deuteronomy 6:20-25; teach

Read Deuteronomy 6:20-25 at Bible Gateway.

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’” Deu 6:20-25

In parsha bazneikhem, the parsha before this one, we saw the introduction of four verbs that YHVH reminds us of over and over and over again. They are, hear, pay heed, teach, and do. We saw that the first paragraph stumah in this parsha emphasized the hearing. The second paragraph in this parsha emphasized the paying careful heed. The third paragraph in this parsha emphasized the doing. This paragraph emphasizes the teaching.

We learn several things about God's way of teaching children through this parsha. First of all, if the parents are careful to do the commandments of the Lord, that doing will create a question within our children. The best teaching first creates questions, because when the children have the question, their heart is ready to receive the answer. There is a right time to teach - and that time is when the question about that thing has been created within the heart and mind.

Second, parents are responsible before God to create and maintain a relationship with their children, in which their children will be encouraged to come to their parents with their questions. Fathers cannot provoke their children to wrath (Eph 6:4), by ignoring them, being too busy with work or golf, being critical, impatient, or impossible to please, breaking promises, and things of that nature, that destroys the heart bond that God built in between parents and their children. If the heart bond is destroyed, the sons will not come to their fathers to ask them their questions, no matter how knowledgable their fathers are.

Third, there is a right answer for every question. The question, What does it mean that we keep these commandments, also has its right answer. Notice that the right answer is:

1) We were first delivered from slavery in the kingdom of Egypt;
2) We were delivered out of one kingdom in order to be delivered in to another kingdom;
3) In our new kingdom there are commandments to obey.

Deliverance from Egypt corresponds to deliverance from the kingdom of darkness, which is salvation. What commandments did Israel obey in order to be delivered from Egypt? Just one: apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to your doorposts. Thus we see that salvation in the Old Testament is exactly the same as salvation in the New Testament: it is achieved by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lamb.

Slavery in Egypt corresponds to slavery in the kingdom of darkness, which is slavery to sin. But we were not delivered from one kingdom in order to live in anarchy; we were brought out in order to be brought in (vs. 23, Col 1:13). When Jesus preached the gospel, He preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mar 1:14-15). Thus we do not become free from submission to a king upon salvation, but the kingdom in which we dwell changes: we are no longer living in the kingdom of darkness, but in the kingdom of God.

Dwelling in the land of Israel meant obeying the King whose land it was - who was YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth. Likewise dwelling in the kingdom of God means obeying the King whose Kingdom it is - YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth. We do not obey in order to be saved. But once we are saved, we do obey because all citizens of the kingdom of God obey the King of that Kingdom. Those who are outlaws (outside the Law) are outsiders and not citizens. They do not live as a citizen of that Kingdom, therefore the benefits of that Kingdom are not applied to them, and when they are discovered, they are shown the door (Mat 7:21-23).

This is what we are commanded in Torah to teach our children - that salvation by grace through faith with its new heart comes first (Eze 36:25-27), which means we are transferred out of Satan's kingdom and into God's kingdom, and in His kingdom he has given us commands to obey as King, for our good. We train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord - in His love, and in His discipline in walking in His ways, so that when they are old they will not depart from His ways (Pro 22:6), which is for their good always.

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:20-25 is to Teach to the next generation YHVH's commandments that we have now heard, paid heed to, and are doing.

hanukkah, a biblical feast?

I didn't used to think so, but I have been seeing some things about Hanukkah that lead me to believe otherwise. There are two holidays celebrated by the Jews, which are mentioned in Scripture, although not commanded by the Lord that Israel celebrates. They might be considered Hebrew versions of the American Independence Day: days of national deliverance and celebration. The first is Purim, the holiday commemorating the deliverance of the Jews of the Persian Empire, that the book of Esther records. The second is Hanukkah:

“Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.” Joh 10:22-23

The Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah. The events leading up to the celebration of the first Hanukkah are recorded in 1 & 2 Maccabees (and here is the history summarized in brief). These books are in the Apocrypha, but are unlike the other books of the Apocrypha, which are contradictory and contain purely fanciful or clearly identifiable content smacking of late editing. The Maccabees are more like Esther as they contain an important historical record, although merely the work of men and not inspired of the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus was in Jerusalem, at the Temple, during the Feast of Dedication, just as He was for Passover, or Weeks, or Tabernacles. Hanukkah commemorates a deliverance also, just as Purim does.

Now we have seen before how the menorah, the special candlestick of seven lights that was in the Temple, is a pictoral representation of the seven annual feast days of the Lord.

The Hanukkah candelabrum is like a menorah but with nine lights altogether instead of seven. It seems the representation of the Hanukkah candelabrum is also found prophetically in Scripture just as the menorah is:

“Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand [menorah] of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” ... Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” ... Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So he said, “These are the two anointed ones [lit., sons of new oil], who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” Zec 4:1-3, 11-14

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.” Rev 11:3-4

In other words, the two witnesses of Rev 11 are the two olive trees of Zec 4, which are also the same as two lampstands, Rev 11 reveals. Zechariah sees these two olive trees or two lampstands standing, one at each end of a menorah - meaning the menorah has nine lights instead of seven. Which is the Hanukkah menorah!

Now as I was meditating on this, I realized that the occasion of the first Hanukkah might be prophetic, as Antiochus Epiphanes forbade the worship of God and defiled the Temple, then when he was defeated the Temple was cleansed and purified. This purification and rededication is what Hanukkah celebrates. Shortly after the first Hanukkah, Messiah came the first time.

So, it seems that Epiphanes was a type of antichrist, for the things that Epiphanes did, the prophets indicate the antichrist will also do. Daniel first prophesies of the abomination of desolation that Epiphanes established before the coming of Messiah (Dan 11:31), then Jesus Himself indicated it would happen again before His return (Mat 24:15-27). If this is so, might the antichrist that precedes the second coming of Messiah, forbid the worship of God and defile the Temple?

But we have to ask ourselves, what Temple? For there is no Temple. But that is not entirely true. Jesus said that if the Temple that was in His day, the second Temple, was destroyed, He would erect it again in three days (Joh 2:19-21). Obviously He was not referring to a physical building, but the Temple of His Body. Now Paul tells us that those who are believers in Jesus Christ are His Body (Eph 5:30, Col 1:24), wherein the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Cor 3:16), and that we are being built into a spiritual house, being living stones, that Messiah Himself is building, being both the foundation stone and the architect (1 Pet 2:5). So it is the Body of Messiah who is being made into the third Temple of living stones.

