Sunday, December 28, 2008

ISRAEL AS A SEED

I liken the outside of the seed, the seed covering, to fleshly Israel. The life contained within fleshly Israel I see being the faithful remnant. I illustrate is in this way:

Seed Casing=Israel after the flesh, Jesus in his mortal fleshly body; contained within her is the:

Life of the Seed=Faithful Remnant of Israel, Jesus the life-giving Spirit, you and me.

This seed, planted in Christ, did what every seed does. The outer covering died and out of it came the life, not only consisting of the faithful remnant from of old, but also all who are added to it afterward, both Jew and Non-Jew.

Ron

Saturday, December 27, 2008

HEBRAIC MINDSET COMPARED TO GREEK MINDSET

GREEK
|
Thoughts
|
Mind
---------------------------------------------
HEBRAIC
|
Senses
|
Sight-Smell-Hearing-Taste-Touch

As you can see, the Hebraic mindset, the one which I believe originated with God, utilizes the whole person, not just one part.

GREEK
|
Form
|
How something looks
--------------------------------------------
HEBRAIC
|
Function
|
What something does

In scripture, you will notice that it is predominantly concerned with what things do. Hebrew is an action-oriented language. God is not so much defined by how he looks (in fact, there is almost nothing outside of visions that describe God in appearance) as he is by what he does.

HOW DOES THE CHURCH FIT IN WITH ISRAEL?

On a message board I frequent, we have been having a discussion concerning the role of the Church as it relates to Israel. It is quite an involved topic, with much scripture on various sides. Here is a snippet of part of that discussion, with what I have come to understand about this, taking the view that all things of the physical are fulfilled in Christ, as the spiritual:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel
Israel is God's nation for the "eons"....the ages of time which He has allotted.

"For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, O Lord, art become their God'" (II Samuel 7:24).

"For ever" is the Hebrew equivalent for "aionios"........which is of an age. As long as the ages are running........Israel plays a part. At present, they have been set aside......but this does not mean that they, as a nation, will no longer play in role in God's plan.
As we discussed when we met last week, we both understand the fact that "forever" does not mean "without end". I would offer a slightly adjusted definition of the word "olam", the Hebrew word found in 2Sa 7:24. The pictograph letters making up the word are:

ayin=eye,
lamed=shepherd staff,
mem=water

Taken together, they convey the idea of your eyes being led to see the edge of the water, that is, the horizon. The concrete meaning is looking at, or beyond, the horizon; in this case, looking out over the sea to the very horizon where it seems to end. One close English equivalent is "indefinite period of time". With this in mind, the verse you quoted I believe is to be understood the same way, not to indicate that they would play a role as long as there are ages, but simply that they would be a people to him for an indefinite period of time, a time which, in one sense, ended for fleshly Israel in the first century; yet, in another sense, continued on in spiritual fulfillment in the remnant that has always existed.

Other things are spoken of in this way, and we see the meaning is consistent:

Gen 17:13 With circumcision shall be circumcised the homeborn and the one acquired with your money. And My covenant comes to be in your flesh for a covenant eonian.

The covenant of circumcision would not serve as long as the ages were running, but for an indefinite period of time, until it was fulfilled by the spiritual circumcision Christ would bring, of the heart.

Exo 21:6 then his lord will bring him close to the elohim, and bring him close to the door or to the jamb, and his lord will bore his ear with an awl; and he will serve him for the eon.

This servant would not serve as long as the ages were running, but for an indefinite period of time, as long as he lived, until his days were fulfilled.

Exo 28:43 and they will come to be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter into the tent of appointment or when they come close to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear depravity, and should die. It is an eonian statute for him and for his seed after him.

The Aaronic priesthood sacrifices would not last as long as the ages were running, but for an indefinite period of time, until it was fulfilled when Christ came as the final sacrifice.

Exo 29:9 Then you will gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind up caps on them, so that the priesthood comes to be theirs for an eonian statute when you have filled the hand of Aaron and the hands of his sons.

The Aaronic priesthood was not to last as long as the ages were running, but for an indefinite period of time, until it was fulfilled when Christ came to be the permanent high priest, and we, the fulfilled priesthood of believers.

Jon 2:6 I go down to the fashioning points of the mountains; the earth, its bars are about me for the eon, yet You wilt bring up my life from ruin, Yahweh, my Elohim."

Jonah was not in the belly of the fish as long as the ages were running, but, to him, for an indefinite period of time, until 3 days were fulfilled.

2Sa 7:24 Yea, You do establish to You Your people Israel, to You for a people unto the eon, and You, Yahweh, have been to them for Elohim.

So, as I would understand it, Israel being his people, was not for as long as the ages were running, but for an indefinite period of time, until it was fulfilled when Christ came as the seed of Abraham, and all in him both Jew and Gentile, constituted as Israel, God's people.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel
I respectfully resist the notion that the church has become Israel. God will continue to deal with the nations as long as there are nations......and Israel will play a part.
I agree with this. The church has not become Israel, the church has always been Israel. Within the many millions of those who were physically Israel, God always had a remnant of those he truly considered Israel. This was always the church.

The church was not a new thing that Jesus came to institute as a separate entity from Israel, but was the fulfillment of what has always been there the whole time. Only now it has been made plain and clear by putting aside the flesh. The flesh must be put aside, for it can have no part in the spiritual promises of God.

As an aside, when I speak of Israel, or the Jews, being put aside, I do not speak of them as a people being put aside, but everything concerning them of the flesh that they hold dear to. They as a people, I believe will be brought to salvation just as everyone else.

Ron

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?

A dear sister asked this question in relation to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and I wanted to share my response.

In one of your recent posts you asked about what the word there meant, knowledge, and I wanted to comment on that. The letters originally were pictographs, and the 2 letters that make up this word are d and o, the d being pictured by a tent flap, or door, and the o being pictured by an eye. Literally it is understood as "the door of the eye." When you trace the word throughout scripture you find that, while it does involve having "head knowledge" of something, it primarily means "experience." The eye is the window into our very being, and to the Hebrew people, experience is gained primarily through visual observation.

One very striking example that shows us that the knowledge here is more understood as something we experience rather than just fill our minds with facts about can be seen in Genesis 4, where it says that Adam "knew" his wife Eve. The same root word is used here.

Before Adam and Eve sinned, their entire experience was only what God announced about his creation, which was good, or, as they would have understood good-functional. Everything worked just as it was intended. I believe you are correct in saying that evil, or dysfunction, was in existence before Adam and Eve. When they ate, they then experienced dysfunction, from that very moment. The first sign of that was their feeling of shame from nakedness. Naked was how God originally made them, something he called good, or functional. They now, experiencing the opposite feeling, felt only shame and wanted to cover themselves. That was evil, or dysfunctional. And so we go on, experiencing not only those wonderful things that are functional, which we love, but also those times when things don't work as intended, dysfunctional, and boy do we truly appreciate the good, functional things then. And that is precisely the reason, as I understand it, that God worked things out in that way, so that we could truly appreciate the good, to truly appreciate God himself, by means of seeing what things are like when God doesn't seem to be around, when things are evil in our experience.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

ANOTHER PARABLE OF THE SOWER

There was once a man who threw out seed onto a patch of land. He watered it and the sunlight shone on it, yet nothing happened. After some time, he tested the soil and found out it was dead. There were no nutrients in it. He went out and purchased some good soil with nutrients in it, took it to this plot of land, and replaced the bad soil with this new good soil. Now, he took more seed and threw it out and this time it produced a bountiful crop.

Here is the explanation:

The man was God the Father. The dead ground was us in Adam. The seed is the law. The original meaning of the Hebrew word for law is "thrown-seed." When God gave his law to Israel it could not bear fruit because it was placed in dead hearts. The law-that is, the seed, was fine; there was nothing wrong with it. The problem wasn't the law, it was us, the soil it was put in. The law merely showed their condition.

