing one’s hands, face, feet, or entire body. Kavas literally means to tread upon or trample upon with one’s feet as the means of washing.  The great multitude in the verses above are not washing themselves to become holy or acceptable to God; instead, they are treading upon their robes to symbolize their submission to the Lamb–Jesus Christ–who is seated at God’s right hand until all things are in subjection under His feet.  1 Corinthians 15:25, 27 and Ephesians 1:22.

          The main point is, the robes are given to the great multitude by God, to men who are in submission to the blood sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah upon the cross.  The robes cover a new body, one that does die or even age, an immortal and incorruptible body made from the dust of the earth–the Promised Land (in Hebrew, eretz–Strong’s Concordance H776).  When a person’s life is cleansed by trusting Jesus to do what He said (and says) He will do, that person will joyfully submit to Jesus.  That is precisely God’s goal in the restoration of all things:  the joyful cleansing and submission of all men to our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus, and clothing them with immortality.  Let it be so, Lord Jesus! 

Blessed are you, O Lord, our wonderful God, and blessed is the Lily of the Valley, Yeshua HaMashiach, the first to be clothed by you with eternity.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to you for all ages.  Amen.

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Lord, who believes our tidings?

Filed Under: Double Witness, God's Laws/Teachings, Restoration by admin — Comments Off on Lord, who believes our tidings?
October 10, 2010

Yet, after His having done so many signs in front of them, they believed not in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet, which he said, may be being fulfilled, “Lord, who believes our tidings?  And the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed?”  Therefore they could not believe, seeing that Isaiah said again that He “has blinded their eyes and callouses their heart, lest they may be perceiving with their eyes, and should be apprehending with their heart, and may be turning about, and I shall be healing them”.  John 12:37-40 Concordant New Testament

          Lord, who believes our tidings?  It is quite impossible to comprehend the restoration of all things apart from illumination by the Holy Spirit.  If you have seen it dear reader, but no one will believe your glad tidings, do not become discouraged. 

           The careful reader will observe that prophecy is “being fulfilled”, and the same prophecy may have application to different people in different generations at different times.  In the case of Isaiah’s prophecy (Chapter 53 and Chapter 6) it was initially applied to Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day, then again by the Lord Jesus to Judah and Jerusalem during His first coming.  We believe it has been being fulfilled from that day until our day on a worldwide basis.  As with all prophecies, there comes a final fulfillment.  And after that, there comes a day when they may be perceiving with their eyes and be apprehending with their heart, and may be turning about, and He shall be healing them.  We are saying that day commences the restoration of all things. 

          We also say that until such time, God bears the responsibility for “blinding their eyes and callousing their heart”.  It is offensive enough to most of the modern church that unbelievers, along with the rest of creation, will be restored–that is, that they will not be punished by burning eternally or (somewhat more charitably) merely annihilated.  But to acknowledge that the Lord Jesus attributed the blindness of the world to Himself is beyond the most generous sensibilities of the modern church.  These words are troubling for those who feel man’s free will is the highest and most powerful force in the universe and that God’s justice requires Him to punish forever unbelievers: 

Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, “You will keep on hearing but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return”, and I would heal them.   Matthew 13:13-15  NASB

          Because Isaiah’s prophecy ends with “and be healed” (see for yourself in Isaiah 6), we believe the Lord Jesus ended His quote with “return” (there are no quotation marks in the original Greek).  The last five words were the Lord’s conclusion, not part of the quote from Isaiah.  Basically, the Lord was saying, “Father and I do not want them to see, perceive, hear, comprehend, understand, and repent, because if they did, I WOULD HEAL THEM.”   A time has been set by Father for this healing, and it was not in Isaiah’s time, and it was not during the Lord’s first coming, and has not occurred yet.  But one day it will occur, at which time He will heal them of their sin condition (symbolized by leprosy in the Bible).

          Until that time, all who have been blinded, who cannot see, whose hearts have become dull, are God’s responsibility, because He has blinded them.  The Lord Jesus said so; first, through Isaiah, then Himself, then finally through John.  This fact has been legally established by the Law of the Double Witness.  Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16  Under the Law of the Blinded Servant, God must set free all whom He has blinded for the sake of their eye, or their ear, or their heart, etc.:

If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go on account of his eye.  Exodus 21:26

          Are all men the slaves of God?  Yes, under the Law of Redemption, Jesus Christ paid on the cross the sin debt of all men.  Because all men are dying, all men have committed legal offenses (hamartia), and also have missed the mark (hamartano), therefore each and every man has a sin debt.  When the debt of a man is paid by the kinsman redeemer, that man is transferred to the one paying the debt and thus becomes the slave of the redeemer.  Leviticus 25:47-55  The man shall be a slave to kinsman redeemer until the set time when the slave is set free.

