David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
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This is an optional Old Testament selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important it shows the ark’s presence in Israel is symbolic of God’s presence in one’s heart, thus worthy of celebration by songs, dance, and sharing the blessings that come from offerings to the LORD.
In this reading it is important to realize that David has been King of Israel for over seven years. He has taken the stronghold of Jebus from the Jebusites and renamed it Jerusalem, with his area called the City of David. He has then made arrangements for this stronghold to be the home of the ark. One can presume some time took place preparing a location for the ark to rest, as well as preparations for moving the ark (a new cart, minimally), so at least six months has passed since Jebus fell.
The ark was under the control of Levites in the “house of Abinadab,” as well as in Gibeon. While the ark was in Kiriath Jearim, the ancient tabernacle was kept in Gibeon. The Levites would have overseen the consecration of all priests who would attend to the ark. Uzzah and Ahio are called “sons of Abinadab, but “sons” (“bə·nê”) were “descendants” of that “house” (“mib·bêṯ” as “family”).
The ark had been moved there after the prophet Eli’s death, as Samuel became the judge of Israel and shortly before the elders of Israel asked Samuel for a king.
After seven months, the Philistines had been punished enough for having the ark and they left it on a rock in Beth-Shemesh so it was up to the Israelites to deal with. It caused 50,070 to die there, so they asked for it to be removed. It was then taken to Kiriath jearim.
The ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2), when Saul ordered the ark moved, without permission (1 Samuel 14:18). One can then presume the ark was returned, after God stopped answering Saul, in an attempt to make amends. By the time David went to move it to the City of David, the ark had been back in Kiriath Jearim around thirty additional years (fifty in all).
When the translation says, “gathered all the chosen men of Israel,” the operative Hebrew word is “bā·ḥūr,” which leans one to “young men,” even “vigorous young men.” Thirty thousand is a symbolic number that states the importance David saw in this move. The youth factor was so all those accompanying the ark would be energetic and enjoying the festivities surrounding God being moved.
The name Uzzah means “Strength,” while the name Ahio means “Brotherly,” or “Brother/Friend of the LORD.” The place named as the “house of Obed-edom,” can also be read as a family residence named for a “Servant of the Red One,” or “Servant of Edom,” where Edom was a kingdom south of Judah. This can equally be read as “Servant of Strength,” where it held the strategic advantage of height on a hill. It is believed the path of the ark was forced to shift to an easier path downhill.
The omitted verses address the near fall of the ark from the cart. Uzzah attempted to stop its slide and was killed. The symbolism there could be no human strength can force its will upon the power of the LORD. Because of the death of Uzzah, David turned the cart around and returned to the “house of Obed-edom and left it there for three months. During that time, the family at Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the ark, so David returned to continue the move of the ark to his city.
[Back to the reading]
When we read, “he sacrificed an ox and a fatling,” this was a priestly act performed by David. After the ark was returned to Israel by the Philistines, Samuel had become elevated to the judge of Israel and he made burnt offerings to the LORD also. This says David was more than the King of Israel, as he was also the one who could perform holy ritual. By doing this after the ark carriers had walked six steps into his city; he sacrificed an ox and fatling as the head of the family that was the house of David. This is then repeated when we read, “They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord.” Finally, David “blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts,” which was a priestly act.
David danced and rejoiced mightily as a sign of his complete devotion to God. His displays, as well as those of the Israelites, were to show their happiness to have the LORD welcomed with fervor into their midst. That celebration was followed by more ceremonial burnt offering, which had to have been enough for thousands of Israelites. We know this because we read how David, “distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.” This act of blessing and feeding a multitude would much later be seen by Jesus.
To myself, the element of this reading that sticks out and stays in my mind is when I read, “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” When David and Michal were younger, when David was living as an adopted member of Saul’s royal family, “Michal loved David,” and Saul “was pleased” to hear that news. Saul planned to use that love to get David killed by Philistines. Because David was poor, Saul set the dowry as “a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” David brought back two hundred and was given Michal as his wife. However, soon after, Saul forced David into exile, trying to kill him.
David and Michal were then separated for many years. After Saul was dead and his son Ish-Bosheth was King of Israel, David sent a demand to send his wife Michal to him in Hebron (he was then King of Judah). Ish-Bosheth forced Michal from her husband to go to David, while David had taken on other wives while in exile and they bore him children. Still, this story tells how Michal “despised [David] in her heart” because he acted in an unroyal manner before the ark. Her “contempt” shows how she had been coddled as a princess and seeing David playing the fool before God disgusted her.
As a reading option for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway, the lesson is to fear the LORD and only Him. That was the commandment stated in Deuteronomy 6:13 and it was restated in 1 Samuel 7:3, after the ark was returned by the Philistines. The fear of the ark was the fear of God, and the lesson of this reading is delight in that power.
The ark had remained in one house on a hill for the most part of half a century. It was not in the tabernacle Moses had the Israelites construct, which could be taken down and moved in their travels. David prepared a tent for the ark in the City of David. The entire time Saul ruled over Israel, the LORD did not have a proper place to rest; and, in return, Israel did not benefit from the power of the LORD. This story is about how David returned that power to a proper home.
The symbolism is the struggle that one of faith has in mistaking a fear of the LORD as the fear one has to find a proper home for God. A minister to the LORD has prepared a place for God to reign, which is the tabernacle-tent covering one’s heart. Many people have difficulty making the sacrifice that makes one appear publicly foolish, as that has the effect of bringing contempt and disdain from those who see the rewards of the world come freer and more frequently when they act in ways that attract wealth. This means Michal, whose name means “What’s God Like?” questioned how God could bless anyone as wildly foolish as David. A minister to the LORD is no longer worried about how the self is seen by other human beings, as the only eyes that matter are God’s.
It can take many years of one’s life to dare to move the ark of God from some external resting place (like a church building, a religious denomination, or a surrogate minister) into one’s heart.
There may be setbacks, like the death of Uzzah and the testing of the presence of God in another (like David leaving the ark at Obed-edom), but one needs to see how God being kept external does not save one’s soul in the end.
The marriage of David to Micah, when David was too poor to pay a dowry, symbolizes one’s marriage to the world and the inheritance of worldly goods. When Micah saw David had chosen God, she saw him as returning to earthly poverty, even though he was the king of all Israel. Her love of a young, self-assured David, who had so much potential for capturing the booty and spoils of war, dissipated to nothing, once she saw his Spiritual choice. So too does the world reject a high priest, a holy judge, and a servant to God. Just as did Michal turn on David, a minister can expect to find the same rejection of past friends and business partners. Simply by changing from self-promoting, soul-selling, run-of-the-mill typical people, those people who one was just like feel disdain being around someone so changed. When one has fallen in love with God and married into His house, then there can be no turning back – because one sees the true love of God and the false love of those too weak to sacrifice immediate gratification for eternal peace.
The lesson in this optional Old Testament reading is ministry requires one become a Brother of Jesus Christ, just as Ahio led the ark in its return. To be a Brother is to become a reproduction (a rebirth) of the Son of God. A Brother comes in both male and female human bodies. As Christians, who profess to have the Strength of the LORD at their beck and call (the spirit of Uzzah), that consecration as a high priest of the ark leads one to think you can control God. One’s lineage and pedigree makes one thing one can reach out and touch the LORD whenever one pleases. While omitted from today’s reading, we find that Uzzah’s attempt to keep the ark from coming off the cart was not seen by God in his favor. Instead, we read, “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:7)
That lesson says to be careful that one does not think God obeys one’s commands. That is irreverent and causes God to burn such selfish souls from anger. One has to fear the power of the LORD and bow down before that magnificence. Bowing down might be seen as foolish and weak; but foolish and weak is much better than fried to a crisp, having God raised God’s ire.
This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
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This is an optional Old Testament selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important because it shows the rejection prophets face when they speak the truth of God, while not backing down to that rejection.
The plumb line is used to make sure a wall is going up perpendicular to the ground, assuming the ground has been leveled and a solid foundation is in place.
Without a plumb line to ensure the squareness of the angle (90 degrees), the wall will collapse under its own weight. David was the plumb line for Israel, where the wall was reworked after Saul. Jesus Christ would be the cornerstone to a new foundation for a new wall (Christianity) that would test the squareness of each brick (Christians) making up that wall. Thus, Jesus would also be the plumb line sent to be in the midst of God’s people, after their walls collapsed in Israel and Judah, sending those of Israel to the winds of the earth and the Jews to Babylon.
The prophets, like Amos, set that line and the people rejected it by allowing kings who were out of square to reject the prophets. The collapse of Israel and Judah can then be seen as nothing more than a law of physics. Thus, just as they fell because they were not square with the LORD, so too did the Jews of Judea and Galilee collapse for not accepting the square that was Jesus Christ. The same building failure is often repeated throughout history in nations of people who reject God and His cornerstone.
When we read how Amos wrote of the LORD telling him, “I will never again pass them by,” the actual Hebrew words from which this is translated are “‘ă·ḇō·wr lōw,” from “abarlo,” meaning “no pass over.” Those two words are separated (a hyphen mark shown in the text) from the lead-in words, “lō- ’ō·w·sîp̄ ‘ō·wḏ,” rooted in “lo yasaph od,” which state, “not again going around.” God told Amos that the breaking of Israel into two nations meant the Israelites were breaking free of His influence.
This means the history of Moses and the Israelites comes into play, where the angel of death would no longer be allowed to pass over the doorways to homes of the children of Israel that would no longer be marked by sacrificial blood of lambs. This prophecy given by God to Amos came at a time after Jeroboam had successfully manipulated the secession of the ten tribes that became the Northern Kingdom, splitting away from Judah.
When we read, “Amaziah, the priest of Bethel,” we need to know that Bethel was the place established by Jeroboam as the second Temple. This site was deemed the holy place of the Northern Kingdom, so Israelites would not pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the required holy festivals (Passover being the first each year). Amaziah is said to be a priest of Jeroboam II, the distant descendant of the initial usurper Jeroboam. Amaziah is therefore considered as a false prophet of Israel, although his name means “Yahweh is Strong” or “Strength of the LORD”. Amos was then prophesying for the LORD when Amaziah was a priest of Bethel, under Jeroboam II.
When we then read how Amaziah reported about Amos, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel,” the map above shows how Bethel was not geographically central to the area comprising the Northern Kingdom. Amos was sent to Bethel to preach the Word of the LORD; and because of Bethel being only 10.5 miles north of Jerusalem, “the very center of the house of Israel” means the “heart” of their house of rebellion. Since the original unification of twelve tribes was Israel, and all its inhabitants were Israelites (of which Bethel and Jerusalem were centrally located), “the house of the new Israel” became synonymous with those who rebelled and broke away, stealing the name “Israel” in that process.
When we read that Amaziah told Jeroboam II, “The land is not able to bear all his words,” those words are stated by Amos as being the Word of God, stating:
“the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
This should be seen as saying Mount Moriah will have been made a place to avoid, as Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. Mount Moriah is one of the hills (high places) of Jerusalem. Thus, Jeroboam, through the establishment of a second temple in Bethel (where Abram built an altar and Jacob dreamed of a ladder to Heaven), devised a scheme to desolate Jerusalem of Israelite observance of the Law of Moses. Other shrines of the newly unified Israel, in Dan and Gilgal, were where golden calves were placed, which welcomed complaints by prophets and opened doors to foreign cult worship.
This made Bethel become representative of all the “sanctuaries of Israel” that would become wasted through rebellion. Imagine how this was not seen by all the people as unwanted. See it as similar to the removal of statues of the Ten Commandments from American public places and government buildings. Therefore, the wasting of sanctuaries was cheered, more than bemoaned.
While God spoke to Amos during a period of relative peace and stability, “the house of Jeroboam” would be stricken down by “the sword” of Assyria in the future. The “waste laid” to that house would be such that those of the Northern Kingdom would lose all identity by not being deemed worthy of captivity. The people of Israel would be scattered into the winds, sent to the four ends of the earth, no longer identifiable as Israelites. However, because that future had yet to materialize, Amaziah said the Northern Kingdom was, “not able to bear all his words” as truth.
Amaziah then quoted Amos as saying, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.” The death of Jeroboam II should not be seen as the prophecy made by God through Amos. This is on a grander level, where the rebellious house of the Northern Kingdom took on the spirit of Jeroboam, whose name means “The People Contendeth.” It can be seen also as “The people contend” or “He pleads the people’s cause” (from the “Etymology” section in Wikipedia article “Jeroboam”). Thus, the prophecy of Amos foretold of a future death that would come by the double-edged sword of God’s judgment.
Because all divine prophecy can be averted through belief and actions of faith based on belief, the future of a divine prophecy is both set in stone and able to be avoided. All divine prophecies of warning will come true, but judgment is equally served. Upon those who serve the LORD righteously and choose to change their ways, the truth is revealed as continued peace and prosperity. The prophecy of the sword has been securely locked in stone. However, without that change, those who serve themselves above God will find judgment coming from the blade of the sword being freed and wielded recklessly.
The prophecy is not exclusive punishment of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom. It was specific to those who followed a wicked leader. Had Israel overthrown Jeroboam and reunited with Judah, the prophecy would still be in effect for any other leader of rebellion that may come later. As such, all the rebellious peoples of the world – those who rebel against their God – can be figuratively identified as being in “the house of Jeroboam.”
The land “Israel” stands by the name meaning that is “God Strives.” It means “God [El] Persists,” such that Israel is a state of being, more than a place on the earth. Anyone who does not maintain such a state of being – of steadfastly holding onto the Will of God as one’s purpose in life on earth – then that human being has exiled oneself from the protection of the LORD. The sword of judgment will fall in the direction of one’s self soul, whose physical body becomes the land it serves. One can only be “the land where God Strives” when the soul has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit. Without that holy baptism, the soul is exiled from God.
We then read, “And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” In this series of segments, where each makes an important statement, we first see Amaziah pronouncing Amos as a “seer” (“ḥō·zeh,” rooted in “chozeh”). That was an admission that Amos was truly a prophet of God. It was recognition that Amos was one who experienced divine whispers rather than visions, confirming how Amaziah had already pronounced to Jeroboam II that the words of Amos were unbearable.
Next, Amaziah told Amos to “Go.” The Hebrew word “halak” (“leḵ”) says, “Walk; Act; Grow; and Live,” as well as “Go; Return; and Depart” (among many other things). This says Amaziah acknowledged that Amos had entered upon a path that he could not avoid. He did not tell him to “Stop,” because he knew that was impossible. Therefore, he then said “flee away to the land of Judah,” as the Word of the LORD would find welcoming ears there. The urge to “flee” said there would be danger if Amos did not leave the Northern Kingdom.
To translate “we·’ĕ·ḵāl– šām le·ḥem” as “earn your bread” means old beatniks from the early ‘60’s must still be around and translating the Holy Bible.
The earliest form of “rap”?
The most literal translation of the root words in that segment clearly says, “eat there bread,” but the intent is quite clearly “feed bread there.” Rather than seeing Amos as a paid priest, paid priests love to justify their “bread” (wages, housing, insurance and corporate perks) by the words of Timothy. That Saint wrote, “For the Scripture says, ” You shall not muzzle an ox treading out grain,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages,” (1 Timothy 5:18).
That verse says the whole purpose of a prophet is to feed, not to be paid as a laborer. The metaphor is missed when “wages” are seen as paper notes and metal coins. Timothy meant, “Your work justifies your reward.” Amaziah was telling Amos that his words of prophecy would be more rewarding when fed to hungry mouths.
The Word of God flows through a prophet’s mouth like manna falls from Heaven. This means the Holy Word is the “bread” that must be consumed by the faithful. Jesus said to break and share the bread of the Seder meal and remember him, because the bread (words) of the Old Testament feeds belief in Jesus Christ. Thus, a prophet earns the right to feed others through righteous living and a marriage to God.