I believe that it is in the third Temple of His Body that the antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation, and that he will need to be defeated, and the Temple of His Body will need to be purified and restored to the true worship of God.

Then I began to see that the defilement has already been occurring in the intervening years that we have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah. The fourth beast, who is Rome (Dan 7, in the form of the Roman Catholic Church, which lived on in power after the Fall of Rome), defiled the Temple of Living Stones, Messiah's Body, by forbidding the pure worship of God, as can be seen from its decrees against Sabbath and the feast days, and its long history of wars and inquisitions and murders perpetrated upon the saints who kept the testimony of Jesus and the commandments of God. Even in the detail, that Epiphanes sacrificed a pig on the altar of YHVH, and that for 1500 years, give or take, the Temple made with Living Stones has been consuming pig and defiling itself thereby.

But, if the first Hanukkah is prophetic, once the fourth beast is defeated, the Temple of Living Stones is purified again, and the pure worship of God restored to the Temple of Living Stones. And to signify this, Zechariah sees the witness of the two lampstands that is added to the menorah to make nine lights. These two are Christians (Ephraim or Israel) and Jews (Judah) together, not eating pig, and keeping the testimony of Jesus and the commandments of God, both lights shining as a pure witness. Then shortly after the Temple of Living Stones is purified, and the true worship of God in Spirit (Messiah) and in truth (Torah) restablished among Christians and Jews, the Messiah comes!!

mark 2

Read Mark 2 at Bible Gateway.

This chapter title might read, Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. In the healing of the paralytic, He was shown by the Spirit that the root of this particular man's paralysis was unforgiveness, possibly of the paralytic himself toward himself. By this Jesus reveals that not every illness or disease has a physical cause, but sometimes a spiritual root can work infirmity in the body. In order to heal the paralysis, Jesus first alleviated the root that was the cause of the paralysis in the first place. In perceiving this, several manifestations of the Spirit, that we learned about in Corinthians, were at work: discernment, and the word of knowledge and wisdom. Discernment, because it was revealed to Him that there was something more than just a simple physical ailment at work. Knowledge, because He was told by the Spirit, a fact, which He could not possibly know by His natural mind or senses, i.e., that it was unforgiveness was the root of the paralysis. And wisdom, to know that in order to heal the paralysis, the man needed the forgiveness of his sins.

He might not have started out intending to prove to His listeners who He was. But it was the natural outworking of His walk, in listening to the Spirit as He was presented with needs, and then going about meeting those needs. We have to remember that everyone was gathered to Him at that house, in order to hear Him teach from the Word (vs. 2).

But in the course of Jesus meeting needs by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a point of doctrine was raised by the Pharisees - isn't God the only One who can forgive someone their sins? Now the person who has been sinned against, can forgive the sin which was perpetrated against him. But that does not clear the sinner with respect to God, for every sin is ultimately a sin against God (Psa 51:4). So even if there is forgiveness from another, there also has to be forgiveness from God (Mat 5:23-24; the sacrifice was still needed at the altar even when there has been reconciliation among men). So the answer to the doctrinal question, is YES! Only God can forgive sins.

But so that all who were in the house would know, that the Son of Man had the authority of God on earth to forgive sins, which would require that He be the Son of God as well as the Son of Man, Jesus healed the paralytic. Mark continues to lay out the case methodically that Jesus was the Son of God, even though Jesus always referred to Himself as the Son of Man.

I have a feeling that everything that Mark recorded in this chapter, was chosen to reveal the Son of God in the Son of Man. We know that not all that Jesus did has been recorded, for the world could not contain the books, if everything that Jesus did had been recorded (Joh 21:25). Therefore what is recorded, was chosen for a reason. In this chapter, Mark shows Jesus as preacher, teacher, forgiver of sins; healer, of not only physical sickness (the paralytic), but spiritual sickness as well (the tax collector's friends called to repentance). He is bridegroom, and the Lord of the Sabbath.

I find it interesting, that Jesus, with all these titles as God come in the flesh, did not exalt Himself as God or even as the Son of God. He did not declare overtly to the Pharisees who questioned Him, “Oh, I assure you, I do have the power to forgive sins, because I am God!” He let His walking do His talking for Him. But when He referred to Himself, it was as the Son of Man. He was bringing the balance, for His works showed Him to be the Son of God, so with His words He showed Himself to be the Son of Man -- so that we would know that He was both God and Man in One person. It had to be clear that He was the Son of Man, because only the Son of Man could die on the cross as the substitute for man's sin.

But Jesus, who had the most reason to exult, was of all men the most humble (Mat 11:29). God is Love, and Love does not parade itself nor seek its own (1 Cor 13:4-5)! Mold me and make me, Lord, into the image of Your Son, for You are the Potter, and I am the clay! May I likewise walk in humility and love toward all I encounter this day!

hanukkah

For the full history of the Feast of Dedication and the events which led up to it, read 1 and 2 Maccabees, a valuable historical account contained in the Apocrypha.

Here is the history contained in Maccabees in brief:

After Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, his generals rose up after him and divided up the land, setting themselves up as kings. In the course of time, the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over Judea. Now some of the Jews had desired to live like the Greeks, even so much a Greek gymnasium had been built in Jerusalem, and surgeries were being performed in Jerusalem to remove the evidence of circumcision on the males, so that they could not be distinguished from the Greeks in the gymnasium and at the baths. Of course, this was akin to denying that YHVH was God, and so a sharp division arose in society between those who went after the world, and those who stayed true to the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in all that Moses commanded them.

Now Antiochus Epiphanes, when he entered Jerusalem by deceit and seized the Temple, establishing Greek tyranny over Jerusalem, he stripped the Temple of its gold and silver, forbade the worship of God, and moreover defiled the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar, and setting up an image to his gods, the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel the prophet.

Once the Greeks had taken Jerusalem, they sent envoys from the king to the cities and villages round about, requiring that the leading citizens of each town sacrifice a pig to the Greek gods, showing that they renounced YHVH. And out of fear, some of the towns did so. But when the envoy came to a certain town, in which the leading citizen was Mathaias, a Levite of the house of Aaron the high priest, he refused to offer sacrifice. Another man came forward in his place, to perform the sacrifice, but Mathaias slew him in righteous indignation, and the king's envoy also. Then Mathaias and his five sons ran for the hills, where many of the devout in Israel came to them, and over the course of many years, the family of the Maccabees (as Mathaias and his sons became known) and their army waged a guerrilla war on the Greeks, eventually defeating them and driving them from Judea all together.