          And so, some will be believing our tidings, and some will not.  Perhaps most will not.  But one day, they will.  Until then, dear reader, keep on loving!  As Dr. Stephen Jones has so eloquently stated it:  “There are only two kinds of people in the world; believers, and future believers!”

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful God, our healing God, YHWH Rapha.  You are the God that healeth us.  Blessed is Your holy name forever!

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The Release Of The Spirit

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September 19, 2010

Now if any person sins in error, from among the people of the land, by doing one (thing) regarding the commandments of YHWH that should not be done, and incurs guilt, or it is made known to him the sin that he sinned; he is to bring as his near-offering a hairy-one of goats, wholly-sound, female, for the sin whereby he sinned.  He is to lean his hand on the head of the (sin)-offering and is to slay the (sin)-offering, at the place of the offering-up.  The priest is to take some of the blood of the (sin)-offering with his finger and is to put (it) on the horns of the slaughter-site of offering-up; all (the rest of) its blood he is to pour out at the foundation of the slaughter-site of offering-up.  All of its fat, he is to remove, as was removed the fat from upon the slaughter-offering of shalom, and the priest is to turn it into smoke on the slaughter-site, as a soothing savor for YHWH; thus the priest is to effect-purgation for him, and he shall be granted-pardon.  Leviticus 4:27-31 Schocken Bible

There is not to be for the Levitical priests–the entire tribe of Levi–any portion or inheritance with Israel; the fire-offerings of YHWH, and his inheritance, they may eat.  But a (normal) inheritance he may not have, in the midst of his brothers, YHWH is his inheritance, as He promised him.  Now this shall be the regulated-share of the priests from the people, from the slaughterers of slaughter-offerings, whether of ox or sheep:  the priest is to be given the shankbone, the jawbone and the rough-stomach.  Deuteronomy 18:1-3 Schocken Bible

          In these verses we have a fairly complete foreshadow and type of the intercessory work of Christ Jesus, and all in His body who desire the work of the unending priesthood.  On the cross, He paid the price, once for all, for the hamartia–legal offenses/sin of all of mankind of all ages and times.  His substitionary work of atonement fully satisfied and satisfactorily fulfilled all of God’s laws and commandments.  Having become obedient to the point of death, Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him as our high priest at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty, just as He said. Hebrews 8:1  In this regard, Jesus has received a more excellent ministry than of the Levitical priesthood, being of the Melchizadek priesthood.  He is able also to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25  It is this intercession which we now consider, not only by Christ, the high priest, but also by others of the Melchizadek priesthood.

          The intercession in the heavenly places is, of course, much better than sacrifices of bulls and goats, which have never been more than a type or shadow of better promises to come.  That there would be wrongdoing that required intercession did not catch God by surprise; in fact, He planned it!  For the duration of the time of resistance to God’s will, men would continue to miss the mark–hamartano–because they are made of dying flesh.  Sin (hamartia) and death entered the world through Adam and on this basis all men have missed the mark (hamartano) and continue to do so.  Romans 5:12  Dear reader, you may feel this is quite a controversial statement, but if you believe sin causes death and not vice versa, ask yourself this:  Is the baby in the womb immortal, and does it have no dying cells?  Without meaning any offense to anyone’s religion, common observation leads to the inescapable conclusion that all who are of flesh (and that is pretty much everyone we know) are afflicted with missing the mark.

          To understand the intercession and its effects, we must look at the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain, and the regulations given to him for the Levitical priesthood as a fore-shadowing of the greater priesthood to come.  In a nutshell, here is how it worked:  the individual brought the animal to the priest, and laid his hand upon the animal’s head.  The sin was thus transferred to the animal.  The sin/animal was then killed, and its blood applied to the altar, foreshadowing Christ.  The fat was turned into smoke by burning on the altar that was a soothing savor to YHWH/Jesus–this is the focus of our post.  Parts of the sin/animal were then cooked by the priest and eaten.  Now the priest has ingested and digested the sin/animal–do you see, dear reader, that the priest has in a sense become the sin brought to him by the individual?  The priest has tasted, in a sense, the sin of the individual, and now may make intercession for the individual by the fat, the surplus, the extravagant extra that it represents, that is offered up in smoke.  

