Tag Archives: Ordinary time after Pentecost

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 – A Spiritual commitment with Yahweh as one’s only love

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Moses said: Now this is the commandment–the statutes and the ordinances–that Yahweh elohekem your gods charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children, may fear Yahweh eloheka your gods all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh elohe the gods of your ancestors, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: Yahweh elohenu our gods, Yahweh alone. You shall love Yahweh eloheka your gods with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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This is the Track 2 Old Testament reading that will be read aloud in churches following that path on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 26], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If a church is set for Track 2 during the Ordinary after Pentecost season, then this reading will be accompanied by verses from Psalm 119, one of which sings, “I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, when I have learned your righteous judgments.” That pair will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where Jesus told some Sadducees, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In 2018, the last time this reading came up in the lectionary cycle, I wrote a commentary that did not expressly focus on the verses that Jesus quoted from the Mark 12 reading that this can accompany. Instead, I referred the readers then to read a commentary on Mark 12 I had written, which I linked into that article. Because I am not as pleased with what I wrote in 2018, even though there is merit in what I wrote, I will not ask the readers now to read that commentary. It can be found by searching this website’s blog; but I will leave that up to the true seekers who just can’t get enough of Scriptural opinion to satisfy their needs.

First of all, there is nothing written that says, “Moses said.” That is manufactured by the Episcopal Church. The NRSV does not show that text. Certainly, chapter five was Yahweh speaking to the Israelites, followed by Moses then clarifying what the Covenant means to each individual Israelite, as a people in whole; so, this same aspect of Moses speaking can be seen in chapter six. However, if anything is to be made up, it should be this: “Moses continued speaking as the intercessor of Yahweh to the Israelites.” Anything less than that can give the false impression that Moses was creating thoughts from his own brain, which is the problem all the left-wing, liberal priests of the Episcopal Church have, as that is something they routinely do every day. As the saying goes: Opinions are like asshole – everybody has one. Thus, the importance to convey here is Moses spoke through divine inspiration; and, that must be the intent conveyed to the readers.

In the first five verses of what Moses spoke for the Father, as the foremost Israelite who was a soul married to Yahweh, thereby able to speak divinely, six times he uttered the proper name of Yahweh, with five times following that name up with some form of the plural word “elohim,” which means “gods.” This says the Commandments – “the statues and the ordinances” – are only an agreement between two – Yahweh and His angels in the flesh. The Covenant listed in chapter five is not for Egyptians. It is not even for Joacobites, or descendants of Jacob like those who wanted to build a golden calf idol to worship, instead of Yahweh. It is Moses making clear (through divine whispers leading his words) that an “Israelite” is “One Who Retains Yahweh, as one of His elohim.” This means the union of each of their souls to His Spirit. Thus, the Covenant is an agreement of marriage, where each one “Who Retains Yahweh” within his or her soul, is His wife, fully submissive to His Will.

In the five combinations that state “Yahweh elohim,” the forms “elohekem” and “eloheka” are translated by the NRSV as in the third-person plural possessive state, as “your God,” which would then be adjusted to reality as “your gods.” This does not read well as “your gods,” thus the gleefulness to transform the plural into the singular (with the kick of capitalization) as “you God.” When that translation is made, it becomes a statement of one possessing Yahweh, with the many each having the same possession of “the Lord” (not a named Yahweh). That is wrong, as none of the Israelites sent Moses up the mountain to tell Yahweh their terms of marriage. In fact, they followed Moses out of Egypt, after watching Moses command miracle after miracle, as the hand of Yahweh (along with Aaron), so they agreed to follow Moses anywhere Yahweh saw fit for them to go. Thus, the possession is of Yahweh, as He owns the souls of all the Israelites who agreed to marry Him, becoming His “gods” on earth in the flesh (call them His “angels”). So, the better translations of “elohekem” and “eloheka” should be as “you gods of His.”

In the statement that says “Yahweh elohe,” which is translated as “Yahweh the gods,” the same understanding must be seen. Yahweh is the One God, who created not only the Universe, but also created the “gods” that carried out His plan of Creation. In Genesis 1 there are thirty-two references to “elohim,” with none to Yahweh. Genesis 1:1 begins by stating, “in the beginning created elohim,” where the plural number (as “gods”) infers the creation of “elohim in the beginning” was done by Yahweh. In Genesis 2, when Adam is hand-crafted by Yahweh, there are eleven times “Yahweh elohim” is written. This means Adam was the first of the “ancestors” that Moses now referred to as “Yahweh elohe.” This is the list of the Patriarchs who led to the Covenant in the wilderness, with Moses. It should be realized that Adam, his descendants who all lived many hundreds of year, including Noah, then Abram-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all Yahweh elohe, meaning their souls were married to Yahweh, as His wives. Jacob transformed to the name Israel because of his divine marriage to Yahweh, after he wrestled with his own soul and its addiction to self. So, when Jacob finally submitted to divine marriage, his name was elevated to that of an angel possessed by Yahweh.

When Moses then said Yahweh is “our gods” (from “Yahweh elohenu”), this is again stating the collective possession by all, as Yahweh’s wives. This says they all have become elevated as Israelites, where all are the “gods of Yahweh all alike.” As wives of Yahweh they have all submitted their souls to Him alone. Because of this Covenant of marriage, none are allowed to worship or serve any other “gods,” which is stated clearly as the first Commandment, forbidding such infidelity. Therefore, because this marriage commitment is an eternally lasting agreement [a soul is eternal], it must be based wholly on “love.”

When verse four is translated to state: “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh elohenu [us gods of Yahweh], Yahweh alone,” the words “shama Israel” must be read as a proclamation that says “hear your new name being assigned: Israel.” It is the same voice heard by Jacob when his name changed to Israel. To be “Israel” one must commit to being one of Yahweh’s elohim, committing forevermore to be committed to “Yahweh alone.” This says each and every soul animating a body of flesh that heard Moses speak these words – no matter how far away from Moses he or she was at the time – they all clearly “heard Israel” be spoken as their individual names. One and collectively, they were spiritually named Israel; and, that is a statement of name change through marriage. The “el” part of Israel says each individual is an el of Yahweh, who gives them His name as “Yahweh elohim”

Verse five then becomes what Jesus said was the most important Law, as here it is written: “and you shall love Yahweh as gods in His name ; with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength of abundance .” In the second series of words, “heart, soul, and strength” [from “lebab,” “nephesh,” and “meod”] speak of “inner being” [both “heart” and “mind”], which is the “soul” and the “muchness, might, and strength” that comes from being more than a soul animating a body of death [flesh is a corpse without a soul]. The “might” is that of Yahweh’s Spirit merged with one’s soul; and, this is what transforms a mere soul into one of the Yahweh elohim, so that “abundance” comes from being a hand of Yahweh on earth. All of this presence must be earned from total love and commitment, in order to receive the same love and commitment in return.

When verse six then says, “and shall be words these , which I command you today in your heart .” In this, the word “I” (from “anoki”) is not to be overlooked. It is a statement that the soul being in submission to Yahweh, as His wives (each and every one), they all will cease possession of their own self-ego or self-will. Verse six is like the “I do” part of marriage vows, when the question asked is, “Do you agree to allow only the words of Yahweh to be spoken by you, because He is One with your inner being?” The “I” becomes like how Jesus always said, “I speak for the Father, because the Father is within me.” The repetition of “lebab” says one’s life will forevermore be led by the Word of Yahweh through one’s “heart, mind, will, inner being;” and, that Word will be one’s life in ministry for Him.

The remainder of this reading has been interpreted by Jews [the failed Israelites, whose ancestors broke every agreement, leading to their demise] as: A.) a relationship with Yahweh is exclusive from anyone else in the world, as only those born of our blood can be taught that Yahweh is the God of Israel; B.) Jews will wear bands on their arms and little boxes on their head, to prove they are the special descendants of people long ago who loved Yahweh; and, C.) Jews will live in apartments, condos and subdivision homes that are marked by little prayer icons that are screwed into the wall, outside the front door. All of that is bull dung and not what Yahweh had Moses tell them to teach their children and their children’s children.

In the Hebrew that the NRSV translates as “Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,” all are symbols that state marriage. To “bind them as a sign on your hand” means to wear a wedding band on one’s finger, but in a figurative sense. It says let one’s hand do the works of Yahweh, as His wife on earth.

None of this means anything to Yahweh, unless one’s soul is married to His Spirit.

To have “emblems on your foreheads,” the Hebrew actually says to have “bands between your eyes.” This can be seen as a Hindu practice of wearing a ruby on one’s forehead, where a jewel represents the “third eye,” or the pineal gland that is centrally located in the brain. This is a statement of always having a line of communication with Yahweh, so one always speaks His Word.

To then “write them on the doorposts of your house and your gate,” this is the sign of the blood of the lamb that spares one death. To be spared death, a soul has been granted eternal life, as a wife of Yahweh, as a Yahweh elohim. The doorpost or the gate post is the soul’s entrance into a body of flesh, with the house being that flesh as a tabernacle unto Yahweh. The writings are then the Scripture that Moses commanded be memorized until written, such that the history of one’s Covenant with Yahweh will be an official pact in writing that devotes each soul in a body of flesh as His and His alone, forever.

It must be realized that nothing is written here that says the words Jesus spoke, which command “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Those words can be found in Leviticus 19:18, but they are not written here. It must be realized that the Book of Leviticus were special rules for those who would maintain the Tabernacle and the movements of the Ark and the Covenant. It also must be understood that the Levites were considered the least of the whole; so, the whole would all qualify to maintain the Tabernacle, as Yahweh elohim; but the Levites were designated that role due to the sins of Levi. Still, the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” is missing the key addition, which says, “I Yahweh.” While this can easily be sloughed off as meaningless dribble, when Yahweh felt the need to say, “I command this, so it will be!” the reality is it states the “neighbor” is not without, but within. This restates the total love demanded in the marriage commitment to Yahweh, so the “neighbor” within is “I Yahweh.” That is the Yahweh elohim ego that replaces self-ego and self-will. I will advance this notion when I write about the Mark 12 reading, as the Greek spoken by Jesus [recorded by Mark in Greek] makes “neighbor” mean “near.”

In the Hebrew of Leviticus 19:18, the word “rea” is used [transliterated as “lə·rê·‘ă·ḵā” or “your neighbor”]. The word “rea” translates as “friend, companion, fellow” (Strong’s), but is used ninety-one times in Scripture as some form of “neighbor.” Thirty-nine times it is used to denote “another” or “other,” with a few times translating as “husband, lover(s), and mate.” Thus, it needs to be seen that the one closest to a soul in the flesh is the Husband – “I Yahweh” – and that refers one back to the Deuteronomy reading, where love of Yahweh must be total and all encompassing.

As a optional Old Testament reading that can be read on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is loving Yahweh and submitting one’s soul to Him from that love. In today’s world of Christianity, there is so much spoken about love of Jesus or love of Christ, when none of that can be possible without a soul being married to Yahweh. All the English translation services lead souls away from even knowing the name of Yahweh, which Moses repeated many times in this short reading selection. One must love Yahweh with all one’s heart, all one’s soul and with all one’s strength. Otherwise, one is just a pagan praying to icons and idols, completely head-over-heels in love you self, nothing else.

Hebrews, Language, Teaching

Hebrews 9:11-14 – Understanding the blood of Christ

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

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This is the Epistle selection that will be read aloud in churches on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 26], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will be preceded by one of two pairs of Old Testament and Psalm readings, either Track 1 or Track 2. The track chosen by an individual church will determine if the Old Testament reading is from Ruth or from Deuteronomy. Track 1 will include these verses: “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law” and “Yahweh sets the prisoners free; Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; Yahweh lifts up those who are bowed down.” Track 2 will include these verses: “Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey” and “Oh, that my ways were made so direct that I might keep your statutes!” Those will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark 12, where the response to Jesus by the scribe was, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”’

The last time this reading selection came up in the lectionary cycle (2018) I wrote a deep observation of the literal text, coming from the Greek written by Paul. I included background that is relative to the ten verses that precede these four selected from chapter nine. I stand behind my observations then, as they are still applicable today. If that article is one you would like to read, it can be accessed by searching this site. As it is with all the writings of the Epistles, there is much depth that can come from writings that are divinely inspired, coming from the Mind of God, where ‘speaking in tongues’ is required to see more and more truth become exposed from the language of Yahweh being used. This language cannot be translated properly by services that know Greek and know other languages and transform the Word of God into human paraphrases. The reading above is so much more than is shown.