When the Maccabees retook Jerusalem, and the Temple in order to purify it, it was discovered that there was only enough holy oil for burning the lights of the menorah to last for one day; but the Torah requires an eight day purification process for the making of the holy oil which kept the menorah lamps lit. Regardless, they lit the oil they had, and miraculously, it burned for eight full days while more oil was being prepared. When the Temple was purified, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, which they had been prevented from doing in its appointed time because of the Greeks, in the 9th month beginning on the 25th day. This celebration became known as the Feast of Dedication, because it was at that time that the Temple, having been purified from all the defilement wrought upon it by the Greeks, was rededicated to YHVH and His worship and service restored.

The Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah as it came to be known, was celebrated for eight days (as Tabernacles plus the 8th Day of Assembly which follows it, makes an eight day festival), and to commemorate the miracle of one day's supply of oil lasting for eight days, a special Hanukkah menorah with nine lights on it instead of the usual seven was lit, one candle per day until on the eighth day all nine candles were lit. The central candle was known as The Servant, and was the light from which all the other lights were lit, and was not counted as one of the eight lights. Here is a picture of a regular menorah, such as would have been in the Temple, and here is a Hanukkah menorah.

There is no right way to celebrate Hanukkah; but it begins on the 25th day of the 9th biblical month and runs for eight days. On the first day, the first candle of the Hanukkah menorah is lit; on the second day, the first and second candles are lit, and so on through the feast. On the feast days it is always good to remember why we celebrate them, and such was even commanded for fathers to teach their children in Torah (Exo 13:3-8, for example). Reading 1 and 2 Maccabees in portions each night for the eight nights of the feast is good. (There are 16 chapters in 1 Mac, and 15 in 2 Mac; so 2 chapters per night if only 1 Mac is read, or 4 chapters per night if both books are read.)

Also, feast dinners with family and friends are enjoyed each night of the feast, in which foods fried in oil are traditional. After the meal, usually the family visit, play games, and wine, singing, and dancing to all hours is usual. :) It is only recently that gift- giving, in an effort to compete with Christmas, has become a part of the celebration.

seven annual feast days bear witness

The seven annual feast days are holy days, which God has set apart from the rest of the days of the year, as feast days for Himself:

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.” Lev 23:1-2

“Feasts” in Hebrew, is moed, Strong's H4150, mem vav ayin dalet, which means, an appointed place or time of meeting. Now this word is interesting. Its first occurrence in Scripture is in the very first chapter of Genesis, during Creation Week:

“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons [moed], and for days and years;” Gen 1:14

In this passage it has the meaning of an appointed time. This is why the new moon is marked throughout the year, so that we will know which day of the month it is, for God marks the days of the month from one new moon to the next. And when the season of spring has arrived, the celebration of the annual feasts begins with Passover, on the 14th day of the first month, or 14 days after the new moon appeared when the barley is in its head.

Another common occurrence of moed in Scripture is found in Torah:

“Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting [moed]. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp.” Exo 33:7

In this passage and in others like is in which is the phrase, tabernacle of meeting or tent of meeting, moed has the meaning of an appointed place. So the moed, the feast days of the Lord, are those set apart or separated (the meaning of the word “holy”) days in which the Lord has made an appointment. To do what? Ah, that is the mystery that both history and Scripture unfolds!

Now it just so happens, that if we write out a table of the moed or feast days of the Lord, we find an interesting pattern revealed (the listing of the annual feast days are from Lev 23):

----- the spring feasts -----
1A Passover precedes
  1B week long feast of Unleavened Bread
    1C Firstfruits, when Jesus rose from the dead, the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20-23)
----- the central feast by itself -----
      --> X Weeks (Pentecost), on which the Torah and the Spirit was given (Exo 19-20, Act 2)
----- the fall feasts -----
    2C Trumpets, when will be the resurrection of those who are His at His coming (1 Cor 15:52, 1 The 4:16)
  2B week long feast of Tabernacles
2A 8th Day of Assembly follows

The cycle of annual feasts not only forms a chiastic structure, but if the table was rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees and the As, Bs, and Cs matched with drawn lines, you would have an exact representation of a menorah! The menorah is the seven branched candelabrum, which was to be kept lit continually in the Temple, in the Holy Place. Light in Scripture is often representative of truth, or witness! Jesus said that He is the Light of the World (Joh 8:12), and we are to be lights of the world, by shining forth like a city set on a hill, which can be seen from a distance (Mat 5:14)! How exactly do we shine forth? Our lives bear witness of something, and that witness is like a light!

So since the annual feast days are pictured by the menorah, we can conclude that each day shines a light, that bears witness to something. And we see that this is true.

The feast day of Passover, when we celebrate it, bears witness to the Passover Lamb, who was crucified on this day, and shed His blood for our sins, that the angel of death might pass over us.

The feast day of Unleavened Bread, when we celebrate it, bears witness to the Holy and Righteous God to whom we now belong. For now that we have been forgiven of sins, we cleanse our lives of sin, which yeast represents, and keep our lives free of sin.

The feast day of Firstfruits, when we celebrate it, bears witness to the resurrection from the dead of Jesus our Messiah, who was raised from the dead with new life on this day.

The feast day of Weeks, or Pentecost, when we celebrate it, bears witness that the Torah - God's Word - and the Spirit are one, and that we need the Spirit in order to walk in Torah, and that we need the Torah in order to walk in the Spirit! And that, by the Torah and the Spirit, we are to walk as we await the coming of Jesus our Bridegroom!

The feast day of Trumpets, when we celebrate it, proclaims prophetically that Jesus is returning again, and that we will likewise be raised from the dead as He was, at His coming!

The feast day of Tabernacles, when we celebrate it, proclaims prophetically that Jesus is returning as a Bridegroom for His Bride - who is us! - and that at His return, He will dwell with us and we with Him!

The feast day of the 8th Day of Assembly, when we celebrate it, proclaims prophetically that we will spend eternity with YHVH, beyond time and space!

parashah qets sheba shanah (after seven years), deuteronomy 15:1 - 16:17

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 142nd Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Evyon /Poor Man, Deu 15:1 - 16:17. Read Deu 15:1 - 16:17 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 15 and 16 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 15:1-6 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
Deu 15:7-11 ends with a stumah.
Deu 15:12-18 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division.
Deu 15:19-23 ends with a p'tuchah.
Deu 16:1-8 ends with a stumah.
Deu 16:9-12 ends with a p'tuchah.
Deu 16:13-17 ends with a stumah.

mark 1

Read Mark 1 at Bible Gateway.

