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Hated Love

Unopened Gift

Love is the least understood and most hated word in the Bible in the Church today. It is at odds with the core of what most Christians believe. Understanding and embracing love will revolutionize a person’s relationship with our Messiah if it is allowed to do so. What I am about to present will be a hard teaching and likely cut deep because it deals with matters close to the heart; it did for me when God was dealing with this in my life and still does as He continues to do so.

If you’ve had any long-term exposure to DC Talk you probably know that love is a verb. The Hebrew word for love is ahav (אָהַב) meaning to ‘give’. The concrete is ‘gift’ and the abstract is ‘love’. Its feminine form is ahavah (אָהֲבָה) meaning ‘behold what is given’ or ‘receive’. Its concrete is also ‘gift’ and the abstract is ‘love’. To fully appreciate what this means you’ll want to understand the definition/ function of ‘male’ and ‘female’ (Gen 1:27) but we aren’t going to talk about that right now.

Ahav (אָהַב) pictographically means ‘provide to strengthen the family’. Ahavah (אָהֲבָה) pictographically means ‘behold what is provided to strengthen the family’. *1

The purpose of everything God, our Husband, gives us is to make us strong; not only spiritually but also physically. We, His bride, must receive it in order to be strengthened. As James says:

James 1:17
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
KJV

Everything God gives us is perfect serving to make us whole and it is eternal. Only the things that are from God are eternal and they are forever. What is this gift of love?

In order for love to be whole, complete or perfect, it needs a man and a woman. Remember when we talked about faith? The male’s responsibility is to establish a firm foundation, aman (אָמַן); the female’s responsibility is to trust in that firm foundation (אֶמוּנָה). What does it accomplish if God gives us a gift and we don’t receive it? Likewise how can we receive a gift if one hasn’t been given? The two must be one. He has only given His gift to His family (ב); that is revealed by the fundamental meaning of love. Only those in His family having a relationship with Him can receive that gift. We can’t receive the gift of salvation (be made whole) if we don’t receive the gift of grace. We can’t receive the gift of grace without the gift of the egg or faith for the Word of God to impregnate and produce life. All of these are a gift from God that must be received as part of the relationship we have with Him and they are eternal.

So what is love? What is the greatest commandment?

Deut 6:4-5 (Matt 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27)
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one:
5 And you will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
MKJV

Lev 19:18 (Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27)
18 You will not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you will love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
MKJV

What is the key word in these two commandments; is it not to love? Does not Jesus Himself say that all the other commandments and the entire Word of God is based on love?

Matt 22:40
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
KJV

You cannot separate love from the commandments of God and you can’t separate the commandments from love; the two are one. If we don’t see love in a commandment, we can’t even begin to understand what a commandment means or how to rightly apply it. The commandments of God are part of what makes up the Word of God which became flesh and dwelt among us; they are alive and they are eternal. Like humans they require flesh and spirit. The letter of the Law kills but it’s the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor 3:6). Without our spirit our flesh is dead. Without our flesh our spirit cannot manifest itself. Even so the Law of God without the Spirit of God is dead and the Spirit of God without the Law of God cannot manifest itself. The two must be one. I don’t think we grasp the gravity of what it means when God took Eve out of Adam, joined them back together and made them one. All of creation works this way. The entire Word of God works this way. When we separate what God has united we advocate divorce or chaos, emptiness and darkness (1st day) but more so we are telling God that we know better than Him and this in turn separates us from God because He is light and has separated the light from the darkness.

Job said, “In my flesh I see God.” (Job 19:26) Remember flesh, b’sar (בְּשָׂר) is the same word for ‘gospel’. The Word of God is literally written in our flesh; we call it DNA. But corruption has entered into our flesh perverting the Word of God changing our DNA. Our spirit wars with our flesh, or more properly the corruption in our flesh. To be like Jesus we must remove sin/ corruption from our flesh. The only way we can do that is by obeying the commandments of God united with the Spirit of God. As God told Cain, “Sin is at your door and its desire is for you but you must rule over it.” (Gen 4:7) When we obey the commandments of God the corruption in our flesh loses. Knowing this our flesh rages against us and we must crucify it. What does that look like? What does that feel like?

It is easy not do something we haven’t done. I’d venture to say most haven’t murdered somebody so it’s no problem to obey the commandment, “You will not murder”. Scientifically geneticists have found that murders all have a certain mark on their DNA. What did God do to Cain? God marked him. While I believe this was a visible physical mark, it is apparent that it also changed his DNA. What does it also say of Cain? That he was cursed. Was it God who cursed him? What does it say?

Gen 4:11
11 And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand;
MKJV

What part of our anatomy comes from the earth? Our flesh. The result of Cain submitting himself to sin naturally resulted in his flesh becoming cursed or corrupt. Curses are not a spiritual plight; they are physical. Curses are corruption in our flesh that has manifested itself unto death. It changes our DNA to the point where our body attacks itself. A mild form of this is called sickness and the extreme form is call caner. The does not always mean, however, that sickness and cancer are always a result of sin. Pay attention to the times when Jesus heals somebody and tells them, “Go and sin no more.”

When James tells us, “Desire gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown results in death,” (James 1:15) he is not talking about a spiritual death but a physical one. It starts out spiritually as a tiny seed called temptation that, if not removed grows into lust. When lust bears fruit it manifests itself physically as an action called sin and it destroys our body resulting in physical death if not removed. Yes, sin separates us from God but that is because when we sin we remove ourselves from His presence. This is really another topic so I won’t belabor the point.

Curses of the generations are a passing down of corrupt DNA to our children. The reason it says, “To the third and fourth generation,” has to do with if it is the DNA of the father or the DNA of the mother. Three represents the fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Four represents the mothers Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel. Everything in our life directly and physically affects our children. The only way these curses can be broken is if we break them. Yes, God can miraculously heal us from these curses but He has also given us the means by which we can free ourselves through the power of His Spirit and prevent further corruption; it is called obedience and it is called love.

