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Fruitful
The word fruit has the connotation of something that is produced, like how a tree produces fruit, and the fruit itself bears seed that leads to another tree, which in turn produces more fruit.
When Jesus healed the blind man at Bethsaida, upon receiving his sight the healed man initially declares "I see men as trees walking"[Mark 8:24], and in another place YAH declares of His saints "that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." [Isaiah 61:3] These and many other scriptures establish the principle of people being represented in scripture as trees.
Jesus came to own tree of own people expecting to find fruit of good works being produced, but was understandably angry because he found none, only trees full of leaves! [Matthew 21:9] The Jews for the most part were not doing the works of God that He delights and takes pleasure in. To confirm their failure, Jesus warned that "the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."[Matthew 3:10] alluding to the nation and those who fail to produce fruit being destroyed. Ironically, the Gentiles who weren’t supposed to know or do well, were the ones who were often bearing much fruit.
This echos YAH complaint about ancient Israel compared to the gentile nations who ‘sought me not’:
"I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face"[Isaiah 65:1-3]
The proud Pharisees would bid Jesus to come to their house, and then would proceed to disparage, disrespect and cast aspersions at his character, and sought carefully to find out something he said or did wrong so they could accuse him; in their attempt to restore their perceived social status, as it were, in the eyes of everyone[Luke 7:39]
In stark contrast there was a humble Centurion [Roman, gentile, non Jew, man of much violence] who personally came to Jesus requesting healing for his servant, and scripture reads like Jesus attempted to get up to go and heal his servant as was usually the case, but the centurion prevented him, because as a ranking military officer he understood how authority works, and showed respect for Jesus, asserting that Jesus did not need to bother himself to walk all the way to his house, on the dirty road in the hot middle eastern sun, but should rather simply just give orders and that would suffice; as a military commander would understand, and he'll be on his way, no worries.
Scripture mentioned that Jesus marveled at this, which also gave the sense of Jesus being pleased and refreshed to finally see faith, as all this time he was preaching to people who mostly didn’t believe in him, nor his words, nor even wanted to hear what he had to say.
The truth is that God is no respecter of persons, nor does He discriminates about who can and will be saved [Romans 2:11], and it was always hidden in His plan to save and include gentiles into His kingdom[Colossians 1:26-26], which provides context to the when "Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."[Acts 13:46]
We are encouraged by the words of our Lord and Teacher who counseled that "ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye 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." - John 15:16
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Hast thou considered my servant Job?
“And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” - Job 2:3
When YAHWEH said “have you considered” [Hb. הֲשַׂ֣מְתָּ (hă·śam·tā) לִבְּךָ֮ (lib·bə·ḵā) אֶל־ (’el-) ] He literally meant “to put the inner man towards” or “to set the heart toward” or to seriously internalize and contemplate the circumstances and message of Job.
The book of Job was written most likely around the 6th century BC, and no-one knows for certain who wrote it, as the writer is anonymous. The writing style analysis and word selection indicates that it is one of the oldest books of bible written; and seems to have been written by an Israelite, but from a foreigner point of view. The story is set outside Israel, in southern Edom or northern Arabia, and makes allusion to places as far apart as Mesopotamia and Egypt. The book of Job firmly belongs with Ecclesiastes and the Book of Proverbs in the genre of wisdom literature, sharing a perspective that they themselves call the "way of wisdom".
The wisdom literature books were intended to be read together and in the sequence Proverbs -> Ecclesiastes -> Job. Proverbs say there is order, and if you do this do that righteous thing and all will be well and if you don't do this and don’t do that righteous thing and there will be rebuke and evil consequences[Proverbs 11:20-21; 17:26]. Ecclesiastes on the other hand says there is chaos[Ecclesiastes 9:11] and that all is vain and a pointless frustration, and that death awaits both good and bad[Ecclesiastes 2:16]; that even when the right thing is done there is no guarantee of good; and if there is any good death still voids all things[Ecclesiastes 6:12; 2:19].
