David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
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This is an optional Old Testament selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important it shows the ark’s presence in Israel is symbolic of God’s presence in one’s heart, thus worthy of celebration by songs, dance, and sharing the blessings that come from offerings to the LORD.
In this reading it is important to realize that David has been King of Israel for over seven years. He has taken the stronghold of Jebus from the Jebusites and renamed it Jerusalem, with his area called the City of David. He has then made arrangements for this stronghold to be the home of the ark. One can presume some time took place preparing a location for the ark to rest, as well as preparations for moving the ark (a new cart, minimally), so at least six months has passed since Jebus fell.
The ark was under the control of Levites in the “house of Abinadab,” as well as in Gibeon. While the ark was in Kiriath Jearim, the ancient tabernacle was kept in Gibeon. The Levites would have overseen the consecration of all priests who would attend to the ark. Uzzah and Ahio are called “sons of Abinadab, but “sons” (“bə·nê”) were “descendants” of that “house” (“mib·bêṯ” as “family”).
The ark had been moved there after the prophet Eli’s death, as Samuel became the judge of Israel and shortly before the elders of Israel asked Samuel for a king.
After seven months, the Philistines had been punished enough for having the ark and they left it on a rock in Beth-Shemesh so it was up to the Israelites to deal with. It caused 50,070 to die there, so they asked for it to be removed. It was then taken to Kiriath jearim.
The ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2), when Saul ordered the ark moved, without permission (1 Samuel 14:18). One can then presume the ark was returned, after God stopped answering Saul, in an attempt to make amends. By the time David went to move it to the City of David, the ark had been back in Kiriath Jearim around thirty additional years (fifty in all).
When the translation says, “gathered all the chosen men of Israel,” the operative Hebrew word is “bā·ḥūr,” which leans one to “young men,” even “vigorous young men.” Thirty thousand is a symbolic number that states the importance David saw in this move. The youth factor was so all those accompanying the ark would be energetic and enjoying the festivities surrounding God being moved.
The name Uzzah means “Strength,” while the name Ahio means “Brotherly,” or “Brother/Friend of the LORD.” The place named as the “house of Obed-edom,” can also be read as a family residence named for a “Servant of the Red One,” or “Servant of Edom,” where Edom was a kingdom south of Judah. This can equally be read as “Servant of Strength,” where it held the strategic advantage of height on a hill. It is believed the path of the ark was forced to shift to an easier path downhill.
The omitted verses address the near fall of the ark from the cart. Uzzah attempted to stop its slide and was killed. The symbolism there could be no human strength can force its will upon the power of the LORD. Because of the death of Uzzah, David turned the cart around and returned to the “house of Obed-edom and left it there for three months. During that time, the family at Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the ark, so David returned to continue the move of the ark to his city.
[Back to the reading]
When we read, “he sacrificed an ox and a fatling,” this was a priestly act performed by David. After the ark was returned to Israel by the Philistines, Samuel had become elevated to the judge of Israel and he made burnt offerings to the LORD also. This says David was more than the King of Israel, as he was also the one who could perform holy ritual. By doing this after the ark carriers had walked six steps into his city; he sacrificed an ox and fatling as the head of the family that was the house of David. This is then repeated when we read, “They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord.” Finally, David “blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts,” which was a priestly act.
David danced and rejoiced mightily as a sign of his complete devotion to God. His displays, as well as those of the Israelites, were to show their happiness to have the LORD welcomed with fervor into their midst. That celebration was followed by more ceremonial burnt offering, which had to have been enough for thousands of Israelites. We know this because we read how David, “distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.” This act of blessing and feeding a multitude would much later be seen by Jesus.
To myself, the element of this reading that sticks out and stays in my mind is when I read, “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” When David and Michal were younger, when David was living as an adopted member of Saul’s royal family, “Michal loved David,” and Saul “was pleased” to hear that news. Saul planned to use that love to get David killed by Philistines. Because David was poor, Saul set the dowry as “a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” David brought back two hundred and was given Michal as his wife. However, soon after, Saul forced David into exile, trying to kill him.
David and Michal were then separated for many years. After Saul was dead and his son Ish-Bosheth was King of Israel, David sent a demand to send his wife Michal to him in Hebron (he was then King of Judah). Ish-Bosheth forced Michal from her husband to go to David, while David had taken on other wives while in exile and they bore him children. Still, this story tells how Michal “despised [David] in her heart” because he acted in an unroyal manner before the ark. Her “contempt” shows how she had been coddled as a princess and seeing David playing the fool before God disgusted her.
As a reading option for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway, the lesson is to fear the LORD and only Him. That was the commandment stated in Deuteronomy 6:13 and it was restated in 1 Samuel 7:3, after the ark was returned by the Philistines. The fear of the ark was the fear of God, and the lesson of this reading is delight in that power.
The ark had remained in one house on a hill for the most part of half a century. It was not in the tabernacle Moses had the Israelites construct, which could be taken down and moved in their travels. David prepared a tent for the ark in the City of David. The entire time Saul ruled over Israel, the LORD did not have a proper place to rest; and, in return, Israel did not benefit from the power of the LORD. This story is about how David returned that power to a proper home.
The symbolism is the struggle that one of faith has in mistaking a fear of the LORD as the fear one has to find a proper home for God. A minister to the LORD has prepared a place for God to reign, which is the tabernacle-tent covering one’s heart. Many people have difficulty making the sacrifice that makes one appear publicly foolish, as that has the effect of bringing contempt and disdain from those who see the rewards of the world come freer and more frequently when they act in ways that attract wealth. This means Michal, whose name means “What’s God Like?” questioned how God could bless anyone as wildly foolish as David. A minister to the LORD is no longer worried about how the self is seen by other human beings, as the only eyes that matter are God’s.
It can take many years of one’s life to dare to move the ark of God from some external resting place (like a church building, a religious denomination, or a surrogate minister) into one’s heart.
There may be setbacks, like the death of Uzzah and the testing of the presence of God in another (like David leaving the ark at Obed-edom), but one needs to see how God being kept external does not save one’s soul in the end.
The marriage of David to Micah, when David was too poor to pay a dowry, symbolizes one’s marriage to the world and the inheritance of worldly goods. When Micah saw David had chosen God, she saw him as returning to earthly poverty, even though he was the king of all Israel. Her love of a young, self-assured David, who had so much potential for capturing the booty and spoils of war, dissipated to nothing, once she saw his Spiritual choice. So too does the world reject a high priest, a holy judge, and a servant to God. Just as did Michal turn on David, a minister can expect to find the same rejection of past friends and business partners. Simply by changing from self-promoting, soul-selling, run-of-the-mill typical people, those people who one was just like feel disdain being around someone so changed. When one has fallen in love with God and married into His house, then there can be no turning back – because one sees the true love of God and the false love of those too weak to sacrifice immediate gratification for eternal peace.
The lesson in this optional Old Testament reading is ministry requires one become a Brother of Jesus Christ, just as Ahio led the ark in its return. To be a Brother is to become a reproduction (a rebirth) of the Son of God. A Brother comes in both male and female human bodies. As Christians, who profess to have the Strength of the LORD at their beck and call (the spirit of Uzzah), that consecration as a high priest of the ark leads one to think you can control God. One’s lineage and pedigree makes one thing one can reach out and touch the LORD whenever one pleases. While omitted from today’s reading, we find that Uzzah’s attempt to keep the ark from coming off the cart was not seen by God in his favor. Instead, we read, “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:7)
That lesson says to be careful that one does not think God obeys one’s commands. That is irreverent and causes God to burn such selfish souls from anger. One has to fear the power of the LORD and bow down before that magnificence. Bowing down might be seen as foolish and weak; but foolish and weak is much better than fried to a crisp, having God raised God’s ire.
This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
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This is an optional Old Testament selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important because it shows the rejection prophets face when they speak the truth of God, while not backing down to that rejection.
The plumb line is used to make sure a wall is going up perpendicular to the ground, assuming the ground has been leveled and a solid foundation is in place.
Without a plumb line to ensure the squareness of the angle (90 degrees), the wall will collapse under its own weight. David was the plumb line for Israel, where the wall was reworked after Saul. Jesus Christ would be the cornerstone to a new foundation for a new wall (Christianity) that would test the squareness of each brick (Christians) making up that wall. Thus, Jesus would also be the plumb line sent to be in the midst of God’s people, after their walls collapsed in Israel and Judah, sending those of Israel to the winds of the earth and the Jews to Babylon.
The prophets, like Amos, set that line and the people rejected it by allowing kings who were out of square to reject the prophets. The collapse of Israel and Judah can then be seen as nothing more than a law of physics. Thus, just as they fell because they were not square with the LORD, so too did the Jews of Judea and Galilee collapse for not accepting the square that was Jesus Christ. The same building failure is often repeated throughout history in nations of people who reject God and His cornerstone.
When we read how Amos wrote of the LORD telling him, “I will never again pass them by,” the actual Hebrew words from which this is translated are “‘ă·ḇō·wr lōw,” from “abarlo,” meaning “no pass over.” Those two words are separated (a hyphen mark shown in the text) from the lead-in words, “lō- ’ō·w·sîp̄ ‘ō·wḏ,” rooted in “lo yasaph od,” which state, “not again going around.” God told Amos that the breaking of Israel into two nations meant the Israelites were breaking free of His influence.
This means the history of Moses and the Israelites comes into play, where the angel of death would no longer be allowed to pass over the doorways to homes of the children of Israel that would no longer be marked by sacrificial blood of lambs. This prophecy given by God to Amos came at a time after Jeroboam had successfully manipulated the secession of the ten tribes that became the Northern Kingdom, splitting away from Judah.
When we read, “Amaziah, the priest of Bethel,” we need to know that Bethel was the place established by Jeroboam as the second Temple. This site was deemed the holy place of the Northern Kingdom, so Israelites would not pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the required holy festivals (Passover being the first each year). Amaziah is said to be a priest of Jeroboam II, the distant descendant of the initial usurper Jeroboam. Amaziah is therefore considered as a false prophet of Israel, although his name means “Yahweh is Strong” or “Strength of the LORD”. Amos was then prophesying for the LORD when Amaziah was a priest of Bethel, under Jeroboam II.
When we then read how Amaziah reported about Amos, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel,” the map above shows how Bethel was not geographically central to the area comprising the Northern Kingdom. Amos was sent to Bethel to preach the Word of the LORD; and because of Bethel being only 10.5 miles north of Jerusalem, “the very center of the house of Israel” means the “heart” of their house of rebellion. Since the original unification of twelve tribes was Israel, and all its inhabitants were Israelites (of which Bethel and Jerusalem were centrally located), “the house of the new Israel” became synonymous with those who rebelled and broke away, stealing the name “Israel” in that process.
When we read that Amaziah told Jeroboam II, “The land is not able to bear all his words,” those words are stated by Amos as being the Word of God, stating:
“the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
This should be seen as saying Mount Moriah will have been made a place to avoid, as Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. Mount Moriah is one of the hills (high places) of Jerusalem. Thus, Jeroboam, through the establishment of a second temple in Bethel (where Abram built an altar and Jacob dreamed of a ladder to Heaven), devised a scheme to desolate Jerusalem of Israelite observance of the Law of Moses. Other shrines of the newly unified Israel, in Dan and Gilgal, were where golden calves were placed, which welcomed complaints by prophets and opened doors to foreign cult worship.
This made Bethel become representative of all the “sanctuaries of Israel” that would become wasted through rebellion. Imagine how this was not seen by all the people as unwanted. See it as similar to the removal of statues of the Ten Commandments from American public places and government buildings. Therefore, the wasting of sanctuaries was cheered, more than bemoaned.
While God spoke to Amos during a period of relative peace and stability, “the house of Jeroboam” would be stricken down by “the sword” of Assyria in the future. The “waste laid” to that house would be such that those of the Northern Kingdom would lose all identity by not being deemed worthy of captivity. The people of Israel would be scattered into the winds, sent to the four ends of the earth, no longer identifiable as Israelites. However, because that future had yet to materialize, Amaziah said the Northern Kingdom was, “not able to bear all his words” as truth.
Amaziah then quoted Amos as saying, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.” The death of Jeroboam II should not be seen as the prophecy made by God through Amos. This is on a grander level, where the rebellious house of the Northern Kingdom took on the spirit of Jeroboam, whose name means “The People Contendeth.” It can be seen also as “The people contend” or “He pleads the people’s cause” (from the “Etymology” section in Wikipedia article “Jeroboam”). Thus, the prophecy of Amos foretold of a future death that would come by the double-edged sword of God’s judgment.
Because all divine prophecy can be averted through belief and actions of faith based on belief, the future of a divine prophecy is both set in stone and able to be avoided. All divine prophecies of warning will come true, but judgment is equally served. Upon those who serve the LORD righteously and choose to change their ways, the truth is revealed as continued peace and prosperity. The prophecy of the sword has been securely locked in stone. However, without that change, those who serve themselves above God will find judgment coming from the blade of the sword being freed and wielded recklessly.
The prophecy is not exclusive punishment of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom. It was specific to those who followed a wicked leader. Had Israel overthrown Jeroboam and reunited with Judah, the prophecy would still be in effect for any other leader of rebellion that may come later. As such, all the rebellious peoples of the world – those who rebel against their God – can be figuratively identified as being in “the house of Jeroboam.”
The land “Israel” stands by the name meaning that is “God Strives.” It means “God [El] Persists,” such that Israel is a state of being, more than a place on the earth. Anyone who does not maintain such a state of being – of steadfastly holding onto the Will of God as one’s purpose in life on earth – then that human being has exiled oneself from the protection of the LORD. The sword of judgment will fall in the direction of one’s self soul, whose physical body becomes the land it serves. One can only be “the land where God Strives” when the soul has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit. Without that holy baptism, the soul is exiled from God.
We then read, “And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” In this series of segments, where each makes an important statement, we first see Amaziah pronouncing Amos as a “seer” (“ḥō·zeh,” rooted in “chozeh”). That was an admission that Amos was truly a prophet of God. It was recognition that Amos was one who experienced divine whispers rather than visions, confirming how Amaziah had already pronounced to Jeroboam II that the words of Amos were unbearable.
Next, Amaziah told Amos to “Go.” The Hebrew word “halak” (“leḵ”) says, “Walk; Act; Grow; and Live,” as well as “Go; Return; and Depart” (among many other things). This says Amaziah acknowledged that Amos had entered upon a path that he could not avoid. He did not tell him to “Stop,” because he knew that was impossible. Therefore, he then said “flee away to the land of Judah,” as the Word of the LORD would find welcoming ears there. The urge to “flee” said there would be danger if Amos did not leave the Northern Kingdom.
To translate “we·’ĕ·ḵāl– šām le·ḥem” as “earn your bread” means old beatniks from the early ‘60’s must still be around and translating the Holy Bible.
The earliest form of “rap”?
The most literal translation of the root words in that segment clearly says, “eat there bread,” but the intent is quite clearly “feed bread there.” Rather than seeing Amos as a paid priest, paid priests love to justify their “bread” (wages, housing, insurance and corporate perks) by the words of Timothy. That Saint wrote, “For the Scripture says, ” You shall not muzzle an ox treading out grain,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages,” (1 Timothy 5:18).
That verse says the whole purpose of a prophet is to feed, not to be paid as a laborer. The metaphor is missed when “wages” are seen as paper notes and metal coins. Timothy meant, “Your work justifies your reward.” Amaziah was telling Amos that his words of prophecy would be more rewarding when fed to hungry mouths.
The Word of God flows through a prophet’s mouth like manna falls from Heaven. This means the Holy Word is the “bread” that must be consumed by the faithful. Jesus said to break and share the bread of the Seder meal and remember him, because the bread (words) of the Old Testament feeds belief in Jesus Christ. Thus, a prophet earns the right to feed others through righteous living and a marriage to God.
This explains why “feed there bread” is followed by the stated segment(s), “there – prophesy.” Above and beyond a physical state of “there” (Judah), this word being set alone becomes a focus set upon the Spiritual state of being that is “there.” Rather than Amaziah identifying a place, “there” set apart was the state of a prophet who has been allowed by God to “feed His bread” (“prophesy”). Once “there,” there is nothing else a prophet of the LORD can do but “prophesy.”
To be there, one has to first seek to learn where “there” is. Then ask God, “How do I get there?”
When Amaziah then followed this recognition of righteousness in Amos by stating, “But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom,” he was making it clear that the rebellious (those calling themselves Israel) were no longer following the order of Yahweh. He was no longer their spiritual king; and the land they took was not ruled by true prophets of the LORD.
This is how Amaziah can be called a false prophet, because he remained in Bethel where priests and prophets did not advise the man who would be “king” (a procession of names) of God’s Word. This would worsen over the years, especially under Ahab and Jezebel, when the remaining good priests were executed and replaced by pagan ones. Rather that priests advising the king, the king commanded as a god and his priests and prophets would spin those decrees to the people.
At the end of this selected reading, we read the response of Amos as: “Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” This again speaks in segments, where each states the Word of the LORD.