To remedy the problem, God the Father had Jesus come to replace his life with ours. Then, he sowed the law into those good hearts and it is fulfilled in us, as a bountiful crop.

Ron

Monday, December 22, 2008

SCROLL OF THE LIFE OF THE LAMB

Rev 13:8 And all who are dwelling on the earth will be worshiping it, everyone whose name is not written in the scroll of [the] life of the Lamb slain from the disruption of the world."

I just noticed something tonight when reading about this verse. Most translations, at least the many I was able to check, all speak of "the book of life of the lamb." In the Greek however, there are 3, not 2, definite articles. It literally is "the scroll of the life of the lamb." I wonder, could this scroll actually not be a scroll with just a list of names on it, like we have always been taught? What if it is actually a scroll containing the events and happenings, the very life of Jesus himself as he lives now, in you and me, similar to the gospels and book of Acts?

That gives a whole new twist to the concept of our names being found in that scroll, for instead of just looking down a static list of names in alphabetical order, the Father reads about Jesus' life being lived throughout history, like a gripping novel, and then at a certain place he comes across Jesus in your life, and in my life, and it too is fascinating as he reads about all the ways in which Christ manifested his life in and through us. Think of it this way:

Jesus is the Book of Life, and we are His pages.

SHADOW/REALITY-GODS ORDER OF THINGS

In scripture there is an order, a way in which God has chosen to express reality, which consists of types, or shadows, and the fulfillment of them. That order is:

1) physical (type, shadow)

followed by:

2) spiritual (antitype, reality)

Here is what is important to understand about this order; once the spiritual comes, there is no going back to the physical. The physical is temporary, while the spiritual is permanent. This holds true for every single one. Here are some examples:

Physical Type/Shadow-Spiritual Antitype/Reality

physical body components-spiritual body of Christ

physical temple in Jerusalem-spiritual temple

physical resurrection-spiritual resurrection

physical coming-spiritual coming again

physical sons and daughters-spiritual sons and daughters

physical body-spiritual body

physical cloud presence-spiritual cloud presence

physical consuming fire-spiritual consuming fire

world destroyed by spiritual water-world destroyed by spiritual fire


All of the realities are in place, and they are all around us, if we would have eyes to see and ears to hear. I personally believe that understanding this, if this indeed holds true in every case, prevents us from making the common mistake of thinking of fullfillments taking place physically speaking, which causes us to miss the spiritual fulfillment.

Friday, December 19, 2008

DEAD TO SIN, ALIVE TO GOD

Here are some thoughts that come to mind as I read Romans 6. Please read it before reading the rest of this post.

One of the striking things I see here is how Paul doesn't look at things according to the way they necessarily appear, but rather, according to the reality that Christ has brought.

Looking at things according to the flesh, we would be hard pressed to say what Paul wrote, "How can we, who died to sin, live any longer in it?" Let us not look at this as wishful thinking. Paul is most forceful here. It is equivalent to him saying, "It is impossible to live in sin, so why act like you still do!"

This reality is why he went on to say that they were to "present themselves as slaves to righteousness." Many say this speaks of an effort on our part to "do what is right" so that we become slaves to righteousness. This is not so. Whenever Paul speaks of presenting yourself, in each case he is speaking out of a reality that he knows is already there, not something he hopes becomes reality based on behavior. The reason we are present ourselves as slaves of righteousness is simple...WE ALREADY ARE!

I am so glad to know that all that I strove to "do" to make and keep myself right with God, God has done in Christ, and me, being in Christ when it happened, along with you brothers and sisters, are right, not only in principle, but in reality. And this hidden seed within us, that life which is the very perfection of God himself, will reveal itself over time in us, showing us and everyone else that indeed, that reality which Paul speaks of so passionately, is in fact a reality now, and has been all along.

Here is a fictional story that brings this into perspective. It is a story of the son of a king who had to be exiled. He grew up in a poor family in the very nation his father was king over, and lived most of his life slaving to make ends meet. One day he found out that he was in fact one of the richest men, based on the inheritance that his father left him when he was killed. It was everything he owned. At what point was the son rich? From birth. If that is your answer, you have answered wisely. He grew up a poor boy and a slave, when all the while the reality was he owned the whole nation without knowing it. Unfortunately, having lived so long as a slave, he did not believe what he was told at first, and so lived several more years as a slave. Finally, one day he came across some documents that proved to him his true heritage and he lived the remainder of his days as rightful heir to the throne. We too have been given everything by the one who owns the universe. We are royalty. Please do not make the same mistake this man made.

Ron

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

Gen 2:2-3 And God finished on the sixth day His works which He made, and He ceased on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He ceased from all His works which God began to do.

Heb 4:3-4 For we who have believed are entering into that rest, even as he has said, As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest; although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, God rested on the seventh day from all his works;

Mat 13:35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Brothers and sisters, contained here is a truth, hidden from the natural mind, but known to us. Ponder the ramifications of what he is saying, for he is not merely speaking of the 6 day creation, but all of his works including the death of his son, which took place "from the foundation of the world". Rev 13:8.

This is how we can know for a certainty that we indeed are entering into that rest, which means we are coming into an ever increasing awareness of our being in that rest fully already, for this too occurred from the foundation of the world, long before we were born. A dear sister named Rose spoke of it this way:

"If we take your idea [concerning the subject we were discussing] one step further and look at it from the point of view where all things were complete in Christ from the foundation of the world we can then see the linear "time" line of the "old man" from the perspective of the "New man". What is then seen is "time" folding back upon itself and "touching" every point on that line and redeeming
it as fulfilled in Christ."

Sunday, December 14, 2008

WHAT IS HEAVEN? PART 3

Let's now take a look at the phrases "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God." Even though at first glance it appears as though they are speaking of two different things-the kingdom of heaven being a kingdom belonging to a place, while kingdom of God refers to a kingdom belonging to a person, they are actually one and the same. This can be seen by comparing something Jesus said as recorded by Matthew and Luke:

Mat 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Luk 6:20 He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said,
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the Kingdom of God.

Why the difference? Well, Jesus, being a Jew, was speaking to Jews when he made this statement. He actually said Kingdom of Heaven. "Heaven" was one of the ways that the Jews commonly referred to God. To them, Heaven=God. Matthew, writing his gospel to Jews, keeps Jesus word's intact as he spoke them, for he knew they would understand what Jesus was saying.

Luke, on the other hand, wrote his gospel to non-Jews. For them, Kingdom of Heaven would have meant someplace somewhere, and they would have missed the whole point of what Jesus was saying. Therefore, Luke, under inspiration of the spirit of God, interprets what Jesus actually meant, and thus recorded him as saying, "Kingdom of God."

Here again, we see harmony concerning this idea that heaven isn't some place way out beyond space, where God lives, far far away from us. No, never! He is as close as he can be, for he is heaven itself, dwelling in us. May he be praised forever! Amen!

Ron

ENEMIES-DOORWAYS TO GREATER THINGS

Remember the story of David and Goliath? Before David defeated Goliath David was a shepherd taking care of sheep. After this he was made king. Remember David and Saul? It was after Saul and other enemies came along and were defeated that he wrote a lot of the psalms we have come to enjoy, expressions of a man after God's own heart.

You can trace this same theme throughout the examples of scripture, and that theme seems to be:

Enemies are the doorway to greater things.

When enemies come, whether by people or circumstances, the natural reaction is to look at it as just an obstacle. However, the spiritual reaction is to see an enemy as a means to grow us into more wonderful revelation. That was the case with Job, with David, with Joseph, and the list goes on and on.

Yes, when enemies appear in our lives, and they will, rejoice, for God is moving you into a more awesome revelation of himself.

Ron

Saturday, December 13, 2008

WHAT IS HEAVEN? PART 2

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

Where did the Lord dwell with Israel originally? It was in the tent. This represented the Lord's fleshly body, but it also represents us as well. While it is true that he is omnipresent by means of his being spirit, the only place he is said to dwell and live today is in us! That is where his throne is, in our hearts, as the scripture says:

Act 7:49 ‘heaven is my throne,
and the earth a footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord;
‘or what is the place of my rest?