From the translation services that provide English-speaking Christians with the quotes and passages they love to memorize as ‘the Gospel,’ these four verses from Hebrews 9 fall under headings, such as: “Redemption through His Blood” [Bible Hub Interlinear]; “The Earthly and the Heavenly Sanctuaries” [NRSV]; “The Blood of Christ” [NIV]; “The Old and the New” [NASB]; and, “New Covenant Ministry” [Christian Standard Bible – CSB]. From this variety of headings, all coming from the same text, although some separate these verses, while other lump all into one whole, they convey a duality of past and present, old and new, such that the “blood” must be seen as spiritual, not physical.

I wonder if Leo drew two bodies, one imposed on top of another, to show the union of two souls in one body of flesh?

In the first verse of this reading selection (verse 11), the NRSV translators have set aside two series of words in parentheses, separated by a comma mark. The parentheses are not part of the written text. Verse eleven literally translates into English saying, “Christ now , having arrived as high priest of those having become of good use , on account of this greater kai more complete tabernacle not made by hands , this existence , not of the latter this institution .” This must be seen as Paul explaining the “high priest” he wrote of in Hebrews 7, which has been the readings the past two Sundays.

First of all, the writing of “Christos,” is a capitalized word that takes on a divine level of meaning. The word “christos” in the lower-case means “to be rubbed on, used as ointment or salve.” The capitalization says Paul is speaking of ALL souls that have been Spiritually Anointed ones by Yahweh. This is not a divine level of meaning otherwise. Only Yahweh can Anoint a soul, making that soul be a “Christ;” and, Yahweh is not to be limited in any way by mere human translators or mere human interpreters to say “Christ” can only be Jesus in the flesh. This reality is because Yahweh can Anoint the whole world, if the whole world submits to His Covenant for marriage. “Christ” is NOT to be limited to being read as the ‘last name’ of Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman in Bethlehem. The Old Testament is one story after another that tell of the Christs of Yahweh: males and females He Anoints who He chooses.

When one realizes “Christ” is a state of being, one which Paul knew personally, as Paul was an Anointed one of Yahweh, his writing “Christ now” is speaking about the death of Jesus of Nazareth, whose soul was most certainly Anointed by Yahweh, as His Son, but that Anointed soul was no longer present on the face of the earth as it was, when Jesus lived in flesh [his Anointed soul animated dead matter]. At that moment of writing [“now”] the focus of verse eleven states a change has occurred, unlike what was before. The rest of the segments of this verse must be realized as Paul writing about the present state of the “Christ,” as opposed to the way it was when Jesus lived and walked.

In that new [remember the titles that transitioned from “old” to “new”?] state, Paul wrote next: “having arrived as high priest of those having become of good use.” That says the Anointed soul of Jesus had entered into others, like Paul [not only Paul, but all Apostles or Saints], with that soul of Jesus “having arrived” in “those as high priest.” This means the soul of Paul was no longer the “high priest” of Paul’s body of flesh. Paul had been named Saul, when his soul was his “high priest,” but Saul was not anointed by any deity as a divine servant of any true God. Saul was his own “god” [a “soul” as an “el”], who worshiped his own evil acts as being righteous. However, after Saul submitted his soul to Yahweh [changing his name to denote that transition from old Saul to new Paul], the presence of Jesus’ soul with his soul – AS HIGH PRIEST – means Paul [like “those” also “Christs” of Yahweh] had “become of good use.”

Following that statement of divine presence being within Paul [and others like him] for “good use,” he then wrote a segment of words that contain the marker word “kai,” which denotes importance needing to be seen in that stated after that marker word. Here, Paul wrote, “on account of this greater kai more complete tabernacle not made by hands.” In that, “greater” becomes relative to the “good use,” which says people who have not become Saints will try to do “good things,” but when the soul has been enhanced by the presence of Jesus’ soul, as a “Christ,” then the “good use” of one’s being is “greater.” This can be intuited to be meaning Jesus walks again in the flesh – in the flesh of a Saint – so being Jesus reborn is “greater” than being someone who likes Jesus a lot and tries to figure out what Jesus would do “now.”

The marker word “kai” then says “more complete tabernacle not made by human hands” becomes very important, relative to this “greater” state of being. In this, the “tabernacle” must be seen as the most holy place in which Jesus has become the “high priest.” That is one’s body of flesh. Saul was a tabernacle for Judaism, where he served as the “high priest” who took delight in the persecution of Christians. When his soul became “Anointed” by Yahweh and Jesus became the “high priest” of his “tabernacle,” then Paul was transformed … but “not by human hands.” Jesus never physically met Saul. Jesus did not physically come touch Saul and tell him, “Change and be Paul.” In the same way, the Judaic religious system was built by human hands, where everything they believed in was made up by the intelligence of their brains, with none of the leaders of that religion a divine “high priest,” who was one “Anointed” by Yahweh.

Paul then separated two words by comma use, which makes one pause to reflect on his writing “this existence,” which also says “this is.” This says the old state of being has changed into a new state of being. The new state that “exists” “is” the “Christ” state of being – a Saint whose soul has married Yahweh and then given birth to the resurrected soul of Jesus as “high priest” in that body of flesh – a body is no longer as it was before, led only by one’s soul.

The final segment of words is then Paul writing, “not of the latter this institution.” In that, the Greek word “ktiseōs” is written, which the NRSV has translated [within parentheses that are non-existent] as “creation.” According to Strong’s, the word means “creation (the act or the product)” [definition], but then “(often of the founding of a city), (a) abstr: creation, (b) concr: creation, creature, institution; always of Divine work, (c) an institution, ordinance.” [usage] Thus, the intent, following a segment of word that spoke of a spiritual “tabernacle” [one “not made by human hands”], says “this existence” is “not” to be confused with a “creation” of Jews in Jerusalem, but the new “institution” that would go by the name of Christianity [based on the reality of all members of that “institution” being Anointed ones by Yahweh, with His Son the “high priest” of all].

In the translation I present, the Greek word “ταύτης” is written, which transliterates as “tautēs.” This is the genitive singular form of “hoûtos,” which means “this,” but can mean “here, the preceding, the latter, or a reference to someone famous or infamous.” As “here,” Paul was writing from a Roman prison, who was persecuting him because of Jewish influences within Rome. The “preceding institution” was the Judaic religion, which was coming to an end of relevancy (“the latter”). Thus, Paul was writing so translators would catch his drift and see him writing about a change taking place, from the old to the new.

Verse twelve then can literally be seen to translate as stating, “not through blood spilled of goats kai calves , through now this own blood spilled , he entered once for all among these set apart by God , eternal redemption having obtained .” This is where people see the blood of Jesus on the cross as him dying for the sins of the whole world, which is stupid to think. This speaks of the old “institution,” created by the “hands of men,” not Yahweh, being one where blood sacrifices was an integral part of their physical system that saw spilling blood as a cleaning exercise, one which pleased Yahweh.

Jesus was indeed the sacrificial lamb whose blood would be spilled, meaning he would be killed and he would have marks on his flesh that bled; but that was not so his flesh could be roasted on the altar fire and then served to people waiting for some barbequed goat or calf. Jesus died so his soul could be spilled out; and, that is the meaning of Paul writing, “he entered once for all among these set apart by God.” Those “set apart by God” [aka “sacred ones” or “holy places”] are those who are “Christ now.” The soul of Jesus has been released through willing sacrifice. That sacrifice was not to cleanse sins ceremoniously [with physical blood and ashes sprinkled], but to enter those who repent from their sins, forevermore. Thus, when Yahweh sends into those who will be His Saints His Son resurrected – to become their “high priest” – then they have earned “redemption” and “eternal” life for their souls.

Verse thirteen then literally translates to say, “If indeed this blood spilled of goats , kai of bulls , kai ashes of a heifer , ceremoniously sprinkled to cleanse those who have become unclean , make holy towards this of this flesh purification ,” this is Paul speaking of symbolic restoration of sins done by bodies of flesh. Such ritual sacrifices have no lasting value. Just like washing the dirt off one’s flesh with water makes one clean for a moment, only to get dirty again later, nothing has changed within. Physical cleansing does not (cannot) reach into where the motivation to get dirty again comes from.

Verse fourteen is then a continuation of the line of thought begun in verse thirteen. Here, it is important to realize the capitalization of the Greek word “Ei,” at the beginning of verse thirteen. That “If” is still in effect as the line of thought moves into the next verse (following a comma mark, not a period). The capitalization of “If” means the divine level of meaning the word absorbs says all physical sacrifices of living creatures for religious purposes are to please some god, IF that god indeed requires a blood (soul release) sacrifice. Thus, the proposition that animal sacrifices please Yahweh is the ‘big IF’ here. It asks the question, “Does Yahweh only want His servants and priests to clean their bodies of flesh, routinely, through ritual spilling of animal blood?”

The answer to that question can be found in Isaiah 1:11, where Yahweh spoke to the prophet, saying ““The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says Yahweh. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.” This is what Paul was alluding to in verse thirteen.

The literal translation of verse fourteen into English has it say: “how much more this blood shed who of Christ , which because of the Spirit eternal , itself to bring to blameless this God , will cleanse this conscience ourselves away from mortal works , into this to serve God living !” This becomes a statement about how much “greater” is the freeing of Jesus’ soul, than that of farm animals, because that soul being released from a physical body means it can then enter into those who are deemed by Yahweh to be His Anointed ones. Being a “Christ” means one’s soul has been cleansed, which is “much more” than being washed by water or having had some ritual ashes sprinkled nearby.

The second segment of words confirm that being Anointed ones of Yahweh is Spiritual, where the capitalization of “Pneumatos” gives this a divine level of meaning, which is the marriage of Yahweh with a soul, through His “Spirit.” This marriage is taking on the name of Yahweh [which is “Jesus”]; and, that union with a soul forever grants it eternal life … beyond the time in the flesh. It is this marriage that cleanses the soul [and thus the body of flesh too], which allows Yahweh to sit upon the throne of one’s heart, while His Son becomes the “high priest” of one’s fleshy “tabernacle.” Like Job [and all Saints] one becomes “blameless,” which is a statement about being free of the condemnations of sins.

Jesus did not die to forgive sins. Jesus died so his soul could be given by Yahweh … to His wives in divine marriage … who agreed at the marriage altar never to sin again. The First Commandment – “Do not wear the face of other gods before My face” – says, “the faces of other gods lead souls to become sinners.” A soul cannot marry Yahweh and not forever give up being a sinner. Thus, Jesus died to show how each wife-to-be of Yahweh [a soul] must also crucify one’s past worship of self, in order to become reborn as the Son of man.

When the next to last segment speaks of a clean conscience, which says one’s soul is well aware of past sins having been forgiven [through sincere repentance and love for marriage to Yahweh], the future direction taken by the soul still possessing a body of flesh is “away from mortal works,” where “mortal” is sins of the flesh, which lead to death of a body, releasing the soul to reincarnation or being sent forever into damnation. Therefore, the last segment of words then say ministry ensues, where one does the works of Yahweh incarnate, as His Son reborn. One is transformed divinely, to serve the Father in a world in need of Saints.

As a reading for the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to realize the need to be reborn as Jesus, as one of Yahweh’s Christs. One has to realize that physical blood of Jesus is meaningless, until one sees one’s own blood becoming that of Jesus, after his soul has been resurrected within one’s own soul. Otherwise, the ‘blood of Christ’ has to be seen as the outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit upon one’s soul. The marriage of one’s soul to Yahweh allows one to be clean enough for His Son’s soul to be reborn into human flesh. When that transformation takes place – from the old to the new – then ministry can indeed begin for Yahweh.

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 12:28-34 – Total love means loving Jesus as oneself

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

One of the scribes came near and heard the Sadducees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

——————–

This is the Gospel reading that will be read aloud by a priest on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 26], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This will follow one of two sets of Old Testament and Psalm pairings, either Track 1 or Track 2. Depending on the predetermined path for an individual church during Year B, Track 1 will present a reading from Ruth, which says, “Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that Yahweh had considered his people and given them food.” That will be paired with Psalm 146, which sings, “Happy are they who have se-el of Jacob for their help! whose hope is in Yahweh elohaw.” Track 2 will offer a reading from Deuteronomy 6, where Moses spoke as Yahweh, saying, “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh ehohenu, Yahweh alone.” That will be accompanied by Psalm 119, which sings: “Then I should not be put to shame, when I regard all your commandments.” One of those two will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!”

I wrote in-depth about this reading selection the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle (2018). I posted my observations at that time on my website. That insight is still relevant today; so, there is no need for me to repeat what I wrote three years ago. I recommend all readers to search this site for Mark 12:28-34 and read what I wrote then, before coming back to read what I will now add. I will do more towards showing how the others readings set aside for the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost enhance this lesson; but I will now add for the first time insight that has just come to me recently.