When Amos said, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son,” this was a denial that he had been professionally schooled or educated in Scripture. The ancients of Israel and Judah had a school of prophets, such as the one Eli led, which was where the parents of Samuel left their son, dedicating him to the LORD. It had once been the role of each Israelite family to present their firstborn sons to priestly service (Exodus 22:29), but this was modified to being only those of Levite parentage (Numbers 8). This means that not only had Amos never been educated in a school that taught priestly duties, he was not of Levite heritage.
When Amos said, “I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock,” the combination of “herdsman” and “flock” means Amos was a shepherd, although the specific animals he shepherded may or may not have been sheep. The Hebrew words written, “ū·ḇō·w·lêsšiq·mîm,” can more literally be seen to state, “gather figs from trees.” While “sycamore trees” can be implies, the general intent is “a tree.” The word translated as “dresser” is better understood as “gatherer,” where “figs” are the fruit implied.
A tree hung with dresses is not the intent here.
When this is read as Amos rejecting the notion of being a trained “prophet,” with him saying he made a living selling wool and figs, the point is missed that this states his qualifications for prophesying. Amos was chosen to prophesy for God because he had found pleasure watching over creatures that needed help and he had gained strength through holy fruit. According to Google, “The fig tree is a symbol of peace and plenty,” such that Amos lived as a peaceful man and the LORD provided him with all he needed. This makes Amos be a model of the Good Shepherd, as Jesus of Nazareth shared the same lack of institutional education, with both men relying totally on the insights coming to them from the LORD.
Finally, when we read Amos saying, “and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel,” the skills of a shepherd are better than having a big brain filled with memorized words and the interpretations of scholars and false prophets. Rather than preach what he had heard or read from some other big brain, Amos had no knowledge of Scriptural meaning, other than that sent to him by God. Those who say what they are told to say by kings, and other demigods whose brains are quite inferior to the knowledge of the LORD, pale in comparison to the words of a lowly prophet.
Amos then possessed the Mind of Christ, due to his reception of God’s voice. When the LORD said, “Go,” Amos went, without question. He went because the LORD only speaks to His servants and His servants serve by spreading the Word of the LORD so others can hear it – whether they want to hear it or not (usually, they do not want to hear it, like Amaziah).
As an optional Old Testament reading selection for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway – one should be like Amos – the message here is the requirements for being a minister.
First of all, one must stand upon the solid ground of faith, squarely rising as a student of Scripture. Either one’s parents has delivered one to the church for children studies, later to attend sermons in adult church, or someone gave one a person copy of the Holy Bible, which shows evidence of having been read. One has demonstrated some interest in one’s religion first. Addition studies are then chosen as interesting, such as attending optional classes in church, making personal investigations of Biblical questions on Internet sites, or reading books of Biblical interpretation purchased from booksellers. To call oneself Christian requires more than having water poured over one’s head as an infant.
The plumb line that one is measured by is belief, which is squared by the insight of God’s whispers, but leaned by the contradictions and inconsistencies of interpretation that keep one from actually experiencing God personally. Belief is based on questioning the meaning of Scripture, all the while knowing it is wholly the truth. One seeks answers that prove the truth of Scripture, and that proof is personally experiencing God. One prays and is sent insight or shown signs that answer the prayers. One is able to see through the veil of mystery. Thus, one rises perpendicular to the foundations of Christianity and Judaism when one becomes a prophet of the LORD, without the blinders worn by scholastic professors of religion.
Second, a minister of the LORD has heard the truth be spoken within and proved time and again by searches for examples, so one knows the truth always comes when one closes the brain and lets the lips become the vehicle of God’s knowledge. One does not become a minister because one needs to pay off the loans one incurred going to school, to learn some religious stuff. One does not become a minister that is approved by a dean of theology or a bishop in an organization of religious churches, in order to “make one’s bread.” A minister of the LORD drops everything else (church flocks of sheep and the fruit of business trees) and does (gladly) what God leads one into.
Third, a minister of the LORD says what is true, expecting to find rejection and banishment. The truth hurts the ears of those who act (as pretense) faithful to God, but are really more interested in what their leaders tell them to do, so the nation state-of-being cannot be distracted by those who would point out the errors of their ways. Even though a minister of the LORD is told to get out of a disbeliever’s mindset (the “face of other gods” they wear before the LORD), a minister of the LORD teaches his or her family to remain faithful.
Finally, it must be understood that ministers of the LORD have been set in a world that has plenty of souls who want to believe; but they struggle to find the strength to turn away from a world that demands spiritual sacrifice for survival. As Jesus told the parable of two men who went into the temple to pray – the Pharisee and the publican (tax collector) – it is important to see how both men had made worldly sacrifices, in the name of the god “money.”
The Pharisee boasted to God that he gave ten percent of his stolen wealth to the priests each week, and he sacrificed by not eating during the daytime twice a week. Not once did he admit to God that he had sinned in the first place. He wore the blinders that allowed him to sin without regret.
The publican felt so much humility that he knew everything he did was based on sin. He was as wealthy as the Pharisee, but the Pharisee had the people too afraid to reject him, due to his powerful connections. The people could easily see the sin of wealth on the tax collector, and he was in a position easier to hate. This grieved the publican; but he had never met anyone from the temple or synagogue who could lead him to truly believe he could stop sinning. He saw their sins of accepting some sinners, while rejecting people like him, without any sense that any rabbi was in that position of teacher, filled with knowledge that was designed to lead sinners to being sin free.
The parable ended when Jesus said, “I tell you that this man [the publican], rather than the other [the Pharisee], went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Neither was able to stop their sinful ways. However, one prayed for someone to help; and that is why God sends ministers into the world … to make help available to those seeking it through prayer.
A minister to the LORD is sent by God to help the humble to find the truth that opens their hearts up to receiving the love of God. This comes by feeding the Word to them, one bite at a time, like a baby is fed by its parents. Thus, a minister must see those who seek the truth as infants that must learn to crawl before they can learn to walk. Most Christians are fed Scripture as Pablum (def.: bland or insipid intellectual fare, entertainment, etc.), and they never develop an appetite for solid religious food. Those babies grow into hardened people, like Amaziah, who love to say, “The land is not able to bear the bread of truth.”
A minister of the LORD goes to offer food for thought to those who are seeking that fare.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
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This is the Epistle selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important it touches on the predestination of Saints, where God released all human souls on the material plane with the instruction: “Come back. Don’t get lost in a physical body.”
When I was a young boy being raised in an Assemblies of God church, I remember there was a “prayer room.” It had folding chairs in it, at which people would kneel and pray.
As best as my young brain could discern (from what I saw happen in that room) was the room was a place to be trained in how to “speak in tongues.” According to the methods taught to me, as I knelt in front of one of those folding chairs, I was told to repeat the word “Glory,” over and over. I would do that until my tongue got so tied up it would stop saying “Glory” and start making unintelligible noises. I was told those unintelligible sounds was “speaking in tongues.” One traveling evangelists actually encouraged me to just make up any noises that I wanted. When I did, I was praised by the congregation for “speaking in tongues.”
Reading this greeting written by Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, it dawned on me how repetition being the key to leading one to speaking in tongues was the truth. Someone, somewhere along the line of the foundation of the Assemblies of God church mistook reading Scripture (the Glory of God in writing) over and over, until it begins to make deep, spiritual sense, as how one speaks in the tongues of God. What is unintelligible to those who have no time for repetition then becomes crystal clear to those who eyes and ears (and mouths) that God has opened.
Paul is a classic example (in all his writings) of how repetition is the key to understanding. The faster one reads Paul the more it sounds like babble. However, when it is read slowly, over and over, praying for the deeper truth to be exposed, it begins to amaze with how accurately detailed Paul’s words were. They are of divine origin.
With that short lesson about speaking in tongues complete, read this over and over and contemplate its deeper meaning: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ask yourself as you repeat those words, several of which are capitalized, showing importance, “Is this a simple church greeting, where important words are written ceremoniously, or formally, or ritually, rather than with the intent to express the truth?”
Ask yourself, “Is God truly Worthy of praise, such that God is the epitome of ones Blessings?”
Was Paul pointing out that God is the Father of all Creation, including himself, all the people breathing air in Ephesus, as well as every living being on earth? Or, was Paul making an important statement about God being exclusively the Father of himself – an Apostle – and those true Christians of Ephesus – also Apostles? Did Paul intend his use of Patēr (capitalized as “the Father,” versus “ancestor, elder, or senior” in the lower case) to be meaningless or meaningful?
Why did Paul further that by stating God is the “Father of the Lord,” going on to say “the Lord of us”? What does the word “Kyriou” mean, when it is the “Lord” and/or “Master of us”?
If God is King of Heaven and Jesus was not a king of a nation, where would he be Lord? Where could his kingdom be, if not within an Apostle?
When a comma is placed after “hēmōn” (“of us”), indicating a pause in this line of thought, how then does that mark in the text act to denote a separation between “us” and “Jesus Christ”?
When you read these ten words over and over … slowly … allowing the truth and full scope of intent to sink in … can you see Paul stating, “I praise the One God as do you praise the One God [“Blessed be the God”], for together we are blessed to know God as the Father [“and Father”] of new state of spiritual being, having been born of His love in His sending us our Master [“of our Lord”], the new Lord of our souls in our flesh, such that we each have become a kingdoms of Jesus Christ [“Jesus Christ”], each being the resurrection of Jesus Christ”?
When your eyes begin to open to Paul having just made a powerful statement that he was a member of the church of Ephesus, where “church” is defined by Jesus as being “where two or three gather in my name, I am there in their midst,” (Matthew 18:20), those to whom Paul wrote were just like him, in the sense they had each been “Blessed” by “God,” who then was the “Father” of their rebirth, where the “Lord” of their bodies, minds, and souls was “Jesus Christ.” They had each become Jesus Christ incarnate. When that becomes clear, then you can begin to do the same repetition of the rest of this reading.
To speak in the tongue of God, as Paul was writing “in tongues” using the Word of God spoken to him, each Apostle in Ephesus was then capable of “reading in tongues” (a.k.a. “speaking”) and reading the words of Paul on a divine level of understanding (above a human brain level). To an Apostle, there is not thought that goes into word selection, as some brain-powered trick of language. Words naturally come to one filled with the Holy Spirit. However, a disciple can be trained to begin proving the divinity in such tongues by following logical methods.
Like I am instructing, one has to practice reading slowly, repeating each word as it was meant to be read – using the full scope of each word’s usage, not just the standard or typical. That requires learning Greek (and Hebrew) as well as God knows Greek (and Hebrew), or using a tool to make up the difference (such as an online Interlinear translation of the foreign to the known. One has to know God’s Mind is so great it chooses the precise words necessary to convey depth beyond the standard and typical; but intelligence is elevated to inspiration when one proves to oneself how great God is to choose words with so much meaning unseen.
(I am now going off the script above and will be using the literal (interlinear) English translation of the Greek written. Feel free to see how English alters the ordering of words written, to satisfy syntactical differences from Greek.) By seeing that Paul said “Blessed [be] the [One] God,” as the source of Apostles having been reborn as Jesus Christ, next read:
“the [One] having blessed us with every blessing spiritual in the heavenly realms in Christ.”
God is “the [One] having blessed” Apostles. God has bestowed upon His servants “spiritual blessing,” rather than physical rewards. The spirit of a human being is the soul, so an Apostle’s soul has been made “worthy of praise,” due to it having been cleansed of sins by the Holy Spirit of God. They have been spiritually blessed so their souls can gain spiritual reward in the “heavenly realms.” The plural number of “realms” shows how heaven has become one with earth in an Apostle, of which there are many. They have been blessed with the knowledge of God that comes to them because they are in Christ. They have been blessed with the Christ Mind.
Then read:
“just as he chose us in him before foundation of world , to be for us blameless and holy before him ; in love.” [Notice the presence of punctuation marks, which are ‘road signs’ that say how to slow down more and shift gear.]
Again, “he” is God, who has Blessed them and they praise Him for those blessings. Paul is saying Apostles are predestined to become Saints. The Greek words “katabolēs kosmou” imply verbiage that says, “the foundation of the world,” but that is a limitation that plays on one’s brain. A brain thinks the only way that can be interpreted is from Creation, a long, long, time ago. It does not have to be that far-stretched. Each soul in “the world” is reincarnated into new flesh each earthly life. The word “katabolé” actually has a meaning that is relative to “conception,” so each human being’s “foundation” in “the world” is their birth. When rebirth is factored in, then being chosen “before being born as Jesus Christ” is the call to be a disciple. In Paul’s case, the spirit of Jesus Christ knocked Saul off his donkey and blinded him for three days before he took on the name Paul and began serving God as Jesus Christ reborn. The choice one makes that answers that call from God is completely and totally “to be blameless and holy before [God].” An Apostle is not forced to serve God; but one serves out of “love.” An Apostle falls “in love” with God. An Apostle becomes married to God [the cleansing of sin from the soul] and God’s love reigns in an Apostle’s heart.
Jesus is the round stone that rolls away from the entrance to the tomb, freeing the soul for eternal life.
After absorbing that, then next read:
“having predestined us for divine adoption as sons through Jesus Christ , according to the good pleasure of the will of him.”
The Greek word “proorizó” means “I predetermine,” but it equally means “preordained” and “marked out beforehand.” By seeing how Paul said Apostles were “chosen at birth,” and that means being reborn “in him” – Jesus Christ – the view is now broadened to show one’s responding to God’s call is one’s “pre-ordination” towards becoming the Son of God. This is then a “divine adoption” by all human beings, of both sexes, those who answer the call, to be reborn as Jesus Christ. His Spirit is resurrected within one’s soul, so all who are so adopted divinely are transformed into “sons through Jesus Christ.” This Spiritual adoption goes beyond human gender because of the “love” of God, so accordingly all “sons” are everyone who is filled with the “happiness of the will of him,” which is the presence of the Holy Spirit – the same that surrounded Jesus of Nazareth.
That revelation then prepares one to read further:
“to praise of glory of the grace of him , which he has freely given us in the [One] beloved.”
This “good pleasure, happiness, and delight” that is brought on by God’s love, His Holy Spirit and the Mind of Christ is then the elation that instantly causes an Apostle to “praise the unspoken manifestation of God” inwardly. Such feelings of joy are due to the “favor” and “gift” of God, leading one to give in return “thanks” and “gratitude” to God. It means an Apostle acts as did Jesus of Nazareth, giving all “honor and glory to God.” This does not come by asking for favor. It comes “freely,” given by God to His ‘wives’, those who have subjected their will in marriage to God, accepting him into their hearts as “the [One] beloved.”
If that is difficult to grasp, keep repeating those words over and over, slowly. Understand that “praise” comes from inner delight that is beyond natural emotions, which are impossible to maintain by self-will. However, seeing “happiness” as a “gift of God” allows one to then read:
“in whom we have redemption through the blood of him , the forgiveness all of trespasses , according to the riches of the grace of him.”
Notice the repetition of the word “grace,” which in Greek is “charis.” The form written by Paul, “charitos,” is now being linked to “the blood of him,” where the Greek word “haimatos” means “blood” that has been spilled. This means that like Jesus of Nazareth spilled his “blood” in the act of crucifixion, where he willingly became a sacrificial lamb for a higher cause, so too are Apostles called to the same higher cause, through self-sacrifice.
By being reborn as Jesus Christ, one has been given the higher reward of “redemption,” where the sins of one’s life have been “ransomed” through a “blood” payment. Therefore, the “blood” of self no longer leads one’s body, because it has been replaced by the “blood of Christ.” The “blood” of Christ is the Holy Spirit that protects one from death. Achievement of that reward means “forgiveness of all sins” – the baptism of one’s soul by the Holy Spirit. That cleansing is “according to the abundance of the kindness of God” – through His “granting the favor of Jesus Christ” to one.
Keep repeating those words until they speak to you on a personal level, rather than as a bystander looking at an old letter written by an Apostle to a church in ancient Greece. See how Paul was not spreading the truth of some blanket promise of redemption and worldwide forgiveness of sins, given to anyone who did little more than profess belief in Jesus as the Son of God. One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without letting go of selfishness and actually living as Jesus of Nazareth lived. When one has a firm hold on that “grace of him,” then read:
“which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and understanding ; having made known to us the mystery , of the will of him , according to the pleasure of him , which he purposed in him.”
The Greek words that begin this series of segments, “hēs eperisseusen,” can equally translate as “that exceeded the ordinary” or “which abounded.” The use of “lavished” means the amount of the spirituality richly given by God to His Apostles is much more than they could ever possibly comprehend with a human brain. Those “riches” are now stated as “wisdom and understanding.” It is such divine insight that allows them to understand Scripture (“the mystery” is the hidden meaning in the words – such that I am expanding upon now) is made known instantly or with quick inspiration to know, not by the will of one’s intellect (a Big Brain) but by God’s whispers. God then delights in His servants finding enjoyment in seeing Scripture unfold before their eyes – meaning that astonishes – because everything was written with that deeper purpose intended. This is the knowledge of God being conveyed through the Mind of Christ, made available to an Apostle that has been reborn as Jesus Christ.