          In Leviticus 10:12 Moses had just instructed Aaron and his sons to eat part of the sin/animal offering, but they failed to do so for reasons that are not important here.  The rebuke of Moses in verse 17 is very instructive for our purposes:

Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place?  For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.

          “Tasting” of the sin/animal facilitated the means of intercession by which the guilt of the individual was borne away!  By this the priest made atonement (“effect-purgation” in our passage) (Strong’s Concordance H3722–kaphar).  Literally, this means “to cover” or “to cover over.”  Please notice the all-important outcome:  he shall be granted-pardon.  Do you see now the wonderful outcome of the intercession our ever-living Savior makes for us as our great High Priest?  Praise you, Lord!  

          If your heart is moved by these words to intercede for others, you must be willing to “taste” of the sickness, the disease, or the missing of the mark, or its effects, somehow to identify with the wrongdoing, at least in part, just as Christ took our sins upon Himself (and perhaps, in some cases, to the same extent–this is between you and your Lord).  The world and most of the Church see this as a “waste”, and unnecessary extravagance; some would say it nullifies the effect of the cross.  We will not argue the point–however, in reality it is the fat of the offering, that belongs exclusively to God.  Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 prove to us that its smoke is symbolic of the prayers of the saints/holy ones.  It is by these prayers that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him but who dwells in you (John 14:17), is released to effect pardon.  He will glorify the Lord Jesus, but are you aware that He does not speak on his own initiative?  John 16:13  Jesus emphasized that it was for our advantage that the Helper would be sent to us and what His work would be, especially in helping us to pray as we ought.  Romans 8:26-27

          Dear reader, how often are you the recipient of someone else’s wrongdoing, how often are you the offended one?  Have you considered that God especially arranged for you to “taste” of the sin, so that you could by intercession release the Spirit and effectuate the granting of pardon?  Moreover, it is not simply God’s plan to keep granting pardon over and over; instead, it is to release the Spirit of truth so that the offending party can learn it is wrong and come into obedience to the Savior, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  It is a matter of law that only the offended party can release the wrongdoing, and much more could be said about this aspect.  For now, we leave it at this:  the friends of Jesus know the mind of their King, and may be trusted to join in His work and effectuate the release of the Spirit. 

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who allows men to be in the body of Christ and have a part in this Melchizadek ministry of intercession by which Your mercy triumphs over Your judgment.  You do all things well, Father!  Men will praise You joyfully forever.  All blessing, and honor, and glory and power belong to You, our wonderful God.

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Notes On Missing The Mark

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September 12, 2010

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin (hamartano).   And if anyone sins, (hamartano) we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins (hamartia); and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.  1 John 2:1-2

          It is time to address a virtually universal mis-translation of the scriptures that has caused untold mischief in the church and in the lives of sincere believers.  In the verses above we have the clearest example of the misuse of two Greek words, translating both as “sin” or “sins”, when common sense tells us that they cannot both mean the same thing, except in the vaguest and most general sense of wrongdoing.  Hamartano (Strong’s Concordance G264) means “missing the mark”.  It is wrongdoing, but of a lesser degree and with different results than the other word used for “sins”.  Hamartia (Strong’s Concordance G266) is also wrongdoing, but of a much greater degree and with much more serious results.  We have translated this word as “legal offenses.”  

          A person goes to a lawyer with the following complaint: “Every morning when I go out of my house to get in my car, my neighbor is waiting for me.  Standing in his own driveway, he begins to curse me–he calls me every name in the book, plus a few extra.  It’s getting where I dread going outside, because I know he’ll be there.  Can I bring a lawsuit to get the court to assist me?”  The lawyer listens patiently, then asks the following questions:  Has he ever threatened physical harm against you or a family member?  “No.”  Have you ever felt in imminent danger of physical harm, based upon any threatening physical movements?  “No, he is a safe distance from me.”  Has he ever thrown anything at you?  “No.”  Has he ever followed you?  “No.”  Has he ever come into your yard?  “No.”  The lawyer then says, “Although the man has definitely missed the mark on being a good neighbor, he has committed no legal offense.  There is nothing the court can do, since he has not broken, or even threatened to break, any laws.”

