(Part Two)

The family, and how it is a symbol for the unity of God.
There is so very much in this thesis.
If…, this is true, it could help us to understand why the family is threatened by so many temptations.

Consider just a few things that the world can offer us to break the husband’s unity with his wife.

• workaholic/careers threaten it
• pornography threatens it
• blogging threatens it
• infidelity threatens it
• Sports and Recreation threatens it
• Alcohol and chemical dependency threatens it
• Motorcycles threaten it
• Hotrod cars threaten it
• Anything that we can imagine threatens the unity of the Wife and Husband

As a symbol, Satan might see the family as a physical representation of God’s nature.
Therefore, when Satan succeeds in breaking the unity of families, he might view this as a victory over his enemy, God.
It explains Jesus’ words against divorce in Matthew 19

• ·3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?”
• ·4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’
• ·5 And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’
• ·6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.”

Note that Jesus does, in-fact, make use of the same language that is recorded in Deuteronomy 6 about Yahweh being One.

This passage in Deuteronomy is difficult for many Christians to understand or explain. But, in the context of a family, we may see a clearer picture of what the Lord intended by the statement found in this Old Testament passage. Look again, and compare/contrast the wording from the old 1901 American Standard Version to the King James Version.

• ·4Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: ASV
• ·4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: KJV

ASV is a more accurate interpretation of the Hebrew text. The name “Jehovah” that is used by the American Standard Version is carried over from the original German translation, instead of spelling it phonetically.

Therefore, just as the spelled name “John” in Dutch or German is pronounced “Yon” and “William” is pronounced “Villhelm”, we see why Jehovah could alternately be pronounced “Yahweh”. With these differences understood, the ASV is far more accurate in showing that ‘Yahweh is one Yahweh’ or ‘Jehovah is one Jehovah’.

There are three individuals (Holy Spirit, Father, and Son) but only One Yahweh.
The Family of Yahweh may be the most simple way to understand & explain the nature of God.

As an analogy, we might consider personal examples of very strong, even “unified” families. If one is insulted then all are insulted. If you honor one family member then all are honored.

My wife often teaches a weekly Ladies Bible class, people will approach me at worship and tell me how “wonderful” and “inspiring” she is to them. This is an honor to me. I feel 10′ tall, when people tell me about Molly’s gift and the encouragement that she is to them. Molly is an extension of David, therefore I am being complimented, when I receive praise for my wife.

This is not so difficult for us to understand. How many mothers & fathers will beam with pride, as they see their son throw a game-winning touchdown pass or hear their daughter play a flawless piano recital.

We, as parents, know that when our daughters and sons are recognized for special honor, we ourselves are honored.

The underlying Unity between the wife-mother, husband-father, & son/daughter is present in the Trinity. When we accept God’s Holy Spirit, offered by Jesus Christ, we obtain the power to overcome the devil’s scheme to break up the unity of family.

We must accept our role in the symbol of Marriage & Family, however, because when we accept this mission, we have the unique position of fighting the devil on God’s terms, i.e. the terms of Holy Unity, instead of fighting him on his terms, i.e. self-gratification (a.k.a. pride).

*_____*

Back to the scenario that I laid out in my preceding post, concerning God’s creation plan and Satan’s diabolical scheme, it involves some supposition from scripture and from life experiences.

I may be wrong or right.

But, one key debate that I faced was not addressed in the comments to the post. The issue was about Satan’s creation timing. The common supposition is always that Satan was created at the same time that the physical universe was created. But, this cannot be supported by scripture. It is not mentioned, when the devil was created.

The typical texts from Isaiah or Ezekiel or Revelation do not state anything about Satan’s origination. But, since no one has mentioned these passages I won’t go into them now.

But, if I am wrong please show my error, by writing and posting.

Nevertheless, the creation described in Genesis 1 and 2 is a physical creation of the Cosmos. And we needn’t presume that all spiritual beings were created at the same time as the physical Cosmos.

Furthermore, I might point out that the use of the term “time” is utterly useless prior to the physical Cosmos, because time is inextricably linked with space and matter, which are not spiritual, but rather, are carnal.

I will pick-up again later. The time is late for a physical being such as I am.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

God Bless,

DSM

There have been some issues, about which I have written, in many small snigglet-sized thoughts, through many of my essays, but have never addressed directly.
The nature of the family is one such issue.

All human cultures have at their basic civil organization (a.k.a civilization), the family.