This explains why “feed there bread” is followed by the stated segment(s), “there – prophesy.” Above and beyond a physical state of “there” (Judah), this word being set alone becomes a focus set upon the Spiritual state of being that is “there.” Rather than Amaziah identifying a place, “there” set apart was the state of a prophet who has been allowed by God to “feed His bread” (“prophesy”). Once “there,” there is nothing else a prophet of the LORD can do but “prophesy.”
To be there, one has to first seek to learn where “there” is. Then ask God, “How do I get there?”
When Amaziah then followed this recognition of righteousness in Amos by stating, “But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom,” he was making it clear that the rebellious (those calling themselves Israel) were no longer following the order of Yahweh. He was no longer their spiritual king; and the land they took was not ruled by true prophets of the LORD.
This is how Amaziah can be called a false prophet, because he remained in Bethel where priests and prophets did not advise the man who would be “king” (a procession of names) of God’s Word. This would worsen over the years, especially under Ahab and Jezebel, when the remaining good priests were executed and replaced by pagan ones. Rather that priests advising the king, the king commanded as a god and his priests and prophets would spin those decrees to the people.
At the end of this selected reading, we read the response of Amos as: “Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” This again speaks in segments, where each states the Word of the LORD.
When Amos said, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son,” this was a denial that he had been professionally schooled or educated in Scripture. The ancients of Israel and Judah had a school of prophets, such as the one Eli led, which was where the parents of Samuel left their son, dedicating him to the LORD. It had once been the role of each Israelite family to present their firstborn sons to priestly service (Exodus 22:29), but this was modified to being only those of Levite parentage (Numbers 8). This means that not only had Amos never been educated in a school that taught priestly duties, he was not of Levite heritage.
When Amos said, “I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock,” the combination of “herdsman” and “flock” means Amos was a shepherd, although the specific animals he shepherded may or may not have been sheep. The Hebrew words written, “ū·ḇō·w·lêsšiq·mîm,” can more literally be seen to state, “gather figs from trees.” While “sycamore trees” can be implies, the general intent is “a tree.” The word translated as “dresser” is better understood as “gatherer,” where “figs” are the fruit implied.
A tree hung with dresses is not the intent here.
When this is read as Amos rejecting the notion of being a trained “prophet,” with him saying he made a living selling wool and figs, the point is missed that this states his qualifications for prophesying. Amos was chosen to prophesy for God because he had found pleasure watching over creatures that needed help and he had gained strength through holy fruit. According to Google, “The fig tree is a symbol of peace and plenty,” such that Amos lived as a peaceful man and the LORD provided him with all he needed. This makes Amos be a model of the Good Shepherd, as Jesus of Nazareth shared the same lack of institutional education, with both men relying totally on the insights coming to them from the LORD.
Finally, when we read Amos saying, “and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel,” the skills of a shepherd are better than having a big brain filled with memorized words and the interpretations of scholars and false prophets. Rather than preach what he had heard or read from some other big brain, Amos had no knowledge of Scriptural meaning, other than that sent to him by God. Those who say what they are told to say by kings, and other demigods whose brains are quite inferior to the knowledge of the LORD, pale in comparison to the words of a lowly prophet.
Amos then possessed the Mind of Christ, due to his reception of God’s voice. When the LORD said, “Go,” Amos went, without question. He went because the LORD only speaks to His servants and His servants serve by spreading the Word of the LORD so others can hear it – whether they want to hear it or not (usually, they do not want to hear it, like Amaziah).
As an optional Old Testament reading selection for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway – one should be like Amos – the message here is the requirements for being a minister.
First of all, one must stand upon the solid ground of faith, squarely rising as a student of Scripture. Either one’s parents has delivered one to the church for children studies, later to attend sermons in adult church, or someone gave one a person copy of the Holy Bible, which shows evidence of having been read. One has demonstrated some interest in one’s religion first. Addition studies are then chosen as interesting, such as attending optional classes in church, making personal investigations of Biblical questions on Internet sites, or reading books of Biblical interpretation purchased from booksellers. To call oneself Christian requires more than having water poured over one’s head as an infant.
The plumb line that one is measured by is belief, which is squared by the insight of God’s whispers, but leaned by the contradictions and inconsistencies of interpretation that keep one from actually experiencing God personally. Belief is based on questioning the meaning of Scripture, all the while knowing it is wholly the truth. One seeks answers that prove the truth of Scripture, and that proof is personally experiencing God. One prays and is sent insight or shown signs that answer the prayers. One is able to see through the veil of mystery. Thus, one rises perpendicular to the foundations of Christianity and Judaism when one becomes a prophet of the LORD, without the blinders worn by scholastic professors of religion.
Second, a minister of the LORD has heard the truth be spoken within and proved time and again by searches for examples, so one knows the truth always comes when one closes the brain and lets the lips become the vehicle of God’s knowledge. One does not become a minister because one needs to pay off the loans one incurred going to school, to learn some religious stuff. One does not become a minister that is approved by a dean of theology or a bishop in an organization of religious churches, in order to “make one’s bread.” A minister of the LORD drops everything else (church flocks of sheep and the fruit of business trees) and does (gladly) what God leads one into.
Third, a minister of the LORD says what is true, expecting to find rejection and banishment. The truth hurts the ears of those who act (as pretense) faithful to God, but are really more interested in what their leaders tell them to do, so the nation state-of-being cannot be distracted by those who would point out the errors of their ways. Even though a minister of the LORD is told to get out of a disbeliever’s mindset (the “face of other gods” they wear before the LORD), a minister of the LORD teaches his or her family to remain faithful.
Finally, it must be understood that ministers of the LORD have been set in a world that has plenty of souls who want to believe; but they struggle to find the strength to turn away from a world that demands spiritual sacrifice for survival. As Jesus told the parable of two men who went into the temple to pray – the Pharisee and the publican (tax collector) – it is important to see how both men had made worldly sacrifices, in the name of the god “money.”
The Pharisee boasted to God that he gave ten percent of his stolen wealth to the priests each week, and he sacrificed by not eating during the daytime twice a week. Not once did he admit to God that he had sinned in the first place. He wore the blinders that allowed him to sin without regret.
The publican felt so much humility that he knew everything he did was based on sin. He was as wealthy as the Pharisee, but the Pharisee had the people too afraid to reject him, due to his powerful connections. The people could easily see the sin of wealth on the tax collector, and he was in a position easier to hate. This grieved the publican; but he had never met anyone from the temple or synagogue who could lead him to truly believe he could stop sinning. He saw their sins of accepting some sinners, while rejecting people like him, without any sense that any rabbi was in that position of teacher, filled with knowledge that was designed to lead sinners to being sin free.
The parable ended when Jesus said, “I tell you that this man [the publican], rather than the other [the Pharisee], went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Neither was able to stop their sinful ways. However, one prayed for someone to help; and that is why God sends ministers into the world … to make help available to those seeking it through prayer.
A minister to the LORD is sent by God to help the humble to find the truth that opens their hearts up to receiving the love of God. This comes by feeding the Word to them, one bite at a time, like a baby is fed by its parents. Thus, a minister must see those who seek the truth as infants that must learn to crawl before they can learn to walk. Most Christians are fed Scripture as Pablum (def.: bland or insipid intellectual fare, entertainment, etc.), and they never develop an appetite for solid religious food. Those babies grow into hardened people, like Amaziah, who love to say, “The land is not able to bear the bread of truth.”
A minister of the LORD goes to offer food for thought to those who are seeking that fare.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
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This is the Epistle selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a reader on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important it touches on the predestination of Saints, where God released all human souls on the material plane with the instruction: “Come back. Don’t get lost in a physical body.”
When I was a young boy being raised in an Assemblies of God church, I remember there was a “prayer room.” It had folding chairs in it, at which people would kneel and pray.
As best as my young brain could discern (from what I saw happen in that room) was the room was a place to be trained in how to “speak in tongues.” According to the methods taught to me, as I knelt in front of one of those folding chairs, I was told to repeat the word “Glory,” over and over. I would do that until my tongue got so tied up it would stop saying “Glory” and start making unintelligible noises. I was told those unintelligible sounds was “speaking in tongues.” One traveling evangelists actually encouraged me to just make up any noises that I wanted. When I did, I was praised by the congregation for “speaking in tongues.”
Reading this greeting written by Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, it dawned on me how repetition being the key to leading one to speaking in tongues was the truth. Someone, somewhere along the line of the foundation of the Assemblies of God church mistook reading Scripture (the Glory of God in writing) over and over, until it begins to make deep, spiritual sense, as how one speaks in the tongues of God. What is unintelligible to those who have no time for repetition then becomes crystal clear to those who eyes and ears (and mouths) that God has opened.
Paul is a classic example (in all his writings) of how repetition is the key to understanding. The faster one reads Paul the more it sounds like babble. However, when it is read slowly, over and over, praying for the deeper truth to be exposed, it begins to amaze with how accurately detailed Paul’s words were. They are of divine origin.
With that short lesson about speaking in tongues complete, read this over and over and contemplate its deeper meaning: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ask yourself as you repeat those words, several of which are capitalized, showing importance, “Is this a simple church greeting, where important words are written ceremoniously, or formally, or ritually, rather than with the intent to express the truth?”
Ask yourself, “Is God truly Worthy of praise, such that God is the epitome of ones Blessings?”
Was Paul pointing out that God is the Father of all Creation, including himself, all the people breathing air in Ephesus, as well as every living being on earth? Or, was Paul making an important statement about God being exclusively the Father of himself – an Apostle – and those true Christians of Ephesus – also Apostles? Did Paul intend his use of Patēr (capitalized as “the Father,” versus “ancestor, elder, or senior” in the lower case) to be meaningless or meaningful?
Why did Paul further that by stating God is the “Father of the Lord,” going on to say “the Lord of us”? What does the word “Kyriou” mean, when it is the “Lord” and/or “Master of us”?
If God is King of Heaven and Jesus was not a king of a nation, where would he be Lord? Where could his kingdom be, if not within an Apostle?
When a comma is placed after “hēmōn” (“of us”), indicating a pause in this line of thought, how then does that mark in the text act to denote a separation between “us” and “Jesus Christ”?
When you read these ten words over and over … slowly … allowing the truth and full scope of intent to sink in … can you see Paul stating, “I praise the One God as do you praise the One God [“Blessed be the God”], for together we are blessed to know God as the Father [“and Father”] of new state of spiritual being, having been born of His love in His sending us our Master [“of our Lord”], the new Lord of our souls in our flesh, such that we each have become a kingdoms of Jesus Christ [“Jesus Christ”], each being the resurrection of Jesus Christ”?
When your eyes begin to open to Paul having just made a powerful statement that he was a member of the church of Ephesus, where “church” is defined by Jesus as being “where two or three gather in my name, I am there in their midst,” (Matthew 18:20), those to whom Paul wrote were just like him, in the sense they had each been “Blessed” by “God,” who then was the “Father” of their rebirth, where the “Lord” of their bodies, minds, and souls was “Jesus Christ.” They had each become Jesus Christ incarnate. When that becomes clear, then you can begin to do the same repetition of the rest of this reading.
To speak in the tongue of God, as Paul was writing “in tongues” using the Word of God spoken to him, each Apostle in Ephesus was then capable of “reading in tongues” (a.k.a. “speaking”) and reading the words of Paul on a divine level of understanding (above a human brain level). To an Apostle, there is not thought that goes into word selection, as some brain-powered trick of language. Words naturally come to one filled with the Holy Spirit. However, a disciple can be trained to begin proving the divinity in such tongues by following logical methods.
Like I am instructing, one has to practice reading slowly, repeating each word as it was meant to be read – using the full scope of each word’s usage, not just the standard or typical. That requires learning Greek (and Hebrew) as well as God knows Greek (and Hebrew), or using a tool to make up the difference (such as an online Interlinear translation of the foreign to the known. One has to know God’s Mind is so great it chooses the precise words necessary to convey depth beyond the standard and typical; but intelligence is elevated to inspiration when one proves to oneself how great God is to choose words with so much meaning unseen.
(I am now going off the script above and will be using the literal (interlinear) English translation of the Greek written. Feel free to see how English alters the ordering of words written, to satisfy syntactical differences from Greek.) By seeing that Paul said “Blessed [be] the [One] God,” as the source of Apostles having been reborn as Jesus Christ, next read:
“the [One] having blessed us with every blessing spiritual in the heavenly realms in Christ.”
God is “the [One] having blessed” Apostles. God has bestowed upon His servants “spiritual blessing,” rather than physical rewards. The spirit of a human being is the soul, so an Apostle’s soul has been made “worthy of praise,” due to it having been cleansed of sins by the Holy Spirit of God. They have been spiritually blessed so their souls can gain spiritual reward in the “heavenly realms.” The plural number of “realms” shows how heaven has become one with earth in an Apostle, of which there are many. They have been blessed with the knowledge of God that comes to them because they are in Christ. They have been blessed with the Christ Mind.
Then read:
“just as he chose us in him before foundation of world , to be for us blameless and holy before him ; in love.” [Notice the presence of punctuation marks, which are ‘road signs’ that say how to slow down more and shift gear.]
Again, “he” is God, who has Blessed them and they praise Him for those blessings. Paul is saying Apostles are predestined to become Saints. The Greek words “katabolēs kosmou” imply verbiage that says, “the foundation of the world,” but that is a limitation that plays on one’s brain. A brain thinks the only way that can be interpreted is from Creation, a long, long, time ago. It does not have to be that far-stretched. Each soul in “the world” is reincarnated into new flesh each earthly life. The word “katabolé” actually has a meaning that is relative to “conception,” so each human being’s “foundation” in “the world” is their birth. When rebirth is factored in, then being chosen “before being born as Jesus Christ” is the call to be a disciple. In Paul’s case, the spirit of Jesus Christ knocked Saul off his donkey and blinded him for three days before he took on the name Paul and began serving God as Jesus Christ reborn. The choice one makes that answers that call from God is completely and totally “to be blameless and holy before [God].” An Apostle is not forced to serve God; but one serves out of “love.” An Apostle falls “in love” with God. An Apostle becomes married to God [the cleansing of sin from the soul] and God’s love reigns in an Apostle’s heart.
Jesus is the round stone that rolls away from the entrance to the tomb, freeing the soul for eternal life.
After absorbing that, then next read:
“having predestined us for divine adoption as sons through Jesus Christ , according to the good pleasure of the will of him.”
The Greek word “proorizó” means “I predetermine,” but it equally means “preordained” and “marked out beforehand.” By seeing how Paul said Apostles were “chosen at birth,” and that means being reborn “in him” – Jesus Christ – the view is now broadened to show one’s responding to God’s call is one’s “pre-ordination” towards becoming the Son of God. This is then a “divine adoption” by all human beings, of both sexes, those who answer the call, to be reborn as Jesus Christ. His Spirit is resurrected within one’s soul, so all who are so adopted divinely are transformed into “sons through Jesus Christ.” This Spiritual adoption goes beyond human gender because of the “love” of God, so accordingly all “sons” are everyone who is filled with the “happiness of the will of him,” which is the presence of the Holy Spirit – the same that surrounded Jesus of Nazareth.
That revelation then prepares one to read further:
“to praise of glory of the grace of him , which he has freely given us in the [One] beloved.”
This “good pleasure, happiness, and delight” that is brought on by God’s love, His Holy Spirit and the Mind of Christ is then the elation that instantly causes an Apostle to “praise the unspoken manifestation of God” inwardly. Such feelings of joy are due to the “favor” and “gift” of God, leading one to give in return “thanks” and “gratitude” to God. It means an Apostle acts as did Jesus of Nazareth, giving all “honor and glory to God.” This does not come by asking for favor. It comes “freely,” given by God to His ‘wives’, those who have subjected their will in marriage to God, accepting him into their hearts as “the [One] beloved.”