Then read the next series slowly and with repetition:
“for administration of the fullness the [one] of times ; to head up the all things in the Christ , the things in the heavens , and the things upon the earth.”
This series begins with the Greek words “eisoikonomian,” which can also state “for stewardship.” The translation read aloud in church states, “as a plan for.” The Christian view of “Stewardship” has been applied to the responsibility of Christians to take care of the earth. There is “a plan for” this type of “administration.” However, that view frequently turns into pleas for donations to the churches, so the burden will be taken on by Church, directing funds to outreach programs, allowing the individuals to have the comfort of knowing that doing little more than contributing money absolves them of this “administrative” duty.
The meaning here is different. It means Scripture is never to be read as a stagnant story of one time past. Apostles are given divine insight so Scripture is seen to always apply to current times, so there is a “full complement” of timely interpretations of meaning. The one who heads this organization is not a bishop or pope, but Christ – the head of the Church. Therefore, Stewardship can only come through Apostles who are enlightened as to the “administration” of all things that fit the requirements that bring one to God and project the Christ in the flesh. The “administration” is not for a body of people – an organization called a church – but that which ensures each soul can return to heaven. Those are the deeds one’s flesh does, through the Christ, as one in the name of Jesus Christ, while here on the earthly plane.
Being able to grasp that vital message, then slowly read and reread this:
“in him , in whom we also we have obtained an inheritance , having been predestined according to purpose of the case all things working , according to the counsel of the will of him.”
This begins with “in him,” which is a statement of being in Jesus Christ. The Greek words “enautō” state “in him,” but also can convey “with the same” or “in self.” This says an Apostle and Jesus Christ are one, not one on earth and the other in heaven. The Greek word “eklērōthēmen” expands on the root “kléroó,” where “inheritance” means an “allotment” or “a share.” When “inheritance” is understood to be defined as, “something, as a quality or characteristic, received from progenitors or predecessors,” then the share received is the resurrection of the Son, born of the Father, into the inheritors. That makes them also be (regardless of human gender) “sons of the Father.” Again, the “predestination” is less a birthright that comes from professing belief that Jesus was the Son of God, but more a statement about that period of devotion preceding one being filled with the Holy Spirit, married to God, and reborn as His Son. The Greek words “panta energountos” (“all things working”) means the “predestination” is “according to the purpose” of inheritance, where one does the works of the LORD – “of every kind.” This is how Saint James could truthfully argue: “Faith, without works, is dead.” (James 2:14-26)
Those “working” acts are then not led by brainstorming with a denomination of Christianity and its political agendas, where one is blindly led by the will of other human beings. Instead, one possesses a brain that functions, made fully cognizant of how what one does under the direction (“counsel of the will”) of the Christ Mind is works based on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That subjection to the Will of God is how one inherits the resurrection of Jesus Christ within one’s being.
Allowing that vision to slowly appear makes one able to then progress to this series of words:
“for this to be us , to praise of glory of him ; those having first trusted in the Christ.”
Here we see Paul stating that doing the works of faith, directed by the presence of Jesus Christ within on, is the only way such works can be done. It means the self must be sacrificed to serve the Will of God. It is the self that becomes filled with doubts and fears and hesitates doing the works the whispers (conscience) tell one to do. “for Jesus Christ to be us,” following the counsel of his will, “all things working” are accomplished. That accomplishment is in no way attributed to the power of the self, but to the “glory of God.” As an Apostle watches him or herself doing the works of Jesus Christ – according to the talents given, listed by Paul elsewhere – “praise” is given to the Trinity having involved oneself: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converging in one’s flesh. That promise of accomplishment is then the “predestination,” where “one first trusted in Christ,” which is faith. Faith alone is not enough, but it is a “first” step in the direction of discipleship. To do the works of faith, one has to learn belief through study of Scripture, praying for the truth to be revealed. Until one sees that truth personally (not simply being told, like I am doing here), such that “all things working” become one’s personal acts of investigation, one will not be enabled by God to progress to Apostle status.
Seeing that insight of a search for the truth and the acts of faith coming from personal belief, read this next series of segments slowly, repeating until the meaning is clear:
“in whom also you , having heard the word these of truth , the gospel of the salvation of you , in whom also , having believed , you were seated with the Spirit this of promise , the Holy.”
Notice how the last segment ended with the word “Christ,” who offered one “hope” (another translation of “proelpizó,” which states “trust”) as one’s “first” step towards marriage with God and giving birth (resurrection) to Jesus Christ, Paul then stated “Christ” is “in whom also you,” where Paul was in the name of Jesus Christ and so were the true Christians of Ephesus. They have all been elevated to the status of Apostle, as completely devoted servants of the LORD, because their “works” involved study of Scripture, through divine insight. By “having heard the word these of truth” coming from whispers of enlightenment inside one’s head, one has been able to find a personal relationship with God that gives delight in His glory. That experience moves one spiritually (in one’s soul-being) to submit to the Will of God. When one has become the wife of God (males and females He weds them), the “love” child is Jesus Christ reborn into another Son of the Father. That presence of Christ in one becomes the “good news” of one’s personal soul’s salvation. The Holy Spirit has baptized the soul clean, with all sins forgiven, and “all things working” henceforth are the Will of God, through Jesus Christ reborn in flesh (“in whom also”). All comes from true belief, not just obedience to dogma and being told what one should say that one believes. One is then “seated” with salvation through having received the Holy Spirit of God.
Having grasped that last important series of segments, look now closely at this final series in this reading:
“that is guarantee of the inheritance of us , to redemption of the acquired possession , to praise the glory of him.”
The Greek word “arrabōn” can be translated as “guarantee,” but the truest sense of the word “arrabón” is: “an earnest, earnest-money, a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.” This means the receipt of the Holy Spirit must be seen as a pre-payment made in the worldly realm (while alive in the flesh) that then “guarantees the balance” that assures “the inheritance of us” in Heaven. This means one cannot sin an entire lifetime, doing nothing for anyone other than self (where all forms of altruism, without being led by the Christ Mind as one with a human being, is ultimately for selfish purposes) cannot find God on one’s death bed. Repentance must be pre-paid by selfless acts. Try borrowing money for a house in the same manner, where one has never worked to earn anything that would then act as a promise that more productive work will qualify one for total repayment. No house loans come to slackards, just as no heaven comes to those claiming faith, but without works. One has to become Jesus Christ reborn to insure entrance into the heavenly realm for eternity. In order to acquire that heavenly promise, one has to “deliver” on the promissory note of living a “Holy” life, once married to God. The act of “redemption” is payment in full for works done. Again, nothing is self-praiseworthy as no self-willed donations of time or possessions will cause one “to praise the glory of God” for one’s acts of faith. Self-acts of faith are then due to guilt or delusions of grandeur (the prayers of the Pharisee and the Publican), where neither is worthy of divine reward.
One is acquitted of his sins before God (a sheep of the flock) and one is condemned (a false shepherd blowhard), but neither can keep from further sins without the Holy Spirit’s assistance.
As a selected Epistle reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway – like that of Paul and the true Christians of Ephesus – the lesson here is a personal relationship with God, one where oneself has become subjected totally to God’s Will. A minister supports other ministers, while being a light of truth to those “predestined” to also become ministers.
The words of Paul are written minister-to-minister. This means it requires one be led by the Holy Spirit to write in divine ways, so only those who are filled with the Mind of Christ can fully grasp the deeper meaning. In the story told in Acts 2, where Peter stood with the eleven other new Apostles and “spoke in foreign tongues,” the pilgrims in Jerusalem who heard them were amazed. It was not amazing how twelves ‘rubes’ from Galilee, who had no foreign travel experience or formal training in foreign languages, were speaking fluently in languages that were understood by those who recognized their tongue being spoken. Some wrote that marvel off as being drunk on new wine, where some slurring drunkards had been mistaken before as speaking in foreign languages. That notion was discounted because of the knowledge that came from each foreigner hearing the truth of Scripture in his or her own native tongue. Therefore, we learn that three thousand pilgrims were filled with the Holy Spirit that Pentecost morning, because their ears were opened to the truth of God’s Word for the first time.
The repetition of Scripture can be found in those three thousand pilgrims having lived a lifetime studying the Torah, Psalms, and the Prophets, so they recognized what the Apostles were speaking about in their language. They wanted to know the truth, so their hearts were opened to receive it. They were predestined to receive the truth through devotion to a religious doctrine; but they had never been told the deeper meaning of God’s Word before that time.
Decades after I left the Assemblies of God church, I heard someone say that one can speak in tongues that are not understandable, but confirmation is then required as proof. The confirmation requires one who can understand the tongue spoken. When this is guttural noises of meaningless origin being interpreted by someone who says what the meaning of meaningless is, I see that as wolves in sheep’s clothing leading lambs to the slaughter. However, that still makes sense as a valid test of one having a gift of the Holy Spirit, which prophesying and interpreting prophecy are two.
Paul wrote in the tongues of the LORD. This reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has 255 words in it, with only six periods. That is an average of 24.5 words per “sentence.” Because the human brain is not accustomed to comprehending such long-winded statements, the “normal Christian” gets confused easily when reading Paul. This is because the sacred texts are not written to be read “normally.”
Paul’s letters, like all Scripture, requires the willingness to read them meditatively and then listen for insights. Those whispers come from the Mind of Christ. Thus, the reality of one speaking unintelligible words of divinity (Paul and the other Biblical writers) is indeed confirmed by others who interpret those unintelligible words (Apostles) as the truth. From what I have heard said to be a confirmation of one speaking in tongues, this could be what the Assemblies of God believes.
Still, when people stand and quote Scripture (such as a reader does in an Episcopal church each Sunday) and no one can understand what that Scripture means, it can seem as if it is double-talk or nonsense. But, if a priest can stand before a congregation and explain that meaning, so that everyone present is suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and transformed into Jesus Christ reborn, then an Apostle has confirmed the meaning publicly. Both Paul and the Apostle-priest have spoken the truth as Jesus Christ. However, the purpose of understanding the unintelligible is not to make a living writing books of explanation or standing on the stage of a mega-church selling oneself as a prophet.
God chooses who can understand His words; and He does that for the purpose of transforming disciples into Apostles.
Somewhere, long ago, someone laid that truth before those who were not filled with the Holy Spirit, but they felt the power of the truth and believed. Speaking in tongues is not gained by repeating the word “Glory” over and over. But, it is seeing the “Glory” of God in Scripture that must be repeated over and over.
The true meaning of a church of Christ is everyone who is a member is an Apostle. When Scripture is read in that church, everyone understands, because everyone is a priest that can stand up and speak the truth to a chorus of “Amen’s.” Those churches were where Paul sent letters that were fully understood. Therefore, those churches were more like a ‘teacher’s break room’, where they gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, to rest before going to a synagogue here or a meeting place there (a classroom), where the truth could be taught to those “predestined” to receive the Holy Spirit.
This is the time to begin doing “all things working” towards one’s personal salvation and earning the down payment required for a loan for eternal happiness. A minister of the LORD makes him or herself available to those seekers of faith. A minister of the LORD teaches those how to believe with praise to the glory, glory, glory of God.
King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
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This is the Gospel selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a priest on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important because it gives the details of John the Baptist’s execution, which has applications that should be realized by all readers.
In this reading selection, one has to notice how Mark (the writer for Peter) gave a base statement of how Herod Antipas (a.k.a: Herod Antipater), the ruler of Galilee and Perea, was informed of a man named Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.
At that time, according to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus was teaching in Galilee and drawing rising attention. By stating, “Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead,”’ this is following the death of John, ordered by Antipas. It was the news of John the Baptist’s death (Jesus’ cousin) that led Jesus to seek solitude across the sea, which led to the feeding of five thousand.
Matthew (Matthew 14:1-13) and Luke (Luke 9:7-10) also tell of the Herod’s role in the death of John the Baptist, with Matthew also giving the details found here in Mark. Matthew also speaks of the details of John’s beheading in hindsight, after telling how Herod had “heard reports about Jesus.” This hindsighted view is seen as “John’s Fate Recalled” (an artificial title placed before this story in the New American Standard Bible translation version). Such a title gives the impression that this story is rumor, rather than a truth personally witnessed.
The disciples of Jesus were attending to his needs, in particular on the Sabbaths, when Jesus would teach in synagogues around Galilee or from a hillside around the Sea of Galilee (that had natural acoustics that allowed a normal voice to be heard at a distance). Further, both Matthew and Mark connect Jesus’ being rejected in Nazareth to news of his travels in Galilee reaching Herod Antipas, and both prior to the feeding of five thousand. Luke, Matthew and Mark all say that Jesus sent out the twelve prior to the news of John’s beheading, which then led to the event of five thousand being fed.
This three-dimensional view says that the disciples did not venture close to Herod’s palace when they were sent out as extensions of Jesus. Even if one can assume that the prison and palace were in the capital city Antipas built – Tiberius, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (a.k.a: Lake Tiberius) – that presence in Galilee would not allow Jesus’ disciples into the palace. They certainly would not have been invited to a birthday party thrown for the king.
As poor Galilean fishermen of Jewish heritage, they would have had absolutely zero contact with any Roman approved ruler of Herod the Great’s kingdom. After his death over twenty years prior, Judea was split into quarters. Herod the Tetrarch (Antipas) was a ruler of “One Quarter” of that realm, which was divided four ways. Herod Archelaus ruled Judea, until he was disposed by Rome and replaced by a governor (several before Pilate). Herod Antipater received Galilee & Perea, while the half-brother Herod Philip II was assigned Batanea. Decapolis being an autonomous league of ten cities, which made up the fourth division.
It is even doubtful that Jewish scuttlebutt was allowed to be proclaimed about the beheading, which would clearly paint Antipas as an evil ruler. This means the news of John’s death by beheading, news of his body being claimed by relatives for burial, and any information given to those relatives as to why the decision to execute was made, can be second-hand by the time that news would have reached Jesus and his disciples. One could seriously doubt that John’s relatives were told this story of a daughter’s dance and the whispers of the wife-mother hatred.
The nuances of Mark’s Gospel make it stand out beyond Matthew’s statement that “Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.” (Matthew 14:5) Mark adds depth to the aspect of the Baptist having told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” More than Antipas wanting to kill John, but was afraid of what the people thought, Mark tells us, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.”
Wanting to keep John alive is what set the ruler above the disdain his wife, Herodias, had for the prophet. When Mark writes that Herod “heard him” and “liked to listen to John,” this links the Judaic roots the Herodians had, as their blood was Jewish. While they were all largely disbelievers of the teachings of the Torah and much more inclined to see the value of Roman and Greek empirical ways of law and government, the Herodians knew the demands (weak as they were) of the Jews had to be respected. The disposition of Herod Archelaus proved that Rome did not want a civil war to deal with. Thus all the client kings of the Herodian kingdom knew how important it was to simply keep unrest at a minimum.
For Herod Antipater to enjoy listening to John the Baptist, this implies Herod would call upon John to answer questions about Scripture that he thought were the weak links in the Judaic faith. How King Herod would do this is unstated; but it could have happened any number of ways. John, undoubtedly, would speak words of truth that impressed Herod and made him rethink some of his inherent bias. Those words of wisdom probably kept him alive longer, but gave Herod no desire to free John.
Mark then identifies the “daughter of Herodias” as Herod’s, but Matthew clarifies this somewhat by simply stating, “On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced.” Since Herodias had been the wife of Philip, it is more likely that Herod Antipater’s half-brother was the father of Salome. [Josephus confirms she divorced herself from Philip after the birth of Salome and then married Antipas in his Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, chapter 5, paragraph 4 .]
When we read, “the king said to the girl,” the Greek word “korasiō” is a statement that Salome was “a little girl, a young girl; a girl, maiden.” While it is possible to see her dance as sexually arousing, it should be understood that Salome was most likely a pre-teen, albeit close to, but still under that age of puberty that would make her a young woman. That youthful energy, combined with an innocence of naïveté, is then why we read: “She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”’
Mother Arguing With Teenage Daughter
After Herodias told Salome to ask for the head of John the Baptist, one can assume that her suggestion was for John to be executed, such that “off with this head” is somewhat of a euphemism that is a harsh way of saying, “I would ask that John be executed.” Salome, however, took her mother’s suggestion most literally and went back to Herod and announced, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” That request by a little girl is then less capable of being heard as a general suggestion of a death sentence be given to a prisoner. It was made specific by her imagination of a platter.
When we read, “The king was deeply grieved,” Matthew used the Greek word “lypētheis,” which means “deep grief, or painful sorrow.” Mark wrote “perilypos,” which says “greatly grieved or very sorrowful.” Still, this should not necessarily be seen as severe distress over having John the Baptizer killed. Both Matthew and Mark tell that Herod ordered this act be done because he had publicly given his oath before guests. He was probably more grieved because he had given up control over what he was going to do to John.
After all, John had done little more than speak out against Herod Antipas as an adulterer and sinner, for having taking his brother’s wife as his wife, when his brother was still living. There probably was no official divorce involved, one following Mosaic Laws. Still, the grief felt by Herod was probably due to him having to account for the execution of a prophet that the people thought might have been their Messiah, when John had done nothing to warrant that sentence. If civil riots were to ensue, that would be the source of Herod’s inner anguish – punishment by Rome.