The “family” is, in my opinion, the government of humankind, in its most elemental form, and is designed to be so, by the Creator.
God has imbued the institution of “family” with His holy nature of union.

I am convinced that the family is a holy & symbolic representation of the relationship, which exists in Yahweh our God. You may recall that I have written about this in other essays in the past.

While many disciples are reticent to say this, my wife among them, I am comfortable in saying the Trinity represents all positions in a loving and functional family.
Holy Spirit, Father and Son, are symbolically represented by mom, dad, and child, respectively.

I hope to receive opposing opinions on this.
And to the opposing argument, I recognize that Holy Spirit is never referenced as “mother”.
I further recognize that Holy Spirit is always referenced by the use of the masculine pronoun, “he”.
However, I am not saying that God is anything physical.
“Religious” people who think it wise to rewrite the bible, and thus remove all gender from the scriptures, which references God, bemuse me.
However, to be fair, those who think that God is a physical man (”He”) also bewilder me.

I should be clear on what I am saying.

Jesus the Messiah was a physical man, but he is no longer a physical man. (If you have questions about this look at 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, specifically note verses 49 - 50; “49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”)

If you are reading this, and you are reluctant to consider the notion that the “family” is a physical symbol, which represents the holy Spiritual relationship with and between the individuals who compose the Trinity of God, then imagine this scenario for a few minutes.

1. The almighty Creator, who is made up of three separate and distinct individuals, determines that “He” wants to share & participate in love (Agapē) with a created being.
2. However there are preexisting created beings, which are not invited to participate in this union between Creator and creation.
3. These preexisting created beings are spiritual, but are not participants inside the holy union of the Spiritual Creator.
4. As the Creator completes His plan for a new type of creation, which is not an exclusively spiritual nature, some of those beings, which were created before the new creation, become jealous about the interlopers, who are designed “in the image of the Creator” and for the purpose of union with the Creator.
5. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the created spiritual beings is given a responsibility for the new creation and the divine reflections, which inhabit it. This “prosecutor/constable” is also given the power to imbibe the physical creation, however this power is available only through the consent and will of the corporeal beings.
6. For an unknown price, a certain corporeal being agrees to grant the “constable” the use of its body and form, for the purpose of interacting directly with the divine copies.
7. The jealousy of the spiritual CEO comes to culmination, as the constable/prosecutor of the created spiritual realm actually encourages the divine images to forsake their betrothal with the Creator. The constable engages in an act of legal “entrapment”.
8. As the Man and Woman take the forbidden fruit, they fulfill the constables hope and dash the Creator’s great dream of a marriage between God and humanity, or more properly the Son of God and mankind.
9. The Almighty God & Host of Heaven, Yahweh, has been thwarted by an unholy alliance between a created spirit, Satan, and created corporeal, the Serpent.
10. All Humankind are dupes for the dope of the spiritual war that rages.
11. The dope of the spiritual war, is pride. And Adam and Eve took it in. They breathed these fowl emanations into their hearts and minds before the fruit ever touched their lips, even before the fruit was plucked from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They doubted the love (Agapē) that was promised by the Creator.
12. The Creator, however, knew everything before it ever happened. And, He had a plan for the renewal of the marriage vow between humanity and Himself. (THE CREATOR CANNOT BE THWARTED. Because, LOVE NEVER FAILS. ·

1 Corinthians 13:7,8: Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever,…

(TO BE CONTINUED)

God bless,

DSM

Hey Matt! Here is the next installment on my belief.
This addresses Item C “Why do I believe that the Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?” (I will go back, at a later time, to Item B, Why I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of the Creator.)

I do not call the Bible the “Word of God.” I may be unique among believers, concerning the use of this scriptural term.
But, as I have studied this, it appears to me that the Holy Spirit has revealed that the “Word” is Jesus. This will come out more in my answer to Item B.
I have struggled in the order of presentation of Items B & C, because they are tied together.
There are so many uses of the term “word”, that we may become confused about that, which we are discussing, i.e. the Lord’s words, God’s words, the Word of the Lord, the Word of Life, etc.
There are differences in the use of the singular rather than the plural. The words of God are not the same as the Word of God.
I hope this is making sense. Because I am attempting to hold to the semantics that I believe the Holy Spirit has used in the “words” of His prophets, apostles and disciples.

So, just as a beginning point I will outline briefly what I believe about “the Word”, and about the “words” of God.