The first thing I want to point out from this reading is it is written in Greek. Mark is the author of Peter’s story – his first-hand account of Jesus’ ministry that he witnessed, divinely recalled – and Mark wrote the Gospel bearing his name in Greek. Most likely, Peter spoke to Mark in Aramaic; and, most likely the scribes and Sadducees spoke to Jesus in Aramaic, in which same language he responded to them. This means that the Greek that is translated into English, from which the NRSV translation is read aloud by a priest [from a large book written in English], is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth of what Jesus actually said.

To see Mark write [transliterated], “Akoue Israēl : Kyrios ho Theos hēmōn , Kyrios heis estin ,” [et al] and think that was what Jesus said, when the Hebrew written is [transliterated], “šə·ma‘ yiś·rā·’êl : Yah-weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū Yah-weh ’e·ḥāḏ” [et al] is wrong. Jesus did not refer to the name ordered written by Moses in Deuteronomy – “Yah-weh [or “יְהוָ֥ה”] – as “Kyrios” [or “Κύριος”]. Jesus would have quoted the Hebrew as written, which the scribe [a university professor equivalent in Hebrew] would also have had down to acute memory. In other words, the Greek of Mark was intended to be read by English-speaking Christians [two thousand years later] as “Hear Israel : The Lord our God , the Lord is one” [et al], when Jesus should be realized to have said, “hear Israel ; Yahweh of whom we are gods , Yahweh alone” [et al].

The evidence of this is where Jesus regularly referred to Yahweh as “the Father” [“Patros”] and not “Kyrios.” What needs to be found from the Greek that has Jesus speaking is this: the truth is not found by thinking he spoke in Greek. By Yahweh leading all the Gospel writers to write their stories of Jesus in a language Jesus did not regularly speak, with enough references to things he said in Aramaic being enough to say, “He spoke in Aramaic,” the point is to hide the truth under words of paraphrase. To believe in paraphrases is only half-way towards finding the truth. To find the other half means reaching true faith; and, Yahweh had the Gospels written in Greek to see who is willing to search for the truth that lies underneath.

It is from that perspective that it becomes imperative that one realize Jesus quoted the Hebrew of Deuteronomy, as well as the Hebrew from Leviticus 19:18, when he answered the question posed to him by the scribes. The question (translated literally from the Greek) is: “Which is law most important of the whole?” That becomes a hidden statement that there are 613 commandments listed by Moses, which made it be a trick question that sought to have Jesus say one was more important than all the others, when all are equally important. When Jesus said one was foremost, with another subsequent to the foremost law and no others greater than those two, he gave the right answer; and, he did it without having to draw in the dirt or pull out his list of Mosaic laws. That speed of answer impressed the brainiac that was one of the scribes.

For Jesus to quote from Deuteronomy, which is (by definition) the “second law,” or “repeated law,” he was not listing one of those most commonly memorized by Christians, from the “Ten Commandments.” Jews today laugh at this Christian view, knowing there are 613, which is about six hundred three more laws than Christians learn or remember. Still, when Moses told the Israelites to “hear Israel,” that meant they needed to hear their soul’s new name was “Israel,” meaning “One Who Retains God,” through marriage that joined each soul to Yahweh. That marriage was and could only be through love. Therefore, the foremost of all the commandments was one that repeated, “If your soul is not in this because of total love, then there are no agreements that will be kept.”

In the difference between how the Greek states “the Lord our God,” it is easy to get lost in how that repeats “Lord” as “God.” That repetition is not what Moses stated with his use of “elohim,” where the plural intent of “gods” does not elevate into Gods or God. It is the repetition of Yahweh as the One God to whom each Israelite soul must be divinely married, so all of those “elohim” of Yahweh are extension of Yahweh on earth. Had Moses known Jesus of Nazareth, he might have changed what he said to be “Yahweh Jesuses,” instead of “Yahweh elohim.” That is because “the Lord our God” has the same meaning, such that Jesus knew Yahweh was his Father, to whom the soul of Jesus submitted totally, out of complete love.

This means that when Jesus repeated Moses in saying [here it is capitalized in Greek], “Hear Israel,” such that each word took upon itself a divine level of meaning, the scribe did indeed listen and understand the truth said in “Hear Israel.” The divinity of those two words say one must “Hear” the voice of Yahweh speaking; and, when that voice cries out “Israel,” that is not calling out the name of a nation of people who squandered their land by allowing wicked rulers over them, who subsequently had been scattered around the globe, including being bound as slaves to oppressors. The name “Israel” meant to be “One Who Retains Yahweh,” as His wife, one of His “elohim,” where each is an “el” of Yahweh – a Lord’s god. At least one scribe “Heard Israel” and realized the truth of that name. That scribe then commenced to tell Jesus what Paul would later write from his prison cell in Rome – about the uselessness of animal sacrifices.

It is here that I have been allowed to see the truth that has been hidden deeply in Jesus quoting from Leviticus 19:18, when he said, “you shall love this neighbor of you as yourself.” In reality, the same words written in Greek can translate as, “you shall love this near of you as long as of yourself.” In both translations, “yourself” must be seen as a statement of “your soul,” where a “self” is a “soul.” Thus, when “plēsion” is not translated as “neighbor” but as a viable “near” or “nearby,” then what Jesus said is this: “you shall love Yahweh who is of you in marriage for as long as He is with your soul.” Nothing is said about anyone else.

In the similar version of this encounter, as told by Luke [the Gospel writer of Mother Mary’s story of Jesus], the scribe asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” One can see now that such a question would be rooted in the semantics of the Hebrew word [transliterated] “lə·rê·‘ă·ḵā,” from “rea,” where “your neighbor” can actually translate as “your companion” or “your fellow.” The scribe’s question is then not about who lives next door to him, but how Jesus can quickly know the truth of a word he (the scribe) had struggled to comprehend all the years of his scholastic prominence. He was asking Jesus to explain who his “companion” was.

That led Jesus to give a parable in answer, rather than say, “Well take me to your house and I will point your neighbors out to you.” The parable was that of the “Good Samaritan,” where the story is seeped with metaphor that calls one to see the man beaten, robbed and left for half dead” as one’s relationship with Yahweh – as the Covenant. The two who were leaders of the Temple of Jerusalem both walked by the torn and tattered agreement with Yahweh, not wanting to have anything to do with it or Him. The one who found the Covenant in distress, as a cheated on Yahweh, took steps to restore that contract. The Samaritan [seen as worst than a Gentile by the Jews] picked up the agreement and nurtured a relationship with Yahweh to health. It was the Samaritan who loved Yahweh with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and who spared no expense in making sure the Covenant between his soul and Yahweh was in good standing. Thus, the soul of the Samaritan loved the agreement with Yahweh until the two were married as One, and his soul loved Yahweh as his own soul’s Lord.

After Jesus told that parable, he asked the man which of the three was a “neighbor” [a “plēsion”], to which the man answered, “The one who showed compassion to him.” This says “compassion” [from “eleos,” meaning “covenant-love”] is not to some external entity, but to the inner relationship that a soul has to the Spirit that is “nearby.” The same meaning must be read into this reading from Mark 12.

When Jesus heard the response by the scribe, he was pleased that the soul of this intellectual was being led by the Spirit, meaning his soul and Yahweh were ‘engaged, to be married.’ By Jesus sensing that, he told him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Here, one needs to realize “not far” [from “Ou makran,” where the capitalized “Ou” or “Not” takes on a divine level of meaning, where “Not far” means “Near Yahweh”] says all the scribe needed to do to reach the kingdom of God was to love Yahweh as his own soul.

When this deeper meaning has been exposed, this love of Yahweh has to be seen as the metaphor of the story told in Ruth. The famine that drove Naomi and her husband and two sons into Moab becomes the same famine that had Pharisees trying to trick Jesus with questions about paying taxes to Caesar and whether the resurrection was real or not. Moab becomes the fertile ground of Christianity, with Israel and Judah being void of any spiritual food. Still, Christianity would kill off the husband of Naomi [someone like Moses, with the spirit-soul of Jesus] and her two sons [the Eastern and Western Church as any religions of truth], leaving Naomi with two daughters-in-law and only her Covenant to Yahweh. She freed the wives of her dead sons to fend for themselves and find their own gods to marry their souls to [Gentiles as they had been]; but Ruth clung to Naomi and refused to leave. The love of Ruth for Naomi becomes the love said by Jesus to be the foremost Law. We love our neighbors as ourselves when we cling to the inner Yahweh and not run to the closest sin to feed on.

Because the Deuteronomy reading is what Jesus quoted, it becomes important to see how the scribe also referred to the sacrifices of animals, as did Paul in Hebrews. When Paul wrote of the high priest entering the tabernacle, this must be seen as a reference to two souls within one body of flesh. This is one’s “neighbor,” as Ruth knew there was no other “neighbor” beyond the one who was “near” and loved. Jesus’ soul becomes the “high priest” sent by Yahweh, after marriage, which become the one “near” that must be loved as one’s own soul. This becomes the truth of being reborn as Jesus. When Paul referred to the “Christ” on two occasions in the reading selection, it is the presence of Jesus within that makes one also become an Anointed one of Yahweh. That Anointment comes from a most Spiritual marriage with one’s soul. Therefore, to be assured the kingdom of God, one then must be married to Yahweh in Spirit and be reborn as His Son, a new Christ walking the face of the earth.

Psalm 119 then praises this presence, singing, “Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of Yahweh!” Psalm 146 then adds, “Hallelujah! Praise Yahweh, O my soul! I will praise Yahweh as long as I live; I will sing praises to lelohay while I have my being.” In that, “Hallelujah” means “Praise Yahweh!” This is praise that states total love by a soul for Yahweh. It says Yahweh is one with one’s being, which is the “companion” to whom all love is shown, as the Spirit that has become one’s soul expression. This love grants one access to the kingdom of God, as a wife (a soul) in good standing.

As the Gospel reading to be read aloud on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to receive the Spirit and love it with all one’s soul. In these modern times when filthy spirited, berobed men and women are calling themselves priests and pastors, spewing crap that says a “neighbor” is anyone or anything in the world that breathes air, where nothing is relative to the way one’s soul lives – and Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindu, and Commie Reds are all alike in their rejection of Yahweh’s Spirit with their souls in marriage – none of them realize what I have now been shown.

The meaning of “love your neighbor as yourself” can only be accomplished when one’s soul has courted Yahweh to the altar and agreed fully with His Covenant as one’s marriage vows [all 613 of the agreements] AND that marriage has given rise to a new soul alongside one’s own soul – baby Jesus reborn – to be one’s true “neighbor, companion, nearby soul.” When the world comes to this realization, it will either admit to being those who pass by the beaten, robbed, and left for half-dead Covenant with Yahweh, nowhere close to the kingdom of God; or, some will realize they are Saints and ministry to Yahweh means self-sacrifice, in order to maintain the Covenant, out of true and total love.

Language, Psalms, Teaching

Psalm 146 – Praising Yahweh as a reflection on Naomi and Ruth

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

1 Hallelujah! [Praise Yah!]

Praise Yahweh, O my soul! *

[2] I will praise Yahweh as long as I live;

I will sing praises lelohay while I have my being.

2 [3] Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *

for there is no help in them.

3 [4] When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *

and in that day their thoughts perish.

4 [5] Happy are they who have se-el of Jacob for their help! *

whose hope is in Yahweh elohaw;

5 [6] Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *

who keeps his promise for ever;

6 [7] Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *

and food to those who hunger.

7 [8] Yahweh sets the prisoners free;

Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; *

Yahweh lifts up those who are bowed down;

8 [9] Yahweh loves the righteous;

Yahweh cares for the stranger; *

he sustains the orphan and widow,

but frustrates the way of the wicked.

9 [10] Yahweh shall reign forever, *

elohayik, O Zion, throughout all generations.

Hallelujah! [Praise Yah!]

——————–

This is the accompanying song of praise that will follow the Track 1 Old Testament reading from Ruth. It will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 26], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. The Ruth reading will include this: “Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband.” The Track 1 pair will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ.” All will accompany a reading from Mark, where it is written: “[A scribe] asked [Jesus], “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

I wrote of this Psalm and posted those views this past August, during the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 18], so those interpretations are still valid. You can search this site for my view on Psalm 146. At that time is was on the Track 2 path for a church. Here, it is on the Track 1 schedule; so, this ensures this song of praise will be read during the Year B Ordinary after Pentecost season, one time or the other. Because what I wrote then is still applicable, I will only add now how this song fits the Old Testament selection for Ruth, and show how it also fits the Hebrews and Mark readings.

On the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 18], Psalm 146 accompanied a reading from Isaiah 35, which is a song that sings, “Be strong. Do not fear.” As such, that theme of standing tall in difficult times can be seen as reflected in the theme of Ruth. Naomi had suffered greatly by the losses of her husband and two sons, meaning she was left as a poor widow woman, who had no one in the material world who was responsible for her care and providing for her needs. Both Isaiah and Ruth are stories of difficult times being faced, which happens to all of mankind, from time to time.