It is at the point that Herod “Immediately … sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head.” The guard then “went and beheaded [John] in the prison, [and] brought his head on a platter.” Antipas then commanded that the guard give the head on a platter to the girl. When Salome then gave that gruesome gift to her mother, one could expect it was a sight she had never seen before and was one that would forever leave a mark in her memory. While Herodias was probably happy to see that her vengeance had been fulfilled, Salome had danced for no personal reward, other than her mother’s pleasure.
What one can overlook in the quick decision by Herod Antipater is how beheading was a form of execution that was largely reserved for important people, those who held some level of respect by Rome. While death was the ultimate price paid by beheading, it was swift, immediate, and (one can assume) relatively painless. When this reading begins by the rumors that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist (“raised from the dead”), this is like premonition of Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, Jesus would suffer from the disgraceful form of execution that was crucifixion, not the form of execution that would be suitable for a king. John the Baptist, by chance opportunity, was executed, but he was not tortured to death.
When we read, “But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” this becomes the foundation for understanding why Herod Antipater would send Jesus back to Pilate, when Pilate sent him to be judged by Antipas because Jesus was a Galilean. In Luke we read, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.”
This says that Herod Antipater wanted to believe that his ordering the head of John the Baptist being taken was not a burden placed upon his soul, because John had been raised in Jesus. King Herod was “very glad,” having “long desired to see” Jesus, so Jesus could give “some sign” that he was indeed John raised again. John had “perplexed” Herod with his words and Antipas “liked to listen to him,” but Jesus said nothing to Herod Antipas. Because Jesus gave no signs he was John (which would have saved his life), Herod gave him over to his soldiers to mock and send back to Pilate.
When we read, “But others said, “It is Elijah,”’ referring to the increased popularity for (and increased protests against) Jesus, this is confirmation that prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist. To have some think John had been resurrected in Jesus, and to have other think John’s death brought about the return of Elijah in Jesus, that was people claiming the fulfillment of what had been prophesied to occur before the appearance of the Messiah.
In Matthew 11, after John the Baptist had been arrested and imprisoned, he sent messengers to Jesus asking, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus sent the messengers back to John and then said to the crowd, “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’” (Matthew 11:10) That implied that John was the reincarnation of Elijah; but when Jesus told his disciples, as they (Jesus, Peter, James and John of Zebedee) came down from the high mountain, “I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist,” (Matthew 17:12-13) that confirmed what had been felt by many Jews after John’s beheading.
From the depth that comes from this story told by Mark, which is echoed in those told by Matthew and Luke, the truth comes not from innuendo and rumor but from divine insight. Rather than a story being told of the execution of a prophet of the LORD, a story being recalled or remembered in the third person, by a man writing of it decades after the fact and in his own old age (60-ish), Mark [Peter], Matthew, and Luke (Mother Mary] saw what they wrote of divinely. All Scripture should be recognized as of divine origin, such that each writer of a book in the Holy Bible is divinely inspired (through the Holy Spirit).
In this way, God was present when Salome danced for King Herod Antipater and God knows of the private conversation held between Salome and Herodias. The truth is told, which may or may not confirm any scuttlebutt or hearsay that circulated then, because neither Mark nor Peter (both believed to have died in 68 A.D.) wrote from the memories of human brains. They told and wrote as commanded by the LORD, as Saints filled with God’s Holy Spirit, as each had been reborn as Jesus Christ. They each were shown the truth of that event.
As a selected Gospel reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway – as was Peter’s and Marks’s – the message here is the divine insight of truth. A minister will be led to know the truth, without the necessity of being present at events where the truth will be masked or covered-up.
The main perspective that comes from all Scripture comes when one can see the flaws of the characters portrayed as being the characteristics present in all human beings. This means all human are like Herod Antipas, all are like Herodias, and all are like the little daughter who danced to please her mother’s husband, and who asked for a gift that would please her mother. A minister learns not to see oneself as John the Baptist or as Jesus, even when becoming an Apostle means being reborn as Jesus Christ. To reach that lofty goal, one has to first see oneself as too flawed to become Jesus Christ without divine assistance.
In this way, each person is a king (or queen, perhaps for women?), as the supreme ruler of the kingdom that is oneself, one’s physical body. In the situation comedy Seinfeld, the joke was that each person is the “master of one’s domain.” Being a king or master is then how each human being develops an almost godlike view of self. This is how our minds look upon each part of our bodies as if they are vitally needed and must be served by the will of one’s mind. This is how the sum of the parts becomes greater than the whole, rather than the whole being determined by the sum of the parts.
This is the Big Brain that rules over us. In the typical decrees of self, we sin, just as Herod sinned by taking his brother’s wife as his wife. It is from our royal, all-powerful opinion of self that we approve adultery, divorce, adoption, and all other decisions we make. It is afterwards that we feel inner guilt over wrong decisions. We advise ourselves that there is no truth in religion that warrants we make the sacrifices, as the sacrificial ones are the less fortunate. We choose not to sacrifice because, after all, we recline when we dine (something only the rich do) and we throw parties for “courtiers, officers, and for the leaders,” those who have scratched our backs as we have scratched theirs.
In the rejection of religious sacrifice and any attempts to become righteous, initiated by the self-will (overseen by the Big Brain), one’s failures (sins) are internalized in private moments of shame and guilt. This is how we know John the Baptist (one’s conscience) is kept hidden in the personal jail cell of one’s personal palace. There is where one can ponder the legal clauses that one leans on, as crutches, which are the loopholes to do as one pleases. Once one seriously asks how is a natural or normal act deemed a sin, the wisdom of God brings those questioners glimpses of enlightenment. One sees in ways one had never seen before.
Just like Herod and John, one can be greatly perplexed when one hears that inner voice saying the truth about the condemnations of personal sins. Still, because no one else heard that truth be told, no one outside of the prison walls of one’s mind, one can delight in the sensation of hearing wisdom. One likes to hear what one’s inner voice says. It allows one time to manufacture a defense of sin, later in retort.
To cut off the head of one’s conscience is to completely forsake all attempts to justify one’s actions or to give any further thought to the dogma of religion. It is one’s oath before one’s personal collection of irreligious associates, where one feels one has finally sold one’s soul for good, willing to take the risk that there is no afterlife. If there is, then one accepts condemnation to hell, because one has become too attached to the rewards of the material world. The head one serves on a platter is none other than one’s own sense of righteousness. The “half of my kingdom” that has been sacrificed for the ‘dance’ of personal gain is that of an unseen spiritual realm and the promise of eternal bliss. With one’s head on a platter, one has made a deal with the devil and served up one’s soul.
“Stop or I’ll shoot,” where you take yourself hostage, only works in Hollywood.
This makes Herodias the epitome of Satan, a named evil entity, one which lurks behind the curtains of the stage where the dance of life is performed. She represents the element of wickedness that enters one’s life, to which one’s John the Baptist conscience screams, “Shame! Sinner be damned!” She whispers in the ear of a naïve act of pleasure, one seemingly innocent and pure, then suddenly that little vice has become a big trap.
Salome is unnamed because she represents the myriad of ways one can be tempted to give up one’s soul. She calls upon one’s standing in front of others as the oath one must live up to. This trick, like that whispered by Satan to Jesus, while he was tested in the wilderness, calls for one to look for honor among thieves, when there is no such thing. Herod catered to the will of a “little girl” because he made an oath before dignitaries that had no honor. Had Herod Antipas not cut his own head off, he would have told Salome, “Go to Hell,” just as Jesus told Satan, “Get out of my face.”
This is the lesson that a minister must heed. One has to make the life decisions that will take one away from the pretense of lavishness. The Jewish recognition of the Passover has them reclining for dinner, where they recognize only the wealthy can do that regularly. Jews only do it once a year (two evenings). The symbolism of the Passover is God giving protection to His chosen, those whose dedication and devotion will be rewarded with riches that are greater than any found on earth. That symbolism of a Seder meal has to then become the reality of one’s real life. One has to see the folly of pretending the material world offers anything of lasting value. Therefore, the call to sacrifice all addictions to the worldly means the head that is served on a platter is one’s self-ego … the illusion that is the Big Brain.
A minister of the LORD can then read the last line of this selection with understanding. “When his disciples heard about it, they came and took [John the Baptist’s] body, and laid it in a tomb.” That body was headless. Only the physical body was buried, so it could return to dust. Death is the end to all human bodies; but Heaven is the wake state that defeats human death.
The head of John the Baptist represents the Christ Mind, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes one a prophet of wisdom. John sacrificed his Big Brain for a higher reward. That reward was told in this reading as him being the great prophet Elijah. King Herod thought John had been “raised again” in Jesus. He was half right. John was raised again as the soul of Elijah having returned to earth, for the purpose of announcing the Messiah was here.
This is then how a minister is sent by God to likewise preach to the people in general and to individuals privately, one-on-one. John the Baptist spoke the Word of the LORD because he was chosen at birth to serve God and he did so righteously. Still, John the Baptist had an ego that led him to question the authority of Jesus, because he was being held in prison and could not serve the LORD as he had been doing. Jesus responded to John’s messengers by saying:
“’Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’” (Matthew 11:4-6)
This means a minister of the LORD does as the LORD deems best. The LORD sends ministers so the truth comes to those who are blinded to Scripture and cannot be moved by it to act. Sinners have their souls cleansed by the Holy Spirit and those who have turned a deaf ear to the truth hear their consciousness telling them, “Listen!” Jesus knew John would be dead in the not distant future, but Jesus knew John would be raised up, returning to a better place, his work on earth done. Likewise, a minister of the LORD sends word that the Big Brain must die for the soul to be raised. Those who are poor of Spirit are transformed into Apostles who preach the Gospel, when they like to listen to wisdom speaking.
This is an explanation of the parables told in Matthew’s Gospel that will be read aloud in Episcopal churches on the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12). This next reading is scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 2020.
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
Jesus put before the crowds another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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In Exodus 16 Yahweh told Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. In the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” (Exodus 16:4-5, NIV)
Manna (Hebrew meaning, “What is it?”) was spiritual food from heaven, which fed the souls of the Israelites. It was not physical food, from which normal life was sustained [they had livestock for that]. Therefore, God placed a limit on how much spiritual food can be properly digested by a soul trapped inside a body of flesh, so the soul’s health is maintained as a good servant of God.
A daily omer of Spiritual food means being given enough to have a new spiritual dawning that keeps one’s faith at the proper level of excitement for God’s knowledge. Taking more spiritual food than one can possibly use in one day is then no different than eating too much at the all-you-can-eat buffet [when those existed prior to the pandemic]. Eating too much physical food makes the excess be stored around one’s fatty regions, so one looks grossly unfit.
Similarly, trying to eat too much spiritual food makes all the excess go into the fatty regions of one’s brain, where the result is a life-shortening case of the Big Brain symptom. Relative to that nasty disease, we are told that pigging out on spiritual food led to one being “full of maggots,” with the Big Brain beginning “to smell.” That is the same thing as we see these days, when a priest stands before a gathering of listeners and begins to speak dead words that stink to high heavens.
The all-you-can-eat warning is necessary because today’s Gospel selection amounts to three days worth of spiritual food [minimally, more than two]. Given that two days worth is allowed before the Sabbath (technically Saturday, but Christians cut the grass and play gold on that day of rest), three days worth breaks the rules [as does two and a half]. That can then be expected to lead to bad sermons.
The reason this is three days worth because the mustard seed and the yeast was one parable that Jesus told to a crowd that had gathered along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Possibly, Jesus and his disciples were having lunch – what we would call hoagies – and someone asked, “Can you pass the mustard?”
That led Jesus to point out the source of mustard was the smallest seed and the fluffy tastiness of the hoagie roll was the yeast. Thus, he stood and spoke to the crowd below, speaking those parables. The meaning is: From small, seemingly insignificant things (like you and I) are grow huge rewards that benefit others in many ways (the planned ministries of ALL who call themselves Christians).
Then, after lunch, one of the disciples (or more) asked Jesus to explain his previous parable about the weeds, which was metaphor that flew over their heads. That explanation is the time lapse of the missing verses in this week’s reading. Last Sunday, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, we read about Jesus telling that parable and then explaining it, skipping over the mustard seed and yeast in flour parables.
Seeing that time did pass by before Jesus then spoke again to the disciples, with the crowd able to hear, Jesus spoke about things of great value – the treasure known to be buried in a field and a great pearl. While those two parables can be seen as counting as one serving of manna (an omer), the parable about catching fish is like that one little extra helping at the buffet, which puts one over the limit. Still, since the three are all led by Jesus saying, “the kingdom of heaven is like,” the three can pass the omer test as simply being a plate of chocolate pudding and jello, with a side of a pineapple slice – for a variety dessert.
When Jesus had finished telling those three parables, he asked his disciples, “Have you understood all this? They said, “Yes,” which means Jesus was not explaining the meaning of a parable to the commoners by the sea. He was only teaching those who would follow in his footsteps, as him reborn. After all, the crowd was just gathered in case Jesus was handing out free food (wafers and wine?) and not as interested in having parables explained.
Because the disciples said, “Yes” to Jesus’ question, everyone in an Episcopal church today should likewise need no explanation. Right?
I forget.
Disciples are few and far between these days, with nobody even close to being Jesus Christ reborn, so only crowds show up for the ‘buffet at the rail.’ Everything needs explaining.
In case you noticed, all of the parables told in Matthew 13 are about what the kingdom of heaven is like. When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, which were not always easy to understand, he told them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” (Matthew 13:11) Jesus was teaching the next generation of rabbis, which means they too would be teachers of divine wisdom as Apostles [Saints].
They would then have their own schools of students seeking to gain divine wisdom, which is the parable of the vine and the good fruit. The good fruit is an Apostle-Saint, who produces seeds that are disciples needing to be informed in divine matters. Thus, a priest should be expected to be an Apostle-Saint and a pewple should be expected to be a student whose heart yearns to be fed spiritual food – once a day, just not gathered on Sunday.
In case there is anyone out there that fits that scenario, here is an omer of insight about the treasure in a field, a perfect pearl, and the great catch of fish that will be sorted.
The kingdom of heaven is like a quest that is driven by the heart, not the head. If you have ever watched the History Channel shows The Curse of Oak Island or Lost Gold of World War II, you see people whose heads lust for the reward of physical wealth. The kingdom of heaven does not care about physical treasures or things that have great value in the material realm. Thus, the kingdom of heaven is like a physical treasure or thing of material value, meaning the reality of something greater – as spiritual worth.
Jesus said two men, each seeking different things, sold everything they had to buy into the same goal – what they ultimately sought that was worth selling everything in order to obtain. We are never told that they found what they were looking for, but the implication is they found what they sought. That implication reflects one’s faith, not needing to be told, “Oh, and they both got rich.”
We are only told that the first man sold everything and with “joy” he bought the field said to contain the treasure. That joy is stated in the Greek word “charas,” which also translates as “delight, gladness, a source of joy,” but implies in Scripture: “the awareness (of God’s) grace, favor, joy (“grace recognized”).”
That means the quest is as valuable as the reward. That means a disciple yearns to know more each day (especially on Sunday), as each day comes understanding that keeps the heart burning with desire to search for the ultimate reward, which is spiritual knowledge that cannot be kept to oneself. A burning desire to share what one sees as most valuable – worth giving everything up for – can be understood as the most valuable thing anyone can search for. Sharing that found is more rewarding than keeping something for one’s private use.
The kingdom of heaven is like that. The United States of America is not like that. Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada is not like that. Mountain tunnels in the islands of the Philippines is not like that. Nothing about this material world is like that.
Now, if one is a student of the all-you-can-eat Holy Bible, especially loving the food available at the New Testament bar, one might recall Jesus telling the rich, young ruler [Temple elite, a Pharisee of the Sanhedrin], step two in the process of being assured entrance into the kingdom of heaven means: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Matthew 19:21) In the parables of the treasure in a field and a great pearl, the seekers did just that. The metaphor of those objectives is then the same as the question posed to Jesus about the quest for “eternal life.” That says: If you want eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, then you will be driven to obtain that goal. Otherwise, like the rich, young ruler, you go away grieving because you have too many possessions to release from your grasp.
The lesson of those two parables is then: You get out of life what you are willing to put into life.
Since human life is known to always end in death, human things symbolize rewards of death. Since eternal life is not available in a physical body, one must be willing to sacrifice oneself for something unseen – the buried treasure that was hidden from sight. The great pearl was seen but cost everything to acquire. You cannot have something you want without paying the price. Both parables reflect someone having great faith that possession of a right to the kingdom of heaven (assurance) is worth sacrificing a lifetime’s accumulation of material things.
Faith like that reflects the ideal of knowing, “You can’t take it with you.”
The sad thing about this parable is everyone gets that. Everyone knows how giving up all the things one has is too hard, if impossible to do.