If that is difficult to grasp, keep repeating those words over and over, slowly. Understand that “praise” comes from inner delight that is beyond natural emotions, which are impossible to maintain by self-will. However, seeing “happiness” as a “gift of God” allows one to then read:
“in whom we have redemption through the blood of him , the forgiveness all of trespasses , according to the riches of the grace of him.”
Notice the repetition of the word “grace,” which in Greek is “charis.” The form written by Paul, “charitos,” is now being linked to “the blood of him,” where the Greek word “haimatos” means “blood” that has been spilled. This means that like Jesus of Nazareth spilled his “blood” in the act of crucifixion, where he willingly became a sacrificial lamb for a higher cause, so too are Apostles called to the same higher cause, through self-sacrifice.
By being reborn as Jesus Christ, one has been given the higher reward of “redemption,” where the sins of one’s life have been “ransomed” through a “blood” payment. Therefore, the “blood” of self no longer leads one’s body, because it has been replaced by the “blood of Christ.” The “blood” of Christ is the Holy Spirit that protects one from death. Achievement of that reward means “forgiveness of all sins” – the baptism of one’s soul by the Holy Spirit. That cleansing is “according to the abundance of the kindness of God” – through His “granting the favor of Jesus Christ” to one.
Keep repeating those words until they speak to you on a personal level, rather than as a bystander looking at an old letter written by an Apostle to a church in ancient Greece. See how Paul was not spreading the truth of some blanket promise of redemption and worldwide forgiveness of sins, given to anyone who did little more than profess belief in Jesus as the Son of God. One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without letting go of selfishness and actually living as Jesus of Nazareth lived. When one has a firm hold on that “grace of him,” then read:
“which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and understanding ; having made known to us the mystery , of the will of him , according to the pleasure of him , which he purposed in him.”
The Greek words that begin this series of segments, “hēs eperisseusen,” can equally translate as “that exceeded the ordinary” or “which abounded.” The use of “lavished” means the amount of the spirituality richly given by God to His Apostles is much more than they could ever possibly comprehend with a human brain. Those “riches” are now stated as “wisdom and understanding.” It is such divine insight that allows them to understand Scripture (“the mystery” is the hidden meaning in the words – such that I am expanding upon now) is made known instantly or with quick inspiration to know, not by the will of one’s intellect (a Big Brain) but by God’s whispers. God then delights in His servants finding enjoyment in seeing Scripture unfold before their eyes – meaning that astonishes – because everything was written with that deeper purpose intended. This is the knowledge of God being conveyed through the Mind of Christ, made available to an Apostle that has been reborn as Jesus Christ.
Then read the next series slowly and with repetition:
“for administration of the fullness the [one] of times ; to head up the all things in the Christ , the things in the heavens , and the things upon the earth.”
This series begins with the Greek words “eisoikonomian,” which can also state “for stewardship.” The translation read aloud in church states, “as a plan for.” The Christian view of “Stewardship” has been applied to the responsibility of Christians to take care of the earth. There is “a plan for” this type of “administration.” However, that view frequently turns into pleas for donations to the churches, so the burden will be taken on by Church, directing funds to outreach programs, allowing the individuals to have the comfort of knowing that doing little more than contributing money absolves them of this “administrative” duty.
The meaning here is different. It means Scripture is never to be read as a stagnant story of one time past. Apostles are given divine insight so Scripture is seen to always apply to current times, so there is a “full complement” of timely interpretations of meaning. The one who heads this organization is not a bishop or pope, but Christ – the head of the Church. Therefore, Stewardship can only come through Apostles who are enlightened as to the “administration” of all things that fit the requirements that bring one to God and project the Christ in the flesh. The “administration” is not for a body of people – an organization called a church – but that which ensures each soul can return to heaven. Those are the deeds one’s flesh does, through the Christ, as one in the name of Jesus Christ, while here on the earthly plane.
Being able to grasp that vital message, then slowly read and reread this:
“in him , in whom we also we have obtained an inheritance , having been predestined according to purpose of the case all things working , according to the counsel of the will of him.”
This begins with “in him,” which is a statement of being in Jesus Christ. The Greek words “enautō” state “in him,” but also can convey “with the same” or “in self.” This says an Apostle and Jesus Christ are one, not one on earth and the other in heaven. The Greek word “eklērōthēmen” expands on the root “kléroó,” where “inheritance” means an “allotment” or “a share.” When “inheritance” is understood to be defined as, “something, as a quality or characteristic, received from progenitors or predecessors,” then the share received is the resurrection of the Son, born of the Father, into the inheritors. That makes them also be (regardless of human gender) “sons of the Father.” Again, the “predestination” is less a birthright that comes from professing belief that Jesus was the Son of God, but more a statement about that period of devotion preceding one being filled with the Holy Spirit, married to God, and reborn as His Son. The Greek words “panta energountos” (“all things working”) means the “predestination” is “according to the purpose” of inheritance, where one does the works of the LORD – “of every kind.” This is how Saint James could truthfully argue: “Faith, without works, is dead.” (James 2:14-26)
Those “working” acts are then not led by brainstorming with a denomination of Christianity and its political agendas, where one is blindly led by the will of other human beings. Instead, one possesses a brain that functions, made fully cognizant of how what one does under the direction (“counsel of the will”) of the Christ Mind is works based on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That subjection to the Will of God is how one inherits the resurrection of Jesus Christ within one’s being.
Allowing that vision to slowly appear makes one able to then progress to this series of words:
“for this to be us , to praise of glory of him ; those having first trusted in the Christ.”
Here we see Paul stating that doing the works of faith, directed by the presence of Jesus Christ within on, is the only way such works can be done. It means the self must be sacrificed to serve the Will of God. It is the self that becomes filled with doubts and fears and hesitates doing the works the whispers (conscience) tell one to do. “for Jesus Christ to be us,” following the counsel of his will, “all things working” are accomplished. That accomplishment is in no way attributed to the power of the self, but to the “glory of God.” As an Apostle watches him or herself doing the works of Jesus Christ – according to the talents given, listed by Paul elsewhere – “praise” is given to the Trinity having involved oneself: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converging in one’s flesh. That promise of accomplishment is then the “predestination,” where “one first trusted in Christ,” which is faith. Faith alone is not enough, but it is a “first” step in the direction of discipleship. To do the works of faith, one has to learn belief through study of Scripture, praying for the truth to be revealed. Until one sees that truth personally (not simply being told, like I am doing here), such that “all things working” become one’s personal acts of investigation, one will not be enabled by God to progress to Apostle status.
Seeing that insight of a search for the truth and the acts of faith coming from personal belief, read this next series of segments slowly, repeating until the meaning is clear:
“in whom also you , having heard the word these of truth , the gospel of the salvation of you , in whom also , having believed , you were seated with the Spirit this of promise , the Holy.”
Notice how the last segment ended with the word “Christ,” who offered one “hope” (another translation of “proelpizó,” which states “trust”) as one’s “first” step towards marriage with God and giving birth (resurrection) to Jesus Christ, Paul then stated “Christ” is “in whom also you,” where Paul was in the name of Jesus Christ and so were the true Christians of Ephesus. They have all been elevated to the status of Apostle, as completely devoted servants of the LORD, because their “works” involved study of Scripture, through divine insight. By “having heard the word these of truth” coming from whispers of enlightenment inside one’s head, one has been able to find a personal relationship with God that gives delight in His glory. That experience moves one spiritually (in one’s soul-being) to submit to the Will of God. When one has become the wife of God (males and females He weds them), the “love” child is Jesus Christ reborn into another Son of the Father. That presence of Christ in one becomes the “good news” of one’s personal soul’s salvation. The Holy Spirit has baptized the soul clean, with all sins forgiven, and “all things working” henceforth are the Will of God, through Jesus Christ reborn in flesh (“in whom also”). All comes from true belief, not just obedience to dogma and being told what one should say that one believes. One is then “seated” with salvation through having received the Holy Spirit of God.
Having grasped that last important series of segments, look now closely at this final series in this reading:
“that is guarantee of the inheritance of us , to redemption of the acquired possession , to praise the glory of him.”
The Greek word “arrabōn” can be translated as “guarantee,” but the truest sense of the word “arrabón” is: “an earnest, earnest-money, a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.” This means the receipt of the Holy Spirit must be seen as a pre-payment made in the worldly realm (while alive in the flesh) that then “guarantees the balance” that assures “the inheritance of us” in Heaven. This means one cannot sin an entire lifetime, doing nothing for anyone other than self (where all forms of altruism, without being led by the Christ Mind as one with a human being, is ultimately for selfish purposes) cannot find God on one’s death bed. Repentance must be pre-paid by selfless acts. Try borrowing money for a house in the same manner, where one has never worked to earn anything that would then act as a promise that more productive work will qualify one for total repayment. No house loans come to slackards, just as no heaven comes to those claiming faith, but without works. One has to become Jesus Christ reborn to insure entrance into the heavenly realm for eternity. In order to acquire that heavenly promise, one has to “deliver” on the promissory note of living a “Holy” life, once married to God. The act of “redemption” is payment in full for works done. Again, nothing is self-praiseworthy as no self-willed donations of time or possessions will cause one “to praise the glory of God” for one’s acts of faith. Self-acts of faith are then due to guilt or delusions of grandeur (the prayers of the Pharisee and the Publican), where neither is worthy of divine reward.
One is acquitted of his sins before God (a sheep of the flock) and one is condemned (a false shepherd blowhard), but neither can keep from further sins without the Holy Spirit’s assistance.
As a selected Epistle reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to the LORD should be underway – like that of Paul and the true Christians of Ephesus – the lesson here is a personal relationship with God, one where oneself has become subjected totally to God’s Will. A minister supports other ministers, while being a light of truth to those “predestined” to also become ministers.
The words of Paul are written minister-to-minister. This means it requires one be led by the Holy Spirit to write in divine ways, so only those who are filled with the Mind of Christ can fully grasp the deeper meaning. In the story told in Acts 2, where Peter stood with the eleven other new Apostles and “spoke in foreign tongues,” the pilgrims in Jerusalem who heard them were amazed. It was not amazing how twelves ‘rubes’ from Galilee, who had no foreign travel experience or formal training in foreign languages, were speaking fluently in languages that were understood by those who recognized their tongue being spoken. Some wrote that marvel off as being drunk on new wine, where some slurring drunkards had been mistaken before as speaking in foreign languages. That notion was discounted because of the knowledge that came from each foreigner hearing the truth of Scripture in his or her own native tongue. Therefore, we learn that three thousand pilgrims were filled with the Holy Spirit that Pentecost morning, because their ears were opened to the truth of God’s Word for the first time.
The repetition of Scripture can be found in those three thousand pilgrims having lived a lifetime studying the Torah, Psalms, and the Prophets, so they recognized what the Apostles were speaking about in their language. They wanted to know the truth, so their hearts were opened to receive it. They were predestined to receive the truth through devotion to a religious doctrine; but they had never been told the deeper meaning of God’s Word before that time.
Decades after I left the Assemblies of God church, I heard someone say that one can speak in tongues that are not understandable, but confirmation is then required as proof. The confirmation requires one who can understand the tongue spoken. When this is guttural noises of meaningless origin being interpreted by someone who says what the meaning of meaningless is, I see that as wolves in sheep’s clothing leading lambs to the slaughter. However, that still makes sense as a valid test of one having a gift of the Holy Spirit, which prophesying and interpreting prophecy are two.
Paul wrote in the tongues of the LORD. This reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has 255 words in it, with only six periods. That is an average of 24.5 words per “sentence.” Because the human brain is not accustomed to comprehending such long-winded statements, the “normal Christian” gets confused easily when reading Paul. This is because the sacred texts are not written to be read “normally.”
Paul’s letters, like all Scripture, requires the willingness to read them meditatively and then listen for insights. Those whispers come from the Mind of Christ. Thus, the reality of one speaking unintelligible words of divinity (Paul and the other Biblical writers) is indeed confirmed by others who interpret those unintelligible words (Apostles) as the truth. From what I have heard said to be a confirmation of one speaking in tongues, this could be what the Assemblies of God believes.
Still, when people stand and quote Scripture (such as a reader does in an Episcopal church each Sunday) and no one can understand what that Scripture means, it can seem as if it is double-talk or nonsense. But, if a priest can stand before a congregation and explain that meaning, so that everyone present is suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and transformed into Jesus Christ reborn, then an Apostle has confirmed the meaning publicly. Both Paul and the Apostle-priest have spoken the truth as Jesus Christ. However, the purpose of understanding the unintelligible is not to make a living writing books of explanation or standing on the stage of a mega-church selling oneself as a prophet.
God chooses who can understand His words; and He does that for the purpose of transforming disciples into Apostles.
Somewhere, long ago, someone laid that truth before those who were not filled with the Holy Spirit, but they felt the power of the truth and believed. Speaking in tongues is not gained by repeating the word “Glory” over and over. But, it is seeing the “Glory” of God in Scripture that must be repeated over and over.
The true meaning of a church of Christ is everyone who is a member is an Apostle. When Scripture is read in that church, everyone understands, because everyone is a priest that can stand up and speak the truth to a chorus of “Amen’s.” Those churches were where Paul sent letters that were fully understood. Therefore, those churches were more like a ‘teacher’s break room’, where they gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, to rest before going to a synagogue here or a meeting place there (a classroom), where the truth could be taught to those “predestined” to receive the Holy Spirit.
This is the time to begin doing “all things working” towards one’s personal salvation and earning the down payment required for a loan for eternal happiness. A minister of the LORD makes him or herself available to those seekers of faith. A minister of the LORD teaches those how to believe with praise to the glory, glory, glory of God.
King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
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This is the Gospel selection from Episcopal Lectionary for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B 2018. In the numbering system that lists each Sunday in an ordinal fashion, this Sunday is referred to as Proper 10. It will next be read aloud in a church by a priest on Sunday July 15, 2018. This is important because it gives the details of John the Baptist’s execution, which has applications that should be realized by all readers.
In this reading selection, one has to notice how Mark (the writer for Peter) gave a base statement of how Herod Antipas (a.k.a: Herod Antipater), the ruler of Galilee and Perea, was informed of a man named Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.
At that time, according to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus was teaching in Galilee and drawing rising attention. By stating, “Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead,”’ this is following the death of John, ordered by Antipas. It was the news of John the Baptist’s death (Jesus’ cousin) that led Jesus to seek solitude across the sea, which led to the feeding of five thousand.
Matthew (Matthew 14:1-13) and Luke (Luke 9:7-10) also tell of the Herod’s role in the death of John the Baptist, with Matthew also giving the details found here in Mark. Matthew also speaks of the details of John’s beheading in hindsight, after telling how Herod had “heard reports about Jesus.” This hindsighted view is seen as “John’s Fate Recalled” (an artificial title placed before this story in the New American Standard Bible translation version). Such a title gives the impression that this story is rumor, rather than a truth personally witnessed.
The disciples of Jesus were attending to his needs, in particular on the Sabbaths, when Jesus would teach in synagogues around Galilee or from a hillside around the Sea of Galilee (that had natural acoustics that allowed a normal voice to be heard at a distance). Further, both Matthew and Mark connect Jesus’ being rejected in Nazareth to news of his travels in Galilee reaching Herod Antipas, and both prior to the feeding of five thousand. Luke, Matthew and Mark all say that Jesus sent out the twelve prior to the news of John’s beheading, which then led to the event of five thousand being fed.