I had heard that each of the gospel writers wrote their gospel in order to testify of Jesus, yes, and tell what they had been eyewitnesses of, but also to bring out a certain aspect of the Lord's identity. Matthew showed that Jesus was the Son of David, the promised Messiah. Mark showed that Jesus was the Son of God; and we can see that this is in fact one of the first things Mark says about Jesus in vs. 1. By the way, Luke showed that Jesus was the Son of Adam, the Son of Man, the Savior for all mankind, and not just Jews only. And John showed that Jesus was in fact YHVH come in the flesh; that He was fully man, and fully God, in one person.

Other details that Mark brings out to show that Jesus is the Son of God:

He will come baptizing with the Holy Spirit (vs. 8), something no mere king of Israel, even of David's line, ever did or claimed to do.

Immediately when Jesus was baptized, the voice from heaven declared, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (vs. 11).

Jesus came and preached the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of David (vs. 15).

He taught as one with authority (vs. 22), which their scribes did not do. Yes, because He is the Living Word!

He also, with authority, cast out demons, and they obeyed Him (vs. 27).

Even the demons testified that He was the Holy One of God (vs. 24).

Fevers and all manner of diseases were healed by His authority (vs. 29-34).

He also healed uncleanness (vs. 40-41). The leprosy spoken of here is not the same as the disease of leprosy that we normally think of, but an uncleanness discussed in Torah which kept people separated from the congregation of Israel (Lev 13). For God separates light from darkness (Gen 1:3-4), the holy from the common (Exo 20:8-11), and the clean from the unclean (Lev 10:8-10). He even had to separate Himself from Adam after Adam sinned, because sin does not dwell with God (Gen 3:22-24, Isa 59:2). But the Son of God came to HEAL the uncleanness and END the separation!

The Son of God upheld the Law of God. He rested on Sabbath and told the lepers to show themselves to the priests as the Law commanded (vs. 32, 44).

Now why is the witness of the four Gospel writers, as to the identity of Jesus, so important? What does it matter if someone thinks He was only a man, or only God, or only of David? I think it is important, because only One who was God, and man, and the Son of God, the Son of Adam, and the Son of David, could accomplish all that the prophets have prophesied about Messiah. Whatever aspect of His identity is denied, there is a corresponding heresy that either restricts salvation, restricts His glory and worship, or restricts His authority and power over His enemy Satan. The heresies diminish Him or diminish what He has accomplished for us on our behalf!

1 corinthians 16

Read 1 Corinthians 16 at Bible Gateway.

“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” 1 Cor 16:1-2

The instruction Paul gives for the collection for the saints, was for the saints in Jerusalem, who were in need from a famine that occurred in Judea:

“When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.” Act 19:21-22

“But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.” Rom 15:25-27

It is a principle which permeates throughout the Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, that those who provide spiritually, are to be provided for in turn materially (1 Cor 9:3-12, Gal 6:6, 1 Tim 5:17-18). Israel supported the Levites with tithes, and Paul established among the churches that it was right for the church to support its ministers.

It is from this passage in 1 Cor 16 that taking a weekly collection during the assembly of the believers developed. In Paul's instruction, the setting aside of the portion to be given was not done during the weekly Sabbath assembly. No believer in Paul's lifetime would have done so, because transactions in money were not conducted on the Sabbath day, when the believers met together. This is why Paul instructed them to set their portion aside on the first of the week (the word “day” is not in the Greek), which would have been the normal time for a Sabbath observant believer to settle his accounts from the previous week's business.

In fact, in Torah, the tithe was not figured weekly, but after the harvest, since incomes were generally based on profit received from the harvest. This is why much of the instruction on tithing in Torah is found side by side with instruction on the celebration of the harvest festivals.

Contrary to some modern teaching I have heard on tithing, it is perfectly alright to set aside a portion and save it up. Weekly giving to the church is a wonderful discipline to establish for those who need to increase their faithfulness in this area, but it is not commanded that something be put in the offering every week. What is encouraged every week, is that something is laid aside to be stored up, so a deposit to savings, however one's savings are established, qualifies. If one gives monthly or even annually, as long as it is a fair representation of how he has prospered, then that is well.

The tithes in Torah were dispersed to Levites, as ministers of the Lord. Then other tithes and offerings were set aside for those who were suffering a material lack due to not having a father in the household who was the natural provider: widows and orphans. Then strangers living among Israel who did not own land, if they suffered; or families who, even though their father was still among them, due to injury, illness, or other misfortune, he could not provide for his family as he would wish, were also recipients. Every city included a storehouse where the tithes of grain and food were kept, where those who were in need could come.

“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” Deu 14:28-29

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” Mal 3:8-10

That storehouse commanded in Torah, in Deu 14:28-29, is one storehouse of which Malachi speaks in this oft- quoted passage, but which is often overlooked! There is a double meaning in this passage. The first which would have been obvious to a Torah observant Hebrew of that century, is that the storehouse is where the tithes consisting of physical food and that which supplied for material needs were kept. The second that the Lord is revealing, is that the house of the Lord is also a storehouse that provides food, for man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). There is physical food, and spiritual food, and tithes and offerings were to supply both kinds of bread. The storehouse of physical food provided for the spiritual food of Israel, for if the Levites did not have to work to earn bread, then they could devote themselves to their duties and the Word.

It is just as Scriptural for the local ekklesia to be the storehouse of material provision for the needy of their community as it is for them to the storehouse of spiritual food in the Word of God. Does that not witness to the love and generosity of the Lord for the world, when the needy can receive better provision from the church than from the county- run food bank? In fact, the Scriptures teach us that meeting the material needs of the poor is a proper expression of our faith in God!

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Jam 2:14-17

I believe that a church who makes room and provision for an outreach ministry, or who supplies the needs of other outreach ministries and homeless ministries and the like in their community, have discovered the heart of Abraham, the father of our faith, who was blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others (Gen 12:1-3). Abraham and the other patriarchs did not grasp for themselves, but relinquished rights, were generous, and gave liberally. In this they mirrored God, for He is a generous Giver of undeserved gifts (Mat 5:44-45, Jam 1:5), and a Relinquisher of rights in order to be a blessing to those who do not deserve it (Phi 2:5-8)! This is why God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7) - He is looking upon a heart which is in the image of His own heart!

However, for those who are able to work, but who prefer to live idly and sponge off the generosity of others, Paul's instruction is:

“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” 2 The 3:10

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Tim 5:8

1 corinthians 15

Read 1 Corinthians 15 at Bible Gateway.