• I believe that “the Word of God” is Jesus. John 1:1ff
• I believe that Jesus is “God’s Word”. 1John 2:14
• I believe that Jesus is “the Word of the Lord.” Genesis 15:1, 1Samuel 3:1-21 Look closely at verse 21.
• I believe that the “Word of Life” is, again, Jesus. 1John 1:1
• I believe that the words of God are found in the bible.
• I believe also, however, that the words of the devil are found in the bible. Matthew 4:3 is one such example of Satan’s words in the bible.
• I believe that the words of people are found in the bible. Exodus 3:11 (An interesting sidebar to this point, is that people either speak the words of the devil or the words of God. In the verse cited above, Moses speaks the words of Satan to Yahweh. Look at Matthew 16:22-23, to see how Jesus dealt with the words of Satan spoken by Peter. Human words may ultimately only serve two ends, they may serve God or they may serve self, where self is always the goal of the devil.)

This is the semantic difference, which I see in the scriptural use of the term “Word”. If someone has a different opinion about my distinctions, I am interested in reading them. However, until I am persuaded otherwise, this is how I will proceed in the subsequent response to belief in God’s Word and belief in the bible as inspired, respectively.

I believe that the recording and preservation of the bible is an action of inspiration by God’s Holy Spirit.
My conviction has been slowly developed, even while I was attempting to cast off my faith, as written in the first part of this series on my belief.

I have found that the bible is more than just allegorical, in its written text.
I hear many “believers” who are quite willing to consign the bible to the bookshelf, because of its antiquity.
They do this, by initially diminishing it as a collection of allegories. Thus, if it is only allegorical, then it holds no value.
In these cases, it becomes only a collection of symbols.
But, what can it symbolize? If it is not real at its root, then symbols of the illusory are of no value, for anything practical, except entertainment, if entertainment might be said to be “practical”.

Nevertheless, even if we are to accept the bible as only “a nice bit of antiquated literature,” we are still left with a very “good book”, worthy of our study.
The bible is chock full of ancient near eastern examples of early art, poetry, song, prose, proverbs, technical documentation, etc.

Surely, these many early expressions of the humanities are worthy of some respect from the world. But, oddly enough, this is not the case.
Thusly, our world seems intent on suppressing the bible, and this speaks volumes to me.

This is a simple curiosity that draws my attention.
It is, to me, the equivalent of saying don’t think about pink elephants.

Are you thinking about a fuchsia pachyderm?

These examples draw our attention. Humans are designed to seek answers to mysteries. And the bible is an enigma among human literature.

Our world doesn’t want it, ‘because its only an old book of out-of-touch allegories’.

However, our world digs deep to find an old moth eaten scrap of parchment that contains only 100 legible words from a Roman era copy of Homer’s “Iliad.”

Does this make sense to you?

Well, there is the enigma.

If you diminish the bible, by telling me that it is an ancient collection of fiction, or literary forms and allegorical chronicles, but that we should not trouble our students with this historical collection, I will be very intrigued about the apparent paradox.

To me, this treatment of the scriptures, by our world, speaks to the bible’s veracity.
This is one reason for my belief in the bible.
(To Be Continued)

God Bless,

DSM

Concerning your contention that the Hebrew personal name for God, i.e. Yahweh, was not used in the New Testament; you have not considered the fact Yahweh was not just a ‘personal name’, but it was also a “statement of being.”
And therefore, with an understood meaning, His name translates as it crosses language & cultural boundaries.
God’s answer is a statement to Moses question.
And it is understood to be God’s “raison d’etre.” God’s very existence is self-sufficient for all matters that Moses can imagine. “I am, that I am!” “That is enough!” by God’s perspective.

• Look at Exodus 3:14-15, 14 God replied, “I Am the One Who Always Is.*(Or I Am Who I Am, or I Will Be What I Will Be.) Just tell them, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said, “Tell them, ‘The Lord,*(Hebrew Yahweh; traditionally rendered Jehovah.) the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations.

Now, if we start with the right premise we may stand a better chance at getting to the right answer, as you, quite appropriately, have stated.
Do we see, in the New Testament, the Hebrew words for “I am”? The answer is obviously “No”, but you wouldn’t logically expect to see the New Testament people speaking Hebrew in conversations, since the Jewish people spoke principally Aramaic in all daily activities.
This is an important issue.
It would be similar to future generations looking at our American language of 2006 and making the claim that “thou” did not exist in America in 2006. We might want to tell them ‘Hey, we use the word “You” in America of 2006, not “thou”.’ Good translation skills are in order. Right?