Truly we are the place God is building to rule in and through.

WHAT IS HEAVEN? PART 1

We have been taught that heaven is a place way out beyond outer space, a place where God lives. What is it is not a literal place at all, since God is everywhere, but rather a dimension that speaks of God himself? In other words, could it be that the reality of heaven is simply God, and us in him, rather than some place that is waay out there beyond outer space? In other words, for example, that famous verse which speaks of seeing "the sign of the Son of Man in heaven" might actually not be speaking about a location in the sky at all, but about his revelation in us.

Heaven=spiritual dimension and reality, where we are now hidden with Christ in God, who is ultimate reality, heaven himself.

Earth=physical shadow, where our bodies of flesh are now, a shadow seed casing that contains the reality of heaven within us.

This is a response from a sister named Rose that fits in nicely with this dimension called heaven:

Matt. 6:9-10 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”


Mat 6:19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
Mat 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
Mat 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What these verses are speaking to me is that Jesus is telling the Disciples, an henceforth us….to pray that the Kingdom of Heaven will be manifest here in us on earth. Then Jesus goes on to say that we are to pray for these things in secret and then we will be rewarded openly. We are to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, for where our treasure is there will be our heart.

Our hearts are within us so that is where our heavenly treasure is..….within us. That is where Gods will is done, and that is where God’s Kingdom on earth is….within us.


Rose

Sunday, December 7, 2008

WHAT IS WORSHIP? PART 3

Having seen that worship is, at it's core, a flattening of oneself to the ground in respect for another, whether human or God himself, let us now look at some commonly misunderstood scriptures concerning this subject.

The first I wish to consider is Matthew 4:9,10:

He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

Here it would appear to be saying whatever worship is, it is not to be given to anyone but God himself. I would have to both agree with that, as well as disagree. Ask yourself why was Satan seeking worship? How would the simple act of Jesus' flattening himself to Satan be so wrong? We have already established that this flattening was done both to God as well as humans, so we must look at the context of Jesus' quote to get the clue we need as to what he was thinking.

Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13, but I would like to quote the next 2 verses which give us the clue we need:

Deu 6:13-15 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you; for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

If you look up every instance where the Lord says to flatten yourself to him, he is not saying that people should not flatten themselves before others, otherwise we would have a major problem. In these instances, he is speaking so as to keep them from replacing him with false gods, idols. He doesn't just say worship him; he always adds that they are not to go after other gods, to flatten themselves to them.

The reasons for this are not only that the false gods are no gods at all, but also because to flatten yourself before the true God is to respect who he is, and this respect is only to be given to him, no one else. The key to understanding this is to consider the thinking involved behind the respect given. Anyone flattening themselves to a king is to respect them as a king. Abraham flattening himself to his father meant to respect him as his elder and father. In just these two examples, the king is not being thought of as God, nor is Abrahams father.

In the case of idols, false gods, that isn't the case. In those cases the idol is being thought of as their god. God is, in effect, being replaced by that idol. That is why in those cases it is wrong.

With this in mind, now we can answer the question as to how it would have been wrong for Jesus to flatten himself before Satan. What Satan was asking was for Jesus to, just for one moment, to put him in the place of God, by showing him that respect. Jesus rightly saw through that and quoted the scripture, showing that any act of flattening oneself to a false god is to do so to Satan, the false god behind every idol ever made. Such respect is to only be given to God, and God alone.

As a quick note, some may point out that the text also says that you are to serve God only as well. Just as with the word for worship, the word serve has many different expressions, from Adam and Eve "serving" the garden of Eden, to Abel "serving" the flocks, to humans serving other humans, etc. Once again, it has nothing to do with the act itself, but with the thinking behind the act. If it is done as a replacement for God, then it is sin. Otherwise, it is a normal human act.

You may be thinking about what an angel once said to John the apostle, which occurred twice, as noted here:

Rev 19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

Rev 22:8-9 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. He said to me, “See you don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Here again, the commonly held view is that the angel is saying it is wrong to worship him, and that only God is to be worshipped. But think for a moment...here you have an apostle who has served God faithfully all his life. Do we really think that he had a brain lapse in these 2 moments and decided that he wanted to worship this angel as God? I personally do not believe that. He certainly knew better, but that is what is commonly understood. I think it is also taken for granted that the angel was saying that John was doing something wrong. I do not believe this is the truth though, and here is why.

Here you have this messenger from God with John, and this messenger is showing John all these marvelous and awesome things. I believe that John simply was expressing his respect for this angel for what he was showing him. However, the angel knew that he was not the source of the revelation, but God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that this is why the angel said what he said to John. In other words, he was, in effect, telling John "John, get up. I am not the source here. It is with God the Father. His son Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, not me. I am a mere messenger, a mere servant just as you are. Show this respect to God, not me.

Understanding what worship truly is, we can see that John did not all of a sudden begin to commit the sin of idolatry by worshipping at this angels' feet. He was merely showing respect and honor to this angel, since, from John's perspective, the angel was the one showing him these things. His fault, if you will, was not in replacing God with an angel, but in expressing appreciation to an angel for things that were given by God.

Now, having seen that worship is indeed something far different than we have been taught, how should this affect us? Is this simply about the act of flattening oneself on the ground before someone, or is something more to be understood?

Indeed, there is something more, something much more, than at first meets the eye. You see, someone that you "worship" you "serve". For example, to worship the king also means you serve the king. Abraham's worship of his father also meant he served his father. And of course, to worship God is to serve him. Worship and service are linked together. At the heart of this is the idea of something that continues over time. While the act of worship can be a momentary thing, flattening down to someone, the principle behind it is a continuous mindset and daily expression of serving that one. Herein is where the Hebraic mindset is different from the Western mindset with regard to worship.

For our culture, worship is something religious you do at a certain place for a period of time that begins and ends. In the Hebraic mindset, EVERYTHING IS WORSHIP. This is so important to grasp....EVERYTHING WE DO IS WORSHIP!! There is no separation of secular and spiritual in God's eyes. Every act is spiritual. When you go to work, you are not doing something secular. You are worshipping God and serving him. When you eat, you are not doing some mundane thing. You are worshipping God and serving him. Every moment of one's life is considered worship and service, all spiritual, in the eyes of God. This is why it is written that, with regard to our work, it is "with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." Eph 6:7 And also, "Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him." Col 3:17

I hope that this has given fresh perspective to this often misused and abused word, a perspective that broadens our thinking with regard to everything we do, both mundane and important.

Ron

Saturday, December 6, 2008

JESUS COMING ON THE CLOUDS

This coming is also associated with what most of us have heard many times, the expression, "Jesus is coming on the clouds of heaven." That is most certainly true, he did say that he was coming on the clouds of heaven, But those are not literal fluffy clouds in the sky. Brothers and sisters, those clouds are you and me! Such a phenomenon started in the east in Jerusalem and spread to the far reaches of the west, just as lightning. Indeed, this is not secret thing, but is visible to everyone. This is no mere event, something in the future to look up in the sky for, but something that started in the first century at Pentecost, and continues today, and beyond, for he does not say, he will sit, nor does he say he will come, but rather that he is sitting, and coming. Here is the verse in question:

Mat 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.”

This denotes continuous action over time.

The cloud has always denoted the presence of God. This presence was always denoted as ONE cloud.

God consistently manifested Himself in ONE GLORY CLOUD. There was always just the ONE SINGLE CLOUD. One cloud over mount Sinai. One cloud resting upon the tabernacle in the wilderness. One cloud shining in the Most Holy Place. One cloud filling Solomon's temple. One cloud over the mount of Transfiguration. And finally, Christ ascended in ONE SINGLE CLOUD. Yet Jesus speaks of coming on [not a cloud] but the clouds [plural]. Why? This is significant.