What about things that are a part of us, in our life, in our flesh? When those things are confronted we have an entirely different feeling from the things which are a not a part of us because they have a foothold in our flesh. Our stomach will knot up, our heart rate will elevate, our whole demeanor changes to that of offence, “How dare you sir!” That is our flesh rebelling against the Word of God. It’s the conflict of our spirit with our flesh that tends to create the greatest emotion. When we are confronted by something that does not address corruption in our flesh, our demeanor tends to be that of humble reflection. This is how you discover what is in your life that you idolize above God. If you willingly and knowingly ignore it and continue to sin, you are searing your conscious and become comfortably numb.

I heard it said by a man of God that freedom isn’t the right to choose what you want to do but the opportunity to do what God has commanded you to do. Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is freedom. If we do not choose to obey the commandments of God united the Spirit of God we are not free but rather we are in bondage to sin. Sin the transgression of the commandments of God.

1 John 3:4
4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
MKJV

Fist John is all about love, the commandments and being in right relationship with our Creator. The first thing God said when He spoke to Israel from Sinai when He entered into a marriage covenant with them is, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt the house of slavery.” (Ex 20:2) He commands us to believe in Him; He is the one who has delivered us from the world and set us free from the bondage of sin. He then gives us His commandments to strengthen us so we do not return; this is love. If we don’t receive them and obey them then we are no different than the Children of Israel who rebelled in the wilderness enslaving ourselves once again to sin desiring to go back to Egypt and die.

Every time God says, “I am the LORD your God,” He is bringing us into remembrance of the first commandment and speaking about something that, if we don’t sh’ma (שָׁמַע), hear and do we will again be in bondage to sin conforming ourselves to the world and our former dead self (Rom 12:2). Remember, we are not to be fashioned according to our former lusts (1 Peter 1:14-16). This is how we do it. The reason Peter tells us the first step has to do with controlling what we eat is because food has the greatest influence on our flesh. It is the third most basic things we need to live. The original sin hinged on eating something Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat. If we can’t overcome our appetite for unclean flesh, we will never be able to overcome the other things in our life that we struggle with and we will never be holy (1 Peter 1:16, Lev 11:44).

During a Bible study I was invited to, a young man, Micah, brought that grizzly bear meat moves. That grossed everybody out. He described how, under a microscope, worms, bacteria and detestable organisms were busy playing around. How would you feel if an animal you maybe eat and maybe love did the same thing? Would it gross you out? Or would your mind race to find an excuse as to why it is different even though it is the same thing? You see, grizzly meat is not a part of our diet; it has no hold in our flesh so not eating it doesn’t bother us and we can see it for what it is. Pork, on the other hand, is a daily part of the American diet. It is just as putrid as grizzly meat yet I’d venture that even mentioning this will stir a lot of people’s emotions.

This is how sin works in our life. When confronted, we search for any and every excuse as to why it is okay. It really comes down to a matter of the heart. Will we obey God and do what He says and crucify our flesh, or will we continue to feed the corruption in our flesh making it stronger and elevating it about the Word of God and God Himself? I hope you understand what I am saying. This is all about overcoming sin so we can draw closer to God and be in right relationship with Him. It is hard but what is our heart’s desire? Are our riches preventing us from giving everything up and following our Savior? Be encouraged; our Husband loves us and has given us the tools we need, His commandments to make us strong and overcome the sin that separate us from Him. All we have to do is receive them and obey them, not hate them, and they will bring life to our body and health to our soul. This is love and there is nothing greater but God Himself.

Footnotes:

*1:
Alef (א) is an ‘ox’. It can also mean ‘leader, teacher’ and ‘strength’. It can represent God (אל) pictographically meaning ‘strong leader’. This is why Israel made a golden calf at Mt. Sinai; it seemed logical though contrary to the Word of God which He spoke which they heard in Ex 20. Its English equivalent is ‘Aa’.

Beth (ב) is a ‘house’ or ‘tent’. I can also mean ‘family, in(side)’ and ‘with’. Its English equivalent is ‘Bb’ and ‘Vv’.

Hay (ה) is a man looking at a great sight. It can mean ‘behold, provide, worship, astonishment, look, sigh, reveal’ and ‘breath’. Its English equivalent is ‘Hh’.

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A Measure of Faith

sprout
What is a measure of faith? Paul tells us that every person has been given a measure of faith.

Rom 12:3
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
MKJV

What is faith? Faith is an abstract English word that didn’t exist until the 1200’s. The Hebrew word for faith is emunah (אמונה) and aman (אמן). It is a verb that means ‘trust in a firm foundation of truth as a child trusts in a nursing father’. In Hebrew words have gender. Grammatically verbs take on the gender of the noun it is referring to. Aman (אמן) is the masculine form and emunah (אמונה) is the famine form. In English this word is translated into ‘trust, faith, faithful, believe, steady, establish, nurse and truth’.

Alef (א) is an ox and strength. It can also represent God (אל) pictographically meaning ‘strong leader’. This is why Israel made a golden calf at Mt. Sinai; it was logical though contrary to the Word of God which He spoke which they heard in Ex 20. Its English equivalent is Aa.

Mem (מ,ם) is a womb, water, chaos, and produce. One picture is of an open womb meaning ‘give birth’ and the other is a closed womb meaning ‘pregnant’. Its English equivalent is Mm.

Nun (נ,ן) is a seed, life, and continuance. Its English equivalent is Nn.

Vav (ו) is a tent stake, nail and secure. Its English equivalent is Vv, Ww, o, and oo.

Hay (ה) is a man looking at a great sight. It can mean behold, provide, worship, astonishment, and breath. Its English equivalent is Hh.

Aman (אמן) pictographically means ‘a strong womb produces life’. Emunah (אמונה) pictographically means ‘worshiping God produces a secure life’ or eternal life. The action is to ‘trust’, the concrete is ‘foundation’ and ‘nurse’, and the abstract is ‘believe’ and ‘truth’.

Faith requires actions. The apostle James, the brother of Jesus, writes a whole book about this. Faith without works is not faith; it is dead.

We are the bride of Messiah. How are we saved? By grace through faith; it is a gift from God. Paul tells us that God has given to every person a measure of faith; that is the gift. How does this work?

God embedded His word into His creation. When a man and a woman come together, how do they produce life? In modern English terms, they have sex. But what does the woman have that the man doesn’t have and what does the man have that the woman doesn’t have? The woman has an egg and a man has a seed. In order to produce life, the seed of the man must join itself with the egg of the woman. We, the Bride of Messiah, are given a measure of emunah (אמונח), faith, an egg. That should then beg the question, what is the seed?