The Jewish people spoke Aramaic, because Babylonians, Medes, and Persians had ruled them for hundreds of years. Each of these nations spoke Aramaic. However, the Greeks crushed the Persians, Alexander crushed them, to be precise. The Jews had to learn a new language. And they did just that. Greek was the language of “Law and Commerce”, but Aramaic was still the spoken tongue in Judah. Then along came Rome, and you can guess what happens. A new language is introduced to the milieu.
Latin was just beginning to displace the previous two languages, i.e. Aramaic & Greek.
So, obviously, there are factors to the claim that you’ve posed. Is “Yahweh” mentioned in the New Testament or not?
The answer is “Yes”! Emphatically “Yes”!
Where then is Yahweh mentioned?
Well, since we know that the words that were put together by God mean “I am”. Those are the words we should look for.
Right?
God made a statement of His Being.
So, are there any statements of God’s being in the New Testament?
As you mention you should get out your Strong’s Concordance and look up “I am.” You will find it all over the Gospels.

Look at Matthew 22:32 and Mark 12:26-27

• Mark 12:26, But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses,* ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’* 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”
• Look at Mark 14:62-63, 62 Jesus said, “I am, and you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at God’s right hand in the place of power and coming back on the clouds of heaven.” 63 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses?

Why do you suppose that the high priest tore his clothing? It is because the high priest heard “Yahweh” from Jesus lips. The high priest knew what it appears that you have misunderstood.

Look at the Gospel of John all through this gospel account we read Jesus telling us and His hearers that “I am.”

• John 6: 35, 41, 48, 51, Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst. 41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread from heaven.” 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; this bread is my flesh, offered so the world may live.” 58 I am the true bread from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever and not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate the manna.”
• Look at John 8:12, 18, 19, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30 12 Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” 18 I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” 19 “Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know my Father, too.” 23 Then he said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. 24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins.”

John 8:24 is a perfect Aramaic and Greek translation of the “statement of being” that God made to Moses at the burning bush.

• John 8:28, So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will realize that I am he and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak what the Father taught me. 29 And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do those things that are pleasing to him.” 30 Then many who heard him say these things believed in him.

They heard Jesus make the claim of “BEING.” And many believed in Him. The I AM keeps telling us that HE IS. I hope that I have spurred you to reexamine what the conjoined Hebrew words Yahweh really means. Because, the New Testament is as full of the I AM (Yahweh) as were the writings tribal Hebrews.

I may continue this latter, but I think that you have enough information.

But, the paradox is undeniable, from a human stand point. Even if, one understands Yahweh to be a different entity than God/Jesus/Eloahim/Holy Spirit/Father/Dios/Theos/Deity/Trinity.

God bless,

DSM

This is an answer to an anonymous response I received a couple of weeks ago to my essay “And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name…”. The issues that the writer raised are very important, dealing with the identity of Yahweh and Jesus. I will be publishing this treatise in two separate posts because the information is extensive.

First, let me say that I am not disturbed by what I am characterizing as “God’s Paradoxical Nature.”
I don’t really believe that God is a paradox or that He contradicts Himself in any way or at any time.
I am quite happy with the nuance of God. This really gets to the “nitty-gritty” of my theses in this web log “Theology of Nuance.”
And it is my contention that God does not teach or demand issues of “black or white”, “right or wrong”, “good or bad” per se. If this sounds shocking or too much like heresy, then you should probably read on, because you will likely find that I am not really saying anything outside the bounds of what holy scriptures tell us. Don’t stop reading because you are offended, please.
In other words “good deeds”, done with wrong motives are not “good.”
Remember 1 Corinthians 13:1ff

• “If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal.”

So, “right and wrong” are not just personal actions, but they are a matter of intent as much as deeds. Human or carnal wisdom tells me that ‘If one does such and such, then he is GOOD. But, if one does the antitheses of such and such, then he is BAD.’
God’s wisdom is therefore, different than carnal wisdom. It is “Nuanced” and appears, to humans, to be a paradox.
This issue is similar to a debate that I am having with a good friend on another of my essays. What is the value of a soul? My point to my friend is that the Creator of the soul is the only one who has the authority to determine the value of a soul.
Here, in this discussion, humans should not use the term “paradox”, with respect to the modus operandi of our Creator. Ultimately we are the “paradox” to God, because He is the standard.
But, for the purposes of our carnal nature, I am using and embracing the “paradoxes/paradice of our Creator” knowing that this is in-fact a paradox ‘in and of itself’.