The rich young ruler is no different than a lawyer I knew in a church, who gave tremendous amounts of his wealth (far from all) and tremendous amounts of his time (which the wealthy also have in abundance) to that church. I’m sure the rich young ruler likewise gave in support to Jesus’ ministry [can you say “Nicodemus”?]; but, when he walked away grieving about having too much to give it all away, in the same way that wealthy lawyer said about such a proposition, “That doesn’t work out very well.”
Talk all you want about give, give, give, and give some more, but Christians are like turnips -you can’t get blood out of them. All people have bills to pay. Living in the real world is not free.
We are forced by society to turn away from this parable and pretend we don’t understand what it means.
We hear these parables and we hear Jesus ask us, “Have you understood all this?”
We gulp as we say, “Yes.” We know what selling everything means. Then, we gulp again.
We overlook how Jesus then said, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
We hear those words words in physical terms so we generate images of teachers (Pharisees, rabbis, priests), of houses (Temples, synagogues, churches), businesses (tables of the vendors, rooms where the scrolls are kept, and the sacristy where the chalices and trays are washed). We miss the true meaning, just like the disciples did not know the truth when they said, “Yes” to Jesus’ question.
Every teacher of the law is meant to be Jesus Christ reborn. Jesus meant that, but the disciples (at that point in time) were clueless. Jesus knew that a teacher of the law would become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven, which means an Apostle-Saint. A disciple, like those who said “Yes” when they were really clueless, is incapable of being a teacher in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus Christ is the only teacher in the kingdom of heaven. This means the kingdom of heaven is wherever Jesus Christ is teaching; and, that means a human body of flesh and bones is “the owner of a house.” That becomes more than the body being the temple of the soul, as it elevates to meaning the body becomes the Temple unto the Lord, with Jesus Christ the presiding lecturer [High Priest / King] at the altar [a human brain] each day.
It is from that fleshy, convoluted “storehouse” that all divine wisdom is processed and spoken through mouths of teeth, tongues and lips. The law is written on the hearts of the Apostle, but the Christ Mind knows the depth of truth the words of the law mean. The words are then the sermons of old and new revelations [what the words clearly appear to state and the “Aha! I see!” of what the words hide that is intended to state]. Hearing a sermon spoken by Jesus Christ through an Apostle’s lips becomes the epitome of spiritual food, which is then the appropriate daily allotment for the maintenance of the spiritual health of that owner’s house of worship.
This means that “sell everything you own and give to the poor” has nothing to do with material commands. Having a materially rich Peter sell everything to give the proceeds to poor Paul does nothing more than make Peter poor and Paul rich.
“Sell everything” means kill your self-ego. It means cease letting the lusts of a material world keep you from gaining eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. It means stop selling your soul for you to be you. Instead, sacrifice you to become reborn as Jesus Christ.
To do that, you have to fall madly in love with God and marry Him. Marriage to God means you become His wife [regardless of human gender], so you becomes absolutely subservient to whatever your Husband says. The consummation of that marriage means you bear the Son of God, so the birth of baby Jesus within you becomes you in his name. In the name of Jesus Christ, you can then call God your Father, so you become a Son of God too [regardless of human gender]. You then join in the Church of Christ [true Christianity] along with all other Apostles-Saints.
Now, this realization takes us back to the third extra serving about fishing. To remind everyone about what Jesus said, this is it:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The world is the sea. It is a sea of humanity.
Human souls are the fish. Souls come “of every kind” – red, yellow, black, brown, and white; atheists, Hindu, Muslims, Jews, and Christians; and, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, and Anglican-Episcopalians.
The net is death, because we all have to be caught in that trap and pulled away from our bodies that are left in the sea.
The shore is the entranceway into the kingdom of heaven – eternal life with God. That is where the sorting of the souls takes place. Notice how there is no mention of ‘pearly gates’ or Saint Peter. Imagine God does the pointing and His angels do the casting.
Into “good baskets” are put the “righteous” souls, with the “bad-evil” souls thrown into the “furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
All of this should be fairly clear, but it really isn’t. Let me explain this sorting part a little.
This falls under the category of “new treasures” that come from the ole noggin (“storehouse”), when Jesus Christ is doing the talking. It is new because it came to me not long ago, as I wrote about the Parable of the Weeds [Seventh Sunday after Pentecost]. There, Jesus explained the sorting of the weeds and the good grain, where he said: “They will throw [the weeds] into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
There, the metaphor of a weed is the same as a fish here, with metaphor meaning not a physical weed and not a physical fish. When you realize the common element being sorted is souls, which as purely ethereal, immaterial, and without physical anything, then the weeping and gnashing is something that can only be done with physical eyes and teeth. Add to the realization that a “blazing furnace” would have absolutely no effect on souls [cue the Uncle Remus line cried by Br’er Rabbit – “Pleeease don’t throw me in the blazing furnace.”], there is truth to that end that needs to be realized.
As I stated in the other sermon I wrote, the earth is a big ball of matter (as far as us tiny specks of humanity are concerned), which (according to what the scientists tell us) has a big molten-rock center, which plays a role in the laws of gravity. This has to be seen as the age-old view of hell, which is a hot place within the earth. It was there that the fallen angels were cast – into the depths of the earth. John called it “the fiery lake of burning sulphur,” but some have called it Hades [the name of the Greek god of the underworld, which is synonymous with his realm]. That is then the “furnace of fire” and the “blazing furnace” – the center of the earth.
Of course, this too has to be seen as metaphor rather than literal, so a soul separated and determined to be “bad” and “evil” is then sent back to the earth, where the “furnace of fire” means gravity having hold of a physical entity. The material realm means reincarnation into another body of flesh and bones.
As far as Eastern religions like to believe [and they prefer reincarnation to the blandness of eternal bliss in heaven], Karmic debt plays a role here. When “bad” and “evil” is seen as not having earned enough ‘Brownie points’ to return in a similar position of power, wealth, and influence one enjoyed in a past life, the debt is repaid by coming back in a worse state of life. As far as coming close to righteousness pays some dividend, that would be akin to the young, rich rulers of the world – who lived according to the Law but could not sell everything – might only slip back a little or stay in a similar position. Rather than a terrible fate, that sorting would be more like a Homer Simpson “Doh!” than “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
That way of reading this statement of truth by Jesus says the truly wicked do not even get to walk the face of the earth. They would actually be put back in dead bodies and be forced to spend eternity in a grave; or they would go to Dante’s Inferno. Those options mean a worse fate than being reincarnated in India or southern Mississippi, both of which do occasionally catch a cool breeze.
Still, as far as the parables here are concerned – a human desiring the great reward of eternal life means the “bad” and “evil” souls must be seen as having fallen short of that drive for perfection. The ones who sell everything for the ability to walk righteously (which can only be done by becoming Jesus Christ resurrected) are the “good” fish, placed in the “good basket.” They are the ‘keepers.’
The Greek word “kala” is translated as “good.” It is a form of “kalos,” which means, “beautiful, as an outward sign of the inward good, honorable character; good, worthy, honorable, noble, and seen to be so.” (Strong’s usage) In the story of Jesus and the Rich Man [the young, rich, ruler, as told in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18], the use of “good” was discussed.
Matthew can be read so the Pharisee asked Jesus what “good” he could do to be assured of eternal life, while Mark and Luke heard the man call Jesus “good Teacher.” Jesus jumped all over the man (the same by all three) by asking him what he thinks “good” is. Jesus told him “no one is good,” “only God is good.”
The Greek root word used in those three Gospel accounts is “agathos,” of which Strong’s states: “intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not, the widest and most colorless of all words with this meaning.” This usage explains how Jesus challenged the man for his conception that “good” could be accomplished alone, without God … without being reborn as God’s Son.
That then says here that “good” fish are indeed those who were reborn Sons of God [regardless of human gender]. ANYTHING short of self-sacrifice in order to marry God and give birth (rebirth) to His Son means one’s soul chose to not be “good,” which then brings about just judgment as souls that are “bad” or “evil.”
The Greek word “sapra” is translated as “bad.” It describes the fish that are not placed in the “good basket.” That word is defined as meaning “rotten, worthless, useless, corrupt, depraved.” It is a word used to describe over-ripe fruit. Over-ripe fruit is “bad fruit,” usually that fallen to the ground and picked clean by birds and rodents. This is then like the bottom-feeder fish that would be rejected by Jewish fishermen.
The Greek word translated as “evil” is rooted in “pontéros,” which means “toilsome, bad, evil, wicked, malicious, slothful.” All of these applications in human lives means a state of selfish desires led to wrong decisions. That is the outcome one can expect from trying to ‘go it alone’ and be righteous without giving up the ole self-ego.
The moral of the parable is then an either-or, all or nothing choice. You either sell everything that keeps you from being good or you keep all the worldly things that rock your boat and end up being deemed bad and evil when your soul leaves this world.
Any priest, pastor, minister, or preacher that gladly takes your tithes and gets paid to wear robes and such for speaking sermons about Scripture, who does not tell you those are the only options stated here, that person is just like you and really does not believe the truth. He or she is just like the crowds Jesus spoke to in parables, meaning he or she is clueless. He or she is just like the rich, young ruler, who has too much self-worth – as a priest, pastor, minister, or preacher – to even think about giving up that exclusive right to claim eternal life – the greatest possession he or she owns.
Just think how much your newborn teeth will gnash when you find out the field of dreams you bought into, sold to you by someone you trusted your soul’s safekeeping to (a discounted rate for assurance of heaven), turned out to be a bill of goods, not the good kind. Washing up on the shore of Heaven without that official paper in your spiritual hands means karmic debt is uninsurable. Realizing that lie then would be enough to bring tears to those new little baby eyes in the next life on earth.
When the king was settled in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark ha-elohim stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for Yahweh is with you.”
But that same night the word of Yahweh came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says Yahweh: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says Yahweh of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
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This is the Track 1 Old Testament option for reading aloud on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 11], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen, it will be accompanied by a partial singing of Psalm 89, where is written: “I will establish his line for ever and his throne as the days of heaven.” Those will precede an Epistle reading from Ephesians, where Paul wrote: “So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where it is written, “[Jesus] saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”
In the first verse, where the NRSV translation shows, “When the king was settled in his house,” the meaning of “house” should not be limited to a physical structure. The statement says the “house” was also that of his reign as king over a united Israel and Judah. The verb translated as “settled” can also be used to mean “sat enthroned” or even “married.” [NAS Exhaustive Concordance] This then says time had elapsed since David moved the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David; and, during this time “a house of cedar” had been constructed and furnished.
In these selected verses, the name “Yahweh” was written seven times, with all translated benignly by the NRSV to say “the Lord.” The name of the God of Moses is Yahweh; and, that specific name being uttered in writing says Yahweh was married to the writer and all characters to whom Yahweh communicated. The general meaning of a capitalized “Lord” says an eternal presence that inhabits a body of flesh and possesses the soul of that flesh. Satan is such a “Lord,” as well as all demonic possessions or evil spirits that would cause a soul to lead a life of sin. Rejecting Yahweh, by name, means one is inclined towards an evil spirit coming to the threshold of one’s soul, wanting to come in and be one’s “Lord.” David and Nathan were both possessed by their souls having married Yahweh, specifically; thus, that specific God is named. All true Christians should feel comfortable naming Yahweh as their Husband.
When we then read that “Yahweh had given [David] rest from all his enemies around him,” this says the conflicts that had faced Saul’s Israel had ceased. In 2 Samuel 6:17-25, after David was made King of Israel and Judah, he led an attack against Philistines who challenged his new reign over that expanse of a kingdom, defeating them. In verse 25 is written: “David did just as Yahweh had commanded him; and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.” In that, it must be understood that David was possessed by Yahweh, so that possession made him as powerful as he had been when he faced Goliath. With that possession, there was no need to call for the Ark to be brought out, where the Ark was a know place where Yahweh sat enthroned between two Cherubim. David being possessed by Yahweh [not some generic “Lord”] was the embodiment of the Ark; therefore, Israel was given “peace” [synonym of “rest”] when David became King of Israel and Judah.
With peace at hand and the Ark resting on Mount Zion in the place where David had prepared, David saw his new cedar house having been completed as a sign to make a permanent structure for the Ark to be properly housed. The motivation of this thinking must be realized as David being one with Yahweh, just as Yahweh was one with the Ark. If David deserved a cedar house for him to reside in, as a soul married to Yahweh, then so too should the Ark deserve the same, rather than a canvass Tabernacle. This should be seen as the logic of a human brain being used to think for God; and, David is now shown how human logic is flawed, when applied to Yahweh. When Nathan told David, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for Yahweh is with you,” that recognized David’s “soul” [“bil·ḇā·ḇə·ḵā” was written, meaning “in your heart,” with a “heart” meaning “inner man” or “soul”] was possessed by marriage to Yahweh. Therefore, David’s thought was assumed to be the Word of Yahweh telling David what to do, such as he took Jebus and moved the Ark [and probably ordered his own cedar house to be built too] because of that inner voice.
When we next read, “But that same night the word of Yahweh came to Nathan,” that says Nathan’s soul had likewise married Yahweh, so he was a true prophet. As a true prophet, Nathan’s only goal in life was to please Yahweh. Knowing David was also married to Yahweh, Nathan knew David was the same way in his desire to please their God. When Nathan told David, “Because your heart and soul are married to Yahweh, go where your heart tells you to go,” that was based on the same human state of being that David used to think logically, rather than pray to Yahweh for guidance. This exchange between Nathan and David says they conversed as would wives of Yahweh, discussing ways to please Him without being told what to do. This says a soul married to Yahweh still has the freedom to think independently, as Yahweh is not a micromanager of the lives of His souls possessed.
To sum up what Yahweh told Nathan, He spoke to the eternal soul of Nathan, which was not limited to only that current incarnation as the prophet of Israel. By Yahweh saying, “I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day,” that goes beyond the written texts of the Torah and speaks the truth that was known by Yahweh and the soul of Nathan. In the text, neither the Ark nor the Covenant existed when the children of Israel were led my Moses out of Egypt. There was a pillar of cloud that went before them by day, and stood behind them by night. The Tabernacle of canvass was requested for housing the Ark afterwards, so that became a tent of meeting between the soul of Moses and Yahweh. Anything permanent was both unnecessary and unwanted.
In the translation of the NRSV that says, “I have moved about among all the people of Israel,” the actual Hebrew states: “hiṯ·hal·laḵ·tî bə·ḵāl bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl.” That literally translates to say, “I have moved about with all the sons of Israel.” This says Yahweh was married with many souls of the Israelites, spread through all the tribes, possessing all the elders, as well as most of the others. This says the marriage vows were not only written in stone and kept in a special box, protected by elohim [ark ha-elohim], but also in the hearts of all who served Yahweh. Wherever those souls took their flesh, they also took Yahweh with them. That widespread marriage between the Israelite people and Yahweh had been broken many times over their history, but repaired through repentance. During those times of breakage, the presence of Yahweh married to the Ark meant their prayers would be heard and a judge would be sent to bring the hearts of the people back to Yahweh. However, when the elders chose to have a king, that was the last break allowed; and, David was the last ‘Mr. Fix-it’ that would ever be sent to the Israelites, meaning David was the messenger [an elohim Israel] sent to keep Yahweh readily available to all those souls under David.
The reason “sons of Israel” should not be generalized as “people of Israel” is it reduces the meaning in the same way that reducing “Yahweh” to “the Lord” does. The masculinity of “sons” [Hebrew “benê”] is stating the spiritual ‘gender,’ not human gender. While men certainly ruled the day back when in the wilderness, up till well after David’s reign came and went, all souls in human flesh are deemed neuter gender, with them taking on the essence of the flesh, which is feminine. Therefore, a “son of Israel” means a soul [neuter, of feminine flesh] married to Yahweh [masculine Spirit] has taken on the ‘masculinity’ of a “son,” regardless if in the feminine flesh of males or females.
The word “yiś·rā·’êl” must then be seen as a statement of this masculine Spiritual presence, such that the word means “He Retains God” or “God Is Upright.” This was what the soul of Jacob was told he could identify with, after his elohim wrestling match. All of the children of Jacob had to be taught to become children who were “Israel,” as “sons” [males and females, husbands and wives] whose souls were married to Yahweh. Thus, David was being reminded, through Nathan, that he had become a “Messiah” – an Anointed one of Yahweh – to shepherd the people to return to the sheepfold where all knew they needed to each be “sons” of Yahweh, “Israel” in being.
By realizing the importance of “yiś·rā·’êl,” as it is repeated five times in this reading selection, one can see Yahweh speaking to the soul of Nathan refers to the divine level of meaning, much more than the mundane name of a wayward people who had demanded they no longer be led by Yahweh, but by some human king. Thus, when Yahweh said this to Nathan: “I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies,” that speaks loudly of each soul under David – his flock of priests for Yahweh – would no longer be rescued by an Ark that sat in a cave, guarded by elohim, which meant the people thought they were free to break all their marriage vows and still claim to be “He Retains God.” Therefore, there would never be a time when Yahweh should ever again be seen as a god that was no longer needed, so He could be kept in a house or a fixed place.