This three-dimensional view says that the disciples did not venture close to Herod’s palace when they were sent out as extensions of Jesus. Even if one can assume that the prison and palace were in the capital city Antipas built – Tiberius, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (a.k.a: Lake Tiberius) – that presence in Galilee would not allow Jesus’ disciples into the palace. They certainly would not have been invited to a birthday party thrown for the king.
As poor Galilean fishermen of Jewish heritage, they would have had absolutely zero contact with any Roman approved ruler of Herod the Great’s kingdom. After his death over twenty years prior, Judea was split into quarters. Herod the Tetrarch (Antipas) was a ruler of “One Quarter” of that realm, which was divided four ways. Herod Archelaus ruled Judea, until he was disposed by Rome and replaced by a governor (several before Pilate). Herod Antipater received Galilee & Perea, while the half-brother Herod Philip II was assigned Batanea. Decapolis being an autonomous league of ten cities, which made up the fourth division.
It is even doubtful that Jewish scuttlebutt was allowed to be proclaimed about the beheading, which would clearly paint Antipas as an evil ruler. This means the news of John’s death by beheading, news of his body being claimed by relatives for burial, and any information given to those relatives as to why the decision to execute was made, can be second-hand by the time that news would have reached Jesus and his disciples. One could seriously doubt that John’s relatives were told this story of a daughter’s dance and the whispers of the wife-mother hatred.
The nuances of Mark’s Gospel make it stand out beyond Matthew’s statement that “Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.” (Matthew 14:5) Mark adds depth to the aspect of the Baptist having told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” More than Antipas wanting to kill John, but was afraid of what the people thought, Mark tells us, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.”
Wanting to keep John alive is what set the ruler above the disdain his wife, Herodias, had for the prophet. When Mark writes that Herod “heard him” and “liked to listen to John,” this links the Judaic roots the Herodians had, as their blood was Jewish. While they were all largely disbelievers of the teachings of the Torah and much more inclined to see the value of Roman and Greek empirical ways of law and government, the Herodians knew the demands (weak as they were) of the Jews had to be respected. The disposition of Herod Archelaus proved that Rome did not want a civil war to deal with. Thus all the client kings of the Herodian kingdom knew how important it was to simply keep unrest at a minimum.
For Herod Antipater to enjoy listening to John the Baptist, this implies Herod would call upon John to answer questions about Scripture that he thought were the weak links in the Judaic faith. How King Herod would do this is unstated; but it could have happened any number of ways. John, undoubtedly, would speak words of truth that impressed Herod and made him rethink some of his inherent bias. Those words of wisdom probably kept him alive longer, but gave Herod no desire to free John.
Mark then identifies the “daughter of Herodias” as Herod’s, but Matthew clarifies this somewhat by simply stating, “On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced.” Since Herodias had been the wife of Philip, it is more likely that Herod Antipater’s half-brother was the father of Salome. [Josephus confirms she divorced herself from Philip after the birth of Salome and then married Antipas in his Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, chapter 5, paragraph 4 .]
When we read, “the king said to the girl,” the Greek word “korasiō” is a statement that Salome was “a little girl, a young girl; a girl, maiden.” While it is possible to see her dance as sexually arousing, it should be understood that Salome was most likely a pre-teen, albeit close to, but still under that age of puberty that would make her a young woman. That youthful energy, combined with an innocence of naïveté, is then why we read: “She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”’
Mother Arguing With Teenage Daughter
After Herodias told Salome to ask for the head of John the Baptist, one can assume that her suggestion was for John to be executed, such that “off with this head” is somewhat of a euphemism that is a harsh way of saying, “I would ask that John be executed.” Salome, however, took her mother’s suggestion most literally and went back to Herod and announced, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” That request by a little girl is then less capable of being heard as a general suggestion of a death sentence be given to a prisoner. It was made specific by her imagination of a platter.
When we read, “The king was deeply grieved,” Matthew used the Greek word “lypētheis,” which means “deep grief, or painful sorrow.” Mark wrote “perilypos,” which says “greatly grieved or very sorrowful.” Still, this should not necessarily be seen as severe distress over having John the Baptizer killed. Both Matthew and Mark tell that Herod ordered this act be done because he had publicly given his oath before guests. He was probably more grieved because he had given up control over what he was going to do to John.
After all, John had done little more than speak out against Herod Antipas as an adulterer and sinner, for having taking his brother’s wife as his wife, when his brother was still living. There probably was no official divorce involved, one following Mosaic Laws. Still, the grief felt by Herod was probably due to him having to account for the execution of a prophet that the people thought might have been their Messiah, when John had done nothing to warrant that sentence. If civil riots were to ensue, that would be the source of Herod’s inner anguish – punishment by Rome.
It is at the point that Herod “Immediately … sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head.” The guard then “went and beheaded [John] in the prison, [and] brought his head on a platter.” Antipas then commanded that the guard give the head on a platter to the girl. When Salome then gave that gruesome gift to her mother, one could expect it was a sight she had never seen before and was one that would forever leave a mark in her memory. While Herodias was probably happy to see that her vengeance had been fulfilled, Salome had danced for no personal reward, other than her mother’s pleasure.
What one can overlook in the quick decision by Herod Antipater is how beheading was a form of execution that was largely reserved for important people, those who held some level of respect by Rome. While death was the ultimate price paid by beheading, it was swift, immediate, and (one can assume) relatively painless. When this reading begins by the rumors that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist (“raised from the dead”), this is like premonition of Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, Jesus would suffer from the disgraceful form of execution that was crucifixion, not the form of execution that would be suitable for a king. John the Baptist, by chance opportunity, was executed, but he was not tortured to death.
When we read, “But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” this becomes the foundation for understanding why Herod Antipater would send Jesus back to Pilate, when Pilate sent him to be judged by Antipas because Jesus was a Galilean. In Luke we read, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.”
This says that Herod Antipater wanted to believe that his ordering the head of John the Baptist being taken was not a burden placed upon his soul, because John had been raised in Jesus. King Herod was “very glad,” having “long desired to see” Jesus, so Jesus could give “some sign” that he was indeed John raised again. John had “perplexed” Herod with his words and Antipas “liked to listen to him,” but Jesus said nothing to Herod Antipas. Because Jesus gave no signs he was John (which would have saved his life), Herod gave him over to his soldiers to mock and send back to Pilate.
When we read, “But others said, “It is Elijah,”’ referring to the increased popularity for (and increased protests against) Jesus, this is confirmation that prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist. To have some think John had been resurrected in Jesus, and to have other think John’s death brought about the return of Elijah in Jesus, that was people claiming the fulfillment of what had been prophesied to occur before the appearance of the Messiah.
In Matthew 11, after John the Baptist had been arrested and imprisoned, he sent messengers to Jesus asking, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus sent the messengers back to John and then said to the crowd, “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’” (Matthew 11:10) That implied that John was the reincarnation of Elijah; but when Jesus told his disciples, as they (Jesus, Peter, James and John of Zebedee) came down from the high mountain, “I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist,” (Matthew 17:12-13) that confirmed what had been felt by many Jews after John’s beheading.
From the depth that comes from this story told by Mark, which is echoed in those told by Matthew and Luke, the truth comes not from innuendo and rumor but from divine insight. Rather than a story being told of the execution of a prophet of the LORD, a story being recalled or remembered in the third person, by a man writing of it decades after the fact and in his own old age (60-ish), Mark [Peter], Matthew, and Luke (Mother Mary] saw what they wrote of divinely. All Scripture should be recognized as of divine origin, such that each writer of a book in the Holy Bible is divinely inspired (through the Holy Spirit).
In this way, God was present when Salome danced for King Herod Antipater and God knows of the private conversation held between Salome and Herodias. The truth is told, which may or may not confirm any scuttlebutt or hearsay that circulated then, because neither Mark nor Peter (both believed to have died in 68 A.D.) wrote from the memories of human brains. They told and wrote as commanded by the LORD, as Saints filled with God’s Holy Spirit, as each had been reborn as Jesus Christ. They each were shown the truth of that event.
As a selected Gospel reading for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry should be underway – as was Peter’s and Marks’s – the message here is the divine insight of truth. A minister will be led to know the truth, without the necessity of being present at events where the truth will be masked or covered-up.
The main perspective that comes from all Scripture comes when one can see the flaws of the characters portrayed as being the characteristics present in all human beings. This means all human are like Herod Antipas, all are like Herodias, and all are like the little daughter who danced to please her mother’s husband, and who asked for a gift that would please her mother. A minister learns not to see oneself as John the Baptist or as Jesus, even when becoming an Apostle means being reborn as Jesus Christ. To reach that lofty goal, one has to first see oneself as too flawed to become Jesus Christ without divine assistance.
In this way, each person is a king (or queen, perhaps for women?), as the supreme ruler of the kingdom that is oneself, one’s physical body. In the situation comedy Seinfeld, the joke was that each person is the “master of one’s domain.” Being a king or master is then how each human being develops an almost godlike view of self. This is how our minds look upon each part of our bodies as if they are vitally needed and must be served by the will of one’s mind. This is how the sum of the parts becomes greater than the whole, rather than the whole being determined by the sum of the parts.
This is the Big Brain that rules over us. In the typical decrees of self, we sin, just as Herod sinned by taking his brother’s wife as his wife. It is from our royal, all-powerful opinion of self that we approve adultery, divorce, adoption, and all other decisions we make. It is afterwards that we feel inner guilt over wrong decisions. We advise ourselves that there is no truth in religion that warrants we make the sacrifices, as the sacrificial ones are the less fortunate. We choose not to sacrifice because, after all, we recline when we dine (something only the rich do) and we throw parties for “courtiers, officers, and for the leaders,” those who have scratched our backs as we have scratched theirs.
In the rejection of religious sacrifice and any attempts to become righteous, initiated by the self-will (overseen by the Big Brain), one’s failures (sins) are internalized in private moments of shame and guilt. This is how we know John the Baptist (one’s conscience) is kept hidden in the personal jail cell of one’s personal palace. There is where one can ponder the legal clauses that one leans on, as crutches, which are the loopholes to do as one pleases. Once one seriously asks how is a natural or normal act deemed a sin, the wisdom of God brings those questioners glimpses of enlightenment. One sees in ways one had never seen before.
Just like Herod and John, one can be greatly perplexed when one hears that inner voice saying the truth about the condemnations of personal sins. Still, because no one else heard that truth be told, no one outside of the prison walls of one’s mind, one can delight in the sensation of hearing wisdom. One likes to hear what one’s inner voice says. It allows one time to manufacture a defense of sin, later in retort.
To cut off the head of one’s conscience is to completely forsake all attempts to justify one’s actions or to give any further thought to the dogma of religion. It is one’s oath before one’s personal collection of irreligious associates, where one feels one has finally sold one’s soul for good, willing to take the risk that there is no afterlife. If there is, then one accepts condemnation to hell, because one has become too attached to the rewards of the material world. The head one serves on a platter is none other than one’s own sense of righteousness. The “half of my kingdom” that has been sacrificed for the ‘dance’ of personal gain is that of an unseen spiritual realm and the promise of eternal bliss. With one’s head on a platter, one has made a deal with the devil and served up one’s soul.
“Stop or I’ll shoot,” where you take yourself hostage, only works in Hollywood.
This makes Herodias the epitome of Satan, a named evil entity, one which lurks behind the curtains of the stage where the dance of life is performed. She represents the element of wickedness that enters one’s life, to which one’s John the Baptist conscience screams, “Shame! Sinner be damned!” She whispers in the ear of a naïve act of pleasure, one seemingly innocent and pure, then suddenly that little vice has become a big trap.
Salome is unnamed because she represents the myriad of ways one can be tempted to give up one’s soul. She calls upon one’s standing in front of others as the oath one must live up to. This trick, like that whispered by Satan to Jesus, while he was tested in the wilderness, calls for one to look for honor among thieves, when there is no such thing. Herod catered to the will of a “little girl” because he made an oath before dignitaries that had no honor. Had Herod Antipas not cut his own head off, he would have told Salome, “Go to Hell,” just as Jesus told Satan, “Get out of my face.”
This is the lesson that a minister must heed. One has to make the life decisions that will take one away from the pretense of lavishness. The Jewish recognition of the Passover has them reclining for dinner, where they recognize only the wealthy can do that regularly. Jews only do it once a year (two evenings). The symbolism of the Passover is God giving protection to His chosen, those whose dedication and devotion will be rewarded with riches that are greater than any found on earth. That symbolism of a Seder meal has to then become the reality of one’s real life. One has to see the folly of pretending the material world offers anything of lasting value. Therefore, the call to sacrifice all addictions to the worldly means the head that is served on a platter is one’s self-ego … the illusion that is the Big Brain.
A minister of the LORD can then read the last line of this selection with understanding. “When his disciples heard about it, they came and took [John the Baptist’s] body, and laid it in a tomb.” That body was headless. Only the physical body was buried, so it could return to dust. Death is the end to all human bodies; but Heaven is the wake state that defeats human death.
The head of John the Baptist represents the Christ Mind, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes one a prophet of wisdom. John sacrificed his Big Brain for a higher reward. That reward was told in this reading as him being the great prophet Elijah. King Herod thought John had been “raised again” in Jesus. He was half right. John was raised again as the soul of Elijah having returned to earth, for the purpose of announcing the Messiah was here.
This is then how a minister is sent by God to likewise preach to the people in general and to individuals privately, one-on-one. John the Baptist spoke the Word of the LORD because he was chosen at birth to serve God and he did so righteously. Still, John the Baptist had an ego that led him to question the authority of Jesus, because he was being held in prison and could not serve the LORD as he had been doing. Jesus responded to John’s messengers by saying:
“’Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’” (Matthew 11:4-6)
This means a minister of the LORD does as the LORD deems best. The LORD sends ministers so the truth comes to those who are blinded to Scripture and cannot be moved by it to act. Sinners have their souls cleansed by the Holy Spirit and those who have turned a deaf ear to the truth hear their consciousness telling them, “Listen!” Jesus knew John would be dead in the not distant future, but Jesus knew John would be raised up, returning to a better place, his work on earth done. Likewise, a minister of the LORD sends word that the Big Brain must die for the soul to be raised. Those who are poor of Spirit are transformed into Apostles who preach the Gospel, when they like to listen to wisdom speaking.
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of Yahweh of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark haelohim on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark haelohim; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before Yahweh with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
So David went and brought up the ark haelohim from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark Yahweh had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before Yahweh with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark Yahweh with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
As the ark Yahweh came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.
They brought in the ark of Yahweh, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before Yahweh. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
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This is the track 1 option for the Old Testament reading for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen, it will be paired with Psalm 24, which sings: “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? and who can stand in his holy place?” That will precede a reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote: “In [Jesus reborn within] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of [Yahweh’s] grace that he lavished on us.” Those will all accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where is written: “When Herod heard of [Jesus], he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
In the above translation of the Hebrew text into English [said to be from the New Revised Standard Version], it should be noted that I have replaced all words translated as “the Lord” [in bold type] with the actual name written – “Yahweh.” In addition, all words translated as “the ark of God” have been returned to that written [in italics], as “the ark haelohim.” These changes force one to understand that this is “the ark of gods,” where the plural refers to the two Cherubim atop the ark. The Cherubim need to be recognized as the protectors of the ark. Thus, the ark represents both the presence of Yahweh and the presence of those divine eternal creations who forever guard where Yahweh is present.
I have written prior my interpretations of this reading, specifically back in 2018. Those views are still valid and I welcome all to read what I wrote then. You may search this site to find that article. I welcome comments and questions always.
The back story to this reading is the Ark of the Covenant had been lost in battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. This happened prior to Samuel becoming the judge of Israel. Eli was the prophet who tutored Samuel, and Eli’s sons died in the battle in which the Israelites were defeated and the ark taken. News of the loss caused Eli to die, which raised Samuel to become judge.