Job presents a case study that explores the teachings and principles advised by Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and uses the circumstances of a real person to explore a difficult topic of how much is the effect of and result of doing what is right, and what type of life can a righteous person possibly expect, and why do bad things sometimes happen to good and righteous people. The book catalogs the discussion that was initially between the elderly man Job and his three friends and peers: Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, and later YAH joins the conversation at the request of Job who had pleaded for an audience with the Almighty [Job 31:35]. Later the young man Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram added some comments that turned out to be the righteous perspective.
The conclusion in the end is that the universe is vast and complex[Job 38], and there are both massive and important[Job 41], as well as tiny and almost insignificant things in it; and that Yah is in control of all of it, and there are subtleties and factors that are beyond our comprehension things that we would not be able to understand even if we were told[Job 5:9]; but we must trust in God nonetheless as He will make it all work out in the end[Job 42:11], considering and being encouraged by the apostle’s words: “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” [James 5:11] Job explores these topics and gives insights and perspectives into difficult concepts and teaches important and key principles. These include:
Job thought he was righteous and therefore was beyond rebuke, so God must be unrighteous (less righteous)[Job 40:8], and clearly mistaken when He rebuked him[Job 27:2], to which one of his friends Eliphaz raises an important point: 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?'[Job 4:17]
Evidently, justification in God's sight and salvation from sin and death requires more than being personally 'upright and just'[Job 1:1], or righteous or doing the right things, as scripture often points out "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" [Titus 3:5] Also important is the understanding that God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, and to whoever He wants; as He is Sovereign over all and as the heavenly host confirmed "thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." [Revelation 4:11]
Job eventually understood and acknowledged his ignorance, that even if we are not doing anything wrong we can and potentially still receive rebuke and chastening from God, confessing: 'therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.' 'Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' [Job 42:2,6]
Jesus encourages us that rebuke and chastening is not necessarily a bad thing, because he declared to the lukewarm and failing Laodecian ecclesia that "as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."[Revelation 3:19] Jesus also teaches that even when we are doing what is right we can still benefit from rebuke and chastening when he said: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." [John 15:2]
The wisdom book of Job also teaches the key principle that just having good intentions is not enough, as knowledge of what is the righteous thing to do is essential[Hosea 4:6]. Job's friends started off with good intentions, and being wholesome and empathetic towards Job, as they expressed sadness and mourning, fasted and prayed silently a whole week with Job in his afflictions[Job 2:12-13]. However, their lack of knowledge caused them to go off track, so that they became a problem, and earning them the title of Job's miserable friends[Job 16:2], and rendering them as mere tempters and false accusers, for which Job had to pray for their forgiveness [Job 42:10]
Understandably, we often equate blessing and ease with doing the right things, and we expect rebuke and chastening only if we do the wrong things. Job and his friends actually had this same belief, often described as the doctrine of 'exact retribution', but approached the topic from different perspectives: from Job's argument we see that he was insisting that because he did no wrong he should not be punished and therefore God was unjust in punishing him. Jobs' friends took the other side of the same view, and insisted that if he is being punished then he must be doing something wrong and needs to repent of some secret sin, since bad things only happen to bad people. The reality is that most people would perhaps adopt the same stance as Job friends of associating difficulty with some sort of wrongdoing or a personal failure, if we were faced with similar circumstances.
What is also explored is that Job's friends also saw that he was a righteous man, and saw the evidence of a life that was good and godly, but deep down were either already suspicious that he must be a secret sinner, or considered in their heart that his faithfulness was only because God was blessing him, which was the issue that the adversary or adversaries (viz satan) was initially accusing against Job [Job 1:11].
We tend to view the world and other people from our perspective and our own point of view, and consequently we often project our own weakness and insecurities onto others; and expect that they would do what we would do under the same circumstances. Job's faithful life of uprightness would expose their own shortcomings and failures, but instead of lifting themselves and behavior higher they chose to tear him down to their level, which is a type of mindset and behavior we see too often and a thing that unfortunately persists across the ages, and is something that we must consider and be on our guard against.