          Although the neighbor’s actions amount to wrongdoing which can be recognized by anyone, those actions do not rise to the level of requiring redress by a judge, who is sitting in protection of society at large.  The same is true with hamartano and hamartia.  In our example, the neighbor’s actions did not violate the law, although clearly falling short of the ideal.  Most importantly, the results of missing the mark are vastly different from those of legal offenses.  Notice what our passage says.  And if anyone misses the mark, we have an advocate with the Father,  Jesus Christ the righteous…  Christ intercedes directly with God for all those who miss the mark.  John then goes on to state that Jesus Christ paid the death penalty for the legal offenses of the entire world!  And He Himself is the propitiation (an atoning blood sacrifice) for our legal offenses, and not for ours only but for those (legal offenses) of the whole world.

          Here is why the distinction is critically important:  the advocacy of Jesus is ongoing, because all have missed the mark and fallen short of the glory of God (this is the correct translation of Romans 3:23), but the propitiation of Jesus is one sacrifice, for all legal offenses, for all people, for all time!  So precious was the  blood of our Redeemer!  This is how the scriptures put it:

For Christ also died for sins (hamartia) once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.  1 Peter 3:18

For the death that He died, He died to sin (hamartia) once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Even so (in the same way) consider yourselves to be dead to sin (hamartia), but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:10-11

         We sincerely apologize in advance if we offend anyone’s religion or creed, but the fact is that God was completely satisfied by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross.  He has destroyed the works of the devil; He has satisfied and the fulfilled the law of God in toto.  It is finished, as He said.  You cannot add one thing to what has already been done for you.  If you want to repent or do penance, please do so.  If you want to be baptized, please, feel free.  Do whatever the leaders of your particular denomination say to do, but know this:  the war between God and man is over, and Christ has won it!  With His own blood He has repurchased the earth and all it contains and all who dwell in it.  It now belongs to Him, and as a result the legal offenses have been removed for all time.  God has been conciliated (katallasso–Strong’s Concordance G2644) to men through Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:18  This word means that hostilities between warring sides have been called off unilaterally by one side (God’s side); what remains is for the other side (man’s side) to also be re-conciliated (apokatallasso–Strong’s Concordance G609).  We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us–we beg you, on behalf of Christ, be re-conciliated to God.  2 Corinthians 5:20

          What about the wrongdoing we have called “missing the mark”; is God ok with that?  Not really.

          We have missed the mark, and so have you, dear reader.  (Please do not disagree with this, because John also said:   If we say that we have not sinned [hamartano], we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.)  John said he was writing his epistle so that we may NOT continue to miss the mark, but if we should do so, not to worry, not to get baptized again, not to re-dedicate or re-re-dedicate your commitment again, not to promise God or man you’ll never do that again, not to do whatever your religious creed or denomination says you must do, not to do anything that rises up out of your religious flesh–we have an Advocate with the Father!  Praise you, Lord!

          Our Advocate ever lives to intercede with the Father for us as a great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:25  Here is the question each of us must ask and decide for ourselves:  Will we trust Jesus’ intercession to be effective, or must we add to it with human effort by repenting, rededicating, being filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues, promise-keeping, etc.?  Please insert whatever formula has been given to you.  As you do, please consider the truth in these scriptures:

God was in Christ reconciling (katallasso) the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation (katallasso).  2 Corinthians 5:19

(B)ut Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.  Therefore He is able also to save forever (eis ta panteles–into the uttermost, which is not liimited to time) those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:24-25

          Our missing the mark from time to time is a part of God’s plan for our lives–it shows our continued need for a Savior, it teaches us to trust Him, and it teaches us the nature of this life, if you have put your trust in Christ.  If you have not, your unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God–He will use it to draw you to Himself.  It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance.  Romans 2:4

          We are indebted to Bishop Carlton Pearson for his wonderful teaching on the difference between hamartia and hamartano, contained in his book, The Gospel of Inclusion,  in Chapter 6 entitled “The Gospel of Salvation”.  We recommend this excellent work to everyone.

          Elsewhere on this site is a page containing a re-translation of 1 John containing, among other words, a proper distinction between hamartia and hamartano.  The result makes 1 John sensible instead of the usually jumbled mass of contradictions that all but eliminates understanding.  Enjoy!

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful high priest!  Thank you for interceding for us, for making payment for us, and for re-conciliating us to our Father, Who is above all, through all, and in all.  Blessed be your holy name forever!

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