The ark was then moved by the Philistines from city to city, where they lived. Each move brought greater and greater plagues against them. After seven months they returned the ark to Beth Shemesh, where seventy Israelites died from looking at the ark. In 1 Samuel 7:1-2 this is written:
“So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of Yahweh. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of Yahweh. The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.”
The statement about twenty years is then the time that elapsed before the Israelite elders demanded a king from Samuel. That says Samuel did not move the ark after it was set at Abinadab’s house in Kiriath Jearim; but after Saul was made king, it was moved for use in battle, then returned to the same place after use. A stone had been set there by Levite priests, for the purpose of setting the ark on it. One can then assume they also oversaw the construction and maintenance of a tabernacle to cover it while it was there. As Saul was king for twenty-two years and his heir Ish-Bosheth was king for two more years after Saul’s death, the ark had actually been at that site for roughly forty-five years before David became king at age thirty. It is more likely that the ark had been in Kiriath Jearim for fifty years, with the City of David refined and made ready to receive the ark properly.
The point of the ark being moved to Jerusalem must then be seen as another step that David was led to take, following the instructions of Yahweh. The change would have been relative to the removal of external protections of the land of Israel, forcing all Israelites to submit their souls in marriage to Yahweh. Because the ark had been in the same place for so long, with Gibeon being the official place of the Tabernacle, with Levitical caretakers in place for a long time there, there would be no reason to move it without the direction of Yahweh. That move then relates to David’s move to Jerusalem, when there was no need to leave Hebron and displace the Jebusites. Both moves were directed by Yahweh.
According to the website Abarim Publications:
“The name Kiriath-jearim obviously consists of two elements. The first part is the same as the name Kiriath, which is identical to an older variant of the Biblical noun קריה (qiryah), meaning city. It derives of the verb קרה (qara), meaning to meet or get together.”
“The second part of our name is a regular plural form of the noun יער (ya’ar), meaning forest, from the unused root יער: The verb יער (ya’ar) isn’t used in the Bible and it’s a complete mystery what it might have meant. Noun יער (ya’ar) is the common word for forest or thicket, and the identical noun יער (ya’ar) means honeycomb. It is, of course, perfectly possibly that these two nouns are not two but one, describing something general like a thing that consists of many elements, which contain energetic nutrients (either fruits or honey), and which are patrolled by ferocious animals. The latter noun also occurs as the variant יערה (ya’ra), honeycomb.”
Since it is less likely that a city would be placed in a forest, I am certain the place where the ark was kept was named the “City of Honeycombs.” That name would mean an underground system of caves that was where many lived. The history of Kiriath-jearim is that it was a Gibeonite city, who were a people much like the Jebusites. When Joshua was defeating all the peoples in the Promised Land, he encountered the Gibeonites, who said they were foreigners, which kept Joshua’s army from going to battle with them. Then, it was found that the ‘foreign’ place they were from was right in the middle of Canaan, so they were made the slaves of the Israelites and forced to serve in the tabernacles. It then becomes likely that the Gibeonites were indeed “foreigners” as “elohim.” The honeycomb city they dwelled in was underground, which became a sanctuary for the ark, as they had sworn themselves into service for the Israelite people, as maintainers of their holy place and ark. In the same way the Jebusites were allowed to keep Jebus [or Salem / Jerusalem], because they lived underground guarding the path to the tree of life, the Gibeonites were the keepers of the ark.
From this perspective, it makes it easy for me to read the three references to “ark haelohim” and see that as not only a statement about the ark having golden Cherubim on the top of the ark, but that the ark was so powerful it could not be entrusted to mere mortals to protect it. It had to be watched by “elohim,” who were the Gibeonites. As “elohim” created by Yahweh, being divine “foreigners” set in that most holy land, the movement of the ark demanded both the assistance of Yahweh and His “elohim.”
From this realization, one can more closely examine the Hebrew text that says, “‘ō·wḏ dā·wiḏ ’eṯ- kāl- bā·ḥūr bə·yiś·rā·’êl šə·lō·šîm ’ā·lep̄”, which literally translates as “again David with all chosen of Israel thirty thousand” (with no internal punctuation marks). While this assumes David personally chose all the young soldiers of Israel to accompany him for this mission, that number seems excessively high. After all, the ark was loaded on a cart pulled by animals, so it would seem ordering so many men to go with him for the trip would have meant they would get in the way, more than help. The Philistines had no desire to come near the ark, so the men would not be needed for battle. This means it would be a stronger translation to see those “chosen of Israel” were not Israelites but Gibeonites, who lived in the City of Honeycombs and whose ancestors had been chosen by Joshua to guard and maintain the Tabernacle, which for the past fifty years housed the Ark of the Covenant.
Those Gibeonites numbered thirty thousand.
Verse two actually supports this concept totally. The NRSV translation [with my restorations] says: “David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark haelohim, which is called by the name of Yahweh of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim.” The literal breakdown shows: “and went David , and all with the people , from Baale Judah , to ascend from there , the ark of elohim, who are called , name by name Yahweh of host who dwell the Cherubim over .” When this verse is read like the NRSV translates it, it comes off as storytelling, which becomes a pointless waste of words. Because nothing in divine Scripture is pointless or a waste, the literal breakdown shows a series of statements being made, about the “people” who went with David and the ark.
They were “from Baale Judah,” which was where the ark had been for fifty years. The ‘name’ means, “Lord Of Let Him Be Praised.” Because Kiriath-jearim and Gibeon were in Benjamin [as well as Jerusalem-Jebus], there was nothing about the land designated as relative to Judah. Thus, the people who left with David and the ark were those who praised the presence of Yahweh in the ark. Since the foothills of Benjamin were a series of one hill after another, with valleys in between, they were not “bringing up” the ark, as a directional indication. The ark was a place of ascent, from which Yahweh rose as an unseen power of divine elevation. Thus, the ark consisted of divine gods [non-humans in form], while needed to be attended by divine gods [those in human form]. All of them were called by Yahweh into that service to Him; and, all were individually souls joined with the Spirit of Yahweh, so they were a name with a name, where the ‘last name’ was Yahweh. They were some of “the hosts of Yahweh,” as his ‘angels on earth’ and descendants of His Cherubim.
Because of the omission of verses that tell of Uzzah, a son of the house of Abinadab, being killed because he touched the ark, thinking it was going to fall off the wagon, the story resumes after the ark has been left by David at “the house of Obed-edom.” That was where a winepress was located, not far from where the accident took place. That name, “Obed-edom,” means “Servant Of The Red One,” which [when wine is seen] could be an indication of vineyards producing red grapes for red wine. The information given, that the house was a “obed-edom gittite,” the word “gittite” must be seen as meaning “winepress,” not a woman inhabitant of Gath [a Philistine city]. David left the ark there for three months, which would not be a problem during the summer, when vineyards are not busy, letting the grapes grow.
The symbolism of leaving the ark at a place where wine was made, again realizing that David was able to ask Yahweh for direction [and he had prayed for advice after Uzzah died], the ark was back-tracked to the winepress location for a purpose. The symbolism of wine must then be seen as how the ark was representative of the Spirit that revitalized the soul. The three months the ark was left there is then symbolic for when new wine would be produced and fermented. Therefore, before the ark could be moved into Jerusalem the ark had to ‘age.’
When verse twelve says, “So David went and brought up the ark haelohim from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing,” the word translated as “rejoicing” [“bə·śim·ḥāh”] is better seen as saying “mirth from festivity.” If it was indeed the time of wine to be delivered [at a festival such as Sukkot], the dancing before the parade of the ark into Jerusalem would be seen as an act of one “drunken from the wine of celebration.”
The “dance” would be symbolic of an after marriage celebration. David wearing a “linen ephod,” which is a priestly garment, such as a mantle like worn by Elijah, says he was the officiant of the wedding celebration that bringing the ark into Jerusalem meant. Thus, everything about David and the ark’s entrance into Jerusalem was symbolic of a new marriage, where the ‘husband and wife’ were the Ark of the Covenant [the marriage vows of Yahweh the Husband] being joined with the new bride that was Jerusalem [the new home the Husband would enter]. David, as the one who arranged this marriage, was the priest who brought the two lovers together in holy matrimony.
Verse sixteen then says, “As the ark Yahweh came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.” This verse becomes another that simply seems to be giving useless information. However, when one realizes that Michal was the wife of David, the marriage theme shine bright. Michal was projected as an unhappy wife.
This verse paints Michal as “daughter of Saul,” rather than the queen of Israel and Judah. She resides in the place named after her husband, but she sees herself as above the status held by David. Her father was dead, having been a disgrace to Israel; and, while she was initially attracted to David as a young girl, she is now looking down on David [from an upstairs window] and her “heart” [meaning her soul] saw David with “contempt.” She saw her husband as if he was “despicable” and worthless to her. A daughter given away in marriage became the property and responsibility of her husband; but because Saul began a quest to kill David after David married his daughter and became an heir to the throne [a lowly son of a Benjaminite], his marriage to Michal was without child. She had helped David escape Saul; but she was later given by Saul to another husband. She was returned to David [angering her second husband] as a term of truce between David and Saul’s successor, Ish-Bosheth.
Because Michal is such an insignificant character in the history of David, her mention here must be seen as symbolizing the grand scope of where the Israelites’ true “heart” was. While David was anointed by Yahweh and the Spirit of Yahweh was forever one with his soul, the commitment the Israelites would be found to have is always be looking down on anyone who promoted sacrifice of self-ego and self-will, in order to have one’s soul be ‘given away’ in marriage to Yahweh. Being filled with the Holy Spirit and wildly celebrating Yahweh’s presence was not what the elite of Israel sought, nor wanted. After David fell from grace as a king and his sons turned against him, only to be killed, his death left (in essence) a bastard son to take his place. Solomon, for all he did to bring wealth to Israel, was seen by the elders of the Northern Kingdom-to-be as “despicable” and unworthy of ruling over them. They would break apart the marriage between Israel and Judah and tear up the Covenant as the marriage agreement with Yahweh. In this way, Michal becomes a reflection of just how minor all the subsequent kings of those two nations would become, as none of them would become a soul married to Yahweh like was David’s.
The remaining verses of this reading tell of the celebration of the people in the city of David, who came, ate and drank, celebrated the new ark in the tent David had pitched, where a tent [a chuppah] was typically where a new husband took his bride to consummate the wedding.
When the last verse says, “Then all the people went back to their homes,” the reality of the literal translation has it say, “so departed all the people each to his house.” Here, the “house” must be seen as that of David, as Israelites living under his rule. The celebration of the marriage between the ark and Jerusalem – in the City of David – was what they all departed with. By eating the food – the bread, meat, and fruit – of marriage, they all went home engaged to Yahweh.
As an Old Testament reading possibility for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to Yahweh should be underway, this says one must find the Spirit of Yahweh and invite it into one’s heart [meaning soul]. The omitted verses say one’s soul has no say in what that marriage will bring. Before the ark can become one with one’s soul, the Spirit of engagement must be received. One must feel elated with the proposal and look forward to serving God with all one’s might, with nothing held back. Marriage of a soul to Yahweh is the only way to save one’s soul.
This reading also shines light one the sense of superiority human beings think they deserve to possess. The reflection of Michal is she represents everyone who proclaims to be someone special, who is allowed to look down on others with contempt. So many Christians become a reflection of Michal as they look upon others calling themselves Christians, but with differing views. All are wrong, thinking each is superior to the other, all while the enemy lurks, waiting for the time to pounce and kill all Christians [false or hired hands]. Everyone loves a wedding banquet, but few want to give up themselves as a “daughter in marriage,” when they see their fathers as better than Yahweh.
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After writing this, I turned on the television and the History Channel had a show that featured this recent discovery in Turkey. This make my point of naming a place “City of Honeycombs.”
This is what adonay Yahweh showed me: adonay was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the adonay said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
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This is the track 2 optional Old Testament reading for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen, this will be accompanied by a partial reading from Psalm 85, where David sang, “I will listen to what ha-el Yahweh is saying, for he is speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.” Those readings will then precede the Epistle selection from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote: “[You] had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people.” That will all accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where we read: “The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head.”
It should be noted that the above English translation [said to come from the NRSV] has been amended such that it is seen where Amos actually wrote “adonay” and “Yahweh,” which are not to be generalized as “Lord God.” This is because Yahweh is not to be seen as an external Spirit that commands human beings to act. A soul is the “lord” of one’s flesh and a soul will quite often become lorded over by the flesh it possesses. Many things of the world can then become “lords” over a soul-flesh entity, all allowed by Yahweh. Thus the combination of “adonay Yahweh” becomes a statement that one’s soul has married Yahweh, so His Holy Spirit has become the “Lord” over one’s flesh, through its union with one’s soul, giving the soul the strength to overcome the influences of the flesh to sin.
In this translation, the introduction that says, “This is what adonay Yahweh showed me” actually comes from verse one, which has now been superimposed onto verse seven. The first six verse tell of “adonay Yahweh” allowing Amos to see and “behold!” locusts devouring the crops and grasses, followed by a fire that spread across the land. Both times Amos prayed for Yahweh to make those things go away. With that having been symbolically shown to Amos, as the kings acting as locusts who destroy the source of spiritual bread for the Israelite people, the fire is symbolizing the coming ruin from invaders that will rage uncontrollably. Now, after Amos prayed to make it stop, he was shown the symbolism of a plumb line.
The metaphor of a wall needs to be seen as the split that had occurred that divided Israel from Judah, after the death of Solomon. Jeroboam was the first King of Israel, which would become known as the Northern Kingdom. They refused to follow Rehoboam, who was the son of Solomon and thereby the first King of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. The plumb line being held by “adonay,” which is a statement of Amos seeing his own soul holding it, at the direction of Yahweh, means the wall was not upright. Yahweh said the measure of that necessary perfection was “in the midst of my people,” which needs to be better understood.
The name Jeroboam means “May The People Contend” or “He Pleads The People’s Cause” [Wikipedia], while also meaning “May The People Increase” or “Whose People Are Countless.” This says that Jeroboam [most likely] took a kingly name that became like a pope being elected and losing his given name, in order to be known by a symbolic name. This says Jeroboam was the puppet creation of the people, because the people wanted more ability to do as they pleased; and, they feared following a son of Solomon might force them to give their souls to Yahweh and become true priests of Him, rather than being allowed to be the self-serving evil creatures they wanted to be. Thus, in the haste to break from the monarchy of one Israel, they threw down some rocks and called it a wall of separation, with nothing square, nothing upright, not the people and not the king.
When Yahweh told Amos the plumb line was in the “midst of the people,” the Hebrew word “bə·qe·reḇ” means “in the inward part,” which is the “soul” [or the “heart”]. Yahweh was not calling Amos to serve him because he wanted him to go present arguments that would change the brains of selfish people, to warn them that they were all leaning askew and about to fall over. Yahweh was telling His new prophet that the souls of the Israelites had not been eating spiritual food and the new change of separation was about to bring a swarm of manna-eating locust kings and queen all over Israel, creating a famine that would dry out their souls, making them become kindling for the first spark of lightning that would throw those souls into the eternal fires of hell and damnation. Kings were just the front men. Yahweh wanted Amos to go to the new temple Israel had set up in Bethel, where a real crooked cornerstone had been laid with Amaziah [a false prophet].
When Yahweh told Amos, “I will never again pass them by,” this is a reference to their souls no longer being saved from death, as the firstborn of Yahweh’s priests established to feed the truth to the world. By breaking away from the place where Isaac was placed on an altar by Abraham, to be sacrificed to Yahweh as a lamb of God, Isaac was passed over and a ram would take his place. That place of sacrifice was Mount Moriah, where Solomon had built a Temple. By breaking from Judah, the “high places of Isaac would become desolated” by the Israelites no longer going there. The inference is then that the Israelites would begin to ignore the Passover commitment that kept their souls married to Yahweh, through the rituals of their bodies of flesh. Therefore, Amos was told to tell them their souls were in grave danger.