The young man Elihu was the voice of sound reasoning and gave the view of God with regards to the dispute, and was originally only an interested observer until he could no longer contain. He rebuked Job for being ‘righteous in his own eyes’ and ‘because he justified himself rather than God’ [Job 32:1-2], and also Job’s friends for condemning Job without a cause, for even though they searched and ‘had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.’[Job 32:3] Elihu surmised that “great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.”[Job 32:9]
The object lesson from Job teaches that even when we do the right thing, we can still receive chastening for various reasons, such as to help us to reach our full potential, or otherwise to warn and save others or to teach others about an important principle. It is a pattern in scripture that many of the saints of old, and also the Redeemer himself, had to endure hardship so that others could be saved.
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27
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The Evidence.
“Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matthew 26:52
When Jesus said “they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” he was directly alluding to the fact that Peter's action was actually a very serious crime, and since there was no penal system for long prison sentences, most likely he would have been executed.
When the mob came to apprehend and arrest Jesus Malchus was mentioned as the servant of the high priest but contextually he was functioning in an official capacity. Peter cutting off Malchus' ear was a failed attempt by Peter to decapitate Malchus. In modern terms the act would carry charges of aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, assault against a government official, attempted murder, attempted murder of a government official, among many others capital offenses. A defense attorney can easily dismiss a case by asserting that there is no murder weapon, or if the victim’s body is not found then they often argue that there is no proof that a crime was even committed. By Jesus putting back the ear Malchus and healing the wound, he removed all evidence of the occurrence of a crime, and it was as if it never happened; which would deprive the high priest and rulers of the opportunity of potentially also executing Peter along with Jesus. Jesus had great plans for Peter, for him to continue the work of the gospel, and the dissemination of the truth, fulfilling where Jesus previously “saith unto him, Feed my lambs.”[John 21:15]
Jesus’ action also teaches of the effect of forgiveness and salvation of the believer, that he was the Anointed [One] through whom the eternal Father brought to fruition His words, where He said that the “word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please”[Isaiah 55:11] and also where He said “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” [Isaiah 44:22]
Jesus’ atonement sacrifice ‘finished’ or accomplished the Divine intention from the beginnings of the creation, brought about reconciliation, repair of the breach Adam caused in Eden, and restored friendship between us and Father, and paid for our redemption from sin and death. And like the solid gold mercy seat on the ark of the Covenant, Jesus ‘covers over‘ our moral failures and shortcomings, and by (viz ‘because of’) his blood our ‘sins are hidden’ from sight, to never be seen anymore. He will remove all evidence of our iniquities and crimes against God, and it will be as if we never ever transgressed! YAHWEH has ordained this not because of us, but for His own name sake has He done it[Psalm 25:11].
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 4:7-8
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The Hope of Israel
“So for this reason I have called to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” Acts 28:20
For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.—The mention of “chain” in the singular agrees with the fact stated in Acts 28:30, that he was entrusted to the keeping of a single soldier.
The words “the hope [מִקְוֵ֤ה (miq·wêh)] of Israel [יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (yiś·rā·’êl)]” occurs verbatim twice in Jeremiah's prophecy, a man who himself spent a long time being imprisoned for the faith and being ‘bound by chains’[ Jeremiah 14:8; 17:13], with both references making mention of YAH being a Saviour who saves, and that there is no other to save.
The word ‘hope’ is itself reference to a cord, as when Rahab hid the spies that came to asses how to conquer Jericho she hid them and after the city authorities were gone let them down through her window and made a covenant that they would rescue her from the destruction they would bring, and the token of the arrangement would be the scarlet [הַשָּׁנִ֨י (haš·šā·nî)] cord [תִּקְוַ֡ת (tiq·waṯ) חוּט֩ (ḥūṭ)] she used to facilitate their escape[Joshua 2:18]. A cord was made of twining strands of natural fibers together, which teaches of how our lives are intertwined with YAH and our Savior Jesus the Anointed.