Think on this truth-Are we not the temple of the Lord? Where did the glory of God dwell in the shekinah cloud? In the temple. Where was God resident? In that cloud in the temple. See the wonderful truth? We, being many, each with God's shekinah glory in us as his temple, are the clouds, wherein the Lord is present in, on, with, and among. This is indeed Jesus being revealed IN his saints

Ron

Friday, December 5, 2008

WHAT IS THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST?

Most of Christian history has been replete with believers waiting anxiously, thinking that theirs was the generation that the Lord would come again. The so-called "second coming of Christ" remains one of the most popular subjects in Christianity today. While I know that this is a very popular teaching, it is not biblical. Here is what I understand about this. Hopefully you will find life in it.

If he wanted to speak of his coming, he would have used the word “erkomai” instead. Now, Jesus did use that word, but I want to share what I believe to be Jesus' understanding in a mystery of what his presence consists of.
The word parousia is used twice in the New Testament when it does not apply to Jesus, but to the apostle Paul. These, and other, uses of the word establish its real meaning. Paul expresses others' appraisal of him, saying, "For, His letters, they say, are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence [parousia] is weak, and his speech is despised" (2Cor. 10:10).

And again, writing to the saints at Philippi, Paul says, "So then, my gift-cared-ones, even as you have always listened, not only in my presence [parousia], but now much more in my absence," (Phil. 2:12).

It can be seen that it would be incorrect to insert the word coming in these texts. In these passages it is the presence of a human being that is involved, so we understand what Paul means. Paul was not speaking about his coming, but his actual presence in their midst after having arrived. So all that we need to do is apply that same understanding of the word "parousia" as "presence" in order to realize what the scriptures mean which discuss the parousia of our Lord; that meaning being his actual presence, not His "coming."
Nowhere does parousia mean "coming" or "coming again." I was taught most of my life that the "second coming of Christ" is the hope of the Church. It is not His second coming that is the hope of the Church, but it is his presence which is the hope of the church. The parousia is life in the presence of God, and the increasing revelation given to us of that fact. The parousia is the presence of his glory. How his presence in glory is seen is a mystery that Paul revealed.

Christ is indeed coming, but not in the way most think. Yes, he comes bodily, for the appearance and presence of Christ is in his body. "Now you are the body of the Anointed-One." The parousia of Christ is in the body. Consider carefully what Paul here writes, for here is where he explains the manner of his presence in glory:

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven ... when He shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day" (2Th 1:7,10).

That is the presence, the coming of the Son of God in and through the Body of Christ. And He is coming, from glory to glory, from experience to experience, from inworking to inworking, until we know the power and glory of his presence in all the fullness of himself.
The parousia of Jesus, the presence of the son of God, is a past, present and future reality. His parousia is the ongoing, progressive unfolding of Himself. I encourage any who are looking for a future manifestation of the Lord to instead turn to each other, and to ourselves as believers, and watch as the revealing of his presence [parousia] is unfolded for all the world to plainly see in the lives of his body.

One more small point I would like to make. Paul wrote this to the Thessalonian believers:

May the Strong-Yoked-Shepherd of completeness himself set apart you completely. May your whole wind, breathing-throat, and body be preserved blameless in the presence of our Master Yahushuah the Anointed-One. (1Th 5:23)

Most translations read "May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The word translated "until" is the little preposition "en", which should be translated "in" as it is a preposition of direction into, or in.

There is a world of difference between being preserved blameless until the coming of the Lord, and being preserved blameless in the presenceof the Lord! Is it not by his abiding presence that we are able to be kept and preserved blameless, faultless, without blemish or spot? It is indeed in Christ that we are kept. This verse is not speaking of any second coming, but an everyday, every moment reality.

Ron

WHAT IS CIRCUMCISION?

Circumcision is often seen as just a thing that was for the Jews. That is true for physical circumcision, yet there is as with other physical shadows, a reality that lies behind it that it points to. We will see how circumcision is important for all who belong to our great Shepherd and thus why circumcision is something God performs on every believer.

In the Hebrew language each letter has a meaning. The Hebrew word translated circumcised has the following letters: hay, mem, vav, and lamed.

Hay=behold (man with arms pointing up)
Mem=chaos (waves of water)
Vav=that which holds together (the tent peg or nail)
Lamed=control (the shepherd's staff that controls the flock)

We can thus see that circumcision is the evidence of that which our shepherd uses to connect us to himself, apart from which we would be chaotic. Seen another way, it is that by which we who embody chaos connect to our shepherd, who controls us by his spirit.

The Hebrew word translated uncircumcised here is ayin, resh, lamed; arayl. The letters that define the root word say the

Ayin=eye (eye)
Lamed=controls (shepherds staff)
Resh=head (man's head)

If we are uncircumcised, our eyes control our head, which controls our bodies. In other words, we are living by sight, not by faith.

That is why circumcision was not done away with, but continues on today in each of us, a circumcision of the heart, the type of which bound Abraham to God, and which binds us to him today.

Monday, December 1, 2008

WHAT IS WORSHIP? PART 2

Let's take a look at the Hebrew word that is rendered as "worship." The most common one is "shachah." At its heart is the simple basic meaning of bringing one's face to the ground out of respect. It was commonly done with regard to anyone someone was wishing to show the utmost respect to and lifting the person up over them in stature, recognizing their greatness. This was represented by lowering the face all the way to the ground, where a persons feet are. Most commonly this was done toward God but as I mentioned, it was also commonly done toward people as well. Here are some examples of that:

Gen 23:7 Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

Gen 27:29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

Gen 42:6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.

Exo 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.

Exo 34:14 for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Notice how all the verses in Genesis (which are only a few of the many other instances of the word shachah) and the first one I listed in Exodus all translate the word as bow down. Notice that it was done to various people, including (in the case of Abraham) children.

Yet when we compare it with the verses that concern God, the translators decided to render it as "worship." I believe this is because of the change in understanding and the religious connection that was given to the word, which it originally did not have. At least not in the way it should be understood.

When we take it basic meaning, that of lowering the face, in recognition of someone we put before ourselves, we can see that this meaning remains consistent throughout all scripture, both with reference to man, as well as to God.

Knowing this also helps us see why God said that such bowing of the face was not to be done toward false gods. Quite simply, anyone doing that was putting that false god in the place of the true God, giving it the place that should be given to God himself. That is the reason God was so adamant about avoiding such things; not because bowing the face in respect was to only be done to God, for we see that it indeed was done to others, not just God. The difference was that the bowing down was done to recognize the person themselves in themselves, not as a replacement for the true God. Of course, to do such a thing with another human would be wrong.

This also helps us see why the 3 so-called "wise men" went to Jesus to "worship", or bow down before him. They themselves give the reason for doing so, when they ask "Where is this one, who is born king of the Jews?" They did not think of him as God, or even a god, but a king, and as such, worthy of bowing down to in respect for that position.

We will continue to look a bit more into some other verses that I think have been misunderstood about worship, and then wrap it up by sharing how this understanding indeed has greater meaning for us today than the limited "worship time at a worship service" so many are used to.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

WHAT IS WORSHIP? PART 1

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Worship?" It is usually thought of as some religious act done to a diety, often in a particular holy place. Some use it to describe the singing and or prayer time that takes place at church. Whatever definition you come up with, one constant theme would be something of a religious or spiritual nature.

However, as you may already have figured out from reading my other blog entries, I would like to share another view of what worship is that has been hidden in scripture, and is more all encompassing than we have been led to realize.

To start off, most would agree that worship in scripture was given to the true God, and also to false gods. But what is not so well known is that the same worship is also given to humans, and rightly so. You see, when you trace the usage of the Hebrew and Greek word for worship, you will find that it was something expressed to men as well as to God. While worship can have religious connotations to it, by its very nature it does not.