“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” 1 Cor 15:12-14

In this chapter, Paul addresses a heresy that had already risen in the Corinthian church: that Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead. The Greeks sought after all manner of philosophies, and many of them were wise according to man's wisdom, but not wise in truth. The heresy that the mortal or natural body is not resurrected seems to me to come from platonic philosophy. Plato believed and taught that the flesh was corrupt and that the only good in a person was in the soul. (The Scriptures teach man as a triune being, spirit, soul, and body; while Greek philosophy taught man as a dual being, soul and body only. Thus, according to Plato, the evil was in the body, while the good was in the soul, or the immaterial part of the person.)

While Plato made some accurate observations, the outworking of this philosophy without the guide of the truth revealed in Scripture caused it to careen off into error. Plato taught that anything to do with the flesh was likewise corrupt - thus a platonic relationship was the highest or best form of relationship between a man and his wife, not a marriage relationship. He also taught that every soul was intrinsically good and incorrupt, thus denying the separation of the spirit which occurred at the Fall between man and his Creator, resulting in eternal death, from which man needed to be redeemed.

Even some modern theologians are denying the resurrection of Jesus -- because a risen Savior with a real body, is a living Savior who is physically returning again to subdue His enemies under His feet -- and that is such a narrow view, judgmental and intolerant of other realities, to a liberal mind.

To see why the resurrection is so central to belief in YHVH, we have to understand the big picture the Scriptures paint. YHVH created man in His image, as His children, and placed them in a garden, in which were two trees: one of knowledge of good, and of evil, and one of life (Gen 2:9). The two trees are two choices. To choose life is to choose YHVH (or vice versa). To choose the knowledge of good and of evil is to choose YHVH's enemy, who was striving to exalt a throne above YHVH's throne (Isa 14:13).

Now it is still somewhat of a mystery to me, why knowledge of good and evil aligns with YHVH's enemy. But that it does, can be clearly seen from Scripture. Knowledge of good and evil, and death, and YHVH's enemy, are on one side; and life, and YHVH, are on the other side. Of course, man chose knowledge of good and evil and death over life, and YHVH's enemy over YHVH. All the rest of the Scriptures, from Gen 4 on, is about reversing the effects of this choice, and restoring life back to YHVH's children!

The first man, Adam, caused death to triumph over life. The second man, Jesus, caused life to triumph over death! This is why the resurrection of Jesus is pivotal to faith in YHVH - it restores us back to the tree of life from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! And while the garden in the beginning contained two trees, the garden at the end contains only one tree: the tree of life (Rev 22:1-2)!

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” 1 Cor 15:20-24

In this chapter, Paul reveals that the resurrection of Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrections to follow (vs. 20-22). The resurrection of Jesus happened to take place on the very day of the Feast of Firstfruits as well, and this was not by accident. The Lord's annual feast cycle is prophetic and reveals the Messiah. There are three harvest festivals included in the annual cycle (Lev 23):

1) Firstfruits - spring festival celebrating the barley harvest, the first crop to be harvested in the agricultural year (Lev 23:9-14);
2) Shavuot, Weeks, or Pentecost - spring festival celebrating the wheat harvest (Lev 23:15-22);
3) Tabernacles - fall festival celebrating the fruits harvest, the final crop to be harvested in the agricultural year (Lev 23:33-41).

We know that Jesus compares salvation, being restored to Father God in resurrection life, to a harvest (Joh 4:35, Rev 14:15). Jesus was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits, and likewise He is the firstfruits of the resurrection from the dead.

The Holy Spirit was given to the Church on the Feast of Pentecost (Act 2:1-4). That this event has to do with harvest and resurrection, or restoration to life from death, we can see by following the patterns established in Scripture. Here Paul reveals that the connection is that in Messiah all shall be made alive! We have not seen the final harvest or resurrection yet - but we have nonetheless been made alive in Him (Col 2:13), on the day that we were made a new creation by the indwelling of His Spirit (2 Cor 5:17)! It is a spiritual resurrection, a down payment, that will be consummated by a physical resurrection in which death, even the death of the physical body, will be swallowed up in victory (Eph 1:13-14)!

We can see, since the feast cycle is prophetic, that the Feast of Tabernacles correlates to His coming, when the final resurrection of His Body (us, who are the Body of Messiah) will take place. This final harvest will be great indeed. For those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ: they will be raised bodily from the dead, as He was. The graves all over the earth will open! For those who are still alive in the body at His coming: they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, from corruption to incorruption; from mortal to immortal (vs. 51-53)!

We might even project, that since the other resurrections took place on the exact day of the annual feast which corresponded to it, that His coming will be on the exact day of the annual feast which corresponds to it - i.e., Tabernacles or one of the fall feasts, which take place in September or October every year and which are only separated by three weeks of time from beginning to end!

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

1 corinthians 12-14, the gift of tongues

Read 1 Corinthians 12-14 at Bible Gateway.

We have seen that Paul in these chapters explained the prescribed path of the Spirit, in giving gifts, so that we may identify Him when He is working (and just as importantly, identify imposters when they are working). He has explained the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit and thus the fruit that is produced when they are exercised. He has explained their proper operation and use, privately and corporately. Now let's look at the individual gifts more closely.

The most misunderstood one is no doubt tongues, and it happens to be the one with the most instruction! None of the gifts of the Spirit are a New Testament phenomenon only. There is a tradition among the rabbis, that when Moses made the covenant with Israel on Mt. Sinai, and went up to receive the Torah on tablets of stone, that the Spirit came upon the 70 elders who were with him, and they each spoke in the tongues of the nations (Exo 24:9-11).

There were 70 primal nations that rebelled against YHVH at Babel (Gen 10-11:9), and restoring the 70 nations (and their descendants today) to the worship of YHVH, praising Him in their tongues, is part of God's plan that He is implementing through the Seed of the Woman (Gen 3:15, Rev 7:9-11).

What is even more amazing, is that the day Moses went up to Sinai, was 50 days following their deliverance through the Red Sea (the days of their journeying are recorded in Exodus). Their deliverance through the Red Sea was three days following Passover. Jesus was crucified on Passover, and rose from the dead three days later, on the Feast of Firstfruits! Paul teaches that Israel going through the Red Sea is a type of baptism (1 Cor 10:1-2), picturing those who would come to faith in Jesus Christ and dying, being buried, and rising with Him! Fifty days following the resurrection of Jesus was the Feast of Pentecost (fifty in Greek), or Weeks (in English). On this day the Holy Spirit was given to the ekklesia as they were gathered in the upper room, and they each spoke in the tongues of the nations, magnifying God (Act 2)!