The scripture carefully makes mentions of the chord being ‘scarlet’, which of course brings our minds and makes reference to the Saviour and Messiah, the 'hope of Israel', who in the Messianic prayer of Psalm 22 started with 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?' and then later continues on to say "but I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.- Psalm 22:6
The Mention of "am a worm" [תוֹלַ֣עַת (ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ) - worm, scarlet stuff, crimson] alludes to 'coccus ilicis' or scarlet worm, where when the female is ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body permanently to the trunk of a tree, and would deposit her eggs beneath her body where they would be protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. It is from the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. It was this scarlet blood stain that was used to color the cord Rahab used to allow the spies to escape all these years before, and it will be the blood stain of Jesus that also saves us.
This hope of Israel also referred to the hope of the resurrection as previously mentioned [Acts 26:6,7], where Jesus will return as the realization of the things hoped for of Messiah, and the evidence of things yet to be seen; of Jesus the Christ the Anointed [One], who is himself the hope of Israel.
The context was that Paul was already a prisoner in Judea, and more that forty Jews covenanted themselves to assassinate Paul for preaching Jesus[Acts 23:12], and had made arrangements with the ruling Jewish Council (viz Sanhedrin) to invite Paul for an audience, so that their co-conspirators and murderous assassins could kill Paul. Paul's nephew heard of the plot and eventually informed Paul who being a Roman citizen made arrangement with the 'chief captain' [Gk χιλίαρχος, ου, ὁ (chiliarchos) - chilliarch, a commander of a thousand men, a military tribune] who dispatched two centurion and two hundred men, who safely brought Paul to Caesarea before Antonius Felix the procurator (viz governor) and ranking Roman official in charge of Judea and Samaria. Caesarea in Palestine or Caesarea Maritima was at the time the administrative headquarters of the Roman procurators and of the Roman garrison in Palestine.
After the Jewish rulers and their eloquent orator Tertullus 'descended' from Jerusalem to Caesarea and were unable to persuade Felix to hand Paul over to them. Eventually after two years Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus (~55 AD), who sent Paul to Rome to stand trial under Emperor Nero. Even though Paul was again able to argue his point, that he did not violate Jewish, nor Roman laws, nor committed treason against Caesar, but because Festus was newly appointed in the notoriously rebellious province, he wanted to gain good will among the rambunctious Jews, and so intended to send Paul to be tried before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. To avoid being handed over to the Jews who wanted to kill him, he appealed to Caesar, and being that he was a Roman citizen they were obligated to grant his request.
So in that context, Paul is saying that the only reason he is bound with a chain is because he preached Jesus Christ, the hope of Israel; and since he was actually innocent according to Jewish and Roman laws and customs, the only reason why he was a prisoner bound with a chain is because of the gospel he believed and preached.
The connotation of the hope of Israel is that the hope of Israel is a Saviour and Deliverer and Redeemer, and when the things hoped for come to fruition those who trust and place their confidence in the hope of Israel will be safe.
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Perfect Peace
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
The words "perfect peace" [שָׁל֣וֹם ׀ (šā·lō·wm) שָׁל֑וֹם (šā·lō·wm)] is a repeated word peace [שָׁל֑וֹם (šā·lō·wm) - completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, wholesome-ness].
The steadfast [סָמ֔וּךְ (sā·mūḵ) - to lean, lay, rest, support) has the connotation that those who are steadfast are that way because they are being sustained by God who sustains them because they put their confidence and trust in Him.
To trust [בָּטֽוּחַ׃ (bā·ṭū·aḥ) - trust, feel safe, put confidence, feel secure) has the sense of someone throwing himself down upon his face or lying on the ground. The first time the word bā·ṭū·aḥ occurs in scripture, was when YAHWEH was admonishing the children of Israel, to not to rely or place their confidence on their city walls to make them feel safe and secure, as their enemies will invade and destroy the very walls in which they trusted (placed confidence). He did so when He warned them that "they will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you."[Deuteronomy 28:52 ].