Look at Luke 12:51-53, because this speaks to the purpose of Jesus and it is a paradox, that cannot be denied or ignored.
Can we say that there is no paradox between (Galatians 5:22-23)‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ and the following verses?

• (Luke 12:51-53)51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or the other way around. 53 There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.”

Therefore, it is certainly a paradox to my carnal nature that Jesus/God was willing to give up His position as the creator of all things (Colossians 1:15-23) and lay down His life for us His creation. Read this passage and you too shall see the paradox to the wisdom of humankind.

• 15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. * (Greek He is the firstborn of all creation.)16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.
  18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead,*(Greek He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.) so he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, 22 yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Anonymous, I have a feeling from the explanation that you gave for the distinction between Eloahim and Yahweh, that you believe that these are either two disparate entities or that Yahweh was no different than the idol/gods of the many other Neareast city-states. The city-states possessed gods as their patron. (Incidently, I believe that this was Jacob’s plan in that wrestling match with the angel. Genesis 32:24-30 Jacob requests the name of God, so that he may possess God as his patron, just as all other families did, look at Gen 31:19 as Rachel stole her father’s household gods. I did not highlight this point in that essay, however one should take note; that God DID NOT tell Jacob His name, when asked. God’s name is not revealed until Moses asks, out of pure motives, at the bush that appears to burn. Why do you suppose God made the commandment about “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…”? God is warning the Hebrew people about assuming that they have power to “invoke” the name Yahweh to do their personal bidding. Yahweh does serve man…, but never for useless carnal pleasures as humans might be tempted to call on, for selfish desires.)
I do not believe that this can be supported by a biblical or an extra-biblical study of the several factors involved in your thesis.
Some of these critical factors are:

1. Knowledge of the culture for each of the writers of biblical text.
2. Knowledge of, or at a minimum, a familiarity with, the distinct languages that the biblical text was written in, as well as knowledge of the spoken languages of the individuals that are written about.
3. Knowledge of language translation processes.
4. Knowledge of literature types that are used by the human agents.

Look for the continuation in Part 2.

God Bless,
DSM

This post will break new ground for me, as being one of pure speculative opinion without any supporting documentation whatsoever.

Obviously, I do not lack for opinions, however, my general rule is that I give my views as I also provide substantial supporting data for my stated judgment on the issue in discussion.

Well, I guess even with this topic I will hold to my standards, that is if you think that common general knowledge, historical data, scripture and a preponderance of overwhelming circumstantial evidence reflects substantivly on ones opinion.

Symbology and/or semiotics being used by God is something that I have considered often, over the years. God uses symbols over and over through scripture. We cannot avoid the fact that God’s modus operandi is to provide a symbol to His servants, tell them the importance of the symbol, and then to provide the action that fulfills the reality that is to be represented by the symbol.
Sometimes God says that the symbol will be a reminder to Him (there’s something we need to discuss) and other times it’s to be a memorial to His servants.

The rainbow was an early example of this. God goes to war with humankind, all the earth, and then after the battle he hangs up His weapon of war, the bow in the sky. He won’t flood the earth again. He made a covenant and set a symbol that reflected the pact. (Genesis 9)

[Incidently, I too, CCWMAN (Concealed Carry Weapon Man), used to be at war with with my fellow man and God's creation. So, I need this symbol, it reminds me that I've hung up guns.

• 2Corinthians 5:18-20, 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committedc unto us the word of reconciliation.  20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

I am not at war with all the earth any longer. God has reconciled me to you through Jesus Christ. God has reconciled me to all men and women who live on Earth. Is there a war when the Almighty Creator declares peace? No! I am Jesus Christ to the whole of humanity. Did Jesus lift his sword against men? Look at verse 20 again, "We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!”NLT Emphasis Added]

We need God’s symbols. The plagues on Egypt were each symbolically set against deities of Egypt. We read in Numbers 33:4 that ‘Yahweh executed judgment upon the gods of Egypt.’ We will not go through the ten plagues in Exodus 7-12, however, suffice it to say that the Egyptians were highly religious and they were inclined to offer ritual homage to any deity that appeared to have the power to harm them by withholding it’s bounty.
Therefore, you can see the idea behind their worship. They wanted to stay in good with the natural powers that be. If they upset the natural order, then they could expect famines, diseases or such.
The reverse of this was just as true. Thusly, why would any Egyptian in his right mind, respect a deity who is invisible, has no home, no domain, no water, no grain, no land, no sky, and no name? Yahweh, after all means “I Am, That I Am”, (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה, pronounced Ehyeh asher ehyeh). That sounds pretty silly, it sounds like Popeye, “I yam, what I yam!”, especially to people who have been around the block a few times, such as the Egyptians.