So on the appointed time (moed in Hebrew, translated feast in English) of Passover, Israel was delivered by the blood of the Passover lamb, and on that same day years later, Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. On the appointed time of Firstfruits, Israel went through the Red Sea, and on that same day years later, Jesus was raised from the dead. On the appointed time of Pentecost or Weeks, Moses went up to Sinai to receive God's Word in Torah, and the 70 elders of Israel spoke in the tongues of the 70 nations as the Spirit descended on them. And on that same day, years later, the Spirit fell upon the believers, and they also spoke in the tongues of the nations. (A whole book could be written about the significance of the Torah and the Spirit given from God on the same day, starting with the fact that the Word (including Torah) and the Spirit are one! But I will stop for now at Eze 36:25-27.)

Back to tongues: it is clear from reading Acts and 1 Corinthians, that there are two aspects of the gift of tongues. One aspect is that it is a gift given to every one who believes upon the Lord Jesus, and a sign that they have received the infilling of the Holy Spirit upon their conversion (Mar 16:17, Act 2:4, 10:46, 19:6). Tongues speak to God (1 Cor 14:2), out of the spirit, through the agency of the Spirit, bypassing the human mind (1 Cor 14:9-11). As such it is a pure communication from us to God, through the Spirit making intercession for us when we do not know how or what to pray, untainted by the thoughts of the flesh or the lies of the enemy (Rom 8:26-27). Paul refers to this private or personal gift as praying with the Spirit, singing with the Spirit, blessing with the Spirit, and giving thanks with the Spirit (1 Cor 14:15-17).

The second aspect of this gift, the public aspect, is often confused, because some do not realize that the Scriptures reveal two separate manifestations of the Spirit, both of which are called tongues. Paul explained all these things to the churches when he was establishing them in person, and since he was writing his letters later on, addressing specific questions or concerns, he did not re-establish as doctrine from the beginning every thing that he had already imparted to them. This is why, when reading Paul's letters, we have to be careful to let the rest of Scripture also inform us on his meaning, so that we do not accidentally distort his meaning (2 Pet 3:14-16).

The private gift, which edifies the individual (1 Cor 14:4), is given to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (Mar 16:17). The public gift, which edifies the church when certain conditions are met, is given to some, not all (1 Cor 12:10, 30), its purpose being to profit all in the Body (1 Cor 12:7). The public gift is a declaration of "thus saith the Lord," just as prophecy is. However, since the public gift is spoken in a tongue, the only way it will profit all, is if someone who has the companion gift of interpretation of tongues, follows the declaration in tongues with the interpretation, or translation (1 Cor 14:5, 13). Then the church will be edified, when they understand what the Lord has said to them (1 Cor 14:6-12).

If someone, in a setting of public worship, receives a message in tongues, and there is no one there to interpret, then the proper way to exercise that gift, which reflects honor back to God, is to keep silent and not speak (1 Cor 14:27-28)! Some in the Church today speak their private gift of tongues in the setting of public worship, even though the commandment of the Lord is to refrain from doing so when there is no interpreter (1 Cor 14:27-28, 36-37), because it is a fleshly declaration to all, "The Spirit is operating in me and through me!"

Remember, however, that love is the heart of the things of the Spirit (as 1 Cor 13 is at the heart of the discourse on the things of the Spirit, 1 Cor 12-14); and love does not parade itself (1 Cor 13:4)! Thus the tongue spoken in public worship, out of a fleshly motivation to parade one's spirituality, is a tongue that profits nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3) - not the individual, nor the Body!

There is another mishandling of the gift of tongues, and that is to forbid its operation at all. There are entire denominations that forbid its operation! It is a commandment of the Lord to allow the gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of tongues, to operate (1 Cor 14:37-39)! Only, let their operation be in decency and in order, for the purpose of edifying the Body (1 Cor 14:26, 40).

parashah ben attah (you are the sons), deuteronomy 14:1-29

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 141st Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Ben Attah /You are the sons, Deu 14:1-29. Read Deu 14:1-29 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 14 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.

gifts of the Spirit, 1 corinthians 12-14

Read 1 Corinthians 12-14 at Bible Gateway.

The three chapters of 1 Cor 12, 13, and 14 are instruction to the church concerning that which is of the Spirit. The word “gifts” in 1 Cor 12:1 is not in the Greek. Much that is in these chapters deal with gifts of the Spirit, but that is only a portion of Paul's topic. The greater topic is that which is of the Spirit.

These three chapters form a chiastic structure, and seeing it outlined will help make the big picture topic more clear:

1A 1 Cor 12:1-3 - not being ignorant concerning that which is of the Spirit;
1B 1 Cor 12:4-31 - the manifestation of the Spirit: not for self- exaltation but edification of all; not for competition but cooperation;
--> X 1 Cor 13 - Love, the heart of that which is of the Spirit;
2B 1 Cor 14:1-35 - the operation of the Spirit: not in showboating but edification; not in dishonor but in order, decency, and peace;
2A 1 Cor 14:36-40 - not being ignorant concerning that which is of the Spirit.

Each section of this structure, analyzed individually and in detail, reveals mini- chiastic structures and much truth concerning those who are spiritual. A whole book could be written about these three chapters, there is so much revealed in them.

For example, idolatry leads to ignorance of spiritual things (1 Cor 12:1-2). Of course this would be true, because the greatest truth of the spiritual world is that YHVH is God, He alone is God, and beside Him there is no other. The person who denies this fact does even know the easiest, most basic fundamental of that which is spiritual - he is completely and wholly ignorant.

The deception is that those who are pursuing spiritual “realities” other than YHVH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are spiritual. Nothing could be further from the truth! Doesn't the world make much of the Dalai Lama, or earth worship, etc? Doesn't the world elevate those “paths” as enlightened? And yet, those who are spiritual recognize the commandments of YHVH (1 Cor 14:37)! The greatest of which, is that YHVH alone is God, and we who are created, are to love Him will all that we are (Mat 22:34-40)!

The second part of the deception of idolatry is that only those involved in another religion are practicing idolatry - that everyone in the Body is exempt and can gloss over these warnings and assume that they must be spiritual then. Nothing could be further from the truth! Even the antichrist is going to come out from among the Body (1 Joh 2:18-19)! Any number of things can be elevated in the heart above YHVH: the lusts of the flesh; the love of money; reputation or fame or power; talent; fear of man; seeking to be approved of in the eyes of ones peers or the world; children or family; the list could go on and on. There are many famous ministers who have remained faithful to the Lord, and some that we have all heard of, who allowed the love of other things to crowd out the love of YHVH in their hearts. And when they were found out, their hypocrisy was splashed all over the world news.