While the NRSV does not make it clear that Naomi spoke the name “Yahweh,” she did. When we read, “she had heard in the country of Moab that Yahweh had considered his people and given them food,” that speaks of her commitment to Yahweh in this time of need. When we read of Naomi telling her daughters-in-law, “May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Yahweh grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband,” that speaks of her blessing passed from her love of Yahweh to her surviving family, which were then free to find their own humans to provide them security. Those hidden uses of “Yahweh” say Naomi “praised Yah,” the meaning of the Hebrew word “Hallelujah.”

In this song of praise there are found these words written: “lelohay, elohaw, and elohayik,” in addition to “se-el.” All of these uses by David have been transformed into “to my God, their God, your God, and the God,” none of which are truthful translations. The first three listed by me are forms of the plural word “gods,” clearly not in the singular; and, none bears the importance of capitalization, because each reference is to a soul in a human body of flesh, none of who equate to Yahweh Himself – God. The plural is a statement of Yahweh’s ability to marry souls in the flesh and transform them into His gods on earth, which can be understood as Saints. When one then reads “se-el,” this should be seen as one soul [that of Jacob], which worshipped self, before being transformed and renamed – as Israel – a name meaning an el Who Retained Yahweh. All of this must be seen now as being applicable to the state of being within Naomi, as she was a Yahweh elohim; and, it was that marriage of her soul to Yahweh that spilled outward from her, which adhered to the seeker who was Ruth. Just as Isaiah sang to keep the faith, Ruth found the inner joy of her soul having also married Yahweh, so she too became an elohim” like Naomi.

This means every verse of David’s song praising Yahweh can be applied to the story of Ruth. Naomi was suffering physically, due to the famine and the deaths of those close to her, but as long as her soul kept her body alive, that life was time to praise Yahweh, not wallow in self-pity.

The husband and two sons of Naomi can be seen as “princes,” with their names telling a story within a story, which is all metaphor for the religions and subdivision of Christianity. All have died, but her trust was not in organizations. She praised Yahweh only, within her soul.

The deaths from famine led many souls to depart from their flesh. Naomi knew the deaths personally. The return of spirits speaks of reincarnation, which means nothing has been lost. Yahweh’s plan is never affected by such changing states in the material realm. Death is a part of nature.

The blessing of the soul of Jacob [“se-el Yaaqob”], so he became an elohim of Yahweh [“Yah-weh elohaw”] was the same state of marriage Naomi’s soul had experienced. It is the state of being that leads a soul to praise Yahweh. It is how all should be. Thus, it was how Ruth became.

These transformations are then seen in the same light as the Creation. David sang praise not for the air, earth and sea, with all creatures within, but he sang praise for the souls [the “heaven” within] that brings life to a world of matter. In the same way, Yahweh has the power to create a soul in a body of flesh [a “se-el”] into a Yahweh elohim, which is a higher “heaven” within one’s being. When Ruth ends with a song of Ruth, so “When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her,” that sings of Ruth being created anew.

In the times of famine, as Naomi and Ruth experienced, David sang of the spiritual food that takes away the hungers that come from reliance on the material for survival. The conditions of the world, such as drought, becomes the limits that imprison all bodies of flesh, forcing them to accept those conditions, move somewhere else or die. It is spiritual food from Yahweh that Naomi fed from, which was then shared with Ruth. David sang praises for this freedom given by Yahweh.

David then sang about the love of Yahweh for His servants [wives]. Their eyes are opened to the truth of life eternal. Naomi’s eyes could see this, although it is not possible for physically suffering humans to see. This inner sight leads a soul to bow down before Yahweh, which means kneeling at the marriage altar, so one’s soul can be united with Yahweh. Naomi said she was too old to attract a human husband and too old to bear sons, which was the main attraction females had in marriage. Naomi was able to see her eternal youth, as a soul, which Yahweh saw as worthy of divine marriage. Ruth can then be seen as the child of her souls’ righteous state of being, brought upon her by Yahweh.

David sang in verse nine of what would be the story told in Ruth. His words singing, “Yahweh watches over the strangers , the fatherless and widow he relieves , but the way of the wicked he turns upside down,” this sings of Naomi and Ruth, whereas Orpah [whose name means “neck”] symbolizes those with stiff necks, or stubborn self-absorbed people, will turn away from Yahweh and find misery.

As an accompanying Psalm to be sung happily on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is again to look within during times of trouble and find faith through praise of Yahweh. This says one’s soul should already be married to Yahweh, so faith is that inner spiritual food that sustains one through hard times. This song of praise should be seen as fully supporting the Gospel reading, where Jesus answered the scribe by saying the foremost law is to love Yahweh totally and unconditionally. From that connection of love, all else follows in kind. To be a minister of Yahweh means to sing praises to Yahweh, so others will likewise feel the Spirit that is within you and cling to that Spirit, until it is theirs as well. Ministry is about passing on the Spirit so others can be saved; and, the world is always in times of famine, so a true minister will share his or her spiritual food so others can find eternal life.

Language, Psalms, Teaching

Psalm 119:1-8 – A song for Aleph, with the Law step one

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Happy are they whose way is blameless, *

who walk in the law of Yahweh!

2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *

and seek him with all their hearts!

3 Who never do any wrong, *

but always walk in his ways.

4 You laid down your commandments, *

that we should fully keep them.

5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *

that I might keep your statutes!

6 Then I should not be put to shame, *

when I regard all your commandments.

7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *

when I have learned your righteous judgments.

8 I will keep your statutes; *

do not utterly forsake me.

——————–

This is the accompanying Psalm that will happily be read in unison or sung aloud by a cantor on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 26], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow a reading from Deuteronomy, where Moses told the people [without the errors of translation in the way], “Hear, you who have been reborn as those Who Retain Yahweh as His extensions on earth [Saints or Angels in the flesh]: Yahweh is the creator of us as His gods [Saints or Angels], Yahweh alone.” This set that is designated for churches on the Track 2 path will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote [adjusted to match the truth of the written text], “Christ came as a high priest of the good who have arrived, through the greater and perfect tabernacle not made by human hands.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where Jesus heard a scribe give him a good answer about the foremost law, saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

It is worthwhile to realize that Psalm 119 is 176 verses long. This length then sets eight verses for each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These first eight verses are then assigned to the letter “Aleph.”

The Episcopal Church will set aside eight groups of these verses for reading over eleven Sundays and the day designated for “St Simon & St Jude.” These eight verses will also be assigned for reading on two Sundays in Year A, designated for “Epiphany 6” and “Proper 1.” While every verse is not given attention by the Church, this preponderance of attention shows that Psalm 119 is an important song of David.

Repeated in these first verses are the words translated as “law, decrees, ways, commandments (twice), statutes (twice), and judgements” [from “torah, edah, derek, tsavah, choq, mitsvah, mishpat, and choq”] While some of these translations into English are off the mark, the whole creates a strong theme that is the Law brought to the Israelites from Yahweh, for them to agree to be His people. That amounts to a marriage contract between Yahweh and each soul within all the human bodies of flesh that were the descendants of Jacob. Therefore, it is appropriate that this Psalm selection accompany an Old Testament selection that is Moses quoting elements of their marriage vows.

Verse one literally translates into English, saying “happiness the complete in the distance ; who come , in the direction of Yahweh .” While this can be translated to infer “walking,” that physical act is less meaningful than “to come.” While it can be translated “a way” of the “blameless” is traveled by walking, the greater impact says “the complete,” in the sense that being “blameless” means one has become united with Yahweh, so a cycle of return has been “completed.” It represents the “soundness” of being one, rather than being separate. Thus, a “way” or a “path” means more concisely “in the direction of Yahweh.” Here, the Hebrew word “torah” is translated as “direction,” more than “the law.” As a marriage agreement between a soul and Yahweh, one submits self-will so one is “directed” in how to act, do, go, and be. This needs to be seen as the truth of what Moses said, as recorded in Deuteronomy six.

Because verse two also begins with the same Hebrew word that has been translated as “blessedness” or “happiness,” this sense of elation should be realized as a state of joy being presence. This should then be related to the joy of marriage, where a wife [males and female bodies surrounding a soul] welcomes being given away to her Husband. This makes “happiness” be the time of celebration when one has been transformed by taking on the name of one’s Husband. It also says the union is out of love and welcomed. It says one’s desires for union have been met, making one’s soul be happy.

Verse two then literally translates into English as saying, “happiness those who guard his witness , with whole heart seek him .” In the translation “guard his witness,” this can also say, “keep his testimonies.” The meaning is a state of vigilance that makes listening to the inner voice be always on guard, as one seeks to make Yahweh happy, while pleasing Him brings oneself happiness. The “testimonies” are the marriage vows [the Covenant], but when those are all written within the walls of one’s heart [one’s soul], then one has personal witness to when a law comes up in one’s life path, hearing the divine voice of Yahweh leading one to always do the right thing.

Verse three then translates into English saying, “also not they make unrighteousness ; in his manner they go .” Here, it is easy to turn this around and say “they do not walk with iniquities,” which is true; but the focus on themselves making a point of not sinning is better stated as “not they make unrighteousness.” That becomes a willing desire to please Yahweh, with His divine assistance in the ways one acts being based on that desire to be righteous. Together “they go,” where the same word earlier translated as “who come,” means the marriage of a soul with divine Spirit is the plural number that “goes” forth. That duality is then multiplied by the number of Israelites “going” the same way.

Verse four then says literally in English, “you have given charge your precepts , to preserve diligently .” In this, “given charge” can equally mean “your commandments,” which says one’s soul is “ordered” to act righteously. A better translation, based on knowing love and marriage is the desire to please one another, is “given charge your precepts,” where the “general rules that guide behavior” are decisions of agreement that these rules are best. With those laws written on the walls of one’s soul, the soul then “diligently” acts within those parameters of agreement, so the Covenant between a soul and Yahweh are preserved. This is not to be seen as an order to go against one’s will, as acts of compliance. The acts are from common ownership of the values the rules set stand for.

Verse five is then seen to say, “oh that were firm my ways , to keep your prescriptions !” Here, again, the delight is seen in the exclamation point at the end of the verse. David is singing of the wonder that one’s brain is no longer distraught in having to decide what to do and what not to do. Because the Covenant with Yahweh makes “firm” the course to take, one loves letting Yahweh lead one always to make the right decisions. This path is always prescribed by the Mind of Yahweh overriding one’s fleshy brain.

Verse six then sings, “at that time not I would be ashamed ; when I look , towards all your commandments .” The word translated as “at that time” (or “then”) is a statement of whenever the potential to sin comes to one’s place, inviting one to make an error of judgment. When one’s soul is not married to Yahweh, one easily becomes tricked, thus one afterwards feels shame from one’s sinful acts and deeds. The word translating as “when I look” is then a statement of having been given clear vision to see sin coming and know not to be tricked into shaming one’s soul. This inner vision is then directed “towards all” times in life (post-marriage with Yahweh), because one is then led totally by Yahweh’s Covenant.

Verse seven then sings, “I will cast out uprightness of inner self ; when I exercise in , judgments your rightness .” This becomes a statement of one becoming a model of Yahweh within, which is the truth of the Frist Commandment – I will wear the face of no other gods before your face – as one becomes a reflection of Yahweh in the flesh. Wearing that holy face makes one act righteously, which become the daily “exercises” of Yahweh’s ways in His wives. It will be those acts of righteousness that will be how one’s soul will be judged after the soul is released from its flesh.

Verse eight then sings, “your statutes I will keep ; not to leave me up to force .” This says that once a soul has married Yahweh it will not be swayed to break any marriage vows. The Covenant will gladly be maintained for the rest of one’s life. This is the meaning of the second segment of words, which speaks of death as “up to force” or “until abundance.” That speaks of when a soul is freed of the limitations of the physical realm and can truly become one with the All-Powerful Yahweh in Spirit.

As the companion Psalm to the reading of Moses telling the Israelites to love Yahweh totally, David wrote a divinely inspired song of praise to the Law that seals one in marriage to Yahweh. When sung on the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to find happiness in the proposal for marriage. If one does not know the delight of this song for the aleph letter, then one must prepare as a bridesmaid [regardless of one’s human gender] and do all the work that keeps a light burning brightly for Yahweh to come take your soul in marriage. The oil that keeps the light burning is one’s efforts to let Yahweh see your love for Him. Study of Scripture is one way that He enjoys watching. So many Christians these days have little time to put oil in their lamps, meaning when darkness comes they sin, thinking no one can see or feel their shame. They like to huddle with other sinners who change the laws to suit their needs. They will be left behind, never finding the pleasure of marrying their souls to Yahweh. As a song for aleph, the law becomes the first step of many steps one’s soul must take.