The creation of new sanctuaries in Bethel would be destroyed. The house of Israel [the Northern Kingdom] would come to ruin. The sword would come from wars over centuries, with the final sword coming from the Assyrians.
The transition to Amaziah sending a message to Jeroboam, telling on Amos then says Amos did as his visions of Yahweh told him to do. That ‘in your face’ message had Amaziah seeking revenge, which required papal approval. When the translation says, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel,” here, again, is the use of the Hebrew “bə·qe·reḇ,” which says Amos plucked on a “heart” string, which is connected to the ‘soul bones.’ That being in “the midst” of the house of Israel made Amos an “elohim,” whose “adonay” was Yahweh. That fear felt by Amaziah caused him to take it upon himself to cast out Amos himself, telling him: “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” That says Amaziah knew Amos was a prophet, greater than he was, so he needed to run him off as soon as possible.
Where the translation says, “earn your bread there,” the Hebrew written is “we·’ĕ·ḵāl-šām le-hem,” which says “eat there bread.” While it has been seen as evidence that Amaziah was a hired hand prophet, who earned his keep by telling the king what he thought the king wanted or needed to hear, the meaning of “eat your bread” says “receive your manna from heaven somewhere else, other than here.” To see that as “earning” the knowledge of prophecy, that translation admits Amaziah saw Amos as one who truly could prophesy. One thing about prophecy that is revealing is it rarely says good things, like “You will win lots of friends and influence many people.” True prophecy says things like “Yahweh is going to cut Jeroboam’s head off with a sword.” To tell Amos to go to Judah with a divine message like that meant, “Yeah. Go tell someone who wants to hear that news, because we certainly don’t want that.”
When the translation says, “never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom,” the reality of what is written makes a stronger point of saying “Bethel is holy.” The Hebrew written says “miq·daš-me·leḵ,” or “the sacred place of the king.” That did not mean that Jeroboam hung out in the temple in Bethel, as much as it meant the king would call upon his priests in Bethel for divine guidance. While the king’s residence was nearby, in the same town, the “royalty” was earthly or worldly, not divine or heavenly. Amos had come to let that be known, but Amaziah was already acting like an advisor to a king like those other nations had, not one that had Yahweh as it King. Therefore, there was not true “sanctuary” anywhere in Bethel; and, had not been since the Ark of the Covenant was removed by the sons of Eli.
When Amos listened to Amaziah tell him to leave Israel and go to Judah, Amos told him the truth. He said he lived in Israel, as a landowner that herded sheep and tended to the fruit yielded by sycamore trees, which must be cut off when green and left to ripen. Such a landowner would have been working the land for some time, probably inheriting it from his father. One does not pack up and take sheep and sycamore trees with one to Judah. As such, Amos said he was there to stay; and, besides that, he was not some fancy robe-wearing temple priest. He was one of those influenced by David, in some way [his Psalms perhaps], who was also a shepherd, with Amos representing one of his ripened fruits whose soul had married Yahweh. It was due to that marriage commitment that Amos did as his Holy Husband said.
As an optional reading choice for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, Amos says how a ministry of Yahweh acts. One receives the message of Yahweh and then one goes and delivers it. Certainly there will be those who hold contempt in their souls over being told their souls are in grave danger if they keep playing gods on earth. However, a true prophet boldly goes and delivers all messages, whereas a hired hand takes offense at having the truth be told to him or her.
As a reflection of modern Christianity, Amos becomes the epitome of a true priest whose soul has found unity through commitment to Yahweh [not some “lord,” which can be anything from a Bishop to a seminary Dean, to a vestry writing the paychecks for a hired hand]. A true priest listens to what Yahweh says, as one whose true “Lord” is Yahweh. So many priests who stand on podiums and deliver college-level sermons that would impress on their college professors, never inspiring a soul-body to suddenly stand up at their pew and praise Yahweh for having been delivered a message that needed to be heard, because none of those hired hands have ever been told to submit to Yahweh and become His face to the world [not anything less than Jesus resurrected within one’s being]. So many priest, pastors, and ministers in Christianity today are resurrections of Amziah. That means the message of the plumb line hold true for the United States of America and all the Christian world. The true cornerstone must be put in the proper place – ONE’S SOUL – or everything will come to ruin – all the holy places will be destroyed – all the Martin Luther King and Pope John Paul II worshipers will fall before the judgment of Yahweh.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in [Christ – “him”] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in [Christ – “him”], as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
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This is the Epistle reading for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow either a Track 1 or Track 2 tandem of Old Testament and Psalm readings, relative to David bringing the ark in his city and Amos being sent by Yahweh to the false prophet of Jeroboam predicting ruin. The songs of praise support those themes, with everything accompanying the Gospel reading from Mark, where the story of John the Baptist’s beheading is told.
I have written deeply about this reading selection before. I posted my observations in 2018, with that commentary available on this website. It can be found by searching this site; and, I welcome all to read what I wrote then, as the same words have that meaning today. Today, I want to narrow my focus just a little.
The Second Samuel reading about David dancing before the ark has to be seen as a wedding celebration. The ark must be seen as the Holy Spirit, which is set in place by the directions of Yahweh. The site in the City of David, which had before been the fortress of the Jebusites, who were the watchers of the path to the tree of life [Eden on earth], that represents the symbolism of two joining together and must be realized as David demonstrating how each Israelite [and therefore all subsequent Christians] must likewise become a soul [a Jebusite] in a body of flesh [Jebus, the gate to Eden] that becomes the welcoming bride of Yahweh’s Holy Spirit within [the ark set in the Tabernacle on Mount Zion]. That story is told as metaphor, although David enacted it for all to see; and, those actions were recorded for all to read. It is a story that says, “From then on, every soul is responsible for being individually married to Yahweh, if one wants one’s soul to pass through the gate of death to the place of eternal life, Eden.”
Conversely, the optional reading from Amos tells the story of those who would break away from that recognition of commitment to Yahweh, following a king whose name means “The People Contend,” who is led by a false prophet that is only in that position for the money and benefits. A prophet was sent by Yahweh to tell them their future led to abject failure and ruin. The same reading holds merit in today’s world of rainbow religion calling itself Christianity. Amos is still read because Yahweh wants a prophet expressing the sword of judgment always being held over the necks of those who tell Yahweh’s prophets, “Leave this place and go be a prophet somewhere else, because we love worshiping the sterility of homosexuality and our god Penis and our goddess Vagina.”
In this selection from Paul’s greetings sent to the true Christians of Ephesus, the word “Christ” had been translated five times, although the NRSV translation liberally translates “him” twice more as “Christ,” which is wrong [as I will explain shortly]. In those five uses, Paul wrote “Christō” three times and “Christou” twice. Each time he wrote “Christou” is followed by his naming “Iēsou.” Each time he wrote “Christō” the word translating as “Christ” stood alone. By writing “Christō” without “Iēsou” says the two are separate, not one. Therefore, the word “Christ” cannot be seen as a ‘last name’ of “Jesus,” so it is wrong to call “him” [the man] by the name “Christ,” because “him” says “Jesus” … and “Jesus” was a body of flesh, just like Paul and just like all the Ephesians.
The word “Christ” comes from the root Greek word “Christos,” which means “Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ.” (Strong’s Usage) The capitalization reflects a divinely elevated meaning, such that the lower-case spelling (as “christos”) would yield the basic definition: “smear or rub with oil, typically as part of a religious ceremony.” (Oxford Languages, Google search) When Yahweh told Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, Samuel poured oil from a horn on David’s head. Therefore, David was a “christō,” in the lower-case, even though Samuel was a divinely led priest; but when we also read, “the Spirit of Yahweh came upon David,” David became a capitalized “Christō,” when Greek is applied, replacing the Hebrew “Mashiach” or “Messiah.”
When one realizes it is Yahweh who becomes the meaning in the capitalization of “Christos,” one can see the Greek ending that creates “Christou” makes it possessive, in the Genitive case. It is then a statement that “Jesus” was “of the Christ,” which becomes a statement that “Jesus” was one “of” all who Yahweh anoints. This simple understanding of what is written [which English struggles to state simply] says Yahweh is so powerful a God that He can Anoint a limitless number of “Christs” or “Messiahs,” with the capitalization meaning all so anointed have become souls merged with Yahweh’s Spirit; and, I call that union a divine marriage between a soul and Yahweh’s Spirit.
When one realizes that the angel Gabriel told Mary what the name of her son would be, the instant she became divinely pregnant, says that name bears vital meaning that must always be understood whenever that name is read in Scripture. “Jesus” means “Yah[weh] Saves.” Gabriel took a message from Yahweh to Mary [and thus to all who read her story] that ‘“Yahweh Will Save” souls as My Son to be born from your womb. In that event, Mary’s soul was married to Yahweh’s Spirit, so “Jesus” was literally within her being [soul-flesh entity] as soon as Gabriel appeared before her. Mary was Anointed by Yahweh; thus she was a “Christ,” who would give birth to a son that also was a “Christ,” but not because of his mother.
In these twelve verses, other than the capitalized words “Jesus” and “Christ,” there are seven other capitalized words, each used only one time. The seven are: “Eulogētos” [“Blessed”], “Theos” [“God”], “Patēr” [“Father”], “Kyriou” [“Lord”], “Ēgapēmenō” [“Beloved”], “Pneumati” [“Spirit”], and “Hagiō” [“Holy”]. All of those must be seen as relative to a theme of divine marriage between a soul in the flesh and Yahweh’s Spirit. The lesson of this reading selection, as an accompaniment to the other possible reading selections, means each of these divinely elevated words must be seen in that light of union – Holy Matrimony in the truest sense.
In the first word of this reading, Paul wrote “Eulogētos” as a statement of “Blessing” that is beyond anything one human being can bestow upon another, as far as being “well spoken of.” The root word “eulogétos” is found in the English word “eulogy,” which is something “well spoken of” the dead. The same should be read here, because the marriage of a bride to a bridegroom means the death of the old and the birth of a new state of being. The old that passed away is the singular sense of being – one soul – which has died and been reborn in a union – one soul with one Spirit. That making this union “Blessed” is the Spirit – that of Yahweh – and that makes the togetherness become most Holy.
When that is seen, it becomes natural that Paul would then affirm that divine “Blessing” can only come from “Theos,” or “God.” Because that word is Greek and the Greeks were a polytheistic people, as were the Romans, the capitalization and the singular number identifies “One God,” above all others “gods.” Because there were so many gods to build temples to and assign priests to attend to those gods, the generality of “God” is akin to the capitalization of “Lord,” such that the generality lends to the confusion of ambiguity. Because the Greeks did not use the name of the Hebrew “Yahweh,” and because Paul was ministering to a Greek-speaking mixture of Jews and Gentiles, the writing of “Theos” as a capitalized word was the way Yahweh was identified. Because Christianity is deemed a monotheistic religion, there is only “One God,” which means His Son cannot be in any way a competitor, such as would be Zeus being in competition with Ares or Hermes.
As for the capitalization of the word “Patēr,” this divinely elevates the relationship one has with “God,” when one has been “Blessed” by marriage of one’s soul to Him. This highlights the mundane role a “father” has in a wedding. The father of the bride gives her away to her new husband and his family in marriage. While two families are joined in relationship, the daughter is given away, as the possession of her husband. The purpose of a divine marriage is not to have legal sex, as souls cannot generate any new souls, only flesh requires propagation. This means divine marriage is so one’s flesh can be filled with a soul in union with Yahweh. This is selective, as Yahweh cannot be seen as every human being’s “Father,” any more than anyone has the right to run outside and hug every older male on planet earth, while screaming, “father!” Those who are truly not one’s “father” will pull back and immediately say, “I do not know you!” Therefore, the capitalization of “Father” means a special relationship with Yahweh (“God”), through marriage that adjoins the resurrected soul of Jesus to the marrying soul – two souls possessing one body of flesh. This give one the right to call Yahweh the “Father,” due to marriage AND reproduction (a.k.a. resurrection).
When one’s soul has married Yahweh and received His Spirit, so two have been “Blessed” by having been united as One, as an extension of “God” in the flesh [His hand on earth], then that marriage is consummated spiritually – the sole purpose of marriage. The soul-flesh then becomes the womb in which the Spirit raises the soul of “Jesus,” so one’s soul is not only merged with the Spirit of Yahweh but one’s soul becomes possessed by the resurrected soul of Jesus. This birth of “Jesus” within makes a soul-flesh entity that went by some name given by one’s earthly father then become “in the name of Jesus,” which makes one also “in the name of the Father.” Again, the meaning of the name “Jesus” is “Yah[weh] Saves,” where the “name of the Father” is also “the name of the Son.” This is why Paul changed his name from Saul; and, it is why Jacob was told his name was changed to “Israel” – a name meaning “He Retains God.”
From this presentation of “Father,” Paul then made a divinely elevated statement that Yahweh was “the Father of our Lord,” where “Kyriou,” like “Christou,” is a Genitive form that states possession – “of.” This says Yahweh is “the Father” of “the Lord of us.” That says, without Yahweh’s presence [His Spirit married with one’s soul], there would be no consummation of that marriage, therefore no offspring. With that, the offspring of “the Father” is “the Lord of us.” This Greek word makes a clear statement that “Lord” is not the same as “God” and is not the same as “Father,” which is why the Hebrew texts that state “Yahweh” should not be translated as “Lord,” because Yahweh is not one’s “Lord” directly. Marriage means one’s soul has united with Yahweh, which means the reception of His Spirit; and, the Spirit speaks to a soul as the voice of God. Yahweh is the name of one’s Spiritual Husband and although He becomes one’s Master and Lord indirectly – through an Advocate and holy offspring that will be the actual “Lord” – the soul, as the wife of Yahweh, must be on a ‘first name’ basis. That means referring to “Yahweh” specifically, not referencing Him as anything else.
It must be realized that a soul is, in and of itself, the “lord” of one’s flesh. From first breath at birth, when Yahweh gives the breath of life [“ruach”] into a body of flesh, the body of flesh grows and becomes enamored with external stimuli. This leads the soul to find esoteric influences that are processed by the human brain and seen as married to one’s life direction. These influences become absorbed “lords.” Still, as the flesh matures and feels strong urges to explore the outer world, other people, places, or things can lead the flesh to influence the soul, through the brain, to worship those external entities. These then become “lords” to whom a soul becomes enslaved, unless the flesh can be led to rebel against those influences. In this way, worldly addictions [sins] become the most prevalent “lords” we humans know, even if we deny they exists and refuse to believe they control our souls.
This is where the separation of a soul from Yahweh does not make Yahweh ever be the “Lord” of one soul and its flesh. That is why Yahweh becomes the “Father” through marriage. The child born of that most Holy Matrimony is His Son Jesus, whose individual soul is resurrected in each and every one of Yahweh’s wives [the souls of males and females on earth], so that soul possesses the body of flesh and leads the body-soul it inhabits as its capitalized “Lord.” Without that divine leader, where Jesus becomes the king of one’s kingdom of flesh and bones, one’s soul alone is incapable of resisting the external influences of the world. Without Jesus as one’s “Lord,” reborn within one’s flesh, as a twin with one’s soul, one will not end life on earth sin-free. It is when one has become “Jesus” reborn that one has been Spiritually “Anointed” as “God’s Son,” with Yahweh the “Father.”