The word bā·ṭū·aḥ is itself based on the word chasah [ חָסָה (chasah) - to seek refuge] and this word is later used in the Song of Moses [Deuteronomy 32:1-45], where Moses near the end of his life and near the end of the Israelite wilderness journey, reflects on how after the people worshiped and trusted in idols and walls and other sources for salvation to no avail, that YAH will ask them rhetorically "where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted"[Deuteronomy 32:37], pointing out that the things (other than YAH) in which they threw themselves down before and sought for refuge would not be able to keep them safe nor secure from danger.
Incidentally, the word trust occurs two times in Deuteronomy, the first time when God warned to not trust in their city walls, and when He warned not to trust on their idols, which serve as metaphors for not to trust in our own strength or inventions of our making, nor in any other person other than YAH!
We are counseled to "trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah [(בְּיָ֣הּ (bə·yāh) YAH יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh) YAHWEH] is everlasting strength:"[Isaiah 26:4 kjv] who is indeed in our Rock and our foundation, who is surety and who is firm and steadfast forever, and cannot be moved.
"Trust in Yahweh forever, For in Yah—Yahweh Himself—we have an everlasting Rock." Isaiah 26:4
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Hebrew Language
The Hebrew language has words based on literal and concrete everyday things that traveling nomadic people would see and touch and use, and does not have words to describe abstract concepts. Plus what is common among languages is the concept that some languages have specific words to express a thing or idea while others describe the same thing using a phrase. An example is that in English there is a specific word for 'employee', but the similar idea is expressed in Japanese using the equivalent term/phrase 'salary man'.
So concepts like stubborn is ‘stiff necked’ or 'hard necked' from [קְשֵׁה־ (qə·šêh-) - stiff, hard] and [עֹ֖רֶף (‘ō·rep̄) - neck, neck-back]
“And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:” - Exodus 32:9
Because the neck represented the direction the animal would be headed or going, to turn the oxen for example you would turn the oxen’s neck to change its direction. So a stiff-neck represents the difficulty of changing the direction of the animal. Similarly, to run away from is to turn the neck way from or turn the back to from [הָפַ֧ךְ (hā·p̄aḵ) - turn,turn oneself] and [עֹ֖רֶף (‘ō·rep̄)- necks (backs)] , as when the Israelites were routed by the army of Ai due to the actions of Achan who coveted and kept the forbidden lavish Babylonian garments and gold in his tent; blatantly disobeying YAH instructions.
“O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!” - Joshua 7:8
A person's temperament is usually reflected in their face, and when a person is angry their nose figuratively or literally turns burning red hot, so the word for anger or angry is ‘hot nosed’ from [אַ֨ף (’ap̄) - nose] and [וַיִּֽחַר־ (way·yi·ḥar-) - hot, burning]. So the Lord's anger being kindled like a fire would kindle is appropriate to describe the nose getting hotter.
“And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.” - Exodus 4:14
Similarly if a persons is patient and takes a long time to get angry that their nose takes a long time to get red hot ‘long nose’ or or the fire takes a long time to ignite the nose 'slow nose': [אֶ֤רֶךְ (’e·reḵ) - slow, long] and [ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ (’ap·pa·yim) - nose]
“The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” - Numbers 14:18
When someone is deaf, this is described as having 'heavy ears' [הַכְבֵּ֖ד (haḵ·bêḏ) - heavy] and [וְאָזְנָ֥יו (wə·’ā·zə·nāw) - ears]
“Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” - Isaiah 6:10
Leah is said to be 'weak eyed' or 'lazy eyed' which alluded to her being unattractive or ugly [רַכּ֑וֹת (rak·kō·wṯ) - weak, lazy, tender] [וְעֵינֵ֥י (wə·‘ê·nê) - eyes] This is confirmed, as she she is contrasted with Rachel who was said to have a ‘nice figure’ [יְפַת־ (yə·p̄aṯ-) - fair, beautiful] [תֹּ֖אַר (tō·’ar) - shape, figure] and also ‘good looking’ [וִיפַ֥ת (wî·p̄aṯ) - fair, beautiful] [מַרְאֶֽה׃ (mar·’eh) - sight, appearance]
“Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.” - Genesis 29:17
The concept of bless is based on the motion a camel makes when drinking water, where it 'kneels down' to drink. An example of this is when Abraham sent his chief servant Eleazer to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor, to find a wife for Isaac from among his kinfolk living there. Eleazer upon arrival waters his camels and made them “kneel down” [וַיַּבְרֵ֧ךְ (way·yaḇ·rêḵ) to bless, kneel]
“And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.” Genesis 24:11