Luke 8:11
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
KJV

The seed is the Word of God; it is from the beginning and it is eternal. The Hebrew word often used for sex in the Bible is ‘yada’ (ידע) and it means ‘to know by experience’. However, yada means much more than sex; it is a term of intimacy that requires relationship. In other words, without a relationship with God, His seed, His Word cannot join itself with your egg, your faith. When His Word joins itself with your faith it produces life but not just life, life eternal. And what does Jesus say eternal life is?

John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
KJV

Eternal life is an intimate relationship with our Creator, our Husband. How does that relationship begin? In horticulture, what is required to pollinate most plants? A bee. And how does a bee tell his fellow bees where the food is at? It does the bee waggle dance. Now you’ll probably find this pretty interesting; the Hebrew word for bee is ‘deborah’ (דבורה). It is a feminine noun form of dabar (דבר) which concretely means ‘word’ or ‘thing’ with the action being ‘to speak’ or ‘to put in order’. The Hebrew word for this bee waggle dance is ‘basar’ (בשר) meaning ‘report’. The concrete word for basar is ‘flesh’ like on your arm and the abstract is ‘gospel’ or ‘good news’.

Do we understand what this is telling us? A bee goes out and looks for a flower. When it finds one it goes back the hive and tells the other bees where it is. The other bees go out to collect pollen and in the process pollinate plants so they can produce life. In other words it requires the good news of the Word of God for the Word of God to come into contact with a person’s faith to produce life. As Isaiah says:

Isa 52:7
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that says unto Zion, Your God reigns!
MKJV

The Hebrew word for salvation here is ‘y’shua’ (ישועה) which is Jesus’s Hebrew name. Let me read it again with this in mind:

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes Jesus; that says unto Zion, Your God reigns!

Now that we understand how life is produced, what is the next step? I must grow! After the Word of God joins itself with our faith, how does our faith grow? What does Paul tell us?

Rom 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and obeying the word of God.
MKJV

The Hebrew word for hear is ‘shama’ (שמע) which is a verb meaning ‘hear and do’. The above should read . . . This is the concept that James is elaborating on in his letter because the Greek concept of ‘hear’ doesn’t include action. If a person does not obey the Word of God, they haven’t heard it. If a person doesn’t hear the Word of God, they can’t possibly obey it. This is what it means by, “Hearing they did not do and seeing they did not percieve,” and we are guilty of this very same thing today.

Turning our attention back to agriculture: if we have a tomato garden, what must we do to help it grow successfully?

  • weed it
  • water it
  • guide it
  • prune it

Even so we must weed temptation out of our life. If allowed to grow it will stunt our faith choking it out and at the very extreme kill it. Living water, God’s Spirit must be working in and flowing out of our life. Our faith must be guided by the Word of God or we will be all over the place and unable to stand when burdened. At times we need to remove the things in our life that at one time appeared born of faith but are not. They are typically things we’ve inherited; no plant starts out full grown.

After a plant grows, what is the next step? It must produce fruit. What is this fruit? Again, I will refer to James:

James 2:21-22
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Do you see how faith is accompanied by works, and by works was faith made perfect?
MKJV

If there is an area in our life that does not produce good works, it is not born of faith and needs to be removed. Is the process complete after a plant produces fruit? No; what good is it if it rots on the vine? It must be harvested and it must be consumed. This cannot be done by us; we can only produce the fruit. We cannot force-feed the Word of God to anybody. They must take hold of it themselves and eat it.

Like I said before: our life is our ministry. As Jesus says:

Matt 5:16
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
KJV

We are responsible to produce fruit. It is the responsibility of those around us to come up to us and pluck that fruit, inquire of us about the light that is inside of us and consume it. If they don’t, they are either not ready to receive the Word of God or they are not interested. Inquiry starts when you have their attention. When you have their attention, they have bitten into your fruit. After they have taken a bite, share the seed, the Word of God with them as the Spirit leads you.

This is still not the end or fulfillment of faith. Everything in life is cyclical. A plant goes through seasons of death, dormancy, and growth so it can produce fruit. There are times in our life when we may not feel as though we are producing fruit. Often it makes us wonder if we are out of relationship with God. But this is a season of death, dormancy and growth.

A couple more things I’d like to talk about if you’re still interested. Jesus said:

Matt 13:23
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
MKJV

What does this mean? Who is the father of our faith? Abraham. How old was Abraham when Isaac was born? One hundred. How old was Isaac when Jacob and Esau were born? Sixty. How old was Joseph when he stood before Pharaoh? Thirty.

What is the faith of Abraham? Abraham left Babylon and his family to follow God. He was a first-generation believer. To him were given the covenants and promises and he gave birth to a nation.

What is the faith of Isaac? Isaac was a second generation believer, the son of promise. He remained faithful to the faith of his father Abraham. In the womb of Rebecca good and evil were separated. Both were born into the same family and grew up together. The evil seed continues to cause grief for the seed of promise today. It isn’t until the harvest that the tares are removed. Isaac continued the building of a nation.

What is the faith of Joseph? He was sold into captivity, was stripped of his identity and was tempted with greatest temptation a man can have yet he remained faithful and remembered who he was. His faith saved a nation and by extension the world.

What this is also saying is that Isaac, at sixty, had the faith of Abraham at a hundred. Joseph, at thirty, had the faith of Isaac at sixty. The reason Jesus presents in this order in Matthew is because this is the order that His Bride will follow through time. The apostles and first-generation believers after Jesus’s resurrection gave birth to a nation. Throughout history the Bride has continued building that nation and struggles with the evil seed in the physical Body of Messiah. In the last days we, the Bride must have the faith of Joseph to stand before Pharaoh, a picture of the antimessiah. We will be tempted with the greatest temptation yet must remain faithful, remember who we are and save a nation.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “If you don’t understand natural things when I talk to you about them, how will you ever understand spiritual things?” We’ve only really talked about earthy things thus far. I’d like to summarize all this from a more spiritual perspective.