At this point, Yahweh tells Nathan to say to David, “Moreover Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will make you a house.” In that, the literal translation says more clearly, “you Yahweh , that house will make you Yahweh.” This says that David is where Yahweh resides, so the ‘House of David’ will become synonymous with a ‘house of servants’ who will be the “ark of elohim.” Each individual born into that house will then be like David, as all their souls will be individually married to Yahweh. Because the name David means “Beloved,” all of the ‘house of David’ will be wives of God.
When this understanding of “a house” is seen, where there was no promise made for God to physically allow a box for Him to be stowed away in, the following states, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” While the history of Israel makes this appear to be Yahweh prophesizing the coming of Solomon and his kingdom, that is not the deeper truth revealed to Nathan. The “offspring” [from “zar·‘ă·ḵā,” meaning “sowing”] are not any of the sons of David. They are the “sons of Israel” that will follow the spiritual ‘house of David,’ being all the prophets whose souls would marry Yahweh and become the voices of God speaking to all the wayward kings, queens, and false prophets that would come. These would all be like David, as physical bodies whose souls were led by Yahweh’s Spirit. This would be the true “kingdom” Yahweh intended, where all of His children would have Yahweh as their king, each individually.
Where the NRSV has translated, “He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever,” this again is wrong to think Yahweh was so nearsighted that he would only look forward to Solomon, as Solomon would lead the union of Israel and Judah to the ruin of divorce. The Temple built took on the name of its builder, not Yahweh. This means the “house for my name” is “Jesus,” whose name means “Yah[weh] Will Save.” The soul of Jesus will become the king of a ‘house of Yahweh,” where each ‘house’ will be an Apostle-Saint. Those ‘kingdoms’ will last “forever,” through those souls having gained eternal life. That prophecy given to Nathan then extends throughout the duration of all Christianity, where “Christ” becomes a “house built for my name,” as a house of those Anointed by God as holy.
Again, Solomon was not the intent, although he was the heir to David’s physical throne. When this reading ends with Yahweh telling Nathan, “I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me,” this speaks of Jesus, but also all who will be reborn in his name, through the marriage of their souls to Yahweh. Here, again, is the element of “sons of Israel” being foretold to be continued through all who would be Anointed by Yahweh, as was David, as were the Prophets, as was Jesus, and were all the Apostles and Saints to this day. All are the “sons” of Yahweh, with Him the “Father” of all.
As the Old Testament optional reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to Yahweh should be well underway, this speaks of one’s own body of flesh needing to become a “house” of Yahweh. That can only come from one’s soul marrying Yahweh and receiving His Spirit. It also says one must become Anointed, as a new Christ, which means the Spirit has allowed one’s soul to be possessed by the resurrected soul of Jesus. One becomes a “house in the name of Yahweh” by being reborn as His Son Jesus. Because Yahweh told Nathan to tell David He did not want, had never wanted, nor would ever want a fixed structure of materials made for him to be housed in, this not only rejected a house of cedar and a temple of stone, it also rejects a church, cathedral, and/or any house said to be a place of God. The only place where Yahweh resides is human flesh, where the soul within has solemnly married Yahweh.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says Yahweh. Therefore thus says Yahweh elohe of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says Yahweh. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says Yahweh.
The days are surely coming, says Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “Yahweh is our righteousness.”
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This is the Track 2 Old Testament reading option for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 11], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen, it will be accompanied by a reading of Psalm 23, which says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” That pair will be read before a reading from Ephesians, where Paul wrote, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” All will be followed by the Gospel reading from Mark, where it is written: “As [Jesus] went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”
In these six verses, it is most important to realize that Jeremiah wrote what Yahweh said to him in ecstatic trance, as it was not a voice coming from some unnamed [thus unknown] “Lord.” When it says “Yahweh elohe,” that defines Jeremiah [and all prophets like him, whose souls were married to Yahweh] as an extension of Yahweh on earth – thus one of His “gods.” To fully understand this, one needs to be like Jeremiah and speak the name of one’s spiritual Husband, knowing personally how He speaks.
The message sent by Yahweh through Jeremiah is then a warning to all who pretend to be shepherds of His flock. At the time, Jeremiah prophesied to a wayward Judah, long after the Northern Kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians and the Israelites had been scattered to the four ends of the globe. The leaders [including the priests of their holy places] had been false shepherds who received what Jeremiah prophesied was still to come. Because the same warning must be seen as once true, then always true, the value of this warning persists to this day. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Says Yahweh.”
Because Jeremiah was a prophet of Judah, and the nation named “Israel” had already been destroyed and scattered, as well as most of Judah, with Jerusalem under siege, for him to write, “Therefore thus says Yahweh elohe of Israel” [from “lā·ḵên kōh- ’ā·mar Yah-weh ’ĕ·lō·hê yiś·rā·’êl”], it must be understood that the word translated as “Israel” means “He Retains God” or “God Is Upright,” with that the intent. Therefore, Yahweh is identified as the source of power within human “gods who retain God and stand upright.” While the flocks were the children dependent on it leaders to shepherd their souls into the sheepfold of marriage to Yahweh, only to be destroyed and scattered by thieves and hired hands who ran from danger, there were still those who stood up and spoke the Word of truth for all to hear and heed.
When Yahweh identifies the actions of these bad shepherds as “evil doings” [“rō·a‘ ma·‘al·lê·ḵem”], this needs to be realized as being the opposite of “righteous doings.” The word “maalal” means “dealing, doing, deed, practice.” A human being with a normal soul will naturally develop activities that fill one’s natural needs. When one goes to extremes, either to the left [sinister, evil, bad] or to the right [righteous, holy, good] one has become possessed by a greater spirit than simple soul. This means that Yahweh is calling out all who would scatter, destroy, or leave unattended those souls that need to be directed to the right [away from the left] as demonically possessed and agents of “evil” [“roa”].
The gathering of remnant souls [the “sheep” of Yahweh] who know, believe, and pray to Yahweh will be rescued. The prophecy of being fruitful and multiplying says Yahweh spoke of times when true Christians would become the good fruit of the vine that would grow from Jesus, going out into ministry as extensions of the good vine [a holy possession of Spirit] and multiply by producing more good fruit. The “shepherds” who would be their shepherds would be Saints and Apostles.
When the reading then says, “The days are surely coming, says Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,” the capitalization is purely from a translator’s perspective. While “Yahweh” is certainly seen as the proper name of the One God and “David” is the proper name of the greatest King of Israel, the name “David” means “Beloved.” Additionally, the word translated as a capitalized “Branch” [“tsemach”] means, “growth [of a vine], sprout, or bud.” Thus, the same written words can prophesy a time when Yahweh “will raise as beloved a growth [of a vine] righteous.” This way of reading these words then equates David to righteousness, such that all grown from that vine will be beloved souls married to Yahweh … the intent of David’s Anointing and his reign as king.
When Jeremiah was told by Yahweh, “he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land,” this identifies properly “a king of prudence.” The Hebrew words “me·leḵ wə·hiś·kîl,” says “a king” will come as a “teacher, who has insight, and great attention that will yield prosperously” to those taught. Because David was a “prince” who was chosen to be a king, the true “king” that reigned through David was Yahweh. Whereas David did not teach the Israelites to become like him, he taught by example, physically demonstrating that his success was due to his soul having been Anointed by the Spirit of Yahweh. He was known to have Yahweh with him.
Jesus would come like a David [a “Beloved” of Yahweh], who led and taught disciples as a rabbi [a teacher]. Jesus would not be the king “of the earth” [“bā·’ā·reṣ”], but “of the flesh,” as a soul resurrected within those who he had prepared to receive the Spirit through divine marriage. Those would then be reborn as Jesus, so Jesus resurrected within a kingdom of flesh could be led to “judgments of righteousness” and have their souls saved.
When the NRSV translation says, “In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety,” these two proper names need to be understood as the meaning, not the places. Since both Israel and Judah became lost lands [the present artificial government called “Israel” is far from the meaning of that name, thus false], this is not about “righteousness on the earth,” but all about “righteousness in the flesh.” This then says those who “Let Him Be Praised” [name meaning of “Judah”] will be “delivered, saved, freed, and/or victorious.” Those souls who have been deemed “He Retains God” or “God Is Upright” in them will then dwell in the “safety and security” of eternal life.
Because the false State of Israel is called that, named by the infidels of Zionism, they obviously did not remember this prophecy that says, “the name by which he will be called: “Yahweh is our righteousness.” There is no belief in Yahweh in modern Israel and that is clearly demonstrated by their complete lack of “righteousness.” Thus, the one named by Yahweh, through Jeremiah, is a true Christian whose soul has submitted to Yahweh in marriage; so, the soul of Jesus, His Son, will lead a body of flesh to be “Upright as God’s” hand on earth.
As an alternate Old Testament reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, this says one must become a good shepherd and properly tend the souls of Yahweh’s flock. The only way to do this is to be divinely possessed by the Spirit of Yahweh and be made Holy. One must be reborn as Jesus, one like David who has had the Spirit poured out upon one’s soul, thus a Christ. Only with that divine presence can one minister to the souls and feed them the spiritual food they need, until the time they too can be married to Yahweh and continue the branch of righteousness as new good shepherds.
Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
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This is the Epistle reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 11], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow one of two optional tracks that pair Old Testament readings with Psalms. The first tells of David telling Nathan his plan to build a house for the Ark, only to have Yahweh tell Nathan He wants no house of cedar. The second tells of Jeremiah being told by Yahweh that bad shepherds who destroy and scatter His flock will be punished. All will precede the Gospel reading from Mark, when Jesus told his disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
I posted about this reading in 2018. I went into great detail about each verse, based on the written Greek text. I welcome everyone to read that commentary by searching this site. I wrote that because Paul’s writings can be very difficult to follow; and, this is one that can be seen as confusing. For that reason, with a deep explanation of everything written already done [looking each word up becomes painstaking work that must be done], I will leave what I wrote before to speak for the whole meaning. Now, I will only address a few things in a different light.
On the broad view, verse eleven must be seen as Paul reminding the true Christians of Ephesus that before they married their souls to Yahweh they had been different in a physical sense. They were considered natural people of the world, as “races” and “nations” of people, or “ethnos,” where the males were uncircumcised. That differed from those who had been marked as Yahweh’s children, soon after birth, by “a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands.” This ritualistic act, which would be known through nakedness, but otherwise concealed by clothing, physically marked one as believing in Yahweh, while all others were free to follow the gods of the world. That remembrance must be seen stating the importance of physical change being required in order to serve Yahweh.
Verse twelve then transitions from the physical changes that mark one as a bride of Yahweh and places focus on the spiritual changes. The translation that says, “remember that you were at that time without Christ” must be seen as containing one capitalized word “Christ.” That word means “Anointed One,” but in the form written – “Christou” – that is the genitive case, which states possession, as “of the Anointed.” The word “Christ” is not a statement about Jesus, as if his last name was “Christ.” Jesus was the “Anointed One” of Yahweh. This must be grasped firmly, as Paul writing “you were at that time without Christ” says “you were at that time without an Anointment from Yahweh.”
In that statement in Greek is the little word “ēte,” which is a past tense form of “I am, I exist,” translated as “were.” That is a statement of being that is elevated from the physical body of flesh, as the soul. When that is seen as the intent, the past state of one’s soul [“you were”] was like the past state of the flesh when it was identified as “ethne,” or “of the world” – “Gentile.” In this way being “without Christ” is now compared to being “uncircumcised,” but on a soul level of being, beyond the physical.
When the NRSV translation then shows Paul writing, “being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,” this gives the impression that being “without Christ” was because the Greeks of Ephesus did not live in the land of Jesus. That is not what Paul meant by this; and, this needs to be fully understood. First of all, the word “being” is transferred to this segment of words, as directly referencing the state of being that was – “ēte” – “you were.” That state of “being” is now said to be “alienated from” [“apēllotriōmenoi”] “of this” [“tēs” is the genitive form of “the”], where “commonwealth” is actually meant as “citizen body” [from “politeias”] that relates to a spiritual level, not being a “race” or nation” of people, as is the physical body of flesh.
A better way of translating “apēllotriōmenoi” would be as “estranged,” which is less inducive of making one think being “foreign” to “Christ,” as if living in another country made one such an “alien.” When “estranged” is read, the meaning implies “having lost former closeness and affection,” such that the realization that the “Christ” is a Spiritual Anointment from Yahweh, it says a soul in a body of flesh [symbolically “uncircumcised”] was once close to Yahweh, but after birth into a body of flesh lost that closeness. As “estranged,” there is a psychic sense of longing to return to that relationship, which is then viewed in the sense of “citizenship” of heaven, as having rights, through “franchise,” to be a “Christ” once more.
That sense of disenfranchisement is then relative to “tou Israēl” or “of Israel,” where the genitive case is once again stated. Those two Greek words become reflective of “Christou,” “of Israel” is a synonym of “of Christ.” This is where Paul’s writing “Israēl” is not a statement about a place, because the Northern Kingdom that was named “Israel” had been lost around eight hundred years before. When Jesus walked the face of the earth, he traveled in lands known as Galilee, Judea, Perea, Gaulanitis, Decapolis, and Phoenicia. Jesus traveled and ministered to Jews – the circumcised – and even though he said he came for Israelites; he was never about being in a land named “Israel.”
This is where one’s mind needs to see the truth of the use by Paul. The meaning behind the name, which was given divinely to Jacob, in his spiritual conversion to being a wife of Yahweh, says: “He Retains God” or “God Is Upright.” That name was never given to be applied to anything physical, as it can only be applied to souls. Therefore, the “alienation” or “disenfranchisement” or “estrangement” felt was by souls that have not returned to a “Christ” state of being, because they have not married Yahweh and in turn had their souls named “Israel.”
When this is understood, Paul then emphasized by his writing the word “kai” and followed that with: “strangers to the covenants of promise.” Here, again, is a reference to the “alienation” factor, where “strangers” [from “xenoi”] is relative to souls who are “foreign” to Yahweh. The “covenants” are those personal agreements made between two – in this case a soul and Yahweh – which are the Commandment Moses brought down from Mount Sinai as the marriage agreement that was demanded of the Israelites, which made their souls become His wives. Thus, the agreements become those “of promise” [the genitive “tēs” applied to “epangelias”], where both soul and Spirit are sworn to uphold their ends of the agreement. This becomes an important statement [led by “kai”] of marriage vows. This says all who are “estranged” souls [symbolically “uncircumcised”] are so because they have not agreed to submit to Yahweh and serve Him as His wives in marriage.
It is the failure to come to the altar of spiritual marriage that then led Paul to write, “having no hope and without God in the world.” The Greek word translated as saying “without God” [“atheoi”] is better stated as “godless.” This means one’s soul is “pagan,” in the sense that those people of the world that have not been brought to know Yahweh will invariably worship multiple “gods” of nature, which makes all those “gods” [the truth of the word “elohim,” which can be laws, angels, or those who have become Saints, like Paul and the Ephesians] the same as Yahweh – external to their state of being. To set Yahweh up as an idol of worship means to reduce Him to a “god,” such that the truth of the word “atheoi” is it says a soul stands separate from Yahweh, thereby being “without Yahweh” married to it.
Because Paul was writing to souls who had been brought to the altar of marriage and all had come to now Yahweh as their Husband, he wrote: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” In that he wrote “Jesus” for the first time in this series of verses, while repeating the word “Christ” twice. All there words are capitalized, which means they are all raised to a divine level of meaning, higher than simply stating a name or catchphrase.
The first segment of this verse states, “But now in Christ Jesus,” which states a transformation has taken place, due to souls having married Yahweh. By “now in Christ,” the spiritual state of being “uncircumcised” has changed. Being “in Christ” [“en Christō”] states a singular state of being for each soul married to Yahweh. For as many Ephesians as Paul led to divine marriage, each individual soul reached a state where “in” means “with, among, at, and by,” where this is stating there is no longer an externalization that made a soul “godless” or “without God.” It says each has become an “Anointed One, individually, so each has become a “Christ.” This changed state of being is then the spiritual act of circumcision, where instead of paring away the foreskin of a male penis, all souls [in both bodies of males and females] are joined with the soul of Jesus, so his name is resurrected within all souls married to Yahweh. In this sense, the meaning of the name “Jesus” must be realized as a statement like “Israel,” which says “Yah[weh] Will Save” or “Yah[weh] Saves.” Being a soul reborn in the name of “Jesus” says that soul has been saved, through marriage to Yahweh.
By seeing this change as the spiritual reality that is opposite to the pretense of physical difference, the issue of “alienation, estrangement, and exclusion” has been removed. Paul writing “you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” says the externalization of Yahweh has been removed. In this case, “near” [“engys”] means “at hand.” [NAS Exhaustive Concordance] It is so “near” that Yahweh’s Spirit flows within one’s body of flesh, like does one’s physical “blood.” Here, again, the Greek word “en” is written, but the NRSV has chosen to translate it as “by,” giving the false impression that one’s physical “blood” has been changed, as if a transfusion took place. That is as impossible as would be a spiritual hand come out of the sky and snip off a foreskin. The “blood” musts be seen as a statement of sacrifice.