Anyway, back on point, Yahweh symbolically attacked the ten prime gods of Egypt. Symbols are big to our God.
Look at the Passover feast. Every piece of the feast has deep meaning to our Jewish brothers. They know the purpose of everything, down to the minutia. They know, because God told them down, to that same minutia.

What is the purpose of the Symbology? Why does God use symbols as he does? Well, on the Passover, He told the Israelites why in Exodus 12.

• 26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does all this mean? What is this ceremony about?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the celebration of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he killed the Egyptians, he spared our families and did not destroy us.’ ” Then all the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

So, it is about remembering. When the next generation is curious about the symbols, you will have a teaching opportunity for the kids. That makes sense. My kids are always curious. My kids always ask “Why daddy?” And there I go; I am able to teach a lesson. You will see the same thing in Exodus 13:14; & Dt 6:20 also.

God is obsessed with symbols.
Look at Joshua 4:3-7.

• 3 Tell the men to take twelve stones from where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan and pile them up at the place where you camp tonight.”
  4 So Joshua called together the twelve men 5 and told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel.”

‘Why daddy?’

Well, because…God has a plan. God knows us pretty well. God understands that we are natural, carnal, physical beings that often times need physical memorials to prompt our recollection of where we have come from and to where we are going.

God uses these symbols every time He speaks to us. His prophets use these same teaching mechanisms as well. There is an old church hymn “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing” that has the line “Here I raise my Ebenezer.”

‘Daddy, what does that mean?’

Well, sweetheart, in 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer (which means stone of help), saying, “Thus far has Yahweh helped us.”

It was another way of teaching us that God is a “ROCK” of help.

If you look back at my post from October 8
“What would Jesus do? …with Isaiah 20” you will see a very graphic display of God’s symbolism in this brief chapter. The portent involves Isaiah going around the countryside naked as a jaybird for three years. It was symbolic of what would happen to the nation that the Philistines had counted on, for protection from Assyria. The symbol implied that Philistine ‘Shouldn’t count on Egypt to protect them, because God would strip them bare and drag them away.’

(By the way, I don’t accept the sensitive interpretation of this passage that ignores the clear and obvious depiction of “…with buttocks bared, to Egypt’s shame.” Isaiah was naked. He was not wearing a loincloth.)

God uses the “Eucharist”, Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion as an important emblem of disciples understanding of what Jesus the Messiah did for humankind.

• The bread is symbolic of the manna that Yahweh provided Israel in the wilderness, which gave them life.
• The bread represents the Lord’s body given for the atonement of all humanity.
• The bread also represents the Lord’s Body the Church, which is unified in Jesus Christ.
• The wine symbolizes the blood of the New covenant.
• The wine is an emblem of Jesus blood poured out by the Father, at the cross.

Which reminds me that we did not discuss Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac in Genesis 22. That episode is rich with symbolism and it represents point by point the sacrifice of Jesus.

The principal who initiated the offering on the mountain was Abraham; it was to be by his hand that Isaac’s blood was to be poured out. (Does this imply that the Father poured out Jesus’ blood?)

Isaac was a boy, but he was willing to give his own life to his father, (…just as Jesus would do for humanity?)

Oh well, this is enough for now. I will continue to build on this theme later.

If you think of other symbols you might post them. I know that I am missing a lot.

God speaks through symbols far more than we consider. We learn by Symbology. I may challenge your thinking a little as I conclude the point later.

God bless,
DSM

This, again, is the continuation of the posts of October 10 & 11, which is an exploration of the scriptures from the beginning that reveals the Trinity of God.

We first explored the instances where God speaks of himself (“we”) in the plural and where he speaks to himself (“us”) in the plural. (Genesis 1:26; 3:2; 11:7)

We also reviewed Abraham and Sarah sharing a meal with Yahweh, the three men, the three Angels. All of whom are called Yahweh collectively, cumulatively, and individually in Genesis 18:1 through 19:1.