We all have a measure of faith. God’s Word must join itself to our faith through the Good News and be planted in our heart. Our heart is where our faith grows. We must nourish our faith with the Word of God by reading it, hearing it, studying it, thinking about it all the time, and obeying it. The Spirit of God must be active in our life to cause our faith to grow. We must also weed out the seeds of temptation that plant themselves in our heart. Temptation is all around us sowed by our adversary; the less we can expose ourselves to this temptation the better. We will go through seasons when our faith is dying, dormant, growing and producing fruit. Throughout our life we’ll need to prune the dead things of our faith removing things we’ve inherited and learned that are not faith. Our faith should never stop growing. The life that we have is eternal because both the Word of God and our faith come from God who is eternal. Faith is all about relationship with our Beloved.

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Faith, Hope and Love

FieldWhat is faith, hope and love? We live in a society today that generally thinks faith is what religious organization a person is part of; that hope is wishing something will happen to fulfill a personal desire; that love equates to sexual attraction. Most Christians don’t even have a concept of these three words hence why the Church isn’t much different than the world anymore. What does Paul tell us?

1 Cor 13:13
13 And now three remain: remain faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.
MKJV

In other words, at the end of the day when the dead are judged according to their deeds, the only deeds that will mean anything are those that are those that are done in faith, hope, and/ or love (Rev 20:11-13). Note: though our deeds are judged, the factor that determines where we spend the rest of our existence hinges on the relationship we have with our Creator.

Faith

What is faith, emunah (אמונה)? Faith is ‘trusting in a firm foundation of truth as a child trusts his nursing father’. What is truth? God’s word is truth. Who is the word of God? Jesus. Ultimately faith is trusting in the Messiah.

Faith is also fruit; it is substance and evidence (Heb 1:1, James 1 & 2). Where does faith come from?

Rom 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and obeying through the word of God.
MKJV

Paul gets this concept from Abraham and others who have faith like the writer of Hebrews describes in chapter 11. God told Abraham to leave his country and what did he do? He left and went to Canaan and built an altar.

God told Abraham that his seed would be as the stars of Abraham; he believed God and it was accredited to him for righteousness. The evidence of Abraham’s belief (faith) is that he made the preparations for and entered into an eternal covenant with the Creator that day.

God told Abraham to offer up his son as a test of his faith. Abraham offered his son trusting in the promise of God believing that should his son die that God would raise him up to fulfill his promise. On the cusp of Abraham about to kill his son, God stopped him and provided a ram or himself as the Passover sacrifice.

We can see that faith requires action and rightly so; Hebrew is an action-based language. Faith results in action, or more properly faith is the result of an action; Hebrew is also cyclical. It is the fruit of our belief. The process works the same as kernel of wheat. The seed, the Word of God, is planted in the field, our heart. We water it, weed it and nourish it; think about it, remove the things from our life that would choke it out and let the Spirit of God work to make it grow. When it is full grown it produces fruit or a head of grain which we harvest to feed ourselves and others. That head of grain is faith; some 100 fold, 60 fold or 30 fold: the faith of Abraham, Isaac or Joseph. With that we nourish our soul and the souls of others. We speak the word of God into their life, heal them, and cast out devils.

By extension, faith also comes from experience. Jesus said:

John 14:29
29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it does come to pass, you will believe.
MKJV

When we experience the Word of God in our life, it strengthens our faith. A child whose father makes promises but never fulfills them will grow up to not trust his father. However, a child whose father is true to his promises will grow up to trust his father. And what is the evidence that his father is true to his word? The child went on a camping trip or has a bike. Nobody can take that experience away from him no matter how knowledgeable they may be and intellectual their argument.

Even so it is with God. The world is full of knowledge. Heck that is the religion of the Serpent; knowledge is power. But no matter how knowledgeable they may be or how much they make you doubt, the experiences you’ve had with God will be there to reassure you that He is real and that His Word is true.

The more you’ve experienced the promises of God in your life, the stronger your faith will be. But you can’t experience those promises if you don’t have the faith of Abraham, Isaac or Joseph to begin with. The children of Israel experienced the promises of God when they were delivered form Egypt and were lead through the wilderness yet many constantly rebelled against God, why? God tells us in his first word/ commandment:

Ex 20:2
2 I am the LORD your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
MKJV

If a person doesn’t believe in God, trust in him as a child trusts his nursing father, it doesn’t matter how much they experience God; all they will hear is thunder.

Hope

What is hope, tiqvah (תקוה)? Hope is ‘the sign of the woman that makes her secure at the end of the day’. Concretely, this sign is a cord, string or rope. This is apparent from the first place hope appears in scripture.

Josh 2:17-21
17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear.
18 Behold, when we come into the land, you will bind this line (hope – tiqvah) of scarlet thread in the window which you let us down by: and you will bring your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household, home unto you.
19 And it will be, that whosoever will go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever will be with you in the house, his blood will be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
20 And if you utter this business of ours, then we will be released of oath of yours which you have made us to swear.
21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line (hope – tiqvah) in the window.
MKJV

Most of us know the story. Two Israeli spies were checking out Jericho. The guards caught wind of it and perused after them. They came upon Rahab and she hid them on the roof of her house. Then she helped them escape upon the condition that they would save her and her family. Rahab and her family were saved and she went on to become the grandmother of David and later of Jesus.

This is the story of our hope. God says:

Jer 29:10-11
10 For thus says the LORD, That after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and I will raise you up with my good word, to cause you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected (hope – tiqvah) end.
MKJV

Most people readily know the second verse but not its context. Seventy years is a generation. Jesus said that the last generation wouldn’t pass away until everything was accomplished. One of the things that will be accomplished is that Babylon will be utterly destroyed. Like Rahab, our hope is that we will not be destroyed with her in the day of God’s vengeance. The only way we will not be destroyed with her is if we come out of her. The reason we come out of her is because God is returning us to the land of Promise just as he swore to our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What is the sign that we have or are ready to come out of Babylon? (Read Ex 12 and 13 for context.)

Ex 13:15-16
15 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that opens the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.
16 And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
MKJV

Exodus 12 and 13 recounts the tenth plague on Egypt. We are commanded to retell and relive that even every year. The sign, oth (אות), the scarlet thread that is the evidence of our hope, that we are ready to leave Babylon is if we celebrate Passover every year. If we do not hang this thread from our window, if we do not paint our doorposts with blood, then our destruction and that of our family and loved ones will be upon our own head and we will be destroyed with the rest of Jericho.