The reason that most are not aware of this is because the same word is rendered in two general ways: 1) As bowing down if done toward a human and, 2) as worship if done toward God. The reason this distinction is made is because the English word worship has acquired a meaning that has restricted it to something done of a spiritual or religious nature. What it originally meant helps us to understand why it was done before humans as well as God. It will also help us see why it is far more encompassing in our lives than we may think.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

BELIEVE IN JESUS? A WORK?

"This is the work of the Mighty-Yoked-One SO THAT you believe in Him whom He has sent." Joh 6:29

Let's compare this with verse 28:

'What shall we do, SO THAT we may work the works of the Mighty-Yoked-One?' Joh6:28

The underlined words "so that" in both verses are the same word in Greek, hina.

Most translations say "This is the work of God, THAT you believe in Him whom He has sent." It looks at first glance as if Jesus is giving a requirement that WE have to do in order to work the works of God. How subtle it is that that very popular interpretation takes believing out of the miraculous and puts it smack dab in the flesh of man.

The word for "that" in these 2 places means the same thing, "in order that" or "so that" as I have translated it here. It points somewhere. Where does it point? It points BACK to something. So it is a result of something, not a requirement to make something happen. See the difference? Let's look at the text.

Notice the difference between their question, and Jesus answer. Jesus wasn't giving them a requirement at all, not even consisting of one thing-believing. He totally took away any requirement by saying that working the works of God is entirely the work of God. See that? They are asking what THEY SHALL DO so they can do God's work. The "so that" in that verse points back to them, and their flesh.

Jesus doesn't tell them THEY can do anything. He points the "so that" in his statement back to God, and the miraculous! God's works being entirely of himself, not from us, produces the desired effect, it produces belief in Jesus. Wow, have we had this verse turned around! So believing is not some work we do in order to work God's works, belief is the response given from the miraculous work of God in the heart of those he is working in! What a difference the word THAT makes!

Friday, November 7, 2008

GOOD AND EVIL

Is evil really the opposite of good? Is evil something that is separate from good? If so, then how can it be true that "From [God] are all things", as the scripture says? Does that mean that evil is within God, part of his very nature? A simple piece of paper will serve, I hope, to illustrate what evil is, and how it can indeed come from God yet not be a part of his nature.

With paper in hand, the first thing we need to do is redefine what God means when he thinks of something as good or evil. The Hebrew people thought in terms of concrete things that you could taste, see, smell, touch, or hear. The Hebrew language used sense oriented words. However, words such as good and evil are abstract things; they are thought oriented words.

What is the concrete meaning of good and evil? To the Hebrew, and to God, something good was functional, and something evil was something dysfunctional. In other words, it either could be used as intended, or it could not.

Now, let us go back to that paper. If it is fresh in our hands, and ready to write on, we could say that the paper was good. In other words, it is functional, because it is intended to be written upon and we can do so. However, if we wanted to make that paper dysfunctional, what would we have to do? That's right. Simply crumple it up in a ball in your hands. Now you have a dysfunctional, or we could also say, evil, piece of paper.

This answers the questions at the beginning of this blog. The paper that is good and evil is the same paper. The paper started out good, and then it was made evil by crumpling. Thus, they are not opposites, but the same, just different forms of the same.

You see, when we think of evil in most cultures today, we tend to associate it with wickedness, with sin. Scripturally that cannot be true, for if it were, then you would have to say that God was wicked, and that God sinned. While evil can express itself in wickedness and sin, in and of itself, evil is merely the distortion of good. To crumple the paper is to distort it.

Remember I also asked how could anything evil come from God, since all things come from him? What comes from God is only good, nothing starts out evil from him. Yet, under his sovereign control, he can choose to "crumple" the good when it reaches us and thus it appears as an evil, as something dysfunctional, from God to us.

An example can be found in Job. We know that God wanted to test Job. That was something good that originated from his very being. Yet, in keeping with the paper illustration, God crumpled that good, using Satan to inflict evil on Job, and yet, Job rightly said that evil came from God himself. God also used his friends to further bring evil on Job in the form of accusations. Job was thus tested and God used it to reveal himself further to Job than he already knew. In the end, good was restored and revealed to Job.

Now, let me speak a bit on the purpose of the test, and how that relates to why God bothers to bring evil on man in those ways.

Why does a magician do magic? What does he want you, the audience, to think about him? Yes, he wants you to think something like, "Wow, he is so amazing! How did he do that?" He wants to direct attention to himself, to be in awe of him and what he can do. Of course, this is selfish.

However, consider that God, like that magician, takes that piece of paper, crumples it up, or maybe even cuts it up, so that it is totally dysfunctional, or evil. He is not going to leave it that way, of course, or that would not be a very good show. He turns around, waves his hand, and restores the paper to its original condition! It is now functional again. He has truly turned evil into good. Why? So that "every knee may bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." In this case, God's selfishness means our very life. For it is only when we acknowledge him and commune with him, giving him the praise that he is due, that we truly live and experience all that is good and functional.

Truly out of him, and through him, and back to him, are all things. Life is a cycle. That is how God works. All things out of him are good, some remain good, some he crumples into evil for his good purpose. When that purpose is completed, he restores it to good, and in that condition it returns back to him.

EITHER/OR, OR BOTH?

A man dies a tragic death. The next day the 2 papers in town report the accident. The first headline reads: "Man dies after being struck by a car." The second paper's headline however, reads: "Man dies after falling off a cliff."

At first glance, these seem contradictory. In our either/or, ridged mindset, we would choose to either believe one or the other headline, dismissing the other one; or, we might dismiss both as being untrue.

However, would it surprise you to know that both headlines were correct? You may have already figured out this was the direction I was heading and already managed to see how both can be true. Yet, in case you haven't, here is what happened:

The man was walking along the road that wound its way up a mountain. He was struck by a car coming around the corner and hurled from the cliff to the rocks below. The first paper reported what the witnesses on the cliff saw, which was the man getting hit by a car and dieing. The second paper reported what the witnesses on the ground below saw; a man hurled from a cliff and striking the rocks below and dieing. Yes, both were correct and factual. Yet both were coming from different vantage points.

For most of my life I lived with the either/or mentality when it came to spiritual things. If I read or heard something that didn't seem to fit what I already believed to be true, I would either dismiss it, or I would believe the new thing I read or heard, dismissing the former idea as untrue. The thought never occurred to me that perhaps both ideas could be true at the same time.

The more however, that I have been studying the Hebrew way of thinking, which includes knowing that there are truths that when viewed separately, appear to contradict one another, the more I am gradually seeing things in their fullness, instead of only in part. Here is one example:

I used to believe that we had a free will, that we make our own choices, and that God only offers the opportunity to me to choose him, or anything that is his will.

Then I came to believe that God, being totally sovereign over his creation, worked in the hearts of man to do whatever it is he wanted, even to the point of changing their will.

At first glance, both of these concepts appear at odds with each other, and in fact there are two major divisions based on their premises: Calvanism and Arminianism.

After considering both of them through a Hebraic mindset, I now understand them to be, not at odds, but perfectly in harmony with each other. Both concepts are true. (Please note that I am only speaking of the concepts as being both true, not all that is contained within those concepts.)

A couple of scriptures that bear this out are:

Pro 16:9 A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.

and even more clear:

Php 2:12,13 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

This is true also with so many other seemingly opposite ideas in scripture. It is a matter of vantage points. You see, from our vantage point on earth, we do make choices, we exercise our will. Yet, unseen to us, from God's vantage point in heaven, he is working in us, giving us the desire and directing our steps to act.

Yes, I know this is not speaking about those who are not believers, but they too are not exempt from God's intervention in their will. Remember that God hardened Pharaoh's heart when he was going to let Israel go before all 10 plagues were poured out? Also recall Balaam, who wanted to curse Israel, but he could not. Canaan was made afraid so that Israel could conquer them, even though they outnumbered them and were more mighty than they. Many more examples could be cited, but you hopefully get the point. Legitimate choices were made, but all under God's sovereign control.