Language, Ruth, Teaching

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 – Marrying God and having His baby

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.” She said to her, “All that you tell me I will do.”

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, Yahweh made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

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This is the Track 1 Old Testament selection that will be rad aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 27], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If an individual church is marked for the Track 1 course, then this reading will be accompanied by a singing of Psalm 127, which says, “Children are a heritage from Yahweh, and the fruit of the womb is a gift.” This pair will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where Jesus taught, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!”

I wrote of this selection from two chapters in Ruth when it last came up in the lectionary schedule (2018). I posted my views on my website then, which can now be read on this website, by searching this site. Rather than repeat what I wrote three years ago, I will add new observations, including some that make this reading fit into the theme of the other reading also chosen by church elders to be read on this Sunday. Please feel free to read this commentary, the one from 2018, and all the others that are written for this same Sunday and let me know what you think.

In this split selection of readings from Ruth’s chapter three and four, it can be easy to misconstrue Naomi telling Ruth to go seduce Boaz after work, which then leads to her getting pregnant. This is a wrong conclusion to draw, as the text of the ‘in between’ story makes it clear that Boaz is a brother of Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, thus much older than Ruth. Indeed, when Naomi told Ruth, “our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working,” those young women were virgin daughters of Boaz, so all the “young women,” including Ruth, were seen by Boaz and Naomi as children, not yet married.

Because Ruth had been the wife of Naomi’s son Mahlon, she was not a virgin. Because Mahlon died without having impregnated Ruth, Naomi freed Ruth and Orpah to seek other husbands who would supply for their needs in a male-dominated world, herself unable to guarantee such support with her husband and two sons then dead. Ruth clung to Naomi, because of Naomi’s spiritual marriage to Yahweh, which Ruth felt strongly pulled to have her soul serve also. Naomi and Ruth had been in Moab, seeking land that could afford life during famine, because Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, had sold his land in Judah. He sold what he possessed there because he felt a need to leave a land that was no longer supplying food (including spiritual food). Without property, without male heirs to support Naomi, Ruth became her daughter as the two returned to the Bethlehem area, where Elimelech had family still living.

The element of working the fields to harvest grain (barley) says the famine is past or at least rain had returned and the land was producing food. This becomes an indication that Israel, which had been in a spiritual drought, had been in times when led by judges, when a judge was in need but not present. The past famine now over says their wayward ways had been corrected.

Here, again, the names of Ruth’s first chapter are important. There Elimelech was named and is again mentioned [not in this reading], meaning it is important to recall that name means “My God Is King.” That name says Elimelech could no longer live in Judah, selling everything he owned and moving to Moab, because of the wicked ways. In Moab he died. This must be seen as symbolic of Moses and the Covenant [who died and was buried in Moab], where all Israelites were expected to have their souls each be married to Yahweh. When times suffered, this said the commitment to that marriage agreement was not being met. Thus, with the fields again producing grain, physical food reflects the spiritual food of souls returning to honor their marriage agreement.

As the brother of Elimelech, the name “Boaz” means “In Strength, By Strength,” with the Temple of Jerusalem’s left pillar also called “Boaz.” Strong’s alludes to this, as well as saying the word “boaz” means “quickness.” The pillar to the right [both free-standing and not supporting any structure above] was called “Jachin,” which means “He Establishes, He Will Give Certainty,” with “He” referencing “God” [as “Yah”]. This implies that Boaz was a pillar of strength upon which the return of commitment to Yahweh is symbolized. As the brother of “My God Is King,” Boaz was then the kinsman to whom Judah and Bethlehem relied.

When this broad-stroke meaning from the metaphor is seen, an arranged marriage between Ruth (a Moabite woman, not an Israelite) to Boaz (the elder revitalizing commitment to Yahweh), with Ruth realized to be the welcomed adoptee of Naomi (an Israelite soul married to Yahweh), the story develops as a new branch being spliced unto the tree of Israel. The symbolism of the marriage between Boaz and Ruth needs to be viewed as that renewal of the spirit of commitment to Yahweh. Ruth would be the new blood that desired to be one with Yahweh, who would merge with the old blood of those descended as chosen – marrying the dulled with responsibility to the sharpness of desire to please God, with all one’s heart, soul, and strength. It is that union that beget the grandfather of David (Obed).

The name “Obed” means “Servant, Slave.” This must be seen as a name given out of love and admiration for Yahweh. For Naomi to take this child to her bosom and become its nurse (at an old age, beyond that of a wet nurse), she was nurturing Obed to love servitude to Yahweh. From that nurtured love, Jesse and David would come. The name “Jesse” means both “My Husband” and “Yah Exists.” Here again is a name restating the Israelite commitment to Yahweh in divine marriage – soul to Spirit. The name “David” means both “Beloved” and “Weak, Flowing,” where this restates the total commitment to Yahweh through love, with a willingness to go with Yahweh’s flow of direction, letting Yahweh be one’s strength.

In the place where Naomi told Ruth what to do after Boaz ate and drank and laid down to sleep, the Hebrew words [transliterated] “wə·ḡil·lîṯ mar·gə·lō·ṯāw” [from the roots “galah” and “margeloth”] are translated as “uncover his feet.” This is perplexing as to what it means. In the text not read aloud, from Ruth 3, is said that Boaz awoke at midnight and found “there was a woman lying at his feet.” Possibly the words were indicating that Ruth should disrobe (“uncover) and then lie at “his feet.” This would then be both a sign of willingness to submit oneself into one’s service (laying at the feet), while also offering oneself physically in marriage. Boaz thanked Ruth for choosing him, rather than someone else, either poor (youthful passion) or rich (gold-digging). Regardless, there was no sex on the threshing room floor. Boaz told Ruth what needed to happen for the two to marry legally; and, he sent her back to Naomi with an allotment of grain. The meeting promised that Boaz would become the kinsman-redeemer [“gō·’êl”]; but when Ruth told this to Naomi, Naomi said, “We need to wait and see.” That attitude says Naomi had left Bethlehem with her husband and sons because in the times of judges many Israelites said things that were not backed by the truth. She did not distrust Boaz, but the other relative who Naomi knew had to approve Boaz as the kinsman-redeemer.

The jump forward to chapter four then has everything done as planned, with Yahweh guiding the marriage of the two souls that were both married to Yahweh. The land was again restored. Still, when a generation is twenty years, the two generations that would be Obed and Jesse (leading to the generation of David) would amount to forty years, this timing says the cycle of forty years in servitude to the Covenant had ended. That would be followed by forty years of spiritual famine, which coincided with the time David would be born, when the elders of Israel would go to their aging judge – Samuel – and tell him to appoint them a king, to be like other nations. That would make David the final judge of Israel, which makes this marriage between Boaz and Ruth significant to understand.

When this cycle of up and down is seen as continuous, the happiness of Ruth’s marriage saving Naomi and Judah is shown to then collapse in the times of Elijah, who was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom. Rather than be a judge, David had ceased those times. Elijah was a soul married to Yahweh who became a powerful voice of Yahweh on earth. The Track 2 Old Testament reading then tells of Elijah during a time of famine, when Yahweh sent him to Zarephath to be provided for by an old widow. The widow was preparing the last supper for herself and her son, after which they both prepared to die. That becomes a parallel of Naomi and Ruth, as they clung to one another during a time of famine in Judah. The miracle of Elijah should then be seen as a reflection of the miracle of Boaz marrying Ruth, having a son, who restored Naomi from worthless widow to a woman surrounded by the wealth of Yahweh’s love.

In the Hebrews reading, Paul writes that mortals only die once, so Jesus was “offered once to bear the sins of many.” This simply says Jesus was mortal, so he too only could die once. However, his one-time death released a pure soul that could return and fill many souls animating bodies of flesh, who also could only die once. Being possessed by the soul of Jesus would mean the sins of the many would not condemn them, once possessed and led to a righteous state of being. This means the soul of Jesus would become like baby Obed, who Yahweh would send to marry the souls of His wives and make them pure before that one death.

Naomi was married to Yahweh., Ruth marrying Boaz married her soul to Yahweh, so she gave birth to her own baby Jesus, meaning her past sins were erased and she would sin no more. When Paul said Jesus “will appear a second time,” that “second time” occurs many times, each as a second birth in the souls of those married to Yahweh.

Christians have to get beyond thinking ‘belief’ in Jesus as the Son of God will save them, because Jesus died on a cross for them to be saved. That is the fault of Israel obeying the Covenant for forty years, and then straying and breaking all the agreements the next forty. Belief in God does not work for long. One’s soul must marry YAHWEH and be made forgiven of all past sins. Then one’s soul needs to give rebirth to the resurrected soul of Jesus, so that high priest will keep one’s soul from sinning ever again.

Finally, the Gospel reading from Mark places focus on a widow woman. Both Naomi and Ruth were widows. Neither of them had any possessions or any rights. They were, in essence, beggars. They were the poor who could demand alms and the outer fringes of crops (when no famines were around). In the Elijah miracle of First Kings a widow woman and her son were about to die, because they had nothing. Jesus warned about the scribes, who preyed on widows.

That never goes out of style. Every church organization today makes guilt calls on old ladies with some form of security, reminding them to give to the church when they die. None of those berobed hired hands care about the souls of anyone. All they care about is taking from the poor and giving to themselves. This means the story of Ruth is like the time of celebration Job experienced, after he defeated the tests of Satan. Satan always comes looking like a priest, never as the wolf clothed robes.

As the Old Testament reading to be read aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson to grasp is to marry Yahweh (as Ruth did Boaz) and then let Yahweh make one conceive and bear his Son Jesus. This is not having a baby with a husband, as if only women can marry Yahweh. Everything is spiritual, with nothing physical (other than servitude and ministry).
Likewise, there is no Jesus salvation without one’s soul marrying Yahweh OUT OF TRUE LOVE.

The message of Ruth chapter three is listen to your soul telling you how to get Yahweh to marry you. Expose your sins to Him in sincere confession and then lay your soul at His feet, in complete and willing submission to His Will. Let Yahweh reward you with a few pounds of spiritual food to chew on, while He watches to see what you do next. Then, follow go with the flow, with complete faith that Yahweh’s hand will be guiding one’s life. When Yahweh calls your soul to the marriage altar, then say, “I do.” Then, let baby Jesus be reborn within your soul, as your new high priest.

1 Kings, Language, Teaching

1 Kings 17:8-16 One last handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

The word of Yahweh came to Elijah, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As Yahweh eloheka lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says Yahweh elohe of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that sends [the gift of] rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of Yahweh that he spoke by Elijah.

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This is the Track 2 Old Testament reading selection for churches set upon that path, to be read aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 27], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If this path is taken, then Psalm 146 will be sung as a companion, saying, “[Yahweh will be] Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger.” This pairing will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote: “And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where it is written: “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then [Jesus] called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.”

I wrote about this reading selection the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle (2018). If you would care to read those observations, they can be viewed by searching this site. Because I offered many valid opinions on the meaning of this reading, I will not attempt to reproduce what has already been written. Feel free to read that commentary, as well as the many other commentaries I offer, and comment as you see fit. Today, I will address this reading from a slightly different angle.

In 2018, I was not concerned with the routine mistranslation of the Hebrew into English, as I was then like most Christians (then and still today), putting complete faith in the English translations that many different versions of the Holy Bible are published in. I am reminded of an old episode of Gunsmoke, where Marshall Dillon and his sidekick Festus were stuck in the wilderness, expecting to die soon. Matt said it would be nice to read something from the Bible at that time. Festus told him he had a Bible. Matt said, “I didn’t know you could read.” Festus said he could not read, but liked carrying a Bible with him. Matt told Festus to get him his copy of the Bible; and, Festus gives Matt a copy of Little Women. Matt looked at it and asked Festus if someone told him that was a Bible; and, Festus said, “Yessir. He said that was a good book.”

I mention this because Christians are just as illiterate as Festus, full of beliefs that are based on what someone told them to believe. They cannot read for themselves. They do not speak Hebrew or Greek, and they do not seek to learn to read at such a late stage in their lives; so, they bow down and give all honor and praise to someone who is only in the Bible business to make a buck. They will gladly say what the people want to hear, for a profit. The name of Yahweh is “Yahweh” [“יְהוָ֖ה”] and all Old Testament Scripture states that plain as day. However, translators change that to “the Lord,” which is wrong.

In verse one of this chapter, we read of “Elijah the Tishbite” telling Ahab (the King of Israel, the Northern Kingdom) that “Yahweh elohe Israel” would not let rain fall until Elijah said it was time. Ahab was married to the foreigner Jezebel, who imported all kinds of evil prophets of Ba’al. Ba’al was “the lord” of Jezebel, and thus Ahab. Thus, from that history of Israel and from the mouth of a true prophet, anyone who likes to rely on the words of false prophets and call Yahweh “the Lord” will have no rain of insight fall upon their souls. In my version of the reading selection today, you will note where I restored “Yahweh” in bold text. This corrects the wrong.