So what is hope? Hope is living life expecting God to save us at the end of the day when Babylon is destroyed.

Love

What is love, ahavah (אהבה)? Love is ‘behold what is provided to make the house strong’. The action of this word is ‘give’. Concretely it is gift but when used in a negative way it is a burden.

Most people know what a white elephant gift is. What most people don’t know is where it originated from. Back in the day in Thailand, white elephants were considered gods. If the emperor wanted to lavishly reward a person, he would give him a white elephant and provide everything necessary to take care of that elephant. I.e. the guy won the lottery and was set for left. But if the emperor wanted to curse somebody, he would bestow upon them a white elephant and not provide what was needed to take care of it. Because that elephant was a god, that person was required to take care of it at all costs. If he didn’t and the elephant died before him, he would then be executed. This is an example of how a gift can be either a blessing or a burden.

Who does Paul tell us our provider is?

Phil 4:20
19 But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
MKJV

What is it he provides?

James 2:2
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
MKJV

What is this gift? Is it not God’s Word? Didn’t Jesus, who is the Word of God made flesh come from above? Didn’t the Torah, the instruction of God also come from above?

Why is it that love is the greatest of the three afore mentioned?

Matt 22:37-40
37 Jesus said unto him, You will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it, You will love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
MKJV

 Mark 12:29-31
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God is one Lord:
30 And you will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
MKJV

The greatest commandment is to love. Every commandment of God is to love. If we love God, we will obey his commandments; this is how we know we love God. Jesus tells his disciples in garden before he was crucified that if they love him, they will keep his commandments. When the rich man comes to Jesus and asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life or know God, Jesus admonishes him to obey the Torah. When the young man says he had done so since his childhood, Mark records that Jesus beheld him and loved him.

The commandments of God were provided to us so that we would know how to love God and our fellow believer. They were only given to his house though the physical application extends to all mankind. God revealed the secrets of life to his people long ago and science is just now beginning to understand them thirty-five hundred years later.

Synopses

So, what is faith? ‘Trusting in a firm foundation of truth as a child trusts in his nursing father.’ If a person’s faith is not in the Messiah, it is not true faith and he will not stand.

What is hope? ‘The sign of the woman that makes her secure at the end of the day.’ If a person’s hope is not in the Messiah, his hope is not eternal and it will fail.

What is love? ‘Behold what is provided to make the family strong.’ If a person does not love as admonished by the Messiah, he will be grievously burdened and made weak.

Notice that these three words are feminine nouns. In other words, they are attributes of the bride or Body of Messiah. They all require us to depend upon our husband, Jesus.

Faith – Will He be true to his promises, the covenant.

Hope- Will He deliver us from Babylon on the day of destruction, salvation.

Love – Will He provide for our needs, blessing.

At the end of day hope, faith, and love will be the difference between those who escape, survive and endure to the End and those who don’t.

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Days of Elijah – Part 1

What are the Days of Elijah? To understand this, we need to study the ministry of Elijah which we will do in Part 2. But first we’ll start with a prophesy about Elijah.

Mal 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
KJV

What does it mean “Turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers?” Does this mean kids will love their daddies more? No. Does this mean that kids will love their Daddy more? Not on the surface; it’s a reference back to the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who received the promises of God. How does scripture sum up their life?

Gen 26:5
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
KJV

Let’s back up a verse in Mal 4.

Mal 4:4
4 Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
(N)KJV

What else does this theme remind us of?

Deut 30:1-16
30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and you will call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And will return unto the LORD your God, and will obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
3 That then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the LORD your God has scattered you.
4 If any of you be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from there will the LORD your God gather you, and from there will he fetch you:
5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which you fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7 And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.
8 And you will return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
9 And the LORD your God will make you plenteous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers:
10 If you will hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
11 For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou should say, Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD thy God will bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
(N)KJV

These verses cover a lot. But what are the common threads in all scriptures we’ve gone over so far?

  • fathers
  • commandments, statues and laws (literally instruction – the reason Torah is interpreted as ‘law’ is because ‘nomos’ in Greek means ‘instruction’ but when translated from Greek to English means ‘law’)
  • blessings and curses
  • captivity (described in the context around the verses)

Let’s sew with some of these threads for a bit.

Abraham is the father of our faith. He is also a picture of the Father. Isaac is a picture of the Son. And Jacob is a picture of the Bride. (All this requires another article to explain.) With them the covenants were made and the promises given (Gen 15, 17, 22:15-18, 26:3-5, 28:11-15, 35:9-13, 46:2-5, 48:3-4). Turning our hearts towards them doesn’t simply mean we love them but desire to be like them and do what they do. Them turning their hearts toward us means they desire to instruct us in the ways of life so that we might live. That is where the commandments, statues and laws come in.

Most people resist the commandments, statues and laws of God because they don’t understand them. They don’t understand them because of what they have been taught about them. I want to spend some time putting these things into perspective. It’s taken me a long time to understand these things myself and change my perspective and ultimately my attitude towards them.

We have been taught that the Law of Moses was given for salvation in the Old Testament and that Jesus came bearing grace and put away the Law of Moses. This perspective comes from several sources.

  • During Jesus time and even now Judaism teaches salvation by works.
  • Paul dealt with and addressed these same people in his letters.
  • It is a doctrine held by the Catholic Church (spawned out of anti-Semitism) that has been passed down and permeates every denomination that I know of.

What is the problem with this teaching? It simply isn’t true. Jesus himself states:

Matt 5:17-19
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
KJV

Salvation has always been about relationship. This is what Jesus, Paul and the other writers of the New Testament often address. Remember, Abraham believed (faith in Hebrew) God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Gen15:6). Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD and was saved from the judgment that came to the world (Gen 6:8). Moses intercedes on Israel’s behalf appealing to God’s grace and God grants it because he “knew Moses” (relationship) (Ex 33:12-17). Salvation has always and always and always been and is about relationship.

So what is the purpose of the commandments? Love. The two greatest commandments upon which all the others are based are commandments to love.