I encourage you to learn to think not so much with an either/or mindset, but consider that more than one idea can be true. Doing so will open up a vista of understanding that would otherwise be missed.

VIOLATE YOUR FREE WILL?

Some would say that God would have to, if he is indeed going to bring everyone to a saving knowledge of Christ, going to have to do so without "violating their free will."

Perhaps this is too simple an illustration, but it helps me understand that it can be loving and good to bring a change to someone's will. That illustration is one everyone living is familiar with-the parent/child relationship.

Consider how we are to raise our children. Do we merely try to coax them gently into doing the right thing, or avoiding the wrong thing, but nothing more, because we are afraid of violating their will? Furthermore, what would most people call parents who do such things? The term negligent is a common one.

A loving parent will do all that is necessary to get the child to "willingly" do what is right and beneficial for them, and avoid doing what is wrong and harmful. Such a "violation" [I don't like to use that term, as it is a loaded one to elicit negative emotions] of their will, if done in love and care, is a very good and necessary thing, when needed.

Yet we as adults get emotional about preserving our will and so, in our minds, we end up with a view of God more like the negligent parent, coaxing, begging, pleading, but nothing more, so as not to violate our "almighty free will." As Jesus might have said, If we, though being evil, can at times get out the rod of correction and spank our child to break their will in love to keep them from danger, how much more so will our heavenly Father do so? I see how a loving parent deals with a child as a wonderful shadow of the reality of how our heavenly Father deals with his creation. I am one who believes that all will willingly acknowledge with joyful hearts that Jesus is indeed Lord to the glory of God the Father, and that he will lovingly and gladly do whatever it takes, even if it is to bring them through the fires of his presence while they hate him, tormenting them with his love until they finally come to their senses.

Monday, October 27, 2008

I PRAY THAT IN ALL THINGS YOU MAY PROSPER AND BE IN HEALTH...

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly, when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth. 3Jn 2-4

I remember in my charismatic days using that verse to somehow work up enough faith to have physical health. It is interesting though, that when you look at it in context, not only here, but in most of the other places in scripture where this word healthy is used, it speaks of things spiritual, not physical. Of realities, not things to work on or to hope they happen. The word healthy could mean physical health, but the context doesn't seem to bear that out. Consider this:

John speaks to these believers from the reality of knowing that in fact, they were prospering. He indicates this by saying "as your soul prospers." In other words, as you are indeed prospering. In what way? That prospering is described in the next verse, manifested by the fact that they walked in truth. This prosperity was spiritual in nature. And that reality brought great joy to him. This is a thing of faith which John saw with eyes of faith. I know in the past I was tripped up by the prayer from John about them prospering, thinking that perhaps that may or may not happen. But any prayer in agreement with what God has willed voids out any such thinking of "may not happen." It is more of joining our thoughts in agreement with his, our desires with his. Not to make it happen, but to agree that it is happening.

MORE ON THE TREE...

The gist of what I am trying to illustrate is that just as you can't touch a tree, or look at a tree, and feel or see growth, neither can you in a believer. And I'm not referring to whether the tree is alive or dead, but growth itself. The tree is in fact growing every second, but it is so slow you cannot discern it with the eye, or feel it with your touch. To our senses, it appears to just be totally still, no movement upward or outward at all. Yet, over time, you see evidence. Come back in a few months, a year, and over the years, and you do in fact see growth. Just not in the moment by moment experience of the tree.

That was the point I was trying to lead to with regard to us as believers. There are those who like to examine a person and if they can't see a person becoming more and more "holy", or "righteous", day to day, then they question whether that person is growing in the Lord or not.

We can trust that the tree is growing simply because it is in the ground, getting sun and water. Whether we can see it or not is not the issue. It is the same with us. Everything that is supposed to happen to us as believers is in fact happening to us because we are planted in Christ, supplied by the light of the Father and the nourishment of the spirit. We need not get bent out of shape trying to look for growth when in fact it is happening moment by moment right under our noses.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE...

Go outside and look at a tree. Any tree. Tell me brothers and sisters, is that tree growing? Can you see it? Hear it? Feel it?

You cannot tell it is growing. Not by looking at it with things physical. However, over time we see revealed what has been true all along. The tree is taller, and wider. Yes, in spite of how things appear, it is indeed growing.

Brothers and sisters, this is our Christian life. We are like that tree, planted by the streams of water, as the psalmist said, giving fruit in due season. Moment by moment, by looking at each other according to the flesh, we will see nothing that tells us we are growing. It is not something you can see moment by moment with the physical senses. But over time, that growth is revealed in our lives, just as it is in that tree.

Think on this,

Ron

Thursday, September 25, 2008

QUESTION ABOUT THE FEAR OF THE LORD

After posting my thoughts on the Fear of the Lord, Bob responds with these thoughts:

Good post Ron,

I would like to add a little.
The Fear of God is only the BEGINNING of Widsom. Not Wisdom itself.
That is why the Law leads us to Christ. An awareness the Fear (Awe) of the Lord will turn to the Love (Mercy) of the Lord when we begin to understand Grace.

I like your "parallels" of those lines idea, but take another look at it. It can also be seen as contrasting lines.

He had more to say, but this blog is only addressing this part I quoted from. Here is my answer, nice and concise as always... :)


Hello Bob,

Thanks for sharing your insights. I have considered whether the parallelism in Pro 9:10 could be considered as contrasting, but the Hebrew construction doesn't allow for that, since the two clauses are joined by an 'and', indicating they are speaking of similar things. "The fear of the Lord" is synonymous with "The knowledge of the Holy One," not set in contrast.

As for it being the 'beginning' of wisdom, as though it were merely a start that needed to be abandoned at some point, consider the following:

Chronologically, this proverb came from a source earlier than is recorded in Proverbs. The same basic proverb is recorded in Job, where Job said:

"The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to withdraw from evil is understanding."

Notice a couple differences. The first is that here, the fear of the Lord is not the 'beginning of wisdom', but 'is wisdom'. Now, I agree that the fear of the Lord is not wisdom itself. Neither is the knowledge of the Holy One understanding itself. We would understand it to mean "The fear of the Lord imparts wisdom, the knowledge of the Holy One imparts understanding." The second point is that 'the knowledge of the Holy One' is paralleled with 'to withdraw from evil.' This is where we get the following proverb from:

"By the fear of the Lord a man will withdraw from evil." Pro 16:6

So, the fear of the Lord, or the knowledge of the Holy One, or to turn away from evil...
leads to wisdom and understanding.

Why then did Solomon insert the word 'beginning' with regard to wisdom? That word could mean beginning as in starting point, but there is another meaning that might just be the one Solomon had in mind. Beginning can also mean 'chiefest, or best of.' So what if Solomon were saying that "The fear of the Lord imparts the best of wisdom?" Or, if he truly meant starting point, does it have to imply that we move on from it at some point to something else? I do not see that such an interpretation is necessary.

The main thing that got me to rethinking all of this with regard to the fear of the Lord is that the phrase itself tells us that it is something that the Lord himself possesses. Yet we do not think of it in that way in our western mindset. We think of the fear of the Lord as something we do toward him, and that it has nothing to do with any characteristic of his. Yet, if you go back over my partial list (there are several other similar phrases) you will see that in each case, the Lord (the object of the noun) POSSESSES the Word, Voice, Face, Name, Garden, Eyes, Angel, Way, Mount, and yes Fear. They are all his. They come from him.

As I pointed out in my first article, this fear of the Lord is not to be confused with fear in general, such as the fear which God has not given us, (2Ti 1:7) or the fear that love casts out. (1Jo 4:18)

This fear is that balancing attribute that God himself possesses wherein he is totally and perfectly aware of himself and all he is capable of. It is the closest thing to him being in awe of himself, for lack of a better term. He speaks of this several times where you read of him 'magnifying himself', 'making his name known,' etc. He knows this is necessary, even if from a fleshly mindset it sounds like pride and haughtiness. With God it can be no such thing. Only with us would it be to do such a thing.