This correction need mirrors the mistranslations commonly presented for forms of “elohim” – a word that is clearly the plural Hebrew for “el,” meaning “gods.” Translation services make all the Festus-like ‘Christians’ of the world bow down and worship lower-case “gods” as “God.” This, again, is the false religions of polytheism, which Jezebel loved so much. The use of “elohim” is a statement of humans possessed by spirits or the Spirit, as enslaved mutations or elevated creations of souls. Elijah was one of Yahweh’s elohim, as an extension of Yahweh in the flesh, as a true prophet. His soul was married to Yahweh, meaning Yahweh’s Spirit possessed the soul of Elijah. An elohim written in association with the name “Yahweh” means all who serve Yahweh as His angels in the flesh – His hands on the earth. Only a “Yahweh elohim Israel” has the power to decide when rain will fall. That means it is important to open your eyes and read the truth, or be misled.

When we read that Yahweh sent Elijah to Zarephath, a place of Sidon, the name “Zarephath” means “Blast Furnace, Workshop For Smelting And Refining Metals.” The name “Sidon” means “Fishery, Hunting Place.” These two places are capitalized, meaning they bear a divinely elevated meaning that goes beyond the names of two places. This elevation comes forth from realizing the meanings of the words chosen to be the names of places.

This should be realized as being geographically along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where fishing would have been a source of plentiful food for the people. As a seaport, Zarephath would have been where ores were shipped, in order to be refined. For Yahweh to send His prophet to a region outside Israel [Assyrian controlled] and find Israelites living there suffering from the same famine from a lack of rain, this says the lack of rain or drought was wherever Israelites lived. This makes the lack of rain controlled by Elijah be more than physical rain from the sky, but also a drought in the spirituality of faith. That lack was caused by those who allowed Ahab and Jezebel to govern their commitments to Yahweh. To send Elijah to a mining-smelting town means he was sent to where people suffered to make valuable metals for kings and queens. The elevation becomes a statement of labors [worshiping] for valuables taken from the earth, not worshiping values obtained from the ethereal.

Elijah was told that a widow woman would provide for Elijah, as commanded by Yahweh. That says the widow, like Naomi, was a soul married to Yahweh and would do everything Yahweh ordered. Elijah heard that and his belief in Yahweh speaking the truth led him to ask the widow woman for a cup of water first. That request was a test if the woman he met was the one who would provide for him. After asking the widow woman to get him water to drink, she went to draw Elijah water; so, Elijah then further tested her as the one, asking for a morsel of bread. Water and bread are then metaphor for an everlasting soul married to Yahweh (cup of water) and a word of truth from the inner guide (a morsel of bread). The test was for spiritual proof, not material means. The widow woman provided Elijah with what he asked for.

When the widow woman said to Elijah, after he requested a morsel of bread, “as lives Yahweh to whom you are one of His elohim [the truth of “eloheka”] I do not have any bread,” that expressed how her soul knew Elijah was a soul married to Yahweh. One must realize that she had never met Elijah before. There was no social media or television to promote Elijah as some celebrity televangelist, who she recognized. Her soul was also married to Yahweh, as was Naomi’s, so she knew who Elijah was through divine inspiration. Her soul sensed that another like her, albeit one more elevated in devotion to Yahweh than she, was in her presence.

This must take one back [if one has been following these lessons I offer, through this Ordinary season after Pentecost] to the story of Elijah “falling asleep under a broom tree.” I said then that Elijah died and was reborn as a most divine Son of Yahweh on earth, which would allow his body to later ascend without seeming to physically die. It was after this transformation of Elijah that Scripture calls him “Elijah the Tishbite.” Elijah has yet to die, as this story is soon after he is introduced in Scripture. His introduction also identifies him as a “Tishbite.” The name “Tishbite” means “Returnee.” Thus, the widow woman was one preparing to become like Elijah and lie down preparing for physical death, before being released as was Elijah’s soul. Elijah’s soul, having returned to be with Yahweh while still in living flesh (à la Jesus’ resurrection), was sent to this servant of Yahweh to save her and her son, reviving the spirit of Israel in the true faithful. Elijah was sent to bring the rain of Yahweh.

When the widow woman said all she had was a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug, showing that she had gathered two sticks to burn in the oven for their last supper for her and her son, Elijah told her to have no fear. That was a command from Yahweh, telling the soul of the widow that Yahweh was there. As a wife to Yahweh, her only fear should be losing Yahweh. Elijah assured her that Yahweh was there; so, Elijah told her to make him a cake. He assured her it would feed him and her and her son.

This is where a translation that says, “For thus says the Lord God of Israel” is meaningless. Where does “the Lord God of Israel” say, “The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth,” anywhere other than here in First Kings seventeen? Nowhere!!! This is because Elijah said those words, as “Yahweh’s angel in the flesh [“elohe”] who was “One Who Retains Yahweh as one of His elohim” [the meaning of “Israel”]. That identified Elijah the Returnee making that promise, as a servant of Yahweh [an “elohe“]. It is the same as Jesus telling his disciples to feed well over five thousand people (including women and children) with five loaves of bread and two fish. Only Yahweh elohim can make miracles happen. The “jar of flour and the jug of oil will not fail” as they will continue to feed spiritual food and anoint His wives as messiahs [Anointed ones], until the rain of salvation comes.

This is the promise made by Yahweh to all His servants (divine wives). Naomi and Ruth were the equivalent of the widow and her son, as all they had in this world was Yahweh. They trusted in Yahweh and were not afraid of death. Yahweh spoke to them all and told them He would provide, so they could provide.

When Paul wrote that “Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands,” so many Christians read those words and think they say, “Jesus did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands.” The Greek word “Christos” means “Anointed one,” which is a soul that has the Spirit of Yahweh poured out upon it, forever, like Yahweh “Anointed” David’s soul. Paul wrote his words meaning Jesus the Tishbite did not enter a sanctuary “made by human hands.” Elijah was like Jesus Christ, as Elijah Christ. The sanctuary Elijah entered was the soul of the widow woman and her son. The spiritual food of Yahweh was raining down upon them, Anointing them as His beloveds.

That eternal presence is what so many Christians today lack. Christianity is suffering from a spiritual famine, due to a drought of heavenly rains. Jesus the Returnee would be sent to the United States of America, where it has so many hunting and fishing for precious metals (even the printed on paper ‘ores’), so they can heat everything up to make molten images of the gods they love to call “my Lord.” Where are the widows who live only on the presence of Yahweh within … when no Christians these days are taught the name Yahweh, much less how to call upon Him in divine marriage? America today is filled with fears, having strayed so far from Yahweh they cannot possible conceive how to fear losing the One God none have been raised to know personally.

In the accompanying Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus warned his disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” That must be seen as a perfect fit for all the popes, bishops, and priests that love pretending they have some inside skinny on what Jesus would say, if Jesus were here today. If they had that, then there would be no spiritual drought leading the Western world to ruin and destruction!

The lesson is Jesus should be here today, in those who are truly Anointed ones – the Christs of Yahweh – all who have become the resurrections of Jesus within their own souls – a most holy possession. Jesus should be here as the high priest in all who proclaim to be Christians.

But, he is not. Those who profess to be Christian ‘scribes’ are liars. They are false shepherds. They are the drought upon the land, because the people look to them for spiritual feeding [that does not come]. They are the cause of the spiritual famine, because they are the Ahabs and Jezebels who seek to destroy Elijah the Tishbite. Their later ancestors, Christian predecessors, would nail Jesus to a cross, thinking that act had killed him. However, Yahweh cannot be killed.

The reading of this Track 2 Old Testament selection on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, presents a lesson that says there are true Christians in the world who are suffering. They are preparing to leave this world and let it have itself to destroy all that is good in true Christianity. When the last true Christians leave, those left behind will be condemned prisoners of earth – souls destined to reincarnate over and over, until the world is no longer an inhabitable environment. Then, all hell is let loose upon the wayward souls. Now represents the last times to be sent by Yahweh to save others whose souls are married to Yahweh. The question is, “Are there any who will hear the voice of Yahweh and say, “Here I am. Send me.”’

Hebrews, Language, Teaching

Hebrews 9:24-28 – The Anointment of Jesus will appear a second time

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

——————–

This is the Epistle selection that will be read aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 27], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow one of two pairings of Old Testament and Psalm readings, either the Track 1 or Track 2 sets. Depending on which path an individual church is set on, Track 1 will offer a reading from Ruth, which includes: “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, Yahweh made her conceive, and she bore a son.” That is accompanied by Psalm 127, which sings: “Children are a heritage from Yahweh, and the fruit of the womb is a gift.” Track 2 will offer a reading from First Kings, where is written: “For thus says Yahweh elohe of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.” Psalm 146 will then be sung, which includes: “Yahweh loves the righteous; Yahweh cares for the stranger; he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where it is written: “[Jesus said of the scribes] They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

I wrote deeply about these five verses the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle (2018) and posted by observations on my website at that time. That commentary can be viewed by searching this site. I will not repeat that detail now today, as it makes it clear that these five verses have been poorly translated; so, the truth contained in what Paul actually wrote is hidden from view by translation.

This is now the sixth Sunday that readings have been scheduled to come from the Book of Hebrews. If one has followed these postings since then, then one will recall how I explained Jews do not consider themselves “Hebrews,” because Hebrew is a language, not the name of a peoples. I stated then that the insight came to me that Paul (being himself a Jew) would have known that. Instead of addressing his book to “Hebrews,” without stating his name as the author, it makes sense that he wrote letters in Hebrew, which were sent to his friends in Rome, who understood Hebrew and divine language (as Saints). It would then be from texts in Hebrew that someone else would translate the Hebrew into Greek, producing this work called “Hebrews.” Because that author of the Greek (divinely inspired) would translate the words in a style different from Paul’s use of Greek, questions would arise about who the true author was. This is an example of how translations modify what was originally stated; and, although all is divinely inspired, Yahweh hides His truth so only the true seekers will be fully enlightened by that truth.

In verse twenty-four the Greek word written is “ἁγία,” which transliterates to “hagia,” which is “inflection of ἅγιος (hágios), in the feminine.” The word means: 1.) devoted to the gods; 2.) of things: sacred, holy; 3.) of people: holy, pious, pure; 4.) accursed.” This word in Greek would have been written in Hebrew as some form of “קָדוֹשׁ,” transliterated as “qadosh,” meaning: “sacred, holy, consecrated, saint.” The NRSV has translated this word as “sanctuary.” That is an opinion of a translator’s powers of interpretation, which means one can bow down and worship a translator as perfect and almighty; or, one can take what is offered by a translator and look beyond what that service provides – seeing that as a generality of something written.

To repeat, I wrote deeply about what Paul wrote, which translators transforming Greek into English cannot show. The translators are forced to produce paraphrases that meet their preconceptions of how these words should fit together in a meaningful way, when they are completely ignorant to the truth. They produce translations that follows the syntax of Greek, translated into English. That would work for a non-divinely inspired writing; but the rules followed by translators are not able to translate the language of Yahweh [speaking in tongues] according to the syntax of either Greek or English, because the words written originally follow a divine syntax, which is automatically rejected as one recognized by translators. In my 2018 analysis, I presented a more accurate presentation of what Paul wrote, if his Hebrew had been divinely translated into Greek by one inspired by Yahweh.

In this short reading selection from Hebrew 9, Paul wrote of “Christ,” twice. In verses twenty-four and twenty-eight, the word “Christos” is written, both times the capitalization elevates the word (which simply means “anointed”) to a divine level of “Anointment.” While it is very easy to read the words of Paul and intuit his writing “Christ” as meaning Jesus – as if Jesus’ last name was “Christ” – the reality is seen in the story of David’s “Anointment.” There, David was “anointed” by the hands of Samuel, when he oil poured over his head [“mashach”]. That was his anointment to become king (or judge) of Israel. At the same time Yahweh poured out His Spirit on David’s soul [“Mashach”]. That “Anointment” gave young David the powers of Yahweh at his disposal, because young David fully submitted his soul to Yahweh in divine marriage. This is the pure meaning of what Paul wrote in Hebrews 9. Yahweh pours out His Spirit on ALL He chooses to “Anoint,” or make a “Christ.”