Deut 6:5
5 And you will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
(N)KJV

Lev 19:18
18 You will not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you will love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.
(N)KJV

Matt 22:40
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
KJV

Jesus admonishes us:

John 14:15
15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
(N)KJV

John 15:8-17
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so will you be my disciples.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
(N)KJV

And they are about life (primarily physical) and blessings.

Deut 30:16
16 In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God will bless you in the land whither you go to possess it.
(N)KJV

Deut 32:45-47
45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which you will command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing you will prolong your days in the land, wherever you go over Jordan to possess it.
(N)KJV

Deut 28:1-13
28:1 And it will come to pass, if you will hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings will come on you, and overtake you, if you will hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God.
3 Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the field.
4 Blessed will be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your oxen, and the flocks of your sheep.
5 Blessed will be your basket and your store.
6 Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.
7 The LORD will cause your enemies that rise up against you to be smitten before your face: they will come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.
8 The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto; and he will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
9 The LORD will establish you a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you will keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they will be afraid of you.
11 And the LORD will make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you will lend unto many nations, and you will not borrow.
13 And the LORD will make you the head, and not the tail; and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if that you hearken unto the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them:
(N)KJV

If you would like to know more about the physics of the commandments of God, please read my article on “The Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness“.

They are also the purpose of life, what we are supposed to do.

Eccl 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and guard his commandments: for this is the purpose of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
(N)KJV

In Hebrew, purpose is ‘kol’ (כל) which is all, whole, everything, sum. Guard is ‘shomer’ (שמר) which is to keep, protect, guard with your every breath of life.

It is also said that the commandments are divided into moral, civil and ceremonial laws and only the moral and civil ones are to be obeyed. There is no such division in scripture. Morals, by its very definition, are agreed upon instructions of men, commandments are instructions of God. (I may explain this more later.)

Some say only the commandments that Jesus repeated in the New Testament need to be followed. I cannot comprehend how that makes any sense being Jesus is from the beginning with God as God who gave the commandments to begin with. If Jesus added to, took away from, changed, or did not obey any of the commandments in Torah, he would not have been sinless and could not have been the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World (Deut 12:32, John 1:29, Luke 23:13-15).

The reason God ends Malachi 4 with, “Lest I smite the earth with a curse” is because of the physical repercussions of not obeying the commandments of God which are the instructions for life.

In life, we have two perspectives, God’s and men. When things are done that men cannot comprehend or understand, they attribute it to God or a god and often spiritualize it (hence why people think that scientific understanding somehow disproves God). Everything is made up of frequency (energy). (I hope I don’t lose you here). God spoke (frequency) everything into existence. It is the Word of God that holds everything together. Debar (דבר) is Hebrew for both ‘word’ and ‘thing’ (try and wrap the two concepts together in your head). P’al, (פעל) is Hebrew for ‘energy’ and is the base pronunciation for Hebrew verbs.

Evil, ra (רע) means to take something that was created for a purpose and destroy it. For example, you are mixing up bread in a bowl. In the process, someone takes it from you and throws it on the ground smashing it into a million pieces. The bowl and dough can no longer be used for anything.

When people sin, they are taking the things that God created and doing likewise. They are breaking it, smashing it, destroying it and making it of no use. Hence why the world is falling apart and there are earthquakes and floods and volcanoes and sickness and disease. Hence why, in the last days, these things will be commonplace. Hence why Jesus, when he returns, must restore the earth. This is why there is a curse. And this is why Israel, we, ended up in captivity. And this is why Elijah must come first to turn our hearts back to the fathers (which is happening today). And this is why it isn’t until we repent and return back to the commandments of God that He will restore us and gather us from all the nations (Deut. 30).

Again, I want to emphasize, obeying the commandments of God has nothing to do with salvation.

The next part may be difficult to read.  Take your time.

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 8: What Defines Sin: Gospels

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

What Defines Sin

Deut 32:46-47
46 and he said to them: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe — all the words of this law.
47 For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”

Sin is the transgression of the commandments of God.

1 John 3:4
4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
KJV

There are generally four sources that are used to define sin:

  1. Torah or Law of Moses which is the first five books of the Bible
  2. Gospels
  3. Apostolic scriptures
  4. Doctrine
  5. We don’t really know but we think . . . and then make something up that sounds religious

Gospels

The gospels contain the words and life of Jesus yet you will not find any commandments in them that aren’t found in the Torah.  Why?

John 14:6-21
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Almost like a tongue twister for the mind.  Jesus wouldn’t have added or taken away anything from the Torah for several reasons:

  1. He is the Torah made flesh like we talked about earlier.
  2. The Torah says not to add to it or take away from it.  In other words, it is perfect.  If Jesus would have added or taken away from it, he would have been breaking Torah and thereby have sinned thus he wouldn’t have been without sin which carries a whole host of negative ramifications.  He was accused of this several times by the religious leaders and this is what he has to say:Matt 5:17-19
    17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
    18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
    19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    To fulfill is a Hebrew expression which means ‘rightly interpret’.  If scripture was incorrectly interpreted, it was called ‘destroying’.

  3. Physics don’t change.  Like we looked at earlier, the commandments in Torah are for physical reasons even if we aren’t able to understand them yet.  Jesus didn’t come to restore all things the first time he was here, he came to bring redemption.  When he comes again, it will be to bring reconciliation.  Some time after that there will be restoration and even then, physics won’t change; the corruption factor will be removed.
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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 6: Physics of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness: Physics of Repentance and Forgiveness

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

Physics of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness

Physics of Forgiveness

We are often told that the Law of Moses is divided into moral, civil and ceremonial commandments.  There is no such division.  It has only been within the last 100 years that science has begun to be able to explain the physics of things God has known all along.  To start, let’s look at a verse most of us are probably familiar with.

Gen 4:10
10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

God sounds like he is being poetic.  Remember the first dimension, that the word of God is literal?  This is no exception.  All of us use a computer.  Computers store information on a hard drive.  A hard drive is a metal disk where a frequencial code is written.  We are able to retrieve this code and translate it into something we can relate to with our senses.

Scientists have found that sound frequency is recorded on an atomic level.  The more dense the material, the better able it is to record sound.  Our blood is full of metals; it is the second densest tissue in our body after our bones.  They have been working on extracting and decoding these frequencies and last I heard, have been able to take someone’s blood and play back the sound from last ten minutes of that person’s life.