The idea of forgiveness is expressed in terms of the violation or wrongdoing being a burden on the offender and the offender requests the victim of the offense to ‘bear up’ or ‘lift away’ the burden of their sin, as only the offended is in that position to do so. The first occurrence of the word forgive [נֹשֵׂ֥א (nō·śê) - to lift, bear up, carry, to take away] is when after Jacob their father dies, Joseph's brothers repent for all the evil they did to him, and were burdened under the knowledge of their wrongdoings, they sent a messenger unto Joseph:
"So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him." Genesis 50:17
The concept of grace or favor is expressed as [ חֵ֖ן (ḥên) favor, grace charm] and is based on the root word and idea of [חָנָה (chanah) - abide in tents, camp, dwell, encamp, lie (down), pitch tent, rest in tent] and describes the action of the traveling nomadic people of Israel settling down to the safety and security of the encampment, and being secure with the confines of the perimeter fence of protection of YAHWEH.
“And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” - Exodus 34:9
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Prayers of faith.
We often hear people say 'if you believe it you can speak it into existence' or 'if you have faith in God and pray for it, then He will give it to you'. This is a misconception and misunderstanding of scripture where Jesus says that "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do" [John 14:13] or "and all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."[Matthew 21:22], as these scriptures require context and clarification.
Obviously, if we ask for something evil God is not going to give it to us, and we can take comfort be thankful by the fact that God does not always give us what we want, and when He says no (which He does) it is because He knows that what we request is going to be harmful to us and our long term health and salvation. Jesus makes the point that God is a good Father, and that He will only give us good things and not evil, and He will not do things that will harm us when he says “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?”[Luke 11:11]
If we desire something vain and carnal and that will absolutely take us down the path to destruction, we cannot expect God to bless us with it. What happens often is we are often self centered, naive and short sighted, but think we are enlightened and clairvoyant, and have a valid reason to justify the request of some type of vanity. So we ask for things that we think and convince ourselves of being good, but are actually bad for us; and when God does not grant our request, we often get upset, disappointed and lose heart.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the purposely of life is not to be rich, nor to ‘self actualize’, nor to get whatever we want, nor even to be happy; but rather to do the will of God and to make the things of YAH first and foremost in our life[Matthew 6:33]. Making God first and seeking the related things a priority will inevitably cause us to live a life of Jesus. Happiness is temporary and fleeting, and comes and goes, but joy is permanent and steadfast.
If Jesus or the saints and martyrs wanted a happy life, they would avoid the god-fearing Christian life and have a great time like all the sons of disobedience. Happiness has to do with the here and now, but joy is hopeful looking past the pain and disappointment of this world, to see the blessed-ness of the eternal life which is to come in the kingdom of God, as we are advised to look “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” [Hebrews 12:2]
The context therefore of Jesus' words about asking for things in prayer, is that if the request is according to his will and according to the will of the Father in heaven, as indicated by the phrase ‘in my name’, it is then and only then it will be granted. We should organize our life and choices around what God is doing and not try to coerce God into organizing His plans to fit into whatever it is that we are doing. YAH is Sovereign and we should seek to do His will and to be a part of His plan and purpose, and not our own.
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." - I John 5:14-15
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Blindness
"We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men" - Isaiah 59:10
This lamentation of Isaiah about the state of affairs of God's people Israel is an almost verbatim fulfillment of a prophetic warning God gave in the law[Deuteronomy 28:29], where YAHWEH outlined in detail the blessings the blessings and cursings associate with obedience and disobedience, concerning the blessings that "shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments"[Deuteronomy 28:1] and the cursings that "shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes"[Deuteronomy 28:15]
One of the curses caused by disobedience was that they would be stricken with spiritual blindness and there would be darkness and no spiritual light, and there would be none to save them for the plight that they had put themselves into.