When that is realized, then the “sanctuary” or those who are made “sacred” by Yahweh, have been made “sacred ones” by the hand of Yahweh, not human priests. David was anointed by human hands, when Samuel poured physical oil on his head. In the same way, all priests of church organizations are physically ordained to serve that church organization. Only when one’s soul is “Anointed” by Yahweh is one truly “sacred” or “set apart as holy by God.” Those then become divine “reproductions” or “copies” of Jesus, because his soul only resurrects within the individual souls of those married spiritually to Yahweh. That soul of Jesus is the “genuine” presence of Jesus reborn into one who is also deemed a “Christ” by Yahweh. This presence within a wife of Yahweh – a servant fully in submission to His Will, through total love – makes that soul “heavenly” [from “ouranon“], as where both Yahweh and Jesus abide.

When one, such as Paul and all other Apostles and Saints, have this heavenly presence “appear” in “themselves” [where a “self” equates to a “soul”], they become the hands of “God” (“Theos”) on earth. They become Jesus reborn in different flesh, as the same soul resurrected over and over again. In the name of Jesus means being in the name of Yahweh, as the name “Jesus” means “Yah[weh] Saves.” This is the truth of “Christianity,” such that ALL are reborn as Jesus, ALL equally a “Christ.” The soul of Jesus is then merged with the souls and bodies of each who has sacrificed self, in submission to Yahweh; so, one’s physical “blood” then becomes the “blood of Jesus,” just as it becomes the “blood of a Christ.”

When it is known that all human beings are mortal, thereby known to die once, Paul was stating a fact of human life. Because Jesus was a soul placed by Yahweh into human flesh (born of a woman in Bethlehem), that flesh was known to only “die once,” at which time the soul of Jesus would be released, in the same way all souls are released at death. Souls not saved via marriage to Yahweh will return through reincarnation … after those souls have a chat with Yahweh. Because the soul of Jesus is pure, it serve Yahweh (as His right hand el), to be used by Yahweh to send into all others He deems a Christ. Because those bodies of flesh will likewise only die once, they must figuratively “die once” of their selves [soul sacrifice in marriage] so the remainder of their mortal life will be led by the soul of Jesus, righteously as a Saint. That transformation is the only way a host soul can receive judgment by Yahweh as saved, prior to physical death and the release of that soul. Being in the name of Jesus means “Yah Will Save.” That is then the promise of salvation.

This is what Paul wrote in these five verses. Each and every soul in mortal flesh must marry Yahweh out of love. Then, from that relationship of love, the Son of Yahweh will be reborn into each and every wife of Yahweh [men and women they are made]. That is the only way to gain the salvation of a soul. That means serving the remainder of one’s life as a servant to Yahweh [meaning true ‘popes’ never retire before death]. The work of ministry is decided by Yahweh, meaning the servant has no rights to refuse assignment or argue against difficult work. Love means gladly doing all that Yahweh has one do, out of deep spiritual love of Yahweh.

The specifics of this comes from analyzing each word written by Paul (or whoever translated his Hebrew into Greek). That is the point of my 2018 posting. It is important to see this truth, as it is repeated many times over in the Epistles, by all authors, all divinely inspired to write in the language of Yahweh. From seeing this meaning, I will now apply that to the other reading selections for this Sunday.

In the reading from Ruth, one needs to place focus on it reporting, “Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, Yahweh made her conceive, and she bore a son.” This becomes a reflection of what Paul wrote, where the “Christ” becomes a creation of Yahweh. It is two coming together in marriage. It is producing a son that is most holy. When Boaz is seen as symbolic of Yahweh, with Ruth a willing subject to that union, then the son born (at the hand of Yahweh, not human hands) is the rebirth of Jesus. Paul is saying the same thing on a spiritual level of understanding.

When one reads the First Kings reading, focus needs to be placed on how “the jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail.” This is the miracle of divine creation of spiritual food. The jar and the jug are the two who contain Yahweh’s Spirit – the soul married to Yahweh (the jar of flour) and the Son reborn (the jug of oil). The oil reflects the Anointment that is the Spirit of Yahweh, which is poured over the flour to make the bread of life. The fact that it never emptied says the eternal life Paul wrote of bring the same promise of salvation.

As far as the Gospel reading is concerned, when the widow woman theme is repeated here, one needs to look at how Jesus said, “This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” All she has to live on is Yahweh within her soul. She is a widow to the mortal world, but her soul lives eternally, through the Spirit of marriage to Yahweh. The number two is also repeated, which are like the jar and the jug, like Boaz and Ruth. The two are her soul with Yahweh. It is the hand of Yahweh that will always refill her hand with two copper coins to give all she has to live on, for as long as her mortal flesh stays alive.

As a reading to be read aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to marry one’s soul to Yahweh and give birth to His Son. One must be a Christ, which is not a statement of last name, but a statement that Yahweh’s Spirit has been poured out upon one’s soul, granting it redemption from sins and eternal life beyond death of the flesh (which occurs only one time). The rebirth of Jesus within one Anointed by Yahweh makes one walk the face of the earth as Jesus resurrected in the flesh. The flesh and blood are yours; but they have been submitted to Yahweh, so His hand has worked you to become His Son alive in ministry again. The reason for that is to save others. It is not to make you think you are the greatest thing that ever happened in the world.

Language, Mark, Teaching

Mark 12:38-44 – Beware of the scribes who bring famine to the widows

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

——————–

This is the Gospel selection that will be read aloud by a priest on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 27], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow one of two pairings of Old Testament and Psalm readings, according the Track an individual church is on during Year B. The Track 1 pair will pull from Ruth, where it is written, “Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.”’ Psalm 127 will then be sung, including this verse: “Unless Yahweh builds the house, their labor is in vain who build it.” The Track 2 pair will offer a reading from First Kings, which says, “The word of Yahweh came to Elijah, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”’ Psalm 146 will follow, including the verse that sings, “Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger.” The Epistle will then follow one of those pairs, coming from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “Nor was it [for Jesus] to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world.”

I wrote about this selection the last time it came up in the lectionary cycle (2018) and posted my interpretation on my website at that time. That commentary can be read by searching this site. I believe that observation is most appropriate for others to read now, as this Gospel reading selection is a strong reflection on the failures of all organizations that propose to worship any gods, most strongly all who profess to have belief in God (while being afraid to name Him Yahweh) and believe in His Son being Jesus. After all, it is the clothing and special privilege one’s beliefs give one, enabling them to cast judgment on everyone other than themselves. For that reason, I will not attempt to reinterpret these verses as I did in 2018. Instead, I will address this Gospel reading selection as if Jesus were sitting with me and others like me, having us all watch and be observant of the routine daily activities of churches proclaiming to be in his name today. Then, I will address how this reading is supporting the other readings for this Sunday.

I have written prior about the time I sat in a church lectionary class when this reading was discussed. When the class ended and the main church service was about to begin, the class leader – a high-ranking church volunteer – hurried off to get his reserved seat in the nave. I had to shout out to him, “What happened to the ‘all-in’ church?” He barely turned his head to tell me, “That did not work out too well.”

His flippant response paints a clear picture of what this Gospel reading selection says about today’s Church. That man identified as an Episcopalian; but the same reflection he cast is found in all denominations of Christianity. Just recently, while watching a Baptist minister’s sermon that is broadcast each Sunday morning live, via the Internet, he reminded his congregation of a visiting minister who would come soon. That visitor would speak instead of the minister, telling everyone about some mission work being done somewhere. The Baptist minister made a point of saying that future Sunday’s offering would be handed over to that visiting minister, as a gift from that Baptist church to that ministry. The preacher made a point of saying that donation was above and beyond the normal budgetary plans for that quite wealthy church. Because all denominations of Christianity have their own versions of grand churches, which come with grand monetary expectations from their congregations (tithes and gifts), the motto of those churches has to be seen as “You have to spend money to make money.” Money becomes their god of worship; and, that is the point Jesus was making in the lesson.

A wealthy relative of mine told me how his church separated from the main Episcopal Church of North America, because it elected a presiding bishop that was an openly confessed homosexual, a highest-ranking leader who believed the church should marry homosexuals. In that split, my relative’s church congregation – who most all were in agreement to split – found their church building was owned by the Episcopal Church they were splitting from; and, the church would not condone a congregation rejecting the decrees of the presiding bishop. That meant his congregation had to rent space at some other church, where they could continue to gather together where services would be held. They had to do that until the time came that they could purchase land and build a new church that would be theirs.

My relative was so influential that he helped raise over thirteen million dollars for that building, which in a couple of years became a reality. Of course, the problem was that expensive new church building became the property of the new Episcopal Church that congregation joined, in order to use that organizations name on the sign out front. Thus, my wealthy relative, like that leader of the lectionary class, was a high-ranking volunteer for a church, whose greatest asset was his elbows rubbed the elbows of people with lots of money and similar ideas about religion. This means people like them are in the class that is described as scribes; and, Jesus said to beware of them.

The scribes must be seen as those so wealthy that they are not employed by a church. More importantly to them, they have great influence on the church itself, as to what the church believes. In this sense, the wealthy man who led the lectionary class [a lawyer by profession] had great influence in what ideas and ideals governed the church he influenced. Likewise, my wealthy relative played no official role in his church, as his world of expertise was financial; but he had great influence on how the church would be managed. Both would play a volunteer role in the committees that decided who their church’s priest would be; and, that priests had to match their religious beliefs, not vice versa. Thus, it would be a church organization that would supply the applicant priests for open positions, to be chosen based on the interview questions of the vestry. This should be seen as who Jesus was speaking about, as to who should be warned to watch. They would be the ones who hired the hands who would preach, making sure all applicants of ordination saw the meaning of Scripture that matched their needs to be absolved of Mammon worship, pretending to be worshipers of “the Lord.”

A bishop of a diocese that I am well aware of was elected to fill that position, when I know for a fact he was worthless as a priest. He was chosen to be the priest of a parish because he supposedly had fundraising talents. The vestry that hired him needed a new church building built; and, their only need for a pastor of that flock was to lure in huge donors and get that building built. In that endeavor, the lowly priest eventually hired a church fundraising consulting group, who knew all the strongarm tactics of bleeding a congregation for money they were holding tightly onto, forcing them by guilt to sign pledges that would allow a bank to loan the money for church construction to begin. That priest, who the congregation would routinely whispered about, saying he orated the worst sermons they had ever heard, took credit for getting that new church built; and, he used that money success to be elected as the bishop, after the previous bishop got tired of being bishop and wanted to go play with his ‘retirement investments.’ After he became the new bishop, the COVID19 plague befell the world and he has since led his diocese to near default on everything they have gone in debt to possess. The promise of him renewing the vitality of the diocese has fallen into the reality of a church filled with hired hands that is running in panic from the threat of a virus, leaving the entire flock in danger of the wolves.

This is the warning Jesus spoke of in this Gospel reading. When he said, “[The scribes] like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation,” this speaks of every church that has bowed down before government mandates and forced restrictions on religious practices, because the priests and pastors who comply with the government’s mandates. They see the government as their ticket to wealth, not Yahweh. They will weather any financial storm by playing on the guilts of old women with holdings of value. Even if nobody came to church and put two cents into the offering tray, the church organization would still be valuable … only in material terms, not spiritual values.

The key term that needs to rise to the top is “widow.” That word implies one who was married, but her husband has deceased. That implication of marriage needs to be then applies to the other characters in this scene that Jesus had his disciples watch. Jesus was a soul in human flesh that was married to Yahweh. His disciples were souls in human flesh engaged to be married to Yahweh, as His bridesmaids. The widow woman was a soul in human flesh that was married to Yahweh, through her birth as a Jew. In that sense, her flesh had been married to the Judaic religion; but because that religion rejected her as having any value, she became the widow of the Temple of Jerusalem. All of the ones who took loads of valuables to deposit into the Temple treasury, they were still married to the Temple. None of their souls were married to Yahweh. That is why the widow giving two cents, which reflected everything she possessed of value (money), is the ‘all in’ church that the leader of a church I attended said did not work out too well. The Temple in Jerusalem became an example of Mammon worship, where everyone that was only partially ‘in’ was sinful. The widow, in contrast, was making a statement that said, “Take this sin away from me, because I willing give all money to the sinners, to rid myself of it as something to worship.”

In the story told in First Kings, when Yahweh told Elijah where to go and have his needs met by a widow, the place named Zarephath means “Smelter; Blast Furnace; and/or Workshop For Smelting And Refining Metals.” When Yahweh said that place “belongs to Sidon” the meaning of “Sidon” is “Fishery; Hunting Place.” This means the region was formerly of one of the Tribes of Israel [Asher], where the Israelites there were to hunt or fish for souls. Instead of spreading faith in Yahweh, the northern reaches of Asher were ceded to the Gentiles of that region [today Lebanon]. This says Elijah was sent to the remnant Israelites who suffered from famine over the land, because of bad rulers. The symbolism of Zarephath must be seen as the people laboring to turn ores mined from underground into the precious metals that produced the “large sums” that had “the crowds putting money” into the treasury. Those “large sums” were gold and silver refined by smelting places, which were turned into currencies in the Roman Empire. The widow woman only had two copper coins, which she gave willingly.