Christians go to great lengths to distance themselves [a “self” equals a “soul”] from Yahweh. They see that name as the God of the Jews, and Christians like to be different from Jews [they caused Jesus to be crucified, after all]. In that desire to “estrange” themselves [self again] from the Jews, they do nothing that has them recognize the rituals handed down from Moses to the Israelites, the foremost of which was the Passover. The Passover is a remembrance of the sacrifice of special lambs, whose blood was spread over the doorposts, which notified Yahweh [coming as the angel of death] He should pass over all houses painted in the “blood” of the sacrificial lamb. Christians love to pretend the coming of Jesus made belief in him as the Son of God [they do not dare say “Yahweh”], so they pretend the “blood of Jesus” is his spilled in crucifixion, changing everything the Jews ritually maintained so new rituals could be invented. The problem is the Jews who crucified Jesus then were as corrupt a dogmatic religion as has Christianity become today.
By Paul saying “in the blood of Christ,” this must be seen as the act of self-sacrifice that slaughters oneself on the altar, releasing one’s soul to Yahweh. That sacrifice means one has become an equal sacrificial lamb of purity, so the figurative “blood” that flows in one’s body of flesh has been spread over the doorposts of one’s soul, so that soul is spared death, through the receipt of eternal life. This makes the “blood of the Anointed One” make one a saved soul in a body of flesh, as a model of Jesus reborn.
Seeing the truth in what Paul wrote, the following four verses relate to this change. For the specifics of what Paul wrote in those verses, I return you to my offer of reading what I wrote in 2018. As a quick summary, those verses place a focus on two, as “both groups into one” [actually “both one,” from “amphotera hen”] and “one new humanity in place of the two” [actually “two he might create in his own towards one new man”] and “both groups to God in one body” [actually “both in one body”]. From that, I will jump forward in the text to verse eighteen, which the NRSV translates as saying, “for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.” In that, the literal Greek states: “because on account of his we possess this admission these both in one Spirit with this Father.” This translation requires closer inspection.
In that series of Greek words, the word “autou” has been translated by the NRSV as “him.” The word can actually be used as an adverb, as “here” or “there,” but “him” denies the genitive case and the possessive of “autós,” which would be more appropriately translated as “his.” The root word [“autós”] emphatically means “self.” While it would ordinarily refer to the third person singular as “he,” that would be in the physical sense; and, Paul has been writing in the spiritual since, beginning with verse thirteen. Thus, knowing a “self” means a “soul,” the duality that has become the focus is now stated as “because on account of his,” which means the marriage of a “self” [“soul”] to Yahweh, where one’s soul has submitted unto “him.”
This brings about a state of possession, where the Greek word “echomen” is the plural number of “echo,” which states “we” as a couple who each agree “to have and to hold,” where one becomes the possession of the other. As a collective of true Christian souls making the same commitment of a couple in wedlock, all are then “his” as a shared relationship that “we have.” It is that bond between two – a oul and Yahweh’s Spirit – that then allows a soul “access,” where the better word is “admission,” such that two are “brought together” in an intimate face-to-face relationship. [HELPS Word-studies] This is then strongly suggestive of marriage, on a spiritual level.
This then states “both in one Spirit,” where “both in one” [“amphoteroi en heni”] is a statement of union, as two together as one entity. This is where the past reference to Jesus becomes two souls merged as one being, which is a divine possession, It is this divine possession that occurs through the sacrifice of self-will and self-ego that the “Spirit” of Yahweh allows His wife to be reborn as His Son. The emergence of the Jesus soul as the dominant soul in one’s life allows the “Spirit” to be expressed through one’s flesh, as being reborn in the name of Jesus. It is this change – like going from uncircumcised to circumcised – that makes oneself [self equals soul] not only a wife of Yahweh, but also His Son reborn in one’s flesh; and, that becomes a dual relationship with Yahweh as the “Father.”
The remaining verse further state this marriage and rebirth, which I again refer one to my assessment written and published in 2018. The point I want to make here, which was not so much the focus in 2018, is the clear verbiage that says one must change spiritually in order to be saved and given eternal life. One’s soul must relinquish self-control and let Yahweh lead one through His Spirit. That Spirit will make one’s flesh become Sacred, as His new Saints in ministry, all being sent out anew as Jesus walking the earth in a body of flesh.
As the Epistle selection for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry to Yahweh should be well underway, the difficult to see, but vividly clear when the time is taken to look deeply as what Paul wrote, says a spiritual marriage to Yahweh is mandatory. The world is full of two types of souls – those unsaved and those saved. This cannot be determined by the shape of one’s penis, as there is nothing physical that marks one for salvation. The only marker is the presence of Yahweh’s Spirit within one’s soul. That makes one become Jesus reborn; and, the only reason Yahweh will return the soul of His Son to the worldly plane is for it to take a body of flesh out to the world, in order to save more lost souls.
When the them for this Sunday places focus on shepherding, especially the warnings given to false shepherds, marriage of one’s soul to Yahweh is how one knows oneself is truly a good shepherd. Anything less is false; and, being a false shepherd places one’s soul in greater danger of punishment, more than simply being one of the sea of lost souls, commonly called Gentiles. Rather than physical mutilation of the flesh being the determining factor of a servant to Yahweh, it is the mutation of the soul from self-absorbed to self-sacrificing for a higher goal.
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
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This is the Gospel selection to be read aloud by a priest on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 11], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This reading will be preceded by one of two pairs of Old Testament – Psalm, called Tracks 1 and 2. Track one focuses on Second Samuel’s story of David suggesting to Nathan the need to build a house for the Ark, only to have Yahweh say, “No,” to that idea. Track two then centers on a reading from Jeremiah, where Yahweh spoke to him, telling of the danger those who falsely lead His flock shall face. Both Psalms allude to David being a house of Yahweh, in the flesh, while Psalm 23 is the “Lord is my shepherd” song. The Epistle reading from Ephesians accompanies these, where Paul wrote of the marriage of souls to Yahweh, which states how one becomes a good shepherd.
This reading begins with the section of Mark that tells of the feeding of the five thousand and then Jesus walking on water, but both of those events are skipped over. It begins with the arrival of the flock and then the flock following Jesus to the other side of the sea, to Gennesaret. I wrote about this reading selection and posted it on y website in 2018. I comes with maps and diagrams and is information still pertinent today. I welcome everyone to read that commentary by searching this site and offer comments, questions and suggestions. Grammar checkers are always welcome. Today, I will take a different view on a few things that come from these selected verses.
Verse thirty is a statement of transition, one that tells of the apostles returning from their commission in pairs. In this that says they “gathered around Jesus,” the Greek text written is “synagontai hoi apostoloi pros ton Iēsoun,” where it should be recognized that the word “synagontai” is the same root from which comes “synagogue.” A “synagogue” is from the Greek word “synagogē,” meaning “assembly” or “gathering together.” This statement is then saying that the apostles found their “synagogue” as wherever Jesus was.
It should be remembered that Mark wrote about Jesus being rejected in Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6), which then led to his telling that Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs (Mark 6:7-13). While the apostles were out in ministry, probably each going to his hometown and also finding rejection there, John the Baptist was beheaded by Antipas and his body taken and buried by his followers (Mark 6:14-29). Prior to this timing, Jesus had riled the leaders and scribes in other synagogues; thus, in the interim, Jesus had found a safe place to comfortably teach, without disturbing any of the Jewish elite. The beginning of verse thirty is then designating Jesus as a traveling synagogue.
In the segment of words the NRSV has translated as saying “and told him all that,” the Greek text says: “kai apēngeilan autō panta,” which is importantly marked [use of “kai”] to be understood fully, rather than miss the meaning by not realizing these words make a profound statement. When “apēngeilan autō” are simply translated as only saying, “they told him,” that importance is missed. The words “apēngeilan autō” is better stated as “they proclaimed him,” where “autō” is a statement of “self,” with a “self” equating to a “soul.” This then says “all” the apostles [from “panta”] had gone into ministry as extensions of Jesus, such “they proclaimed” to those they ministered as would have done Jesus, because their “selves” had become one with the “soul” of Jesus. Jesus was not yet dead and his soul fully separated from his body of flesh, but his soul was still allowed by Yahweh to possess his disciples, making them apostles [“messengers”] ‘in the name of Jesus.’ Thus, “everything” they did in ministry [from “panta”], they did the same as would have Jesus; and, that “all” is then stated as “what they had done kai what they had taught.”
It should be understood that Jesus was not ‘in the dark’ about what his “messengers” would do and teach. All were connected to Yahweh at that point, so Jesus did not need a ‘report back’ about what they experienced. Certainly, like excited children explaining to their parents what Santa Claus brough them for Christmas, the wanted to tell Jesus everything. Certainly, he let them talk. However, he knew “all” because his soul was with them “all.”
In verse thirty-one, Mark [thus Peter] denoted it was important [from the use of “kai”] to grasp what Jesus said to his returning apostles. The NRSV translation has this as, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” A literal translation of the Greek has this transform into: “Come you yourselves apart own into solitary place ,kai refresh small .” This needs a full breakdown.
The Greek word “Deute” is capitalized, meaning the word takes on a divine level of meaning, beyond the routine and ordinary “come hither” or “come!” Rather than Jesus giving an order to his apostles to “follow” him some place, he was actually speaking as Yahweh’s voice, explaining how the apostles had done things and taught things beyond their routine and ordinary capabilities. As such, Jesus said they had “Come” to a state of being that was heavenly, so they had been empowered to be like him.
This then leads to the Greek words “hymeis autoi” which ordinarily says, “you yourselves,” but the statement of “you,” which is the second person plural identification of a soul –“ego” – all of those self-identifications had “Come” to Jesus to see what could be done and taught. By the addition of “yourselves,” as the second person plural of “self” or “soul,” all of their souls that had identified with different bodies of flesh, different relationships and families, all of those souls had “Come” to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus was not telling anyone where to go, but he was telling them to where that had “Come” with him.
The Greek word “kat’ ” (abbreviation of “kata”) can then be translated as “apart,” as “of that which so joins itself to one thing as to separate itself from another.” [1.e of Thayer’s Greek Lexicon], where the meaning says the souls of the apostles had been separated from the routine and ordinary control their souls exercised over their bodies of flesh. For a soul to be “apart” [or to Come “down from, i.e. from a higher to a lower plane” – HELPS Word-studies] from its flesh and the flesh still be alive [not dead], this says a divine possession was the reason. As such, the spirit of Jesus joined with each of the souls of the apostles, becoming the dominant controller of those bodies of flesh. One of the abilities they had [what “they had done”] was cast out unclean spirits, which was an opposite form of possession, where the souls of bodies of flesh were “apart” from their actions, instead being led to do sinful acts.
The Greek words “eis erēmon topon” then says, “into solitary place,” where “into” properly says, “”motion into which” implying penetration (“unto,” “union”) to a particular purpose or result.” [HELPS Word-studies] This says the souls of the apostles [twelve] were each “in union” with a “solitary” direction. The word “solitary” does not mean singular, but each self-ego had been set “apart,” as “deserted,” so rather than twelve different ideas of what to do in ministry had been overtaken by one same direction, due to all having been made “desolate” of self-purpose. This unity of spirit was then the “opportunity” that was given to them – their “place” as messengers of Yahweh – as a forecast of where they would be, each individually, after ‘graduation’ from the ‘school of Jesus.’
Following a comma mark and another use of “kai,” Mark stated the importance of “refresh small.” Here, the Greek word “anapausasthe” is routinely and ordinarily translated as “rest,” which gives the impression that being a “messenger” of Yahweh is such hard work that after a few weeks of ministry one needs a ‘sabbatical.’ The intent here has quite the opposite meaning, as Jesus was telling his apostles that their self-egos had been given a break from having to make decisions on what to do and say, due to “you yourselves apart into solitary place.” All the pressures of resisting sinful influences and all the pressures of not knowing how to respond to the forked tongues of lawyers masquerading as holy priests was set aside. The ‘sabbatical’ was ministry, when they no longer had to deal with being nobodies of importance, so they could take pride in their souls being so insignificant and “small.” This realization would be why the egotist Saul changed his name to Paul, meaning “small” [in Latin].
From seeing the meaning of what Jesus said, the second half of verse thirty-one, as well as verses thirty-two through thirty-four is a statement that the souls of the apostles having been married to Yahweh – as newbie reborn Jesuses – they became necessary ‘deacons’ in the “synagogue” of Jesus, which was across the sea from Capernaum [where Jesus lived and where the fishermen’s boats were moored]. When is says “those coming kai those going were many ,kai not even to eat they had opportunity,” this is not speaking of the apostles. It speaks of those who attended this newly formed gathering around Jesus, where he held sermons in a “solitary place” that was outside the government of Galilee, where a flood plain met a steep hillside [with great acoustics]. The part about “not even to eat” [led by the word “kai,” thus important to truly grasp] means those seekers were starved of spiritual food, which is supposed to be the reason for “gatherings” of Jews. When Jesus set up his “synagogue” with twelve freshly trained ‘deacons,’ those who were starving spiritually had finally found an “opportunity” to be fed.
It is essential to read these verses in this new light, as the feeding of the five thousand men [who came with families intact, meaning probably ten to twelve thousand were crammed into the Jesus synagogue, all hungry for spiritual food] required the food be passed out by apostles. Those twelve need to all be seen as if Jesus was doing the handing out, times twelve. While the apostles had been interning as ministers, Jesus had others assist him in beginning his new place of gathering, which Peter was not a party to, so he did not write about that. Therefore, it is important to see that Jesus was not worried about how tired his disciples were, as it makes more sense to see him greet their return by saying, “Now that you see how easy this is [with Yahweh’s help], we have some real work to do.”
Because of the leap over the nineteen verses that lead to the final four verses in this chapter [and this reading selection] there is missing the aspect of the apostles still doing works of the Spirit, while also having doubts were swirling stormily within them. The doubts they experienced on the sea when Jesus was not with them physically signify their souls fighting against the presence of a divine possession, in the same way that Jacob wrestled with himself before he gave in and accepted Yahweh within. They would not rid themselves [and again “self” equates to a “soul”] of their natural drives to control their own bodies of flesh, always keeping their ego intact as much as they could, until Jesus was seen tortured to death and buried; and, the timing of this series of events is still in the first year of Jesus’ ministry.
This means the link between the first verses and the last verses lies in verse thirty-one, which says “not even to eat they had opportunity.” [The NRSV says, “they had no leisure even to eat.”] All of the verses, beginning at verse thirty-three, deal with feeding both the apostles and the other Jewish seekers with the spiritual food they needed. This is where the “shepherd” theme is stated in verse thirty-four.
When the NRSV translation says, “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there,” this speaks of the sheep of the flock recognizing Jesus and his apostles. In this way, the apostles were like the rams that led their own sheep that followed their lead. Jesus was recognized as the shepherd, who cared for all the rams and sheep alike. This makes the synagogue or the gathering place be the sheepfold. There is great imagery of a flock of sheep running to the call of their shepherd, when it is time to be protected, in the words that say: “they hurried there on foot” (in verse thirty-four) and “[they] rushed about” (verse fifty-five).
When all of this is related to shepherding, one needs to see that the flock is fed by being led out to pasture. In that basic need being met, there are illnesses and injuries, as well as growth of wool, all of which needed tending. The shepherd learns the way the flock communicates their needs and lets a need for medical treatment be known. Thus, the key statement that leads all of this says, “[Jesus] had compassion for them.”
The Greek word “esplanchnisthē” was written, which the NRSV has simplified as “had compassion.” The root word [“splagchnizomai”] means “to be moved in the inward parts, to feel compassion.” (Strong’s Definition) The implication of its usages says “to have pity on, to be moved.” (Strong’s Usage) HELPS Word-studies says the root comes from “splanxna, ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys,” where the physical organs are merely symbolic of the soul of Jesus having deep feelings for the souls of his Father’s flock, to whom he was sent to shepherd. This must be seen as a trait of all divinely possessed ministers of Yahweh, as one’s soul must be moved to help other souls, not be content with thinking one’s own soul [or those souls in flesh that are friendly and related] is all that matters.
As a Gospel reading chosen to be read aloud on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, it is this shepherding aspect that is the central theme [vividly clear and present underlying] in all the accompanying readings. One must set aside one’s own self-ego [as much of a struggle as that will be] and let one’s soul become led by Yahweh’s Spirit to become Jesus reborn. That will open one’s soul to deep feelings that care for others. One must go to the people, so the seekers will sense the presence of Yahweh and be drawn [rushing] towards one. The souls of this world are starving from lack of spiritual food; and, Yahweh sent His Son to be spread to all those souls who want to serve him as apostles.
32 I will punish their transgressions with a rod *
and their iniquities with the lash;
33 But I will not take my love from him, *
nor let my faithfulness prove false.
34 I will not break my covenant, *
nor change what has gone out of my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness: *
‘I will not lie to David.