The reason people grope around 'at noonday' when the sun is at its brightest alludes to and was intended to emphasize that the issue is not about literal vision of light or darkness but rather had to do with spiritual blindness or spiritual darkness. They were groping around because they either had no spiritual light or their eyes were blind to spiritual things or they closed their eyes so that spiritual light cannot enter.
They grope around because they are trying to walk a spiritual path but can’t see where to put their feet, or which direction to go, and don’t even know what a spiritual ditch looks like. These things were alluding to not even knowing that a problem is a problem till after stepping into it, or not knowing that they are going in the wrong direction until after crashing into the wall or falling over a cliff.
Scripture teaches that spiritual light is the knowledge ,wisdom and understanding of the word of God. Light exists in the form of light from celestial objects such as the sun, moon and stars or terrestrial light like a lamp or a candle. There is light from above or light from below, as the Psalmist points out that "thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."[Psalm 119:105] when he compared the terrestrial lamp from below to illuminate his feet and steps, and the celestial light from above to illuminate the road and pathway of life.
Those who grope around realize their blindness and seek for light sight and the path, but there are those who are blind and don’t know they are blind. The prophets warned of the danger of trusting in the blind when he said: "his watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber."[Isaiah 56:10] which associated blindness and ignorance. Jesus the Anointed teaches of these types of people who he refers to as blind guides when he warns: "let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."[Matthew 15:14]
The solution begins with understanding our blindness, and seeking a guide to hold our hand, and requesting the blessing of receiving sight and the light to see how we should walk and which direction we should take. We know "that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."[I John 1:5] and this light is made available to us through His only begotten son Jesus. Jesus is our guide to hold our hand, he is our healer to restore our sight, and he is our light to show us which steps to take, and where we should go so we no longer walk in darkness.
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12
The benefits of walking in the light are many, and we are assured by scripture that "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."[I John 1:7]
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Pharaoh of Egypt.
Understanding the Pharaoh of Egypt gives context to the circumstances from which the Israelites were physically rescued from, and why they had such a hard time escaping spiritually; and because they could not spiritually free themselves from Egypt, all the adults who left Egypt died on the wilderness journey [Numbers 14:29], and only a representative two survived to enter the promised land: Joshua son of Nun (Hebrew, tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb son of Jephunneh (Kenizzite) [Numbers 26:55]; which speaks of God not being partial, and of both Jews and gentiles inheriting the promised land the spiritual kingdom of God.
The word ‘pharaoh’ [Hb פַרְעֹה : Paroh - a title of Egypt kings] is actually a loan word from the ancient Egyptian language, which originally meant ‘great house’, of royal court, and (in new kingdom) of king. The word eventually began to be used metonymically to describe both the king’s palace as well as its resident Egyptian king. Pharaoh was the word the ancient Hebrews used to refer to the Egyptians kings, but it was never the Egyptians kings official title, nor was it the name Egyptians used to refer to their rulers. The YAHWEH and His inspired writers chose to use pharaoh instead of Egyptian rulers’ title, which among other things had several references to the idols gods of Egypt, which we know are nothing, and YAH was neither interested in nor wanted His people to keep on their memory. The full title of the Egyptian king consisted of five names, each preceded by one of the following titles: Horus, Two Ladies, Golden Horus, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Son of Ra.
Of special note is that the Egyptians believed their pharaoh to be the mediator between the gods and the world of men, that after death the pharaoh became divine and associated with Osiris ‘the god of the dead’, and that the pharaoh was all-powerful, all knowing and controlling nature and fertility.
