1 corinthians 6

Read 1 Corinthians 6 at Bible Gateway.

“Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” 1 Cor 6:7-8

Paul is here echoing Jesus' words:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Mat 5:38-42

This generosity of spirit was the way the patriarchs were. After Abraham was promised the Holy Land by God, his herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen quarreled over pasture. So Abraham, the elder, the family patriarch to whom honor should have been due, told Lot to choose his portion of land first. He did not grasp for his own rights, land, privilege, honor, or anything else. Lot chose the best portion of land to the human eye, the Jordan valley that was green and well watered everywhere like the Garden of Eden. He was looking out for number one (Gen 13:5-11).

Now right after Abraham did this:

“And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Gen 13:14-17

Abraham did not seek his own gain, but trusted in the Lord to fulfill His promise to him, and because he did, the Lord renewed His promise and added to it. Each time Abraham was tested in this way, on the matter of seeking to get his own rights, YHVH renewed His promise to Abraham, and added to it. Read through the book of Genesis and see for yourself.

When Abraham won great spoil by defeating the four kings, he refused to take even a sandal strap, but returned it all to the king of Sodom (Gen 14:21-23). When the Lord asked Isaac of Abraham, Abraham gave (Gen 22). When Isaac was digging wells in the land of the Philistines, every time he hit water, the Philistines took the wells from him. Rather than fight for his own rights, he moved and kept digging wells until he had some that they left him in peace over (Gen 26:18-22)

The hearts of the patriarchs were giving, not grasping. I believe they were this way, because they understood the nature of YHVH, that He who had pronounced the blessing over them was giving and not grasping. They had the heart attitude, that they could afford to be a blessing, because they had already been blessed by God. Now Abraham was generous with Lot before he had amassed his riches. He was generous with the king of Sodom when he was just beginning to prosper. So his giving heart did not rest on the fact that he already had plenty and to spare. He was that way from the beginning.

That is the way the Lord is with us - when we have His nature dwelling within, we seek the welfare of others first; we seek to give and not grasp!

Now we have the reminder of Jesus, and Paul, that God's people are this way. They do not seek their own, but they relinquish rights. They give, they do not take. But how many of us, beloved, live that way? That is the question. When Jesus had finished His discourse, in which His instruction to turn the other cheek was a part, He said:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Mat 7:24-27

Let us not be hearers only, but doers, for it is the doer who will have his house(hold) built upon the rock. Seeing from first hand experience that your household, your family, has fallen, because you have not been a doer of the sayings of Jesus (who is the Living Word; His sayings stretch from Gen 1:1 to Rev 22:21), is very painful. No one wants to go there, take it from others who have been there before you and can report back that it is horrific and to be avoided at all costs! Listen, God honors His Word. He will not abrogate this Word just because we are Christians. If we choose to build our house on rock, then it will withstand storms. If we choose to build our house on sand, it will fall, and great will be its fall. Become doers of the Word, all the Word, Torah included, not picking and choosing, and become imitators of our Father in heaven, who gives to all generously and without reproach!

blessing

to give: mountain top meaning
relinquishing rights, 1 corinthians 6

to give: mountain top meaning

The Hebrew word for to give is Strong's H5414 nathan, /tn, nun - taw - nun - to give, put, or set, according to the lexicons. So I wanted to understand the mountain top meaning of this word. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the nun is the seed, the son, the heir, and the means to continue the family line. The taw is the crossed sticks, the mark, the sign, the monument. The nun is again the seed.

God chose to use two seeds surrounding the sign, the mark, to mean to give. The first time the seed appears in Scripture, God has, on the third day of creation, hidden the seed in the ground, so that it will grow and produce fruit, which contains seed within itself also.

“Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.” Gen 1:11-13

That is the picture of giving. Giving is like planting seed. And there is the meaning of the Hebrew. Giving - the first nun - is like - the taw - planting seed, the final nun. What you give will grow and produce fruit - not just any fruit, but fruit of the same kind as the seed. When the fruit is produced, we take the seed within it, and plant it, or give it, again.

Everything we give is like a seed: love, forgiveness, time, understanding, kindness, money, wisdom, help - all that we have, when we give it, it will produce fruit of the same kind. Then we need to not make the mistake of eating the seed - we need to continue to give the seed within the fruit that is produced.

Likewise, if what we give is bitterness, rejection, hatred, unforgiveness, despair, stinginess, those are seeds, and they will bear fruit after their kind, and that is what we will receive in return.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luk 6:38

“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luk 6:43-45

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” (Psa 112:9) Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.” 2 Cor 9:6-11

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Gal 6:7-8

“Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phi 4:15-19

I have been meditating on why the central character, the heart of the word to give, is the taw, the sign or mark or monument. It is to show that the picture (taw, mark or sign) of how the seed works is the picture of how giving works. One thing stands for the other, like Jesus using parables of families, farming, and weddings, which were pictures (taw, mark or sign) of the kingdom of heaven.