From all that stated in verse three alone, where seven capitalized words are found written [with both “Christou” and “Christō” used], verse six then includes the capitalized word “Ēgapēmenō,” meaning “Beloved.” In the NRSV translation that says, “to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved,” this must be read similarly as one sees David dancing and singing mightily before the parade of the ark. This is Paul saying the union of a soul with Yahweh’s Spirit is due to love: that of God and that to God in return. It is why a priest or pastor says before a wedding, “Dearly beloveds we are gathered here today ….” Still, the divine elevation from capitalization says the love of God has been placed on earth, in the form of one of His wives, led by the soul of His Son resurrected.
This then leads to verse thirteen, where the two remaining capitalized words are found, but they are written in a presentation that differs from the NRSV translation as “Holy Spirit.” What is actually written in the Greek is this: “esphragisthēte tō Pneumati tēs epangelias tō Hagiō.” That literally states, “you were sealed thereupon Spirit of this promise then Holy.” This clearly states “Spirit” to come first, such that the result is then a state of being unlike before. This needs to be seen as the pronouncement that the marriage has been completed – “You may kiss the bride.”
In the two words that lead to each “Spirit” and “Holy,” the first makes a statement about being “sealed.” This should be seen like the exchange of rings between bridegroom and bride. The ring symbolizes eternity, as its circular shape always has it following the same path forever. Rather than wedding bands of gold, it is the “Spirit” of Yahweh that seals two as one, forevermore. The capitalization of “Spirit” says it is what we refer to as the “Holy Spirit,” but because it is the Spirit of Yahweh it is known to be perfection, which is incapable of human beings alone. To say Yahweh is “Holy” is unnecessary, as it is the presence of Yahweh that makes the unholy “Holy.” It is the presence of Yahweh’s “Spirit” that brings about the “promise” that “then” leads one to be “Holy.”
The “promise” can also be stated as a “command,” which means all the questions that a priest or pastor asked each bridegroom and bride then become the marriage vows, from which “promises” are made to always and forever keep – till death do us part. While asking questions of fidelity, during both times of good and times of bad, means a promise of commitment, in response to each of the questions posed. Human beings often fail to live up to those promises made. That is because human beings are flawed, thus unholy. The promises that make one “Holy” are then the Commandments brought down from the mountain by Moses. The marriage vows a soul makes with Yahweh are those “Ten Commandments” (plus), primarily [as Jesus said] “to love Yahweh with all one’s heart, all one’s mind, and all one’s soul.” This is what it truly means for Yahweh to write His laws on each wife’s heart. It is this seal forever. It is the protection of Yahweh’s “Spirit” that makes it possible for the “promises” to be kept, as one will “then be Holy.”
Now, if must be realized that Paul was writing this to true Christians who understood all about their souls being married to Yahweh and being reborn in the name of Jesus Christ. What is easy to overlook is how Paul wrote all his epistles as an extension of his eternal commitment that made him “Holy, Sacred, Set apart by God” – a “Saint.” Being made “Holy” means one serves Yahweh till death do you part from your flesh. There is nothing “Holy” about sitting in the same pew, week after week, doing nothing to even think about anyone else [outside one’s family], much less send them a kind word. Thinking a sip of wine at the rail makes one feel the “spirit” sure does not seem to have the after effect of making those sippers “holy.”
Again, I took this selection in a more direct breakdown in 2018. I encourage everyone to read that commentary. I felt it was best to show how what Paul wrote fits a marriage theme very well. Therefore, I chose to only talk here about the capitalized words he wrote in this selection. Feel free to compare what I wrote here to what I wrote before.
As an Epistle selection to be read on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry to Yahweh should be well underway, it is important to see how ministry cannot be done properly without one’s soul having married Yahweh and one becoming His Son resurrected within. Without that divine guidance, one does not have the truth to present to others, as the reason they too should marry their souls to Yahweh and also go into ministry. This is the problem facing all Christian churches today; and, this is the result of David having taken Jerusalem and moved the ark into marriage there, because never again could one rest on the laurels of someone other than oneself for redemption. No longer could the Israelites lean on a judge to save them. No longer can a Christian lean on Jesus, as an external, divine, unseen savior. One must be Jesus reborn in your flesh, or suffer the indignity of rejecting marriage to Yahweh.
King Herod heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
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This is the Gospel selection to be read aloud on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will be preceded by one of two optional pairings of Old Testament and Psalm readings, with one focused on David bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David and one focused on Yahweh sending Amos to prophesy to the false prophet Amaziah and the new break-away king Jeroboam, head of the new Northern Kingdom. The song of praise support those themes. The Epistle reading that will precede this Gospel reading comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote about the values of an apostle, writing: “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.”
I wrote about this reading in 2018 and posted it on this website. You can read it by searching this site. I encourage you to read it and offer your opinions and questions. The same reading now was the reading then, so everything I wrote then still applies today. However, now I want to take a different angle on this reading.
Because I have seen the story in Second Samuel, of David and the ark, as a marriage celebration symbolic of Yahweh being joined with the earth, at the place guarding the gate to Eden, this theme of marriage is all centered on the release of a soul at the time of death. Likewise, the track 2 option of Amos being chosen by Yahweh to take the message of pending doom, due to the divorce breaking in two what had married Israel and Judah under David, becomes focus placed on an end known to come. Therefore, the death of John the Baptist is echoing the promise begun by David’s early actions as king over the united lands of Israel, which is through spiritual marriage eternal life defeats physical death, when the soul is released from the body.
The first part of this reading explains that Jesus was making a name for himself, such that the name that used to be spreading was that of his cousin, John. Because the people are always mingled with ‘secret police,’ the rumors and scuttlebutt will always be made known to the powers that be. Back then, one power was Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, who reigned over Galilee and Perea.
The word passed on to Antipas by his informants is stated in the capitalized specific names “John” and “Elijah.” Those two names are then further expanded through the capitalized use of “Baptizer” and “Prophet.” Thus, the people was saying “Yah Is Gracious, Yah Has Been Gracious” [the meaning of “John”], “Yah is God” [the meaning of the name “Elijah”], “Submerger” [the meaning of “Baptizōn”], and “Interpreter Of Divine Truth” [the meaning of “Prophētēs”]. While all those individual elements were spoken, the conglomerate of them all is the truth that Jesus was the “Graciousness of Yahweh,” who was an extension of “God” on earth, whose presence was “Submerged” within his flesh, married with his soul, made empowered by Yahweh to be an “Interpreter” of the truth held in Scripture for all Jews to know.
After we read that Herod Antipas had heard the reports, but came to the conclusion “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” this speaks symbolically that the king believed in the immortality of Yahweh’s graciousness. That says he believed death was not an end on this plane of existence for a soul that had been married to Yahweh. By saying he knew John had been killed, but had been raised, he meant the Spirit of John never died. He believe the Spirit of Yahweh continued and was found in the man named Jesus. Therefore, the part of the reading that leads to this conclusion is a series of statements that the people – all the way up to the king – believed death was not an end, when a soul was married to Yahweh and given eternal life; and, that speaks of David celebrating the marriage of the Spirit and the soul by dancing and celebrating before the ark.
When the story then appears to be a leap back in time to retell the events of John and Antipas, we then find this focus takes one from the promise of belief [not true faith] and the external influences that keep one from living up to one’s beliefs. It becomes a reflection of the things people do that lead them to kill the opportunity to marry Yahweh, with all Christians today becoming reflected in Herod Antipas. Each soul in a body of flesh that professes to be a Christian, but then turns around and does the acts of Antipas, is showing how their souls have refused to marry Yahweh and make His Spirit [the birth of His Son anew with their souls] the King over the nation that is their flesh. They act in self-defeating ways.
First they imprison the graciousness of Yahweh [the meaning of “John”] and keep that from freely expressing the Word of God. John pissed off the wife of Antipas – Herodias – telling the truth about a sin having been committed. It was Antipas who sinned and Herodias was the instrument of sin; so, her opinions against the truth led Antipas to cover up his sins and lock them away in a prison. Placing the truth in a prison is how many Christians know they are sinners, but feel that as long as they hide their sins they can still rule over their lives and do as they please.
The name “Herod” means “Freeman, Wanderer, Fugitive, Trembler, or Coward,” depending on how the root Hebrew is read. The name “Herodias” means “Of The Realm Of Herod,” which says the sin of Antipas that caused him to imprison John was his cowardly response, wanting to remain a freeman who went against the laws of his Judaic claims of heritage and belief. While Herodias reflects one of the external influences of sin in the life of Herod Antipas, the acts he committed must be seen as his own responsibility. Thus, everything that subsequently happened because of a fight against the calls for repentance is the path of waywardness [Wandering] that condemns a soul after death. This then reflects the rejection of marriage to Yahweh and the call of Amos to prophesy before one, saying to repent.
When we read that Herod Antipas “gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee,” his doing that on his birthday made his own self-ego be placed on display for all to see. A marriage of one’s soul to Yahweh demands one’s self-ego be killed, sacrificed into submission to the higher Spirit’s domination. This is the symbolism of John having been killed so Jesus could rise. By throwing his own ‘birthday party’ Herod was presenting himself as a god for all to behold. A “self” equals a “soul,” and a “self” is all about “ego” that wants to be known.
The symbolism of the daughter of Herodias dancing for the guests says she reflects a daughter of his realm. She was the daughter of his sinful wife, so she was a daughter of sin that was within his realm, thereby becoming another influence of sin. The symbolism of a “daughter” is as an immature thought coming from within one’s mind. All souls inhabiting bodies of flesh must be seen in the feminine sense, as the flesh is receptive of the Spirit [a masculine essence] that penetrates the flesh and unites with the soul – like sperm piercing an egg. All souls must then be seen as “daughters” to be given away in marriage to Yahweh. To have a “daughter” dance enticingly before Herod [forget about the guests at this point], she represented his own filthy thoughts of sin that became his lusts and desires. In reality, a mature “daughter” would be shown to prospective bridegrooms, in order to give her away in a merger of families that would benefit the father. Since the dance was for Herod’s pleasure, on his special day of recognition, she becomes a reflection of one’s own private lusts and wild imaginations that should be controlled.
In the Greek text of Mark, where he told Peter’s story and Peter did not name children specifically [the daughter’s name was Salome, which means “Peace”], there is a mathematical symbol, called a left right arrow, which becomes a statement saying, “if true, then true.”
That symbol is placed between a bracketed “this indeed the king” and “said thereupon girl”. The brackets indicate the inner being that was Herod Antipas, which was his true inner self being projected onto the “girl.” That is then the truth being stated as what the inner “king” said that was then a transference “thereupon girl.” That symbol then says Herod would use the daughter of sinful lusts to make him commit to another sin. Thus, what he said was what he wanted the girl to tell him to do, by him telling a “daughter,” “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”
Keep in mind how Americans use a birthday celebration as a day when wishes come true. When we tell our children, “Make a wish and blow out the candle so it will come true,” we are teaching our children to make the light go away, so a desire can be received. In the same way, Herod wanted to be told to do something that would push the envelope to a higher level. He did not know what it was, but he was making a wish that something taken to the edge would bring a new degree of excitement into his soul. He made that wish because his soul knew death and eternal damnation was his future and sin gave his soul the illusion of stimulation.
The promise of a reward, “up to half my kingdom,” says all Herod had to offer was his flesh. That half of his “kingdom” would be left when he died. The other “half” was his soul, which could not be given away. He could have given everything away to Yahweh in marriage, but he protected his soul as his to possess forever.
Because the “daughter” was not a fully mature thought, just a tantalizing idea that something more sinful could grow into full maturity, that inkling needed to merge with an already known sin, which was Herodias – the adulterous wife. That prior suggestion that John be killed for bad-mouthing her, when Herod had been turned aside by Antipas, he had feared Yahweh’s punishment for an act of murder. When Herodias told Salome to tell Herod she wanted John killed, that evil influence became a line drawn in the sand that Herod would be forced to cross [as a suggestion, not a command].
The excuse for a mortal sin that would forever condemn the soul of Herod Antipas – the king of nothing after death – was said to be ego-protecting. Because he had made a public promise, he could not suffer the self-caused indignity of going back on his word. He wanted to kill John, but he was too afraid to do so without cause – and John had done nothing other than tell the truth of a law having been broken. This is why the left right arrow is placed where it is, because Herod would become the girl’s command as a wish publicly granted. Salome said what Herod wanted, so he would have an excuse to do greater sins.
The beheading of John is then a parallel to the dividing of Israel into two halves – Israel and Judah. What David had ordered was the truth John had uttered. Both said, “You cannot sin and gain eternal life for a soul. Marriage to Yahweh is the only way; and, that means sacrifice of self-ego.” Amaziah and Jeroboam were just like Herod Antipas. They wanted some daughters to dance before them and tell them what to do, because they wanted lives of sin, not submission to Yahweh. Thus, the head Herod ordered cut off was his own. Jesus being raised from that beheading says John lived on, while Herod’s soul became dead.
As a Gospel selection for the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, the lesson of Herod has to be seen as one’s own soul decision having to be made. All of the side characters – the wife to a worldly existence, the daughter of sinful ideas, the dignitaries that all play roles in support of one’s sinful life – they are nothing more than excuses not to marry Yahweh. None of those sidekicks will die for you and save your soul from your sins. Each individual soul is responsible for saving itself [a “self” equals a “soul”]. The longer one goes in life denying that responsibility [which David began when he moved the ark into the Tabernacle in Jerusalem], the closer one comes to soul suicide. One is simply waiting for the idea to consult prior past failures and come up with the new idea that says, “Cut off the head of the beast!” The beast is self-ego; and, it can be cut off through self-sacrifice in marriage to Yahweh, or it can be your own head cut off from the cardinal sin of wanting self to be a king.
and a just reward from me-elohe of their salvation.”
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, *
of those who seek your face, Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 “Who is this King of glory?” *
“Yahweh, strong and mighty,
Yahweh, mighty in battle.”
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 “Who is he, this King of glory?” *
“Yahweh of hosts,
he is the King of glory.” Selah.
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This is the companion Psalm for the Track 1 Old Testament selection from Second Samuel, telling of David bringing the ark into Jerusalem. If chosen, it will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This set of readings will precede an Epistle reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, which tells of the beheading of John being followed by the rise in popularity of Jesus.
In the reading as shown above, I have removed all translations of the word “Yahweh” that erroneously say “Lord.” In addition, there are two verses in this song of praise that end with the word “Selah.” I have added them in bold text. The word “selah” translates as “lift up, exalt,” which must be seen as an indication that one’s soul must become elevated through marriage to Yahweh. Therefore, it would be remiss to exclude that direction from the song.
Verse one makes more sense in a literal translation, as “the earth” must be seen as metaphor for a body of flesh. The translation says, “Yahweh the earth and its fullness , inhabited world , and to dwell therein .” This says a soul is in its fullness when it is married with Yahweh. The “inhabited world” [from “tebel”], or simply “inhabited,” means the flesh [the “earth”] has become where Yahweh “inhabits.” Yahweh does not dwell in “the earth,” as He made the physical universe as a compliment to the spiritual universe. Thus, Yahweh only entends to “the earth” as a Spirit that possesses the physical. It is “elohim” who Yahweh creates that dwell in “the earth.”The dwelling, or sitting, or remaining [from “yashab”] makes a human being become the hand of God on earth.
Verse two then literally says, “for he upon the seas has founded it , and upon the rivers , has set firm .” Here, the use of “seas” and “rivers” are water references that are metaphor for the emotions brought by the presence of Yahweh within. This extends beyond the physicality of the five senses that create the feelings of a human body, as the presence of Yahweh is Spiritual. The Spirit is greater than a ‘sixth sense.’ Thus, the “seas” and all engulfing waters reflect as the marriage that pours in the Spirit of eternal life that becomes one with a soul. The “rivers” are then the flow of the Word that causes one’s body of flesh to move as directed by Yahweh.