While teaching about YAH’s power over the pharaoh and Egypt, and His authority to do whatever He pleases[Romans 9:15], Paul mentioned that “God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known“[Romans 9:22], YAHWEH indeed made known His power over the pharaoh and Egypt, by controlling nature and fertility with the plagues of uncontrollable proliferation of frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, locusts (fertility) that overrun their cities and homes; and also water turning to blood, boils, darkness, and the death of firstborn children (nature); all of which neither the Pharaoh nor their idol gods had any power to prevent, and revealing that the pharaoh (and the idol gods of Egypt) was not all powerful as claimed, neither was he all knowing, as he had to ask Moses to know what the name of the God of the Hebrews (slaves).
The pharaohs built grandiose and elaborate tombs, intended to immortalize their greatness, which ironically only served as monuments that testify to the fact that they are all dead, and are not coming back to life. YAH promises life and the dead coming back to life (viz resurrection), and while disputing with the Sadducees who don’t believe in resurrection of the dead, Jesus points out the contrast between YAHWEH ‘the God of the living’, and the pharaoh and the idol gods of Egypt, with strong allusions particularly to Osiris ‘the god of the dead’ when he said “now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” [Luke 30:37-38]
Paul further clarified who exactly was the true mediator between God and man, who unlike the dead and entombed pharaohs shackled to the grave, Jesus the Anointed demonstrated that he actually had power over death when he came back to life, and his resurrection attested to the authority he was given, which was the basis of the apostle Paul’s argument when he exhorted Timothy that “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”[I Timothy 2:5]
The pharaohs made many claims to power and greatness, but made no attempt at claiming immortality, as that can easily be proven false, and they spent most of their time and resources preparing for their death ceremonies, and their tombs, and made arrangements for their replacement after they were dead and gone. The death of the first born was therefore a major tragedy for them, as it threatened their family ‘name’, dynasty and legacy. YAHWEH is not a man nor a mortal nor is He even capable of death![I Timothy 6:16], but we understand that His son Jesus the Anointed “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”[Romans 4:25], and now we see Jesus “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”[Romans 6:9]
“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:24
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My Lord
"For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Mark 12:36
This is a verse that is used often by Jesus and his disciples and apostles to clarify the false doctrines that had existed in the time of Jesus that David was greater than the Messiah.
It is a quotation from the Psalms where David was prophesying that
The 'LORD' [יְהוָ֨ה ׀ (Yah·weh) - YAHWEH] said to 'my Lord'[לַֽאדֹנִ֗י (la·ḏō·nî) - firm, strong, lord, master] that HE would appoint the Messiah to sit at HIS side or 'right hand' of power and prominence, while HE makes the Messiah’s enemies his footstool.[Psalms 110:1] This shows that king David understood that the Messiah would be greater than himself.
However by the time of the first century, the scribes and many religious experts believed that the Messiah was inferior in rank and status to the ancient king David. After satisfactorily silenced the Sadducees about the question of resurrection, using the scripture where God is the God of the living, implying that Abraham and the saints must come back to life for the statement to be true, after which "no man after that durst ask him any question."[Mark 12:34] Jesus continues to address the other follow up false doctrine about David "How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?"[Mark 12:35]
It is evident that Christ was the son (viz descendant) of David by hereditary lineage, but the allusion is that they understood Christ to be of lesser status than king David, since a 'son' is also understood to refer to a student or apprentice of a 'father'. Jesus refers to the Psalm where David is calling Christ 'my lord', and acknowledging a subordinate status.
The apostle Peter also uses the quotation from Psalm 110:1, as well as Psalm 16: "for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (sheol, grave)*; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."[Psalm 16:10] to show that not only was David inferior to Christ, but also that "David is not ascended into the heavens"[Acts 2:34], nor is he seated at YAHWEH's right hand as prophesied, since "the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day."[Acts 2:29] and has indeed seen corruption.[Acts 2:25-36] Since David is dead it means the prophecy is not referring to David, nor was David exalted to the right hand of power and prominence.
The apostle also establishes that salvation hinges on the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead, that Jesus has indeed risen and exalted as evidenced by his resurrection, and "that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."[Acts 2:36, and that Jesus will sit on the throne of David as king of Israel (to become a world wide kingdom on earth) to be restored at Jesus' return, after YAHWEH has subdued the nations and made them the footstool of His Anointed.
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