Then yesterday we considered Moses speaking with Yahweh face to face as a friend speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:11ff). While also being told by Yahweh the Friend that Moses may not see Yahweh’s Glory face to face and live, yet, Yahweh’s Presence would go with him and the people of Israel, each of these descriptions revealing one of the persons of Yahweh our God. The ‘Friend’ is Jesus the Son. The ‘Presence’ is the Holy Spirit. The ‘Glory’ is the Father.

Today we look at Elijah in the desert from 1Kings 19:9-14.

8And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

9And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah was not in the earthquake: 12and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

You should notice that verse nine tells us “the word of Yahweh (Jehovah) came to him.” Have you ever read John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”? If you have read this passage you will remember that John reveals to us the Jesus the Son is the “Word” of Yahweh. So, when we read that “the word of Yahweh came to” Elijah and spoke to him, we know who of the Godhead that came to Elijah.

You should notice also that the Word of Yahweh asks Elijah “What are you doing here?” to which Elijah gives the Word a sob story about how the whole nation of Israel had given up their faith and that he, Elijah, was the only one left who remained faithful the Yahweh. After the Word listens to Elijah’s explanation, He tells Elijah to go out and stand and prepare for a personal encounter with Yahweh.

When this encounter occurs, you can see some important things about the Father in this episode, Yahweh asks Elijah the very same question that the Word of Yahweh asked in verse nine.

Why did Yahweh ask the question a second time? Why didn’t Elijah say Lord I just told why I am here?

Well obviously, we would not likely make such an impertinent retort as that to our creator and Lord, but the point remains, Yahweh the Glory had arrived just as the Word of Yahweh and stated. Therefore, Yahweh the Glory is not the same person as the Word of Yahweh.

Thanks, again for your patience. I hope that you are beginning to understand that the answer to our atheist, agnostic and Muslim friends are not so difficult. God is one nature; he is perfectly unified in purpose. But, he is three.

The purpose of the Son is to convey glory to the Father. The purpose of the Father is to confer glory to Son. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to demonstrate glory of the Son. The purpose of mankind is to acknowledge glory of the Son.

The difficulty lay in our willingness to see and our willingness to reveal.

DSM

This is a continuation of the Post, which began October 10, 2006.

Now, to the study of God’s eternal nature, as he has revealed to us through the scriptures, we concluded with Genesis 18-19 yesterday.

^{(Summary) Abram sees “the Lord” in the 3 men at the Oaks of mamre. This enigma of 3 men being referred to as “the Lord” makes sense if you understand that these are angels who represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.}

Next, we go to Exodus 33:9ff. In this passage we find a very curious thing, it is either a direct contradiction of the immediate verses within the passage or we might understand that Moses is revealing the Trinity to us.

This is a long passage, but it is amazing, so stay with me, I will be using the old 1901ad version ASV, because it attempted to stay true to the personal name of God, although they mixed up the Yahweh with Jehovah the effort is important to follow what is happening between Yahweh and Moses.

^11And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent.

^12And Moses said unto Jehovah, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found favor in my sight. ^13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee, to the end that I may find favor in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. ^14And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. ^15And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. ^16For wherein now shall it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? is it not in that thou goest with us, so that we are separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth? ^17And Jehovah said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found favor in my sight, and I know thee by name. ^18And he said, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. ^19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ^20And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live. ^21and Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock: ^22and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by: ^23and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.

It appears that the contradiction occurs between verse eleven and verses 20 and 23. Did you see it? Verse 11 states that Moses spoke to Yahweh “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” But, verses 20 and 23 states “Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live” and “and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Obviously, something very curious is going on. Is there a logical way to understand this and not understand a contradiction?

My answer is simple; When Yahweh descends upon the tabernacle and speaks to Moses face to face as a friend speaks to his friend, then we should understand that this is Yahweh the Son. Jesus the Son of God is called “the friend of sinners” in the gospels.

Next, Moses prays to Yahweh to go with him and the people of Israel, to which Yahweh, the friend of Moses, responds “My Presence” will go with you just as you’ve requested. We should understand this to be Yahweh the Holy Spirit. Moses emphasizes the point by saying if “Your Presence” doesn’t go with us, then do not tell us to leave.

Finally, Moses makes one last request of his “Friend”; in verse 18 Moses asks to be allowed to see Yahweh’s Glory.

Here is where Yahweh the Friend of Moses tells him that this request is more than can be granted, at least not without some special care that must be taken by both Moses and Yahweh the Friend. He reveals to Moses that no man may see Yahweh the Glory and live. This should be understood as God the Father.