Verse three poses the question, “Who may ascend into the hill of Yahweh?” To grasp the directions of “ascent,” in conjunction with “into,” one needs to visualize the setting on Mount Zion. There were steps carved into the stone of the mountain or “hill,” which led to the place of the Tabernacle near the top, under which the ark was placed. The “ascent” is metaphor for the steps up the mountain to reach the altar, with “into the hill” meaning a marriage that “uplifted a soul” to the point within the place that was Jebus. Jebus [or Jerusalem] reflects where the entrance “into Eden” was; and, it is there that a soul gains entrance, as the result for a soul having married Yahweh. Thus, the answer to the question “Who,” is “all souls who marry Yahweh.”
The subsequent question then literally asks, “then who may stand in place his holy?” This is a question about the elevation of a soul still in its flesh, so the flesh becomes an upright body [“standing” on a path of righteousness], which makes that person become representative of God incarnate. Only as one with Yahweh can one truly be “sacred” and “set apart by Yahweh as holy.” Again, the answer to that question is all who marry their souls to Yahweh.
Verse four then becomes a clarification of these answers, saying literally, “clean hands , and pure soul [that’s] who ׀ not to suffer to an idol his soul , nor sword deceitfully .” In this, there is no need to indicate anyone needs to possess “clean hands.” The word “clean” is stated, which is the answer to “who?” Those who seek redemption are thereby those cleansed of past sins, having been made “clean” by Yahweh. After such cleansing, those souls will each become Yahweh’s “hand” on earth. The word translated as “heart” [“lebab”] means, “inner man, mind, will” [in addition to “heart”], which is more importantly seen as a statement of one’s “soul.” By a “soul” being “pure,” this is an indication of both Yahweh’s Spirit and the resurrection of the “soul” of Jesus, as the “lord” of the flesh to command righteousness has become reborn. This addition marries one in a Trinity union [three in one]. Those are the answers to “who.”
The last part of this verse can be read two ways, based on the words stating “not to lift, carry, take.” In the positive sense, as a continuation of the “clean” and “pure,” they will “not suffer” [an alternative use of “nasa”] from “idol” worship, thereby condemning one’s “soul.” The married to Yahweh “souls” do not “swear” the wedding vows “deceitfully.” However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, as to “who not,” those are the souls that do “not” marry Yahweh, such that they will “not be uplifted” spiritually, so by “not” marrying they will “suffer to the idols” of their worldly lusts. They will call themselves Christians, while having “deceitfully sworn” to believe in and follow commandments they will not keep.
Here, it must be understood that a soul married to Yahweh does become an “idol,” such that the English defines this as the image of God, but the Hebrew means “vanity and emptiness.” The Law that says one should not worship idols says an entity, such as Jesus and all Saints and Prophets, are images and representations of Yahweh on earth. They should be listened to as the voices of God; but they must not be worshiped as gods. A truly holy icon is then empty of self, with all vanity placed upon Yahweh. Thus, one’s own soul should become an “idol,” so one’s “soul does not suffer” after death; but an “idol” brings suffering to all who think Yahweh has made another a god to worship upon the earth, so a true Saint can only be deemed as such postmortem.
Verse five then sings, “he shall receive blessing from Yahweh , and righteousness from elohim.” Here, the use of “elohim” [as “me-elohe”] becomes yet another way to understand how “elohim” are those eternal beings of spirit who are merged with a divine Spirit, who do the acts commanded by Yahweh. An “elohim” can be a law of science and mathematics, thus inhuman but never changed by the wills of humans. An “elohim” can be angels, who are spirits created by Yahweh to be His messengers; but they are never wholly human, although they may appear in human form. Angels cannot be defeated by human souls; and Yahweh commanded His elohim to serve Man. Then, there are the “elohim” who are the saints and apostles, who are wholly human in the flesh, but not influenced by worldly things. Being chosen as an “elohim” of Yahweh through marriage means one’s soul has found “salvation.” Therefore, this verse sings of the “who” that marry Yahweh, as they will be shown “favor” by His Spirit, which makes one become an “elohim” that acts “righteously” in His name, taking forward the message of “salvation” to others.
Verse six then sings, “this a generation of those who seek , who seek your face Jacob . Selah .” In this, the word “generation” must be seen as a “time” or “period” that dwells upon one, as something necessary. Because David had brough the ark into the City of David, forever symbolizing a “generation” of personal soul responsibility for the Israelite people, that was a “time” when birthright no longer did anything for one’s soul. Thus, all had to become “seekers” of redemption and salvation from that point in time on.
When the reference turns to “your face” [from “panim”], this is a direct restatement of the First Commandment, which is the marriage vow that says the wife [soul] of Yahweh will lower his or her face [self-ego] and wear only the face of Yahweh [no other gods before my face]. That “face” does not come by being born a Jew. This becomes the lesson of “Jacob,” who was the second of two twins born, thereby not entitled to a birthright from Isaac. The parents of Jacob named him that because the word captured the essence of him “holding his brother’s heel” [or “He Who Closely Follows” or “Supplanter”]. The divine marriage of Jacob’s soul to Yahweh led to him receiving the name “Israel,” which means “He Retains God,” as one who then had Yahweh within his being. Thus, to seek to earn the “face” of God requires one sacrifice one’s own self-ego [one’s own “face”], so that new “face” can be worn.
It is at this point that the first of two uses of “selah” is found. Again, this word means “to lift up, exalt.” Following the use of “Jacob” [where the capitalization as a proper name is assumed in translation only], the aspect of Jacob must be realized that he was a twin, the lesser of the two from being second-born. This means Jacob reflects the status of one’s own soul, after it has been merged with the Holy Spirit, where that Spirit becomes the ‘firstborn’ and thus the one who rightfully inherits the body of flesh. It is that presence that must be celebrated as a “lift up” and reason to “exalt” that presence. Therefore, the word is not written as a musical direction alone [if at all]. It says rejoice!
Verse seven then sings, “lift up the gates of your head , be lifted up doorways everlasting ; and shall come in the king of glory .” It should not take much to realize the “head” is where a brain is kept. The brain is the central control organ of the being, as the soul communicates with the flesh through that center. It should also be seen that a city is protected by walls, with “gates” opened and closed as needed. When the “gates of the head” are closed, the brain has become the keeper of the flesh, more than simply keeping the body alive when one sleeps. An “open gate” means being receptive to the Spirit being welcomed in to take control of the brain. Once the brain has been reduced to a function that acts as an influence to righteousness, then the doorway to Eden is opened to the soul. The gates of Eden are guarded by Cherubim [“elohim”], as through those doors lie the tree of life and eternity in heaven. Therefore, once one has removed all blockages to the tree of life, then one shall become one with Yahweh “the King of all that is glorious.”
Verse eight then asks the question, “who this king of glory?” That answer is then sung out as, “Yahweh powerful and strong , Yahweh mighty in battle .” The answer clearly says “Yahweh” is “the king” [from being stated twice], but the deeper question about “who” is relative to those whose brains will receive the Spirit. There is no way a human being can understand the “power, strength, or might” of Yahweh, since the ethereal is not measured by such material principles. Therefore, the question of “who” asks what souls in the flesh will receive the ability of the Holy Spirit [Jesus and Paul referred to them as talents and gifts], to become “powerful” enough to fight the “war” against the lures of sin, cast out by the world. Yahweh grants that power and might to His wives, through the resurrection of His Son Jesus, who is truly “this king of glory.”
Verse nine then sings a refrain of verse seven, stated now as “lift up the gates of your head , and lift up doorways everlasting ; and shall come in the king of glory .” The repetition says those who open themselves [again, a “self” equals a “soul”] up to receiving the Spirit of Yahweh, coming through divine marriage, then there will be no need to repeat the first proposal of marriage. The first opportunity taken [verse seven] means a soul welcomes Yahweh into their submissive body and soul, so the subsequent times when “power” and “strength” and the “might to battle” comes, all “gates” and “doors” will have remained “open,” so no souls will be caught with their ‘gates down.’ The marriage will last eternally, beyond the time a brain will remain fleshy.
Verse then then sings a refrain of verse eight, asking the same questions of “who “ and giving the same answer that is “Yahweh.” The change now says “Yahweh of hosts,” which says the “might of battles and wars” are all easily won by those who form the heavenly “armies” of Yahweh. Yahweh is still “the King of all glorious.” This, once more, is followed by “selah,” which is another statement of “exaltation” from an uplifted soul to salvation.
As the accompanying Psalm for the Second Samuel readings about David taking the ark into Jerusalem, this confirms a theme of marriage between a soul and Yahweh. As a song of praise sang on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should be well underway, this sings the praises of wearing the face of Yahweh, after the submission of one’s own self-ego unto Yahweh, accepting His gift of a righteous life being possible. All the battles against sin will be personally won, because once one opens the gates that resist and reject holy matrimony, then all things are possible. The sustaining strength of ministry does not come from self-will. It comes from the sacrifice of self so one can be lifted up into service.
9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yahweh will indeed grant prosperity, *
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him, *
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.
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This is the companion Track 2 song for the reading from Amos, where Yahweh showed him a wall and a plumb line. If chosen, it will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 10], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. These two will precede an Epistle reading from Ephesians, where Paul wrote, “when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, [you] were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where we learn a mother coached her daughter to say: “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
Verse eight begins this reading selection. In this is written “hā·’êl Yah-weh,” which the NRSV has translated as “God the Lord.” I have restored what was written above, but still this does not show the presence of a vertical bar in between the two words, which may or may not be a direction to the musicians accompanying this song of restoration.
To better understand this, it becomes important to realize Psalm 85 is stated in verse one to be “to the enduring sons of Korah,” where Korah was one who challenged Moses and Aaron as a Levite wanting more responsibilities in the Tabernacle, more than cleaning up after sacrifices [and such]. God opened up the earth and had Korah swallowed, while all his supporters among the Israelites were destroyed by fire. The “sons of Korah” [a.k.a. “Korahites”] (I believe) were the priests who became the watchers of the Ark of the Covenant, when it was placed in the City of Honeycombs at Baale-judah [or Kirjath-Jearim]. When the descendants of Korah are seen as servants of Yahweh sent underground, then they become “elohim.” Thus, David was singing a song that said he would listen to a “god” that had been divinely inspired to speak for Yahweh, as that would amount to “hā·’êl Yah-weh.”
Verse eight literally translates to sing, “I will hear , what will speak hā·’êl Yahweh for he will speak soundness , for his people and to his pious , not let them turn back to stupidity .” The first word form [“I will hear”] says a soul married to Yahweh will listen for instructions. By “hearing,” one is not telling anything first. After “hearing,” then one’s flesh “will speak” as an extension of Yahweh that acts as “a god,” which can only happen after one’s soul [an eternal spirit] has been merged with the Spirit of Yahweh. That establishes a marriage of commitment by both parties. By “speaking as a god of Yahweh,” that says what He “will speak” one then passes on, becoming a prophet. Thus, this Psalm selection is paired with the marriage of Amos’ soul with Yahweh, when he did likewise. What is “spoken” is “soundness,” such that everything spoken relates to the divine texts, where a prophet is necessary both to write them and to bring them “completeness” and “soundness” by explaining them.
When David sang out that this prophecy will be “for his people,” this refers to all who call themselves the children of God. In David’s time, those people were called Israelites. In Jesus’ time, those people were called Jews. In our times, those people are called Christians. At all times, those people are the ones who seek knowledge that leads to understanding; therefore, they are the people who makes pleas for redemption and receive a divine proposal for marriage with acceptance. By oneself [a “self” equals a “soul”] being married to Yahweh’s Spirit, then one is truly one of “his people,” as a “saint” or one whose soul has been cleaned of all past sins, forevermore to be “pious.” That is a merger that is forever, which means once married there will be no divorce or turning back to the ways of sin.
Verse nine then literally sings, “surely related to those who fear [losing] his salvation ; that may dwell glory in our land .” This first addresses a “fear” of God, where rejecting His marriage proposal means accepting the full responsibility of one’s sins at judgment. Only those souls who fear losing Yahweh in their lives, by their own actions that turn away from His presence, will choose to sacrifice self-ego while living in the flesh. That sacrifice in the present will bring the promise of salvation to be known later.
The second half of this verse is much less focused on Yahweh “dwelling in the land,” as the only way this factors into this verse is through those souls who have married Yahweh going to others in Israel and ensuring they too marry Yahweh, as a protection of “His people” there. The real meaning of “land” or “earth” is the flesh of one’s body that surrounds one’s soul. Yahweh’s Spirit will “dwell” where His wives [males and females] “dwell.” In those will be found the ”glory” of His presence.
Verse ten then literally sings, “goodness and truth have met together ; righteousness and completeness have kissed .” In this, two sets of pairs are united, with the second set saying “have kissed.” That act of “kissing” certainly reflects as a common act of love. This verse is then singing about the union of a soul with Yahweh’s Spirit. The sins of the past are forgiven as the dowry paid by the wife [males and females], meaning “goodness” replaces wickedness and “righteousness” replaces waywardness. In return, the union with God means “truth” becomes an essence of one’s new being, as well as a calmness or “peace” that knows “completeness” and “soundness.”
Verse eleven then sings literally, “truth out of the earth shall spring ; and righteousness , from heaven shall grow .” Here, again, the use of “eretz” or “earth, land” must be read as “truth springing out of one’s flesh.” That “spring” becomes the free-flow of “truth” that comes from Yahweh. It is the never-ending flow of living waters that makes one’s being act righteously, as a well offering eternal life that always quinches any hint of thirst. This is the ministerial nature of divine marriage, as each soul becomes a prophet who spreads the meaning of Scripture to others who are seeking the “truth.”
This “spring” also becomes a sign of the “living waters” that eternally have been opened to lead one’s life; and, that becomes a new way of living, which only walks a righteous path. All paths will be divinely led, coming from “heaven” as the influence of the Spirit, so one’s ministry in service to Yahweh “will grow,” never decreasing. This also means the Spirit will wholly encompass one’s being; so, the way one views the world will be from above, “looking down” on all influences of sin.
Verse twelve then sings literally, “moreover Yahweh will give good ; and our land will yield its increase .” Once more, the use of “land” or “earth” has little to do with reaping the bounties of crops and herding. The material world of a soul is its flesh. This means, again, the body will be given a “pleasure” from the presence of Yahweh’s Spirit within one’s soul, so all troubles will be able to be dealt with positively. This is a gift of marriage; so, one who rejects Yahweh in marriage, but then reaps bountiful harvests, those benefits must not be seen as a gift of God. It is not the One God who gives material rewards, but a lesser god of the world who brings gains and profits to humans as lures to sin. To be given “good” means one will be removed from evil. Thus, that becomes a state of being that is more profitable than all the world can bring.
Verse thirteen then literally sings, “righteousness before him will go ; and shall make pathway his footsteps .” This verse sings of one walking a path of “righteousness,” which cannot be done alone. One’s soul cannot will oneself to walk a sin-free life, as a soul cannot defeat a god, which Satan most assuredly is. One can only defeat Satan by being married to Yahweh, becoming His possession through His Spirit. When that marriage has taken place, then all steps one takes will be those of a wife who follows the Will of her Husband [males and females following Yahweh].
As an accompanying Psalm to the Amos reading possibility, it should be seen that this reflects the marriage between Yahweh and the prophet Amos, while also reflecting the message he took to the false prophet Amaziah, to give to Jeroboam. Neither of them accepted the marriage proposal made necessary by David’s actions years before; therefore neither were leading the Israelites towards that spiritual end. If this set is chosen for reading on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s personal ministry to Yahweh should be underway, it speaks of the growth one can expect to come from holy matrimony with Yahweh. This says the only “land” or “earth” anyone should be focused on is that which confines one’s soul. All else is a trick of illusion. To see the truth, one must hear the voice of Yahweh and speak those words to others.
Explaining the Readings 