This attribute of fear that God possesses is what he imparts to us by his spirit. That is how it flows from his 'gut' to us. And notice the striking parallel this scripture gives us with comparison to the others I have shared about the fear of the Lord:

and I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge...Ex 31:3.

This ties it all together. The spirit of God results in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. These are the same elements we saw in the proverbs, only there it was tied to the fear of the Lord. Here it is describing the 'vehicle', if you will, of the fear of the Lord. The "fear of the Lord" is his Spirit which flows out of him into us giving us wisdom, knowledge and understanding

Rather than believe that this Godly fear is something we only possess at the start, then abandon as we mature in love, I believe, because it is something God himself possesses, and Jesus possessed while on earth as a man who totally walked in perfect love that we too are given the fear of the Lord and walk in it all our lives. (Notice Isa 11:2, speaking of Christ: The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and ofthe fear of Yahweh)

Incidentally, in the Isaiah passage we see all the same elements of the spirit of Yahweh imparting wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and the fear of Yahweh.

You mentioned this as awe, and rightly so. I discussed that aspect, from our human side, in my first article. Just as God has total awe-wareness of himself, which means no one of his attributes is out of harmony with any other; they are all in perfect balance and executed perfectly-so to, his giving that attribute of himself to us is our awe-wareness of him, but also, of ourselves. We see ourselves for who we truly are in relation to him. Notice this idea given in the following scriptures:

"The fear of the Lord results in humility." Pro 22:4

"The fear of the Lord is discipline leading to wisdom,
and humility comes before honor."
Pro 15:33 GW

The fear of the Lord is paralleled with humility, possessing this fear from the Lord leads one to be humble.

We, who are the very body and possess the very life of Christ, are always aware of where we came from, and to whom we owe any privilege we are honored to possess. I know this is a very long answer, but your thought-provoking answer helped me do this. I hope this perhaps makes more sense of where I am coming from. I kind of see a similarity with what we are thinking, with the difference being in whether the fear of the Lord is only a starting point, or whether it continues. Would love to hear what anyone thinks of this.

Ron

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

SEED OF SCRIPTURE-CONCERNING ABEL, CAIN, SETH, AND ENOSH

Of course, these things are not set in stone, but merely ideas that come as we meditate on scripture. Here is what I want to run by you all:

Abel is a type of Christ while on earth
Both were shepherds. Abel, a physical one, Jesus, a spiritual one.
Abel died innocently at the hands of Cain, a type of Jesus dying innocently at the hands of Satan, and sin.

Seth is a type of the risen Christ
In Seth the seed was resurrected, the seed of the sons of God that Satan tried to snuff out by the killing of righteous Abel.
He also replaced that which Adam was, by becoming the firstfruits and firstborn of the new creation. He was truly the second Adam, the completer of the first.
Unlike Abel, Seth lived to have children, thus keeping the promised Seed alive.

Enosh is a type of the body of Christ
Enosh is the first one recorded to call on the name of the Lord. This speaks of recognition. That is what it reads literally in Hebrew. The body of Christ also has recognition (spiritual eyes opened) and calls on the name of the Lord, for salvation.
Thus it is fitting that chapter 4 ends with a calling on the name of the Lord. The seed form is complete.

I am aware of a couple of Targums and some rabbi's who see this calling on the name of the Lord as an apostasy, a negative calling, not positive. I just have not seen enough proof to come to that conclusion. In fact, virtually the same phrase is used in Zep 3:9, which everyone sees as a positive calling on the name of the Lord, with pure lips.

Ron

Monday, September 22, 2008

HOW JESUS RELATES TO GOD

Irenaeus, in his Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, had this to say concerning Jesus, and how he relates to God:

This then is the order of the rule of our faith, and the foundation of the building, and the stability of our conversation: God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God, the creator of all things: this is the first point of our faith. The second point is: The Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying and according to the method of the dispensation of the Father: through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times, to complete and gather up all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible, in order to abolish death and show forth life and produce a community of union between God and man.

The Word of God, which, by means of the Spirit of God, was born as Jesus, was not a person before Jesus came on the scene. The Word of God was just that, the word, or expression, that came out of the mouth of God the Father. This word was made manifest in various ways before Jesus was born. One such way was in the written and spoken prophecies that God gave the prophets. Other such ways were by his word being spoken through angels, such as at the giving of the law.

John 1:1 says In the beginning was the word, and the word was toward the Mighty One, and the word was as to its nature, divine.

What I understand this to mean is that in the beginning, before anything was created, there was God. God's word was toward him because when he sends it out it returns to him fulfilling what he desires by it. It is God's self-revelation. He possessed the word. It was his. The Greek word pros speaks of direction; in this case, the direction is toward God. God does not send out his word in vain, it always returns to him, revealing Himself in the process. This is expressed by Paul when he says "For out of him, and through him, and into him are all things."

It was when God spoke that his word came out of him and creation occurred. Because that word was toward God, it could also be said to be of divine origin, or expressive of the nature of God.

The same can be said of man's word. The word of man is with man in his mind and heart. It is not a separate person within or as a part of man, but is the expression of a man. That word is, as to its nature, what man is. This is why it is said to be the word of man.

So I could render John 1:1 this way if I were referring to how man's word relates to man:

In the beginning was the word, and the word was toward man, and the word was as to its nature, human.

Now please don't take this analogy too far. Our words do not have creative power like God's does. That isn't my point. I am merely pointing out that God's Word was not a separate person, existing alongside God, but was the very expression of God himself. So truly, all things could be said to have come into existence by means of the Word of God, because God spoke all things into existence.

One thing I feel the need to clarify, and that is my choice of the word divine with regard to the Word. I am not using the definition of "having the being or nature of God." As I mentioned, I do not believe that the Word spoken of here is a person. I use divine in the sense of relating to, or proceeding directly from God, thus having his characteristics. Another accurate paraphrase might be "and the word was what God is." For example, God is holy, his word is holy, God is good, his word is good, God is righteous, his word is righteous, and so on.

SOME THOUGHTS ON HEBREW 11:3

How true it is that our Father has chosen to take spiritual realities and, like a master artist, paint them in pictures in two ways:

1) the things he made-his creation.

2) In word pictures by means of scripture.

Also, regarding the things I was sharing on an earlier blog regarding the Word of God always pointing to Jesus the reality, this scripture as well shows us that very nicely. Here is how I have translated Heb 1:1-3:

Now faithfulness is conviction concerning those things that are hoped for, as if it were those things in action; and revelation of those things that are not seen. For by this, the elders obtained testimony. By faithfulness, we understand that the horizons have been framed out by the word of the Mighty One, with this result: What is seen has not been made out of things which are seen.

While the traditional understanding of this verse is that it is speaking of the universe being created, I would like to offer another understanding. The word translated "universe" or "worlds" is aionas. It is the plural form of the word that some translations more accurately translate as eon, or age. It speaks in picture form of something on the horizon, the details of which are not clearly seen, the length of which is unspecified. In this case, it is speaking of multiple periods of time, during which God completes some part or parts of his purpose. It has this consistent meaning in all 30 uses of it in the new testament.

I see Hebrews 11 showing the defining of faith, then in verse 3, the writer zooms out, showing the all encompassing periods of time during which God accomplishes his purposes by means of the Word of God, then he zooms back in to show the specifics of those things in time and space, starting with Abel.

God has a purpose, an intent with regard to the aionas, or horizonal periods of time. And how are these accomplished? This is plainly stated by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, where he writes:

according to the intention of the horizons which he made in Mashiyach Yahushuah our Master...Eph 3:11.

Yes, that intention is being carried out IN CHRIST JESUS. This ties in wonderfully with the scripture in Hebrews 11:3, for it is BY THE WORD OF GOD, Jesus Christ, that the periods of time-in which God works his plan out in time and space-are framed out. These pictures have been recorded in the written word so that “the ancient ones”, those living long ago, could have testimony given to them concerning those realities, realities which were not yet realized from our point of view.