Now God, being the creator of all these things, all ready knows the code and knows how to play it back.  Do you realize the possibilities of unlocking this code?  This means that we could go to Mount Sinai, take a rock, and play back the spoken words of God when he declared the Ten Commandments.

Kippur – כפר

The Hebrew word kippur (כפר) pictographically means to ‘put a hand on the head and confess’.  It is commonly translated as atonement, pardon, purge, cleansed, forgiven and cover.  It is where we get the English word ‘cap’ from and why we wear it on our head or put it on the top of a container.  Whenever the sin and trespass offering was performed, part of the procedure was to place a hand on the head of the animal and confess the sin.

1 Tim 5:22
22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.

Our hands are transmitters and our head, where 20% of our blood is at any given moment, is a receiver.  When we place our hands on somebody and speak, a frequency is generated and transmitted.  When a priest or the person who sinned put his hand on the head of an animal and confessed his sin, that sin, or corruption, is literally transferred to that animal.  That animal is then killed and his blood, which receives the corruption, is emptied upon the earth.  The rest of the animal is consumed with fire (Lev 4:1-12).

The last state of entropy is heat.  When the animal is consumed, it is transformed into heat energy and dissipates into the atmosphere.  This is an aspect of nasa forgiveness in the form of ‘lifting up of smoke’.  Our sin is literally removed from us and consumed.  Though this word is not used when talking about the sin and trespass offering, it is implied by the action.  God takes no delight in the slaughtering of innocent animals; he desires mercy over sacrifices and obedience over repentance (Hos 6:6).  Yet he knows the physics of the universe and how what he created works.    This is why the earth will one day be consumed in fire.  All the corruption will one day be consumed and removed leaving behind a world free from corruption; Eden before sin.

The God we serve, the Creator of heaven, earth and all that is therein does not require, ask or even want people to engage in vain, meaningless, empty, mindless rituals.  Everything he asks us to do and not to do, every form of worship and praise, every act of love has a practical purpose, which leads me into my next point.

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 5: Physics of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness: Physics of Sin

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

Physics of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness

Most people think of sin as a spiritual condition.  They think that if there is no God, there is no sin.  If sin is a spiritual condition, it is relative and can be spiritualized away.  Sin, however, is most often a physical condition.  Sin is literally corruption that has entered the body.  We call it bad health, disease, old age and a host of other things but these conditions are not always the result of personal sin.  It can be something we do to ourselves, to other people or to nature.

Before sin, everything was perfect.  This concept of perfect, in Hebrew, is tov (טוב) which means complete in the sense of functioning properly.  Hence the reason why at the end of the day, God said it was good.  It was complete or prefect.  That is why at the end of the sixth day, he said it was very good or all complete.

In the garden, there was a tree of knowledge which produced fruit that contained the seeds of both good, tov (טוב), and evil, ra (רע).  Now, if tov means complete, take a guess at what ra means?  It means to ‘destroy’, ‘ruin’, or ‘break’ that which is complete or to make dysfunctional.  It is better known as corruption and scientifically as entropy which is part of the second Law of Thermodynamics.

Seth was created after the image of Adam (Gen 5:3).  What this tells us is that this seed that has the nature of both good and evil is passed down to all mankind.  This is why our flesh has to be reborn in the image of God; this corruption must be removed.  There is no such thing as inherently good or inherently evil.  Inherently, both natures exist in our body and are continually at war whether or not a person is a believer.  That is why some people tend to do good while others tend to do evil.  Either way, they are producing the fruit of the tree of knowledge.  The tree of knowledge, however, is not the tree of life hence why our works can’t save us or condemn us.

Physics of Sin

Now that we have covered this, let’s look at some examples.  We are commanded to eat fruit whose seed is within itself.

Gen 1:29
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

Hybrid fruit is quite common in our day.  It does not contain seeds or if it does, those seeds are basically sterile.  Studies show that hybrid plants have smaller pores in their and are unable to absorb vitamins and minerals properly.  This results in food that has little to no value.  In other words, it’s basically worthless.

We are commanded not to crossbreed our plants.

Lev 19:19
19 “. . . You shall not sow your field with mixed seed . . .”

In our day and age, it is hard to find food that isn’t crossbred.  Studies show that crossbred grains and fruits have their caveats though they offer initial positives such as disease and insect resistance, larger size, yield and color, etc.  Additionally, genetically modified organism (GMO) are becoming the staple form of food used to feed the world.  GMO goes way beyond simply crossbreeding.  Genes from bacteria and viruses are inserted into the DNA of seeds to mutate them and bring out desired qualities.  Scientists who produced these mutations warned of the health risks before their company’s product was introduced to the farming industry.  Now that these seeds are commonplace and preferred, further studies have been conducted and show reproductive disorders, immune system damage, accelerated aging, organ and digestive problems, and dysfunctional regulation of insulin and cholesterol related to GMO foods.  People who have switched to a non-GMO diet have often recovered from most of the health problems they were having related to GMO foods.

We are commanded not wear clothes made from both wool and linen.

Lev 19:19
19 “. . . Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you . . .”

Studies show that wool produces a frequency that is medically proven to treat asthma, high blood pressure, menopause complications, diabetes and a whole host of other conditions.  It is good for maintaining a constant body temperature and promotes circulation.  Linen produces a frequency that complements the human cellular structure.  This is why it is used in surgical settings.  It promotes healing, reduces pain, is anti-bacterial, protects against solar radiation and many more things.  When these two materials are combined, their frequencies cancel each other out hence no healing properties.   Some studies even suggest that, combined, they produce a destructive frequency which would degrade our health.

We are commanded to rest on the Sabbath.

Ex 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Most often we think of circadian rhythm as relating to our daily life and sleep.  Our body also has a weekly circadian rhythm that runs on a seven day cycle.  Medical studies suggest that there are both short and long term mental and physical consequences for not resting once every seven days.  The same thing has been found in animals.

We are commanded to only eat mammals that chew the cud and have a split hoof.

Lev 11:3
3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud — that you may eat.