36 His line shall endure forever *
and his throne as the sun before me;
37 It shall stand fast for evermore like the moon, *
the abiding witness in the sky.’ “
——————–
This is the accompanying Psalm to the Track 1 Old Testament reading from Second Samuel, which tells of David telling Nathan he wants to build a house for the Ark to be placed inside. If chosen, this pair of readings will precede the Epistle selection from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote: “In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” All will be presented along with the Gospel reading from Mark, when Jesus told his apostles, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
This not a song written by David, but by Ethan the Ezrahite. This whole song is called “a contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.” Ethan is said to be a cymbal player in David’s court. Because faith believes all Holy Scripture is of divine origin, every reference to “I” must be seen as Ethan being moved by the Spirit of Yahweh to write this song. Therefore, a “contemplation,” from the Hebrew “maś·kîl,” should be seen as a statement both of a “skillful and artistic song” and “a didactic and instructive song.” In it, there are fifty-two verses; but only seventeen are presented here.
Verse twenty says, “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him.” This speaks of Yahweh choosing David as the Israelite who would replace Saul as king. Yahweh knew Saul (the choice of the elders) would fail, so He also knew David would be the choice. Samuel was the one who “found David,” where the Hebrew can also mean “attain,” meaning David was the one Israelite soul who was most able to “attain” the successes Yahweh planned for the Israelite people. To reach those heights, David had to be a servant of Yahweh, which Saul most certainly was not. The word that is translated as “holy” can also mean “sacred,” and the word translating as “oil” come before “sacred.” That means it was not the “oil” poured on David by Samuel that made him “sacred.” David’s soul was made “holy” after Samuel anointed him with “oil,” which was when Yahweh poured out His Spirit upon David. That “anointment” made David a “Messiah” or [in Greek] a Christ.
Verse twenty-one then sings, “My hand will hold him fast and my arm will make him strong.” This translation makes it appear that Yahweh was external to David, as a holy hand reaching down from heaven, with a holy arm giving him strength. In reality, the literal Hebrew translation begins with “who” [“’ă·šer”], which is totally focused on David. That is then “who” is “my hand” that “shall be firm with” or “who shall be established with.” In that use of “my hand,” it is David “who” is a “hand” of Yahweh, which says Yahweh was within his soul, “firmly” guiding his body of flesh. When the Hebrew of the second half says “also my arm,” this says the “hand of Yahweh” will “also” be how Yahweh will extend outward into the Israelite people. As their king, David “shall be strengthened” divinely, as that “arm” of their One God.
Verse twenty-two then sings of this divine presence in David, singing “The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him.” Because of the history told in the Old Testament of the “enemies” of the Israelites, as those who fought against their presence into the Promised Land [they knew nothing of any promise], that human level of existence is ”not” what this verse sings about. Because of the divine possession of Yahweh, absent from his soul [“not” as “lo-”] was Satan. It is Satan, who as the serpent was the craftiest of the animals in Eden, who is the true “enemy” that the presence of the Yahweh Mind knows all beforehand, so David could not be tricked by Satan’s influences. It was then the “sons of wickedness” [“ū·ḇen-‘aw·lāh”] who were those people who made war against the Israelites, as their souls had become demonically possessed and led to sin. None of their sinful ways could penetrate the armor of Yahweh that David’s soul always wore.
Verse twenty-three then sings, “I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.” Here is the first person singular returning, as “I will beat down” those “enemies” of Israel. What is missing in this NRSV translation is “before him” actually says “before his face” [“mip·pā·nāw”], where the root word is “paneh” meaning “face.” This says David’s self-ego will have been lowered, in submission to Yahweh, so David did not wear the “face” of self [as Saul had worn], giving all honor and glory to the successes of Israel to Yahweh. David followed the First Commandment in this verse, which sings he had no other gods before the face of Yahweh [which for most is their own face seen as a god]. Therefore, when David went into battle, it was always as the “hand” and “arm” of Yahweh, which “crushed” and “struck down” all who challenged David’s marriage to the true One God. Those who “hated” David and were David’s “foes” were those against Yahweh, who always lose in battle.
Verse twenty-four then sings, “My faithfulness and love shall be with him, and he shall be victorious through my Name.” The key word to this verse is “ū·ḇiš·mî,” which translates as “in my name” [where “shem” means “name”]. One must understand that “in my name” is something said by a Husband to His wife, as the wife is then the property of the Husband and “in his name.” This is seen in the livestock industry as branding, where the owner’s symbol is burned into the hides of animals they possess. Instead of a physical brans making it known that David was the wife of Yahweh, it was “my faithfulness” and “my kindness” [“we·’e·mū·nā·ṯî wə·ḥas·dî”] that marked David [as “with him,” from “‘im·mōw”]. The element of being “victorious” is actually stated as “qar·nōw,” which means the “horn” David would blare [a ram’s horn or shofar] to announce all victories were Yahweh’s. The symbolism of the “horn” that was “exalted” says David was the lead sheep of a flock, who all bore the mark of Yahweh.
Verse twenty-five then sings, “I shall make his dominion extend from the Great Sea to the River.” This is a poor translation, as it forces one to ask, “What river?” The nation of Israel extended beyond the Jordan, but not as far east as the next major river, so is this verse wrong? The answer comes from seeing the literal translation and realizing the metaphor of “sea” and “rivers.”
The literal translation [BibleHub Interlinear] says, “and I will set over the sea his hand ; and over the rivers his right hand .” This speaks of the “sea” of souls who would be married to Yahweh through the “hand” of David. Because David’s “hand” had been taken in divine marriage, so too would a “sea” of Israelite souls become married as extensions of that one “hand.” As such, all Israel would be considered a “sea” of souls married to Yahweh. It would then be the actions of David that became outward flows of spirituality from Yahweh to the Israelites, which are now metaphorically called “rivers” that moved the Israelites to become the “right hands” of Yahweh. In all cases where a “hand” is referred to specifically as a “right hand,” the inference is not a left hand, which is that marriage of souls to Satan, as the hands of wickedness.
Verse twenty-six then sings, “He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’” This accurate translation makes it clear that David was a Son of God, just as was Jesus, as any soul that has married Yahweh will be reborn as his feminine flesh will have been transformed by the presence of Yahweh’s positive Spirit, making David an “elohim.” For Christians, such an elohim is a Saint, whose soul has submitted its control over a body of flesh to Yahweh, wherein is resurrected the Son, whose soul is that of Jesus. To be able to truthfully call Yahweh “Father,” one’s soul has to have married Him, been anointed by His Spirit [made a Messiah or Christ] and be reborn as His Son. The name “Jesus” means “Yahweh Saves,” so David was reborn as “Jesus,” thus he cried out Yahweh was his “rock of salvation.” When one calls Jesus the “cornerstone” that the builders rejected, that “rock” was then said to be the “rock” upon which the soul of David was built.
Verse twenty-seven then sings, “I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” In this, it is important to see how David being denoted as “the firstborn” [from “bə·ḵō·wr”] that designation says the soul of David gained the right of eternal salvation, the inheritance of submission in marriage to Yahweh AND having been reborn as His Son. This then says the soul of David had been lowered in submission to the soul of Adam entering and merging with his soul-flesh, such that David had the right of eternal life through becoming Adam reborn. This is important to grasp, as Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of man,” where the Greek word for “man” equates to the Hebrew word, which is “adam.” This says Jesus was the reincarnation of Adam’s soul, making him a “firstborn” at conception in Mary’s womb. As Christians realize Jesus to be the King of the “highest” caliber, his kingdom is always the flesh he is resurrected within, alongside but ruler of a host soul that has married Yahweh. Therefore, “kings of the earth” can be seen as “rulers of the flesh,” as no soul or lesser god ruling flesh will ever reach the height of Yahweh’s Son reborn in the flesh.
Verse twenty-eight then sings, “Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.” In this, the word “forever” [“lə·‘ō·w·lām”] becomes a statement of eternal union. The word means a “continuing existence,” where “love” is a repeat of the “kindness, goodness” seen earlier, in verse 24. Still, the aspect of “love” [which is beyond the sensations called “love” in the physical flesh] is the foundation upon which marriage comes. Thus, “my covenant” [“ū·ḇə·rî·ṯî”] becomes the marriage vows, of which the first states to lower one’s face and wear the face of Yahweh. By having this agreement “standing firm” [“ne·’ĕ·me·ne”], this says the laws of marriage will have been written on the walls of one’s heart [the ‘love center’]. Still, the meaning of “heart” is the “soul,” which is the only marriage of significance [no nunneries or monasteries necessary, nor monuments on courthouse property].
Verse twenty-nine then sings, “I will establish his line forever and his throne as the days of heaven.” This is another weak translation, as it makes one think all the Israelites who became Jews [after centuries of failing to marry Yahweh] are “forever established as a holy line of human beings.” This is not what is sung; therefore it is a wrong impression to take away. The literal translation expands this to all souls who do marry Yahweh, and that becomes a spiritual lineage that includes all true Christians and Jews who became Apostles and Saints.
The BibleHub Interlinear translation shows: “and I will set forever his seed ; and his seat of honor as the days of heaven .” In that, the use of “forever” is again the promise of eternal life, which equates to the “salvation” cried out about in verse 26. Again, Yahweh’s salvation is stated in the name “Jesus.” This then promises all who are the “seed” [those “sown” or the “offspring”] will be souls, not temporal bodies of flesh [which cannot live “forever”]. This becomes a vine of eternal life, from which souls are married to Yahweh, all becoming His Son, such that a lineage is created by souls who are all related as brothers [Spirit is only masculine] that are all Anointed ones by Yahweh. This then says the “seat of honor” [or “throne”] is only allowed to those souls who marry Yahweh and become “enlightened” by the eternal presence of “day,” which is only possible in the spiritual realm of a soul [“heaven”], not a body of flesh in a rotating world that repeats night and day.
Verse thirty then sings, “If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances,” which begins a four-verse series of stipulations and conditions for the aforementioned lineage of David. This sets up the scenario that would befall Israel, including David, where Yahweh is set as an external deity and no longer married spiritually. When a rejection of “law” [from “tō·w·rā·ṯî”] is seen to mean one’s soul is no longer “directed, instructed, or taught” by the Spirit, so one’s soul always maintains the conditions of the marriage agreement, then one separates from that union of bond. This verse then sets up the foundation of spiritual divorce, where sin has crept into one’s fleshy brain and influenced one to stop eating only from the tree of life [eternal salvation] and take a bite of the apple from the tree of know sin in the world, after knowing the law only allows good.
The continuation of this development is then sung in verse thirty-one as: “if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,” where the conditional of “if” is repeated. The foremost example of this “violation of statutes” was when David became tired and did not lead the troops out in the spring. He knew lust in his soul.
As king, he had the right to command anything and anyone to follow his orders, which was an automatic compliance by those expecting David to only speak the Word of Yahweh. Instead, David knew he was breaking the laws and he hid his adultery. He had a love child and he tried to make Uriah lay with his wife, Bathsheba, so she could lie and tell him her baby with David was his. When Uriah was led by Yahweh to not follow the ruse of Satan, that forced David to have Uriah killed in battle, which meant he condoned murder. All of these acts became one sin compounding another, because the soul of David had separated from Yahweh and raised the ugly face of self-will against the face of God. The seduction that befell Saul would befall David, as he violated known statutes and cheated on his marriage vows with Yahweh.
The continuation of this possibility of waywardness, from breaking one’s promise in marriage to Yahweh, verse thirty-two sings, “then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges;” where this verse says waywardness will not be tolerated. The use of “rod” here [from “ḇə·šê·ḇeṭ,” root “shebet”] should not be taken as an act of utter destruction. While a “rod” would shatter a potter’s vase into shards, the “rod” was also a stick used by a shepherd to force sheep who acted waywardly into the fold. Thus, in Psalm 23 we read how David sang there was comfort in knowing the shepherd used the “rod” as a tool of caring. It becomes the root of the proverb, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” As such, no breaking of the laws of a soul’s marriage to Yahweh will go unpunished; but punishment does not mean being cast into the outer darkness, as eternally punished.
When the verse adds “their iniquity with scourges,” there is no addition of any word beyond the first statement of “transgressions” [“piš·‘ām”]. As the central word in this verse, it can be assumed to apply to the “stripes” or “scourges,” as a whipping as punishment can only come due from “transgressions” or sins. Here, the implication of a whip must also be seen as a tool of herding, where the primary use is to get the attention of a stubborn animal and force it into compliance. Returning to the theme of being branded in marriage to Yahweh, where Yahweh possesses a soul as would a rancher possesses livestock, the tools of a rancher are not designed for a purpose to inflict pain and suffering. They are merely intended to be used for guidance, to ensure that the dumb animals do what is best for them wellbeing. Only humans take a tool and misuse it as an instrument of destruction for personal pleasure.
The final verse in this run of verses that state the conditional of stubbornness in a wife of Yahweh, verse thirty-three sings out the hope maintained, singing “but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness.” Here, once again, is the “kindness and goodness” of “checed” being stated, which has been seen as the “love” that binds two in marriage. The repeating of “steadfastness,” as the “firmness” of “commitment” that is the promise of marriage vows, says waywardness is not grounds for breaking a divine marriage.
In the example of David, Yahweh knew before pouring out His Spirit onto the soul of David that he would break the vows and err. That was all part of the plan that had a committed David set up everything for his own fall, as all subsequent falls from grace would demand a marriage with Yahweh to prevent a divorce. This verse says the soul of David retained the eternal reward, even though his body of flesh left behind a legacy of failure. His flesh’s fall says all flesh will fail. Therefore, each soul must be committed to Yahweh for redemption after death.
Verse thirty-four then sings, “I will not violate my covenant, or alter the word that went forth from my lips.” This verse must be seen as the marriage agreement set by Yahweh on Mount Sinai and taken down by Moses to the Israelites to agree with, which is forever the marriage vows of ALL CHILDREN OF YAHWEH – not just the Jews of today – such that none of them are open for discussion and none of them can be amended. The terms of a souls return to be one with Yahweh are His and His only. All souls are given the freedom to chose whatever face to wear they want. This verse then sings that there is only one Covenant set forth from the “lips” of Yahweh and that are the terms that must be either fully accepted in submission of self, or fully rejected as being a god unto thyself. Like pregnancy, there is no halfway state of being.
Verse thirty-five then sings, “Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.” This verse is better understood by seeing it literally set to English. BibleHub Interlinear shows it as: “once I have sworn by my sacredness , if to David I will not lie .” Here, perhaps most of all statements of the name David, the meaning of that name needs to be realized as meaning “Beloved.” Therefore, this becomes a statement of commitment by Yahweh that says, “All souls who have become my Saints through marriage; I will fill them only with the truth that comes from shared love.” The conditional [not shown by the NRSV translation] says, “if a soul becomes the Beloved of Yahweh, then that soul will always know the truth, and truth is the bond of commitment.”
Verse thirty-six then sings, “His line shall continue forever, and his throne endure before me like the sun.” Here, again, the use of “zar·‘ōw,” as “line,” when the truth says “seed,” gives the false impression that human beings born of the flesh have some special right to eternal life [“foreverness”]. The reality of this verse is it sings about those souls [a truly “forever” entity] who follow the established model of each Israelite soul needing to marry Yahweh, in order to achieve salvation. Here, Israelite needs to be seen as meaning “He Retains God,” as a statement of divine marriage, not birthright. Thus, that begun by David being anointed by Yahweh will forever continue to all souls who become the offspring of that model.
The repeating of “the seat of honor” [or “throne”] says all who will have their flesh become led by the Son of Yahweh [Adam and Jesus] will make their bodies become “thrones” upon which that divine soul will sit. This becomes the light of truth, which is symbolized by the “Sun.” That metaphor matches the use of “days” in verse 29, which makes verse 36 be a repeating of that former verse. The reward of eternity means forever being in the light of truth, never again in darkness.
The last verse in this reading selection is number thirty-seven. It sings, “It shall be established forever like the moon, an enduring witness in the skies. Selah.” It should be noted that the NRSV does include the word “Selah,” which means “to praise, exalt,” but the Episcopal Church chooses not to include it in their presentation for reading aloud. This verse then becomes a reflection of verse 36, just “like the moon” is a body that reflects the light of the sun, itself having no light to project on its own. The light of the sun is the truth that a servant of Yahweh will become a “witness” for. As a “witness,” it will testify to the truth, so that light is reflected from Yahweh to others through the body that is His wife. This way of leading other souls to marriage with Yahweh, through bodies that reflect the light of the sun [the Son], as moons in service to their Husband, the people will forever be shown to look upwards for a better solution to the worries of life. In this, the “sky” [from “baš·ša·ḥaq,” meaning “dust, cloud”] becomes the inner self, or the soul, which is that cloud that is known to be present, but cannot clearly be seen. All praise for Yahweh can only come from the soul.
As a long Psalm that can be read aloud or sung is Track 2 is chosen on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, this makes it clear that a true priest of Yahweh is in the offspring of David, where one’s soul has married Yahweh. There can be no faking ministry. Ministry is not for self-glorification, where one’s soul cares nothing about any other soul. In such cases, one lost can never lead any other lost souls to be found. Being “found” is the first focus of this song of praise. A soul “found” is pure and open to be taken by Yahweh. No souls are “found” in the libraries of a seminary or university, while doing a term paper that will earn one’s flesh a passing grade.
Explaining the Readings 