Those events in scripture, as well as the various aspects of life we see in the world around us that are recorded there, all point to that ultimate purpose, wherein God unites himself with, by gathering all things together again to himself by means of, and in Christ, the Word of God.

Truly the Scriptures are God's picture book, so we can see all that Father has for us, whom he loves so preciously.

THE SEED OF SCRIPTURE

The sum, or seed, of all scripture, of all that God has done, is doing, and will do, is found in the first 4 chapters of Genesis. From chapter 5 to the end of scripture, we find that seed germinating. I'll let you think on that for a bit before I share more details as to why I have come to believe that.

Ron

LABOR TO ENTER REST?

Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest...

That is how most translations render Hebrews 4:11, in one form or another. As I have been recently working through my translating of that book, I came across something that I believe throws a whole different light on understanding this. The primary meaning of the word for "labor" is "to use speed, to be eager." How different that is from "labor" or "do your best or utmost".

Hence I have decided to translate the verse in this way:

Let us therefore hurry to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

I am considering other ideas that may better communicate the thought, but what I see is not that we are to try our best, or to make effort at all, per se, but to not delay. Rather, to hurry, be quick, and eager (this has to do with the mind, not actions) to enter that rest. And how do we enter it?

For we who have believed do enter into that rest...

It is through believing what God has said that we enter into, or experience, that rest. It is there, has always been from the moment God rested, and he has always left it open for us to experience it with him. Not from our laboring or struggling, but from simply taking him at his word. Israel was offered that rest, but because they did not believe it they missed out.

By the way, as a brief note, the same word is used in another misunderstood verse, 2Ti 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved by the Mighty One, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the word of truth.

Here again, people tend to think of effort here, doing our best, one way or another. But I have rendered it this way:

Hurry to present yourself approved by the Mighty One...

it speaks, not of effort, but rather of not wasting time, that which has to do with a mindset. In this case, the mindset is to see yourself as approved by God, and thus present yourself in God's presence in that way. This is way different than doing your best to make yourself approved by God by what you do.

The difference is between presenting yourself as who you already are by believing it, as opposed to trying to make yourself into what you should be, but aren't yet. I personally believe the first is God's thought, the second is man's.

Ron

Sunday, August 24, 2008

YOUR WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FEET, A LIGHT TO MY PATH

That scripture in Psalm 119:105 is one which speaks of God's law (that is the context of the whole Psalm) as a source of light for guidance. However, for those of us who are believers, to use the law in that way would be as beneficial as trying to use a flashlight in broad daylight. In other words, it would not be needed.

This world is darkness, but we however, are the light of the world. We live and walk in the light. The law, fulfilled in the person of Jesus himself, dwells within us.

I think that perfectly illustrates again our relation to the law. The law is beneficial for those who are in darkness with no source of light themselves. Not so for us.

A COUPLE OTHER OBSERVATIONS FROM THE 4 LIVING CREATURES

Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Kebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of the Mightiest One. In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Yehoyakiyn's captivity, the word of Yahuwah came expressly to Yechezqel the priest, the son of Buziy, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kebar; and the hand of Yahuwah was there on him.

I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with fire, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire. Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings. Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass. They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings thus: their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; each one went straight forward.

As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies. Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn't turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn when they went.

As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse,
like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above. Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the All-Sufficient One, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings.

There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood,
they let down their wings. Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the esteem of Yahuwah. Eze 1:1-28

I have been meditating more on this vision and the corresponding one in Revelation 4 and a couple of other things I see here concerning them I want to share, since it speaks of the reality of how we live our lives.

Some three times we are told that the they do not turn, but only go straight forward. This is possible because they have a face on each side of their head. In scripture, a straight path is often spoken of, particularly in the Hebrew scriptures. Included in that is the warning not to turn away to the left of right, or looking back from the path. Well, we who are in Christ only go forward, we are always on that straight path. We go only where the spirit goes. We are thus always in the will of God. ALWAYS!

Another point I want to share is that we always hear when our Master speaks. This is shown by the fact that the wings of creatures as they move about they make a noise like the sound of great waters, yet when He speaks they are seen to let down their wings. They pause to listen. It is just as Jesus once said, "My sheep hear my voice." We do not have to go around wondering if we somehow missed God because we are so busy. Trust me, he is more than capable of making sure we know when he speaks. We do not miss it. NEVER!

I know that much of the old testament seems like boring and dull information, but there are some wonderful and powerful realities given. In fact, I would say that the entirety of all that God has chosen to reveal is found in seed form in the first 4 chapters of Genesis, and the rest of scripture reveals that seed as it bears fruit down to today. But that is another subject.

Ron

MORE ON WHAT IS DESTROYED

Mat 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

Rev 14:19 The messenger thrust his sickle into the land, and gathered the grapes of the land, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of the Mighty One
Rev 14:20 The winepress was trampled outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.

1Co 5:5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Master Yahushua.

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. However he himself will be delivered, but as through fire.

While these are speaking of slightly different things, they do have a commonality:

The chaff is part of the wheat, but not the wheat itself. The wineskin is part of the grape, but not the grape itself. The work of man is part of the man, but not the man himself. The flesh is part of man, but not the man himself. These verses more clearly define to me exactly what it is that is burned up by fire.

God is after the wheat, the juice of the grape, the spirit, the person themselves. All of that for every man which is not of God is done away with, destroyed.

This has already been accomplished by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Now as we each live our lives, that which has been finished is being revealed in us.

Ron

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

HOW DOES THE LAW OF GOD RELATE TO US?

It is interesting that when Paul spoke as he did concerning the law he knew very well how he would be misunderstood so he felt the need to ask such questions as:

Do we then nullify the law through faithfulness? May it never be! No, we establish the law. (Rom 3:31)

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! (Rom 7:7)

Therefore the law indeed is esteemed, and the commandment esteemed, and righteous, and good. (Rom 7:12)

Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful. (Rom 7:13)

Is the law then against the promises of the Mighty One? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. (Gal 3:21)

And to make such balancing statement as these:

For I delight in the Mighty One's law after the inward man, (Rom 7:22)

I thank the Mighty One through Yahushua Mashiyach, our Master! So then with the mind, I myself serve the Mighty One's law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law. (Rom 7:25)

I love this assurance Paul gave here. We all know that our fleshly mindset can only serve sin. But who we truly our, our inward man born from above, doesn't try to, but we, in fact, do serve God's law, and not only that, but we "delight in the Mighty One's law after the inner man." Rom 7:22.

When scripture speaks about us not being under the law, and our being dead to it, it is speaking of it's curse, and of it being on the outside in written words, with us trying to keep it according to our fleshly efforts. The law of God is still very much a part of every believers life. In fact, it is our life, for the law is none other than Jesus Christ himself who dwells in us.

Keep in mind that when I speak of the law being our life, I do not mean the dead written letter, but the spirit, who is Christ.

This is why Paul can speak as he does about the law, serving it and delighting in it in his inner man, his mind. For he is delighting in and serving Jesus, who is the embodiment of that law. The laws of God are his expression, and he, for a time, had that expression written down for Israel to try to keep outwardly, and they of course failed miserably. For those who try to keep it outwardly it ends up producing death, because sin takes advantage of it and kills.

Now however, that law is somewhere much more intimate with us, where sin cannot dwell, cannot even sniff. It is in our very being, as the prophets foretold:

“This is the covenant that I will make with them:
‘After those days,’ Yahuwah says,
‘I will put my laws on their heart,
I will write them on their mind;’” (Heb 10:16)

This is another way of saying the Father would dwell with us by his spirit. The law (God, in the person of Jesus) is, for the believer, no longer outside of us, condemning us for not keeping it.

Please get this: It is within us, fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. I can never hate the law, for Jesus is the very fulfillment and embodiment of that law, and therefore it is no longer outside me, but part of my very person.