There is an anatomical difference between these animals and other animals.  Animals that chew the cud and have split hoofs have three stomachs that purify their food.  It takes over 24 hours for them to digest their food.  During that time, poisons, toxins and other harmful substances are removed from the food while the vitamins and minerals are absorbed.  These animals also eat only herbs, fruits and vegetables.  Animals that don’t chew the cud and have a split hoof process their food in a shorter amount of time, usually much shorter.  Their digestive system also works differently absorbing poisons, toxins, parasites and other harmful substances.  These types of animals also tend to eat and re-eat anything and everything.  In short, they were created to clean the earth and/ or other purposes.

Every commandment has a practical and physical application.  The studies and research I presented were conducted by people and institutions that were not out to prove the Bible.  Most are probably not even aware of what the Bible says on their subject of research.  I could talk about circumcision, menstruation, what it means to be unclean, eating blood, incest, the circadian rhythm of plants and animals, blessing and cursing, sexual sins, mold, murder, reaping and gleaning, and so on, but I want to take time to talk about the physics of repentance and forgiveness.

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 4: Types of Forgiveness and their Definitions: Nasa

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

Types of Forgiveness and their Definitions

Nasa – נשא

You could say that this is what our space program is named after though most likely unintentionally.  Nasa literally means to ‘lift’ in a variety of applications.  It can be to carry or lift a burden, a cloud or lifting of smoke, lifting up of a person such as a leader, a lifting of a standard or flag wherein one can find refuge or safety.  The context of the verse determines whether it means forgive, guilty or other; it depends on who is bearing the burden.

This is where the concept of sin ‘weighing you down’ comes from.  When we do not repent, we bear or carry our sin.

Lev 5:17
17 And if a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear (נשא) his iniquity.

When we repent, someone else bears our sin hence our sin and the burden thereof is removed.  This type of forgiveness was done on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.

Lev 16:21-22
21 Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
22 The goat shall bear (נשא) upon itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

Ιn this way avon – iniquity sin and p’sha – rebellious sin are forgiven.  Note that even though this process removed sin, it did not pay the debt for these two types of sin.  This was done by the Messiah who came later.

John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away (αιρω, נשא) the sin of the world!

John was a priest after the lineage of Aaron.  Jesus, like the scapegoat, took our sin upon himself, was led into the wilderness, and died.  But unlike the scapegoat, he also paid our debt to sin because he is God and he said he would.

Ex 34:5-9
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving (נשא) iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
9 And he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon (סלח) our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
(Happened right after the golden calf.  Moses reminded God of this statement later in Numbers.)

Moses petitions God to forgive the sins of Israel.  This is very important.  It establishes that our debt to sin is and always has been paid by petition.  The purpose of the sin and trespass offerings is to physically remove that sin.  We will look at this a little more in depth in a moment.  First, lets tie this up as to why Jesus’ death both removed and paid the debt for our sin.

Matt 26:28
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission (סלח) of sins.

Jer 31:31-34
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah–
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive (סלח) their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

This is the covenant Jesus initiated.  We have yet to enter into verse 34 which will happen upon Jesus’ return.  Our debt will be paid and we will be set free not simply from sin, but from our sinful nature which is what the blood of animals doesn’t have the ability to do.  Also notice, p’sha sin is not mentioned in these verses meaning the (unrepented) rebellious will not be part of his eternal kingdom.

This word is typically translated as bear, lift up, forgive, laded and carry.

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 3: Types of Forgiveness and their Definitions: Salach

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

Types of Forgiveness and their Definitions

Salach – סלח

Pictographically, salach is to ‘take hold of the leader for protection’.  The simech (ס) is a thorn which is to ‘take hold’, the lamed (ל) is a shepherd’s staff whish is ‘leader’ and the chet (ח) is a wall which is ‘protection’.  When we take hold of God, we become his servants and are inside his wall of protection.  If we do not take hold of God, we are not his servants and outside his wall of protection where the workers of iniquity, murders, and idolaters are (Luke 13:27, Rev 22:15).

This can be seen in the parable of the man whose debt was forgiven but did not forgive another’s debt to him.

Matt 18:22-35
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

The literal meaning of this word is to ‘lift out of debt’.  Conceptually, it is as the parable portrays: a petitioning of the one in debt to the one he is in debt to or one greater for mercy.  If mercy is shown, deserved judgment is withheld.  If mercy is not shown, the debt must be paid or a just punishment rendered.

When we sin, we become in debt or servants to sin.  We cannot deliver ourselves from sin because we are not able to repay the debt.  Because sin, like the wicked servant, will not forgive us our debt, we must petition to one greater, God, who is able to and has delivered us from our debt to sin hence making us free.

Rom 6:20-23
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In regards to the sin and trespass offerings, only chatah – accidental sin is salach – forgiven (Lev 4:20, 26, 31, 35, 5:10, 13, 16, 18, 6:7).

This word is typically translated as forgive and pardon.

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Physics and Definition of Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness – Part 2: Repentance and its Definition

Sin is a broad subject with a lot to talk about.  I don’t want to talk about sin without talking about repentance.  I don’t want to talk about repentance without talking about forgiveness.  The few things I want to cover are:

If you do not understand something I’m saying, please ask.  The concept may be hard to grasp at first but it will change how you see yourself and your life when you do.

Repentance and its Definition

Shuv – שוב

The concept of repent is to ‘return to where you came from’.  I.e. you are turning away from where you are going back to where you were going.  The place you return to is the path of righteousness.  It’s like when you and a friend are going home for a party on New Years Eve in a snowstorm.  You can’t see the road, its dark and snowing to beat sixty.  Next thing you know, a sign pops in the middle of the road.  You scream, your friend screams and you realize you’re no longer on the road.  You veer to the left and are relieved that you didn’t get stuck in the ditch.  It takes a bit of breathing to calm your elevated heart rate but your still on your way home.

Pictographically, shuv is to ‘press towards home’.  Repentance isn’t simply a turning away from sin but a striving towards God.  In Hebrew thought, in order to build a house, a man must first take a wife.  Jesus is our home and his instruction the path that leads us there.  Following his directions will lead us to his house, but relationship is what invites us in.  That is why salvation and condemnation are not products of works; they are products of relationship or lack thereof.  This is why we have religious people who will be turned away at the judgment because ‘I never knew you’ (Matt 7:23).

Shuv is typically translated as return, restore, go back and a lot more similar terms in the OT and repent in the NT.