So do not be awed by the things that the world is awed by. Do not be deceived into thinking that just because someone is doing or saying something that looks spiritual, that they are spiritual. The Holy Spirit does not mix with unholy spirits, and the distinction between them is crystal clear - for those who are submitted to YHVH as God, and who recognize that as God, He has the right to speak commandment, and be obeyed!

Another aspect of the Spirit that comes out in these chapters, is the recurring theme of edification. God doesn't just show off His power because we want to see something amazing, like going to the circus. Or because we hope that if the word gets out that miracles are happening at such and such a church, crowds will come, which means more money in offerings.

Edification is the purpose of the manifestation and operation of the Spirit. “Edify” comes from the same root as “edifice”. An edifice is a building, a large or massive structure. The Greek word translated edify or edification, means to build up (as a building). The root of the word in Greek and Hebrew means “the inhabited home.” Thus, The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands (Pro 14:1). To edify means to establish, to make firm or stable, to cause to grow or multiply, to put in a favorable position.

Guess what? If an outpouring of the manifestation of the Spirit will cause the people in a church or the church itself to destabilize, because perhaps their maturity isn't such yet that fame and crowds will profit them, then that church will not have an outpouring of the Spirit, no matter how much time the prayer team spends praying for one. The Spirit will not do that which does not edify or profit the Body.

But, it is clear from Paul's letter, that the gifts of the Spirit have been given to edify the Body. The ekklesia is to earnestly desire them (1 Cor 14:1)! Pray for them, but then receive all the Spirit gives with joy and thanksgiving! The Spirit gives miraculous gifts - tongues, healings, and miracles - and also what the human mind tends to think of as more mundane gifts - leadership, teaching, exhortation, and helps (Rom 12:4-8) - to the Body! One problem has been, that some of the Church who excel in the traditional things of the Spirit (like teaching) reject the charismatic things of the Spirit (like tongues); likewise, some of the Church who excel in the charismatic de- emphasize the traditional. They are ALL of the Spirit! Let the Lord determine what gift, ministry, and activity of the Spirit is needful at each season, for He gives to each as HE wills (1 Cor 12:11), and let us not be disappointed if it is not one of the showy ones, nor puffed up if it is!

1 corinthians 14

Read 1 Corinthians 14 at Bible Gateway.

Back in 1 Cor 12, we saw that Paul was explaining the prescribed path followed by the Holy Spirit in the gathering of the believers. The ministry of the Spirit and the effects of the Spirit, of healing or miracles or deliverance or power, among the body, will be with diversity, but the same prescribed path will be followed, so that we can recognize the Spirit.

Then Paul seemed to change subjects in explaining the agape love that the Father has for us and that we ought to have for each other. It is not a change of subject, as we can see from the continuation of the topic of the things of the Spirit in this chapter! Love is another aspect of the prescribed path of the Spirit! All the gifts, ministries, and activities of the Spirit are an expression of love from the Father to us, and through us to others. The chapter on love helps us to identify the Spirit, and identify the false spirits. Someone may come in among you and speak charismatically or even do miracles, but if the fruit of that does not express the love of the Father, either to us or through us to others, then, Paul is saying, that teaching, those miracles were not by the influence of the Holy Spirit.

So we have learned that the prescribed path of the Spirit means:

1) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, will testify of Jesus and exalt Jesus as Lord (Joh 15:26, 1 Cor 12:3);
2) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, will never accurse Jesus (1 Cor 12:3);
3) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, will profit the body (1 Cor 12:7);
4) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, will express agape love to us, and through us (1 Cor 13);
5) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, works edification (1 Cor 14:3-4, 26);
6) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, is peace, order, decency, and honoring of others (1 Cor 14:33, 40);
7) the gifts, ministries, and activities of the Spirit are subject to the person through whom the Spirit is working, so that peace, order, decency, and honor may be maintained. The Spirit does not “possess” a person so that he loses the exercise of his free will (1 Cor 14:32).

And something that was not mentioned in these chapters, but is mentioned elsewhere and is important to remember:

8) the Spirit, and the effect of the Spirit, bears witness to the truth and agrees with the Word of God (Joh 16:13).

This is so important, because people today have this crazy idea that the Spirit and the Word are somehow opposed to each other. That if you desire the Spirit, then God's Word and obedience to His Word is somehow legalistic or religious. Or if you desire His Word, and obedience to the truth, then the Spirit with His gifts, ministries, and activities are to be distrusted. The Scriptures do not teach the Spirit opposed to the Word, or the Word opposed to the Spirit, but the Spirit AND the Word:

“The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.” Deu 5:4

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Eze 36:25-27

“Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”” Mat 22:29

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Joh 4:23-24

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Joh 16:13

And many many other places throughout both testaments. The Word (Torah included) is our plumb line, our compass. It lets us know if we are still on the straight path, so that in all our ministry and operation through the Spirit, we do not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. The Spirit, in turn, breathes life into the Word, so that we can not only understand its message aright, but walk out its instructions in our daily lives! Walking by the Spirit does not mean abandoning the Word of God and the instructions it contains - it means obeying those instructions by the power of the Spirit (and succeeding) rather than by the (will) power of the flesh (and failing)!

1 corinthians 13, the father's love

Read 1 Corinthians 13 at Bible Gateway.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor 13:4-7

The Greek word translated “love” here is Strong's G26, agape - a strictly biblical word which is not found in Greek outside the Scriptures. The Septuagint translators translated the Hebrew root Strong's H157, bha, ahab, to agape when translating the Scriptures from Hebrew to Greek several centuries before the advent of Jesus. The two letter root of ahab from the ancient Hebrew pictographs is bh, the hey bet - the man with his arms upraised as if in wonder or astonishment or worship; and the house or family. The mountain top meaning of the hey bet, then, is the sense of wonder, even astonishment, and appreciation the man feels when beholding his family. We do not choose which family we are born into. And even the man's wife, in those days, was not chosen by him, but was chosen for him by his father. So in the Hebraic way of thinking, the family - parents, siblings, wife, children, extended family and tribal clan - is a gift chosen for him and given to him by God. Thus the verbal form of the hey bet means to give. The concrete form means a gift. The abstract form means the love and protectiveness which is inspired in the heart for one's cherished gifts; i.e., one's family.