This passage, when we take time to pray and study, can open the scriptures to us very clearly, concerning God’s nature and his persona.

We will continue this study latter. There are many other passages from the Old and New Covenant writings that speak to the Trinity of Yahweh our God.

However, in conclusion of today’s post, I want you to be able to place in proper perspective the reason it is so difficult for us to understand the concept of One God being made up of three persons or entities.

We might understand that USA is one nation, but is made up of many states. Or we might understand a Corporation is made up of many officers and employees. This all makes perfect sense to us in a concept of Union, Unity, and United. This is no different than our God Yahweh.

Our misunderstanding, I am persuaded, devolves from the various interpretations of the original text of the Scriptures. The ASV 1901 translation reads very differently than the KJV or NIV or NLT, on a pivotal passage from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. I am going to lay the KJV along side the ASV to see the difference. You should understand that the ASV gives the personal name for our God, just as the Hebrew text does, instead of changing God’s personal name to LORD.

ASV Deuteronomy 6:4-5

^4Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: ^5and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

KJV Deuteronomy 6:4-5

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: ⁵ And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Did you notice the change? Does it make a difference? When I read the ASV it clarifies all the difficulties of One and Three for our God. “Yahweh (Jehovah) our God is one Yahweh: and you should love Yahweh your God with all of your heart, soul and strength.”

Until next time, God bless,

DSM

The Trinity of God is revealed throughout the scriptures from the beginning.

• Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make people* in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals,* and small animals.” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill

The passage from Genesis 1:26 uses the plural “us” for God. In the text, God is more than a single entity.

• Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill

The passage from Genesis 3:22 also uses the plural “we” for God. The text shows that God is a minimum of two entities.

• Genesis 11:7 Come, let’s go down and give them different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

The passage from Genesis 11:7 also uses the plural “let’s” for God. The NLT text uses the contraction “let’s” to stand for “let us” in the words that God uses. “He” again is a minimum of two entities.

• Genesis 18:1, 2, 3, 5 through 19:1 The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, 2 he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. 3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while… 5 Let me prepare some food to refresh you. Please stay awhile before continuing on your journey.” “All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”… 8 When the food was ready, he took some cheese curds and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them there beneath the trees.
  9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” they asked him.
  “In the tent,” Abraham replied.
  10 Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”…13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, “That is not true. You did laugh.” …
  16 Then the men got up from their meal and started on toward Sodom. Abraham went with them part of the way.
  17 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. 18 “For Abraham will become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19 I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord and do what is right and just. Then I will do for him all that I have promised.” 20 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. 21 I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.”
  22 The two other men went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham for a while…
  33 The Lord went on his way when he had finished his conversation with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his tent… 19:1 That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground. Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 . Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

This extended passage continues through chapter 19. But, you should notice that the context demands that we understand that “The Lord” from 18:1 is used to refer to all of the “men” or just one of the “men”. In other words “They” references “The Lord”, “Them” also references “The Lord”, “We“, again, references “The Lord”. The same is true for “I” and “me.”

I hope that you are still following me on this, because it is very important to understand the context of what the scriptures record. Perhaps you are concerned that the text interchangeably uses the term “men,” “The Lord,” and in Genesis 19:1 “Angels”. This is not that difficult to understand if “The Lord” employs “Angels” who take on the appearance of “Men”.

This very fact occurs over and over in the Old Covenant books as well as the New Covenant books. Consequently, we see in the above section of scripture an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Father, an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Son, and an Angel who appears to be acting as the agent for the Holy Spirit.

Before we conclude this section of Genesis, notice above, that in verse 21 the individual who is called “The Lord” remains behind to talk to Abraham while the other “two men” go down to Sodom. The one who remains behind, tells Abraham, “I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.” But, when he, “the Lord”, finishes talking and leaves, in verse 30, he does not join the two other men/Angels in 19:1.

So, let us consider the options here.

1. He lied to Abraham and did not go down to Sodom to check things out for himself.
2. He did go down to Sodom, but he did it independant of the other two “lords” and the scripture failed to record that visit. However, he would’ve had to beat the other two Angels down to the valley, because the two who retrieve Lot and his family appear to be the only reconnaissance for Sodom.
3. He did go down to Sodom, but he did it by “Proxy” via the other two “Angels” who are also called “the Lord” in chapter 18:1.
   

We will continue the review of How God can be one and yet be multiple entities in tomorrows post.

Read the text and think about it.

DSM