The lesson of Elijah being sent is the same lesson as Jesus being sent, as both saw the widows of a mega-church being ‘all in’ for a religion that at least says it believes in God, even though is does all its hunting and fishing for capital campaigns and ‘special offering takes’ for ministries that serve heathens, stepping all over the widows of Yahweh in those attempts to convince Yahweh to let them sit at the preferred seating around His table in Heaven [probably a table made of gold!].

The untold story of Ruth is why Naomi became a widow woman. Her husband Elimelech was the brother of Boaz; and Elimelech had sold everything he owned in Bethlehem because of a spiritual famine, which caused a time when the people were wayward and breaking the Covenant of marriage between their souls and Yahweh. Because Boaz remained [he did not buy the land sold by Elimelech], he must be seen as less willing to leave a place where sinners abound. In the story not read this Sunday, Boaz had to present his offering that would deny his inheritance, as a son of his father [who was still living], and pay the price to buy back the land that had been sold by Elimelech. In doing that, Boaz would be the redeemer relation that would restore Elimelech’s possessions, which would be those of Boaz through death. The untold story says the elders past were led to not release holdings of value; but the times had changed to those when a judge had restored faith to Israel, so the elders approved the redemption by Boaz.

This untold story needs to be seen in the Gospels that tell of Jesus, who was in essence the return of Moses and Elijah to the land that had turned away from its Covenant to Yahweh. While the marriage of Boaz with Ruth – symbolizing the marriage of a soul committed to Yahweh joining with a foreigner relation by marriage, making a union that bring forth a son of promise for the future – can be seen as Jesus joining with all the widows of Judea and Galilee, so they could be redeemed as in relationship with Yahweh. The lesson of Mark 12 is the land had fallen and was like Zarephath in Sidon, where all hunting and fishing was for silver and gold, not souls interested in marrying Yahweh. When the reading says, “Then Naomi took the child [Obed] and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse,” Jesus was the nurse of his disciples. His teachings were what made their souls grow to love Yahweh. That made Jesus and Naomi the antheses of scribes, whose inability to properly interpret Holy Scripture led to all the failures the people would bring upon the land.

As the Gospel reading to be read aloud on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is to realize only being a believer for show, where the truth of one’s beliefs is seeing religion as some blessing from God to get rich (a sin) and never have to pay for taking wealth from underground and worshiping it as a god. When I was told by a wealthy lawyer, “The ‘all in’ church did not work out,” that was a sinner using religion to cover all his sins in the fancy robes of a religion that can be led to bless sinners, because the wealthy own the churches. The moral of Ruth is one has to buy back – redeem – that given up, in order to be reborn and saved (redemption means salvation). Too many people call themselves Christians, when they are nothing more than Mammonites (money worshipers), in a land that cannot even pretend to offer wafers and wine sips as some blessing from God, because the government has warned them not to spread disease. By doing what the government commands, they reject a Covenant of marriage to Yahweh and spread the disease of spiritual famine across the land.

For many weeks now I have ended these commentaries by saying, “your own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway,” because Pentecost Sunday is the symbolic day when one graduates as a wantabe believer in God and Jesus and actually becomes a soul married to Yahweh, reborn as His Son, sent into ministry as Jesus, in a new body of flesh that is a Christ. This Sunday is third from the last of the Ordinary after Pentecost season. Advent then begins and recycles us to preparations of our souls to receive the seed of righteousness that will be Jesus born within us [Year C]. Ministry is Yahweh’s call to marry one’s soul to Him and become His Son reborn, in order to save the world from spiritual famine. The land is in such a famine now because so many refuse to be “all in” in commitment to serve Yahweh and only Yahweh.

Language, Psalms, Teaching

Psalm 127 – Building a house unto Yahweh

January 1, 2026 R. T. Tippett Leave a comment

1 [1] Unless Yahweh builds the house, *

their labor is in vain who build it.

2 [1] Unless Yahweh watches over the city, *

in vain the watchman keeps his vigil.

3 [2] It is in vain that you rise so early and go to bed so late; *

vain, too, to eat the bread of toil,

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

4 [3] Children are a heritage from Yahweh, *

and the fruit of the womb is a gift.

5 [4] Like arrows in the hand of a warrior *

are the children of one’s youth.

6 [5] Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! *

he shall not be put to shame

when he contends with his enemies in the gate.

——————–

This is the accompanying Psalm to the Track 1 Old Testament reading from Ruth. It will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 27], Year B, if an individual church is on the Track 1 path, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. The Ruth reading will say, “When [Boaz and Ruth] came together, Yahweh made her conceive, and she bore a son.” That pair will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “[Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” All will then accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where it is written, “Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Omitted from this Psalm 127 is the announcement at the beginning of verses one that says, “This is a ‘Song of ascents of Solomon.’” It should then be realized to not be a song of David. This is worth knowing, as in three places the proper name “Yahweh” is written [all mistranslated as “the Lord”], with Solomon not known [from his Wisdoms or Proverbs] to write “Yahweh” often. One can then assume this song was written by the boy king, before the Tabernacle was replaced by the grand Temple of Solomon, when the Ark and the Covenant was moved. As a “song of ascent” this song would have been sung by the faithful slowly proceeding up the steps leading to the “House” of Yahweh, wherever that was at the time sung.

In this Psalm 127, the NRSV clearly shows it as being five verses in length. The Episcopal Church, however, has modified this so they make it be a six-verse song. I have placed the name “Yahweh” in bold text. Additionally, I have placed the proper numbering of the verses in bold text, within brackets. I will refer to those numbers in the following interpretation.

In verse one, where it says, “Unless Yahweh builds the house,” the Hebrew word translated as “house” if “bayith.” That word most typically states a “dwelling place,” but on a broader sense it means a “family of descendants,” as those of one central relationship to one another. In this sense, Solomon was making a statement about the nation of peoples called Israel, of which he was the king. In essence, his wisdom stated it to be an accepted truth that without the “House” of Israel being created by Yahweh, the lasting ability of that nation of peoples would be nill. This means Solomon knew Israel was doomed to failure, if it did not have Yahweh as the “builder” of each and every Israelite, including himself.

As an accompanying Psalm to the story of Ruth, one needs to see how what Solomon wrote was mirrored in that story. When it is stated that Boaz and Ruth “came together,” the truth of the Hebrew written says, “when he went into her.” This clearly states the reality of sexual intercourse; but the metaphor of “entering into” must be seen as the greater statement. A soul is already within a body of flesh; but when a soul marries Yahweh, then Yahweh entering into one’s soul. This is how a “house” to Yahweh is built. Thus, when the story of Ruth then follows by stating, “Yahweh made her conceive, and she bore a son,” that states the truth that Yahweh is the builder. The “house” He built was “the son,” which reflects the Trinity that makes a “house” built by “Yahweh” be truly Holy.

The Ruth story ends by saying that the “son” who was built was named “Obed,” which means “Servant, Slave.” This says the true “house” of Yahweh is one where all family within that “house” is subservient to Yahweh. Yahweh becomes their King. The story of Ruth says Obed would lead to David, so David became a “Son” of this “house,” who was the “Beloved” of Yahweh. Solomon was not a replacement to Yahweh. Thus, a house built by a human king was prophesied by Solomon as bound to failure. The story of Ruth’s fourth chapter follows the famine that existed during the times of judges, when Israel (as a nation of peoples) had cheated on Yahweh and turned away from His Covenant – the agreement of the marriage of their souls to Him. All the down times of Israel were due to having human builders of that “house.”

When verse one continues this theme of being without Yahweh, we see how a soul married to Yahweh has a watcher who protects the “house” from unwanted influences. This has to be seen as the metaphor of the marriage between Boaz and Ruth, which made Naomi so happy. The son born became the watchman sent by Yahweh to protect the city of Bethlehem. When the elders would later go to Samuel and demand a king, to be like other nations, those other nations were not built by Yahweh’s hand. The capital cities were incapable of rejecting invading influences, which would ultimately destroy them from within.

In verse two, the element of “sleep” must be realized as being metaphor for death. To say Yahweh “gives his beloved sleep,” this means a soul in love with Yahweh has submitted itself unto Him, having died of self-importance. As such, that soul no longer needs to keep a vigil over one’s ways. Vanity comes from trying to be smart enough to rise up early and stay awake late, in order to prevent evil from entering into one’s “house.” Only through the sacrifice of “self” [a “self” equals a “soul”] to Yahweh can one enjoy a peaceful life, without worry that evil will overtake one’s “house.”

In verse three, the connection to Ruth is stated in “Children are a heritage from Yahweh, and the fruit of the womb is a gift.” It must be realized that the story of Ruth says, “Yahweh made her conceive.” This is also a statement that Yahweh controls barrenness as necessary; and, at all times He develops the fetus in the womb. It is not the hand of the mother that creates a body of flesh that will receive the breath of life [“ruach”]. The theme of barrenness in the Holy Bible says human beings are incapable of making life. Yahweh is the Creator. Without His hand in play, nothing is sacred. This means Yahweh must enter into one’s soul, in order to build a life cleansed from sins, making one able to bear good fruit.

Verse four then sings, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” This restates the message of Moses to the Israelites, before they took possession of the Promised Land [when they entered into that “house”], which was to teach their children’s children’s children. This means the watchman is the renewal of vigilance through offspring, all made by the hand of Yahweh. The war is against evil, so the souls breathed into flesh built by the hand of Yahweh becomes the arrows that shoot straight and defend the “house” from attackers [the story of Satan going to war with Job].

Verse five then sings, “Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! he shall not be put to shame when he contends with his enemies in the gate.” This, again, restates the message of Moses to the Israelites, to have many children [be fruitful and multiply] and then teach them to save their souls, through marriage to Yahweh [when adult influences abound]. To have many children who are slaves or servants to Yahweh is truly a blessing. The shame those children of one’s youth prevent is that brought on by the acts of sin. Those warriors will shoot down all efforts by Satan to possess a soul and lead it astray. Well-trained children will prevent that failure, so a “house” will not collapse into ruin.

The story of Ruth began with the failures to uphold the Covenant, when the times of judges means forty years of waywardness, followed by the righting of the ship by a judge sent to be the warrior against evil. The marriage of Boaz and Ruth symbolized the beginning of forty years in service to Yahweh again. Still, after Jesse brought forth David into Israel, the elders were again leading the peoples to ruin. David would become the last judge of Israel, the last child born to defend the people at the gates, so evil was kept away. Everything then boils down to the realization that only the children can defeat evil, as did young David. The longer one goes in life, the weaker one becomes; so, the children are to be raised to take one’s place. This is why Naomi placed the son Obed to her bosom and nursed him. She was teaching Obed the ways of the righteous.

As a song of praise to be sung loudly on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson here is to raise one’s children to be submissive to Yahweh. That is a wonderful plan, if one’s parents had married their souls to Yahweh and drew your soul to their bosom and nursed you on moral values. The reality is we are in one great long downturn away from Yahweh. Evil is not only at the gates of the “house” of Christianity, it is the Trojan Horse that has entered the “house” and infected the body of flesh. The COVID19 fears are symbolic of this loss of faith. The religion of Jesus has collapsed into ruin, in the same way Israel and Judah fell in disgrace and shame. The salvation of the land demands individuals submit their souls to Yahweh and go to sleep and stop being the whores of society that cannot stop petting their cell phones as their god. They cannot stop checking their investments for imaginary gains of wealth, none of which will ever leave this material realm.

As the season after Pentecost approaches a close, it is time to realize there are no children defending the walls of a “house” built by Yahweh. We are headed to destruction and enslavement by overlords, thinking the whole time everything is okay. Now is the time to repent and submit totally in service to Yahweh. Otherwise, an eternity of misery will be in one’s future. Ask Solomon. He knew how vain it was to expect anything lasting, without the builder being Yahweh.

Explaining the Readings

Tag Archives: Ordinary time after Pentecost

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 – A Spiritual commitment with Yahweh as one’s only love

Hebrews 9:11-14 – Understanding the blood of Christ

Mark 12:28-34 – Total love means loving Jesus as oneself

Psalm 146 – Praising Yahweh as a reflection on Naomi and Ruth

Psalm 119:1-8 – A song for Aleph, with the Law step one

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 – Marrying God and having His baby

1 Kings 17:8-16 One last handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug

Hebrews 9:24-28 – The Anointment of Jesus will appear a second time

Mark 12:38-44 – Beware of the scribes who bring famine to the widows

Psalm 127 – Building a house unto Yahweh

The Episcopal Lectionary Discerned