The addition of the aleph, the ox head (meaning strength, power, or leadership) onto the front of the hey bet root, then, intensifies, not only the emotion of love and protectiveness which is felt in the heart, but also the action one takes as a result of feeling that love. (Hebrew is a language based on verbs, not nouns. It is all about the doing.) Ahab is strong love.

Now ahab as a primitive root, has a double meaning. Ahab also contains the two letter root, ba, ab, aleph bet, which means father, the strong one of the family. The additional letter is the hey, the man with his arms upraised in wonder, astonishment, or worship, who is beholding that which has been revealed to him. While he beholds it, his breath quickens or deepens into sighing. In bha, ahab, the hey is in the center, or heart, of the father (ba, ab), meaning that love is the picture of the heart of the father breathing or sighing after his children. Another nuance is that love reveals the heart of the father.

That is what Paul means when he says, agape suffers long and is kind. Agape does not envy or parade itself. Because it is not weak love, like acquaintances might have for one another. It is strong love, like the strong love that beats in the heart of the father for his children. Familial love is the strongest of all the different kinds of love, and of familial love, parental love for a child is the strongest form of love of all. A parent will reject mother and father, husband or wife, for the sake of their child. (Love has to be very cold in the heart for a parent to prefer others over their children.) Parental love is the strongest love in the universe, and that is the kind of love which is painted by ahab, thus agape.

So the lesson is not only that this is the way we Christians ought to be loving others. The first lesson is, that this is the way the Heavenly Father loves us, His children! God is love (1 Joh 4:8) - YHVH is agape! YHVH suffers long and is kind (Exo 34:5-7); YHVH does not envy! YHVH does not parade Himself nor is He puffed up (Mat 11:28-30)! YHVH does not behave rudely or seek His own! YHVH is not provoked - this is why He is so slow to anger (Psa 135:8)! YHVH does not think evil of us - He is not the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10)! YHVH does not rejoice when we sin or when bad things happen to us, but He rejoices in truth, righteousness, and in our good! YHVH bears all things for the sake of His beloved, who is every person He has ever created! YHVH believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things for the sake of His beloved (Rom 5:6-11, Phi 2:5-8)!

Write that down on a 3x5 card and carry it with you for a month, dwelling on the truth about YHVH that 1 Cor 13:4-7 reveals - it will absolutely change your life forever!

1 corinthians 12

Read 1 Corinthians 12 at Bible Gateway.

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.” 1 Cor 12:4-6

This chapter opens with Paul not wanting the church to be ignorant of that which is of the Spirit. “Spirit” is in Greek, Strong's G4151, from the Hebrew root, Strong's H7307, ruach, jwr resh vav chet. The parent of this root is resh chet, from the ancient pictographs meaning the man outside the fence, or nomad. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon reveals that all of the words in this family, which have the resh chet as their root, have to do with following a prescribed path. A nomad, even though he dwells as a man outside, follows a prescribed path through the wilderness to care for his flocks, as well as through the seasons.

Other words related to this root are travel; path; the shovel used for winnowing (at the prescribed season of the year), caravan (which follows the same route from point a to point b); an allowance of food or a diet (what is prescribed for that person), millstone (the upper stone follows the same path along the lower stone), wind (which follows set patterns of currents) and the moon, which follows its prescribed path in its cycles and through its orbit.

The breath of a person also follows a prescribed path of inhaling then exhaling. The Spirit, then, is like the breath, or like the wind - you cannot see Him, where He comes from or where He goes (Joh 3:8), but you can see His effects, as He follows a prescribed path. That is what the Hebrew reveals to us that the Greek does not.

In explaining the things of the Spirit, in this chapter, Paul is describing to the Corinthian church, what the Spirit's prescribed path is. We do not need to be deceived by false spirits or lying spirits or demonic spirits - because the Holy Spirit follows a prescribed path that allows us to identify Him.

The Spirit, then gives gifts, ministries, and activities to the Church in order to profit the Body. Gifts is in Greek, charisma, which is from the root Strong's G5485, charis, meaning grace - that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness. The Hebrew root is Strong's H2580, chen, chet nun. The ancient pictographs are of the fence and the seed. Chen, then, is the fence that continues; i.e., when the nomads encamped in a place, the families set up their tents so that all the tents formed a circle - a continuous fence. The tribal clan lived and worked within the circle, within the continuous fence. It was home. It was the place of family, of beauty, freedom, and mercy.

Ministries, in Greek, is Strong's G1248, diakonia, or service - the work of those who execute the commands of another. The Greek is a combination of two words, meaning, raising dust by hastening. Isn't that beautiful? The servant is about his master's business, and is not slack about it either.

Activities, in Greek, is Strong's G1755, energema, or a thing wrought. An activity of the Spirit results in a tangible effect as the result of putting forth power. I think we have made some artificial boundaries by saying that a miracle of healing is a gift of the Spirit, while a pastor who preaches a message of encouragement is tendering a ministry of the Spirit. All the work of the Spirit is a gift - a charis, a chen, a thing of beauty, freedom, mercy, and grace, or that which produces beauty, freedom, mercy, and grace in God's people.

How the Spirit effects grace, then, differs: it can be by the expending of supernatural power, as when someone is miraculously healed. It can be by the gentle leading inside the heart which allows one to forgive another. It can be by the service of the person who derives joy from providing food to the congregation during the weekly assembly of the believers. But the same Spirit that leads a person to clean the church's bathrooms is the same Spirit that reveals truth to the prophet or teaching elder and inspires him to deliver that truth in a clear and compelling way to the congregation. The same Spirit that empowers a widow's prayers of intercession, which no one sees, is the same Spirit that empowers an evangelist to preach so that thousands are saved, which everyone sees.

And then there is the crazy notion that gifts of the Spirit have ceased operating in the church today. It is a rejection of a certain class of charisma - that which is supernatural or obviously wrought by an agency other than man. The ekklesia will need the grace (gifts), ministry, and activity of the Spirit operating among it at least until the Lord returns! But, we have all seen that which gave cause for concern and doubt among the “Spirit- filled.” The Spirit follows a prescribed path, even among His diversities of gifts, ministries, and activities. The Spirit might do something amazing that we have not seen before. But, He will always follow the prescribed path. He will always exalt Jesus and will never accurse Him. The outpouring of His charis, His chen, will always result in profit for the body (vs. 7). And Paul will continue explaining the prescribed path of the Spirit in the next chapters.